ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Kissing helps us find the right partner – and keep them
• Complex relationship between phosphorus levels, nitrogen removal in lakes
• New antiviral response discovered in mammals
• Iron in Earth's core weakens before melting
• Innate virus-killing power discovered in mammals
• Hunter-gatherers and immigrant farmers lived together for 2,000 years in Central Europe
• Ancient DNA unravels Europe's genetic diversity
• How red crabs on Christmas Island speak for the tropics
• Hybrid cars are status symbol of sorts for seniors
• How microbes survive in freezing conditions
• As sea level rises, Everglades' freshwater plants perish
• Massive spruce beetle outbreak in Colorado tied to drought
• Elephants know what it means to point to something, no training required
• Eat more, weigh less: Worm study provides clues to better fat-loss therapies for humans
• Gene movements observed in vivo
• Is a constructive conservation the last chance for biodiversity? Pragmatic approach to saving what can be saved
• 'Stadium waves' could explain lull in global warming
• Wetland restoration in the northern Everglades: Watershed potential and nutrient legacies
• The tundra: A dark horse in planet Earth's greenhouse gas budget
• 3D model reveals new information about iconic volcano
• Origin of MERS coronavirus identified
• Enigmatic neurons help flies get oriented
• Discovery should save wheat farmers millions of dollars
• Climate change threatens Northern American turtle habitat

Kissing helps us find the right partner – and keep them Posted: 10 Oct 2013 05:51 PM PDT What's in a kiss? A new study suggests kissing helps us size up potential partners and, once in a relationship, may be a way of getting a partner to stick around. 'Kissing in human sexual relationships is incredibly prevalent in various forms across just about every society and culture,' says one of the researchers. 'Kissing is seen in our closest primate relatives, chimps and bonobos, but it is much less intense and less commonly used.

Complex relationship between phosphorus levels, nitrogen removal in lakes Posted: 10 Oct 2013 11:29 AM PDT In the land of 10,000 lakes, one lake has been the starting place for research with implications for big lakes around the world. Building from studies of nitrogen levels in Lake Superior, the new research uncovered a good news/bad news scenario for lake health that has long-term, global implications for pollution control efforts.

New antiviral response discovered in mammals Posted: 10 Oct 2013 11:27 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a part of the innate immune system in mice that had only been known in plants and invertebrates. This system seems more visible in stem and progenitor cells, which it protects from viral infection.

Iron in Earth's core weakens before melting Posted: 10 Oct 2013 11:27 AM PDT The iron in Earth's inner core weakens dramatically before it melts, explaining the unusual properties that exist in the moon-sized solid center of our planet that have, up until now, been difficult to understand.

Innate virus-killing power discovered in mammals Posted: 10 Oct 2013 11:27 AM PDT Scientists have a promising new approach to combating deadly human viruses thanks to an educated hunch by a microbiology professor, and his 20 years of research on plants, fruit flies, nematodes and mice. Researchers have discovered that, like plants and invertebrate animals, mammals use the RNA interference process to destroy viruses within their own cells. Until now, scientists were unable to prove that mammals use RNAi for killing viruses. The findings could help create vaccines against deadly infections, including SARS, West Nile, dengue, Hepatitis C and influenza.

Hunter-gatherers and immigrant farmers lived together for 2,000 years in Central Europe Posted: 10 Oct 2013 11:27 AM PDT Indigenous hunter-gatherers and immigrant farmers lived side-by-side for more than 2,000 years in Central Europe, before the hunter-gatherer communities died out or adopted the agricultural lifestyle.

Ancient DNA unravels Europe's genetic diversity Posted: 10 Oct 2013 11:26 AM PDT Ancient DNA recovered from a time series of skeletons in Germany spanning 4,000 years of prehistory has been used to reconstruct the first detailed genetic history of modern-day Europeans.

How red crabs on Christmas Island speak for the tropics Posted: 10 Oct 2013 09:48 AM PDT Research has found that erratic rainfall -- which could become more irregular as a result of climate change -- could be detrimental to animals that migrate with the dry-wet seasonal cycle. The researchers studied the annual mating migration of the land-dwelling Christmas Island red crab in order to help scientists understand the consequences of climate change for the millions of migratory animals in Earth's tropical zones.

Hybrid cars are status symbol of sorts for seniors Posted: 10 Oct 2013 09:48 AM PDT Paying extra bucks to "go green" in a hybrid car may pay off in self-esteem and image for older drivers, as well as give a healthy boost to the environment.

How microbes survive in freezing conditions Posted: 10 Oct 2013 09:48 AM PDT Most microbial researchers grow their cells in petri dishes to study how they respond to stress and damaging conditions. But researchers tried something almost unheard of: Studying microbial survival in ice to understand how microorganisms could survive in ancient permafrost, or perhaps even buried in ice on Mars.

As sea level rises, Everglades' freshwater plants perish Posted: 10 Oct 2013 09:47 AM PDT Satellite imagery over the southeastern Everglades confirms long-term trends of mangrove expansion and sawgrass habitat loss near the shore.

Massive spruce beetle outbreak in Colorado tied to drought Posted: 10 Oct 2013 09:47 AM PDT A new study indicates drought high in the northern Colorado mountains is the primary trigger of a massive spruce beetle outbreak that is tied to long-term changes in sea-surface temperatures from the Northern Atlantic Ocean, a trend that is expected to continue for decades.

Elephants know what it means to point to something, no training required Posted: 10 Oct 2013 09:45 AM PDT When people want to direct the attention of others, they naturally do so by pointing, starting from a very young age. Now, researchers have shown that elephants spontaneously get the gist of human pointing and can use it as a cue for finding food. That's all the more impressive given that many great apes fail to understand pointing when it's done for them by human caretakers, the researchers say.

Eat more, weigh less: Worm study provides clues to better fat-loss therapies for humans Posted: 10 Oct 2013 09:43 AM PDT Scientists have discovered key details of a brain-to-body signaling circuit that enables roundworms to lose weight independently of food intake, and there are reasons to suspect the circuit exists in a similar form in humans and other mammals.

Gene movements observed in vivo Posted: 10 Oct 2013 07:50 AM PDT Certain parts of DNA are highly mobile and their dynamic motion participates in controlling gene expression. Scientists have just developed a method of observing the organization and movements of the genome in time and space. The researchers succeeded in marking then monitoring parent genes during cell division.

Is a constructive conservation the last chance for biodiversity? Pragmatic approach to saving what can be saved Posted: 10 Oct 2013 07:49 AM PDT How can biodiversity be preserved in a world in which traditional ecosystems are increasingly being displaced by "human-made nature"? Biologists have developed a new concept for conservation measures that incorporates current landscapes formerly considered ecologically "of little value". Numerous experiences from islands have shown that this concept has a positive effect on biodiversity. Now the authors are proposing applying these experiences to other landscape scenarios.

'Stadium waves' could explain lull in global warming Posted: 10 Oct 2013 07:48 AM PDT A new article suggests that 'unpredictable climate variability' behaves in a more predictable way than previously assumed. The scientists point to the so-called 'stadium-wave' signal that propagates like the cheer at sporting events whereby sections of sports fans seated in a stadium stand and sit as a 'wave' propagates through the audience.

Wetland restoration in the northern Everglades: Watershed potential and nutrient legacies Posted: 10 Oct 2013 06:17 AM PDT To most people, restoration of Florida's Everglades means recovering and protecting the wetlands of south Florida. What many don't realize is how intimately the fortunes of the southern Everglades are tied to central Florida's Lake Okeechobee and lands even further north.

The tundra: A dark horse in planet Earth's greenhouse gas budget Posted: 10 Oct 2013 06:17 AM PDT There are huge amounts of organic carbon in the soil beneath the tundra that covers the northernmost woodless areas of the planet. New research findings show that the tundra may become a source of CO2 as the climate becomes warmer.

3D model reveals new information about iconic volcano Posted: 10 Oct 2013 06:14 AM PDT The volcano on the Scottish peninsula Ardnamurchan is a popular place for the study of rocks and structures in the core of a volcano. Geology students read about it in text books and geologists have been certain that the Ardnamurchan volcano have three successive magma chambers. However, an international group of researchers has now shown that the volcano only has one single magma chamber.

Origin of MERS coronavirus identified Posted: 09 Oct 2013 06:56 PM PDT The newly emerged Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has circulated in bats for a substantial time, before making the species leap to humans, according to research. By analyzing the genome of various bat species, scientists show that bat DPP4 genes have adapted significantly as they evolved, suggesting a long-term arms race between the bat and the virus.

Enigmatic neurons help flies get oriented Posted: 09 Oct 2013 05:11 PM PDT Neurons deep in the fly's brain tune in to some of the same basic visual features that neurons in bigger animals such as humans pick out in their surroundings. The new research is an important milestone toward understanding how the fly brain extracts relevant information about a visual scene to guide behavior.

Discovery should save wheat farmers millions of dollars Posted: 09 Oct 2013 05:10 PM PDT The global wheat industry sometimes loses as much as $1 billion a year because prolonged rainfall and high humidity contribute to grains germinating before they are fully mature. This phenomenon, known as pre-harvest sprouting or PHS, has such important economic repercussions for farmers around the world that scientists have been working on finding a solution to the problem for at least a couple of decades. Findings now suggest that the solution may lie not with genetics alone, but rather with a combination of genetic and epigenetic factors.

Climate change threatens Northern American turtle habitat Posted: 08 Oct 2013 03:23 PM PDT Although a turtle's home may be on its back, some North American turtles face an uncertain future as a warming climate threatens to reduce their suitable habitat.

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