ScienceDaily: Top Environment News |
- DNA triggers shape-shifting in hydrogels, opening a new way to make 'soft robots'
- Importance of early season control of herbicide-resistant kochia
- Potential pathway to treat flesh-eating bacteria
- Solar-to-fuel system recycles CO2 to make ethanol and ethylene
- Copper catalyst yields high efficiency CO2-to-fuels conversion
- A cereal crop survives heat and drought
- 'King Tide' mapping project
- When it comes to the threat of extinction, size matters
- People's love of the seas could be the key for plastic pollution solution
- An effective way to eliminate atrazine and its by-products in surface water
- RNA discovery could help boost plant heat, drought tolerance
- To predict how climate change will affect disease, researchers must fuse climate science and biology
- Scientists show molecular basis for ants acting as 'bodyguards' for plants
- Urgent emission reductions needed to achieve 1.5°C warming limit
- Changes in Earth's crust caused oxygen to fill the atmosphere
- A solar cell you can put in the wash
- Dogs' social skills linked to oxytocin sensitivity
- Genomic recycling: Ancestral genes take on new roles
- Six new sponge species and new symbiotic associations from the Indonesian coral triangle
- How bacteria hinder chemotherapy
- Sheep gene insights could help farmers breed healthier animals
- More efficient use of raw materials with the aid of 'molecular conveyor belts'
- Welfare of zoo animals set to improve
- Fuel from waste and electricity?
- Cells programmed like computers to fight disease
- 5,000 deaths annually from Diesel-gate in Europe
- Studies of ‘Crater Capital' in the Baltics show impactful history
- Devilish source of dust in atmosphere of Earth and Mars
- Membrane vesicles released by bacteria may play different roles during infection
| DNA triggers shape-shifting in hydrogels, opening a new way to make 'soft robots' Posted: 18 Sep 2017 07:22 PM PDT Biochemical engineers have used sequences of DNA molecules to induce shape-changing in water-based gels, demonstrating a new tactic to produce "soft" robots and "smart" medical devices that do not rely on cumbersome wires, batteries or tethers. |
| Importance of early season control of herbicide-resistant kochia Posted: 18 Sep 2017 01:34 PM PDT Researchers are providing new insights into the control of herbicide-resistant kochia, a weed that competes with both dryland and irrigated crops across the Great Plains states. |
| Potential pathway to treat flesh-eating bacteria Posted: 18 Sep 2017 01:33 PM PDT Researchers have solved a 100-year-old mystery, providing them a possible key to unlock a pathway for treating diseases caused by flesh-eating bacteria. Medical researchers have found a critical target on which to focus for developing a potential Group A Streptococcus vaccine or antibiotic to fight it. By manipulating this target, they hope to either reduce the severity of these infections or clear them up faster. |
| Solar-to-fuel system recycles CO2 to make ethanol and ethylene Posted: 18 Sep 2017 12:17 PM PDT Scientists have harnessed the power of photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide into fuels and alcohols at efficiencies far greater than plants. The achievement marks a significant advance in the effort to move toward sustainable sources of fuel. |
| Copper catalyst yields high efficiency CO2-to-fuels conversion Posted: 18 Sep 2017 12:17 PM PDT Scientists have developed a new electrocatalyst that can directly convert carbon dioxide into multicarbon fuels and alcohols using record-low inputs of energy. The work is the latest in a round of studies tackling the challenge of a creating a clean chemical manufacturing system that can put carbon dioxide to good use. |
| A cereal crop survives heat and drought Posted: 18 Sep 2017 11:30 AM PDT Scientists have published the genome sequence of Pearl millet, a drought resistant crop plant most important in arid regions in Africa and Asia. This plant is important to small and medium farmers who grow the plant without larger irrigation. Pearl millet delivers a good harvest index under drought and heat conditions when rice, maize or wheat already have no grains anymore. |
| Posted: 18 Sep 2017 11:21 AM PDT 'Dress rehearsal' will help quantify local flooding risk and validate storm-surge models, while laying groundwork for a long-term network of volunteer data collectors. |
| When it comes to the threat of extinction, size matters Posted: 18 Sep 2017 10:27 AM PDT Animals in the Goldilocks zone -- neither too big, nor too small, but just the right size -- face a lower risk of extinction than do those on both ends of the scale, according to an extensive global analysis. |
| People's love of the seas could be the key for plastic pollution solution Posted: 18 Sep 2017 10:27 AM PDT Tapping into the public's passion for the ocean could be the key to reducing the threats to it posed by plastic pollution. |
| An effective way to eliminate atrazine and its by-products in surface water Posted: 18 Sep 2017 09:36 AM PDT Atrazine, widely used as a weedkiller, is known to have harmful effects on aquatic wildlife and presents a risk to human health by altering the action of certain hormones. Researchers have now compared various processes used to degrade atrazine, one of the most common pesticides detected in surface water in Quebec. |
| RNA discovery could help boost plant heat, drought tolerance Posted: 18 Sep 2017 09:35 AM PDT The discovery of a RNA that can increase drought and salt tolerance in thale cress could illuminate a new research approach and hold implications for other plants, including food crops. |
| To predict how climate change will affect disease, researchers must fuse climate science and biology Posted: 18 Sep 2017 09:35 AM PDT To predict how climate change will affect disease, researchers must fuse climate science and biology, according to a new review. |
| Scientists show molecular basis for ants acting as 'bodyguards' for plants Posted: 18 Sep 2017 09:35 AM PDT Though you might not think of ants as formidable bodyguards, some do an impressive job protecting plants from enemies. Examing the relationship between the Amazon rainforest plant Cordia nodosa in Peru and the ant species Allomerus octoarticulatus, scientists found the degree to which the ants express two genes significantly impacts the amount of protection they provide to their hosts. |
| Urgent emission reductions needed to achieve 1.5°C warming limit Posted: 18 Sep 2017 08:18 AM PDT Significant emission reductions are required if we are to achieve one of the key goals of the Paris Agreement, and limit the increase in global average temperatures to 1.5°C; a new partnership warns. |
| Changes in Earth's crust caused oxygen to fill the atmosphere Posted: 18 Sep 2017 08:18 AM PDT New research has uncovered a direct link between changes in the earth's crust three billion years ago and the introduction of free oxygen to the atmosphere. Without these changes, oxygen could have been suppressed in earth's crust forever, so the findings help explain the emergence of life on our planet. |
| A solar cell you can put in the wash Posted: 18 Sep 2017 08:18 AM PDT Scientists have developed a new type of ultra-thin photovoltaic device, coated on both sides with stretchable and waterproof films, which can continue to provide electricity from sunlight even after being soaked in water or being stretched and compressed. |
| Dogs' social skills linked to oxytocin sensitivity Posted: 18 Sep 2017 08:18 AM PDT The tendency of dogs to seek contact with their owners is associated with genetic variations in sensitivity for the hormone oxytocin, according to a new study. The results contribute to our knowledge of how dogs have changed during their development from wolf to household pet. |
| Genomic recycling: Ancestral genes take on new roles Posted: 18 Sep 2017 08:18 AM PDT One often hears about the multitude of genes we have in common with chimps, birds or other living creatures, but such comparisons are sometimes misleading. The shared percentage usually refers only to genes that encode instructions for making proteins -- while overlooking regulatory genes, which nonetheless make up a large part of the genome. |
| Six new sponge species and new symbiotic associations from the Indonesian coral triangle Posted: 18 Sep 2017 08:18 AM PDT The Indonesian coral reefs, located in the so-called coral triangle, are considered amongst the richest and most biodiverse places on Earth. Surprisingly, this impressive species diversity is still poorly known. Biologists now report the presence of 94 species of sponges, including six new to science and two new symbiotic sponge associations. |
| How bacteria hinder chemotherapy Posted: 18 Sep 2017 07:06 AM PDT Scientists have found bacteria in pancreatic tumors that metabolize a common drug, explains a new report. |
| Sheep gene insights could help farmers breed healthier animals Posted: 18 Sep 2017 07:06 AM PDT Fresh insights into the genetic code of sheep could aid breeding programs to improve their health and productivity. Scientists have now mapped which genes are turned on and off in the different tissues and organs in a sheep's body. |
| More efficient use of raw materials with the aid of 'molecular conveyor belts' Posted: 18 Sep 2017 06:34 AM PDT Making valuable products, such as fuels, synthetic materials or pharmaceuticals, from renewable raw materials is to date not efficient enough because the microorganisms used only process the raw materials very slowly and generate many by-products in addition to the substances actually wanted. Biotechnologists have now succeeded in optimizing sugar utilization in baker's yeast. |
| Welfare of zoo animals set to improve Posted: 18 Sep 2017 06:33 AM PDT The wellbeing of zoological animals is set to improve following the successful trial of a new welfare assessment grid. |
| Fuel from waste and electricity? Posted: 18 Sep 2017 06:33 AM PDT Researchers have shown that the combination of microbial and electrochemical conversion of biomass can yield valuable products. For the example of corn beer and corn silage they have gained energy-dense alkanes with diesel-fuel like properties at high carbon and energetic yield. |
| Cells programmed like computers to fight disease Posted: 18 Sep 2017 06:33 AM PDT Cells can be programmed like a computer to fight cancer, influenza, and other serious conditions -- thanks to a breakthrough in synthetic biology. |
| 5,000 deaths annually from Diesel-gate in Europe Posted: 18 Sep 2017 06:33 AM PDT Excess emissions from diesel cars cause about 5,000 premature deaths annually across Europe, a new study shows. Higher exposure to secondary particles and ozone can be traced back to excess NOx emissions from diesel cars, vans and light commercial vehicles. With the EU's vehicle emission limits achieved on the road about 5,000 premature deaths could be avoided annually. If diesel cars emitted as little NOx as petrol cars, about 7,500 premature deaths could be avoided annually. |
| Studies of ‘Crater Capital' in the Baltics show impactful history Posted: 18 Sep 2017 06:28 AM PDT Studies of craters in the Baltics (Estonia) are giving insights into the many impacts that have peppered the Earth over its long history. In southeastern Estonia, scientists have dated charcoal from trees destroyed in an impact to prove a common origin for two small craters, named Illumetsa. A third submarine crater located on the seabed in the Gulf of Finland has been measured and dated with with precision. |
| Devilish source of dust in atmosphere of Earth and Mars Posted: 18 Sep 2017 06:28 AM PDT Swirling columns of sand and dust, known as dust devils, are a feature of desert areas on Mars and on Earth. Now, a study of terrestrial dust devils has shown that around two thirds of the fine particles lifted by these vortices can remain suspended in the atmosphere and be transported around the globe. The findings have implications for the climate and weather of both planets and, potentially, human health here on Earth. |
| Membrane vesicles released by bacteria may play different roles during infection Posted: 18 Sep 2017 06:07 AM PDT Bacteria release membrane-derived vesicles (MVs), which are small particles that can transport virulence factors to neighboring bacteria or to the cells of a mammalian host. This special MV-based system for delivering toxic proteins and nucleic acids in a protected manner to the target cells may have different specific functions depending on whether the bacterium acts as an extracellular or intracellular pathogen. |
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