ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

New CRISPR-based test for COVID-19 uses a smartphone camera

Posted: 04 Dec 2020 12:54 PM PST

In a new study, a team of researchers outlines the technology for a CRISPR-based test for COVID-19 that uses a smartphone camera to provide accurate results in under 30 minutes.

The climate changed rapidly alongside sea ice decline in the north

Posted: 04 Dec 2020 10:13 AM PST

Researchers have shown that abrupt climate change occurred as a result of widespread decrease of sea ice. This scientific breakthrough concludes a long-lasting debate on the mechanisms causing abrupt climate change during the glacial period. It also documents that the cause of the swiftness and extent of sudden climate change must be found in the oceans.

Researchers define immune system's requirements for protection against COVID-19

Posted: 04 Dec 2020 10:13 AM PST

Researchers shed light on the role of antibodies and immune cells in protection against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in rhesus macaques.

Findings about cilia on cells of the vessel wall may be relevant for diabetes treatment

Posted: 04 Dec 2020 08:02 AM PST

A new study shows that primary cilia, hair-like protrusions on endothelial cells inside vessels, play an important role in the blood supply and delivery of glucose to the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreatic islets. The findings may be relevant for transplantation therapies in diabetes, as formation of functional blood vessels is important for the treatment to be successful.

Biological diversity evokes happiness

Posted: 04 Dec 2020 08:02 AM PST

A high biodiversity in our vicinity is as important for life satisfaction as our income, scientists found. All across Europe, the individual enjoyment of life correlates with the number of surrounding bird species. An additional 10% of bird species therefore increases the Europeans' life satisfaction as much as a comparable increase in income. Nature conservation thus constitutes an investment in human well-being.

New DNA modification 'signature' discovered in zebrafish

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 05:05 PM PST

Researchers have revealed a previously unknown DNA modification in zebrafish - one of human's distant evolutionary cousins.

Outbreak investigation reveals 'super-spreader' potential of Andes virus

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 11:41 AM PST

'Super-spreader' events and extensive person-to-person contact propelled an outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in a small village in Argentina from 2018-2019, according to new research. An international scientific team reports the genetic, clinical, and epidemiologic features of the outbreak caused by the Andes virus, a member of the hantavirus family. Their analysis could aid in managing outbreaks of other viral diseases with similar transmission patterns, including COVID-19.

Gut microbiome snapshot could reveal chemical exposures in children

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 10:39 AM PST

Researchers have completed the most comprehensive study to date on how a class of persistent pollutants called semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are associated with the gut microbiome in human children. The results provide a potential mechanism for measuring exposure to a wide variety of these substances and suggests exposure to toxic halogenated compounds may create a niche for bacteria not usually found in the human gut.

Ancient migration was choice, not chance

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 08:32 AM PST

The degree of intentionality behind ancient ocean migrations, such as that to the Ryukyu Islands between Taiwan and mainland Japan, has been widely debated. Researchers used satellite-tracked buoys to simulate ancient wayward drifters and found that the vast majority failed to make the contested crossing. They concluded that Paleolithic people 35,000-30,000 years ago must therefore have made the journey not by chance but by choice.

Robot fleet dives for climate answers in 'marine snow'

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 08:32 AM PST

Sailing from Hobart, twenty researchers hope to capture the most detailed picture yet of how marine life in the Southern Ocean captures and stores carbon from the atmosphere.

The helix of life: New study shows how 'our' RNA stably binds to artificial nucleic acids

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 08:32 AM PST

Xeno nucleic acids are essential for the development of nucleic acid-based drugs. To be effective, they need to be able to stably bind to natural RNA (a cellular single-stranded version of the DNA, which is essential for all body processes). However, it is unclear how, if at all, RNA hybridizes with these xeno nucleic acids. A new study sheds light on this mechanism, opening doors to the development of potentially revolutionary nucleic acid-based drugs.

Blackcurrants are favorable for glucose metabolism

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 08:32 AM PST

Blackcurrants have a beneficial effect on post-meal glucose response, and the required portion size is much smaller than previously thought, a new study shows.

Coasts drown as coral reefs collapse under warming and acidification

Posted: 03 Dec 2020 08:32 AM PST

The coastal protection coral reefs currently provide will start eroding by the end of the century, as the world continues to warm and the oceans acidify. The rate of erosion of calcium carbonate on coral reefs will overtake the rate of accretion on the majority of present-day reefs by the end of the century.

Amphibian die-offs worsened malaria outbreaks in Central America

Posted: 02 Dec 2020 04:27 PM PST

The global collapse of frogs and other amphibians due to the amphibian chytrid fungus exacerbated malaria outbreaks in Costa Rica and Panama during the 1990s and 2000s, according to new research. The findings provide the first evidence that amphibian population declines have directly affected human health and show how preserving biodiversity can benefit humans as well as local ecosystems.

Continents prone to destruction in their infancy, study finds

Posted: 02 Dec 2020 08:45 AM PST

Geologists have shed new light on the early history of the Earth through their discovery that continents were weak and prone to destruction in their infancy.