ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Friday, November 11, 2011

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Friday, November 11, 2011

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Biologists slow the aging process in fruit flies: Study has implications for humans (November 11, 2011) -- Biologists have identified a gene that slows the aging process. The biologists, working with fruit flies, activated a gene called PGC-1, which increases the activity of mitochondria, the tiny power generators in cells that control cell growth and tell cells when to live and die. ... > full story

Plant with 'eggbeater' texture inspires waterproof coating (November 11, 2011) -- A floating weed that clogs waterways around the world has at least one redeeming feature: It's inspired a high-tech waterproof coating intended for boats and submarines. The Brazilian fern Salvinia molesta has proliferated around the Americas and Australia in part because its surface is dotted with oddly shaped hairs that trap air, reduce friction, and help the plant stay afloat. ... > full story

Precipitation variability in Northeast, Southwest linked in 1,000-year analysis (November 11, 2011) -- An analysis of precipitation data collected from a lakebed in New York and a Rhode Island estuary has provided a link between the variability of precipitation in the Northeast with that of the Southwest. The results validate climate models that predict an increasing number of extreme weather events. ... > full story

Sea change can forecast South American wildfires (November 11, 2011) -- Tiny temperature changes on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans provide an excellent way to forecast wildfires in South American rainforests, new research shows. ... > full story

Deepwater Horizon oil spill: New approach to assessing impacts of ecological damage (November 11, 2011) -- The magnitude and depth of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will require an unprecedented effort to determine the extent and severity of ecological damage and to develop restoration plans for affected areas in the Gulf of Mexico, says a new report. A broad approach that focuses on repairing ecosystem processes -- such as fisheries production -- in addition to replacing natural resources damaged by the spill could offer more options for restoring the Gulf region, says the congressionally mandated report. ... > full story

Chemists reveal the force within you: New method for visualizing mechanical forces on cell surface (November 10, 2011) -- A new method for visualizing mechanical forces on the surface of a cell provides the first detailed view of those forces, as they occur in real-time. Emory chemists were able to measure something that's never been measured before: The force that one molecule applies to another molecule across the entire surface of a living cell, and as this cell moves and goes about its normal processes. ... > full story

Knocking out key protein in mice boosts insulin sensitivity (November 10, 2011) -- By knocking out a key regulatory protein, scientists have dramatically boosted insulin sensitivity in lab mice, an achievement that opens a new door for drug development and the treatment of diabetes. ... > full story

Benefits of nut consumption for people with abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure (November 10, 2011) -- For the first time, scientists report a link between eating nuts and higher levels of serotonin in the bodies of patients with metabolic syndrome. Serotonin helps transmit nerve signals and decreases feelings of hunger, makes people feel happier and improves heart health. It took only one ounce of mixed nuts (raw unpeeled walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts) a day to produce the good effects. ... > full story

Revolutionary ultrasonic nozzle that will change the way water cleans (November 10, 2011) -- A team of scientists from the UK has developed a revolutionary ultrasonic attachment for taps, which massively enhances the ability of water to clean. ... > full story

Scientists defuse the 'Vietnam time bomb': How bacterial pathogen causes deadly tropical disease melioidosis (November 10, 2011) -- A key mechanism by which a bacterial pathogen causes the deadly tropical disease melioidosis has been discovered by an international team of scientists. ... > full story

Rare earth metal shortages could hamper deployment of low-carbon energy technologies (November 10, 2011) -- Scientists report that five metals, essential for manufacturing low-carbon technologies, show a high risk of shortage. Reasons for this lie in Europe's dependency on imports, increasing global demand, supply concentration and geopolitical issues. ... > full story

Trees on tundra's border are growing faster in a hotter climate (November 10, 2011) -- Evergreen trees at the edge of Alaska's tundra are growing faster, suggesting that at least some forests may be adapting to a rapidly warming climate, says a new study. While forests elsewhere are thinning from wildfires, insect damage and droughts partially attributed to global warming, some white spruce trees in the far north of Alaska have grown more vigorously in the last hundred years, especially since 1950, the study has found. ... > full story

More than 50 percent decline in elephants in eastern Congo due to human conflict (November 10, 2011) -- Humans play a far greater role in the fate of African elephants than habitat, and human conflict in particular has a devastating impact on these largest terrestrial animals, according to a new study. ... > full story

How global warming could cause animals to shrink (November 10, 2011) -- The way in which global warming causes many of the world's organisms to shrink has been revealed by new research. ... > full story

Manipulative mothers subdue show-off sons, bird researchers demonstrate (November 10, 2011) -- The gaudy plumage and acrobatic displays of birds of paradise are a striking example of sexual selection, Charles Darwin's second great theory of evolution. But new research shows that this powerful process may collapse when mothers can decide whether to have a son or a daughter. ... > full story

First of its kind gene map of sulfate-reducing bacterium created (November 10, 2011) -- Critical genetic secrets of a bacterium that holds potential for removing toxic and radioactive waste from the environment have been revealed in a new study. Researchers have created a first-of-its-kind gene map of Desulfovibrio vulgaris, which can be used to identify the genes that determine how these bacteria interact with their surrounding environment. ... > full story

No need to shrink guts to have a larger brain (November 10, 2011) -- The so-called expensive-tissue hypothesis, which suggests a trade-off between the size of the brain and the size of the digestive tract, has been challenged. Researchers have now shown that brains in mammals have grown over the course of evolution without the digestive organs having to become smaller. The researchers have further demonstrated that the potential to store fat often goes hand in hand with relatively small brains -- except in humans, who owe their increased energy intake and correspondingly large brain to communal child care, better diet and their ability to walk upright. ... > full story

Carbon monoxide: The silent calmer? Inhaling low levels of CO reduces the impact of environmental stress, study suggests (November 10, 2011) -- Carbon monoxide (CO) -- a tasteless, colorless and odorless gas -- is not only a danger to the environment but also highly toxic to human beings. Found in the exhaust of vehicles and generators, CO has been dubbed the "silent killer" because excessive inhalation is lethal, poisoning the nervous system and heart. Now, in a surprising twist, a researcher says that low levels of the poisonous gas carbon monoxide actually have a narcotic effect that helps city-dwellers cope with environmental stress in an urban setting. ... > full story

Greenhouse gas index continues to climb (November 10, 2011) -- NOAA's updated Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI), which measures the direct climate influence of many greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, shows a continued steady upward trend that began with the Industrial Revolution of the 1880s. ... > full story

International team to drill beneath massive Antarctic ice shelf (November 10, 2011) -- An international team of researchers funded by NASA and the U.S. National Science Foundation will travel next month to one of Antarctica's most active, remote and harsh spots to determine how changes in the waters circulating under an active ice sheet are causing a glacier to accelerate and drain into the sea. ... > full story

Methane may be answer to 56-million-year question: Ocean could have contained enough methane to cause drastic climate change (November 9, 2011) -- The release of massive amounts of carbon from methane hydrate frozen under the seafloor 56 million years ago has been linked to the greatest change in global climate since a dinosaur-killing asteroid presumably hit Earth nine million years earlier. New calculations by researchers show that this long-controversial scenario is quite possible. ... > full story

Chromosome centromeres are inherited epigenetically (November 9, 2011) -- The histone protein CenH3 is both necessary and sufficient to trigger the formation of centromeres and pass them on from one generation to the next. ... > full story

Do plants perform best with family or strangers? Researchers consider social interactions (November 9, 2011) -- In the fight for survival, plants are capable of complex social behaviors and may exhibit altruism towards family members, but aggressively compete with strangers. A growing body of work suggests plants recognize and respond to the presence and identity of their neighbors. But can plants cooperate with their relatives? ... > full story

'Noise' tunes logic circuit made from virus genes (November 9, 2011) -- In the world of engineering, “noise” – random fluctuations from environmental sources such as heat – is generally a bad thing. In electronic circuits, it is unavoidable, and as circuits get smaller and smaller, noise has a greater and more detrimental effect on a circuit’s performance. Now some scientists are saying: if you can’t beat it, use it. ... > full story

Half-billion-year-old predator tracked: Multi-legged creature ruled the seas (November 9, 2011) -- Researchers in Canada have followed fossilized footprints to a multi-legged predator that ruled the seas of the Cambrian period about half a billion years ago. ... > full story

Climate change causing massive movement of tree species across the West (November 9, 2011) -- A huge "migration" of trees has begun across much of the West due to global warming, insect attack, diseases and fire, and many tree species are projected to decline or die out in regions where they have been present for centuries, while others move in and replace them. In an enormous display of survival of the fittest, the forests of the future are taking a new shape. ... > full story

Dairy foods may improve bone health during diet and exercise in overweight premenopausal women (November 9, 2011) -- A recent study found that consumption of dairy foods and higher protein resulted in improvements in markers of bone formation and reductions in markers of bone degradation in overweight and obese young women over 16 weeks of diet- and exercise-induced weight loss. ... > full story

Farmed fish fed vegetable matter may have residual pesticides (November 9, 2011) -- Today, half of all the fish we eat comes from fish farms. The problem is that these fish are increasingly being fed vegetable matter, which could lead to a build-up of residual pesticides in them. A new test shows how high the risk of contamination really is. ... > full story

Easily 're-programmable cells' could be key in creation of new life forms (November 9, 2011) -- Scientists are working on an ambitious research project to develop an in vivo biological cell-equivalent of a computer operating system. ... > full story

Conservation scientists 'unanimous' in expectations of serious loss of biological diversity, study shows (November 9, 2011) -- The number of species recognized as endangered is ever increasing and a new study reveals the unanimity among conservation scientists of expectations of a major loss of biological diversity. The survey also shows a growing acceptance of controversial strategies such as ‘triage’ -- a decision to prioritize resources and not to intervene to save some highly threatened species. ... > full story

New reports urges more detailed utility metering to improve building efficiency (November 9, 2011) -- A new interagency report recommends systematic consideration of new metering technologies, called submetering, that can yield up-to-date, finely grained snapshots of energy and water usage in commercial and residential buildings to guide efficiency improvements and capture the advantages of a modernized electric power grid. ... > full story

European biofuels are as carbon intensive as petrol, new study suggests (November 8, 2011) -- New research into greenhouse gas emissions from oil palm plantations provides robust measures now being used to inform international policies on greenhouse gas emissions. ... > full story

Castles in the desert: Satellites reveal lost cities of Libya (November 8, 2011) -- Satellite imagery has uncovered new evidence of a lost civilization of the Sahara in Libya's south-western desert wastes that will help re-write the history of the country. The fall of Gaddafi has opened the way for archaeologists to explore the country's pre-Islamic heritage, so long ignored under his regime. ... > full story

Aging could influence climate change: Individual carbon dioxide emissions decline in old age (November 8, 2011) -- New demographic analysis reveals that the carbon dioxide emissions of the average American increase until around the age of 65, and then start to decrease. For the United States this means that, although the aging of the population will lead to a slight overall rise in CO2 emissions over the next four decades, the long-term trends indicate that increasing life expectancy will result in a reduction in emissions. ... > full story

Sea life 'must swim faster to survive' to survive climate change (November 8, 2011) -- Fish and other sea creatures will have to travel large distances to survive climate change, international marine scientists have warned. Sea life, particularly in the Indian Ocean, the Western and Eastern Pacific and the subarctic oceans will face growing pressures to adapt or relocate to escape extinction, according to a new study. ... > full story

Researchers ink nanostructures with tiny 'soldering iron' (November 8, 2011) -- Researchers have shed light on the role of temperature in controlling a fabrication technique for drawing surface chemical patterns as small as 20 nanometers. This technique could provide an inexpensive, fast route to growing and patterning a wide variety of materials on surfaces for the fabrication of electrical circuits and chemical sensors, or for the study of how pharmaceuticals bind to proteins and viruses. ... > full story

Nanotubes in environment 'rob' green algae of space and light (November 8, 2011) -- Nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes, which are found in an ever-increasing number of products, are ending up more and more frequently in our surroundings. If and how they affect aquatic ecosystems are questions which are still unanswered. An new study shows that while carbon nanotubes do not have toxic effects on green algae they do inhibit its growth by depriving the plant of light and space. ... > full story

Removing sugar-sweetened beverages from schools associated with reduced access to, but not consumption of these beverages among adolescents (November 8, 2011) -- State policies banning all sugar-sweetened beverages in schools are associated with reduced in-school access and purchase of these beverages, however these policies are not associated with a reduction in overall consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, according to a new report. ... > full story

Ancient DNA provides new insights into cave paintings of horses (November 8, 2011) -- An international team of researchers has used ancient DNA to shed new light on the realism of horses depicted in prehistoric cave paintings. The team, which includes researchers from the University of York, has found that all the colour variations seen in Paleolithic cave paintings – including distinctive ‘leopard’ spotting - existed in pre-domestic horse populations, lending weight to the argument that the artists were reflecting their natural environment. ... > full story

Biologists use flies and mice to get to the heart of Down syndrome (November 8, 2011) -- A novel study involving fruit flies and mice has allowed biologists to identify two critical genes responsible for congenital heart defects in individuals with Down syndrome, a major cause of infant mortality and death in people born with this genetic disorder. ... > full story

Critical step to opening elusive class of compounds to drug discovery (November 8, 2011) -- Taxanes are a family of compounds that includes one of the most important cancer drugs ever discovered, Taxol, among other cancer treatments. But the difficulty producing these complex molecules in the lab has hampered or blocked exploration of the family for further drug leads. Scientists have now successfully achieved a major step toward the goal of synthetically producing Taxol and other complex taxanes on a quest to harness chemical reactions that could enable research on previously unavailable potential drugs. ... > full story

Culprit identified: Fungus causes deadly bat disease (November 8, 2011) -- Scientists have discovered that the fungus Geomyces destructans is the cause of deadly white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats, according to new research. The study provides the first direct evidence that the fungus G. destructans causes WNS, a rapidly spreading disease in North American bats. ... > full story

Hi-tech scans catch prehistoric mite hitching ride on spider (November 8, 2011) -- Scientists have produced amazing three-dimensional images of a prehistoric mite as it hitched a ride on the back of a 50-million-year-old spider. At just 176 micrometres long and barely visible to the naked eye, the mite -- trapped inside Baltic amber (fossil tree resin) -- is believed to be the smallest arthropod fossil ever to be scanned using X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning techniques. ... > full story

Tropical forests fertilized by nitrogen air pollution, scientists find (November 7, 2011) -- Scientists braved ticks and a tiger to discover how human activities have perturbed the nitrogen cycle in tropical forests. Studies at two remote Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory sites in Panama and Thailand show the first evidence of long-term effects of nitrogen pollution in tropical trees. ... > full story

Flash forward 100 years: Climate change scenarios in California's Bay-Delta (November 7, 2011) -- Scientists investigated how California's interconnected San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the Bay-Delta system) is expected to change from 2010 to 2099 in response to both fast and moderate climate warming scenarios. Results indicate that this area will feel impacts of global climate change in the next century with shifts in its biological communities, rising sea level, and modified water supplies. ... > full story

Brain parasite directly alters brain chemistry (November 7, 2011) -- A research group from the University of Leeds has shown that infection by the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, found in 10-20 percent of the UK's population, directly affects the production of dopamine, a key chemical messenger in the brain. ... > full story

Why oxygen becomes the undoing of proteins (November 7, 2011) -- Scientists have published a new study explaining why enzymes used for the production of hydrogen are so sensitive to oxygen. They used spectroscopic methods to investigate the time course of the processes that lead to the inactivation of the enzyme's iron center. ... > full story

Hospital tests reveal the secrets of an Egyptian mummy (November 7, 2011) -- An ancient Egyptian mummy has had quite an afterlife, traveling more than 6,000 miles, spending six decades in private hands, and finally, in 1989, finding a home at the World Heritage Museum (now the Spurlock Museum) at the University of Illinois. The mummy's travels did not end there, however. It has made two trips to a local hospital -- once in 1990 and again this year -- for some not-so-routine medical exams. ... > full story