ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Saturday, March 12, 2011

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Saturday, March 12, 2011

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Radiation expert discusses Japan nuclear power plant concerns (March 11, 2011) -- Following Friday's massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that caused tsunamis and rocked the island nation of Japan, Japanese government officials announced a nuclear emergency after the quake caused a reactor cooling system malfunction at Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. ... > full story

West Coast tsunami warnings shouldn’t lull Oregonians to sleep, expert says (March 11, 2011) -- The massive earthquake that rocked Japan on March 11 and generated a tsunami that inundated coastal cities at that island nation triggered alerts around the world. The Oregon coast was no exception. ... > full story

NASA study goes to Earth's core for climate insights (March 11, 2011) -- The latest evidence of the dominant role humans play in changing Earth's climate comes not from observations of Earth's ocean, atmosphere or land surface, but from deep within its molten core. ... > full story

Near-real-time map of Japan quake aftershocks (March 11, 2011) -- Researchers have created a near-real-time map of the aftershocks occurring globally following the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that rocked Japan Friday. ... > full story

Pacific Northwest faces nearly identical risks to Japanese quake (March 11, 2011) -- It's being called one of the largest recorded earthquakes in world history. Japan today is struggling with the aftermath of a massive 8.9 earthquake on a subduction zone, a short distance offshore, which unleashed a devastating tsunami that killed hundreds and has turned large parts of cities into rubble. The disaster is also a "wake up call" for the Pacific Northwest, a noted geologist says. ... > full story

Geologists in the UK trace readings from Japan earthquake (March 11, 2011) -- Geologists in the UK have recorded the impact of today's major earthquake, off the coast of Japan, using sophisticated equipment. The magnitude 8.9 quake east of Honshu on March 11, 2011 was recorded on a SEIS-UK seismometer. It shows three traces that measure movement of Earth’s surface in the vertical, north-south and east-west direction. SEIS-UK is part of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Geophysical Equipment Facility. ... > full story

Pinpointing air pollution's effects on the heart (March 11, 2011) -- Scientists are untangling how the tiniest pollution particles -- which we take in with every breath we breathe -- affect our health, making people more vulnerable to cardiovascular and respiratory problems. While scientists know that air pollution can aggravate heart problems, showing exactly how it does so has been challenging. Scientists have now shown that in people with diabetes, breathing ultrafine particles can activate platelets, cells in the blood that normally reduce bleeding from a wound, but can contribute to cardiovascular disease. ... > full story

Snails' complex muscle movements, rather than mucus, key to locomotion (March 11, 2011) -- New evidence suggests that the key to locomotion in snails stems from the animal's complex muscle movements, and not from its mucus, as had been previously thought. This finding could open the door to the construction of robots which could imitate this form of propulsion. ... > full story

Oldest known wild bird in US returns to Midway to raise chick (March 11, 2011) -- The oldest known US wild bird -- a coyly conservative 60 -- is a new mother. The bird, a Laysan albatross named Wisdom, was spotted a few weeks ago with a chick by a US Fish and Wildlife Service biologist with the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. ... > full story

Anthropologists link human uniqueness to hunter-gatherer group structure (March 11, 2011) -- New findings by an international team of anthropologists suggest that human ancestral social structure may be the root of cumulative culture and cooperation and, ultimately, human uniqueness. ... > full story

Roundworm could provide new treatment for sepsis (March 11, 2011) -- Medical researchers have found that systemic inflammation caused by sepsis can be suppressed by a protein which occurs naturally in a type of roundworm. ... > full story

Weed-eating fish 'key to reef survival' (March 11, 2011) -- Preserving an intact population of weed-eating fish may be vital to saving the world's coral reefs from being engulfed by weed as human and climate impacts grow. A study by researchers in Australia has found weed-eaters like parrotfish and surgeonfish can only keep coral reefs clear of weed up to a point. After the weeds reach a certain density, they take over and the coral is lost. ... > full story