ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• First discovery of dinosaur fossils in Malaysia
• Pinwheel 'living' crystals and the origin of life
• Microbes on floating ocean plastics: Uncovering the secret world of the 'Plastisphere'
• Marine algae can sense the rainbow
• Genetic link between feeding behavior and animal dispersal
• Personalized medicine best way to treat cancer, study argues
• Volcanoes contribute to recent global warming 'hiatus'
• In the eye of a chicken, a new state of matter comes into view
• Toxic injection with elastic band: Discovering how bacteria get toxins into cells
• Now it will become cheaper to make second-generation biofuel for our cars
• Almost 200 new species of parasitoid wasps named after local parataxonomists in Costa Rica
• New biological scaffold offers promising foundation for engineered tissues
• Biomedical bleeding affects horseshoe crab behavior
• Sugarcane converted to cold-tolerant, oil-producing crop
• World first: hyperpolarization technique makes visible changes in metabolism while they are taking place
• New technology detects cellular memory, aids in understanding of how diseases such as cancer arise
• Gauging what it takes to heal a disaster-ravaged forest: Case study in China
• Abdominal fat accumulation prevented by unsaturated fat
• Detailed measurements in living cells challenges classic model for gene regulation
• Study reveals new ways deadly squirrelpox is transmitted to red squirrels
• New tumor suppressor gene will facilitate detection of people susceptible to skin cancer
• Mysterious polio-like illness found in five California children
• Bioengineered growth factors lead to better wound healing

First discovery of dinosaur fossils in Malaysia Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:47 PM PST Scientists have found dinosaur fossil teeth in the rural interiors of Pahang -- the first known discovery of dinosaur remains in Malaysia.

Pinwheel 'living' crystals and the origin of life Posted: 24 Feb 2014 02:17 PM PST Simply making nanoparticles spin coaxes them to arrange themselves into what researchers call 'living rotating crystals' that could serve as a nanopump. They may also, incidentally, shed light on the origin of life itself. The researchers refer to the crystals as 'living' because they, in a sense, take on a life of their own from very simple rules.

Microbes on floating ocean plastics: Uncovering the secret world of the 'Plastisphere' Posted: 24 Feb 2014 02:16 PM PST Scientists are revealing how microbes living on floating pieces of plastic marine debris affect the ocean ecosystem, and the potential harm they pose to invertebrates, humans and other animals.

Marine algae can sense the rainbow Posted: 24 Feb 2014 02:14 PM PST Several types of aquatic algae can detect orange, green and blue light, according to new research. Land plants have receptors to detect light on the red and far red of the spectrum, which are the common wavelengths in the air. These plants sense the light to move and grow as their environment changes, for example when another plant shades them from the sun. But in the ocean, the water absorbs red wavelengths, instead reflecting colors such as blue and green. Scientists have now sequenced about 20 different marine algae and found they were capable of detecting not only red light, but also many other colors.

Genetic link between feeding behavior and animal dispersal Posted: 24 Feb 2014 02:11 PM PST New research shows that animal dispersal is influenced by a gene associated with feeding and food search behaviors. The study provides one of the first aimed at gaining a functional understanding of how genes can influence dispersal tendencies in nature.

Personalized medicine best way to treat cancer, study argues Posted: 24 Feb 2014 10:31 AM PST Assessing the route to cancer on a case-by-case basis might make more sense than basing a patient's cancer treatment on commonly disrupted genes and pathways, a new study indicates. "This paper argues for the importance of personalized medicine, where we treat each person by looking for the etiology of the disease in patients individually," said the lead author. "The findings have ramifications on how we might best optimize cancer treatments as we enter the era of targeted gene therapy."

Volcanoes contribute to recent global warming 'hiatus' Posted: 24 Feb 2014 10:31 AM PST Volcanic eruptions in the early part of the 21st century have cooled the planet, according to a new study. This cooling partly offset the warming produced by greenhouse gases.

In the eye of a chicken, a new state of matter comes into view Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:42 AM PST Along with eggs, soup and rubber toys, the list of the chicken's most lasting legacies may eventually include advanced materials, according to scientists. The researchers report that the unusual arrangement of cells in a chicken's eye constitutes the first known biological occurrence of a potentially new state of matter known as 'disordered hyperuniformity,' which has been shown to have unique physical properties.

Toxic injection with elastic band: Discovering how bacteria get toxins into cells Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:42 AM PST Bacteria have developed many different ways of smuggling their toxic cargo into cells. A new study has helped scientists discover how Tc toxins inject bacterial toxins. The discovery has wide-reaching potential impact, from health solutions to farming and other industry.

Now it will become cheaper to make second-generation biofuel for our cars Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:41 AM PST Producing second-generation biofuel from dead plant tissue is environmentally friendly -- but it is also expensive because the process, as used today, needs expensive enzymes, and large companies dominate this market. Now scientists have a new technique that avoids the expensive enzymes. The production of second generation biofuels thus becomes cheaper, probably attracting many more producers and competition, and this may finally bring the price down.

Almost 200 new species of parasitoid wasps named after local parataxonomists in Costa Rica Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:39 AM PST An astonishing number of 186 new species of parasitoid wasps attacking caterpillars in the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, are described through an innovative approach integrating morphological, molecular and biological data, computer-generated descriptions, and high-quality illustrations. Most of the new species are named after local parataxonomists, who in many cases collected the caterpillars from which the new species of wasps emerged.

New biological scaffold offers promising foundation for engineered tissues Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:38 AM PST Engineered tissues like the ones used to create artificial skin need a scaffold for cells to grow on. Now a team of researchers has coaxed cells called fibroblasts into creating a scaffold that mimics the body's own internal matrix, and in early tests, cells seem happy to set up residence, and had the added advantage of provoking a very low immune response.

Biomedical bleeding affects horseshoe crab behavior Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:38 AM PST Collecting and bleeding horseshoe crabs for biomedical purposes causes short-term changes in their behavior and physiology that could exacerbate the crabs' population decline in parts of the East Coast. Authors of a new report examined this issue as well as possible solutions to its problems. Each year, the U.S. biomedical industry harvests the blue blood from almost half a million living horseshoe crabs for use in pharmaceuticals -- most notably, a product called Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL), used to ensure vaccines and medical equipment are free of bacterial contamination. This lifesaving product can only be made from horseshoe crab blood.

Sugarcane converted to cold-tolerant, oil-producing crop Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:02 AM PST A multi-institutional team reports that it can increase sugarcane's geographic range, boost its photosynthetic rate by 30 percent and turn it into an oil-producing crop for biodiesel production.

World first: hyperpolarization technique makes visible changes in metabolism while they are taking place Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:02 AM PST A new scanning technique can see changes in metabolism that have until now remained invisible, while they are taking place. The research is a world-first and stems from a study of the correlation between oxygen level and the development of kidney disease in rats with and without diabetes. Though advanced hyperpolarization technique has initially been utilized to document metabolic changes in the kidneys, it will be possible to use it to gain a greater insight into the development of diseases in all of the body's organs.

New technology detects cellular memory, aids in understanding of how diseases such as cancer arise Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:01 AM PST In 2009, a new technology was developed that could elucidate the mystery behind cellular memory. Building on this technology, researchers have now identified 100 new molecular players that ensure cellular knowledge of own identity at cell division. This is crucial for fetal development, to maintain body functions throughout life and prevent disease. Understanding the fundamental principles of how chromatin is faithfully duplicated is essential to understand how our organism is developed and maintained, and also how diseases such as cancer arise. If cells lose their chromatin memory, they can potentially develop into cancer cells and form tumors. Such a loss of what is also called 'epigenetic' memory is now known to be involved in almost all cancer types.

Gauging what it takes to heal a disaster-ravaged forest: Case study in China Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:01 AM PST Recovering from natural disasters usually means rebuilding infrastructure and reassembling human lives. Yet ecologically sensitive areas need to heal, too, and scientists are pioneering new methods to assess nature's recovery and guide human intervention. A new study focused on the epicenter of China's devastating Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, a globally important valuable biodiversity hotspot and home to the beloved and endangered giant pandas. Not only did the quake devastate villages and roads, but the earth split open and swallowed sections of the forests and bamboo groves that shelter and feed pandas and other endangered wildlife. The study indicated that forest restoration after natural disasters should not only consider the forest itself, but also take into account the animals inhabiting the ecosystem and human livelihoods.

Abdominal fat accumulation prevented by unsaturated fat Posted: 24 Feb 2014 08:00 AM PST New research shows that saturated fat builds more fat and less muscle than polyunsaturated fat. This is the first study on humans to show that the fat composition of food not only influences cholesterol levels in the blood and the risk of cardiovascular disease but also determines where the fat will be stored in the body. Gaining weight on excess calories from polyunsaturated fat appears to cause more gain in muscle mass, and less body fat than overeating a similar amount of saturated fat.

Detailed measurements in living cells challenges classic model for gene regulation Posted: 24 Feb 2014 06:21 AM PST In all living organisms, genes are regulated by proteins called transcription factors. The established model states that a gene is switched off as long as a repressing transcription factor is bound to the DNA. For the first time ever, researchers have been able to study the process in living cells, showing that it may be more complex than previously thought. It is at present unclear how the finding generalizes to other genes and organisms, but the fact that the researchers find interesting deviations in the first system they look at implies that it is not unlikely that it is important in many cases.

Study reveals new ways deadly squirrelpox is transmitted to red squirrels Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:11 AM PST Native red squirrels have declined throughout Britain and Ireland for the last century due to a combination of habitat loss and the introduction of the North American eastern grey squirrel. But more recently its few remaining populations have been devastated by an insidious pox virus passed to them by the alien invaders. A new study has found the situation may be worse than previously thought, as the disease appears to have multiple modes of potential transmission.

New tumor suppressor gene will facilitate detection of people susceptible to skin cancer Posted: 24 Feb 2014 05:10 AM PST The human genome contains approximately 20,000 protein coding genes which are responsible for the formation, development and functioning of the human body. A similar number of genes exists in the mouse genome. In this pool only some genes -- called tumor suppressors -- can initiate the production of proteins having anti-cancer properties. One of the mouse genes displays strong suppressive properties against the development of non-melanoma skin cancers, which was proven by a team of Polish and Australian researchers. The experimental results are a promising step towards more effective prophylactic tests and new methods of treatment of this type of tumors in human patients.

Mysterious polio-like illness found in five California children Posted: 23 Feb 2014 06:51 PM PST Researchers have identified a polio-like syndrome in a cluster of children from California over a one-year period, according to a case report released. Polio is a contagious disease that sometimes caused paralysis. The United States experienced a polio epidemic in the 1950s, until a vaccine was introduced. The five children experienced paralysis of one or more arms or legs that came on suddenly and reached the height of its severity within two days of onset. Three of the children had a respiratory illness before the symptoms began. All of the children had been previously vaccinated against poliovirus. The children were treated but their symptoms did not improve and they still had poor limb function after six months.

Bioengineered growth factors lead to better wound healing Posted: 20 Feb 2014 11:17 AM PST When we are wounded, our bodies naturally begin a process of repair of the damaged tissue. This process is mediated by biological molecules called growth factors, which are proteins that occur naturally in our cells and guide processes ranging from embryonic development to healing. Given their regenerative role in the body, growth factors have been investigated for use in drugs but with limited success. Scientists have now greatly improved the effectiveness of clinical growth factors in the context of soft tissue and bone repair, paving new strategies for regenerative medicine.

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