Earth & Environment
Earth & Environment - Nov 11, 2009 16:48 - 2 Comments
Underwater killer triggers cellular suicide
RUTGERS (US)—Scientists have found a chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean. This same chemical may hold unexpected promise in cancer research. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 9, 2009 17:57 - 1 Comment
Plants, bacteria tango to trip up disease
UC DAVIS (US)—New research is helping unravel some of the mystery surrounding how plants and bacteria partner in a kind of immunity dance to defend against invasion from disease-causing microbes. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 9, 2009 14:28 - 3 Comments
North Carolina sea level rises at faster pace
U. PENN (US)—An international team of environmental scientists has shown that sea-level rise, at least in North Carolina, is accelerating. The increase during the 20th century is three times higher than the rate of sea-level rise during the last 500 years. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 5, 2009 15:49 - 0 Comments
Rapid spike in sea snail’s size
U. PENN (US)—The Atlantic dogwhelk is one of the best known and most widely studied organisms in the North Atlantic Ocean. Yet until now, no one had noticed that over the past century shell lengths of these sea snails have increased in size by an average of 22.6 percent. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 3, 2009 16:12 - 2 Comments
Seafloor dynamics at work splitting continent
U. ROCHESTER (US)—In 2005, a gigantic, 35-mile-long rift broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled apart, but the claim was controversial. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 3, 2009 14:54 - 1 Comment
As wolves age, killer instincts fade
U. MINNESOTA (US)—Young wolves are leaders of the pack as far as the ability to kill elk is concerned. However, a new study of wolves in Yellowstone National Park finds wolves are in their hunting prime at the ages of 2 and 3, but after that, their skills deteriorate steadily. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 3, 2009 0:36 - 2 Comments
Good vs. bad in battle of the bugs
PENN STATE (US)—The control of spider mites, which damage tree leaves, reduce fruit quality and cost growers millions of dollars in the use of pesticide and oil spraying, is being biologically controlled in Pennsylvania apple orchards with two tiny insects known to be natural predators. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 2, 2009 11:35 - 0 Comments
Beetles point to habitat’s role in biodiversity
VANDERBILT (US)—Tiny leaf beetles that flit among the maple and willow trees in a Vermont town have provided some of the clearest evidence yet that environmental factors play a major role in the formation of new species. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 2, 2009 10:50 - 0 Comments
Mapping the bottom of the world
U. MINNESOTA (US)—Penguin poop has a reddish tint that makes colonies and trails stand out on satellite images. That’s a boon to researchers who want to identify and keep track of remote, inaccessible colonies. But to do so, they need somebody to turn satellite images into maps. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 30, 2009 10:38 - 0 Comments
First detailed record of tsunami erosion
U. WASHINGTON (US)—A group of scientists working in the Kuril Islands off the east coast of Russia has documented the scope of tsunami-caused erosion and found that a wave can carry away far more sand and dirt than it deposits. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 29, 2009 14:54 - 4 Comments
Researchers recreate attack-ant chemical
UC BERKELEY (US)—A research team has synthesized chemical molecules that trigger normally friendly ants to turn on each other and attack, a finding that may lead to new tactics for controlling the spread of invasive ant species. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 29, 2009 11:31 - 0 Comments
Global shellfish dip linked to acidic oceans
STONY BROOK (US)—Relatively minor increases in ocean acidity brought about by high levels of carbon dioxide have significant effects on the growth and survival of hard clams, bay scallops, and Eastern oysters, new research finds. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 28, 2009 15:26 - 4 Comments
Hidden costs of modified crops
PENN STATE (US)—Genetically modified squash plants that are resistant to a debilitating viral disease become more vulnerable to a fatal bacterial infection, according to biologists. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 26, 2009 16:29 - 0 Comments
CO2 not the only gorilla in the room
UC BERKELEY (US)—When world leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to hash out a treaty limiting carbon dioxide emissions, they should begin planning a future summit to address other pollutants—from soot to ozone—that don’t remain in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, but nevertheless are major contributors to global warming. (more…)
Earth & Environment, Health & Medicine - Oct 26, 2009 12:07 - 0 Comments
Zebrafish do it. Why can’t we?
U. MICHIGAN (US)—Biologists long have marveled at the ability of some animals to re-grow lost body parts—newts regrow legs and zebrafish re-grow fins—and even repair damaged heart and eye tissue. Now researchers have discovered that some of the same genes underlie the process in different types of tissues. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 23, 2009 17:25 - 3 Comments
Totally clean and green by 2030?
STANFORD (US)—Most of the technology needed to shift the world from fossil fuel to clean, renewable energy already exists. A new report suggests that implementing that technology requires overcoming obstacles in planning and politics, but doing so could result in a 30 percent decrease in global power demand. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 23, 2009 15:33 - 2 Comments
‘Fixable’ error undercuts climate laws
PRINCETON (US)—A group of scientists has issued a report identifying a critical—but correctable—accounting error affecting climate legislation that could undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging deforestation. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 23, 2009 11:41 - 0 Comments
Predicting power outages before the storm
JOHNS HOPKINS/TEXAS A&M (US)—Using data from Hurricane Katrina and four other storms, researchers have created new computer models to help utilities better forecast hurricane-caused power outages in advance. (more…)
