ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• 'Chameleon of the sea' reveals its secrets
• New NASA laser technology reveals how ice measures up
• Tropics are main source of global mammal diversity
• Active power control of wind turbines can improve power grid reliability
• Brain regions thought to be uniquely human share many similarities with monkeys
• Paleolithic humans from the north of Spain moved to dwellings with better logistics
• Certain probiotics could help women lose weight, study finds
• Effective control of invasive weeds can help attempts at reforestation in Panama
• Filleting robot to help the Norwegian fishing industry
• Hurricane Sandy may be a blessing for tiny piping plover
• New studies needed to predict how marine organisms may adapt to the future's acidic oceans
• Fertilizer nutrient imbalance to limit food production in Africa
• Impact of deep-sea fishery for Greenland halibut
• New operating principle of potassium channels discovered
• 'Natural' engineering offers solution against future flooding
• BeWater involves active participation of society in water adaptation to global change
• Living cold-water coral reef discovered off Greenland
• New technique developed to control cervical cancer
• Converting adult human cells to hair follicle-generating stem cells
• Health care savings: Reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions
• DDT pesticide exposure linked to Alzheimer's disease, study shows

'Chameleon of the sea' reveals its secrets Posted: 28 Jan 2014 05:20 PM PST Scientists hope new understanding of the natural nanoscale photonic device that enables a small marine animal to dynamically change its colors will inspire improved protective camouflage for soldiers on the battlefield.

New NASA laser technology reveals how ice measures up Posted: 28 Jan 2014 03:48 PM PST A new photon-counting technique will allow researchers to track the melt or growth of Earth's frozen regions.

Tropics are main source of global mammal diversity Posted: 28 Jan 2014 03:48 PM PST Scientists recognize that some regions contain more species than others, and that the tropics are richer in biodiversity than temperate regions. But why are there more species in the tropics? A new study scrutinizes most of the living mammalian species and reveals a two-fold mechanism; the rate at which mammals arose was higher in the tropics, and the rate at which they became extinct lower.

Active power control of wind turbines can improve power grid reliability Posted: 28 Jan 2014 09:46 AM PST Scientists have completed a comprehensive study to understand how wind power technology can assist the power grid by controlling the active power output being placed onto the system. The rest of the power system's resources have traditionally been adjusted around wind to support a reliable and efficient system. The research that led to this report challenges that concept.

Brain regions thought to be uniquely human share many similarities with monkeys Posted: 28 Jan 2014 09:46 AM PST New research suggests a surprising degree of similarity in the organization of regions of the brain that control language and complex thought processes in humans and monkeys. The study also revealed some key differences. The findings may provide valuable insights into the evolutionary processes that established our ties to other primates but also made us distinctly human.

Paleolithic humans from the north of Spain moved to dwellings with better logistics Posted: 28 Jan 2014 09:46 AM PST Scientists have traced the steps of the human beings that inhabited the region during the Paleolithic era. Through computer programs for geographical analysis, it is known that these nomads gradually abandoned high-altitude rocky shelters and caves to live on flatter plains. To see or to be seen? This is the question that humans inhabiting the Cantabrian coast during the Paleolithic era had to ask themselves.

Certain probiotics could help women lose weight, study finds Posted: 28 Jan 2014 07:35 AM PST Certain probiotics could help women lose weight and keep it off, according to a recent study. Studies have already demonstrated that the intestinal flora of obese individuals differs from that of thin people. That difference may be due to the fact that a diet high in fat and low in fiber promotes certain bacteria at the expense of others. Researchers tried to determine if the consumption of probiotics could help reset the balance of the intestinal microbiota in favor of bacteria that promote a healthy weight.

Effective control of invasive weeds can help attempts at reforestation in Panama Posted: 28 Jan 2014 07:35 AM PST Attempts to replant cleared areas of rainforest are hindered in central Panama due to the overgrown grass areas. Scientists from Australia and Panama, look into the reproductive biology of Saccharum spontaneum a weed that produces most of this biomass, to find methods for more successful control.

Filleting robot to help the Norwegian fishing industry Posted: 28 Jan 2014 07:33 AM PST A newly developed white fish filleting machine could give this Norwegian industry a much-needed boost. Unlike farmed salmon, white fish varies greatly in size and weight. This means that until now, no one has been able to develop a machine that can fillet these fish.

Hurricane Sandy may be a blessing for tiny piping plover Posted: 28 Jan 2014 07:31 AM PST The piping plover, a threatened shorebird, is expected to capitalize on new habitat created by Hurricane Sandy on hard-hit Long Island, N.Y. The storm created wider sandy beaches, the plover's preferred habitat.

New studies needed to predict how marine organisms may adapt to the future's acidic oceans Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:47 AM PST The world's oceans are becoming more acidic, changing in a way that hasn't happened for millions of years. But will marine organisms from tiny coccolithophores to king crabs change along with the waters?

Fertilizer nutrient imbalance to limit food production in Africa Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:47 AM PST A growing imbalance between phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizer use in Africa could lead to crop yield reductions of nearly 30 percent by 2050, according to a new study.

Impact of deep-sea fishery for Greenland halibut Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:45 AM PST Since the late 1980s, a deep-sea fishery for Greenland halibut Reinhardtius hippoglossoides has been developing gradually in West Greenland. Deep-sea fish species are generally long-lived and characterized by late age of maturity, low fecundity, and slow growth, features that probably cause low resilience following overexploitation.

New operating principle of potassium channels discovered Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:45 AM PST Neurons transmit information with the help of special channels that allow the passage of potassium ions. Defective potassium channels play a role in epilepsy and depression. Scientists have now identified the complete 3D structure of a particular potassium channel, a HCN channel. This enabled them to draw conclusions about its mechanism of action, which they describe in a new article.

'Natural' engineering offers solution against future flooding Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:45 AM PST Back-to-nature flood schemes, which use the land's natural defenses to slow river flow and reduce flooding, could be a cost-effective way of tackling one of the biggest problems facing the UK today.

BeWater involves active participation of society in water adaptation to global change Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:45 AM PST More than 30 participants from around Europe gathered in Barcelona, Spain, for the first meeting of a new European project that will involve the active participation of society in water adaptation to global change.

Living cold-water coral reef discovered off Greenland Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:43 AM PST By sheer coincidence, Canadian researchers have discovered a reef of living cold-water corals in southern Greenland. The first-ever Greenlandic reef is located in southwest Greenland and was formed by cold-water corals with hard limestone skeletons. There are several species of coral in Greenland, but this is the first time that an actual reef has been found.

New technique developed to control cervical cancer Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:43 AM PST A gene related to the proliferation of cancerous cells has been blocked through molecular technology.

Converting adult human cells to hair follicle-generating stem cells Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:41 AM PST Researchers have come up with a method to convert adult cells into epithelial stem cells, the first time anyone has achieved this in either humans or mice. The epithelial stem cells, when implanted into immunocompromised mice, regenerated the different cell types of human skin and hair follicles, and even produced structurally recognizable hair shaft, raising the possibility that they may eventually enable hair regeneration in people.

Health care savings: Reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions Posted: 27 Jan 2014 01:48 PM PST Despite widely accepted prescription guidelines, physicians continue to prescribe antibiotics for colds even when they won't help. A new study offers an inexpensive and seemingly simple "nudge" that reduced inappropriate antibiotic prescribing by nearly 20 percent.

DDT pesticide exposure linked to Alzheimer's disease, study shows Posted: 27 Jan 2014 01:44 PM PST Scientists have known for more than 40 years that the synthetic pesticide DDT is harmful to bird habitats and a threat to the environment. Now researchers say exposure to DDT -- banned in the United States since 1972 but still used as a pesticide in other countries -- may also increase the risk and severity of Alzheimer's disease in some people, particularly those over the age of 60.

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