The EDGE: ScienceDaily Environment Headlines -- for Saturday, February 4, 2012

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Saturday, February 4, 2012

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Preference for fatty foods may have genetic roots (February 3, 2012) -- A preference for fatty foods has a genetic basis, according to researchers, who discovered that people with certain forms of the CD36 gene may like high-fat foods more than those who have other forms of this gene. ... > full story

New procedure repairs severed nerves in minutes, restoring limb use in days or weeks (February 3, 2012) -- Scientists believe a new procedure to repair severed nerves could result in patients recovering in days or weeks, rather than months or years. The team used a cellular mechanism similar to that used by many invertebrates to repair damage to nerve axons. ... > full story

Surface of Mars an unlikely place for life after 600-million-year drought, say scientists (February 3, 2012) -- Mars may have been arid for more than 600 million years, making it too hostile for any life to survive on the planet’s surface, according to researchers who have been carrying out the painstaking task of analyzing individual particles of Martian soil. ... > full story

Collective action: Occupied genetic switches hold clues to cells' history (February 3, 2012) -- If you wanted to draw your family tree, you could start by searching for people who share your surname. Cells, of course, don’t have surnames, but scientists have found that genetic switches called enhancers, and the molecules that activate those switches – transcription factors – can be used in a similar way, as clues to a cell’s developmental history. The study also unveils a new model for how enhancers function. ... > full story

Scientists coax shy microorganisms to stand out in a crowd (February 2, 2012) -- Scientists have advanced a method that allowed them to single out a marine microorganism and map its genome even though the organism made up less than 10 percent of a water sample teeming with many millions of individuals from dozens of identifiable groups of microbes. ... > full story

Google Earth ocean terrain receives major update: Data sharpen resolution of seafloor maps, correct 'discovery' of Atlantis (February 2, 2012) -- Internet information giant Google updated ocean data in its Google Earth application this week, reflecting new bathymetry data assembled by researchers from around the world. The newest version of Google Earth includes more accurate imagery in several key areas of ocean using data collected by research cruises over the past three years. ... > full story

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

New way to study ground fractures (February 2, 2012) -- Geophysics researchers have created a new way to study fractures by producing elastic waves, or vibrations, through using high-intensity light focused directly on the fracture itself. ... > full story

Food poisoning: Understanding how bacteria come back from the 'dead' (February 2, 2012) -- Salmonella remains a serious cause of food poisoning, in part due to its ability to thrive and quickly adapt to the different environments in which it can grow. New research has taken a detailed look at what Salmonella does when it enters a new environment, which could provide clues to finding new ways of reducing transmission through the food chain and preventing human illness. ... > full story

'Yellow biotechnology': Using plants to silence insect genes in a high-throughput manner (February 2, 2012) -- 'Yellow biotechnology' refers to biotechnology with insects -- analogous to the green (plants) and red (animals) biotechnology. Active ingredients or genes in insects are characterized and used for research or application in agriculture and medicine. Scientists in Germany are now using a procedure which brings forward ecological research on insects: They study gene functions in moth larvae by manipulating genes using the RNA interference technology (RNAi). RNAi is induced by feeding larvae with plants that have been treated with viral vectors. This method -- called "plant virus based dsRNA producing system" (VDPS) -- increases sample throughput compared to the use of genetically transformed plants. ... > full story

Probable mechanism underlying resveratrol activity uncovered: Chemical found in red wine and other foods (February 2, 2012) -- Researchers have identified how resveratrol, a naturally occurring chemical found in red wine and other plant products, may confer its health benefits. The authors present evidence that resveratrol does not directly activate sirtuin 1, a protein associated with aging. Rather, the authors found that resveratrol inhibits certain types of proteins known as phosphodiesterases (PDEs), enzymes that help regulate cell energy. ... > 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