ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

---

• Europe may experience higher warming than global average
• Birds display lateralization bias when selecting flight paths
• Fighting for survival in the gut: Unravelling the hidden variation in bacteria
• BPA linked to breast cancer tumor growth
• Marijuana's anxiety relief effects: Receptors found in emotional hub of brain
• How river networks move across a landscape
• Plasma plumes help shield Earth from damaging solar storms
• Biofuel-to-hydrocarbon conversion technology licensed
• Detailed picture created of membrane protein linked to learning, memory, anxiety, pain and brain disorders
• Warmer temperatures push malaria to higher elevations
• 'Current test' for water pollution
• Combatting hospital-acquired infections with protein metal complex
• Common mutation is culprit in acute leukemia relapse
• Warming temperatures are pushing two chickadee species -- and their hybrids -- northward
• Birds of all feathers and global flu diversity
• The rise of spring allergies: Fact or fiction?
• Earth's mantle plasticity explained: Missing mechanism for deforming olivine-rich rocks
• Japanese Town: Half the survivors of mega-earthquake, tsunami, have PTSD symptoms
• Computational tool offers new insight into key biological processes
• Offshore dispersant data and decisions
• Santorini tree rings support the traditional dating of the volcanic eruption
• New software automates and improves phylogenomics from next-generation sequencing data
• Testis size matters for genome evolution
• Love or kill thy neighbor? New study into animal social behavior
• Eating red, processed meat: What scientists say
• Elephant age estimated from voice: A powerful conservation tool?
• Shadows of Petra awaken its astronomical orientation
• Smart grid for electric vehicle fleet

Europe may experience higher warming than global average Posted: 06 Mar 2014 04:15 PM PST The majority of Europe will experience higher warming than the global average if surface temperatures rise to 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels, according to a new study.

Birds display lateralization bias when selecting flight paths Posted: 06 Mar 2014 04:15 PM PST Flocks of birds manage to navigate through difficult environments by individuals having predispositions to favor the left- or right-hand side. Researchers flew the budgerigars down a tunnel where they were met by an obstacle, and a choice of two paths to fly through. Sometimes the paths were of equal size, and sometimes one would be bigger than the other. Some birds had no bias and would choose the wider gap every time, while others with a distinct bias preferred going to one side, even if it was significantly narrower than the alternative.

Fighting for survival in the gut: Unravelling the hidden variation in bacteria Posted: 06 Mar 2014 04:14 PM PST Our intestines harbor an astronomical number of bacteria, around 100 times the number of cells in our body, known as the gut microbiota. These bacteria belong to thousands of species that co-exist, interact with each other and are key to our health. While it is clear that species imbalances may result in disease, it is unclear at what pace does each species in the gut evolves, a process that contributes to the chance of a particular innocuous species becoming harmful to the host.

BPA linked to breast cancer tumor growth Posted: 06 Mar 2014 01:33 PM PST Researchers have attempted to trace how bisphenol-A may promote breast cancer tumor growth with help from a molecule called RNA HOTAIR. "We can't immediately say BPA causes cancer growth, but it could well contribute because it is disrupting the genes that defend against that growth," said a corresponding author on the paper. BPA has been widely used in plastics, such as food storage containers, the lining of canned goods and, until recently, baby bottles. Previous studies have linked BPA to problems with reproductive development, early puberty, obesity and cancers.

Marijuana's anxiety relief effects: Receptors found in emotional hub of brain Posted: 06 Mar 2014 11:28 AM PST Cannabinoid receptors, through which marijuana exerts its effects, have been found in a key emotional hub in the brain involved in regulating anxiety and the flight-or-fight response. This is the first time cannabinoid receptors have been identified in the central nucleus of the amygdala in a mouse model.

How river networks move across a landscape Posted: 06 Mar 2014 11:27 AM PST Large river networks -- such as those that funnel into the Colorado and Mississippi rivers -- may seem to be permanent features of a landscape. In fact, many rivers define political boundaries that have been in place for centuries. Now researchers have developed a mapping technique that measures how much a river network is changing, and in what direction it may be moving.

Plasma plumes help shield Earth from damaging solar storms Posted: 06 Mar 2014 11:27 AM PST Scientists have identified a plasma plume that naturally protects the Earth against solar storms. Earth's magnetic field, or magnetosphere, stretches from the planet's core out into space, where it meets the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emitted by the sun. For the most part, the magnetosphere acts as a shield to protect Earth from this high-energy solar activity. But when this field comes into contact with the sun's magnetic field -- a process called "magnetic reconnection" -- powerful electrical currents from the sun can stream into Earth's atmosphere, whipping up geomagnetic storms and space weather phenomena that can affect high-altitude aircraft, as well as astronauts on the International Space Station. Now scientists have identified a process in Earth's magnetosphere that reinforces its shielding effect, keeping incoming solar energy at bay.

Biofuel-to-hydrocarbon conversion technology licensed Posted: 06 Mar 2014 11:25 AM PST Vertimass LLC has licensed an ORNL technology that directly converts ethanol into a hydrocarbon blend-stock for use in transportation fuels. The technology offers a new pathway to biomass-derived renewable fuels that can lower greenhouse gas emissions and decrease U.S. reliance on foreign sources of oil.

Detailed picture created of membrane protein linked to learning, memory, anxiety, pain and brain disorders Posted: 06 Mar 2014 11:25 AM PST The most detailed 3-D picture yet has been created of a membrane protein linked to learning, memory, anxiety, pain and brain disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and autism. The mGlu1 receptor, which helps regulate the neurotransmitter glutamate, belongs to a superfamily of molecules known as G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs sit in the cell membrane and sense various molecules outside the cell, including odors, hormones, neurotransmitters and light. After binding these molecules, GPCRs trigger a specific response inside the cell. More than one-third of therapeutic drugs target GPCRs -— including allergy and heart medications, drugs that target the central nervous system and anti-depressants.

Warmer temperatures push malaria to higher elevations Posted: 06 Mar 2014 11:25 AM PST Researchers have debated for more than two decades the likely impacts, if any, of global warming on the worldwide incidence of malaria, a mosquito-borne disease that infects more than 300 million people each year. Now, ecologists are reporting the first hard evidence that malaria does -- as had long been predicted -- creep to higher elevations during warmer years and back down to lower altitudes when temperatures cool.

'Current test' for water pollution Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:28 AM PST A simple electrical conductivity could be enough to measure water pollution in tropical rivers instead of the complex tests currently used, according to a new article.

Combatting hospital-acquired infections with protein metal complex Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:28 AM PST A protein containing a metal complex for blue paint inhibits growth of a pathogenic bacterium through iron deprivation. Scientists have found a new method using an artificial metalloprotein (a protein that contains a metal) to inhibit the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, which is a common bacterium that can cause diseases in humans and evolves to exhibit multiple antibiotic resistance.

Common mutation is culprit in acute leukemia relapse Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:04 AM PST Stem cell scientists have identified a mutation in human cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia that likely drives relapse. The research could translate into improved patient care strategies for this particular blood cancer, which typically affects children but is more deadly in adults.

Warming temperatures are pushing two chickadee species -- and their hybrids -- northward Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:00 AM PST The zone of overlap between two popular, closely related backyard birds is moving northward at a rate that matches warming winter temperatures, according to a study. In a narrow strip that runs across the eastern U.S., Carolina Chickadees from the south meet and interbreed with Black-capped Chickadees from the north. The new study finds that this hybrid zone has moved northward at a rate of 0.7 mile per year over the last decade. That's fast enough that the researchers had to add an extra study site partway through their project in order to keep up.

Birds of all feathers and global flu diversity Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:00 AM PST Scientists have completed the first global inventory of flu strains in birds by reviewing more than 50 published studies and genetic data, providing new insight into the drivers of viral diversity and the emergence of disease that can ultimately impact human health and livelihoods.

The rise of spring allergies: Fact or fiction? Posted: 06 Mar 2014 10:00 AM PST The spring 2014 allergy season could be the worst yet, or at least that is what you might hear. Every year is coined as being the worst for allergy sufferers, but are spring allergies really on the rise? "A number of factors, such as weather patterns, predict how intense the spring allergy season will be," said an allergy expert. "While allergies are on the rise, affecting more and more Americans every year, each spring isn't necessarily worse than the last."

Earth's mantle plasticity explained: Missing mechanism for deforming olivine-rich rocks Posted: 06 Mar 2014 08:22 AM PST The Earth's mantle is a solid layer that undergoes slow, continuous convective motion. But how do these rocks deform, thus making such motion possible, given that minerals such as olivine (the main constituent of the upper mantle) do not exhibit enough defects in their crystal lattice to explain the deformations observed in nature? Scientists have provided an unexpected answer to this question. It involves little known and hitherto neglected crystal defects, known as 'disclinations', which are located at the boundaries between the mineral grains that make up rocks.

Japanese Town: Half the survivors of mega-earthquake, tsunami, have PTSD symptoms Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:55 AM PST A new study shows that more than half the survivors in one Japanese town exhibited 'clinically concerning' symptoms of PTSD following the country's mega-earthquake and tsunami. Two-thirds of survivors also reported symptoms of depression. Having work to do has proven important in increasing resilience.

Computational tool offers new insight into key biological processes Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:54 AM PST Researchers have developed a computational tool designed to guide future research on biochemical pathways by identifying which components in a biological system are related to specific biochemical processes, including those processes responsible for gene expression, cell signaling, stress response, and metabolism.

Offshore dispersant data and decisions Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:54 AM PST A critical review of the literature seeks to ease the understanding of data used in the decision process for offshore dispersant use.

Santorini tree rings support the traditional dating of the volcanic eruption Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:52 AM PST Will the dating of the volcanic eruption of Santorini remain an unsolved mystery? The question whether this natural disaster occurred 3,500 or 3,600 years ago is of great historiographical importance and has indeed at times been the subject of heated discussion among experts. After investigating tree rings, scientists have concluded that the volcano erupted in the 16th century BC, rather than any earlier than that.

New software automates and improves phylogenomics from next-generation sequencing data Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:38 AM PST To reconstruct phylogenetic trees from next-generation sequencing data using traditional methods requires a time-consuming combination of bioinformatic procedures including genome assembly, gene prediction, orthology identification and multiple alignment. Now a new online tool called REALPHY reconstructs evolutionary trees from data generated by next-generation sequencing data in a way that avoids these errors and biases.

Testis size matters for genome evolution Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:38 AM PST Scientists used a sequence dataset from 55 species of primates to test for a correlation between molecular evolutionary rates across a genome (substitution rates) and testes weights, used in the study as a proxy for increased sperm production and competition.

Love or kill thy neighbor? New study into animal social behavior Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:37 AM PST A theoretical study has shed new light on the conditions that lead to the evolution of spite or altruism in structured populations. Understanding the way in which social behaviors such as altruism -- when animals benefit others at their own expense -- develop is a long-standing problem that has generated thousands of articles and heated debates.

Eating red, processed meat: What scientists say Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:37 AM PST Recent reports warn about a link between eating red and processed meat and the risk of developing cancer in the gut. These reports have resulted in new nutritional recommendations that advise people to limit their intake of red and processed meats. A recent perspective paper, authored by 23 scientists, underlines the uncertainties in the scientific evidence and points to further research needed to resolve these issues and improve the foundation for future recommendations on the intake of red meat.

Elephant age estimated from voice: A powerful conservation tool? Posted: 06 Mar 2014 06:36 AM PST Researchers have been able to estimate the age of an elephant based on its vocal sounds. Results showed that they could distinguish infants, calves, juveniles, and adults with 70 percent accuracy and youngsters (infants/calves) from adults with 95 percent accuracy. The call feature that was most useful for doing this was overall frequency -- not surprisingly, since vocal frequency usually decreases as an animal grows larger.

Shadows of Petra awaken its astronomical orientation Posted: 05 Mar 2014 05:46 AM PST During the winter solstice, the sun is filtered into the Monastery at Petra, Jordan, illuminating the podium of a deity. Just at this moment, the silhouette of the mountain opposite draws the head of a lion, a sacred animal. These are examples from a study where researchers showed how celestial events influenced the orientation of the great constructions of the Nabataeans.

Smart grid for electric vehicle fleet Posted: 05 Mar 2014 05:46 AM PST Being able to charge up to 30 electric cars at once requires some ingenious energy management. Researchers are incorporating a mix of renewables into the design of a smart grid for Germany's largest charging station.

You are subscribed to email updates from Top Environment News -- ScienceDaily To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610