ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Bycatch-22: Protecting Butterfish
• Hybrid silkworms spin stronger spider silk
• Multi-year prediction of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5 °N possible
• Identifying sloth species at a genetic level
• New culprit in Earth's massive extinction: Mercury
• Jeanne Baret, botanist and first female circumnavigator, finally commemorated in name of new species

Bycatch-22: Protecting Butterfish Posted: 06 Jan 2012 01:49 PM PST Scientists work to assist fishermen in ways to avoid accidentally hauling in butterfish, a species protected by fishing limits. The researchers develop models to predict where the fish will be.

Hybrid silkworms spin stronger spider silk Posted: 06 Jan 2012 08:30 AM PST Silk produced by transgenically-engineered silkworms in the lab exhibit the highly sought-after strength and elasticity of spider silk. This stronger silk could possibly be used to make sutures, artificial limbs and parachutes.

Multi-year prediction of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5 °N possible Posted: 06 Jan 2012 08:02 AM PST Climate scientists have now shown for the first time that the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5 °N can be skillfully predicted for up to four years.

Identifying sloth species at a genetic level Posted: 06 Jan 2012 08:02 AM PST Identifying species, separating out closely related species and managing each type on its own, is an important part of any animal management system. Some species, like the two types of two-toed sloth, are so close in appearance and behavior that differentiation can be challenging. Conservation researchers have developed a mechanism for identifying these reclusive species from each other.

New culprit in Earth's massive extinction: Mercury Posted: 05 Jan 2012 02:58 PM PST Researchers have discovered a new culprit likely involved in Earth's greatest extinction event: an influx of mercury into the ecosystem.

Jeanne Baret, botanist and first female circumnavigator, finally commemorated in name of new species Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:51 AM PST In 1766, Frenchwoman Jeanne Baret disguised herself as a man to work as assistant botanist on the first French circumnavigation of the globe. Though Baret helped to collect over 6,000 specimens, she was left without anything in the natural world to commemorate her name. That is now to change as a biologist names his newly discovered species -- a relative of the potato, Solanum baretiae.

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