ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• Staggering turbines improves performance 33%
• The secret math of plants: Biologists uncover rules that govern leaf design
• Earth-like exoplanet in mass and size: While too hot to support life, Kepler 78b is roughly the size of Earth
• Warming will disturb balance of soil nutrients in drylands, make drylands less productive
• Chinese bats likely source of SARS virus
• Genetic rarity rules in wild guppy population
• A sauropod walks into a bar: 'Why the long neck?'
• Improving earthquake early warning systems for California and Taiwan
• MS study correlates negative effect of warmer weather on cognitive status
• Scientists digitally reconstruct giant steps taken by dinosaurs for the first time
• Rare earths in bacteria: Methane-decomposing bacteria from hot springs need the valuable metals to produce energy
• Bottom-feeding behavior of humpback whales confirmed
• Events coordination during embryogenesis
• Warm winters let trees sleep longer
• Porpoises on European coasts maintain their populations but migrate southwards
• Bright eyes: Reindeers' eyes change from blue to gold with Arctic seasons
• How mice survive infection by virulent Toxoplasma parasites
• New global policy effort to tackle crisis of plastic litter in oceans urged
• Redwood trees reveal history of west coast rain, fog, ocean conditions
• Green flame moths: Scientists discover two new Limacodidae species from China and Taiwan

Staggering turbines improves performance 33% Posted: 30 Oct 2013 03:51 PM PDT Researchers have found staggering and spacing out turbines in an offshore wind farm can improve performance by as much as 33 percent.

The secret math of plants: Biologists uncover rules that govern leaf design Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:29 PM PDT Biologists have discovered fundamental rules for leaf design that underlie the ability of plants to make leaves that vary enormously in size.

Earth-like exoplanet in mass and size: While too hot to support life, Kepler 78b is roughly the size of Earth Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:28 AM PDT In August, researchers identified an exoplanet with an extremely brief orbital period: The team found that Kepler 78b, a small, intensely hot planet 400 light-years from Earth, circles its star in just 8.5 hours — lightning-quick, compared with our own planet's leisurely 365-day orbit. From starlight data gathered by the Kepler Space Telescope, the scientists also determined that the exoplanet is about 1.2 times Earth's size — making Kepler 78b one of the smallest exoplanets ever measured.

Warming will disturb balance of soil nutrients in drylands, make drylands less productive Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:28 AM PDT An increase in aridity due to global warming will disturb the balance of nutrients in the soil and reduce productivity of the world's drylands, which support millions of people, a landmark study predicts. The research was conducted by a global collaboration of scientists who studied sites in 16 countries. It shows that increasing aridity is associated with a reduction in carbon and nitrogen in the soil and an increase in phosphorus.

Chinese bats likely source of SARS virus Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:24 AM PDT Scientists say they've produced "the clearest evidence yet" the SARS virus originated in Chinese horseshoe bats and that direct bat-to-human transmission is "plausible." The 2002 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) pandemic was one of the most significant public health events in recent history and researchers have been studying the virus to better understand how it is transmitted to prepare for future outbreaks.

Genetic rarity rules in wild guppy population Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:24 AM PDT A new study demonstrates a female preference for rare males using an experiment in a wild population, rather than a laboratory setting.

A sauropod walks into a bar: 'Why the long neck?' Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:28 AM PDT New research sheds light on the complex evolutionary cascade theory that made the unique gigantism of sauropod dinosaurs possible.

Improving earthquake early warning systems for California and Taiwan Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:56 AM PDT Earthquake early warning systems may provide the public with crucial seconds to prepare for severe shaking. For California, a new study suggests upgrading current technology and relocating some seismic stations would improve the warning time, particularly in areas poorly served by the existing network -- south of San Francisco Bay Area to north Los Angeles and north of the San Francisco Bay Area.

MS study correlates negative effect of warmer weather on cognitive status Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:56 AM PDT Scientists correlated fMRI findings with the negative impact of outdoor temperature on cognitive functioning in multiple sclerosis. This study in Brain Imaging & Behavior corroborates the group's previous study that established that people with MS performed worse on cognitive tasks during warmer outdoor temperatures. This new study extends previous research by demonstrating a link between brain activity and outdoor temperature.

Scientists digitally reconstruct giant steps taken by dinosaurs for the first time Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:55 AM PDT Scientists were able to laser scan a 40 meter-long skeleton of the vast Cretaceous Agentinosaurus dinosaur. Then using an advanced computer modeling technique involving the equivalent of 30,000 desktop computers they recreated its walking and running movements and tested its locomotion ability tested for the very first time.

Rare earths in bacteria: Methane-decomposing bacteria from hot springs need the valuable metals to produce energy Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:54 AM PDT Rare earths are among the most precious raw materials of all. These metals are used in mobile telephones, display screens and computers. And they are apparently indispensable for some organisms as well. Scientists have discovered a bacterium which needs rare earths to grow -- in a hot spring.

Bottom-feeding behavior of humpback whales confirmed Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:53 AM PDT Scientists have confirmed that humpback whales in the southern Gulf of Maine are spending more feeding time on the ocean floor than in any of their known feeding behaviors, putting them at risk for entanglement in bottom-set fishing gear like lobster traps.

Events coordination during embryogenesis Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:32 AM PDT A new study reveals a mechanism through which the expression of genes is controlled -- a finding that highlights genetic mutations that can impair the timing of gene expression. Such mutations can affect the co-ordination of key events that are required for stepwise development of an organism, and can also give rise to cancer by turning on genes at the wrong time.

Warm winters let trees sleep longer Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:31 AM PDT In the temperate zones, vegetation follows the change of the seasons. Researchers have now brought a new correlation to light: The colder the winter, the earlier native plants begin to grow again. Since warmer winters can be expected as the climate changes, the spring development phase for typical forest trees might start later and later -- giving an advantage to shrubs and invasive trees that don't depend on the cold.

Porpoises on European coasts maintain their populations but migrate southwards Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:30 AM PDT Seven oceanographic research vessels and three light aircraft from the SCANSII Project have recorded the abundance and distribution of small cetaceans in the waters of the European Atlantic shelf. Their results reveal that the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena, also known as the common porpoise) is the most abundant on these shores and the only species that has moved further southwards to live.

Bright eyes: Reindeers' eyes change from blue to gold with Arctic seasons Posted: 29 Oct 2013 07:08 PM PDT Researchers have discovered the eyes of Arctic reindeer change color through the seasons from gold to blue, adapting to extreme changes of light levels in their environment and helping detect predators. It is the first such color change observed in mammals.

How mice survive infection by virulent Toxoplasma parasites Posted: 29 Oct 2013 02:16 PM PDT One of the commonest parasites in the world is Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasma can infect most warm-blooded animals, including humans, and causes significant damage to the unborn child if a woman becomes infected for the first time during pregnancy. The natural cycle of the organism depends on cats and on mice. Infection by Toxoplasma normally doesn't kill the animal, but there are some "virulent" strains that kill mice only a few days after infection.

New global policy effort to tackle crisis of plastic litter in oceans urged Posted: 29 Oct 2013 11:30 AM PDT A new report explores the sources and impacts of plastic marine litter, and offers domestic and international policy recommendations to tackle these growing problems -- a targeted, multifaceted approach aimed at protecting ocean wildlife, coastal waters and economies, and human health.

Redwood trees reveal history of west coast rain, fog, ocean conditions Posted: 29 Oct 2013 11:28 AM PDT Scientists have found a way to use coastal redwood trees as a window into historic climate, using oxygen and carbon atoms in the wood to detect fog and rainfall in previous seasons.

Green flame moths: Scientists discover two new Limacodidae species from China and Taiwan Posted: 29 Oct 2013 10:35 AM PDT Due to their distinguishable vibrant green wing patterns the moths from the Parasa undulata group contain some of the most exciting species within the Limacodidae family. A revision of the group in China and Taiwan presents two exciting new species, with a flame-like green wing pattern and the first record of a conifer-feeding caterpillar.

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