ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Lower Rio Grande Basin study shows shortfall in future water supply
• A roly-poly pika gathers much moss: High-fiber salad bar may help lagomorphs survive climate change
• Hack the planet? Geoengineering research, ethics, governance explored
• Significant advance reported with genetically modified poplar trees
• Rainforest rodents risk their lives to eat
• Economically valuable sweet-gum trees: Taxonomy and nine new combinations
• Uranium (IV) found to be mobile in a natural wetland
• Bonobos stay young longer: Unlike humans and chimpanzees, bonobos retain elevated thyroid hormones well into adulthood
• Fungal pathogen shows profound effects from spaceflight
• Infrared sheds light on single protein complexes
• Radioactivity muddles alphabet of DNA
• Discovery of 'teen gene' could hold promise for combating severe mental illnesses
• Epidemic of escherichia coli infections traced to one strain of bacteria
• New control pathways in synthesis of plant chemical defences
• Ancestor of snakes, lizards likely gave birth to live young
• Regenerative medicine: New tool for transplanting stem cells
• Loggerhead sea turtle nesting activity driven by recent climate conditions
• New global study reveals how diet and digestion in cows, chickens and pigs drives climate change 'hoofprint'
• Climate change puts 40% more people at risk of absolute water scarcity, study says
• Assessing the impact of climate change on a global scale
• Drought and climate change: an uncertain future?
• Big step for cell reprogramming
• Work with Brazilian citrus greening genome could aid Florida industry

Lower Rio Grande Basin study shows shortfall in future water supply Posted: 17 Dec 2013 02:10 PM PST Reclamation released the Lower Rio Grande Basin Study that evaluated the impacts of climate change on water demand and supply imbalances along the Rio Grande from Fort Quitman, Tex., to the Gulf of Mexico. As a result of climate change, a projected 86,438 acre-feet of water per year will need to be added to the 592,084 acre-feet per year of supply shortfall predicted in the existing regional planning process in 2060.

A roly-poly pika gathers much moss: High-fiber salad bar may help lagomorphs survive climate change Posted: 17 Dec 2013 02:08 PM PST In some mountain ranges, Earth's warming climate is driving rabbit relatives known as pikas to higher elevations or wiping them out. But biologists discovered that roly-poly pikas living in rockslides near sea level in Oregon can survive hot weather by eating more moss than any other mammal.

Hack the planet? Geoengineering research, ethics, governance explored Posted: 17 Dec 2013 12:53 PM PST Experts have described the proposed Oxford Principles to govern geoengineering research and surveyed the technical hurdles, ethics and regulatory issues related to deliberately manipulating the planet's climate.

Significant advance reported with genetically modified poplar trees Posted: 17 Dec 2013 10:47 AM PST Forest geneticists have created genetically modified poplar trees that grow faster, have resistance to insect pests and are able to retain expression of the inserted genes for at least 14 years, a report has just announced.

Rainforest rodents risk their lives to eat Posted: 17 Dec 2013 09:40 AM PST Hungry rodents that wake up early are much more likely to be eaten by ocelots than rodents getting plenty of food and shut-eye, according to new results.

Economically valuable sweet-gum trees: Taxonomy and nine new combinations Posted: 17 Dec 2013 09:39 AM PST Trees in the sweet-gum family Altingiaceae are well-known for their quality timber, use as ornamentals, the source of styrax, and from Chinese medicine. The three previously recognized genera Liquidambar, Altingia and Semiliquidambar have been puzzling botanists for a while due to the morphological similarities between the different genera, which makes their separation and description a challenge. A new taxonomic synopsis provides a new analysis including nine new combinations.

Uranium (IV) found to be mobile in a natural wetland Posted: 17 Dec 2013 09:39 AM PST Researchers studying a natural wetland near a decommissioned uranium mine in Limousin, France, have shown that under certain circumstances the uranium present in the wetland could be more mobile than previously believed.

Bonobos stay young longer: Unlike humans and chimpanzees, bonobos retain elevated thyroid hormones well into adulthood Posted: 17 Dec 2013 09:38 AM PST Despite the fact that chimpanzees and bonobos share similar starting conditions at birth, they develop different behavioral patterns later in life. These differences might be caused by different hormone levels.

Fungal pathogen shows profound effects from spaceflight Posted: 17 Dec 2013 07:45 AM PST In a new study, the first global gene expression profiling and phenotypic characterization of a fungal pathogen during spaceflight is revealed.

Infrared sheds light on single protein complexes Posted: 17 Dec 2013 07:42 AM PST Nanoscience researchers employ nano-FTIR spectroscopy for label-free chemical and structural imaging of proteins with nanoscale spatial resolution and with sensitivity to single protein complexes of less than one attogram (10-18 gram), and discuss these results in a recently published article.

Radioactivity muddles alphabet of DNA Posted: 17 Dec 2013 07:42 AM PST Researchers have shown natural radioactivity within DNA can alter chemical compounds, providing a new pathway for genetic mutation. The research for the first time looked at natural radioactivity within human DNA on the atomic-scale. While radioactivity occurs naturally in our bodies as well as in every living organism across the planet, it was never before thought to affect our DNA in such a direct way.

Discovery of 'teen gene' could hold promise for combating severe mental illnesses Posted: 17 Dec 2013 07:42 AM PST Researchers have isolated a gene, DCC, which is responsible for dopamine connectivity in the medial prefrontal cortex during adolescence. Working with mice models, they have shown that dysfunction of this gene during adolescence has behavioral consequences which carry into adulthood.

Epidemic of escherichia coli infections traced to one strain of bacteria Posted: 17 Dec 2013 07:41 AM PST In the past decade, a single strain of Escherichia coli, or E. coli, has become the main cause of bacterial infections in women and the elderly by invading the bladder and kidneys, according to a new study.

New control pathways in synthesis of plant chemical defences Posted: 17 Dec 2013 05:52 AM PST A scientific study reveals a new mechanism to control saponin biosynthesis. Saponins are essential in the adaptation of many plants to the environment and have high biomedical and industrial interest.

Ancestor of snakes, lizards likely gave birth to live young Posted: 17 Dec 2013 05:49 AM PST The ancestor of snakes and lizards likely gave birth to live young, rather than laid eggs, and over time species have switched back and forth in their preferred reproductive mode, according to new research.

Regenerative medicine: New tool for transplanting stem cells Posted: 16 Dec 2013 03:36 PM PST Researchers have developed a specialized catheter for transplanting stem cells into the beating heart. The novel device includes a curved needle and graded openings along the needle shaft, allowing for increased distribution of cells. The result is maximized retention of stem cells to repair the heart.

Loggerhead sea turtle nesting activity driven by recent climate conditions Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:50 PM PST New research indicates that for loggerhead sea turtles in the Northwest Atlantic, the number of returning nesting females in the population and favorable climate conditions in the year or two prior to the nesting year are strongly related to the number of nests produced by these animals in a given year. Also, in what may be good news for loggerheads, nesting increases since 2008 may be a recovery response in this threatened population.

New global study reveals how diet and digestion in cows, chickens and pigs drives climate change 'hoofprint' Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:49 PM PST The resources required to raise livestock and the impacts of farm animals on environments vary dramatically depending on the animal, the type of food it provides, the kind of feed it consumes and where it lives, according to a new study that offers the most detailed portrait to date of "livestock ecosystems" in different parts of the world.

Climate change puts 40% more people at risk of absolute water scarcity, study says Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:48 PM PST Water scarcity impacts people's lives in many countries already today. Future population growth will increase the demand for freshwater even further. Yet in addition to this, on the supply side, water resources will be affected by projected changes in rainfall and evaporation. Climate change due to unabated greenhouse-gas emissions within our century is likely to put 40 percent more people at risk of absolute water scarcity than would be without climate change, a new study shows.

Assessing the impact of climate change on a global scale Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:44 PM PST Thirty research teams in 12 different countries have systematically compared state-of-the-art computer simulations of climate change impact to assess how climate change might influence global drought, water scarcity and river flooding in the future.

Drought and climate change: an uncertain future? Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:44 PM PST Drought frequency may increase by more than 20% in some regions of the globe by the end of the 21st century, but it is difficult to be more precise as we don't know yet how changes in climate will impact on the world's rivers.

Big step for cell reprogramming Posted: 15 Dec 2013 01:07 PM PST A group of researchers has discovered a faster and more efficient mechanism for reprogramming induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). The discovery decreases the time needed for cell reprogramming from a couple of weeks to a few days and reveals new information on the reprogramming process for iPS cells and their potential medical applications.

Work with Brazilian citrus greening genome could aid Florida industry Posted: 12 Dec 2013 11:19 AM PST Scientists have mapped a new strain of the citrus greening genome in Brazil.

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