http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top_news/top_environment/ Top environment stories, featured on ScienceDaily's home page. en-us Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:05:01 EST Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/top_news/top_environment/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222204241.htm The more afraid a person is of a spider, the bigger that individual perceives the spider to be, new research suggests. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:42:42 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222204241.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222133728.htm Fallout from the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power facility in Japan was measured in minimal amounts in precipitation in the United States in about 20 percent of 167 sites sampled in a nationwide U.S. study. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:37:37 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222133728.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222132930.htm Sparrows, blackbirds and the great tit are all birds known to sing at a higher pitch in urban environments. It was previously believed that these birds sang at higher frequencies in order to escape the lower frequencies noises of the urban environment. Now, researchers have discovered that besides noise, the physical structure of cities also plays a role in altering the birds' songs. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:29:29 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222132930.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222132116.htm Can animals’ survival instincts shed additional light on what we know about human emotion? Neuroscientists pose this question in outlining a pioneering theory, drawn from two decades of research, that could lead to a more comprehensive understanding of emotions in both humans and animals. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:21:21 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222132116.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222114358.htm Earth's clouds got a little lower -- about one percent on average -- during the first decade of this century, finds a new NASA-funded university study based on NASA satellite data. The results have potential implications for future global climate. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:43:43 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222114358.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222094252.htm Deep-diving ocean "gliders" have revealed the journey of Bass Strait water from the Tasman Sea to the Indian Ocean. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:42:42 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120222094252.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221212534.htm Not that long ago in a hot spring in Kamchatka, Russia, two groups of genetically indistinguishable microbes decided to part ways. They began evolving into different species – despite the fact that they still encountered one another in their acidic, boiling habitat and even exchanged some genes from time to time, researchers report. This is the first example of what the researchers call sympatric speciation in a microorganism. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:25:25 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221212534.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221151543.htm A small population of rattlesnakes that already is in decline in southern Illinois faces a new and unexpected threat in the form of a fungus rarely seen in the wild, researchers report. The finding matches reports of rattlesnake deaths in the northeast United States. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:15:15 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221151543.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221145915.htm Researchers have discovered more details about how an energy sensing “thermostat” protein determines whether cells will store or use their energy reserves. The researchers have shown that a chemical modification on the thermostat protein changes how it’s controlled. Without the modification, cells use stored energy, and with it, they default to stockpiling resources. When cells don’t properly allocate their energy supply, they can die off or become cancerous. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:59:59 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221145915.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221125409.htm Evolutionary biologists have shed light on the early events leading to photosynthesis, the result of the sequencing of 70 million base pair nuclear genome of the one-celled alga Cyanophora. They consider this study the final piece of the puzzle to understand the origin of photosynthesis in eukaryotes. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:54:54 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221125409.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221125407.htm The March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake is a grim reminder of the potential for another strong-motion mega-earthquake along the Pacific Northwest coast, geophysicists say. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:54:54 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221125407.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221125203.htm Along with photosynthesis, the plant cell wall is one of the features that most set plants apart from animals. A structural molecule called cellulose is necessary for the manufacture of these walls. Cellulose is synthesized in a semi-crystalline state that is essential for its function in the cell wall function, but the mechanisms controlling its crystallinity are poorly understood. New research reveals key information about this process. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:52:52 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221125203.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221124821.htm Some of Ireland's oldest inhabitants are facing serious threat and possible extinction because of foreign species, according to researchers. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:48:48 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221124821.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221124817.htm A new study has shown that weaver ants share a collective memory for the odor of ants in rival nests, and use the information to identify them and compete, similar to how sports fans know each other instantly by their unique colors. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:48:48 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221124817.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221124812.htm Airborne gases get sucked into stubborn smog particles from which they cannot escape, according to new findings. These finding could explain why air pollution models underestimate organic aerosols. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:48:48 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221124812.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221124810.htm Scientists have shed light on how vertebrates evolved closed circulation systems designed to more effectively carry blood to organs and tissues. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:48:48 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221124810.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221124709.htm Survival and reproduction of many aquatic and semi-aquatic animals can depend upon how well they float. Tadpoles use various strategies to attain buoyancy, depending upon their stage of development and location in still or turbulent waters. Researchers have taken a closer look at the developing frog's strategies to achieve buoyancy. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:47:47 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221124709.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221104117.htm Parasites and pathogens infecting humans, pets and farm animals are increasingly being detected in marine mammals such as sea otters, porpoises, harbor seals and killer whales along the Pacific coast of the US and Canada, and better surveillance is required to monitor public health implications, according to a panel of scientific experts from Canada and the United States. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:41:41 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221104117.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221090240.htm Certain insects, such as the African variegated grasshopper or the cinnabar moth, native in Europe and Asia, feed on toxic plants in order to protect themselves from predators. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:02:02 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120221090240.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220161307.htm Pompeii-like, a 300-million-year-old tropical forest was preserved in ash when a volcano erupted in what is today northern China. Paleobotanists have reconstructed this fossilized forest, lending insight into the ecology and climate of its time. Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:13:13 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220161307.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220142645.htm Cuttlefish have the most acute polarization vision yet found in any animal, researchers have discovered by showing them movies on a modified LCD computer screen to test their eyesight. Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:26:26 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220142645.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220142643.htm Researchers have identified conservation "hot spots" around the world where the temptation to profit from overfishing outweighs the appetite for conservation. Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:26:26 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220142643.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220142526.htm There are new findings from inside a cave and a key cultural and religious center for the ancient Maya. Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:25:25 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220142526.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220142451.htm A distinctive echolocation frequency led to the discovery of a new species of bat within the genus Hipposideros. Although this bat is similar to the species Hipposideros armiger, differences in acoustics, size, and DNA between these bats led to the identification of the new species. This new member of the bat community, which has been found in two locations in Vietnam, has been given the scientific name Hipposideros griffini. Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:24:24 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220142451.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220085830.htm Thawing permafrost will have far-reaching ramifications for populated areas, infrastructure and ecosystems. A geographer in Switzerland reveals where it is important to confront the issue based on new permafrost maps – the most precise global maps around. They depict the global distribution of permafrost in high-resolution images and are available on Google Earth. Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:58:58 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120220085830.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120219143321.htm Researchers have provided the first experimental evidence confirming a great British mathematician's theory of how biological patterns such as tiger stripes or leopard spots are formed. Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:33:33 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120219143321.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120219143319.htm Global warming has driven Yosemite's alpine chipmunks to higher ground, prompting a startling decline in the species' genetic diversity, according to a new study. The genetic erosion occurred in the relatively short span of 90 years, highlighting the rapid threat changing climate can pose to a species. Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:33:33 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120219143319.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120219143317.htm New clues as to how the Earth's remote ecosystems have been influenced by the industrial revolution are locked, frozen in the ice of glaciers. Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:33:33 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120219143317.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120219143226.htm A famous mathematical formula which shook the world of ecology 40 years ago has been revisited and refined. Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:32:32 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120219143226.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120219143216.htm In a standard biology textbook, cells tend to look more or less the same from all sides. But in real life cells have fronts and backs, tops and bottoms, and they orient many of their structures according to this polarity explaining, for example, why yeast cells bud at one end and not the other. Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:32:32 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120219143216.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120218134532.htm Unexpected new findings by geochemists show that some portions of the Earth's mantle (the rocky layer between Earth's metallic core and crust) formed when the planet was much smaller than it is now, and that some of this early-formed mantle survived Earth's turbulent formation, including a collision with another planet-sized body that many scientists believe led to the creation of the moon. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:45:45 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120218134532.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217171235.htm A NASA-led science team has created an accurate, high-resolution map of the height of Earth's forests. The map will help scientists better understand the role forests play in climate change and how their heights influence wildlife habitats within them, while also helping them quantify the carbon stored in Earth's vegetation. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:12:12 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217171235.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217145621.htm For the first time, scientists follow the development of individual immune cells in a living zebrafish embryo. T-cells are the immune system's security force. They seek out pathogens and rogue cells in the body and put them out of action. Their precursors are formed in the bone marrow and migrate from there into the thymus. Here, they mature and differentiate to perform a variety of tasks. Scientists have now succeeded for the first time in observing the maturation of immune cells in live zebrafish embryos. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:56:56 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217145621.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217145320.htm Climate warming caused by greenhouse gases is very likely to increase summer temperature variability around the world by the end of this century, new research shows. The findings have major implications for food production. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:53:53 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217145320.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217115553.htm The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010 will have a large economic impact on the US Gulf fisheries. A new study says that over seven years this oil spill could have a $US8.7 billion impact on the economy of the Gulf of Mexico. This includes losses in revenue, profit, and wages, and close to 22,000 jobs could be lost. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:55:55 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217115553.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217115547.htm Plant and computer scientists can now study the underground world of plants with more accuracy and clarity. The revolutionary technique will improve our chances of breeding better crop varieties and increasing yields. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:55:55 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217115547.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217115012.htm A biologist has created a sketch of what the first common ancestor of plants and algae may have looked like. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:50:50 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217115012.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217101703.htm American Quarter Horses are renowned for their speed, agility, and calm disposition. Consequently over four million Quarter Horses are used as working horses on ranches, as show horses or at rodeos. New research used 'next-generation' sequencing to map variation in the genome of a Quarter Horse mare. Analysis of genetic variants associated with specific traits showed that compared to a thoroughbred the Quarter Horse's genome was enriched for variants in genes involved in sensory perception, signal transduction and the immune system. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:17:17 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217101703.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217101058.htm Researchers have devised a numerical model to help explain the linkage between earthquakes and the powerful forces that cause them. Their findings hold implications for long-term forecasting of earthquakes. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:10:10 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120217101058.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216185410.htm Produced by a multitude of mollusk species, nacre is widely used in jewelry and art. It is inlaid into musical instruments, furniture and decorative boxes. Fashioned into buttons, beads and a host of functional objects from pens to flatware, mother of pearl lends a lustrous iridescence to everyday objects. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:54:54 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216185410.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216165757.htm Chemical engineers have discovered a small molecule that behaves the same as cellulose when it is converted to biofuel. Studying this "mini-cellulose" molecule reveals for the first time the chemical reactions that take place in wood and prairie grasses during high-temperature conversion to biofuel. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:57:57 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216165757.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216143955.htm Scientists have developed the first 3D look at the interaction between an immune sensor and a protein that helps bacteria move. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:39:39 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216143955.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216134423.htm With its miles and miles of dense swamp forest, Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo has long been a wildlife haven. It's home to an unusual primate population: so-called "naïve" chimpanzees, who have so little exposure to humans that they investigate the conservationists who study them, instead of running away. These curious chimps got a recent boost when Congo formally expanded Nouabalé-Ndoki to protect them. Known as the Goualougo Triangle, the 100-plus square-mile forest and its unique great ape population was first reported in 1989 by WCS conservationists. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:44:44 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216134423.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216134336.htm That our chromosomes can break and reshuffle pieces of themselves is nothing new; scientists have recognized this for decades, especially in cancer cells. The rules for where chromosomes are likely to break and how the broken pieces come together are only just now starting to come into view. Researchers have brought those rules into clearer focus by discovering that where each of the genome's thousands of genes lie within the cell's nucleus -- essentially, the genome's three-dimensional organization -- holds great influence over where broken chromosome ends rejoin. This knowledge could shed light on fundamental processes related to cancer and normal cellular functions -- for example, in immunity. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:43:43 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216134336.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216133924.htm The Government of Bangladesh recently declared three new wildlife sanctuaries for endangered freshwater dolphins in the world's largest mangrove ecosystem – the Sundarbans, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society whose conservation work helped pinpoint the locations of the protected areas. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:39:39 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216133924.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216133442.htm Researchers have sequenced the genome of a contagious cancer that is threatening the Tasmanian devil, the world's largest carnivorous marsupial, with extinction. Cataloguing the mutations present in the cancer has led to clues about where the cancer came from and how it became contagious. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:34:34 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216133442.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216133440.htm Evolutionary biologists have documented for the first time that plants pass genes from plant to plant to fuel their evolutionary development. The researchers found enzymes key to photosynthesis had been shared among plants with only a distant ancestral relationship. The genes were incorporated into the metabolic cycle of the recipient plant, aiding adaptation. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:34:34 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216133440.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216133252.htm In a step toward deciphering the “splicing code” of the human genome, researchers have comprehensively analyzed six of the more highly expressed RNA binding proteins collectively known as heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoparticle (hnRNP) proteins. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:32:32 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216133252.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216111530.htm Researchers have managed to isolate a sugar – a ribose –  in gas phase and to characterize a number of its structures. Sugars give rise to enormous biochemical interest given the importance and diversity of the functions they carry out: they act as an energy storage system and serve as fuel for a number of biological systems; they form part of DNA and of ribonucleic acid (RNA) and, moreover, play a key role in cell processes. Recently interest in sugars has also been increasingly attracting the attention of cosmochemistry, more concretely, in the search for the fundamental matter of the origin of life in interstellar space. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:15:15 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216111530.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216111528.htm By absorbing about a third of human-made carbon dioxide, the ocean decelerates global warming. However, when dissolved in seawater, carbon dioxide reacts to produce carbonic acid, causing seawater pH to decrease. It also diminishes the concentration of carbonate ions, thereby putting organisms forming their shells and skeletons from calcium carbonate at risk. Apart from plankton, algae, mussels and snails, stony corals are among those particularly endangered: Their skeletons consist of aragonite, the most soluble form of calcium carbonate. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:15:15 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216111528.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216111227.htm Many fossilized dinosaurs have been found in a twisted posture. Scientists have long interpreted this as a sign of death spasms. Researchers have now come to the conclusion that these bizarre deformations occurred only during decomposition of dead dinosaurs. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:12:12 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216111227.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216110403.htm Two meters below the surface of the Atacama Desert there is an 'oasis' of microorganisms. Researchers have found it in hypersaline substrates thanks to SOLID, a detector for signs of life which could be used in environments similar to subsoil on Mars. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:04:04 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216110403.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216095032.htm The ability to change vocal sounds and develop an accent is potentially far more widespread in mammals than previously believed, according to new research on goats. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:50:50 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216095032.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216094801.htm A drastic switch to low carbon-emitting technologies, such as wind and hydroelectric power, may not yield a reduction in global warming until the latter part of this century, new research suggests. Furthermore, it states that technologies that offer only modest reductions in greenhouse gases, such as the use of natural gas and perhaps carbon capture and storage, cannot substantially reduce climate risk in the next 100 years. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:48:48 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216094801.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216094724.htm Climate change spells trouble for many tropical birds -- especially those living in mountains, coastal forests and relatively small areas -- and the damage will be compounded by other threats like habitat loss, disease and competition among species, according to a new review. Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:47:47 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216094724.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215155300.htm Based on more than 25 years of data, ecologists looked at how droughts and heat waves affect grass growth during different months of the year. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:53:53 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215155300.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215143116.htm Extreme summer temperatures are already occurring more frequently in the United States, and will become normal by mid-century if the world continues on a business as usual schedule of emitting greenhouse gases. By analyzing observations and results obtained from climate models, a new study has shown that previously rare high summertime (June, July and August) temperatures are already occurring more frequently in some regions of the 48 contiguous United States. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:31:31 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215143116.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215143105.htm Computer engineers may have just provided the medical community a new way of figuring out exactly how one of the three building blocks of life forms and functions. They have used a complex computer program to analyze RNA motifs – the subunits that make up RNA. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:31:31 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215143105.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215143003.htm More than one in three counties in the US could face a "high" or "extreme" risk of water shortages due to climate change by the middle of the 21st century, according to a new study. The report concluded seven in 10 of the more than 3,100 counties could face "some" risk of shortages of fresh water. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:30:30 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215143003.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215143001.htm Last year, a report claiming to support the idea that the origin of language can be traced to West Africa appeared in Science. The article caused quite a stir. Now a linguist has challenged its conclusions, in a commentary just published in Science. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:30:30 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120215143001.htm