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

ScienceDaily Environment Headlines

for Sunday, July 1, 2012

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Curvy mountain belts (June 29, 2012) -- Mountain belts on Earth are most commonly formed by collision of one or more tectonic plates. The process of collision, uplift, and subsequent erosion of long mountain belts often produces profound global effects, including changes in regional and global climates, as well as the formation of important economic resources, including oil and gas reservoirs and ore deposits. Understanding the formation of mountain belts is thus a very important element of earth science research. ... > full story

Easter Island drug raises cognition throughout life span in mice (June 29, 2012) -- Cognitive skills such as learning and memory diminish with age in everyone, and the drop-off is steepest in Alzheimer's disease. Texas scientists seeking a way to prevent this decline reported exciting results this week with a drug that has Polynesian roots. The researchers added rapamycin to the diet of healthy mice throughout the rodents' life span. Rapamycin, a bacterial product first isolated from soil on Easter Island, enhanced learning and memory in young mice and improved these faculties in old mice, the study showed. ... > full story

New fuel cell keeps going after the hydrogen runs out (June 29, 2012) -- Materials scientists have demonstrated a solid-oxide fuel cell that converts hydrogen into electricity but can also store electrochemical energy like a battery. This fuel cell can continue to produce power for a short time after its fuel has run out. ... > full story

Scientists urge new approaches to plant research (June 29, 2012) -- If humans are to survive as a species, we must turn more to plants for any number of valuable lessons, experts say. ... > full story

Bees shed light on human sweet perception and metabolic disorders (June 29, 2012) -- Scientists have discovered that honey bees may teach us about basic connections between taste perception and metabolic disorders in humans. By experimenting with honey bee genetics, researchers have identified connections between sugar sensitivity, diabetic physiology and carbohydrate metabolism. Bees and humans may partially share these connections. ... > full story

Stealthy microscopy method visualizes E. coli sub-cellular structure in 3-D (June 29, 2012) -- A sub-cellular world has been opened up for scientists to study E. coli and other tissues in new ways, thanks to a microscopy method that stealthily provides 3-D, high-quality images of the internal structure of cells without disturbing the specimen. ... > full story

Welsh reindeer is Britain's oldest rock art, U-series dating suggests (June 29, 2012) -- A reindeer engraved on the wall of a cave in South Wales has been found to date from at least 14,505 years ago -- making it the oldest known rock art in the British Isles. ... > full story

Caffeine boosts power for elderly muscles (June 29, 2012) -- Caffeine boosts power in older muscles, suggesting the stimulant could aid elderly people to maintain their strength, reducing the incidence of falls and injuries, according to new research. ... > full story

Evidence of life on Mars could come from Martian moon Phobos (June 29, 2012) -- A mission to a Martian moon could return with alien life, according to experts, but don't expect the invasion scenario presented by summer blockbusters like "Men in Black 3" or "Prometheus." A sample from the moon Phobos, scientists believe, would almost surely contain Martian material blasted off from large asteroid impacts. If life on Mars exists or existed within the last 10 million years, a mission to Phobos could yield our first evidence of life beyond Earth. ... > full story

What you eat can prevent arsenic overload (June 29, 2012) -- New research has demonstrated that people who ate more dietary vitamin B12 and animal protein had lower levels of arsenic (measured by deposition in toenails). Total dietary fat, animal fat, vegetable fat and saturated fat were also all associated with lower levels of arsenic, while omega 3 fatty acids, such as those found in fish oil, were associated with increased arsenic. ... > full story

Insights into primate diversity: Lessons from the rhesus macaque (June 29, 2012) -- The rhesus macaque has three times as much genetic variation as humans. However despite much of this extra variation within genes, protein function is not affected. Consequently damaging variations are at similar levels in macaques and humans -- indicating a strong selection pressure to maintain gene function regardless of mutation rate or population size. ... > full story

Both innate and adaptive immune responses are critical to the control of influenza (June 29, 2012) -- Both innate and adaptive immune responses play an important role in controlling influenza virus infection, according to a new study. ... > full story

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