ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• New study highlights key role soil structure plays in water uptake by crops
• RAVAN to help solve an earth science mystery
• Landsat 8 helps unveil the coldest place on Earth
• Europe's rarest orchid rediscovered on 'lost world' volcano in the Azores
• Decoding viral puzzles
• From common colds to deadly lung diseases, one protein plays key role
• Extinction of insects affects water conditions
• Invasive Turkestan cockroach displacing oriental cockroach in southwestern US
• Genetic studies of breast cancer in dogs
• Researchers find forests with bigger potential for carbon credit
• Ice-cold methods decode bacterial infection systems
• Cockroach never seen before in U.S. identified in New York; Can survive freezing temperatures
• Boosting immune system to treat brain cancer
• New insight into the genetic causes of epilepsy

New study highlights key role soil structure plays in water uptake by crops Posted: 10 Dec 2013 04:31 PM PST The increased global consumption of food means that there is an increasing yield gap between crop production and crop usage. To help tackle this issue, a team of scientists has used advanced mathematical modelling techniques to understand the precise role soil structure plays in water uptake.

RAVAN to help solve an earth science mystery Posted: 10 Dec 2013 08:33 AM PST The Radiometer Assessment using Vertically Aligned Nanotubes (RAVAN) satellite, scheduled for launch in 2015, will demonstrate how accurate and wide-ranging measurements of Earth's outgoing radiation can be made with a remarkably small instrument.

Landsat 8 helps unveil the coldest place on Earth Posted: 10 Dec 2013 08:10 AM PST Scientists recently recorded the lowest temperatures on Earth at a desolate and remote ice plateau in East Antarctica, trumping a record set in 1983 and uncovering a new puzzle about the ice-covered continent.

Europe's rarest orchid rediscovered on 'lost world' volcano in the Azores Posted: 10 Dec 2013 04:21 AM PST Researchers studying speciation of butterfly orchids on the Azores have been startled to discover that the answer to a long-debated question "Do the islands support one species or two species?" is actually "three species". Hochstetter's Butterfly-orchid, newly recognized following application of a battery of scientific techniques and reveling in a complex taxonomic history worthy of Sherlock Holmes, is arguably Europe's rarest orchid species. Under threat in its mountain-top retreat, the orchid urgently requires conservation recognition.

Decoding viral puzzles Posted: 10 Dec 2013 04:19 AM PST The genome of viruses is usually enclosed inside a shell called capsid. Capsids have unique mechanic properties: they have to be resistant and at the same time capable of dissolving in order to release the genome into the infected cell. Scientists have coordinated a study on the mechanic properties of viruses that have improved their understanding, so much that they were able to make conjectures on the behavior of still little-known viruses.

From common colds to deadly lung diseases, one protein plays key role Posted: 09 Dec 2013 07:53 AM PST An international team of researchers has zeroed in on a protein that plays a key role in many lung-related ailments, from seasonal coughing and hacking to more serious diseases such as MRSA infections and cystic fibrosis. The finding advances knowledge about this range of illnesses and may point the way to eventually being able to prevent infections such as MRSA. The key protein is called MUC5B.

Extinction of insects affects water conditions Posted: 09 Dec 2013 07:50 AM PST A biologist in Sweden shows in his thesis how important aquatic species richness is to the functioning of stream ecosystems.

Invasive Turkestan cockroach displacing oriental cockroach in southwestern US Posted: 09 Dec 2013 06:25 AM PST A new article describes the biology and life history of the Turkestan cockroach, which is displacing the oriental cockroach in the southwestern United States.

Genetic studies of breast cancer in dogs Posted: 09 Dec 2013 05:56 AM PST Mammary tumours (breast cancer) are the most common form of cancer in female dogs. Now a PhD project has led to the identification of genetic changes associated with these types of tumor. These findings can help to improve our understanding of the development of breast cancer in both dogs and humans.

Researchers find forests with bigger potential for carbon credit Posted: 09 Dec 2013 05:55 AM PST Using satellite images, researchers estimate the quantity of carbon that Mexican forests store and identify the species that best serve as a reservoir. This is relevant because the interest that organizations and enterprises have for giving, as an incentive, economic resources to countries with preserved forest zones (payment scheme of environmental services).

Ice-cold methods decode bacterial infection systems Posted: 09 Dec 2013 05:55 AM PST When attacking body cells, bacteria, such as salmonellae or Yersinia (plague pathogens), inject specific bacterial proteins through hollow, syringe-like structures – called injectisomes – into the host cells. These substances reprogram the cells and can thus overcome their defense. From then on, they can infiltrate the cells unhindered in large numbers, and trigger diseases such as typhus, plague, or cholera.

Cockroach never seen before in U.S. identified in New York; Can survive freezing temperatures Posted: 09 Dec 2013 05:41 AM PST A species of cockroach never found in the United States before has been positively identified in Manhattan. Unlike the roaches that New York residents have known and hated for years, this variety can survive not just indoors where it's warm, but also outdoors in freezing temperatures. The species Periplaneta japonica is well documented in Asia but was never confirmed in the United States until insect biologists documented its presence.

Boosting immune system to treat brain cancer Posted: 08 Dec 2013 10:36 AM PST Researchers have made a discovery that could lead to better treatment for patients suffering from brain cancer. They looked at human brain tumor samples and discovered that specialized immune cells in brain tumor patients are compromised. The researchers took this discovery and, in an animal model, identified a drug that is able to re-activate those immune cells and reduce brain tumor growth, thereby increasing the lifespan of mice two to three times.

New insight into the genetic causes of epilepsy Posted: 08 Dec 2013 06:02 AM PST Scientists screening the DNA of large cohorts for known and suspected epilepsy associated genes are finding that, while some genes are implicated in discrete phenotypes or forms of epilepsy, other genes are implicated in a wider range of phenotypes. Although ion channel genes are a common cause of epilepsy, the researchers also report a significant number of epilepsy patients with mutations in non-ion channel genes. The studies have important implications for treatment, prognosis and risk counseling.

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