ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Thursday, May 26, 2011 ~ techdeck

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Thursday, May 26, 2011

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Substance in tangerines fights obesity and protects against heart disease, research suggests (May 26, 2011) -- A substance in tangerines not only helps to prevent obesity, but also offers protection against type 2 diabetes, and even atherosclerosis, the underlying disease responsible for most heart attacks and strokes, new research suggests. ... > full story

'Sweet wheat' for tastier and more healthful baking (May 26, 2011) -- "Sweet wheat" has the potential for joining that summertime delight among vegetables -- sweet corn -- as a tasty and healthful part of the diet, the scientific team that developed this mutant form of wheat concludes in a new study. ... > full story

Long-term study of swine flu viruses shows increasing viral diversity (May 25, 2011) -- Although swine influenza viruses usually sicken only pigs, potentially one might also spark a pandemic in people, as occurred with the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. Because few long-term studies have surveyed flu viruses in swine, however, gaps exist in what is known about the evolution of swine influenza viruses and the conditions that enable a swine virus to infect humans and cause disease. Increased transportation of live pigs appears to have driven an increase in the diversity of swine influenza viruses found in the animals in Hong Kong over the last three decades, according to a new study. ... > full story

2020 vision of vaccines for malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS (May 25, 2011) -- In a new article, experts discuss recent advances in vaccine development. New tools including systems biology and structure-based antigen design could lead to a deeper understanding of mechanisms of protection and illuminate the path to rational vaccine development to lift the burden of the world's most devastating infectious diseases. ... > full story

Smallest insect filmed in flight (May 25, 2011) -- Scientists have taken high-speed camera footage of parasitic wasps with about a one mm wingspan. The team made films of the tiny flying insects at 22,000 frames per second. That is almost 900 times faster than a TV-screen can show. In the time between two TV images, the wasp has beaten its wings 14 times. ... > full story

Using microbes to generate electricity? (May 25, 2011) -- Using bacteria to generate energy is a significant step closer following a breakthrough discovery. Researchers now demonstrate for the first time the exact molecular structure of the proteins which enable bacterial cells to transfer electrical charge. ... > full story

Improving health assessments with a single cell: Portable microchip for immune monitoring and clinical applications (May 25, 2011) -- There's a wealth of health information hiding in the human immune system. Accessing it, however, can be very challenging, as the many and complex roles that the immune system plays can mask the critical information that is relevant to addressing specific health issues. Now, research has shown that a new generation of microchips can quickly and inexpensively assess immune function. ... > full story

Chlorine and childhood cancer (May 25, 2011) -- A significant positive association between the risk of childhood leukemia and levels of chlorine-containing chemicals in the atmosphere has been found by researchers in Portugal. ... > full story

NASA's TRMM satellite saw heavy rainfall in supercell that spawned Joplin, Missouri tornado (May 25, 2011) -- On Sunday May 22, 2011, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured an image of the rainfall rate in the supercell thunderstorm that generated the deadly twister that struck Joplin, Missouri. ... > full story

Do bacteria play role in weather events? High concentration of bacteria in center of hailstones, researchers report (May 25, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered a high concentration of bacteria in the center of hailstones, suggesting that airborne microorganisms may be responsible for that and other weather events. ... > full story

Bacteria use caffeine as food source (May 25, 2011) -- A new bacterium that uses caffeine for food has been discovered. The bacterium uses newly discovered digestive enzymes to break down the caffeine, which allows it to live and grow. ... > full story

Dual parasitic infections deadly to marine mammals (May 25, 2011) -- A study of tissue samples from 161 marine mammals that died between 2004 and 2009 in the Pacific Northwest reveals an association between severe illness and co-infection with two kinds of parasites normally found in land animals. One, Sarcocystis neurona, is a newcomer to the northwest coastal region of North America and is not known to infect people, while the other, Toxoplasma gondii, has been established there for some time and caused a large outbreak of disease in people in 1995. ... > full story

T. rex leech, Titanic-eating bacterium, batfish that hops and glow-in-the-dark fungi: Scientists list top 10 new species (May 25, 2011) -- A committee of taxonomists from around the world announced their picks for the top 10 new species described in 2010. The May 23 announcement coincided with the anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who was responsible for the modern system of plant and animal names and classifications. ... > full story

Birch mouse ancestor discovered in Inner Mongolia is new species of rare 'living fossil' (May 25, 2011) -- Fossils from Inner Mongolia are a new species of birch mice, Sicista primus. This significantly extends the geologic history of the rodent family that includes jumping mice. The teeth from sediments 17 million years old distinguish the birch mice genus Sicista as a rare "living fossil" and indicate Sicista migrated from Asia to North America, contrary to what scientists previously hypothesized. ... > full story

Heart failure risk lower in women who often eat baked/broiled fish (May 25, 2011) -- Risk of developing heart failure may be lower for postmenopausal women who frequently eat baked or broiled fish, but higher for those who eat more fried fish, according to researchers. In a recent study, dark fish such as salmon was healthier for the heart than tuna or white fish such as sole. Eating fried fish one or more times per week was associated with a 48 percent higher risk of heart failure in postmenopausal women compared to those who ate it infrequently. ... > full story

Unusual earthquake gave Japan tsunami extra punch, say scientists (May 25, 2011) -- The March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan were generated on a fault that didn't rupture the usual way, according to researchers. The rupture initially shot westward, then slowed and began rupturing rapidly eastward. The "flip-flop" fault motion first shook Honshu violently, then deformed seafloor sediments on the fault plane with such force that they triggered the huge tsunami. What researchers don't know is whether comparable faults could behave in a similar fashion. ... > full story

Healing power of hydrogen peroxide: How injured cells regenerate during wound healing (May 25, 2011) -- New information has come to light explaining how injured skin cells and touch-sensing nerve fibers regenerate during wound healing. It was found that a chemical signal released by wounded skin cells promotes the regeneration of sensory fibers, thus helping to ensure that touch sensation is restored to healing skin. The reactive oxygen species hydrogen peroxide, which is found at high concentrations at wounds, was found to be a key component of this signal. ... > full story

Beyond the barn: Keeping dairy cows outside is good for the outdoors (May 24, 2011) -- Computer simulation studies suggest that a dairy cow living year-round in the great outdoors may leave a markedly smaller ecological hoofprint than its more sheltered sisters. ... > full story

Population genetics reveals shared ancestries: DNA links modern Europeans, Middle Easterners to Sub-Saharan Africans (May 24, 2011) -- More than just a tool for predicting health, modern genetics is upending long-held assumptions about who we are. A recent study casts new light on the intermingling and migration of European, Middle Eastern and African and populations since ancient times. ... > full story

Rethinking extinction risk? Criteria for assessing risk of extinction in plants should be reconsidered, experts argue (May 24, 2011) -- For over 40 years, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has published the Red List of Threatened Species describing the conservation status of various species of animals. They're now also including plants in their lists and the picture they present is dramatic: according to recent estimates, around 20 percent of flowering plants are at risk of extinction. Now, however, new research suggests that the criteria for assessing extinction risk in plants should be reconsidered. ... > full story

Two Greenland glaciers lose enough ice to fill Lake Erie (May 24, 2011) -- A new study aimed at refining the way scientists measure ice loss in Greenland is providing a "high-definition picture" of climate-caused changes on the island. And the picture isn't pretty. In the last decade, two of the largest three glaciers draining that frozen landscape have lost enough ice that, if melted, could have filled Lake Erie. ... > full story

Cockroach allergens in homes associated with prevalence of childhood asthma in some neighborhoods (May 24, 2011) -- Researchers compared the household presence of cockroach, mouse, cat, dust mite and other allergens in neighborhoods with a high prevalence of asthma to that in low-prevalence neighborhoods. They found that cockroach, mouse and cat allergens were significantly higher in homes located in neighborhoods where asthma is more common and that children in these higher-exposure homes were more likely to be sensitized to cockroach antigens. ... > full story

New way to analyze a bloody crime scene: Chicken wing sauce and trigonometry brought to bear on CSI enigma (May 24, 2011) -- Physicists have worked out a system that can often determine exactly where blood spatters originate, a critical piece of evidence in not only solving a crime but securing a conviction. ... > full story

Common fire retardant harmful to aquatic life (May 24, 2011) -- Environmental health researchers found that zebra fish exposed to several different technical mixtures of polybrominated diphenyl ethers -- a common fire retardant -- during early development can have developmental malformations, changes in behavior and death. ... > full story

Natural product shows pain-killing properties (May 24, 2011) -- Scientists have for the first time accomplished a laboratory synthesis of a rare natural product isolated from the bark of a plant widely employed in traditional medicine. This advance may provide the scientific foundation to develop an effective alternative to commonly prescribed narcotic pain treatments. ... > full story

Scientists find odd twist in slow 'earthquakes': Tremor running backwards (May 24, 2011) -- Scientists find that in an unfelt, weeks-long seismic phenomenon called episodic tremor and slip, the tremor can suddenly reverse direction and travel back through areas of the fault that it had ruptured in preceding days. ... > full story

Mushroom compound suppresses prostate tumors (May 24, 2011) -- A mushroom used in Asia for its medicinal benefits has been found to be 100 percent effective in suppressing prostate tumor development in mice during early trials, new research shows. ... > full story

New device could reduce surgical scarring (May 24, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a special wound dressing that they report was able to significantly reduced scar tissue caused by incisions. ... > full story

Mediterranean Sea invaded by hundreds of alien species (May 24, 2011) -- More than 900 new alien species have been encountered in the coastal environments of the eastern Mediterranean Sea in recent decades, including the poisonous pufferfish. The invasion of alien species has had the consequence that the whole food chain is changing, while there is a lack of knowledge on which to base relevant risk assessments, a four-year study shows. ... > full story

Globalization exposes food supply to unsanitary practices, scientists say (May 24, 2011) -- As the United States continues to import increasingly more of its food from developing nations, we are putting ourselves at greater risk of foodborne disease as many of these countries do not have the same sanitary standards as the U.S. for production, especially in the case of seafood and fresh produce, say scientists. In 2010 over 80% of fish and seafood consumed in the United States was imported, and much of that came from Asia. Raw domestic sewage and/or livestock manure are frequently used in fish farming in many Asian countries. In Thailand some chicken coops sit in rows suspended over ponds that hold shrimp and fish that feed on the waste that falls from above. ... > full story

Ants give new evidence for interaction networks (May 24, 2011) -- Social networks may function differently than previously thought, researchers have discovered by taking clues from ant colonies. ... > full story

Scientists identify most proteins made by parasitic worm (May 24, 2011) -- Scientists have completed a large-scale analysis of most of the proteins produced by Brugia malayi, one kind of parasitic worm that causes lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis. The greatly swollen lower limbs that can result from chronic infection with this mosquito-borne parasite can be severely disabling. ... > full story

California's energy future: Aggressive efficiency and electrification needed to cut emissions (May 24, 2011) -- In the next 40 years, California's demand for energy is expected to double. So can it really reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, as required by an executive order? Scientists who authored a new report on California's energy future are optimistic that the target can be achieved, though not without bold policy and behavioral changes as well as some scientific innovation. ... > full story

Spiders suffer from human impact (May 23, 2011) -- Researchers looked at whether spiders were more tolerant of human impact than other animals. The answer was no: arachnids suffer the consequences of changes to their landscape just like any other animal. ... > full story

Mummies tell history of a 'modern' plague (May 23, 2011) -- Mummies from along the Nile are revealing how age-old irrigation techniques may have boosted the plague of schistosomiasis, a water-borne parasitic disease that infects an estimated 200 million people today. An analysis by scientists of mummies from Nubia, a former kingdom located in present-day Sudan, provides details for the first time about the prevalence of the disease in ancient times, and how human alteration of the environment may have contributed to its spread. ... > full story

Comfort food: Protein from probiotic bacteria may alleviate inflammatory bowel disorders (May 23, 2011) -- A protein isolated from beneficial bacteria found in yogurt and dairy products could offer a new, oral therapeutic option for inflammatory bowel disorders, a new study suggests. ... > full story

Pre-meal dietary supplement can help overcome fat and sugar problems, study suggests (May 23, 2011) -- A little bitter with a little sweet, in the form of a nano-complex dietary supplement taken before meals, can result in a substantial reduction of fat and sugar absorption in the body, researchers have found. ... > full story

U.S. honey bee losses at 30% for 2010-2011 winter (May 23, 2011) -- Total losses from managed honey bee colonies across the U.S. were 30 percent from all causes for the 2010/2011 winter, according to the results of an annual survey. This is roughly similar to total losses reported in similar surveys done in the four previous years: 34 percent for the 2009/2010 winter, 29 percent for 2008/2009; 36 percent for 2007/2008, and 32 percent for 2006/2007. ... > full story

Ulcer bacteria may contribute to development of Parkinson's disease (May 23, 2011) -- The stomach bacteria responsible for ulcers could also play a role in the development of Parkinson's disease according to new research. ... > full story

Scientists explore hidden world of ancient maritime Maya (May 23, 2011) -- Explorers are searching a wild, largely unexplored and forgotten coastline for evidence and artifacts of one of the greatest seafaring traditions of the ancient New World, where Maya traders once paddled massive dugout canoes filled with trade goods from across Mexico and Central America. One exploration goal is to discover the remains of a Maya trading canoe, described in A.D. 1502 by Christopher Columbus' son Ferdinand, as holding 25 paddlers plus cargo and passengers. ... > full story

Platform developed to monitor hematopoietic stem cells (May 23, 2011) -- Researchers have developed an automated microfluidic cell culture platform to monitor the growth, survival and responses of hundreds of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) at the single cell level. ... > full story

Species reemergence after collapse: Possible but different, mathematical model shows (May 23, 2011) -- Species pairs that disappear through hybridization after human-induced changes to the environment can reemerge if the disturbance is removed, according to a new mathematical model that shows the conditions under which reemergence might happen. ... > full story

Gulf currents primed bacteria to degrade oil spill (May 23, 2011) -- A new computer model of the Gulf of Mexico in the period after the 2010 oil spill provides insights into how underwater currents may have primed marine microorganisms to degrade the oil. ... > full story

The dance of the cells: A minuet or a mosh? (May 23, 2011) -- Scientists have, for the first time, devised a way to measure the forces that guide how cells migrate during collective cellular migration. Their surprising conclusion is that the cells fight it out, each pushing and pulling on its neighbors in a chaotic dance, yet together moving cooperatively toward their intended direction. ... > full story

Genetic fine print with big consequences: Multiple stop points in genes are more important than thought (May 23, 2011) -- A fly without an abdomen is the devastating result of a small genetic change discovered by a Portuguese team. When the stop-signal from a fruit fly gene is removed, the flies suffer developmental abnormalities and die. A new article shows that it matters which of the two polo gene stop-signals cells use. And that losing the second one leads to severe problems with normal development and, eventually, death. ... > full story

South America's oldest textiles identified with carbon dating (May 23, 2011) -- Textiles and rope fragments found in a Peruvian cave have been dated to around 12,000 years ago, making them the oldest textiles ever found in South America, according to a new report. ... > full story

How animals sense potentially harmful acids (May 23, 2011) -- All animals face the challenge of deciding which chemicals in the environment are useful and which are harmful. A new study greatly improves our understanding of how animals sense an important class of potentially harmful chemicals: weak acids. ... > full story

Changes in vegetation determine how animals migrate (May 23, 2011) -- The predictability and scale of seasonal changes in a habitat help determine the distance migratory species move and whether the animals always travel together to the same place or independently to different locations, according to a new article. The study's findings have significant implications for land managers around the world working to conserve endangered species that migrate. ... > full story