Environmental in Biological News

New insights into health and environmental effects of carbon nanoparticles

A new study raises the possibility that flies and other insects that encounter nanomaterial "hot spots," or spills, near manufacturing facilities in the future could pick up and transport nanoparticles on their bodies, transferring the particles to other flies or habitats in the environment. The s...

Hybrid vehicle rebates produce scant environmental benefits, high cost

Despite major costs to taxpayers in the U.S. and Canada, government programs that offer rebates to hybrid vehicle buyers are failing to produce environmental benefits, a new UBC study says. The study finds that hybrid sales have come largely at the expense of small, relatively fuel-efficient, c...

Family planning a major environmental impact

CORVALLIS, Ore. Some people who are serious about wanting to reduce their "carbon footprint" on the Earth have one choice available to them that may yield a large long-term benefit have one less child. A study by statisticians at Oregon State University concluded that in the United States, th...

Sex in the Caribbean: Environmental change drives evolutionary change -- eventually

Hungry, sexual organisms replaced well-fed, clonal organisms in the Caribbean Sea as the Isthmus of Panama arose, separating the Caribbean from the Pacific, report researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The fossil record shows that if...

UNH researcher receives presidential environmental award

DURHAM, N.H. University of New Hampshire professor Frederick Short was co-recipient of the prestigious Coastal America Partnership Award the only environmental award of its kind given by the U.S. president for his contributions to a project that restored eelgrass to coastal salt ponds in Rhode ...

Stanford's Woods Institute awards new round of Environmental Venture Projects

The Woods Institute for the Environment has awarded four new Environmental Venture Projects (EVP) grants for interdisciplinary research aimed at finding practical solutions promoting global sustainability. Four Stanford University faculty teams will receive a total of $791,692 over the next ...

River delta areas can provide clue to environmental changes, Texas A&M prof says

Sediments released by many of the world's largest river deltas to the global oceans have been changed drastically in the last 50 years, largely as a result of human activity, says a Texas A&M University researcher who emphasizes that the historical information that can be gathered from sediment co...

River delta areas can provide clue to environmental changes, Texas A&M prof says

Sediments released by many of the world's largest river deltas to the global oceans have been changed drastically in the last 50 years, largely as a result of human activity, says a Texas A&M University researcher who emphasizes that the historical information that can be gathered from sediment co...

Students least informed about environmental science are most optimistic

Will problems associated with environmental issues improve in the next two decades? According to an analysis of student performance on PISA 2006--an international assessment of 15-year-olds--students who are the best informed about environmental science and the geosciences are also the most realis...

Professor to measure environmental impact of war

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has invited Michel A. Bouchard, a professor from the Universit de Montral's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, to help evaluate the ecological impact of the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its neighboring countries. Three international...

Autism Speaks funds $5 million to studies on genetic and environmental risk factors for autism

NEW YORK, NY (February 26,2009) Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, today announced that it has committed $5 million to investigate genetic and environmental risk factors for autism. The project will expand and link two large-scale, multi-site studies fo...

Winners of Tyler environmental prize announced

Two scientists who found warning signs of climate change in the upper atmosphere and in the deepest ice sheets will share the 2009 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. The award, consisting of a $200,000 cash prize and gold medals, will go to Richard Alley, professor of geosciences at Pe...

Polar research reveals new evidence of global environmental change

This release is available in French and Spanish . The wide-ranging IPY findings result from more than 160 endorsed science projects assembled from researchers in more than 60 countries. Launched in March 2007, the IPY covers a two-year period to March 2009 to allow for observations durin...

NTU seals global partnerships on environmental sciences R&D

Bacteria is often thought of as harmful yet few know that bacteria can be used for water treatment. To further research the role of bacteria in water treatment, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is partnering with three leading institutions across three continents. Researchers will study the ...

What we don’t know still hurts us, environmental researchers warn

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Knowledge gaps continue to hobble scientists' assessments of the environment, a Michigan State University researcher and colleagues warn. Their warning follows sobering conclusions drawn from what they do know and could help set the global agenda for research funding in the ...

Invasive plants challenge scientists in face of environmental change

Managing invasive plant species on the Great Plains has become more challenging in recent years in the face of human-caused environmental change, including the positive responses of invaders to altered atmospheric chemistry and longer growing seasons, says a University of Colorado at Boulder profe...

Benefits of breastfeeding outweigh risk of infant exposure to environmental chemicals in breastmilk

New Rochelle, NY, December 16, 2008A study comparing breastfed and formula fed infants across time showed that the known beneficial effects of breastfeeding are greater than the potential risks associated with infant exposure to chemicals such as dioxins that may be present in breastmilk, accordin...

First fuel-handling facility in the Galapagos earns environmental certification

WASHINGTON, December 15, 2008 The first fuel-handling facility in the Galpagos Islandsa region of great biodiversity and evolutionary importancewas given official environmental certification today, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced. The facility underwent extreme renovations in order to meet c...

Queen's University biologists find new environmental threat in North American lakes

Kingston, ON A new and insidious environmental threat has been detected in North American lakes by researchers from Queen's and York universities. Along with scientists from several Canadian government laboratories, the team has documented biological damage caused by declining levels of calciu...

Pollution at home lurks unrecognized, instead attributed to large-scale environmental disasters

WASHINGTON, DC Although Americans are becoming increasingly aware of toxic chemical exposure from everyday household products like bisphenol A in some baby bottles and lead in some toys, women do not readily connect typical household products with personal chemical exposure and related adverse he...

Track your fitness, environmental impact with new cell phone applications

Planning on gobbling a few extra treats this holiday season? Soon, your cell phone may be able to help you maintain your exercise routine and keep the pounds off over winter months, without your having to lift a finger to keep track. Researchers at the University of Washington and Intel have cr...

Workshop on environmental nanoparticles at UD, Nov. 10-11

The University of Delaware will host "Environmental Nanoparticles: Science, Ethics & Policy" on Nov. 10-11 at the John M. Clayton Hall Conference Center in Newark, Del. The registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 20. The workshop, which is co-sponsored by UD's Center for Critical Zone Research an...

Top scientific meeting urges coordinated response to economic and environmental crises

A fix for the economy must address ecological threats, a top international scientific meeting here has urged. Human society is moving dangerously beyond the planet's natural limits in a striking parallel to the financial debt crisis. "We're running the planet like a subprime loan," Dr. Johan Rocks...

North American environmental commission launches trinational vaquita conservation plan

Mexicali, Mexico, 28 October 2008 In response to the urgent need to save the vaquita porpoise, the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States asked the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) to formulate a strategy to support Mexico's efforts to recover the world's most-endangere...

Childhood environmental health

Children are exposed to a wide range of environmental threats that can affect their health and development early in life, throughout their youth and into adulthood. Writing in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Environmental Health scientists from the World Health Organization a...

Yale journal finds nanomaterials may have large environmental footprint

New Haven, Conn.Environmental gains derived from the use of nanomaterials may be offset in part by the process used to manufacture them, according to research published in a special issue of the Journal of Industrial Ecology . Hatice Şengl and colleagues at the University of Illinois at ...

Experts agree: Environmental standards needed for biofuels

EAST LANSING, Mich. The United States lacks the standards to ensure that producing biofuels from cellulose won't cause environmental harm, says a distinguished group of international scientists. But because the industry is so young, policymakers have an exceptional opportunity to develop incentiv...

6 environmental research studies reveal critical health risks from plastic

Amsterdam, 2 October 2008 - Exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates and flame retardants (PBDEs) are strongly associated with adverse health effects on humans and laboratory animals. A special section in the October 2008 issue of Environmental Research, "A Plastic World" provides critical new...

New center will focus environmental debate and produce solutions for action

PHILADELPHIAThe Academy of Natural Sciences today announced a new Center for Environmental Policy that will bring together disparate parties in the wide-ranging environmental debate and offer practical solutions for managing the region's natural resources. The center will be funded by an $8...

Children's gardening programs grow environmental stewards

COLLEGE STATION, TX - A new generation has come of age since the first celebration of Earth Day in 1970. For this and future generations, environmental awareness is an important and burgeoning point of reference. Today's urban children live in environments that offer little chance for direct co...

Growing a garden of future environmental leaders

(Washington, D.C. - Sept. 29, 2008) How do you grow future leaders to develop sustainable energy solutions for America? Start with the sun and the wind. That's what EPA's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grantee Matthias Fripp is doing at the University of California at Berkeley with his three-ye...

Lack of large-scale experiments slows progress of environmental restoration

Madison, Wisc. - September 23, 2008 A new study finds that environmental restoration research using large experimental tests has been limited. The study, published in Restoration Ecology, maintains that for restoration to progress as a science and a practice, more research should be done on who...

NSF and EPA establish 2 centers for environmental implications of nanotechnology

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have made awards to establish two Centers for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEIN). The centers, led by UCLA and Duke University, will study how nanomaterials interact with the environmen...

UCLA, partners establish new center on environmental effects of nanotechnology

UCLA and 12 collaborating institutions have been awarded $24 million in federal funding to establish the University of California Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN), which will help researchers design safer and more environmentally benign nanomaterials. The cen...

Duke to lead new NSF, EPA center to study the environmental implications of nanotechnology

DURHAM, NC--The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have awarded $14.4 million to create the Center for Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT) to explore the potential ecological hazards of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are as much as a ...

NSF funds multi-university center to study environmental implications of nanotechnology

Blacksburg, Va. Researchers from geosciences and civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech are part of a consortium of four principal universities and five other schools awarded a multi-million dollar grant to study nanotechnology and the environment. This is one of only two such conso...

NIEHS invests $21.25 million to find environmental causes of Parkinson's disease

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today that it will award three new grants totaling $21.25 million over a five-year period to study how environmental factors contribute to the cause, prevention and treatment...

University to showcase cutting edge environmental research

Experts in engineering, chemistry, architecture, physics and economics will join forces at the University of Bath to discuss the climate change challenge. They will also host an exhibition of some of the region's cutting edge research in the fields of sustainable energy and the environment. Tod...

Improving industry efficiency through environmental innovations

Innovations and the Environment provides strong evidence that companies can reduce emissions at socially acceptable costs. The author, Yoram Krozer, General Director of the Cartesius Institute (the Dutch technical universities' Institute for Sustainable Innovations), shows that the technology ex...

Dartmouth workshop sets research agenda for environmental mercury

HANOVER, NH Embracing the belief that an interdisciplinary and coordinated research agenda can have a profound impact on advancing science and influencing policy, a group of experts has developed a roadmap for improving our understanding of how mercury moves through the marine ecosystem and into ...