The European Space Agency working with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization have announced a new land cover, the observed biophysical cover of the earth’s surface, map. The map, called GlobCover, is based upon twenty Terabytes of data and will offer resolution ten times greater than any previous attempt. Current Plans are for the map to be released freely to the public sometime after it’s completion in July.

Scientist will use the map to continue to further refine climate models, analyze the impact of human development, and help manage resources. GlobCover comprises of twenty two different land types and is compatible with the UN Land Cover Classification System. John Latham of FAO said ”The GlobCover product will be the first freely available product at 300m resolution and is therefore a milestone product which will be fundamental to broad level stakeholder community.”

Biotech Mashup is eager to see the final product and cannot wait for the inevitable Google Earth modification. A demonstration of the current map is available in the link.

Next time you go to put a handful of fresh, fluffy, white snow into your mouth, think bacteria. A recent report in Science Magazine found that bacteria often function as nuclei in forming snowflakes, a surprisingly common side job for them. Snowflake formation requires the presence of some particulate matter in order to condense around. Atmospheric dust would be the obvious contender. Snow samples were taken from widely dispersed areas including Antarctica, France, Montana and the Yukon, although most bacteria were found in French snow (for whatever that tidbit is worth). In some samples, bacteria comprised up to 85% of snowflake nuclei.

Since cloud seeding is an important way for humans to influence precipitation, this research begs the question of how we can put this knowledge to use to increase snow fall in otherwise lacking areas (ski resorts and drought areas, for instance). Blowing bacteria into the sky may not be the best solution, but by studying what makes bacteria one of nature’s first choices for snow formation, we might be able to come up with something that is both eco-friendly and equally as efficient.  

A group of scientists from Cardiff University, University of London, and Max Planck Institute for Ornithology have reported in PLoS ONE, for the first time, that when birds eat small invertebrates contaminated with environmental pollutants, significant changes occur in both the bird’s behavior and their brain. Surprisingly, male European starlings that have been exposed to higher levels of natural and synthetic estrogen, found in sewage effluent, sing longer and more complex songs than their controlled male counterparts. What is so unique about this research is that the group of scientists were able to show that the key brain area controlling male song complexity (HVC) was significantly enlarged due to the pollution. Not surprisingly, female songbirds prefer to mate with birds who sing songs which are stronger and go on for a longer period of time, and thus choose males with higher pollution levels.

Although this seems beneficial in reality more harm than good is happening to these hyped up polluted birds. As predicted by the scientists, the birds that have exposure to pollutants have suppressed cell-mediated and humoral immune functions. As a result, females choose to mate with polluted male birds despite their reduced immune functions. The scientists conclude that “[O]ur data suggest that female starlings would bias their choice towards exposed males, with possible consequences at the population level.” 

Although we feel troubled by the fact that these birds are negatively affected by the sewage waste, it is surprising that the pollution improves the songbirds song – a key evolutionary function in these birds. Yet, we remain hopeful that the reporting of the pollution problem will subsequently save these songbirds and other species from extinction.