Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Plant sensors could act as an early warning system for farmers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using a pair of sensors made from carbon nanotubes, researchers discovered signals that help plants respond to stresses such as heat, light, or attack from insects or bacteria. Farmers could use these sensors to monitor threats to their crops, allowing them to intervene before the crops are lost.

Biology: Biochemistry Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity
Published

Dog attacks on mountain tapirs highlight a growing threat to endangered wildlife      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers who captured footage of dog attacks on endangered mountain tapirs in Colombia are calling for action to protect threatened wildlife.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

How soil microbes survive in harsh desert environments      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Prolonged droughts followed by sudden bursts of rainfall -- how do desert soil bacteria manage to survive such harsh conditions? This long-debated question has now been answered by microbiologists. The study reveals that desert soil bacteria are highly adapted to survive the rapid environmental changes experienced with each rainfall event.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Paradox of extreme cold events in a warming world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Warm Arctic-Cold Continent (WACC) phenomenon is the puzzling combination of Arctic warming and extreme coldness in specific mid-latitude regions. However, the progression of WACC events remains unclear amidst global warming. Scientists have now predicted a sharp decline in the WACC phenomenon post-2030s, affecting extreme weather events. These findings offer critical insights for communities, scientists, and policymakers to refine climate models and strategies and battle climate change.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Making crops colorful for easier weeding      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To make weeding easier, scientists suggest bioengineering crops to be colorful or to have differently shaped leaves so that they can be more easily distinguished from their wild and weedy counterparts. This could involve altering the crops' genomes so that they express pigments that are already produced by many plants, for example, anthocyanins, which make blueberries blue, or carotenoids, which make carrots orange. Then, they say, weeding robots could be trained to remove only the weeds using machine learning.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Alternative Fuels Engineering: Nanotechnology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Trash to treasure -- researchers turn metal waste into catalyst for hydrogen      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have found a way to transform metal waste into a highly efficient catalyst to make hydrogen from water, a discovery that could make hydrogen production more sustainable.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

CO2 worsens wildfires by helping plants grow      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By fueling the growth of plants that become kindling, carbon dioxide is driving an increase in the severity and frequency of wildfires, according to a new study.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Huge database gives insight into salmon patterns at sea      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A massive new analysis of high seas salmon surveys is enhancing the understanding of salmon ecology, adding details about where various species congregate in the North Pacific Ocean and their different temperature tolerances. The project integrates numerous international salmon studies from the North Pacific dating back to the 1950s.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Chemistry: Biochemistry Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: General Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

New tagging method provides bioadhesive interface for marine sensors on diverse, soft, and fragile species      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Tagging marine animals with sensors to track their movements and ocean conditions can provide important environmental and behavioral information. Existing techniques to attach sensors currently largely rely on invasive physical anchors, suction cups, and rigid glues. While these techniques can be effective for tracking marine animals with hard exoskeletons and large animals such as sharks, individuals can incur physiological and metabolic stress during the tagging process, which can affect the quality of data collection. A newly developed soft hydrogel-based bioadhesive interface for marine sensors, referred to as BIMS, holds promise as an effective, rapid, robust, and non-invasive method to tag and track all sorts of marine species, including soft and fragile species. The BIMS tagging, which is also simple and versatile, can help researchers better understand animal behavior while also capturing oceanographic data critical for helping to better understand some impacts of climate change and for resource management.

Biology: Biochemistry Ecology: Endangered Species Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Florida Wildlife Corridor eases worst impacts of climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Florida is projected to lose 3.5 million acres of land to development by 2070. A new study highlights how Florida can buffer itself against both climate change and population pressures by conserving the remaining 8 million acres of 'opportunity areas' within the Florida Wildlife Corridor (FLWC), the only designated statewide corridor in the U.S. Interactions between the FLWC and climate change had not been previously examined until now. Findings show substantial climate resilience benefits from the corridor, yielding a much higher return on investment than originally thought. About 90 percent of Floridians live within 20 miles of the corridor.

Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Paleontology: General
Published

Seed ferns: Plants experimented with complex leaf vein networks 201 million years ago      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

According to a research team led by palaeontologists, the net-like leaf veining typical for today's flowering plants developed much earlier than previously thought, but died out again several times. Using new methods, the fossilized plant Furcula granulifer was identified as such an early forerunner. The leaves of this seed fern species already exhibited the net-like veining in the late Triassic (around 201 million years ago).

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species
Published

Twisted pollen tubes induce infertility      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plants with multiple sets of chromosomes, known as polyploids, are salt-tolerant or drought-resistant and often achieve higher yields. However, newly formed polyploid plants are often sterile or have reduced fertility and are unsuitable for breeding resistant lines. The reason is that the pollen tube in these plants grows incorrectly, which keeps fertilization from taking place. Pollen tube growth is mainly controlled by two genes that could be useful in crop breeding.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Sea Life Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

How blue-green algae manipulate microorganisms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team discovers previously unknown gene that indirectly promotes photosynthesis Protein regulator NirP1 influences the coordination of the nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism 'Such protein regulators could in future be deployed in 'green' and 'blue' biotechnology for targeted control of the metabolism,' says geneticist.

Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Digging up new species of Australia and New Guinea's giant fossil kangaroos      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Palaeontologists have described three unusual new species of giant fossil kangaroo from Australia and New Guinea, finding them more diverse in shape, range and hopping method than previously thought. The three new species are of the extinct genus Protemnodon, which lived from around 5 million to 40,000 years ago -- with one about double the size of the largest red kangaroo living today.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Switch to green wastewater infrastructure could reduce emissions and provide huge savings according to new research      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have shown that a transition to green wastewater-treatment approaches in the U.S. that leverages the potential of carbon-financing could save a staggering $15.6 billion and just under 30 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions over 40 years.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Researchers resolve old mystery of how phages disarm pathogenic bacteria      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Bacterial infections pose significant challenges to agriculture and medicine, especially as cases of antibiotic-resistant bacteria continue to rise. In response, scientists are elucidating the ways that bacteria-infecting viruses disarm these pathogens and ushering in the possibility of novel treatment methods.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Researchers study effects of solvation and ion valency on metallopolymers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers analyzed the effects of solvation and ion valency on metallopolymers, with implications for critical materials recovery and recycling, and environmental remediation.