ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• 'Highway from Hell' fueled Costa Rican volcano
• Bird brains predate birds themselves: 'Flight-ready' brain was present in some non-avian dinosaurs, CT scans indicate
• Flexible tail of the prion protein poisons brain cells
• Robots strike fear in the hearts of fish: Anxious zebrafish help researchers understand how alcohol affects fear
• Sediment trapped behind dams makes them 'hot spots' for greenhouse gas emissions
• 3-D molecular syringes: Scientists solve structure of infection tool used by Yersinia bacterium
• Gene decoding obeys road traffic rules
• By tracking maggots' food choices, scientists open significant new window into human learning
• Progress in using ethanol to make key raw material now produced from oil
• Insect-inspired super rubber moves toward practical uses in medicine
• Computational biology: Cells reprogrammed on the computer
• Polar ecosystems acutely vulnerable to sunlight-driven tipping points
• Scientists analyze genetic makeup of human and mouse embryos in amazing detail
• Hide, ambush, kill, eat: The giant water bug Lethocerus patruelis kills a fish
• Could planting trees in the desert mitigate climate change?
• Dawn of carnivores explains animal boom in distant past
• Naked mole rat's secret to staying cancer free

'Highway from Hell' fueled Costa Rican volcano Posted: 31 Jul 2013 10:31 AM PDT Scientists suggest that the 1960s eruption of Costa Rica's largest stratovolcano was triggered by magma rising from the mantle over a few short months, rather than thousands of years or more, as many scientists have thought.

Bird brains predate birds themselves: 'Flight-ready' brain was present in some non-avian dinosaurs, CT scans indicate Posted: 31 Jul 2013 10:31 AM PDT New research provides evidence that dinosaurs evolved the brainpower necessary for flight well before they actually took to the air as birds. Based on computed tomographic scans, the study takes a comprehensive look at the so-called "bird brain," revealing that at least a few non-avian dinosaurs had brains that were as large or larger than that of one of the earliest known birds, Archaeopteryx.

Flexible tail of the prion protein poisons brain cells Posted: 31 Jul 2013 10:31 AM PDT Prion proteins are the infectious pathogens that cause Mad Cow Disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. They occur when a normal prion protein becomes deformed and clumped. The naturally occurring prion protein is harmless and can be found in most organisms. In humans, it is found in our brain cell membrane. By contrast, the abnormally deformed prion protein is poisonous for the brain cells. Scientists have now discovered that the prion protein has a kind of switch that controls its toxicity.

Robots strike fear in the hearts of fish: Anxious zebrafish help researchers understand how alcohol affects fear Posted: 31 Jul 2013 09:29 AM PDT The latest in a series of experiments testing the ability of robots to influence live animals shows that bio-inspired robots can not only elicit fear in zebrafish, but that this reaction can be modulated by alcohol. These findings may pave the way for new methodologies for understanding anxiety and other emotions, as well as substances that modulate them.

Sediment trapped behind dams makes them 'hot spots' for greenhouse gas emissions Posted: 31 Jul 2013 09:28 AM PDT With the "green" reputation of large hydroelectric dams already in question, scientists are reporting that millions of smaller dams on rivers around the world make an important contribution to the greenhouse gases linked to global climate change. Their study shows that more methane than previously believed bubbles out of the water behind small dams.

3-D molecular syringes: Scientists solve structure of infection tool used by Yersinia bacterium Posted: 31 Jul 2013 09:28 AM PDT Abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea -- these symptoms could point to an infection with the bacterium Yersinia. Its pathogenic potential is based on a syringe-like injection apparatus called injectisome. Scientists have now unraveled this molecular syringe's spatial conformation. The researchers demonstrated that the length of Yersinia's injectisome's basal body, which crosses the bacterial cell wall, is adjustable -- very likely an adaptation to physical stress.

Gene decoding obeys road traffic rules Posted: 31 Jul 2013 09:28 AM PDT Scientists show that a proper distance between "vehicles" along a gene "track" results in more efficient production of small RNA molecules.

By tracking maggots' food choices, scientists open significant new window into human learning Posted: 31 Jul 2013 09:26 AM PDT The larva of the fruit fly is helping scientists understand the way humans learn information from each other. Fruit flies have long served as models for studying behavior, but new findings show their larvae may be even more valuable. Researchers were able to demonstrate that the larvae, or maggots, are capable of social learning, which opens the door to many other experiments that could provide valuable insights into human behavior.

Progress in using ethanol to make key raw material now produced from oil Posted: 31 Jul 2013 07:57 AM PDT Ethanol from corn and other plants could become the sustainable, raw material for a huge variety of products, from plastic packaging to detergents to synthetic rubber, that are currently petroleum-based.

Insect-inspired super rubber moves toward practical uses in medicine Posted: 31 Jul 2013 07:56 AM PDT The remarkable, rubber-like protein that enables dragonflies, grasshoppers and other insects to flap their wings, jump and chirp has major potential uses in medicine, scientists conclude. A new article evaluates the latest advances toward using a protein called resilin in nanosprings, biorubbers, biosensors and other applications.

Computational biology: Cells reprogrammed on the computer Posted: 31 Jul 2013 07:55 AM PDT Scientists have developed a model that makes predictions from which differentiated cells -- for instance skin cells -- can be very efficiently changed into completely different cell types -- such as nerve cells, for example. This can be done entirely without stem cells. These computer-based instructions for reprogramming cells are of huge significance for regenerative medicine.

Polar ecosystems acutely vulnerable to sunlight-driven tipping points Posted: 31 Jul 2013 06:39 AM PDT Slight changes in the timing of the annual loss of sea-ice in polar regions could have dire consequences for polar ecosystems, by allowing a lot more sunlight to reach the sea floor. The research predicts biodiversity on some areas of the polar seabed could be reduced by as much as one third within decades, as the poles warm.

Scientists analyze genetic makeup of human and mouse embryos in amazing detail Posted: 31 Jul 2013 06:39 AM PDT Scientists have used the powerful technology of single-cell RNA sequencing to track the genetic development of a human and a mouse embryo at an unprecedented level of accuracy. The success of this technique could lead to genetic diagnoses of diseases with higher resolution and in embryos earlier than ever achieved before, even when the embryo consists of only eight cells.

Hide, ambush, kill, eat: The giant water bug Lethocerus patruelis kills a fish Posted: 31 Jul 2013 06:39 AM PDT The largest European water insect Lethocerus patruelis, commonly known as giant water bug, can reach the impressive size of up to 8 cm in length. A recent study provides detailed information on karyotype and the reproductive system of the species. The study also presents a rare opportunity to see their vicious predatory practices, catching a giant water bug larva attacking and killing a small fish on video.

Could planting trees in the desert mitigate climate change? Posted: 31 Jul 2013 06:34 AM PDT As the world starts feeling the effects of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide and consequent global temperature rise, researchers are looking for a Plan B to mitigate climate change. A group of German scientists has now come up with an environmentally friendly method that they say could do just that. The technique, dubbed carbon farming, consists in planting trees in arid regions on a large scale to capture carbon dioxide.

Dawn of carnivores explains animal boom in distant past Posted: 31 Jul 2013 06:33 AM PDT Scientists have linked increasing oxygen levels and the rise and evolution of carnivores (meat eaters) as the force behind a broad explosion of animal species and body structures millions of years ago.

Naked mole rat's secret to staying cancer free Posted: 31 Jul 2013 06:32 AM PDT Scientists have discovered the naked mole rat's unique mechanism to staying cancer free -- a super sugar called high-molecular-mass Hyaluronan (HMM-HA). When secreted by the naked mole rat's cells, this molecule prevents cells from overcrowding and forming tumors. Researchers now say using naked mole-rat HMM-HA in the clinic could open up new avenues for cancer prevention and life extension in humans.

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