Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for August 5, 2012:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- See-through-wall surveillance with WiFi shown at UCL- Heart muscle cell grafts suppress arrhythmias after heart attacks in animal study
- ARM asks Khronos for OpenCL nod for Midgard GPU
- Scientists find new mechanism behind resistance to cancer treatment
- Neutrophils: White blood cells mediate insulin resistance
- Sequencing of malaria genomes reveals challenges, opportunities in battle against parasite
- How cells know when to progress through the cell cycle? New study finds link between cell division, growth rate
- Researchers look at the spread of dysentery from Europe to industrializing countries
- Mars tugging on approaching Curiosity rover
- Apple co-founder Wozniak sees trouble in the cloud
- New NASA study links current extreme summer events to climate change
- Zeno "boy" robot: Let me introduce myself (w/ Video)
- Signs changing fast for Voyager at solar system edge
- Crayfish species proves to be the ultimate survivor
- Reuters says blogging platform hacked
Space & Earth news
Philippines says mine waste spill contained
A waste spillage at the Philippines' largest gold mine has been contained after the slime threatened to contaminate one of the country's largest rivers, the government said Saturday.
Philippine mining reforms ignored at gold-rush site
The Philippine government wants to close thousands of small-scale mines blamed for environmental devastation, but Reynaldo Elejorde insists his chaotic gold-rush mountain town will survive.
Explore a room with a Mars view
(Phys.org) -- On the evening of Sunday, Aug. 5, the focal point of Martian activity here on Earth will be located in the Mission Support Area in Building 230 at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. From this facility will come news of the progress of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover's landing.
Seeing Mars through the eyes of a geologist
John Grotzinger is leading a march up a mountain near Death Valley, the rocks around him streaked red, brown and purple-gray.
Anxiety over rover's Hollywood-style Mars landing
Seven minutes of terror. It sounds like a Hollywood thriller, but the phrase describes the anxiety NASA is expecting as its car-sized robotic rover tries a tricky landing on Mars late Sunday.
NASA sees triple tropical trouble in northwestern Pacific
NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of a very busy northwestern Pacific Ocean where three tropical cyclones are active. Tropical Storms Damrey and Saola are dissipating in China, while Tropical depression Haikui developed on August 3, 2012.
Tropical Storm Ernesto was an unwelcome visitor in St. Lucia
The fifth Atlantic Ocean tropical depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Ernesto on Thursday, August 2 at 5 p.m. EDT and tracked over St. Lucia early on August 3. NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of Ernesto from space as it approached the island.
MESSENGER Marks 8th Anniversary of Launch
(Phys.org) -- The MESSENGER spacecraft launched eight years ago today — on August 3, 2004 — embarking on a six-and-a-half year journey to become the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury. The spacecraft's 4.9-billion mile (7.9-billion kilometer) cruise to history included 15 trips around the Sun, a flyby of Earth, two flybys of Venus, and three flybys of Mercury.
European backup for NASA's nailbiting Mars mission
Europe's Mars Express spacecraft will lend its eyes and ears to NASA next week for the so-called "seven minutes of terror" in which the US agency will seek to land a rover on Mars.
India clears mission to Mars
India's government has cleared plans to put an orbital probe around Mars next year to study the red planet's climate and geology, a report said Saturday.
A peek at what NASA's new rover packed for Mars
If you were packing for Mars, what would you bring?
New Mars rover to land in intriguing giant crater
The latest Mars destination is a giant crater near the equator with an odd feature: a mountain rising from the crater floor.
NASA spacecraft barreling toward a Mars landing (Update)
After an 8 1/2-month voyage through space, NASA's souped-up Mars spacecraft zoomed toward the red planet for what the agency hopes will be an epic touchdown.
Are we alone? NASA's Mars rover aims to find out
Are we alone? Or was there life on another planet? NASA's $2.5 billion dream machine, the Mars Science Laboratory, aims to take the first steps toward finding out when it nears Mars's surface on Monday.
Mars weather forecast 'good' for NASA landing
The weather conditions on Mars are expected to be favorable when NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory attempts its risky landing on August 6, the US space agency said Saturday.
Signs changing fast for Voyager at solar system edge
(Phys.org) -- Two of three key signs of changes expected to occur at the boundary of interstellar space have changed faster than at any other time in the last seven years, according to new data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft.
New NASA study links current extreme summer events to climate change
The relentless, weather-gone-crazy type of heat that has blistered the United States and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare that it can't be anything but man-made global warming, says a new statistical analysis from a top government scientist.
Mars tugging on approaching Curiosity rover
(Phys.org) -- The gravitational tug of Mars is now pulling NASA's car-size geochemistry laboratory, Curiosity, in for a suspenseful landing in less than 40 hours.
NASA braces for '7 minutes of terror' Mars plunge
NASA's most high-tech Mars rover on Sunday zeroed in on the red planet where it will attempt a tricky celestial gymnastics routine during a "seven minutes of terror" plummet through the atmosphere.
Technology news
Garzon: Assange is neither pirate nor terrorist
(AP) — Famed former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon says Julian Assange is neither a pirate nor a terrorist.
Local Guatemala language soon on Facebook
Guatemala's Kakchiquel speakers will now be able to access Facebook in their own language thanks to a new application developed by US software engineers.
Hong Kong Facebook user arrested over hacking threat
Hong Kong police said Sunday they had arrested a 21-year-old man after he reportedly said on social networking site Facebook that he would hack several government websites.
Eastman Kodak loss widens in 2Q
(AP) — Eastman Kodak Co. said Friday its second-quarter net loss widened as it cut costs while reorganizing under bankruptcy protection.
At half-price, Facebook still faces doubts
Facebook shares have lost nearly half their value since a highly-touted public offering in May, but it's still not a bargain for some.
Swiss sheep to warn shepherds of wolf attacks by SMS
Using sheep to alert shepherds of an imminent wolf attack by text message might sound fanciful, but testing is already under way in Switzerland where the predator appears to be back.
Review: I'm not charged by Ford's Focus Electric
I love the idea of electric cars. But I wasn't enamored with the Ford Focus Electric.
French T-shirt firm draws Anonymous ire over trademarks
A French T-shirt maker said Saturday he would relinquish his claim to the trademark of the Anonymous logo and slogan after the international hacking group attacked his online business.
Dutch firm ASML clinches 1.1 bn euro deal with Taiwan's TSMC
Dutch-based ASML, a key global supplier of computer chip-making systems, said Sunday it has clinched an investment deal with Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC worth over a billion euros ($1.24 billion).
Reuters says blogging platform hacked
The Reuters news agency said Friday that one of its websites had been hacked and used to disseminate fake stories about Syria's rebel movement, the latest cyberattack to strike a media organization covering the country's civil war.
Apple co-founder Wozniak sees trouble in the cloud
Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple with the late Steve Jobs, predicted "horrible problems" in the coming years as cloud-based computing takes hold.
See-through-wall surveillance with WiFi shown at UCL
(Phys.org) -- A surveillance device that uses WiFi radio waves has been devised to see through walls to detect, in military and surveillance parlance, moving personnel targets. The device serves as a radar prototype designed by two UK scientists at the University College London (UCL). The scientists devised the radar prototype as a way to track Wi-Fi signals in order to spy through walls. Their device identifies frequency changes to detect the moving objects. An important feature of their work is that since the device itself does not emit radio waves, it cannot be detected; it operates in stealth.
Medicine & Health news
Psychology gives courts, policymakers evidence to help judge adolescents' actions
Determining when a teenage brain becomes an adult brain is not an exact science but it's getting closer, according to an expert in adolescent developmental psychology, speaking at the American Psychological Association's 120th Annual Convention.
Memory improves for older adults using computerized brain fitness program
UCLA researchers found that older adults who regularly used a brain fitness program played on a computer demonstrated significantly improved memory and language skills.
Race-day diet can make or break a competitive cyclist
(HealthDay) -- I rolled into the St. Helens, Ore., rest stop, 172 miles into my single-day ride of the 204-mile Seattle-to-Portland Bicycle Classic, truly unsure how I was going to make it the rest of the way.
First generic versions of singulair approved
(HealthDay) -- The first generic versions of Singulair (montelukast sodium) have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Zaltrap approved for advanced colorectal cancer
(HealthDay) -- Zaltrap (ziv-afilbercept) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in combination with a FOLFIRI chemotherapy regimen for adults with advanced metastatic (spreading) colorectal cancer, the agency said Friday.
CDC preparing vaccine for new swine flu
(HealthDay) -- Only 29 human cases of a new strain of "swine" flu have been identified in two years, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is making sure it's prepared should the H3N2 strain become more widespread.
Study investigates proton radiation effects on cells
(Phys.org) -- A team of researchers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., has found radiation from protons could further enhance a process that occurs during tumor progression. This information may help lead to better methods to protect astronauts from the harmful effects of radiation in space, as well as help cancer researchers on Earth better understand the effects of radiation treatment on the human body.
Neutrophils: White blood cells mediate insulin resistance
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say neutrophils, an abundant type of white blood cell typically tasked with attacking bacteria and other foreign invaders, also plays an unexpected role in mediating insulin resistance – the central characteristic of type 2 diabetes, which afflicts an estimated 26 million Americans.
Scientists find new mechanism behind resistance to cancer treatment
Developing resistance to chemotherapy is a nearly universal, ultimately lethal consequence for cancer patients with solid tumors – such as those of the breast, prostate, lung and colon – that have metastasized, or spread, throughout the body. A team of scientists led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has discovered a key factor that drives this drug resistance – information that ultimately may be used to improve the effectiveness of therapy and buy precious time for patients with advanced cancer. They describe their findings online Aug. 5 in advance of print publication in Nature Medicine.
Sequencing of malaria genomes reveals challenges, opportunities in battle against parasite
Genetic variability revealed in malaria genomes newly sequenced by two multi-national research teams points to new challenges in efforts to eradicate the parasite, but also offers a clearer and more detailed picture of its genetic composition, providing an initial roadmap in the development of pharmaceuticals and vaccines to combat malaria.
Researchers look at the spread of dysentery from Europe to industrializing countries
Researchers have found that a bacterium that emerged centuries ago in Europe has now been spreading globally into countries undergoing rapid development and industrialization. Unlike other diarrheal diseases, this one is unlikely to be resolved by providing access to clean water. As developing countries become more industrialized the numbers of infections with dysentery-causing Shigella flexneri are known to decline, associated with improved health, lifestyle and perhaps most importantly access to clean water, but the incidence of another form of the dysentery-causing bacterium, Shigella sonnei, actually increases.
Heart muscle cell grafts suppress arrhythmias after heart attacks in animal study
Researchers have made a major advance in efforts to regenerate damaged hearts.
Biology news
Australian spider named after David Attenborough
A newly discovered Australian spider measuring little more than a millimetre in length has been named after celebrated British scientist and broadcaster David Attenborough, reports said Saturday.
New technology eliminates plant toxins
Plants produce toxins to defend themselves against potential enemies, from herbivorous pests to diseases. Oilseed rape plants produce glucosinolates to serve this purpose. However, due to the content of glucosinolates, farmers can only use limited quantities of the protein-rich rapeseed for pig and chicken feed. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen has developed a method to hinder unwanted toxins from entering the edible parts of the plant. The breakthrough was published today in the prominent scientific journal Nature.
Thousands of fish die as US streams heat up
(AP) — Thousands of fish are dying in the central U.S. as the hot, dry summer dries up rivers and causes water temperatures to climb in some spots to nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius).
Crayfish species proves to be the ultimate survivor
One of the most invasive species on the planet is able to source food from the land as well as its usual food sources in the water, research from Queen Mary, University of London has found.
How cells know when to progress through the cell cycle? New study finds link between cell division, growth rate
It's a longstanding question in biology: How do cells know when to progress through the cell cycle? In simple organisms such as yeast, cells divide once they reach a specific size. However, determining if this holds true for mammalian cells has been difficult, in part because there has been no good way to measure mammalian cell growth over time.
This email is a free service of Phys.org
You received this email because you subscribed to our list.
If you no longer want to receive this email use the link below to unsubscribe.
http://phys.org/profile/nwletter/
You are subscribed as jmabs1@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment