ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• What direction does Earth's center spin? New insights solve 300-year-old problem
• Early-warning system to prevent fishery collapse
• Scientists use 'wired microbes' to generate electricity from sewage
• Harnessing the sun's energy with tiny particles
• Flame cultivation promising as weed control method for cranberry
• World's most vulnerable areas to climate change mapped
• Birth of Earth's continents: New research points to crust stacking, rather than upwelling of hot material
• Environmentally friendly cement is stronger than ordinary cement
• Weather affects crop yield, especially hot days
• Exposure to pig farms and manure fertilizers associated with MRSA infections
• Birds appear to lack important anti-inflammatory protein
• Time is in the eye of the beholder: Time perception in animals depends on their pace of life
• Marine species distribution changes reflect local climate conditions
• Climate change to shift Kenya's breadbaskets
• Projected climate change in West Africa not likely to worsen malaria situation

What direction does Earth's center spin? New insights solve 300-year-old problem Posted: 16 Sep 2013 01:20 PM PDT Scientists have solved a 300-year-old riddle about which direction the center of Earth spins. Earth's inner core, made up of solid iron, 'superrotates' in an eastward direction -- meaning it spins faster than the rest of the planet -- while the outer core, comprising mainly molten iron, spins westwards at a slower pace.

Early-warning system to prevent fishery collapse Posted: 16 Sep 2013 01:17 PM PDT Threats from overfishing can be detected early enough to save fisheries -- and livelihoods -- with minimal adjustments in harvesting practices, a new study shows.

Scientists use 'wired microbes' to generate electricity from sewage Posted: 16 Sep 2013 01:17 PM PDT Engineers have devised a new way to generate electricity from sewage using naturally-occurring "wired microbes" as mini power plants, producing electricity as they digest plant and animal waste.

Harnessing the sun's energy with tiny particles Posted: 16 Sep 2013 01:15 PM PDT Engineers are using a falling particle receiver to more efficiently convert the sun's energy to electricity in large-scale, concentrating solar power plants.

Flame cultivation promising as weed control method for cranberry Posted: 16 Sep 2013 11:01 AM PDT Cranberries are important agricultural commodities in states such as Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Washington, and Oregon. But cranberry-growing operations are challenged by weeds, which compete for precious resources and often decrease fruit yields and revenues. Producers currently rely on weed management strategies such as flooding and sanding cranberry beds, hand-weeding, or applications of pre- and postemergence herbicides. Recent interest in reducing chemical inputs into cranberry growing systems has led researchers to evaluate alternative methods such as flame cultivation as a potential nonchemical weed control option.

World's most vulnerable areas to climate change mapped Posted: 16 Sep 2013 10:10 AM PDT Using data from the world's ecosystems and predictions of how climate change will impact them, scientists have produced a roadmap that ID's the world's most and least vulnerable areas in the Age of Climate Change.

Birth of Earth's continents: New research points to crust stacking, rather than upwelling of hot material Posted: 16 Sep 2013 09:21 AM PDT New research provides strong evidence against continent formation above a hot mantle plume, similar to an environment that presently exists beneath the Hawaiian Islands.

Environmentally friendly cement is stronger than ordinary cement Posted: 16 Sep 2013 08:10 AM PDT Cement made with waste ash from sugar production is stronger than ordinary cement. The research shows that the ash helps to bind water in the cement so that it is stronger, can withstand higher pressure and crumbles less. At the same time, energy is saved and pollution from cement production is reduced.

Weather affects crop yield, especially hot days Posted: 16 Sep 2013 07:36 AM PDT A study has determined the relationship between long-term weather and yield of 11 horticultural crops and one field crop in Wisconsin. The number of hot days during the growing season was determined to be the most important factor among the weather conditions examined. Results revealed the importance of the amount and frequency of seasonal precipitation, showed the negative effects of extreme temperatures on vegetable crop yields, and emphasized the importance of breeding vegetables for heat tolerance.

Exposure to pig farms and manure fertilizers associated with MRSA infections Posted: 16 Sep 2013 07:33 AM PDT Researchers have for the first time found an association between living in proximity to high-density livestock production and community-acquired infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA.

Birds appear to lack important anti-inflammatory protein Posted: 16 Sep 2013 07:33 AM PDT Bird diseases can have a vast impact on humans, so understanding their immune systems can be a benefit for people. An important element in the immune system of many animals is the protein TTP, which plays an anti-inflammatory role, yet researchers have been unable to find it in birds. New research suggests birds are an anomaly.

Time is in the eye of the beholder: Time perception in animals depends on their pace of life Posted: 16 Sep 2013 07:20 AM PDT Scientists have shown that animals' ability to perceive time is linked to their pace of life. The rate at which time is perceived varies across animals. For example, flies owe their skill at avoiding rolled up newspapers to their ability to observe motion on finer timescales than our own eyes can achieve, allowing them to avoid the newspaper in a similar fashion to the "bullet time" sequence in the popular film The Matrix. In contrast, one species of tiger beetle runs faster than its eyes can keep up, essentially becoming blind and requiring it to stop periodically to re-evaluate its prey's position. Even in humans, athletes in various sports have also been shown to quicken their eyes' ability to track moving balls during games.

Marine species distribution changes reflect local climate conditions Posted: 16 Sep 2013 06:12 AM PDT Climate change has resulted in shifts in where and at what depths many marine species are found. These shifts have not been uniform, and sometimes have occurred at different rates and in different ways than expected. Researchers from the US and Canada suggest that climate velocity -- the rate and direction that climate shifts in a particular region or landscape -- explains observed shifts in distribution far better than biological or species characteristics.

Climate change to shift Kenya's breadbaskets Posted: 16 Sep 2013 06:12 AM PDT Kenyan farmers and agriculture officials need to prepare for a possible geographic shift in maize production as climate change threatens to make some areas of the country much less productive for cultivation while simultaneously making others more maize-friendly.

Projected climate change in West Africa not likely to worsen malaria situation Posted: 16 Sep 2013 06:12 AM PDT A new model of malaria transmission combined with global forecasts for temperature and rainfall results in improved predictions of malaria with climate change.

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