Top Environment News

August 20, 2016

Europe's Oldest Known Living Inhabitant

NASA Monitors the 'New Normal' of Sea Ice

Were Ancient Stone Artifacts Used as Projectiles?

Pacific Sea Level Predicts Global Temp Changes

Latest Headlines

updated 11:50am EDT

New Discovery About Sensory System of Deep-Sea Fish

Aug. 19, 2016 — Little is known about most of the fishes that live deep in the oceans, where the pressures are extreme, light is nearly absent, and the water temperatures are especially low. ... read more

Proton Pump Found to Regulate Blood pH in Stingrays

Aug. 19, 2016 — Researchers have discovered the same enzyme used by 'boneworms' to dissolve whale carcasses, and that helps promote photosynthesis in corals, also regulates blood pH in ... read more

New Study Challenges Assumption of Asbestos' Ability to Move in Soil

Aug. 19, 2016 — A new study challenges the long-held belief that asbestos fibers cannot move through soil. The findings have important implications for current remediation strategies aimed at capping asbestos-laden ... read more

2014 Napa Earthquake Continued to Creep, Weeks After Main Shock

Aug. 19, 2016 — On August 24, 2014, just south of Napa, California, a fault in Earth suddenly slipped, violently shifting and splitting huge blocks of solid rock, 6 miles below the surface. ... read more

Cloth Masks Offer Poor Protection Against Air Pollution

Aug. 19, 2016 — Inexpensive cloth masks worn by people who hope to reduce their exposure to air pollution vary widely in effectiveness and could be giving users a false sense of security, especially in highly ... read more

Spider Silk: Mother Nature's Bio-Superlens

Aug. 19, 2016 — Hot on the heels of a paper revealing that a team of researchers has used a nanobead-derived superlens to break the perceived resolution barrier, the same team has achieved ... read more

Mathematical Analysis Conducted of a Rare Cavernicolous Crustacean

Aug. 19, 2016 — A scientific collaboration has discovered previously unknown regularities of arthropod limbs based on studies of the remipede Speleonectes tulumensis, a rare crustacean found ... read more

Hawaiian Fruit Flies Had Multiple Ancestors

Aug. 19, 2016 — Hawaiian drosophilids (fruit flies) had plural ancestors that hailed from continents, refuting the “single Hawaiian origin” hypothesis, a team of researchers ... read more

'Missing Evolutionary Link' of a Widely Used Natural Drug Source Found

Aug. 19, 2016 — A well-known family of natural compounds, called “terpenoids,” have a curious evolutionary origin. In particular, one question relevant to future drug discovery has puzzled scientists: exactly ... read more

Smoking Marijuana Provides More Pain Relief for Men Than Women

Aug. 18, 2016 — Men had greater pain relief than women after smoking marijuana, a new study has found. Despite differences in pain relief, men and women did not report differences in how intoxicated they felt or how ... read more

Fierce Wildfire Spreads Near Los Angeles, Firefighters Struggle

An Alaskan Community Has Voted To Move Because Of Climate Change

Water Contamination in New Zealand Leaves Thousands Ill

Firenadoes Rage in California as Blaze Menaces 82,000

Seawalls, Forests Show Mixed Effectiveness at Reducing Deaths, Damage from Tsunami

Aug. 19, 2016 — The Pacific coast of the Tohoku region has been struck by four large tsunamis in just over a century - in 1896, 1933, 1960 and 2011. Many critics claim that seawalls are detrimental because they ... read more

Researchers Innovate Brain Preservation Technique

Aug. 19, 2016 — By figuring out how to preserve specimens in the remote locations in which they are found -- locations almost completely opposite those of a controlled laboratory or 21st century urban area -- ... read more

'Ecosystem Canaries' Provide Early Warning Signs of Catastrophic Changes to Ecosystems

Aug. 18, 2016 — 'Ecosystem canaries' can provide early warning signals of large, potentially catastrophic, changes or tipping points in ecosystems, say researchers. Like canaries that coal miners used to ... read more

Why Russian Tuberculosis Is the Most Infectious

Aug. 18, 2016 — Scientists conducted a large-scale analysis of the proteins and genomes of mycobacterium tuberculosis strains that are common in Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union and found features ... read more

In Cells, Some Oxidants Are Needed

Aug. 18, 2016 — Some studies are showing that reactive oxygen species (ROS) molecules sometimes can aid in maintaining health -- findings now boosted by a surprising discovery from the ... read more

Paleontologists Discover Major T. Rex Fossil

Aug. 18, 2016 — Paleontologists have discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull. The find, which paleontologists estimate to be about 20 percent of the animal, includes vertebrae, ribs, hips and ... read more

Brazil's Environmental Licensing Under Threat, Suggests New Article

Aug. 18, 2016 — A new article explains how the country's environmental licensing is under threat from proposed laws and constitutional amendments. These have jumped into the forefront as anti-environment ... read more

Scientists Combine Satellite Data, Machine Learning to Map Poverty

Aug. 18, 2016 — The availability of accurate and reliable information on the location of impoverished zones is surprisingly lacking for much of the world. Applying machine learning to satellite images could identify ... read more

How Norovirus Gets Inside Cells: New Clues

Aug. 18, 2016 — Researchers have identified the protein that norovirus uses to invade cells. Norovirus is the most common viral cause of diarrhea worldwide, but scientists still know little about how it infects ... read more

Using Nature's Recipe to Create Mother of Pearl

Aug. 18, 2016 — Researchers have created a synthetic nacre remarkably similar to the natural material, which is also known as mother of pearl, though their synthetic version forms in weeks instead of months or ... read more

Modifying a Living Genome With Genetic Equivalent of 'Search and Replace'

Aug. 18, 2016 — Researchers have made further progress on the path to fully rewriting the genome of living bacteria. Such a recoded organism, once available, could feature functionality not seen in nature. It could ... read more

Born Prepared for Global Warming... Thanks to Their Parents' Songs

Aug. 18, 2016 — By calling to their eggs, zebra finch parents may be helping their young prepare for a hotter world brought on by climate ... read more

New Flu Strains and Old Antibodies: How Sinful Is 'Original Antigenic Sin'?

Aug. 18, 2016 — Immune memory ensures a quick, specific response to previously encountered pathogens. However, for rapidly evolving pathogens like influenza virus, there is concern that recalled ('old') ... read more

Insecticide Treatment of Cattle to Kill Sand Flies and Combat Leishmaniasis

Aug. 18, 2016 — With an estimated 500,000 human infections and 50,000 deaths annually, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the second most prevalent parasitic killer, behind malaria. Leishmania parasites are transmitted ... read more

Mussel Flexing: Bivalve Save Drought-Stricken Marshes, Research Finds

Aug. 18, 2016 — As coastal ecosystems feel the heat of climate change worldwide, new research shows the humble mussel and marsh grass form an intimate interaction known as mutualism that benefits both partner ... read more

How Cancer Cells Protect Chromosomes from Decay

Aug. 18, 2016 — Scientists have used CRISPR gene editing technology and live cell, single molecule microscopy to watch in real-time, for the first time, the essential interaction between telomerase and ... read more

High-Tech Imaging Reveals Precolonial Mexican Manuscript Hidden from View for 500 Years

Aug. 18, 2016 — Researchers have used high-tech imaging to uncover the details of a rare Mexican codex dating from before the colonization of the Americas. The newly revealed codex, or book, has been hidden from ... read more

What’s Easier: Turning Off Water Indoors or Outside?

Aug. 18, 2016 — Apparently, it’s more convenient to Florida residents to save water while brushing their teeth than to cut back on lawn irrigation, according to a new ... read more

Common Cold Viruses Originated in Camels, Just Like MERS

Aug. 18, 2016 — There are four globally endemic human coronaviruses which, together with the better known rhinoviruses, are responsible for causing common colds. Usually, infections with these viruses are harmless ... read more

Canine Babesiosis Outbreak in UK Under Control, but Needs Monitoring

Aug. 18, 2016 — Scientists are using the health records of dogs to monitor the status of a potentially fatal tick-borne disease that appears to have been imported into the ... read more

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