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Q & A


Answers from our experts to important scientific questions.

Submit a question Our editors will select questions from those submitted and post their answers here.
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Agriculture, Forestry & Soils:
Field crops, grasses, plant fibers, spices, tree crops, herbs

- What types of spectrometers are used specifically in drug testing?

- How was corn domesticated?

- What is the Green Revolution?

Forestry

- How do temperate rainforests differ from tropical rainforests?

- How would you research the best way to design an environmentally friendly town center? I am a teacher planning a project for an environmental science class. The town center would include a movie theatre, stores, restaurants, a park and an art center.

General

- What is "precision agriculture"?

- What is the Green Revolution?

Plant breeding

- What is the Green Revolution?

Soil/crop practices

- What is the difference between weathering and erosion?

Soils

- Assuming that Fuel Cell automobiles are the most likely candidates to replace the internal combustion engine, can our forests reduce the CO and CO2 in our atmosphere, or is it too little - too late?
Sample questions from Q & A:

Medicine
Q: We have had chlorinated public water systems since the early 20th century—enough time for Cryptosporidium or Clostridium perfringens to develop metabolic or behavioral changes to survive chlorination. Why don't microorganisims become resistant to chlorine?

A: To date, no microorganism has developed resistance to the chlorine used in commercial water supplies since the chlorine kills the organism before it can develop resistance.

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Bioscience
Q: Why do you feel tired after eating turkey?

A: The popular answer is that turkey contains lots of tryptophan, which raises brain serotonin levels, which makes you sleepy. However, this is not strictly correct.

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Bioscience
Q: Does "handedness" exist among other animals? What evolutionary advantages arise from handedness in humans (and why does right-handedness seem to predominate)?

A: Yes, there are analogs to human handedness in animals, across taxonomic classes, and varied in strength and expression.
Does handedness confer an evolutionary advantage in humans? Most likely, but a conclusive answer is surprisingly difficult to come by.

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