ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Sunday, September 4, 2011

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Sunday, September 4, 2011

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Manipulating plants' circadian clock may make all-season crops possible (September 3, 2011) -- Researchers have identified a key genetic gear that keeps the circadian clock of plants ticking, a finding that could have broad implications for global agriculture. ... > full story

Researchers investigate new mechanism for predicting how diseases spread (September 3, 2011) -- Researchers have investigated the outcomes of a previously ignored mechanism in modeling how humans travel. By challenging a long-held assumption, they hope to create models that can more accurately predict the spread of disease and the spread of human-mediated bioinvasions. ... > full story

Elusive prey: Selection pressures imposed by predator fungi have shaped escape behavior in microscopic worms (September 3, 2011) -- New research offers evidence that for the first time illuminates a biological and ecological path that links genes to molecule to neural circuit to behavior to environment. ... > full story

Attractive dads have more grandchildren, zebra finch study shows (September 3, 2011) -- A study of zebra finches has shown that males' attractiveness influences the number and size of eggs their daughters produce -- not genetically but through the effect of their attractiveness on their mate's behavior. ... > full story

Aquarius makes first ocean salt measurements (September 3, 2011) -- NASA's Aquarius instrument has successfully completed its commissioning phase and is now "tasting" the saltiness of Earth's ocean surface, making measurements from its perch in near-polar orbit. ... > full story

Climatic benefits from carbon sequestration are largely offset by increased nitrous oxide emissions, study finds (September 3, 2011) -- Recent studies have shown that human nitrogen additions to terrestrial ecosystems increase the terrestrial carbon dioxide uptake from the atmosphere. A new study reports now that the climatic benefits from carbon sequestration are largely offset by increased nitrous oxide emissions, a further side-effect of human nitrogen additions to terrestrial ecosystems. ... > full story

Powerful antioxidant resveratrol prevents metabolic syndrome in lab tests, study finds (September 2, 2011) -- Researchers in Canada have discovered that resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant found in common foods, prevents a syndrome in some offspring that could lead to later health issues such as diabetes. Resveratrol is found in fruits, nuts and red wine, and has been shown to extend the lifespan of many species. ... > full story

New insight in how cells' powerhouse divides (September 2, 2011) -- New research puts an unexpected twist on how mitochondria, the energy-generating structures within cells, divide. The work could have implications for a wide range of diseases and conditions. ... > full story

Up from the depths: How bacteria capture carbon in the 'twilight zone' (September 2, 2011) -- Located between 200 and 1,000 meters below the ocean surface is a "twilight zone" where insufficient sunlight penetrates for microorganisms to perform photosynthesis. Details are now emerging about a microbial metabolic pathway that helps solve the mystery of how certain bacteria capture carbon in the dark ocean, enabling a better understanding of what happens to the carbon that is fixed in the oceans every year. ... > full story

Woolly rhino fossil discovery in Tibet provides important clues to evolution of Ice Age giants (September 2, 2011) -- Fossil discoveries from Tibet offer new insights into the origin of the cold-adapted Pleistocene megafauna. A new research paper posits that the harsh winters of the rising Tibetan Plateau may have provided the initial step towards cold-adaptation for several subsequently successful members of the late Pleistocene mammoth fauna in Europe, Asia, and to a lesser extent, North America. The Tibetan Plateau, therefore, may have been another cradle of the Ice Age giants. ... > full story

Cryptococcus infections misdiagnosed in many AIDS patients, study suggests (September 2, 2011) -- Most AIDS patients, when diagnosed with a fungal infection known simply as cryptococcosis, are assumed to have an infection with Cryptococcus neoformans, but a new study suggests that a sibling species, Cryptococcus gattii, is a more common cause than was previously known. The difference between these strains could make a difference in treatment, clinical course, and outcome. ... > full story

New microscope might see beneath skin in 4-D (September 2, 2011) -- Other devices can take 3-D pictures of tissue below the surface of skin, but a new microscope adds an extra dimension: a spectroscopic "fingerprint" that measures the wavelength (or color) of light reflected off each point within a sample in a single snapshot. Researchers hope this innovation may one day be used for early detection of skin cancer. ... > full story