ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

Jaws; or, how an African ray-finned fish is helping to rethink the fundamentals of evolution

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 02:34 PM PDT

A family of fishes, called the cichlids, in Africa's Lake Malawi is helping researchers refine our understanding of how evolution works.

'Blue food revolution' to tackle climate change and malnutrition

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 02:34 PM PDT

An unprecedented review of the aquatic foods sector has uncovered how fisheries and aquaculture can play a greater role in delivering healthy diets and more sustainable, equitable and resilient food systems around the world.

COVID-19 virus is evolving to get better at becoming airborne, new study shows

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 02:34 PM PDT

A new study finds that SARS-CoV-2 is evolving toward more efficient aerosol generation, and loose-fitting masks provide significant but only modest source control. Until vaccination rates are very high, continued layered controls, including improved ventilation, increased filtration, UV air sanitation, and tight-fitting masks are critical to protect people in public-facing jobs and indoor spaces, researchers urge.

Low oxygen levels are pushing fish into shallower waters, with potentially devastating impacts for fisheries and ecosystems

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 11:29 AM PDT

Fish can drown. While it may not seem like it, fish do require oxygen to breathe; it's just that they get what they need from the oxygen dissolved in water rather than in the air. Too little oxygen spells trouble for our finned friends, which have to move or else suffer ill effects.

Friend or foe? Researchers investigate the mysterious microbes living inside corals

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 11:28 AM PDT

In a new article, researchers describe investigations into an enigmatic group of coral-infecting microbes.

Researchers infuse bacteria with silver to improve power efficiency in fuel cells

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 11:28 AM PDT

A team of engineers and chemists has taken a major step forward in the development of microbial fuel cells -- a technology that utilizes natural bacteria to extract electrons from organic matter in wastewater to generate electrical currents.

Urban stormwater study finds little difference between managed, unmanaged flows

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 11:28 AM PDT

At a time when many municipalities are seeking to control urban stormwater by investing heavily in green infrastructure -- such as water-quality ponds, infiltration basins, porous pavement and riparian plantings -- a new study suggests that these expensive efforts may not have much of an impact.

Study reveals gophers’ biofluorescence

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 11:28 AM PDT

You can learn a lot about animals by simply watching them. But some secrets can only be revealed in the dark ... with an ultraviolet flashlight.

Good for groundwater – bad for crops? Plastic particles release pollutants in upper soil layers

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 11:28 AM PDT

In agriculture, large quantities of nano- and microplastics end up in the soil through compost, sewage sludge and the use of mulching foils. The plastic particles always carry various pollutants with them. However, they do not transport them into the groundwater, as is often assumed. Environmental geoscientists have now determined that the plastic particles release the pollutants in the upper soil layers: they do not generally contaminate the groundwater, but have a negative effect on soil microbes and crops.

Researchers explore promising treatment for MRSA 'superbug'

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 09:40 AM PDT

A new study has found the antimicrobial properties of certain stem cell proteins could offer a potential treatment to reduce infection in skin wounds.

Giant Waikato penguin: School kids discover new species

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 08:46 AM PDT

A giant fossilized penguin discovered by New Zealand school children has been revealed as a new species.

Reforestation could help save coral reefs from catastrophe

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 08:45 AM PDT

Increasing reforestation efforts in coastal regions could substantially reduce the amount of sediment run-off reaching coral reefs and improve their resilience, a new study has found.

Ancient bone tools found in Moroccan cave were used to work leather, fur

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 08:45 AM PDT

When researchers first started to look at animal bones from Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco, they wanted to learn about the diet and environment of early human ancestors who lived there between 120,000 and 90,000 years ago. But they soon realized that the bones they had found weren't just meal scraps. They'd been shaped into tools, apparently for use in working leather and fur.

Fossil bird with fancy tail feathers longer than its body

Posted: 16 Sep 2021 08:45 AM PDT

Peacock tails are just one example of how evolution walks a line between favoring traits that make it easier to survive, and traits that make it easier to find a mate. In a new study, scientists have found evidence of this age-old conundrum in the form of a fossil bird from the Early Cretaceous with a pair of elaborate tail feathers longer than its body.

Some shark species are tougher than others when it comes to surviving catch and release, study finds

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 01:13 PM PDT

A new landmark study of over 300 sharks found that some species are extremely resilient to the stress of being caught and released in commercial longline fisheries while other species are much more likely to die.

DNA researchers develop critical shortcut to detect and identify known and emerging pathogens

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 10:51 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a sophisticated new tool that could help provide early warning of rare and unknown viruses in the environment and identify potentially deadly bacterial pathogens which cause sepsis, among other uses.

Better fibers: Fireproof and comfortable

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 08:10 AM PDT

A new chemical process turns cotton into a fire-resistant fabric that nevertheless retains the skin-friendly properties of cotton.

Australian wildfires triggered massive algal blooms in Southern Ocean

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 08:09 AM PDT

Smoke and ash from the 2019-20 Australian wildfires triggered widespread algal blooms in the Southern Ocean thousands of miles downwind, a new study finds. The study is the first to conclusively link a large-scale response in marine life to fertilization by iron aerosols from wildfire emissions. It raises intriguing questions about the role wildfires may play in spurring the growth of marine phytoplankton and how that may affect oceanic carbon uptake and productivity.

Better weather forecasting through satellite isotope data assimilation

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 03:48 PM PDT

Real satellite water vapor isotope data were assimilated in a general circulation model to determine whether including these data could improve forecast accuracy at both the global and local scales. Overall, forecast accuracy was improved by several percentage points. The effect was especially notable for variables closely related to water vapor isotope fractionation, such as air temperature and specific humidity, and a local-scale pressure pattern over Japan in 2013 was modeled more clearly.

What lies beneath: Volcanic secrets revealed

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 03:47 PM PDT

Lava samples have revealed a new truth about the geological make-up of the Earth's crust and could have implications for volcanic eruption early warning systems, a new study has found.

Proteins that outwit emerging and re-emerging viruses

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 12:25 PM PDT

A family of proteins best known for their role in diminishing HIV infectivity may have the goods to outwit other emerging and re-emerging viruses, scientists have found.

Hand and footprint art dates to mid-Ice Age

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 09:49 AM PDT

Researchers have identified what may be the oldest work of art, a sequence of hand and footprints discovered on the Tibetan Plateau.

Building the ovarian environment from stem cells

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 07:01 AM PDT

Researchers have succeeded in reconstructing the ovarian environment using mouse stem cells. While growing immature egg cells -- known as oocytes -- from stem cells has been possible, the process required additional cells from embryos to provide the necessary cellular environment for the oocytes to mature. Now, researchers have used stem cells to reconstitute those support cells to create mature egg cells. Moreover, they could fertilize the egg cells to grow viable mice.

False spring: Climate change may erode frogs’ ability to withstand salt pollution

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 07:01 AM PDT

Climate change may erode frogs' ability to withstand road salt pollution, according to researchers. Driven by climate change, spring in the northeastern United States is now earlier and more variable in temperature than it used to be, a shift that has rippled through ecosystems. Among the most severely affected are spring-breeding amphibians such as wood frogs, who may be lured out of the mud to mate too early.

New 3D-printed sensor can detect glyphosate in beverages

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 07:00 AM PDT

A newly developed, low-cost sensor can detect and accurately measure the amount of the widely used and controversial herbicide, glyphosate, in droplets of liquid in a laboratory test. Engineers developed the low-cost sensor, which uses nano-sized tubes, and tested it on orange juice and rice beverage samples they spiked with the herbicide for the study. The glyphosate sensor uses technology that is similar to that used in glucose tests that can quickly measure blood sugar levels from a pinprick of blood.

3D analysis of SARS-CoV-2 reveals clues on virus tactics

Posted: 14 Sep 2021 05:26 AM PDT

By combining all available data on the coronavirus's 3D shape, researchers have revealed new clues on how it evades human immune detection and replicates. Their new resource may help researchers stay ahead of new variants.

Ebola vaccine regimen generates strong immune response in children and adults in a clinical trial in Sierra Leone

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 07:02 PM PDT

Johnson and Johnson's two-dose Ebola vaccine regimen is safe, well tolerated and produces a strong immune response in people over the age of one, according to two new articles.

Isotope mapping sheds rare light into migratory routes, natal origins of monarch butterflies

Posted: 13 Sep 2021 10:57 AM PDT

A biology student traveled 20,000 kilometers collecting milkweed, creating isotope analysis of monarch butterflies' annual migration journey, hoping to identify factors behind this threatened insect's decline.