ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Repopulation of countryside is essential tool to avoid major fires, Spanish experts say
• Primates' brains make visual maps using triangular grids
• Uncertainty of future South Pacific Island rainfall explained
• Pushing genome data analysis one step forward

Repopulation of countryside is essential tool to avoid major fires, Spanish experts say Posted: 28 Oct 2012 01:06 PM PDT A preliminary report on the major fires Valencia, Spain suggests that repopulation of the countryside is an essential tool to avoid major forest fires, and points out alternative solutions such as biological firewalls that involve developing pastures.

Primates' brains make visual maps using triangular grids Posted: 28 Oct 2012 11:23 AM PDT Scientists have identified grid cells, neurons that fire in repeating triangular patterns as the eyes explore visual scenes, in the brains of rhesus monkeys. This is the first time grid cells have been detected directly in primates. The finding has implications for understanding how humans form and remember mental maps of the world, as well as how neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's erode those abilities.

Uncertainty of future South Pacific Island rainfall explained Posted: 28 Oct 2012 11:23 AM PDT With greenhouse warming, rainfall in the South Pacific islands will depend on two competing effects -- an increase due to overall warming and a decrease due to changes in atmospheric water transport -- according to a new study. In the South Pacific these two effects sometimes cancel each other out, resulting in highly uncertain rainfall projections.

Pushing genome data analysis one step forward Posted: 28 Oct 2012 11:22 AM PDT Due to the exponential increase in sequencing capacity, efficient tools for data analysis are becoming essential to process the vast amount of biological data. Scientists have now developed a tool for the interpretation of genomic data that is several times faster and much more accurate than other tools currently being used.

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