ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• How birds master courtship songs: Zebra finches shed light on brain circuits and learning
• Europe's second polar-orbiting weather satellite is aloft
• New gene could lead to better bug-resistant plants
• Antibiotic-resistant pathogens persist in antibiotic-free pigs
• Precision motion tracking -- thousands of cells at once: Technique could open new windows into protozoan behavior, microbial diseases and fertility
• Rapid urban expansion threatens biodiversity
• Shrinking snow depth on Arctic sea ice threatens ringed seal habitat
• When it rains, it pours: Intensification of extreme tropical rainfall with global warming modeled
• Assessing a new technique for ensuring fresh produce remains Salmonella-free
• Sorghum eyed as a southern bioenergy crop
• Alpine glaciers contribute to carbon cycling
• Scientists bid to develop anthrax vaccine to counteract world bioterrorism threat
• New 'ATM' takes old phones and gives back green
• U.S. underestimates costs of carbon pollution and climate change
• Skilled hunters 300,000 years ago
• Whales fall through the research net: Global populations of marine mammals observed far too little
• New snake species: List of animal species threatened by mining and deforestation in western Panama augmented
• Canadian homes a kill zone for up to 22 million birds a year, researchers estimate
• New insights on cell competition

How birds master courtship songs: Zebra finches shed light on brain circuits and learning Posted: 17 Sep 2012 02:31 PM PDT By studying how birds master songs used in courtship, scientists have found that regions of the brain involved in planning and controlling complex vocal sequences may also be necessary for memorizing sounds that serve as models for vocal imitation.

Europe's second polar-orbiting weather satellite is aloft Posted: 17 Sep 2012 01:31 PM PDT The second Metop satellite was launched Sept. 17 from the Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, atop a Russian Soyuz launcher. Metop-B will ensure the continuity of the weather and atmospheric monitoring service provided by its predecessor Metop-A, which has been circling the globe from pole to pole, 14 times a day, since 2006 and has now exceeded its design lifetime.

New gene could lead to better bug-resistant plants Posted: 17 Sep 2012 01:14 PM PDT The discovery of a new gene could lead to better bug-resistant plants. New research demonstrates that domestic tomatoes could re-learn a thing or two from their wild cousins.

Antibiotic-resistant pathogens persist in antibiotic-free pigs Posted: 17 Sep 2012 12:20 PM PDT Researchers have found identical strains of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter coli in both antibiotic-free and conventionally raised pigs. This finding may indicate that these antibiotic-resistant pathogens can persist and thrive in the environment, regardless of antimicrobial usage by pork producers.

Precision motion tracking -- thousands of cells at once: Technique could open new windows into protozoan behavior, microbial diseases and fertility Posted: 17 Sep 2012 12:20 PM PDT Researchers have developed a new way to observe and track large numbers of rapidly moving objects under a microscope, capturing precise motion paths in three dimensions. Over the course of their study, researchers followed an unprecedented 24,000 rapidly moving cells over wide fields of view and through large sample volumes, recording each cell's path for as long as 20 seconds.

Rapid urban expansion threatens biodiversity Posted: 17 Sep 2012 12:20 PM PDT A brief window of opportunity exists to shape the development of cities globally before a boom in infrastructure construction transforms urban land cover, according to a new study.

Shrinking snow depth on Arctic sea ice threatens ringed seal habitat Posted: 17 Sep 2012 10:23 AM PDT University of Washington scientists found that the habitat required for ringed seals -- animals under consideration for the threatened species list -- to rear their young will drastically shrink this century.

When it rains, it pours: Intensification of extreme tropical rainfall with global warming modeled Posted: 17 Sep 2012 09:42 AM PDT Global warming is expected to intensify extreme precipitation, but the rate at which it does so in the tropics has remained unclear. Now a new study has given an estimate based on model simulations and observations.

Assessing a new technique for ensuring fresh produce remains Salmonella-free Posted: 17 Sep 2012 09:39 AM PDT Researchers have tested a new technique to ensure fresh produce is free of bacterial contamination. Plasmas are a mix of highly energetic particles created when gases are excited by an energy source. They can be used to destroy bacteria but as new research shows, some can hide from its effects in the microscopic surface structures of different foods.

Sorghum eyed as a southern bioenergy crop Posted: 17 Sep 2012 09:38 AM PDT Sweet sorghum is primarily grown in the United States as a source of sugar for syrup and molasses, but the sturdy grass has other attributes that could make it uniquely suited to production as a bioenergy crop, new studies suggest.

Alpine glaciers contribute to carbon cycling Posted: 17 Sep 2012 09:34 AM PDT Scientists have unraveled the role of Alpine glaciers for carbon cycling. They have uncovered unexpected biogeochemical complexity of dissolved organic matter locked in glaciers and studied its fate for carbon cycling in glacier-fed streams. A new article expands current knowledge on the importance of the vanishing cryosphere for biogeochemistry.

Scientists bid to develop anthrax vaccine to counteract world bioterrorism threat Posted: 17 Sep 2012 09:34 AM PDT A team of scientists is leading new research to develop a vaccine against anthrax to help counteract the threat of bioterrorism.

New 'ATM' takes old phones and gives back green Posted: 17 Sep 2012 09:31 AM PDT Researchers have developed a unique, automated kiosk that lets consumers trade in cell phones for reimbursement or recycling.

U.S. underestimates costs of carbon pollution and climate change Posted: 17 Sep 2012 08:10 AM PDT Model used by government all but ignores economic damages that climate change will inflict on future generations.

Skilled hunters 300,000 years ago Posted: 17 Sep 2012 05:55 AM PDT Finds from early stone age site in north-central Germany show that human ingenuity is nothing new -- and was probably shared by now-extinct species of humans. Archeologists have found eight extremely well-preserved spears -- an astonishing 300,000 years old, making them the oldest known weapons anywhere. The spears and other artifacts as well as animal remains found at the site demonstrate that their users were highly skilled craftsmen and hunters, well adapted to their environment -- with a capacity for abstract thought and complex planning comparable to our own.

Whales fall through the research net: Global populations of marine mammals observed far too little Posted: 17 Sep 2012 05:55 AM PDT A world map reveals that only a fourth of the world ocean surface has been surveyed for whales and dolphins in the past decades. It is only possible to identify detrimental influences and collect basic information for research and environmental protection if data on marine organisms is collected regularly. First and foremost, it will be necessary to observe international waters more closely and develop new analytical methods, conclude the scientists.

New snake species: List of animal species threatened by mining and deforestation in western Panama augmented Posted: 17 Sep 2012 05:55 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a new snake species in the highlands of western Panama. The scientific name of the conspicuously colored reptile Sibon noalamina means "no to the mine." It was chosen to call attention to the fact that the habitat of this harmless snail-eating snake is severely threatened by human interventions.

Canadian homes a kill zone for up to 22 million birds a year, researchers estimate Posted: 14 Sep 2012 11:00 AM PDT Researchers estimate a staggering 22 million birds die from colliding with windows of homes across Canada annually.

New insights on cell competition Posted: 14 Sep 2012 10:31 AM PDT Scientists have now described how natural selection also occurs at the cellular level, and how our body's tissues and organs strive to retain the best cells in their ranks in order to fend off disease processes.

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