Until last weekend’s near-record snowfall, one of the strongest El Niño weather patterns on record had been very kind to New Jersey – delivering a hurricane-free summer, a parka-free December and a snow-free winter. What remains to be seen is wh…
Environmental advocates, DEP disagree on shellfish safety program
Environmental advocacy groups are concerned that proposed amendments to the state’s shellfish-safety program will make it infeasible for research to be conducted in prohibited waterways. Initially proposed in November, the New Jersey Department of Envi…
New Jersey unveils a better, more flavorful strawberry
After a decade of quietly, painstakingly sowing their seeds, Rutgers agricultural scientists are finally reaping the fruits of their labor. The “Rutgers Scarlet,” as it is appropriately named, is being unveiled this month. “You have to be very patient to be a plant breeder,” said Peter Nitzsche, associate professor and agricultural agent for Rutgers Cooperative Extension. “We have 13 farms across the state growing them on a test stage, and they are just coming in now. We’ve been harvesting in South Jersey since last week. This week, they’ll be harvesting them in Central Jersey, and next week, in northern New Jersey,” said Bill Hlubik, a professor and agricultural agent for the Cooperative Extension.
The GMO debate: Engineered foods are common, but are they hazardous?
If you haven’t yet heard of the buzz-acronym “GMO,” with the controversy surrounding it, bet you will soon. And odds are that you and your family have been eating “genetically modified organisms” (a common term for genetically engineered foods) – or their derivatives – without even knowing it…Others in the science community argue that not only are GMOs safe but are helping keep down food costs. In a recent op-ed in The Record, Gal Hochman, an associate professor in the department of agriculture, food, and resource economics at Rutgers University, and David Zilberman, professor in the department of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California at Berkeley, noted that GMOs have contributed to reducing the price of corn by 15 percent and soybeans by 30 percent, and have lowered the annual food bill for a typical family by $250.
Big brown bats in N.J. thrive as smaller cousins decline
While New Jersey’s little brown bat population, ravaged by a fungal disease, continues to slip toward likely extinction, another species, the big brown bat, appears to be benefiting, with its numbers rising by as much as 50 percent in the state since w…
Some foods really don’t belong in the refrigerator, experts say
Distinguished scholar, microbiologist and Rutgers University professor Dr. Don Schaffner would like to impart some personal wisdom upon the general public in an effort to educate those who might benefit from his insight: He eats his peanut butter at room temperature only. “I personally just don’t like cold peanut butter, so I keep it out of the refrigerator,” Schaffner said. And he’s not just talking Skippy, or Jif. He means natural peanut butter, without any preservatives. While other food safety experts, in an abundance of caution, might say he’s living dangerously, you know what, says the renowned food scientist and unabashed peanut butter lover? It ain’t gonna kill ya.
North Jersey’s so-called ‘cool’ summer skewed by short-term memories
If you think this summer has been cold, it’s only because your sense of “normal” has been skewed by the extra-hot summers of the past few years, and perhaps you have some lingering trauma from last winter’s brutality too. This summer is actually pretty average as far as temperatures go, according to a state official…”It’s been cooler than the last four summers because the last four summers were all excessively warm,” David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University, told Suburban Trends last week. “There’s nothing all that remarkable about this summer in the long term. What makes it seem well below average in the temperature department is a function of how warm recent summers have been.”
Butterflies and moths get their day (and night) at the Meadowlands
What’s the difference between a moth and a butterfly? Mostly the time of day. Other than what shift they work, there’s not all that much difference between the two insects, experts explained recently at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst…What separates the two creatures is one of the most-asked questions about the insects, said Elana Tartaglia, an expert on moths from Rutgers University, who holds a Ph.D in ecology. “I’m asked that all the time,” she said, “and the answer is quite simple: Very little.”
Belleville High School students participate in summer science program
Samsung awarded 16 Belleville High School students, along with 40 youth from New Jersey, a full scholarship to participate in the 4-H Samsung Summer Science Program at Rutgers University-New Brunswick campus in early July…These students were to learn…
Nature Next Door: Mothing is the new birding
Early in 2012, two naturalists in Central Jersey announced an ambitious plan: to create an annual July event called National Moth Week (NMW) to raise awareness of these little-known creatures of the night. The N.J. Meadowlands Commission and Bergen Cou…