Top Environment News

'Whodunnit' of Irish Potato Famine Solved

An international team of scientists reveals that a unique strain of potato blight they call HERB-1 triggered the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century. ...  > full story

New NOAA Report Examines National Oil Pollution Threat from Shipwrecks

NOAA presented to the U.S. Coast Guard a new report that finds that 36 sunken vessels scattered across the U.S. seafloor could pose an ...  > full story

The Mammoth's Lament: How Cosmic Impact Sparked Devastating Climate Change

Researchers have found evidence of a major cosmic event near the end of the Ice Age. The ensuing climate change forced many species ...  > full story

Do Salamanders' Immune Systems Hold the Key to Regeneration?

Salamanders' immune systems are key to their remarkable ability to regrow limbs, and could also underpin their ability to regenerate spinal cords, brain tissue and even ...  > full story

• Insects (including Butterflies)
  Cell Biology
  Molecular Biology
  Animals
  Genetics
  Biology
   

  Parasitic Wasps Use Calcium Pump to Block Fruit Fly Immunity

  May 20, 2013 — Parasitic wasps switch off the immune systems of fruit flies by draining calcium from the flies' blood cells, a finding that offers new insight into how pathogens break through a host's defenses. ... > full story
• Insects (including Butterflies)
  Invasive Species
  Soil Types
  Animals
  Construction
  Organic
   
  

  Ant Study Could Help Future Robot Teams Work Underground

  May 20, 2013 — Future teams of subterranean search and rescue robots may owe their success to the lowly fire ant, a much-despised insect whose painful bites and extensive networks of underground tunnels are ... > full story
• Water
  Global Warming
  Nature
  Forest
  Air Quality
  Geography
   
  

  Amazon River Exhales Virtually All Carbon Taken Up by Rainforest

  May 20, 2013 — Woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River. This tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river's breath. The finding has implications for global ... > full story
• Technology
  Electronics
  Batteries
  Organic Chemistry
  Biochemistry
  Energy Technology
   
  

  Fastest Measurements Ever Made of Ion Channel Proteins

  May 20, 2013 — Engineers have used miniaturized electronics to measure the activity of individual ion-channel proteins with temporal resolution as fine as one microsecond, producing the fastest recordings of single ... > full story
• Energy and the Environment
  Renewable Energy
  Environmental Science
  Energy Technology
  Solar Energy
  Wind Energy
   
  

  Not Just Blowing in the Wind: Compressing Air for Renewable Energy Storage

  May 20, 2013 — A comprehensive study into the potential for compressed air energy storage in the Pacific Northwest has identified two locations in Washington state that could store enough Northwest wind energy ... > full story
• Earthquakes
  Natural Disasters
  Tsunamis
  Geology
  Geography
  El Nino and La Nina
   

  Slow Earthquakes: It's All in the Rock Mechanics

  May 20, 2013 — Earthquakes that last minutes rather than seconds are a relatively recent discovery, according to an international team of seismologists. Researchers have been aware of these slow earthquakes, only ... > full story
• Dinosaurs
  Mice
  Fossils
  Paleontology
  Biology
  Biochemistry Research
   
  

  Fossil Brain Teaser: New Study Reveals Patterns of Dinosaur Brain Development

  May 20, 2013 — A new study sheds light on how the brain and inner ear developed in dinosaurs. Using high-resolution CT scanning and 3D computer imaging, it was possible to reconstruct and visualise the brain and ... > full story
• Geology
  Earth Science
  Climate
  Geomagnetic Storms
  Environmental Issues
  Near-Earth Object Impacts
   
  

  Earth's Iron Core Is Surprisingly Weak

  May 20, 2013 — Researchers have used a diamond anvil cell to squeeze iron at pressures as high as 3 million times that felt at sea level to recreate conditions at the center of Earth. The findings could refine ... > full story
• Ancient Civilizations
  Evolutionary Biology
  Lost Treasures
  Genetically Modified
  Fossils
  Biochemistry Research
   

  Archaeological Genetics: It's Not All as Old as It at First Seems

  May 20, 2013 — Genomic analyses suggest that patterns of genetic diversity which indicate population movement may not be as ancient as previously believed, but may be attributable to recent ... > full story
• Frogs and Reptiles
  Mating and Breeding
  New Species
  Veterinary Medicine
  Nature
  Extinction
   
  

  Lovelorn Frogs Bag Closest Crooner

  May 20, 2013 — What lures a lady frog to her lover? Good looks, the sound of his voice, the size of his pad or none of the above? After weighing up their options, female strawberry poison frogs (Oophaga pumilio) ... > full story

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