ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Sunday, February 20, 2011
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Oldest fossils of large seaweeds, possible animals tell story about oxygen in an ancient ocean (February 19, 2011) -- Almost 600 million years ago, before the Cambrian explosion, a community of seaweeds and worm-like animals lived in a quiet deep-water niche under the sea near what is now Anhui Province of South China. Then they simply died, leaving some 3,000 nearly pristine fossils preserved between beds of black shale deposited in oxygen-free waters. Scientists report the discovery of the fossils and the mystery. ... > full story
Mind over matter: EECoG may finally allow enduring control of a prosthetic or a paralyzed arm by thought alone (February 19, 2011) -- A biomedical engineer is developing brain-computer interfaces based on grids of electrodes that lie beneath the skull but outside the dura mater, the protective membrane that covers the brain. His next project is to slip a thin 32-electrode grid he designed with a colleague under a macaque's skill and to train the monkey to control -- strictly by thinking about it -- a computational model of a macaque arm. ... > full story
Efficacy of tuberculosis vaccine enhanced thanks to new research (February 19, 2011) -- Researchers in Belgium have improved the efficacy of the vaccine for tuberculosis. The new vaccine affords, as already demonstrated in mice, better protection against the disease. The development of a new tuberculosis vaccine is a priority in the fight against the disease, which claims the lives of 1.7 million people each year. The current vaccine provides only partial protection. ... > full story
Biologists use GPS to 'map' bat teeth to explore evolutionary adaptations to diet (February 19, 2011) -- In a clever use of GPS technology, biologists have "mapped" the topography of bat teeth as if they were uncharted mountain ranges, in order to better understand how toothy ridges, peaks and valleys have evolved to allow different species to eat everything from hard-shelled insects to blood and nectar. ... > full story
Research predicts future evolution of flu viruses (February 19, 2011) -- New research is beginning to crack the code of which strain of flu will be prevalent in a given year, with major implications for global public health preparedness. ... > full story
Fishing down food web leaves fewer big fish, more small fish in past century (February 19, 2011) -- Predatory fish such as cod, tuna and groupers have declined by two-thirds over the past 100 years, while small forage fish such as sardine, anchovy and capelin have more than doubled over the same period, according to researchers. ... > full story
Fountain of youth from the tap? Environmental lithium uptake promotes longevity, scientists demonstrate (February 18, 2011) -- A regular uptake of the trace element lithium can considerably promote longevity, suggests new research by scientists in Germany. The researchers have demonstrated by two independent approaches that even a low concentration of lithium leads to an increased life expectancy in humans as well as in a model organism, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. ... > full story
Experts question aspects of prescribed burning (February 18, 2011) -- Prescribed burning to reduce the hazards of bushfires may do more harm than good in some circumstances, according to a group of leading environmental scientists. ... > full story
Solar flare: Space weather disrupts communications, threatens other technologies (February 18, 2011) -- A powerful solar flare has ushered in the largest space weather storm in at least four years and has already disrupted some ground communications on Earth. ... > full story
Reverse genetics allow scientists to slow spread of Rubella virus (February 18, 2011) -- Scientists have identified the gene that allows the Rubella virus to block cell death and reverse engineered a mutant gene that slows the virus's spread. Researchers believed that RNA viruses were able to spread by blocking the pathways in cells that lead to cell suicide, and isolated the responsible gene in Rubella, also known as German measles. ... > full story
Oxygen levels in the air do not limit plant productivity, researchers find (February 18, 2011) -- There have been concerns that present oxygen levels may limit plant productivity. Researchers in Sweden show that this is not the case in a new study. The results are encouraging since they demonstrate that plans for future biomass and solar fuels production are not limited by this effect. ... > full story
Chemical guided missile could be the answer to wiping out cancer (February 18, 2011) -- Medical scientists in Australia have created the world's first cancer stem cell-targeting chemical missile, placing them a step closer to creating a medical 'smart bomb' that would seek out and eradicate the root of cancer cells. ... > full story
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