ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Wednesday, October 6, 2010
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Rare oasis of life discovered near geothermal vents on floor of Yellowstone Lake (October 6, 2010) -- Researchers have discovered a rare oasis of life in the midst of hundreds of geothermal vents at the bottom of Yellowstone Lake. ... > full story
Nano design, just like in nature (October 6, 2010) -- Researchers in Austria are using biological principles as the inspiration to develop a new bionic fuel cell. ... > full story
Key reproductive hormone in oldest living vertebrate identified (October 6, 2010) -- Researchers have identified the first reproductive hormone of the hagfish -- a gonadatropin -- representing a significant step toward unraveling the mystery of hagfish reproduction. At 500 million years old, hagfish are the oldest living vertebrate, predating the dinosaurs. ... > full story
Study examines ICU outbreak of staph aureus with resistance to methicillin and linezolid (October 6, 2010) -- An outbreak of infection due to linezolid and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LRSA) in 12 intensive care unit patients in Spain was associated with transmission within the hospital and extensive usage of the antibiotic linezolid, often used for the treatment of serious infections, with reductions in linezolid use and infection-control measures associated with resolution of the outbreak, according to a new study. ... > full story
Invasive tallowtree spreading rapidly across Gulf coast (October 6, 2010) -- The numbers of nonnative Chinese tallowtree in Louisiana, Mississippi and east Texas have grown by about 370 percent over a 16-year period. The spread of the invasive plant may create problems for plants and wildlife along the Gulf coast. ... > full story
Novelty and complexity are result of small evolutionary changes (October 5, 2010) -- By reconstructing an ancient protein and tracing how it subtly changed over vast periods of time to produce scores of modern-day descendants, scientists have shown how evolution tinkers with early forms and leaves the impression that complexity evolved many times. ... > full story
Limited number of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes cause most invasive pneumococcal disease (October 5, 2010) -- Contrary to current thinking, the group of serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae responsible for most invasive pneumococcal disease worldwide is conserved across regions, according to new research. ... > full story
Earth's rotation affects flows in submarine channels (October 5, 2010) -- Coriolis forces due to Earth's rotation deflect winds and ocean flows to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. In sinuous submarine channels, Coriolis forces can drive secondary circulation of turbidity currents and determine where erosion and sediment deposition occur. Researchers conducted laboratory experiments with a channel in a rotating tank to study the conditions under which Coriolis forces dominate the channel flow and to investigate how these forces affect sediment deposition in large-scale submarine channels. ... > full story
Geoengineering solutions could prevent irreversible climate crisis, study finds (October 5, 2010) -- Geoengineering could prevent the potentially catastrophic climate-change tipping points that loom just ahead, according to a new study. ... > full story
Newly discovered DNA repair mechanism (October 5, 2010) -- Researchers have discovered a fundamentally new way that DNA-repair enzymes detect and fix damage to the chemical bases that form the letters in the genetic code. ... > full story
Mice with human body's defenses (October 5, 2010) -- Therapeutic antibodies can be an efficient alternative when common drugs do not work anymore. However, antibodies obtained from blood of animals such as mice could not be used: The human immune system recognizes them as foreign and rejects them. Scientists have now succeeded in developing a promising approach to solve this problem. ... > full story
Wind farms extend growing season in certain regions (October 5, 2010) -- Wind power is likely to play a large role in the future of sustainable, clean energy, but wide-scale adoption has remained elusive. Now, researchers have found wind farms' effects on local temperatures and proposed strategies for mediating those effects, increasing the potential to expand wind farms to a utility-scale energy resource. ... > full story
Invaders could devastate Florida avocado industry (October 5, 2010) -- Florida's lucrative avocado industry could face a serious blow from a duo of deadly new invaders. Together, the invasive fungus called "laurel wilt disease" and the redbay ambrosia beetle, which carries laurel wilt, represent a significant economic threat to the industry. Direct losses from the invasion could range from 3 million to a remarkable high of 6 million. ... > full story
Neanderthals had feelings too, say researchers (October 5, 2010) -- New research by archaeologists in the UK suggests that Neanderthals belied their primitive reputation and had a deep seated sense of compassion. ... > full story
New language identified in remote corner of India; One of thousands of endangered tongues around world (October 5, 2010) -- Linguists reporting from a National Geographic expedition to India's remote northeast corner have identified a language completely new to science. ... > full story
Amino acid supplement makes mice live longer (October 5, 2010) -- When mice are given drinking water laced with a special concoction of amino acids, they live longer than your average mouse, according to a new report. The key ingredients in the supplemental mixture are so-called branched-chain amino acids, which account for 3 of the 20 amino acids (specifically leucine, isoleucine, and valine) that are the building blocks of proteins. ... > full story
Ancient Colorado river flowed backwards (October 5, 2010) -- Geologists have found evidence that some 55 million years ago a river as big as the modern Colorado flowed through Arizona into Utah in the opposite direction from the present-day river. They have named this ancient northeastward-flowing river the California River, after its inferred source in the Mojave region of southern California. ... > full story
How rainfall variation can trigger earthquakes (October 5, 2010) -- A new review article explores natural crustal earthquakes associated with the elements of the hydrologic cycle, which describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth, including hurricanes and typhoons. The theory of hydroseismicity, first articulated in 1987, attributes most intraplate and near-intraplate earthquakes, to the dynamics of the hydrological cycle. ... > full story
Identifying enzymes to explode superbugs (October 5, 2010) -- With the worrying rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs like MRSA, scientists from a wide range of disciplines are teaming up to identify alternative therapies to keep them at bay. Now, researchers have developed a pioneering method that can identify lytic enzymes for optimum bacteria killing characteristics. ... > full story
Climate change hits southeast Australia fish species (October 5, 2010) -- Scientists are reporting significant changes in the distribution of coastal fish species in southeast Australia which they say are partly due to climate change. ... > full story
First Census of Marine Life shows ocean life is richer, more connected, more altered than expected (October 5, 2010) -- After a decade of joint work and scientific adventure, marine explorers from more than 80 countries today deliver a historic first global Census of Marine Life. In one of the largest scientific collaborations ever conducted, more than 2,700 census scientists spent over 9,000 days at sea on more than 540 expeditions, plus countless days in labs and archives. Released today are maps, three landmark books, and a highlights summary that crown a decade of discovery. ... > full story
Microbes engineered for low-cost production of anti-cancer drug, Taxol (October 5, 2010) -- Researchers have now engineered E. coli bacteria to produce large quantities of a critical compound that is a precursor to the cancer drug Taxol, originally isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. The tree's bacteria can produce 1,000 times more of the precursor, known as taxadiene, than any other engineered microbial strain. ... > full story
Alarming increase in flow of water into oceans due to global warming, accelerated cycle of evaporation, precipitation (October 5, 2010) -- Freshwater is flowing into Earth's oceans in greater amounts every year, a team of researchers has found, thanks to more frequent and extreme storms linked to global warming. All told, 18 percent more water fed into the world's oceans from rivers and melting polar ice sheets in 2006 than in 1994, with an average annual rise of 1.5 percent. ... > full story
New fisheries system will save about million, researchers find (October 5, 2010) -- Some fisheries in the United States are poised to undergo major changes in the regulations used to protect fish stocks, and researchers have estimated that the new system will be an economic boon to the fishing industry. The two estimated harvesting costs under the old system and compared that to the newly proposed fishing regulations that lift many restrictions that cause inefficiency while still limiting amounts to be harvested. ... > full story
Less invasive method to measure groundwater permeability (October 5, 2010) -- Hydraulic conductivity quantifies how easily water moves through aquifers, a factor important for management of water resources, the design of wells, and remediation of contaminated sites. It typically shows strong spatial fluctuations, so determining hydraulic conductivity usually involves extensive, invasive, and often expensive installation of wells or sampling sites within the aquifer. ... > full story
San Diego Supercomputer Center participates in first 'Census of Marine Life' (October 5, 2010) -- After a decade of joint work involving 2,700 researchers from 80 countries, the world's scientists -- as well as the general public -- can now access the Census of Marine Life, which provides the first in-depth look at the more than 120,000 diverse species which inhabit our oceans. ... > full story
Walnuts, walnut oil, improve reaction to stress (October 4, 2010) -- A diet rich in walnuts and walnut oil may prepare the body to deal better with stress, according to a researchers who looked at how these foods, which contain polyunsaturated fats, influence blood pressure at rest and under stress. ... > full story
Powerful supercomputer peers into the origin of life (October 4, 2010) -- Supercomputer simulations are helping scientists unravel how nucleic acids could have contributed to the origins of life. ... > full story
Protecting embryos against microbes (October 4, 2010) -- Scientists have succeeded in deciphering the mechanisms, for the first time, with which embryos of the freshwater polyp Hydra protect themselves against bacterial colonization. ... > full story
Bioenergy choices could dramatically change Midwest, US, bird diversity (October 4, 2010) -- Ambitious plans to expand acreage of bioenergy crops could have a major impact on birds in the Upper Midwest, according to a new study. ... > full story
Physicists control chemical reactions mechanically (October 4, 2010) -- Physicists have taken a significant step in controlling chemical reactions mechanically, an important advance in nanotechnology. ... > full story
Elasticity found to stretch stem cell growth to higher levels (October 4, 2010) -- New research has found the physical forces created by elasticity can increase the number of blood-forming stem cells grown outside of the body by two or three times than using current hormone-based methods alone. ... > full story
Surprising silk: Proteins become more concentrated when diluted (October 4, 2010) -- New neutron research has revealed that the proteins making up silkworm silk have unexpected properties: effectively the proteins become more concentrated as they are diluted. Scientists found that the silk precursor proteins' behavior is completely counterintuitive. The study is a big step forward in understanding the amazing properties of silks and how to synthesize them. ... > full story
Painless way to achieve huge energy savings: Stop wasting food (October 4, 2010) -- Scientists have identified a way that the United States could immediately save the energy equivalent of about 350 million barrels of oil a year -- without spending a penny or putting a ding in the quality of life: Just stop wasting food. Their study found that it takes the equivalent of about 1.4 billion barrels of oil to produce, package, prepare, preserve and distribute a year's worth of food in the United States. ... > full story
Wasps wage war on behalf of wiliwili trees (October 4, 2010) -- A black, 2-millimeter-long wasp from East Africa is helping wage war on one of its own kind -- the Erythrina gall wasp, an invasive species that's decimated Hawaii's endemic wiliwili and introduced coral bean trees. ... > full story
What makes us age? Ticking of cellular clock promotes seismic changes in chromatin landscape associated with aging (October 4, 2010) -- Like cats, human cells have a finite number of lives: once they divide a certain number of times (thankfully, more than nine) they change shape, slow their pace, and eventually stop dividing -- a phenomenon called "cellular senescence." Biologists know that a cellular clock composed of structures at the chromosome end known as telomeres records how many "lives" a cell has expended. Up to now, investigators have not yet defined how the clock's ticking signals the approach of cellular oblivion. ... > full story
Designer’s door could prove a real lifesaver in earthquake emergency (October 4, 2010) -- A door which could be used as a shelter after an earthquake has just been developed. ... > full story
Which fertilized eggs will become healthy human fetuses? Researchers predict with 93% accuracy (October 4, 2010) -- Two-thirds of all human embryos fail to develop successfully. Now, in a new study, researchers have shown that they can predict with 93 percent certainty which fertilized eggs will make it to a critical developmental milestone and which will stall and die. The findings are important to the understanding of the fundamentals of human development at the earliest stages, which have largely remained a mystery despite the attention given to human embryonic stem cell research. ... > full story
How salmonella bacteria spread in humans (October 4, 2010) -- New findings could explain how Salmonella bacteria, a common cause of food poisoning, efficiently spread in people. Researchers describe finding a reservoir of rapidly replicating Salmonella inside epithelial cells. These bacteria are primed to infect other cells and are pushed from the epithelial layer by a new mechanism that frees the Salmonella to infect other cells or be shed into the intestine. ... > full story
Genomic study of malaria parasite in Peru reveals evidence of antibiotic resistance (October 4, 2010) -- Malaria remains a serious global health problem, killing more than one million people per year. Treatment of the mosquito-borne illness relies on antibiotics, and the emergence of drug-resistant malaria is of growing concern. In a new report, scientists analyzed the genomic features of a Peruvian parasite population, identifying the genetic basis for resistance to a common antibiotic, gaining new insights that could improve diagnosis and treatment strategies. ... > full story
Ocean conditions likely to reduce Colorado River flows during this winter's drought (October 4, 2010) -- The combination of La Nina with two less commonly known ocean conditions tends to result in drought in the upper reaches of the Colorado River, finds a new study. The three conditions are expected to converge this winter. ... > full story
Fungal spores travel farther by surfing their own wind (October 4, 2010) -- Many fungi, including the destructive Sclerotinia, spew thousands of spores at once to give the spores an extra boost into their host plants. Researchers now show how this works. The near-simultaneous ejection of spores reduces drag to nearly zero and creates a wind that carries some of the spores 20 times farther than a single spore could travel solo. ... > full story
Dual nature of dew: Researcher measures the effect of dew on desert plants (October 4, 2010) -- Dew is often celebrated as a bringer of life. Now, a researcher in Israel has examined the effects of dew in the Eastern Mediterranean region and says that dew serves as an important water source for plant life. ... > full story
Noise and chemicals: Workers are losing their hearing, Spanish study finds (October 4, 2010) -- A study carried out by Spanish researchers has shown that the presence of chemical contaminants can interact with noise and modify, for good or for bad, the way in which work-related "deafness" -- which is increasingly common among young people -- manifests itself. Noise-related hearing loss is the most common occupational disease in Europe. ... > full story
Census of Marine Life celebrates 'decade of discovery' (October 4, 2010) -- The Census of Marine Life, a 10-year initiative to describe the distribution and diversity of ocean life, draws to a close with a celebration, symposium and press conference in London. At the press conference, scientists revealed the results of the census, including the discovery of new species, new patterns of biodiversity and more. Scientists in Alaska have played a major role in what the census calls its "decade of discovery." ... > full story
World Ocean Microbe Census findings revealed (October 4, 2010) -- After a decade of joint work and scientific adventure, marine explorers from more than 80 countries, have just delivered the first global Census of Marine Life revealing what, where, and how much lives and hides in the world's oceans. Scientists discovered that there may be up to one billion kinds of marine microbes -- more than 100 times more diverse than plants and animals -- and as many as 38,000 kinds of microbes in a typical liter of sea water. ... > full story
Researchers call for a price cap on cigarette profits (October 4, 2010) -- An independent regulatory agency is needed to cap the excessive profits made by cigarette manufacturers, urge researchers. ... > full story
Individual mutations are very slow to promote tumor growth, mathematical modeling shows (October 3, 2010) -- Individual cancer-causing mutations have a minute effect on tumor growth, increasing the rate of cell division by just 0.4 percent on average, according to new mathematical modeling. The research reinforces that cancer is the culmination of many accumulated mutations, and highlights the fundamental heterogeneity and randomness of many cancers. ... > full story
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