ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Earliest known iron artifacts come from outer space
• 'Street-view' comes to the world's coral reefs
• Scientists relate urban population to air pollution
• Tick by tick: Studying Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus carried by ticks
• A home for the microbiome: Biologists identify how beneficial bacteria reside and thrive in gastrointestinal tract
• Newly discovered ocean plume could be major source of iron
• Archaeologists find massive fortifications from the Iron Age in present-day Israel
• Molten magma can survive in upper crust for hundreds of millennia
• Microbial team turns corn stalks and leaves into better biofuel
• Native Californians followed the greenery: Environment shaped 12,000 years of ethnic and linguistic diversity
• Global sea level rise dampened by Australia floods
• Tiny fish make 'eyes' at their killer
• Potential disruption of endocrine system: Flame retardants can mimic estrogens, 3-D images show
• How shale fracking led to an Ohio town's first 100 earthquakes
• Important step forward for gait analysis of horses
• Large moths need to hear better to get away from bats
• Future flood losses in major coastal cities: Costly projections
• Finding where the Virginia big-eared bat roosts
• Altruism or manipulated helping? Altruism may have origins in manipulation
• Ringing the changes: What museum specimens reveal about climate change
• Species diversification in biodiversity hotspots
• Handaxe design reveals distinct Neanderthal cultures

Earliest known iron artifacts come from outer space Posted: 19 Aug 2013 05:24 PM PDT Researchers have shown that ancient Egyptian iron beads held at the UCL Petrie Museum were hammered from pieces of meteorites, rather than iron ore. The objects, which trace their origins to outer space, also predate the emergence of iron smelting by two millennia.

'Street-view' comes to the world's coral reefs Posted: 19 Aug 2013 05:22 PM PDT Scientists are taking the public with them to study the world's coral reefs, thanks to 360 degree panoramas from Google's underwater street-view format. Results from this pioneering project will allow ecologists to harness people power to discover how coral reefs are responding to climate change.

Scientists relate urban population to air pollution Posted: 19 Aug 2013 03:53 PM PDT Live in a large city like New York, London, Beijing or Mumbai, and you are likely exposed to more air pollution than people in smaller cities in surrounding areas. But exactly how a city's pollution relates to the size of its population has never been measured, until now.

Tick by tick: Studying Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus carried by ticks Posted: 19 Aug 2013 02:18 PM PDT How do you safely work with ticks in a biosafety level four "spacesuit lab?" Step by painstaking step.

A home for the microbiome: Biologists identify how beneficial bacteria reside and thrive in gastrointestinal tract Posted: 19 Aug 2013 02:18 PM PDT The human body is full of tiny microorganisms -- hundreds to thousands of species of bacteria collectively called the microbiome, which are believed to contribute to a healthy existence. The gastrointestinal tract is home to the largest concentration and highest diversity of bacterial species. But how do these organisms persist and thrive in a system that is constantly in flux? Biologists believe they have found the answer.

Newly discovered ocean plume could be major source of iron Posted: 19 Aug 2013 02:18 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a vast plume of iron and other micronutrients more than 1,000 kilometers long billowing from hydrothermal vents in the South Atlantic Ocean. The finding calls past estimates of iron abundances into question, and may challenge researchers' assumptions about iron sources in the world's seas.

Archaeologists find massive fortifications from the Iron Age in present-day Israel Posted: 19 Aug 2013 02:16 PM PDT Archaeologists have discovered the remains of massive ancient fortifications built around an Iron Age Assyrian harbor in present-day Israel. The fortifications appear to protect an artificial harbor, a discovery of international significance, experts say.

Molten magma can survive in upper crust for hundreds of millennia Posted: 19 Aug 2013 01:26 PM PDT Reservoirs of silica-rich magma – the kind that causes the most explosive volcanic eruptions – can persist in Earth's upper crust for hundreds of thousands of years without triggering an eruption, according to new research.

Microbial team turns corn stalks and leaves into better biofuel Posted: 19 Aug 2013 01:25 PM PDT A fungus and E. coli bacteria have joined forces to turn tough, waste plant material into isobutanol, a biofuel that matches gasoline's properties better than ethanol.

Native Californians followed the greenery: Environment shaped 12,000 years of ethnic and linguistic diversity Posted: 19 Aug 2013 01:25 PM PDT California's rich diversity of Native American ethnic-and-language groups took shape during the past 12,000 years as migrating tribes settled first on the lush Pacific coast and then in progressively drier, less-vegetated habitats, says a new study.

Global sea level rise dampened by Australia floods Posted: 19 Aug 2013 11:16 AM PDT When enough raindrops fall over land instead of the ocean, they begin to add up. New research led by shows that three atmospheric patterns drove so much precipitation over Australia in 2010 and 2011 that the world's ocean levels dropped measurably.

Tiny fish make 'eyes' at their killer Posted: 19 Aug 2013 07:27 AM PDT Small prey fish can grow a bigger 'eye' on their rear fins as a way of distracting predators and dramatically boosting their chances of survival, new research has found. Researchers have made a world-first discovery that, when constantly threatened with being eaten, small damsel fish not only grow a larger false 'eye spot' near their tail -- but also reduce the size of their real eyes.

Potential disruption of endocrine system: Flame retardants can mimic estrogens, 3-D images show Posted: 19 Aug 2013 07:27 AM PDT By determining the three-dimensional structure of proteins at the atomic level, researchers have discovered how some commonly used flame retardants, called brominated flame retardants (BFRs), can mimic estrogen hormones and possibly disrupt the body's endocrine system. BFRs are chemicals added or applied to materials to slow or prevent the start or growth of fire.

How shale fracking led to an Ohio town's first 100 earthquakes Posted: 19 Aug 2013 07:27 AM PDT Since records began in 1776, the people of Youngstown, Ohio had never experienced an earthquake. However, from January 2011, 109 tremors were recorded and new research reveals how this may be the result of shale fracking.

Important step forward for gait analysis of horses Posted: 19 Aug 2013 07:27 AM PDT New research makes it possible to use sensors to accurately measure a horse's movements providing veterinarians a number of new possibilities.

Large moths need to hear better to get away from bats Posted: 19 Aug 2013 07:27 AM PDT The larger the moth, the better hearing senses it needs if it wants to avoid its worst enemy, the bat. A large moth is easier to detect for a bat, and therefore evolution has forced large moths to develop larger and more sensitive ears. But the improved hearing comes at a price, says sound researchers.

Future flood losses in major coastal cities: Costly projections Posted: 19 Aug 2013 07:26 AM PDT Climate change combined with rapid population increases, economic growth and land subsidence could lead to a more than nine-fold increase in the global risk of floods in large port cities between now and 2050.

Finding where the Virginia big-eared bat roosts Posted: 19 Aug 2013 07:24 AM PDT A graduate student has discovered the summer roosts in North Carolina of the federally endangered Virginia big-eared bat. Until this summer no one knew where the bats raised their young.

Altruism or manipulated helping? Altruism may have origins in manipulation Posted: 19 Aug 2013 06:02 AM PDT Manipulation is often thought of as morally repugnant, but it might be responsible for the evolutionary origins of some helpful or altruistic behavior, according to a new study.

Ringing the changes: What museum specimens reveal about climate change Posted: 19 Aug 2013 06:01 AM PDT Butterflies collected as long ago as 1876 – the year Alexander Graham Bell made the world's first telephone call – are shedding new light on the earlier arrival of spring each year. Ecologists are using thousands of butterflies from museum collections to learn more about climate change.

Species diversification in biodiversity hotspots Posted: 19 Aug 2013 06:01 AM PDT Biodiversification isn't always favored by living in a hotspot of biodiversity, suggests a study of Australian wood shrubs. The finding goes against previous thinking and boosts our understanding of the factors driving biodiversity. A common view is that species in biodiversity hotspots diversify more quickly than species in less biodiverse areas. But that's not the case for the spikey-flowered Banksia.

Handaxe design reveals distinct Neanderthal cultures Posted: 19 Aug 2013 06:01 AM PDT Researchers have found that Neanderthals were more culturally complex than previously acknowledged. Two cultural traditions existed among Neanderthals living in what is now northern Europe between 115,000 to 35,000 years ago. Researchers examined the design of 1,300 stone tools originating from 80 Neanderthal sites in five European countries; France, Germany, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands. They uncovered new evidence that two separate handaxe traditions or designs existed -- one in a region now spanning south-western France and Britain -- the other in Germany and further to the East.

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