ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Hacking the environment: Bringing biodiversity hardware into the open
• Are wind farms changing Europe's climate?
• Blinded by speed, tiger beetles use antennae to 'see' while running
• Urban bees using plastic to build hives
• Small families, big houses: Population bomb may be defused, but research reveals ticking household bomb
• Fish living near the equator will not thrive in the warmer oceans of the future
• Revolutionary new view on heritability in plants: Complex heritable traits not only determined by changes in DNA sequence
• Better RNA interference, inspired by nature: New nanoparticles offer best-ever gene silencing
• Is an earthquake behind the Shroud of Turin image? Radiation from earthquake could have led to 'wrong' 1988 dating
• 'Smelling' with our eyes: Descriptions affect odor perception
• Eat spinach or eggs for faster reflexes: Tyrosine helps you stop faster
• Crocodilians can climb trees and bask in the tree crowns
• Giant mass extinction quicker than previously thought: End-Permian extinction happened in 60,000 years
• California drought similar to historic drought in Texas
• With their amazing necks, ants don't need 'high hopes' to do heavy lifting
• New live-cell printing technology works like ancient Chinese woodblocking
• Chips that listen to bacteria: CMOS technology provides new insights into how biofilms form
• High pollutant levels in Guanica Bay 'represent serious toxic threat' to corals
• How do polar bears stay warm? Research finds an answer in their genes
• Clinical pharmacologist researching chronic lead intoxication in goats
• Threatened eels disappear in the deep ocean on their way to the Sargasso Sea
• Sometimes the average just isn't good enough: Averaging not always best for analying protein crystal structures
• Newly found tactics in offense-defense struggle with hepatitis C virus
• Chronic inflammation: Slowing down immune system when in overdrive
• Nanomotors are controlled, for the first time, inside living cells
• Uganda develops database for wildlife crime offenders
• Conserved nuclear envelope protein uses shuttle service to travel between job sites
• Research reveals give and take of urban temperature mitigating technologies

Hacking the environment: Bringing biodiversity hardware into the open Posted: 11 Feb 2014 09:18 AM PST New technologies are changing the way we collect biodiversity data, providing low-cost and customizable alternative to expensive proprietary data loggers and sensors. A new article describes the construction of a data-logger using the Arduino platform in the hope of encouraging the adoption of new data collection technologies by biodiversity scientists and fostering new collaborations with both electronics hobbyists and electronical engineers.

Are wind farms changing Europe's climate? Posted: 11 Feb 2014 09:18 AM PST The development of wind farms in Europe only has an extremely limited impact on the climate at the continental scale, and this will remain true until at least 2020. These are the main conclusions of a new study.

Blinded by speed, tiger beetles use antennae to 'see' while running Posted: 11 Feb 2014 08:37 AM PST Speed is blinding. Just ask the tiger beetle: This predatory insect has excellent sight, but when it chases prey, it runs so fast it can no longer see where it's going.

Urban bees using plastic to build hives Posted: 11 Feb 2014 07:33 AM PST Once the snow melts, bees will be back in business -- pollinating, making honey and keeping busy doing bee things. For at least two urban bee species, that means making nests out of plastic waste. A new study reveals that some bees use bits of plastic bags and plastic building materials to construct their nests.

Small families, big houses: Population bomb may be defused, but research reveals ticking household bomb Posted: 11 Feb 2014 07:33 AM PST After decades of fretting about population explosion, scientists are pointing to a long-term hidden global menace. The household. More specifically, the household explosion.

Fish living near the equator will not thrive in the warmer oceans of the future Posted: 11 Feb 2014 06:43 AM PST According to an international team of researchers, the rapid pace of climate change is threatening the future presence of fish near the equator.

Revolutionary new view on heritability in plants: Complex heritable traits not only determined by changes in DNA sequence Posted: 11 Feb 2014 06:41 AM PST Complex heritable traits are not only determined by changes in the DNA sequence. Scientists have now shown that epigenetic marks can affect traits such as flowering time and architecture in plants. Furthermore, these marks are passed on for many generations in a stable manner.

Better RNA interference, inspired by nature: New nanoparticles offer best-ever gene silencing Posted: 11 Feb 2014 05:40 AM PST Inspired by tiny particles that carry cholesterol through the body, chemical engineers have designed nanoparticles that can deliver snippets of genetic material that turn off disease-causing genes. This approach, known as RNA interference (RNAi), holds great promise for treating cancer and other diseases. However, delivering enough RNA to treat the diseased tissue, while avoiding side effects in the rest of the body, has proven difficult. The new particles, which encase short strands of RNA within a sphere of fatty molecules and proteins, silence target genes in the liver more efficiently than any previous delivery system.

Is an earthquake behind the Shroud of Turin image? Radiation from earthquake could have led to 'wrong' 1988 dating Posted: 11 Feb 2014 05:40 AM PST Neutron radiation caused by 33 A.D. earthquake could have led to "wrong" 1988 radiocarbon dating of Shroud, suggest researchers. An earthquake in Old Jerusalem might be behind the famous image of the Shroud of Turin, says a group of researchers. They believe that neutron radiation caused by an earthquake could have induced the image of a crucified man - which many people believe to be that of Jesus - onto the length of linen cloth, and caused carbon-14 dating done on it in 1988 to be wrong.

'Smelling' with our eyes: Descriptions affect odor perception Posted: 11 Feb 2014 05:40 AM PST An odor is judged differently depending on whether it is accompanied by a positive or negative description when it is smelled. When associated with a pleasant label, we enjoy the odor more than when it is presented with a negative label. To put it another way, we also 'smell' with our eyes!

Eat spinach or eggs for faster reflexes: Tyrosine helps you stop faster Posted: 11 Feb 2014 05:38 AM PST A child suddenly runs out into the road. Brake!! A driver who has recently eaten spinach or eggs will stop faster, thanks to the amino acid tyrosine found in these and other food products.

Crocodilians can climb trees and bask in the tree crowns Posted: 10 Feb 2014 03:45 PM PST When most people envision crocodiles and alligators, they think of them waddling on the ground or wading in water -- not climbing trees. However, a new study has found that the reptiles can climb trees as far as the crowns.

Giant mass extinction quicker than previously thought: End-Permian extinction happened in 60,000 years Posted: 10 Feb 2014 01:13 PM PST The largest mass extinction in the history of animal life occurred some 252 million years ago, wiping out more than 96 percent of marine species and 70 percent of life on land -- including the largest insects known to have inhabited Earth. Multiple theories have aimed to explain the cause of what's now known as the end-Permian extinction, including an asteroid impact, massive volcanic eruptions, or a cataclysmic cascade of environmental events. But pinpointing the cause of the extinction requires better measurements of how long the extinction period lasted. The end-Permian extinction happened in 60,000 years -- much faster than earlier estimates, according to new research.

California drought similar to historic drought in Texas Posted: 10 Feb 2014 01:12 PM PST The worst drought ever to hit California could rival the historic 2011 drought that devastated Texas, says a Texas A&M University professor.

With their amazing necks, ants don't need 'high hopes' to do heavy lifting Posted: 10 Feb 2014 01:12 PM PST Researchers have discovered that the neck joint of a common American field ant can withstand astounding pressures. Similar joints might enable future robots to mimic the ant's weight-lifting ability on earth and in space.

New live-cell printing technology works like ancient Chinese woodblocking Posted: 10 Feb 2014 01:11 PM PST With a nod to 3rd century Chinese woodblock printing and children's rubber stamp toys, researchers have developed a way to print living cells onto any surface, in virtually any shape. Unlike recent, similar work using inkjet printing approaches, almost all cells survive the process.

Chips that listen to bacteria: CMOS technology provides new insights into how biofilms form Posted: 10 Feb 2014 01:11 PM PST Researchers have shown integrated circuit technology can be used for a most unusual application -- the study of signaling in bacterial colonies. They have developed a chip based on CMOS technology that enables them to electrochemically image the signaling molecules from these colonies spatially and temporally -- they've developed chips that "listen" to bacteria.

High pollutant levels in Guanica Bay 'represent serious toxic threat' to corals Posted: 10 Feb 2014 11:19 AM PST Pollutants measured in the sediments of Guanica Bay, Puerto Rico, in a new NOAA study were among the highest concentrations of PCBs, chlordane, chromium and nickel ever measured in the history of NOAA's National Status and Trends monitoring program.

How do polar bears stay warm? Research finds an answer in their genes Posted: 10 Feb 2014 10:58 AM PST Among polar bears, only pregnant females den up for the colder months. So how do the rest survive the extreme Arctic winters? New research points to one potential answer: genetic adaptations related to production of nitric oxide, a compound cells use to help convert nutrients into energy or heat.

Clinical pharmacologist researching chronic lead intoxication in goats Posted: 10 Feb 2014 08:44 AM PST American researchers are part of a team of researchers from Egypt, Jordan and the U.S. that is evaluating the effect of chronic lead intoxication in goats.

Threatened eels disappear in the deep ocean on their way to the Sargasso Sea Posted: 10 Feb 2014 07:19 AM PST When the threatened European eels cross the Atlantic Ocean to get to the Sargasso Sea to spawn, they swim in deep water. But this does not protect them from predators, researchers report: Even in deep water the eels are hunted and eaten.

Sometimes the average just isn't good enough: Averaging not always best for analying protein crystal structures Posted: 10 Feb 2014 07:19 AM PST Computational biologists show that averaging is not always a good thing when it comes to analyzing protein crystal structures. Their recent work shows that protein structures could be more dynamic and heterogeneous than current methods of X-ray analysis suggest.

Newly found tactics in offense-defense struggle with hepatitis C virus Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:54 AM PST The hepatitis C virus (HCV) has a previously unrecognized tactic to outwit antiviral responses and sustain a long-term infection. It also turns out that some people are genetically equipped with a strong countermeasure to the virus' attempt to weaken the attack on it. The details of these findings suggest potential targets for treating HCV.

Chronic inflammation: Slowing down immune system when in overdrive Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:54 AM PST Many people suffer from chronic inflammation because their immune systems overreact to 'self' tissue. Scientists believe that a small molecule known as Interleukin 21 is a promising therapeutic target in such cases.

Nanomotors are controlled, for the first time, inside living cells Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:53 AM PST Nanomotors have been controlled inside living cells for the first time, report a team of chemists and engineers. The scientists placed tiny rocket-shaped synthetic motors inside live human cells, propelled them with ultrasonic waves and steered them magnetically to spin and to battering against the cell membrane.

Uganda develops database for wildlife crime offenders Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:51 AM PST An online tool has been launched that will allow law enforcement officials to access a database that tracks offenders of wildlife crime in real-time and across the country of Uganda.

Conserved nuclear envelope protein uses shuttle service to travel between job sites Posted: 10 Feb 2014 06:51 AM PST Researchers have glimpsed two proteins working together inside living cells to facilitate communication between the cell's nucleus and its exterior compartment, the cytoplasm. The research provides new clues into how a crucial protein that is found in organisms from yeast to humans does its work.

Research reveals give and take of urban temperature mitigating technologies Posted: 10 Feb 2014 05:32 AM PST Greenhouse-gas induced warming and megapolitan expansion are both significant drivers of our warming planet. Researchers are now assessing adaptation technologies -- such as cool roofs, green roofs and hybrids of the two -- that could help us acclimate to these changing realities. A team of researchers has begun exploring the relative effectiveness of some of the most common adaptation technologies aimed at reducing warming from urban expansion.

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