ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Two-in-one device uses sewage as fuel to make electricity and clean the sewage
• New layer of genetic information helps determine how fast proteins are produced
• 'Lucy' lived among close cousins: Discovery of foot fossil confirms two human ancestor species co-existed
• Fossil raindrop impressions imply greenhouse gases loaded early atmosphere
• Making the most of colostrum
• Circle hooks lower catch rate for offshore anglers, impacting recreational fishing
• Locating solid, experimental data about protein interactions
• Viral disease -- particularly from herpes -- gaining interest as possible cause of coral decline
• How to save Europe's most threatened butterflies
• Exploding dinosaur hypothesis implodes
• Odd lipid out may illuminate evolution
• DNA traces cattle back to a small herd domesticated around 10,500 years ago

Two-in-one device uses sewage as fuel to make electricity and clean the sewage Posted: 28 Mar 2012 05:36 PM PDT Scientists have described a new and more efficient version of an innovative device the size of a washing machine that uses bacteria growing in municipal sewage to make electricity and clean up the sewage at the same time. Commercial versions of the two-in-one device could be a boon for the developing world and water-short parts of the U.S.

New layer of genetic information helps determine how fast proteins are produced Posted: 28 Mar 2012 11:28 AM PDT A hidden and never before recognized layer of information in the genetic code has been uncovered by a team of scientists, thanks to a new technique called ribosome profiling, which enables the measurement of gene activity inside living cells.

'Lucy' lived among close cousins: Discovery of foot fossil confirms two human ancestor species co-existed Posted: 28 Mar 2012 10:59 AM PDT Scientists have found a 3.4 million-year-old partial foot fossil in the Afar region of Ethiopia, showing that "Lucy," Australopithecus afarensis, and a much different-looking early hominin lived in the area at the same time.

Fossil raindrop impressions imply greenhouse gases loaded early atmosphere Posted: 28 Mar 2012 10:59 AM PDT Evidence from fossilized raindrop impressions from 2.7 billion years ago indicates that an abundance of greenhouse gases most likely caused the warm temperatures on ancient Earth.

Making the most of colostrum Posted: 28 Mar 2012 09:28 AM PDT Acquisition of sufficient immunoglobulins from colostrum immediately after birth is the single most important factor in ensuring the health and productivity of the calf.

Circle hooks lower catch rate for offshore anglers, impacting recreational fishing Posted: 28 Mar 2012 08:33 AM PDT Anglers are required to use circle hooks in some fishing tournaments because they are less likely to cause lethal injuries in billfish, such as marlin. However, new research shows that broadening circle hook requirements could adversely impact charter and recreational fishing, since they make it more difficult to catch non-billfish.

Locating solid, experimental data about protein interactions Posted: 28 Mar 2012 07:43 AM PDT A new service makes it simple to find solid, experimental data about protein interactions. A new non-redundant experimental dataset will make it much easier for researchers to understand the complex set of protein interactions in cells.

Viral disease -- particularly from herpes -- gaining interest as possible cause of coral decline Posted: 28 Mar 2012 06:09 AM PDT As corals continue to decline in abundance around the world, researchers are turning their attention to a possible cause that's almost totally unexplored -- viral disease. It appears that corals harbor many different viruses -- particularly herpes. They also are home to the adenoviruses and other viral families that can cause human colds and gastrointestinal disease.

How to save Europe's most threatened butterflies Posted: 28 Mar 2012 06:08 AM PDT New guidelines on how to save some of Europe's most threatened butterfly species have now been published. The report covers 29 threatened species. The new report will provide crucial information on how to achieve this goal and meet their international biodiversity targets.

Exploding dinosaur hypothesis implodes Posted: 28 Mar 2012 06:08 AM PDT A pregnant ichthyosaur female that perished 182 million years ago puzzled researchers for quite some time: The skeleton of the extinct marine reptile is almost immaculately preserved and the fossilized bones of the mother animal lie largely in their anatomical position. The bones of the ichthyosaur embryos, however, are a different story: For the most part, they lie scattered outside the body of the mother. Such peculiar bone arrangements are repeatedly found in ichthyosaur skeletons. According to the broadly accepted scientific doctrine, this is the result of exploding carcasses: Putrefaction gases produced during the decomposition process cause the carcass to swell and burst. However, sedimentologists, paleontologists and forensic scientists have now managed to dispel the myth of exploding dinosaur carcasses.

Odd lipid out may illuminate evolution Posted: 28 Mar 2012 06:06 AM PDT Spectroscopic evidence for the unusual handedness of a mammalian lipid may advance our understanding of evolution.

DNA traces cattle back to a small herd domesticated around 10,500 years ago Posted: 27 Mar 2012 09:42 AM PDT All cattle are descended from as few as 80 animals that were domesticated from wild ox in the Near East some 10,500 years ago, according to a new genetic study.

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