ScienceDaily: Earth & Climate News
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- New RBSP instrument telemetry provides 'textbook' excitement
- Rare cliffhanging plant species uses unique reproductive strategy with ants
- New African monkey species identified: Lesula found in one of Congo's last biologically unexplored forest blocks
- Himalayan glaciers retreating at accelerated rate in some regions: Consequences for water supply remain unclear
- Studies shed light on how to reduce the amount of toxins in plant-derived foods
- Old deeds, witness trees offer glimpse of pre-settlement forest in West Virginia
- Major update to Europe's 'alien' species catalogue
- Galápagos tomato provides key to making cultivated tomatoes resistant to whitefly
- Little Ice Age led to migration of island hopping arctic foxes
Posted: 12 Sep 2012 04:14 PM PDT
In
the very early hours of Sept. 1 -- just under two days since the 4:05
a.m. EDT launch of NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes -- the team at the
RBSP Mission Operations Center (MOC) controlling spacecraft A at the
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. was about to
power up that spacecraft's Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope
(REPT-A), one of the instruments that comprise the Energetic Particle,
Composition, and Thermal Plasma Suite (ECT).
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Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:45 PM PDT
The
Borderea chouardii plant, which is critically endangered and is found
only on two adjacent cliff sides in the Pyrenees, employs a unique and
risky doubly mutualistic reproductive strategy with local ants,
according to new research.
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Posted: 12 Sep 2012 03:45 PM PDT
Researchers
have identified a new species of African monkey, locally known as the
lesula. This is only the second new species of African monkey discovered
in the last 28 years.
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Posted: 12 Sep 2012 09:58 AM PDT
Glaciers
in the eastern and central regions of the Himalayas appear to be
retreating at accelerating rates, similar to those in other areas of the
world.
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Posted: 12 Sep 2012 09:55 AM PDT
A
number of environmental toxins pose considerable health threats to
humans, and the heavy metal cadmium (Cd) ranks high on the list. Most of
us are exposed to it through plant-derived foods such as grains and
vegetables. Now, new research offers ways in which investigators can
reduce the amount of Cd found in the food we eat.
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Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:50 AM PDT
Using
old deeds and witness trees, a U.S. Forest Service scientist has
created a glimpse of the composition of the forests that covered today's
Monongahela National Forest before settlement and logging changed the
landscape.
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Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:47 AM PDT
The
key catalogue of information on 'alien' (non-native) species in Europe
has undergone a major update. The DAISIE (Delivering Alien Invasive
Species Inventory for Europe) database allows the public and
policymakers to get a comprehensive overview of which alien species are
present in Europe, their impacts and consequences for the environment
and society.
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Posted: 12 Sep 2012 05:47 AM PDT
The
whitefly is a major problem for open field tomato cultivation
throughout the world. Scientists in the Netherlands together with a
number of partners have discovered genes for resistance to the whitefly
in a wild relative of the common tomato. The scientists hope that
resistant varieties can be brought to market within two years, making
chemical pest control unnecessary.
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Posted: 11 Sep 2012 05:05 PM PDT
The
Little Ice Age allowed a new wave of arctic foxes to colonise Iceland,
according to new research. A "bridge" of sea ice appeared during a dip
in temperatures between 200 to 500 years ago allowing arctic foxes to
migrate to Iceland from different Arctic regions including Russia, North
America and Greenland. Researchers say their findings showed the
importance of sea ice in creating and maintaining the genetic population
of the arctic fox across the polar regions where the animal is found.
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