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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for August 11, 2010:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- RIM Working on a Tablet For November Release- Inherited brain activity predicts childhood risk for anxiety
- Arctic rocks offer new glimpse of primitive Earth
- Energy storage system deals with sudden draws on the grid
- Texas petrochemical emissions down, but still underestimated, says study
- Apple takes gulp of strong, glossy Liquidmetal
- Study shows behaviors and attitudes towards oral sex are changing
- Giant ultraviolet rings found in resurrected galaxies
- Using bone marrow stem cells to treat critically ill patients on verge of respiratory failure
- MRI scans show brain's response to actions of others
- New paper offers breakthrough on blinking molecules phenomena
- Rain contributes to cycling patterns of clouds
- WHO list reveals pandemic flu advisors with industry ties
- Huge ice island could pose threat to oil, shipping
- Scientists developing cancer breath test
Space & Earth news
NASA and Israel space agency sign statement of intent for future cooperation
(PhysOrg.com) -- During a meeting Tuesday at NASA Headquarters in Washington, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Israel Space Agency Director General Zvi Kaplan signed a joint statement of intent to expand the agencies' cooperation in civil space activities.
Tropical depression halts drilling at Gulf well
(AP) -- Drilling the final feet of a relief well intended to permanently plug the busted BP oil well deep below the Gulf of Mexico will have to wait two to three days as a strengthening tropical depression bears down on the site.
Ambitious survey spots stellar nurseries
Astronomers scanning the skies as part of ESO's VISTA Magellanic Cloud survey have now obtained a spectacular picture of the Tarantula Nebula in our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. This panoramic near-infrared view captures the nebula itself in great detail as well as the rich surrounding area of sky. The image was obtained at the start of a very ambitious survey of our neighboring galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds, and their environment.
WISE spacecraft warming up
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is warming up. Team members say the spacecraft is running out of the frozen coolant needed to keep its heat-sensitive instrument chilled.
Paving slabs that clean the air
The concentrations of toxic nitrogen oxide that are present in German cities regularly exceed the maximum permitted levels. That's now about to change, as innovative paving slabs that will help protect the environment are being introduced. Coated in titanium dioxide nanoparticles, they reduce the amount of nitrogen oxide in the air.
Rain contributes to cycling patterns of clouds
Like shifting sand dunes, some clouds disappear in one place and reappear in another. New work this week in Nature shows why: Rain causes air to move vertically, which breaks down and builds up cloud walls. The air movement forms patterns in low clouds that remain cohesive structures even while appearing to shift about the sky, due to a principle called self-organization.
Huge ice island could pose threat to oil, shipping
(AP) -- An island of ice more than four times the size of Manhattan is drifting across the Arctic Ocean after breaking off from a glacier in Greenland.
Astronauts embark on second spacewalk to fix cooling system
NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station Wednesday began a second spacewalk to work on repairing a failed cooling system, the space agency said.
Making sense of space dust: Researchers explore solar system's origins
The chemical breakdown of minerals that may be lurking in space dust soon will be available to scientists around the world.
Arctic rocks offer new glimpse of primitive Earth
Scientists have discovered a new window into the Earth's violent past. Geochemical evidence from volcanic rocks collected on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic suggests that beneath it lies a region of the Earth's mantle that has largely escaped the billions of years of melting and geological churning that has affected the rest of the planet. Researchers believe the discovery offers clues to the early chemical evolution of the Earth.
Texas petrochemical emissions down, but still underestimated, says study
A thick blanket of yellow haze hovering over Houston as a result of chemical pollution produced by manufacturing petroleum products may be getting a little bit thinner, according to a new study.
Giant ultraviolet rings found in resurrected galaxies
Astronomers have found mysterious, giant loops of ultraviolet light in aged, massive galaxies, which seem to have a second lease on life. Somehow these "over-the-hill galaxies" have been infused with fresh gas to form new stars that power these truly gargantuan rings, some of which could encircle several Milky Way galaxies.
Space station astronauts succeed with repair work
(AP) -- Spacewalking astronauts relied on brute force Wednesday to remove a broken coolant pump that has hampered operations at the International Space Station.
Technology news
New browsers aim to corral social-network explosion
It just got to be too much - the 255 Facebook friends, the four e-mail accounts, the Flickr and Picasa photo albums, the LinkedIn updates, the daily tech blogs I follow and the Twitter feed that never stops disgorging rumors and tips.
NPL unveils quantitative means of monitoring ultrasonic cleaning systems
Ultrasonic Cleaning Systems are widely used in healthcare applications during the sterilization of surgical instruments, and in many manufacturing and process industries. They work by passing a high frequency sound wave through a liquid detergent to create thousands of small bubbles. The sound waves then makes the bubbles implode with such force, that the impacts remove contaminant particles from submerged materials.
Making vehicles safer
A car's crash components can spell the difference between life and death. Their job is to absorb energy in a collision in order to protect the driver inside. Researchers have now found a way for the automotive industry to mass-produce a particularly safe class of materials known as thermoplastic fiber composite components.
Timber with antennas
In the future, wood-based radio tags will optimize logistics processes in the forestry. These RFID transponders consist of paper and lignin, an integral part of plants. Thus, they do not disrupt the processing of logs and still make it possible to capture entire truckloads of timber
Library service software glitch creates student data breach at 6 Fla. colleges
Confidential information for about 126,000 students and employees at six community colleges in Florida were publicly available on the Internet for five days, a state library service center announced Tuesday.
Observing Ramadan? There's an app for that
(AP) -- The most ancient traditions of Islam are going high-tech, with a slew of modern offerings for those observing the holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week.
Distracted drivers benefit from in-car driving coach
Although many states have banned using handheld cell phones at the wheel, a ban is difficult to enforce, and doesn't cover the growing number of gadgets now available.
Atari aims to revitalize aging brand, battered balance sheet
In the new West Los Angeles corporate offices of Atari Inc., the desks are mostly empty and the walls are mostly bare, but there's a red neon logo in the lobby that almost anyone would recognize.
Computer scientist saves industry curiosities for museum
In the mid-1980s, as part of his computer business, Bob Roswell began accumulating a surplus of unsold and unwanted computers that he couldn't bring himself to throw away.
Women fight underrepresentation among game developers, players
In certain corners of the gaming world, women are treated in one of two ways.
Leave no trace of your electronic correspondence
Before e-mail, we sent letters to each other and in the business world, they were like mini-contracts. Whatever was said in those documents could be used to confirm agreements, conditions, promises made, whatever. Now when you call someone, there's no record of what was said so unless the conversation was being recorded, there really is no way to prove what was said. Of course the conversation may have been recorded but that's still illegal in most states unless both parties agree to being recorded, and there's an audio tone being heard every few seconds on the recording. But you can't always call someone so we still need to correspond.
Research aims to improve speech recognition software
Anyone who has used an automated airline reservation system has experienced the promise - and the frustration - inherent in today's automatic speech recognition technology. When it works, the computer "understands" that you want to book a flight to Austin rather than Boston, for example. Research conducted by Binghamton University's Stephen Zahorian aims to improve the accuracy of such programs.
Broadband adoption slows down, but blacks catch up
(AP) -- The adoption of high-speed Internet service in homes has slowed to a crawl this year after a decade of rapid growth, according to two new studies. And it looks as if broadband is going to be a tough sell for those who don't already have it.
Off to the office aboard the AutoTram
Electric and hybrid vehicles will take over the cities: cars, bicycles, buses and streetcars. New concepts are needed for individual and local public transportation. In the large-scale project "Fraunhofer System Research on Electric-Powered Mobility", researchers are developing solutions for mobility of the future. The first results have now been presented.
Open software platform helps to save energy
Starting 2011, energy suppliers will be obligated to offer variable power prices. A new energy management software platform will enable customers in future to opt for fl exible electricity rates, so that they can purchase power at times when it is available more cheaply.A further advantage is better utilization of the power grid.
Hydrogen causes metal to break
Hydrogen is considered the fuel of the future. Yet this lightest of the chemical elements can embrittle the metals used in vehicle engineering. The result: components suddenly malfunction and break. A new special laboratory is aiding researchers' search for hydrogen-compatible metals..
Energy storage system deals with sudden draws on the grid
Time for a quick cuppa? When the final whistle blows, demand for electricity usually soars, causing a headache for energy companies.
Medicine & Health news
Study finds similar personality types in male and female domestic violence perpetrators
New research published in the August edition of the American Psychological Association's Journal of Abnormal Psychology, is providing a better picture of the roles played by gender, personality and mental illness in domestic violence.
Raltegravir intensification has no effect on residual viremia in HIV-infected patients on ART
In a double blind trial published this week in PLoS Medicine Rajesh Gandhi and colleagues detect no significant reduction in viral load after people with low-level HIV viremia had an integrase inhibitor added to their treatment regimen.
Spinal muscular atrophy may also affect the heart
Along with skeletal muscles, it may be important to monitor heart function in patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). These are the findings from a study conducted by Nationwide Children's Hospital and published online ahead of print in Human Molecular Genetics. This is the first study to report cardiac dysfunction in mouse models of SMA.
Light and moderate physical activity reduces the risk of early death
A new study by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Cambridge University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has found that even light or moderate intensity physical activity, such as walking or cycling, can substantially reduced the risk of early death.
New diabetes risk assessment developed
A team from the University of Leicester, led by Professor Melanie Davies from the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences and Professor Kamlesh Khunti from the Department of Health Sciences, has developed an easy way for people to assess their risk of having diabetes.
Simple injection could save the lives of thousands of accident victims worldwide
If recently injured patients with serious bleeding were to receive a cheap, widely available and easily administered drug to help their blood to clot, tens of thousands of lives could be saved every year, according to a paper published on-line today by The Lancet.
Does cosmetic surgery help body dysmorphic disorder?
A new study finds that while many who suffer from body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) seek cosmetic procedures, only two percent of procedures actually reduced the severity of BDD. Despite this poor long-term outcome, physicians continue to provide requested surgeries to people suffering from BDD. The study was recently published in Annals of Plastic Surgery.
Putting focus on immediate health effects may improve weight loss success
Most weight loss programs try to motivate individuals with warnings of the long-term health consequences of obesity: increased risk for cancer, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and asthma. New research suggests the immediate health benefits—such as reduced pain—may be the most effective motivator for helping obese individuals shed extra weight and commit to keeping it off.
Fixing technical problems for a good night's sleep as kids start a new school year
Getting a good night's sleep often comes down to technique. Avoiding late-night technology use and keeping a regular sleep schedule are two important techniques to heed as kids head back to school.
Medical researchers at U of Alberta discover potential treatment for pulmonary hypertension
Researchers in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta are one step closer to a treatment for a deadly disease.
Fused echoes see whole heart
A new way of combining ultrasound images taken from different positions can result in sharper, better quality 3D images of the heart to help doctors make a diagnosis.
Digital helpers for the hearing impaired
Every fifth German is hearing impaired. In their private and in their work lives, they are restricted - such as when making a telephone call. Researchers are now ready with a digital solution, one that can partially compensate for the hearing loss. Soon, the system will be integrated into devices such as telephone systems and cell phones.
Immune responses during pregnancy linked to schizophrenia among offspring
(PhysOrg.com) -- According to research by Temple psychologist Lauren Ellman, exposure during pregnancy to immune proteins leads to increased risk for brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia in offspring.
Lithium shows no benefit for people with ALS
A new study has found that the drug lithium is not effective in treating people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. The research is published in the August 11, 2010, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Enabling Alzheimer's Disease patients and families to cope
Providing people with early-stage Alzheimer's Disease with rehabilitation directed towards helping them with everyday activities is an effective means of enabling them and their families to manage the effects of the condition, research at Bangor University has shown.
Rethinking statins: A wonder drug or 'false hope'?
As the world's most-prescribed class of medications, statins indisputably qualify for the commercial distinction of "blockbuster." About 24 million Americans take the drugs - marketed under such commercial names as Pravachol, Mevacor, Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor - largely to stave off heart attacks and strokes.
Research links huntingtin to neurogenesis
New research finds that a protein that is often mutated in Huntington's disease (HD) plays an unexpected role in the process of neurogenesis. The research, published by Cell Press in the August 12 issue of the journal Neuron, provides new insight into HD pathology and has even broader implications for human health and disease.
Perceived intentions influence brain response
People generally like to see generous people rewarded and selfish people punished. Now, new research reveals a critical link between how we perceive another's intentions and our evaluation of their behavior. The study, published by Cell Press in the August 12 issue of the journal Neuron, makes some intriguing observations about how a description of the impact of an individual's actions on a group can alter the neural representation of their observed behavior.
Research shows sugary drinks do not cause weight gain
New research from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, shows that sugary drinks, consumed in moderate quantities, do not promote weight gain, carbohydrate craving or adverse mood effects in overweight women when they do not know what they are drinking.
'Needle-free' intervention as natural vaccine against malaria
A study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine proposes that preventative treatment with affordable and safe antibiotics in people living in areas with intense malaria transmission has the potential to act as a 'needle-free' natural vaccine against malaria and may likely provide an additional valuable tool for controlling and/or eliminating malaria in resource-poor settings.
Initial trials on new ovarian cancer tests exhibit extremely high accuracy
Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have attained very promising results on their initial investigations of a new test for ovarian cancer. Using a new technique involving mass spectrometry of a single drop of blood serum, the test correctly identified women with ovarian cancer in 100 percent of the patients tested. The results can be found online in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention Research.
People who are angry pay more attention to rewards than threats
Anger is a negative emotion. But, like being happy or excited, feeling angry makes people want to seek rewards, according to a new study of emotion and visual attention. The researchers found that people who are angry pay more attention to rewards than to threats—the opposite of people feeling other negative emotions like fear.
Building muscle doesn't require lifting heavy weights: study
Current gym dogma holds that to build muscle size you need to lift heavy weights. However, a new study conducted at McMaster University has shown that a similar degree of muscle building can be achieved by using lighter weights. The secret is to pump iron until you reach muscle fatigue.
Deathstalker scorpion venom could improve gene therapy for brain cancer
An ingredient in the venom of the "deathstalker" scorpion could help gene therapy become an effective treatment for brain cancer, scientists are reporting. The substance allows therapeutic genes — genes that treat disease — to reach more brain cancer cells than current approaches, according to the study in ACS Nano, a monthly journal.
Advance toward earlier detection of melanoma
Scientists are reporting development of a substance to enhance the visibility of skin cancer cells during scans with an advanced medical imaging system that combines ultrasound and light. The hybrid scanner could enable doctors to detect melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, in its earliest and most curable stages, the report in the monthly journal ACS Nano indicates.
'New' human adenovirus may not make for good vaccines, after all
In recent years, scientists have studied the possibility of using engineered human adenoviruses as vaccines against diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. In this approach, adenoviruses, which commonly cause respiratory-tract infections, are rendered relatively harmless before they are used as vectors to deliver genes from pathogens, which in turn stimulate the body to generate a protective immune response.
Small molecule induces insulin expression in pancreatic alpha-cells
Researchers at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT have made an important first step in identifying a potential new avenue for developing novel diabetes therapies. Diabetes results when the body destroys its own insulin-producing beta (β) cells. Using a small molecule, the investigators could induce a low level of insulin production in alpha (α) cells, a pancreatic cell that normally does not make insulin. This finding suggests a possible alternative way of increasing β-cell mass and boost insulin secretion. These results were published in the August 9 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scientists developing cancer breath test
Scientists working on a breath test to detect cancer said they were now able to identify different types of the disease, in research published Wednesday.
WHO list reveals pandemic flu advisors with industry ties
Five of the 15 experts that advised the World Health Organisation about swine flu pandemic alerts had received support from the drugs industry, including for flu vaccine research, the WHO revealed on Wednesday.
Inherited brain activity predicts childhood risk for anxiety
A new study focused on anxiety and brain activity pinpoints the brain regions that are relevant to developing childhood anxiety. The findings, published in the Aug. 12 edition of the journal Nature, may lead to new strategies for early detection and treatment of at-risk children.
Study shows behaviors and attitudes towards oral sex are changing
University of Alberta researcher Brea Malacad says results from a study on oral sex indicate there is little doubt that oral sex is becoming a more common activity for young women. Study results show the act has become a fundamental part of what Malacad calls the "sexual revolution of the 21st century". And she concludes that researchers, sex educators and marketers of safer-sex paraphernalia need to catch up with the trend.
MRI scans show brain's response to actions of others
When we believe a person is doing something nice for someone else, we really do take it personally. Our brains register the observation of a good deed as a personal reward.
Biology news
Practical screening method from USDA to speed up scab-resistant wheat breeding
Individual kernels of wheat and barley can be quickly evaluated for resistance to a damaging scab disease by using near infrared light (NIR) technology, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study conducted in support of a program to safeguard these valuable grain crops.
New research reveals why chimpanzees attack humans
Scientists from Kyoto University, Japan, studying chimpanzees in Guinea have published research revealing why primates attack humans and what prevention measures can be taken. The study, published in a special issue of The American Journal of Primatology, suggests that while rare, attacks by primates on humans may increase as wild habitat is increasingly converted for agriculture.
Scientists identify DNA that may contribute to each person's uniqueness
Building on a tool that they developed in yeast four years ago, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine scanned the human genome and discovered what they believe is the reason people have such a variety of physical traits and disease risks.
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