ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• The secret of male beauty (in turkeys)
• New approach to reveal function of Greenland's ice sheet
• Slow earthquakes may foretell larger events
• New possibilities for efficient biofuel production
• New species of carnivore looks like a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear
• Mountaintop mining pollution has distinct chemical signatures
• Evolution of hyperswarming bacteria could develop anti-biofilm therapies
• In regenerating planarians, muscle cells provide more than heavy lifting
• Scientists reveal how deadly ebola virus assembles
• Beneficial jumping gene discovered
• Huge owls need huge trees
• Dragonflies can see by switching 'on' and 'off'
• Heat waves to become much more frequent and severe
• Containing infectious disease outbreaks
• Bee venom: Biophysicists zoom in on pore-forming toxin
• Baker's yeast: Flexible throughout life by varying numbers of chromosome copies

The secret of male beauty (in turkeys) Posted: 15 Aug 2013 02:22 PM PDT The essence of male beauty is down to the way males use their genes rather than what genes they have, according to a new study into the sexual attractiveness of turkeys.

New approach to reveal function of Greenland's ice sheet Posted: 15 Aug 2013 01:15 PM PDT Findings from a large-scale ice drilling study on the Greenland ice sheet may revise the models used to predict how ice sheets move.

Slow earthquakes may foretell larger events Posted: 15 Aug 2013 11:51 AM PDT Monitoring slow earthquakes may provide a basis for reliable prediction in areas where slow quakes trigger normal earthquakes, according to geoscientists.

New possibilities for efficient biofuel production Posted: 15 Aug 2013 11:50 AM PDT Limited availability of fossil fuels stimulates the search for different energy resources. The use of biofuels is one of the alternatives. Sugars derived from the grain of agricultural crops can be used to produce biofuel but these crops occupy fertile soils needed for food and feed production.

New species of carnivore looks like a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear Posted: 15 Aug 2013 11:31 AM PDT Observed in the wild, tucked away in museum collections, and even exhibited in zoos around the world -- there is one mysterious creature that has been a victim of mistaken identity for more than 100 years. A team of Smithsonian scientists, however, uncovered overlooked museum specimens of this remarkable animal, which took them on a journey from museum cabinets in Chicago to cloud forests in South America to genetics labs in Washington, D.C. The result: the olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina) -- the first carnivore species to be discovered in the American continents in 35 years.

Mountaintop mining pollution has distinct chemical signatures Posted: 15 Aug 2013 10:36 AM PDT Three elements commonly found at elevated levels in an Appalachian river polluted by runoff from mountaintop coal mining have distinctive chemistries that can be traced back to their source, according to a new study.

Evolution of hyperswarming bacteria could develop anti-biofilm therapies Posted: 15 Aug 2013 10:34 AM PDT Hyperswarming, pathogenic bacteria have repeatedly evolved in a lab, and the good news is that they should be less of a problem to us than their less mobile kin. That's because those hyperswarmers, adorned with multiple whipping flagella, are also much worse at sticking together on surfaces in hard-to-treat biofilms. They might even help us figure out a way to develop anti-biofilm therapies for use in people with cystic fibrosis or other conditions.

In regenerating planarians, muscle cells provide more than heavy lifting Posted: 15 Aug 2013 10:31 AM PDT By studying the planarian flatworm, a master of regenerating missing tissue and repairing wounds, scientists have identified an unexpected source of position instruction: the muscle cells in the planarian body wall. This is the first time that such a positional control system has been identified in adult regenerative animals.

Scientists reveal how deadly ebola virus assembles Posted: 15 Aug 2013 10:31 AM PDT Scientists have discovered the molecular mechanism by which the deadly Ebola virus assembles, providing potential new drug targets. Surprisingly, the study showed that the same molecule that assembles and releases new viruses also rearranges itself into different shapes, with each shape controlling a different step of the virus's life cycle.

Beneficial jumping gene discovered Posted: 15 Aug 2013 08:37 AM PDT Also referred to as jumping genes, transposons are snippets of "selfish DNA" that spread in their host genomes serving no other biological purpose but their own existence. Two geneticists now challenge that understanding. Working on the model plant Arabidopsis, they found that the COPIA-R7 transposon, which has jumped into the plant disease resistance gene RPP7, enhances the immunity of its host against a pathogenic microorganism.

Huge owls need huge trees Posted: 15 Aug 2013 08:33 AM PDT The world's largest owl – and one of the rarest – is also a key indicator of the health of some of old-growth Russian forests.

Dragonflies can see by switching 'on' and 'off' Posted: 15 Aug 2013 07:48 AM PDT Biologists have discovered a novel and complex visual circuit in a dragonfly's brain that could one day help to improve vision systems for robots.

Heat waves to become much more frequent and severe Posted: 15 Aug 2013 05:48 AM PDT Climate change is set to trigger more frequent and severe heat waves in the next 30 years regardless of the amount of carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere, a new study has shown.

Containing infectious disease outbreaks Posted: 14 Aug 2013 04:16 PM PDT Researchers have identified a rapid response which could help halt infectious diseases such as bird flu, swine flu and SARS before they take hold. Focusing on the avian flu virus strain H5N1, research identifies key stages in the poultry trade chain which lead to its transmission to other birds, animals and humans.

Bee venom: Biophysicists zoom in on pore-forming toxin Posted: 14 Aug 2013 10:24 AM PDT Biophysicists offer the most comprehensive picture yet of the molecular-level action of melittin, the major toxin in bee venom. The research could aid in the development of new drugs that use a similar mechanism as melittin's to attack cancer and bacteria.

Baker's yeast: Flexible throughout life by varying numbers of chromosome copies Posted: 14 Aug 2013 07:01 AM PDT Baker's yeast is a popular test organism in biology. Yeasts are able to duplicate single chromosomes reversibly and thereby adapt flexibly to environmental conditions. Scientists have now systematically studied the genetics of this process, which biologists refer to as aneuploidy. The team's new insights will allow a new medical evaluation of aneuploidy, which is associated with certain diseases when it occurs in multicellular organisms.

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