ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Scientists name new species of cetacean: The Australian humpback dolphin
• 'Normal' bacteria vital for keeping intestinal lining intact
• Heavy metals and hydroelectricity
• Symbiotic survival in marine bivalve mollusks
• For bats and dolphins, hearing gene prestin adapted for echolocation
• Scientists find new calorie-burning switch in brown fat
• Wildfires and other burns play bigger role in climate change
• Corrosion lab tests suggest need for underground gas tank retrofits
• Groundbreaking research maps cultural history by mapping mobility of notable intellectuals
• Asteroid impacts significantly altered ancient Earth
• Benefits to burning Flint Hills prairie in fall and winter
• C. difficile vaccine proves safe, 100 percent effective in animal models
• Oldest rove beetle in the Omaliini tribe found in French amber
• The 'memory' of starvation is in your genes
• Insular cortex alterations in mouse models of autism
• A mathematical theory proposed by Alan Turing in 1952 can explain the formation of fingers
• 'Rewired' mice show signs of longer lives with fewer age-related illnesses
• Selective logging takes its toll on mammals, amphibians
• Shrinking dinosaurs evolved into flying birds
• Study advances 'DNA revolution,' tells butterflies' evolutionary history

Scientists name new species of cetacean: The Australian humpback dolphin Posted: 01 Aug 2014 09:50 AM PDT Scientists examining a taxonomically confused group of marine mammals have officially named a species new to science: the Australian humpback dolphin, Sousa sahulensis.

'Normal' bacteria vital for keeping intestinal lining intact Posted: 01 Aug 2014 09:50 AM PDT Scientists have found that bacteria that aid in digestion help keep the intestinal lining intact. The findings could yield new therapies for inflammatory bowel disease and a wide range of other disorders.

Heavy metals and hydroelectricity Posted: 01 Aug 2014 07:50 AM PDT Hydraulic engineering is increasingly relied on for hydroelectricity generation. However, redirecting stream flow can yield unintended consequences. Researchers from the U.S. and Peru have documented the wholesale contamination of the Lake Junín National Reserve by acid mine drainage from the Cerro de Pasco mining district.

Symbiotic survival in marine bivalve mollusks Posted: 01 Aug 2014 06:12 AM PDT One of the most diverse families in the ocean today -- marine bivalve mollusks known as Lucinidae (or lucinids) -- originated more than 400 million years ago in the Silurian period, with adaptations and life habits like those of its modern members. A new study tracks the remarkable evolutionary expansion of the lucinids through significant symbiotic relationships.

For bats and dolphins, hearing gene prestin adapted for echolocation Posted: 01 Aug 2014 06:12 AM PDT A little over a decade ago, prestin was found to be a key gene responsible for hearing in mammals. A new study has shown that prestin has also independently evolved to play a critical role in the ultrasonic hearing range of animal sonar, or echolocation, to help dolphins navigate through murky waters or bats find food in the dark.

Scientists find new calorie-burning switch in brown fat Posted: 01 Aug 2014 06:11 AM PDT Biologists have identified a signaling pathway that switches on a powerful calorie-burning process in brown fat cells. The study sheds light on a process known as "brown fat thermogenesis," which is of great interest to medical researchers because it naturally stimulates weight loss and may also protect against diabetes.

Wildfires and other burns play bigger role in climate change Posted: 31 Jul 2014 05:15 PM PDT Research demonstrates that it isn't just the carbon dioxide from biomass burning that's the problem. Black carbon and brown carbon maximize the thermal impacts of such fires. They essentially allow biomass burning to cause much more global warming per unit weight than other human-associated carbon sources.

Corrosion lab tests suggest need for underground gas tank retrofits Posted: 31 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT A hidden hazard lurks beneath many of the roughly 156,000 gas stations across the United States. The hazard is corrosion in parts of underground gas storage tanks -- corrosion that could result in failures, leaks and contamination of groundwater, a source of drinking water. In recent years, field inspectors in nine states have reported many rapidly corroding gas storage tank components such as sump pumps.

Groundbreaking research maps cultural history by mapping mobility of notable intellectuals Posted: 31 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT New research presents a pioneering approach to understanding European and North American cultural history by mapping out the mobility patterns of notable intellectuals over a 2,000-year span.

Asteroid impacts significantly altered ancient Earth Posted: 31 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT New research shows that more than four billion years ago, the surface of Earth was heavily reprocessed as a result of giant asteroid impacts. A new model based on existing lunar and terrestrial data sheds light on the role asteroid bombardments played in the geological evolution of the uppermost layers of the Hadean Earth.

Benefits to burning Flint Hills prairie in fall and winter Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:59 AM PDT A new study looks at 20 years of data concerning the consequences of burning Flint Hills prairie at different times of the year. It finds that burning outside of the current late spring time frame has no measurable negative consequences for the prairie, and in fact, may have multiple benefits.

C. difficile vaccine proves safe, 100 percent effective in animal models Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:59 AM PDT An experimental vaccine protected 100 percent of animal models against the highly infectious and virulent bacterium, Clostridium difficile, which causes an intestinal disease that kills approximately 30,000 Americans annually.

Oldest rove beetle in the Omaliini tribe found in French amber Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:59 AM PDT Scientists have discovered and described a rove beetle that is the oldest definitive member of the tribe Omaliini that has ever been found in amber.

The 'memory' of starvation is in your genes Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:58 AM PDT Epigenetic 'experiments' -- changes resulting from external rather than genetic influences -- suggest that the body's physiological responses to hardship could be inherited, although the underlying mechanism has been a mystery. Now researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism that passes on the body's response to starvation to subsequent generations of worms, with potential implications for humans also exposed to starvation and other physiological challenges.

Insular cortex alterations in mouse models of autism Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:58 AM PDT The insular cortex is an integral "hub," combining sensory, emotional and cognitive content. Not surprisingly, alterations in insular structure and function have been reported in many psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety disorders, depression, addiction and autism spectrum disorders. Scientists now describe consistent alterations in integrative processing of the insular cortex across autism mouse models of diverse etiologies.

A mathematical theory proposed by Alan Turing in 1952 can explain the formation of fingers Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:58 AM PDT Researchers have shown that BMP and WNT proteins are the so-called 'Turing molecules' for creating embryonic fingers. Findings explain why polydactyly -- the development of extra fingers or toes -- is relatively common in humans, affecting up to one in 500 births, and confirms a fundamental theory first proposed by the founding father of computer science, Alan Turing, back in 1952.

'Rewired' mice show signs of longer lives with fewer age-related illnesses Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:58 AM PDT While developing a new cancer drug, researchers discovered that mice lacking a specific protein live longer lives with fewer age-related illnesses. The mice, which lack the TRAP-1 protein, demonstrated less age related tissue degeneration, obesity, and spontaneous tumor formation when compared to normal mice. Their findings could change how scientists view the metabolic networks within cells.

Selective logging takes its toll on mammals, amphibians Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:57 AM PDT The selective logging of trees in otherwise intact tropical forests can take a serious toll on the number of animal species living there. Mammals and amphibians are particularly sensitive to the effects of high-intensity logging, according to researchers who conducted a meta-analysis of almost 50 previously published studies from around the world.

Shrinking dinosaurs evolved into flying birds Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:55 AM PDT Scientists have revealed how massive, meat-eating, ground-dwelling dinosaurs evolved into agile flying birds: they just kept shrinking and shrinking, for over 50 million years.

Study advances 'DNA revolution,' tells butterflies' evolutionary history Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:54 AM PDT By tracing nearly 3,000 genes to the earliest common ancestor of butterflies and moths, scientists have created an extensive "Tree of Lepidoptera" in the first study to use large-scale, next-generation DNA sequencing.

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