ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• To grow or to defend: How plants decide
• New species of marine algae identified
• With few hard frosts, tropical mangroves push north
• Molecular evolution of genetic sex-determination switch in honeybees
• Variation in land-use intensity leads to higher biodiversity
• Staph stoppers
• Breaking down cancer's defense mechanisms
• Efforts to curb climate change require greater emphasis on livestock
• New mechanism that permits selective capture of microRNAs in nanovesicles that shuttle between cells
• Negative temperature negated
• Enlisting cells' protein recycling machinery to regulate plant products

To grow or to defend: How plants decide Posted: 01 Jan 2014 10:07 AM PST Plant hormones called brassinosteroids help plants choose the best survival strategy depending on their stage of growth and environmental pressures.

New species of marine algae identified Posted: 31 Dec 2013 06:43 AM PST The species that historically was quoted as the most abundant of coral algae that forms rodoliths at the Gulf of California in Mexico, is in reality a compound of five different species. This finding was made by a marine biologist, resulting in a change of paradigm in the study of the species known as Lithophyllum margaritae.

With few hard frosts, tropical mangroves push north Posted: 30 Dec 2013 02:03 PM PST Cold-sensitive mangrove forests doubled in area along N. Florida's Atlantic Coast as the frequency of killing frosts waned, according to a study based on 28 years of satellite data.

Molecular evolution of genetic sex-determination switch in honeybees Posted: 30 Dec 2013 02:01 PM PST It's taken nearly 200 years, but scientists in the United States and Europe have teased out how the molecular switch for sex gradually and adaptively evolved in the honeybee.

Variation in land-use intensity leads to higher biodiversity Posted: 24 Dec 2013 03:35 PM PST If grassland is managed intensively, biodiversity typically declines. A new study led by Bernese plant ecologists shows that it is rare species that suffer the most. These negative effects could be reduced, if farmers varied the intensity of their land use between years.

Staph stoppers Posted: 20 Dec 2013 11:31 AM PST Researchers have developed a new vaccine that protects against lethal pneumonia caused by Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria, including drug-resistant strains like MRSA. The new vaccine, tested in animal models, works by targeting the toxins secreted by staph bacteria.

Breaking down cancer's defense mechanisms Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:57 AM PST Researchers have identified how the 'wall' around cancer tumors functions and how to break it down, enabling the body's own defenses to reach and kill the cancer cells within.

Efforts to curb climate change require greater emphasis on livestock Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:40 AM PST While climate change negotiators struggle to agree on ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, they have paid inadequate attention to other greenhouse gases associated with livestock. One of the most effective ways to cut methane is to reduce global populations of ruminant livestock, especially cattle.

New mechanism that permits selective capture of microRNAs in nanovesicles that shuttle between cells Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:40 AM PST A team of researchers has described for the first time how microRNAs-- small RNA molecules that regulate the expression of specific genes -- are encapsulated in nanovesicles that shuttle between cells.

Negative temperature negated Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:36 AM PST Over the past 60 years, several theories and experiments have claimed the existence of negative absolute temperatures in certain quantum systems. This fueled speculations about hyper-efficient heat engines that could act as perpetual motion machines, and about ultracold atom gases as models for the mysterious Dark Energy in our Universe. Such claims researchers to re-evaluate the underlying thermodynamical formalism.

Enlisting cells' protein recycling machinery to regulate plant products Posted: 20 Dec 2013 08:32 AM PST Scientists have developed a new set of molecular tools for controlling the production of (poly)phenols, plant compounds important for flavors, human health, and biofuels.

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