ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Adaptable button mushroom serves up genes critical to managing the planet's carbon stores
• Unique ancient spider attack preserved in amber
• Demographic miracle in the deserts: Some plants in arid regions benefit from climate change
• Battling harmful water toxins
• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 awarded for discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent

Adaptable button mushroom serves up genes critical to managing the planet's carbon stores Posted: 08 Oct 2012 01:19 PM PDT The button mushroom occupies a prominent place in our diet; in nature, Agaricus bisporus decays leaf matter on the forest floor. An international collaboration has determined the full repertoire of A. bisporus genes. Their report shows the metabolic strategies of Agaricus might not be present in white-rot and brown-rot fungi and suggests implications for forest carbon management.

Unique ancient spider attack preserved in amber Posted: 08 Oct 2012 10:45 AM PDT Researchers have found what they say is the only fossil ever discovered of a spider attack on prey caught in its web -- a 100 million-year-old snapshot of an engagement frozen in time.

Demographic miracle in the deserts: Some plants in arid regions benefit from climate change Posted: 08 Oct 2012 07:16 AM PDT Dryland ecosystems cover 41% of the Earth's land surface. These ecosystems are highly vulnerable to global environmental change and desertification. But climate change seems to have a positive impact on some plants.

Battling harmful water toxins Posted: 08 Oct 2012 05:29 AM PDT Scientists are developing a new 'clean' technology to destroy water toxins caused by harmful algal blooms.

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 awarded for discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent Posted: 08 Oct 2012 05:29 AM PDT The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 has been awarded jointly to John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent. The two scientists discovered that mature, specialized cells can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body. Their findings have revolutionized our understanding of how cells and organisms develop.

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