ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Saturday, October 29, 2011

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Saturday, October 29, 2011

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Specific gene linked to cold sore susceptibility, study finds (October 28, 2011) -- Researchers have identified a human chromosome containing a specific gene associated with susceptibility to herpes simplex labialis, the common cold sore. The study looks at how several genes may affect the severity of symptoms and frequency of this common infection. The findings, if confirmed, could have implications for the development of new drugs to treat outbreaks. ... > full story

Simple nerve cells regulate swimming depth of marine plankton (October 28, 2011) -- As planktonic organisms the larvae of the marine annelid Platynereis swim freely in the open water. They move by activity of their cilia, thousands of tiny hair-like structures forming a band along the larval body and beating coordinately. With changing environmental conditions the larvae swim upward and downward to their appropriate water depth. Scientists have now identified some signalling substances in the larval nervous system regulating swimming depth of the larvae. These substances influence the ciliary beating and thus hold the larvae in the preferred water depth. The scientists discovered a very simple circuitry of nerve cells underlying this regulation, reflecting an early evolutionary state of the nervous system. ... > full story

Celestial compass obscured by urban light pollution for some nocturnal animals (October 28, 2011) -- Urban light pollution has been shown to reduce the visibility of not only the stars, but also of an important navigational signal for some nocturnal animals. During clear moonlit nights, a compass-like pattern of polarized light that is invisible to the human eye stretches across the sky. The nighttime skyglow over major cities renders this celestial compass unobservable over large areas, according to a new study. ... > full story

Do bacteria age? Biologists discover the answer follows simple economics (October 28, 2011) -- When a bacterial cell divides into two daughter cells and those two cells divide into four more daughters, then 8, then 16 and so on, the result, biologists have long assumed, is an eternally youthful population of bacteria. Bacteria, in other words, don't age -- at least not in the same way all other organisms do. But a study questions that longstanding paradigm. Researchers conclude that not only do bacteria age, but that their ability to age allows bacteria to improve the evolutionary fitness of their population by diversifying their reproductive investment between older and more youthful daughters. ... > full story

Rising to a global health challenge, students coax yeast cells to add vitamins to bread (October 28, 2011) -- Any way you slice it, bread that contains critical nutrients could help combat malnutrition in impoverished regions. That is the goal of a group of undergraduate students who are enhancing common yeast so that it makes vitamin-producing bread. ... > full story

Governments must plan for migration in response to climate change, researchers say (October 28, 2011) -- Governments around the world must be prepared for mass migrations caused by rising global temperatures or face the possibility of calamitous results, say scientists. ... > full story

Insects are scared to death of fish (October 28, 2011) -- The mere presence of a predator causes enough stress to kill a dragonfly, even when the predator cannot actually get at its prey to eat it, say biologists. The scientists suggest that their findings could apply to all organisms facing any amount of stress, and that the experiment could be used as a model for future studies on the lethal effects of stress. ... > full story

New drug targets revealed from giant parasitic worm genome sequence (October 28, 2011) -- Scientists have identified the genetic blueprint of the giant intestinal roundworm, Ascaris suum, revealing potential targets to control the devastating parasitic disease ascariasis, which affects more than one billion people in China, South East Asia, South America and parts of Africa, killing thousands of people annually and causing chronic effects in young children. ... > full story

Ancient depiction of childbirth discovered at Etruscan site in Tuscany (October 28, 2011) -- An archaeological excavation at Poggio Colla, the site of a 2,700-year-old Etruscan settlement in Italy's Mugello Valley, has turned up a surprising and unique find: two images of a woman giving birth to a child. Researchers who oversee the Poggio Colla excavation site some 20 miles northeast of Florence, discovered the images on a small fragment from a ceramic vessel that is more than 2,600 years old. ... > full story

Study offers clues as to why some patients get infections from cardiac implants (October 28, 2011) -- New research suggests that some patients develop a potentially deadly blood infection from their implanted cardiac devices because bacterial cells in their bodies have gene mutations that allow them to stick to the devices. Patients with implants can develop infections because of a biofilm of persistent bacterial bugs on the surfaces of their devices. ... > full story

Building better HIV antibodies: Biologists create neutralizing antibody that shows increased potency (October 28, 2011) -- Using highly potent antibodies isolated from HIV-positive people, researchers have recently begun to identify ways to broadly neutralize the many possible subtypes of HIV. Now, a team of biologists has built upon one of these naturally occurring antibodies to create a stronger version they believe is a better candidate for clinical applications. ... > full story

Glaciers in southwest China feel the brunt of climate change (October 28, 2011) -- Significant increases in annual temperatures are having a devastating effect on glaciers in the mountainous regions of southwestern China, potentially affecting natural habitats, tourism and wider economic development. ... > full story