Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Searching for clues in the history book of the ocean      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has shown that the tropical subsurface ocean gained oxygen during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (commonly referred to as PETM). During this short-lived interval of time in Earth s history that occurred 56 million years ago the average temperatures rose by up to six degrees within a few thousand years.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Energy: Batteries Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Discovery of new Li ion conductor unlocks new direction for sustainable batteries      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered a solid material that rapidly conducts lithium ions. Consisting of non-toxic earth-abundant elements, the new material has high enough Li ion conductivity to replace the liquid electrolytes in current Li ion battery technology, improving safety and energy capacity. The research team have synthesized the material in the laboratory, determined its structure and demonstrated it in a battery cell.

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

Trapping sulfate to benefit health, industry and waterways      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed a new method to measure and remove sulfate from water, potentially leading to cleaner waterways and more effective nuclear waste treatments.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Asexual propagation of crop plants gets closer      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When the female gametes in plants become fertilized, a signal from the sperm activates cell division, leading to the formation of new plant seeds. This activation can also be deliberately triggered without fertilization, as researchers have shown. Their findings open up new avenues for the asexual propagation of crop plants.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Early-stage subduction invasion      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Our planet's lithosphere is broken into several tectonic plates. Their configuration is ever-shifting, as supercontinents are assembled and broken up, and oceans form, grow, and then start to close in what is known as the Wilson cycle.

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

Root microbes may be the secret to a better tasting cup of tea      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

You'd think the complex flavor in a quality cup of tea would depend mainly on the tea varieties used to make it. But a new study shows that the making of a delicious cup of tea depends on another key ingredient: the collection of microbes found on tea roots. By altering that assemblage, the authors showed that they could make good-quality tea even better.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

New 'time travel' study reveals future impact of climate change on coastal marshes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study offers a glimpse into the possible impact of climate change on coastal wetlands 50 years or longer into the future. Scientists are usually forced to rely on computer models to project the long-term effects of rising seas, but an unexpected set of circumstances enabled a real-world experiment along the Gulf Coast.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Trees
Published

Scientists are unravelling the secrets of red and grey squirrel competition      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have identified significant differences between the diversity of gut bacteria in grey squirrels compared to red squirrels which could hold the key to further understanding the ability of grey squirrels to outcompete red squirrels in the UK.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature
Published

Love songs lead scientists to new populations of skywalker gibbons in Myanmar      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The love songs of the Skywalker gibbon alerted scientists to a new population of the endangered primate in Myanmar.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Molecular Ecology: Endangered Species Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Controlling root growth direction could help save crops and mitigate climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have determined how the well-known plant hormone ethylene is crucial in controlling the angle at which roots grow. The findings can be used to engineer plants and crops that withstand the environmental stresses of climate change and drought, and perhaps to create plants that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it deep underground to help mitigate climate change.

Biology: Microbiology Chemistry: General Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Biomanufacturing using chemically synthesized sugars enables sustainable supply of sugar without competing with food      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have succeeded in biomanufacturing from chemically synthesized sugar for the first time in the world. With refinement of this technology, one can envision a future society in which the sugar required for biomanufacturing can be obtained 'anytime, anywhere, and at high rate'. In the future, biomanufacturing using chemically synthesized sugar is expected to be a game changer in the biotechnology field -- including the production of biochemicals, biofuels, and food, where sugar is an essential raw material -- ultimately leading to the creation of a new bio-industry.

Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature
Published

Australia's most at-risk bird species share some common traits      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Australian birds that live on islands are among the species most at risk of extinction, a first-of-its-kind study has shown. Australia has over 750 native bird species. But many of them are facing an uncertain future.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Low-cost microbe can speed biological discovery      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have created a new version of a microbe to compete economically with E. coli -- a bacteria commonly used as a research tool due to its ability to synthesize proteins -- to conduct low-cost and scalable synthetic biological experiments.

Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Compounds released by bleaching reefs promote bacteria, potentially stressing coral further      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research revealed that when coral bleaching occurs, corals release unique organic compounds into the surrounding water that not only promote bacterial growth overall, but select for opportunistic bacteria that may further stress reefs.

Biology: Botany Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Researchers uncover a key link in legume plant-bacteria symbiosis      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have unveiled a groundbreaking discovery shedding light on the intricate play between legume plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Their study details the crucial role played by phosphorylation in driving the formation of symbiotic organs, known as nodules, on plant roots. The long-term goal is to enable symbiosis in root nodules in important crops such as barley, maize and rice to avoid the use of chemical fertilizers.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

Researchers studying ocean transform faults, describe a previously unknown part of the geological carbon cycle      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

This study reports widespread mineral carbonation of mantle rocks in an oceanic transform fueled by magmatic degassing of CO2. The findings describe a previously unknown part of the geological carbon cycle in transform faults that represent one of the three principal plate boundaries on Earth. The confluence of tectonically exhumed mantle rocks and CO2-rich alkaline basalt formed through limited extents of melting characteristic of the St. Paul's transform faults may be a pervasive feature at oceanic transform faults in general. Because transform faults have not been accounted for in previous estimates of global geological CO2 fluxes, the mass transfer of magmatic CO2 to the altered oceanic mantle and seawater may be larger than previously thought.

Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
Published

Global deforestation leads to more mercury pollution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers find deforestation accounts for about 10 percent of global human-made mercury emissions. While it cannot be the only solution, they suggest reforestation could increase global mercury uptake by about 5 percent.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Key advance for capturing carbon from the air      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A chemical element so visually striking that it was named for a goddess shows a 'Goldilocks' level of reactivity -- neither too much nor too little -- that makes it a strong candidate as a carbon scrubbing tool.

Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Five dazzling new species of eyelash vipers discovered in Colombia and Ecuador      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered five dazzling new species of eyelash vipers in the jungles and cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador.