ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Tuesday, April 5, 2011

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Tuesday, April 5, 2011

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When African animals hit the hay: Fossil teeth show who ate what and when as grasses emerged (April 5, 2011) -- Fossil teeth of African animals show that during the past 10 million years, different plant-eating critters began grazing on grass at different times as many switched from a salad-bar diet of tree leaves and shrubs, a new study has found ... > full story

Oxygen sensor invention could benefit fisheries to breweries (April 5, 2011) -- Monitoring oxygen levels in water has applications for oil spills, fish farming, brewing beer and more -- and a researcher is poised to help supply that need. The concept of oxygen sensors isn't new. The challenge, however, has been manufacturing one that can withstand fluctuations in temperature, salinity, carbon dioxide, phosphates and biological wastes. Physicist Ruby Ghosh was able to overcome those obstacles as well as build one that provides real-time data and is relatively inexpensive. ... > full story

Caterpillars aren't so bird-brained after all: Clever behavioral strategies help them outwit predators (April 5, 2011) -- Caterpillars that masquerade as twigs to avoid becoming a bird's dinner are actually using clever behavioral strategies to outwit their predators, according to a new study. ... > full story

Novel compounds for fighting against parasitic diseases (April 5, 2011) -- Parasites of the Trypanosomatidae family cause a number of serious human diseases. Researchers have now published the identification of novel anti-parasitic compounds targeting an enzyme unique to the parasites. These compounds are promising for the development of drugs with fewer side-effects than current medical treatments. ... > full story

Declining rainfall is a major influence for migrating birds (April 4, 2011) -- Instinct and the annual increase of daylight hours have long been thought to be the triggers for birds to begin their spring migration. Scientists, however, have now found that that may not be the case. Researchers have focused on how warming trends in temperate breeding areas disrupt the sensitive ecology of migratory birds. This new research shows that changes in rainfall on the tropical wintering grounds could be equally disruptive. ... > full story

Chemists produce first high-resolution RNA 'nano square' (April 4, 2011) -- Chemists have produced the first high resolution structure of a nano-scale square made from ribonucleic acid, or RNA. ... > full story

'In-depth' radar: Seeing what lies beneath the surface (April 4, 2011) -- Where do the water pipes and electric cables lie? Could valuable cultural artefacts be hidden here? And how high is the salt concentration on the road today? A georadar can reveal what lies below the surface, providing information that can be extremely useful to industry. A Norwegian researcher wants to evaluate how georadar could be utilized. ... > full story

Algae that live inside the cells of salamanders are the first known vertebrate endosymbionts (April 4, 2011) -- A species of algae long known to associate with spotted salamanders has been discovered to live inside the cells of developing embryos, say scientists from the US and Canada. This is the first known example of a eukaryotic algae living stably inside the cells of any vertebrate. ... > full story

Leatherback sea turtle nests increasing in Florida (April 4, 2011) -- The number of endangered leatherback sea turtle nests at 68 beaches in Florida has increased by 10.2 percent a year since 1979, according to a new study. ... > full story

Formaldehyde: Poison could have set the stage for the origins of life (April 4, 2011) -- Formaldehyde, a poison and a common molecule throughout the universe, is likely the source of the solar system's organic carbon solids -- abundant in both comets and asteroids. Scientists have long speculated about the how organic, or carbon-containing, material became a part of the solar system's fabric. New research shows that these complex organic solids were likely made from formaldehyde in the primitive solar system. ... > full story

High dose of oxygen enhances natural cancer treatment, researchers find (April 4, 2011) -- An environment of pure oxygen at three-and-a-half times normal air pressure adds significantly to the effectiveness of a natural compound already shown to kill cancerous cells, according to new research. ... > full story

New role for cilia protein in mitosis (April 4, 2011) -- Researchers have described a previously unknown role for the cilia protein IFT88 in mitosis, the process by which a dividing cell separates its chromosomes containing the cell's DNA into two identical sets of new daughter cells. This newly discovered function for IFT88 suggests a possible alternative or contributory cause for cilia-related diseases such as primary ciliary dyskinesia, and polycystic kidney disease. ... > full story

Tree growth and fecundity affected more by climate change than previously thought (April 4, 2011) -- An 18-year study of 27,000 individual trees finds that tree growth and fecundity -- the ability to produce viable seeds -- are more sensitive to climate change than previously thought. ... > full story

NASA airborne radar set to image Hawaiian volcano (April 4, 2011) -- The Kilauea volcano that recently erupted on the Big Island of Hawaii will be the target for a NASA study to help scientists better understand processes occurring under Earth's surface. ... > full story

Sleeping through danger: The dormouse approach to survival (April 4, 2011) -- Amid the general rejoicing over the first signs of spring, spare a thought for the humble dormouse, which is about to embark on the most dangerous period of its life. This is the surprising finding of a long-term study of dormouse survival rates in five different countries in Europe. ... > full story

West and Central African lions are genetically different from those in East and southern Africa (April 4, 2011) -- New findings of genetic research on lions reveals a remarkable difference between lions in West and Central Africa and lions in East and southern Africa. ... > full story

Researchers electrify polymerization (April 4, 2011) -- Scientists are using electricity from a battery to drive atom transfer radical polymerization, a widely used method of creating industrial plastics. The environmentally friendly approach represents a breakthrough in the level of control scientists can achieve over the ATRP process, which will allow for the creation of even more complex and specialized materials. ... > full story

The Population Bomb: How we survived it (April 4, 2011) -- World population will reach 7 billion this year, prompting new concerns about whether the world will soon face a major population crisis. ... > full story

First broad-scale maps of life on Australia's sea-shelf (April 4, 2011) -- Marine scientists from five research agencies have pooled their skills and resources to compile a directory of life on Australia's continental shelf. ... > full story

Magnesium deficiency: Not always a nutritional problem (April 4, 2011) -- Scientists have identified a genetic cause for magnesium deficiency. The study ascertained changes in a gene which is involved in the regulation of magnesium processes involved in the kidney. This research opens the way for possible future medicinal treatment of genetically caused magnesium deficiencies. ... > full story

Lambs provide crucial link in understanding obesity (April 4, 2011) -- The question of whether children born to obese mothers will become obese themselves is one step closer to being answered as a result of new research which studied lambs born to overweight sheep. ... > full story

Rare discovery of plant genus (April 4, 2011) -- Usually, when a new species is discovered it is associated with one species. It is rare to find two new species belonging to the same new genus. Yasunia is one of those rare cases. ... > full story

SeaWiFS' 13 years of observing our home planet (April 4, 2011) -- For centuries, oceanographers were limited in their study of the highly variable and incredibly vast ocean by what they could physically sample from the deck of a slow moving ship. Like so many scientific fields, satellites changed that. The oceans, once thought homogenous and boring, have been revealed as far more dynamic, changing and varied from region to region and season to season. Quantifying this diversity in time and space would be impossible without long-operating satellites. Since its launch in 1997, SeaWiFS has been making outsized contributions to the field of observing the oceans pulse with life through changing seasons and a changing climate. ... > full story

Student confidence correlated with academic performance, horticultural science class study finds (April 4, 2011) -- The psychological construct of "confidence" was the foundation of new research that examined university students' confidence levels, then correlated these levels to academic performance. Students were asked to record their confidence levels related to course content at the beginning of a horticultural science class, then again at the end of the course. Researchers found that assessment results compared with the students' academic performance showed that change in confidence was an indication of student learning. ... > full story

Getting closer to a better biocontrol for garden pests (April 3, 2011) -- Scientists have found strains of bacteria that could one day be used as environmentally friendly treatments to keep caterpillars and other pests out of gardens and cultivated fields. ... > full story

‘SKIP’-ing splicing forces tumor cells to undergo programmed cell death (April 3, 2011) -- When cells find themselves in a tight spot, the cell cycle regulator p21 halts the cell cycle, buying cells time to repair the damage, or if all else fails, to initiate programmed cell death. In contrast to other stress-induced genes, which dispense with the regular transcriptional entourage, p21Cip1 still requires SKIP, a transcription elongation factor that also helps with the editing of transcripts, to be expressed, found researchers. ... > full story

Novel technique reveals how glaciers sculpted their valleys (April 3, 2011) -- How do you reconstruct the landscape that a glacier has obliterated? Geologists have developed a new technique to determine the life history of minerals now on the surface but that once were under a kilometer of rock, and thus to reconstruct the landform history of a mountain range. The work can help us understand how glaciers are changing the landscape today. ... > full story

Ants and termites boost dryland wheat yields (April 3, 2011) -- Ants and termites have a significant positive impact on crop yields in dryland agriculture, according to scientists in Australia. ... > full story

Optical transistor advance: Physicists rotate beams of light with semiconductor (April 2, 2011) -- Physicists have managed to control the rotation of light by means of a ultra thin semiconductor. The advance could potentially be used to create a transistor that works with light instead of electrical current. ... > full story

Soy increases radiation's ability to kill lung cancer cells, study shows (April 2, 2011) -- A component in soybeans increases radiation's ability to kill lung cancer cells, according to a new study. ... > full story

Manage biological invasions like natural disasters, biologists say (April 2, 2011) -- Biological invasions are often more economically damaging than natural disasters and warrant correspondingly large investments in preparedness and response planning, according to biologists. Such measures seem absent in most developed nations. ... > full story

Insulin could be Alzheimer's therapy (April 2, 2011) -- A low dose of insulin has been found to suppress the expression in the blood of four precursor proteins involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, according to new clinical research. ... > full story

When food is scarce, hungry female spiders alter mating preferences (April 2, 2011) -- Weather and environmental change can bring alterations -- and scarcity -- in food resources. In looking at how such changes might affect mating choices and subsequent reproduction, researchers studied how hunger affects the mating preferences of common female spiders. ... > full story

Sun and shade leaves play different roles in tree canopies (April 2, 2011) -- "Outer" tree canopy leaves influence the sunlight reaching inner canopy leaves by changing their shape, says a new study. ... > full story

Green toad inhabited Iberian Peninsula one million years ago (April 1, 2011) -- Although the green toad (Bufo viridis) can today be found all over Central Europe, Asia, Africa, and even on the Balearic Islands, it became extinct in the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the Early Pleistocene (1.1 million years ago). This has been demonstrated by an international research study, with Spanish participation, which has discovered the first green frog fossil in Murcia. ... > full story

Three square meals a day paired with lean protein help people feel full during weight loss (April 1, 2011) -- Eating fewer, regular-sized meals with higher amounts of lean protein can make one feel more full than eating smaller, more frequent meals, according to new research. ... > full story

Some populations of Fraser River salmon more likely to survive climate change (April 1, 2011) -- Populations of Fraser River sockeye salmon are so fine-tuned to their environment that any further environmental changes caused by climate change could lead to the disappearance of some populations, while others may be less affected, says a new study. ... > full story

Cat allergy vaccine safe and effective, study suggests (April 1, 2011) -- Mark Larché and his research team have developed a cat allergy vaccine which is effective and safe with almost no side effects. ... > full story

Probiotic bacteria could help treat Crohn's disease (April 1, 2011) -- New research suggests that infection with a probiotic strain of E. coli bacteria could help treat an reduce the negative effects of another E. coli infection that may be associated with Crohn's disease. ... > full story

Salt-seeking spacecraft arrives at launch site; NASA instrument will measure ocean surface salinity (April 1, 2011) -- An international spacecraft that will take NASA's first space-based measurements of ocean surface salinity has arrived at its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Aquarius/SAC-D mission will provide scientists with a key missing variable in satellite observations of Earth that links ocean circulation, the global balance of freshwater and climate. ... > full story

Spread of invasive ladybugs explained (April 1, 2011) -- A researcher studying invasive ladybugs has developed new models that help explain how these insects have spread so quickly and their potential impacts on native species. ... > full story

Scientists unlock mystery of how the 22nd amino acid is produced (April 1, 2011) -- The most recently discovered amino acid, pyrrolysine, is produced by a series of just three chemical reactions with a single precursor -- the amino acid lysine, according to new research. Scientists have used mass spectrometry and a series of experiments to discover how cells make the amino acid, a process that until now had been unknown. ... > full story

Got a craving for fast food? Skip the coffee, study suggests (April 1, 2011) -- A new study has revealed not only that a healthy person's blood sugar levels spike after eating a high-fat meal, but that the spike doubles after having both a fatty meal and caffeinated coffee -- jumping to levels similar to those of people at risk for diabetes. Ultimately, saturated fat and fat combined with caffeinated coffee hinder the body's ability to clear sugar from the blood and having high blood sugar levels can take a toll on our body's organs. ... > full story

Long lost cousin of T. rex identified by scientists (April 1, 2011) -- Scientists have identified a new species of gigantic theropod dinosaur, a close relative of T. rex, from fossil skull and jaw bones discovered in China. ... > full story

Whale and dolphin death toll during Deepwater disaster may have been greatly underestimated (April 1, 2011) -- The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 devastated the Gulf of Mexico ecologically and economically. However, a new study reveals that the true impact of the disaster on wildlife may be gravely underestimated. The study argues that fatality figures based on the number of recovered animal carcasses will not give a true death toll, which may be 50 times higher than believed ... > full story

Immune therapy can control fertility in mammals: Technique could prevent pregnancy in pets, human use is also envisioned (April 1, 2011) -- Researchers have shown that it is possible to immunize mammals to control fertility. They say their technique could possibly be used on other mammals -- including humans -- because fertility hormones and their receptors are species-non-specific and are similar in both females and males. For pets, the technique could be an alternative to castration and adverse effects of hormone administration. ... > full story

Making the leap to whole-cell simulations (April 1, 2011) -- Researchers have built a computer model of the crowded interior of a bacterial cell that -- in a test of its response to sugar in its environment -- accurately simulates the behavior of living cells. ... > full story

Economic importance of bats in the 'billions a year' range (April 1, 2011) -- Researchers analyzed the economic impact of the loss of bats in North America in agriculture and found it to be in the .7 to billion a year range. A single colony of 150 big brown bats eat nearly 1.3 million insects a year -- insects that could potentially be damaging to crops. ... > full story