ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Intertwined evolution of human brain and brawn
• A habitable environment on Martian volcano?
• Where have all the craters gone?
• NASA airborne research focuses on Andean volcanoes
• Seafloor experts publish new view of zone where Malaysia Airlines flight 370 might lie
• Vines choke a forest's ability to capture carbon
• Autonomous airboats monitor hippo dung in Kenya's Mara River basin
• Hybrid energy transfer system mimics process responsible for photosynthesis
• Rules to cut carbon emissions also reduce air pollution harmful to people, environment
• Light-colored butterflies and dragonflies thriving as European climate warms
• New biodiversity study throws out controversial scientific theory
• Sperm cells are extremely efficient at swimming against a current: How sperm travel long distances, through difficult terrain, to reach an egg
• An area's level of poverty or wealth may affect the distribution of cancer types
• Clinical trial reaffirms diet beverages play positive role in weight loss

Intertwined evolution of human brain and brawn Posted: 27 May 2014 03:53 PM PDT The cognitive differences between humans and our closest living cousins, chimpanzees, are staggeringly obvious; however a new study suggests that human muscle may be just as unique.

A habitable environment on Martian volcano? Posted: 27 May 2014 12:47 PM PDT The Martian volcano Arsia Mons may have been home to one of the most recent habitable environments yet found on the Red Planet, geologists say. The research shows that volcanic eruptions beneath a glacial ice sheet would have created substantial amounts of liquid water on Mars's surface around 210 million years ago. Where there was water, there is the possibility of past life.

Where have all the craters gone? Posted: 27 May 2014 12:47 PM PDT Impact craters reveal one of the most spectacular geologic process known to human beings. During the past 3.5 billion years, it is estimated that more than 80 bodies, larger than the dinosaur-killing asteroid that struck the Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago, have bombarded Earth. However, tectonic processes, weathering, and burial quickly obscure or destroy craters. If Earth weren't so dynamic, its surface would be heavily cratered like the Moon or Mercury.

NASA airborne research focuses on Andean volcanoes Posted: 27 May 2014 12:15 PM PDT Volcanoes in Central and South America were the primary focus of a four-week Earth science study in late April and early May 2014 using a NASA-developed airborne synthetic aperture imaging radar.

Seafloor experts publish new view of zone where Malaysia Airlines flight 370 might lie Posted: 27 May 2014 11:59 AM PDT A new illustration of the seafloor, created by two of the world's leading ocean floor mapping experts that details underwater terrain where the missing Malaysia Airlines flight might be located, could shed additional light on what type of underwater vehicles might be used to find the missing airplane and where any debris from the crash might lie.

Vines choke a forest's ability to capture carbon Posted: 27 May 2014 11:29 AM PDT As tropical forests take over abandoned agricultural land, scientists expect these new forests to mop up industrial quantities of atmospheric carbon. New research shows increasingly abundant vines could hamper carbon uptake and may even cause tropical forests to lose carbon.

Autonomous airboats monitor hippo dung in Kenya's Mara River basin Posted: 27 May 2014 09:45 AM PDT Small, autonomous airboats, disguised to look like crocodiles, helped scientists measure water quality this spring in Kenya's Mara River. An estimated 4,000 hippos use the river as a toilet with potentially deadly effects for fish living downriver.

Hybrid energy transfer system mimics process responsible for photosynthesis Posted: 27 May 2014 09:41 AM PDT Scientists have developed a new hybrid energy transfer system, which mimics the processes responsible for photosynthesis. From photosynthesis to respiration, the processes of light absorption and its transfer into energy represent elementary and essential reactions that occur in any biological living system. In a new study, researchers demonstrate an alternate non-radiative, intermolecular energy transfer that exploits the intermediating role of light confined in an optical cavity.

Rules to cut carbon emissions also reduce air pollution harmful to people, environment Posted: 27 May 2014 08:49 AM PDT Setting strong standards for climate-changing carbon emissions from power plants would provide an added bonus -- reductions in other air pollutants that can make people sick; damage forests, crops, and lakes; and harm fish and wildlife. This, according to a first-of-its-kind study released today by scientists who mapped the potential environmental and human health benefits of power plant carbon standards.

Light-colored butterflies and dragonflies thriving as European climate warms Posted: 27 May 2014 08:49 AM PDT Butterflies and dragonflies with lighter colors are out-competing darker-colored insects in the face of climate change. Scientists have shown that as the climate warms across Europe, communities of butterflies and dragonflies consist of more lighter coloured species. Darker coloured species are retreating northwards to cooler areas, but lighter coloured species are also moving their geographical range north as Europe gets warmer.

New biodiversity study throws out controversial scientific theory Posted: 27 May 2014 07:13 AM PDT Scientists have released ground-breaking findings that dismiss the 'Neutral Theory of Biodiversity'. The theory has dominated biodiversity research for the past decade, and been advocated as a tool for conservation and management efforts. The study, the largest of its kind, covers a broad range of marine ecosystems on Earth and has important implications for how marine conservation areas are managed.

Sperm cells are extremely efficient at swimming against a current: How sperm travel long distances, through difficult terrain, to reach an egg Posted: 27 May 2014 07:13 AM PDT Like salmon traveling upstream to spawn, sperm cells are extremely efficient at swimming against the current, according to new research. The discovery may help us to understand how some sperm travel such long distances, through difficult terrain, to reach and fertilize an egg. Of the hundreds of millions of sperm cells that begin the journey up the oviducts, only a few hardy travelers will ever reach their destination. Not only do the cells have to swim in the right direction over distances that are around 1,000 times their own length, but they are exposed to different chemicals and currents along the way.

An area's level of poverty or wealth may affect the distribution of cancer types Posted: 27 May 2014 07:06 AM PDT A new analysis has found that certain cancers are more concentrated in areas with high poverty, while other cancers arise more often in wealthy regions.

Clinical trial reaffirms diet beverages play positive role in weight loss Posted: 27 May 2014 05:51 AM PDT A new study confirms that drinking diet beverages can help people lose weight. "This study clearly demonstrates that diet beverages can in fact help people lose weight, directly countering myths in recent years that suggest the opposite effect -- weight gain," said a study co-author.

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