ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Landsat sets the standard for maps of world's forests
• Clues to nervous system evolution found in nerve-less sponge
• Brothers in arms: Commensal bacteria help fight viruses
• Discovery helps mice beat urinary tract infections
• NOAA predicts a near-normal 2012 Atlantic hurricane season
• May 2012 global temperatures second warmest on record
• Dating evidence: Relics could be of John the Baptist
• 'Facebook for animals' tested on wild great tits
• Natural exposure to gamma rays in background radiation linked to childhood leukemia
• Million-year-old groundwater in Maryland water supply
• Key part of plants' rapid response system revealed
• Peaches, plums, nectarines give obesity, diabetes slim chance
• Carbon is key for getting algae to pump out more oil
• Seeping Arctic methane has serious implications for Florida coastline
• Wild almond tree oil may combat obesity, diabetes
• Antitoxin strategy may help target other pathogens
• Expansion of forests in the European Arctic could result in the release of carbon dioxide
• Controlling hand movements : Manipulation of specific neural circuit buried in complicated brain networks in primates

Landsat sets the standard for maps of world's forests Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:49 PM PDT Countries like Brazil are using data from NASA satellites to track and measure their forests in advance of a United Nations effort to reduce climate change by providing "carbon credits" for protected land. The concept is known as REDD+, which stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. It includes monitoring forest degradation and efforts in conservation and sustainable management.

Clues to nervous system evolution found in nerve-less sponge Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:37 PM PDT Scientists have turned to the simple sponge to find clues about the evolution of the complex nervous system and found that, but for a mechanism that coordinates the expression of genes that lead to the formation of neural synapses, sponges and the rest of the animal world may not be so distant after all.

Brothers in arms: Commensal bacteria help fight viruses Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:34 PM PDT Healthy humans harbor an enormous and diverse group of bacteria and other bugs that live within their intestines. These microbial partners provide beneficial aid in multiple ways -- from helping digest food to the development of a healthy immune system. New research shows that commensal bacteria are essential to fight off viral infections.

Discovery helps mice beat urinary tract infections Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:34 PM PDT The bacteria that cause urinary tract infections may take advantage of a cellular waste disposal system that normally helps fight invaders, according to researchers.

NOAA predicts a near-normal 2012 Atlantic hurricane season Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:32 PM PDT Conditions in the atmosphere and the ocean favor a near-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin this season.

May 2012 global temperatures second warmest on record Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:27 PM PDT The globally-averaged temperature for May 2012 marked the second warmest May since record keeping began in 1880. May 2012 also marks the 36th consecutive May and 327th consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th century average.

Dating evidence: Relics could be of John the Baptist Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:12 PM PDT New dating evidence supports claims that bones found under a church floor in Bulgaria may be of John the Baptist, who is described in the Bible as a leading prophet and relative of Jesus Christ. Scientists dated a knucklebone from the right hand to the 1st century AD, a date which fits with the widely held view of when he would have lived. The researchers say they were surprised when they discovered the very early age of the remains adding, however, that dating evidence alone cannot prove the bones to be of John the Baptist.

'Facebook for animals' tested on wild great tits Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:05 PM PDT A new way of analyzing the social networks that link individual animals to each other has been tested on wild great tits.

Natural exposure to gamma rays in background radiation linked to childhood leukemia Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT New findings demonstrate that there are small effects of radiation even at very low doses.

Million-year-old groundwater in Maryland water supply Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:31 AM PDT A portion of the groundwater in the upper Patapsco aquifer underlying Maryland is over a million years old. A new study suggests that this ancient groundwater, a vital source of freshwater supplies for the region east of Washington, DC and Baltimore, was recharged over periods of time much greater than human timescales.

Key part of plants' rapid response system revealed Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:29 AM PDT Scientists have revealed the workings of a switch that activates plant hormones, tags them for storage or marks them for destruction.

Peaches, plums, nectarines give obesity, diabetes slim chance Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:29 AM PDT Peaches, plums and nectarines have bioactive compounds that can potentially fight-off obesity-related diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to new studies.

Carbon is key for getting algae to pump out more oil Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:18 AM PDT Overturning two long-held misconceptions about oil production in algae, scientists show that ramping up the microbes' overall metabolism by feeding them more carbon increases oil production as the organisms continue to grow. The findings may point to new ways to turn photosynthetic green algae into tiny "green factories" for producing raw materials for alternative fuels.

Seeping Arctic methane has serious implications for Florida coastline Posted: 18 Jun 2012 06:50 AM PDT All of the methane escaping into the atmosphere causes more melting ice, oceanographers say, which causes sea levels to rise and could affect coastal real estate values -- sooner rather than later.

Wild almond tree oil may combat obesity, diabetes Posted: 18 Jun 2012 06:50 AM PDT A future weapon in the battle against obesity and diabetes could come in the form of an oil derived from the seeds of wild almond trees, according to researchers.

Antitoxin strategy may help target other pathogens Posted: 18 Jun 2012 06:50 AM PDT "Beads on a string" approach may reduce cost and development time for agents that neutralize and clear pathogenic molecules.

Expansion of forests in the European Arctic could result in the release of carbon dioxide Posted: 17 Jun 2012 11:25 AM PDT Carbon stored in Arctic tundra could be released into the atmosphere by new trees growing in the warmer region, exacerbating climate change, scientists have revealed.

Controlling hand movements : Manipulation of specific neural circuit buried in complicated brain networks in primates Posted: 17 Jun 2012 11:25 AM PDT Scientists have developed "the double viral vector transfection technique," which can deliver genes to a specific neural circuit by combining two new kinds of gene transfer vectors. With this method, they found that "indirect pathways," which were suspected to have been left behind in the course of evolution, actually plays an important role in the highly developed dexterous hand movements.

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