ScienceDaily: Top Environment News


Current marsh pollution has dramatic, negative effects on sea anemone’s survival

Posted: 07 Jan 2022 01:46 PM PST

The starlet sea anemone Nematostella's growth, development, and feeding ability are drastically impacted by present levels of common pollutants found in one of its native habitats, the U.S. East Coast.

Bioenergy sorghum’s roots can replenish carbon in soil

Posted: 07 Jan 2022 01:46 PM PST

The world faces an increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and a shortage of carbon in the soil. However, bioenergy sorghum can provide meaningful relief from both problems, according to a new study.

Tipping point in Humboldt Current off Peru leads to species shift

Posted: 07 Jan 2022 09:14 AM PST

Fundamental changes in the ocean, such as warming, acidification or oxygen depletion, may have significant consequences for the composition of fish stocks, including the displacement of individual species. Researchers have reconstructed environmental conditions of the warm period 125,000 years ago (Eemian interglacial) using sediment samples from the Humboldt Current System off Peru. They were able to show that, at warmer temperatures, mainly smaller, goby-like fish species became dominant and pushed back important food fish such as the anchovy (Engraulis ringens). The trend is independent of fishing pressure and fisheries management.

Scientists uncover the distribution and physiological role of planteose

Posted: 07 Jan 2022 05:44 AM PST

The findings of this study are intended to aid botanists who specialize in crop protection in better understanding the distribution of planteose throughout the endosperm, perisperm, and seed coat of Orobanche minor -- a root parasitic weed, which is consistent with planteose's role as a storage carbohydrate. The findings of this work demonstrate unequivocally that the enzyme OmAGAL2, which is involved in the hydrolysis of planteose, is a promising molecular target for root parasitic weed control.

Biotechnology could provide an environmentally more sustainable alternative to egg white protein production

Posted: 07 Jan 2022 05:44 AM PST

Egg white is one of the most important protein ingredients for the food industry. The first assessment of the environmental impact of egg white protein -- ovalbumin -- production by fungus Trichoderma reesei shows that the ovalbumin produced by precision fermentation reduced land use requirements by almost 90 per cent and greenhouse gases by 31--55 per cent compared to the production of its chicken-based counterpart.

Preserving the goods: A new technique for isolating intact lysosomes from cell cultures

Posted: 06 Jan 2022 08:00 AM PST

Lysosomes are organelles that play essential roles in cellular digestion and waste management, and lysosomal dysfunction typically leads to serious diseases. In a recent study, scientists developed a novel technique to extract intact lysosomes from cells using magnetic nanoparticles. Their approach is much faster than previous methods and yields samples with high purity, allowing for a better understanding of lysosomes and their metabolites and, hopefully, paving the way to treatments for lysosomal disorders.

Healthful food for children is the same as for adults

Posted: 06 Jan 2022 07:03 AM PST

There is no difference between healthful foods for adults and for children aged 2 and older, except for age-appropriate adjustments in texture and portion size, according to experts in nutrition.

Marijuana users’ risk of deadly complication doubles after rare type of bleeding stroke

Posted: 06 Jan 2022 07:03 AM PST

Among adults with a certain type of bleeding stroke, those who used marijuana within the last 3-30 days were more than twice as likely to develop a serious stroke complication that increases the risk of death and disability. The study is the largest to examine the impact of THC, the mood-changing ingredient in marijuana, on complications after a bleeding stroke.

Breakthrough in separating plastic waste: Machines can now distinguish 12 different types of plastic

Posted: 05 Jan 2022 02:41 PM PST

We can now tell the difference between a wide range of plastic types and thereby separate plastics according to their chemical composition. This is absolutely ground-breaking and it will increase the rate of recycling of plastics immensely. The technology has already been tested at pilot scale and it will be implemented at an industrial scale in spring 2022.

Researchers gain insights into how ultrasmall bacteria from the environment have adapted to live inside humans

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 02:22 PM PST

Scientists created a model system to experimentally study tiny bacteria called TM7 and provide empirical data to confirm a hypothesis for how the bacteria adapted to live inside humans.