ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Saturday, December 11, 2010
Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's email newsletter. You can change your subscription options or unsubscribe at any time.
Bizarre reptile challenges notion of crocodiles as 'living fossils' (December 10, 2010) -- We all know that crocodiles are reptiles with long snouts, conical teeth, strong jaws and long tails. But, new discoveries show we don't know what we thought we knew. Rather, some crocodiles possessed a dazzling array of adaptations that resulted in unique and sometimes bizarre anatomy, including blunt, pug-nosed snouts, pudgy bodies and short tails. ... > full story
Details of microbe's extraordinary maintenance and repair system revealed (December 10, 2010) -- Scientists have discovered how a network of repair proteins enables bacteria to prioritize the repair of the most heavily used regions of the DNA molecules that carry the instructions necessary for living cells to function. ... > full story
There's a new 'officer' in the infection control army (December 10, 2010) -- Scientists have identified a previously unrecognized step in the activation of infection-fighting white blood cells, the main immunity troops in the body's war on bacteria, viruses and foreign proteins. ... > full story
35,000 new species ‘sitting in cupboards’ (December 10, 2010) -- Of the estimated 70,000 species of flowering plants yet to be described by scientists, more than half may already have been collected but are lying unknown and unrecognized in collections around the world, a new study suggests. ... > full story
Ice-age reptile extinctions provide a glimpse of likely responses to human-caused climate change (December 10, 2010) -- A wave of reptile extinctions on the Greek islands over the past 15,000 years may offer a preview of the way plants and animals will respond as the world rapidly warms due to human-caused climate change, according ecologists. ... > full story
Massive gene loss linked to pathogen's stealthy plant-dependent lifestyle (December 10, 2010) -- An international team of scientists has cracked the genetic code of a plant pathogen that causes downy mildew disease. Downy mildews are a widespread class of destructive diseases that cause major losses to crops as diverse as maize, grapes and lettuce. ... > full story
Cholera strain in Haiti matches bacteria from south Asia (December 10, 2010) -- Researchers have determined that the strain of cholera erupting in Haiti matches bacterial samples from South Asia and not those from Latin America. The scientists conclude that the bacteria introduced into Haiti most likely came from an infected human, contaminated food or other item from outside of Latin America. ... > full story
Bioengineers develop bacterial strain to increase ethanol biofuel production (December 10, 2010) -- Bioengineers have modified a strain of bacteria to increase its ability to produce ethanol. The research reveals how adaptation and metabolic engineering can be combined for strain improvement, a positive development for the biofuel industry. ... > full story
Cloud 'feedback' affects global climate and warming (December 10, 2010) -- Changes in clouds will amplify the warming of the planet due to human activities, according to a breakthrough study that shows that warming due to increases in greenhouse gases will cause clouds to trap more heat, which will lead to additional warming. ... > full story
Genome of barley disease reveals surprises (December 10, 2010) -- Scientists have sequenced the genome of a major fungal disease that affects barley and other cereal crops, a breakthrough that could lead to significant advances in our understanding of how plant diseases evolve. The research suggests that parasites within the genome of the fungus help the disease to adapt and overcome the plant's defenses. ... > full story
New insights into formation of Earth, the Moon, and Mars (December 10, 2010) -- New research reveals that the abundance of so-called highly siderophile, or metal-loving, elements like gold and platinum found in the mantles of Earth, the moon and Mars were delivered by massive impactors during the final phase of planet formation over 4.5 billion years ago. The predicted sizes of the projectiles, which hit within tens of millions of years of the giant impact that produced our moon, are consistent with current planet formation models. They predict that the largest of the late impactors on Earth -- at 1,500 to 2,000 miles in diameter -- potentially modified Earth's obliquity by approximately 10 degrees, while those for the Moon, at approximately 150-200 miles, may have delivered water to its mantle. ... > full story
Gene hunters tackle crop diseases (December 10, 2010) -- Scientists are on the trail of some of the most economically damaging organisms that infect crops worldwide. Their latest targets are the parasitic water fungus that causes powdery mildew and the water molds that cause late blight in potatoes and tomatoes and downy mildew in cruciferous vegetables and other crops. ... > full story
Copyright 1995-2010 © ScienceDaily LLC. All rights reserved. Terms of use.
|
 To update/change your profile click here  |
