ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Wednesday, September 21, 2011 ~ techdeck

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Welcome to another edition of ScienceDaily's email newsletter. You can change your subscription options or unsubscribe at any time.

Primitive birds shared dinosaurs' fate (September 21, 2011) -- A new study puts an end to the longstanding debate about how archaic birds went extinct, suggesting they were virtually wiped out by the same meteorite impact that put an end to dinosaurs 65 million years ago. ... > full story

Human body rids itself of damage when it really matters (September 21, 2011) -- Although the body is constantly replacing cells and cell constituents, damage and imperfections accumulate over time. Cleanup efforts are saved for when it really matters. Researchers in Sweden are able to show how the body rids itself of damage when it is time to reproduce and create new life. ... > full story

Captive breeding could transform the saltwater aquarium trade and save coral reefs, biologists say (September 21, 2011) -- Marine biologists are developing means to efficiently breed saltwater aquarium fish, seahorses, plankton and invertebrates in captivity in order to preserve the biologically rich ecosystems of the world's coral reefs. These scientists believe their efforts, and those of colleagues around the world, could help shift much of the billion marine ornamental industry toward entrepreneurs who are working sustainably to raise fish for the aquarium trade. ... > full story

Epigenetic changes often don’t last, probably have limited effects on long-term evolution, research finds (September 20, 2011) -- The first comprehensive inventory of epigenetic changes over several generations shows that these often do not last and therefore probably have limited effects on long-term evolution, according to scientist in Germany. ... > full story

Uncertain climate models impair long-term climate strategies: New calibration satellite required to make accurate predictions, say scientists (September 20, 2011) -- A new paper explains weaknesses in our understanding of climate change and how we can fix them. These issues mean predictions vary wildly about how quickly temperatures will rise, resulting in serious implications for long-term political and economic planning, experts argue. ... > full story

Continents influenced ancient human migration, spread of technology (September 20, 2011) -- New research pieces together ancient human migration in North and South America. Researchers have found that technology spread more slowly in the Americas than in Eurasia. Population groups in the Americas have less frequent exchanges than groups that fanned out over Europe and Asia. ... > full story

Shaping up: Controlling a stem cell's form can determine its fate (September 20, 2011) -- New research reinforces the idea that stem cells can be induced to develop into specific types of cells solely by controlling their shape. The results may be important to the design of materials to induce the regeneration of lost or damaged tissues in the body. ... > full story

Natural therapies: Cardiologists examine alternatives to halt high blood pressure (September 20, 2011) -- More and more, patients show up to appointments with hypertension experts carrying bags full of "natural" products that they hope will help lower their blood pressure. And like most physicians, hypertension experts don't always know if these products will do any good, or if they will cause any harm. To better educate physicians and patients, researchers have now conducted the most comprehensive review to date of the evidence behind a range of non-drug interventions. ... > full story

NASA's WISE raises doubt about asteroid family believed responsible for dinosaur extinction (September 20, 2011) -- Observations from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission indicate the family of asteroids some believed was responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs is not likely the culprit, keeping open the case on one of Earth's greatest mysteries. ... > full story

Scientists disarm HIV in step towards vaccine (September 20, 2011) -- Researchers have found a way to prevent HIV from damaging the immune system, in a new lab-based study. The research could have important implications for the development of HIV vaccines. ... > full story

50-million-year-old clam shells provide indications of future of El Nino phenomenon (September 20, 2011) -- Earth warming will presumably not lead to a permanent El Nino state in the South Pacific Ocean. This is the conclusion drawn by an international team of researchers after it investigated 50-million-year-old clam shells and wood from the Antarctic. The growth rings of these fossils indicate that there was also a climate rhythm over the South Pacific during the last prolonged interglacial phase of the Earth's history resembling the present-day interplay of El Nino and La Nina. ... > full story

One size doesn't fit all for vitamin D and men: African-American men in northern regions especially need high doses of supplements (September 20, 2011) -- African-American men living in areas with low sunlight are up to 3.5 times more likely to have vitamin D deficiency than Caucasian men and should take high levels of Vitamin D supplements, reports a new study. The current general recommendation of 600 international units is way too low for all men in northern regions. Low Vitamin D has been linked to prostate cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. ... > full story

Not just skin deep: CT study of early humans reveals evolutionary relationships (September 20, 2011) -- CT scans of fossil skull fragments may help researchers settle a long-standing debate about the evolution of Africa's Australopithecus, a key ancestor of modern humans that died out some 1.4 million years ago. The study explains how CT scans shed new light on a classic evolutionary puzzle by providing crucial information about the internal anatomy of the face. ... > full story

Biodiversity loss may be contributing to amphibian-killing fungal infection (September 20, 2011) -- Researchers have shown that loss of biodiversity may be contributing to a fungal infection that is killing amphibians around the world, and provides more evidence for why biodiversity is important to many ecosystems. ... > full story

Hope for powerful new C. difficile treatment (September 20, 2011) -- Researchers are developing a powerful new antibiotic treatment for resistant infections including the deadly MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) bugs. ... > full story

Shark compound proves potential as drug to treat human viruses, says researcher (September 20, 2011) -- A compound initially isolated from sharks shows potential as a unique broad-spectrum human antiviral agent. The compound, squalamine, has been in human clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and several eye disorders, and so has a well-known safety profile, suggesting it can be quickly tested as a new class of drugs to treat infections caused by viruses ranging from dengue and yellow fever to hepatitis B, C, and D. ... > full story

Feed your genes: How our genes respond to the foods we eat (September 20, 2011) -- What should we eat? Answers abound in the media, all of which rely on their interpretation of recent medical literature to come up with recommendations for the healthiest diet. But what if you could answer this question at a molecular level -- what if you could find out how our genes respond to the foods we eat, and what this does to the cellular processes that make us healthy -- or not? That's precisely what biologists in Norway have done. ... > full story

Saving electricity while playing online game (September 20, 2011) -- The federal government of Germany has decided to accelerate change in energy policy. But the transition will succeed only with the help of the consumers. They are called upon to use the energy from renewable resources in a more efficient fashion. A new online game shows how energy can be saved. ... > full story

New technique fills gaps in fossil record (September 20, 2011) -- Evolutionary biologists have resolved a long-standing paleontological problem by reconciling the fossil record of species diversity with modern DNA samples. ... > full story

Understanding methane's seabed escape (September 20, 2011) -- A shipboard expedition off Norway to determine how methane escapes from beneath the Arctic seabed has discovered widespread pockets of the gas and numerous channels that allow it to reach the seafloor. ... > full story

Researchers reinforce gas hydrate strategy: New study goes deeper in proving simple technique to pinpoint valuable energy source (September 20, 2011) -- A new study expands upon previous research to locate and quantify the amount of methane hydrates -- a potentially vast source of energy -- that may be trapped under the seabed by analyzing shallow core samples. The paper should silence the skeptics, the researchers said. ... > full story

Experts discover oldest DNA regulatory region known to date in vertebrates and invertebrates (September 20, 2011) -- A team of scientists has discovered the oldest known DNA regulatory region. The team identified a small DNA fragment, with a deeply conserved noncoding sequence region (CNR), in the vicinity of soxB2 regulatory genes, which plays a role in gene regulation. ... > full story

Think locally when treating individually (September 20, 2011) -- By taking local biosurveillance data into account when assessing patients for communicable diseases, doctors may be able to make better diagnostic decisions, according to researchers. ... > full story

No safe level of radiation exposure? Researcher points to suppression of evidence on radiation effects by Nobel Laureate (September 20, 2011) -- Environmental toxicologist Edward Calabrese, whose career research shows that low doses of some chemicals and radiation are benign or even helpful, says he has uncovered evidence that one of the fathers of radiation genetics, Nobel Prize winner Hermann Muller, knowingly lied when he claimed in 1946 that there is no safe level of radiation exposure. ... > full story

African-American men living in poor sunlight areas at risk for vitamin D deficiency (September 20, 2011) -- African-American men living in low sunlight areas are more likely to experience vitamin D deficiency than European-American men living in the same environment. Researchers believe that these findings should change recommendations for daily intake of vitamin D. ... > full story

Deep oceans can mask global warming for decade-long periods (September 19, 2011) -- The planet's deep oceans at times may absorb enough heat to flatten the rate of global warming for periods of as long as a decade even in the midst of longer-term warming, according to a new analysis. ... > full story

Scientists solve long-standing plant biochemistry mystery (September 19, 2011) -- Scientists have discovered how an enzyme "knows" where to insert a double bond when desaturating plant fatty acids. Understanding the mechanism may lead to new ways to engineer plant oils as a renewable replacement for petrochemicals. ... > full story

Unzipping DNA mysteries: Physicists discover how a vital enzyme works (September 19, 2011) -- With an eye toward understanding DNA replication, researchers have learned how a helicase enzyme works to actually unzip the two strands of DNA. ... > full story

For kids with ADHD, regular 'green time' is linked to milder symptoms (September 19, 2011) -- A study of more than 400 children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has found a link between the children's routine play settings and the severity of their symptoms, researchers report. Those who regularly play in outdoor settings with lots of green (grass and trees, for example) have milder ADHD symptoms than those who play indoors or in built outdoor environments, the researchers found. The association holds even when the researchers controlled for income and other variables. ... > full story

Self-steering automated tractor offers more precision in the field (September 19, 2011) -- A farmer rising at the crack of dawn to till his fields in a tractor all day? This could soon become a thing of the past. Scientists have now engineered a fully automated, self-steering robotic tractor. ... > full story

Breast milk antibody fights HIV but needs boost, study finds (September 19, 2011) -- Breast milk antibody both neutralizes human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and kills HIV-infected cells, according to a new study. Nonetheless, the statistics indicate that breast milk antibodies are doing an incomplete job of protecting babies from HIV transmission. ... > full story

Soy peptide plus chemo drug block colon cancer's spread to liver, study finds (September 19, 2011) -- A new study reports a promising new weapon in treating metastatic colon cancer, particularly in patients who have developed resistance to chemotherapy. The research finds that the soy peptide lunasin binds to a specific receptor in highly metastatic colon cancer cells, preventing them from attaching to the liver. ... > full story

Volcanic ash and aircraft safety (September 19, 2011) -- A pioneering technology to study volcanic ash will help advise the aircraft industry as to whether it is safe to fly following an explosive volcanic eruption. ... > full story

Causes of Gulf War Illness are complex and vary by deployment area, study finds (September 19, 2011) -- Gulf War Illness -- the chronic health condition that affects about one in four military veterans of the 1991 Gulf War -- appears to be the result of several factors, which differed in importance depending upon the locations where veterans served during the war, according to a new study. ... > full story

'Inexhaustible' source of hydrogen may be unlocked by salt water, engineers say (September 19, 2011) -- A grain of salt or two may be all that microbial electrolysis cells need to produce hydrogen from wastewater or organic byproducts, without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere or using grid electricity, according to engineers. ... > full story

Why carbon nanotubes spell trouble for cells (September 19, 2011) -- Carbon nanotubes and other long nanomaterials can spell trouble for cells. The reason: Cells mistake them for spheres and try to engulf them. Once they start, cells cannot reverse course, and complete ingestion never occurs. Researchers detail for the first time how cells interact with carbon nanotubes, gold nanowires and asbestos fibers. ... > full story

Not tonight deer: A new birth control vaccine helps reduce urban deer damage (September 19, 2011) -- A new birth control vaccine for white-tailed deer -- a growing nuisance in urban areas for gardens and landscaping -- eliminates the dangerous reproductive behavior behind the annual autumn surge in automobile-deer collisions. The vaccine is just becoming commercially available in some U.S. states. ... > full story

Sequencing 'dark matter' of life: Elusive genomes of thousands of bacteria species can now be decoded (September 19, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a new method to sequence and analyze the 'dark matter' of life -- the genomes of thousands of bacteria species previously beyond scientists' reach, from microorganisms that produce antibiotics and biofuels to microbes living in the human body. ... > full story

Virus as a potential future cancer medicine? (September 19, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered that the vesicular stomatitis virus plays a previously unknown dual role in the prevention of a number of cancers. ... > full story

Some like it hot: European fish stocks changing with warming seas (September 19, 2011) -- The first 'big picture' study of the effects of rapidly rising temperatures in the northeast Atlantic Ocean shows that a major shift in fish stocks is already well underway. But it isn't all bad news. The research shows that some fishes' losses are other fishes' gain. ... > full story

Researchers demonstrate antibiotic sensing event central to MSRA antibiotic resistance (September 19, 2011) -- A new study describes a unique process that is central to induction of antibiotic resistance in the problematic bacterium methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. ... > full story

Gamers succeed where scientists fail: Molecular structure of retrovirus enzyme solved, doors open to new AIDS drug design (September 19, 2011) -- Online gamers have solved the structure of a retrovirus enzyme whose configuration had stumped scientists for over a decade. This is the first instance that researchers are aware of in which gamers solved a longstanding scientific problem. The discovery was achieved through Foldit, which allows players to collaborate and compete in predicting protein molecule structures. Foldit is an example of engaging the public in scientific discovery by using games to solve hard problems that can't be solved by either people or computers alone. ... > full story

Previously unknown ocean bacteria lead scientists to entirely new theories (September 19, 2011) -- Earth's most successful bacteria are found in the oceans and belong to the group SAR11. Researchers have now provide an explanation for their success and at the same time call into question generally accepted theories about these bacteria. In their analysis they have also identified a rare and hitherto unknown relative of mitochondria, the power stations inside cells. ... > full story

Amateur botanists in Brazil discover a genuflexing plant (September 19, 2011) -- A new plant species that buries its seeds -- the first in its family -- was discovered in the Atlantic forest of Bahia, Brazil, by an international team of amateur and professional scientists. ... > full story

Ground glass solution for cleaner water (September 19, 2011) -- British science has led to a use for waste glass that cannot be recycled that could help clean up polluted waterways by acting as an ion-exchange filter to remove lead, cadmium and other toxic metals. ... > full story

Fukushima: Reflections six months on (September 19, 2011) -- When the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on March 11, 2011, the world witnessed the largest nuclear incident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. In a special Fukushima issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published today by SAGE, experts examine the current and future impact of Fukushima, what might have been done to lessen the scale of the accident, and the steps we need to take both in Japan and worldwide to prevent another nuclear tragedy. ... > full story

Desert beetles shelter broods from attacking parasitic wasps under stacks of dummy eggs (September 18, 2011) -- Seed beetles often will stack their eggs, using them as shields to protect the bottom egg from attacks by parasitic wasps, reveals new research. ... > full story

New light on detection of bacterial infection: Polymers fluoresce in the presence of bacteria (September 18, 2011) -- Researchers have developed polymers that fluoresce in the presence of bacteria, paving the way for the rapid detection and assessment of wound infection using ultra-violet light. ... > full story