ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Immune cells to be tested on the International Space Station
• 'Dressed' laser aimed at clouds may be key to inducing rain, lightning
• Plants with dormant seeds give rise to more species
• Gecko-like adhesives now useful for real world surfaces
• Impact glass from asteroids and comets stores biodata for millions of years
• Mom's diet mirrors child's food allergies

Immune cells to be tested on the International Space Station Posted: 19 Apr 2014 06:00 AM PDT The human body is fine-tuned to Earth's gravity. Scientists are now conducting an experiment on the International Space Station (ISS) to study whether this also applies to human cells. We know the effect of gravity on muscles, bones and joints inside out; it has been studied extensively in medicine for centuries. For a long time, however, exactly how gravity affects the cells remained a mystery.

'Dressed' laser aimed at clouds may be key to inducing rain, lightning Posted: 18 Apr 2014 11:12 AM PDT The adage "Everyone complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it" may one day be obsolete if researchers further develop a new technique to aim a high-energy laser beam into clouds to make it rain or trigger lightning. Other possible uses of this technique could be used in long-distance sensors and spectrometers to identify chemical makeup.

Plants with dormant seeds give rise to more species Posted: 18 Apr 2014 11:12 AM PDT Seeds that sprout as soon as they're planted may be good news for a garden. But in the wild, a plant whose seeds sprouted at the first warm spell or rainy day would risk disaster. More than just an insurance policy against late frosts or unexpected dry spells, it turns out that seed dormancy has long-term advantages too: plants whose seeds put off sprouting until conditions are more certain give rise to more species.

Gecko-like adhesives now useful for real world surfaces Posted: 18 Apr 2014 11:11 AM PDT The ability to stick objects to a wide range of surfaces such as drywall, wood, metal and glass with a single adhesive has been the elusive goal of many research teams across the world, but now a team inventors describe a new, more versatile version of their invention, Geckskin, that can adhere strongly to a wider range of surfaces, yet releases easily, like a gecko's feet.

Impact glass from asteroids and comets stores biodata for millions of years Posted: 18 Apr 2014 11:11 AM PDT Bits of plant life encapsulated in molten glass by asteroid and comet impacts millions of years ago give geologists information about climate and life forms on the ancient Earth. Scientists exploring large fields of impact glass in Argentina suggest that what happened on Earth might well have happened on Mars millions of years ago. Martian impact glass could hold traces of organic compounds.

Mom's diet mirrors child's food allergies Posted: 18 Apr 2014 11:08 AM PDT A long-term study evaluating maternal diet's impact on food allergy in later life is expected to uncover causes of allergy in children. A particular focus for the project is the different effects of allergenic foods in different contexts.

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