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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for April 10, 2011:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- US energy use chart shows we waste more than half of our energy- New genetic study helps to solve Darwin's mystery about the ancient evolution of flowering plants
- Scientists uncover new DNA role in modifying gene function
- Insights gained from growing cold-causing virus on sinus tissue
- Mapping the brain: New technique poised to untangle the complexity of the brain
- Scientists settle centuries-old debate on perception
- West Antarctic warming triggered by warmer sea surface in tropical Pacific
- Berlin moves from capital of cool to start-up haven
- Big picture of how interferon-induced genes launch antiviral defenses revealed
- Russia releases Gagarin's secret last words
- Accelerated lab evolution of biomolecules could yield new generation of medicines
Space & Earth news
World stumbles toward climate summit
(AP) -- Nineteen years after the world started to take climate change seriously, delegates from around the globe spent five days talking about what they will talk about at a year-end conference in South Africa. They agreed to talk about their opposing viewpoints.
First man in space: A 50-year-old feat remembered
(AP) -- It was the Soviet Union's own giant leap for mankind, one that would spur a humiliated America to race for the moon. It happened 50 years ago this Tuesday, when an air force pilot named Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.
Asia's star burns ever brighter in space
Asia's extraterrestrial ambitions have rocketed from nowhere in the 50 years since the first human space flight, with China shooting for the moon while India and Japan fuel up their own programmes.
China launches navigation satellite
China on Sunday launched its eighth satellite orbiter as part of its navigation and positioning network, state media reported.
Gagarin anniversary: Are manned missions a waste of space?
On Tuesday, the world will be awash with talk of courage and vision as it looks back on 50 years of manned space flight, a trail blazed by Yuri Gagarin's 108-minute trip around the planet.
Debate stirred over 1st major US tar sands mine
(AP) -- Beneath the lush, green hills of eastern Utah's Uinta Basin, where elk, bear and bison outnumber people, the soil is saturated with a sticky tar that may soon provide a new domestic source of petroleum for the United States. It would be a first-of-its kind project in the country that some fear could be a slippery slope toward widespread wilderness destruction.
Russia releases Gagarin's secret last words
One of the last things Yuri Gagarin did before making his pioneering voyage into space 50 years ago was make sure he had enough sausage to last him on the trip back home to Moscow.
West Antarctic warming triggered by warmer sea surface in tropical Pacific
The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed rapidly for the last half-century or more, and recent studies have shown that an adjacent area, continental West Antarctica, has steadily warmed for at least 30 years, but scientists haven't been sure why.
Technology news
Celebrity tracker 'app' for Android smartphones
Startup Scoopler was inviting owners of Android-powered smartphones to install an application that promises to alert them every time a celebrity is sighted nearby.
Russia denies plans to ban Gmail, Skype
The Russian security service denied Saturday it had plans to ban Skype and Gmail after one of its top officials said such services posed a serious security risk.
MySpace may trim down to win suitors
Reports surfaced on Friday that faded social networking star MySpace may cut more staff to be attractive to suitors.
Google adds smartphone 'check-in' deals
Google has added a Latitude feature that lets people using iPhones or Android-powered smartphones get rewarded for loyalty to shops or restaurants.
San Francisco hopes tech success isn't Bubble 2.0
(AP) -- A certain feeling is back in San Francisco. Murmurings of stock market riches. Twenty-something entrepreneurs as celebrities. Lamborghinis parked next to taco trucks.
Heavenly gadgets: Spinoffs from space programmes
What do ceramic teeth braces, artificial hearts, airbags, insulin pumps and Olympics-calibre swimsuits have in common?
Berlin moves from capital of cool to start-up haven
Already a magnet for tourists and young artists, Berlin is attracting a new generation of Internet start-ups, changing the ways scientists interact or musicians store and share music.
US energy use chart shows we waste more than half of our energy
(PhysOrg.com) -- This flow chart of the estimated US energy use in 2009, assembled by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), paints a pretty sobering picture of our energy situation. To begin with, it shows that more than half (58%) of the total energy produced in the US is wasted due to inefficiencies, such as waste heat from power plants, vehicles, and light bulbs. In other words, the US has an energy efficiency of 42%. And, despite the numerous reports of progress in solar, wind, and geothermal energy, those three energy sources combined provide just 1.2% of our total energy production. The vast majority of our energy still comes from petroleum (37%), natural gas (25%), and coal (21%).
Medicine & Health news
Roberto Bolli discusses cardiac stem cell treatment for heart failure at Cannon Lecture
Heart failure affects roughly six million Americans, yet treatment consists of either a heart transplant or the insertion of mechanical devices that assist the heart. This is unacceptable to Roberto Bolli, MD, Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Ky., which is why he is on a mission to make cardiac stem cell treatment an option for all who must cope with the limitations of a failing heart.
Japan atomic plant worker in hospital
A worker battling to cool overheating reactors at Japan's tsunami-hit nuclear plant was taken to hospital on Sunday after complaining of feeling sick, the plant's operator said.
Pacific nations battle obesity epidemic
On Tonga's supermarket shelves, huge cans of corned beef the size of paint tins replaced traditional fare such as fish and coconuts long ago -- contributing to an obesity epidemic that sees the Pacific region ranked as the fattest in the world.
The health halo effect: Don't judge a food by its organic label
Jenny Wan-chen Lee, a graduate student in Cornell University's Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, has been fascinated with a phenomenon known as "the halo effect" for some time. Psychologists have long recognized that how we perceive a particular trait of a person can be influenced by how we perceive other traits of the same individual. In other words, the fact that a person has a positive attribute can radiate a "halo", resulting in the perception that other characteristics associated with that person are also positive. An example of this would be judging an attractive person as intelligent, just because he or she is good-looking.
Green tea and tai chi enhance bone health, reduce inflammation in postmenopausal women
C.S. Lewis, the famous author and Oxford academic, once proclaimed "You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." We sip it with toast in the morning, enjoy it with sweets and biscuits in the afternoon, and relax with it at the end of the day. Tea has for generations been an integral infusion worldwide, carrying both epicurean and economic significance. But, does it impart honest-to-goodness health benefits? In other words, is its persistence in the human diet perhaps coincident with enhanced quality (or quantity) of life?
Big picture of how interferon-induced genes launch antiviral defenses revealed
When viruses attack, one molecule more than any other fights back. Interferon triggers the activation of more than 350 genes, and despite the obvious connection, the vast majority have never been tested for antiviral properties. A team of researchers, led by scientists from Rockefeller University, for the first time has carried out a comprehensive, systematic evaluation of the antiviral activity of interferon-induced factors. The findings, published online today in the journal Nature, are a first step toward unraveling how these naturally occurring molecules work to inhibit viruses.
Mapping the brain: New technique poised to untangle the complexity of the brain
Scientists have moved a step closer to being able to develop a computer model of the brain after developing a technique to map both the connections and functions of nerve cells in the brain together for the first time.
Insights gained from growing cold-causing virus on sinus tissue
Using sinus tissue removed during surgery at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have managed to grow a recently discovered species of human rhinovirus (HRV), the most frequent cause of the common cold, in culture.
Scientists settle centuries-old debate on perception
Researchers said Sunday they had solved a conundrum about human perception that has stumped philosophers and scientists alike since it was first articulated 323 years ago by an Irish politician in a letter to John Locke.
Biology news
Judge blocks deal on protections for wolves
(AP) -- A federal judge has blocked a proposal to lift the endangered species protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho that had been hammered out by U.S. wildlife officials and conservation groups.
South Africa's photo-op penguins show signs of decline
Penguins waddle over giant boulders and dive into the shallow turquoise sea to the delight of camera-ready tourists near the tip of South Africa.
Blueberries may inhibit development of fat cells
The benefits of blueberry consumption have been demonstrated in several nutrition studies, more specifically the cardio-protective benefits derived from their high polyphenol content. Blueberries have shown potential to have a positive effect on everything from aging to metabolic syndrome.
Accelerated lab evolution of biomolecules could yield new generation of medicines
Scientists at Harvard University have harnessed the prowess of fast-replicating bacterial viruses, also known as phages, to accelerate the evolution of biomolecules in the laboratory. The work, reported this week in the journal Nature, could ultimately allow the tailoring of custom pharmaceuticals and research tools from lab-grown proteins, nucleic acids, and other such compounds.
Scientists uncover new DNA role in modifying gene function
For years, scientists have thought of DNA as a passive blueprint capable only of producing specific proteins through RNA transcription. Now, research led by scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute has shown DNA can also act to fine-tune the activity of certain proteins known as nuclear receptors.
New genetic study helps to solve Darwin's mystery about the ancient evolution of flowering plants
(PhysOrg.com) -- The evolution and diversification of the more than 300,000 living species of flowering plants may have been "jump started" much earlier than previously calculated, a new study indicates. According to Claude dePamphilis, a professor of biology at Penn State University and the lead author of the study, which includes scientists at six universities, two major upheavals in the plant genome occurred hundreds of millions of years ago -- nearly 200 million years earlier than the events that other research groups had described. The research also indicates that these upheavals produced thousands of new genes that may have helped drive the evolutionary explosion that led to the rich diversity of present-day flowering plants.
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