ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Genetic 'remix' key to evolution of bee behavior, researchers find
• Evolution mostly driven by brawn, not brains, analysis finds
• Tropical cyclones are occurring more frequently than before, study shows
• Strengthening a billion-dollar gene in soybeans
• Mystery of nematode pest-resistant soybeans cracked: Gene also correlates with human diseases
• Climate change: Circulation of Atlantic Ocean was faster during last Ice Age than today
• Dire drought ahead, may lead to massive tree death
• Primates in peril: Conservationists reveal the world's 25 most endangered primates
• Fall spawning by Atlantic sturgeon in Virginia river
• Antibiotic contamination a threat to humans and the environment
• Exposure to fuel from Prestige tanker oil spill causes short-term damage to rat DNA, Spanish study finds
• Too much helpful algae can be bad for corals
• Early-Earth cells modeled to show how first life forms might have packaged RNA

Genetic 'remix' key to evolution of bee behavior, researchers find Posted: 15 Oct 2012 12:20 PM PDT Worker bees have become a highly skilled work force because the genes that determine their behavior are shuffled frequently, helping natural selection to build a better bee, research suggests. A new study sheds light on how worker bees -- who are sterile -- evolved charismatic and cooperative behaviors. Researchers discovered that the genes associated with worker behavior were found in areas of the genome that have the highest rate of recombination.

Evolution mostly driven by brawn, not brains, analysis finds Posted: 15 Oct 2012 12:20 PM PDT The most common measure of intelligence in animals, brain size relative to body size, may not be as dependent on evolutionary selection on the brain as previously thought, according to a new analysis by scientists.

Tropical cyclones are occurring more frequently than before, study shows Posted: 15 Oct 2012 12:20 PM PDT Are there more tropical cyclones now than in the past -- or is it just something we believe because we now hear more about them through media coverage and are better able detect them with satellites? New research shows that there is an increasing tendency for cyclones when the climate is warmer, as it has been in recent years.

Strengthening a billion-dollar gene in soybeans Posted: 15 Oct 2012 10:25 AM PDT Soybean cyst nematode does hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of damage each year. Crop sciences researchers think they may have found a way to strengthen plant resistance.

Mystery of nematode pest-resistant soybeans cracked: Gene also correlates with human diseases Posted: 15 Oct 2012 10:18 AM PDT The secrets of nematode resistant soybean plants are finally coming to light. Surprisingly, one of the genes related to nematode resistance in soybeans also has been associated with human diseases including lymphocytic leukemia, spina bifida and cardiovascular disease, according to a team of researchers.

Climate change: Circulation of Atlantic Ocean was faster during last Ice Age than today Posted: 15 Oct 2012 09:19 AM PDT Heat transport in the Atlantic Ocean during the last Ice Age was not weaker, as long assumed, but in fact stronger than it is today. Scientists used ultra-precise measurements of natural radionuclides in ocean sediments to study the ocean's strength of circulation and uncovered new information about the past of the "Atlantic heat pump."

Dire drought ahead, may lead to massive tree death Posted: 15 Oct 2012 08:14 AM PDT New evidence suggests recent droughts could be the new normal. This is especially bad news for America's forests.

Primates in peril: Conservationists reveal the world's 25 most endangered primates Posted: 15 Oct 2012 08:08 AM PDT Humankind's closest living relatives -- the world's apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates -- are on the brink of extinction and in need of urgent conservation measures, according to a report released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The report, announced by some of the world's leading primate experts every two years, reveals those species most in danger of becoming extinct from destruction of tropical forests, illegal wildlife trade and commercial bush meat hunting.

Fall spawning by Atlantic sturgeon in Virginia river Posted: 15 Oct 2012 06:39 AM PDT Scientists studying the Atlantic sturgeon, one of the oldest species of fish in the world, have found evidence that the James River population in Virginia spawns in the fall.

Antibiotic contamination a threat to humans and the environment Posted: 15 Oct 2012 06:37 AM PDT More than 10,000 tons of antibiotics are consumed in Europe each year, and 30-60% pass through animals and humans completely unchanged. The different substances then reach the ocean via hospitals, municipal sewage, fish farms and run-off from agriculture and landfills.

Exposure to fuel from Prestige tanker oil spill causes short-term damage to rat DNA, Spanish study finds Posted: 15 Oct 2012 05:54 AM PDT An experiment carried out on rodents exposed to fuel similar to that of the Prestige tanker oil spill -- which took place nearly a decade ago and caused one of Spain's largest ecological disasters -- shows that inhalation of the fuel causes damage to genetic material. According to the study, the results could be used in relation to people who carry out the industrial cleaning of coasts.

Too much helpful algae can be bad for corals Posted: 14 Oct 2012 01:29 PM PDT Having too many algal symbionts makes corals bleach more severely in response to global warming, a new study shows.

Early-Earth cells modeled to show how first life forms might have packaged RNA Posted: 14 Oct 2012 01:29 PM PDT A chemical model that mimics a possible step in the formation of cellular life on Earth four-billion years ago has been developed. Chemists created primitive cell-like structures that they infused with RNA -- the genetic coding material that is thought to precede the appearance of DNA on Earth -- and demonstrated how the molecules would react chemically under conditions that might have been present on the early Earth.

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