ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

Soaking up the sun: Artificial photosynthesis promises clean, sustainable source of energy

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:23 AM PDT

Humans can do lots of things that plants can't do. But plants have one major advantage over humans: They can make energy directly from the sun. That process of turning sunlight directly into usable energy - called photosynthesis - may soon be a feat humans are able to mimic to harness the sun's energy for clean, storable, efficient fuel. If so, it could open a whole new frontier of clean energy.

Shrinking to survive: Bacteria adapt to a lifestyle in flux

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:23 AM PDT

E. coli adapt to survive sudden starvation. Biologists showed that when E. coli cells lack nutrients, the cytoplasm becomes more dense as its volume decreases, probably because of water loss. At the same time, the periplasm increases in volume as the inner membrane pulls away from the outer membrane.

Not acting like themselves: Antidepressants in environment alter crayfish behavior

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:22 AM PDT

Expose crayfish to antidepressants, and they become more outgoing -- but that might not be such a positive thing for these freshwater crustaceans, according to a new study.

New treatment stops progression of Alzheimer's disease in monkey brains

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:22 AM PDT

A new therapy prompts immune defense cells to swallow misshapen proteins, amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles, whose buildup is known to kill nearby brain cells as part of Alzheimer's disease, a new study shows.

Use of PFAS in cosmetics 'widespread,' new study finds

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:22 AM PDT

Many cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada likely contain high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a potentially toxic class of chemicals linked to a number of serious health conditions, according to new research.

Snails carrying the world's smallest computer help solve mass extinction survivor mystery

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:22 AM PDT

More than 50 species of tree snail in the South Pacific Society Islands were wiped out following the introduction of an alien predatory snail in the 1970s, but the white-shelled Partula hyalina survived.

Human-driven climate change only half the picture for krill

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:22 AM PDT

New research about the fate of krill -- one of the most abundant species on Earth -- during this century has important implications for not only the Antarctic food web, but for the largest commercial fishery in the Southern Ocean.

Adults who skip morning meal likely to miss out on nutrients

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:22 AM PDT

Adults who skip breakfast are likely to miss out on key nutrients that are most abundant in the foods that make up morning meals, a new study suggests.

What makes us sneeze?

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:22 AM PDT

What exactly triggers a sneeze? A team has identified, in mice, specific cells and proteins that control the sneeze reflex. Better understanding of what causes us to sneeze -- specifically how neurons behave in response to allergens and viruses -- may point to treatments capable of slowing the spread of infectious respiratory diseases.

Air pollution exposure during pregnancy may boost babies' obesity risk

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:22 AM PDT

New research shows pregnant women exposed to higher levels of air pollution have babies who grow unusually fast in the first months after birth, putting on excess fat that may put them at risk of obesity and related diseases later in life.

Baltic herring larvae appear earlier and grow faster due to climate change

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:21 AM PDT

Conditions during Baltic herring spawning may have cascading effects on the whole Baltic ecosystem.

Fungal spores from 250-year-old collections given new lease of life

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:21 AM PDT

The biological and historical diversity in museum collections is staggering, with specimens collected across centuries by some of the most famous scientists in history. In a new study, researchers successfully revived museal fungal specimens that were more than 250 years old and used the live cultures for whole genome sequencing and physiological experiments.

Bycatch risk for dolphins and porpoises in global small-scale fisheries

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:21 AM PDT

Marine scientists assessed the risk posed by small-scale fisheries to all 72 species of toothed whales found throughout the world's oceans. They found that this risk was highest in the Central Indo-Pacific, Temperate Northern Pacific, Temperate South America and the Western Indo-Pacific.

Untapped rice varieties could sustain crop supplies in face of climate change

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:21 AM PDT

Local rice varieties in Vietnam could be used to help breed improved crops with higher resilience to climate change, according to a new study. Researchers are aiming to identify varieties that can survive an increasingly unpredictable climate.

Small streams in agricultural ecosystems are heavily polluted with pesticides

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:21 AM PDT

Pesticides safeguard agricultural yields by controlling insects, fungi, and weeds. However, they also enter streams and damage the aquatic communities. In a nationwide monitoring program, scientists have shown that the governmental thresholds for pesticides are generally too high and that these levels are still exceeded in over 80% of water bodies. The loss of biodiversity can only be halted if the environmental risk assessment of pesticides is revised.

Heat from below: How the ocean is wearing down the Arctic sea ice

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:21 AM PDT

The influx of warmer water masses from the North Atlantic into the European marginal seas plays a significant role in the marked decrease in sea-ice growth, especially in winter.

Receptor location plays a key role in their function

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:21 AM PDT

Research teams have identified, for the first time, where special receptors are located on heart muscle cells. Their findings open up new perspectives for developing therapies for chronic heart failure.

Plants use a blend of external influences to evolve defense mechanisms

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:21 AM PDT

Plants evolve specialized defense chemicals through the combined effects of genes, geography, demography and environmental conditions.

Rarest bee genus in North America is not so rare after all

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:20 AM PDT

Canadian researchers have discovered that a bee thought to be rarest in North America, as the only representative of its genus, is no more than an unusual specimen of a widespread species. They have reclassified the mystery bee, collected in Nevada in the 1870s, as an aberrant specimen of the California digger-cuckoo bee, a cleptoparasitic bee, with females that lay eggs in the nests of digger bees.

New AI model helps understand virus spread from animals to humans

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:20 AM PDT

A new model that applies artificial intelligence to carbohydrates improves the understanding of the infection process and could help predict which viruses are likely to spread from animals to humans.

From symmetry to asymmetry: The two sides of life

Posted: 15 Jun 2021 10:15 AM PDT

Researchers used innovative imaging techniques to demonstrate symmetric collective alignment of nuclei in the muscle cells of the anterior midgut of the Drosophila embryo. This 'collective nuclear behavior' further influences bilateral asymmetry in the development of internal organs. A clear understanding of the factors that influence the shape and location of viscera will help inform future research into experimental, and eventually therapeutic, organ regeneration technology.

New research finds 1M early deaths in 2017 attributable to fossil fuel combustion

Posted: 14 Jun 2021 03:56 PM PDT

An international team of researchers has determined what sources contribute to pollution and the health effects they have on global, regional and smaller scales.

Biodiversity 'hotspots' imperiled along California's streams

Posted: 14 Jun 2021 12:39 PM PDT

A study of woodland ecosystems that provide habitat for rare, endangered species along streams, rivers throughout California reveals some ecologically important areas are inadvertently benefiting from water humans are diverting for their own needs. Though it seems a short-term boon to these ecosystems, the artificial supply creates an unintended dependence on its bounty, threatens the long-term survival of natural communities and spotlights the need for changes in the way water is managed across the state.

Early migrations of Siberians to America tracked using bacterial population structures

Posted: 14 Jun 2021 12:39 PM PDT

Early migrations of humans to the Americas from Siberia around 12,000 years ago have been traced using the bacteria they carried by an international team.

Barks in the night lead to the discovery of new species

Posted: 14 Jun 2021 06:06 AM PDT

A new study finds that the barking hyraxes are a separate species from their shrieking neighbors. The newly described species, Dendrohyrax interfluvialis, populates the wet and dry forests that lie between the two rivers in coastal regions of southeastern Ghana, southern Togo and Benin, and southwestern Nigeria. The researchers based their conclusion on the distinctive calls combined with anatomical and genetic differences they identified among tree hyrax populations.