ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Evidence of life on Mars could come from Martian moon Phobos
• Insights into primate diversity: Lessons from the rhesus macaque
• Adoption of advanced techniques could propel crop improvement
• Maya archaeologists unearth new 2012 monument with 'end date' of Dec. 21, 2012
• Discovery may lead to new tomato varieties with vintage flavor and quality
• Date of earliest animal life reset by 30 million years
• Study on fungi helps explain coal formation and may advance future biofuels production
• Master regulator protein brings plethora of coactivators to gene expression sites
• Native species fight back: First evidence of coevolution between invasive, native species
• Earth's oldest known impact crater found in Greenland
• Pollutants could pose health risks for five sea turtle species
• A new source of maize hybrid vigor
• Part of the genome of two hunter-gatherers from 7,000 years ago
• Photosynthesis re-wired: Chemists use nanowires to power photosynthesis-like process
• Searching for the origin of muscles
• Acoustic tweezers capture and manipulate tiny creatures with ultrasound
• Understanding what's up with the Higgs Boson at the Large Hadron Collider
• How sticky toepads evolved in geckos and what that means for adhesive technologies
• Interacting mutations promote diversity
• Dinosaurs were warm-blooded reptiles: Mammal bone study sheds light on dinosaur physiology
• Africa's savannas may become forests by 2100, study suggests
• Potential for tsunamis in northwestern California documented

Evidence of life on Mars could come from Martian moon Phobos Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:54 PM PDT A mission to a Martian moon could return with alien life, according to experts, but don't expect the invasion scenario presented by summer blockbusters like "Men in Black 3" or "Prometheus." A sample from the moon Phobos, scientists believe, would almost surely contain Martian material blasted off from large asteroid impacts. If life on Mars exists or existed within the last 10 million years, a mission to Phobos could yield our first evidence of life beyond Earth.

Insights into primate diversity: Lessons from the rhesus macaque Posted: 28 Jun 2012 09:54 PM PDT The rhesus macaque has three times as much genetic variation as humans. However despite much of this extra variation within genes, protein function is not affected. Consequently damaging variations are at similar levels in macaques and humans -- indicating a strong selection pressure to maintain gene function regardless of mutation rate or population size.

Adoption of advanced techniques could propel crop improvement Posted: 28 Jun 2012 05:11 PM PDT Scientists could take greater strides toward crop improvement if there were wider adoption of advanced techniques used to understand the mechanisms that allow plants to adapt to their environments, researchers say.

Maya archaeologists unearth new 2012 monument with 'end date' of Dec. 21, 2012 Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:17 PM PDT Archaeologists working at the site of La Corona in Guatemala have discovered a 1,300-year-old-year Maya text that provides only the second known reference to the so-called "end date" of the Maya calendar, Dec. 21, 2012. The discovery is one of the most significant hieroglyphic finds in decades.

Discovery may lead to new tomato varieties with vintage flavor and quality Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:17 PM PDT A new genetic discovery may help plant breeders recapture heirloom flavor, processing quality and a health-promoting compound in modern tomato varieties.

Date of earliest animal life reset by 30 million years Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:17 PM PDT Researchers have uncovered physical proof that animals existed 585 million years ago, 30 million years earlier than all previous established records show. The discovery was made U of A geologists Ernesto Pecoits and Natalie Aubet in Uruguay. They found fossilized tracks of a centimeter long, slug-like animal left behind 585 million years ago in a silty sediment.

Study on fungi helps explain coal formation and may advance future biofuels production Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:17 PM PDT The evolution of white rot fungi might have helped bring an end to the geologic period characterized by the formation of large coal deposits, and may help lay the groundwork for the future production of biofuels.

Master regulator protein brings plethora of coactivators to gene expression sites Posted: 28 Jun 2012 03:16 PM PDT A master regulator protein brings plethora of coactivators to gene expression sites. Molecular geneticists call big boss proteins that switch on broad developmental or metabolic programs "master regulators," as in master regulators of muscle development or fat metabolism.

Native species fight back: First evidence of coevolution between invasive, native species Posted: 28 Jun 2012 02:45 PM PDT Invasive species such as kudzu, privet and garlic mustard can devastate ecosystems, and, until now, scientists had little reason to believe that native plants could mount a successful defense. A new study shows that some native clearweed plants have evolved resistance to invasive garlic mustard plants -- and that the invasive plants appear to be waging a counterattack.

Earth's oldest known impact crater found in Greenland Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:46 PM PDT Scientists in working in Western Greenland have found evidence of an asteroid or comet impact early in the Earth's history. At three billion years old, the crater is a billion years older than the previously oldest known crater.

Pollutants could pose health risks for five sea turtle species Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:46 PM PDT Researchers have measured for the first time concentrations of 13 compounds in five different endangered species of sea turtles that approach the amounts known to cause adverse health effects in other animals.

A new source of maize hybrid vigor Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:46 PM PDT Scientists think they may have discovered a new source of heterosis, or hybrid vigor, in maize. They have been looking at small RNAs, a class of double-stranded RNA molecules that are 20 to 25 nucleotides in length.

Part of the genome of two hunter-gatherers from 7,000 years ago Posted: 28 Jun 2012 01:44 PM PDT A team of scientists has recovered part of the genome of two individuals who were alive in the Mesolithic Period, 7,000 years ago. The remains were found at La Braña-Arintero site, located at Valdelugueros (León), Spain. The study results indicate that current Iberian populations do not come from these recently discovered humans.

Photosynthesis re-wired: Chemists use nanowires to power photosynthesis-like process Posted: 28 Jun 2012 11:57 AM PDT Chemists have developed a process that closely resembles photosynthesis and proved capable of synthesizing compounds found in the pain-killers ibuprofen and naproxen.

Searching for the origin of muscles Posted: 28 Jun 2012 11:56 AM PDT Scientists have addressed the origin of musculature. A new analysis reveals for the first time that some central components of muscles of higher animals are much older than previously assumed. These results indicate that muscle-like cell contraction originated already very early during animal evolution, while the specialization of basal muscle cell types, such as striated muscles, occurred only later and several times independently.

Acoustic tweezers capture and manipulate tiny creatures with ultrasound Posted: 28 Jun 2012 11:55 AM PDT Bioengineers and biochemists are using a miniaturized ultrasound device to capture and manipulate biological materials, such as the tiny roundworm, C. elegans.

Understanding what's up with the Higgs Boson at the Large Hadron Collider Posted: 28 Jun 2012 11:50 AM PDT CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, will hold a seminar early in the morning on July 4 to announce the latest results from ATLAS and CMS, two major experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that are searching for the Higgs boson. Both experimental teams are working down to the wire to finish analyzing their data, and to determine exactly what can be said about what they've found.

How sticky toepads evolved in geckos and what that means for adhesive technologies Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:10 AM PDT Geckos are known for sticky toes that allow them to climb up walls and even hang upside down on ceilings. A new study shows that geckos have gained and lost these unique adhesive structures multiple times over the course of their long evolutionary history in response to habitat changes.

Interacting mutations promote diversity Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:06 AM PDT Frequency-dependent selection fosters the diversity of populations but does not always increase the average fitness of the population.

Dinosaurs were warm-blooded reptiles: Mammal bone study sheds light on dinosaur physiology Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:06 AM PDT A study with extant mammals refutes the hypothesis on which the assumption that dinosaurs were ectotherms was based. The study analyzing the lines of arrested growth (LAG) in the bones of around a hundred ruminants, representative of the specific and ecological diversity of that group of mammals. The results show that the presence of these lines is not an indicator of an ectothermic physiology (does not generate internal heat), as had previously been thought, since all warm-blooded mammals have them. The study therefore dismantles the key argument of the hypothesis that dinosaurs could have been cold-blooded reptiles.

Africa's savannas may become forests by 2100, study suggests Posted: 28 Jun 2012 10:06 AM PDT Large parts of Africa's savannas may well be forests by 2100. The study suggests that fertilization by atmospheric carbon dioxide is forcing increases in tree cover throughout Africa. A switch from savanna to forest occurs once a critical threshold of carbon dioxide concentration is exceeded, yet each site has its own critical threshold. The implication is that each savanna will switch at different points in time, thereby reducing the risk that a synchronous shock to the earth system will emanate from savannas.

Potential for tsunamis in northwestern California documented Posted: 27 Jun 2012 11:25 AM PDT Using studies that span the last three decades, scientists have compiled the first evidence-based comprehensive study of the potential for tsunamis in Northwestern California.

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