ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

Seeing a larger number of species on urban coastlines -- from marine animals to seaweed -- is likely to improve the wellbeing of local people and visitors, new research has revealed.  The findings provide further evidence that biodiversity brings wide-ranging benefits.   Studies of land-based environments such as meadows, woodlands, and city parks have shown that people often find places that contain lots of different types of plant and animal life to be more visually pleasing and interesting, as well as more likely to relieve stress.   However, we know much less about seashore species and whether they generate the same positive feelings that land-based wildlife does, despite almost half of the world's population living close to the coast.

A new method blocks the protein regulation of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii and causes it to die off inside the host cell.

Many doctors caution their pregnant patients to avoid cat feces; even the family pet's litter box is off-limits. Now a group of researchers from Clemson University have discovered a promising therapy for those who suffer from toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by the microscopic protozoa Toxoplasma gondii.

After running simulations on the world's most powerful supercomputer, an international team of researchers has developed a theory for the nuclear structure and origin of carbon-12, the stuff of life. The theory favors the production of carbon-12 in the cosmos.

A purely mechanical method can produce a novel, more sustainable fertilizer in a less polluting way. Scientists have optimized a production method that is an adaptation of an ancient technique: by milling two common ingredients, urea and gypsum, the scientists produce a new solid compound that slowly releases two chemical elements critical to soil fertilization, nitrogen, and calcium. The milling method is rapid, efficient, and clean -- as is the fertilizer product, which has the potential to reduce the nitrogen pollution that fouls water systems and contributes to climate change.

Fruit flies continue to mate with each other even when infected with deadly pathogens -- reveals a new study.

Ancient moa DNA has provided insights into how species react to climate change, a new study has found.

Scientists describe the design and construction of artificial membrane channels, engineered using short segments of DNA. The DNA constructions behave much in the manner of natural cell channels or pores, offering selective transport of ions, proteins, and other cargo, with enhanced features unavailable in their naturally occurring counterparts.

Humans are undoubtedly altering the natural environment. But how wild animals respond to these changes is complex and unclear. Scientists have now discovered significant differences in how the brain works in two distinct personality types: those who act fearless and those who seem afraid of new things. Being fearless can help wildlife, specifically birds, find new food sources, explore new nesting areas and help them adapt to changes in their environment; but being afraid can also help protect them from dangerous novel things in their environment such as cars.