Fighting barnacle buildup with biology
San Diego CA (SPX) Aug 23, 2016 -
The coating of barnacles and other growth along the bottoms of boats is more than just an eyesore. Biofouling, as it is known, slows down ships and impedes the readiness of emergency response and military vessels. "Biofouling is an economic issue," said San Diego State University biologist Nick Shikuma.
A new study by Shikuma identifies key developmental steps these waterborne organisms mu ...
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Chimpanzees choose cooperation over competition
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 23, 2016 -
When given a choice between cooperating or competing, chimpanzees choose to cooperate five times more frequently Yerkes National Primate Research Center researchers have found.
This, the researchers say, challenges the perceptions humans are unique in our ability to cooperate and chimpanzees are overly competitive, and suggests the roots of human cooperation are shared with other primates. ...
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Antarctica's past shows region's vulnerability to climate change
Edinburgh, UK (SPX) Aug 23, 2016 -
Fresh understanding of West Antarctica has revealed how the region's ice sheet could become unstable in a warming world. Scientists studying the region's landscape have determined how it reacted to a period of warming after the coldest point of the most recent Ice Age, some 21,000 years ago.
As the Earth warmed, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet reached a tipping point after which it thinned re ...
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Bacteria could aid search for creatures on other planets
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Aug 22, 2016 -
Could there be a way to find bacterial structures on another planet? And if so, how important might these bacteria be in making a planet life-friendly? These are some of the questions that could be answered through studies on stromatolites, which are mounds of calcium-carbonate rock that are built up through lime-secreting cyanobacteria (bacteria that use photosynthesis for energy).
The re ...
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Some signs of induced seismicity spotted in Salton Trough's geothermal production fields
San Francisco CA (SPX) Aug 23, 2016 -
In some parts of Southern California's Brawley Seismic Zone, geothermal energy production may be increasing the background seismicity rate, but changes in earthquake rates elsewhere in the area seem to have natural causes, according to a report published online August 23 in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
Geothermal energy production in the Salton Trough's Brawley Sei ...
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Study measures methane release from Arctic permafrost
Fairbanks AK (SPX) Aug 23, 2016 -
A University of Alaska Fairbanks-led research project has provided the first modern evidence of a landscape-level permafrost carbon feedback, in which thawing permafrost releases ancient carbon as climate-warming greenhouse gases.
The project, led by UAF researcher Katey Walter Anthony, studied lakes in Alaska, Canada, Sweden and Siberia where permafrost thaw surrounding lakes led to lake ...
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Logged rainforests can be an 'ark' for mammals, extensive study shows
London, UK (SPX) Aug 23, 2016 -
Research reveals that large areas of 'degraded' forest in Southeast Asia can play an important role in conserving mammal diversity. Mammals can be one of the hardest-hit groups by habitat loss, and a lot of research has been carried out to find the best ways to conserve mammal diversity.
Much of this research has focused on very large-scale changes in land use and the impacts this will hav ...
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In the ocean, clever camouflage beats super sight
Durham NC (SPX) Aug 23, 2016 -
In a matchup of animal superpowers, a clever form of camouflage might beat super sight - at least in the ocean. There's nowhere to hide in the open ocean, far from the shore or the seafloor. But some fish have a clever disappearing trick. The silvery skin of fish like herring, sardines, mackerel and tuna act like mirrors, reflecting their watery surroundings to better blend in. The effect serves ...
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Beetles pollinated orchids millions of year ago, fossil evidence shows
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 23, 2016 -
When most people hear the word "pollinator," they think of bees and butterflies. However, certain beetles are known to pollinate plants as well, and new fossil evidence indicates that they were doing so 20 million years ago. A new study in American Entomologist by George Poinar, Jr. (Oregon State University) describes beetles found in fossilized amber with orchid pollen in their mouthparts.
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Better understanding seismic hazards
Tempe AZ (SPX) Aug 23, 2016 -
The April 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal killed more than 8,000 people and injured more than 21,000. With a magnitude of 7.8, it was the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal-Bihar earthquake.
Researchers Kelin Whipple, Manoochehr Shirzaei, Kip Hodges, and Ramon Arrowsmith of ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration were quick to begin analyzing the data from this ...
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Sick animals limit disease transmission by isolating themselves from their peers
Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Aug 23, 2016 -
When animals get sick, they may change their behaviour, becoming less active, for example. The study's lead author, Patricia Lopes from the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich, says that previous research in wild animals has generally ignored how this change in behaviour may affect social contacts in a group and how, in turn, these changes can ...
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