ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Wednesday, July 21, 2010
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First-of-its-kind map details the height of the globe's forests (July 21, 2010) -- Using satellite data, scientists have produced a first-of-its kind map that details the height of the world's forests. Although there are other local- and regional-scale forest canopy maps, the new map is the first that spans the entire globe based on one uniform method. ... > full story
Computer program predicts MRSA bacteria's next move (July 21, 2010) -- Researchers are using computers to identify how one strain of dangerous bacteria might mutate in the same way a champion chess player tries to anticipate an opponent's strategies. The predictive software could result in better drug design to beat antibiotic-resistant mutations. ... > full story
Rapid losses of Africa's native livestock threaten continent's food supply, experts warn (July 21, 2010) -- Urgent action is needed to stop the rapid and alarming loss of genetic diversity of African livestock that provide food and income to 70 percent of rural Africans and include a treasure-trove of drought- and disease-resistant animals, according to a new analysis presented at a major gathering of African scientists and development experts. ... > full story
Rapid growth in adolescence leads to fewer offspring, biologists find (July 21, 2010) -- Biologists working on guppies report that rapid growth responses to increased food availability after a period of growth restriction early in life have repercussions in adulthood. Based on their experiments, the biologists found that female guppies that grew rapidly as juveniles produced fewer offspring than usual. The research sheds light on how organisms, including humans, respond to changes in their environment, such as food availability. ... > full story
Probiotics use in mothers limits eczema in their babies, study finds (July 21, 2010) -- Women who drank milk with a probiotic supplement during and after their pregnancy cut the incidence of eczema in their children by almost half compared to mothers who drank a placebo, researchers have shown. ... > full story
NOAA ship Fairweather maps aid shipping through Bering Straits (July 21, 2010) -- As Arctic ice recedes, countries are looking forward to faster, safer and more efficient sea routes across the top of the world. Responding to a request from the US Navy, US Coast Guard, Alaska Maritime Pilots and the commercial shipping industry, NOAA sent one of its premier surveying vessels, NOAA Ship Fairweather, to detect navigational dangers in critical Arctic waters that have not been charted for more than 50 years. ... > full story
Why some plants flower in spring, autumn and some in summer (July 20, 2010) -- Scientists have uncovered a new piece in the puzzle about why some plants flower in spring/autumn and some in summer. They have isolated a gene responsible for regulating the expression of CONSTANS, an important inducer of flowering, in Arabidopsis. This knowledge will enable more predictable flowering, better scheduling and reduced wastage of crops. ... > full story
Animal connection: New hypothesis for human evolution and human nature (July 20, 2010) -- It's no secret to any dog-lover or cat-lover that humans have a special connection with animals. But in new research, a paleoanthropologist argues that this human-animal connection goes well beyond simple affection. He proposes that the interdependency of ancestral humans with other animal species -- "the animal connection" -- played a crucial and beneficial role in human evolution over the last 2.6 million years. ... > full story
Underwater sponges and worms may hold key to cure for malaria (July 20, 2010) -- Healing powers for one of the world's deadliest diseases may lie within sponges, sea worms and other underwater creatures. A scientist is analyzing more than 2,500 samples from marine organisms collected off deep sea near Florida's coast. Some of them could hold the key to developing drugs to fight malaria, a mosquito-borne illness that kills more than 1 million people worldwide annually. ... > full story
Uncovering behavior of long-dead insects (July 20, 2010) -- What can you learn from the 120-year-old body of a parasitoid wasp? Using material from museum collections, researchers report that they can tell how males wasps court their females, based on dead specimens. ... > full story
Beach umbrellas do not block out all solar radiation, study shows (July 20, 2010) -- A team of researchers from Spain has found that 34% of ultraviolet radiation filters through under beach umbrellas. According to the study, umbrellas intercept the full direct flow that comes from the Sun, but not the diffused radiation that penetrates through from the sides. ... > full story
Health impacts of Deepwater Horizon disaster on coastal Louisiana residents surveyed (July 20, 2010) -- Researchers have conducted a survey to gain an understanding of the health impacts the ongoing Deepwater Horizon disaster is having on people living in Louisiana's coastal communities. ... > full story
Artificial cells communicate and cooperate like biological cells, ants (July 20, 2010) -- Researchers have designed "biologically inspired" artificial cells capable of self-organizing into independent groups that can communicate and cooperate, behaving like complex natural organisms. ... > full story
Adaptation in mole blood aids tunnelling (July 20, 2010) -- 'Super hemoglobin' allows moles to thrive underground. Researchers have made the first identification of an adaptation in the blood of Eastern moles which allows more efficient transport of carbon dioxide, facilitating the moles' burrowing behavior. ... > full story
Bioinformatics used to detect rogue use of synthetic biology (July 20, 2010) -- A team of students is using bioinformatics to implement federal guidance on synthetic genomics. The students' work will help gene synthesis companies and their customers better detect the possible use of manufactured DNA as harmful agents for bioterrorism. ... > full story
Cool roofs can offset carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate global warming, study finds (July 20, 2010) -- A new study has found that implementing cool roofs and cool pavements in cities around the world can not only help cities stay cooler, they can also cool the world, with the potential of canceling the heating effect of up to two years of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. ... > full story
Microbial world's use of metals mostly unmapped (July 20, 2010) -- Microbes boast a broader and more diverse array of metal-driven chemical processes than scientists imagined. In fact, most have yet to be discovered, according to a first-of-its-kind technique that catalogs all of the metals in a microbe. The method could lead to innovative clean energy and bioremediation technologies. ... > full story
Of bugs and brains: Gut bacteria affect multiple sclerosis (July 20, 2010) -- Biologists have demonstrated a connection between multiple sclerosis -- an autoimmune disorder that affects the brain and spinal cord -- and gut bacteria. ... > full story
Unearthing King Tet: Key protein influences stem cell fate (July 20, 2010) -- Researchers have discovered that a protein called Tet 1 helps stem cells renew themselves and stay pluripotent -- able to become any type of cell in the body. ... > full story
When climate change becomes a health issue, are people more likely to listen? (July 20, 2010) -- Framing climate change as a public health problem seems to make the issue more relevant, significant and understandable to members of the public -- even some who don't generally believe climate change is happening, according to new research. ... > full story
Frog killer caught in the act: DNA barcoding reveals five undiscovered frog species among 30 wiped out by fungal epidemic (July 20, 2010) -- The first before-and-after view of an amphibian die-off has just been published. Using DNA barcodes, they showed that the fungal disease that wipes out frogs -- chytridiomycosis -- has killed an estimated 30 species of amphibians in Panama, including five species previously unidentified by scientists. ... > full story
Mermaid opens prospect of cleaner seas with pollution early warning system (July 20, 2010) -- Alarm at the massive oil plume in the Gulf of Mexico emphasizes the problem of marine pollution and how difficult it is to evaluate. Thanks to a EUREKA project, another heavily polluted maritime ecosystem, the European North Sea, has been for more than 20 years a test-bed for a highly advanced early-warning system for all types of pollution. This development is now aiding marine authorities around the world to keep seas clean. ... > full story
Flower power makes tropics cooler, wetter (July 19, 2010) -- The world is a cooler, wetter place because of flowering plants, according to new climate simulation. The effect is especially pronounced in the Amazon basin, where replacing flowering plants with non-flowering varieties would result in an 80 percent decrease in the area covered by ever-wet rainforest. ... > full story
'Violin fungus' genetically decoded (July 19, 2010) -- An international team has sequenced the genome of the common split gill mushroom, Schizophyllum commune, a widely distributed fungus which grows on and decomposes wood. It is this ability which scientists have exploited to improve the tonal qualities of wood used to make violins. ... > full story
Small fish exploits forbidding environment, turns jellyfish into dinner (July 19, 2010) -- Jellyfish moved into the oceans off the coast of southwest Africa when the sardine population crashed. Now another small fish is living in the oxygen-depleted zone part-time and turning the once ecologically dead-end jellyfish into dinner, according to an international team of scientists. ... > full story
June was the fourth consecutive month that was warmest on record (July 19, 2010) -- June was the fourth consecutive month that was the warmest on record for the combined global land and surface temperatures (March, April, and May were also the warmest). This was the 304th consecutive month with a combined global land and surface temperature above the 20th century average. The last month with below average temperatures was February 1985. ... > full story
Getting mosquitoes under control: Gene-silencing nanoparticles may put end to pesky summer pest (July 19, 2010) -- Summer just wouldn't be complete without mosquitoes nipping at exposed skin. Or would it? New research may help solve a problem that scientists and pest controllers have been itching to for years. Scientists have developed a way to use nanoparticles to deliver double-stranded ribonucleic acid to silence genes in mosquito larvae. ... > full story
Melting DNA into a barcode (July 19, 2010) -- A completely new method for producing an image of individual DNA molecules’ genetic make-up has been developed. According to the researchers, the technique could be used to find out more easily whether someone is carrying a genetic predisposition to certain diseases. ... > full story
High-speed study of zebrafish larvae: New technique can analyze larvae in seconds (July 19, 2010) -- With the aim of speeding up the process of studying zebrafish larvae and enabling large-scale studies, engineers have developed a new technique that can analyze the larvae in seconds. ... > full story
What protects farm children from hay fever? Protective substance may slumber in cowshed dust (July 19, 2010) -- Researchers in Germany have isolated the substance in cowshed dust that possibly protects farm children from developing allergies and allergic asthma -- namely the plant sugar molecule arabinogalactan. If high concentrations are inhaled during the first year of life, it inhibits the immune system from excessive defense reactions. There are large quantities of this molecule in forage crops such as the Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis). Researchers have now demonstrated experimentally that the molecule affects immune system cells. ... > full story
Rising carbon dioxide and 'acidified' waters found in Puget Sound, off Seattle US (July 19, 2010) -- Scientists have discovered that the water chemistry in the Hood Canal and the Puget Sound main basin is becoming more "acidified," or corrosive, as the ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. These changes could have considerable impacts on the region's shellfish industry over the next several decades. ... > full story
Vaccine-delivery patch with dissolving microneedles eliminates 'sharps,' boosts protection (July 19, 2010) -- A new vaccine-delivery patch based on hundreds of microscopic needles that dissolve into the skin could allow persons without medical training to painlessly administer vaccines -- while providing improved immunization against diseases such as influenza. ... > full story
'Business as usual' crop development won't satisfy future demand, research finds (July 19, 2010) -- Although global grain production must double by 2050 to address rising population and demand, new data suggests crop yields will suffer unless new approaches to adapt crop plants to climate change are adopted. Improved agronomic traits responsible for the remarkable increases in yield accomplished during the past 50 years have reached their ceiling for some of the world's most important crops. ... > full story
How cranberry juice fights bacteria at the molecular level (July 19, 2010) -- Revealing the science behind the homespun advice, researchers have identified and measured the molecular forces that enable cranberry juice to fight off urinary tract infections. The research illuminates the basic mechanics of E. coli infections, which has implications for developing new antibiotic drugs and infection-resistant materials for invasive medical devices. ... > full story
Nectar reduction in Petunia: it doesn't pay to cheat (July 19, 2010) -- A researcher in Switzerland has bred a new line of petunia that produces significantly more seeds and less nectar than normal petunia. The downside of these positive changes is that pollinators spend less time visiting petunias that offer less nectar, which results in a lower seed production. The work shows that the cost-benefit ratio for the plant remains neutral. ... > full story
Role of RNA polymerase in gene transcription demonstrated (July 19, 2010) -- Biophysicists have provided new insight into the mechanisms of gene transcription. They developed a computer model to simulate how the transcription of RNA from DNA is initiated and demonstrate the active role that RNA polymerase plays. Understanding the mechanisms of gene transcription is an important step in deciphering the role of genetics in disease. ... > full story
Remarkable fossil cave shows how ancient marsupials grew (July 18, 2010) -- The discovery of a remarkable 15-million-year-old Australian fossil limestone cave packed with even older animal bones has revealed almost the entire life cycle of a large prehistoric marsupial, from suckling young in the pouch still cutting their milk teeth to elderly adults. ... > full story
Anti-cancer effects of broccoli ingredient explained (July 18, 2010) -- Light has been cast on the interaction between broccoli consumption and reduced prostate cancer risk. Researchers have found that sulforaphane, a chemical found in broccoli, interacts with cells lacking a gene called PTEN to reduce the chances of prostate cancer developing. ... > full story
Fungi's role in the cycle of life discovered (July 18, 2010) -- The nitrogen cycle is the natural process that makes nitrogen available to all organisms on earth. Scientists have discovered that one of the world's most common and ecologically important groups of fungi plays an unsuspected role in this key natural cycle. ... > full story
Concentration, timing and interactions are key when it comes to dietary compounds (July 18, 2010) -- Chemists who specializes in cancer prevention research have reported evidence that for some dietary compounds, length of exposure over time may be key to whether or not ingestion leads to a beneficial, or detrimental, effect. ... > full story
Cell signaling classification system gives researchers new tool (July 18, 2010) -- Using ever-growing genome data, scientists are tracing the evolution of the bacterial regulatory system that controls cellular motility, potentially giving researchers a method for predicting important cellular functions that will impact both medical and biotechnology research. ... > full story
Secret to sniffing out a safe supper (July 18, 2010) -- When mice smell the scent of food on the breath of their fellow mice, they use that experience to decide what's safe to eat in the future. Key in that learning process is the pairing of a particular odor with a chemical ingredient found in mouse breath, scientists knew. What they didn't know was how mice manage to sniff that connection out. According to new study, now they do. ... > full story
Universal flu vaccine moving closer (July 18, 2010) -- A universal influenza vaccine -- so-called because it could potentially provide protection from all flu strains for decades -- may become a reality. ... > full story
Scientists Mount a 'Sting Operation' in Thailand to Tackle a Devastating Pest Outbreak (July 18, 2010) -- In the start of a carefully crafted emergency campaign to thwart a pest outbreak that is wreaking havoc on Thailand's vital cassava production, agricultural researchers will release a quarter of a million parasitic wasps in the northeastern part of the country. ... > full story
New potential biocontrol for skunk vine identified (July 18, 2010) -- A new beetle that could be used to control the invasive weed skunk vine has been identified. ... > full story
New method revolutionizes study of metal-containing proteins (July 18, 2010) -- Scientists have shown through an entirely new method that metalloproteins are much more diverse and extensive than previously recognized and that it is possible to determine all the metals in an organism in one fell swoop through a reliable, genome-wide approach. ... > full story
Mayan king's tomb discovered in Guatemala (July 17, 2010) -- A well-preserved tomb of an ancient Mayan king has been discovered in Guatemala. The tomb is packed with carvings, ceramics, textiles, and the bones of six children, who may have been sacrificed at the time of the king's death. ... > full story
Redundant genetic instructions in 'junk DNA' support healthy development (July 17, 2010) -- Seemingly redundant portions of the fruit fly genome may not be so redundant after all. Repeated instructional regions in the flies' DNA may contribute to normal development under less-than-ideal growth conditions by making sure that genes are turned on and off at the appropriate times, according to new research. If similar regions are found in humans, they may hold important clues to understanding developmental disorders. ... > full story
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