People who seek novel and powerful sensations and are more prone to taking risks — and who perceive bitter tastes more intensely — are more likely to prefer bitter, pale-ale-style beers and drink them more often, according to Penn State sensory researchers, who conducted a study that involved blind taste tests and personality assessments.
Conservation efforts that open up the canopy of overgrown habitat for threatened timber rattlesnakes are beneficial to snakes but could come at a cost, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State.
Recent alarming news reports aside, Asian giant hornets — sometimes referred to, hyperbolically, as "murder hornets" — are not an immediate concern in the Northeast, nor are they likely to be for a long time, if ever, according to an entomologist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
The Penn State Extension Master Gardeners are growing interest in home gardening through their 'Victory Garden Reinvented' webinar series.
Penn State's 2020 Ag Progress Days exposition, which was scheduled for Aug. 11-13, has been cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, organizers in the College of Agricultural Sciences announced.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly today (May 28) passed a partial state budget that maintains Penn State’s current funding levels for the entire 2020-21 fiscal year. This includes level funding of $242.1 million for Penn State’s general support appropriation, $54.96 million for Penn State Agricultural Research and Extension, and $26.74 million for Pennsylvania College of Technology.
The seed for Penn State’s Institute for Sustainable Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science was planted well before the COVID-19 outbreak. The concept had been growing in the College of Agricultural Sciences for about two years when the pandemic emerged.
Farmers and pet owners who may be concerned that they can contract COVID-19 from domestic animals — such as livestock, dogs and cats — have little to worry about, according to a virologist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
With stay-at-home orders in place to stop the spread of COVID-19, many families are wrestling with how to adjust to being at home all day, every day — together. Maintaining a daily schedule can help, noted a Penn State Extension educator.
Commercially prepared baby foods that purport to be loaded with dark green vegetables are sweetened with fruit puree and often don’t contain a high percentage of dark green vegetable content, according to a team of researchers. The resulting lack of dark green vegetable taste matters, said team leader John Hayes, associate professor of food science at Penn State.
The 18th annual Penn State Equine Science Showcase and Quarter Horse Sale will take place this year — but in a new, virtual format. The online auction and sale will take place with the help of Professional Horse Services LLC, with bidding open from April 27 through May 2.
The hatch of spotted lanternfly egg masses likely will begin in mid- to late-April in southern counties, with northern counties to follow soon after, noted Beth Finlay, Master Gardener area coordinator for Penn State Extension.
When Caela Camazine realized that she had suddenly lost her ability to taste and smell on March 17, she thought it was “really weird” because she was not congested.
The ever-evolving, novel coronavirus situation has prompted additional changes to Penn State Extension programming and operations across Pennsylvania, as well as other public services offered by the College of Agricultural Sciences. However, college officials stress that the college's research will continue in support of Pennsylvania agriculture, the state's food system and the well-being of citizens in the commonwealth.
Maintaining a stable food supply in the United States is critical in the battle against the novel coronavirus. And that means each sector of the food supply chain must take measures to ensure that they can continue to operate, according to food scientists in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
Pesticide-coated seeds — such as neonicotinoids, many of which are highly toxic to both pest and beneficial insects — are increasingly used in the major field crops, but are underreported, in part, because farmers often do not know what pesticides are on their seeds, according to an international team of researchers. The lack of data may complicate efforts to evaluate the value of different pest management strategies, while also protecting human health and the environment.
Given the nation’s, Pennsylvania’s and the University’s focus on social distancing in helping to combat coronavirus to protect our community, Penn State’s Berkey Creamery is closing its retail store on campus until further notice.
The novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, known as COVID-19, has disrupted the operations of businesses, governments and other organizations across the country, including Penn State. But Penn State Extension, the educational outreach arm of the College of Agricultural Sciences, will continue to fulfill its mission during this unprecedented time, according to its statewide director, Brent Hales.
A biological technique used to suppress soilborne pests and pathogens already used in warmer climates, with some modifications, will work in Pennsylvania and other more northern locations, according to a team of researchers.
For residents of southeastern Pennsylvania, winter provides a brief respite from the spotted lanternfly, an insect invader that has impeded their warm-weather enjoyment for the past several years. But for scientists, extension specialists and government regulatory officials, putting a stop to the pest is a year-round endeavor.
Billions of locusts are tearing across East Africa, destroying crops and putting some 19 million people at risk of severe food insecurity. The United Nations has called for a rapid response to this food-security threat. Through a memorandum of understanding with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N., David Hughes, Penn State professor of entomology and biology and creator of PlantVillage, an initiative to empower farmers with agricultural knowledge and technologies, is answering this call.
The addition of 3-Nitrooxypropanol to the feed of dairy cows reduced their enteric methane emissions by about 25% in a recently published study — one in a series of Penn State studies of the investigational substance in the United States — which might be an early step toward it being approved for use in this country.
Flooding is the costliest natural disaster, according to environmental economist Katherine Zipp. Over the last 20 years, flooding has caused $500 billion in global damages. In that same time period, flooding in the U.S. caused $60 billion in damages, $45 billion of which has occurred in the past five years. Zipp is part of a team that is studying how floodplain damages affect long-term housing development in high flood-risk areas.
American households waste, on average, almost a third of the food they acquire, according to economists, who say this wasted food has an estimated aggregate value of $240 billion annually. Divided among the nearly 128.6 million U.S. households, this waste could be costing the average household about $1,866 per year.
A technology that uses dielectric heating and radio frequency energy to destroy destructive pests lurking within wood products is closer to reaching the marketplace after a recent commercial trial at Penn State’s University Park campus.
A novel composite film — created by the bonding of an antimicrobial layer to conventional, clear polyethylene plastic typically used to vacuum-package foods such as meat and fish — could help to decrease foodborne illness outbreaks, according to researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
If not contained, the spotted lanternfly potentially could drain Pennsylvania’s economy of at least $324 million annually and cause the loss of about 2,800 jobs, according to a study carried out by economists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
Ukraine is called the “breadbasket of Europe,” a moniker earned because of the fertile, black soils that blanket its landscape. As a longtime professor of environmental soil science in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Rick Stehouwer has studied this famed “chernozem” soil, knowledge he acquired through books, lectures and lab samples. He had the opportunity to expand his understanding and see the soil for himself thanks to a philanthropic program through the college’s Office of International Programs that paved the way for him to visit the Eastern European country this past July.
Conventional measures of innovation suggest that only big cities foster new ideas, but a more comprehensive measure developed at Penn State shows that innovation is widespread even in rural places not typically thought of as innovative. This “hidden” innovation brings economic benefits to businesses and communities, according to researchers, whose findings will help decision makers think in new ways about innovation and how they can support it.
Craft breweries may be fueling an unprecedented geographic expansion of hop production across the U.S., according to researchers at Penn State and the University of Toledo. Their findings suggest that as more craft breweries emerge around the country, so may new opportunities for farmers.
