ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Pico-world of molecular bioscavengers, mops and sponges being designed
• Novel method to identify suitable new homes for animals under threat from climate change
• Blue-green algae a five-tool player in converting waste to fuel
• Relationship between landscape simplification and insecticide use explored
• Scientists confirm existence of largest single volcano on earth
• Beneath Earth's surface, scientists find long 'fingers' of heat
• Protecting 17 percent of Earth's land could save two-thirds of plant species
• Deep-ocean carbon sinks: Basic research on dark ocean microorganisms
• Overgrazing turning parts of Mongolian Steppe into desert
• Female tiger sharks migrate from Northwestern to Main Hawaiian Islands during fall pupping season
• Clues in coral bleaching mystery
• Global warming has increased risk of record heat
• Back from the ice: Research team returns from Fram Strait
• Pest-eating birds mean money for coffee growers
• Hydraulic fracturing in Michigan investigated
• Rising reuse of wastewater in forecast but world lacks data on 'massive potential resource'
• Splitting pollen to view internal wall
• Religious leaders can be key to biological diversity
• New insight into how Cheetahs catch their prey
• Brown algae reveal antioxidant production secrets
• Rare earth metal essential element for methane-munching acid-volcano microbe
• Wetlands could be key in revitalizing acid streams
• Northeastern US forests transformed by human activity over 400 years
• Almost 20 percent of grain in China lost or wasted from field to fork

Pico-world of molecular bioscavengers, mops and sponges being designed Posted: 05 Sep 2013 05:30 PM PDT A new world of molecular bioscavengers, sponges and mops is now closer. A computer-design method has enabled scientists to build proteins that can recognize and interact with small molecules. The proteins can also be reprogrammed to detect and unite with related substances, such as different forms of steroids. The method might also become a way to give organisms new tools to perform biological tasks.

Novel method to identify suitable new homes for animals under threat from climate change Posted: 05 Sep 2013 05:30 PM PDT Scientists have devised a novel method to identify suitable new homes for animals under threat from climate change. Almost half of all bird and amphibian species are believed to be highly vulnerable to extinction from climate change.

Blue-green algae a five-tool player in converting waste to fuel Posted: 05 Sep 2013 01:05 PM PDT Scientists are working with Synechocystis 6803 -- as well as other microbes and systems -- in the areas of synthetic biology, protein engineering and metabolic engineering, with special focus on synthetic control systems to make the organism reach its untapped prowess. They say the biotech world has to overcome several challenges to put the engineered microbes in the applications stage.

Relationship between landscape simplification and insecticide use explored Posted: 05 Sep 2013 11:28 AM PDT A new study that analyzed US Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture data spanning two decades (1987-2007) shows that the statistical magnitude, existence, and direction of the relationship between landscape simplification -- a term used for the conversion of natural habitat to cropland -- and insecticide use varies enormously year to year.

Scientists confirm existence of largest single volcano on earth Posted: 05 Sep 2013 11:28 AM PDT Scientists have uncovered the largest single volcano yet documented on Earth. Covering an area roughly equivalent to the British Isles or the state of New Mexico, this volcano, dubbed the Tamu Massif, is nearly as big as the giant volcanoes of Mars, placing it among the largest in the Solar System.

Beneath Earth's surface, scientists find long 'fingers' of heat Posted: 05 Sep 2013 11:28 AM PDT Scientists seeking to understand the forces at work beneath the surface of the Earth have used seismic waves to detect previously unknown "fingers" of heat, some of them thousands of miles long, in Earth's upper mantle. Their discovery helps explain the "hotspot volcanoes" that give birth to island chains such as Hawai'i and Tahiti.

Protecting 17 percent of Earth's land could save two-thirds of plant species Posted: 05 Sep 2013 11:28 AM PDT Protecting key regions that comprise just 17 percent of Earth's land may help preserve more than two-thirds of its plant species, according to a scientists.

Deep-ocean carbon sinks: Basic research on dark ocean microorganisms Posted: 05 Sep 2013 10:41 AM PDT Although microbes that live in the so-called "dark ocean"-- below a depth of some 600 feet where light doesn't penetrate -- may not absorb enough carbon to curtail global warming, they do absorb considerable amounts of carbon and merit further study, according to a study.

Overgrazing turning parts of Mongolian Steppe into desert Posted: 05 Sep 2013 10:40 AM PDT Overgrazing by millions of sheep and goats is the primary cause of degraded land in the Mongolian Steppe, one of the largest remaining grassland ecosystems in the world, researchers say in a new report. The degraded land holds implications both for local food production and global climate.

Female tiger sharks migrate from Northwestern to Main Hawaiian Islands during fall pupping season Posted: 05 Sep 2013 10:40 AM PDT A quarter of the mature female tiger sharks plying the waters around the remote coral atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands decamp for the populated Main Hawaiian Islands in the late summer and fall, swimming as far as 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) according to new research.

Clues in coral bleaching mystery Posted: 05 Sep 2013 10:40 AM PDT Coral reefs are tremendously important for ocean biodiversity. Unfortunately they have been in great decline in recent years, much of it due to the effects of global climate change. One such effect, called bleaching, occurs when the symbiotic algae that are essential for providing nutrients to the coral either lose their identifying photosynthetic pigmentation and their ability to perform photosynthesis or disappear entirely from the coral's tissue. Without a healthy population of these algae, the coral cannot survive.

Global warming has increased risk of record heat Posted: 05 Sep 2013 08:36 AM PDT Researchers calculate that intense heat like that in the summer of 2012 is up to four times more likely to occur now than in pre-industrial America, when there was much less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Back from the ice: Research team returns from Fram Strait Posted: 05 Sep 2013 08:21 AM PDT They rammed through ice ridges, took 360-degree pictures of the ice, tracked the movement of icebergs and measured the underwater sounds of an icebreaker crunching through an ice ridge. Those were just a few of the many research objectives achieved by a multinational team of 33 researchers who have just completed a two-week cruise in the icy waters off northeast Greenland.

Pest-eating birds mean money for coffee growers Posted: 05 Sep 2013 07:19 AM PDT This is the first time scientists have assigned a monetary value to the pest-control benefits rainforest birds can provide to agriculture. Their study could provide the framework for pest management that helps both farmers and biodiversity.

Hydraulic fracturing in Michigan investigated Posted: 05 Sep 2013 07:17 AM PDT Researchers have just released seven technical reports that together form the most comprehensive Michigan-focused resource on hydraulic fracturing, the controversial natural gas and oil extraction process commonly known as fracking.

Rising reuse of wastewater in forecast but world lacks data on 'massive potential resource' Posted: 05 Sep 2013 05:59 AM PDT Amid growing competition for freshwater from industry and cities, coupled with a rising world shortage of potash, nitrogen and phosphorus, an international study predicts a rapid increase in the use of treated wastewater for farming and other purposes worldwide. However, research shows that treated wastewater -- comparable in North America alone to the volume of water flowing over Niagara Falls -- is mostly unused and, in many nations, not even quantified or data is badly outdated.

Splitting pollen to view internal wall Posted: 05 Sep 2013 05:57 AM PDT Researchers have cut sections through pollen grains and make it possible to view a three dimensional image of the internal wall. This positions them to determine how the characteristics of the internal wall help to classify plants of particular interest.

Religious leaders can be key to biological diversity Posted: 05 Sep 2013 05:56 AM PDT Leaders of the major world religions can play a key role in preserving biological diversity. A new study indicates that if the world's religious leaders wished to bring about a change, they would be ideally positioned to do so.

New insight into how Cheetahs catch their prey Posted: 05 Sep 2013 05:56 AM PDT A new research study has revealed that the cheetah, the world's fastest land animal, matches and may even anticipate the escape tactics of different prey when hunting, rather than just relying on its speed and agility as previously thought.

Brown algae reveal antioxidant production secrets Posted: 05 Sep 2013 05:56 AM PDT Brown algae contain phlorotannins, aromatic (phenolic) compounds that are unique in the plant kingdom. As natural antioxidants, phlorotannins are of great interest for the treatment and prevention of cancer and inflammatory, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers have recently elucidated the key step in the production of these compounds in Ectocarpus siliculosus, a small brown alga model species. The study also revealed the specific mechanism of an enzyme that synthesizes phenolic compounds with commercial applications.

Rare earth metal essential element for methane-munching acid-volcano microbe Posted: 05 Sep 2013 05:56 AM PDT Microbiologists have shown that the rare earth metal Cerium is essential for the methane-oxidizing bacteria, which they discovered in 2007 in an Italian hot, acid volcanic mudpot. It is the first time that a rare earth metal is identified as a condition for life.

Wetlands could be key in revitalizing acid streams Posted: 04 Sep 2013 05:58 PM PDT A team of biologists working with stream samples from the Adirondack Forest Preserve in New York says watershed wetlands can serve as a natural source for the improvement of streams in the Adirondacks that have been polluted by acid rain.

Northeastern US forests transformed by human activity over 400 years Posted: 04 Sep 2013 05:41 PM PDT Forests in the northeastern US have been radically transformed over the last four centuries by human activity, and their relationship with climate factors like rainfall weakened.

Almost 20 percent of grain in China lost or wasted from field to fork Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:03 AM PDT A comprehensive new review of food waste in the People's Republic of China has concluded that about 19 of every 100 pounds of grain produced in the country go to waste, with related losses of water for irrigation and farmland productivity.

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