ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• When it comes to how pizza looks, cheese matters
• Nanoparticle research could enhance oil recovery, tracing of fracking fluid
• Hot-spring bacteria reveal ability to use far-red light for photosynthesis
• Sunlight, not microbes, key to carbon dioxide in Arctic
• Severe drought is causing the western US to rise like a spring uncoiling
• From dandruff to deep sea vents, an ecologically hyper-diverse fungus
• How hummingbirds evolved to detect sweetness
• Cause of global warming hiatus found deep in the Atlantic Ocean
• The marmoset animal model recapitulates disease symptoms of MERS infection in humans
• Of bees, mites, and viruses: Virus infections after arrival of new parasitic mite in New Zealand honeybee colonies
• Novel recycling methods: Fluorescent fingerprint of plastics
• Fish and coral smell a bad neighborhood: Marine protected areas might not be enough to help overfished reefs recover
• Alternate mechanism of species formation picks up support, thanks to a South American ant
• Viruses take down massive algal blooms, with big implications for climate
• Neanderthals 'overlapped' with modern humans for up to 5,400 years
• Arctic sea ice influenced force of Gulf Stream
• Polio: Mutated virus breaches vaccine protection
• Cellular biology of colorectal cancer: New Insight
• Oldest metal object found to date in Middle East
• Water and sunlight: The formula for sustainable fuel
• Experts question value of common superbug control practices
• Models to study polyelectrolytes developed, including DNA and RNA
• Ibuprofen posing potential threat to fish, researchers say
• Adherence to diet can be measured from blood
• Signs of deforestation in Brazil
• The ABC's of animal speech: Not so random after all
• More than 100,000 African elephants killed in three years, study verifies
• Laser optical tweezers reveal how malaria parasites infect red blood cells

When it comes to how pizza looks, cheese matters Posted: 21 Aug 2014 12:38 PM PDT Most consumers have an idea what they want their pizza slice to look like. Golden cheese with that dark toasted-cheese color scattered in distinct blistery patches across the surface with a bit of oil glistening in the valleys. A new study evaluated the pizza baking performance of different cheeses (mozzarella, cheddar, colby, Edam, Emmental, Gruyere, and provolone) in conjunction with a new quantifiable evaluation technique to see how their composition and functional differences affected browning and blistering.

Nanoparticle research could enhance oil recovery, tracing of fracking fluid Posted: 21 Aug 2014 12:35 PM PDT Researchers are examining how nanoparticles move underground, knowledge that could eventually help improve recovery in oil fields and discover where hydraulic fracking chemicals travel.

Hot-spring bacteria reveal ability to use far-red light for photosynthesis Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:15 AM PDT Bacteria growing in near darkness use a previously unknown process for harvesting energy and producing oxygen from sunlight, scientists have discovered. The discovery lays the foundation for further research aimed at improving plant growth, harvesting energy from the sun, and understanding dense blooms like those now occurring on Lake Erie and other lakes worldwide.

Sunlight, not microbes, key to carbon dioxide in Arctic Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:15 AM PDT The vast reservoir of carbon stored in Arctic permafrost is gradually being converted to carbon dioxide after entering the freshwater system in a process thought to be controlled largely by microbial activity. However, researchers say that sunlight and not bacteria is the key to triggering the production of CO2 from material released by Arctic soils.

Severe drought is causing the western US to rise like a spring uncoiling Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:15 AM PDT The severe drought gripping the western United States in recent years is changing the landscape well beyond localized effects of water restrictions and browning lawns. Scientists have used GPS data to discover that the growing, broad-scale loss of water is causing the entire western US to rise up like an uncoiled spring.

From dandruff to deep sea vents, an ecologically hyper-diverse fungus Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:14 AM PDT A ubiquitous skin fungus linked to dandruff, eczema and other itchy, flaky maladies in humans has now been tracked to even further global reaches -- including Hawaiian coral reefs and the extreme environments of arctic soils and deep sea vents. The study considers the diversity, ecology, and distribution of the fungi of the genus Malassezia in light of new insights gained from screening environmental sequencing datasets from around the world.

How hummingbirds evolved to detect sweetness Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:14 AM PDT Hummingbirds' ability to detect sweetness evolved from an ancestral savory taste receptor that is mostly tuned to flavors in amino acids. Feasting on nectar and the occasional insect, the tiny birds expanded throughout North and South America, numbering more than 300 species over the 40 to 72 million years since they branched off from their closest relative, the swift.

Cause of global warming hiatus found deep in the Atlantic Ocean Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:14 AM PDT Observations show that the heat absent from the Earth's surface for more than a decade is plunging deep in the north and south Atlantic Ocean, and is part of a naturally occurring cycle. Subsurface warming in the ocean explains why global average air temperatures have flatlined since 1999, despite greenhouse gases trapping more solar heat at Earth's surface.

The marmoset animal model recapitulates disease symptoms of MERS infection in humans Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:14 AM PDT A new article reports the first animal model that recapitulates the severe and sometimes lethal respiratory symptoms seen in human patients and suggests that the common marmoset will play an important role in the development effective countermeasures against Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus.

Of bees, mites, and viruses: Virus infections after arrival of new parasitic mite in New Zealand honeybee colonies Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:14 AM PDT Honeybee colonies are dying at alarming rates worldwide. A variety of factors have been proposed to explain their decline, but the exact cause -- and how bees can be saved -- remains unclear. A new article examines the viral landscape in honeybee colonies in New Zealand after the recent arrival of the parasitic Varroa destructor mite.

Novel recycling methods: Fluorescent fingerprint of plastics Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:13 AM PDT A new process has been developed that will greatly simplify the process of sorting plastics in recycling plants. The method enables automated identification of polymers, facilitating rapid separation of plastics for re-use.

Fish and coral smell a bad neighborhood: Marine protected areas might not be enough to help overfished reefs recover Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:13 AM PDT Pacific corals and fish can both smell a bad neighborhood, and use that ability to avoid settling in damaged reefs. Damaged coral reefs emit chemical cues that repulse young coral and fish, discouraging them from settling in the degraded habitat, according to new research. The study shows for the first time that coral larvae can smell the difference between healthy and damaged reefs when they decide where to settle.

Alternate mechanism of species formation picks up support, thanks to a South American ant Posted: 21 Aug 2014 09:48 AM PDT A newly discovered species of ant supports a controversial theory of species formation. The ant, only found in a single patch of eucalyptus trees on the São Paulo State University campus in Brazil, branched off from its original species while living in the same colony, something thought rare in current models of evolutionary development.

Viruses take down massive algal blooms, with big implications for climate Posted: 21 Aug 2014 09:48 AM PDT Humans are increasingly dependent on algae to suck up climate-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sink it to the bottom of the ocean. Now, by using a combination of satellite imagery and laboratory experiments, researchers have evidence showing that viruses infecting those algae are driving the life-and-death dynamics of the algae's blooms, even when all else stays essentially the same, and this has important implications for our climate.

Neanderthals 'overlapped' with modern humans for up to 5,400 years Posted: 21 Aug 2014 09:37 AM PDT Neanderthals and modern humans were both living in Europe for between 2,600 and 5,400 years, according to a new article. For the first time, scientists have constructed a robust timeline showing when the last Neanderthals died out.

Arctic sea ice influenced force of Gulf Stream Posted: 21 Aug 2014 08:58 AM PDT The force of the Gulf Stream was significantly influenced by the sea ice situation in the Fram Strait in the past 30,000 years. On the basis of biomarkers in deposits on the seafloor, geologists managed for the first time to reconstruct when and how the marine region between Greenland and Svalbard was covered with ice in the past and in what way the Gulf Stream reacted when the sea ice cover suddenly broke up.

Polio: Mutated virus breaches vaccine protection Posted: 21 Aug 2014 08:57 AM PDT Thanks to effective vaccination, polio is considered nearly eradicated. Each year only a few hundred people are stricken worldwide. However, scientists are reporting alarming findings: a mutated virus that was able to resist the vaccine protection to a considerable extent was found in victims of an outbreak in the Congo in 2010. The pathogen could also potentially have infected many people in Germany.

Cellular biology of colorectal cancer: New Insight Posted: 21 Aug 2014 07:24 AM PDT A new role for the protein adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) in suppressing colorectal cancer -- the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. -- has been outlined by new research, providing a better understanding of the illness. "It's not widely appreciated, but there is still plenty of cell growth going on in adults, with the colon being a good example," a researcher said. "On average, we shed and replace about 70 pounds of intestinal tissue annually, so you can imagine that this process requires exquisite control to prevent tumor formation."

Oldest metal object found to date in Middle East Posted: 21 Aug 2014 07:15 AM PDT A copper awl, the oldest metal object found to date in the Middle East, has been discovered during the excavations at Tel Tsaf. The awl dates back to the late 6th millennium or the early 5th millennium BCE, moving back by several hundred years the date it was previously thought that the peoples of the region began to use metals.

Water and sunlight: The formula for sustainable fuel Posted: 21 Aug 2014 06:07 AM PDT Scientists have replicated one of the crucial steps in photosynthesis, opening the way for biological systems powered by sunlight which could manufacture hydrogen as a fuel.

Experts question value of common superbug control practices Posted: 21 Aug 2014 06:06 AM PDT The jury is still out on the effectiveness of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) superbug control policies in hospitals, according to leading infectious disease experts. In particular, screening and isolating infected patients -- which have long been regarded as the gold standard MRSA prevention strategy and are required by law in some countries -- have poor evidence for their effectiveness, say the authors.

Models to study polyelectrolytes developed, including DNA and RNA Posted: 21 Aug 2014 06:06 AM PDT A novel and versatile modeling strategy has been developed to simulate polyelectrolyte systems. The model has applications for creating new materials as well as for studying polyelectrolytes, including DNA and RNA. Polyelectrolytes are chains of molecules that are positively or negatively charged when placed in water. Because they are sensitive to changes in their environment, polyelectrolytes hold promise for use in applications such as drug delivery mechanisms.

Ibuprofen posing potential threat to fish, researchers say Posted: 21 Aug 2014 06:00 AM PDT Many rivers contain levels of ibuprofen that could be adversely affecting fish health, researchers report. In what is believed to be the first study to establish the level of risk posed by ibuprofen at the country scale, the researchers examined 3,112 stretches of river which together receive inputs from 21 million people.

Adherence to diet can be measured from blood Posted: 21 Aug 2014 06:00 AM PDT New results show that it's possible to assess dietary compliance from a blood sample. This is especially useful in controlled dietary intervention studies investigating the health benefits of specific diets. So far, such studies have mainly relied on the participants' self-reported dietary intake, which is often biased, making it more difficult to assess the real health benefits.

Signs of deforestation in Brazil Posted: 20 Aug 2014 08:20 AM PDT Multiple fires are visible in in this image of the Para and Mato Grosso states of Brazil. Many of these were most likely intentionally set in order to deforest the land.

The ABC's of animal speech: Not so random after all Posted: 19 Aug 2014 05:02 PM PDT The calls of many animals, from whales to wolves, might contain more language-like structure than previously thought, according to study that raises new questions about the evolutionary origins of human language.

More than 100,000 African elephants killed in three years, study verifies Posted: 19 Aug 2014 12:52 PM PDT New research has revealed that an estimated 100,000 elephants in Africa were killed for their ivory between 2010 and 2012. The study shows these losses are driving population declines of the world's wild African elephants on the order of 2 percent to 3 percent a year.

Laser optical tweezers reveal how malaria parasites infect red blood cells Posted: 19 Aug 2014 09:59 AM PDT Little is known about how malaria invades one red blood cell after another because it happens so quickly. In a new study, researchers used laser optical tweezers to study interactions between the disease-causing parasite and red blood cells. The findings reveal surprising new insights into malaria biology and pave the way for the development of more effective drugs or vaccines for a disease that affects hundreds of millions of people around the world.

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