ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

---

• Pressure cell for reproducing deep-Earth chemistry
• Contributing factors to groundwater table declines identified
• NASA’s high-flying laser altimeter to check out summer sea ice and more
• Obesity alone does not cause arthritis in animals
• Baboons groom early in day to get benefits later
• Growing up on livestock farm halves risk of inflammatory bowel diseases
• Precipitation, not warming temperatures, may be key in bird adaptation to climate change
• 3-D technology used to help California condors, other endangered species
• 'Tailored' water: the latest in lawn care
• Head formation of clawed frog embryos
• Biodegradable paper covers as replacement for plastics opens up bio-economy market for horticulture
• Omega 3 fatty acids lessen severity of osteoarthritis in mice
• Potent spider toxin 'electrocutes' German, not American, cockroaches
• Scorpions are master architects, according to new research
• Control strategy for Dengue, malaria increases risk of West Nile virus
• Significant harmful algal bloom predicted in western Lake Erie this summer
• Ocean's most abundant organisms have clear daily cycles
• Potential new target for antibiotics against E. coli, other bugs
• In the gut, immunity is a two-way street: Complex role of gut bacteria

Pressure cell for reproducing deep-Earth chemistry Posted: 11 Jul 2014 12:33 PM PDT A new pressure cell makes it possible to simulate chemical reactions deep in the Earth's crust. The device could allow insights into deep-Earth chemistry and carbon cycling, 'fracking' and nuclear waste disposal.

Contributing factors to groundwater table declines identified Posted: 11 Jul 2014 12:31 PM PDT It's no secret groundwater levels have declined across the state of Texas over the past eight decades, and that the primary reason was the onset of irrigation in agriculture and population growth. But a recent study has identified other factors having an impact.

NASA’s high-flying laser altimeter to check out summer sea ice and more Posted: 11 Jul 2014 09:54 AM PDT Sea ice in summer looks dramatically different than sea ice in winter, even in the polar Arctic. Summer snowmelt, pools of water on thinning ice and exposed ocean replace vast winter expanses of white snow-covered ice -- and this weekend NASA's high-flying laser altimeter begins a campaign to investigate these features.

Obesity alone does not cause arthritis in animals Posted: 11 Jul 2014 07:15 AM PDT The link between obesity and osteoarthritis may be more than just the wear and tear on the skeleton caused by added weight. A new study has found that the absence of the appetite hormone leptin can determine whether obese mice experience arthritis, no matter how heavy they are.

Baboons groom early in day to get benefits later Posted: 11 Jul 2014 07:13 AM PDT Social animals often develop relationships with other group members to reduce aggression and gain access to scarce resources. In wild chacma baboons the strategy for grooming activities shows a certain pattern across the day. new insights highlight the importance of understanding the full range of time periods over which social strategies may be optimized. Such knowledge is crucial when studying the social behavior and strategies of group-living animals.

Growing up on livestock farm halves risk of inflammatory bowel diseases Posted: 11 Jul 2014 07:13 AM PDT The incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases is rising sharply -- particularly among young people. However, new research indicates that growing up on a livestock farm may have a protective effect. "It is extremely exciting that we can now see that not only allergic diseases, but also more classic inflammatory diseases appear to depend on the environment we are exposed to early in our lives," says one expert.

Precipitation, not warming temperatures, may be key in bird adaptation to climate change Posted: 11 Jul 2014 06:22 AM PDT A new model analyzing how birds in western North America will respond to climate change suggests that for most species, regional warming is not as likely to influence population trends as will precipitation changes. "In general, our study suggests that if climate change results in winters with less precipitation, we likely will see a spring drying effect," one researcher said. "This means that populations of drought-tolerant species will expand and birds that rely heavily on moisture should decline."

3-D technology used to help California condors, other endangered species Posted: 11 Jul 2014 06:22 AM PDT A novel methodology that, for the first time, combines 3-D and advanced range estimator technologies to provide highly detailed data on the range and movements of terrestrial, aquatic, and avian wildlife species has been developed by researchers. One aspect of the study focused on learning more about the range and movements of the California condor using miniaturized GPS biotelemetry units attached to every condor released into the wild.

'Tailored' water: the latest in lawn care Posted: 11 Jul 2014 06:21 AM PDT 'Fertigation,' drip irrigation and decentralized water treatment are new keys to a lush, green, sustainable lawn, researchers report. Their vision: a decentralized treatment system at a city's subdivision would be "tailored" to generate effluent during the summer that contained 15 parts per million (ppm) of the nutrient nitrate. Residents would then use this water to fertigate their lawns. Because drip systems put water directly into the soil homeowners wouldn't come in contact with it.

Head formation of clawed frog embryos Posted: 11 Jul 2014 06:19 AM PDT A key mechanism in the formation of the head in frogs has been explained by researchers. Previous studies had reported genes involved in head development. However, it still remained unclear how those genes interact with each other for head formation as a whole. By employing Next-Generation sequencing techniques, which provide scientists with massive amounts of DNA sequence data, this study has uncovered a genetic mechanism underlying head formation, which is one of the most important processes in animal development.

Biodegradable paper covers as replacement for plastics opens up bio-economy market for horticulture Posted: 11 Jul 2014 06:19 AM PDT Global vegetable production currently depends on plastics: approximately 15 million hectares of agricultural land are covered under black horticultural plastics. While alternatives to the plastic cover have been under development for several years, it is only now that a new biodegradable cover, suitable for both professional and subsistence farms, is entering the market.

Omega 3 fatty acids lessen severity of osteoarthritis in mice Posted: 11 Jul 2014 06:18 AM PDT Mice consuming a supplement of omega 3 fatty acids had healthier joints than those fed diets high in saturated fats and omega 6 fatty acids, according to researchers. "Our results suggest that dietary factors play a more significant role than mechanical factors in the link between obesity and osteoarthritis," said the study's senior author.

Potent spider toxin 'electrocutes' German, not American, cockroaches Posted: 11 Jul 2014 06:18 AM PDT Using spider toxins to study the proteins that let nerve cells send out electrical signals, researchers say they have stumbled upon a biological tactic that may offer a new way to protect crops from insect plagues in a safe and environmentally responsible way.

Scorpions are master architects, according to new research Posted: 10 Jul 2014 01:15 PM PDT The burrows made by scorpions follow a very sophisticated design, beginning with a short, vertical entrance shaft that flattened out a few centimeters below the surface into a horizontal platform, new research has found. The burrows then turn sharply downwards, descending further below ground to form a dead-end chamber. This cool, humid chamber, where evaporation water loss is minimal, provides a refuge for the scorpions to rest during the heat of the day.

Control strategy for Dengue, malaria increases risk of West Nile virus Posted: 10 Jul 2014 11:16 AM PDT Mosquitoes infected with the bacteria Wolbachia are more likely to become infected with West Nile virus and more likely to transmit the virus to humans, according to a team of researchers. "This is the first study to demonstrate that Wolbachia can enhance a human pathogen in a mosquito," one researcher said. "The results suggest that caution should be used when releasing Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes into nature to control vector-borne diseases of humans."

Significant harmful algal bloom predicted in western Lake Erie this summer Posted: 10 Jul 2014 11:15 AM PDT NOAA and its research partners predict that western Lake Erie will have a significant bloom of cyanobacteria, a toxic blue-green algae, during the 2014 bloom season in late summer. However, the predicted bloom is expected to be smaller than last year's intense bloom, and considerably less than the record-setting 2011 bloom. Bloom impacts will vary across the lake's western basin and are classified by an estimate of both its concentration and how far it spreads.

Ocean's most abundant organisms have clear daily cycles Posted: 10 Jul 2014 11:15 AM PDT In every drop of ocean water, hundreds of types of bacteria can be found. Now scientists have discovered that communities of these ocean microbes have their own daily cycles -- not unlike the residents of a bustling city who tend to wake up, commute, work, and eat at the same times. What's more, it's not all about the sun. These bacteria have been observed turning on diel cycling genes at slightly different times -— suggesting a wave of transcriptional activity that passes through the microbial community each day.

Potential new target for antibiotics against E. coli, other bugs Posted: 10 Jul 2014 11:13 AM PDT Scientists have identified a protein that is essential to the survival of E. coli bacteria, and consider the protein a potential new target for antibiotics. E. coli is part of the gram-negative family of bacteria, characterized by having an extra membrane, called the outer membrane, that reduces the chances for a drug to penetrate the cell to kill it. Inhibiting this protein, however, would require getting past just one of the two membranes, meaning it could be an attractive new target for antibiotics in this age of resistant pathogens.

In the gut, immunity is a two-way street: Complex role of gut bacteria Posted: 10 Jul 2014 10:06 AM PDT In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that many diseases are triggered or maintained by changes in bacterial communities in the gut. However, the general view up to now has been rather simple: bacteria stimulate the immune system, leading to inflammation or autoimmune disorders in a single direction. Now scientists have painted a more complex picture: the gut immune system does not simply prevent the influx of pathogens, but is actively involved in the maintenance of a rich and healthy community of gut bacteria.

You are subscribed to email updates from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610