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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for August 6, 2010:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Turning down the noise in graphene- The Secret of Life May Be As Simple As What Happens Between the Sheets -- Mica Sheets
- The 'Magic' of Tin
- Greenland glacier calves island four times the size of Manhattan
- Newly discovered mechanism controls levels and efficacy of a marijuana-like substance in the brain
- Study finds beautiful women face discrimination in certain jobs
- Highlight: Biochemists discover that enzyme converts CO to propane
- Ice age permafrost unearthed in Poland to help clock warming
- Scientists provide a new angle on quantum cryptography
- Plants may benefit from aphid warning pheromone
- Genes from sweet pepper to fortify African banana against devastating wilt disease
- Researchers discover protein that shuttles RNA into cell mitochondria
- Human embryonic stem cells purified in new, rapid technique
- Planets Align for the Perseid Meteor Shower
- Hyperlocal Effects From A Changing Climate
Space & Earth news
Climate talks appear to slip backward
(AP) -- Global climate talks appeared to have slipped backward after five days of negotiations in Bonn, with rich and poor countries exchanging charges of reneging on agreements they made last year to contain greenhouse gases.
Pakistan says 12 mln affected by floods
(AP) -- Stormy weather grounded helicopters carrying emergency supplies to Pakistan's flood-ravaged northwest Friday as authorities said 12 million people had been affected and 650,000 houses destroyed in the disaster.
AIG pays $23M in Gulf spill claims, total may rise
(AP) -- Taxpayers took another hit, this one indirect, from the oil spill caused by the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion through insurance claims related to the disaster.
Officials to inspect ruptured Mich. oil pipeline
(AP) -- A ruptured section of pipeline that spewed hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into a southern Michigan river will be ready for inspection and removal shortly, officials said Thursday.
Health alarm as wildfire smog smothers Moscow
Smog from wildfires in the countryside cloaked Moscow on Friday, with the levels of toxic particles, raising alarm over public health and numerous commuters wearing anti-pollution masks.
NASA Images Show Continuing Mexico Quake Deformation
(PhysOrg.com) -- New NASA airborne radar images of Southern California near the U.S.-Mexico border show Earth's surface is continuing to deform following the April 4 magnitude, 7.2 temblor and its many aftershocks that have rocked Mexico's state of Baja California and parts of the American Southwest.
Scientists Warn of Louisiana Coastal Erosion
(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers, including three from Boston University, have released findings suggesting that current plans to introduce fresh water to inland marshes around the Louisiana Gulf Coast may weaken protective coastal barriers, leaving inland regions more vulnerable to hurricanes. The relative weakness of freshwater marshes compared to salty wetlands, they said, may help explain coastal erosion patterns after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
NASA's Hurricane Quest Set To Begin
In less than two weeks, NASA scientists will begin their quest for the holy grail of hurricane research.
Increasing 'Bad' Ozone Threatens Human and Plant Health
On July 6 this summer, Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality issued the region's first "unhealthy" air alert since 2008.
The worst impact of climate change may be how humanity reacts to it
The way that humanity reacts to climate change may do more damage to many areas of the planet than climate change itself unless we plan properly, an important new study published in Conservation Letters by Conservation International's Will Turner and a group of other leading scientists has concluded.
Mimicking the moon's surface in the basement
(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists used an ion beam in a basement room at Los Alamos National Laboratory to simulate solar winds on the surface of the Moon. The table-top simulation helped confirm that the Moon is inherently dry.
Hyperlocal Effects From A Changing Climate
Cities are made chiefly of concrete and asphalt, which soak up more sunlight during the day than soil and have a harder time radiating the heat away during the night. Add to that all the energy -- natural gas, electricity, gasoline -- used in high-density places, and cities become hot islands floating in a sea of cooler countryside.
Planets Align for the Perseid Meteor Shower
You know it's a good night when a beautiful alignment of planets is the second best thing that's going to happen. Thursday, August 12th, is such a night.
Ice age permafrost unearthed in Poland to help clock warming
Permafrost dating from the end of the last Ice Age around 13,000 years ago recently discovered in Poland could prove an invaluable tool in gauging global warming, Polish geologists said on Friday.
Greenland glacier calves island four times the size of Manhattan
A University of Delaware researcher reports that an "ice island" four times the size of Manhattan has calved from Greenland's Petermann Glacier. The last time the Arctic lost such a large chunk of ice was in 1962.
Technology news
Two recent cases highlight rising pattern of Internet harassment
A Chicago man accused of posting a fake Craigslist ad that said his sister was giving away all her possessions is facing misdemeanor charges after bargain-hunters descended on the woman's Joliet home looking to cart away her belongings.
New products plug you into electric-bill savings
Check your electric bill lately? Did it make you wince? You probably wondered where all those kilowatt-hours went.
Simplifying computer power behind phones, medical devices
From smart phones to medical equipment, embedded processors are everywhere and getting increasingly more powerful. One University of Houston (UH) professor's work with Texas Instruments (TI) is making it easier to develop these types of systems.
Boston Catholic newspaper now available on Kindle
(AP) -- The Archdiocese of Boston is expanding efforts to reach out to younger and more tech-savvy Catholics by making its weekly newspaper available on Kindle.
Google Books may advance humanities research, scholars say
When scholars seek to understand long-ago cultures, they tend to draw conclusions from the handful of famous writers and thinkers whose works endure today. John Stuart Mill and Thomas Carlyle peppered their books with words like "sunlight" and "hope," so their Victorian era is often thought of as earnest and optimistic.
SAP won't fight Oracle claims in espionage case
(AP) -- In a surprise twist in a corporate espionage case involving two of the world's biggest business software makers, SAP AG on Thursday said it won't fight claims that a subsidiary stole valuable data from rival Oracle Corp. and that SAP tried to use it to steal customers.
Toyota's Japan hybrid sales top one million
Toyota Motor said Friday that its hybrid vehicle sales in Japan had topped the one million mark and worldwide it had sold 2.68 million of the vehicles by the end of July.
Saudi Arabia suspends BlackBerry messaging: users
Saudi Arabia suspended BlackBerry messaging services on Friday, according to users of the smartphones, after mobile providers said the action was being taken due to security concerns.
Apple eye Chinese game developer Handseeing
US computer giant Apple is in negotiations to buy Chinese Internet game developer Handseeing Information Technology, a top executive with the Chinese firm said Friday.
Calif court clears way for Google age bias trial
(AP) -- The California Supreme Court says a former Google Inc. manager can sue the search engine on claims he was fired because of his age.
With ban looming, some Saudis sell off BlackBerrys
(AP) -- Some Saudis are trying to sell their BlackBerrys ahead of a ban on the smart phone's messenger service in the kingdom - but with few willing to buy, they're having to slash prices.
Swedish server host says helping WikiLeaks publish papers
A Swedish Internet company said Friday it had been helping whistleblower website WikiLeaks since 2008 by hosting its servers at a secret basement location in a Stockholm suburb.
NY official claims LCD suppliers fixed prices
(AP) -- New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has sued several major suppliers of liquid crystal display screens used in computers, televisions and cell phones, claiming consumers paid extra because of price fixing.
Google buys social networking application maker Slide
Google on Friday announced that it has bought hot online networking application maker Slide as part of a drive to "make Google services socially aware."
Medicine & Health news
Medicare fund will last extra 12 years - maybe
(AP) -- Medicare is in better shape because of President Barack Obama's sweeping health care overhaul and will stay afloat a dozen years longer than earlier projected, trustees forecast Thursday. But that depends on cuts in care that the system's top analyst says are highly doubtful.
Hospitals provide inadequate medical care in 40% of overdose deaths
Almost 40 per cent of people admitted to hospital after taking an overdose received sub-standard care that may have contributed to their death, a new study by researchers at the Universities of Manchester and Bristol has found.
Dual-purpose liposome offers intelligent diagnosis, drug delivery
Key objectives of modern health care are early and accurate diagnosis of a disease and quick remediation with minimal side effects.
Making CT scans kid-friendly
Ferdousi Dawood was worried. Her daughter's headaches were excruciating, and prescription medicines and natural remedies had failed to make a difference. Now, a doctor at Children's Memorial Hospital was recommending a CT scan to peer inside the 10-year-old's brain.
Australian study finds sunbeds greatly increase the risk of melanoma
(PhysOrg.com) -- A landmark Australian study has found that use of sunbeds by young people aged 18 to 39 years increased their risk of developing melanoma by an average 41 percent.
Highlight: The brain seconds that emotion
Smells from your childhood kitchen, the sight of friends and family in old photographs, the feel of a well-worn flannel shirt…all these sensory experiences can conjure up powerful memories.
Surgery better than radiation, hormone treatments for some prostate cancer, study shows
(PhysOrg.com) -- Surgery for localized prostate cancer offers a significantly higher survival rate than either external-beam radiation or hormonal therapies, according to a new study led by researchers at UCSF.
Psychiatrists evaluate patients through video uploads
(PhysOrg.com) -- Psychiatrists can accurately assess a patient's mental health by viewing videotaped interviews that are sent to them for consultation and treatment recommendations, according to a new study by researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine.
Tattooing linked to higher risk of hepatitis C: study
Youth, prison inmates and individuals with multiple tattoos that cover large parts of their bodies are at higher risk of contracting hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases, according to a University of British Columbia study.
New research: Children's vegetable intake linked to Popeye cartoons
Popeye cartoons, tasting parties and junior cooking classes can help increase vegetable intake in kindergarten children, according to new research published in the journal Nutrition & Dietetics.
British patients click online to see doctor
(AP) -- The doctor will see you now: Just click here.
Researchers discover protein that shuttles RNA into cell mitochondria
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine have uncovered a role for an essential cell protein in shuttling RNA into the mitochondria, the energy-producing "power plant" of the cell.
Newly discovered mechanism controls levels and efficacy of a marijuana-like substance in the brain
A newly discovered molecular mechanism helps control the amount and effectiveness of a substance that mimics an active ingredient in marijuana, but that is produced by the body's own nerve cells.
Biology news
Wildlife advocates hail Rocky Mountain wolf ruling
(AP) -- Wildlife advocates say a ruling to restore Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves throughout the Northern Rocky Mountains buys time to create a better plan than the one the judge rejected, one that ensures their numbers don't dwindle again.
The long and short of cell signaling
Like a telegraph transmission, the significance of a cellular signal can change greatly depending on whether it arrives as a brief 'dot' or a sustained 'dash'. For example, transient activation of extracellular receptor kinase 1/2 (ERK) by epidermal growth factor (EGF) causes cells to divide, while prolonged ERK activation induced by heregulin (HRG) instructs these same cells to differentiate.
Constant overlap: Scientists identify molecular machinery that maintains important feature of the spindle
During cell division, microtubules emanating from each of the spindle poles meet and overlap in the spindle's mid zone. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have uncovered the molecular mechanism that determines the extent of this overlap. In a study published today in Cell, they were able to reconstruct such anti-parallel microtubule overlaps in vitro, and identify two proteins which are sufficient to control the formation and size of this important spindle feature.
Unusual orange lobster saved from the pot
What's unusual about this orange lobster? Its alive! Lobsters are usually a brownish-green colour when living and turn orange when they have been cooked. But a rare live reddish-orange coloured specimen has been spotted in the UK.
Flower-dwelling yeast licensed for use against scab disease
A beneficial yeast that tolerates fungicide may offer a "one-two punch" against Fusarium graminearum, the fungal culprit behind Fusarium head blight ("scab").
NOAA divers capture invasive lionfish in the Virgin Islands National Park
Divers identified and killed a 15 cm long lionfish in Fish Bay along the southern coast of St. John, making this the fourth such capture and kill of the invasive fish in the Virgin Islands National Park.
Plants may benefit from aphid warning pheromone
(PhysOrg.com) -- If your building has 10 false fire alarms one morning, it is human nature to ignore it when it goes off for the 11th time.
Human embryonic stem cells purified in new, rapid technique
(PhysOrg.com) -- UCSF researchers are reporting the first success in very rapidly purifying one type of embryonic stem cell from a mix of many different types of embryonic stem cells in the culture dish. The technique, which avoids the need to genetically alter the cells to distinguish them, is a key advance, the researchers say, for obtaining the appropriate cells for repairing specific damaged tissues.
Genes from sweet pepper to fortify African banana against devastating wilt disease
In a major breakthrough, crop scientists announced today the successful transfer of green pepper genes to bananas, conferring on the popular fruit the means to resist one of the most devastating diseases of bananas in the Great Lakes region of Africa.
The Secret of Life May Be As Simple As What Happens Between the Sheets -- Mica Sheets
(PhysOrg.com) -- That age-old question, "where did life on Earth start?" now has a new answer. If the life between the mica sheets hypothesis is correct, life would have originated between sheets of mica that were layered like the pages in a book.
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