ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Geoscientists cite 'critical need' for basic research to unleash promising energy resources
• Emerging vector-borne diseases create new public health challenges
• More intense North Atlantic tropical storms likely in the future
• Native Americans and Northern Europeans more closely related than previously thought
• How native plants and exotics coexist
• Gulf of Mexico clean-up makes 2010 spill 52-times more toxic; Mixing oil with dispersant increased toxicity to ecosystems
• Pathway to bypass DNA lesions in replication process is experimentally shown
• Digital portrait for grapes indicates their ripeness
• Carbon dioxide could reduce crop yields
• The color of love: Zebrafish perform colorful courtship displays
• Guineafowl may spread, not halt, fever-bearing ticks in turkey
• Jigsaw a critical piece of the Notch puzzle
• Integrating science and policy to address the impacts of air pollution

Geoscientists cite 'critical need' for basic research to unleash promising energy resources Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:22 PM PST Developers of renewable energy and shale gas must overcome fundamental geological and environmental challenges if these promising energy sources are to reach their full potential, according to a trio of leading geoscientists.

Emerging vector-borne diseases create new public health challenges Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:16 PM PST West Nile virus, Lyme disease, dengue fever, and plague are examples of "vector-borne zoonotic diseases," caused by pathogens that naturally infect wildlife and are transmitted to humans by vectors such as mosquitoes or ticks. Land-use change, globalization of trade and travel, and social upheaval are driving the emergence of such diseases in many regions.

More intense North Atlantic tropical storms likely in the future Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:16 PM PST Tropical storms that make their way into the North Atlantic, and possibly strike the East Coast of the United States, likely will become more intense during the rest of this century.

Native Americans and Northern Europeans more closely related than previously thought Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:16 PM PST Using genetic analyses, scientists have discovered that Northern European populations descend from a mixture of two very different ancestral populations, and one of these populations is related to Native Americans.

How native plants and exotics coexist Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:07 AM PST Exotic plants in many ecosystems may be better competitors, but biologists have found that exotics can be kept in check by herbivory.

Gulf of Mexico clean-up makes 2010 spill 52-times more toxic; Mixing oil with dispersant increased toxicity to ecosystems Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST If the 4.9 million barrels of oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico during the 2010 Deep Water Horizon spill was a ecological disaster, the two million gallons of dispersant used to clean it up apparently made it even worse – 52-times more toxic.

Pathway to bypass DNA lesions in replication process is experimentally shown Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:50 AM PST DNA lesions are really common —- about one million individual molecular lesions per cell per day -— because its long strands usually have one missing base or are damaged. These lesions can stall the DNA replication process, what can lead to the cell death. To avoid it, there are several pathways to bypass lesions in order to continue with the process of DNA replication. One of these processes has been entirely reproduced in vitro using some techniques of manipulation of single-molecules.

Digital portrait for grapes indicates their ripeness Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:50 AM PST Researchers have developed a technique for estimating grape composition and variety using computer imaging. They have also put forward an index for identifying the ripeness of seeds without the need for chemical analysis. This new method can help to decide the best moment for picking. The normal procedure for identifying the sugar content of grapes involves chemical analysis. But this is a long and tedious task that tells vine-growers when to start picking their grapes. Now though, scientists are proposing an alternative technique: photographing grapes and analyzing the images.

Carbon dioxide could reduce crop yields Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:49 AM PST The carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere continues to climb and heat up the climate. The gas is, however, indispensable for plants, as they use the carbon it provides to form glucose and other important substances. Therefore, the more carbon dioxide the better? The equation is unfortunately not as simple as that. The plants, which ensure our basic food supply today, have not been bred for vertical growth but for short stalks and high grain yields. Scientists have now discovered that an increase in carbon dioxide levels could cancel out the beneficial effects of dwarf varieties.

The color of love: Zebrafish perform colorful courtship displays Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:48 AM PST Billy Ocean may not have been thinking of fish when he wrote "The Color of Love", but biologists were able to show that zebrafish males and females both wear their brightest colors while wooing a mate.

Guineafowl may spread, not halt, fever-bearing ticks in turkey Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:25 PM PST The country Turkey releases non-native guineafowl to eat ticks that carry deadly Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. Yet research suggests guineafowl eat few ticks, but carry the parasites on their feathers, possibly spreading the disease they were meant to stop, says a Turkish biologist.

Jigsaw a critical piece of the Notch puzzle Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:33 AM PST The Notch signaling pathway helps determine cell fate determination, differentiation and proliferative ability of numerous cells. How it accomplishes these tasks has been a puzzle, but researchers have identified a key piece -- a specific domain within the Notch receptor that is critical for determining the specific ligand to which the receptor binds.

Integrating science and policy to address the impacts of air pollution Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:32 AM PST New research examines how science and policy address air pollution effects on human health and ecosystems, and climate change in Europe.

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