Τρίτη 25 Σεπτεμβρίου 2012

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

ScienceDaily: Top Environment News


Researchers call for specialty metals recycling

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 02:52 PM PDT

An international policy is needed for recycling scarce specialty metals that are critical in the production of consumer goods, according to researchers.

Life in the extreme: Hot acids and heavy metals make similar organisms deal with stress in different ways

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:25 PM PDT

Life in extreme environments -- hot acids and heavy metals, for example -- can apparently make very similar organisms deal with stress in very different ways, according to new research.

3-d time-lapse imaging captures twisted root mechanics for first time

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 12:22 PM PDT

Using an advanced 3-D time-lapse imaging system, a group of physicists and plant biologists have discovered how certain plant roots exhibit powerful mechanical abilities while navigating their environment.

Chemist may hold key to building a better toxin 'mousetrap'

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:51 AM PDT

A chemist's work could lead to big improvements in our ability to detect and eliminate specific toxins in our environment.

Melting Arctic ice cap at record

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:51 AM PDT

With Arctic ice cap at record low this summer, a geography professor predicts serious consequences for the planet.

Diversity, distribution of cutthroat trout in Colorado clarified

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:47 AM PDT

A novel genetic study has helped to clarify the native diversity and distribution of cutthroat trout in Colorado, including the past and present haunts of the federally endangered greenback cutthroat trout.

Slow-moving rocks better odds that life crashed to Earth from space

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:47 AM PDT

Microorganisms that crashed to Earth embedded in the fragments of distant planets might have been the sprouts of life on this one, according to new research. The researchers provide the strongest support yet for "lithopanspermia," the idea that life came to Earth -- or spread from Earth to other planets -- via meteorite-like planetary fragments cast forth by disruptions such as volcanic eruptions and collisions with other matter.

Scientific discovery offers 'green' solution in fight against greenhouse gases

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:27 AM PDT

A low-cost new material that could lead to innovative technologies to tackle global warming has been discovered.

Ants share decision-making, lessen vulnerability to 'information overload'

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:24 AM PDT

A research study with ants shows that collective decision-making proves more efficient than individual selection.

Bees decrease food intake, live longer, when given compound found in red wine

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 11:21 AM PDT

Researchers have found that when given resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, bees consume less food.

In birds' development, researchers find diversity by the peck

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 08:16 AM PDT

It has long been known that diversity of form and function in birds' specialized beaks is abundant. Charles Darwin famously studied the finches on the Galapagos Islands, tying the morphology (shape) of various species' beaks to the types of seeds they ate. In 2010, biologists and applied mathematicians showed that Darwin's finches all actually shared the same developmental pathways, using the same gene products, controlling just size and curvature, to create 14 very different beaks.

Tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea have intensified due to earlier monsoon onset

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:27 AM PDT

The tropical cyclones during the pre-monsoon season in the Arabian Sea have intensified since 1997 compared to 1979 as a result of decreased vertical wind shear and earlier occurrence of tropical cyclones, according to a new study.

Scientists predict major shifts in Pacific ecosystems by 2100

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:27 AM PDT

Scientific models suggest that major Pacific ecosystems will move hundreds of miles by 2100 as a result of climate change. The results of this research could help officials manage the potentially significant impacts -- on sea creatures and humans -- of marine habitat shifts.

Using precisely-targeted lasers, researchers manipulate neurons in worms' brains and take control of their behavior

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:26 AM PDT

In the quest to understand how the brain turns sensory input into behavior, Harvard scientists have crossed a major threshold. Using precisely-targeted lasers, researchers have been able to take over an animal's brain, instruct it to turn in any direction they choose, and even to implant false sensory information, fooling the animal into thinking food was nearby.

Climate is changing the Great Barrier Reef

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:25 AM PDT

Satellite measurement of sea surface temperatures has yielded clear evidence of major changes taking place in the waters of Australia's Great Barrier Reef over the past 25 years, marine scientists have found.

Large bacterial population colonized land 2.75 billion years ago

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 07:17 AM PDT

New University of Washington research suggests that early microbes might have been widespread on land, producing oxygen and weathering pyrite, an iron sulfide mineral, which released sulfur and molybdenum into the oceans.

Glacial youth therapy for the Scandinavian landscape

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 05:05 AM PDT

The high elevation flat surfaces characteristic of the Norwegian landscape are in geologically terms young, according to a new paper. Researchers have demonstrated that ice sheets have extensively shaped the fjords of Norway for the last 2.8 million years.

Red king or red queen: In relationships based on mutuality, number of individuals involved can determine rate at which species evolve

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 05:02 AM PDT

The relationship between species determines how rapidly they evolve. Parasites and their hosts coevolve more rapidly, and partners in a mutualistic relationship can evolve more slowly. But this view is obviously too simplistic. The rate of evolution in a mutualistic relationship does not depend only on the type of interactions, but also on the number of individuals involved, according to a model developed by researchers in Germany. Therefore, while partners can benefit from slow evolution if only two individuals interact, a higher rate of evolution may be favored if several individuals are involved.

Cellular eavesdropping made easy: New method for identifying and measuring secreted proteins over time

Posted: 24 Sep 2012 05:02 AM PDT

It is much harder to keep up with a conversation in a crowded bar than in a quiet little café, but scientists wishing to eavesdrop on cells can now do so over the laboratory equivalent of a noisy room. A new method provides a new approach for studying the proteins cells release to communicate with each other, react to changes, or even to help them move.

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