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This study focused on finding more sustainable growing methods that reduce chemical fertilizer or water usage and can be used at the household level for garden plants. Metrics for healthy plant growth were height at first bloom, growing time, and survival rate. The Deep Water Culture (DWC) treatment for garden cress plants significantly increased the height at first bloom compared to the control group. For rates of surviving plants, the treatments had little effect on garden cress, but the Eggshell Grounds, Wick System, and DWC system groups outperformed the control group for marigolds.

In a world where water shortage is becoming an increasing concern, and where population increase seems inevitable, food shortage is an overwhelming concern for many. In this paper, the authors aim to characterize a drought-resistant strain of A. thaliana, investigating the cause for its water resistance. These and similar studies help us learn how plants could be engineered to improve their ability to flourish in a changing climate.

These authors mathematically deduce a model that explains the interesting (and unintuitive) physical phenomenon that occurs when water falls.

There are complex interactions between water and outside forces such as magnetic fields. This study aims to examine the effects of magnetic forces on the flow rate of water. The alteration of flow rate by magnets could have exciting applications in many fields.

Here, the authors sought to investigate the effects of water current on the growth of colonies of duckweed, a floating plant that forms colonies in silent ponds, marshes, lakes , and streams in North America. They found that current flow mediates the formation of colonies, disrupting and recreating the colonies which provides the opportunity for reorganizations that were identified as beneficial.

In this study, the authors were interested in developing a hydrophobic surface that will extend the lifespan of metals by reducing water exposure and other damage. The used a zinc coating on steel to pursue this effort.

Catalase is a biocatalyst used to break down toxic hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen in industries such as cheese and textiles. Improving the efficiency of catalase would help us to make some industrial products, such as cheese, less expensively. The best way to maintain catalase’s conformation, and thus enhance its activity, is to immobilize it. The primary goal of this study was to find a new way of immobilizing catalase.

In the age of global warming, these authors studied which of the four major greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide) change the most with increased temperature.

Catalase is a critical enzyme in the human body because it is capable of converting potentially dangerous hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. This work asks whether ethanol affects catalase activity, as alcohol consumption has been often linked to hepatitis occurring in the liver, where catalase level is especially high, and ethanol is known to be capable of denaturing proteins. Testing different concentrations of ethanol found that higher concentrations reduced the activity of catalase. This work has important implications on the negative effects of ethanol on metabolism, in which catalase plays an important role, and protein function more broadly.

Here the authors test the ability of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis to degrade the polyethylene from plastic waste in various aquatic environments. They determined that degradation can occur among all samples while it was the highest in fresh water and lowest in ocean water.