ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Monday, September 29, 2008
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Tourism on Antarctica Threatening South Pole Environment; Solution Offered (September 29, 2008) -- Tourism on Antarctica is increasing and that can form a threat for the vulnerable South Pole area. New research provides a possible solution: market the visitor rights to the highest bidder. ... > full story
Acoustic Communication In Deep-sea Fish (September 29, 2008) -- Scientists studying sound production in deep-sea fishes has found that cusk-eels use several sets of muscles to produce sound that plays a prominent role in male mating calls. ... > full story
When Leaves Fall, More Is Occurring Than A Change Of Weather (September 29, 2008) -- Researchers have uncovered the genetic pathway that controls abscission in the plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. The ability to control abscission in plants is of special interest to those in the commercial fruit tree and cut flower industries, which rely heavily on abscission-promoting or inhibiting agents to regulate fruit quality and pre-harvest fruit drop. ... > full story
Don't Blame Cities For Climate Change, See Them As Solutions, New Study Says (September 29, 2008) -- Cities are being unfairly blamed for most of humanity's greenhouse gas emissions and this threatens efforts to tackle climate change, warns a new study. ... > full story
Seabird Ammonia Emissions Contribute To Atmospheric Acidity (September 28, 2008) -- Ammonia emissions from seabirds have been shown to be a significant source of nitrogen in remote coastal ecosystems, contributing to nutrient enrichment (eutrophication) and acidification in ecosystems. ... > full story
Global Carbon Emissions Speed Up, Beyond IPCC Projections (September 28, 2008) -- The Global Carbon Project posted the most recent figures for the worlds' carbon budget, a key to understanding the balance of carbon added to the atmosphere, the underpinning of human induced climate change. Despite the increasing international sense of urgency, the growth rate of emissions continued to speed up, bringing the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to 383 parts per million in 2007. Emissions growth for 2000-2007 was above even the most fossil fuel intensive scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. ... > full story
Arctic Saw Fastest August Sea Ice Retreat On Record, NASA Data Show (September 28, 2008) -- Following a record-breaking season of arctic sea ice decline in 2007, NASA scientists have kept a close watch on the 2008 melt season. Although the melt season did not break the record for ice loss, NASA data are showing that for a four-week period in August 2008, sea ice melted faster during that period than ever before. ... > full story
Effect Of Climate Change On Animal Diversity (September 28, 2008) -- Two species of giraffe, several rhinos and five elephant relatives, along with multitudes of rodents, bush pigs, horses, antelope and apes, once inhabited what is now northern Pakistan. ... > full story
Bees Can Mediate Escape Of Genetically Engineered Material Over Several Kilometers (September 27, 2008) -- Bees have the potential to mediate the escape of transgenes (genetically engineered material) from crops to their wild relatives over several kilometers. The findings bear significant implications for the introduction of genetically modified crops in Africa. ... > full story
Mother Of A Goose! Giant Ocean-going Geese With Bony-teeth Once Roamed Across SE England (September 27, 2008) -- A 50 million year old skull reveals that huge birds with a 5 meter wingspan once skimmed across the waters that covered what is now London, Essex and Kent. These giant ocean-going relatives of ducks and geese also had a rather bizarre attribute for a bird: their beaks were lined with bony-teeth. ... > full story
From One Laying To Another, The Female Collembolan Adapts Its Eggs To Environmental Constraints (September 27, 2008) -- Reproductive plasticity -- the ability of individuals to modify their reproduction and the characteristics of their progeny according to environmental or social conditions -- is a crucial factor in the demographics of animal populations, including man. Scientists have now demonstrated the adaptive nature of the reproductive behavior of certain arthropods from one laying to another, in the same female. ... > full story
Captive Breeding Introduced Infectious Disease To Mallorcan Amphibians (September 27, 2008) -- A potentially deadly fungus that can kill frogs and toads was inadvertently introduced into Mallorca by a captive breeding program that was reintroducing a rare species of toad into the wild, according to a new study in the journal Current Biology. ... > full story
Want Better Mileage? Simple Device Which Uses Electrical Field Could Boost Gas Efficiency Up To 20% (September 26, 2008) -- A simple device which attaches to a vehicles fuel line near the fuel injector and creates an electrical field could boost gas efficiency as much as 20 percent. ... > full story
Animals Farmed For Meat Are The No. 1 Source Of Food Poisoning Bug, Study Shows (September 26, 2008) -- A study, based on DNA-sequence comparison of thousands of bacterial samples collected from human patients and animal carriers, found that 97 percent of campylobacteriosis cases sampled in Lancashire, UK, were caused by bacteria typically found in chicken and livestock. ... > full story
Australian Frog Species Chooses Not To Put Eggs In One Basket (September 26, 2008) -- A new study into the mating and nesting practices of a common Australian frog has found they partner up to eight males sequentially -- the highest recorded of any vertebrate. ... > full story
New More Efficient Ways To Use Biomass (September 26, 2008) -- Researchers have developed a new catalyst that directly converts cellulose, the most common form of biomass, into ethylene glycol, an important intermediate product for chemical industry. ... > full story
Earth's Magnetic Field Reversals Illuminated By Lava Flows Study (September 26, 2008) -- Earth's north magnetic pole is shifting and weakening. Ancient lava flows are guiding a better understanding of what generates and controls the Earth's magnetic field -- and what may drive it to occasionally reverse direction. Current evidence suggests we are now approaching a transitional state because the main magnetic field is relatively weak and rapidly decreasing, researchers say. While the last polarity reversal occurred several hundred thousand years ago, the next might come within only a few thousand years. ... > full story
Scientists Unmask Key HIV Protein, Open Door For More Powerful AIDS Drugs (September 26, 2008) -- Scientists have provided the most detailed picture yet of a key HIV accessory protein that foils the body's normal immune response. Based on the findings, the team is searching for new drugs that may someday allow infected people to be cured and no longer need today's AIDS drugs for a lifetime. ... > full story
Photonic Crystal Biosensors Detect Protein-DNA Interactions (September 26, 2008) -- Scientists have developed a new class of disposable, microplate-based optical biosensors capable of detecting protein-DNA interactions. Based on the properties of photonic crystals, the biosensors are suitable for the rapid identification of inhibitors of protein-nucleic acid and protein-protein interactions. ... > full story
Pigs Bred With Cystic Fibrosis Provide Model To Mimic Human Disease (September 26, 2008) -- Cystic fibrosis continues to be a lethal disease for humans despite the identification of the problematic gene two decades ago. Many humans born with CF -- the most common genetic disease in Caucasians -- often die because of a lung disease developed later. Scientists have been unable to develop an animal model that develops the fatal lung disease. Now, one researcher is producing pigs born with cystic fibrosis that mimic the exact symptoms of a newborn with CF. ... > full story
100-year-old Engineering Problem Solved: Insights On Fluid Flow Could Impact Fuel Efficiency (September 26, 2008) -- As a car accelerates up and down a hill then slows to follow a hairpin turn, the airflow around it cannot keep up and detaches from the vehicle. This aerodynamic separation creates additional drag that slows the car and forces the engine to work harder. The same phenomenon affects airplanes, boats, submarines, and even your golf ball. ... > full story
Oldest Known Rocks On Earth Discovered: 4.28 Billion Years Old (September 26, 2008) -- The discovery of rocks as old as 4.28 billion years pushes back age of most ancient remnant of Earth's crust by 300 million years. Researchers have discovered the oldest rocks on Earth -- a discovery which sheds more light on our planet's mysterious beginnings. These rocks, known as "faux-amphibolites," may be remnants of a portion of Earth's primordial crust -- the first crust that formed at the surface of our planet. ... > full story
Bats Pick Up Rustling Sounds Against Highway Background Noise (September 26, 2008) -- When bats go hunting by listening for faint rustling sounds made by their quarry on a quiet night they don't have any problems. But what happens when a bat goes foraging next to a noisy highway? Can they still hear the faint sounds? ... > full story
Differences Between People And Animals On Calorie Restriction (September 26, 2008) -- Calorie restriction, a diet that is low in calories and high in nutrition, may not be as effective at extending life in people as it is in rodents, according to scientists. ... > full story
Puzzling Property Of Night-shining Clouds At Edge Of Space Explained (September 26, 2008) -- An explanation for a strange property of noctilucent clouds -- thin, wispy clouds hovering at the edge of space at 85 km altitude -- has been proposed by an experimental plasma physicist, possibly laying to rest a decades-long mystery. ... > full story
Are Fires More Important Than Rain For The Savannah Ecosystem? (September 26, 2008) -- Natural grass fires are evidently more important for the ecology of savannahs than has previously been assumed. This is the finding of a study carried out in Etosha National Park in the north of Namibia. It is the first study to have investigated the complex interplay of the factors fire, competition, moisture and seed availability in relation to a grass species. ... > full story
New Protein Encyclopedia Looks At Life As It Is Organized In Body, At Molecular Level (September 26, 2008) -- This new protein encyclopedia looks at life as it is really organized in our body at the molecular level. ... > full story
Growing Up Too Fast May Mean Dying Young In Honey Bees (September 26, 2008) -- New study shows that transitions to aerobically-expensive behaviors in organisms living free in nature can have important consequences affecting the pace of aging. ... > full story
Myanmar After Cyclone Nargis (September 26, 2008) -- Improved agricultural productivity can help developing countries reduce their reliance on international emergency food relief following natural disasters. ... > full story
Plants In Forest Emit Aspirin Chemical To Deal With Stress; Discovery May Help Agriculture (September 25, 2008) -- Plants in a forest respond to stress by producing a chemical form of aspirin, scientists have discovered. The finding opens up new avenues of research into the behavior of plants, and it has the potential to give farmers an early warning signal about crops that are failing. ... > full story
New Technology Paves The Way For Future Of Identifying Proteins Inside Cells (September 25, 2008) -- A new technology enables scientists to identify proteins by making a map of the energy flow inside the protein. ... > full story
NASA Identifies Carbon-rich Molecules In Meteors As The ‘Origin Of Life’ (September 25, 2008) -- Tons, perhaps tens of tons, of carbon molecules in dust particles and meteorites fall on Earth daily. Meteorites are especially valuable to astronomers because they provide relatively big chunks of carbon molecules that are easily analyzed in the laboratory. In the past few years, researchers have noticed that most meteorite carbon are molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are very stable compounds and are survivors. ... > full story
America's Smallest Dinosaur Uncovered (September 25, 2008) -- An unusual breed of dinosaur that was the size of a chicken, ran on two legs and scoured the ancient forest floor for termites is the smallest dinosaur species found in North America, according to a researcher who analyzed bones found during the excavation of an ancient bone bed near Red Deer, Alberta, in 2002. ... > full story
Study Merges Decade Of Arctic Data As Ice Collapses Into The Sea (September 25, 2008) -- The Markham Ice Shelf, a massive 19-square-mile platform of ice, broke away from Ellesmere Island in early August and is adrift in the Arctic Ocean. More than half of the nearby Serson Ice Shelf -- about 47 square miles -- also recently broke away into the sea. ... > full story
Serious Disease In Pet Lizards Caused By New Bacteria (September 25, 2008) -- Skin infections are common in pet lizards and can lead to fatal organ disease and septicaemia. The cause of these diseases has been unclear but now researchers in Belgium have discovered a new bacterium responsible for dermatitis in desert lizards. According to newly published research, the discovery could help control the disease and protect endangered species. ... > full story
'Chemical Equator' Discovery Will Aid Pollution Mapping (September 25, 2008) -- Scientists have discovered a 'chemical equator' that divides the polluted air of the Northern Hemisphere from the largely uncontaminated atmosphere of the Southern hemisphere. Researchers found evidence for an atmospheric chemical equator around 50 km wide in cloudless skies in the Western Pacific. Their findings show for the first time that the chemical and meteorological boundaries between the two air masses are not necessarily the same. ... > full story
Severe Climate Change Costs Forecast For Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, North Dakota, And Other U.S. States (September 25, 2008) -- The economic impact of climate change will cost a number of US states billions of dollars, and delaying action will raise the price tag, concludes the latest series of reports produced by the University of Maryland's Center for Integrative Environmental Research. The new reports project specific long-term direct and ripple economic effects on North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. In most cases, the price tag could run into billions of dollars. ... > full story
New European Record Efficiency For Solar Cells Achieved: 39.7% (September 25, 2008) -- At 39.7% efficiency for a multi-junction solar cell, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems have exceeded their own European record of 37.6% which they achieved just a short time ago. III-V semiconductor multi-junction solar cells are used in photovoltaic concentrator technology for solar power stations. ... > full story
Impact Of Beetle Kill On Rocky Mountain Weather, Air Quality (September 25, 2008) -- By killing large swaths of forests in the Rocky Mountains, mountain pine beetles may be altering local weather patterns and air quality. Scientists are exploring how the loss of trees and other vegetation influences rainfall, temperatures, smog, and other aspects of the atmosphere. ... > full story
Ocean Floor Geysers Warm Flowing Sea Water (September 25, 2008) -- Earth scientists have reported movement of warmed sea water through the flat, Pacific Ocean floor off Costa Rica. The movement is greater than that off midocean volcanic ridges. The finding suggests possible marine life in a part of the ocean once considered barren. ... > full story
Caffeine Experts Call For Warning Labels For Energy Drinks (September 25, 2008) -- Scientists who have spent decades researching the effects of caffeine report that a slew of caffeinated energy drinks now on the market should carry prominent labels that note caffeine doses and warn of potential health risks for consumers. ... > full story
Essential Gene For Forming Ears Of Corn Discovered (September 25, 2008) -- Plant geneticists have identified a gene called sparse inflorescence1, or spi1, that is essential in controlling development of the maize plant. It is involved in the synthesis of the growth hormone auxin, which among other things helps to shape structures such as leaves or the female organs (ears) and male organs (tassels) of corn. ... > full story
Genome Of One Of World's Most Common And Destructive Plant Parasites Sequenced (September 25, 2008) -- Scientists have completed the genome sequence and genetic map of one of the world's most common and destructive plant parasites -- Meloidogyne hapla, a microscopic, soil-dwelling worm known more commonly as the northern root-knot nematode. ... > full story
World’s Largest Tsunami Debris Discovered (September 25, 2008) -- A line of massive boulders on the western shore of Tonga may be evidence of the most powerful volcano-triggered tsunami found to date. Up to 9 meters (30 feet) high and weighing up to 1.6 million kilograms (3.5 million pounds), the seven coral boulders are located 100 to 400 meters (300 to 1,300 feet) from the coast. ... > full story
Old Growth Forest Must No Longer Be Ignored In Carbon Balances (September 25, 2008) -- Ancient forests, which accumulate large quantities of carbon over the centuries, should be taken into account in global carbon balance assessments. However, such old growth forests were not included in the Kyoto protocol. ... > full story
European Research Effort Tackles Dangerous Mould (September 24, 2008) -- Ubiquitous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus poses an increasing threat to patients with compromised immune systems. The European Science Foundation has launched a new Research Networking Programme, FUMINOMICS, to study the basic genetic and molecular mechanisms employed by the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus when infecting host cells. ... > full story
What Is The Best Strategy For Treating Helicobacter Pylori? (September 24, 2008) -- The best treatment for Helicobacter pylori is not yet established. The organism is becoming resistant to some of the treatments. This study compared the standard three drug treatment with a four drug treatment in a rural hospital in UK. They concluded that four drugs remain the best option for white Caucasians in rural UK, except for some the side effects. ... > full story
Lack Of Large-scale Experiments Slows Progress Of Environmental Restoration (September 24, 2008) -- A new study finds that environmental restoration research using large experimental tests has been limited. The study maintains that for restoration to progress as a science and a practice, more research should be done on whole ecosystems with large experiments. ... > full story
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