Producing better wine by taking the stress off yeast

October 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The first demonstration of a renewable method for hydrogen production from wastewater using a microbial electrolysis system is underway at the Napa Wine Company in Oakville, US. The refrigerator-sized hydrogen generator will take winery wastewater, and using bacteria and a small amount of electrical energy, convert the organic material into hydrogen, according to a Penn State environmental engineer.

October 5th, 2009 LONDON - Taking a step closer towards a wonder pill that could extend people's lifespan by up to 25 years, scientists have claimed that over half of babies born in the new future in the UK and other wealthy nations will live to 100 years. The drug, touted as the "elixir of life" drug, works by using a molecule called spermidine, which helps to protect the body against damaging chemicals known as free radicals.

October 5th, 2009 NICOSIA - The survey of a Roman shipwreck dating back to the 2nd century AD has revealed the presence of over 130 ceramic jars, likely to have been carrying wine or oil, which indicates that the Romans may have liked French wine. According to a report in Cyprus Mail, the survey of the Roman shipwreck near Cape Greco on the Island's southeast coast, has been done by the Department of Antiquities in Cyprus.

September 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - By-products of red wine production could now be turned into a powder for use in everything from yoghurt and chocolates to creams and face masks, thanks to a new method invented by German and Spanish researchers. Project E! 4008 PROVINO came into being after a conversation over a glass of wine made Bernd Diehl- the 48-year-old co-owner of a German chemical analysis company called Spectral Service- think of a method to preserve the good by-products of wine.

August 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A Florida man who sent an e-mail to the US Army Recruiting Command in November to kill president-elect Barack Obama pleaded guilty to threat charges in a court in Tampa Wednesday. He faces up to five years behind bars in federal jail.

July 26th, 2009 LONDON - Move over sex toys and tantric art, a glass or two of red wine are more than enough to increase a woman's libido, say researchers. As for the reason: Italian doctors, who carried out the study, claim that chemical compounds found in red wine may boost sexual functioning by increasing blood flow to key areas of the body, The Telegraph reported.

June 28th, 2009 LONDON - Researchers in France have found a way to identify wine so accurately they can pinpoint where the drink was made and in which barrel it was fermented. It uses an electronic nose to make even the most well established sommelier a little nervous.

June 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - University of Nottingham researchers say that the anti-malarial drug quinine has the potential to block a cell's ability to take up the essential amino acid tryptophan, and this could explain many of the adverse side-effects associated with the drug. The findings could mean that dietary tryptophan supplements could be a simple and inexpensive way to improve the performance of this important drug.

June 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are changing the world's food culture, says food and wine expert Ted Allen. Allen, 44, had been the food and wine expert on Bravo's "Queer Eye", and he now hosts two programs on the Food Network, "Chopped" and "Food Detectives".

June 9th, 2009 LONDON - The bad taste in stored wine, known as the "ladybug taint", would soon be a thing of the past, all thanks to a newly developed way of packaging the spirit-cartons sealed with a thin layer of aluminium. "Ladybug taint" is caused by chemicals called alkyl-methoxypyrazines that accumulate in wine both from grapes themselves and from remains of ladybug beetles crushed when grapes are processed.

May 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists in California, US, are reporting the use of a new bioprocess that could help pave the way for producing biofuels from agricultural waste, easing concerns about stress on the global food supply from using corn and other food crops. The bioprocess involves a first-of-its-kind approach to craft genetically engineered microbes with the much-sought ability to transform switchgrass, corn cobs, and other organic materials into methyl halides - the raw material for making gasoline and a host of other commercially important products.

April 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Stress and worries, stemming from extreme insecurity about our jobs and future prospects, could affect our ability to take financial decisions, a study has suggested. The study, conducted by psychologists Anthony J.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a new energy-making biochemical twist that can boost the lifespan of yeast cells, and can even do the same for humans. The findings have revealed that making glucose is highly influenced by a large enzyme complex already known to fix damaged DNA, and which apparently affects yeast life span through a common chemical process-acetylation.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers studying a hydrogen-producing, single-celled green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, have unmasked a previously unknown fermentation pathway that may open up possibilities for increasing hydrogen production. C. reinhartii, a common inhabitant of soils, naturally produces small quantities of hydrogen when deprived of oxygen.

March 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Enrique Iglesias will keep his distance from British alcohol after a traditional Christmas drink left him with diarrhoea. The singer revealed that he was left red-faced after trying mulled wine, a heated and spiced red drink, for the first time during his visit in the U.K.