Astronauts might be able to use asteroid soil to grow crops
Lettuce, chili pepper and radish plants grew in mixtures of faux asteroid dirt and peat moss
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News Story
Cleared tropical forests can regain ground surprisingly fast
Dec 2021
Abandoned agricultural lands can recover by nearly 80 percent on average in just 20 years
Cleared tropical forests can regain ground surprisingly fast
News Story
Climate change is bringing earlier springs, which may trigger drier summers
Jan 2020
Longer growing seasons mean more soil moisture is lost through evapotranspiration, a study says
Climate change is bringing earlier springs, which may trigger drier summers
News Story
Fungi may be crucial to storing carbon in soil as the Earth warms
Nov 2021
In laboratory tests, dirt home to only bacteria released more CO2 when heated than other soils
Fungi may be crucial to storing carbon in soil as the Earth warms
News Story
More than 57 billion tons of soil have eroded in the U.S. Midwest
Apr 2022
The level of erosion, possibly underestimated by the USDA, may have become unsustainable
More than 57 billion tons of soil have eroded in the U.S. Midwest
Editorial Briefing
Antibiotic resistance in soil bacteria
Jun 2017
It is estimated that 1 gram of soil can be inhabited by up to 109 microorganisms and approximately 60,000 bacterial species. Moreover, soil harbors a vast reservoir of antimicrobial agents, and soil-dwelling bacteria have played a key role in the introduction of antibiotics to treat infectious diseases. Because these resilient bacteria not only produce antibiotics but also are exposed to other antibiotics produced by surrounding strains in the soil, they have developed diverse mechanisms to survive the toxic antimicrobial compounds created around them. Importantly, these mechanisms of robust resistance to numerous classes of antibiotics often resemble the mechanisms of resistance identified in clinical pathogens, including those that infect humans. Thus, scientists are attempting to find possible correlations between antibiotic resistance in soil bacteria and in infectious agents in humans. If correlations can be found, investigators might be able to predict future signs of clinical resistance to certain antibiotics, providing clinicians with methods to circumvent any potential resistance that may emerge. See also: Antibiotic; Antimicrobial agents; Antimicrobial resistance; Bacteria; Clinical microbiology; Drug resistance; Infectious disease; Medical bacteriology; Microbiology; Pathogen; Soil; Soil microbiology
Antibiotic resistance in soil bacteria
Editorial Briefing
Debris flows study provides new insights into landslide mechanics
Jan 2023
Each year in the United States, landslides and debris flows kill an estimated 25 to 50 people and cause roughly $1 billion in property damage. A deeper understanding of the specific mechanisms through which landslides occur could help guide architects and engineers in reducing this loss of life and property. In an October 2022 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a joint team of geophysicists and mechanical engineers from the University of Pennsylvania and University of California, Santa Barbara applied recent advances in the physics of dense suspensions (heterogeneous mixtures of solids and liquids) in an attempt to better model complex debris flows. The team determined that an existing model for simple, ideal flows can be extended to account for complex, natural flows. The results accordingly offer a way to improve hazard assessment of hillslopes and their constituent materials. See also: Geophysical fluid dynamics; Geophysics; Landslide; Mass wasting; Suspension
Debris flows study provides new insights into landslide mechanics
Editorial Briefing
Potential of soils for carbon sequestration
Jan 2014
Soil organic matter represents a reservoir of stored (sequestered) carbon that slowly cycles between the earth and the atmosphere. It is predominately composed of humus stabilized by clay particles, with the remainder being less stable decaying plant and animal matter. Globally, soil holds roughly twice as much carbon as is in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), so there is potentially a lot of carbon to lose from soil. On the other hand, soil with the right properties can also still remove CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester it. See also: Atmosphere; Atmospheric chemistry; Biogeochemistry; Carbon dioxide; Clay; Humus; Organic geochemistry; Soil; Soil chemistry
Potential of soils for carbon sequestration