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Friday, April 6, 2012

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News


New threat to birds posed by invasive pythons in Florida

Posted: 05 Apr 2012 07:48 PM PDT

Scientists have uncovered a new threat posed by invasive Burmese pythons in Florida and the Everglades: The snakes are not only eating the area's birds, but also the birds' eggs straight from the nest. The results of this research add a new challenge to the area's already heavily taxed native wildlife.

Use of common pesticide, imidacloprid, linked to bee colony collapse

Posted: 05 Apr 2012 07:46 PM PDT

The likely culprit in sharp worldwide declines in honeybee colonies since 2006 is imidacloprid, one of the most widely used pesticides, according to a new study.

Copper chains: Earth's deep-seated hold on copper revealed

Posted: 05 Apr 2012 12:29 PM PDT

Earth is clingy when it comes to copper. Nature conspires at scales both large and small -- from the realms of tectonic plates down to molecular bonds -- to keep most of Earth's copper buried dozens of miles below ground. A new study gives new insight into the way continents form and could help locate new sources of copper.

Initial stages by which giant gypsum crystals form

Posted: 05 Apr 2012 11:21 AM PDT

Gypsum is a naturally occurring mineral which is often used in industrial processes and which in nature, if left alone for thousands of years, can grow into huge translucent, towering and eerie, crystals more than 10 meters tall. These are famed for their beauty in places such as the Cave of Crystals in Mexico. Nevertheless, the formation of gypsum has until now been largely unexplored.

Newly discovered close relative of T. rex is largest known feathered dinosaur

Posted: 05 Apr 2012 10:34 AM PDT

Palaeontologists have known for more than a decade that some small dinosaurs had bird-like feathers, mainly thanks to beautifully preserved fossils from northeastern China. Now three specimens of a new tyrannosauroid from the same region show that at least one much larger dinosaur had a feathery coat as well.

Potential for a 'moderate' New England 'red tide' in 2012

Posted: 05 Apr 2012 10:16 AM PDT

New England is expected to experience a "moderate" regional "red tide" this spring and summer, report scientists working in the Gulf of Maine to study the toxic algae that causes the bloom. The algae in the water pose no direct threat to human beings, however the toxins they produce can accumulate in filter-feeding organisms such as mussels and clams -- which can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning in humans who consume them.

Disarming disease-causing bacteria

Posted: 05 Apr 2012 06:29 AM PDT

Scientists could produce new antibacterial treatments by disarming the molecular pumps bacteria use to bring disease-causing molecules in contact with animals and humans.

Fasting for Lent forces hyenas to change diet

Posted: 05 Apr 2012 04:52 AM PDT

Many Christians give up certain foods for Lent, however ecologists have discovered these changes in human diet have a dramatic impact on the diet of wild animals. In Ethiopia, members of the Orthodox Tewahedo Church stop eating meat and dairy products during a 55-day fast before Easter. As a result, spotted hyenas too change their eating habits.

Satellite observes rapid ice shelf disintegration in Antarctic

Posted: 05 Apr 2012 04:51 AM PDT

As ESA's Envisat satellite continues to observe the rapid retreat of one of Antarctica's ice shelves due to climate warming. One of the satellite's first observations following its launch on 1 March 2002 was of break-up of a main section of the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica – when 3200 sq km of ice disintegrated within a few days due to mechanical instabilities of the ice masses triggered by climate warming.

Handheld plasma flashlight rids skin of notorious pathogens

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 06:00 PM PDT

Scientists have developed a handheld, battery-powered plasma-producing device that can rid skin of bacteria in an instant.

Rising CO<sub>2</sub> levels linked to global warming during last deglaciation

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 10:37 AM PDT

Many scientists have long suspected that rising levels of carbon dioxide and the global warming that ended the last Ice Age were somehow linked, but establishing a clear cause-and-effect relationship between CO2 and global warming from the geologic record has remained difficult. A new study identifies this relationship and provides compelling evidence that rising CO2 caused much of the global warming.

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