ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• 'Brown ocean' can fuel inland tropical cyclones
• Rare fossil of late Cretaceous plesiosaur discovered
• Ecological forces structure your body's personal mix of microbes
• Tooth is 'smoking gun' evidence that Tyrannosaurus rex was hunter, killer
• Manure used by Europe's first farmers 8,000 years ago
• Researchers shed new light on supraglacial lake drainage
• Deepwater Horizon debris was likely source of Gulf of Mexico oil sheens
• Damaging non-native forest pests at home in northeastern U.S.
• Trade-offs between food security and climate change mitigation explored
• Genetic secrets of the world's toughest little bird
• New thermocell could harvest 'waste heat' from power stations and even vehicle exhaust pipes
• Novel study using new technologies outlines importance of California condor social groups
• Sanction mechanism identified between ants and host plants
• Dogs imitate novel human actions and store them in memory
• RNA-interference pesticides will need special safety testing
• H7N9 influenza strain resistant to antivirals, but tests fail to identify resistance
• New Web-enabled technology records the presence of species by analyzing their sounds
• Keys to reducing the impact of agriculture on climate change
• Artificial organelles transform free radicals into water and oxygen
• Big crab claws for bling or bang?
• How successful plants take the lead

'Brown ocean' can fuel inland tropical cyclones Posted: 16 Jul 2013 02:38 PM PDT In the summer of 2007, Tropical Storm Erin stumped meteorologists. Most tropical cyclones dissipate after making landfall, weakened by everything from friction and wind shear to loss of the ocean as a source of heat energy. Not Erin. The storm intensified as it tracked through Texas. Erin is an example of a newly defined type of inland tropical cyclone that maintains or increases strength after landfall. Storms in the newly defined category derive their energy from the evaporation of abundant soil moisture -- a phenomenon that experts call the "brown ocean."

Rare fossil of late Cretaceous plesiosaur discovered Posted: 16 Jul 2013 01:19 PM PDT Researchers have discovered the fossilized remains of an elasmosaur. A subgroup of the late Cretaceous plesiosaurs, the elasmosaurid plesiosaurs are recognized by their large body size and shape. This find is only the second elasmosaurid specimen containing more than one or two bones found in Alabama.

Ecological forces structure your body's personal mix of microbes Posted: 16 Jul 2013 11:40 AM PDT Environmental conditions have a stronger influence on the mix of microbes living in your body than does competition between species. Instead of excluding each other, microbes that fiercely compete for similar resources are more likely to cohabit the same individual. The findings are a step toward building a predictive model of the human microbiome to study how medical conditions change this massive biological system, identify how to promote beneficial microbiomes, and design interventions for hard-to-manage problems like chronic digestive inflammation.

Tooth is 'smoking gun' evidence that Tyrannosaurus rex was hunter, killer Posted: 16 Jul 2013 10:58 AM PDT Tyrannosaurus rex has long been popular with kids and moviemakers as the most notorious, vicious killing machine to roam the planet during the age of the dinosaurs. So, it may come as a shock that for more than a century some paleontologists have argued that T. rex was a scavenger, not a true predator -- more like a vulture than a lion. Indeed, a lack of definitive fossil proof of predation in the famous theropod has stirred controversy among scientists -- until now. Researchers have unearthed "smoking gun" physical proof that T. rex was indeed a predator, hunter and killer.

Manure used by Europe's first farmers 8,000 years ago Posted: 16 Jul 2013 10:47 AM PDT A new study says Europe's first farmers used far more sophisticated practices than was previously thought. Scientists have found that Neolithic farmers manured and watered their crops as early as 6,000 BC.

Researchers shed new light on supraglacial lake drainage Posted: 16 Jul 2013 10:21 AM PDT Supraglacial lakes -- bodies of water that collect on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet -- lubricate the bottom of the sheet when they drain, causing it to flow faster. Differences in how the lakes drain can impact glacial movement's speed and direction, researchers report.

Deepwater Horizon debris was likely source of Gulf of Mexico oil sheens Posted: 16 Jul 2013 10:21 AM PDT A chemical analysis of oil sheens found floating recently at the ocean's surface near the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster indicates that the source is pockets of oil trapped within the wreckage of the sunken rig. Both the Macondo well and natural oil seeps common to the Gulf of Mexico were confidently ruled out.

Damaging non-native forest pests at home in northeastern U.S. Posted: 16 Jul 2013 09:01 AM PDT Scientists have used spatial data to demonstrate that the distribution of invasive forest pests is highly focused, with a particularly large number of species established in the northeastern region and then moderate but still troublesome numbers radiating to the west and south.

Trade-offs between food security and climate change mitigation explored Posted: 16 Jul 2013 09:00 AM PDT Improving agricultural productivity could help cut greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, shows new research. But, sustainable farming methods are key.

Genetic secrets of the world's toughest little bird Posted: 16 Jul 2013 07:21 AM PDT New research reveals the genetic secrets of how a small bird can survive in one of the most hostile environments on earth. The ground tit (Parus humilis), lives in the Tibetan plateau, the largest high-altitude land mass in the world. This study has found molecular signatures in the ground tit genome which reveal how it copes with the extreme living conditions of this habitat.

New thermocell could harvest 'waste heat' from power stations and even vehicle exhaust pipes Posted: 16 Jul 2013 06:27 AM PDT Harvesting waste heat from power stations and even vehicle exhaust pipes could soon provide a valuable supply of electricity.

Novel study using new technologies outlines importance of California condor social groups Posted: 16 Jul 2013 06:27 AM PDT The intricate social hierarchy of the California condor, an endangered species, is something that could not be studied until recently due to the severe reduction of this population in the wild. The first formal study on this species, based on remote video observation of reintroduced populations, indicates that the species has a complex system of interactions based on dominance.

Sanction mechanism identified between ants and host plants Posted: 16 Jul 2013 06:27 AM PDT In nature, many forms of plant-animal mutualism exist in which each partner benefits from the presence of the other. Although mutualistic interactions offer advantages for both partners, they are nonetheless a source of conflict. Biologists have recently observed an original sanction interaction between a plant and an ant.

Dogs imitate novel human actions and store them in memory Posted: 16 Jul 2013 06:27 AM PDT Dogs can learn, retain and replay actions taught by humans after a short delay. According to a new study this deferred imitation provides the first evidence of dogs' cognitive ability to both encode and recall actions.

RNA-interference pesticides will need special safety testing Posted: 16 Jul 2013 05:00 AM PDT RNA interference technology holds promise for the development of pesticides and genetically-modified crops, but possible harmful effects on beneficial species are a concern. Current safety testing protocols may not detect subtle effects on genes that are nonetheless important at some point during a beneficial species' life cycle.

H7N9 influenza strain resistant to antivirals, but tests fail to identify resistance Posted: 16 Jul 2013 05:00 AM PDT Some strains of the avian H7N9 influenza that emerged in China this year have developed resistance to the only antiviral drugs available to treat the infection, but testing for antiviral resistance can give misleading results, helping hasten the spread of resistant strains.

New Web-enabled technology records the presence of species by analyzing their sounds Posted: 16 Jul 2013 05:00 AM PDT Identifying, and monitoring the fluctuations of thousands of species in tropical ecosystems is a difficult challenge, but newly developed technology now makes it much easier. Scientists report on new cyberinfrastructure which enables real-time acoustic recording and subsequent species identification in remote locations around the world. Thousands of audio recordings of tropical birds, frogs, monkeys, and insects in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica have been captured (using automated stations) and analyzed to identify the species concerned.

Keys to reducing the impact of agriculture on climate change Posted: 16 Jul 2013 04:58 AM PDT Land is not being used to its best advantage according to a new study by environmental ecologists.

Artificial organelles transform free radicals into water and oxygen Posted: 16 Jul 2013 04:58 AM PDT Researchers have successfully developed artificial organelles that are able to support the reduction of toxic oxygen compounds. This opens up new ways in the development of novel drugs that can influence pathological states directly inside the cell.

Big crab claws for bling or bang? Posted: 16 Jul 2013 04:58 AM PDT Male fiddler crabs tread an evolutionary fine line between growing an enlarged claw better for signalling to females or one better for fighting. Long light claws are better for attracting females, but not for fighting.

How successful plants take the lead Posted: 16 Jul 2013 04:55 AM PDT Why are some plant species rare, and others common? Why do certain exotic plant species become invasive – while others do not? Scientists have now identified the most important environmental and species characteristics for plants to colonize and establish in novel places.

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