ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Genome sequence of Tibetan antelope sheds new light on high-altitude adaptation
• New era of fisheries policy needed to secure nutrition for millions
• Climate change may have little impact on tropical lizards: Study contradicts predictions of widespread extinction
• GPS solution provides three-minute tsunami alerts
• Agriculture in China predates domesticated rice: Discovery of ancient diet shatters conventional ideas of how agriculture emerged
• Reading the unreadable: 'Unopenable' scrolls will yield their secrets to new X-ray system
• Spiders: Capturing prey in silken netting and sticky hairs
• X-ray tomography of living frog embryo
• Paleontology: The eloquence of otoliths seen in a 23-million-year-old fish fossil
• Crickets' calling song hits the high notes
• Actor Johnny Depp immortalized in ancient fossil find

Genome sequence of Tibetan antelope sheds new light on high-altitude adaptation Posted: 17 May 2013 07:27 AM PDT How can the Tibetan antelope live at elevations of 4,000-5,000m on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau? Investigators now provide evidence of genetic factors that may be associated with the species' adaption to harsh highland environments.

New era of fisheries policy needed to secure nutrition for millions Posted: 17 May 2013 07:26 AM PDT A new study argues that for fisheries policies to be effective they must take in to account not just fish stock conservation and environmental issues, but also research data on the patterns and dynamics of fish trade, markets and user consumption.

Climate change may have little impact on tropical lizards: Study contradicts predictions of widespread extinction Posted: 17 May 2013 05:58 AM PDT Climate change may have little impact on many species of tropical lizards, contradicting a host of recent studies that predict their widespread extinction in a rapidly warming planet.

GPS solution provides three-minute tsunami alerts Posted: 17 May 2013 05:58 AM PDT Researchers have shown that, by using global positioning systems (GPS) to measure ground deformation caused by a large underwater earthquake, they can provide accurate warning of the resulting tsunami in just a few minutes after the earthquake onset. For the devastating Japan 2011 event the analysis of the GPS data and issue of a detailed tsunami alert would have taken no more than three minutes.

Agriculture in China predates domesticated rice: Discovery of ancient diet shatters conventional ideas of how agriculture emerged Posted: 17 May 2013 05:57 AM PDT Archaeologists have made a discovery in southern subtropical China which could revolutionize thinking about how ancient humans lived in the region. They have uncovered evidence for the first time that people living in Xincun 5,000 years ago may have practiced agriculture -- before the arrival of domesticated rice in the region.

Reading the unreadable: 'Unopenable' scrolls will yield their secrets to new X-ray system Posted: 16 May 2013 07:56 AM PDT Pioneering X-ray technology is making it possible to read fragile rolled-up historical documents for the first time in centuries. Old parchment is often extremely dry and liable to crack and crumble if any attempt is made to physically unroll or unfold it. The new technology, however, eliminates the need to do so by enabling parchment to be unrolled or unfolded 'virtually' and the contents displayed on a computer screen.

Spiders: Capturing prey in silken netting and sticky hairs Posted: 16 May 2013 07:52 AM PDT The great ecological success of spiders is often substantiated by the evolution of silk and webs. Biologists have now found an alternative adaptation to hunting prey: hairy adhesive pads, so called scopulae.

X-ray tomography of living frog embryo Posted: 16 May 2013 07:52 AM PDT Classical X-ray radiographs provide information about internal, absorptive structures of organisms such as bones. Alternatively, X-rays can also image soft tissues throughout early embryonic development of vertebrates. Related to this, a new X-ray method allowed researchers to view three dimensional reconstructions showing developing embryos of the African clawed frog.

Paleontology: The eloquence of otoliths seen in a 23-million-year-old fish fossil Posted: 16 May 2013 07:52 AM PDT Fish fossils that are about 23 million years old give unprecedented insight into the evolutionary history of the gobioid order, one of the most species-rich groups among the modern bony fishes.

Crickets' calling song hits the high notes Posted: 16 May 2013 03:38 AM PDT Research has detailed how acoustic communication has evolved within a unique species of cricket which exploits extremely high frequency harmonics to interact.

Actor Johnny Depp immortalized in ancient fossil find Posted: 16 May 2013 03:38 AM PDT A scientist has discovered an ancient extinct creature with 'scissor hand-like' claws in fossil records and has named it in honor of his favorite movie star.

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