In the nation’s third-largest metro area, about 400 residents tracked their moods during a summer when temperatures hit 100 degrees by mid-June. Were they feeling cranky? Acting impulsively? Lashing out verbally? Yes, yes, and yes, according to survey results.
Food security and biodiversity are both helped by diversified farming techniques, with little negative impact, according to a new paper that includes research from two WSU professors.
Tick season is here, along with the increased danger of Lyme disease, and it turns out the tiny arachnids are even tougher than scientists previously thought.
A massively destructive hurricane in Florida last year, a very stormy winter in California, and higher than average colony losses mean that 2023 is positioned to be a bad year for honey bees.
Researchers have long known that many animals live longer in colder climates than in warmer climates. New research in C. elegans nematode worms suggests that this phenomenon is tied to a protein found in the nervous system that controls the expression of collagens, the primary building block of skin, bone and connective tissue in many animals.
The research could someday help fire managers better decide on how to dedicate resources in fighting fires and removing fuel. In particular, the researchers hope that managers can better assess where, when, and how they should allocate resources when there is a beetle outbreak in a forest.
Farmers who keep their chickens outdoors may want to watch the weather. A study of chicken farms in the West found that high winds increased the prevalence of Campylobacter in outdoor flocks, a bacterial pathogen in poultry that is the largest single cause of foodborne illness in the U.S.
An air filter made out of corn protein instead of petroleum products can concurrently capture small particulates as well as toxic chemicals like formaldehyde that current air filters can’t.
A recent modelling study found that changing weather could increase suitable habitat for the brown marmorated stink bug in the United States by 70%. The study, published in Pest Management Science, draws on data from a three-year stink bug monitoring effort in 17 states as well as several potential climate scenarios. However, whether the insects will thrive in new places depends on the conditions of each area and potential mitigation measures.
Many of the WSU studies that grabbed headlines last year had to do with human health, topped by the discovery of a potentially dangerous virus in Russian bats, a relative of the one that causes COVID‑19.