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Saturday, June 15, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News


Bioenergy potential unearthed in leaf-cutter ant communities

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 09:56 AM PDT

As spring warms up Wisconsin, humans aren't the only ones tending their gardens. Colonies of leaf-cutter ants cultivate thriving communities of fungi and bacteria using freshly cut plant material.

Scientists identify neurons that control feeding behavior in Drosophila

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 09:56 AM PDT

Scientists have developed a novel transgenic system which allows them to remotely activate individual brain cells in the model organism Drosophila using ambient temperature. This powerful new tool for identifying and characterizing neural circuitry has lead to the identification of a pair of neurons-– now called Fdg neurons-- in the fruit fly that decide when to eat and initiate the subsequent feeding action.

Secrets of biological soil crusts uncovered

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 09:56 AM PDT

Biologists have performed a molecular level analysis of desert biological soil crusts -- living ground cover formed by microbial communities -- to reveal how long-dormant cyanobacteria become activated by rainfall then resume dormancy when the precipitation stops.

New findings regarding DNA damage checkpoint mechanism in oxidative stress

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 09:56 AM PDT

Researchers have uncovered a previously unknown surveillance mechanism, known as a DNA damage checkpoint, used by cells to monitor oxidatively damaged DNA. DNA repair takes place approximately 10,000 times per cell, per day, through processes that are still only partially understood because of their complexity, speed, and the difficulty of studying complex interactions within living cells.

Study of oceans' past raises worries about their future

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 08:16 AM PDT

Scientists have now completed the first global study of changes that occurred in a crucial component of ocean chemistry, the nitrogen cycle, at the end of the last ice age. The results of their study confirm that oceans are good at balancing the nitrogen cycle on a global scale. But the data also shows that it is a slow process that may take many centuries, or even millennia, raising worries about the effects of the scale and speed of current changes in the ocean.

Wild cheetah accelerate fast and reach speeds of up to 58 miles per hour during a hunt

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:29 AM PDT

Researchers have captured the first detailed information on the hunting dynamics of the wild cheetah in its natural habitat. Using an innovative GPS and motion sensing collar that they designed, biologists were able to record remarkable speeds of up to 58 miles per hour.

Menopause may be an unintended outcome of men's preference for younger mates

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:26 AM PDT

After decades of laboring under other theories that never seemed to add up, biologists have concluded that menopause is actually an unintended outcome of natural selection generated by men's historical preference for younger mates.

Nanoparticles helping to recover more oil

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:25 AM PDT

When petroleum companies abandon an oil well, more than half the reservoir's oil is usually left behind as too difficult to recover. Now, however, much of the residual oil can be recovered with the help of nanoparticles and a simple law of physics.

Current affairs make life hard for stickleback dads

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:25 AM PDT

This Father's Day, spare a thought for three-spined stickleback fish – who may have been having a tough time this year, according to biologists.

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