ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Scientists confirm first two-headed bull shark
• New study analyzes the risk to endangered whales from ships in southern California
• Clean electricity from bacteria? Researchers make breakthrough in race to create 'bio-batteries'
• Meeting broad, varied, competing priorities in conservation
• Developing our sense of smell
• Scientists use DNA to quickly unravel relationship between plants and insects
• Predictions of climate impacts on fisheries can be a mirage
• Decoding the genetic history of the Texas longhorn
• What a bunch of dodos! A catastrophic mass extinction of birds in the Pacific Islands followed the arrival of the first people
• Aye-ayes: Endangered lemurs' complete genomes are sequenced and analyzed for conservation efforts
• 'Moderate' New England red tide forecasted for 2013
• Other stomach microbiota modulate resistance to H. pylori-driven ulcers
• Research documents lesser prairie chickens
• Peculiar parasitoid wasp found on rare sawfly developing in ferns
• Elevated carbon dioxide in atmosphere trims wheat, sorghum moisture needs
• Genomes of peregrine and saker falcons throw lights on evolution of a predatory lifestyle
• A marine animal to feed your eco-car
• Ash from refuse could become hydrogen gas
• Genetic sequence that helps to coordinate synthesis of DNA-packaging proteins identified

Scientists confirm first two-headed bull shark Posted: 25 Mar 2013 03:40 PM PDT Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first-ever, two-headed bull shark.

New study analyzes the risk to endangered whales from ships in southern California Posted: 25 Mar 2013 03:39 PM PDT Researchers have identified areas off southern California with high numbers of whales and assessed their risk from potentially deadly collisions with commercial ship traffic.

Clean electricity from bacteria? Researchers make breakthrough in race to create 'bio-batteries' Posted: 25 Mar 2013 03:39 PM PDT Scientists have made an important breakthrough in the quest to generate clean electricity from bacteria. New findings show that proteins on the surface of bacteria can produce an electric current by simply touching a mineral surface. The research shows that it is possible for bacteria to lie directly on the surface of a metal or mineral and transfer electrical charge through their cell membranes. This means that it is possible to 'tether' bacteria directly to electrodes – bringing scientists a step closer to creating efficient microbial fuel cells or 'bio-batteries.'

Meeting broad, varied, competing priorities in conservation Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:06 PM PDT Solutions that meet the broad, varied, and often competing priorities of conservation are difficult to come by. New research takes a hard look at why, in an effort to find ways to resolve the issue.

Developing our sense of smell Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:06 PM PDT Biologists have found that neural-crest stem cells--multipotent, migratory cells unique to vertebrates that give rise to facial bones, smooth muscle, and other structures -- also play a key role in building the nose's olfactory sensory neurons, the only neurons that regenerate throughout adult life. Learning how they form may offer insights into how neurons in general can be induced to differentiate or regenerate and new avenues for the treatment of neurological disorders or injury.

Scientists use DNA to quickly unravel relationship between plants and insects Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:05 PM PDT It can take years of direct observation for a researcher to fully understand the diets of a community of herbivorous insects in a tropical rain forest. Now, scientists are paving a fast track using the DNA found inside the insects' stomachs, potentially turning years of research into months. This method will help scientists understand the ecology and evolution of plant-herbivore interactions more efficiently.

Predictions of climate impacts on fisheries can be a mirage Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:05 PM PDT In the early 1940s, California fishermen hauled in a historic bounty of sardine that set the backdrop for John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row" novel. But by the end of the decade the nets came up empty and the fishery collapsed. Where did they all go? According to a new study, the forces behind the sardine mystery are a dynamic and interconnected moving target.

Decoding the genetic history of the Texas longhorn Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:05 PM PDT Researchers analyzed almost 50,000 genetic markers from 58 cattle breeds. They found that the Longhorn genome traces back through Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the New World, the Moorish invasion of Spain and the ancient domestication of the aurochs in the Middle East and India.

What a bunch of dodos! A catastrophic mass extinction of birds in the Pacific Islands followed the arrival of the first people Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:05 PM PDT The demise of the dodo is one of the better known bird extinctions in the world, but its sad fate was anticipated a thousand times over by its Pacific cousins.

Aye-ayes: Endangered lemurs' complete genomes are sequenced and analyzed for conservation efforts Posted: 25 Mar 2013 01:05 PM PDT For the first time, the complete genomes of three separate populations of aye-ayes -- a type of lemur -- have been sequenced and analyzed in an effort to characterize patterns of genetic diversity and help guide conservation efforts for the species. The aye-aye species is found only on the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and recently was re-classified as "endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

'Moderate' New England red tide forecasted for 2013 Posted: 25 Mar 2013 10:54 AM PDT New England is expected to experience a "moderate" red tide this spring and summer, report scientists studying the toxic algae that cause blooms in the Gulf of Maine. The "red tide" is caused by an alga Alexandrium fundyense, which produces a toxin that can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning. Red tide typically occurs annually along some portions of the Gulf of Maine coast. This year's outlook is similar to the 2012 red tide which was also classified as "moderate."

Other stomach microbiota modulate resistance to H. pylori-driven ulcers Posted: 25 Mar 2013 10:53 AM PDT Mice with different naturally occurring stomach bacteria have distinct susceptibilities to disease caused by Helicobacter pylori, the well-known cause of ulcers in humans, according to a new study. This is the first study to document (in mice) that the presence of certain bacteria in the stomach microbiota can prevent pathology from H. pylori.

Research documents lesser prairie chickens Posted: 25 Mar 2013 10:52 AM PDT Scientists have been studying the lesser prairie chicken (LPC), a prairie grouse native to the West Texas landscape, for more than three decades. Now this research could be square in the middle of an ongoing debate whether to protect the bird as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Peculiar parasitoid wasp found on rare sawfly developing in ferns Posted: 25 Mar 2013 09:56 AM PDT An Austrian amateur entomologist discovered a peculiar parasitoid wasp living on a rare sawfly, living inside ferns. It is the first time ever that the parasitoid is reared. The female parasitoid has the unusual ability to extend and modify the shape of its metasoma, or rear body, during its first day of appearance from the gall.

Elevated carbon dioxide in atmosphere trims wheat, sorghum moisture needs Posted: 25 Mar 2013 09:44 AM PDT Agronomy researchers found that elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere have an upside -- a reduced need for moisture in some important crops.

Genomes of peregrine and saker falcons throw lights on evolution of a predatory lifestyle Posted: 25 Mar 2013 08:12 AM PDT Researchers have completed the genome sequencing and analysis of two iconic falcons, the peregrine and saker falcons. The work provides an invaluable resource for the deep understanding of the adaptive evolution in raptors and the genetic basis of their wide distribution.

A marine animal to feed your eco-car Posted: 25 Mar 2013 07:14 AM PDT The marine animal tunicate can be used both as biofuel and fish food, according to new research. On the ocean floor, under the pier, and on ship ropes – that's where the tunicates live. Tunicates are marine filter feeders that serve as bacteria eaters and as a foodstuff in Korea and Japan. But in the future they may become more prevalent. Researchers have found that a certain type of tunicate – ascidiacea – can be used as a renewable source of biofuel and fish food.

Ash from refuse could become hydrogen gas Posted: 25 Mar 2013 06:35 AM PDT Every year, millions of tons of environmentally harmful ash is produced worldwide, and is mostly dumped in landfill sites or, in some countries, used as construction material. The ash is what is left when rubbish has been burnt in thermal power stations. A researcher has now developed a technique to use the ash to produce hydrogen gas.

Genetic sequence that helps to coordinate synthesis of DNA-packaging proteins identified Posted: 24 Mar 2013 11:04 AM PDT Research conducted in fruit flies has pinpointed a specific DNA sequence that both triggers the formation of the "histone locus body" and turns on all the histone genes in the entire block.

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