ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Ice-loss moves the Earth 250 miles down
• Galectins direct immunity against bacteria that employ camouflage
• Ocean winds keep Antarctica cold, Australia dry
• Hydrologists find Mississippi River network's buffering system for nitrates is overwhelmed
• Sustainability needs link between theory, practice in education
• Grape skin extract may soon be answer to treating diabetes
• Salt needed: Tolerance lessons from a dead sea fungus
• Threats seen to 3 billion birds in vast Canadian forest
• Few women at high-risk for hereditary breast, ovarian cancer receive genetic counseling
• New genomics technique could improve treatment, control of malaria
• Using genetics to measure environmental impact of salmon farming

Ice-loss moves the Earth 250 miles down Posted: 11 May 2014 06:48 PM PDT Scientists have revealed that Earth's mantle under Antarctica is at a lower viscosity and moving at such a rapid rate it is changing the shape of the land at a rate that can be recorded by GPS. They have explained for the first time why the upward motion of Earth's crust in the Northern Antarctic Peninsula is currently taking place so quickly.

Galectins direct immunity against bacteria that employ camouflage Posted: 11 May 2014 01:55 PM PDT Our bodies produce a family of proteins that recognize and kill bacteria whose carbohydrate coatings resemble those of our own cells too closely. Called galectins, these proteins recognize carbohydrates from a broad range of disease-causing bacteria, and could potentially be deployed as antibiotics to treat certain infections.

Ocean winds keep Antarctica cold, Australia dry Posted: 11 May 2014 01:55 PM PDT New research has explained why Antarctica is not warming as much as other continents, and why southern Australia is recording more droughts. Researchers have found rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are strengthening the stormy Southern Ocean winds which deliver rain to southern Australia, but pushing them further south towards Antarctica.

Hydrologists find Mississippi River network's buffering system for nitrates is overwhelmed Posted: 11 May 2014 01:55 PM PDT A new method of measuring surface water-ground water interaction along the length of the Mississippi River suggests the nitrates causing the Gulf of Mexico dead zone can not be controlled through existing natural filtration systems. The research provides valuable information for water quality efforts, including tracking of nitrogen fertilizers that flow through the river network into the gulf.

Sustainability needs link between theory, practice in education Posted: 09 May 2014 08:03 AM PDT How can you ensure that people do not only spend time thinking about important global issues like climate change or world food supplies, but also roll up their sleeves and do something about them? Researchers think that the education sector holds the key. Teaching processes around the world could be given more influence and meaning by making pure science subjects, such as biology and physics, complementary to lessons in nature, environment and sustainability.

Grape skin extract may soon be answer to treating diabetes Posted: 09 May 2014 08:02 AM PDT The diabetes rate in the United States nearly doubled in the past 10 years. Approximately 26 million Americans are now classified as diabetic, stressing an urgent need for safe and effective complementary strategies to enhance the existing conventional treatment for diabetes.Preliminary studies have demonstrated that grape skin extract (GSE) exerts a novel inhibitory activity on hyperglycemia and could be developed and used to aid in diabetes management.

Salt needed: Tolerance lessons from a dead sea fungus Posted: 09 May 2014 04:45 AM PDT Some organisms thrive in salty environments by lying dormant when salt concentrations are very high. Other organisms need salt to grow. A team of researchers described the genome of a Dead Sea fungus through a new study. Understanding how organisms adapt to extremely salty environments could help improve salt tolerance in crops, laying the groundwork of understanding necessary to grow them in desert and saline environments.

Threats seen to 3 billion birds in vast Canadian forest Posted: 08 May 2014 12:12 PM PDT Industrial encroachment in North America's 1.5 billion-acre boreal forest could endanger billions of birds and other species. A new report calls for saving half of boreal forest acreage to protect the habitat for more than 300 migratory bird species. The northern landscape is beset with oil, gas, mining and other industrial hazards destined for a vast, pristine woodland.

Few women at high-risk for hereditary breast, ovarian cancer receive genetic counseling Posted: 08 May 2014 11:18 AM PDT Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes account for nearly 25 percent of hereditary breast cancers and most hereditary ovarian cancers, yet a study by cancer prevention and control researchers suggests an alarmingly small amount of women who qualify for BRCA genetic counseling actually receive the services. Additionally, they found that a significant proportion of women with a family history of breast and ovarian cancer underestimate their risk.

New genomics technique could improve treatment, control of malaria Posted: 08 May 2014 10:31 AM PDT Single-cell genomics could provide new insight into the biology of Malaria parasites, including their virulence and levels of drug resistance, to ultimately improve treatment and control of the disease, according to new research. Malaria infections commonly contain complex mixtures of Plasmodium parasites which cause the disease. These mixtures, known as multiple genotype infections (MGI's), can alter the impact of the infection due to parasites competing with one another and can drive the spread of drug resistance. MGI's are extremely common in regions with high levels of malaria infection but their biology is poorly understood.

Using genetics to measure environmental impact of salmon farming Posted: 08 May 2014 09:13 AM PDT Determining species diversity makes it possible to estimate the impact of human activity on marine ecosystems accurately. The environmental effects of salmon farming have been assessed, until now, by visually identifying the animals living in the marine sediment samples collected at specific distances from farming sites. A team of researchers analyzed this type of sediment using a technique known as 'DNA barcoding' that targets certain micro-organisms.

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