ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Chili peppers for a healthy gut: Spicy chemical may inhibit gut tumors
• Geology: Cordilleran terrane collage in North America
• Society bloomed with gentler personalities, more feminine faces: Technology boom 50,000 years ago correlated with less testosterone
• Botany: Developmental regulation of important plant phloem components discovered
• USDA report on greenhouse gas emissions: Uniform tools to measure, manage greenhouse gas emissions
• 'Fracking' in the dark: Biological fallout of shale-gas production still largely unknown
• Southern-style eating increases risk of death for kidney disease patients
• Invasive lionfish likely safe to eat after all: Easy test before you eat
• Study of bigeye tuna in Northwest Atlantic uses new tracking methods
• DNA replication: Molecular mechanism indicates novel routes to block uncontrolled cell division
• See-through organs and bodies will accelerate biomedical discoveries
• Low-grade nonwoven cotton picks up 50 times own weight of oil
• Molecule enhances copper's lethal punch against microbes
• Nanostructured metal-oxide catalyst efficiently converts CO2 to methanol, a key commodity for chemicals and fuels
• Scientists shine bright new light on how living things capture energy from the sun
• Panthers prey on ranchers' calves, but amount varies
• Researchers focus on role of the protein progerin in atherosclerosis in both modern and ancient times
• CT scans provide evidence of atherosclerosis in wide range of ancient populations
• Chronic infection, smoke inhalation, or yet to be discovered causes could explain why ancient men and women had atherosclerosis
• When cooperation counts: Sperm benefit from grouping together in mice

Chili peppers for a healthy gut: Spicy chemical may inhibit gut tumors Posted: 01 Aug 2014 06:33 PM PDT Researchers report that dietary capsaicin – the active ingredient in chili peppers – produces chronic activation of a receptor on cells lining the intestines of mice, triggering a reaction that ultimately reduces the risk of colorectal tumors.

Geology: Cordilleran terrane collage in North America Posted: 01 Aug 2014 02:11 PM PDT Geologists have now provided conclusions regarding the North American Cordillera that they say "are provocative in that they blur the definition of tectonic terranes, showing that many observations of early geologists can be attributed to evolving geologic processes rather than disparate geologic histories."

Society bloomed with gentler personalities, more feminine faces: Technology boom 50,000 years ago correlated with less testosterone Posted: 01 Aug 2014 02:11 PM PDT Scientists have shown that human skulls changed in ways that indicate a lowering of testosterone levels at around the same time that culture was blossoming. Heavy brows were out, rounder heads were in. Technological innovation, making art and rapid cultural exchange probably came at the same time that we developed a more cooperative temperament by dialing back aggression with lower testosterone levels.

Botany: Developmental regulation of important plant phloem components discovered Posted: 01 Aug 2014 07:58 AM PDT Researchers have combined traditional genetic approaches with 3-D reconstructions from scanning electron microscopy to discover and characterize genes regulating the development of plant sieve elements.

USDA report on greenhouse gas emissions: Uniform tools to measure, manage greenhouse gas emissions Posted: 01 Aug 2014 07:42 AM PDT The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released a report that, for the first time, provides uniform scientific methods for quantifying the changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon storage from various land management and conservation activities.

'Fracking' in the dark: Biological fallout of shale-gas production still largely unknown Posted: 01 Aug 2014 06:12 AM PDT Eight conservation biologists from various organizations and institutions found that shale-gas extraction in the United States has vastly outpaced scientists' understanding of the industry's environmental impact. With shale-gas production projected to surge during the next 30 years, determining and minimizing the industry's effects on nature and wildlife must become a top priority for scientists, industry and policymakers, the researchers said.

Southern-style eating increases risk of death for kidney disease patients Posted: 01 Aug 2014 06:10 AM PDT Consuming fried foods and sugar-sweetened beverages is linked to a 50 percent increase in risk of death, according to a new study.

Invasive lionfish likely safe to eat after all: Easy test before you eat Posted: 31 Jul 2014 05:16 PM PDT Scientists have learned that recent fears of invasive lionfish causing fish poisoning may be unfounded. If so, current efforts to control lionfish by fishing derbies and targeted fisheries may remain the best way to control the invasion. And there's a simple way to know for sure whether a lionfish is toxic: test it after it's been cooked.

Study of bigeye tuna in Northwest Atlantic uses new tracking methods Posted: 31 Jul 2014 05:15 PM PDT Scientists have developed a new approach to study one of the most important commercial tuna species in the Atlantic, and have provided the longest available fishery-independent record of bigeye tuna movements to date. Data should help researchers to further characterize habitat use and assess the need for more monitoring in high-catch areas.

DNA replication: Molecular mechanism indicates novel routes to block uncontrolled cell division Posted: 31 Jul 2014 05:09 PM PDT Scientists have revealed the intricate mechanisms involved in the enzyme that governs DNA duplication during cell division.

See-through organs and bodies will accelerate biomedical discoveries Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:57 AM PDT The ability to see through organs and even the entire body has been a long-time dream of biologists. A new study has now made that dream a reality, revealing simple methods for making opaque organs, bodies, and human tissue biopsies transparent, while keeping the cellular structures and connections intact. The protocols could pave the way for a better understanding of brain-body interactions, more accurate clinical diagnoses and disease monitoring, and a new generation of therapies.

Low-grade nonwoven cotton picks up 50 times own weight of oil Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:55 AM PDT Researchers have recently discovered that low-grade cotton made into an absorbent nonwoven mat can collect up to 50 times its own weight in oil.

Molecule enhances copper's lethal punch against microbes Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:55 AM PDT Harnessing a natural process in the body that pumps lethal doses of copper to fungi and bacteria shows promise as a new way to kill infectious microbes, scientists report.

Nanostructured metal-oxide catalyst efficiently converts CO2 to methanol, a key commodity for chemicals and fuels Posted: 31 Jul 2014 11:54 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a new catalytic system for converting carbon dioxide (CO2) to methanol-a key commodity used to create a wide range of industrial chemicals and fuels. With significantly higher activity than other catalysts now in use, the new system could make it easier to get normally unreactive CO2 to participate in these reactions.

Scientists shine bright new light on how living things capture energy from the sun Posted: 31 Jul 2014 08:10 AM PDT Scientists may have uncovered a new method of exploiting the power of sunlight by focusing on a naturally occurring combination of lipids that have been strikingly conserved throughout evolution.

Panthers prey on ranchers' calves, but amount varies Posted: 31 Jul 2014 08:09 AM PDT Study looked at panther behavior at two Florida cattle ranches, confirmed calf predation as a problem. The Florida panther nearly died out, with an estimated population thinning to just 20 to 25 panthers by 1995, with conservation efforts helping the cat's numbers grow to an estimated 100 to 160 by 2012. But the panthers' comeback has not always been helpful to cattle ranchers.

Researchers focus on role of the protein progerin in atherosclerosis in both modern and ancient times Posted: 30 Jul 2014 05:37 PM PDT Since evidence of atherosclerosis has been discovered in ancient human mummies, attention has been focused on possible causative factors other than those related to modern lifestyles. Researchers now discuss the potential role of the protein progerin.

CT scans provide evidence of atherosclerosis in wide range of ancient populations Posted: 30 Jul 2014 05:37 PM PDT Although atherosclerosis is widely thought to be a disease of modern times, computed tomographic evidence of atherosclerosis has been found in the bodies of a large number of mummies. Researchers have reviewed the findings of atherosclerotic calcifications in the remains of ancient people -- humans who lived across a very wide span of human history and over most of the inhabited globe.

Chronic infection, smoke inhalation, or yet to be discovered causes could explain why ancient men and women had atherosclerosis Posted: 30 Jul 2014 05:37 PM PDT Potential causes that could have led to atherosclerosis in ancient times, the underlying disease process that causes heart attack and stroke and leads to coronary artery bypass surgery, angioplasty and stenting, outlined.

When cooperation counts: Sperm benefit from grouping together in mice Posted: 30 Jul 2014 11:10 AM PDT A new study shows that in Peromyscus maniculatus, a species of deer mouse known to be highly promiscuous, sperm clump together to swim in a more linear fashion, increasing their chances of fertilization.

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