ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Dying brain cells cue new brain cells to grow in songbird
• U.S. releases enhanced shuttle land elevation data
• NASA, partners target megacities carbon emissions
• The fickle El Niño of 2014
• New ISERV tool enables rapid view of Earth images from space
• Impact of temperature on belowground soil decomposition
• New rock formation discovered in Colorado
• Big changes in Sargasso Sea's seaweed populations
• Water-quality trading can reduce river pollution: Market for water quality credits would cut pollution at less cost
• Record of thousands of years: Mega-storm surge in Florida
• State policies effective in reducing power plant emissions, study finds
• Clues to superbug evolution: Microbiologists sequence entire genome of a Klebsiella pneumoniae strain
• Slight alterations in microRNA sequences hold more information than previously thought
• Walking off depression and beating stress outdoors? Nature group walks linked to improved mental health
• 'Plasma bubbles' may have aided enemy in fatal Afghan battle
• Search for better biofuels microbes leads to human gut
• Recreating the stripe patterns found in animals by engineering synthetic gene networks
• Pneumonia: More precise diagnosis method developed by interdisciplinary research team
• Solar explosions 'inside' a computer: Understanding solar flares to improve predictions
• Termites evolved complex bioreactors 30 million years ago
• Smart meters could cause conflict for housemates
• Drilling Into an Active Earthquake Fault in New Zealand
• 2014 Arctic sea ice minimum sixth lowest on record
• Food affected by Fukushima disaster harms animals, even at low-levels of radiation, study shows
• Federal food program puts food on the table, but dietary quality could be improved
• Multi-function protein is key to stopping genomic parasites from 'jumping'
• Critically ill ICU patients lose almost all of their gut microbes and the ones left aren't good
• Chimpanzees raised as pets or performers suffer long-term effects on their behavior
• Paraffins to cut energy consumption in homes
• Fruit and vegetable consumption could be as good for your mental as your physical health
• New hope for beloved family pets: New blood test for canine cancer
• Maternal breast milk is risk factor for cytomegalovirus transmission in premature infants
• Old drug may be key to new antibiotics
• Actions on climate change bring better health, study says
• Artificial liver tested as potential therapy for patients with alcohol-related organ failure
• Genetic switch regulates a plant's internal clock based on temperature
• Plant variants point the way to improved biofuel production

Dying brain cells cue new brain cells to grow in songbird Posted: 23 Sep 2014 03:20 PM PDT Using a songbird as a model, scientists have described a brain pathway that replaces cells that have been lost naturally and not because of injury. If scientists can further tap into the process, it might lead to ways to encourage replacement of cells in human brains that have lost neurons naturally because of aging or Alzheimer's disease.

U.S. releases enhanced shuttle land elevation data Posted: 23 Sep 2014 12:41 PM PDT High-resolution topographic data generated from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) in 2000, previously only available for the United States, will be released globally over the next year, the White House announced at the United Nations Heads of State Climate Summit in New York.

NASA, partners target megacities carbon emissions Posted: 23 Sep 2014 12:38 PM PDT The Megacities project combines direct surface measurements of urban greenhouse gases from instruments located in air sampling stations atop radio towers and buildings, with broader, denser remote-sensing observations from aircraft, mountaintops and satellites. Other instruments track winds and vertical motion of the atmosphere -- both of which are key to interpreting the greenhouse gas measurements. NASA's recently launched Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite is capable of detecting the enhanced levels of carbon dioxide over the world's largest cities and is beginning to study LA in coordination with the Megacities team.

The fickle El Niño of 2014 Posted: 23 Sep 2014 12:36 PM PDT Prospects have been fading for an El Niño event in 2014, but now there's a glimmer of hope for a very modest comeback. Scientists warn that unless these developing weak-to-modest El Niño conditions strengthen, the drought-stricken American West shouldn't expect any relief.

New ISERV tool enables rapid view of Earth images from space Posted: 23 Sep 2014 12:23 PM PDT A new user-friendly online resource will provide images from a space station camera with nearly two years of images to share. The interface is a world map that links to thousands of images made by the ISERV camera: the International Space Station SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System. With the click of a mouse, the public can access the images with the ISERV Viewer.

Impact of temperature on belowground soil decomposition Posted: 23 Sep 2014 11:27 AM PDT Earth's soils store four times more carbon than the atmosphere and small changes in soil carbon storage can have a big effect on atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. A new paper concludes that climate warming does not accelerate soil organic carbon decomposition or affect soil carbon storage, despite increases in ecosystem productivity.

New rock formation discovered in Colorado Posted: 23 Sep 2014 11:27 AM PDT An astonishing new rock formation has been revealed in the Colorado Rockies, and it exists in a deeply perplexing relationship with older rocks. Named the Tava sandstone, this sedimentary rock forms intrusions within the ancient granites and gneisses that form the backbone of the Front Range. The relationship is fascinating because it is backward: ordinarily, it is igneous rocks such as granite that would that intrude into sedimentary rocks.

Big changes in Sargasso Sea's seaweed populations Posted: 23 Sep 2014 10:14 AM PDT In the region of the North Pacific known as the Sargasso Sea, circling ocean currents accumulate mats of Sargassum seaweed that shelter a surprising variety of fishes, snails, crabs, and other small animals. A recent paper shows that in 2011 and 2012 this animal community was much less diverse than it was in the early 1970s, when the last detailed studies were completed in this region.

Water-quality trading can reduce river pollution: Market for water quality credits would cut pollution at less cost Posted: 23 Sep 2014 10:14 AM PDT Allowing polluters to buy, sell or trade water-quality credits will reduce pollution in rivers and estuaries faster and at lower cost than requiring them to meet compliance costs on their own, a new study finds. Establishing trading markets at a river-basin scale and allowing interstate trades will yield optimal results, but regulators shouldn't let uncertainties over details bog down a program's launch, since trading at any scale will yield gains over no trading at all.

Record of thousands of years: Mega-storm surge in Florida Posted: 23 Sep 2014 10:14 AM PDT The observational hurricane record for northwestern Florida is just 160 years long, yet hurricane activity is known to vary strongly over thousands of years. Digging back into the prehistorical hurricane record, a new analysis shows that scientists' reliance on such a narrow slice of observations has led them to sorely underestimate the frequency with which large hurricanes have slammed into Florida's Gulf Coast.

State policies effective in reducing power plant emissions, study finds Posted: 23 Sep 2014 10:14 AM PDT Different strategies used by states to reduce power plant emissions -- direct ones such as emission caps and indirect ones like encouraging renewable energy -- are both effective, a study has found. The study is the first analysis of its kind, the authors report.

Clues to superbug evolution: Microbiologists sequence entire genome of a Klebsiella pneumoniae strain Posted: 23 Sep 2014 10:13 AM PDT Imagine going to the hospital with one disease and coming home with something much worse, or not coming home at all. With the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistance pathogens, healthcare-associated infections have become a serious threat. On any given day about one in 25 hospital patients has at least one such infection and as many as one in nine die as a result. Microbiologists, for the first time, recently sequenced the entire genome of a Klebsiella pneumoniae strain, encoding New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1).

Slight alterations in microRNA sequences hold more information than previously thought Posted: 23 Sep 2014 10:13 AM PDT MicroRNA isoforms show population-specific and gender-specific signatures -– a finding that could affect how researchers view and study microRNAs. The team's findings have several implications: For researchers they suggest that the assays currently in the market do not necessarily capture the variant that is prevalent in the cells with which a researcher works. For patients, the findings represent an opportunity for a potentially significant advantage: the knowledge that a given patient has a different molecular profile than another patient with the same disease is a very important piece of information.

Walking off depression and beating stress outdoors? Nature group walks linked to improved mental health Posted: 23 Sep 2014 09:14 AM PDT They are common suggestions to remedy stress: You just need a breath of fresh air. Walk it off. Get out and see people. Turns out all those things combined may in fact make you feel better -- a lot better -- a new large scale study suggests.

'Plasma bubbles' may have aided enemy in fatal Afghan battle Posted: 23 Sep 2014 08:18 AM PDT Plasma bubbles may have contributed to communications outages during the 2002 battle of Takur Ghar in Afghanistan. A new model could help predict the impact of such bubbles on future military operations.

Search for better biofuels microbes leads to human gut Posted: 23 Sep 2014 08:07 AM PDT Scientists have scoured cow rumens and termite guts for microbes that can efficiently break down plant cell walls for the production of next-generation biofuels, but some of the best microbial candidates actually may reside in the human lower intestine, researchers report.

Recreating the stripe patterns found in animals by engineering synthetic gene networks Posted: 23 Sep 2014 08:07 AM PDT Researchers are trying to understand how networks of genes work together to create specific patterns like stripes. They have gone beyond studying individual networks and have created computational and synthetic mechanisms for a whole 'design space' of networks in the bacteria Escherichia coli. The system proves to be more efficient and powerful than building networks one-by-one, they report.

Pneumonia: More precise diagnosis method developed by interdisciplinary research team Posted: 23 Sep 2014 08:06 AM PDT More accurate and rapid methods of identification of bacterial pathogens in patients with pulmonary infections are under investigation by scientists, which could lead to more targeted antimicrobial therapy with potentially less adverse effects and lower costs. Next-generation sequencing of samples from the sputum of intubated patients may enable more focused treatment of pneumonia in the critically ill.

Solar explosions 'inside' a computer: Understanding solar flares to improve predictions Posted: 23 Sep 2014 07:22 AM PDT Strong solar flares can bring down communications and power grids on Earth. By demonstrating how these gigantic eruptions are caused, physicists are laying the foundations for future predictions. The shorter the interval between two explosions in the solar atmosphere, the more likely it is that the second flare will be stronger than the first one.

Termites evolved complex bioreactors 30 million years ago Posted: 23 Sep 2014 07:16 AM PDT Achieving complete breakdown of plant biomass for energy conversion in industrialized bioreactors remains a complex challenge, but new research shows that termite fungus farmers solved this problem more than 30 million years ago. The new insight reveals that the great success of termite farmers as plant decomposers is due to division of labor between a fungus breaking down complex plant components and gut bacteria contributing enzymes for final digestion.

Smart meters could cause conflict for housemates Posted: 23 Sep 2014 07:15 AM PDT Arguments about whose turn it is to do the washing up, negotiating rights to the TV remote control and disputes over noise -- as many students returning to university for the new academic year are about to learn the hard way, sharing a house can be a tricky business. And now research has revealed that new technology to allow people to monitor their energy usage in the home could be about to ratchet up the tension.

Drilling Into an Active Earthquake Fault in New Zealand Posted: 23 Sep 2014 07:14 AM PDT Geologists are drilling nearly a mile beneath the surface of New Zealand this fall to bring back rock samples from an active fault known to generate major earthquakes. The goal of the Deep Fault Drilling Project is to better understand earthquake processes by sampling the Alpine Fault, which is expected to trigger a large event in the coming decades.

2014 Arctic sea ice minimum sixth lowest on record Posted: 23 Sep 2014 06:02 AM PDT Arctic sea ice coverage continued its below-average trend this year as the ice declined to its annual minimum on Sept. 17, according to new research.

Food affected by Fukushima disaster harms animals, even at low-levels of radiation, study shows Posted: 23 Sep 2014 06:02 AM PDT Butterflies eating food collected from cities around the Fukushima nuclear meltdown site showed higher rates of death and disease, according to a study. "Our study demonstrated that eating contaminated foods could cause serious negative effects on organisms. Such negative effects may be passed down the generations. On the bright side, eating non-contaminated food improves the negative effects, even in the next generation," the lead author noted.

Federal food program puts food on the table, but dietary quality could be improved Posted: 23 Sep 2014 06:02 AM PDT Participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, previously known as the food stamp program, had lower dietary quality scores compared with income eligible non-participants, a new study shows.

Multi-function protein is key to stopping genomic parasites from 'jumping' Posted: 23 Sep 2014 06:02 AM PDT Most organisms, including humans, have parasitic DNA fragments called 'jumping genes' that insert themselves into DNA molecules, disrupting genetic instructions in the process. And that phenomenon can result in age-related diseases such as cancer. But researchers now report that the 'jumping genes' in mice become active as the mice age when a multi-function protein stops keeping them in check in order to take on another role.

Critically ill ICU patients lose almost all of their gut microbes and the ones left aren't good Posted: 23 Sep 2014 06:02 AM PDT After a long stay in the Intensive Care Unit only a handful of pathogenic microbe species remain behind in patients' intestines, a study has shown. The team of researchers tested these remaining pathogens and discovered that some can become deadly when provoked by conditions that mimic the body's stress response to illness.

Chimpanzees raised as pets or performers suffer long-term effects on their behavior Posted: 23 Sep 2014 06:02 AM PDT Although the immediate welfare consequences of removing infant chimpanzees from their mothers are well documented, little is known about the long-term impacts of this type of early life experience. In a year-long study, scientists observed 60 chimpanzees and concluded that those who were removed from their mothers early in life and raised by humans as pets or performers are likely to show behavioral and social deficiencies as adults.

Paraffins to cut energy consumption in homes Posted: 23 Sep 2014 06:00 AM PDT Forty percent of the total consumption of energy in Europe takes place in buildings, so reducing this consumption is becoming increasingly important. Integrating renewables into the energy supply for buildings is a further step towards moving towards this aim. Scientist have now developed a modular device based on paraffins that allows thermal energy to be stored, thus reducing the total volume of the system by 50% with respect to storage by means of water, traditionally used in buildings.

Fruit and vegetable consumption could be as good for your mental as your physical health Posted: 23 Sep 2014 05:59 AM PDT New research focused on mental wellbeing found that high and low mental wellbeing were consistently associated with an individual's fruit and vegetable consumption. 33.5% of respondents with high mental wellbeing ate five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day, compared with only 6.8% who ate less than one portion.

New hope for beloved family pets: New blood test for canine cancer Posted: 23 Sep 2014 05:59 AM PDT Nearly one out of four dogs will develop cancer in their lifetime and 20 per cent of those will be lymphoma cases. Now, a new user-friendly electronic system for diagnosing lymphoma in dogs in the early stages, and for remission monitoring, has been developed by scientists.

Maternal breast milk is risk factor for cytomegalovirus transmission in premature infants Posted: 22 Sep 2014 03:00 PM PDT Premature infants, especially those born with very low-birth-weight, are particularly vulnerable to cytomegalovirus infection because of their immature immune systems. Maternal breast milk is a primary source of postnatal cytomegalovirus in very-low-birth-weight patients, researchers say.

Old drug may be key to new antibiotics Posted: 22 Sep 2014 02:57 PM PDT An anticonvulsant drug called lamotrigine is the first chemical inhibitor of the assembly of ribosomes in bacteria. he discovery is important as there is growing concern worldwide about how antibiotic resistance is making the cures for infections ineffective. The World Health Organization has declared that antibiotic resistance is a major threat to global health security.

Actions on climate change bring better health, study says Posted: 22 Sep 2014 02:57 PM PDT The number of extremely hot days in Eastern and Midwestern U.S. cities is projected to triple by mid-century, according to a new study. In presenting their synthesis, the study authors seek to encourage efforts that benefit both the health of the planet and the health of people.

Artificial liver tested as potential therapy for patients with alcohol-related organ failure Posted: 22 Sep 2014 02:57 PM PDT A novel, human cell based, bioartificial liver support system is being tested for patients with acute liver failure, often a fatal diagnosis. The external organ support system is designed to perform critical functions of a normal liver, including protein synthesis and the processing and cleaning of a patient's blood. The filtered and treated blood is then returned to the patient through the central line.

Genetic switch regulates a plant's internal clock based on temperature Posted: 22 Sep 2014 12:28 PM PDT Scientists have found the molecular cog in a plant's biological clock that modulates its speed based on temperature. "Temperature helps keep the hands of the biological clock in the right place," said the corresponding author of the study. "Now we know more about how that works."

Plant variants point the way to improved biofuel production Posted: 22 Sep 2014 12:28 PM PDT Scientists have discovered variant plants with straw that are more easily digested for biofuel production. Critically, the plants are not significantly smaller or weaker than normal plants. The discovery could make biofuels from plant residues easier and cheaper to make, reducing pressure on food crops used for biofuels.

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