ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Monday, February 28, 2011

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Monday, February 28, 2011

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Shining a light on trypanosome reproduction (February 28, 2011) -- Compelling visual evidence of sexual reproduction in African trypanosomes, single-celled parasites that cause major human and animal diseases, has been found. ... > full story

Markedly higher vitamin D intake needed to reduce cancer risk, researchers say (February 28, 2011) -- Researchers have reported that markedly higher intake of vitamin D is needed to reach blood levels that can prevent or markedly cut the incidence of breast cancer and several other major diseases than had been originally thought. ... > full story

Meningitis: Neisseria meningitidis disseminates itself by sending out 'scouts' (February 28, 2011) -- Although, in the majority of cases, the localized presence of Neisseria meningitidis in the throat has no consequence, it can sometimes lead to meningitis or septicaemia. Scientists have recently discovered how this bacterium disseminates, leaving the throat to pass into the bloodstream. ... > full story

Turning forests into fuel: Promise and limits of biomass energy in Northeastern U.S. (February 28, 2011) -- In targeted applications, the heat generated by locally-grown biomass can reduce dependence on fossil fuels and support local economies," said Dr. Charles D. Canham, a forest ecologist at the Cary Institute and co-author of the report. "But each forested landscape is different, and regional variation in forest conditions and energy infrastructure means there is no one-size-fits-all solution." ... > full story

PCBs may affect in vitro fertilization outcomes (February 27, 2011) -- Serum polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at concentrations found in the general U.S. population are associated with the failure of fertilized embryos to implant in the uterus after in vitro fertilization (IVF). This study may help explain earlier reports of impaired reproduction and increased time to pregnancy among women exposed to PCBs. ... > full story

Bisphenol A exposures lower in Canadians compared to Americans (February 27, 2011) -- Health Canada's declaration that bisphenol A is a health hazard makes it unique in the world, but it must now follow through with legislation to protect people from exposure. That's the conclusion of a new analysis that found concentrations of bisphenol A in Canadians are lower than for Americans, although the reason for the difference is unknown. ... > full story

Scientists find gene responsible for color patterns in mice (February 27, 2011) -- Scientists are moving closer to answering some age-old questions. How did the leopard get its spots? How did the zebra get its stripes? The answer may be a gene called Agouti, which the scientists have found governs color patterns in deer mice, the most widespread mammal in North America. ... > full story

Arctic environment during an ancient bout of natural global warming (February 27, 2011) -- Scientists are unraveling the environmental changes that took place around the Arctic during an exceptional episode of ancient global warming. Around 56 million years ago there was a period of global warming called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, during which global sea surface temperatures increased by approximately 5°C. The warming of the oceans led to profound ecological changes, including the widespread extinction of many types of foraminifera, tiny single-celled organisms with distinctive shells. ... > full story

Reducing one's 'nitrogen footprint': New Web-based tool helps people make sustainable living choices (February 27, 2011) -- People who want to eat healthy and live sustainably have a new way to measure their impact on the environment: a Web-based tool that calculates an individual's "nitrogen footprint." ... > full story

Clues about grasshopper population explosions (February 27, 2011) -- Biologists are examining what can limit grasshopper populations and the role played by grasshoppers in prairie ecosystems. ... > full story

Floating solar panels: Solar installations on water (February 27, 2011) -- Most of the solar energy systems on the market today bare two major weaknesses: they require vast land areas in order to be built, and the costs related to solar cells fabrication and maintenance are high. A new technology is about to overcome these challenges and many more: floating solar power plants. ... > full story

Planning and visualization lead to better food habits (February 27, 2011) -- If you want to improve the way you eat, the best way to do so is to both make an action plan and visualize yourself carrying it out, according to researchers. ... > full story

Transgenic fungi may be able to combat malaria and other bug-borne diseases (February 26, 2011) -- New findings indicate that a genetically engineered fungus carrying genes for a human anti-malarial antibody or a scorpion anti-malarial toxin could be a highly effective, specific and environmentally friendly tool for combating malaria, at a time when the effectiveness of current pesticides against malaria mosquitoes is declining. ... > full story

Coral 'network' can protect Asia-Pacific fish stocks, study suggests (February 26, 2011) -- Researchers have established that the richest marine region on Earth -- the Coral Triangle between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines -- depends vitally for its diversity and resilience on coral and fish larvae swept in from the South China Sea and Solomon Islands. ... > full story

Tweeting teenage songbirds reveal impact of social cues on learning (February 26, 2011) -- In a finding that once again displays the power of the female, neuroscientists have discovered that teenage male songbirds, still working to perfect their song, improve their performance in the presence of a female bird. ... > full story

Bamiyan Buddhas once glowed in red, white and blue (February 25, 2011) -- The monumental Buddhas of Bamiyan once shone in glowing colors. Restorers have analyzed hundreds of fragments of the statues that were blow up by the Taliban. They have, for the first time, been able to reliably date the period in which they were sculpted, and have also studied the technically brilliant method of construction. A new process could stabilize the porous rock, paving the way for a reconstruction. ... > full story

Rare, unique seeds arrive at Svalbard Vault, as crises threaten world crop collections (February 25, 2011) -- The Svalbard Global Seed Vault celebrated its third anniversary Feb. 24 with the arrival of seeds for rare lima beans, blight-resistant cantaloupe, and progenitors of antioxidant-rich red tomatoes from Peru and the Galapagos Islands. The arrival of these collections, including many drought- and flood-resistant varieties, comes at a time when natural and human-made risks to agriculture have reinforced the critical need to secure all the world's food crop varieties. ... > full story

Newborn heart muscle can grow back by itself, study shows (February 25, 2011) -- In a promising science-fiction-meets-real-world juxtaposition, researchers have discovered that the mammalian newborn heart can heal itself completely. ... > full story

Low vitamin D levels linked to allergies in kids (February 25, 2011) -- A study of more than 3,000 children shows that low vitamin D levels are associated with increased likelihood that children will develop allergies, according to a new article. ... > full story

HIV makes protein that may help virus's resurgence (February 25, 2011) -- New research enhances the current knowledge of how human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1), which causes AIDS, controls the cell cycle of cells that it infects. The new findings may shed light on how the virus reactivates after entering a dormant state, called latency. Better understanding of the biological events that revive HIV from latency may eventually lead to better treatments for people with HIV infection. ... > full story

Much of Mississippi River sediment comes from stream bank collapse, rather than field runoff (February 25, 2011) -- Much of the Mississippi River's sediment load doesn't come from field runoff, according to work by scientists. Instead, researchers have confirmed that stream bank collapse and failure can be chief contributors to high sediment levels in the silty streams and rivers that flow into the Mississippi. ... > full story

Obesity and diabetes are a downside of human evolution, research suggests (February 25, 2011) -- As if the recent prediction that half of Americans will have diabetes or pre-diabetes by the year 2020 isn't alarming, a new genetic discovery provides a disturbing explanation as to why: we took an evolutionary "wrong turn." In the report, scientists show that human evolution leading to the loss of function in a gene called "CMAH" may make humans more prone to obesity and diabetes than other mammals. ... > full story

Links between longer ragweed season and climate change confirmed (February 25, 2011) -- New studies have confirmed what many pollen-sensitive people already suspected: In some parts of North America, ragweed season now lasts longer and ends later. ... > full story

New long-acting local anesthetic derived from algae effectively blocks pain in surgical patients (February 25, 2011) -- Medical researchers bringing surgical patients closer to having a long-acting local anesthetic. In a randomized, double-blind trial, patients given neosaxitoxin, a new local anesthetic derived from algae, had significantly less postoperative pain and recovered about two days sooner than those given the commonly used local anesthetic bupivacaine. ... > full story

Global red fire ant invasions traced to southern US (February 25, 2011) -- Red imported fire ant invasions around the globe in recent years can now be traced to the southern US, where the nuisance insect gained a foothold in the 1930s, new research has found. ... > full story

Chemical compounds in trees can fight deadly staph infections in humans (February 25, 2011) -- A research team has found an antibiotic in the Eastern Red Cedar tree that is effective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a "superbug" that is resistant to most medications. ... > full story

Ocean currents cause microbes to filter light (February 25, 2011) -- Paul Matisse's glass-enclosed liquid sculptures contain an object whose movement through the liquid creates whorls that can be seen only because elongated particles trailing the object align with the direction of the current; light reflects off the particles, making the current visible to the viewer. Researchers have recently demonstrated that this same phenomenon is responsible for the swirling patterns scientists typically see when they agitate a flask containing microbes in water; many microbes are themselves elongated particles that make the whorls visible. ... > full story

New bird to science emphasizes the critical need to conserve the remaining dry forests of Madagascar (February 25, 2011) -- Researchers from Madagascar and the United States described a new species of forest-dwelling rail. ... > full story

Homoplasy: A good thread to pull to understand the evolutionary ball of yarn (February 25, 2011) -- With the genetics of so many organisms that have different traits yet to study, and with the techniques for gathering full sets of genetic information from organisms rapidly evolving, the "forest" of evolution can be easily lost to the "trees" of each individual case and detail. ... > full story

Cod fish with mini-thermometers (February 25, 2011) -- Hundreds of cod equipped with high-tech mini-thermometers have helped determine which water temperatures the fish can handle. ... > full story

Migrating cells flow like glass: Research advances understanding of wound healing, cancer metastasis, and embryonic development (February 25, 2011) -- By studying cellular movements at the level of both the individual cell and the collective group, applied physicists have discovered that migrating tissues flow very much like colloidal glass. ... > full story

Semporna area on island of Borneo, Malaysia, may have richest marine biodiversity in the world (February 25, 2011) -- Semporna may have the world's highest marine biodiversity. A recent expedition yielded a record number of 43 species of mushroom corals. Furthermore, some new species were discovered, among which at least two shrimps and possibly a number of gall crabs. The health of the reefs was judged to be relatively poor: 36 percent of transects had fair, another 36 percent had poor live coral cover. ... > full story

Catalogue of sustainable design resources developed (February 25, 2011) -- A new catalog of eco-friendly materials for use in the construction industry has been developed. ... > full story

Ancient catastrophic drought leads to question: How severe can climate change become? (February 24, 2011) -- How severe can climate change become in a warming world? Worse than anything we've seen in written history, according to results of a study. An international team of scientists has compiled four dozen paleoclimate records from sediment cores in Lake Tanganyika and other locations in Africa. The records show that one of the most widespread and intense droughts of the last 50,000 years or more struck Africa and Southern Asia 17,000 to 16,000 years ago. ... > full story

Just like cars, developmental genes have more than one way to stop (February 24, 2011) -- There's more than one way to silence gene activity, according to one researcher. Downregulating activity is how healthy genes should shift out of their development cycle. New results explain how specific repressor proteins -- which researchers have named Hairy and Knirps -- slow genes during development and how the process is comparable to slowing down a car. ... > full story

How nature's patterns form (February 24, 2011) -- When people on airplanes ask Alan Newell what he works on, he tells them "flower arrangements." He could also say "fingerprints" or "sand ripples" or "how plants grow." "Most patterns you see, including the ones on sand dunes or fish or tigers or leopards or in the laboratory – even the defects in the patterns – have many universal features," he says. ... > full story

Green chemistry offers route towards zero-waste production (February 24, 2011) -- Novel green chemical technologies will play a key role helping society move towards the elimination of waste while offering a wider range of products from biorefineries, according to one expert. ... > full story

Is dairy colostrum the key to Olympic success? (February 24, 2011) -- Scientists investigating natural ways to enhance athletic performance have found that bovine colostrum can massively reduce gut permeability -- otherwise known as "leaky gut syndrome." Their findings could have positive implications not just for athletes but also for sufferers of heatstroke. ... > full story

Discovery of oldest northern North American human remains provides new insights into Ice-Age culture (February 24, 2011) -- Scientists have discovered the cremated skeleton of a Paleoindian child in the remains of an 11,500-year-old house in central Alaska. The findings reveal a slice of domestic life that has been missing from the record of the region's early people, who were among the first to colonize the Americas. ... > full story

Probiotic identified to treat ulcers (February 24, 2011) -- Researchers have identified a strain of probiotic bacteria that may be useful in treating ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori. ... > full story

New method powerfully boosts efficiency of RNA interference (RNAi) in shutting down genes (February 24, 2011) -- Scientists have developed a powerful method that allows them to sift through thousands of candidate hairpin-shaped RNA molecules at a time and pull out only those RNAs that potently shut down the activity of a target gene. This accomplishment will now allow biologists to fully exploit RNA interference, a natural cellular mechanism that has already been co-opted by scientists for myriad purposes. ... > full story

Another spring of major flooding likely in North Central United States, NOAA predicts (February 24, 2011) -- A large swath of the country is at risk of moderate to major flooding this spring, from northeastern Montana through western Wisconsin following the Mississippi River south to St. Louis, National Weather Service flood experts are forecasting. The agency has released an initial spring flood outlook for this high risk region and will release a national spring flood outlook on March 17. ... > full story

New stretchable solar cells will power artificial electronic 'super skin' (February 24, 2011) -- "Super skin" is what one researcher wants to create. She's already developed a flexible sensor that is so sensitive to pressure it can feel a fly touch down. Now she's working to add the ability to detect chemicals and sense various kinds of biological molecules. She's also making the skin self-powering, using polymer solar cells to generate electricity. And the new solar cells are not just flexible, but stretchable -- they can be stretched up to 30 percent beyond their original length and snap back without any damage or loss of power. ... > full story

Oscillating 'plug' of magma causes tremors that forecast volcanic eruptions (February 24, 2011) -- Geophysicists are offering a new explanation for seismic tremors accompanying volcanic eruptions that could advance forecasting of explosive eruptions such as recent events at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, Chaiten Volcano in Chile, and Mount St. Helens in Washington State. ... > full story

Gaze-following abilities in wolves (February 24, 2011) -- Following others' gaze direction is an important source of information that helps to detect prey or predators, to notice important social events within one's social group and to predict the next actions of others. As such, it is considered a key step towards an understanding of mental states, such as attention and intention. Researchers have now observed this behavior in wolves, a behavior previously only observed in birds and primates. ... > full story

New finding in ribosome signaling may lead to improved antibiotics (February 24, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered a signaling mechanism in the bacterial ribosome that detects proteins that activate genes for antibiotic resistance. ... > full story

New transmission concept for wind turbines: Higher energy yield with torque vectoring gears (February 24, 2011) -- Wind turbines have a problem: Depending on the wind's force, the rotational speed of the turbine and thus of the generator changes. However, alternating current must be fed into the grid with precisely 50 (or 60) hertz. Typically the generated alternating current is first rectified and then transformed back to alternating current of the required frequency. Scientists have now developed an active transmission that makes this double transformation superfluous. ... > full story

New high-performance lithium-ion battery 'top candidate' for electric cars (February 24, 2011) -- Scientists are reporting development of an advanced lithium-ion battery that is ideal for powering the electric vehicles now making their way into dealer showrooms. The new battery can store large amounts of energy in a small space and has a high rate capacity, meaning it can provide current even in extreme temperatures. ... > full story