ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Scientists discover 'switch' in plants to create flowers
• Egg-laying beginning of the end for dinosaurs
• Lead dust is linked to violence, study suggests
• Scientists tailor cell surface targeting system to hit organelle ZIP codes
• The BP oil spill, two years later: Natural recovery far greater than expected
• A toxic menu: Marine worm feeds on carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide with the help of symbiotic bacteria
• Nanotube electrodes improve solar cells
• Understanding of hearing in baleen whales amplified
• Plastic garbage in oceans: Understanding marine pollution from microplastic particles
• Asteroid craters on Earth give clues in search for life on Mars
• Hot new manufacturing tool: A temperature-controlled microbe
• Orangutans smarter than previously thought: Orangutan nest building highly sophisticated
• 70-year-old chemical mystery solved: How tropolone are synthesized in fungi
• Marco Polo was not a swindler: He really did go to China

Scientists discover 'switch' in plants to create flowers Posted: 17 Apr 2012 07:18 PM PDT Flowering is the most crucial act that plants undergo, as the fruits of such labor include crops on which the world depends, and seeds from which the next generation grows. While classic experiments have demonstrated that plants are able to adjust the timing of their flowering in response to environmental conditions, such as light and temperature, until now very little was known about what exactly triggers plants to make flowers instead of leaves. Now, a team of researchers from Singapore has discovered how this happens.

Egg-laying beginning of the end for dinosaurs Posted: 17 Apr 2012 07:17 PM PDT Their reproductive strategy spelled the beginning of the end: The fact that dinosaurs laid eggs put them at a considerable disadvantage compared to viviparous mammals. Researchers believe they now know why and how this ultimately led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Lead dust is linked to violence, study suggests Posted: 17 Apr 2012 01:27 PM PDT Childhood exposure to lead dust has been linked to lasting physical and behavioral effects, and now lead dust from vehicles using leaded gasoline has been linked to instances of aggravated assault two decades after exposure, according to researchers.

Scientists tailor cell surface targeting system to hit organelle ZIP codes Posted: 17 Apr 2012 12:27 PM PDT Scientists who developed a technology for identifying and targeting unique protein receptor ZIP codes on the cellular surface have found a way to penetrate the outer membrane and deliver engineered particles -- called iPhage -- to organelles inside the cell.

The BP oil spill, two years later: Natural recovery far greater than expected Posted: 17 Apr 2012 12:26 PM PDT This Friday, April 20, will mark two years since the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig caused vast quantities of crude oil to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. But despite the size of the spill, "the natural recovery is far greater than what anybody hoped when it happened," said a professor of biology. "The fears of most people – that there would be a catastrophic collapse of the ecosystem in the Gulf – never materialized."

A toxic menu: Marine worm feeds on carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide with the help of symbiotic bacteria Posted: 17 Apr 2012 11:38 AM PDT Scientists have revealed that a small marine worm, faced with a scarce food supply in the sandy sediments it lives in off the coast of Elba, must deal with a highly poisonous menu: this worm lives on carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide.

Nanotube electrodes improve solar cells Posted: 17 Apr 2012 09:56 AM PDT Forests of carbon nanotubes are an efficient alternative for platinum electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells, according to new research.

Understanding of hearing in baleen whales amplified Posted: 17 Apr 2012 08:36 AM PDT For decades, scientists have known that dolphins and other toothed whales have specialized fats associated with their jaws, which efficiently convey sound waves from the ocean to their ears. But until now, the hearing systems of their toothless grazing cousins, baleen whales, remained a mystery, largely because specimens to study are hard to get. Now, a new study has shown that some baleen whales also have fats leading to their ears.

Plastic garbage in oceans: Understanding marine pollution from microplastic particles Posted: 17 Apr 2012 07:25 AM PDT Biologists have prepared guidelines for a more precise investigation into marine pollution from microplastic particles.

Asteroid craters on Earth give clues in search for life on Mars Posted: 17 Apr 2012 05:05 AM PDT Craters made by asteroid impacts may be the best place to look for signs of life on other planets, a study suggests.

Hot new manufacturing tool: A temperature-controlled microbe Posted: 17 Apr 2012 05:05 AM PDT Scientists have found a way to control a heat-loving microbe with a temperature switch: it makes a product at low temperatures but not at high temperatures. The innovation could make it easier to use microorganisms as miniature factories for the production of needed materials like biofuels.

Orangutans smarter than previously thought: Orangutan nest building highly sophisticated Posted: 17 Apr 2012 05:03 AM PDT Orangutans may be smarter than previously thought if a new study into the sophisticated way they build nests is any indication.

70-year-old chemical mystery solved: How tropolone are synthesized in fungi Posted: 16 Apr 2012 12:44 PM PDT Chemists and biologists have finally cracked one of the longest standing chemical mysteries. They have demonstrated exactly how an unusual class of compounds known as tropolones are synthesized in fungi.

Marco Polo was not a swindler: He really did go to China Posted: 16 Apr 2012 07:04 AM PDT A thorough new study of Chinese sources dispels claims that Venice's most famous traveler never truly went as far as China.

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