ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Climate variability and conflict risk in East Africa measured by researchers
• Technology brings new life to the study of diseases in old bones
• Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of ancient New Zealanders
• Fuller picture of human expansion from Africa
• Evolution of new genes captured
• Rapid changes in the Earth's core: The magnetic field and gravity from a satellite perspective
• Beetles use dung balls to stay cool
• A whale with a distinctly human-like voice
• New glow for electron microscopy: Protein-labeling technique allows high-resolution visualization of molecules inside cells
• Kittens: Their microbiomes are what they eat
• 3-D structure of an unmodified G protein-coupled receptor in its natural habitat
• How bacteria living in toxic environments identify and expel arsenic
• Rainbow trout: Survival of the shyest?
• Combined pesticide exposure affects bumblebee colony success
• New Understanding of Antarctica's 'weight loss': Sea level is rising with little apparent contribution from Antarctica
• Climate change threatens marine environment in the Baltic Sea
• Sweden’s only coral reef at risk of dying
• Migratory birds’ ticks can spread viral haemorrhagic fever

Climate variability and conflict risk in East Africa measured by researchers Posted: 22 Oct 2012 01:26 PM PDT While a new study shows the risk of human conflict in East Africa increases somewhat with hotter temperatures and drops a bit with higher precipitation, it concludes that socioeconomic, political and geographic factors play a much more substantial role than climate change.

Technology brings new life to the study of diseases in old bones Posted: 22 Oct 2012 01:25 PM PDT A new study has demonstrated that new technology that can analyze millions of gene sequences in a matter of seconds is an effective way to quickly and accurately identify diseases in skeletons.

Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of ancient New Zealanders Posted: 22 Oct 2012 01:25 PM PDT Scientists have sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes for members of what was likely to be one of the first groups of Polynesians to settle New Zealand and have revealed a surprising degree of genetic variation among these pioneering voyagers.

Fuller picture of human expansion from Africa Posted: 22 Oct 2012 11:54 AM PDT A comprehensive analysis of the anthropological and genetic history of humans' expansion out of Africa could lead to medical advances.

Evolution of new genes captured Posted: 22 Oct 2012 11:53 AM PDT Like job-seekers searching for a new position, living things sometimes have to pick up a new skill if they are going to succeed. Researchers have shown for the first time how living organisms do this.

Rapid changes in the Earth's core: The magnetic field and gravity from a satellite perspective Posted: 22 Oct 2012 11:52 AM PDT Annual to decadal changes in Earth's magnetic field in a region that stretches from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean have a close relationship with variations of gravity in this area. From this it can be concluded that outer core processes are reflected in gravity data.

Beetles use dung balls to stay cool Posted: 22 Oct 2012 09:20 AM PDT Dung beetles roll their feasts of dung away to avoid the hoards of other hungry competitors at the dung pile. But now a team of researchers from South Africa and Sweden have discovered that they also use their balls in another, rather clever way. The moist balls keep the beetles cool even as they push a weight up to 50 times heavier than their own bodies across the hot sand.

A whale with a distinctly human-like voice Posted: 22 Oct 2012 09:20 AM PDT For the first time, researchers have been able to show by acoustic analysis that whales -- or at least one very special white whale -- can imitate the voices of humans. That's a surprise, because whales typically produce sounds in a manner that is wholly different from humans.

New glow for electron microscopy: Protein-labeling technique allows high-resolution visualization of molecules inside cells Posted: 22 Oct 2012 08:36 AM PDT The glowing green molecule known as green fluorescent protein (GFP) has revolutionized molecular biology. When GFP is attached to a particular protein inside a cell, scientists can easily identify and locate it using fluorescence microscopy. However, GFP can't be used with electron microscopy, which offers much higher resolution than fluorescence microscopy. Chemists have now designed a GFP equivalent for electron microscopy -- a tag that allows scientists to label and visualize proteins with unprecedented clarity.

Kittens: Their microbiomes are what they eat Posted: 22 Oct 2012 08:36 AM PDT For animals as well as people, diet affects what grows in the gut. The gut microbial colonies, also known as the gut microbiome, begin to form at birth. Their composition affects how the immune system develops and is linked to the later onset of metabolic diseases such as obesity. Common wisdom is that cats, by nature carnivorous, are healthiest when fed high-protein diets. Researchers wanted to find out if this is true.

3-D structure of an unmodified G protein-coupled receptor in its natural habitat Posted: 22 Oct 2012 08:36 AM PDT Scientists have determined the three-dimensional structure of a complete, unmodified G-protein-coupled receptor in its native environment: embedded in a membrane in physiological conditions.

How bacteria living in toxic environments identify and expel arsenic Posted: 22 Oct 2012 08:36 AM PDT Scientists reveal how bacteria living in arsenic-rich environments identify and expel the poison.

Rainbow trout: Survival of the shyest? Posted: 22 Oct 2012 08:29 AM PDT A fish's personality can influence how it responds to, and learns from threats, according to a new study. The work, looking at how personality influences a fish's memory of a predator threat, shows that bold trout forget predator odor, and hence potentially predator threat, quicker than shy trout.

Combined pesticide exposure affects bumblebee colony success Posted: 22 Oct 2012 06:31 AM PDT Individual worker behavior and colony success are both affected when bees are exposed to a combination of pesticides, according to new research.

New Understanding of Antarctica's 'weight loss': Sea level is rising with little apparent contribution from Antarctica Posted: 22 Oct 2012 06:31 AM PDT Scientists have found that the present sea level rise is happening with apparently very little contribution from Antarctica as a whole. The large amount of water flowing away from West Antarctica through ice-melt has been partly cancelled out by the volume of water falling onto the continent in the form of snow, suggesting some past studies have overestimated Antarctica's contribution to fast-rising sea levels.

Climate change threatens marine environment in the Baltic Sea Posted: 22 Oct 2012 05:01 AM PDT At the end of the 21st century, the temperature in the Baltic Sea will be higher and the salt content lower than at any time since 1850. If no action is taken, there may be major consequences for the marine environment.

Sweden’s only coral reef at risk of dying Posted: 22 Oct 2012 05:01 AM PDT Sweden's only remaining cold-water coral reef, the Säcken reef in the Koster Fjord, is under threat of extinction. Because of that, researchers from the University of Gothenburg have started a restoration project where healthy corals from nearby reefs in Norway are being removed and placed on the Säcken reef.

Migratory birds’ ticks can spread viral haemorrhagic fever Posted: 22 Oct 2012 05:01 AM PDT A type of haemorrhagic fever (Crimean-Congo) that is prevalent in Africa, Asia, and the Balkans has begun to spread to new areas in southern Europe. Now Swedish researchers have shown that migratory birds carrying ticks are the possible source of contagion.

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