Environmental News

Plant biologists discovered for the first time how factors arising from the mother and father in flowering plants cooperate to develop the shape of their child. Until now, it has been unknown whether paternal factors cooperate or conflict with each other to bring about zygote asymmetry. The outcome of this discovery is expected to shed light on the exact mechanism of plant body shape formation and possibly lead to the generation of new hybrid plants.

The global explosion of new roads is rife with economic, social, and environmental dangers, according to a new study.

New research indicates that certain occupations may put workers at an elevated risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis. The findings suggest that work-related factors, such as noxious airborne agents, may contribute to the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. Environmental factors are thought to play a role in the development of rheumatoid arthritis by triggering autoimmune reactions in susceptible individuals.

Humpback whales can migrate thousands of miles to reach feeding grounds each year, but a new study concludes that their fidelity to certain local habitats -- as passed on through the generations -- and the protection of these habitats are key to understanding the ultimate recovery of this endangered species.

A multi-year survey of the nutritional, physiological and reproductive health of endangered southern resident killer whales suggests that up to two-thirds of pregnancies failed in this population from 2007 to 2014. The study links this orca population's low reproductive success to stress brought on by low or variable abundance of their most nutrient-rich prey, Chinook salmon.

Modern whales' ancestors probably hunted and chased down prey, but somehow, those fish-eating hunters evolved into filter-feeding leviathans. An analysis of a 36.4-million-year-old whale fossil suggests that before baleen whales lost their teeth, they were suction feeders that most likely dove down and sucked prey into their mouths. The study also shows that whales most likely lost the hind limbs that stuck out from their bodies more recently than previously estimated.

Teams of scientists have carried out the most detailed, extended observations of atmospheric chemistry ever attempted in one place, in patch of ponderosa pine forest in Colorado, and found previously unmeasured compounds.

Scientists have isolated an enzyme that controls the levels of two plant hormones simultaneously, linking the molecular pathways for growth and defense. Similar to animals, plants have evolved small molecules called hormones to control key events such as growth, reproduction and responses to infections.

A common Great Barrier Reef coral species has enough genetic diversity to survive at least 100 years before succumbing to global warming, researchers predict.

People have a remarkable ability to remember and recall events from the past, even when those events didn't hold any particular importance at the time they occurred. Now, researchers have evidence that dogs have that kind of "episodic memory" too.