ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Evolution of birds is result of a drastic change in how dinosaurs developed
• Potentially civilization-ending super-eruptions may have surprisingly short fuses
• Tiny genetic variations led to big changes in the evolving human brain
• Tomato genome gets fully sequenced -- paves way to healthier fruits, veggies
• Landslides linked to plate tectonics create the steepest mountain terrain
• Why Earth is not an ice ball: Possible explanation for faint young sun paradox
• First prehistoric twins discovered in Iberian Peninsula
• Got nectar? To hawkmoths, humidity is a cue
• Arctic bacteria help in the search to find life on Jupiter's moon Europa

Evolution of birds is result of a drastic change in how dinosaurs developed Posted: 30 May 2012 06:21 PM PDT Researchers have found evidence that the evolution of birds is the result of a drastic change in how dinosaurs developed. Scientists have long understood that modern birds descended from dinosaurs. Rather than take years to reach sexual maturity, as many dinosaurs did, birds sped up the clock -- some species take as little as 12 weeks to mature -- allowing them to retain the physical characteristics of baby dinosaurs.

Potentially civilization-ending super-eruptions may have surprisingly short fuses Posted: 30 May 2012 02:20 PM PDT Super-eruptions are potentially civilization-ending events and new research suggests that they may have surprisingly short fuses.

Tiny genetic variations led to big changes in the evolving human brain Posted: 30 May 2012 12:22 PM PDT Changes to just three genetic letters among billions led to evolution and development of the mammalian motor sensory network, and laid the groundwork for the defining characteristics of the human brain, researchers report.

Tomato genome gets fully sequenced -- paves way to healthier fruits, veggies Posted: 30 May 2012 12:21 PM PDT For the first time, the genome of the tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, has been decoded, and it becomes an important step toward improving yield, nutrition, disease resistance, taste and color of the tomato and other crops. The full genome sequence, as well as the sequence of a wild relative, is has just been completed.

Landslides linked to plate tectonics create the steepest mountain terrain Posted: 30 May 2012 12:20 PM PDT New research shows some of the steepest mountain slopes in the world got that way because of the interplay between terrain uplift associated with plate tectonics and powerful streams cutting into hillsides, leading to large landslides.

Why Earth is not an ice ball: Possible explanation for faint young sun paradox Posted: 30 May 2012 12:20 PM PDT More than 2 billion years ago, a much fainter sun should have left the Earth as an orbiting ice ball. Why we avoided the deep freeze is a question that has puzzled scientists, but one astronomer might have an answer.

First prehistoric twins discovered in Iberian Peninsula Posted: 30 May 2012 10:36 AM PDT Researchers in Spain have discovered the remains of newborn twin girls in the archaeological site of Olèrdola in Barcelona. They date back to between the middle of the 4th century B.C. to the beginning of the 2nd century B.C. The findings are the first bone remains of twins to be recorded in the Iberian Peninsula.

Got nectar? To hawkmoths, humidity is a cue Posted: 30 May 2012 07:07 AM PDT Humidity emanating from a flower's nectar stores tells moths if the flower is worth a visit, entomologists have discovered. The study sheds light onto a previously unknown mechanism used by pollinating insects to assess nectar rewards in blooming plants.

Arctic bacteria help in the search to find life on Jupiter's moon Europa Posted: 30 May 2012 07:04 AM PDT In a fjord in Canada, scientists have found a landscape similar to one of Jupiter's icy moons: Europa. It consists of a frozen and sulfurous environment, where sulfur associated with Arctic bacteria offer clues for the upcoming missions in the search for traces of life on Europa.

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