Weeds that have become resistant to glyphosate -- the active ingredient in Round-Up herbicide -- are an evolving national threat. At least three glyphosate-resistant species are approaching Pennsylvania, necessitating new strategies for weed control, according to a Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences specialist.

The American Meteorological Society has honored two Penn Staterts -- John C. Wyngaard, professor emeritus of meteorology, and Anne M. Thompson, professor of meteorology -- with top awards.

Researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences are part of a $5.7 million, multi-state project to study the brown marmorated stink bug. The three-year project is aimed at developing economically and environmentally sustainable pest-management practices for the pest, which has caused millions of dollars worth of crop damage and become a major homeowner nuisance since it first was found in the United States, near Allentown, in the late 1990s. Penn State will receive nearly $900,000 of the grant to study stink bug biology and behavior, develop monitoring and management tools and practices, and provide extension education programs to disseminate new knowledge to crop producers.

Development of a database that will be able to track potential impacts of Marcellus Shale activity on water quality is the focus of a new $750,000 research collaboration led by Penn State researchers.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Marcellus Shale Research Network will consolidate and routinely update water data being collected by watershed groups, government agencies, industry stakeholders and universities as a searchable database. The project also will facilitate and train additional community groups in how to organize, collect and interpret water data.

Changes in the ratio of nitrate to phosphorus in the oceans off the coasts of Korea and Japan caused by atmospheric and riverine pollutants may influence marine ecology and the makeup of marine plants, according to researchers from Korea and the U.S.

Gypsy moth caterpillars infected with baculovirus forfeit safety and stay in the treetops during the day because a virus gene manipulates their hormones to eat continuously and forego molting, according to entomologists. The caterpillars die where they climb and infect other gypsy moth caterpillars. "Normally, gypsy moth caterpillars are active at night," said Kelli Hoover, professor of entomology, Penn State. "They hide during the day in the soil or bark crevices protected from birds. They climb up the foliage at night to feed."

The earthquake that shook University Park and the entire northeast yesterday afternoon (Aug. 23) was unusual in its strength but not an unusual event, according to a Penn State geophysicists. "It is unusual to have an earthquake of this size on the east coast, but it is not unusual to have earthquakes in this area," said Kevin P. Furlong, professor of geosciences at Penn State. "This is on the higher end of earthquakes in this area, but not unheard of."