ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

---

• Value in concentrating solar power to add to electric grid calculated
• Combining strategies speeds the work of enzymes
• U.S. urban trees store carbon, provide billions in economic value, finds state-by-state analysis
• Rats take high-speed multisensory snapshots: Smell and touch, sniffing and 'whisking,' are locked in sync
• Genes show one big European family
• New robotic instruments to provide real-time data on Gulf of Maine red tide
• 20-million-year-old amber shatters theories of glass as a liquid
• New insights into Ebola infection pave the way for much-needed therapies
• Decline in snow cover spells trouble for many plants, animals
• New mechanism converts natural gas to energy faster, captures carbon dioxide
• Oldest? New 'bone-head' dinosaur hints at higher diversity of small dinosaurs
• Do bats know voices of friends they hang out with? Bats may recognize voices of other bats
• Ice Age ancestors might have used words in common with us
• Plants 'talk' to plants to help them grow
• And the beat goes on...: The reliable heartbeat of hibernators
• The more feathers a male sparrow carries to the nest, the more eggs the female will lay
• New technique to track cell interactions in living bodies developed
• Scaling up gyroscopes: From navigation to measuring Earth's rotation

Value in concentrating solar power to add to electric grid calculated Posted: 07 May 2013 04:58 PM PDT Researchers have quantified the significant value that concentrating solar power plants can add to an electric grid.

Combining strategies speeds the work of enzymes Posted: 07 May 2013 04:58 PM PDT Enzymes could break down cell walls faster -- leading to less expensive biofuels for transportation -- if two enzyme systems are brought together in an industrial setting, new research suggests.

U.S. urban trees store carbon, provide billions in economic value, finds state-by-state analysis Posted: 07 May 2013 04:58 PM PDT America's urban forests store an estimated 708 million tons of carbon, an environmental service with an estimated value of $50 billion, according to a recent study.

Rats take high-speed multisensory snapshots: Smell and touch, sniffing and 'whisking,' are locked in sync Posted: 07 May 2013 04:56 PM PDT New research from the laboratory shows that rats create high-speed "snapshots" of the environment by synchronized use of the senses of smell (sniffing) and touch (through their whiskers). Furthermore sniffing and "whisking" movements are synchronized at the same phase even when they are running at different frequencies, facilitating integration of multisensory information. The research sheds new light on biological rhythms that may evolutionarily underpin much animal behavior.

Genes show one big European family Posted: 07 May 2013 04:56 PM PDT From Ireland to the Balkans, Europeans are basically one big family, closely related to one another for the past thousand years, according to a new study of the DNA of people from across the continent.

New robotic instruments to provide real-time data on Gulf of Maine red tide Posted: 07 May 2013 12:50 PM PDT A new robotic sensor deployed coastal waters may transform the way red tides or harmful algal blooms are monitored and managed in New England. The instrument was launched at the end of last month, and a second such system will be deployed later this spring.

20-million-year-old amber shatters theories of glass as a liquid Posted: 07 May 2013 12:49 PM PDT Fact or fiction? Stained glass found in medieval cathedrals becomes thicker at the bottom because glass moves over time. For years researchers have had their doubts, now scientists have further evidence that glass is not going anywhere.

New insights into Ebola infection pave the way for much-needed therapies Posted: 07 May 2013 10:45 AM PDT The Ebola virus is among the deadliest viruses on the planet, killing up to 90 percent of those infected. A new study reveals how the most abundant protein making up the Ebola virus -- viral protein 40 -- allows the virus to leave host cells and spread infection to other cells throughout the human body. The findings could lay the foundation for the development of new drugs and strategies for fighting Ebola infection.

Decline in snow cover spells trouble for many plants, animals Posted: 07 May 2013 10:44 AM PDT For plants and animals forced to tough out harsh winter weather, the coverlet of snow that blankets the north country is a refuge, a stable beneath-the-snow habitat that gives essential respite from biting winds and subzero temperatures.

New mechanism converts natural gas to energy faster, captures carbon dioxide Posted: 07 May 2013 09:48 AM PDT Chemical engineering researchers have identified a new mechanism to convert natural gas into energy up to 70 times faster, while effectively capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

Oldest? New 'bone-head' dinosaur hints at higher diversity of small dinosaurs Posted: 07 May 2013 09:48 AM PDT Scientists have named a new species of bone-headed dinosaur (pachycephalosaur) from Alberta, Canada. The plant-eating Acrotholus audeti was approximately six feet long and weighed about 40 kgs in life. It represents the oldest bone-headed dinosaur in North America, and possibly the world.

Do bats know voices of friends they hang out with? Bats may recognize voices of other bats Posted: 07 May 2013 08:55 AM PDT Is it possible that mammals have the ability to recognize individuals of the same species, whom they know well, by their voice? A new study has found that even in nocturnal, fast-moving animals such as bats, there is an ability to recognize certain vocal aspects of other bats from their social groups.

Ice Age ancestors might have used words in common with us Posted: 07 May 2013 04:46 AM PDT New research shows that Ice Age people living in Europe 15,000 years ago might have used forms of some common words including I, you, we, man and bark, that in some cases could still be recognized today.

Plants 'talk' to plants to help them grow Posted: 07 May 2013 03:08 AM PDT Having a neighborly chat improves seed germination, finds new research. Even when other known means of communication, such as contact, chemical and light-mediated signals, are blocked, chilli seeds grow better when grown with basil plants. This suggests that plants are talking via nanomechanical vibrations.

And the beat goes on...: The reliable heartbeat of hibernators Posted: 07 May 2013 03:08 AM PDT At the current temperatures, all hibernators have probably emerged from their winter hibernation and are enjoying the warm weather. However, this is quite different during the cold season. Many small mammals such as marmots, hedgehogs, bats and some hamsters, and even some birds have a particular skill: they can induce a state of inactivity and reduced metabolic rate to significantly lower their energy consumption when food becomes limited and ambient temperatures drop.

The more feathers a male sparrow carries to the nest, the more eggs the female will lay Posted: 07 May 2013 03:08 AM PDT A new study has found that female sparrows will invest more energy into laying eggs according to the male's ability to fill the nest with feathers which serve to insulate the chicks from the cold and keep them alive.

New technique to track cell interactions in living bodies developed Posted: 06 May 2013 03:16 PM PDT Researchers have developed a new technique to see how different types of cells interact in a living mouse.

Scaling up gyroscopes: From navigation to measuring Earth's rotation Posted: 06 May 2013 01:12 PM PDT Researchers discuss "large ring laser gyroscopes" that are six orders of magnitude more sensitive than gyroscopes commercially available.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Environment News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610