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Plants

When temperatures drop, Siberian Miscanthus plants surpass main bioenergy variety

URBANA, Ill. – Photosynthesis drives yields, but in cold conditions, this process that turns sunlight into biomass takes a hit. Miscanthus is a popular, sustainable, perennial feedstock for bioenergy production that thrives on marginal land in temperate regions.

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Environmental greenness may not improve student test scores, study finds

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers at the University of Illinois and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service suggest in a new study that environmental greenness may not be associated with higher test scores in schoolchildren after all.

In a study that involved more than 400 public schools in Chicago, the Illinois-led team found that there was “no convincing evidence for a positive relationship between greenness and academic performance.” The study was published recently in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning.

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Scientists engineer shortcut for photosynthetic glitch, boost crop growth by 40 percent

URBANA, Ill. – Plants convert sunlight into energy through photosynthesis; however, most crops on the planet are plagued by a photosynthetic glitch, and to deal with it, evolved an energy-expensive process called photorespiration that drastically suppresses their yield potential. Today, researchers from the University of Illinois and U.S.

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Scholarship supports student pursuing passion in horticulture

Lauren Kessler, a senior in crop sciences, spent the first two years of college at another institution, but soon realized that she missed horticulture and needed to follow her heart. At the beginning of her junior year, she transferred to the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences to study horticultural food systems.

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Urban Extension Web Site Nears 3 Million Hits

June 9, 2003

 

URBANA—The “hits” just keep on coming for University of Illinois Extension’s Urban Programs Resource Network web site. In May, the site containing a variety of pages on topics ranging from school curriculums to lawn and garden care to financial management received more than 2.9 million hits.

“A ‘hit’ represents a single page viewed on our website,” explained Jane Scherer, U of I Extension urban programs specialist. “Usage in May 2003 was 61 percent higher than in May 2002 and represents our greatest usage in any month to date.”

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Web Site Aids Home Gardeners

June 9, 2003

URBANA—The next time the lettuce leaves in your backyard garden turn yellow or tiny, multi-legged creatures frolic on your tomato vines help may only be a mouse click away thanks to a new feature on University of Illinois Extension’s Urban Programs Resource Network. “Common Problems for Vegetable Crops” is the addition.

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