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Alfalfa's Bright Prospects
Biofuel, plastics, and livestock feed are among the many potential uses for new, cross-bred varieties of alfalfa. Using funds earmarked for bioenergy projects, agricultural researchers are crossing thick-stemmed European alfalfa with modern varieties developed for dairy feed, creating a variety that can be used for both feed and fuel. Researchers also hope to transform alfalfa so that it can be used to manufacture biodegradable plastic. In addition, they've have identified genes that enhance alfalfa's ability to absorb nitrogen in the soil--a trait that could give the new varieties a vital role in preventing water pollution by fertilizers.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Room 1-2250, Beltsville, Maryland 20705. Web site www.ars.usda.gov.

Virtual Meditation
Virtual reality may soon be helping people to meditate. A new meditation chamber created at Georgia Institute of Technology features a 15-minute VR experience with muscle-relaxation exercises and scenes of sunsets and moonrises. The chamber has monitors for respiration, pulse, and sweat gland activity to measure calmness and provide real-time biofeedback on the effectiveness of the virtual meditation experience. The project is intended to assist would-be meditators who do not find it easy to visualize relaxing images in their heads.
Source: Georgia Tech, Research News and Publications Office, 430 Tenth Street, N.W., Suite N-116, Atlanta, Georgia 30318. Web site gtresearchnews.gatech.edu.

Faster Hovercraft for Seaways
A swift new hovercraft promises improved short-range transportation along coasts, between islands, and in deltas and estuaries. The Hoverwing, developed by joint German companies Fischer Flugmechanic and AFD Airfoil Development GmbH, skims the sea at speeds of 90 knots, offering an efficient transportation alternative for the world's 300 million people living in coastal and island areas where heavy investment in roads, railways, airports, and bridges is not feasible. In addition to ferrying civilians, the Hoverwing could be used in search and rescue operations, transporting troops and weaponry, monitoring the environment, or chasing down drug runners and pirates.
Source: Fischer-Flugmechanik, Kickenstr. 88, 47877 Willich, Germany. For more information, contact Graham Taylor, Hypercraft Associates, 102 Garratts Way, High Wycombe, Bucks HP13 5XT, United Kingdom. E-mail home.taylor@virgin.net.

TV Literacy Program
Improving children's understanding of television violence may lessen its impacts more effectively than trying to change their viewing habits. Researchers Sharon and Larry Rosenkoetter at Oregon State University are developing a TV literacy program for children in the early grades that helps them critically analyze what they are seeing on television so that they can make wiser viewing choices. The researchers turned kids into "television detectives" assigned to identify appropriate and inappropriate activities and logical and illogical consequences in TV programs. For example, when a cartoon character falls off a 20-story building and bounces right back up again, the kids shout, "That's bogus!" After the first year of the program, the Rosenkoetters found that girls dramatically reduced their viewing of violent programming after the TV literacy lessons. Boys still watched violence-packed programs, but their reported violence and aggression dropped significantly.
Source: Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331. Web site oregonstate.edu.

Clothes Freshener
Your favorite outfit's not really dirty--just a bit wrinkled and not exactly, well, fresh. Why take it to the dry cleaner? A new Personal Valet system from Whirlpool is an appliance that removes wrinkles and odors for up to three items of clothing in about a half an hour. Though not a substitute for dry cleaning, since the process does not attack stains, it could extend clothes' wearability between cleanings and may be used on a variety of dry-clean-only fabrics, including silk, wool, leather, and even sequins and beads. The appliance could become as ubiquitous in future homes as microwave ovens, Whirlpool predicts, and also has a potential place in hotels, offices, and airports.
Source: Whirlpool Corporation, 2000 North M-63, Benton Harbor, Michigan 49002. Web sites www.whirlpoolcorp.com and www.personalvalet.com.

 

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