ScienceDaily: Top Environment News |
- New fossils push the origin of flowering plants back by 100 million years to the early Triassic
- Scientist sniffs out possible new tick species
- Researchers propose new theory to explain seeds of life in asteroids
- Solar power's future brawl
- My dishwasher is trying to kill me: Extreme conditions suit pathogenic fungus
- Probing the secrets of the ryegrasses: A route for synthesis of loline alkaloids
- Understanding soil nitrogen management using synchrotron technology
- Caribou may be indirectly affected by sea-ice loss in the Arctic
- Vikings may have been more social than savage
- Concerns over mercury levels in fish may be unfounded
- New research links individual animal behavior with social spacing
| New fossils push the origin of flowering plants back by 100 million years to the early Triassic Posted: 01 Oct 2013 04:18 PM PDT Drilling cores from Switzerland have revealed the oldest known fossils of the direct ancestors of flowering plants. These beautifully preserved 240-million-year-old pollen grains are evidence that flowering plants evolved 100 million years earlier than previously thought, according to a new study. Flowering plants evolved from extinct plants related to conifers, ginkgos, cycads, and seed ferns. The oldest known fossils from flowering plants are pollen grains. These are small, robust and numerous and therefore fossilize more easily than leaves and flowers. An uninterrupted sequence of fossilized pollen from flowers begins in the Early Cretaceous, approximately 140 million years ago, and it is generally assumed that flowering plants first evolved around that time. But the present study documents flowering plant-like pollen that is 100 million years older, implying that flowering plants may have originated in the Early Triassic (between 252 to 247 million years ago) or even earlier.  |
| Scientist sniffs out possible new tick species Posted: 01 Oct 2013 04:15 PM PDT Kibale National Park is an almost 500-square-mile forest in western Uganda. Here scientists frequently study how infectious diseases spread and evolve in the wild. One scientist returned with a "stow-away" -- a new species of tick.  |
| Researchers propose new theory to explain seeds of life in asteroids Posted: 01 Oct 2013 12:11 PM PDT A new look at the early solar system introduces an alternative to a long-taught, but largely discredited, theory that seeks to explain how biomolecules were once able to form inside of asteroids.  |
| Posted: 01 Oct 2013 11:12 AM PDT Scientists have turned to computer modeling to help decide which of two competing materials should get its day in the sun as the nanoscale energy-harvesting technology of future solar panels -- quantum dots or nanowires.  |
| My dishwasher is trying to kill me: Extreme conditions suit pathogenic fungus Posted: 01 Oct 2013 10:12 AM PDT A potentially pathogenic fungus has found a home living in extreme conditions in some of the most common household appliances, researchers have found. Scientists have shown that these sites make perfect habitats for extremotolerant fungi (which includes black yeasts). Some of these are potentially dangerous to human health.  |
| Probing the secrets of the ryegrasses: A route for synthesis of loline alkaloids Posted: 01 Oct 2013 10:12 AM PDT Loline alkaloids protect plants from attack by insects and have other interesting features that have yet to be studied in detail. Chemists have developed a method for the effective synthesis of these compounds, which will facilitate further investigations in biology and medicine.  |
| Understanding soil nitrogen management using synchrotron technology Posted: 01 Oct 2013 09:40 AM PDT Increasing the organic matter in soils is key to growing crops for numerous reasons, including increased water-holding capacity and improved tilth. Scientists have evaluated the effects of various sources of supplemental nitrogen fertilizer on the chemical composition of soil organic matter.  |
| Caribou may be indirectly affected by sea-ice loss in the Arctic Posted: 01 Oct 2013 08:56 AM PDT Melting sea ice in the Arctic may be leading, indirectly, to lower birth and survival rates for caribou calves in Greenland, according to scientists. They have linked the melting of Arctic sea ice with changes in the timing of plant growth on land, which in turn is associated with population declines in caribou herds.  |
| Vikings may have been more social than savage Posted: 01 Oct 2013 06:13 AM PDT Academics have uncovered complex social networks within age-old Icelandic sagas, which challenge the stereotypical image of Vikings as unworldly, violent savages.  |
| Concerns over mercury levels in fish may be unfounded Posted: 30 Sep 2013 06:17 PM PDT New research suggests that fish accounts for only seven per cent of mercury levels in the human body. Concerns about the negative effects of mercury on fetal development have led to official advice warning against eating too much fish during pregnancy. A new finding suggests that those guidelines may need to be reviewed.  |
| New research links individual animal behavior with social spacing Posted: 30 Sep 2013 12:27 PM PDT Certain animal species are capable of coordinating their spatial behavior to cover terrain by maintaining areas of exclusive use while sharing other regions of space with their neighbors, new research has found.  |
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