ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Aboriginal hunting practice increases animal populations
• Why plants usually live longer then animals
• Learning how to convert heat directly into power: A thermoelectric materials emulator
• Making hydrogen cheaply? Unique chemistry in hydrogen catalysts revealed
• Increasing toxicity of algal blooms tied to nutrient enrichment and climate change
• Male spiders have better chance of fathering offspring in return for good gifts to potential female mates
• Coyote more likely to make a meal out of moose than thought
• For fish and rice to thrive in Yolo Bypass, 'just add water'
• Optimism about meeting 'Grand Challenge' of global prosperity
• Samurai sword protein makes strategic cuts in cell skeletons
• Molecular biology: Designer of protein factories exposed
• Bees underwent massive extinctions when dinosaurs did
• Unprecedented Arctic warming: Average summer temperatures in last 100 years may be warmest in 120,000 years
• Climate change and coevolution: Scientists have done the math
• Landslide sensors may save lives worldwide
• Long-term study links box jellyfish abundance, environmental variability at Waikiki Beach
• 'Name that tune' algorithm used to identify signature whistles of dolphins

Aboriginal hunting practice increases animal populations Posted: 24 Oct 2013 03:25 PM PDT In Australia's Western Desert, Aboriginal hunters use a unique method that actually increases populations of the animals they hunt, according to a new study. The hunting method -- using fire to clear patches of land to improve the search for game -- also creates a mosaic of regrowth that enhances habitat.

Why plants usually live longer then animals Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:33 AM PDT Stem cells are crucial for the continuous generation of new cells. Although the importance of stem cells in fuelling plant growth and development still many questions on their tight molecular control remain unanswered. Plant researchers have now discovered a new step in the complex regulation of stem cells.

Learning how to convert heat directly into power: A thermoelectric materials emulator Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:33 AM PDT Converting heat directly into power could be a major source of renewable energy. A novel approach to study this so called thermoelectricity may help to design new materials that are highly efficient. In an experiment with cold atoms trapped by lasers an international group of physicists precisely simulates the behavior of thermoelectric materials.

Making hydrogen cheaply? Unique chemistry in hydrogen catalysts revealed Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:33 AM PDT Making hydrogen easily and cheaply is a dream goal for clean, sustainable energy. Bacteria have been doing exactly that for billions of years, and now chemists are revealing how they do it, and perhaps opening ways to imitate them.

Increasing toxicity of algal blooms tied to nutrient enrichment and climate change Posted: 24 Oct 2013 11:33 AM PDT Nutrient enrichment and climate change are posing yet another concern of growing importance: an apparent increase in the toxicity of some algal blooms in freshwater lakes and estuaries around the world, which threatens aquatic organisms, ecosystem health and human drinking water safety.

Male spiders have better chance of fathering offspring in return for good gifts to potential female mates Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:19 AM PDT If a male spider goes to the trouble of finding a good gift, wraps it up nicely in spider silk and offers it to a female he would like to mate, he has far better chances of fathering her offspring than if he skipped the present. This is shown in new research, where researchers studied what it means for female spiders to receive gifts.

Coyote more likely to make a meal out of moose than thought Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:19 AM PDT It has long been believed that coyotes were incapable of taking down an adult moose, but researchers have recently discovered that eastern coyotes and coyote x wolf hybrids (canids) have preyed on adult moose in central Ontario.

For fish and rice to thrive in Yolo Bypass, 'just add water' Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:19 AM PDT From a fish-eye view, the rice fields of California's Yolo Bypass are one big dehydrated food web. Just add water to grow the biggest, fattest salmon in the state.

Optimism about meeting 'Grand Challenge' of global prosperity Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:18 AM PDT A professor of earth and atmospheric sciences outlines his optimism about the world's prospects for sustaining the human population in an environmentally responsible way in a new article.

Samurai sword protein makes strategic cuts in cell skeletons Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:14 AM PDT Research has shown that a protein named after the katana, or samurai sword, plays a crucial role in patterning the "skeleton" inside plant cells. The work provides a clue to the long-standing mystery of how the cytoskeletons within both plant and animal cells become organized in function-specific patterns.

Molecular biology: Designer of protein factories exposed Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:13 AM PDT Researchers have probed the structure of RNA polymerase I, a crucial cog in the machinery of all cells. Now they unveil the full three-dimensional conformation of the enzyme – at atomic resolution.

Bees underwent massive extinctions when dinosaurs did Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:11 AM PDT For the first time ever, scientists have documented a widespread extinction of bees that occurred 65 million years ago, concurrent with the massive event that wiped out land dinosaurs and many flowering plants. Their findings could shed light on the current decline in bee species.

Unprecedented Arctic warming: Average summer temperatures in last 100 years may be warmest in 120,000 years Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:22 AM PDT Average summer temperatures in the Eastern Canadian Arctic during the last 100 years are higher now than during any century in the past 44,000 years and perhaps as long ago as 120,000 years, says a new study.

Climate change and coevolution: Scientists have done the math Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:21 AM PDT When scientists attempt to understand how climate change might reshape our environment, they must grapple with the seemingly endless complexity of interacting systems. For those considering the likely fate of particular species, there is now a relatively simple rule of thumb to help calculate the likely effect of climate change where species interact.

Landslide sensors may save lives worldwide Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:19 AM PDT Using technology found in cell phones, inexpensive sensors being tested might one day soon save lives by giving advance warning of deadly landslides in at-risk areas.

Long-term study links box jellyfish abundance, environmental variability at Waikiki Beach Posted: 23 Oct 2013 03:39 PM PDT Drawing on 14 years of monthly collection data, researchers have found that the total number of box jellyfish that come ashore at Waikiki displayed no net increase or decrease, but instead followed an oscillating four-year pattern. Their abundance is likely influenced by climate fluctuations that play a role in large scale primary production in the ocean, regulating food availability and ultimately affecting the local numbers of box jellyfish.

'Name that tune' algorithm used to identify signature whistles of dolphins Posted: 23 Oct 2013 03:32 PM PDT The same algorithm used to find tunes in music retrieval systems has been successfully applied in identifying the signature whistles of dolphins, affording a new time-saving device for research into the world of dolphin communication.

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