Killer bees may increase food supplies for native bees
Aggressive African bees were accidentally released in Brazil in 1957. As "killer bees" spread northward, David Roubik, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, began a 17-year study that revealed that Africanized bees caused less damage to native bees than changes in the weather and may have increased the... view more... (2009-10-02)
New genomic model defines microbes by diet -- provides tool for tracking environmental change
In line with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) interest in characterizing the biotic factors involved in global carbon cycling, the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) characterizes a diverse array of plants, microorganisms, and the communities in which they reside to inform options for reducing and stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases. view more (2009-09-08)
Earth's biogeochemical cycles, once in concert, falling out of sync
What do the Gulf of Mexico's "dead zone," global climate change, and acid rain have in common? They're all a result of human impacts to Earth's biology, chemistry and geology, and the natural cycles that involve all three. view more (2009-08-04)
ASU instrument takes better look at Mars minerals
A slow drift in the orbit of NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft that mission controllers started nine months ago is now giving an ASU instrument on the spacecraft a better and more sensitive view of minerals on the surface of Mars. view more (2009-06-23)
Global sunscreen won't save corals
Emergency plans to counteract global warming by artificially shading the Earth from incoming sunlight might lower the planet's temperature a few degrees, but such "geoengineering" solutions would do little to stop the acidification of the world oceans that threatens coral reefs and other marine life. view more (2009-06-17)
Caltech scientists predict greater longevity for planets with life
Roughly a billion years from now, the ever-increasing radiation from the sun will have heated Earth into inhabitability; the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that serves as food for plant life will disappear, pulled out by the weathering of rocks; the oceans will evaporate; and all living things will disappear. view more (2009-06-15)
New cleaning protocol for future 'search for life' missions
Scientists have developed a new cleaning protocol for space hardware, such as the scoops of Mars rovers, which could be used on future "Search for Life" missions on other planets. view more (2009-06-08)
Biosphere 2 experiment shows how fast heat could kill drought-stressed trees
Widespread die-off of piñon pine across the southwestern United States during future droughts will occur at least five times faster if climate warms by 4 degrees Celsius, even if future droughts are no worse than droughts of the past century, scientists have discovered in experiments conducted at the University of Arizona's Biosphere 2. view more (2009-04-14)
Genetic adaptations key to microbe's survival in challenging environment
The genome of a marine bacterium living 2,500 meters below the ocean's surface is providing clues to how life adapts in extreme thermal and chemical gradients, according to an article published Feb. 6 in the journal PLoS Genetics, an open-access publication published by the Public Library of Science. view more (2009-02-11)
Ecologists say metabolism accounts for why natural selection favors only some species
Why are some species of plants and animals favored by natural selection? And why does natural selection not favor other species similarly? view more (2008-11-04)
Earlier global warming produced a whole new form of life
Researchers from McGill University, along with colleagues from the California Institute of Technology, the Curie Institute in Paris, Princeton University and other institutions, have unearthed crystalline magnetic fossils of a previously unknown species of microorganism that lived at the boundary of the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, some 55 million... view more... (2008-10-23)
Ecological restoration as a tool for reversing ecosystem fragmentation
Ecosystem fragmentation, along with many other global trends, is causing the natural world to undergo profound changes at all spatial scales from the micro-habitat to the continental. view more (2008-10-09)
Deep biosphere research points to new methods for recovering petroleum
Miles below us, deep within Earth's crust, life is astir. Organisms there are not the large creatures typically envisioned when thinking of life. view more (2008-10-08)
Bovine tuberculosis in wildlife threatens endangered lynx and cattle health
In an epidemiological survey of Spain's Doñana National Park, the findings of which are published on July 23 in the journal PLoS ONE, Christian Gortázar and colleagues studied the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) infection among populations of wild boar, red deer and fallow deer in the national park, which is located in... view more... (2008-07-23)
Nature publishes new evidence about the deep biosphere written by biogeoscientists
Biogeoscientists show evidence of 90 billion tons of microbial organisms-expressed in terms of carbon mass-living in the deep biosphere, in a research article published online by Nature, July 20, 2008. view more (2008-07-21)
Scientists may have solved an ecological riddle
A team of scientists may have solved the riddle of why plants that work with bacteria to convert atmospheric nitrogen gas into an essential biological nutrient (ammonia) tend to prevail in the world's tropical regions rather than higher latitudes. view more (2008-06-19)
Study finds healthy intestinal bacteria within chicken eggs: Finding could have important implications for poultry industry, food safety
The conventional wisdom among scientists has long been that birds acquire the intestinal bacteria that are necessary for good health from their environment, but a new University of Georgia study finds that chickens are actually born with those bacteria. view more (2008-06-04)
Key molecule discovered in Venus's atmosphere
Venus Express has detected the molecule hydroxyl on another planet for the first time. This detection gives scientists an important new tool to unlock the workings of Venus's dense atmosphere. view more (2008-05-16)
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there? Probably not, according to a scientist from the University of East Anglia. A mathematical model produced by Prof Andrew Watson suggests that the odds of finding new life on other Earth-like planets are low, given the time it has taken for beings such as humans to evolve and the remaining life span of Earth. view more (2008-04-17)
LSU scientist finds evidence of 'rain-making' bacteria
Brent Christner, LSU professor of biological sciences, in partnership with colleagues in Montana and France, recently found evidence that rain-making bacteria are widely distributed in the atmosphere. view more (2008-02-29)
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