Futurity.org » nature

Go green for nature’s healing powers

Debra Levey Larson-Illinois — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:52:07 +0000

U. ILLINOIS (US) — City planners should design communities with more public green space, not simply for aesthetic reasons, but because they are a vital component to both physical and mental health.

“In greener settings, we find that people are more generous and more sociable. We find stronger neighborhood social ties, and greater sense of community, more mutual trust and willingness to help others,” says Frances “Ming” Kuo, environment and behavior researcher at the University of Illinois.

Wasps: Nesting with the dinosaurs

Carol Clark-Emory — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:49:04 +0000

EMORY (US) — Fossil evidence suggests wasps were nesting with dinosaurs as long as 75 million years ago, a new study reports.

Scientists say the discovery at the Two Medicine Formation in northwestern Montana offers clues about the plants that may have been flowering in the area and the climate at the time.

Climate change impacts tropics most

Bob Roseth-UW — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:09:31 +0000

U. WASHINGTON (US) — Even though temperature increases have been smaller in the tropics, a new study finds the impact of global warming on life there could be much greater than in colder climates.

The study published in the Oct. 7 edition of Nature focuses on ectothermic, or cold-blooded, organisms (those whose body temperature approximates the temperature of their surroundings).

Can we really predict climate change?

Sherylon Carroll-Texas A&M — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:20:28 +0000

TEXAS A&M (US) — No matter what is being done now for or against the environment, the effects may not be known for 40 years or more.

A new study analyzes 150 years of climate data to determine past trends and annual temperature fluctuations and then uses the data to simulate possible temperature scenarios for the rest of this century.

Virulent fungus threatens world’s wheat

Deane Morrison-Minnesota — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:54:53 +0000

U. MINNESOTA (US) — A fungus discovered in Uganda in 1999, now threatens up to 80 percent of the world’s wheat crop, according to researchers.

Discovered in Uganda in 1999, Ug99 is a strain of “stem rust” fungus that burrows into the tissues of wheat and barley and damages or kills the plants, even some of the most rust-resistant lines.

Effects of Gulf spill dispersant unknown

Ellen Goldbaum-Buffalo — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 17:33:34 +0000

U. BUFFALO (US) — After the failure of the Deepwater Horizon oil well last spring, nearly 2 million gallons of dispersant were released into the Gulf of Mexico.

While preliminary reports suggest that it successfully dispersed much of the oil, the long-term effect of such a massive volume of dispersant on ecosystems, wildlife, and humans remains to be seen.

Fate of deep plumes in Gulf spill

George Foulsham-UC Santa Barbara — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:21:26 +0000

UC SANTA BARBARA / TEXAS A&M (US) — Answers are emerging about the impact of hydrocarbon gases escaping from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

A research team from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Texas A&M University conducted tests in the Gulf between June 11-21—less than two months after the Deepwater Horizon platform exploded.

Glaciers act as mountains’ armor

Suzanne Taylor Muzzin-Yale — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:30:36 +0000

YALE (US)— Glaciers in the southern reaches of the Patagonian Andes have acted as a kind of protective shield throughout the mountain range’s 25-million-year history.

The new research contradicts the widely held belief that glaciers actually inhibit mountain growth.

Arctic sea ice continues on downward path

Jim Scott CU-Boulder — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:35:28 +0000

U. COLORADO (US)—The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest recorded since satellites began measuring sea ice extent in 1979.

While this year’s September minimum extent was greater than 2007 and 2008, the two record-setting and near-record-setting low years, it is still significantly below the long-term average and well outside the range of natural climate variability.

Website aims for wildlife-safe highways

Sylvia Wright-UC Davis — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:23:09 +0000

UC DAVIS (US)—A citizen science survey website is expected to assist transportation planners and conservation managers design more wildlife-friendly roads and cut down on roadkill—a serious concern among ecologists.

“Thousands of animals are killed on California’s roads every day, including endangered species,” says Fraser Shilling, a researcher and co-director of the Road Ecology Center at the University of California at Davis.