ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• A test of the senses in the search for a 'shoal mate'
• Counting reef sharks with cameras: 'Chum cam' underwater video survey shows that reef sharks thrive in marine reserves
• Multiple species of seacows once coexisted
• Insects have 'personalities' too, research on novelty-seeking honey bees indicates
• Iridescent, feathered dinosaur offers fresh evidence that feathers evolved to attract mates
• Powerful tool to measure metabolites in living cells
• Protein folding: Understanding the dance of the chaperones
• Oldest organism with skeleton discovered in Australia
• BP oil spill hurt marshes, but recovery possible, experts say
• Archaeologists unearth slave burial ground on the island of St. Helena
• Scientists detect seismic signals from tornado
• Large solar flares generate geomagnetic storm
• Wallflower or daredevil: Personality of male primates changes throughout life
• Petunia points the way to better harvests: Understanding plants' relationships with helpful soil fungi
• The Darwin-Wallace mystery solved: Darwin vindicated from accusations of deceit

A test of the senses in the search for a 'shoal mate' Posted: 08 Mar 2012 04:23 PM PST Young coral reef fish use sounds, smells and visual cues to find their nursery grounds, according to new research. By testing how young French grunts (a common fish in Curaçao and throughout the Caribbean) responded to local sounds, smells and visual cues, the researchers have unlocked, for the first time, the mystery of how centimeter-long juvenile fish can navigate from the high seas to find their shoal mates in amongst the roots of mangrove trees or blades of seagrass.

Counting reef sharks with cameras: 'Chum cam' underwater video survey shows that reef sharks thrive in marine reserves Posted: 08 Mar 2012 02:46 PM PST Scientists have used video cameras to count Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) inside and outside marine reserves on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef in the Caribbean Sea. Using survey data collected from 200 baited remote underwater video cameras, nicknamed "chum cams," the scientists compared the relative abundance of these reef sharks in two marine reserves with those in two areas where fishing is allowed, and demonstrated that the sharks were more abundant in the reserves.

Multiple species of seacows once coexisted Posted: 08 Mar 2012 11:32 AM PST Sirenians, or seacows, are a group of marine mammals that include manatees and dugongs; Today, only one species of seacow is found in each world region. Scientists have discovered that this was not always the case. According to the fossil record of these marine mammals, which dates back 50 million years ago, it was more common to find three, or possibly more, different species of seacows living together at one time.

Insects have 'personalities' too, research on novelty-seeking honey bees indicates Posted: 08 Mar 2012 11:32 AM PST Thrill-seeking is not limited to humans and other vertebrates, new research suggests. Some honey bees, too, are more likely than others to seek adventure. The brains of these novelty-seeking bees exhibit distinct patterns of gene activity in molecular pathways known to be associated with thrill-seeking in humans, researchers report.

Iridescent, feathered dinosaur offers fresh evidence that feathers evolved to attract mates Posted: 08 Mar 2012 11:31 AM PST Researchers have revealed that the small, feathered dinosaur Microraptor had a glossy iridescent sheen like a modern crow and that its tail was narrow and adorned with a pair of streamer feathers, suggesting feathers originally evolved for display, rather than flight. The new fossil is the earliest record of iridescent color in feathers.

Powerful tool to measure metabolites in living cells Posted: 08 Mar 2012 11:31 AM PST By engineering cells to express a modified RNA called "Spinach," researchers have imaged small-molecule metabolites in living cells and observed how their levels change over time. Metabolites are the products of individual cell metabolism. The ability to measure their rate of production could be used to recognize a cell gone metabolically awry, as in cancer, or identify the drug that can restore the cell's metabolites to normal.

Protein folding: Understanding the dance of the chaperones Posted: 08 Mar 2012 10:27 AM PST Proteins are the molecular building blocks and machinery of cells and involved in practically all biological processes. To fulfill their tasks, they need to be folded into a complicated three-dimensional structure. Scientists have now analyzed one of the key players of this folding process: the molecular chaperone DnaK.

Oldest organism with skeleton discovered in Australia Posted: 08 Mar 2012 09:01 AM PST Paleontologists have discovered the oldest animal with a skeleton. Called Coronacollina acula, the organism is between 560 million and 550 million years old. The finding provides insight into the evolution of life on the planet, why animals go extinct, and how organisms respond to environmental changes. The discovery also can help scientists recognize life elsewhere in the universe. Coronacollina acula has a number of hard parts -- structural supports -- essentially holding it up.

BP oil spill hurt marshes, but recovery possible, experts say Posted: 08 Mar 2012 07:16 AM PST A new study shows that arthropods living in coastal salt marshes affected by BP oil spill were damaged but they were able to recover if their host plants remained healthy.

Archaeologists unearth slave burial ground on the island of St. Helena Posted: 08 Mar 2012 07:16 AM PST Archaeologists have unearthed a unique slave burial ground on the remote South Atlantic island of St. Helena. The excavation, which took place in advance of construction of a new airport on the island, has revealed dramatic insights into the victims of the Atlantic slave trade during the notorious Middle Passage.

Scientists detect seismic signals from tornado Posted: 08 Mar 2012 07:13 AM PST A geophysical experiment detected unusual seismic signals associated with tornadoes that recently struck regions across the Midwest -- information that may have value for meteorologists studying the atmospheric activity that precedes tornado disasters.

Large solar flares generate geomagnetic storm Posted: 08 Mar 2012 07:07 AM PST A pair of unusually large solar flares early March 7, 2012 generated a Coronal Mass Ejection that was expected to reach Earth around mid-day March 8. It will likely cause at least a strong geomagnetic storm that could affect satellites in space and trigger auroral displays. The effects at ground level are expected to be limited, but there is a good chance for some excellent auroral displays in the north.

Wallflower or daredevil: Personality of male primates changes throughout life Posted: 08 Mar 2012 07:02 AM PST One individual is wild and audacious, the other one shy and cautious. It is widely unknown why there are major differences in personality even within a species. Scientists have now studied how male mouse lemurs are shy when young and grow more audacious as they age. Females remain about the same throughout their lifecycle.

Petunia points the way to better harvests: Understanding plants' relationships with helpful soil fungi Posted: 08 Mar 2012 03:25 AM PST Most plants live in symbiosis with soil fungi and are supplied with water and nutrients as a result. Based on the petunia, plant biologists have now discovered that a special transport protein is required to establish this symbiotic relationship. The targeted control of this protein could lead to greater harvests.

The Darwin-Wallace mystery solved: Darwin vindicated from accusations of deceit Posted: 08 Mar 2012 03:25 AM PST A new study traced historical shipping records and vindicated Darwin from accusations of deceit. For the past four decades, Charles Darwin had been accused of keeping the essay of fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace for a fortnight, thereby enabling him to revise elements of his theory of evolution, before jointly announcing the theory of evolution by natural selection in July 1858.

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