ScienceDaily: Top Environment News |
- Virus discovery offers clues about origins of complex life
- Study finds chaos is more common in ecological systems than previously thought
- What sea cucumbers can teach us about self-defense
- Reaction insights help make sustainable liquid fuels
- Microbial link between Western-style diet and incidence of colorectal cancer uncovered
- Heat waves could lead to avian population decline
- New approach reduces EV battery testing time by 75%
- Protected areas in Africa are too small to safeguard rapidly declining vulture populations
- Chemically modified plant compounds work against hepatitis E virus
- Researchers uncover brain waves related to social behavior
- Thin-film photovoltaic technology combines efficiency and versatility
- Ancient microbes may help us find extraterrestrial life forms
- Novel, sensitive, and robust single-cell RNA sequencing technique outperforms competition
- Genome of voracious desert locust sequenced
- Volunteer 'community scientists' do a pretty darn good job generating usable data
- A rethink of the building blocks for solar panels could help mass production
- Insight into past--and future--of Western US wildfires
- Climate damage caused by growing space tourism needs urgent mitigation
- Biodiversity risks to persist well beyond future global temperature peak
- Built infrastructure, hunting and climate change linked to huge migratory bird declines
| Virus discovery offers clues about origins of complex life Posted: 27 Jun 2022 09:49 AM PDT Researchers have discovered the first viruses infecting a group of microbes that may include the ancestors of all complex life. The discovery offers tantalizing clues about the origins of complex life and suggests new directions for exploring the hypothesis that viruses were essential to the evolution of humans and other complex life forms. |
| Study finds chaos is more common in ecological systems than previously thought Posted: 27 Jun 2022 09:49 AM PDT Chaos in natural populations appears to be much more common than previously recognized, according to a new analysis. Populations of organisms in natural ecosystems fluctuate a lot, and a key question for ecologists is whether those fluctuations are regular (varying around some theoretically 'stable' equilibrium), random (completely unpredictable), or chaotic. Chaotic systems, like the weather, can be predictable in the short term but not in the long term, and they are highly sensitive to small differences in the initial conditions. |
| What sea cucumbers can teach us about self-defense Posted: 27 Jun 2022 09:49 AM PDT Sea cucumbers' self defense trick could boost multi-million dollar industry. |
| Reaction insights help make sustainable liquid fuels Posted: 27 Jun 2022 09:49 AM PDT Methanol made from CO2 in the air can be transformed into carbon neutral fuels. A new mechanistic understanding aids development of this sustainable alternative. |
| Microbial link between Western-style diet and incidence of colorectal cancer uncovered Posted: 27 Jun 2022 09:49 AM PDT New research builds the case that a Western-style diet -- rich in red and processed meat, sugar and refined grains/carbohydrates -- is tied to higher risk of colorectal cancer through the intestinal microbiota. |
| Heat waves could lead to avian population decline Posted: 27 Jun 2022 09:47 AM PDT Researchers examined how heat impacts the behavior and physiology of Zebra finches. They discovered that heat altered the activity of hundreds of genes in the testis, but fewer in the brain, suggesting that the brain may be less responsive to extreme temperatures. The study also provided some hopeful insights for birds and their ability to handle the threat of climate change. |
| New approach reduces EV battery testing time by 75% Posted: 27 Jun 2022 07:03 AM PDT Testing the longevity of new electric vehicle battery designs could be four times faster with a streamlined approach, researchers have shown. |
| Protected areas in Africa are too small to safeguard rapidly declining vulture populations Posted: 27 Jun 2022 07:02 AM PDT Vultures perform important ecosystem functions as they clean the landscape by eating carcasses and thus limit the spread of wildlife diseases. Yet, vulture populations are rapidly declining, mainly owing to intentional and unintentional poisoning. Against this background, an international team of scientists performed the first comprehensive comparative analysis of movement data of three species of threatened Gyps vultures across Africa. They found that individual home ranges can be as large as 75,000 km² and thus significantly exceed existing protected areas. |
| Chemically modified plant compounds work against hepatitis E virus Posted: 27 Jun 2022 07:02 AM PDT Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is widespread, and so far there is no effective drug. In the search for one, the so-called rocaglates have come into focus: plant compounds that can inhibit the replication of viruses. Researchers have examined a library of chemically modified rocaglates for their antiviral effect. One group of active ingredients in particular stood out, a so-called amidino group. It was particularly effective in inhibiting viral replication. |
| Researchers uncover brain waves related to social behavior Posted: 27 Jun 2022 07:02 AM PDT Researchers have discovered electrical brain-wave patterns given off during social interactions in mice. They also observed that mice showing signs of stress, depression, or autism lacked these brain waves. The results reveal more about the mechanics underlying brain activity when socializing. |
| Thin-film photovoltaic technology combines efficiency and versatility Posted: 27 Jun 2022 07:02 AM PDT Stacking solar cells increases their efficiency. Researchers have now produced perovskite/CIS tandem solar cells with an efficiency of nearly 25 percent -- the highest value achieved thus far with this technology. Moreover, this combination of materials is light and versatile, making it possible to envision the use of these tandem solar cells in vehicles, portable equipment, and devices that can be folded or rolled up. |
| Ancient microbes may help us find extraterrestrial life forms Posted: 27 Jun 2022 07:02 AM PDT Using light-capturing proteins in living microbes, scientists helped reconstruct what life was like for some of Earth's earliest organisms. These efforts could help us one day recognize signs of life on other planets. |
| Novel, sensitive, and robust single-cell RNA sequencing technique outperforms competition Posted: 27 Jun 2022 07:02 AM PDT Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is one of the most important methods to study biological function in cells, but it is limited by potential inaccuracies in the data it generates. Now, a research team has developed a new method called terminator-assisted solid-phase complementary DNA amplification and sequencing (TAS-Seq), which overcomes these limitations and provides higher-precision data than existing scRNA-seq platforms. |
| Genome of voracious desert locust sequenced Posted: 27 Jun 2022 07:02 AM PDT The first high-quality genome of the desert locust -- those voracious feeders of plague and devastation infamy and the most destructive migratory insect in the world -- has been produced. The genome of the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) is enormous at just under 9 billion base pairs, nearly three times the size of the human genome. The size of the desert locust's chromosomes is remarkable; compare them to those of the model fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, the first insect genome ever assembled. Many of the desert locust's individual chromosomes are larger than the entire fruit fly genome. Next to the fruit fly, it's like an 18-wheeler next to a compact car. |
| Volunteer 'community scientists' do a pretty darn good job generating usable data Posted: 27 Jun 2022 07:02 AM PDT Volunteer community scientists, aka citizen scientists, help researchers with data collection that would otherwise be a time-consuming slog. But while community science can be a valuable learning experience, the question remains how useful the volunteer-generated data actually are in research. In this new study, researchers analyzed measurements of microscopic plant leaves done by community scientists and found that the volunteers generated high quality data -- a vote of confidence for community science. |
| A rethink of the building blocks for solar panels could help mass production Posted: 27 Jun 2022 07:01 AM PDT An original approach to mass-producing low-cost solar cell foundation blocks could lead to the wide adoption of solar panels made from perovskite ink -- a 'miracle material' -- according to new research. |
| Insight into past--and future--of Western US wildfires Posted: 26 Jun 2022 05:02 PM PDT A new study examines the context surrounding the fires and offers insight into the historical role of large, high-severity fires -- and the future of wildfires -- west of the Cascades. |
| Climate damage caused by growing space tourism needs urgent mitigation Posted: 26 Jun 2022 05:02 PM PDT A formidable space tourism industry may have a greater climate effect than the aviation industry and undo repair to the protective ozone layer if left unregulated, according to a new study. |
| Biodiversity risks to persist well beyond future global temperature peak Posted: 26 Jun 2022 05:02 PM PDT Even if global temperatures begin to decline after peaking this century because of climate change, the risks to biodiversity could persist for decades after. |
| Built infrastructure, hunting and climate change linked to huge migratory bird declines Posted: 24 Jun 2022 05:15 PM PDT New research shows how migratory birds are declining globally because of the way that humans have modified the landscape in recent decades. A total of 103 species of migrating birds were studied, including rapidly declining species like the turtle dove and the common cuckoo, using large-scale datasets. Advances in satellite imagery allowed the team to map threats across Europe, Africa and Western Asia. |
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