All posts; Tags Include "Environment"
- September 1, 2016
- 10:19 AM
- 73 views
Responsible resurrection: The ecology of de-extinction
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
March of the mammoths Improvements in our genetic tinkering capabilities have led several people to suggest potential uses for our newfound powers. Although we ought to add some nuance and note that those powers are still in development. In any case, one of those powers is quite impressive. De-extinction, or the process of bringing back […]... Read more »
Seddon PJ, Griffiths CJ, Soorae PS, & Armstrong DP. (2014) Reversing defaunation: restoring species in a changing world. Science, 345(6195), 406-12. PMID: 25061203
McCauley, D., Hardesty-Moore, M., Halpern, B., & Young, H. (2016) A mammoth undertaking: harnessing insight from functional ecology to shape de-extinction priority setting. Functional Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12728
- August 26, 2016
- 05:00 AM
- 99 views
Friday Fellow: Six-Spot Burnet
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Found in Europe, today’s Friday Fellow is a nice day-flying moth with beautiful colors and toxic compounds. Scientifically known as Zygaena filipendulae, its common name is six-spot burnet, burnet being the common name of moths in the … Continue reading →... Read more »
Zagrobelny, M., Bak, S., Olsen, C., & Møller, B. (2007) Intimate roles for cyanogenic glucosides in the life cycle of Zygaena filipendulae (Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae). Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 37(11), 1189-1197. DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2007.07.008
- August 19, 2016
- 07:00 AM
- 143 views
Friday Fellow: Asian Pigeonwing
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Today’s Friday Fellow is a creeping (but not creepy) plant with nice deep blue flowers shaped like a human female genitalia. Yeah, you read that right. Its scientific name is Clitoria ternatea, the genus name being a … Continue reading →... Read more »
Devi, B., Boominathan, R., & Mandal, S. (2003) Anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic properties of Clitoria ternatea root. Fitoterapia, 74(4), 345-349. DOI: 10.1016/S0367-326X(03)00057-1
Taranalli, A., & Cheeramkuzhy, T. (2011) Influence of Clitoria Ternatea Extracts on Memory and Central Cholinergic Activity in Rats. Pharmaceutical Biology, 38(1), 51-56. DOI: 10.1076/1388-0209(200001)3811-BFT051
- August 12, 2016
- 07:00 AM
- 70 views
Friday Fellow: Jataí Bee
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Certainly the most widespread, adaptable and well-known honey-producing bee is Apis melifera, commonly known as honeybee for obvious reasons. But there are a lot of other honey makers all over the world. Today I’m going to present … Continue reading →... Read more »
Miorin, P., Levy Junior, N., Custodio, A., Bretz, W., & Marcucci, M. (2003) Antibacterial activity of honey and propolis from Apis mellifera and Tetragonisca angustula against Staphylococcus aureus. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 95(5), 913-920. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2672.2003.02050.x
Sawaya, A., Cunha, I., Marcucci, M., de Oliveira Rodrigues, R., & Eberlin, M. (2006) Brazilian Propolis of Tetragonisca angustula and Apis mellifera. Apidologie, 37(3), 398-407. DOI: 10.1051/apido:2006011
- August 5, 2016
- 07:00 AM
- 235 views
Friday Fellow: Beggar’s tick
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll What if the cure for cancer has been living in your garden all this time and you have been trying to get rid of it because it is an annoying weed? I cannot assure you that … Continue reading →... Read more »
Brandão, M., Krettli, A., Soares, L., Nery, C., & Marinuzzi, H. (1997) Antimalarial activity of extracts and fractions from Bidens pilosa and other Bidens species (Asteraceae) correlated with the presence of acetylene and flavonoid compounds. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 57(2), 131-138. DOI: 10.1016/S0378-8741(97)00060-3
Chang, J., Chiang, L., Chen, C., Liu, L., Wang, K., & Lin, C. (2001) Antileukemic Activity of Bidens pilosa L. var. minor (Blume) Sherff and Houttuynia cordata Thunb. The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 29(02), 303-312. DOI: 10.1142/S0192415X01000320
Chiang, L., Chang, J., Chen, C., Ng, L., & Lin, C. (2003) Anti-Herpes Simplex Virus Activity of Bidens pilosa and Houttuynia cordata. The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 31(03), 355-362. DOI: 10.1142/S0192415X03001090
Deba, F., Xuan, T., Yasuda, M., & Tawata, S. (2008) Chemical composition and antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal activities of the essential oils from Bidens pilosa Linn. var. Radiata. Food Control, 19(4), 346-352. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2007.04.011
Kviecinski, M., Felipe, K., Schoenfelder, T., de Lemos Wiese, L., Rossi, M., Gonçalez, E., Felicio, J., Filho, D., & Pedrosa, R. (2008) Study of the antitumor potential of Bidens pilosa (Asteraceae) used in Brazilian folk medicine. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 117(1), 69-75. DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2008.01.017
Oliveira, F., Andrade-Neto, V., Krettli, A., & Brandão, M. (2004) New evidences of antimalarial activity of Bidens pilosa roots extract correlated with polyacetylene and flavonoids. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 93(1), 39-42. DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.03.026
Pereira, R., Ibrahim, T., Lucchetti, L., da Silva, A., & de Moraes, V. (1999) Immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory effects of methanolic extract and the polyacetylene isolated from Bidens pilosa L. Immunopharmacology, 43(1), 31-37. DOI: 10.1016/S0162-3109(99)00039-9
Sun, Y., Zhou, Q., Wang, L., & Liu, W. (2009) Cadmium tolerance and accumulation characteristics of Bidens pilosa L. as a potential Cd-hyperaccumulator. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 161(2-3), 808-814. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.04.030
- July 29, 2016
- 07:00 AM
- 257 views
Friday Fellow: Cute bee fly
by Piter Boll in Earthling Nature
by Piter Kehoma Boll Recently the appearance of a new pokémon, Cutiefly, has brought a lot of attention to the real world species in which it is based. So why not bring it to Friday Fellow so that you may … Continue reading →... Read more »
Brooks, A. (2012) Identification of Bombyliid Parasites and Hyperparasites of Phalaenidae of the Prairie Provinces of Canada, with Descriptions of Six Other Bombyliid Pupae (Diptera). The Canadian Entomologist, 84(12), 357-373. DOI: 10.4039/Ent84357-12
Jazykov (Zakhvatkin), A. (2009) Parasites and Hyperparasites of the Egg-pods of injurious Locusts (Acridodea) of Turkestan. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 22(03), 385. DOI: 10.1017/S0007485300029904
- July 26, 2016
- 09:22 AM
- 322 views
Fungi found flourishing following fire
by Rosin Cerate in Rosin Cerate
Morels and several other fungi (all members of the order Pezizales) are known to produce their mushrooms in recently burned soil, whether it's the result of a nice little campfire or an entire forest going up in smoke. The fire creates the right conditions for the fungus, which lies beneath the ground and so protected from flames and heat, to send up mushrooms. These mushrooms release spores into the environment, and the circle of life continues ever onward.In the case of morels, it's thought a ........ Read more »
Greene D, Hesketh M, & Pounden E. (2009) Emergence of morel (Morchella) and pixie cup (Geopyxis carbonaria) ascocarps in response to the intensity of forest floor combustion during a wildfire. . Mycologia, 102(4), 766-773. DOI: 10.3852/08-096
- July 24, 2016
- 04:45 AM
- 323 views
Week 29 In Review: Open-Access Science | 18 to 25 July
by TakFurTheKaffe in Tak Fur The Kaffe
Cave art, wild fires, new dinosaur with teeny T-rex arms, thirsty trees and a new method to create hydrogen from grass. Here are five of the latest scientific studies published open-access this week.... Read more »
Cooper, J., Samson, A., Nieves, M., Lace, M., Caamaño-Dones, J., Cartwright, C., Kambesis, P., & Frese, L. (2016) ‘The Mona Chronicle’: the archaeology of early religious encounter in the New World. Antiquity, 90(352), 1054-1071. DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2016.103
Apesteguía, S., Smith, N., Juárez Valieri, R., & Makovicky, P. (2016) An Unusual New Theropod with a Didactyl Manus from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. PLOS ONE, 11(7). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157793
Young-Robertson, J., Bolton, W., Bhatt, U., Cristóbal, J., & Thoman, R. (2016) Deciduous trees are a large and overlooked sink for snowmelt water in the boreal forest. Scientific Reports, 29504. DOI: 10.1038/srep29504
Nagra, G., Treble, P., Andersen, M., Fairchild, I., Coleborn, K., & Baker, A. (2016) A post-wildfire response in cave dripwater chemistry. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 20(7), 2745-2758. DOI: 10.5194/hess-20-2745-2016
Caravaca, A., Jones, W., Hardacre, C., & Bowker, M. (2016) H production by the photocatalytic reforming of cellulose and raw biomass using Ni, Pd, Pt and Au on titania . Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Science, 472(2191), 20160054. DOI: 10.1098/rspa.2016.0054
- July 21, 2016
- 10:08 AM
- 325 views
The decline of biodiversity: Past the point of no return?
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
Mohi looks up at her mother. Confused. Afraid. Mother had always said that she had to keep her filtration veil on when they left their housedome. But now, here stood her mother, unveiled. The woman gifted an encouraging nod to her young daughter. Mohi removed her veil. Air! Light! The freshness of the breeze and […]... Read more »
Steffen W, Richardson K, Rockström J, Cornell SE, Fetzer I, Bennett EM, Biggs R, Carpenter SR, de Vries W, de Wit CA.... (2015) Sustainability. Planetary boundaries: guiding human development on a changing planet. Science, 347(6223). PMID: 25592418
Newbold T, Hudson LN, Arnell AP, Contu S, De Palma A, Ferrier S, Hill SL, Hoskins AJ, Lysenko I, Phillips HR.... (2016) Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity beyond the planetary boundary? A global assessment. Science, 353(6296), 288-91. PMID: 27418509
Oliver TH. (2016) How much biodiversity loss is too much?. Science, 353(6296), 220-1. PMID: 27418489
- June 9, 2016
- 11:21 AM
- 225 views
Back to life – Resurrection plants and the future of food
by Alice Breda in la-Plumeria
Life on Earth was born in water. Then, about half a billion years ago, the first organisms stare colonizing lands that offered new spaces, less predators and, in time, abundant oxygen and nutrients. Still, the indissoluble bond that living organisms had with water remained, and in order to survive in this new environment plants and animals had to develop anatomical, physiological and behavioral adaptations to better obtain, manage and save water. Plant bodies, as well as ours, are mostly made of........ Read more »
Moore, J., Le, N., Brandt, W., Driouich, A., & Farrant, J. (2009) Towards a systems-based understanding of plant desiccation tolerance. Trends in Plant Science, 14(2), 110-117. DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2008.11.007
- June 1, 2016
- 09:38 AM
- 373 views
All hail our eight-limbed overlords
by gdw in FictionalFieldwork
(This is my first attempt to blend science and fiction in a single post. The idea is to write about a recent study or studies but explore it through small snippets of original fiction as well. Hope you like it. Feedback is always greatly appreciated…) # A carefully orchestrated dance of chromatophores flashed Octa’s agreement. […]... Read more »
Doubleday ZA, Prowse TA, Arkhipkin A, Pierce GJ, Semmens J, Steer M, Leporati SC, Lourenço S, Quetglas A, Sauer W.... (2016) Global proliferation of cephalopods. Current biology : CB, 26(10). PMID: 27218844
- May 18, 2016
- 09:36 AM
- 349 views
Video Tip of the Week: JGI user meeting videos, and MetaSUB
This week’s Video Tip of the Week is actually a whole bunch of videos. Although I’ll highlight one here as our tip, there are many great talks from the recent JGI Genomics of Energy & Environment meeting. Although typically we focus on specific software tools for our tips, I think this is a nice case […]... Read more »
Afshinnekoo, E., Meydan, C., Chowdhury, S., Jaroudi, D., Boyer, C., Bernstein, N., Maritz, J., Reeves, D., Gandara, J., Chhangawala, S.... (2015) Geospatial Resolution of Human and Bacterial Diversity with City-Scale Metagenomics. Cell Systems, 1(1), 72-87. DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2015.01.001
Alexa B.R. McIntyre, Lindsay Rizzardi, Angela M Yu, Gail L. Rosen, Noah Alexander, Douglas J. Botkin, Kristen K. John, Sarah L. Castro-Wallace, Aaron S. Burton, Andrew Feinberg.... (2015) Nanopore Sequencing in Microgravity. bioRxiv. DOI: 10.1101/032342
- May 13, 2016
- 02:25 AM
- 294 views
Friday the 13th
by Aurametrix team in Environmental health
Our health depends on a multitude of environmental factors, day in and day out. And today is a special day - Friday the 13th. How should you feel on this day? Friday the 13th is one of the most feared dates, associated with bad luck in the West. And it is taken cautiously even in cultures that do not fear the 13th - for example, among Chinese mothers avoiding delivering their babies on the 13th. But science says that those born on the 13th and even those born on Friday the 13th are not in ........ Read more »
Smyth JM, Wonderlich SA, Sliwinski MJ, Crosby RD, Engel SG, Mitchell JE, & Calogero RM. (2009) Ecological momentary assessment of affect, stress, and binge-purge behaviors: day of week and time of day effects in the natural environment. The International journal of eating disorders, 42(5), 429-36. PMID: 19115371
Fidrmuc, J., & Tena, J. (2015) Friday the 13th: The Empirics of Bad Luck. Kyklos, 68(3), 317-334. DOI: 10.1111/kykl.12085
Lucey, B. (2002) Friday the 13th and the Philosophical Basis of Financial Economics. SSRN Electronic Journal. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.962697
Chung, R., Darrat, A., & Li, B. (2014) Superstitions and stock trading: some new evidence. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 19(4), 527-538. DOI: 10.1080/13547860.2014.920589
Stone, A., Schneider, S., & Harter, J. (2012) Day-of-week mood patterns in the United States: On the existence of ‘Blue Monday’, ‘Thank God it's Friday’ and weekend effects. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 7(4), 306-314. DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2012.691980
Schuld J, Slotta JE, Schuld S, Kollmar O, Schilling MK, & Richter S. (2011) Popular belief meets surgical reality: impact of lunar phases, Friday the 13th and zodiac signs on emergency operations and intraoperative blood loss. World journal of surgery, 35(9), 1945-9. PMID: 21713579
Almond D, Chee CP, Sviatschi MM, & Zhong N. (2015) Auspicious birth dates among Chinese in California. Economics and human biology, 153-9. PMID: 26160600
- April 15, 2016
- 07:31 AM
- 306 views
Size matters: age and telomeres
by sceintists from the Marine group at CEES in Marine Science blog
Growing evidence suggests that the telomeres’ length (a non-coding DNA sequence localized at the end of the chromosomes) is related to individual breeding performances and survival rates in several species.
... Read more »
Le Vaillant, M., Viblanc, V., Saraux, C., Le Bohec, C., Le Maho, Y., Kato, A., Criscuolo, F., & Ropert-Coudert, Y. (2015) Telomere length reflects individual quality in free-living adult king penguins. Polar Biology, 38(12), 2059-2067. DOI: 10.1007/s00300-015-1766-0
Carney Almroth, B., Skold, M., & Nilsson Skold, H. (2012) Gender differences in health and aging of Atlantic cod subject to size selective fishery. Biology Open, 1(9), 922-928. DOI: 10.1242/bio.20121446
Ovenden, J., Berry, O., Welch, D., Buckworth, R., & Dichmont, C. (2015) Ocean's eleven: a critical evaluation of the role of population, evolutionary and molecular genetics in the management of wild fisheries. Fish and Fisheries, 16(1), 125-159. DOI: 10.1111/faf.12052
- April 11, 2016
- 02:00 AM
- 460 views
Week 14 In Review: Open-Access Science | 4 to 10 April
by TakFurTheKaffe in Tak Fur The Kaffe
River flooding boosts carbon emissions, six new species of Chinese dragon millipedes discovered, how ancient animals adapted to climate change, maths tell palaeontologists where to find fossils, and the Arctic Ocean was ice-free ten million years ago. Here are five of the latest scientific studies published open-access this week.... Read more »
Stegen, J., Fredrickson, J., Wilkins, M., Konopka, A., Nelson, W., Arntzen, E., Chrisler, W., Chu, R., Danczak, R., Fansler, S.... (2016) Groundwater–surface water mixing shifts ecological assembly processes and stimulates organic carbon turnover. Nature Communications, 11237. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11237
Liu, W., Golovatch, S., & Tian, M. (2016) Six new species of dragon millipedes, genus Desmoxytes Chamberlin, 1923, mostly from caves in China (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Paradoxosomatidae). ZooKeys, 1-24. DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.577.7825
Botha-Brink, J., Codron, D., Huttenlocker, A., Angielczyk, K., & Ruta, M. (2016) Breeding Young as a Survival Strategy during Earth’s Greatest Mass Extinction. Scientific Reports, 24053. DOI: 10.1038/srep24053
Block, S., Saltré, F., Rodríguez-Rey, M., Fordham, D., Unkel, I., & Bradshaw, C. (2016) Where to Dig for Fossils: Combining Climate-Envelope, Taphonomy and Discovery Models. PLOS ONE, 11(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151090
Stein, R., Fahl, K., Schreck, M., Knorr, G., Niessen, F., Forwick, M., Gebhardt, C., Jensen, L., Kaminski, M., Kopf, A.... (2016) Evidence for ice-free summers in the late Miocene central Arctic Ocean. Nature Communications, 11148. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11148
- March 23, 2016
- 07:25 AM
- 628 views
Leaves Suck!
by Mark Lasbury in As Many Exceptions As Rules
People need the power of an elevator or our legs to rise high in a building, so how does water get from the roots of a tree to the very top leaves? Hint, it isn’t capillary action – even capillary tubes can move water only a few centimeters. The key is evaporation. But if water evaporates off plants, how do they survive during droughts? They have tricks to retain water, including developing big leaves and little leaves. Look carefully at some trees, you’ll find that they have t........ Read more »
von Caemmerer, S., & Baker, N. (2006) The Biology of Transpiration. From Guard Cells to Globe. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, 143(1), 3-3. DOI: 10.1104/pp.104.900213
Terashima, I. (2005) Irradiance and phenotype: comparative eco-development of sun and shade leaves in relation to photosynthetic CO2 diffusion. Journal of Experimental Botany, 57(2), 343-354. DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erj014
- March 9, 2016
- 12:25 AM
- 436 views
How environmental change can outpace genetic adaptation
by TakFurTheKaffe in Tak Fur The Kaffe
A now extinct population of butterflies could not adapt fast enough to habitat loss during the 20th century, shows new research.... Read more »
Fountain, T., Nieminen, M., Sirén, J., Wong, S., & Hanski, I. (2016) Predictable allele frequency changes due to habitat fragmentation in the Glanville fritillary butterfly. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(10), 2678-2683. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1600951113
- February 29, 2016
- 11:45 PM
- 485 views
From Limping to Leaping
by Aurametrix team in Environmental health
"Anno bisesto, anno funesto” (leap year, gloomy year), say Italians. “Leap year was ne’er a good sheep year” agrees an old Scottish proverb. "Високосный год "Урожай" соберет" (leap year will gather the "Harvest") warns a Russian saying implying that there will be plenty of disasters - calamities, catastrophes and cataclysms. But usually there are not. Leap years tend to be good for stocks (with the exception of the recent crashes in 2000 and 2008), al........ Read more »
Neumann, P. (1992) Leap-year problems. Communications of the ACM, 35(6), 162. DOI: 10.1145/129888.129900
Cohen CF, & Bachofer HJ. (1980) Hospital indicators: leap year distorts February statistics. Hospitals, 54(11), 43-6. PMID: 7372291
- February 28, 2016
- 08:35 AM
- 668 views
Week 8 In Review: Open-Access Science | 22 to 28 Feb
by TakFurTheKaffe in Tak Fur The Kaffe
Sea level rose faster in the 20th century than in any other century of the last 3,000 years, new methods for estimating future sea level rise and heat waves, consumers to blame for their carbon footprint, and new virtual forests predict future impacts of climate change. Here are five of the latest scientific studies published open-access this week.... Read more »
Kopp, R., Kemp, A., Bittermann, K., Horton, B., Donnelly, J., Gehrels, W., Hay, C., Mitrovica, J., Morrow, E., & Rahmstorf, S. (2016) Temperature-driven global sea-level variability in the Common Era. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201517056. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1517056113
Mengel, M., Levermann, A., Frieler, K., Robinson, A., Marzeion, B., & Winkelmann, R. (2016) Future sea level rise constrained by observations and long-term commitment. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201500515. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1500515113
Leary, E., Young, L., DuClos, C., & Jordan, M. (2015) Identifying Heat Waves in Florida: Considerations of Missing Weather Data. PLOS ONE, 10(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143471
Ivanova, D., Stadler, K., Steen-Olsen, K., Wood, R., Vita, G., Tukker, A., & Hertwich, E. (2015) Environmental Impact Assessment of Household Consumption. Journal of Industrial Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12371
Liénard, J., & Strigul, N. (2016) An individual-based forest model links canopy dynamics and shade tolerances along a soil moisture gradient. Royal Society Open Science, 3(2), 150589. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150589
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- February 25, 2016
- 03:05 PM
- 500 views
Grow, coral, grow!
by dominicwhite in Two Degrees or Under
I was just reading this fascinating article published online yesterday in Nature, called “Reversal of ocean acidification enhances net coral reef calcification“. The study is investigating what effect ocean acidification is having on reefs, a tricky problem as other confounding...... Read more »
Albright, R., Caldeira, L., Hosfelt, J., Kwiatkowski, L., Maclaren, J., Mason, B., Nebuchina, Y., Ninokawa, A., Pongratz, J., Ricke, K.... (2016) Reversal of ocean acidification enhances net coral reef calcification. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature17155
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