Feature Channels: Environmental Science

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Hagfish are marine fish shaped like eels, famous for releasing large quantities of “slime” that unfolds, assembles and expands into the surrounding water in response to a threat. Gaurav Chaudhary, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will present his work on hagfish slime during the 88th Annual Meeting of The Society of Rheology, being held Feb. 12-16, in Tampa, Florida. The research explores the hagfish’s slime formation and the special properties allowing it to assemble into a solid gel without dissolving into the surrounding water.

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Wild dolphins are more likely to be injured if humans feed them — even through unintentional means like discarding bait — reports a new study based in Sarasota Bay, Florida, and published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Royal Society Open Science.

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Biological invasions pose major threats to biodiversity, but little is known about how evolution might alter their impacts over time. Now, Rutgers University scientists have performed the first study of how evolution unfolds after invasions change native systems. The experimental invasions – elaborate experiments designed by doctoral student Cara A. Faillace and her adviser, Professor Peter J. Morin – took place in glass jars suitable for savory jam or jelly, with thousands of microscopic organisms on each side.

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Research published this week in Nature Communications makes it possible to predict how volume for a given protein will change between the folded and unfolded state. Computations accurately predict how a protein will react to increased pressure, shed light on the inner-workings of life in the ocean depths, and may also offer insights into alien life.

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When you bite into a Florida strawberry for Valentine’s Day or National Strawberry Day on Feb. 27, you savor sweetness and juice. That’s what you’ll find in all varieties bred by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers.

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UC Santa Cruz music professor David Dunn has joined forces with two forest scientists from Northern Arizona University to combat an insect infestation that is killing millions of trees throughout the West.

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Robert T. Anderson, a law professor at the University of Washington, is an expert on property rights, American Indian law and water rights.

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Irvine, Calif., Feb. 9, 2017 – Less than a year after the first research flight kicked off NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland campaign, data from the new program are providing a dramatic increase in knowledge of how Greenland’s ice sheet is melting from below. Two new research papers in the journal Oceanography, including one by UCI Earth system scientist Mathieu Morlighem, use OMG observations to document how meltwater and ocean currents are interacting along Greenland’s west coast and to improve seafloor maps used to predict future melting and sea level rise.

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The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is launching operations this month of one of the world's most powerful and energy-efficient supercomputers, providing the nation with a major new tool to advance understanding of the atmospheric and related Earth system sciences.

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Funds for Sac State's SIRIUS program will help pay for six new classes, expanding opportunities for undergrad students.

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A team of researchers is developing a robotic system of all-terrain rovers and aerial drones that can quickly and accurately gather and analyze data on the characteristics of crops.

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Sacramento State's innovative LID project is complete, and the American River is cleaner and safer because of it.

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The WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) announced today that Dr. Jonathan Slaght will be honored for his work in Russia to conserve the Blakiston’s fish owl, an endangered species and the largest owl in the world.

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Drainage of four interconnected lakes below Thwaites Glacier in late 2013 caused only a 10 percent increase in the glacier’s speed. The glacier’s recent speedup is therefore not due to changes in meltwater flow along its underside.

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By conducting research at Tifft Nature Preserve, a post-industrial urban site in Buffalo, New York, researchers investigate the reforestation taking place in terms of seed immigration and seedling survival. The research suggests that significant human intervention is necessary to maintain the presence of native successional trees.

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A team of researchers, led by the University of Minnesota, has invented a new technology to produce automobile tires from trees and grasses in a process that could shift the tire production industry toward using renewable resources found right in our backyards.

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Can grassy lawns affect carbon and nitrogen in the soil? Researchers found grass species and mowing habits can make a difference.

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James Cook University scientists have helped discover the remnants of a massive undersea landslide on the Great Barrier Reef.

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A Case Western Reserve University researcher found and videoed the Cuatro Ciénegas cichlid, Herichthys minckleyi, using the reproductive strategy called sneaking to insert himself between a mating pair and pass his DNA onto the next generation.

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The Membership Committee of the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS) is seeking nominations for the organization’s Board of Directors.

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People put on sweaters when they’re cold. Plants on the other hand, have to essentially knit one on the fly. Plants “knit” with their genes, and when University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers launch their Feb. 14 space experiment, they want to know more about how gene expression helps plants to adapt themselves to outer space.

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Nature requires the right mix of biological ingredients to make a good scavenger.

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Three new minerals discovered by a Michigan Tech alumnus are secondary crusts found in old uranium mines in southern Utah. They're bright, yellow and hard to find. Meet leesite, leószilárdite and redcanyonite.

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Climate change is likely to increase U.S. electricity costs over the next century by billions of dollars more than economists previously forecast, according to a new study involving a University of Michigan researcher.

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An international team of scientists has confirmed that the dorado catfish (Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii) of the Amazon River basin holds the record for the world’s longest exclusively freshwater fish migration, an epic life-cycle journey stretching nearly the entire width of the South America continent.

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Many lizards can drop their tails when grabbed, but one group of geckos has gone to particularly extreme lengths to escape predation with large scales that tear away with ease, leaving them free to escape whilst the predator is left with a mouth full of scales. Scientists have now described a new species that is the master of this art, possessing the largest scales of any gecko.

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An international team has, for the first time, developed a way of combining anonymised data from mobile phones and satellite imagery data to create high resolution maps to measure poverty.

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For marine protected areas established to help coral reefs recover from overfishing, size really does seem to make a difference.

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With funding from The Rockefeller Foundation, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health today announces a Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education to share best scientific and educational practices and design model curricula on the health impacts of climate change for academic and non-academic audiences.

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Cats and dogs may be longtime enemies, but when teamed up, they keep rodents away, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher says.

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A new study probes the origins of carnivory in several distantly related plants — including the Australian, Asian and American pitcher plants, which appear strikingly similar to the human (or insect) eye.

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A plant always makes for a nice gesture on Valentine’s Day, and University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers are breeding flora that may emit alluring aromas to your sweetheart.

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Scientists showed that an enzyme, from the bacterial glycoside hydrolase family 12, plays an unexpectedly important role in breaking down a crystalline form of cellulose. Breaking down cellulose is a major challenge in developing more efficient strategies for creating biofuels.

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Aerial tree mortality surveys show patterns of tree death during extreme drought.

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New research shows that red-footed tortoises can remember the location of their favourite food sources and the biggest stashes for at least 18 months.

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A new Berkeley Lab-led study found that the sticky residue left behind by tobacco smoke led to changes in weight and blood cell count in mice. These latest findings add to a growing body of evidence that thirdhand smoke exposure may be harmful.

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Tiny air bubbles compressed within a polar ice core make some sections brittle to the touch, but one ice core lab knows how to handle this delicate part of the chemical analysis, thus making the dating of the entire ice core possible.

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A recent study led by scientists at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory helps describe how uranium cycles through the environment at former uranium mining sites and why it can be difficult to remove.

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Wake Forest University has appointed alumnus and former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official Stan Meiburg (’75) as director of graduate programs in sustainability. Meiburg served as Acting Deputy Administrator for the EPA from 2014 to 2017, capping a 39-year career with the agency.

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Sandia National Laboratories researchers study corrosion to help industry develop longer-lasting photovoltaic panels and increase reliability.

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When do erosion and rebuilding of soil equate with outdoor beauty? The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) February 1 Soils Matter blog post explains how the wind and water forces at Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park work in a constant cycle of erosion and rebuilding.

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Global Temperature Report: January 2017

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New analysis supports mangrove forests, tidal marshes and seagrass meadows as effective climate buffers.

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Oral administration of a cocktail of three viruses, all of which specifically kill cholera bacteria, protects against infection and prevents cholera-like symptoms in animal model experiments. The findings are the first to demonstrate the efficacy of a preventative, oral phage therapy.

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What do furniture makers, the auto industry and foresters all have in common? A need for innovation in Michigan forest biomaterials. The Michigan Forest Bioeconomy Conference, held Feb. 1 and 2 at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, explores opportunities in wood innovation, construction, and recycling.

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Using remote sensing cameras and sound recorders, FAU scientists are the first to capture rare video footage of a newly discovered population of critically endangered monkeys in one of the most remote regions in the world. First discovered in 1932 and thought to inhabit only one location on the planet in Central Africa, this elusive monkey was believed to be nearing extinction due to its small population size and unregulated hunting.

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Emissions of methane and ethane from oil production have been substantially higher than previously estimated, particularly before 2005.

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China’s rapid ascent to global economic superpower is taking a toll on some of its ancient ways. For millennia, people have patterned their lives and diets around the vast fisheries of the East China Sea, but now those waters are increasingly threatened by human-caused, harmful algal blooms that choke off vital fish populations.

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Colin Parrish, John M. Olin Professor of Virology at the Baker Institute for Animal Health in Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, an expert on influenza viruses and the spread of the virus in animals, says the highly pathogenic influenza strain currently infecting wild birds and domestic poultry in several European countries could be transmitted to birds in North America as migratory flyways of some European and North American wild bird species overlap in the northern reaches of Canada.