ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Monday, November 8, 2010
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Free as a bird? Human development affects bird flight patterns and populations (November 8, 2010) -- It may seem like birds have the freedom to fly wherever they like, but researchers have shown that what's on the ground has a great effect on where a bird flies. This information could be used by foresters and urban planners to improve bird habitats that would help maintain strong bird populations. ... > full story
Rice hulls a sustainable drainage option for greenhouse growers (November 8, 2010) -- Greenhouse plant growers can substitute rice hulls for perlite in their media without the need for an increase in growth regulators, according to a new study. ... > full story
Earth's first great predator wasn't: Carnivorous 'shrimp' not so fierce, 3-D model shows (November 8, 2010) -- The meters-long, carnivorous "shrimp" from hell that once ruled the seas of Earth a half billion years ago may have been a real softy, it turns out. A new 3-D modeling of the mouth parts of the Anomalocaris, along with evidence that these parts were not hard like teeth, but flexible, shows that the famed predator could not have been munching on the hard shells of trilobites and other such creatures of the early seas. ... > full story
Mathematical model may result in better environment measures for the Baltic (November 8, 2010) -- Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea has clear negative effects, such as dead bottoms and massive blooms of cyanobacteria. But high plankton production can also have positive effects on acidification. Researchers in Sweden have shown that it is possible to work out the aggregate effects of various environmental measures. ... > full story
New player in innate immunity? Class of biomolecules triggered in response to respiratory virus infection (November 7, 2010) -- For the first time, scientists have discovered that long, non-protein coding RNAs produced in a mammal's cells during a respiratory virus attack may influence the outcome of infection. Researchers used new techniques to read a cell's library of RNA transcripts, which reflects gene activity and changing conditions inside and outside the cell. Scientists can now catalog and compare the appearance and activity of long, non-protein coding RNAs during an infection. Distinctive activity rates are linked to fatal infection. ... > full story
Unexpectedly small effects of mutations in bacteria bring new perspectives (November 7, 2010) -- Most mutations in the genes of the Salmonella bacterium have a surprisingly small negative impact on bacterial fitness. And this is the case regardless whether they lead to changes in the bacterial proteins or not. ... > full story
Water purification: Is colloidal silver necessary for bacteria removal? (November 7, 2010) -- Scientists traveled to Guatemala twice in the past year to conduct research on ceramic pot filters that are used locally to remove bacteria from water. They found that silver may not be necessary to effectively remove bacteria from source water. ... > full story
Heavy metals may influence moose health (November 7, 2010) -- Moose in southern Norway are in significantly worse health than those further north and in eastern Norway. An analysis of roughly 600 moose livers, combined with information such as carcass weights and ages, shows that Norway’s southernmost herds are afflicted with kidney problems and osteoporosis -- which may be due to heavy metals. ... > full story
'Prima donna' protein doesn't work well in pairs (November 6, 2010) -- Bioengineers have found that the workhorse proteins that move cargo inside living cells behave like prima donnas. These molecular-scale machines called kinesin are two-legged mechanical motor proteins. Using an especially sensitive set of tools, scientists measured the pulling power of kinesin both singly and in pairs. It seems that kinesins don't work well together -- in part because they are so effective on their own. ... > full story
DNA fingerprinting traces global path of plague (November 6, 2010) -- Scientists have traced major plague pandemics such as the Black Death back to their roots using DNA fingerprinting analysis. ... > full story
Luminous cells from jellyfish could diagnose cancers deep within human body (November 6, 2010) -- Scientists have developed a process that uses the luminous cells from jellyfish to diagnose cancer tumors deep within the human body. The researchers have used an altered form of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) so that it shows up as red or blue, rather than its original green. Color is important in disease diagnosis, as most colors in the spectrum are rapidly absorbed, and tumors deep within the body become invisible. ... > full story
To prevent inbreeding, flowering plants have evolved multiple genes, research reveals (November 6, 2010) -- Researchers have discovered a large suite of genes in the petunia plant that acts to prevent it from breeding with itself or with its close relatives, and to promote breeding with unrelated individuals. In much the same way that human inbreeding sometimes results in genetic disease and inferior health, some inbred plants also experience decreased fitness, and therefore, have developed mechanisms to ensure that their offspring benefit from hybrid vigor -- the mix that results when genetically distinct members of the same species breed. ... > full story
Potential new virus in switchgrass discovered (November 6, 2010) -- Researchers have confirmed the first report of a potential new virus belonging to the genus Marafivirus in switchgrass, a biomass crop being evaluated for commercial cellulosic ethanol production. ... > full story
New statistical model moves human evolution back three million years (November 5, 2010) -- Evolutionary divergence of humans and chimpanzees likely occurred some 8 million years ago rather than the 5 million year estimate widely accepted by scientists, a new statistical model suggests. ... > full story
New fish feeds made from fish byproducts (November 5, 2010) -- Fish byproducts may be a new source of fish feed. The scientists are taking fish parts that would normally be discarded-head, tail, bone, skin and internal organs-and fashioning them into feeds for shrimp and fish. ... > full story
Hard work improves the taste of food, study shows (November 5, 2010) -- It's commonly accepted that we appreciate something more if we have to work hard to get it, and a new study bears that out, at least when it comes to food. The study seems to suggest that hard work can even enhance our appreciation for fare we might not favor, such as the low-fat, low calorie variety. ... > full story
Insects learn to choose the right mate (November 5, 2010) -- Researchers have shown that damselflies learn how to choose the right mate when two species co-exist locally. The choice of mate is not only a matter of genetic and instinctive behavior, as has often been assumed for such small and short-lived creatures. ... > full story
Air pollution exposure increases risk of severe COPD (November 5, 2010) -- Long term exposure to low-level air pollution may increase the risk of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to researcher s in Denmark. While acute exposure of several days to high level air pollution was known to be a risk factor for exacerbation in pre-existing COPD, until now there had been no studies linking long-term air pollution exposure to the development or progression of the disease. ... > full story
Evolution by religious selection: Mexican cavefish develop resistance to toxin (November 5, 2010) -- A centuries-old religious ceremony of an indigenous people in southern Mexico has led to small evolutionary changes in a local species of fish, according to researchers from Texas A&M University. ... > full story
Fly stem cells on diet: Scientists discovered how stem cells respond to nutrient availability (November 5, 2010) -- Researchers have revealed that stem cells can sense a decrease in available nutrients and respond by retaining only a small pool of active stem cells for tissue maintenance. When, or if, favorable conditions return, stem cell numbers multiply to accommodate increased demands on the tissue. ... > full story
Decoding the genome of Chlorella microalgae, a promising genus for biofuel production (November 5, 2010) -- The analysis of the complete genome of Chlorella microalgae, a promising genus for biofuel production, has now been completed. The detailed elucidation of the Chlorella genome, also widely used as a food supplement, will make it possible to rationalize its industrial use. This analysis has also brought to light unexpected findings at the fundamental level: it suggests that Chlorella could have a sexual cycle (which had gone unnoticed so far) and that a virus probably gave it the capacity to synthesize chitin-rich cell walls a unique property in algae. ... > full story
Neanderthals were more promiscuous than modern humans, fossil finger bones suggest (November 5, 2010) -- Fossil finger bones of early human ancestors suggest that Neanderthals were more promiscuous than human populations today, researchers have found. ... > full story
Human-specific evolution in battling bugs and building babies (November 5, 2010) -- Researchers have described qualitative killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor differences, acquired after humans and chimpanzees separated 6 million years ago and mainly a consequence of innovation in the human line. These differences open up an exciting avenue for explaining the differential susceptibility of humans and chimpanzees to devastating infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. ... > full story
Volcanoes have shifted Asian rainfall (November 5, 2010) -- Scientists have shown that eruptions also affect rainfall over the Asian monsoon region, where seasonal storms water crops for nearly half of earth's population. Tree-ring researchers showed that big eruptions tend to dry up much of central Asia, but bring more rain to southeast Asian countries including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar -- the opposite of what many climate models predict. ... > full story
To punish or not to punish: Lessons from reef fish and saber-tooth blennies (November 5, 2010) -- Researchers have experimentally shown that some species of reef fish will enact punishment on the parasitic saber-tooth blennies that stealthily attack them from behind and take a bite, even though their behavior offers no immediate gain. The study shows that punishment ultimately serves all members of the reef fish species well. ... > full story
Predictive power of dairy cattle methane models insufficient to provide sound environmental advice, study finds (November 5, 2010) -- Researchers have shown that current equations to predict methane production of cows are inaccurate. Sound mitigation options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of dairy farms require a significant improvement of current methane equations, according to the study. ... > full story
Grad student simulates 100 years of farming to measure agriculture's impact on land and water quality (November 5, 2010) -- A graduate student has used a detailed computer model to simulate, year-by-year, the effects of 100 years of farming on claypan soils. ... > full story
For bats, all smooth, horizontal surfaces are water -- even when they look, smell and feel differently (November 4, 2010) -- For bats, any smooth, horizontal surface is water. That's true even if vision, olfaction or touch tells them it is actually a metal, plastic or wooden plate. Bats therefore rely more on their ears than on any other sensory system. This is due to how smooth surfaces reflect the echolocation calls of bats: they act just like mirrors. Scientists investigated this phenomenon in 15 different species from three big bat families and found that all tried to drink from smooth plates. In addition they found that this acoustic recognition of water is innate. ... > full story
Developmental dynamics of the maize leaf transcriptome (November 4, 2010) -- How developing plants build and regulate their solar reactors is still poorly understood. How many genes are involved, and which are the most important? How are different cell types endowed with specific biochemical capacities? What signals fine-tune how much sugar is produced, and which bioproducts are generated? Complex and multifaceted questions such as these can be addressed using a new approach to measure gene expression using high throughput sequencing. ... > full story
Eight new species discovered in Boliva national parks (November 4, 2010) -- Botanists have described eight new plant species collected in the Madidi National Park and surrounding areas located on the eastern slopes of the Andes in northern Bolivia. The new species are from several different genera and families. ... > full story
Food-allergy fears drive overly restrictive diets, study suggests (November 4, 2010) -- Many children, especially those with eczema, are unnecessarily avoiding foods based on incomplete information about potential food-allergies, according to researchers. The food avoidance poses a nutritional risk for these children, and is often based primarily on data from blood tests known as serum immunoassays. Oral food challenges, a definitive test of food allergy, allowed 125 children to restore 325 foods to their diets. ... > full story
Polar bears can't eat geese into extinction (November 4, 2010) -- A new model shows that, even when polar bears come ashore earlier than in the past and have access to a new bounty in goose eggs, they cannot consume enough eggs to cause extinction in the birds because of trophic mismatch. ... > full story
Boa constrictors can have babies without mating, new evidence shows (November 4, 2010) -- In a finding that upends decades of scientific theory on reptile reproduction, researchers have discovered that female boa constrictors can squeeze out babies without mating. More strikingly, the finding shows that the babies produced from this asexual reproduction have attributes previously believed to be impossible. ... > full story
How some plants spread their seeds: Ready, set, catapult (November 4, 2010) -- Catapults are often associated with a medieval means of destruction, but for some plants, they are an effective way to launch new life. Dispersing seeds greater distances by catapulting can provide selective advantages, including the establishment of populations in new environments and escape from certain threats. Researchers measured the mechanics involved in catapulting seeds for the ballistic disperser Cardamine parviflora. ... > full story
Organic onions, carrots and potatoes do not have higher levels of healthful antioxidants, study finds (November 4, 2010) -- With the demand for organically produced food increasing, scientists are reporting new evidence that organically grown onions, carrots, and potatoes generally do not have higher levels of healthful antioxidants and related substances than vegetables grown with traditional fertilizers and pesticides. ... > full story
Transparent conductive material could lead to power-generating windows (November 4, 2010) -- Scientists have fabricated transparent thin films capable of absorbing light and generating electric charge over a relatively large area. The material could be used to develop transparent solar panels or even windows that absorb solar energy to generate electricity. ... > full story
Plight of farmland birds: Poorer, less 'brainy' fare worse, study shows (November 4, 2010) -- Farmland birds that are poorer parents and less "brainy" are faring worse than other farmland bird species, a new study has found. ... > full story
Stone Age humans needed more brain power to make big leap in tool design (November 4, 2010) -- Stone Age humans were only able to develop relatively advanced tools after their brains evolved a greater capacity for complex thought, according to a new study that investigates why it took early humans almost two million years to move from razor-sharp stones to a hand-held stone axe. ... > full story
How continents thin: New model helps locate oil and gas resources (November 4, 2010) -- Scientists have revealed a new model that explains how continents thin as well as helping to more accurately predict the location of hydrocarbons such as oil and gas. ... > full story
Current global warming may reverse circulation in Atlantic Ocean, as it did 20,000 years ago (November 4, 2010) -- Earth's climate change 20,000 years ago reversed the circulation of the Atlantic Ocean. Global warming today could have similar effects on ocean currents and could accelerate climate change, suggests a new study by researchers in Spain and colleagues. ... > full story
Sweet discovery raises hope for treating Ebola, Lassa, Marburg and other fast-acting viruses (November 4, 2010) -- When a team of European researchers sought to discover how a class of antiviral drugs worked, they looked in an unlikely place: the sugar dish. A new research report suggests that a purified and modified form of a simple sugar chain may stop fast-acting and deadly viruses, such as Ebola, Lassa, or Marburg viruses, in their tracks. ... > full story
E. coli thrives near plant roots, can contaminate young produce crops (November 4, 2010) -- E. coli can live for weeks around the roots of produce plants and transfer to the edible portions, but the threat can be minimized if growers don't harvest too soon, a new study shows. ... > full story
Levels of coumarin in cassia cinnamon vary greatly even in bark from the same tree (November 4, 2010) -- A "huge" variation exists in the amounts of coumarin in bark samples of cassia cinnamon from trees growing in Indonesia, scientists are reporting in a new study. That natural ingredient in the spice may carry a theoretical risk of causing liver damage in a small number of sensitive people who consume large amounts of cinnamon. ... > full story
Lactobacillus reuteri good for health, Swedish study finds (November 4, 2010) -- There is a great deal of interest in the impact of lactic acid bacteria on our health. Now a new study from Sweden shows that the occurrence of Lactobacillus reuteri in the body promotes health. ... > full story
Chromosome imbalances lead to predictable plant defects (November 4, 2010) -- Physical defects in plants can be predicted based on chromosome imbalances, a finding that may shed light on how the addition or deletion of genes and the organization of the genome affects organisms, according to a new study. ... > full story
Last 'tango' in space: Satellite duo to generate 3-D models of glaciers and low-lying coastal areas (November 4, 2010) -- Adding to their unique information from previous tandem missions, the European Space Agency's ERS-2 and Envisat satellites have been paired up again – for the last time. Data from this final duet are generating 3-D models of glaciers and low-lying coastal areas. ... > full story
Water flowing through ice sheets accelerates warming, could speed up ice flow (November 3, 2010) -- Melt water flowing through ice sheets via crevasses, fractures and large drains called moulins can carry warmth into ice sheet interiors, greatly accelerating the thermal response of an ice sheet to climate change, according to a new study. ... > full story
'Bouncy' cell membranes behave like cornstarch and water, researchers find (November 3, 2010) -- Mix two parts cornstarch and one part water. Swirl your fingers in it slowly and the mixture is a smoothly flowing liquid. Punch it quickly with your fist and you meet a rubbery solid -- so solid you can jump up and down on a vat of it. It turns out that cell membranes behave the same way. ... > full story
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