ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Math formula leads researchers to source of pollution
• Geoflow: Space station experiments shed light on conditions deep inside Earth
• Eating garbage: Bacteria for bioremediation
• Ozone exposure linked to potential heart attacks
• Greenland ice may exaggerate magnitude of 13,000-year-old deep freeze
• Mercury mineral evolution tied to Supercontinent assembly over last 3 billion years
• Cambodia remains last vulture bastion in Southeast Asia
• Scientists struggle with mathematical details, study by biologists finds
• Biological switch paves way for improved biofuel production
• Lead poisoning blocks recovery of California condor population
• Mystery of the flatfish head solved
• Unraveling the mysteries of exotic superconductors: Magnetism may be responsible for superconductivity in iron-based superconductors
• Study slashes deforestation carbon emission estimate
• Neutrons explain how haemoglobin evolution in red blood cells helped the duck-billed platypus respire
• Fungicide used on farm crops linked to insulin resistance
• Creative individuals travelled to the south Swedish inland 9,000 years ago
• Gut microbes battle a common set of viruses shared by global populations
• Remapping gang turf: Math model used for mapping chimp territories applies
• Better looking birds have more help at home with their chicks
• Complex thinking behind the bow and arrow
• Toxins produced by algae lead to deviant behaviour and changes in brain activity in salmon
• How bacteria change movement direction in response to oxygen: Molecular interactions unravelled
• Scientists detect new immune alert signal
• NASA satellite sees several western U.S. fires blazing

Math formula leads researchers to source of pollution Posted: 25 Jun 2012 05:30 PM PDT The leaking of environmentally damaging pollutants into our waters and atmosphere could soon be counteracted by a simple mathematical algorithm, according to researchers.

Geoflow: Space station experiments shed light on conditions deep inside Earth Posted: 25 Jun 2012 04:25 PM PDT ESA astronaut André Kuipers is running experiments on the International Space Station that are shedding light on conditions deep inside Earth. Orbiting some 400 km above us, Geoflow is offering insights into the inner workings of our planet.

Eating garbage: Bacteria for bioremediation Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:54 PM PDT A 150-foot-high garbage dump in Colombia, South America, may have new life as a public park. Researchers have demonstrated that bacteria found in the dump can be used to neutralize the contaminants in the soil.

Ozone exposure linked to potential heart attacks Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:29 PM PDT Young, healthy adult volunteers exposed for two hours to ozone developed physiological changes associated with cardiovascular ailments, according to a small study.

Greenland ice may exaggerate magnitude of 13,000-year-old deep freeze Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:29 PM PDT Ice samples pulled from nearly a mile below the surface of Greenland glaciers have long served as a historical thermometer, adding temperature data to studies of the local conditions up to the Northern Hemisphere's climate. But the method — comparing the ratio of oxygen isotopes buried as snow fell over millennia — may not be such a straightforward indicator of air temperature.

Mercury mineral evolution tied to Supercontinent assembly over last 3 billion years Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:23 PM PDT Mineral evolution posits that Earth's near-surface mineral diversity gradually increased through an array of chemical and biological processes. A dozen different species in interstellar dust particles that formed the solar system have evolved to more than 4500 species today. New work demonstrates that the creation of most minerals containing mercury is fundamentally linked to several episodes of supercontinent assembly over the last 3 billion years.

Cambodia remains last vulture bastion in Southeast Asia Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:23 PM PDT In face of what has become a precipitous slide toward extinction across the Asian continent, the vultures of Cambodia have persisted, giving conservationists hope that these important scavengers can come back from the brink, according to authors a new study.

Scientists struggle with mathematical details, study by biologists finds Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:04 PM PDT Many people remember struggling with maths at school, but few of us would expect that professional scientists suffer from a similar problem in their daily work. A new study shows that scientists tend to overlook their colleagues' research if it is packed full of mathematical equations.

Biological switch paves way for improved biofuel production Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:04 PM PDT A mechanism that controls the way organisms breathe or photosynthesize has been discovered by scientists. The research could pave the way for improved biofuel production.

Lead poisoning blocks recovery of California condor population Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:04 PM PDT A comprehensive study shows that California condors are continually exposed to harmful levels of lead, the principal source of that lead is ammunition, and lead poisoning from ammunition is preventing the recovery of the condor population.

Mystery of the flatfish head solved Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:03 PM PDT A new discovery describes a fossil fish, named Heteronectes (meaning "different swimmer") that was found in 50 million year old marine rocks from northern Italy. This study provides the first detailed description of a primitive flatfish, revealing that the migrated eye had not yet crossed to the opposite side of the skull in early members of this group.

Unraveling the mysteries of exotic superconductors: Magnetism may be responsible for superconductivity in iron-based superconductors Posted: 25 Jun 2012 09:59 AM PDT Scientists are using specialized techniques to help unravel the mysteries of iron-based superconductors. An international collaboration that magnetism may be helping or even responsible for superconductivity in iron-based superconductors.

Study slashes deforestation carbon emission estimate Posted: 25 Jun 2012 08:30 AM PDT A new study with NASA participation has sharply reduced previous estimates of how much carbon was emitted into Earth's atmosphere from tropical deforestation in the early 2000s.

Neutrons explain how haemoglobin evolution in red blood cells helped the duck-billed platypus respire Posted: 25 Jun 2012 07:09 AM PDT Scientists have explained the evolutionary history of haemoglobin using what might seem an unlikely array of samples. Researchers focused the world's most intense neutrons beams on the oxygen-carrying protein from a human, a duck-billed platypus, a chicken and a salt-water crocodile to explain how it has adapted to different body temperatures within different species.

Fungicide used on farm crops linked to insulin resistance Posted: 25 Jun 2012 07:09 AM PDT A fungicide used on farm crops can induce insulin resistance, a new tissue-culture study finds, providing another piece of evidence linking environmental pollutants to diabetes.

Creative individuals travelled to the south Swedish inland 9,000 years ago Posted: 25 Jun 2012 05:52 AM PDT Despite its good ecologic status, there were no permanent settlements in the south Swedish inland 9,000 years ago. Yet the area was visited by people who wanted to express their individuality and creativity and thereby gain status, new research suggests.

Gut microbes battle a common set of viruses shared by global populations Posted: 25 Jun 2012 03:53 AM PDT The human gut is home to a teeming ecosystem of microbes that is intimately involved in both human health and disease. But while the gut microbiota is interacting with our body, they are also under constant attack from viruses. Researchers have analyzed a bacterial immune system, revealing a common set of viruses associated with gut microbiota in global populations.

Remapping gang turf: Math model used for mapping chimp territories applies Posted: 25 Jun 2012 03:53 AM PDT A mathematical model that has been used for more than 80 years to determine the hunting range of wild animals holds promise for mapping the territories of street gangs, social scientists report. The way gangs break up their neighborhoods into unique territories is a lot like the way lions, chimpanzees or honey bees break up space, according to researchers.

Better looking birds have more help at home with their chicks Posted: 25 Jun 2012 03:47 AM PDT In choosing a mate both males and females rely on visual cues to determine which potential partner will supply the best genes, best nesting site, best territory, and best parenting skills. New research shows that male blue tits' (Cyanistes caeruleus) parental behavior is determined by female ornamentation (ultraviolet coloration of the crown), as predicted by the differential allocation hypothesis (DAH).

Complex thinking behind the bow and arrow Posted: 25 Jun 2012 03:46 AM PDT The bow and arrow have long been regarded as a possible indicator of culture in prehistoric times. Bows and arrows appear to have been in use for some 64,000 years, given evidence from South Africa. Until recently, their significance in human cognitive ability was unclear. Now two researchers have been able to decode the conceptual foundations of the bow and arrow.

Toxins produced by algae lead to deviant behaviour and changes in brain activity in salmon Posted: 25 Jun 2012 03:44 AM PDT Salmon exposed to algal-produced neurotoxins show changes in both their brain activity and general behavior. It has also been found that very small doses of these toxins can have an affect on how salmon relate to other fish. These toxins are some of those that can cause food poisoning in people who eat contaminated mussels.

How bacteria change movement direction in response to oxygen: Molecular interactions unravelled Posted: 25 Jun 2012 03:44 AM PDT How single cell organisms like bacteria manage to react to their environment is not yet completely understood. Scientists have now gained new insights into the molecular interactions during aerotaxis of Bacillus subtilis, i.e., the dependence of the movement direction on the oxygen concentration in the environment. The research team investigated the conformational changes within the protein HemAT. Via a signal transduction chain, this protein sends a command to the flagellar motor which controls the movement direction.

Scientists detect new immune alert signal Posted: 22 Jun 2012 01:37 PM PDT A new discovery expands our knowledge as to when the mammalian cell detects an incoming viral attack – and what the cell does to protect the body. The new finding may in future improve vaccine efficiency and could provide better treatment of recurrent infections.

NASA satellite sees several western U.S. fires blazing Posted: 22 Jun 2012 08:11 AM PDT Fires are raging in the western U.S. and in one overpass from its orbit around Earth, NASA's Aqua satellite picked up smoke and identified hot spots from fires in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

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