ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Sunday, November 14, 2010
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Discovery could reveal secrets of ancient Martian and terrestrial atmospheres (November 13, 2010) -- Chemists have uncovered a new chemical reaction on tiny particulates in the atmosphere that could allow scientists to gain a glimpse from ancient rocks of what the atmospheres of the Earth and Mars were like hundreds of millions years ago. ... > full story
Researchers unlock a secret of bacteria's immune system (November 13, 2010) -- Researchers have unlocked a secret of bacteria's immune system. The discovery may eventually make it possible to prevent certain bacteria from developing resistance to antibiotics. The scientists showed that this mechanism, called CRISPR/Cas, works by selecting foreign DNA segments and inserting them into very specific locations in a bacterium's genome. ... > full story
New ocean acidification study shows added danger to already struggling coral reefs (November 13, 2010) -- Over the next century recruitment of new corals could drop by 73 percent, as rising carbon dioxide levels turn the oceans more acidic. New research findings reveal a new danger to the already threatened Caribbean and Florida reef Elkhorn corals. ... > full story
Keeping the daily clock ticking in a fluctuating environment: Hints from a green alga (November 13, 2010) -- Researchers have uncovered a mechanism which explains how biological clocks accurately synchronize to the day/night cycle despite large fluctuations in light intensity during the day and from day to day. ... > full story
Oceanography researchers discover toxic algae in open water (November 13, 2010) -- Researchers have discovered toxic algae in vast, remote regions of the open ocean for the first time. Harmful algal blooms are reported as increasing both geographically and in frequency along populated coastlines. This latest research shows that the ubiquitous diatom Pseudo-nitzschia -- an alga that produces the neurotoxin, domoic acid, or DA, in coastal regions -- actually also produces DA at many locations in the open Pacific. ... > full story
Decisions made by communities of bacteria trump game theory (November 13, 2010) -- A scientist has outlined how decisions made by communities of bacteria trump game theory. "When human beings make a decision," he says, "they think they're being rational." Bacteria, he explains, are both simpler and more sophisticated -- they can more effectively control the superfluous noise around decision making and make group decisions that contribute to the well-being of the entire bacterial colony. ... > full story
Selected hens give new genetic insights (November 13, 2010) -- Studies of heavy, fast-growing hens and small, slow-growing hens provide important new knowledge on the origin of the genetic variation that has enabled them to adapt rapidly to new extreme environments. ... > full story
Overcoming the 'tragedy of the commons': Conditonal cooperation helps in forest preservation (November 13, 2010) -- According to the standard prediction large-scale cooperation in the management of commons is impossible, mainly because of free-riders. Yet, extensive field evidence indicates that many communities are able to manage their commons. Now an analysis of a major forest commons management program in Ethiopia provides first-time evidence that conditional cooperation which has been identified in many laboratory experiments before plays a key role. ... > full story
Vaccine for urinary tract infections is one step closer (November 12, 2010) -- Scientists are one step closer to a vaccine that could prevent a majority of urinary tract infections, which are caused by E. coli bacteria. The researchers studied how bacteria operate in human hosts and discovered key differences between how E. coli genes behave in women and how they behave in mice used in experiments. ... > full story
Scientists demystify an enzyme responsible for drug and food metabolism (November 12, 2010) -- Scientists have solved a 40-year-old puzzle about the mysterious process by which a critical enzyme metabolizes nutrients in foods and chemicals in drugs such as Tylenol, caffeine and opiates. The discovery may help future researchers develop a wide range of more efficient and less-expensive drugs, household products and other chemicals. ... > full story
Thousands of turtles captured in Madagascar despite ban (November 12, 2010) -- New research has revealed up to 16,000 endangered turtles are being caught each year by villagers in just one region of Madagascar, despite a government ban. Researchers say the figure, thought to be a conservative estimate, is the first direct assessment of turtle exploitation on the island. ... > full story
Modeling autism in a lab dish: Researchers create autistic neuron model (November 12, 2010) -- A collaborative effort between researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the University of California, San Diego, successfully used human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells derived from patients with Rett syndrome to replicate autism in the lab and study the molecular pathogenesis of the disease. ... > full story
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