The EDGE: ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Sunday, January 1, 2012

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Sunday, January 1, 2012

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'Head-first' diversity shown to drive vertebrate evolution (December 31, 2011) -- A new analysis of two adaptive radiations in the fossil record found that these diversifications proceeded "head first." Head features diversified before body shapes and types. This suggests that feeding-related evolutionary pressures are the initial drivers of diversification. ... > full story

Debris scatters in the Pacific Ocean, possibly heading to US (December 31, 2011) -- Debris from the tsunami that devastated Japan in March could reach the United States as early as this winter, according to new predictions. However, they warn there is still a large amount of uncertainty over exactly what is still floating, where it's located, where it will go, and when it will arrive. Responders now have a challenging, if not impossible situation on their hands: How do you deal with debris that could now impact US shores, but is difficult to find? ... > full story

Weather deserves medal for clean air during 2008 Olympics (December 30, 2011) -- New research suggests that China's impressive feat of cutting Beijing's pollution up to 50 percent for the 2008 Summer Olympics had some help from Mother Nature. Rain just at the beginning and wind during the Olympics likely contributed about half of the effort needed to clean up the skies, scientists found. The results also suggest emission controls need to be more widely implemented than in 2008 if pollution levels are to be reduced permanently. ... > full story

New theory emerges for where some fish became four-limbed creatures (December 29, 2011) -- A small fish crawling on stumpy limbs from a shrinking desert pond is an icon of can-do spirit, emblematic of a leading theory for the evolutionary transition between fish and amphibians. This theorized image of such a drastic adaptation to changing environmental conditions, however, may, itself, be evolving into a new picture. ... > full story

Community Conservation in Zanzibar: Not just mangroves and monkeys (December 29, 2011) -- The sustainable development goals of community conservation in Zanzibar raise more complex issues than just protecting monkeys and mangroves. Contingent socio-economic and cultural factors must be taken into account when planning and implementing conservation initiatives if they are to endure, let alone succeed. ... > full story

Badwater Basin: Death Valley microbe may spark novel biotech and nanotech uses (December 28, 2011) -- Nevada, the "Silver State," is well-known for mining precious metals. But some scientists do a different type of mining. They sluice through every water body they can find, looking for new forms of microbial magnetism. ... > full story

Over 65 million years, North American mammal evolution has tracked with climate change (December 27, 2011) -- Climate changes profoundly influenced the rise and fall of six distinct, successive waves of mammal species diversity in North America over the last 65 million years, shows a novel statistical analysis by evolutionary biologists. Warming and cooling periods, in two cases confounded by species migrations, marked the transition from one dominant grouping to the next. ... > full story

Keeping our beaches safe from fecal contamination (December 27, 2011) -- Fecal contamination of public beaches caused by sewage overflow is both dangerous for swimmers and costly for state and local economies. Current methods to detect Escherichia coli, a bacterium highly indicative of the presence of fecal matter in water, typically require 24-48 hours to produce a result. A new, accurate, and economical sensor-based device capable of measuring E. coli levels in water samples in less than 1-8 hours could serve as a valuable early warning tool. ... > full story

Link between earthquakes and tropical cyclones: New study may help scientists identify regions at high risk for earthquakes (December 26, 2011) -- A groundbreaking study shows that earthquakes, including the recent 2010 temblors in Haiti and Taiwan, may be triggered by tropical cyclones. ... > full story

How bacteria build homes inside healthy cells (December 25, 2011) -- Bacteria are able to build camouflaged homes for themselves inside healthy cells. A team that revealed how a pair of proteins from the bacteria Legionella pneumophila, which causes Legionnaires disease, alters a host protein in order to divert raw materials within the cell for use in building and disguising a large structure that houses the bacteria as it replicates. ... > full story

Computer assisted design (CAD) for RNA: Researchers develop CAD-type tools for engineering RNA control systems (December 24, 2011) -- Researchers have developed computer assisted design-type tools for engineering RNA components to control genetic expression in microbes. This holds enormous potential for microbial-based production of advanced biofuels, biodegradable plastics, therapeutic drugs and a host of other goods now derived from petrochemicals. ... > full story

High intestinal microbial diversity safeguards against allergies, study suggests (December 24, 2011) -- High diversity and a variety of bacteria in the gut protect children against allergies as opposed to some individual bacterial genera. These are the findings of a comprehensive study of intestinal microflora (gut flora) in allergic and healthy children. ... > full story

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