ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Tuesday, October 7, 2008
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Key To Rapid Evolution In Plants: Reproduce Early And Often (October 7, 2008) -- Researchers have harnessed the power of 21st century computing to confirm an idea first proposed in 1916 -- that plants with rapid reproductive cycles evolve faster. ... > full story
Sequencing Thousand And One Genomes (October 7, 2008) -- Researchers report the simultaneous completion of the first genomes of wild Arabidopsis thaliana strains as part of the 1001 Genomes Project. ... > full story
Landmark Discovery Of 'Engine' That Drives Cell Movement (October 7, 2008) -- How a cell assembles its internal machinery required for cell movement has been revealed for the first time. The discovery is fundamental to the understanding of how a cell responds to its external environment. ... > full story
New Self-training Gene Prediction Program For Fungi Developed (October 7, 2008) -- Researchers have developed a computer program that trains itself to predict genes in the DNA sequences of fungi. The software will be freely available for academic researchers. ... > full story
Nitrogen Fertilizers Used Off-Season Help Crops Planted Later (October 7, 2008) -- Recent study results have shown have shown that using nitrogen fertilizer on off-season cover crops can not only increase the biomass of these crops, but can also have a beneficial effect on the nitrogen levels in the soil for the cash crop planted during the summer season. The results could significantly aid in preventing soil erosion in vulnerable agricultural regions. ... > full story
U.S. Navy Sonar Linked To Whale Strandings, Environmental Scientists Argue (October 6, 2008) -- With the U.S. Supreme Court due to review a series of lower court rulings that restrict the Navy's use of sonar in submarine detection training exercises off the coast of Southern California, George Mason University professor Chris Parsons discusses the links between mass strandings and military exercises worldwide in a paper in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. ... > full story
Most Alaskan Glaciers Retreating, Thinning, Or Stagnating (October 6, 2008) -- Most glaciers in every mountain range and island group in Alaska are experiencing significant retreat, thinning or stagnation, especially glaciers at lower elevations, according to U.S. Geological Survey research. ... > full story
Nearly One In Four Of World’s Mammals At Risk Of Disappearing Forever (October 6, 2008) -- The most comprehensive assessment of the world's mammals has confirmed an extinction crisis, with almost one in four at risk of disappearing forever, according to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ... > full story
Egalitarian Revolution In The Pleistocene? (October 6, 2008) -- Although anthropologists and evolutionary biologists are still debating this question, a new study supports the view that the first egalitarian societies may have appeared tens of thousands of years before the French Revolution, Marx and Lenin. ... > full story
Smoking And Solid Fuel Use In Homes In China Projected To Cause Millions Of Deaths (October 6, 2008) -- If current levels of smoking and biomass and coal fuel use in homes continues, between 2003 and 2033 there will be an estimated 65 million deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 18 million deaths from lung cancer in China, accounting for 19 percent and 5 percent of all deaths in that country during this period. ... > full story
Field Of The Future: Ecological Experiment Simulates Conditions In 2100 (October 6, 2008) -- A new experiment to find out how British plant ecosystems may be affected by future changes to climate and biodiversity is underway at Imperial College London. ... > full story
Earliest Animal Footprints Ever Found Show Animals Walking 30 Million Years Earlier Than Previously Thought (October 6, 2008) -- The fossilized trail of an aquatic creature suggests that animals walked using legs at least 30 million years earlier than had been thought. The tracks -- two parallel rows of small dots, each about 2 millimeters in diameter -- date back some 570 million years, to the Ediacaran period. ... > full story
Disinfectants Can Make Bacteria Resistant To Treatment (October 6, 2008) -- Chemicals used in the environment to kill bacteria could be making them stronger, according to a paper published in the journal Microbiology. Low levels of these chemicals, called biocides, can make the potentially lethal bacterium Staphylococcus aureus remove toxic chemicals from the cell even more efficiently, potentially making it resistant to being killed by some antibiotics. ... > full story
Genetic Damage In Minibacteria In Aphids And Ants Repaired By Faulty Copying (October 6, 2008) -- Aphids (plant lice) and ants carry minibacteria that produce essential amino acids and vitamins. These minibacteria have very limited genetic material and many broken genes. Now, researchers have found that repeated errors in the conversion of DNA to protein save the function of the damaged genes. ... > full story
Galloping And Breathing At High Speed (October 6, 2008) -- A team of researchers has been working to unlock the secrets of equines. Their findings may lead to better muscular horse health and a new approach to breathing devices for people. ... > full story
Type Of Plankton -- Food Source For Many Fish -- Has Ability To Survive Climate Change (October 6, 2008) -- Researchers have found that the main source of food for many fish -- including cod -- in the North Atlantic appears to adapt in order to survive climate change. Billions of Calanus finmarchicus, a plankton species, which are just a few millimeters in size, live in the waters of the North Atlantic where the research was carried out. ... > full story
Gene Expression In Alligators Suggests Birds Have 'Thumbs' (October 6, 2008) -- The latest breakthrough in a 120 year-old debate on the evolution of the bird wing was just published. Bird wings only have three fingers, having evolved from remote ancestors that, like humans and most reptiles, had five fingers. Biologists have typically used embryology to identify the evolutionary origin (homology) of structures; the three fingers of the bird wing develop from cartilage condensations that are found in the same positions in the embryo as fingers two, three and four of humans (the index, middle and ring fingers). However, the morphology of the fingers of early birds such as Archaeopteryx corresponds to that of fingers one, two and three in other reptiles (thumb, index and middle finger). ... > full story
100 Years Of Ammonia Synthesis: How A Single Patent Changed The World (October 6, 2008) -- Now it is time to invent sustainable solutions to avoid environmental damage. As a result of the Haber-Bosch process for the synthesis of ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen, billions of people have been fed, millions have died in armed conflict and a cascade of environmental changes has been set in motion, suggests a new article. ... > full story
Singing To Females Makes Male Birds' Brains Happy (October 6, 2008) -- The melodious singing of birds has been long appreciated by humans, and has often been thought to reflect a particularly positive emotional state of the singer. Researchers in Japan have now demonstrated that this can be true. When male birds sang to attract females, specific "reward" areas of their brain were strongly activated. ... > full story
Bring On The Pak Choi: Consumers Interested In Trying More Asian Vegetables (October 6, 2008) -- Asian vegetables, a diverse group of specialty vegetables grown and consumed throughout Asia, are becoming an integral part of the American diet. To gauge their familiarity with a range of Asian vegetables, consumers were asked to complete a written survey as they entered two fruit and vegetable markets in Belleville, Ill., on busy Saturday mornings. ... > full story
Pterodactyl-inspired Robot To Master Air, Ground And Sea (October 5, 2008) -- Scientists have reached back in time 115 million years to one of the most successful flying creatures in Earth's history -- the pterodactyl -- to conjure a robotic spy plane with next-generation capabilities. ... > full story
Ultra-Endurance Competitors: Lessons From Sled Dogs In The Iditarod (October 5, 2008) -- Racing sled dogs are best known for their "mushing" each March during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the world's longest sled race. They are the premier ultra-endurance competitors, covering 1,100 miles from Anchorage to Nome, AK, sometimes in just nine days. It is unclear how they can keep running despite heavy blizzards, temperatures as low as 40°F, and winds up to 60 mph. An expert explains what he has discovered thus far. ... > full story
DNA-based Vaccine Shows Promise Against Avian Flu (October 5, 2008) -- Though it has fallen from the headlines, a global pandemic caused by bird flu still has the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on high alert. Yet, to date, the only vaccines that have proven even semi-effective are produced in chicken eggs, take five to six months to prepare and act against a single variant of the H5N1 virus, which mutates incredibly quickly. ... > full story
Advance Offers Revolution In Food Safety Testing (October 5, 2008) -- Microbiologists have developed a new technology to detect illness-causing bacteria -- an advance that could revolutionize the food industry, improving the actual protection to consumers while avoiding the costly waste and massive recalls of products that are suspected of bacterial contamination but are perfectly safe. ... > full story
The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave In The Rocks? (October 5, 2008) -- What will be the lasting impression made by mankind - 100 million years hence? "From the perspective of 100 million years in the future --- a geologist's view --- the reign of humans on Earth would seem very short: we would almost certainly have died out long before then. What footprint will we leave in the rocks? What would have become of our great cities, our roads and tunnels, our cars, our plastic cups in the far distant future? What fossils would we leave behind? ... > full story
Bio-imaging Mass Spectrometry Techniques Reveal Molecular Details About Complex Systems (October 5, 2008) -- Georgia Tech's new Center for Bio-Imaging Mass Spectrometry allows researchers to visualize the spatial arrangement and relative abundance of specific molecules -- from simple metabolites to peptides and proteins -- in biological samples. The center includes biologists, chemists and engineers whose goal is to unravel the molecular complexities of biological systems. ... > full story
Topsoil's Limited Turnover: A Crisis In Time (October 5, 2008) -- Topsoil does not last forever. Records show that topsoil erosion, accelerated by human civilization and conventional agricultural practices, has outpaced long-term soil production. Earth's continents are losing prime agricultural soils even as population growth and increased demand for biofuels claim more from this basic resource. ... > full story
Meteorites From Inner Solar System Match Up To Earth's Platinum Standard (October 4, 2008) -- Some of the world's rarest and most precious metals, including platinum and iridium, could owe their presence in the Earth's crust to iron and stony-iron meteorites, fragments of a large number of asteroids that underwent significant geological processing in the early Solar System. ... > full story
Gas From The Past Gives Scientists New Insights Into Climate And The Oceans (October 4, 2008) -- In recent years, public discussion of climate change has included concerns that increased levels of carbon dioxide will contribute to global warming, which in turn may change the circulation in the Earth's oceans, with potentially disastrous consequences. Ice core and ocean deposit comparisons show complex links between carbon dioxide levels, ocean currents and climate, which may help explain past, present and future climate trends. ... > full story
Discovery Of Natural Compounds That Could Slow Blood Vessel Growth (October 4, 2008) -- Using computer models and live cell experiments, biomedical engineers have discovered more than 100 human protein fragments that can slow or stop the growth of cells that make up new blood vessels. ... > full story
Navy Confirms Sunken Submarine Is Grunion (October 4, 2008) -- A sunken vessel discovered off the coast of the Aleutian Islands is in fact the World War II submarine USS Grunion (SS 216). The submarine Grunion arrived at Pearl Harbor on June 20, 1942. ... > full story
Obesity Clue: Newly Identified Cells Make Fat (October 4, 2008) -- The discovery of an important fat precursor cell may explain how changes in the numbers of fat cells might increase and lead to obesity. ... > full story
Arctic Sea Ice Annual Freeze-up Underway (October 4, 2008) -- After reaching the second-lowest extent ever recorded last month, sea ice in the Arctic has begun to refreeze in the face of autumn temperatures, closing both the Northern Sea Route and the direct route through the Northwest Passage. ... > full story
Traits Produced By Melanin May Signal The Bearer's Capacity To Combat Free Radicals (October 4, 2008) -- Some animal species have developed conspicuous traits produced by melanin pigments (for instance, dark manes in lions, black stripes in some birds and fishes). These traits are used as signals during contests for resources and/or contribute to increase the mating opportunities. However, the efficiency of these traits as signals depends on the fact that they transmit honest information about the quality of the bearer. Scientists have now proposed a novel hypothesis suggesting that melanin-produced traits could indicate the ability of the bearer in fighting free radicals and oxidative damage. ... > full story
Tiny Dust Particles From Sahara Could Help Scientists Study Climate Change (October 4, 2008) -- Scientists in Spain have discovered and characterized a new type of atmospheric aerosols named "iberulites," which could be useful for the study of relevant atmospheric reactions from Earth. The researchers have been carrying out weekly samples collecting atmospheric dust since 1999, and they have determined through satellite images the route followed by these particles in their atmospheric journey. ... > full story
Artificial Cells: Models Of Eel Cells Suggest Electrifying Possibilities (October 3, 2008) -- Researchers have applied modern engineering design tools to one of the basic units of life. They say that artificial cells could be built that not only replicate the electrical behavior of electric eel cells but in fact improve on them, possibly driving future implantable medical devices. ... > full story
Small Fly Has Receptor For Painful Heat (October 3, 2008) -- Scientists have found that a small fly, drosophila, has a receptor for noxious heat. ... > full story
Don't Stress! Bacterial Cell's 'Crisis Command Center' Revealed (October 3, 2008) -- A bacterial cell's 'crisis command center' has been observed for the first time swinging into action to protect the cell from external stress and danger, according to new research. ... > full story
Epstein-Barr Virus Protein Contributes To Cancer (October 3, 2008) -- Researchers have shown that the EBNA1 protein of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) disrupts structures in the nucleus of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells, thereby interfering with cellular processes that normally prevent cancer development. The study, published in PLoS Pathogens, describes a novel mechanism by which viral proteins contribute to carcinogenesis. ... > full story
Remembrance Of Tussles Past: Paper Wasps Show Surprisingly Strong Memory For Previous Encounters (October 3, 2008) -- With brains less than a millionth the size of humans', paper wasps hardly seem like mental giants. But new research shows that these insects can remember individuals for at least a week, even after meeting and interacting with many other wasps in the meantime. ... > full story
Reducing Work Commutes Not Easy In Some Cities, Study Suggests (October 3, 2008) -- Shorter work commutes are one way to reduce gasoline consumption, but a new study finds that not all cities are equal in how easy it would be to achieve that goal. Research suggests that Atlanta and Minneapolis may be the US metropolitan areas that would find it most difficult to reduce the miles that workers commute each day. ... > full story
Arctic Sea Ice Hits Second-lowest Recorded Extent, Likely Lowest Volume (October 3, 2008) -- Arctic sea ice extent during the 2008 melt season dropped to the second-lowest level Sept. 14 since satellite measurements began in 1979 and may represent the lowest volume of sea ice on record, according to researchers. ... > full story
Similarity Of Urban Flora: Plants In Towns And Cities Are More Closely Related Than Those In The Countryside (October 3, 2008) -- More plant species grow in German towns and cities than in the countryside, but those in towns and cities are more closely related and are often functionally similar. This makes urban ecosystems more susceptible to environmental impacts. ... > full story
Captain Birdseye's Robotic Nose (October 3, 2008) -- The captain can't freeze smelly fish that's past its best -- and Icelandic scientists can now help him out by detecting the levels of stench-making bacteria faster than ever before. A new method to detect bacteria that break down dead fish and produce the distasteful smell of rotting fish has been developed. ... > full story
Compact Fluorescent Lighting: Are We Trading Energy Conservation For Toxic Mercury Emissions? (October 3, 2008) -- New research shows certain countries and some US states stand to benefit from the use of compact fluorescent lighting more than others, and some places may even produce more mercury emissions by switching from incandescent light bulbs to CFLs. ... > full story
Simple Twists Of Fate (October 3, 2008) -- A novel study in PLoS Biology reports on some of the molecular gymnastics performed by a protein involved in regulating DNA transcription. Using state-of-the art tools, researchers observed the shape and behavior of individual DNA molecules bent into tight loops by Lac repressor, a protein from the bacterium E.coli that switches on and off individual genes. ... > full story
Chernobyl Fallout? Plutonium Found In Swedish Soil (October 2, 2008) -- More than 20 years later, researchers from Case Western Reserve University traveled to Sweden and Poland to gain insight into the downward migration of Chernobyl-derived radionuclides in the soil. Among the team's findings was the fact that much more plutonium was found in the Swedish soil at a depth that corresponded with the nuclear explosion than that of Poland. ... > full story
New Fish Species May Emerge Because Of How Females See Males (October 2, 2008) -- Eye color and hair color play a role in human partner choice, but visual stimuli can also determine mating preferences in the animal kingdom. In many species, the male's fortunes in the mating stakes are decided by a conspicuous breeding dress. A study of brightly colored fish has now demonstrated that this has less to do with aesthetics than with the sensitivity of female eyes, which varies as a result of adaptation to the environment. ... > full story
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