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Bottom trawling is a non-selective commercial fishing technique whereby heavy nets and gear are pulled along the sea floor. The direct impact of this technique on fish populations and benthic communities has received much attention, but trawling can also modify the physical properties of seafloor sediments, water-sediment chemical exchanges and sediment fluxes. Most of the studies addressing the physical disturbances of trawl gear on the seabed have been undertaken in coastal and shelf environments, however, where the capacity of trawling to modify the seafloor morphology coexists with high-energy natural processes driving sediment erosion, transport and deposition. Here we show that on upper continental slopes, the reworking of the deep sea floor by trawling gradually modifies the shape of the submarine landscape over large spatial scales. We found that trawling-induced sediment displacement and removal from fishing grounds causes the morphology of the deep sea floor to become smoother over time, reducing its original complexity as shown by high-resolution seafloor relief maps. Our results suggest that in recent decades, following the industrialization of fishing fleets, bottom trawling has become an important driver of deep seascape evolution. Given the global dimension of this type of fishery, we anticipate that the morphology of the upper continental slope in many parts of the world's oceans could be altered by intensive bottom trawling, producing comparable effects on the deep sea floor to those generated by agricultural ploughing on land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the aims of scientists to use the terra peta or the dark loam in the Amazon River Region for the industries of carbon sequestrations and biofuels. They want to follow what the green revolution did for the developing world's plants with a black revolution for the world's soils. A process will be undertaken that is the only way to make a fuel that is carbon negative.

The article focuses on the innovation policy and the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), authorized by the U.S. National Nanotechnology Research and Developmental Act of 2003. It states that the said Initiative is authorized to coordinate about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in research across some two dozen agencies. In revision before Congress, the act highlights commercialization for international competitiveness as a driving rational on one hand, while requiring research into societal effects on the other. It mentions that the NNI has funded research to develop "anticipatory governance," which works by righting three unspoken and ill-formed premises that support these contradictions.

The article discusses several issues related to industrial developments. Rensselaer Polytechnic graduates Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre have invented the organic household insulation tiles that use mushroom as the key element. French defense experts warned senior government staff not to use hand held electronic mail devices because they are susceptible to spies. The average intelligence quotient (IQ) score of adults who were born first among their siblings is 103.

Reports on the decrease in research and development (R&D) spending of all advanced industrialized nations caused by the economic recession. Figures released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.