ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

---

• Giant fossil turtle from Colombia round like car tire
• Widespread exposure to BPA substitute is occurring from cash register receipts, other paper
• Ancient domesticated remains are oldest in southern Africa
• Caterpillar gets more from its food when predator is on the prowl
• Skulls shed new light on the evolution of the cat
• Air in expectant moms' homes contains pesticides, Texas-Mexico border study finds
• Trigger for past rapid sea level rise discovered
• Native American populations descend from three key migrations, scientists say
• Tobacco protein enhances crop immune systems
• Ions, not particles, make silver toxic to bacteria: Too small a dose may enhance microbes' immunity
• Got milk? Climate change means stressed cows in southern U. S. may have less
• Down on the cacao farm: Sloths thrive at chocolate's source
• Tropical cyclones' role in ending drought in Southeast US charted
• A deeper look into the pathogen responsible for crown gall disease in plants
• Thwarting invaders: Predicting risks from invasive species before it happens
• Giving ancient life another chance to evolve: Scientists place 500-million-year-old gene in modern organism
• Not so happy: King penguins stressed by human presence
• Hormone-mimicking chemicals cause inter-species mating: Bisphenol A breaks down fish species barriers
• The Iberian wolf lives close to humans more for refuge than for prey
• Nearly 2000 non-native species established in Great Britain
• Tracked step for step: ATP splitting in membrane protein dynamically measured for the first time
• Hydraulic fracturing likely did not create fissures, but gas from leaking well casings could exploit them

Giant fossil turtle from Colombia round like car tire Posted: 11 Jul 2012 06:03 PM PDT Even the world's largest snake, Titanoboa, could probably not have swallowed this new, very round fossil turtle species from Colombia.

Widespread exposure to BPA substitute is occurring from cash register receipts, other paper Posted: 11 Jul 2012 06:02 PM PDT People are being exposed to higher levels of the substitute for BPA in cash register thermal paper receipts and many of the other products that engendered concerns about the health effects of bisphenol A, according to a new study. Bisphenol S (BPS) is now frequently found in thermal and recycled paper and paper currency. BPS is closely related to BPA, with some of the same estrogen-mimicking effects, and unanswered questions exist about whether it is safer.

Ancient domesticated remains are oldest in southern Africa Posted: 11 Jul 2012 06:02 PM PDT Researchers have found evidence of the earliest known instance of domesticated caprines (sheep and goats) in southern Africa, dated to the end of the first millennium BC, providing new data to the ongoing debate about the origins of domestication and herding practices in this region.

Caterpillar gets more from its food when predator is on the prowl Posted: 11 Jul 2012 12:05 PM PDT Animals that choose to eat in the presence of a predator run the risk of being eaten themselves, so they often go into a defensive mode and pay a physical penalty. But that's not so for the crop pest hornworm caterpillar, a study shows.

Skulls shed new light on the evolution of the cat Posted: 11 Jul 2012 11:10 AM PDT Modern cats diverged in skull shape from their sabre-toothed ancestors early in their evolutionary history and then followed separate evolutionary trajectories, according to new research.

Air in expectant moms' homes contains pesticides, Texas-Mexico border study finds Posted: 11 Jul 2012 10:47 AM PDT Air samples from homes of Hispanic mothers-to-be along the Texas-Mexico border contained multiple pesticides in a majority of houses, a new study has shown. The study was conducted in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Trigger for past rapid sea level rise discovered Posted: 11 Jul 2012 10:47 AM PDT The cause of rapid sea level rise in the past has been found by scientists using climate and ice sheet models. The process, named 'saddle-collapse', was found to be the cause of two rapid sea level rise events: The Meltwater pulse 1a (MWP1a) around 14,600 years ago and the '8,200 year' event.

Native American populations descend from three key migrations, scientists say Posted: 11 Jul 2012 10:47 AM PDT Scientists have found that Native American populations -- from Canada to the southern tip of Chile -- arose from at least three migrations, with the majority descended entirely from a single group of First American migrants that crossed over through Beringia, a land bridge between Asia and America that existed during the ice ages, more than 15,000 years ago.

Tobacco protein enhances crop immune systems Posted: 11 Jul 2012 10:45 AM PDT A component in tobacco that makes crop immune systems more resistant to viral attacks.

Ions, not particles, make silver toxic to bacteria: Too small a dose may enhance microbes' immunity Posted: 11 Jul 2012 09:30 AM PDT Researchers have settled a long-standing controversy over the mechanism by which silver nanoparticles, the most widely used nanomaterial in the world, kill bacteria. Their work comes with a Nietzsche-esque warning: Use enough. If you don't kill them, you make them stronger.

Got milk? Climate change means stressed cows in southern U. S. may have less Posted: 11 Jul 2012 09:29 AM PDT Researchers found that the decline in milk production due to climate change will vary across the U.S., since there are significant differences in humidity and how much the temperature swings between night and day across the country.

Down on the cacao farm: Sloths thrive at chocolate's source Posted: 11 Jul 2012 08:14 AM PDT Like many Neotropical fauna, sloths are running out of room to maneuver. As forests in South and Central America are cleared for agriculture and other human uses, populations of these arboreal leaf eaters, which depend on large trees for both food and refuge, can become isolated and at risk. But one type of sustainable agriculture, shade grown cacao plantations, a source of chocolate, could become critical refuges and bridges between intact forests for the iconic animals.

Tropical cyclones' role in ending drought in Southeast US charted Posted: 11 Jul 2012 08:14 AM PDT Scientists have studied a 58-year history of tropical cyclones and their role in ending drought in the Southeast.

A deeper look into the pathogen responsible for crown gall disease in plants Posted: 11 Jul 2012 07:10 AM PDT Scientists have revealed new insights into the molecular properties of the rod-shaped soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens, the pathogen responsible for crown gall disease, a tumor-forming infection in plants, such as tomatoes, walnuts, grapes and beets.

Thwarting invaders: Predicting risks from invasive species before it happens Posted: 11 Jul 2012 07:09 AM PDT When American scientists broke the news in early 2012 that the Burmese python, a non-native species in the Florida Everglades, had eradicated up to 90 per cent of the raccoons, white-tailed deer and possums in parts of the Everglades National Park, the outcry was immediate and intense. The US Fish and Wildlife Service immediately made importing the snakes illegal, and in March 2012, it will be illegal to transport them across state lines. Critics, however, argue that mammal declines show the damage is mostly done – but what if you could figure out how dangerous an introduced species will be in its new environment before the damage takes place?

Giving ancient life another chance to evolve: Scientists place 500-million-year-old gene in modern organism Posted: 11 Jul 2012 07:07 AM PDT Using a process called paleo-experimental evolution, researchers have resurrected a 500-million-year-old gene from bacteria and inserted it into modern-day Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. This bacterium has now been growing for more than 1,000 generations, giving the scientists a front row seat to observe evolution in action.

Not so happy: King penguins stressed by human presence Posted: 11 Jul 2012 04:43 AM PDT King penguins tolerate some, but not all, human interference. Scientists have now investigated the adjustment of a king penguin colony on the protected Possession island in the subantarctic Crozet Archipelago to over 50 years of constant human disturbance.

Hormone-mimicking chemicals cause inter-species mating: Bisphenol A breaks down fish species barriers Posted: 11 Jul 2012 04:42 AM PDT Hormone-mimicking chemicals released into rivers have been found to impact the mating choices of fish, a new study has revealed. The controversial chemical BPA, which emits estrogen-like properties, was found to alter an individual's appearance and behavior, leading to inter-species breeding.

The Iberian wolf lives close to humans more for refuge than for prey Posted: 11 Jul 2012 04:42 AM PDT The Iberian wolf lives in increasingly humanized landscapes, with limited food resources and its presence is not always welcome. But, according to researchers, food availability plays a secondary role compared to landscape characteristics, which can offer refuge and allow wolves to remain in human-dominated environments.

Nearly 2000 non-native species established in Great Britain Posted: 11 Jul 2012 04:41 AM PDT A major new report has found that there has been a dramatic increase over time in the number of non-native species arriving in Britain.

Tracked step for step: ATP splitting in membrane protein dynamically measured for the first time Posted: 11 Jul 2012 04:41 AM PDT How a transport protein obtains its driving force from the energy storage molecule ATP, has been tracked dynamically. Using time-resolved infrared spectroscopy, they measured the structural changes in the bacterial membrane protein MsbA and its interaction partner ATP.

Hydraulic fracturing likely did not create fissures, but gas from leaking well casings could exploit them Posted: 09 Jul 2012 12:54 PM PDT A new study of well water in northeastern Pennsylvania suggests that naturally occurring pathways could have allowed salts and gases from the Marcellus shale formation deep underground to migrate up into shallow drinking water aquifers. The study found elevated levels of salinity with similar geochemistry to deep Marcellus brine in drinking water samples from three groundwater aquifers, but no direct links between the salinity and shale gas exploration in the region.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Top Environment News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610