ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• The scent of love: Decomposition and male sex pheromones
• New system could predict solar flares, give advance warning
• A new energy source: Major advance made in generating electricity from wastewater
• Florida state record 87 eggs in largest python from Everglades
• Research raises doubts about whether modern humans and Neanderthals interbred
• How computation can predict group conflict: Fighting among captive pigtailed macaques provides clues
• Fresh water breathes fresh life into hurricanes
• Protected areas allow wildlife to spread in response to climate change, citizen scientists reveal
• Marine research in the Brazilian rain forest: Slash and burn practice for centuries as source of stable carbon compounds in the oceans
• Protective bacteria in the infant gut have resourceful way of helping babies break down breast milk
• The ins and outs of building the sperm tail
• Ancient seal may add substance to the legend of Samson
• For young birds, getting stressed out can be a good thing
• New light shed on important metabolite in bacteria

The scent of love: Decomposition and male sex pheromones Posted: 13 Aug 2012 05:30 PM PDT Young virgin female hide beetles (Dermestes maculatus) are attracted to cadavers by a combination of cadaver odour and male sex pheromones, finds a new study. Neither cadaver scent, nor male sex pheromones alone, caught the fancy of the fussy females. This predilection ensures that there is both a waiting male and food for her larvae, and optimizes the chances of reproductive success.

New system could predict solar flares, give advance warning Posted: 13 Aug 2012 12:57 PM PDT Researchers may have discovered a new method to predict solar flares more than a day before they occur, providing advance warning to help protect satellites, power grids and astronauts from potentially dangerous radiation.

A new energy source: Major advance made in generating electricity from wastewater Posted: 13 Aug 2012 12:55 PM PDT Engineers have made a breakthrough in the performance of microbial fuel cells that can produce electricity directly from wastewater, opening the door to a future in which waste treatment plants not only will power themselves while cleaning sewage, but will sell excess electricity.

Florida state record 87 eggs in largest python from Everglades Posted: 13 Aug 2012 12:55 PM PDT Researchers curating a 17-foot-7-inch Burmese python, the largest found in Florida, discovered 87 eggs in the snake, also a state record.

Research raises doubts about whether modern humans and Neanderthals interbred Posted: 13 Aug 2012 12:55 PM PDT New research raises questions about the theory that modern humans and Neanderthals at some point interbred, known as hybridization. The findings suggest that common ancestry, not hybridization, better explains the average 1-4 per cent DNA that those of European and Asian descent (Eurasians) share with Neanderthals.

How computation can predict group conflict: Fighting among captive pigtailed macaques provides clues Posted: 13 Aug 2012 12:55 PM PDT When conflict breaks out in social groups, individuals make strategic decisions about how to behave based on their understanding of alliances and feuds in the group. But it's been challenging to quantify the underlying trends that dictate how individuals make predictions, given they may only have seen a small number of fights or have limited memory. In a new study of primates (pigtailed macaques), scientists have developed a computational approach to determine whether individuals behave predictably.

Fresh water breathes fresh life into hurricanes Posted: 13 Aug 2012 12:55 PM PDT An analysis of a decade's worth of tropical cyclones shows that when hurricanes blow over ocean regions swamped by fresh water, the conditions can unexpectedly intensify the storm. Although the probability that hurricanes will hit such conditions is small, ranging from 10 to 23 percent, the effect is potentially large: Hurricanes can become 50 percent more intense, researchers report.

Protected areas allow wildlife to spread in response to climate change, citizen scientists reveal Posted: 13 Aug 2012 12:52 PM PDT A new study has shown how birds, butterflies, other insects and spiders have colonized nature reserves and areas protected for wildlife, as they move north in response to climate change and other environmental changes.

Marine research in the Brazilian rain forest: Slash and burn practice for centuries as source of stable carbon compounds in the oceans Posted: 13 Aug 2012 12:52 PM PDT Until recent decades the Atlantic Rainforest covered a large area of today's Brazil from Amazonas to present-day Argentina. In the 1970s, after years of deforestation, this rain forest was almost completely destroyed, mainly replaced by cattle pastures. This study reveals an unexpected aspect of deforestation.

Protective bacteria in the infant gut have resourceful way of helping babies break down breast milk Posted: 13 Aug 2012 10:07 AM PDT Scientists have found that important and resourceful bacteria in the baby microbiome can ferret out nourishment from a previously unknown source, possibly helping at-risk infants break down components of breast milk.

The ins and outs of building the sperm tail Posted: 13 Aug 2012 10:05 AM PDT Sperm swim, lung cells sweep mucus away, and the cells in the female Fallopian tube move eggs from the ovary to the uterus. Underlying these phenomena are flagella – slender, hair-like structures extending from the surface of the cells, that bend, beat or wave rhythmically. Biologists have now dissected how sperm cells of the fruit fly build their flagella. These findings pave the way to further understand the molecules and processes that may trigger a variety of human diseases and disorders, including infertility, respiratory problems and hydrocephaly, known to be associated with defects in flagellar movements.

Ancient seal may add substance to the legend of Samson Posted: 13 Aug 2012 07:34 AM PDT An ancient seal depicting a man and a lion in hand-to-paw combat places the Biblical story of Samson in the archaeological setting of Beth Shemesh during the 12th century BCE, researchers say.

For young birds, getting stressed out can be a good thing Posted: 13 Aug 2012 06:20 AM PDT Many studies have found that high levels of hormones that are associated with stress are a sign of poor fitness and reduced chance of survival -- but recent research on young songbirds found that some elevated hormones can be a good thing, often the difference between life and death.

New light shed on important metabolite in bacteria Posted: 13 Aug 2012 04:40 AM PDT Scientists have collected the first precise data ever on the function of a transport protein for formate – an important metabolite in bacteria. The findings could potentially lead to the development of new antibiotic active ingredients.

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