Latest News Releases 6 August

Fruit ripening is the terminal stage of fruit development and is a complex process involving a series of physiological and biochemical changes. Previous studies have shown that the fruit ripening program is coordinated by the combined effects of plant hormones, transcription factors (TFs), and epigenetic modifications. Given the critical role of fleshy fruits in the human diet, it is important to comprehensively characterize the regulatory mechanisms behind fleshy fruit ripening.

Chicago-based Influit Energy has created the world’s first rechargeable, safe, electric fuel. The United States government has played a critical role in Influit Energy’s growth, awarding the company more than $10 million in contracts to fund the design and fabrication of NEF flow battery prototypes that will allow several agencies to utilize Influit Energy’s batteries in electric vehicles and aircraft. Five separate projects funded by the government have been strategically designed by Influit Energy to work together as components of a closed loop energy ecosystem that will one day be able to be commercialized more broadly. The fuel utilized by this new system can be charged using either renewable energy or an electrical grid.

UC Davis researchers have found a way to reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed to grow cereals such as rice, wheat and corn.

Did the 12th century B.C.E. — a time when humans were forging great empires and developing new forms of written text — coincide with an evolutionary reduction in brain size? Think again, says a UNLV-led team of researchers whose new paper refutes a hypothesis that’s growing increasingly popular among the science community.