ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• New airborne GPS technology for weather conditions takes flight
• Knowing whether food has spoiled without even opening the container
• Scientists track evolution of a superbug
• Bacterial reporters that get the scoop: Engineered gut bacteria 'remembers' what it saw
• Rocky mountain wildflower season lengthens by more than a month
• Protein common in cancers jumps anti-tumor mechanisms
• Chicken bones tell true story of pacific migration
• Development of Alzheimer's trademark cell-killing plaques slowed by researchers
• Back to life after 1,500 years: Moss brought back to life after 1,500 years frozen in ice
• Pathways that direct immune system to turn 'on' or 'off' found
• Fighting antibiotic resistance with 'molecular drill bits'
• Risk factors for little-known lung infection identified
• How the science of deer hunting can help patients with diabetes
• Shale could be long-term home for problematic nuclear waste
• Fast-moving cells in human immune system walk in stepwise manner
• Simpler gas distribution using buoyant transfer system
• Improved mass spectrometric method for proteomic analyses presented by Immunologists
• Eat more, die young: Why eating a diet very low in nutrients can extend lifespan
• Earthquakes caused by clogged magma a warning sign of volcanic eruption
• Designing future vaccinations against HIV could depend on research on the protein gp41
• Why did humans replace Neanderthals? Paleo diet didn't change, the climate did
• Better-tasting reduced-fat desserts, dressings, sauces: Coming soon?
• Honey offers new approach to fighting antibiotic resistance

New airborne GPS technology for weather conditions takes flight Posted: 17 Mar 2014 02:06 PM PDT GPS technology has broadly advanced science and society's ability to pinpoint precise information, from driving directions to tracking ground motions during earthquakes. A new technique stands to improve weather models and hurricane forecasting by detecting precise conditions in the atmosphere through a new GPS system aboard airplanes.

Knowing whether food has spoiled without even opening the container Posted: 17 Mar 2014 02:06 PM PDT A color-coded smart tag could tell consumers whether milk has turned sour or green beans have spoiled without opening the containers, say researchers. The tag, appearing on the packaging, also could be used to determine if medications and other perishable products were still active or fresh.

Scientists track evolution of a superbug Posted: 17 Mar 2014 12:56 PM PDT Using genome sequencing, scientists have tracked the evolution of the antibiotic-resistant bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae sequence type 258 (ST258), an important agent of hospital-acquired infections. While researchers had previously thought that ST258 K. pneumoniae strains spread from a single ancestor, the team showed that the strains arose from at least two different lineages.

Bacterial reporters that get the scoop: Engineered gut bacteria 'remembers' what it saw Posted: 17 Mar 2014 12:56 PM PDT A new engineered strain of E. coli bacteria non-destructively detected and recorded an environmental signal in the mouse gut, and remembered what it 'saw.' The advance could lead to a radically new screening tool for human gut health. "Our increasing appreciation of the role of the microbiome in health and disease is transforming the entire medical field," stated one scientist.

Rocky mountain wildflower season lengthens by more than a month Posted: 17 Mar 2014 12:56 PM PDT A 39-year study of wildflower blooms in a Rocky Mountain meadow shows more than two-thirds of alpine flowers changed their blooming pattern in response to climate change. Half are beginning to bloom weeks earlier, more than a third are reaching peak bloom earlier, and others' last blooms are later. Records of more than two million blooms show flowering plants' response to climate change is more complex than previously believed. Species that depend on wildflowers are likely to be affected.

Protein common in cancers jumps anti-tumor mechanisms Posted: 17 Mar 2014 12:52 PM PDT A cellular protein, STAT3, which is overactive in a majority of cancers, interferes with an antitumor mechanism in cells and therefore promotes the growth of cancer, an international research team has discovered. The researchers made their discovery by using the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) as a tool to probe fundamental cancer development-related questions. EBV, which causes infectious mononucleosis, is carried by approximately 95 percent of the world's population, is implicated in several types of lymphoma and other cancers, and was the first virus identified to cause cancer in humans.

Chicken bones tell true story of pacific migration Posted: 17 Mar 2014 12:52 PM PDT Did the Polynesians beat Columbus to South America? Not according to the tale of migration uncovered by analysis of ancient DNA from chicken bones recovered in archaeological digs across the Pacific. The ancient DNA has been used to study the origins and dispersal of ancestral Polynesian chickens, reconstructing the early migrations of people and the animals they carried with them.

Development of Alzheimer's trademark cell-killing plaques slowed by researchers Posted: 17 Mar 2014 12:51 PM PDT Researchers have learned how to fix a cellular structure called the Golgi that mysteriously becomes fragmented in all Alzheimer's patients and appears to be a major cause of the disease. They say that understanding this mechanism helps decode amyloid plaque formation in the brains of Alzheimer's patients -- plaques that kills cells and contributes to memory loss and other Alzheimer's symptoms.

Back to life after 1,500 years: Moss brought back to life after 1,500 years frozen in ice Posted: 17 Mar 2014 09:50 AM PDT Researchers have demonstrated that, after over 1,500 years frozen in Antarctic ice, moss can come back to life and continue to grow. For the first time, this vital part of the ecosystem in both polar regions has been shown to have the ability to survive century to millennial scale ice ages. This provides exciting new insight into the survival of life on Earth.

Pathways that direct immune system to turn 'on' or 'off' found Posted: 17 Mar 2014 09:49 AM PDT Manipulating the CD80/CD86 pathway may yield new strategies for treating multiple myeloma, new research on dendritic cells suggests. This research focused on the immune system's dendritic cells (DCs), crucial cells that initiate and regulate immune responses. For example, the dendritic cells activate T lymphocytes to fight an infection or cancer. Curiously, they are also known to suppress the immune response. Determining when DCs turn the immune response "on" or "off" is a major question in immunology.

Fighting antibiotic resistance with 'molecular drill bits' Posted: 17 Mar 2014 09:49 AM PDT In response to drug-resistant "superbugs" that send millions of people to hospitals around the world, scientists are building tiny, "molecular drill bits" that kill bacteria by bursting through their protective cell walls. Researchers have presented some of the latest developments on these drill bits, better known to scientists as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs).

Risk factors for little-known lung infection identified Posted: 17 Mar 2014 07:35 AM PDT Severe and sometimes fatal lung disease caused by a group of bacteria in the same family as those that cause tuberculosis is much more common than previously thought, with Caucasians 55 and older at greatest risk, report researchers. Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) include more than 150 types of bacteria that can infect the lungs when inhaled. Unlike tuberculosis, NTM is not contagious and cannot spread from person to person. The infection is treatable, but antibiotic therapy is expensive and can take up to two years. Rates of infection have climbed significantly since the 1980s.

How the science of deer hunting can help patients with diabetes Posted: 17 Mar 2014 07:35 AM PDT Body odor is a deer hunter's worst enemy, an alert to animals that an ominous presence is lurking, but the science behind suppressing it to give hunters an edge oddly enough could help researchers develop a life-saving device for diabetes patients. Scientists have now presented the latest advances that tie together these two seemingly unrelated fronts.

Shale could be long-term home for problematic nuclear waste Posted: 17 Mar 2014 07:35 AM PDT Shale, the source of the United States' current natural gas boom, could help solve another energy problem: what to do with radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The unique properties of the sedimentary rock and related clay-rich rocks make it ideal for storing the potentially dangerous spent fuel for millennia, according to geologists studying possible storage sites.

Fast-moving cells in human immune system walk in stepwise manner Posted: 17 Mar 2014 06:59 AM PDT Advanced mathematical tools were applied to answer a basic question in cell biology about how cells move and discovered that the mechanism looks very similar to walking, a team of biologists and engineers reports. Their discovery is an important advance toward developing new pharmacological strategies to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.

Simpler gas distribution using buoyant transfer system Posted: 17 Mar 2014 06:59 AM PDT A new, fully mobile solution for offloading natural gas from ships to land may lead to increased distribution to new markets around the world. International demand for natural gas is high, and there are plentiful deposits to be found in many places. Gas is also more environment-friendly than other fossil fuels. The challenge lies in making it less difficult to transport to consumers -- and researchers are looking to do just that.

Improved mass spectrometric method for proteomic analyses presented by Immunologists Posted: 17 Mar 2014 05:47 AM PDT When it comes to analyzing cell components or body fluids or developing new medications, there is no way around mass spectrometry. Mass spectrometry is a highly sensitive method of measurement that has been used for many years for the analysis of chemical and biological materials. A new breakthrough discovery offers new perspectives for research on the immune and nervous system.

Eat more, die young: Why eating a diet very low in nutrients can extend lifespan Posted: 17 Mar 2014 05:47 AM PDT A new evolutionary theory claims that consuming a diet very low in nutrients can extend lifespan in laboratory animals, a finding which could hold clues to promoting healthier aging in humans. Scientists have known for decades that severely restricted food intake reduces the incidence of diseases of old age, such as cancer, and increases lifespan. The most widely accepted theory is that this effect evolved to improve survival during times of famine.

Earthquakes caused by clogged magma a warning sign of volcanic eruption Posted: 17 Mar 2014 05:47 AM PDT New research examined earthquake swarms caused by mounting volcanic pressure which may signal an imminent eruption. The research team studied Augustine Volcano in Alaska which erupted in 2006 and found that precursory earthquakes were caused by a block in the lava flow. 36 hours before the first magmatic explosions, a swarm of 54 earthquakes was detected across the 13-station seismic network on Augustine Island. By analyzing the resulting seismic waves, the authors found that the earthquakes were being triggered from sources within the volcano's magma conduit.

Designing future vaccinations against HIV could depend on research on the protein gp41 Posted: 17 Mar 2014 05:46 AM PDT For the first time, an allosteric interaction (that is, a regulation mechanism whereby enzymes can be activated or de-activated) between a protein, which forms part of the sheath of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the antibody 2F5 (FAB), a potent virus neutralizer has been discovered. This important scientific breakthrough could help specialists to understand the mechanisms behind generating immune responses and help towards the design of future vaccines against the HIV  virus.

Why did humans replace Neanderthals? Paleo diet didn't change, the climate did Posted: 17 Mar 2014 05:46 AM PDT Why were Neanderthals replaced by anatomically modern humans around 40,000 years ago? One popular hypothesis states that a broader dietary spectrum of modern humans gave them a competitive advantage on Neanderthals. Geochemical analyses of fossil bones seemed to confirm this dietary difference. Indeed, higher amounts of nitrogen heavy isotopes were found in the bones of modern humans compared to those of Neanderthals. However, these studies did not look at possible isotopic variation of nitrogen isotopes in the food resource themselves. In fact, environmental factors such as aridity can increase the heavy nitrogen isotope amount in plants, leading to higher nitrogen isotopic values in herbivores and their predators even without a change of subsistence strategy.

Better-tasting reduced-fat desserts, dressings, sauces: Coming soon? Posted: 16 Mar 2014 12:29 PM PDT Adjusting the calcium level and acidity could be the key to developing new better tasting, more eye-appealing and creamier reduced-fat sauces, desserts and salad dressings, researchers report.

Honey offers new approach to fighting antibiotic resistance Posted: 16 Mar 2014 10:28 AM PDT Honey, that delectable condiment for breads and fruits, could be one sweet solution to the serious, ever-growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, researchers say. In addition, several studies have shown that honey inhibits the formation of biofilms, or communities of slimy disease-causing bacteria.

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