ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• NASA mission to study what disrupts radio waves
• Competing pathways affect early differentiation of higher brain structures
• Sea surface temperatures reach highest level in 150 years on Northeast continental shelf
• Computer scientists suggest new spin on origins of evolvability: Competition to survive not necessary?
• Developmental neurobiology: How the brain folds to fit
• Fish win fights on strength of personality
• Scientists investigate release of bromine in polar regions
• New excavations in Sweden indicate use of fertilizers 5,000 years ago
• Bird navigation: Great balls of iron
• Europe needs genetically engineered crops, scientists say
• Cellulose goes off the rails: Without microtubule guidance, cellulose causes changes in organ patterns during growth
• Field reports indicate slaughter of elephants
• Peculiar life history of Middle American Stenamma ants
• New metric to measure destructive potential of hurricanes

NASA mission to study what disrupts radio waves Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:56 AM PDT A NASA-funded sounding rocket mission will launch from an atoll in the Pacific in the next few weeks to help scientists better understand and predict the electrical storms in Earth's upper atmosphere These storms can interfere with satellite communication and global positioning signals.

Competing pathways affect early differentiation of higher brain structures Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:56 AM PDT A new study shows how the strength and timing of competing molecular signals during brain development has generated natural and presumably adaptive differences in a brain region known as the telencephalon -- much earlier than scientists had previously believed.

Sea surface temperatures reach highest level in 150 years on Northeast continental shelf Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:56 AM PDT Sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years, according to new research. Temperature is also affecting distributions of fish and shellfish on the Northeast Shelf.

Computer scientists suggest new spin on origins of evolvability: Competition to survive not necessary? Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:56 AM PDT Scientists have long observed that species seem to have become increasingly capable of evolving in response to changes in the environment. But computer science researchers now say that the popular explanation of competition to survive in nature may not actually be necessary for evolvability to increase.

Developmental neurobiology: How the brain folds to fit Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:55 AM PDT During fetal development of the mammalian brain, the cerebral cortex undergoes a marked expansion in surface area in some species, which is accommodated by folding of the tissue in species with most expanded neuron numbers and surface area. Researchers have now identified a key regulator of this crucial process.

Fish win fights on strength of personality Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:54 AM PDT When predicting the outcome of a fight, the big guy doesn't always win suggests new research on fish. Scientists have found that when fish fight over food, it is personality, rather than size, that determines whether they will be victorious.

Scientists investigate release of bromine in polar regions Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:48 AM PDT Researchers have employed a novel measurement device for new studies in Alaska.

New excavations in Sweden indicate use of fertilizers 5,000 years ago Posted: 26 Apr 2013 08:48 AM PDT Researchers have spent many years studying the remains of a Stone Age community in Karleby outside the town of Falköping, Sweden. The researchers have for example tried to identify parts of the inhabitants' diet. Right now they are looking for evidence that fertilizers were used already during the Scandinavian Stone Age, and the results of their first analyses may be exactly what they are looking for.

Bird navigation: Great balls of iron Posted: 26 Apr 2013 04:38 AM PDT Every year millions of birds make heroic journeys guided by the earth's magnetic field. How they detect magnetic fields has puzzled scientists for decades. Today, biologists have added some important pieces to this puzzle.

Europe needs genetically engineered crops, scientists say Posted: 25 Apr 2013 10:26 AM PDT The European Union cannot meet its goals in agricultural policy without embracing genetically engineered crops. That's the conclusion of scientists based on case studies showing that the EU is undermining its own competitiveness in the agricultural sector to its own detriment and that of its humanitarian activities in the developing world.

Cellulose goes off the rails: Without microtubule guidance, cellulose causes changes in organ patterns during growth Posted: 25 Apr 2013 10:25 AM PDT Mathematics is everywhere in nature, and this is illustrated by the spiral patterns in plants such as pine cones, sunflowers or the arrangement of leaves around a stem. Most plants produce a new bud at 137 degrees from its predecessor, and this mathematical precision leads to observable helices. Normally, the relative position of organs does not change during growth, because the stems grow straight.  But if the connection between the cytoskeleton and cellulose is removed, the cellulose fibres are synthesized in a tilted fashion and the stems start to twist. As a result, the angle between successive flowers disappears, and is instead replaced by other mathematical patterns that prove to be equally robust. Incidentally, this work suggests that in the absence of regulation, all plant stems should twist rather than grow straight.

Field reports indicate slaughter of elephants Posted: 25 Apr 2013 10:23 AM PDT Biologists have received alarming reports from field operations that elephants are being slaughtered in the violence-ridden Central African Republic (CAR).

Peculiar life history of Middle American Stenamma ants Posted: 25 Apr 2013 07:33 AM PDT A recent revision of the Middle American clade of the ant genus Stenamma provides the description of 40 species, 33 of which are recognized as new to science. The extensive study provides the first thorough examination of the biology and taxonomy of these ants, focusing mainly on the worker caste and describing their peculiar nesting habits.

New metric to measure destructive potential of hurricanes Posted: 25 Apr 2013 06:12 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new metric to measure seasonal Atlantic tropical cyclone activity that focuses on the size of storms in addition to the duration and intensity, a measure that may prove important when considering a hurricane's potential for death and destruction. Just ask the survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

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