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ScienceDaily: Top Environment News |
Paleontology: Experiments in evolution Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:57 AM PST A new find from Patagonia sheds light on the evolution of large predatory dinosaurs. Features of the 8-m long specimen from the Middle Jurassic suggest that it records a phase of rapid diversification and evolutionary experimentation. |
Research confirms timing of tropical glacier melt at the end of the last ice age Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:56 AM PST Findings on ice retreat across the global tropics clarifies how the low latitudes transformed during the end of the last ice age and can help current-day predictions of our own climate future. |
State of shock: 200-year-old law about gas mixtures called into question Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:56 AM PST According to a new study led by a team from The University of New Mexico, centuries-old laws about the behavior of gas mixtures do not apply in the presence of shock waves. This finding could have potential impact on everything that involves mixtures of gases exposed to a shock wave, for example, during combustion in an engine. |
Mountain goats' air conditioning is failing, study says Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:56 AM PST A new study says Glacier National Park's iconic mountain goats are in dire need of 'air conditioning.' |
Teams of microbes are at work in our bodies. Here's how to figure out what they're doing Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:56 AM PST An algorithm akin to the annoyingly helpful one that attempts to auto-complete text messages and emails is now being harnessed for a better cause. A group of researchers are using its pattern-recognition ability to identify microbial communities in the body by sifting through volumes of genetic code. Their method could speed the development of medical treatments for microbiota-linked ailments like Crohn's disease. |
Earth was stressed before dinosaur extinction Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:56 AM PST By measuring the chemistry of fossilized seashells collected in Antarctica, researchers discovered that Earth was already experiencing carbon cycle instability before the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. |
A new early whale, Aegicetus gehennae, and the evolution of modern whale locomotion Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:56 AM PST A newly discovered fossil whale represents a new species and an important step in the evolution of whale locomotion. |
New material design tops carbon-capture from wet flue gases Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:56 AM PST Chemical engineers have designed a material that can capture carbon dioxide from wet flue gasses better than current commercial materials. |
Scrubbing carbon dioxide from smokestacks for cleaner industrial emissions Posted: 11 Dec 2019 11:56 AM PST Chemistry researchers have uncovered a better way to scrub carbon dioxide from smokestack emissions, which could be a key to mitigating global climate change. |
Deciphering the equations of life Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:56 AM PST Research has resulted in a set of equations that describes and predicts commonalities across life despite its enormous diversity. The new theory allows predictions for organisms that might not be well understood by science. |
Efforts to end the HIV epidemic must not ignore people already living with HIV Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:56 AM PST Efforts to prevent new HIV transmissions in the US must be accompanied by addressing HIV-associated comorbidities to improve the health of people already living with HIV, experts assert. |
Study sheds light on 'overlooked' bee species Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:56 AM PST The UK's first citizen science project focusing on solitary, ground-nesting bees has revealed that they nest in a far broader range of habitats than previously thought. |
Uncovering how endangered pangolins, or 'scaly anteaters,' digest food Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:56 AM PST The endangered Sunda pangolin, or 'scaly anteater,' is a widely trafficked mammal, prized in some cultures for its meat and scales. Little is known about these animals, and raising rescued pangolins is tricky. In the wild, they eat termites and ants, but diets provided in captivity often make them sick. Now, a study reports that pangolins lack some common digestive enzymes, which could explain why some diets don't work well for them. |
Pathways toward post-petrochemistry Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:56 AM PST Ethylene, or ethene, is a primary feedstock for the chemical industry, including as a starting material for the production of a wide variety of plastics. Scientists have now introduced a new electrochemical technique for selective and energy-efficient production of ethylene from carbon monoxide, which can be obtained from renewable resources and waste. |
Thunderquakes make underground fiber optic telecommunications cables hum Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:55 AM PST Telecommunications lines designed for carrying internet and phone service can pick up the rumble of thunder underground, potentially providing scientists with a new way of detecting environmental hazards and imaging deep inside the Earth. |
Punching holes in opaque solar cells turns them transparent Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:55 AM PST Researchers in Korea have found an effective and inexpensive strategy to transform solar cells from opaque to transparent. Existing transparent solar cells tend to have a reddish hue and lower efficiency, but by punching tiny holes on crystalline silicon wafers, it allows light through without coloring. The holes are then strategically spaced, so the human eye is unable to 'see' the pattern. |
Study of elephant, capybara, human hair finds that thicker hair isn't always stronger Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:55 AM PST Despite being four times thicker than human hair, elephant hair is only half as strong -- that's just one finding from researchers studying the hair strength of many different mammals. Their work shows that thin hair tends to be stronger than thick hair because of the way that it breaks. |
Shrinking of Greenland's glaciers began accelerating in 2000, research finds Posted: 11 Dec 2019 08:55 AM PST Satellite data has given scientists clues about how, when and why Greenland's glaciers are shrinking -- and shows a sharp increase in glacial retreat beginning about 2000, according to new research. |
Scientists convert plastics into useful chemicals using sunlight Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:03 AM PST Chemists have discovered a method that could turn plastic waste into valuable chemicals by using sunlight. |
Isotope analysis points to prisoners of war, 1,400 years ago Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:03 AM PST Maya archaeologists found the bones of about 20 people at a water reservoir in the former Maya city of Uxul (Mexico). They had apparently been killed and dismembered about 1,400 years ago. Did these victims come from Uxul or other regions of the Maya Area? |
Illumination drives bats out of caves Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:03 AM PST Researchers have investigated how the illumination of bat caves affects the animals' behavior and whether the color of light makes a difference on their flight. Although red light irritates the small mammals somewhat less than white light, from the researchers' point of view neither the entrance nor the interior of bat caves should be illuminated if bats are present. |
Trashed farmland could be a conservation treasure Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:03 AM PST Low-productivity agricultural land could be transformed into millions of hectares of conservation reserve across the world, according to new research. The research team proposed a new way of understanding the conservation value of ''uncontested lands'' - areas where agricultural productivity is low. |
How are Utah's dry lakes impacting air quality and human health? Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:03 AM PST A new study reveals that 90 percent of Utah urban dust comes from dry lakebeds, which not only impacts air quality but also impacting soil and what can grow in it. |
Sorghum study illuminates relationship between humans, crops and the environment in domestication Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:03 AM PST A new study illustrates the concept of a domestication triangle, in which human genetics interact with sorghum genetics and the environment to influence the traits farmers select in their crops. The concept gives a more complete systemic picture of domestication. |
Tree cavities for wild honeybees Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:02 AM PST The forests in Europe provide habitat for around 80,000 colonies of wild honeybees. That is why more attention should be paid to preserving the nesting sites for these threatened insects, according to researchers. |
A machine learning approach to identify functional human phosphosites Posted: 11 Dec 2019 07:02 AM PST Scientists have created the largest phosphoproteome resource to date, which is set to help other researchers identify new functionally-relevant phosphosites. The research demonstrates an exciting use for machine learning methods to effectively compile and analyse large phosphorylation related biological datasets. Identifying new functional phosphosites has enormous potential to progress research into many biological processes and diseases. |
Why polar bears at sea have higher pollution levels than those staying on land Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:35 AM PST As the climate changes, myriad animal populations are being impacted. In particular, Arctic sea-ice is in decline, causing polar bears in the Barents Sea region to alter their feeding and hunting habits. Bears that follow sea-ice to offshore areas have higher pollutant levels than those staying on land -- but why? A new study reports the likely reasons. |
Altering intestinal microbiota, vaccinating against inflammatory diseases Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:27 AM PST Targeted immunization against bacterial flagellin, a protein that forms the appendage that enables bacterial mobility, can beneficially alter the intestinal microbiota, decreasing the bacteria's ability to cause inflammation and thus protecting against an array of chronic inflammatory diseases, according to a new study. |
Plant researchers examine bread aroma: Modern and old wheat varieties taste equally good Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:27 AM PST Bread baked from modern wheat varieties are just as aromatic as that baked from old varieties. However, differences exist between the breads from different wheat varieties -- and those that were grown in different locations. |
One-third of recent global methane increase comes from tropical Africa Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:27 AM PST Concentrations of methane, a greenhouse gas about 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide, have risen steadily in Earth's atmosphere since 2007. Although several potential explanations, including an increase in methane emissions from the tropics, could account for this upsurge, due to a lack of regional data scientists have been unable to pinpoint the source. Now a study uses satellite data to determine that one-third of the global increase originates in Africa's tropics. |
Invest in pollinator monitoring for long-term gain Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:27 AM PST A research team is studying how to improve pollinator monitoring in the UK in a cost-effective manner. |
The secret to a long life? For worms, a cellular recycling protein is key Posted: 11 Dec 2019 05:26 AM PST Scientists have shown that worms live longer lives if they produce excess levels of a protein, p62, which recognizes toxic cell proteins that are tagged for destruction. The discovery could help uncover treatments for age-related conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease, which are often caused by accumulation of misfolded proteins. |
Breathing new life into the rise of oxygen debate Posted: 10 Dec 2019 02:19 PM PST New research strongly suggests that the distinct 'oxygenation events' that created Earth's breathable atmosphere happened spontaneously, rather than being a consequence of biological or tectonic revolutions. The study not only shines a light on the history of oxygen on our planet, it gives new insight into the prevalence of oxygenated worlds other than our own. |
New viral strategy to escape detection Posted: 10 Dec 2019 08:17 AM PST Researchers have discovered how viruses that specifically kill bacteria can outwit bacteria by hiding from their defences, findings which are important for the development of new antimicrobials based on viruses and provide a significant advance in biological knowledge. |
Scientists accidentally discover a new water mold threatening evergreen trees Posted: 09 Dec 2019 01:13 PM PST Grown as Christmas trees, Fraser firs are highly prized for their rich color and pleasant scent as well as their ability to hold their needles. Unfortunately, they are also highly susceptible to devastating root rot diseases caused by water molds in the genus Phytophthora. |
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