ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Sunday, March 6, 2011
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Has Earth's sixth mass extinction already arrived? (March 5, 2011) -- Researchers have delved into the fossil record to compare past animal extinctions, in particular the five "mass extinctions" that occurred within the past 540 million years, with today's extinctions. They find that, while the rate of extinctions today is higher than during past mass extinctions, we haven't yet lost too many animal species. Efforts to conserve threatened species could avoid the tipping point toward a sixth mass extinction. ... > full story
Jekyll and Hyde: Cells' executioner can also stave off death (March 5, 2011) -- An enzyme viewed as an executioner, because it can push cells to commit suicide, may actually short circuit a second form of cell death, researchers have discovered. The finding could shift drug discovery efforts, by leading scientists to rethink how proposed anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory drugs that target the enzyme, called caspase 8, are supposed to work. ... > full story
Reviving 100-year-old resting spores of diatoms (March 5, 2011) -- Diatoms account for a large proportion of the phytoplankton found in the water, and live both in the open sea and in freshwater lakes. By reviving 100-year-old spores that had laid buried and inactive in bottom sediment, researchers have shown that diatoms are also genetically stable and survival artists. ... > full story
Invasive species widespread, but not more than at home range (March 5, 2011) -- Invasive plant species have long had a reputation as being bad for a new ecosystem when they are introduced. As it turns out, they aren't any more abundant away from home than they are at home. ... > full story
Clean fuel worsens climate impacts for some vehicle engines (March 5, 2011) -- A pioneering program by one of the world's largest cities to switch its vehicle fleet to clean fuel has not significantly improved harmful vehicle emissions in more than 5,000 vehicles -- and worsened some vehicles' climate impacts -- a new study finds. ... > full story
Simulating breaking waves (March 5, 2011) -- The SWAN (Simulating WAves Nearshore) wave prediction model predicts the distribution of wave heights close to the shore. It was recently expanded to include the SWASH (Simulating WAves till SHore) model, which enables the modeling of wave behavior right up to the shore, including how they break and overflow. ... > full story
Fossils of horse teeth indicate 'you are what you eat' (March 4, 2011) -- Fossil records verify a long-standing theory that horses evolved through natural selection. Scientists arrived at the conclusion after examining the teeth of 6,500 fossil horses representing 222 different populations of more than 70 extinct horse species. ... > full story
Observing Arctic ice-edge plankton blooms from space (March 4, 2011) -- Ongoing climate-driven changes to the Arctic sea-ice could have a significant impact on the blooming of tiny planktonic plants (phytoplankton) with important implications for the Arctic ecosystem, according to new research, ... > full story
Rising carbon dioxide is causing plants to have fewer pores, releasing less water to the atmosphere (March 4, 2011) -- As carbon dioxide levels have risen during the last 150 years, the density of pores that allow plants to breathe has dwindled by 34 percent, restricting the amount of water vapor the plants release to the atmosphere, report scientists. ... > full story
New system can warn of tsunamis within minutes (March 4, 2011) -- Seismologists have developed a new system that could be used to warn future populations of an impending tsunami only minutes after the initial earthquake. The system, known as RTerg, could help reduce the death toll by giving local residents valuable time to move to safer ground. ... > full story
New light-sensing mechanism found in neurons (March 4, 2011) -- Scientists have discovered a second form of phototransduction light sensing in cells that is derived from vitamin B2. This discovery may reveal new information about cellular processes controlled by light. ... > full story
Worms strike see-saw balance in disease resistance (March 4, 2011) -- New research has shown that nematode worms have to trade-off resistance to different diseases, gaining resistance to one microbe at the expense of becoming more vulnerable to another. This finding reveals that the worms, called C. elegans, have a much more complex immune system than was previously thought and shows how important such trade-offs are across the animal kingdom. ... > full story
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