ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Spices and herbs intervention helps adults reduce salt intake
• Ancient food webs developed modern structure soon after mass extinction
• Earth's radiation belt: Van Allen probes reveal zebra stripes in space
• Sometimes less is more for hungry dogs
• Titanium clubs can cause golf course fires
• Goldilocks principle: Earth's continued habitability due to geologic cycles that act as climate control
• Radiation damage at the root of Chernobyl's ecosystems
• Forest corridors help plants disperse their seeds, study shows
• Study describes first maps of neural activity in behaving zebrafish
• Hox Genes Responsible for Firefly Lantern Development
• Comeback of an abandoned antibiotic: Trimethoprim
• Vaccination: No-refrigeration, spray vaccine could curb diseases in remote areas
• Ancient DNA shows moa were fine until humans arrived
• GPS also helps analyze global water resources
• Gut bacteria can cause life-threatening infections in preterm babies
• Student deciphers 1,800-year-old letter from Egyptian soldier
• Diversity in UK gardens aiding fight to save threatened bumblebees, study suggests
• Eel expedition 2014 has arrived in The Sargasso Sea
• New biotechnology product to make waterproof paper using natural enzymes
• A diet to make you fat or fit? The role of 'sumo stew' in shaping a sumo wrestler
• NASA historic Earth images still hold research value
• Planting cotton early may mean less stink bug damage
• Fast synthesis could boost drug development
• The power of poison: Study examines pesticide poisoning of Africa's wildlife
• Omnivorous species are more resistant to fire effects
• Earliest evidence of limb bone marrow in the fin of a 370 million year old fish
• Humans drive evolution of conch size
• Cultural hitchhiking: How social behavior can affect genetic makeup in dolphins
• Owl monkeys don't cheat: Intensive fathering plays a role
• Tamiflu reduces risk of death by 25 percent in adults hospitalised with H1N1 pandemic influenza
• Fried foods may interact with genes to influence body weight, say experts
• Fierce 2012 magnetic storm just missed us: Earth dodged huge magnetic bullet from the sun
• Dog DNA has role in developing new therapies for human cancers
• Precise reason for health benefits of dark chocolate: Thank hungry gut microbes
• Global food trade can alleviate water scarcity
• Deepwater Horizon oil spill modeled
• Incentives needed to improve grain markets in India
• Form of epilepsy in sea lions similar to that in humans, researchers find
• Rise in heart attacks after Hurricane Katrina persisted six years later
• An end to animal testing for drug discovery?
• New mechanism allowing tumor cells to escape immune surveillance discovered
• Global problem of fisheries bycatch needs global solutions
• Study fingers chickens, quail in spread of H7N9 influenza virus

Spices and herbs intervention helps adults reduce salt intake Posted: 19 Mar 2014 01:52 PM PDT A behavioral intervention that taught adults to use herbs and spices instead of salt led to a decrease in sodium consumption compared to people who tried to reduce sodium on their own. Adults taking part in a 20-week behavioral intervention consumed 966 mg/day less salt than their self-directed counterparts.

Ancient food webs developed modern structure soon after mass extinction Posted: 19 Mar 2014 01:48 PM PDT Analysis of a highly detailed picture of feeding relationships among 700 species from a 48 million year old ecosystem provides the most compelling evidence to date that ancient food webs were organized much like modern food webs. The results are significant because they show that the Messel ecosystem developed a modern ecological structure, along with a modern biota, in a relatively brief 18 million year period following Earth's most recent die-off, the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, which disrupted ecosystem dynamics on a massive scale and served as a species diversity bottleneck.

Earth's radiation belt: Van Allen probes reveal zebra stripes in space Posted: 19 Mar 2014 12:32 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a new, persistent structure in one of two radiation belts surrounding Earth. NASA's twin Van Allen Probes spacecraft have shown that high-energy electrons in the inner radiation belt display a persistent pattern that resembles slanted zebra stripes. Surprisingly, this structure is produced by the slow rotation of Earth, previously considered incapable of affecting the motion of radiation belt particles, which have velocities approaching the speed of light.

Sometimes less is more for hungry dogs Posted: 19 Mar 2014 12:31 PM PDT Hungry dogs would be expected to choose alternatives leading to more food rather than less food. But just as with humans and monkeys, they sometimes show a 'less is more' effect. Thus conclude scientists who tested the principle by feeding baby carrots and string cheese to 10 dogs of various breeds.

Titanium clubs can cause golf course fires Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:39 AM PDT Titanium alloy golf clubs can cause dangerous wildfires, according to scientists. When a club coated with the lightweight metal is swung and strikes a rock, it creates sparks that can heat to more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit for long enough to ignite dry foliage, according to new findings.

Goldilocks principle: Earth's continued habitability due to geologic cycles that act as climate control Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:39 AM PDT Scientists have shown how geologic process regulates the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Researchers have documented evidence suggesting that part of the reason that Earth has become neither sweltering like Venus nor frigid like Mars lies with a built-in atmospheric carbon dioxide regulator -- the geologic cycles that churn up the planet's rocky surface.

Radiation damage at the root of Chernobyl's ecosystems Posted: 19 Mar 2014 09:48 AM PDT Radiological damage to microbes near the site of the Chernobyl disaster has slowed the decomposition of fallen leaves and other plant matter in the area, according to a new study. The resulting buildup of dry, loose detritus is a wildfire hazard that poses the threat of spreading radioactivity from the Chernobyl area.

Forest corridors help plants disperse their seeds, study shows Posted: 19 Mar 2014 09:48 AM PDT A forest, a supercomputer and some glow-in-the-dark yarn have helped a team of field ecologists conclude that woodland corridors connecting patches of endangered plants not only increase seed dispersal from one patch to another, but also create wind conditions that can spread the seeds for much longer distances. An environmental engineer leveraged Ohio Supercomputer Center systems to simulate a forest and the winds that flow through it.

Study describes first maps of neural activity in behaving zebrafish Posted: 19 Mar 2014 09:48 AM PDT In a new study, neuroscientists describe the first activity maps at the resolution of single cells and throughout the entire brain of behaving zebrafish.

Hox Genes Responsible for Firefly Lantern Development Posted: 19 Mar 2014 08:46 AM PDT Perhaps no single evolutionary novelty in the animal kingdom has fascinated scientists more than the lantern of the firefly. Yet to this day, nothing has been known about the genetic foundation for the formation and evolution of this luminescent structure. But now, new work offers for the first time a characterization of the developmental genetic basis of this spectacular morphological novelty -- the firefly's photic organ -- and the means by which this beetle successfully uses ancient and highly conserved regulatory genes to form its lantern.

Comeback of an abandoned antibiotic: Trimethoprim Posted: 19 Mar 2014 07:35 AM PDT In less-developed countries, inexpensive and well-tolerated antibiotics for therapy of streptococcal infections are often not available. Scientists have discovered that trimethoprim may provide an option. Contrary to a long-held belief, the bacteria are not generally resistant to this agent. In their latest publication the scientists demonstrated three pathways for the development of resistance -- meaning that streptococci can easily become resistant to the antibiotic and pass on this trait quickly.

Vaccination: No-refrigeration, spray vaccine could curb diseases in remote areas Posted: 19 Mar 2014 07:33 AM PDT A new kind of single-dose vaccine that comes in a nasal spray and doesn't require refrigeration could dramatically alter the public health landscape -- get more people vaccinated around the world and address the looming threats of emerging and re-emerging diseases.

Ancient DNA shows moa were fine until humans arrived Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:44 AM PDT A study strengthens the case for human involvement in the disappearance of New Zealand's iconic megaherbivore, the moa -- a distant relative of the Australian Emu. All nine species of New Zealand moa, the largest weighing up to 250 kilograms, became extinct shortly after Polynesians arrived in the country in the late 13th century.

GPS also helps analyze global water resources Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:44 AM PDT WaterGAP is a hydrological model used to model water shortage, groundwater depletion, and floods and droughts over the land area of the globe. The Frankfurt hydrologist Professor Petra Döll has examined how good a fit this model provides, using GPS observations and data from the GRACE satellite, which measures the gravitational field of the Earth. The study indicates that WaterGAP needs to be modified.

Gut bacteria can cause life-threatening infections in preterm babies Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:42 AM PDT Babies born prematurely are surviving in increasing numbers. But many withstand complications of early birth only to suffer late-onset sepsis -- life-threatening bloodstream infections that strike after infants reach 72 hours of age. The causes of late-onset sepsis have not been clear. But now, researchers have discovered that preterm babies' guts harbor infectious microbes that can cause late-onset sepsis.

Student deciphers 1,800-year-old letter from Egyptian soldier Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:42 AM PDT A newly deciphered 1,800-year-old letter from an Egyptian solider serving in a Roman legion in Europe to his family back home shows striking similarities to what some soldiers may be feeling here and now.

Diversity in UK gardens aiding fight to save threatened bumblebees, study suggests Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:42 AM PDT The global diversity of plants being cultivated by Britain's gardeners is playing a key role in the fight to save the nation's threatened bumblebees, new research has revealed. "Urban gardens are increasingly recognized for their potential to maintain or even enhance biodiversity," Dr Hanley said. "In particular, the presence of large densities and varieties of flowering plants supports a number of pollinating insects whose range and abundance has declined as a consequence of agricultural intensification and habitat loss. By growing a variety of plants from around the world, gardeners ensure that a range of food sources is available for many different pollinators," an author notes.

Eel expedition 2014 has arrived in The Sargasso Sea Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:39 AM PDT The research vessel Dana is currently in the Sargasso Sea on an intensive research expedition to the European eel's spawning grounds subsequently following the eel larvae's drift back to Europe. The Sargasso Sea is a large oceanic area between Bermuda and the West Indies. There are 19 species of eel in the world. Two of them spawn in the Sargasso Sea: The American and The European Eel.

New biotechnology product to make waterproof paper using natural enzymes Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:39 AM PDT A new aqueous compound to functionalize or modify the properties of paper and any other cellulosic material has been patented. The compound uses natural enzymes instead of the traditional chemical reagents, is biodegradable, and involves no environmental impact. Most important, it is easily applicable in the production process and requires no additional investment.

A diet to make you fat or fit? The role of 'sumo stew' in shaping a sumo wrestler Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:39 AM PDT A recent study explores the meanings of 'fat' and obesity in sumo and Japanese culture and the part that chanko, or 'sumo stew', plays in this.

NASA historic Earth images still hold research value Posted: 19 Mar 2014 06:07 AM PDT NASA's Seasat satellite became history long ago, but it left a legacy of images of Earth's ocean, volcanoes, forests and other features that were made by the first synthetic aperture radar ever mounted on a satellite. Potential research uses for the recently released 35-year-old images are outlined in a new paper.

Planting cotton early may mean less stink bug damage Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Planting cotton early in the planting window will allow growers to escape peak stink bug pressure and thereby possibly eliminate or minimally reduce the number of sprays required to manage them, research shows. Results of the study showed that the rate of boll damage generally increased more rapidly through the bloom cycle for planting dates in June compared with May.

Fast synthesis could boost drug development Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Small protein fragments, also called peptides, are promising as drugs because they can be designed for very specific functions inside living cells. Insulin and the HIV drug Fuzeon are some of the earliest successful examples, and peptide drugs are expected to become a $25 billion market by 2018. However, a major bottleneck has prevented peptide drugs from reaching their full potential: Manufacturing the peptides takes several weeks, making it difficult to obtain large quantities, and to rapidly test their effectiveness. Chemists have now devised a new way to manufacture peptide drugs, which hold promise for treating many diseases.

The power of poison: Study examines pesticide poisoning of Africa's wildlife Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:55 AM PDT Poisons are silent, effective and cheap, making the especially dangerous in Africa where they are used for both pest control and illegal poaching. However, as a new study reveals, they also kill unintended wildlife.

Omnivorous species are more resistant to fire effects Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:54 AM PDT A new study demonstrates that omnivorous species are the most resistant to fire. The study analyzes changes in composition and abundance in 274 species after the fire that happened in August 2003 in Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac Natural Park. It was developed within the monitoring of fauna recolonization developed in the burnt area after the fire.

Earliest evidence of limb bone marrow in the fin of a 370 million year old fish Posted: 19 Mar 2014 05:54 AM PDT The earliest fossil evidence for the presence of bone marrow in the fin of a 370 million-year-old fish. Long bones, which are found in the limb of tetrapods, are not only important for locomotion and supporting the weight of the body, but also host the bone marrow. The latter plays a major role in haematopoiesis, i.e. the formation of blood cells.

Humans drive evolution of conch size Posted: 18 Mar 2014 06:22 PM PDT Scientists found that 7,000 years ago, the Caribbean fighting conch contained 66 percent more meat than its descendants do today. Because of persistent harvesting of the largest conchs, it became advantageous for the animal to mature at a smaller size, resulting in evolutionary change.

Cultural hitchhiking: How social behavior can affect genetic makeup in dolphins Posted: 18 Mar 2014 06:22 PM PDT Researchers studying bottlenose dolphins that use sponges as tools to protect their sensitive beaks has shown that social behavior can shape the genetic makeup of an animal population in the wild. The research on dolphins in Shark Bay in Western Australia is one of the first studies to show this effect -- which is called cultural hitchhiking -- in animals other than people.

Owl monkeys don't cheat: Intensive fathering plays a role Posted: 18 Mar 2014 06:22 PM PDT A new study shows that Azara's owl monkeys (Aotus azarae) are unusually faithful. The investigation of 35 offspring born to 17 owl monkey pairs turned up no evidence of cheating; the male and female monkeys that cared for the young were the infants' true biological parents.

Tamiflu reduces risk of death by 25 percent in adults hospitalised with H1N1 pandemic influenza Posted: 18 Mar 2014 04:00 PM PDT Adults hospitalized with H1N1 influenza during the 2009-2010 pandemic were 25 percent less likely to die from the disease if they were given antiviral drugs called neuraminidase inhibitors such as Tamiflu, according to a large meta-analysis involving more than 29,000 patients from 38 countries. The findings also indicate that treatment within 2 days of flu symptoms developing halved the risk of death compared with later treatment or no treatment.

Fried foods may interact with genes to influence body weight, say experts Posted: 18 Mar 2014 04:00 PM PDT Individuals who are genetically predisposed to obesity may be more susceptible to the adverse effects of eating fried foods, concludes a study. The results of a new study show that eating fried food more than four times a week had twice as big an effect on body mass index (BMI) for those with the highest genetic risk scores compared with lower scores. In other words, genetic makeup can inflate the effects of bad diet.

Fierce 2012 magnetic storm just missed us: Earth dodged huge magnetic bullet from the sun Posted: 18 Mar 2014 12:49 PM PDT On July 23, 2012, a huge magnetic storm propelled by two nearly simultaneous coronal mass ejections on the sun plowed through Earth's orbit. Luckily, Earth was on the other side of the sun at the time. Had the outburst hit Earth, however, it would have rivaled the largest magnetic storm to strike Earth in recorded history, possibly wreaking havoc with the electrical grid, satellites and GPS.

Dog DNA has role in developing new therapies for human cancers Posted: 18 Mar 2014 12:49 PM PDT Using genomic analysis to study cancer in dogs can help develop new therapies for humans with cancer, according to a proof-of-concept study underway. Pure-breed dogs, whose genetics have been standardized by hundreds of years of human intervention, provide highly predictable genetic models from which specific drugs are matched to the molecular profiles of human patients. While there are, relatively, many genetic differences among humans with the same type of cancer, there are far fewer genetic differences among dogs of the same breed, making it vastly easier to identify and study the genes driving canine cancers.

Precise reason for health benefits of dark chocolate: Thank hungry gut microbes Posted: 18 Mar 2014 12:47 PM PDT The health benefits of eating dark chocolate have been extolled for centuries, but the exact reason has remained a mystery -- until now. Researchers reported that certain bacteria in the stomach gobble the chocolate and ferment it into anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for the heart.

Global food trade can alleviate water scarcity Posted: 18 Mar 2014 11:05 AM PDT International trade of food crops led to freshwater savings worth 2.4 billion US-Dollars in 2005 and had a major impact on local water stress. Trading food involves the trade of virtually embedded water used for production, and the amount of that water depends heavily on the climatic conditions in the production region: It takes, for instance, 2.700 liters of water to produce 1 kilo of cereals in Morocco, while the same kilo produced in Germany uses up only 520 liters. Analyzing the impact of trade on local water scarcity, our scientists found that it is not the amount of water used that counts most, but the origin of the water.

Deepwater Horizon oil spill modeled Posted: 18 Mar 2014 11:05 AM PDT An oceanographer has shown that combined COAMPS and BioCast data predicted where oil would go after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. The method also applies to predicting ocean optical properties for mine detection and other US Navy missions.

Incentives needed to improve grain markets in India Posted: 18 Mar 2014 11:02 AM PDT Even after the agricultural reforms of 2002-03, for wheat, rice, and pearl millet farmers in India, grain markets are still pretty sticky. Economists analyzed infrastructure of interstate trade for food-grain crops in three Indian states and found that grain farmers are unable to cash in on India's market reforms and take advantage of a price difference between two or more markets.

Form of epilepsy in sea lions similar to that in humans, researchers find Posted: 18 Mar 2014 08:37 AM PDT California sea lions exposed to a toxin in algae develop a form of epilepsy that is similar to one in humans, according to a new study. Every year, hundreds of sea lions wash up along the California coast, suffering seizures caused by exposure to domoic acid, a neurotoxin that can produce memory loss, tremors, convulsions and death. Domoic acid is produced by algae blooms that have been proliferating along the coast in recent years, accumulating in anchovies and other small fish that the sea lions feed on.

Rise in heart attacks after Hurricane Katrina persisted six years later Posted: 18 Mar 2014 08:36 AM PDT Lingering stress from major disasters can damage health years later, according to a new study that found a three-fold spike in heart attacks continued in New Orleans six years after Hurricane Katrina. Researchers also found a lasting disruption in the timing of heart attacks in the six years after the storm with significantly more incidents occurring on nights and weekends, which are typically times hospitals see fewer admissions for heart attacks.

An end to animal testing for drug discovery? Posted: 18 Mar 2014 08:36 AM PDT As some countries and companies roll out new rules to limit animal testing in pharmaceutical products designed for people, scientists are stepping in with a new way to test therapeutic drug candidates and determine drug safety and drug interactions -- without using animals. The development of "chemosynthetic livers" could dramatically alter how drugs are made.

New mechanism allowing tumor cells to escape immune surveillance discovered Posted: 18 Mar 2014 08:13 AM PDT The immune system plays a pivotal role in targeting cancer cells for destruction. However, tumor cells are smart and have developed ways to avoid immune detection. A collaborative team of researchers recently discovered a novel mechanism that lung cancer cells use to block detection by a type of immune cell called a natural killer cell (NK cell).

Global problem of fisheries bycatch needs global solutions Posted: 18 Mar 2014 06:39 AM PDT Whenever fishing vessels harvest fish, other animals can be accidentally caught or entangled in fishing gear as bycatch. Numerous strategies exist to prevent bycatch, but data have been lacking on the global scale of this issue. A new in-depth analysis of global bycatch data provides fisheries and the conservation community with the best information yet to help mitigate the ecological damage of bycatch and helps identify where mitigation measures are most needed.

Study fingers chickens, quail in spread of H7N9 influenza virus Posted: 18 Mar 2014 06:37 AM PDT Among the copious species of poultry in China, quail and chickens are the likely sources of infection of H7N9 influenza virus to humans, according to a paper. The H7N9 avian influenza virus was first reported in humans in March 2013 in China. Since then over 375 human cases have been confirmed and over 100 have died. Only 1 case has been reported outside of China: A woman from Guangdong Province who was traveling in Malaysia and is presumed to have contracted the virus in China. According to the World Health Organization, most known human infections have resulted from direct or indirect contact with poultry.

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