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A US startup supplies spray for fast-growing loblolly pines with the hope of increasing biodiversity – and reducing the need for artificial fertiliser
At a commercial tree nursery near Evans, western Louisiana, 5m pine seedlings are packed on to 12 vast circular irrigation tables, each as wide as a football field. Last September, many of these young trees were sprayed with what looked like muddy water.
The substance was in fact a liquid extract teeming with hundreds of species of wild soil fungi. Brad Ouseman, the nursery manager, is confident he will see results from this fungal inoculation, which is intended to improve yields and reduce the need for artificial fertilisers.
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Lovehoney sponsors Aphrodite-themed ‘pleasure garden’ full of flowers associated with love and sex
It is one of the most prestigious events of the UK social calendar, but the great and good attending Chelsea flower show may be in for a shock this year as the Royal Horticultural Society unveils a sex-themed garden sponsored by a company that sells vibrators.
Lovehoney, a sex toy company, is sponsoring an Aphrodite-themed “pleasure garden” full of flowers and plants associated with love and sex.
Chelseaflowershow will be held at the Royal Hospital Gardens from 19 to 23 May.
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Karachi particularly badly affected with 18 people killed, more than 50mm of rain and winds gusting up to 60mph
Unseasonally wet weather struck southern Pakistan and north-west India on Wednesday, as heavy rain rolled in from the west, accompanied by thunderstorms, hail, and strong winds.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, was particularly badly affected, locally recording more than 50mm of rain with winds gusting up to 60mph. Walls, buildings, and a pedestrian bridge collapsed, with flooding and power outages across the city. At least 18 people were killed and several more injured, many by structural collapses, with other deaths attributed to a fallen tree and a lightning strike.
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This week’s best wildlife photographs from around the world
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Landowner disputes, coastal erosion and disused ferry hindering completion of King Charles III England coast path
The longest managed coastal walking route in the world has been opened by the king at the Seven Sisters cliff walk.
However, large parts of the King Charles III England coast path are still closed to the public after objections from landowners, fears about coastal erosion and a disused ferry.
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Move will put national security and lives overseas at risk, critics say, as overall UK aid budget is slashed to 0.3% of gross national income
Climate aid to developing countries from the UK will be cut by about 14% to roughly £2bn a year under government plans, in a move critics said would put national security and lives overseas at risk.
The move follows bitter rows with the Treasury, which wanted deeper cuts owing to pressure on spending resulting from the war in Iran.
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Conservation can be hard work. But not when it comes to helping these little orange and brown beauties
You’ve almost certainly seen gatekeeper butterflies, even if you don’t know them by name. The gatekeeper is, says naturalist and butterfly enthusiast Matthew Oates, “a charming butterfly; a charming meditation of soft oranges and browns”. Traditionally found in the “scrub edges” (the borders between grassland and woods) and at hedge margins, they are frequently seen in suburban and urban areas, near garden gates (hence their name) and at the base of shrubs. The gatekeeper is in no hurry, so you’ll get to enjoy it. “It doesn’t dash about at great speed,” says Oates. “It flops around; both males and females bask a lot.” As a bonus, Oates adds, gatekeeper males are “extremely polite to each other”, unlike lots of other butterflies, which are highly territorial. “They’re gentlemen.”
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Closure of strait of Hormuz – a key fertilizer production and transportation route – has squeezed farmers as prices jump
Rodney Bushmeyer has been farming as long as he can remember. Bushmeyer’s father was a farmer, as was his grandfather.
The family-run Bushmeyer Farms in Illinois dates back more than 100 years, when his ancestors came to the US from Germany. They acquired the first 80 acres cost-free as homesteaders, cleared the land, and worked it.
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In the middle of the city, traditional growers blend crops with native species to preserve Pedra Branca state park’s biodiversity
The sound of the scythes wielded by brothers Jorge and Ubirajara Cardia breaks the silence in the hills of Vargem Grande, in the south-west zone of Rio de Janeiro city. Quilombola from the Cafundá Astrogilda community, they harvest bananas the same way their ancestors used to. Every week, they select the bunches of prata, maçã, and Cavendish bananas, cut them down and, on the back of their mules, go down the hillside with the newly harvested crop.
Through sloping ways in the forest, they travel about 5km (3 miles) along paths first opened by the Indigenous Tupinambápeople and enslaved workers of African descent.
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In this week’s newsletter: with US-Israeli strikes hitting oil refineries, military bases and nuclear facilities, monitors are warning that the conflict will have devastating effects
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If the first casualty of war is the truth, the environment can’t come far behind.
The black rain that fell across Tehran two weekends ago was perhaps the most symbolic symptom of a litany of environmental devastation being wrought on Iran by the US-Israeli war machine since the start of the month. As I reported last week, we already know the conflict will have major long-term environmental repercussions.
Revealed: the world’s worst mega-leaks of methane driving global heating
‘Drinking from a fetid pond’: superbug-creating genes found in UK’s largest lake
‘Very damaging’: how the Iran war is hitting energy-intensive industries
Democrats urge windfall tax as big oil set to make billions from Iran war
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Prema rezultatima novog istraživanja, dijabetes tipa 1 povezan je s većim rizikom od razvoja demencije. Dijabetes tipa 2 također je povezan s većim rizikom od demencije u usporedbi s osoboma koje nema dijabetes. Ova studija pokazuje povezanost, ali ne dokazuje da dijabetes uzrokuje demenciju. Inače, dijabetes tipa 1 je rijedak i čini oko 5% slučajeva dijabetesa.
Nova terapija crijevnog mikrobioma donosi široka poboljšanja simptoma kod djece s autizmom, nudeći ranu nadu za sigurniji, manje invazivan pristup liječenju uz rigoroznu kliničku validaciju, pokazuje nova studija.
Žene imaju veću vjerojatnost preživljavanja raka od muškaraca, ali se suočavaju s većim rizikom od ozbiljnih i štetnih nuspojava liječenja, tvrdi nova studija. Naime, ženski pacijenti imali su 21% manji rizik od smrti u usporedbi s muškim pacijentima, ali 12% veći rizik od teških toksičnosti.
Lijekovi za mršavljenje povezani su s povećanim rizikom od prijevremenog poroda kod žena koje su ih nenamjerno uzimale neposredno prije ili tijekom rane trudnoće za liječenje već postojećeg dijabetesa, pokazala je nova studija.
Svake godine milijunima ljudi diljem svijeta dijagnosticira se rak; međutim, trenutni tretmani ograničeni su složenošću bolesti. Nova studija sugerira da bi se bakterija Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) mogla konstruirati s antitumorskim sredstvima za liječenje kancerogenih tumora kod miševa.
U studiji koja je uključivala podatke tisuća ljudi, rizik od nove dijagnoze koronarne bolesti srca statistički je povezan s razinama u krvotoku devet specifičnih molekula koje proizvode crijevni mikrobi.
Novo istraživanje sugerira da mjere prekomjerne težine oko struka (centralna pretilost ili visceralna masnoća) mogu povećati rizik od zatajenja srca prvenstveno zbog upale. Naime, pokazalo se, da su mjerenja viših razina visceralne masnoće snažnije povezana s rizikom od zatajenja srca nego ukupna tjelesna težina, a veće mjere struka identificirale su veći rizik čak i kada je indeks tjelesne mase (ITM) izgledao normalno.
Rezultati nedavno objavljene studije pokazali su da su sudionici s višim indeksom pulsnog tlaka i otkucaja srca prije 65. godine imali značajno veći rizik od razvoja demencije ili blagog kognitivnog oštećenja, pri čemu je svako povećanje indeksa pulsnog tlaka i otkucaja srca povezano sa 76% većim rizikom.
Jednostavan plan vježbanja kod kuće pomogao je pacijentima da ostanu aktivni tijekom kemoterapije, smanjujući mentalni umor i pokazujući potencijal za ublažavanje kemo mozga, posebno kod onih na kraćim ciklusima liječenja, pokazala je nova studija.
Japanski registar identificirao je slijepu točku u rutinskoj skrbi pacijenata s kroničnom bolešću bubrega (CKD). Razina bikarbonata u serumu rijetko se mjeri, što metaboličku acidozu uglavnom ostavlja neotkrivenom i stoga nedovoljno liječenom. Metabolička acidoza česta je komplikacija kronične bubrežne bolesti i povezana je s gubitkom mišićne mase, bolestima kostiju, inzulinskom rezistencijom, ubrzanim propadanjem bubrega i povećanom smrtnošću. Kliničke smjernice preporučuju liječenje kada razina bikarbonata u serumu padne ispod 22 mEq/L.
