A National Climate Service (Talk of the Nation Science Friday) NOAA’s Jane Lubcheno will be interviewed today. The show airs on OPB radio at 11 a.m. Study: About half of young steelhead die in estuaries before going to sea (Statesman Journal) A study by researchers at Oregon State University found that up to nearly half [...]

Humble weed could feed the world (Discovery News) A humble weed native to the Mediterranean and Middle East and viewed by gardeners in some countries as an invasive pest could hold the secret to boosting yields of cereals and biofuels, scientists hope. “It has one of the smallest known genomes among grasses, it’s easy to [...]

OSU gets infusion of hops research money (OPB) A Willamette Valley-based hop merchant has given Oregon State University one million dollars for hop research. (See also Portland Business Journal and Gazette-Times) Minke population not growing (Japan Times) Researchers at Oregon State University and Stanford University calculated that the population size in the early 20th century [...]

Oregon’s 2009 Agricultural sales post biggest percentage fall in at least 33 years (Cattle Network) Oregon’s farmers and ranchers grossed $4.1 billion in sales last year, a 14.8 percent plunge from the prior year as prices weakened in key commodities, according to estimates in an Oregon State University report. (See also KGW, Register-Guard and Portland [...]

Surf’s up as Pacific waves grow (New Scientist) Peter Ruggiero of Oregon State University, who carried out the analysis, found that average wave heights increased at the rate of 1.5 centimetres per year, while each year’s biggest wave increased by an average of 10 centimetres per year. He says climate change is a likely culprit, [...]