Plumbing the Earth’s microbial diversity requires learning more about poorly-studied relationships between microbes and the viruses that infect them, impacting how they regulate global cycles. Using the world’s largest collection of assembled metagenomic datasets, DOE JGI researchers uncovered over 125,000 partial and complete viral genomes.
A team of scientists from WCS, University of York, and Uganda Wildlife Authority have developed a new method of detecting illegal activities in protected areas by as much as 250 percent.
Scientists use the fossil record to make judgments on the physiology and behavior of species. But are those interpretations correct? New research from the University of Notre Dame puts into question how we interpret the behavior of extinct organisms from their fossil remains, and the greater role of plasticity in determining evolution diversity.
Worldwide, there are 16,938 endangered species. From the white rhino to the blue whale, numbers are dwindling in the face of poaching, habitat destruction and climate change. Although the situation may seem dire, new research gives us reason to hope. A study recently published in Evolutionary Applications by a group of Concordia biologists shows that small populations of species can still adapt and respond to natural selection.
A few strains of wild soy are able to fight the kudzu bug by limiting the ability of its nymphs, or young, to survive. The next step is to identify which gene gives the soybeans this defense mechanism.
If a city plants trees near a residential area, most homeowners value the likely subsequent increase in their property values, a new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences study shows. And they’re willing to pay an average of $7 more per month in taxes for public trees planted in their city.
As NOAA launches a comprehensive system this month for forecasting water resources, it's turning to NCAR technology. The new forecasting system uses a powerful, NCAR-based computer model, known as WRF-Hydro, to provide continuous predictions of water levels and potential flooding in rivers and streams from coast to coast.
Large, carnivorous fish excrete almost half of the key nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, that are essential for the survival of coral reefs.
Seven defendants who were engaged in smuggling radiated tortoises from Madagascar into China were sentenced to prison terms, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), which praised Guangzhou Intermediate Court’s July 26th verdict. The entire criminal network – from overseas accomplices to Chinese buyers – was targeted and dismantled, sending a serious warning to other would-be illegal traders.
Both Markets Are Eager for Sustainable Agriculture Solutions
Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) bend and twist easily in solution, making them adaptable for biological uses like DNA analysis, drug delivery and biomimetic applications, according to scientists at Rice University.
Seven milliliters of a king cobra’s venom can kill 20 people. But what exactly is in the snake’s venom? Researchers have pursued that question for decades.
A detailed look at how sound waves bounce off a flying moth’s body offers new clues for how its long, twisted tail might help it evade predatory bats.
University of Washington biologist Peter Ward's body of research has helped policymakers recognize the impact nautiluses have on ocean ecosystems, as well as how they can — and cannot — replenish their numbers in the face of unrestricted, unregulated fishing. At a CITES meeting in September, Ward and his team hope nautiluses will get much-needed protections from trade and harvesting.
Lobster season has started in Florida
UF/IFAS is helping save the Ghost Orchid.
A University of California, Irvine entomologist has discovered that a brief blast of heat can kill bedbugs traveling on the outside of luggage, suggesting an additional way to use this nonchemical means of controlling the annoying insects.
Cover crops offer many choices, many benefits
A Kansas State University-led international team of 114 researchers has sequenced the genome of the tobacco hornworm, or Manduca sexta.
In a newly published study, Fred Gmitter, a UF/IFAS horticultural sciences professor, and his colleagues found genetic markers for fruit quality traits that will be useful in future cultivar-breeding efforts.
In a new study, researchers from the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory have teamed up to capture neon within a porous crystalline framework. Neon is well known for being the most unreactive element and is a key component in semiconductor manufacturing, but neon has never been studied within an organic or metal-organic framework until now. The results, which include the critical studies carried out at the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a DOE Office of Science user facility at Argonne, also point the way towards a more economical and greener industrial process for neon production.
Led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, scientists conducted a collaborative study that answered foundational questions about how nature influences the composition of aerosols. The team's findings could help avoid unintended consequences in both regulations and remediation.
This book advances strategies for planning a future that may look very different from the present, as rapid urbanization could tip the Earth toward abrupt and nonlinear change. Can we guide the Earth away from inadvertent collapse and toward a new era of planetary co-evolution and resilience?
CEOs and corporate lobbyists often spend plenty of time decrying how potential government regulations will affect their bottom line, but a new University of Kansas study finds that the U.S. Clean Water Act, when implemented in the right balance, improves firms' profitability.
The world’s leading atmospheric scientists overwhelmingly deny the existence of a secret, elite-driven plot to release harmful chemicals into the air from high-flying aircraft, according to the first peer-reviewed journal paper to address the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory.
Amateur and professional entomologists are experts at their own version of Pokémon Go. After all, part of their job is to search for and collect rare insect species that are stored in the archives of natural history museums.
A new gem has been added to the vast treasure of Mexican reptiles. Mexican scientists recently described a new and strikingly colored species of earth snake from the mountains of Puebla and Veracruz in east-central Mexico.
A new species of rain frog was discovered in the premontane forests of the Peruvian central Andes. Referring to the mountain chain's local name, the amphibian's name translates to 'Sleeping beauty'. Another striking thing about the new frog is the contrasting bright red that coats its groins, shanks and thighs.
Successfully integrating human activities with ecosystem conservation forms the foundation of sustainability and is key to maintaining biological diversity. A new study has found that recreational use of private land in the U.S. could have significant benefits for both conservation efforts and economic return, especially when coupled with certain policy mechanisms.
They call it "Conan the Bacterium," and now it may be used to help save lives in the event of a nuclear disaster or terrorist attack. Researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences have discovered a potent manganese (Mn)(II)-based antioxidant complex of the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans that can be used to protect animals from radiation injury. The report, "MDP: A Deinococcus Mn2+-Decapeptide Complex Protects Mice from Ionizing Radiation," was released today in PLOS ONE.
Dublin, Ireland, Thursday 11th August, 2016 - Scientists have discovered macabre fossil evidence suggesting that 300 million-year-old sharks ate their own young, as fossil poop of adult Orthacanthus sharks contained the tiny teeth of juveniles. These fearsome marine predators used protected coastal lagoons to rear their babies, but it seems they also resorted to cannibalising them when other food sources became scarce.
Funds will help establish a High School Equivalency Program on campus and in the community.
Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI), announces the publication of the scientific paper Evaluating the effectiveness of the Minamata Convention on Mercury: Principles and recommendations for next steps, published by the journal Science of the Total Environment (now available online).
Less than a month away from the kick-off the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, a team of scientists report in the journal Nature that three quarters of the world’s threatened species are imperiled because people are converting their habitat into agricultural lands and overharvesting their populations.
A research team, led by Emeritus Professor Kazuhiro Nakaya of Japan's Hokkaido University, analyzed world-first footage captured by public broadcaster NHK in which two goblin sharks separately captured prey on a total of five occasions. The research has unraveled a century-old mystery surrounding how the deep-sea shark utilizes its protruding jaws, among other factors, to feed itself.
The consequences of climate change are an increasing concern for humans around the world. How will we cope with rising sea levels and climbing temperatures? But it's not just humans who will be affected by these worldwide shifts — it's our closest cousins, too: monkeys, apes and lemurs.
Aug. 10, 2016─Reducing outdoor concentrations of two air pollutants, ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), to levels below those set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would likely save thousands of lives each year, result in far fewer serious illnesses and dramatically reduce missed days of school and work, according to a new analysis conducted by the American Thoracic Society and the Marron Institute of Urban Management at New York University.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded three Kansas State University researchers and seven Chicago organizations a $750,000 grant to investigate if giving communities access to low-cost portable air pollution monitoring devices could help improve air quality.
A new report from the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis offers a big picture look at the scale and impacts of nitrogen in California. According to the report, excess nitrogen in the state comes primarily from agriculture and fossil fuel combustion. For years, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources scientists have been working with farmers throughout the state to refine fertilizer management, irrigation efficiency and other farming practices to manage nitrogen, and the work continues. The following are some examples of current UC ANR research and extension projects to manage nitrogen.
The Gulf of Maine coastline, historically home to one of the richest shellfish populations in the U.S., is undergoing a dramatic change, with once-flourishing wild blue mussels all but disappearing, according to a study led by University of California, Irvine ecologists.
Biodiversity Research Institute will participate at the 2016 North American Ornithological Conference, in Washington, D.C., August 16-20. BRI biologists will present current avian research in presentations and poster sessions. BRI’s executive director, David Evers, Ph.D., will participate in a symposium on birds as indicators of ecosystem health and environmental change.
Rutgers Gardens, a treasured oasis that draws thousands for classes, weddings and walks in the woods, is about to receive a rare honor and is on the cusp of a major facelift as it celebrates its centennial.
WHAT: On August 10, the American Thoracic Society and the Marron Institute of Urban Management at New York University will share findings from their seminal report on the annual health benefits of meeting more protective air pollution standards as recommended by the ATS. The report focuses on ozone (O3), a component of smog, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), tiny particles that are released when fuel is burned by motor vehicles and power plants, and also other sources.
Preventing the extinction of gorillas, rhinoceroses, elephants, lions, tigers, wolves, bears and the world's other largest mammals will require bold political action and financial commitments from nations worldwide. In an article in the journal BioScience, 43 wildlife experts write that without immediate changes, many of the Earth's most iconic species will be lost.
University of Adelaide researchers are rethinking plant breeding strategies to improve the development of new high-yielding, stress-tolerant cereal varieties.
In an effort to fill in the blanks of the Standard Model of particle physics, science has been conducting a diligent search for a hypothesized particle known as the “sterile neutrino.” Now, with the latest results from an icy particle detector at the South Pole, scientists are almost certain that there is no such particle.
Expert can speak on the use of animal toxins to develop a new generation of medicines. Gur Roshwalb, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Akari Therapeutics, is studying the use of Coversin—a molecule derived from the saliva of the Ornithodoros moubata tick—in potential treatments for conditions such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) and Guillain Barré syndrome (GBS).
Honeybees from chlorothalanil-treated hives showed the greatest change in gut microbiome.
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