ScienceDaily Environment Headlines
for Tuesday, December 15, 2009
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California's troubled waters: Satellite-based findings reveal significant groundwater loss in Central Valley (December 15, 2009) -- New space observations reveal that since October 2003, the aquifers for California's primary agricultural region -- the Central Valley -- and its major mountain water source -- the Sierra Nevada -- have lost nearly enough water combined to fill Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir. The findings, based on satellite data, reflect California's extended drought and increased pumping of groundwater for human uses such as irrigation. ... > full story
Ancient Book of Mark Found Not So Ancient After All (December 15, 2009) -- A biblical expert, together with experts in micro-chemical analysis and medieval bookmaking, has concluded that one of the University of Chicago Library's most enigmatic possessions is a forgery. ... > full story
Black carbon deposits on Himalayan ice threaten Earth's 'Third Pole' (December 15, 2009) -- Black soot deposited on Tibetan glaciers has contributed significantly to the retreat of the world's largest non-polar ice masses, according to new research by scientists from NASA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Soot absorbs incoming solar radiation and can speed glacial melting when deposited on snow in sufficient quantities. ... > full story
Geneticist reveals molecular view of key epigenetic regulator (December 15, 2009) -- New research reveals the structure and function of a key player in regulating chromatin in yeast and humans. ... > full story
Action on climate change compatible with long-term U.S. economic growth (December 14, 2009) -- Measures being proposed by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership to curb greenhouse gas emissions are unlikely to affect potential long-term economic growth in the United States, according to a study. ... > full story
Female fruit flies can be 'too attractive' to males, scientists show (December 14, 2009) -- Females can be too attractive to the opposite sex ---- too attractive for their own good ---- say biologists. They found that, among fruit flies, too much male attention directed toward attractive females leads to smaller families and, ultimately, to a reduced rate of population-wide adaptive evolution. ... > full story
Tendons shape bones during embryonic development (December 14, 2009) -- In all vertebrates, including humans, bones, muscles and tendons work together to give the skeleton its characteristic balance of stability and movement. Now, new research uncovers a previously unrecognized interaction between tendons, which connect muscles to bones, and the developing embryonic skeleton. This study demonstrates that tendons drive the development of specific bone features that are needed for a strong skeletal system. ... > full story
Absence of evidence for a meteorite impact event 13,000 years ago (December 14, 2009) -- An international team of scientists has found no evidence supporting an extraterrestrial impact event at the onset of the Younger Dryas approximately 13,000 years ago. ... > full story
Yellowstone's plumbing reveals plume of hot and molten rock 410 miles deep (December 14, 2009) -- The most detailed seismic images yet published of the Yellowstone supervolcano's plumbing shows a plume of hot and molten rock rising from the northwest at a depth of at least 410 miles, contradicting claims that there is no deep plume. A related study indicates the banana-shaped magma chamber a few miles beneath Yellowstone is 20 percent larger than believed, so a future cataclysmic eruption could be larger than thought. ... > full story
How Arctic food webs affect mercury in polar bears (December 14, 2009) -- With growing concerns about the effects of global warming on polar bears, it's increasingly important to understand how other environmental threats, such as mercury pollution, are affecting these magnificent Arctic animals. New research lays the groundwork for assessing current and future effects of mercury deposition and climate change on polar bears. ... > full story
Ethanol-powered vehicles generate more ozone than gas-powered ones (December 14, 2009) -- Vehicles running on ethanol will generate higher concentrations of ozone than those using gasoline, especially in the winter, researchers have found. That could create new health concerns in areas where ozone hasn't been a significant problem before. ... > full story
New biosensors reveal workings of anti-psychotic drugs in the living brain (December 14, 2009) -- Scientists have resolved a question about how a popular class of drugs used to treat schizophrenia works using biosensors that reveal previously hidden components of chemical communication in the brain. ... > full story
Understanding apples' ancestors (December 14, 2009) -- A species of wild apples that could be an ancestor of today's domesticated apples are native to the Middle East and Central Asia. A new study comparing the diversity of recently acquired wild apple varieties from Georgia and Armenia with previously collected varieties originating in Russia and Turkey narrows the large population and establishes a core collection. ... > full story
Newly identified enzymes help plants sense elevated CO<sub>2</sub> and could lead to water-wise crops (December 14, 2009) -- Plants take in the carbon dioxide they need for photosynthesis through microscopic breathing pores in the surface of leaves. But for each molecule of the gas gained, they lose hundreds of water molecules through these same openings. The pores can tighten to save water when carbon dioxide is abundant, but scientists didn't know how that worked. Now biologists have identified protein sensors that react with CO2 to close the pores. ... > full story
List of 'unsung' wildlife affected by climate change released (December 14, 2009) -- The Wildlife Conservation Society has released a list of animals facing new impacts by climate change, some in strange and unexpected ways. ... > full story
New approach to emissions makes climate and air quality models more accurate, major study finds (December 14, 2009) -- It's no secret that the emissions leaving a car tailpipe or factory smokestack affect climate and air quality. Even trees release chemicals that influence the atmosphere. But until now, scientists have struggled to know where these organic molecules go and what happens to them once they leave their source, leading to models for predicting climate and air quality that are incomplete or less than accurate. ... > full story
Introns -- nonsense DNA -- may be more important to evolution of genomes than thought (December 14, 2009) -- The sequences of nonsense DNA that interrupt genes could be far more important to the evolution of genomes than previously thought, according to researchers. Their study of the model organism Daphnia pulex (water flea) is the first to demonstrate the colonization of a single lineage by "introns," as the interrupting sequences are known. ... > full story
Can Biodiversity Persist In The Face Of Climate Change? (December 14, 2009) -- Predictions made over the last decade about the impacts of climate change on biodiversity may be exaggerated, according to new research. ... > full story
Innovative Plan To Save Rainforest, Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions (December 14, 2009) -- An innovative proposal by the Ecuadorian government to protect an untouched, oil rich region of Amazon rainforest is a precedent-setting and potentially economically viable approach, says a team of environmental researchers. ... > full story
Syntax in our primate cousins (December 13, 2009) -- Monkeys of a certain forest-dwelling species called Campbell's monkeys emit six types of alert calls. The primates combine these calls into long vocal sequences which allow them to convey messages about social cohesion or various dangers, including predation. ... > full story
Glacial rebound: 10,000-year study of strata compaction and sea-level rise on English coast (December 13, 2009) -- Glacial rebound -- the rise or fall of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period -- explains differences in relative sea levels along the English coast, according to a new study. ... > full story
Bacteria provide new insights into human decision making (December 13, 2009) -- Scientists studying how bacteria under stress collectively weigh and initiate different survival strategies say they have gained new insights into how humans make strategic decisions that affect their health, wealth and the fate of others in society. ... > full story
Understanding ocean climate (December 13, 2009) -- High-resolution computer simulations are helping to describe the inflow of North Atlantic water to the Arctic Ocean and how this influences ocean climate. ... > full story
New research may lead to new ways to control honeybee parasite (December 13, 2009) -- Ground-breaking discoveries could help protect honeybees from deadly parasites that have devastated commercial colonies. ... > full story
Synthetic protein mimics structure, function of metalloprotein in nature (December 13, 2009) -- Scientists have designed a synthetic protein that is both a structural model and a functional model of a native protein, nitric-oxide reductase. ... > full story
Studying hair of ancient Peruvians answers questions about stress (December 12, 2009) -- A first-of-its-kind archaeological study has detected the stress hormone cortisol in the hair of ancient Peruvians, who lived between 550 and 1532 A.D. ... > full story
Lightning-produced radiation a potential health concern for air travelers (December 12, 2009) -- New information about lightning-emitted X-rays, gamma rays and high-energy electrons during thunderstorms is prompting scientists to raise concerns about the potential for airline passengers and crews to be exposed to harmful levels of radiation. ... > full story
Forest deal at Copenhagen must avoid creating 'carbon refugees,' scientists urge (December 12, 2009) -- Forest dwellers must be included in the design of the upcoming forest deal at Copenhagen in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis, according to a scientist. ... > full story
Nerve-cell transplants help brain-damaged rats fully recover lost ability to learn (December 11, 2009) -- Nerve cells transplanted into brain-damaged rats helped them to fully recover their ability to learn and remember, probably by promoting nurturing, protective growth factors, according to a new study. ... > full story
Earth's atmosphere came from outer space, scientists find (December 11, 2009) -- The gases which formed the Earth's atmosphere -- and probably its oceans -- did not come from inside the Earth but from outer space, according to a new study. ... > full story
Appetite, consumption controlled by clockwork genes at cross-purposes in flies (December 11, 2009) -- One of the pioneers in research on sleep-wake circadian genes has discovered that fruit flies' appetite and consumption are controlled by two rival sets of clocks, one in neurons and the other in the fly fat body, which is analogous to the liver. ... > full story
Real human bone grown in tissue culture (December 11, 2009) -- Researchers have created a process that grows real human bone in tissue culture, which can be used to investigate how bones form, grow and fracture. ... > full story
Bacteria engineered to turn carbon dioxide into liquid fuel (December 11, 2009) -- Global climate change has prompted efforts to drastically reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels. In a new approach, researchers have genetically modified a cyanobacterium to consume carbon dioxide and produce a liquid fuel precursor to isobutanol, which holds great potential as a gasoline alternative. The reaction is powered directly by energy from sunlight, or photosynthesis. ... > full story
U.S. forests and soils store equivalent of 50 years of nation's CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, new estimates find (December 11, 2009) -- The first phase of a groundbreaking national assessment estimates that US forests and soils could remove additional quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as a means to mitigate climate change. ... > full story
Swiss scientists measure glacial melting with light (December 11, 2009) -- The glaciers in Switzerland have been melting for years. Researchers now want to know more precisely how much ice is being lost -- and they are using the aid of light. ... > full story
Fast method for preparing flu vaccine: Use bioreactors instead of chicken eggs (December 11, 2009) -- A shortage of flu vaccines may soon become a problem of the past. Researchers have developed an alternative process for producing large quantities of safe and effective vaccines at twice to four times the usual speed. The process is based on using cells in bioreactors instead of fertilized chicken eggs, which have a limited availability. ... > full story
Sea level is rising along US Atlantic coast, say environmental scientists (December 11, 2009) -- An international team of environmental scientists has shown that sea-level rise along the Atlantic Coast of the United States was 2 millimeters faster in the 20th century than at any time in the past 4,000 years. ... > full story
Fruit fly neuron can reprogram itself after injury (December 11, 2009) -- Studies with fruit flies have shown that the specialized nerve cells called neurons can rebuild themselves after injury. The results are potentially relevant to research efforts to improve the treatment of patients with traumatic nerve damage or neurodegenerative disease. ... > full story
Breakthrough in monitoring tropical deforestation announced in Copenhagen (December 11, 2009) -- New technology is revolutionizing forest monitoring by marrying free satellite imagery and powerful analytical methods in an easy-to-use, desktop software package called CLASlite. Thus far, 70 government, non-government and academic organizations in five countries have adopted the technology, with more on the horizon. ... > full story
White marlin: Abundance of a look-alike species clouds population status of a million dollar fish (December 11, 2009) -- The prized white marlin is among the most overexploited open-ocean fish. It's the subject of intense international recovery efforts. A new study now shows that a look-alike species, the roundscale spearfish, makes up a relatively high proportion of the fish identified as "white marlin". As such, current biological information on white marlin is likely contaminated by a second species, and past white marlin population size assessments are now uncertain. ... > full story
Battle of the sexes: Ovaries must suppress their inner male (December 11, 2009) -- Scientists have discovered that if a specific gene located on a non-sex chromosome is turned off, cells in the ovaries of adult female mice turn into cells typically found in testes. Their study challenges the long-held assumption that the development of female traits is a default pathway and grants a valuable insight into how sex determination evolved. ... > full story
DNA sheds new light on horse evolution (December 10, 2009) -- Ancient DNA retrieved from extinct horse species from around the world has challenged one of the textbook examples of evolution -- the fossil record of the horse family Equidae over the past 55 million years. ... > full story
Measuring impact of climate change from space: Gravity measurements shed light on key questions (December 10, 2009) -- What is the impact of climate change on the ice-covered regions of Earth? How does deglaciation affect global sea level changes? These questions are being addressed by scientists from Germany and Australia, who are investigating space-borne gravity measurements provided by the GRACE satellite mission. As a result, they found out that the Greenland glaciers shrunk continuously in the last few years; above all, they estimated the changes not to be linear in time but accelerating. On average, recent Greenland ice-mass decline caused an annual sea-level rise of about 0.5 millimeters. ... > full story
Supportive materials to help regenerate heart tissue (December 10, 2009) -- Bioengineers are developing new regenerative therapies for heart disease. The work could influence the way in which regenerative therapies for cardiovascular and other diseases are treated in the future. ... > full story
Formula to detect an author’s literary ‘fingerprint’ (December 10, 2009) -- Using literature written by Thomas Hardy, DH Lawrence and Herman Melville, physicists in Sweden have developed a formula to detect different authors’ literary ‘fingerprints’. ... > full story
Early carnivorous dinosaur crossed continents, alters evolutionary tree (December 10, 2009) -- Discovery of a new species of 213-million-year-old meat-eating dinosaur in New Mexico suggests the first dinosaurs wandered between parts of the Pangea supercontinent that later became North and South America, according to a team of researchers. ... > full story
Newly discovered mechanism allows cells to change state (December 10, 2009) -- By looking at yeast cells, a biologist has figured out one way in which cells can transform themselves: a cellular "machine" removes a regulatory "lid." ... > full story
Hops compound may prevent prostate cancer (December 10, 2009) -- The natural compound xanthohumol blocks the effects of the male hormone testosterone, therefore aiding in the prevention of prostate cancer. ... > full story
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