Damn the deniers, the doubters, and the do-nothing Congress. The Pentagon is moving full green ahead.
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Rob Gillies and his team gather data on Nepal’s changing climate for a research project. They log temperatures, raindrops and snow. They pump the numbers into powerful computers and read the trend lines the computers ... Delete the scoop?
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New research finds that “unusual changes in atmospheric jet stream circulation caused the exceptional surface melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) in summer 2012.” Prof. Delete the scoop?
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Consolidating pictures, videos, e-mails and documents on remote servers saves more energy than keeping them on personal computers Delete the scoop?
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The quality of wakefulness affects how quickly a mammal falls asleep, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report in a study that identifies two proteins never before linked to alertness and sleep-wake balance. Delete the scoop?
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The early debate around a key provision wasn’t about anything like mass collection of phone records. Delete the scoop?
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Mannitol, a sugar alcohol produced by fungi, bacteria and algae, is a common component of sugar-free gum and candy. The sweetener is also used in the medical field. Now a team from Tel Aviv Univ. Delete the scoop?
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The development-at-any-cost policies of Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan — a key factor behind the protests and clashes in Istanbul’s Taksim Square — are also playing a role in the steady decline of the nation’s porpoises, dolphins, and... Delete the scoop?
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Southern California depends on the mountain snowpack for part of its water—and that snow is about to get less reliable. Delete the scoop?
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Whether you’re a self-professed oenophile or just enjoy an occasional glass of red table wine with dinner, navigating the labels of wines that purport to be eco-friendly can be confusing: “100-percent organic,” “made with organic ingredients,” “natural” or “vegan-friendly.” But before you give up on finding a greener glass of wine, check out Earth911’s guide to wines that aim to please your palate and seek to reduce their impact on the planet. Delete the scoop?
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A landmark study by WWF and CDP aims to change the conversation in business about addressing climate change — primarily by showing how profitable it can be to do so. Delete the scoop?
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As leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the USA and the UK descend on Northern Ireland for their yearly G8 jamboree, even the most conservative of bodies are calling for urgent action on climate change. Delete the scoop?
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Discovery of how parasite sticks to blood vessels could lead to new means to combat malaria.
Malaria parasites grow in red blood cells and stick to the endothelial lining of blood vessels through a large family of parasite proteins called PfEMP1. This way, the parasite avoids being carried with the blood to the spleen, where it would otherwise be destroyed. One of the most aggressive forms of malaria parasite binds in brain blood vessels, causing a disease called cerebral malaria.
In 2012, three groups of researchers, including the teams at the University of Copenhagen and Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, showed that a specific type of PfEMP1 protein was responsible for cerebral binding and other severe forms of malaria infection. However, until now, the receptor to which it binds remained unknown, and the next big question was to determine which receptors the infected red blood cells were binding to.
“The first big challenge was to generate a full-length PfEMP1 protein in the laboratory,” says Assistant Professor Louise Turner at the University of Copenhagen. “Next, we utilized a new technology developed by Retrogenix LTD in the United Kingdom to examine which of over 2,500 human proteins this PfEMP1 protein could bind to.” Of the 2,500 proteins screened, a receptor called endothelial protein C (EPCR) was the single solid hit.
“A lot of work then went into confirm this binding in the lab and not least to show that parasites from non-immune children with severe malaria symptoms in Tanzania often bound EPCR,” she continues.
“It was a true eureka moment,” says Assistant Professor Thomas Lavstsen. “Under normal conditions, ECPR plays a crucial role in regulating blood clotting, inflammation, cell death and the permeability of blood vessels. The discovery that parasites bind and interfere with this receptor´s normal function may help us explain why severe symptoms of malaria develop."
Severe malaria symptoms such as cerebral malaria often result in minor blood clots in the brain. One of our body´s responses to malaria infection is to produce inflammatory cytokines, but too much inflammation is dangerous, describes Professor Joseph Smith, from the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute.
“ECPR and a factor in the blood called protein C act as a ‘brake’ on blood coagulation and endothelial cell inflammation and also enhance the viability and integrity of blood vessels, but when the malaria parasites use PfEMP1 to bind EPCR, they may interfere with the normal function of EPCR, and thus the binding can be the catalyst for the violent reaction,” he explains.
“Now that we know the pair of proteins involved, we can begin zooming further in to reveal the molecular details of how malaria parasites grab onto the sides of blood vessels. We want to know exactly which bits of the parasite protein are needed to bind to the receptor in the blood vessel wall. Then, we can aim to design vaccines or drugs to prevent this binding.”
Via Dr. Stefan Gruenwald, W H Unsell Delete the scoop?
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Ben Freed reports in the Ann Arbor Business Review that Algal Scientific – a startup which emerged from Michigan State University in 2008 to use algae for reducing the costs of water treatment... 
Marian Locksley's curator insight,
Today, 2:49 AM
Further testing on the species of algae they were using to clean up the water revealed it was worth more as a dietary supplement than a simple fertilizer. The algae were high in the sugar compound known as beta glucan, which acts as an immune system booster. “About a year and a half ago we realized that this beta glucan that was in the algae we were already using was very valuable,” said Geoff Horst, a Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University at the time, and now the company’s chief science officer. “It is worth $20,000 to $30,000 per ton and at that price point we figured, ‘Wow, we can make a lot of money with this.’ ”
Right now, the most popular source for beta glucan is certain types of yeast that develop the chain of sugar molecules in their cell walls. The species of algae used by Algal Scientific is more than 50 percent beta glucan, while yeast has just 5 to 15 percent beta glucan content and requires an expensive process to extract the compound from the cell walls. “It’s a unique species of algae,” says Horst.
“You probably wouldn’t encounter it in a local pond or lake, but it’s not genetically-modified. It’s a naturally occurring species, just not a very common one.” Delete the scoop?
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TORONTO -- Outgoing U.S. ambassador to Canada David Jacobson says the Obama administration knows how important the controversial Keystone XL pipeline is to Canada but he won't speculate about how much it would damage the relationship should it not... Delete the scoop?
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Ok, let me apologize for the sound of my questions - I'm getting a second lavalier so that won't happen again. That plus altitude induced hoarseness. I was interviewing Richard Alley at a conferenc... Delete the scoop?
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Caring for Climate was launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in July 2007. The initiative is jointly convened by the United Nations Global Compact, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Caring for Climate endeavors to help prevent a climate change crisis by mobilizing a critical mass of business leaders to implement and recommend climate change solutions and policies. Delete the scoop?
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Former Bank of America employees gave sworn statements that the bank lied to homeowners, denied loan modifications for bogus reasons and rewarded employees for sending homeowners to foreclosure. Delete the scoop?
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A prolific elephant poacher in Chad has been captured by authorities and paraded to the media. The poacher Hassan Idriss, also known as Gargaf is said to be behind the slaughter of 89 elephants in one night (14-15 March) near to Ganba. Delete the scoop?
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Environment minister Tony Burke says the government has done its best to stop downgrading of UN heritage status Delete the scoop?
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Aameena Mohammed gives her 20-month- old daughter Daslim Banu plenty to eat. The girl’s mother supplements breast milk with eggs, soup and rice to help her grow. The extra food doesn’t help. Delete the scoop?
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Ford kicked off an effort to expand its water strategy by asking execs and experts to imagine extreme uncertainties about water supplies. Delete the scoop?
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has vowed to tackle climate change in his second term, but so far has not acted to strengthen a tool that does not require backing from Congress - the National... Delete the scoop?
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Marian Locksley's curator insight,
June 11, 1:40 PM
Protecting vulnerable Delete the scoop?
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In 2012, 91% of corrugated packaging used in the U.S. was recycled. That makes corrugated the most recycled packaging material, according to a news release from the Washington, D.C.-based Corrugated Packaging Alliance.
Via Duane Tilden 
Duane Tilden's curator insight,
June 12, 3:04 PM
Corrugated’s recycling record has improved significantly since 1993, when about 55% of the material was recycled, according to the alliance. Delete the scoop?
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