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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for March 11, 2012:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Bilingual avatar speaks Mundie language- Whole genome analysis of Chlamydia trachomatis highlights risks with current method of tracking
- NASA's RXTE captures thermonuclear behavior of unique neutron star
- Discovery could reduce chemotherapy's side effects
- A new approach to treating type I diabetes? Gut cells transformed into insulin factories
- Tranylcypromine antidepressant shows promise as cancer treatment
- Study: Greenland ice sheet may melt completely with 1.6 degrees global warming
- Researchers report breakthrough on salt-tolerant durum wheat
- EV motor system is smallest of its kind, says Mitsubishi
- US military unveils non-lethal heat ray weapon
- Portable chargers, boosters to ease green car woes
- Researchers identify promising new drug target for kidney disease
Space & Earth news
Greenpeace finds pollution from Italy cruise ship wreck
Greenpeace on Friday warned that chemicals from a cruise ship wreck were oozing into the sea around Italy's picturesque Giglio Island but the environment ministry said the levels were not "significant".
Spanish farmers struggle with lack of rain
When Manuel Montesa takes sheep out to forage in mountains in northern Spain, he must bring water for them because streams near his town have run dry.
European airlines rally against EU carbon tax: source
Airbus and six European airlines have written to four EU leaders attacking the carbon tax imposed by the European Union, a source close to the dossier told AFP Sunday.
TRMM satellite sees hot towers in Cyclone Koji
Hot towers, or towering thunderclouds that give off an excessive amount of latent heat, usually indicate a tropical cyclone will strengthen in six hours, and NASA's TRMM satellite saw some of them as it passed by Tropical Storm Koji.
NASA sees cyclone Irina weaker in Mozambique Channel
Cyclone Irina has lived a long life and caused a lot of trouble, damages and death over the course of its life, and it appears to be finally fading over the Mozambique Channel.
Global warming threat to coral reefs: Can some species adapt?
Coral reefs are among the ecosystems most severely threatened by global warming, but hopeful new evidence has emerged that some coral species may be able to adapt to warmer oceans.
NASA's RXTE captures thermonuclear behavior of unique neutron star
(PhysOrg.com) -- A neutron star is the closest thing to a black hole that astronomers can observe directly, crushing half a million times more mass than Earth into a sphere no larger than a city. In October 2010, a neutron star near the center of our galaxy erupted with hundreds of X-ray bursts that were powered by a barrage of thermonuclear explosions on the star's surface. NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) captured the month-long fusillade in extreme detail. Using this data, an international team of astronomers has been able to bridge a long-standing gap between theory and observation.
Study: Greenland ice sheet may melt completely with 1.6 degrees global warming
The Greenland ice sheet is likely to be more vulnerable to global warming than previously thought. The temperature threshold for melting the ice sheet completely is in the range of 0.8 to 3.2 degrees Celsius global warming, with a best estimate of 1.6 degrees above pre-industrial levels, shows a new study by scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Today, already 0.8 degrees global warming has been observed. Substantial melting of land ice could contribute to long-term sea-level rise of several meters and therefore it potentially affects the lives of many millions of people.
Technology news
Tajikistan allows access to Facebook
Authorities in Tajikistan on Sunday allowed access to Facebook following an outcry from international organisations over the recent blocking of independent media sites.
Hot interest in image sharing website Pinterest
Christine Martinez spent the past week frolicking on the Caribbean island of St. Barth after becoming a star by sharing her sense of style at Pinterest.com.
Virtual Piggy lets children get online allowances
Startup Virtual Piggy is rolling out a way for parents to give children online allowances to spend on games, iPod accessories or other stuff tailored for Internet-loving youngsters.
Authors Guild worried by Apple e-book suit report
The president of the Authors Guild expressed concern on Friday over reports that the Justice Department is threatening to file an antitrust suit against Apple and book publishers.
'Anonymous' member admits hacking UK abortion site
A member of the international computer hacking group Anonymous pleaded guilty in court in Britain on Saturday to breaking into and defacing the website of an abortion service.
Obama calls for investment in clean energy
US President Barack Obama called on Congress Saturday to invest more money in clean energy technologies and end multi-billion-dollar subsidies given each year to oil companies.
At SXSW, apps buzz is location, location, location
(AP) -- After a series of emails and phone calls, Paul Davison is located in a busy hallway at the Austin Convention Center.
Cloud computing 'made in Germany' stirs debate at CeBIT
When it comes to cars or machines, "made in Germany" is seen worldwide as a sign of quality, but some firms are now extending it to "cloud computing", the buzzword at this year's CeBIT tech fair.
Questions linger in US on high-tech voting
A series of problems with electronic voting machines has raised fresh questions about election technology as newer computerized systems gain ground for the 2012 US election.
Portable chargers, boosters to ease green car woes
Chevrolet Europe's president Susan Doherty drives to work every day in an electric car, and thanks to a recharging station at work, she never worries about running out of power.
US military unveils non-lethal heat ray weapon
A sensation of unbearable, sudden heat seems to come out of nowhere -- this wave, a strong electromagnetic beam, is the latest non-lethal weapon unveiled by the US military this week.
EV motor system is smallest of its kind, says Mitsubishi
(PhysOrg.com) -- Mitsubishi Electric has announced it has a new motor system for electric vehicles with impressive gains in reduced size and efficiency. The EV motor system is the smallest of its kind, according to the company press release, measuring just half the dimensions of Mitsubishi Electric’s existing motor system. The new motor system has a built-in silicon carbide inverter. Mitsubishi Electric’s existing motor system uses an external inverter.
Bilingual avatar speaks Mundie language
(PhysOrg.com) -- This week's Microsoft Big Idea event, TechFest 2012, presented the latest advances on the part of researchers at Microsoft. A bilingual talking head received much of the attention. Called "Monolingual TTS," the Microsoft research effort involves software that can translate the user’s speech into another language and in a voice that sounds like the original user’s. As Microsoft explains, with the use of a speaker’s monolingual recording, the system's algorithm can render speech sentences in different languages for building "mixed coded bilingual text to speech (TTS) systems."
Medicine & Health news
Survey shows people have little time for healthy habits
(HealthDay) -- Lack of time seems to be the key reason why only 12 percent of American adults regularly practice such healthy habits as eating right, exercising, and brushing and flossing their teeth, according to an American Heart Association (AHA) survey.
Trial against Big Tobacco starts in Montreal Monday
A groundbreaking trial gets underway in Montreal Monday against three leading tobacco companies which face a $25 billion lawsuit for allegedly failing to adequately warn smokers of the dangers of cigarettes.
Tranylcypromine antidepressant shows promise as cancer treatment
A retinoid called all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), which is a vitamin A-derivative, is already used successfully to treat a rare sub-type of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), however this drug has not been effective for the more common types of AMLs.
A new approach to treating type I diabetes? Gut cells transformed into insulin factories
A study by Columbia researchers suggests that cells in the patient's intestine could be coaxed into making insulin, circumventing the need for a stem cell transplant. Until now, stem cell transplants have been seen by many researchers as the ideal way to replace cells lost in type I diabetes and to free patients from insulin injections.
Discovery could reduce chemotherapy's side effects
A team of researchers at Duke University has determined the structure of a key molecule that can carry chemotherapy and anti-viral drugs into cells, which could help to create more effective drugs with fewer effects to healthy tissue.
Researchers identify promising new drug target for kidney disease
Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified a regulator protein that plays a crucial role in kidney fibrosis, a condition that leads to kidney failure. Finding this regulator provides a new therapeutic target for the millions of Americans affected by kidney failure. The research is published in the March 11 issue of Nature Medicine.
Biology news
Researchers report breakthrough on salt-tolerant durum wheat
A team of Australian scientists has bred salt tolerance into a variety of durum wheat that shows improved grain yield by 25% on salty soils.
Whole genome analysis of Chlamydia trachomatis highlights risks with current method of tracking
In a study released today in Nature Genetics, researchers have found that Chlamydia has evolved more actively than was previously thought. Using whole genome sequencing the researchers show that the exchange of DNA between different strains of Chlamydia to form new strains is much more common than expected.
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