Oceans more vulnerable to agricultural runoff than previously thought, study finds
Researchers have long suspected that fertilizer runoff from big farms can trigger sudden explosions of marine algae capable of disrupting ocean ecosystems and even producing "dead zones" in the sea. Now a new study by Stanford University scientists presents the first direct evidence linking large-scale coastal farming to massive algal blooms in the sea. Writing in the March 10 issue of th...Agricultural antibiotic use contributes to 'super-bugs' in humans
Doctors have become increasingly concerned by the problem of "super-bugs" - bacteria that have become resistant to standard antibiotics. It is well known that a high rate of antibiotic prescribing in hospitals contributes to the emergence of drug resistant bacteria. But for some antibiotics, an even more important factor contributing to such emergence, argues a team of researchers in the open acc...Agricultural workers at increased risk for infection with animal flu viruses
Farmers, veterinarians and meat processors who routinely come into contact with pigs in their jobs have a markedly increased risk of infection with flu viruses that infect pigs, according to a study funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While the findings are not entirely unexpected, the strikin...Producing bio-ethanol from agricultural waste a step closer
Research conducted by Delft University of Technology has brought the efficient production of the environmentally-friendly fuel bio-ethanol a great deal closer to fruition. The work of Delft researcher Marko Kuyper was an important factor in this. His research in recent years has greatly improved the conversion of certain sugars from agricultural waste to ethanol. On Tuesday 6 June, Kuyper receive...Investors hear about new agricultural technology
Prospective agriculture investors heard about using biomass and enzymes to produce hydrogen fuel, ethanol, and cancer treatments at the annual meeting of These were just a few of the topics brought to the conference by the AgVest group, which focuses on agricultural investment in the sta...Man's Transition from Foragers to Agriculturalist Led to Increase in Birth Rates
A study was conducted by Jean-Pierre Bocquet-Appel (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, France) said that there was an increase in the birth rate when man discovered agriculture.// This is proved by studying the Skeletons from the Neolithic period. Anthropologists studied 60 prehistoric American cemeteries to prove the fact that agriculture played a very important role in wo...Agricultural Workers Taken ill after Inhaling Toxic Fumes in Orissa
At least 28 agricultural workers, most of them women, were taken ill after inhaling fumes of an insecticide sprayed in a field in Orissa's Bolangir district// , official said Thursday. The agricultural workers inhaled fumes of the highly toxic Thimet at a field at Khairmal village, some 15 km from the district headquarters of Bolangir, Wednesday afternoon, chief district medical office...Agricultural Subsidies Responsible For Obesity, Says Expert
Dr. Philip James, the British chairman of the International Obesity Task Force, has blamed agricultural subsidies as being responsible //for the obesity epidemic in poor countries. "The trade policies that are currently in play are those which subsidize and distort the market to make fats and sugars cheaper and fruits and vegetables more expensive," James said at the 10th Internationa...