ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

---

• Cattle flatulence doesn't stink with biotechnology: Farmers could improve air quality by using hormones
• Biomedical research revealing secrets of cell behavior
• Vitamin C helps control gene activity in stem cells
• Mapping the benefits of our ecosystems
• Altitude sickness may hinder ethnic integration in the world's highest places
• Wiggling worms make waves in gene pool
• Breakthrough in El Nino forecasting
• Psychology influences markets
• Identifying climate impact hotspots across sectors
• Improving crop yields in a world of extreme weather events
• Calming your dog's anxiety during noisy Fourth of July
• Nuke test radiation can fight poachers who kill elephants, rhinos, hippos
• Caterpillars attracted to plant SOS
• Environmental policy: Tallying the wins and losses of policy
• Curious mix of precision and brawn in a pouched super-predator
• Rate of temperature change along world's coastlines changed dramatically over past three decades
• Climate change: Disequilibrium will become the norm in the plant communities of the future

Cattle flatulence doesn't stink with biotechnology: Farmers could improve air quality by using hormones Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:39 PM PDT According to animal scientists, emerging biotechnologies can reduce the environmental impact of cattle production. Feed supplements and synthetic hormones will not affect humans, but they will increase food production. Efficient animals can produce more food for hungry people.

Biomedical research revealing secrets of cell behavior Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:38 PM PDT Scientists are using mathematical modeling and synthetic biology techniques to gain a closer look at what determines transitions of the body's cells from one state to another. For example how particular cells combine to produce multi-cellular organisms. A deeper comprehension of what drives this transformational process could reveal ways to bioengineering cells and gene networks that could fight diseases.

Vitamin C helps control gene activity in stem cells Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:37 PM PDT Vitamin C affects whether genes are switched on or off inside mouse stem cells, and may thereby play a previously unknown and fundamental role in helping to guide normal development in mice, humans and other animals.

Mapping the benefits of our ecosystems Posted: 01 Jul 2013 01:37 PM PDT We rely on our physical environment for many things -- clean water, land for crops or pastures, storm water absorption, and recreation, among others. Yet it has been challenging to figure out how to sustain the many benefits people obtain from nature -- so-called "ecosystem services" -- in any given landscape because an improvement in one may come at the cost of another.

Altitude sickness may hinder ethnic integration in the world's highest places Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:18 PM PDT Ethnic segregation -- and potential ethnic tension -- in nations straddling the world's steepest terrains may be reinforced by the biological tolerance different peoples have to altitude, according to one of the first studies to examine the effect of elevation on ethnic demographics.

Wiggling worms make waves in gene pool Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:18 PM PDT Treating the movements of mutant worms as waveforms allowed for a detailed analysis of the gene networks that control their locomotion.

Breakthrough in El Nino forecasting Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:18 PM PDT Irregular warming of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, dubbed El Niño by Peruvian fishermen, can generate devastating impacts. Being the most important phenomenon of contemporary natural climate variability, it may trigger floods in Latin America, droughts in Australia, and harvest failures in India.

Psychology influences markets Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:16 PM PDT When it comes to economics versus psychology, score one for psychology. Economists argue that markets usually reflect rational behavior -- with the dominant players in a market, such as hedge-fund managers, almost always making well-informed and objective decisions. But psychologists say that markets are not immune from human irrationality. A new analysis supports the latter case, showing that markets are indeed susceptible to psychological phenomena.

Identifying climate impact hotspots across sectors Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:16 PM PDT One out of 10 people on Earth is likely to live in a climate impact hotspot by the end of this century, if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated. Many more are put at risk in a worst-case scenario of the combined impacts on crop yields, water availability, ecosystems, and health, according to a new study.

Improving crop yields in a world of extreme weather events Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:16 PM PDT When plants encounter drought, they naturally produce abscisic acid (ABA), a stress hormone that helps them cope with the drought conditions. Specifically, the hormone turns on receptors in the plants. Botanists have identified an inexpensive synthetic chemical, quinabactin, that mimics ABA. Spraying ABA on plants improves their water use and stress tolerance, but the procedure is expensive. Quinabactin now offers a cheaper solution.

Calming your dog's anxiety during noisy Fourth of July Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:14 PM PDT Have a dog with noise phobias, especially fireworks? A psychologist explains three main ways calm dogs' fears.

Nuke test radiation can fight poachers who kill elephants, rhinos, hippos Posted: 01 Jul 2013 12:14 PM PDT Researchers have developed a new weapon to fight poachers who kill elephants, hippos, rhinos and other wildlife. By measuring radioactive carbon-14 deposited in tusks and teeth by open-air nuclear bomb tests, the method reveals the year an animal died, and thus whether the ivory was taken illegally.

Caterpillars attracted to plant SOS Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:58 AM PDT Plants that emit an airborne distress signal in response to herbivory may actually attract more enemies, according to a new study.

Environmental policy: Tallying the wins and losses of policy Posted: 01 Jul 2013 10:58 AM PDT In the past decade, China has sunk some impressive numbers to preserve its forests, but until now there hasn't been much data to give a true picture of how it has simultaneously affected both the people and the environment. Scientists now offer a complete picture of the environmental and socioeconomic effects of payments for ecosystem services programs.

Curious mix of precision and brawn in a pouched super-predator Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:08 AM PDT A bizarre, pouched super-predator that terrorized South America millions of years ago had huge sabre-like teeth but its bite was weaker than that of a domestic cat, new research shows. To achieve a kill Thylacosmilus atrox must have secured and immobilized large prey using its extremely powerful forearms, before inserting the sabre-teeth into the windpipe or major arteries of the neck -- a mix of brute force and delicate precision.

Rate of temperature change along world's coastlines changed dramatically over past three decades Posted: 01 Jul 2013 07:05 AM PDT Locally, changes in coastal ocean temperatures may be much more extreme than global averages imply. New research highlights some of the distinct regional implications associated with global climate-change.

Climate change: Disequilibrium will become the norm in the plant communities of the future Posted: 01 Jul 2013 05:11 AM PDT Global climate change will induce large changes to the plant communities on Earth, but these will typically occur with major time lags. Many plants will remain long after the climate has become unfavorable -- and many new species can take thousands of years to make an appearance. Humans will play a key role in such disequilibrium dynamics.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Environment News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610