http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- In the past decade, microbiologists began realizing that communities of microbes process energy and materials, which affects their environments. To understand how microbial communities function in a natural ecosystem, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists developed a novel kinetic model that represents microbial community dynamics in soil pores. http://phys.org/news247824425.html Biology Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:20:01 EST news247824425 New research reveals how the arrival of the first plants 470 million years ago triggered a series of ice ages. Led by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford, the study is published today (February 1, 2012) in Nature Geoscience. http://phys.org/news247296454.html Space & Earth Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:27:48 EST news247296454 A group of 35 researchers from institutions all along the eastern seaboard gathered at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science last week to further integrate and refine field measurements and computer models of carbon cycling in the waters along the U.S. East Coast. http://phys.org/news246554174.html Space & Earth Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:28:23 EST news246554174 U.S. scientists have developed a new, integrated, ten-year science plan to better understand the details of Earth's carbon cycle and people's role in it. Understanding the carbon cycle is central for mitigating climate change and developing a sustainable future. The plan builds on the first such plan, published in 1999, but identifies new research areas such as the role of humans as agents and managers of carbon cycling and climate change, the direct impact of greenhouse gases on ecosystems including changes to the diversity of plants and animals and ocean acidification, the need to address social concerns, and how best to communicate scientific results to the public and decision makers. http://phys.org/news240662599.html Space & Earth Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:43:25 EST news240662599 (PhysOrg.com) -- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists have found that carbon is stored in the soils and sediments of the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin for a surprisingly long time, making it likely that global warming could destabilize the pool of carbon there and in similar places on Earth, potentially increasing the rate of CO2 release into the atmosphere. http://phys.org/news240055691.html Space & Earth Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:08:24 EST news240055691 From the North Pole to the Arctic Ocean, the frozen soils within this region keep an estimated 1,672 billion metric tons of carbon out of the Earth's atmosphere. This sequestered carbon is more than 250 times the amount of greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the United States in the year 2009. As global temperatures slowly rise, however, so too do concerns regarding the potential impacts upon the carbon cycle when the permafrost thaws and releases the carbon that has been trapped for eons. Like so many of the planet's critical environmental processes, the smallest players—microbes—have the most significant influence over the eventual outcome. http://phys.org/news239806538.html Biology Sun, 06 Nov 2011 13:00:01 EST news239806538 (PhysOrg.com) -- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists have discovered that bacterial communication could have a significant impact on the planet's climate. http://phys.org/news237652548.html Space & Earth Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:36:02 EST news237652548 (PhysOrg.com) -- Assumptions over the rate at which soil bacteria will break down carbon in the face of global warming must be re-addressed, according to some of the world’s leading experts. http://phys.org/news237038088.html Space & Earth Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:00:01 EST news237038088 We know for certain that life exists in the Milky Way galaxy: that life is us. Scientists are continually looking to understand more about how life on our planet came to be and the conditions that must be met for its survival, and whether those conditions can be replicated elsewhere in the Universe. It turns out that looking at our entire Galaxy, rather than focusing just on life-giving properties of our planet or indeed the habitability of regions of our own Solar System, is a good place to start. http://phys.org/news235988517.html Space & Earth Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:00:02 EST news235988517 Scientists have speculated for some time that the Earth's carbon cycle extends deep into the planet's interior, but until now there has been no direct evidence. The mantle–Earth's thickest layer –is largely inaccessible. A team of researchers analyzed diamonds that originated from the lower mantle at depths of 435 miles (700 kilometers) or more, and erupted to the surface in volcanic rocks called kimberlites. http://phys.org/news235313239.html Space & Earth Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:00:01 EST news235313239 Marine algae that turn carbon dissolved in seawater into shell will produce thinner and thinner shells as carbon dioxide levels increase. http://phys.org/news232079865.html Space & Earth Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:37:58 EST news232079865 Carbon Explorer floats follow ocean currents, yo-yoing back and forth in the first kilometer below the surface of the sea, then resurfacing to report their data and receive new instructions via satellite. Since the early 2000s a dozen Carbon Explorers have produced detailed information on the carbon cycle in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern Oceans – information that would be unaffordable and in some cases impossible to obtain from shipboard. http://phys.org/news231498525.html Space & Earth Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:09:12 EST news231498525 A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientist, analyzing ancient plankton DNA signatures in sediments of the Black Sea, has found for the first time that the same genetic populations of a virus and its algal host can persist and coexist for centuries. The findings have implications for the ecological significance of viruses in shaping algae ecosystems in the ocean, and perhaps fresh water as well. http://phys.org/news230471821.html Biology Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:00:10 EST news230471821 Fungi play key roles in nature and are valued for their great importance in industry. Consider citric acid, a key additive in several foods and pharmaceuticals produced on a large-scale basis for decades with the help of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. While A. niger is an integral player in the carbon cycle, it possesses an arsenal of enzymes that can be deployed in breaking down plant cell walls to free up sugars that can then be fermented and distilled into biofuel, a process being optimized by U.S. Department of Energy researchers. http://phys.org/news224512169.html Biology Fri, 13 May 2011 14:00:01 EST news224512169 An international team of researchers led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has deciphered the genome of a tropical marine organism known to produce substances potentially useful against human diseases. http://phys.org/news224179703.html Biology Mon, 09 May 2011 17:09:07 EST news224179703 (PhysOrg.com) -- The Earth may be able to recover from rising carbon dioxide emissions faster than previously thought, according to evidence from a prehistoric event analyzed by a Purdue University-led team. http://phys.org/news222614717.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:25:38 EST news222614717 Chemical changes in tree leaves subjected to warmer, drier conditions that could result from climate change may reduce the availability of soil nutrients, according to a Purdue University study. http://phys.org/news221237032.html Biology Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:44:14 EST news221237032 Lignin is the durable biopolymer that gives carrots their fiber and crunch and meat grilled over a campfire its characteristic smoky flavor. Acting as the glue that holds the plant cell wall together, lignin imparts tremendous mechanical strength to the plant. Present in all land plants except mosses, lignin performs three important functions: it allows plants to grow upright as they compete for sunlight, it facilitates the upward movement of water and minerals through the plant's vascular tissue, and it protects plants from pathogens and foraging animals. Lignin also sequesters atmospheric carbon in its tissues and thereby plays an important role in the carbon cycle. Approximately 30% of non-fossil organic carbon is stored in lignin, and, after cellulose, lignin is the most abundant biological polymer on Earth. http://phys.org/news220782604.html Biology Thu, 31 Mar 2011 09:30:33 EST news220782604 Kudzu, the plant scourge of the U.S. Southeast. The long tendrils of this woody vine, or liana, are on the move north with a warming climate. http://phys.org/news220269743.html Space & Earth Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:03:06 EST news220269743 Massive methane reservoirs in the ancient ocean could account for an unexplained hiccup in Earth's carbon cycle. http://phys.org/news219991064.html Space & Earth Tue, 22 Mar 2011 05:38:20 EST news219991064 An article in the current issue of Global Change Biology Bioenergy proposes a new method to account for CO2 emissions from biomass combustion in bioenergy systems. http://phys.org/news219487801.html Space & Earth Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:51:51 EST news219487801 Tropical deforestation not only has a large impact on the carbon cycle and climate, but also affects the chemistry of the atmosphere. http://phys.org/news218226696.html Space & Earth Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:32:16 EST news218226696 Algae play key roles in the global carbon cycle, helping sequester significant amounts of carbon. Some algal species can bloom, or become so numerous, that they discolor coastal waters and reduce the amount of light and oxygen available in the ecosystem. Previously known as "red tide," the term "harmful algal blooms" (HABs) was introduced two decades ago to note accumulation of algal biomass can sometimes also turn the ocean waters brown or green and disrupt an ecosystem, or that red-colored waters can sometimes be harmless. http://phys.org/news217522848.html Biology Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:01:29 EST news217522848 Genghis Khan and his Mongol hordes had an impact on the global carbon cycle as big as today's annual demand for gasoline. The Black Death, on the other hand, came and went too quickly for it to cause much of a blip in the global carbon budget. Dwarfing both of these events, however, has been the historical trend towards increasing deforestation, which over centuries has released vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as crop and pasture lands expanded to feed growing human populations. Even Genghis Kahn couldn't stop it for long. http://phys.org/news214750680.html Space & Earth Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:59:34 EST news214750680 Most college students in the United States do not grasp the scientific basis of the carbon cycle – an essential skill in understanding the causes and consequences of climate change, according to research published in the January issue of BioScience. http://phys.org/news213615609.html Other Sciences Fri, 07 Jan 2011 09:40:18 EST news213615609 University of Massachusetts Amherst microbiologists Derek Lovley, Zarath Summers and colleagues report in the Dec. 2 issue of Science that they have discovered a new cooperative behavior in anaerobic bacteria, known as interspecies electron transfer, that could have important implications for the global carbon cycle and bioenergy. http://phys.org/news210521968.html Biology Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:19:48 EST news210521968 As part of the procedure to realise ESA's series of Earth Explorers, two new mission proposals have been selected for further development. The missions, called FLEX and CarbonSat, now vying to be the eighth Earth Explorer both address key climate and environmental change issues. http://phys.org/news209989384.html Space & Earth Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:23:31 EST news209989384 (PhysOrg.com) -- Decades of whaling and fishing for the largest species have altered the ability of oceans to store and sequester carbon, according to a team of marine researchers from the University of Maine, the University of British Columbia and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI). http://phys.org/news202985104.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:45:30 EST news202985104 Meteorologists have determined exactly how much carbon dioxide humans can emit into the atmosphere while ensuring that the Earth does not heat up by more than two degrees. http://phys.org/news199972358.html Space & Earth Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:06:25 EST news199972358 Two recent international studies are poised to change the way scientists view the crucial relationship between Earth's climate and the carbon cycle. These reports explore the global photosynthesis and respiration rates -- the planet's deep "breaths" of carbon dioxide, in and out -- and researchers say that the new findings will be used to update and improve upon traditional models that couple together climate and carbon. http://phys.org/news197545620.html Space & Earth Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:00:02 EST news197545620