ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Boston's leaky pipes release high levels of heat-trapping methane
• Calculating the future of solar-fuel refineries
• New technique helps probe performance of organic solar cell materials
• New technique for producing cheaper solar energy suggested by research
• Unusually elastic protein found by researchers; may have originated in cnidarian elastomer
• Alamo impact crater: New study could double its size
• Telomere extension turns back aging clock in cultured human cells, study finds
• Climate affects development of human speech
• Warming seas decrease sea turtle basking
• Ocean could hold key to predicting recurring extreme winters
• Bad reputation of crows demystified
• Hidden infection shortens life in birds
• Arctic ice cap slides into the ocean
• The language of T lymphocytes deciphered, the 'Rosetta Stone' of the immune system
• Sexually-transmitted diseases: Do multiple partners mean more immunity?
• Sisters act together: Cichlid sisters swim together in order to reach the goal
• Brazil's soy moratorium still needed to preserve Amazon
• Scientists search for new ways to deal with U. S. uranium ore processing legacy

Boston's leaky pipes release high levels of heat-trapping methane Posted: 23 Jan 2015 08:07 AM PST A research team estimates that each year about 15 billion cubic feet of natural gas, worth some $90 million, escapes the Boston region's delivery system. The findings have implications for other regions, especially cities that, like Boston, are older and rely on natural gas for a significant and increasing portion of their energy needs. While policymakers have focused on the production end of the natural gas supply chain--wells, off-shore drilling platforms, and processing plants--much less attention has been paid to the downstream gas delivery infrastructure.

Calculating the future of solar-fuel refineries Posted: 23 Jan 2015 08:07 AM PST A team of engineers has developed a new tool to help engineers better gauge the overall yield, efficiency and costs associated with scaling solar-fuel production processes up into large-scale refineries.

New technique helps probe performance of organic solar cell materials Posted: 23 Jan 2015 08:07 AM PST Researchers have developed a technique for determining the role that a material's structure has on the efficiency of organic solar cells, which are candidates for low-cost, next generation solar power. The researchers used the technique to determine that materials with a highly organized structure at the nanoscale are not more efficient at creating free electrons than poorly organized structures -- a finding which will guide future research and development efforts.

New technique for producing cheaper solar energy suggested by research Posted: 23 Jan 2015 08:07 AM PST Pioneering new research could pave the way for solar energy to be converted into household electricity more cheaply than ever before. The global PV market has experienced rapid growth in recent years due to renewable energy targets and CO2 emission controls.

Unusually elastic protein found by researchers; may have originated in cnidarian elastomer Posted: 23 Jan 2015 08:07 AM PST An unusually elastic protein has been discovered in one of the most ancient groups of animals, the over 600-million-year-old cnidarians. The protein is a part of the "weapons system" that the cnidarians use: a kind of harpoon launched from their body at extremely high speed. The discovery of the hitherto unknown protein in the freshwater polyp Hydra suggests that the molecular mechanism of elasticity could have originated in the cnidarians and evolved to discharge a deadly weapon. Due to the similarity of the protein's amino acid sequence to spidroin of spider silk, the researchers dubbed the elastic protein cnidoin.

Alamo impact crater: New study could double its size Posted: 23 Jan 2015 07:25 AM PST Carbonate rock deposits found within the mountain ranges of south-central Nevada, USA, record evidence of a catastrophic impact event known as the Alamo impact. This event occurred roughly 382 million years ago when the ancient seafloor was struck and a submarine crater was formed. The crater was filled-in with fragmented rock, and later with more typical ocean deposits, as the energy from the impact lessened and the environment returned to normal.

Telomere extension turns back aging clock in cultured human cells, study finds Posted: 23 Jan 2015 07:25 AM PST A new procedure can quickly and efficiently increase the length of human telomeres, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes that are linked to aging and disease, according to scientists.

Climate affects development of human speech Posted: 23 Jan 2015 07:25 AM PST A correlation between climate and the evolution of language has been uncovered by researchers. To find a relationship between the climate and the evolution of language, one needs to discover an association between the environment and vocal sounds that is consistent throughout the world and present in different languages. And that is precisely what a group of researchers has done.

Warming seas decrease sea turtle basking Posted: 23 Jan 2015 07:22 AM PST Green sea turtles may stop basking on beaches around the world within a century due to rising sea temperatures, a new study suggests. Basking helps the turtles regulate body temperature and may aid their immune system and digestion. By analyzing six years of turtle surveys and 24 years of satellite data, researchers have found the turtles bask more often when sea surface temperatures are lower. This vital behavior may cease globally by 2102 if global warming trends continue.

Ocean could hold key to predicting recurring extreme winters Posted: 23 Jan 2015 07:20 AM PST New reserch may help to predict extreme winters across Europe by identifying the set of environmental conditions that are associated with pairs of severe winters across consecutive years. Pairs of extreme winters in Europe have been found to coincide with high pressure over the Arctic and a band of low pressure immediately to the south, a set of atmospheric conditions known as a negative Arctic Oscillation, scientists have observed.

Bad reputation of crows demystified Posted: 23 Jan 2015 05:18 AM PST In literature, crows and ravens are a bad omen and are associated with witches. Most people believe they steal, eat other birds' eggs and reduce the populations of other birds. But a new study, which has brought together over 326 interactions between corvids and their prey, demonstrates that their notoriety is not entirely merited. The study analyzed the impact of six species of corvid on a total of 67 species of bird susceptible to being their prey, among which are game birds and passerine birds.

Hidden infection shortens life in birds Posted: 23 Jan 2015 05:17 AM PST Mild infections without symptoms of illness can still lead to serious consequences by reducing the lifespan of the infected individuals, research shows. A new study has been carried out on malaria-infected migratory birds. The infection is thought to speed up the aging process by shortening the telomeres (i.e., the chromosomes ends) at a faster rate and thereby accelerating senescence.

Arctic ice cap slides into the ocean Posted: 23 Jan 2015 05:17 AM PST Satellite images have revealed that a remote Arctic ice cap has thinned by more than 50 metres since 2012 -- about one sixth of its original thickness -- and that it is now flowing 25 times faster. The findings show that over the last two decades, ice loss from the south-east region of Austfonna, located in the Svalbard archipelago, has increased significantly. In this time, ice flow has accelerated to speeds of several kilometres per year, and ice thinning has spread more than 50km inland -- to within 10km of the summit.

The language of T lymphocytes deciphered, the 'Rosetta Stone' of the immune system Posted: 23 Jan 2015 05:17 AM PST How can our immune system defend us against aggressors so diverse such as viruses, parasites, fungi and tumors? The secret lies in the large number of clones of T and B lymphocytes, each of which expresses a particular specific receptor. Until a few years ago, deciphering the complexity of this vast repertoire was considered impossible. A "Rosetta stone", or a key for decoding, was missing in order to "translate" and understand this "language" in all its complexity.

Sexually-transmitted diseases: Do multiple partners mean more immunity? Posted: 23 Jan 2015 05:17 AM PST It has been assumed that the increased transmission of sexually-transmitted diseases in the case of mating promiscuity is influential in shaping the immune system of mammals. Results of a new study demonstrate that this simple idea does not apply to rodents, and that living circumstances and the environment can be a key factor in determining variation in immune investment among mammals.

Sisters act together: Cichlid sisters swim together in order to reach the goal Posted: 23 Jan 2015 05:17 AM PST The manner and routes of dispersal vary with the species and the ecological conditions. Many fish form shoals to avoid predation. Shoaling with familiar conspecifics affords the fish an even greater advantage by increasing the benefit for relatives. This promotes the continuation and future spread of an individual's own genetic information, scientists report.

Brazil's soy moratorium still needed to preserve Amazon Posted: 23 Jan 2015 05:13 AM PST In a new study to evaluate the Brazilian Soy Moratorium, researchers across the U.S. and Brazil show that the moratorium helped to drastically reduce the amount of deforestation linked to soy production in the region and was much better at curbing it than governmental policy alone.

Scientists search for new ways to deal with U. S. uranium ore processing legacy Posted: 22 Jan 2015 01:59 PM PST Researchers are trying to find out why uranium persists in groundwater at former uranium ore processing sites despite remediation of contaminated surface materials two decades ago. They think buried organic material may be at fault, storing toxic uranium at levels that continue to pose risks to human health and the environment, and hope their study will pave the way for better long-term site management and protection of the public and environment.

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