ScienceDaily Environment Headlines: Week of September 15 to September 22, 2013

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for the Week of September 15 to September 22, 2013

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Posted 2013-09-20:

• Three new species of tiny frogs from the remarkable region of Papua New Guinea
• For scientists, early to press means success
• Tiger genome sequenced: Tiger, lion and leopard genomes compared
• Mine metals at Maine Superfund site causing widespread contamination
• Songbirds may have 'borrowed' DNA to fuel migration
• Climate change: Polar bears change to diet with higher contaminant loads
• New rat genus discovered in the birthplace of the theory of evolution
• Gap closed in the genetic map of fungi: Research team sequences genome of Pyronema confluens
• Why traumatized trees don't 'bleed' to death

Posted 2013-09-19:

• Paralysis promises smart silk technology
• MERS Co-V genomes reveal complex transmission patterns
• Antibacterial products fuel resistant bacteria in streams and rivers
• Study could help improve nuclear waste repositories
• 'Cascade of events' caused sudden explosion of animal life
• Geologists simulate deep earthquakes in lab
• Seismologists puzzle over largest deep earthquake ever recorded
• African caterpillars resistant to GM maize
• How lethal bird flu viruses evolved
• Oldest and youngest stag-moose in North America
• Endocrine-disrupting chemicals pose global health threat, experts say
• Turtle eye muscle adapts to deal with obstructed vision
• Mantas, devil rays butchered for apothecary trade now identifiable
• Got calcium? Mineral is key to restoring acid rain-damaged forests
• Earthworms can survive and recover after three-week drought stress
• After the storms, a different opinion on climate change
• Are banana farms contaminating Costa Rica's crocs?
• Gulf of Finland's coastal waters same as last year: Oxygen on deep-sea floors deteriorating
• Giant prehistoric elephant slaughtered by early humans
• The coelacanth leads a monogamous life

Posted 2013-09-18:

• Earth expected to be habitable for another 1.75 billion years
• New role for protein family could provide path to how crop traits are modified
• Toxoplasma infection permanently shifts balance in cat and mouse game
• True colors: Female squid have two ways to switch color
• The secret life of underground microbes: Plant root microbiomes rule the world
• African dust storms in our air: Dust storms in Africa affect U.S. and the Caribbean's air quality
• Overfishing of sharks is harming coral reefs, study suggests
• Scientists help tame tidal wave of genomic data
• Contaminants may cause birds to sing a different tune
• X-ray science taps bug biology to design better materials and reduce pollution
• A slave's life in ancient Pompeii
• Novel gene discovery could lead to new HIV treatments
• Origins of genomic 'dark matter' discovered
• Undersea mountains provide crucial piece in climate prediction puzzle
• Today's worst watershed stresses may become the new normal
• Dirty job made easier: Microfluidic technique recovers DNA
• Photosynthesis mechanism: Tofu-like crystalline catalysts for producing clean energy
• Higher lead levels may lie just below soil surface
• Lens combines human and insect vision to focus wide-angle views
• Algorithm finds missing phytoplankton in Southern Ocean
• 'Shy' male birds flock together -- and have fewer friends
• Southern Ocean sampling reveals travels of marine microbes
• Four new species of 'legless lizards' discovered living on the edge
• Personality differences: in lean times red deer with dominant personalities pay a high price
• Dinosaur wind tunnel test provides new insight into the evolution of bird flight
• Stronger winds may explain puzzling growth of sea ice in Antarctica, model shows

Posted 2013-09-17:

• Diversity of microbial growth strategies in a limited nutrient world
• Human activity affects vertical structure of atmospheric temperature
• A protein that can mean life or death for cells
• Death and disability from air pollution down 35 percent in the US
• Red grapes, blueberries may enhance immune function
• Wetlands more cost-effective in nutrient removal, but multiple payments would be of uncertain value
• Clean energy least costly to power America's electricity needs
• How birds got their wings: Fossil data show scaling of limbs altered as birds originated from dinosaurs
• Energy from tides and currents: Best arrangement of tidal sails device determined
• Urban agriculture: The potential and challenges of producing food in cities
• Massive carbon credit sale announced in Madagascar
• Heavily logged forests still valuable for tropical wildlife
• Environmental complexity promotes biodiversity
• First-time measurements in Greenland snowpack show a drop in atmospheric carbon monoxide since 1950s
• French islands under threat from rising sea levels
• Ten-year project redraws the map of bird brains
• Mt. Zion dig reveals possible second temple period priestly mansion
• New organism discovered: Finding will help scientists understand the origins of multicellular life
• Plankton Portal uses crowd-sourcing to classify strange oceanic creatures
• Link between oil spill exposure and hematologic, hepatic toxicity
• New catalyzer to avoid environmental pollution from chlorinated volatile organic compounds
• Who was eating salmon 45,000 years ago in the Caucasus? Neandertals probably not as rigid in their diet as thought

Posted 2013-09-16:

• Accurate computer model of RNA tetraloop
• Vaccinating cattle against E. coli could cut human cases of infection by 85 percent
• Biologists develop new method for discovering antibiotics
• What direction does Earth's center spin? New insights solve 300-year-old problem
• Early-warning system to prevent fishery collapse
• Scientists use 'wired microbes' to generate electricity from sewage
• Harnessing the sun's energy with tiny particles
• Flame cultivation promising as weed control method for cranberry
• World's most vulnerable areas to climate change mapped
• Birth of Earth's continents: New research points to crust stacking, rather than upwelling of hot material
• Sensors allow for efficient irrigation, more control over plant growth
• Environmentally friendly cement is stronger than ordinary cement
• Lake Erie: Warmest in summer, coldest in winter
• Weather affects crop yield, especially hot days
• Strategies for improved management of fresh market spinach
• Exposure to pig farms and manure fertilizers associated with MRSA infections
• Birds appear to lack important anti-inflammatory protein
• Time is in the eye of the beholder: Time perception in animals depends on their pace of life
• Marine species distribution changes reflect local climate conditions
• Climate change to shift Kenya's breadbaskets
• Projected climate change in West Africa not likely to worsen malaria situation
• Arachnophobic entomologists: When two more legs make a big difference
• Superconductivity to meet humanity's greatest challenges
• Sectors damaging the environment are not drivers of economic growth
• Model of dangerous bee disease in Jersey provides tool in fight against honeybee infections

Posted 2013-09-15:

• Tropical forest carbon absorption may hinge on an odd couple
• Achilles' heel of ice shelves is beneath the water, scientists reveal
• Scientists discover cosmic factory for making building blocks of life
• Concepts for Houston, Texas flood barrier

Posted 2013-09-13:

• Earth's wobble 'fixes' dinner for marine organisms
• Fish skin immune responses resemble those of the gut
• Biochemists resurrect 'molecular fossils': Findings challenge assumptions about origins of life
• Spider silk coated with carbon nanotubes has multiple surprising uses
• Balloon-borne astronomy experiment X-Calibur racing to hit wind window
• Scientists achieve highest open-circuit voltage for quantum dot solar cells
• Unexpected interaction between ocean currents and bacteria may weaken ocean's ability to absorb carbon dioxide
• 'Grassroots action' in livestock feeding to help curb global climate change
• Tuna closely related to some of the strangest fish in the sea
• Dating of beads sets new timeline for early humans
• Pinpointing when the First Dynasty of Kings ruled Egypt
• New technique in RNA interference cuts time and cost in genetic screens
• Carbon farming schemes should consider multiple cobenefits
• Model organism gone wild
• Fate of new genes cannot be predicted
• Inheritance of lifespan is sex-dependent in fruit flies
• Tiny plankton could have big impact on climate: CO₂-hungry microbes might short-circuit the marine foodweb
• Electric transport with wind in its sails
• Algae and bacteria in sea ice are important for the carbon budgets of frozen oceans
• Insulin plays role in mediating worms' perceptions and behaviors
• Eco-friendly bamboo garments lure consumers -- if the price is right

Posted 2013-09-12:

• Current pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions put over 600 million people at risk of higher water scarcity
• Get touchy feely with plants: Gently rubbing them with your fingers can make them less susceptible to disease
• Denser seagrass beds hold more baby blue crabs
• Toxic methylmercury-producing microbes more widespread than realized
• Underlying ocean melts ice shelf, speeds up glacier movement
• Viruses associated with coral epidemic of 'white plague'
• Movement of marine life follows speed and direction of climate change
• Functioning 'mechanical gears' seen in nature for first time
• Sewage treatment removes widely used home and garden insecticides from wastewater
• Contribution of local animal populations to human Salmonella infections overstated
• Decades on, bacterium's discovery feted as paragon of basic science
• Twister history: Model to correct tornado records for better risk assessment
• Radical new view of health: Stem cells are wired for cooperation, down to the DNA
• Molecule that triggers septic shock identified
• Molecular structure reveals how HIV infects cells
• Unprecedented rate and scale of ocean acidification found in the Arctic
• A microbe's trick for staying young
• New info on an elusive green cicada
• Treat the fungus among us with nontoxic medicinal compound
• Genetics of how and why fish swim in schools: Research sheds light on complex social behavior
• Darwin's dilemma resolved: Evolution's 'big bang' explained by five times faster rates of evolution
• Uros people of Peru and Bolivia found to have distinctive genetic ancestries
• Study explores complex physical oceanography in East China Sea
• Insights into evolution of life on Earth from one of Saturn's moons
• Delaying climate policy would triple short-term mitigation costs
• Dogs' behavior could help design social robots
• Cilantro, that favorite salsa ingredient, purifies drinking water
• Ocean-sampling robot gliders tracking animals, providing storm data
• A century of human impact on Arctic climate indicated by new models, historic aerosol data
• Ancient ancestor of tulip tree line identified
• Could life have survived a fall to Earth?
• Guppy fish proven to be cheap, effective tool in fight against Dengue fever

Posted 2013-09-11:

• Study provides insights on protecting world's poor from climate change
• Plants in space: A novel method for fixing plant tissue samples maximizes time, resources, and data
• An unprecedented threat to Peru's cloud forests
• Calculating the true cost of a ton of mountaintop coal
• Pacific humpback whale abundance higher in British Columbia
• Australian tarantula venom contains novel insecticide against agricultural pests
• Paleorivers across Sahara may have supported ancient human migration routes
• Orangutans plan their future route and communicate it to others
• The final nail in the Jurassic Park coffin? Next generation sequencing reveals absence of DNA in sub-fossilized insects
• Researchers move endangered mussels to save them
• Who's got guts? Young infants expect animals to have insides
• Crop-raiding elephants flee tiger growls
• Climate change may speed up forests' life cycles
• AIDS vaccine candidate appears to completely clear virus from the body in monkeys
• Embryonic stem cells produced in living adult organisms
• Pumping draws arsenic toward a big-city aquifer
• In odd-looking mutant, clues about how maize plants control stem cell number
• Unusual mechanism of DNA synthesis could explain genetic mutations
• Hottest days in some parts of Europe have warmed four times more than the global average
• Development of a new program that simulates protein movements
• Global warming could change strength of El Niño
• Tiny number of Asian carp could be big problem for Great Lakes
• New cell component important to tea and wine-making
• Influenza virus in wild birds in Norway
• Biodegradable cabinet: A new approach to sustainability
• Selection drives functional evolution of large enzyme families
• Bacteria enhance growth of fruit trees up to 40 percent
• Substance that gives grapefruit its flavor and aroma could give insect pests the boot

Posted 2013-09-10:

• Jurassic jaws: How ancient crocodiles flourished during the age of the dinosaurs
• Bad news for prey: New research shows that predators can learn to read camouflage
• Fungal sex can generate new drug resistant, virulent strains
• Tobacco companies' interests in smokeless tobacco products in Europe are driven by profit not health
• Researchers map carbon footprint of UK towns and cities
• Enhancing zoo elephant welfare
• Organic molecules found in Sutter's Mill meteorite, not previously found in any meteorites
• Edible coatings for ready-to-eat fresh fruits and vegetables
• Why are some corals flourishing in a time of global warming?
• How the newest diesel engines emit very little greenhouse gas nitrous oxide
• Panda poop microbes could make biofuels of the future
• Progress and challenges for reinventing food packaging for sustainability
• Farmers can now get a birds-eye view of their fields -- in full HD -- thanks to new drone
• State e-waste disposal bans have been largely ineffective
• Micro-gels from tiny ice algae play an important role in polar ocean carbon budgets
• Life deep down: A new beautiful translucent snail from the deepest cave in Croatia
• Extreme life forms: Life found in the sediments of an Antarctic subglacial lake for the first time
• Dingo wrongly blamed for extinctions
• Oil industry and household stoves speed Arctic thaw
• New evidence that orangutans and gorillas can match images based on biological categories
• Archaeologists have excavated well-preserved Roman soldier's chain mail
• Maya decapitated and dismembered their enemies
• Spectrometer will help astrobiologists hunt for traces of Martian life
• Water hidden in the Moon may have proto-Earth origin
• Device gives scientists front-row seat to lightning strikes
• The real reason to worry about bees

Posted 2013-09-09:

• Copper destroys highly infectious norovirus
• General in the Solar Army to High School and College Students: 'We Are Recruiting'
• Microbes help beetles defeat plant defenses
• New camouflage coating fabricated from squid protein
• Butterfly wings inspire new technologies: From fabrics and cosmetics to sensors
• Ants turn unwelcome lodgers into a useful standing army
• Effects of climate change on West Nile virus
• How to map cell-signaling molecules to their targets
• Aerosols: Chemists develop new approaches to understanding disturbing trends near Earth's surface
• Indy 500 race cars showcase green fuels
• Translating nature's library yields drug leads for aids, cancer, Alzheimer's disease
• Breaking deep-sea waves, as high as a skyscraper, reveal mechanism for global ocean mixing
• Calculating the carbon footprint of California's products
• Rainfall in South Pacific was more variable before 20th century
• Researchers read the coffee grounds and find a promising energy resource for the future
• Tool created to avert future energy crisis
• Toward making people invisible to mosquitoes
• Genome of elastomeric materials creates novel materials
• New ten second sourcing technology set to transform archaeology
• Programmable glue made of DNA directs tiny gel bricks to self-assemble
• Ancient golden treasure found at foot of Temple Mount
• How bedbugs shrug off pesticides and simple measures to deal with it
• Surprising underwater-sounds: Humpback whales also spend their winter in Antarctica
• Scientists calculate the energy required to store wind and solar power on the grid
• Artificial lung to remove carbon dioxide -- from smokestacks
• Recycled sewage water is safe for crop irrigation, study suggests
• The new allure of electric cars: Blazing-fast speeds
• New 'artificial nose' device can speed diagnosis of sepsis
• New weapons on the way to battle wicked weeds
• Purple sweet potatoes among 'new naturals' for food and beverage colors
• First uses of new solar energy technology: Killing germs on medical, dental instruments

Posted 2013-09-08:

• Yin-yang effect of sodium and chloride presents salt conundrum
• Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus: MERS-CoV treatment effective in monkeys
• Climate change will upset vital ocean chemical cycles, research shows
• Synthetic mRNA can induce self-repair and regeneration of the infarcted heart

Posted 2013-09-06:

• Mother chimps crucial for offspring's social skills
• Debris flows on Arctic sand dunes are similar to dark dune spot-seepage flows on Mars
• Indiana Jones meets George Jetson: High-tech microplasma source may revolutionize how archaeologists date objects
• New opportunites found for waste heat
• New connection between stacked solar cells can handle energy of 70,000 suns
• Rare fossil ape cranium discovered in China
• Neuroscientists show that monkeys can decide to call out or keep silent
• Lost Tudor sculptures reassembled with help from 3-D scanning
• Static killers? Natural killer cell activity can be influenced by phosphorylating a protein in NK cells
• Using digital cameras to measure the height of Northern Lights

Posted 2013-09-05:

• Pico-world of molecular bioscavengers, mops and sponges being designed
• Novel method to identify suitable new homes for animals under threat from climate change
• Disease-causing genes spread easily in emerging lethal fungus infection
• Blue-green algae a five-tool player in converting waste to fuel
• Relationship between landscape simplification and insecticide use explored
• Scientists confirm existence of largest single volcano on earth

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