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. An international research team has studied the distribution of plant species in mountainous environments. The study shows that mountain plant communities are not particularly resistant to invasion by exotic species. The scientists also warn that these may become more aggressive as global warming gets a grip. http://phys.org/news183299024.html Biology Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:24:22 EST news183299024 The Sierra Nevada mountain range reached its present height 50 million years ago -- 30 million years earlier than geologists once believed, according to a new study. http://phys.org/news182453897.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:10:01 EST news182453897 Lava flowing from a volcanic eruption in eastern DR Congo was gathering pace and set to destroy up to 10 hectares (25 acres) of forest in Virunga National Park by late Sunday, vulcanologists said. http://phys.org/news181805466.html Space & Earth Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:00:01 EST news181805466 The world's rarest -- and most camera shy -- great ape has finally been captured on professional video on a forested mountain in Cameroon, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society and Germany's NDR Naturfilm. http://phys.org/news180190748.html Biology Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:59:42 EST news180190748 "So many disparate elements, both natural and man-made, converge in the Himalayas," said William Lau, a climatologist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "There's no other place in the world that could produce such a powerful atmospheric heat pump," referring to a new hypothesis he's put forward to explain the rapid retreat of Himalayan glaciers in recent decades. http://phys.org/news180083985.html Space & Earth Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:20:09 EST news180083985 New space observations reveal that since October 2003, the aquifers for California's primary agricultural region - the Central Valley - and its major mountain water source - the Sierra Nevada - have lost nearly enough water combined to fill Lake Mead, America's largest reservoir. The findings, based on satellite data, reflect California's extended drought and increased pumping of groundwater for human uses such as irrigation. http://phys.org/news180025402.html Space & Earth Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:20:01 EST news180025402 A surge in sunshine more than 60 years ago helped Swiss mountain glaciers melt faster than today, even though warmer average temperatures are being recorded now, Swiss researchers said Monday. http://phys.org/news180024364.html Space & Earth Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:00:03 EST news180024364 Imagine that an unknown force hacks your city into two chunks. Because of this new barrier, you can’t get from your home to your office or the grocery store. Suddenly, your access to critical resources is restricted and your life is immeasurably more difficult. http://phys.org/news179683230.html Biology Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:30:01 EST news179683230 Even the snow on Aconcagua Mountain in the Andes is polluted with PCBs. An international team of researchers detected low concentrations of these toxic, carcinogenic chlorine compounds in samples taken from America's highest mountain. http://phys.org/news179407119.html Space & Earth Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:25:11 EST news179407119 A Smoky Mountain forest's woodland herb population has shown that climate may play a role in how forest understories recover from logging, according to Purdue University research. http://phys.org/news178983040.html Space & Earth Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:31:06 EST news178983040 (PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Alberta researcher has turned the site of a southern Alberta rockslide tragedy into the proving ground for new equipment meant to avert such a disaster in the future. http://phys.org/news178547053.html Space & Earth Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:25:08 EST news178547053 The mysterious Monarch butterfly, which migrates en masse annually between Canada and Mexico, is now facing a new peril: another insect thriving in Western Mexican forests. http://phys.org/news178046357.html Biology Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:19:43 EST news178046357 Mountain goats are no exception to the general rule among mammals that larger males sire more and healthier offspring. But University of Alberta researcher David Coltman has found a genetic quirk that might make female mountain goats think twice about their romantic partners. http://phys.org/news177692981.html Biology Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:20:02 EST news177692981 PIC=32536:left]Increasing temperatures at high altitudes are fueling the post-1950 growth spurt seen in bristlecone pines, the world's oldest trees, according to new research. http://phys.org/news177608541.html Space & Earth Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:30:01 EST news177608541 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists hope to improve the survival odds of the endangered snow leopard in Nepal by venturing into the remote Himalayas to study its main prey, the Bharal or blue sheep. http://phys.org/news176720093.html Biology Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:55:25 EST news176720093 Officials in southern Colombia have issued a code orange alert for the newly-active Galeras volcano which they said could erupt in a matter of days or weeks, according to the state-run Geological and Mining Institute. http://phys.org/news176318698.html Space & Earth Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:25:25 EST news176318698 (AP) -- He's hairy, his table manners are atrocious, and he wants to be your friend on Facebook. http://phys.org/news173168532.html Biology Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:23:36 EST news173168532 Researchers from the University of Segovia and the University of León have shown for the first time the close space-time relationship between the presence of the griffon vulture and transhumant sheep farming in mountain passes. Transhumance has fallen in some parts of Spain by up to 80% over the past four years. The scientists say that traditional livestock farming practices are crucial for the preservation of mountain ecosystems. http://phys.org/news172845403.html Biology Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:37:15 EST news172845403 Titus the Gorilla King, who became the world's most famous mountain gorilla after starring in Dian Fossey's "Gorillas in the Mist" and a BBC documentary, has died in Rwanda at the ripe old age of 35. http://phys.org/news172240902.html Biology Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:00:03 EST news172240902 Research by U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists and partners suggests that the expansion of rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) in Southern Appalachian mountain hollows may increase the likelihood of landslides during and after intense rain events. http://phys.org/news170946074.html Biology Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:20:01 EST news170946074 The search for the best observatory site in the world has lead to the discovery of what is thought to be the coldest, driest, calmest place on Earth. No human is thought to have ever been there but it is expected to yield images of the heavens three times sharper than any ever taken from the ground. http://phys.org/news170932769.html Space & Earth Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:08:09 EST news170932769 (PhysOrg.com) -- There must be times when University of Alberta researcher David Coltman wishes his study on animal personalities focused on something small, like a house cat. Coltman would classify cats that bring home dead mice as "bold" personalities and tabbies that stick close to their food bowls and the couch would be ranked as "shy." http://phys.org/news169999440.html Biology Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:06:45 EST news169999440 Like a human being who, with a compromised immune system, is vulnerable to secondary diseases, jack pine trees ravaged by budworms may be more susceptible to an invasion of mountain pine beetles. http://phys.org/news169217806.html Biology Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:57:30 EST news169217806 Taking dexamathasone prophlyactically may improve exercise capacity in some mountaineers, according to Swiss researchers. Dexamathasone, known popularly to climbers as "dex," has been used for years to treat altitude-related symptoms in mountaineers, but has never been tested for its ability to improve exercise capacity at high altitude. http://phys.org/news169212677.html Medicine & Health Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:50:04 EST news169212677 (PhysOrg.com) -- Mountain gorillas do not pose an AIDS threat to humans, according to researchers at the UC Davis Mountain Gorilla One Health Program. http://phys.org/news168622869.html Medicine & Health Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:00:03 EST news168622869 For the first time in nearly 50 years, a population of a nearly extinct frog has been rediscovered in the San Bernardino National Forest's San Jacinto Wilderness. Biologists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessing suitability of sites to re-establish frogs and scientists from the San Diego Natural History Museum retracing a 1908 natural history expedition both rediscovered the rare mountain yellow-legged frog in the San Jacinto Wilderness near Idyllwild, Calif. http://phys.org/news167720913.html Biology Sat, 25 Jul 2009 07:10:01 EST news167720913 Thread-like fungi that grow in soils at high elevations may play an important role in restoring whitebark and limber pine forests in Canada. Montana State University professor Cathy Cripps is looking for ways to use fungi to help pine seedlings get a strong start. http://phys.org/news167057753.html Biology Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:56:44 EST news167057753 The withdrawal of Nevada's Yucca Mountain as a potential nuclear waste repository has reopened the debate over how and where to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste. http://phys.org/news166367921.html Other Sciences Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:19:36 EST news166367921 (PhysOrg.com) -- Accelerated snowmelt--precipitated by desert dust blowing into the mountains--changes how alpine plants respond to seasonal climate cues that regulate their life cycles, according to results of a new study reported this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). These results indicate that global warming may have a greater influence on plants' annual growth cycles than previously thought. http://phys.org/news165516077.html Space & Earth Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:20:03 EST news165516077 Research at the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter has shown that fish kept alone or in small groups are more aggressive and exhibit fewer natural behaviors such as shoaling. Dr Katherine Sloman will discuss the findings and their implications for welfare guidelines for aquarium fish at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday June 29. http://phys.org/news165488244.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:10:03 EST news165488244