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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for May 29, 2011:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Astronauts pack up on next-to-last shuttle flight- New study solves mouse genome dilemma
- New therapeutic targets for virally-induced asthma attacks suggested
- Ocean acidification will likely reduce diversity, resiliency in coral reef ecosystems: new study
- New synchrotron X-ray technique could see hidden building blocks of life
- New molecular pathway regulating angiogenesis may fight retinal disease, cancers
- Trucks lose, ships win in warmer Arctic
- Lockheed Martin says it repelled cyber attack
Space & Earth news
Greenpeace activists climb Greenland oil rig
(AP) -- Three Greenpeace activists on Sunday climbed up an oil rig off Greenland's coast in an attempt to stop a Scottish oil company from starting deepwater drilling in the arctic waters, the environmental group said.
China drought affects more than 34 million people
A debilitating drought along China's Yangtze river has affected more than 34 million people, leaving farmers and livestock without water and parching a major grain belt, according to the government.
Science can't design away tornadoes' deadly threat
(AP) -- Storm science has greatly improved tornado warnings in recent years. But if that's led anyone into a sense of security, that feeling has taken a beating in recent weeks.
China to step up fight against plastic addiction
China will expand a ban on free shopping bags, state media said, as it tries to further curb its addiction to plastic in a bid to rid the country of "white pollution" that clogs waterways, farms and fields.
Shuttle astronauts bid farewell to space station
(AP) -- The astronauts on NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight floated out of the International Space Station on Sunday and then closed the hatch behind them, after one final round of warm wishes and embraces.
Astronauts pack up on next-to-last shuttle flight
Endeavour's astronauts took care of some last-minute space station chores Saturday before packing up to come home and end the next-to-last shuttle flight.
Ocean acidification will likely reduce diversity, resiliency in coral reef ecosystems: new study
A new study from University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science scientists Chris Langdon, Remy Okazaki and Nancy Muehllehner and colleagues from the Australian Institute of Marine Science and the Max-Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Germany concludes that ocean acidification, along with increased ocean temperatures, will likely severely reduce the diversity and resilience of coral reef ecosystems within this century.
Trucks lose, ships win in warmer Arctic
Global warming will have a devastating effect on roads in the Arctic but open up tantalising routes for shipping, according to a study published on Sunday in the specialist journal Nature Climate Change.
Technology news
Lockheed Martin hit by cyber attack
Hackers launched a "significant and tenacious" cyber attack on Lockheed Martin, a major defense contractor holding highly sensitive information, but its secrets remained safe, the company said Saturday.
EU, Japan join forces to improve nuclear safety
Europe and Japan agreed Saturday to join forces in efforts to promote tighter international standards for nuclear safety in the wake of the atomic crisis in Japan.
Twitter chief picked as Obama telecom advisor
US President Barack Obama named Twitter's chief and a high-ranking Microsoft executive among a handful of technology veterans to be appointed as telecommunications security advisors.
Hackers highlight Sony's need for new ideas
As Sony struggles to recover its shredded reputation in the wake of perhaps the largest ever cyber attack, it is facing a more worrying problem, say analysts -- it has lost the knack of innovation.
British local authority takes Twitter to court in US
An English local authority said on Sunday it had taken US micro-blogging site Twitter to court in California and forced it to release the details of a British user.
Lockheed Martin says it repelled cyber attack
Lockheed Martin, the world's top defense contractor, was on Sunday investigating the source of a major cyber-attack one week ago against its information network, the company said.
Medicine & Health news
Talking about the taboo: Women's menstrual practices and sanitation in Africa
University of Maryland researcher Vivian Hoffmann has studied poverty, migration, and economic development in Africa and elsewhere, and she has first-hand experience with issues facing women in the developing world. Now, through a $1.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she will lead a team of researchers in a project that will shed light on women's menstrual practices, needs, and product demands and help to inform sanitation planning in developing countries.
E. coli outbreak spreads, Spain distributors suspended
More than 270 people in Germany have fallen seriously ill due to potentially deadly bacteria detected in imported Spanish cucumbers, leading Spain to suspend Friday the activities of two distributors.
UNICEF discloses vaccine prices for 1st time
UNICEF is for the first time publicizing what drugmakers charge it for vaccines, as the world's biggest buyer of lifesaving immunizations aims to spark price competition in the face of rising costs.
Germany hunts source of deadly E. coli
Germany said Sunday it was pulling out all the stops to locate the exact source of an outbreak of E. coli bacteria poisoning blamed for 10 deaths, which authorities suspect may have originated in Spain.
The 30 Years War: AIDS, a tale of tragedy and hope
On June 5 1981, American epidemiologists reported a baffling event: five young gay men in Los Angeles, all previously healthy, had fallen ill with pneumonia. Two had died.
Bayer unveils a faster-acting aspirin
Bayer AG is looking for a speedy remedy for stagnant aspirin sales. The company is introducing a reformulated aspirin today that works in half the time of its regular aspirin.
New study solves mouse genome dilemma
Laboratory research has always been limited in terms of what conclusions scientists can safely extrapolate from animal experiments to the human population as a whole. Many promising findings in mice have not held up under further experimentation, in part because laboratory animals, bred from a limited genetic foundation, don't provide a good representation of how genetic diversity manifests in the broader human population.
New molecular pathway regulating angiogenesis may fight retinal disease, cancers
Scientists identify in the journal Nature a new molecular pathway used to suppress blood vessel branching in the developing retina – a finding with potential therapeutic value for fighting diseases of the retina and a variety of cancers.
New therapeutic targets for virally-induced asthma attacks suggested
When children with asthma get the flu, they often land in the hospital gasping for air. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have found a previously unknown biological pathway explaining why influenza induces asthma attacks. Studies in a mouse model, published online May 29 by the journal Nature Immunology, reveal that influenza activates a newly recognized group of immune cells called natural helper cells – presenting a completely new set of drug targets for asthma.
Biology news
Judge won't guard fish farm from Grand Coulee flow
(AP) -- A federal judge on Friday refused to order a cut in flows from the Grand Coulee Dam that threaten millions of fish raised in pens downstream in the Columbia River.
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