ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Jurassic jaws: How ancient crocodiles flourished during the age of the dinosaurs
• Bad news for prey: New research shows that predators can learn to read camouflage
• Enhancing zoo elephant welfare
• Organic molecules found in Sutter's Mill meteorite, not previously found in any meteorites
• Edible coatings for ready-to-eat fresh fruits and vegetables
• Why are some corals flourishing in a time of global warming?
• How the newest diesel engines emit very little greenhouse gas nitrous oxide
• Panda poop microbes could make biofuels of the future
• State e-waste disposal bans have been largely ineffective
• Micro-gels from tiny ice algae play an important role in polar ocean carbon budgets
• Life deep down: A new beautiful translucent snail from the deepest cave in Croatia
• Extreme life forms: Life found in the sediments of an Antarctic subglacial lake for the first time
• Dingo wrongly blamed for extinctions
• Oil industry and household stoves speed Arctic thaw
• New evidence that orangutans and gorillas can match images based on biological categories
• Archaeologists have excavated well-preserved Roman soldier's chain mail
• Maya decapitated and dismembered their enemies
• Water hidden in the Moon may have proto-Earth origin
• Device gives scientists front-row seat to lightning strikes
• The real reason to worry about bees
• Ants turn unwelcome lodgers into a useful standing army
• Effects of climate change on West Nile virus
• New weapons on the way to battle wicked weeds

Jurassic jaws: How ancient crocodiles flourished during the age of the dinosaurs Posted: 10 Sep 2013 05:55 PM PDT New research has revealed the hidden past of crocodiles, showing for the first time how these fierce reptiles evolved and survived in a dinosaur dominated world.

Bad news for prey: New research shows that predators can learn to read camouflage Posted: 10 Sep 2013 05:54 PM PDT Camouflaged creatures can perform remarkable disappearing acts but new research shows that predators can learn to read camouflage. The study, which used human subjects as predators searching for hidden moths in computer games, found that the subjects could learn to find some types of camouflaged prey faster than others.

Enhancing zoo elephant welfare Posted: 10 Sep 2013 05:52 PM PDT A new study revealed that analyzing the daily lives of zoo elephants – ranging from when and how they are fed to how they spend their time both at night and during the day – provides new, scientifically based information that zoos can use to improve the welfare of their elephants.

Organic molecules found in Sutter's Mill meteorite, not previously found in any meteorites Posted: 10 Sep 2013 02:14 PM PDT An important discovery has been made concerning the possible inventory of molecules available to the early Earth. Scientists found that the Sutter's Mill meteorite, which exploded in a blazing fireball over California last year, contains organic molecules not previously found in any meteorites. These findings suggest a far greater availability of extraterrestrial organic molecules than previously thought possible, an inventory that could indeed have been important in molecular evolution and life itself.

Edible coatings for ready-to-eat fresh fruits and vegetables Posted: 10 Sep 2013 01:50 PM PDT The scientist who turned fresh-cut apple slices into a popular convenience food, available ready-to-eat in grocery stores, school cafeterias and fast-food restaurants, today described advances in keeping other foods fresh, flavorful, and safe for longer periods of time through the use of invisible, colorless, odorless, tasteless coatings.

Why are some corals flourishing in a time of global warming? Posted: 10 Sep 2013 01:50 PM PDT As Earth's temperature climbs, stony corals are in decline. Less discussed, however, is the plight of gorgonian corals — softer, flexible, tree-like species. Divers have noted that gorgonians seem to be proliferating in parts of the Caribbean, and a new study will look to quantify this phenomenon.

How the newest diesel engines emit very little greenhouse gas nitrous oxide Posted: 10 Sep 2013 11:23 AM PDT The newest catalytic converters in diesel engines blast away a pollutant from combustion with the help of ammonia. Common in European cars, the engines exhaust harmless nitrogen and water. How they do this hasn't been entirely clear. Now, new research shows that the catalyst attacks its target pollutant in an unusual way, providing insight into how to make the best catalytic converters.

Panda poop microbes could make biofuels of the future Posted: 10 Sep 2013 11:09 AM PDT Unlikely as it may sound, giant pandas Ya Ya and Le Le in the Memphis Zoo are making contributions toward shifting production of biofuels away from corn and other food crops and toward corn cobs, stalks and other non-food plant material.

State e-waste disposal bans have been largely ineffective Posted: 10 Sep 2013 08:28 AM PDT One of the first analyses of laws banning disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) in landfills has found that state e-waste recycling bans have been mostly ineffective, although California's Cell Phone Recycling Act had a positive impact. However, e-waste recycling rates remain "dismally low," and many demographic groups remain unaware of their alternatives, according to a new study.

Micro-gels from tiny ice algae play an important role in polar ocean carbon budgets Posted: 10 Sep 2013 07:49 AM PDT Secretion of polysaccharides from the micro community living within the sea ice stick organism together and forms greater particles introducing a rapid transport of carbon to the seafloor. New research now makes it possible to forecast the importance for the global carbon budget of this transport.

Life deep down: A new beautiful translucent snail from the deepest cave in Croatia Posted: 10 Sep 2013 07:49 AM PDT An expedition in the deepest cave system in Croatia, Lukina Jama–Trojama, discovered a beautiful new species of a tiny translucent snail. The newly discovered species belongs to the evolutionary intriguing genus Zospeum, where representatives are exclusively known from the underground. The animal was found at the remarkable depth of 980 m.

Extreme life forms: Life found in the sediments of an Antarctic subglacial lake for the first time Posted: 10 Sep 2013 07:49 AM PDT Evidence of diverse life forms dating back nearly a hundred thousand years has been found in subglacial lake sediments by scientists. The possibility that extreme life forms might exist in the cold and dark lakes hidden kilometers beneath the Antarctic ice sheet has fascinated scientists for decades.

Dingo wrongly blamed for extinctions Posted: 10 Sep 2013 06:54 AM PDT Dingoes have been unjustly blamed for the extinctions on the Australian mainland of the Tasmanian tiger (or thylacine) and the Tasmanian devil, a study has found.

Oil industry and household stoves speed Arctic thaw Posted: 10 Sep 2013 06:54 AM PDT Gas flaring by the oil industry and smoke from residential burning contributes more black carbon pollution to Arctic than previously thought -- potentially speeding the melting of Arctic sea ice and contributing to the fast rate of warming in the region.

New evidence that orangutans and gorillas can match images based on biological categories Posted: 10 Sep 2013 06:52 AM PDT The ability to form a general concept that connects what we know about the members of a category allows humans to respond appropriately when they encounter a novel member of that category. At an early age, children form categories to, for example, differentiate animals from inanimate objects and to differentiate dogs from cats. New research shows that other apes may form similar categories to represent different types of animals.

Archaeologists have excavated well-preserved Roman soldier's chain mail Posted: 10 Sep 2013 06:49 AM PDT Archaeologists made a spectacular discovery in their excavations of a Roman-Germanic battlefield at the Harzhorn in Lower Saxony. While exploring the area near Kalefeld in the Northeim district north of Göttingen, the researchers found the chain mail of a Roman soldier from the Third Century AD. It was the first time that such a well-preserved piece of body armor was excavated on a Roman-Germanic battlefield. This piece of equipment, worn on the body, made it possible to reconstruct an individual story in the battle.

Maya decapitated and dismembered their enemies Posted: 10 Sep 2013 06:49 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a mass grave in an artificial cave in the historical Maya city of Uxul (Mexico). Marks on the bones indicate that the individuals buried in the cave were decapitated and dismembered around 1,400 years ago. The scientists assume that the victims were either prisoners of war or nobles from Uxul itself.

Water hidden in the Moon may have proto-Earth origin Posted: 10 Sep 2013 06:39 AM PDT Water found in ancient Moon rocks might have actually originated from the proto-Earth and even survived the Moon-forming event. Scientists have studied the amount of water within lunar rocks returned during the Apollo missions.

Device gives scientists front-row seat to lightning strikes Posted: 10 Sep 2013 06:33 AM PDT Scientists have developed a valuable tool to help determine how lightning is spawned, to map strikes and to better predict severe weather.

The real reason to worry about bees Posted: 10 Sep 2013 06:33 AM PDT Honey bees should be on everyone's worry list, and not because of the risk of a nasty sting, an expert on the health of those beneficial insects. Despite years of intensive research, scientists do not understand the cause, nor can they provide remedies, for what is killing honey bees.

Ants turn unwelcome lodgers into a useful standing army Posted: 09 Sep 2013 02:22 PM PDT Mercenary soldiers are notoriously unreliable because their loyalty is as thin as the banknotes they get paid, and they may turn against their employers before moving on to the next dirty job. Not so in fungus-farming ants, where a new study reports that permanent parasites that are normally a chronic social burden protect their hosts against a greater evil.

Effects of climate change on West Nile virus Posted: 09 Sep 2013 02:21 PM PDT Projections of how climate change may affect the populations of West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes across the southern United States over the coming 40 years have been recently developed. While changes are expected to vary strongly with region, the southern states should expect a general trend toward longer seasons of activity and smaller midsummer populations.

New weapons on the way to battle wicked weeds Posted: 09 Sep 2013 06:23 AM PDT A somber picture of the struggle against super-weeds emerged today as scientists described the relentless spread of herbicide-resistant menaces like pigweed and horseweed that shrug off powerful herbicides and have forced farmers in some areas to return to hand-held hoes.

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