050 - NatSci News Rewind August 2023 Transcript

You're listening to NatSci News Rewind a podcast that counts down the monthly news headlines in the world of NatSci. Let's take a look back at the news for August 2023.

Number 5:
Kicking off the news this month - Ask the expert: Don’t miss the Perseid meteor shower
Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium and a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University, explains why the Perseid meteor shower is a great opportunity to see an object from space closer than usual — at a safe distance and with your naked eye. 

Number 4: 
Researchers reveal biological pathway that could be targeted to breed more resilient crops 
Michigan State University plant biologists have made a discovery that could help turn a natural off switch in plant cells into an "on switch" that helps crops better survive the challenges presented by climate change. At its core, though, this is a fundamental finding, shared in the journal Nature Plants, that has implications across biology for how organisms respond to stress linked to overproduction of proteins by the cell.

Number 3:
Coming in at number 3 - MSU research suggests natural selection could slow evolution
Natural selection is usually understood in the context of change. When organisms deviate from the norm, they may gain advantages that let their lineages outlast those of their less-adaptable relatives. But new research from Michigan State University suggests that natural selection also has the power to keep things the same. MSU plant biologist Jeff Conner and his team have published a new report in the journal New Phytologist that expands science’s understanding of natural selection in the face of another evolutionary mechanism called genetic constraint.

Number 2: 
Spartans help make a surprising discovery about the sun 
MSU physicists were part of an international collaboration that has discovered the highest-energy light coming from the sun. Their results, recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters, detail the discovery. The team, who conducted their work at the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory, or HAWC, also found that this type of light, known as gamma rays, is surprisingly bright. 
 
Number 1:  
And our top news story for the month - Irrigating more U.S. crops by mid-century will be worth the investment
In a new study, Michigan State University landscape hydrologist Anthony Kendall and his colleagues found that, by the middle of the 21st century under a moderate greenhouse gas emissions scenario, the benefits of expanded irrigation will outweigh the costs of installation and operation over an extended portion of current U.S. croplands. With climate change projections showing higher temperatures, increased drought conditions, and shifting precipitation patterns, irrigating more crops in the United States will be critical to sustaining future yields. The findings were recently published in Communications Earth & Environment, an open-access journal from Nature Portfolio.

And that will wrap up the rewind for the month of August 2023. To read more about these stories, head on over to our website at natsci.msu.edu/news. You can also stay up to date by following us on social. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook and X @msunatsci. Thanks for tuning in and be sure to check us out next month.