ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Selective imprinting: how the wallaby controls growth of its young
• New maps may reduce tourism impacts on Hawaiian dolphins
• Oldest occurrence of arthropods preserved in amber: Fly, mite specimens are 100 million years older than previous amber inclusions
• Neandertal's right-handedness verified, hints at language capacity
• Oceanic mystery solved: Connection between 'monster larva' and unique species of shrimp
• Panda preferences influence trees used for scent marking
• Plants unpack winter coats when days get shorter
• Long-held theory on human gestation refuted: Mother’s metabolism, not birth canal size, limits gestation
• One third less life on planet Earth? Scientists offer better estimate of living biomass
• Darwin discovered to be right: Eastern Pacific barrier is virtually impassable by coral species
• Cooled coal emissions would clean air and lower health and climate-change costs
• Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent ever recorded
• Fossil skeleton of strange, ancient digging mammal clears up 30-year-old evolutionary debate
• Probiotics supercharge plants' immunity to disease
• Advanced tornado/hurricane shelter panels from recycled materials
• Scientists discover nerves control iridescence in squid's remarkable 'electric skin'
• To cap or not to cap: Scientists find new RNA phenomenon that challenges dogma
• How ocean currents affect global climate becoming better understood
• How methane becomes fish food
• Pesticides endanger bats
• Summer weather could mean fall colors pop in Northeast U.S.

Selective imprinting: how the wallaby controls growth of its young Posted: 27 Aug 2012 05:57 PM PDT Marsupial mothers regulate the composition of their milk so that it is optimal for the development stage of their young. New research shows that, similar to the human placenta, which regulates embryonic growth and development, insulin appears to be imprinted in the marsupial mammary gland.

New maps may reduce tourism impacts on Hawaiian dolphins Posted: 27 Aug 2012 03:00 PM PDT Over-eager eco-tourists intent on seeing spinner dolphins up close may inadvertently be disturbing the charismatic animals' daytime rest periods and driving them out of safe habitats in bays along Hawaii's coast. Scientists have developed a promising new tool that may help to limit repeated human disturbances and help reduce their negative impacts on the dolphins.

Oldest occurrence of arthropods preserved in amber: Fly, mite specimens are 100 million years older than previous amber inclusions Posted: 27 Aug 2012 03:00 PM PDT Scientists have discovered the oldest record of arthropods -- invertebrate animals that include insects, arachnids, and crustaceans -- preserved in amber. The specimens, one fly and two mites found in millimeter-scale droplets of amber from northeastern Italy, are about 100 million years older than any other amber arthropod ever collected.

Neandertal's right-handedness verified, hints at language capacity Posted: 27 Aug 2012 01:08 PM PDT There are precious few Neandertal skeletons available to science. One of the more complete was discovered in 1957 in France, roughly 900 yards away from the famous Lascaux Cave. That skeleton was dubbed "Regourdou." Then, about two decades ago, researchers examined Regourdou's arm bones and theorized that he had been right-handed.

Oceanic mystery solved: Connection between 'monster larva' and unique species of shrimp Posted: 27 Aug 2012 12:20 PM PDT The origin of Cerataspis monstrosa has been a mystery as deep as the ocean waters it hails from. For nearly two centuries, researchers have tried to track down the larva that has shown up in the guts of other fish over time but found no adult counterpart. Until now.

Panda preferences influence trees used for scent marking Posted: 27 Aug 2012 12:20 PM PDT As solitary animals, giant pandas have developed a number of ways to communicate those times when they are ready to come into close contact. One means of this communication occurs through scent marking. A recent study indicates that pandas make clear and specific choices about what trees are used for scent marking.

Plants unpack winter coats when days get shorter Posted: 27 Aug 2012 12:20 PM PDT Mechanisms that protect plants from freezing are placed in storage during the summer and wisely unpacked when days get shorter. An expert in molecular genetics has demonstrated how the CBF cold response pathway is inactive during warmer months when days are long, and how it's triggered by waning sunlight to prepare plants for freezing temperatures.

Long-held theory on human gestation refuted: Mother’s metabolism, not birth canal size, limits gestation Posted: 27 Aug 2012 12:20 PM PDT An anthropologist suggests that the length of human pregnancy is limited primarily by a mother's metabolism, not the size of the birth canal. The research challenges the long-held notion of an evolutionary trade-off between childbirth and a pelvis adapted for walking upright.

One third less life on planet Earth? Scientists offer better estimate of living biomass Posted: 27 Aug 2012 12:18 PM PDT Previous estimates about the total mass of all life on our planet have to be reduced by about one third, according to the results of a study by a German-U.S. science team.

Darwin discovered to be right: Eastern Pacific barrier is virtually impassable by coral species Posted: 27 Aug 2012 11:21 AM PDT Coral from the eastern Pacific rarely crosses a deep-ocean barrier to reach the west coast of the Americas, according to new research. The finding has important implications for climate-change research, species-preservation efforts, and the economic stability of the eastern Pacific region, including the Galapagos, Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador.

Cooled coal emissions would clean air and lower health and climate-change costs Posted: 27 Aug 2012 11:21 AM PDT Refrigerating coal-plant emissions would reduce levels of dangerous chemicals that pour into the air -- including carbon dioxide by more than 90 percent -- at a cost of 25 percent efficiency, according to a simple math-driven formula.

Arctic sea ice reaches lowest extent ever recorded Posted: 27 Aug 2012 10:07 AM PDT The blanket of sea ice floating on the Arctic Ocean melted to its lowest extent ever recorded since satellites began measuring it in 1979, according to new research.

Fossil skeleton of strange, ancient digging mammal clears up 30-year-old evolutionary debate Posted: 27 Aug 2012 10:07 AM PDT Shortly after dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops went extinct, the Earth became filled with mammals only distantly related to those alive today. Until recently, one of these creatures, Ernanodon antelios, was only known from a single, highly distorted specimen that raised many questions about its habits and evolutionary relationships. Scientists have now described a second specimen of Ernanodon that sheds new light on this curious beast.

Probiotics supercharge plants' immunity to disease Posted: 27 Aug 2012 10:06 AM PDT Pathogens can slip through leaf pores and begin infecting a plant. However, new research shows that this invasion is halted when a beneficial bacterium is present in the soil where the plant is rooted.

Advanced tornado/hurricane shelter panels from recycled materials Posted: 27 Aug 2012 10:06 AM PDT Recycled materials may become armor against flying debris: Panels for a new high-tech shelter have passed the National Storm Shelter Association's tornado threat test.

Scientists discover nerves control iridescence in squid's remarkable 'electric skin' Posted: 27 Aug 2012 08:33 AM PDT Nerves in squid skin control the animal's spectrum of shimmering hues -- from red to blue -- as well as their speed of change, biologists have found. The work marks the first time neural control of iridescence in an invertebrate species has been demonstrated.

To cap or not to cap: Scientists find new RNA phenomenon that challenges dogma Posted: 27 Aug 2012 07:51 AM PDT Some RNA molecules spend time in a restful state akin to hibernation rather than automatically carrying out their established job of delivering protein-building instructions in cells. This restful period appears to be a programmed step for RNA produced by certain types of genes. Protein production in cells is not as clear-cut as biology textbooks suggest, scientists say.

How ocean currents affect global climate becoming better understood Posted: 27 Aug 2012 06:42 AM PDT Oceanographers have developed a "new paradigm" for describing how the world's oceans circulate -- and with it they may help reshape science's understanding of the processes by which wind, water, sunlight and other factors interact and influence the planet's climate.

How methane becomes fish food Posted: 27 Aug 2012 04:42 AM PDT Methane is an organic carbon compound containing the fundamental building block of nearly all living material: carbon. It provides an important source of energy and nutrients for bacteria. Methane is produced in oxygen-free environments and is found in abundance at the bottom of lakes.

Pesticides endanger bats Posted: 27 Aug 2012 04:42 AM PDT Bats are a highly threatened group of animals and many people are concerned with their conservation. The entire group of animals is protected in Europe. Therefore it is worrying that bats are not included in the EU-wide authorization procedures for plant protection products. A new study has revealed that pesticide contamination of their diet can lead to long-term effects in bats.

Summer weather could mean fall colors pop in Northeast U.S. Posted: 27 Aug 2012 04:39 AM PDT The summer's dry weather, combined with recent cool nights, could combine for a colorful fall foliage season in the Northeast, says a dendrologist.

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