The EDGE: ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Saturday, May 7, 2011

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Saturday, May 7, 2011

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Malaria mosquitoes accurately find their way to smelly feet (May 6, 2011) -- Malaria mosquitoes utilize carbon dioxide from exhaled air to localize humans from afar. In the vicinity of their preferred host, they alter their course towards the human feet. Researchers discovered how female malaria mosquitoes use foot odors in the last meters to guide them to their favored biting place. The research suggests possibilities to disrupt the host seeking behavior of the malaria mosquito. ... > full story

Parental exposure to BPA during pregnancy associated with decreased birth weight in offspring (May 6, 2011) -- Parental exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) during pregnancy is associated with decreased birth weight of offspring, compared with offspring from families without parental BPA exposure in the workplace, according to researchers. ... > full story

Advanced instrument analyzes immune cells in far more detail: Technology promises more effective prescription drug therapies (May 6, 2011) -- Researchers have taken a machine already in use for the measurement of impurities in semiconductors and used it to analyze immune cells in far more detail than has been possible before. The new technology lets scientists take simultaneous measurements of dozens of features located on and in cells, whereas the existing technology typically begins to encounter technical limitations at about a half-dozen. ... > full story

Sticking their necks out for evolution: Why sloths and manatees have unusually long (or short) necks (May 6, 2011) -- As a rule all mammals have the same number of vertebrae in their necks regardless of whether they are a giraffe, a mouse, or a human. But both sloths and manatees are exceptions to this rule having abnormal numbers of cervical vertebrae. New research shows how such different species have evolved their unusual necks. ... > full story

Cigarette smoking and arsenic exposure: A deadly combination (May 6, 2011) -- Arsenic exposure and smoking each elevate the risk of disease. But when combined together, the danger of dying from cardiovascular disease is magnified, a new study finds. ... > full story

Antibodies help protect monkeys from HIV-like virus, scientists show (May 6, 2011) -- Using a monkey model of AIDS, scientists have identified a vaccine-generated immune-system response that correlates with protection against infection by the monkey version of HIV, called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). The researchers found that neutralizing antibodies generated by immunization were associated with protection against SIV infection. This finding marks an important step toward understanding how an effective HIV vaccine could work, according to the scientists. ... > full story

Selaginella genome adds piece to plant evolutionary puzzle (May 6, 2011) -- A sequencing of the Selaginella moellendorffii (spikemoss) genome -- the first for a non-seed vascular plant -- is expected to give scientists a better understanding of how plants of all kinds evolved over the past 500 million years and could open new doors for the identification of new pharmaceuticals. ... > full story

Universal signaling pathway found to regulate sleep (May 6, 2011) -- An unexpected observation in the C. elegans nematode may help explain the neurobiology of sleep in a wide variety of creatures, including humans. ... > full story

DNA from common stomach bacteria minimizes effects of colitis, study says (May 6, 2011) -- DNA from Helicobacter pylori, a common stomach bacteria, minimizes the effects of colitis in mice, according to a new study. ... > full story

After a three-decade hiatus, sea-level rise may return to N. America's West Coast (May 6, 2011) -- The West Coast of North America has caught a break that has left sea level in the eastern North Pacific Ocean steady during the last few decades, but there is evidence that a change in wind patterns may be occurring that could cause coastal sea-level rise to accelerate beginning this decade. ... > full story

Succulent plants waited for cool, dry Earth to make their mark (May 6, 2011) -- Between five and 10 million years ago, the landscape on Earth changed dramatically. Biologists and colleagues have determined that cacti exploded onto the global scene then, about the same geologic time as other succulent plants and tropical grasses. The trigger: A global period marked by cooling and increased aridity, possibly with lowered atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. ... > full story

Drug-resistance fears for deadly fungal disease (May 6, 2011) -- Deadly human fungal infections caused by certain strains of Aspergillus fungi appear to be developing resistance to current drug treatments at an alarming rate, say scientists. ... > full story

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