Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europe's borders. Physically and geologically, Europe is a subcontinent or large peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia and west of Asia.

Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, and–according to the traditional geographic definition–to the southeast by the waterways adjoining the Mediterranean to and including the Black Sea, and the Caucasus Mountains (in Caucasia). Europe's eastern frontier is vague, but has traditionally been given as the divide of the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea to the southeast. The Urals are considered by most to be a geographical and tectonic landmark separating Asia from Europe.

Europe is the world's second-smallest continent in terms of area, covering about 10,390,000 square kilometres (4,010,000 sq mi) or 2.0% of the Earth's surface. The only continent smaller is Australia. In terms of population, it is the third-largest continent (Asia and Africa are larger) with a population of more than 710,000,000, or about 11% of the world's population.

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USDA Agricultural Research Service

Cold Plasma Eyed for Treating Pathogens
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:47:00 -0500
An experimental treatment that relies on cold plasma, which is created by introducing electricity into a gas until free electrons are liberated, may one day keep fresh produce like apples and almonds safe from potentially harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli. Photo courtesy of Paul Pierlott. Nonthermal food processing heats up   Pathogen studies could result in safer produce   With a good dunking, just-cut produce stays fresher longer Food Safety Developments Are in the Air By Laura McGinnis July 22, 2008 An experimental treatment from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) could one day help protect some fresh produce from potentially dangerous microbes such as Salmonella, Listeria and Escherichia coli O157:H7. The treatment relies on cold plasma, which is generated when some form of concentrated energy--in this case, electricity--is introduced into a gas until free electrons are torn from the gas's atoms. This plasma-forming process is related to the technology used to create plasma for computer chips. But in addition to increasing conductivity, the process of turning gas into plasma has an antimicrobial effect. The ARS researchers aren't the first to harness this technology for food safety purposes, but their method of production has the potential for increased efficiency and lower costs when applied at a larger scale. To make plasma, other food safety scientists use gas mixtures that include exotic gases like helium or argon, but the ARS team is using the cheapest gas mixture available: air. In addition to its economic benefits, air--unlike other gases--doesn't need to be confined to a closed chamber during plasma production. This means that at a pilot scale, this particular method of plasma treatment could be done continuously, on a conveyor belt, which would translate to better efficiency and increased cost savings. At the ARS Eastern Regional Research Center in Wyndmoor, Pa., microbiologist Brendan Niemira and engineer Joseph Sites--who are developing the process--exposed Golden Delicious apple samples to various microbial pathogens. Then they treated the samples with plasma. The scientists observed that any exposure to the plasma resulted in a significant reduction in pathogen numbers without harming the apples. Raising the air flow rate and length of exposure increased the antimicrobial activity. The research was conducted at a laboratory scale and is still in experimental stages. Future studies will include other types of produce and expand the scale of the plasma-creation process. This research was published in the July 2008 issue of the Journal of Food Protection. ARS is a scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Garden Microbe Foils Pathogen
Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:45:00 -0500
Read the magazine story to find out more. The benign microbe Enterobacter asburiae can interfere with the growth of the pathogenic bacterium E. coli O157:H7, which may offer a new avenue for protecting foods like salad greens. Click the image for more information about it. Spice-Rack favorites battle E. coli, other foodborne pathogens   Pathogen genes targeted in studies to protect salad veggies   Protecting romaine lettuce from pathogens Garden Microbe Foils E. coli O157:H7 in Laboratory Tests By Marcia Wood July 21 , 2008 A microbe that may be living peaceably on the beans and cucumbers in backyard gardens might someday be recruited to foil foodborne pathogens. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) geneticist Michael B. Cooley looked at the pathogen-fighting abilities of the farm- and garden-friendly microbe, Enterobacter asburiae, in studies begun in 2002. In his laboratory at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif., Cooley showed that E. asburiae can significantly reduce the levels of two pathogens--Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica. That happened when Cooley inoculated seeds of thale cress, a small plant often chosen for laboratory tests, with all three species of microbes. The study, published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology in 2003, led to follow-up experiments with green leaf lettuce. In that "battle of the microbes," another rather ordinary bacterium, Wausteria paucula, befriended E. coli and enhanced its survival six-fold on lettuce leaves. The finding represented the first clear example of a microbe's supporting a human pathogen on a plant, according to Cooley. Adding E. asburiae to the experiment again demonstrated this beneficial microbe's ability to suppress E. coli. When lettuce leaves were exposed to the three kinds of microbes, E. asburiae decreased E. coli survival 20- to 30-fold. Cooley, who documented those findings in the Journal of Food Protection in 2006, noted that the mechanisms underlying the competition between E. asburiae and E. coli are still a mystery. In particular, more remains to be learned about the competition that takes place--among the microbes--on leaves or other plant surfaces. In the meantime, E. asburiae shows initial promise for use as a biological control agent in science-based strategies to safen salad greens, Cooley reports. Read more about the research in the July 2008 issue of Agricultural Research magazine. ARS is a scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Exploring Earthworms
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:40:00 -0500
The right earthworms can make home septic systems work better. Photo courtesy of Flagstaffotos. Wormholes—yet another avenue for pollution?   ARS honors scientist for soil nitrogen research   A high-tech look at soil composition Role of Earthworms in Soil Explored By Don Comis July 18, 2008 The right earthworms can make home septic systems work better. The wrong ones could do the opposite. That’s the finding in a study of worm populations living in the soil near trenches receiving septic tank flow outside five single family homes in Arkansas. Carrie L. Hawkins of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville performed the study in collaboration with Agricultural Research Service (ARS) soil scientist Martin J. Shipitalo of the North Appalachian Experimental Watershed in Coshocton, Ohio. The scientists found that the worms were favoring the area near the trenches because they were feeding on the household wastes discharged in the trenches. They found fives species of earthworms. None of the species were deep-burrowers like nightcrawlers. Their burrowing near the surface actually helped the septic wastewater spread through the soil more evenly, resulting in better cleansing of the water. Had they been nightcrawlers, the worm burrows might have drained the trenches so fast that it would bypass the soil filtering. The results of this study will be published in the journal Applied Soil Ecology and are currently online. The earthworm study is part of a longstanding series of worm studies across the country by Shipitalo, ARS colleagues at Coshocton and elsewhere, and cooperating university scientists. This body of earthworm knowledge is one of many aspects of ARS research on soils that is incorporated into the Smithsonian Institution's Soil Exhibition, which opens on July 19 and ends December 31, 2010. The exhibition is at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and is called "Dig it! The Secrets of Soils." Ted Zobeck and Michael Russelle, at ARS labs in Texas and Minnesota, respectively, are state liaisons for the exhibit. ARS scientists at the National Soil Tilth Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, contributed heavily to the exhibition, as did the late Dennis Linden in Minnesota. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is a lead sponsor of the exhibition through the Soil Science Society of America. ARS is a scientific research agency of the USDA.

USDA - National Agricultural Statistics Service Reports

Chickens and Eggs
June Egg Production Down Slightly. Egg-Type Chicks Hatched Up 5 Percent. Broiler-Type Chicks Hatched Down Slightly....
Cold Storage
Highlights. Special Note....
Turkey Hatchery
Eggs in Incubators on July 1 Down 1 Percent from Last Year. Poults Hatched During June Down 2 Percent from Last Year. Net Poults Placed During June Down 2...
Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin
NASS releases Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin...
Broiler Hatchery
Broiler-Type Eggs Set In 19 Selected States Down 3 Percent. Broiler Chicks Placed Down 1 Percent....
Dairy Products Prices
Cheddar Cheese prices received for US 40 pound Blocks averaged $1.95 per pound for the week ending July 12....

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