(American Society of Agronomy) New research suggests that, over time, less phosphorus fertilizer may be necessary on agricultural fields.

(Pensoft Publishers) Chinese scientists report the first cave-dwelling centipede so far known from southern China. Collected last year during a survey in Gaofeng village, Guizhou Province, the species turned out to not only had been successfully hiding away from biologists in the subterranean darkness, but that it also represented the first in its whole order to be discovered underground in the country. It is described in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

(Tokyo Metropolitan University) Tokyo, Japan - Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have shown that the environment-driven evolution of a unique ovipositor in the female fruit fly Drosophila suzukii may have caused coevolution of the male genitalia; new features were found to cause mechanical incompatibility during reproduction with similar species, impeding crossbreeding and isolating the species. The dual role of the female genitalia was found to trigger coevolution and speciation, a generic pathway which may apply to many other organisms.

(Penn State) With energy demands rising, researchers at Penn State Behrend and the University of Tabriz, Iran, have completed an algorithm -- or approach -- to design more efficient wind farms, helping to generate more revenue for builders and more renewable energy for their customers.

(University of South Florida (USF Innovation)) Engineers have designed a single catalyst that can convert methane gas into carbon monoxide, followed by diesel fuel.

(University of Pennsylvania) Plants reap energy from the sun using two photosynthesis pathways, C3 and C4. A new study led by University of Pennsylvania biologists suggests that water availability drove the expansion of C4 species, which may help to explain how different plant lineages came to be distributed on the planet today

(Worcester Polytechnic Institute) With a $1.08 million contract award from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC), a materials engineering research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will extend development of its novel process to recycle spent lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. WPI will demonstrate that its process can recycle spent batteries and produce new cathode materials with higher nickel content. These materials are increasingly being adopted by automotive battery makers to reduce cost and increase energy density.

(Geological Society of America) Many farms have areas where the ground either floods or does not retain enough water or fertilizer for crops to thrive. Such marginal lands could become useful and potentially profitable if they are planted with perennial bioenergy crops such as shrub willow and switchgrass, report researchers this week at the annual meeting of The Geological Society of America in Indianapolis.

(Geological Society of America) Water researchers have found a way to fight the 'king of poisons' that accounts for one of every 20 deaths in Bangladesh.

(Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) Researchers at EPFL's Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering have developed a photocatalytic system based on a material in the class of metal-organic frameworks. The system can be used to degrade pollutants present in water while simultaneously producing hydrogen that can be captured and used further.

(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) The ozone hole that forms in the upper atmosphere over Antarctica each September was slightly above average size in 2018, NOAA and NASA scientists reported today.

(Tokyo Institute of Technology) Results from a collaborative study by Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tohoku University, Japan, raise prospects for large-scale production of algae-derived starch, a valuable bioresource for biofuels and other renewable materials. Such bio-based products have the potential to replace fossil fuels and contribute to the development of sustainable systems and societies.

(Georgia Institute of Technology) Envision a yellow submarine on a rocket to Europa as a future culmination in the search for extraterrestrial life. A new $7 million NASA Astrobiology grant is fueling an alliance of oceanic astrobiology researchers who will unify their focus to probe oceans on our solar system neighbors for signs of life.

(University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science) A new study led by researchers at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science found that a common coral species might have evolved unique immune strategies to cope with environmental change.

(National Science Foundation) The National Science Foundation (NSF) is investing over $18 million in 10 new projects to research processes in nature and their complex interactions with climate, land use and invasive species at local, regional and continental scales. The awards are funded through NSF's Dimensions of Biodiversity program in the agency's environmental biology division.

(American Society of Agronomy) In a newly published study, researchers dug into how fertilizing with manure affects soil quality, compared with inorganic fertilizer.