Earth

Many scientists have studied fossils from gigantic marine lizards called mosasaurs that lived at the time of the dinosaurs and flourished in ancient seas, but little is known about aspects of their breeding and birth. Investigators have gained new insights from young mosasaur specimens collected over 100 years ago that had previously been thought to belong to ancient marine birds.

They weren't in the delivery room, but researchers at Yale University and the University of Toronto have discovered a new birth story for a gigantic marine lizard that once roamed the oceans. Thanks to recently identified specimens at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, paleontologists now believe that mighty mosasaurs -- which could grow to 50 feet long -- gave birth to their young in the open ocean, not on or near shore.

Researchers at The University of Manchester have made a significant breakthrough in the development of synthetic pathways that will enable renewable biosynthesis of the gas propane. This research is part of a programme of work aimed at developing the next generation of biofuels.

An eruption of lithium at the tip of a battery's electrode, cracks in the electrode's body, and a coat forming on the electrode's surface reveal how recharging a battery many times leads to its demise.

New research shows that Lake Erie's dead zones are actually quite active, greatly affecting fish distributions, catch rates and the effectiveness of fishing gear.

University of Illinois scientists reported in Archives of Virology evidence of the new mastrevirus, tentatively named switchgrass mosaic-associated virus 1 (SgMaV-1). Other members of the mastrevirus genus, a group of DNA viruses, are known to be responsible for decimating yields in staple food crops (including corn, wheat and sugarcane) throughout Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. It has never been reported in North America. The switchgrass exhibited mosaic symptoms--splotchy, discolored leaves--characteristic of a viral infection, yet tested negative for known infections.

A new species of South American fossil terror bird called Llallawavis scagliai ("Scaglia's Magnificent Bird") is shedding light on the diversity of the group and how these giant extinct predators interacted with their environment. The new species, described in the latest issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, is the most complete terror bird ever discovered, with more than 90% of the skeleton exquisitely preserved.

The one common element in recent weather has been oddness. The West Coast has been warm and parched; the East Coast has been cold and snowed under. Fish are swimming into new waters, and hungry seals are washing up on California beaches.

A long-lived patch of warm water off the West Coast, about 1 to 4 degrees Celsius (2 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, is part of what's wreaking much of this mayhem, according to two University of Washington papers to appear in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

University of Georgia entomologists have unlocked one of the hormonal mechanisms that allow mosquitoes to produce eggs.

The results provide insight into how reproduction is regulated in female mosquitoes, which transmit agents that cause malaria and other diseases in humans and domestic animals. Their work was published in the April edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

After decades in ornithological obscurity, one of the world's least-known birds is finally coming to light thanks to the persistence of a small group of researchers. Pablo Negret, Oscar Garzón, Pablo Stevenson, and Oscar Laverde-R. of the Universidad de los Andes have just published the results of their year-long study of the Black Tinamou (Tinamus osgoodi hershkovitzi) in The Auk: Ornithological Advances, including new ecological information as well as some of the first video and sound recordings of this elusive species.

What helps children who have just met form a connection? A new study shows that a simple game played together in sync on a computer led 8-year-olds to report a greater sense of similarity and closeness immediately after the activity.

Children who played the same game but not in a synchronous way did not report the same increase in connection.

The findings, published April 8 by PLOS ONE, give an example of how a physical activity performed in unison helps children feel more positively toward each other and could perhaps increase their empathy.

Including a new broccoli variety in the diet reduces blood LDL-cholesterol levels by around 6%, according to the results of human trials led by the Institute of Food Research.

The broccoli variety was bred to contain two to three times more of a naturally occurring compound glucoraphanin. It is now available in supermarkets, under the name Beneforte.

Working with colleagues at the University of Reading, in two independent studies, the researchers gave a total of 130 volunteers 400g of the high glucoraphanin broccoli per week to include in their normal diet.

The use of asbestos continues to increase in Asia despite clear health hazards. A recent Respirology review notes that with approximately 4.3 billion people and a growing population, Asia will likely see a large crop of asbestos-related lung diseases in the next few decades. Some of the cases will be benign, but it is likely that there will be many cases of mesothelioma and lung cancer.

Efforts are needed to improve the recognition and diagnosis of asbestos-related lung diseases, and government and non-government groups must cooperate to take steps to prevent them.

Scientists at the University of Granada have found that the long-tailed lizard, Psammodromus algirus, is larger when living at high altitude, with a cold climate, than at a lower, and therefore warmer, altitude. In addition, lizards living at over 2,000 meters retain heat longer because they are larger.

Soil, long thought to be a semi-permanent storehouse for ancient carbon, may be releasing carbon dioxide to the atmosphere faster than anyone thought, according to Oregon State University soil scientists.

In a study published in this week's online edition of the journal Nature Climate Change, the researchers showed that chemicals emitted by plant roots act on carbon that is bonded to minerals in the soil, breaking the bonds and exposing previously protected carbon to decomposition by microbes.