ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

How the brain encodes social rank and 'winning mindset'

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 09:08 AM PDT

Researchers have made inroads into understanding how the mammalian brain encodes social rank and uses this information to shape behaviors. In mice engaged in a competition, the team discovered, patterns of brain activity differ depending on the social rank of the opposing animal. Moreover, the scientists could use brain readouts to accurately predict which animal would win a food reward -- the victor was not always the more socially dominant animal, but the one more engaged in a 'winning mindset.'

Discovery of an immune escape mechanism promoting Listeria infection of the central nervous system

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 09:08 AM PDT

Some 'hypervirulent' strains of Listeria monocytogenes have a greater capacity to infect the central nervous system. Scientists have discovered a mechanism that enables cells infected with Listeria monocytogenes to escape immune responses. This mechanism provides infected cells circulating in the blood with a higher probability of adhering to and infecting cells of cerebral vessels, thereby enabling bacteria to cross the blood-brain barrier and infect the brain.

How inland and coastal waterways influence climate

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 09:08 AM PDT

Most global carbon-budgeting efforts assume a linear flow of water from the land to the sea, which ignores the complex interplay between streams, rivers, lakes, groundwater, estuaries, mangroves and more. Climate scientists now detail how carbon is stored and transported through the intricacy of inland and coastal waterways. The work has significant implications for enforcing the carbon calculations that are part of international climate accords.

How gut microbes work to tame intestinal inflammation

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 09:08 AM PDT

Bile acids, well known for their role in dissolving fats and vitamins, are also important players in gut immunity and inflammation because they regulate the activity of key immune cells linked to a range of inflammatory bowel conditions, such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, according to new research.

New flow battery stores power in simple organic compound

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 08:50 AM PDT

The intermittent supply of green electricity requires large-scale storage to keep our power grids stable. Since normal batteries do not scale very well, the idea of using flow batteries, which store electricity in a fluid is attractive. Scientists have designed a flow battery electrolyte that is cheaper and is based on an organic compound, rather than a metal.

Longer, more intense allergy seasons could result from climate change

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 08:50 AM PDT

Allergy seasons are likely to become longer and grow more intense as a result of increasing temperatures caused by humanmade climate change, according to new research.

Climate change considerably threatens Europe's beech forests

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 08:50 AM PDT

Beech forests in Europe are severely threatened by climate change, particularly in southern European countries, but also in central Europe. Models project severe beech growth declines over the next 70 years -- ranging from 20 percent to perhaps more than 50 percent depending on the climate change scenario and the region in question.

Getting bacteria and yeast to talk to each other, thanks to a 'nanotranslator'

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 08:50 AM PDT

Cells communicate with one another in the language of chemistry, but those from different kingdoms, such as bacteria and yeast, speak dialects virtually unintelligible to the other. By learning how microbes 'talk,' researchers hope to one day manipulate their behavior to protect against disease, for example. Efforts like this are in their infancy, but researchers now describe the first system that enables two unrelated organisms to communicate.

Wax-coated sand keeps soil wet longer, improves crop yields in arid regions

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 08:50 AM PDT

Dry, hot regions are difficult places to grow plants because the soil dries out quickly. As a result, farmers in arid and semi-arid regions irrigate their fields with buried networks of irrigation tubing and cover the ground with plastic sheets. But plastic sheets are expensive and create waste. Now, researchers have developed a simple, biodegradable ground cover -- wax-coated sand -- which keeps soil wet and increases crop yields.

Ancient ice reveals scores of gigantic volcanic eruptions

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 08:50 AM PDT

Ice cores drilled in Antarctica and Greenland have revealed gigantic volcanic eruptions during the last ice age. Sixty-nine of these were larger than any eruption in modern history. According to the physicists behind the research, these eruptions can teach us about our planet's sensitivity to climate change.

World’s vulnerable are being polluted in their own homes as they cook

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 07:04 AM PDT

Three-quarters of kitchens in low-income homes across 12 major global cities are heavily polluted by cooking emissions, according to new research.

Bacterial enzyme makes new type of biodegradable polymer

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 06:17 AM PDT

Strings of sugars called polysaccharides are the most abundant biopolymers on Earth. Because of their versatile and environmentally friendly properties, these molecules could eventually replace some plastics. Now, researchers have identified a previously unknown bacterial enzyme that can make a new type of polysaccharide, which is similar to the biopolymer chitin. The new molecule is biodegradable and could be useful for drug delivery, tissue engineering and other biomedical applications.

How grasshopper mouths resemble those of mammals

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 06:17 AM PDT

Palaeobiologists have identified startling similarities between the mouths of grasshoppers and mammal teeth.

Antelope, a Gulf region cultural icon, gets another chance at survival

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 06:17 AM PDT

The DNA of a vulnerable species, the iconic Arabian Oryx, has been decoded. An international team undertook this project to help ensure the survival of the species, by using the genetic data to inform breeding programs.

Birds of prey populations across Europe suppressed by lead poisoning from gun ammunition

Posted: 16 Mar 2022 06:17 AM PDT

Poisoning caused by preying on or scavenging animals shot by hunters using lead ammunition has left the populations of many raptors – or birds of prey – far smaller than they should be, according to the first study to calculate these impacts across Europe.   

Pathogen and drug work together to fight fungal lung infection

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 01:28 PM PDT

Pathogens don't always work against drug treatments. Sometimes, they can strengthen them, according to new research. Researchers have now looked at two pathogens that often occur at similar sites, particularly in cystic fibrosis and mechanically ventilated patients: Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The researchers investigated the effectiveness of an antifungal drug, fluconazole, with both pathogens. The results showed that P. aeruginosa works with fluconazole to eliminate drug tolerance and clear the C. albicans infection. The bacteria also enhance the drug's ability against a second pathogenic Candida species that tends to be more resistant to the drug.

From museum to laptop: Visual leaf library a new tool for identifying plants

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 01:28 PM PDT

Fossil plants reveal the evolution of green life on Earth, but the most abundant samples that are found -- fossil leaves -- are also the most challenging to identify. A large, open-access visual leaf library provides a new resource to help scientists recognize and classify these leaves.

The immune system is very complicated, but now, it's on a chip

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 12:01 PM PDT

Scientists have a new tool to help them tease out the immune system's mysteries. Researchers cultured human B and T cells inside a microfluidic Organ Chip and coaxed them to form functional lymphoid follicles (LFs) -- structures that reside in lymph nodes and other parts of the human body and mediate immune responses. The LF Chip replicated human immune responses to both pathogens and a commercial influenza vaccine in vitro, offering significant improvement over existing preclinical models like cells in a dish and non-human primates.

New toolkit aids discovery of mineral deposits crucial to 'green economy' transition

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 12:01 PM PDT

Scientists have developed a new toolkit for the discovery of mineral deposits crucial to our transition to a 'green economy'.

Snowbound: Big trees boost water in forests by protecting snowpack

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 11:18 AM PDT

Trees have a complex relationship with snow and energy as the season warms up, but new research shows that big trees can protect melting snowpacks in water-stressed environments.

How Indigenous burning shaped the Klamath's forests for a millennia

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 11:18 AM PDT

A new study combines scientific data with Indigenous oral histories and ecological knowledge to show how the cultural burning practices of the Native people of the Klamath Mountains -- the Karuk and the Yurok tribes -- helped shape the region's forests for at least a millennia prior to European colonization.

Ancient El Niños reveal limits to future climate projections

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 11:18 AM PDT

The climate pattern El Niño varies to such a degree that scientists will have a hard time detecting signs that it is getting stronger with global warming. That's the conclusion of a study that analyzed 9,000 years of Earth's history. The scientists drew on climate data contained within ancient corals and used one of the world's most powerful supercomputers to conduct their research.

Fruit fly study uncovers functional significance of gene mutations associated with autism

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 11:18 AM PDT

Researchers applied sophisticated genetic strategies in laboratory fruit flies to determine the functional consequences of de novo variants identified in the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC), which includes approximately 2,600 families affected by autism spectrum disorder. Surprisingly, their work also allowed them to uncover a new form of rare disease due to a gene called GLRA2.

Materials scientists finding solutions to biggest hurdle for solar cell technology

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 11:18 AM PDT

Materials scientists have discovered the major reason why perovskite solar cells -- which show great promise for improved energy-conversion efficiency -- degrade in sunlight, causing their performance to suffer over time. The team successfully demonstrated a simple manufacturing adjustment to fix the cause of the degradation, clearing the biggest hurdle toward the widespread adoption of the thin-film solar cell technology.

Combing the cosmos: New color catalog aids hunt for life on frozen worlds

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 11:17 AM PDT

Aided by microbes found in the subarctic conditions of Canada's Hudson Bay, an international team of scientists has created the first color catalog of icy planet surface signatures to uncover the existence of life in the cosmos.

Do sharks get their ZZZs? New evidence shows it’s not all about the hunt

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 11:17 AM PDT

The first physiological evidence that sharks take a break from tracking prey to catch a few winks has been uncovered by a researcher who specializes in sleep among aquatic creatures, from sharks to crocodiles. The comparative sleep physiologist studied the metabolic signatures of sleep and behavioral sleep indicators among New Zealand's draughtsboard sharks. His research found that they produced a lower metabolic rate and recumbent body posture when inactive for longer than five minutes, supporting the idea that they were conserving energy by sleeping.

Dispersal strategies drive marine microbial diversity

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 09:14 AM PDT

Trade-offs between the benefit of colonizing new particles and the risk of being wiped out by predators allow diverse populations of marine microbes to exist together, shows a new study.

Scientists show large impact of controlling humidity on greenhouse gas emissions

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 09:14 AM PDT

Greenhouse gas emissions from air conditioners are expected to climb as economic growth drives efforts to control both temperature and humidity, according to a new analysis.

Living near green areas reduces the risk of suffering a stroke by 16 percent, study finds

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 08:30 AM PDT

The risk of suffering an ischaemic stroke, the most common type of cerebrovascular event, is 16 percent less in people who have green spaces less than 300 meters from their homes. The study took into account information on exposure to three atmospheric pollutants linked to vehicle traffic in more than three and a half million people selected from among the 7.5 million residents of Catalonia, over the age of eighteen who had not suffered a stroke prior to the start of the study.

Permeability of the blood-brain barrier in mice

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 08:30 AM PDT

The blood-brain barrier plays an essential role in protecting the central nervous system from harmful bacteria, toxins, and other blood-borne pathogens.

Vaccine protects against 'tough cookie' parasite found in the Americas

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 08:30 AM PDT

The parasites that cause a disfiguring skin disease affecting about 12 million people globally may have met their match in vaccines developed using CRISPR gene-editing technology, new research suggests.

Optimizer tool designs, evaluates, maximizes solar-powered cooling systems

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 08:29 AM PDT

Researchers have developed an optimizer tool to design, evaluate, and maximize the performance of different types of solar-powered adsorption under various operating scenarios. The tool was created using Visual Basic programming language that is easy to learn and enables rapid application development and predicted the proper material mass concentration ratios. The method calculated the cooling load, predicted maximal performance, and conducted the overall performance analysis of the cooling system.

Scientists find brain network that makes mice mingle

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 08:29 AM PDT

The difference between a social butterfly and a lone wolf is actually at least eight differences, according to new findings by a team of brain researchers. By simultaneously spying on the electrical activity of several brain regions, researchers can both identify how social or solitary an individual mouse is, and, by zapping nodes within this social brain network, can prompt mice to be even more gregarious.

Making green energy greener: Researchers propose method for wind turbine blades' recycling

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 08:29 AM PDT

Wind turbine blades made from glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminate composites can serve for up to 25 years. After that, they end up in landfills which has become a real challenge for the renewable energy industry. Researchers have proposed a method for wind turbine blades' recycling. Using pyrolysis, they broke the composite materials into their constituent parts. According to scientists, the extracted materials can be reused, and the process is virtually waste-free.

Higher dose antibiotic shown safe in TB patients likely more effective in treating deadliest form of TB

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 07:56 AM PDT

A new study in animals suggests that high doses of a widely used antibiotic called rifampin may safely treat and reduce the duration of treatment for the deadliest form of tuberculosis that affects the brain, potentially improving survival rates for patients and decreasing the likelihood of lasting adverse effects of the disease.

Restoring tropical peatlands supports bird diversity and does not affect livelihoods of oil palm farmers, study suggests

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 06:50 AM PDT

A new study has found that oil palm can be farmed more sustainably on peatlands by re-wetting the land - conserving both biodiversity and livelihoods.

Climate scientists reconsider the meaning and implications of drought in light of a changing world

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 03:15 PM PDT

Maps of the American West have featured ever darker shades of red over the past two decades. The colors illustrate the unprecedented drought blighting the region. In some areas, conditions have blown past severe and extreme drought into exceptional drought. But rather than add more superlatives to our descriptions, one group of scientists believes it's time to reconsider the very definition of drought.

Fast-melting alpine permafrost may contribute to rising global temperatures

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 03:14 PM PDT

Using lake sediment in the Tibetan Plateau, a team of researchers was able to show that permafrost at high elevations is more vulnerable than arctic permafrost under projected future climate conditions.

How a Massachusetts salt marsh is changing what we know about New England’s coast

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 12:44 PM PDT

New research into the life and times of a New England salt marsh fundamentally changes our understanding of how salt marshes acquire the sediment that keeps them viable. This research has wide-ranging implications for managing New England's coastline as it struggles to keep up with development, sea-level rise and other environmental impacts.

Model predicts cross-species contamination risk for livestock

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 12:44 PM PDT

Biosecurity efforts focused on the top 3% of farms in a particular contact network may significantly cut back cross-species disease dissemination.

Rapid changes to the Arctic seafloor noted as submerged permafrost thaws

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 12:44 PM PDT

A new study has documented how the thawing of permafrost submerged underwater at the edge of the Arctic Ocean is affecting the seafloor.

Cities can be part of the solution in sustaining species

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 12:43 PM PDT

Researchers found that a projected urban expansion of up to 1.53 million square kilometers over the next three decades threatens the survival of more than 800 species -- but also that a focus on urban planning that protects habitats can mitigate the impact.

‘Dancing’ laboratory rats show how the brain learns, perfects, then unconsciously performs a skillful movement

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 11:42 AM PDT

Scientists have shown in rats how several brain regions need to work together to acquire a skill and replicate it flawlessly with each rat adding their own personal flair in the form of a 'dance.'

Surfing towards coastal ecosystem protection

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 09:07 AM PDT

Scientists believe a strategy used to protect popular surfing spots could now be more widely adopted to help preserve endangered coastal environments.

Deciphering gut microbiome ‘chatter’ to combat IBD

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 09:07 AM PDT

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a life-long, chronic condition characterized by sporadic bouts of gut inflammation causing debilitating symptoms. Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis -- the latter affecting around 1 in 400 people - are the two most common types of IBD. Current treatments are ineffective and seriously impact the quality of life of the patients and those of their families.

Researchers ID sex pheromone of invasive giant hornet

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 09:07 AM PDT

Scientists have developed a method for tracking the Asian giant 'murder' hornet's presence and possibly accelerating its removal. The researchers identified the major components of the Asian giant hornet queen's sex pheromone, an achievement that could be used as bait to trap and track the insects.

Spider silk can stabilize cancer-suppressing protein

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 09:07 AM PDT

The p53 protein protects our cells from cancer and is an interesting target for cancer treatments. The problem is, however, that it breaks down rapidly in the cell. Researchers have now found an unusual way of stabilizing the protein and making it more potent. By adding a spider silk protein to p53, they show that it is possible to create a protein that is more stable and capable of killing cancer cells.

Huge forest fires don't cause living trees to release much carbon, research shows

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 09:06 AM PDT

Research on the ground following two large wildfires in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range showed the vast majority of carbon stored in trees before the blazes was still there after the fires.

Precipitation trends determine how often droughts and heat waves will occur together

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 09:06 AM PDT

Prolonged droughts and heat waves have negative consequences both for people and the environment. If both of these extreme events occur at the same time, the impacts, in the form of wild fires, tree mortality or crop losses -- to name a few examples -- can be even more severe. Climate researchers have now discovered that, assuming a global temperature increase of two degrees in the course of global warming, the future frequency of these simultaneously occurring extreme events is primarily determined by local precipitation trends. Understanding this is important, since it enables us to improve our risk adaptation to climate change and our assessment of its consequences, according to the researchers.

Permafrost peatlands approaching tipping point

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 09:06 AM PDT

Researchers warn that permafrost peatlands in Europe and Western Siberia are much closer to a climatic tipping point than previous believed. The frozen peatlands in these areas store up to 39 billion tons of carbon -- the equivalent to twice that stored in the whole of European forests.

Large, long-lived, and entirely molten magma chambers once existed in Earth’s crust

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 07:56 AM PDT

Geologists have come up with multiple lines of evidence indicating that the Bushveld Complex in South Africa functioned as a 'big magma tank' in the ancient Earth's crust.

Greenland ice sheet may halve in volume by year 3000

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 07:56 AM PDT

As a result of global warming in the 21st century, the Greenland ice sheet may contribute several meters to sea-level rise in the centuries to come; however, effective climate change mitigation measures will greatly reduce its decay.

Ice sheet retreat and forest expansion turned ancient subtropical drylands into oases

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 07:56 AM PDT

Researchers focused on the climate of the Pliocene, over 3 million years ago, the last time Earth has seen concentrations of over 400 PPM CO2 in the atmosphere, similar to today's concentrations. The Pliocene prompts a long-standing question: despite the similarity to the present-day, why were dry areas like the Sahel in Africa and Northern China much wetter and greener in the Pliocene than they are today?

Scientists create novel genetic model of Down syndrome in rats

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 07:56 AM PDT

In pursuit of better ways to test new therapies and further explore the impacts of the unique genetics associated with Down syndrome, researchers have genetically engineered and characterized what is believed to be the first rat model of Down syndrome.

Endless forms most beautiful: Why evolution favors symmetry

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 06:57 AM PDT

An international team of researchers from biology, computer science and mathematics explains why evolution has a preference for symmetry.

Photo or the real thing? Mice can inherently recall and tell them apart, experiments show

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 06:57 AM PDT

The ability to make perceptual and conceptual judgements such as knowing the difference between a picture of an object and the actual 3D object itself has been considered a defining capacity of primates, until now. A study provides the very first behavioral evidence that laboratory mice are capable of higher-order cognitive processes. Findings also provide strong support that the mouse's hippocampus, like that of humans, is required for this form of nonspatial visual recognition memory and picture-object equivalence.

Unleashing the tiger: Mapping the Aussie tiger prawn genome

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 06:57 AM PDT

Researchers have mapped the genome of an iconic Australian seafood species -- that of the Australian black tiger prawn - which may lead to bigger and more disease resistant farmed stock in the future.

Scientists estimate invasive insects will kill 1.4 million US street trees by 2050

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 06:57 AM PDT

A new study estimates that over the next 30 years, 1.4 million street trees will be killed by invasive insects, costing over 900 million dollars to replace.

New scoring scale tracks the harmful effects of salt pollution in freshwater streams and rivers

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 06:57 AM PDT

A new study sheds light on how salinization from winter road salt combined with other pollutants creates 'chemical cocktails' that can jeopardize the ecological balance of waterways, including those in the Washington, D.C. area. The researchers developed a new five-stage scale (Stage 0-IV) to track the progression of this damage, a tool that could inform public policy in the future. Parts of the Potomac, the Anacostia and Rock Creek waterways are in Stage III on the scale for at least part of the year.

'Sky is not the limit' for solar geoengineering

Posted: 14 Mar 2022 06:57 AM PDT

There are practical limits to the height at which aerosols may be deployed in the atmosphere to deflect incoming sunlight and countervail global warming. Very high-altitude injections might be more effective, but such climate intervention comes with substantially increased costs and safety risks, according to new research.