The EDGE: ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Friday, February 3, 2012

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Friday, February 3, 2012

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Unraveling a butterfly's aerial antics could help builders of bug-size flying robots (February 2, 2012) -- By figuring out how butterflies flutter among flowers with amazing grace and agility, researchers hope to help build small airborne robots that can mimic those maneuvers. ... > full story

Castaway lizards provide insight into elusive evolutionary process, founder effects (February 2, 2012) -- A biologist who released lizards on tiny uninhabited islands in the Bahamas has shed light on the interaction between evolutionary processes that are seldom observed. He found that the lizards' genetic and morphological traits were determined by both natural selection and a phenomenon called founder effects, which occur when species colonize new territory. ... > full story

Coffee consumption reduces fibrosis risk in those with fatty liver disease, study suggests (February 2, 2012) -- Caffeine consumption has long been associated with decreased risk of liver disease and reduced fibrosis in patients with chronic liver disease. Now, new research confirms that coffee caffeine consumption reduces the risk of advanced fibrosis in those with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. New findings show that increased coffee intake, specifically among patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, decreases risk of hepatic fibrosis. ... > full story

Rearranging the cell's skeleton: Small molecules at the cell’s membrane enable cell movement (February 2, 2012) -- Cell biologists have identified key steps in how certain molecules alter a cell’s skeletal shape and drive the cell’s movement. ... > full story

NASA's GCPEx mission: What we don't know about snow (February 1, 2012) -- NASA's GCPEx science team is collecting as much data as they can to improve understanding of snow dynamics inside clouds, because they relate to how snow moves through Earth's water and climate cycles. ... > full story

Global experts question claims about jellyfish populations (February 1, 2012) -- Blooms, or proliferation, of jellyfish have shown a substantial, visible impact on coastal populations -- clogged nets for fishermen, stinging waters for tourists, even choked intake lines for power plants -- and recent media reports have created a perception that the world's oceans are experiencing increases in jellyfish due to human activities such as global warming and overharvesting of fish. Now, a new study questions claims that jellyfish are increasing worldwide and suggests claims are not supported with any hard evidence or scientific analyses to date. ... > full story

Yellow-cedar are dying in Alaska: Scientists now know why (February 1, 2012) -- Yellow-cedar, a culturally and economically valuable tree in southeastern Alaska and adjacent parts of British Columbia, has been dying off across large expanses of these areas for the past 100 years. But no one could say why -- until now. ... > full story

Sun delivered curveball of powerful radiation at Earth (February 1, 2012) -- A potent follow-up solar flare, which occurred Jan. 17, 2012, just days after the Sun launched the biggest coronal mass ejection seen in nearly a decade, delivered a powerful radiation punch to Earth's magnetic field despite the fact that it was aimed away from our planet. ... > full story

Spider web's strength lies in more than its silk (February 1, 2012) -- A study that combines experimental observations of spider webs with complex computer simulations has shown that web durability depends not only on silk strength, but on how overall web design compensates for damage and the response of individual strands to continuously varying stresses. ... > full story

Bacterial plasmids -- the freeloading and the heavy-lifters -- balance the high price of disease (February 1, 2012) -- Studying self-replicating genetic units, called plasmids, found in one of the world's widest-ranging pathogenic soil bacteria -- the crown-gall-disease-causing microorganism Agrobacterium tumefaciens -- biologists are showing how freeloading, mutant derivatives of these plasmids benefit while the virulent, disease-causing plasmids do the heavy-lifting of initiating infection in plant hosts. The research confirms that the ability of bacteria to cause disease comes at a significant cost that is only counterbalanced by the benefits they experience from infected host organisms. ... > full story

Societal control of sugar essential to ease public health burden, experts urge (February 1, 2012) -- Sugar should be controlled like alcohol and tobacco to protect public health, according to a team of researchers, who maintain in a new report that sugar is fueling a global obesity pandemic, contributing to 35 million deaths annually worldwide from non-communicable diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. ... > full story

Chaos in the cell's command center (February 1, 2012) -- Researchers have determined the critical role one enzyme, lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), plays as mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) differentiate. This research may provide targets for developing drugs to push cells with dysfunctional gene expression programs back to a more normal, healthier state. ... > full story

Potatoes lower blood pressure in people with obesity and hypertension without increasing weight (February 1, 2012) -- The first study to check the effects of eating potatoes on blood pressure in humans has concluded that two small helpings of purple potatoes a day decreases blood pressure by about four percent without causing weight gain. The researchers say that decrease, although seemingly small, is sufficient to potentially reduce the risk of several forms of heart disease. ... > full story

Road runoff spurring spotted salamander evolution (February 1, 2012) -- Spotted salamanders exposed to contaminated roadside ponds are adapting to their toxic environments, according to new research. The study provides the first documented evidence that a vertebrate has adapted to the negative effects of roads apparently by evolving rapidly. ... > full story

Tropical cyclones to cause greater damage, researchers predict (February 1, 2012) -- Tropical cyclones will cause 9 billion in damages by 2100, according to researchers in a new paper. That figure represents an increased vulnerability from population and especially economic growth, as well as the effects of climate change. Greater vulnerability to cyclones is expected to increase global tropical damage to billion by 2100 -- double the current damage -- from the current rate of billion per year if the present climate remains stable. ... > full story

Less summer Arctic sea ice cover means colder, snowier winters in Central Europe (February 1, 2012) -- Even if the current weather situation may seem to go against it, the probability of cold winters with a lot of snow in Central Europe rises when the Arctic is covered by less sea ice in summer. ... > full story

Available information on the free release of genetically modified insects into the wild is highly restricted (February 1, 2012) -- Scientists analyzing the release of genetically modified insects into the environment have found that access to accurate scientific information can be misleading. ... > full story

New tool determines value of solar photovoltaic power systems (February 1, 2012) -- Consistent appraisals of real estate outfitted with photovoltaic installations are a challenge for the nation's real estate industry, but a new tool addresses that issue. ... > full story

First plants caused ice ages, new research reveals (February 1, 2012) -- New research reveals how the arrival of the first plants 470 million years ago triggered a series of ice ages. The research reveals the effects that the first land plants had on the climate during the Ordovician Period, which ended 444 million years ago. During this period the climate gradually cooled, leading to a series of 'ice ages.' This global cooling was caused by a dramatic reduction in atmospheric carbon, which this research now suggests was triggered by the arrival of plants. ... > full story

Infections in childhood linked to high risk of ischemic stroke (February 1, 2012) -- Common infections in children pose a high risk of ischemic stroke, according to new research. In a review of 2.5 million children, the researchers identified 126 childhood ischemic stroke cases and then randomly selected 378 age-matched controls from the remaining children without stroke. They discovered that 29 percent of those who suffered a stroke had a medical encounter for infection in the two days preceding the stroke versus one percent of controls during the same dates. ... > full story

Genetic information migrates from plant to plant (February 1, 2012) -- To generate phylogenetic trees and investigate relationships between organisms, scientists usually look for similarities and differences in the DNA. Plant scientists were confounded by the fact that the DNA extracted from the plants’ green chloroplasts sometimes showed the greatest similarities when related species grew in the same area. Scientists have now discovered that a transfer of entire chloroplasts, or at least their genomes, can occur in contact zones between plants. Inter-species crossing is not necessary. The new chloroplast genome can even be handed down to the next generation and, thereby, give a plant with new traits. These findings are of great importance to the understanding of evolution as well as the breeding of new plant varieties. ... > full story

Honey could be effective at treating and preventing wound infections (January 31, 2012) -- Manuka honey could help clear chronic wound infections and even prevent them from developing in the first place, according to a new study. The findings provide further evidence for the clinical use of manuka honey to treat bacterial infections in the face of growing antibiotic resistance. ... > full story

Scientists prove plausibility of new pathway to life's chemical building blocks (January 31, 2012) -- Scientists have demonstrated an alternative pathway to life-essential sugars called the glyoxylate scenario, which may push the field of pre-life chemistry past the formose reaction hurdle. ... > full story

New species of ancient crocodile discovered; 'Sheildcroc' was ancestor of today's species (January 31, 2012) -- A new species of prehistoric crocodile has been discovered. The extinct creature, nicknamed "Shieldcroc" due to a thick-skinned shield on its head, is an ancestor of today's crocodiles. ... > full story

Botany: Moonlighting enzyme works double shift 24/7 (January 31, 2012) -- A team of researchers has discovered an overachieving plant enzyme that works both the day and night shifts. The discovery shows that plants evolved a new function for this enzyme by changing merely one of its protein building blocks. ... > full story

Golf course weeds are developing resistance to the herbicide glyphosate (January 31, 2012) -- If your golf game isn’t up to par, you may be able to blame it on those tufts of weeds on the course. Annual bluegrass is a problematic winter weed on many U.S. golf courses. After years of management with the herbicide glyphosate, resistant biotypes of this weed have developed, which will make keeping a clean fairway more challenging. ... > full story

Volunteers clear tiger snares in China (January 31, 2012) -- Volunteers working in northeast China have cleared 162 illegal wire snares in an ongoing effort to protect the nation’s remaining population of critically endangered Amur (Siberian) tigers. ... > full story

Exposure to common environmental bacteria may be source of some allergic inflammation (January 31, 2012) -- Could some cases of asthma actually be caused by an allergic reaction to a common environmental bacteria? New research findings suggests that this idea may not be as far-fetched as it seems. ... > full story

Following the shifting of tectonic plates to understand Mediterranean biodiversity (January 31, 2012) -- Around 30 millions years ago, the Western Mediterranean basin opened as a result of the tectonic collision of the African and Eurasian plates. This geologic event was the starting point for the diversification of an endemic group of Western Mediterranean spiders, as has been demonstrated by a new study. ... > full story

Protein study gives fresh impetus in fight against superbugs (January 31, 2012) -- Scientists have shed new light on the way superbugs such as MRSA are able to become resistant to treatment with antibiotics. ... > full story

Ancient DNA holds clues to climate change adaptation (January 31, 2012) -- Thirty-thousand-year-old bison bones discovered in permafrost at a Canadian goldmine are helping scientists unravel the mystery about how animals adapt to rapid environmental change. ... > full story

Evolutionary geneticist helps to find butterfly gene, clue to age-old question (January 31, 2012) -- An evolutionary geneticist helped discover the gene in passion vine butterflies that keeps predators from eating them. The gene is responsible for red patterns on the butterflies' wings. ... > full story

Severe python damage to Florida's native Everglades animals documented in new study (January 30, 2012) -- Precipitous declines in formerly common mammals in Everglades National Park in Florida have been linked to the presence of invasive Burmese pythons, according to new research. The study, the first to document the ecological impacts of this invasive species, strongly supports that animal communities in the 1.5-million-acre park have been markedly altered by the introduction of pythons within 11 years of their establishment as an invasive species. Mid-sized mammals are the most dramatically affected, but some Everglades pythons are as large as 16 feet long, and their prey have included animals as large as deer and alligators. ... > full story

Learning-based tourism an opportunity for industry expansion (January 30, 2012) -- New research suggests that major growth in the travel, leisure and tourism industry in the coming century may be possible as more people begin to define recreation as a learning and educational opportunity -- a way to explore new ideas and cultures, art, science and history. The expansion of tourism in much of the 20th century was often focused on amusement parks and tropical resorts. ... > full story

New probiotic bacteria shows promise for use in shellfish aquaculture (January 30, 2012) -- The use of probiotic bacteria, isolated from naturally occurring bacterial communities, is gaining in popularity in the aquaculture industry as the preferred, environmentally friendly management alternative to the use of antibiotics and other antimicrobials for disease prevention. Known to the public for their use in yogurt and other foods to improve human digestion and health, probiotic bacteria isolated from other sources can also be used to improve survival, nutrition and disease prevention in larvae grown in shellfish hatcheries. ... > full story

Earth's energy budget remained out of balance despite unusually low solar activity, study finds (January 30, 2012) -- A new NASA study underscores the fact that greenhouse gases generated by human activity -- not changes in solar activity -- are the primary force driving global warming. The study offers an updated calculation of Earth's energy imbalance, the difference between the amount of solar energy absorbed by Earth's surface and the amount returned to space as heat. The researchers' calculations show that, despite unusually low solar activity between 2005 and 2010, the planet continued to absorb more energy than it returned to space. ... > full story

Livestock, not Mongolian gazelles, drive foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks (January 30, 2012) -- Wildlife health experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society have published evidence which supports the conclusion that Mongolian gazelles -- one of the most populous large land mammals on the planet -- are not a reservoir of foot-and-mouth disease, a highly contagious viral disease that threatens both wildlife and livestock in Asia. ... > full story

Arctic is already suffering the effects of a dangerous climate change (January 30, 2012) -- Two decades after the United Nations established the Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to "prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system", the Arctic shows the first signs of a dangerous climate change. ... > full story

Mouse to elephant? Just wait 24 million generations (January 30, 2012) -- Scientists have for the first time measured how fast large-scale evolution can occur in mammals, showing it takes 24 million generations for a mouse-sized animal to evolve to the size of an elephant. ... > full story

Skin cells turned into neural precusors, bypassing stem-cell stage (January 30, 2012) -- Mouse skin cells can be converted directly into cells that become the three main parts of the nervous system, according to researchers. The finding is an extension of a previous study by the same group showing that mouse and human skin cells can be directly converted into functional neurons. ... > full story

Ferroelectric switching discovered for first time in soft biological tissue (January 30, 2012) -- The walls of the aorta, the largest blood vessel carrying blood from the heart, exhibits a response to electric fields known to exist in inorganic and synthetic materials. The discovery could have implications for treating human heart disease. ... > full story

Was the Little Ice Age triggered by massive volcanic eruptions? (January 30, 2012) -- Scientists suggest that the Little Ice Age was triggered by an unusual, 50-year episode of four massive volcanic eruptions. This led to an expansion of sea ice and a related weakening of Atlantic currents that caused the cool period to persist for centuries. ... > full story

Alcohol and your heart: Friend or foe? (January 30, 2012) -- A meta-analysis of the relationship between alcohol consumption and heart disease provides new insight into the long-held belief that drinking a glass of red wine a day can help protect against heart disease. ... > full story

Chimp 'X factor': Extensive adaptive evolution specifically targeting the X chromosome of chimpanzees (January 30, 2012) -- Genetic mutations that boost an individual's adaptability have greater chances of getting through to X chromosomes -- at least in chimpanzees, according to new Danish research. An analysis of the genes of 12 chimpanzees has now demonstrated that the chimpanzee X chromosome plays a very special role in the animal's evolutionary development. ... > full story

Warming in the Tasman Sea, near Australia, a global warming hot spot (January 30, 2012) -- Oceanographers have identified a series of ocean hotspots around the world generated by strengthening wind systems that have driven oceanic currents, including the East Australian Current, polewards beyond their known boundaries. ... > full story

Sun unleashes an X1.8 class flare on Jan. 27, 2012 (January 30, 2012) -- The sun unleashed an X1.8 class flare that began at 1:12 PM ET on January 27, 2012 and peaked at 1:37. The flare immediately caused a strong radio blackout at low-latitudes, which was rated an R3 on NOAA's scale from R1-5. The blackout soon subsided to a minor R1 storm. Models from NASA's Goddard Space Weather Center predict that the CME is traveling at over 1500 miles per second. It does not initially appear to be Earth-directed, but Earth may get a glancing blow. ... > full story

Long-term response plan for possible Cuban oil spill (January 30, 2012) -- Researchers are working on long-term sustainability study to prepare for an oil spill that could catastrophically impact Florida. ... > full story

What do killer whales eat in the Arctic? (January 29, 2012) -- Killer whales are the top marine predator. The increase in hunting territories available to killer whales in the Arctic due to climate change and melting sea ice could seriously affect the marine ecosystem balance. New research has combined scientific observations with Canadian Inuit traditional knowledge to determine killer whale behavior and diet in the Arctic. ... > full story