In sub-Saharan Africa, many people are undernourished or malnourished. A new study by the Universities of Bonn and Ghana shows how rising incomes and urbanization are influencing dietary patterns of local populations. According to this, the wealthier segments in African countries are increasingly eating like people in Western industrialized countries. Although this improves their supply of important nutrients, it also has a greater negative impact on the environment. The study also looks at how this environmental damage can be minimized. It has been published in the journal ‘Sustainable Production and Consumption.’ 

Scientists at TU Wien have uncovered a surprisingly fast way for rocks to lock away CO₂: a thin layer of water on mineral surfaces can activate CO₂ and trigger its direct conversion into solid carbonate—without the slow dissolution steps long thought necessary. Using atomic-scale microscopy, they provide the first direct evidence for this mechanism. The finding helps explain why CO₂ can mineralize much faster in nature than expected—and could inform more efficient carbon storage technologies.

Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) are beneficial microorganisms that colonize plant root zones. They promote plant growth and enhance resistance to abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity by producing hormones, solubilizing nutrients, and other mechanisms.

Plant immune inducers are crucial tools for the green management of crop diseases. As an environmentally friendly biological inducer, oligochitosan (COS) can activate plant defense mechanisms to resist pathogens such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses.

Against the backdrop of continuous global population growth and changes in dietary structures, aquaculture has emerged as one of the fastest-growing food production sectors. However, as its scale expands, concerns about its environmental impacts, particularly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, have grown. Have you ever wondered how much GHG is emitted during the production of the fish, shrimp, and shellfish on your plate? Where do these emissions come from, and how can they be reduced?

Professor Apala Majumdar, Professor of Applied Mathematics at The University of Manchester, has been elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (LSW).

Seoul, South Korea — Researchers at Seoul National University have developed a new class of ultralight structural materials that combine the load-bearing strength of engineering materials with the weight of foam. Using a method called 3D node winding, the team created mesoscale carbon fiber lattices that achieve aluminum-level performance on a strength-to-weight basis while weighing as little as 1/100 the weight of aluminum. The findings, published in Nature Communications, demonstrate a new way to build strong, lightweight structures without the need for joints or layered assembly.