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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for December 27, 2013:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Building a better malaria vaccine: Mixing the right cocktail- US judge rules NSA phone surveillance lawful
- Apple asks US court to ban Samsung phones, tablets
- Top India Bitcoin operator halts trade after bank warning
- Birds outsmart wasps to feed young
- Retrieving an asteroid
- Enzyme that produces melatonin originated 500 million years ago, study shows
- Human brain development is a symphony in three movements
- NASA satellite sees increase of India's sulfur dioxide emissions
- Jack-of-all-trades slows down evolutionary tree
- Discovering a 'THRIL' that correlates with severity of Kawasaki disease
- Batteries as they are meant to be seen
- Researchers point to digital gains in human recognition
- Genetic discovery points the way to much bigger yields in tomato, other flowering food plants
- Target: Customers' encrypted PINs were stolen
Astronomy & Space news
Lowell Observatory's Clark Telescope closes for renovation on January 1
Lowell Observatory's iconic Clark Telescope is about to undergo a much-needed facelift. After 117 years of constant use, the instrument will be closed for more than a year as engineers and technicians carefully remove telescope components and repair or replace poorly operating parts.
Forty-fifth anniversary of 'Earthrise' image
Forty-five years ago, in December of 1968, the Apollo 8 crew flew from the Earth to the Moon and back again.
Retrieving an asteroid
(Phys.org) —Asteroids (or comets) whose orbits bring them close to the earth's orbit are called near Earth objects. Some of them are old, dating from the origins of the solar system about four and one-half billion years ago, and expected to be rich in primitive materials. They are of great interest to scientists studying the young solar system. Others, of lower scientific priority, are thought to contain minerals of potential economic value.
Technology news
Hollywood struggles vs. new film meccas overseas
In the old days, filmmakers flocked to Hollywood for its abundant sunshine, beautiful people and sandy beaches. But today a new filmmaking diaspora is spreading across the globe to places like Vancouver, London and Wellington, New Zealand.
Out! Goal! The ball was in! But could Hawk-Eye get it wrong?
Hawk-Eye is a device used to reconstruct the track of the ball for LBW decisions in cricket and for line calls in tennis. It will be much in evidence during the remaining Ashes tests and is now being used for goal-line decisions in Premier League football. The technology is at its best when officials make a really bad decision.
If you don't like Facebook, you can leave – it's easier than you think
Breaking up is hard to do, especially with social media. But thousands of people are doing just that, and with the new year and its inevitable resolutions just around the corner, it might be a good time to examine the ethics of using software and platforms.
ACLU will appeal NY NSA phone surveillance ruling
A civil rights lawyer says the American Civil Liberties Union is very disappointed that a New York judge has found that a government program that collects millions of Americans' telephone records is legal.
More Americans shopped on their phones on Christmas
Most stores were closed but Americans still managed to shop on Christmas Day—increasingly on their smartphones.
Top India Bitcoin operator halts trade after bank warning
India's biggest Bitcoin trading platform said on its website Friday it had suspended operations after the central bank warned against the risks of using virtual money.
Apple asks US court to ban Samsung phones, tablets
Apple has asked a federal judge to bar US sales of Samsung smartphones and tablet computers in the blockbuster patent case involving the two electronics giants.
US judge rules NSA phone surveillance lawful
A US judge ruled Friday that the National Security Agency's mass surveillance of telephone calls is lawful, fanning a legal conflict likely to be decided ultimately by the Supreme Court.
Target: Customers' encrypted PINs were stolen
Target said Friday that debit card PIN numbers were among the financial information stolen from millions of U.S. customers who shopped at the retailer earlier this month.
Medicine & Health news
Single-site hysterectomy procedure may reduce recuperation time, visible scars
Hysterectomy, a surgery to remove the uterus, is done for a number of reasons, including cancer, irregular bleeding, fibroid tumors, prolapse (slippage) of the uterus and endometriosis.
Horsemeat linked to new food scandal seized in Belgium
Belgium health authorities on Friday reported the seizure of 16.8 tonnes of horsemeat, part of it linked to a fresh food scandal in France involving meat not supposed to wind up on people's plates.
Surgery beats chemotherapy for tongue cancer, study finds
Patients with tongue cancer who started their treatment with a course of chemotherapy fared significantly worse than patients who received surgery first, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Are concussions related to Alzheimer's disease?
A new study suggests that a history of concussion involving at least a momentary loss of consciousness may be related to the buildup of Alzheimer's-associated plaques in the brain. The research is published in the December 26, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Toxic employees are damaging to medical practices
(HealthDay)—Toxic behavior can harm medical practices and should not be tolerated, according to an article published Dec. 10 in Medical Economics.
Women report complications from Essure birth control
Angie Derry knew that her Essure implants were designed to remain inside her body forever. But two years after a doctor inserted the tiny coils into her fallopian tubes to prevent pregnancy, the Rockford, Ill., woman wants them removed.
Who is using MyPlate?
Most Americans know about MyPyramid – the triangle depicting how many servings of each food group you should eat in a day - but who knows about MyPlate - the circle showing what a healthy meal looks like? MyPlate was created in 2011 by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help American consumers put the Dietary Guidelines into practice. It's a simple, colorful icon that prompts us to think about what's on our plate, illustrating healthy proportions of fruit, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy within a single meal.
CALS researchers developing novel treatment for septic shock
(Medical Xpress)—By the time doctors diagnose septic shock, patients often are on a knife's edge. At that point, for every hour that treatment is delayed, a person's risk of death rises an alarming six percent.
New study to revolutionise indications for knee surgery
Finnish researchers have shown that one of the most common surgical procedures in the Western world is unnecessary. Keyhole surgeries of the knee are useless for patients whose knee complaints are due to joint abnormalities associated with aging. The results of the FIDELITY trial have been published in the esteemed New England Journal of Medicine.
Stroke researchers report improvement in spatial neglect with prism adaptation therapy
Stroke rehabilitation researchers report improvement in spatial neglect with prism adaptation therapy. This new study supports behavioral classification of patients with spatial neglect as a valuable tool for assigning targeted, effective early rehabilitation. Results of the study, "Presence of motor-intentional aiming deficit predicts functional improvement of spatial neglect with prism adaptation" were published ahead of print in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair on December 27, 2013.
High mortality in Central Southern states most likely due to smoking, study says
A new study by Andrew Fenelon of Brown University suggests that smoking accounts for high mortality in the Central South of the United States. US mortality data from vital statistics on cause of death for the period 1965-2004 show that by 2004, the gap in mortality attributable to smoking between the Central Southern states and other states was exceptionally large: among men, smoking explained as much as 75 percent of the difference.
Surgery vs. non-invasive treatment: Which is better for herniated discs?
For patients with herniated discs in the lower (lumbar) spine, surgery leads to greater long-term improvement in pain, functioning, and disability compared to nonsurgical treatment, concludes an eight year follow-up study in Spine.
Building a better malaria vaccine: Mixing the right cocktail
A safe and effective malaria vaccine is high on the wish list of most people concerned with global health. Results published on December 26 in PLOS Pathogens suggest how a leading vaccine candidate could be vastly improved.
Researchers point to digital gains in human recognition
Human beings are highly efficient at recognizing familiar faces, even from very poor quality images.
Discovering a 'THRIL' that correlates with severity of Kawasaki disease
Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute scientists have discovered a new molecule that forms when certain white blood cells—macrophages—are stimulated in response to pathogens. The molecule, termed "THRIL," helps regulate the immune response and shows an association with Kawasaki disease. The findings suggest that THRIL may contribute to other inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Human brain development is a symphony in three movements
(Medical Xpress)—The human brain develops with an exquisitely timed choreography marked by distinct patterns of gene activity at different stages from the womb to adulthood, Yale researchers report in the Dec. 26 issue of the journal Neuron.
Biology news
Genetic discovery points the way to much bigger yields in tomato, other flowering food plants
Every gardener knows the look of a ripe tomato. That bright red color, that warm earthy smell, and the sweet juicy flavor are hard to resist. But commercial tomato plants have a very different look from the backyard garden variety, which can grow endlessly under the right conditions to become tall and lanky. Tomatoes that will be canned for sauces and juice are harvested from plants that stop growing earlier than classic tomato varieties, and are therefore more like bushes. While the architecture of these compact bushy plants allows mechanical harvesters to reap the crop, the early end of growth means that each plant produces fewer fruits than their home garden cousins.
Enzyme that produces melatonin originated 500 million years ago, study shows
(Phys.org) —An international team of scientists led by National Institutes of Health researchers has traced the likely origin of the enzyme needed to manufacture the hormone melatonin to roughly 500 million years ago.
Jack-of-all-trades slows down evolutionary tree
All living organisms are tips of an evolutionary tree that emerged over 3.5 billion years from a single common ancestor. Research in the Department of Bionanoscience at Delft University of Technology has provided the first experimental demonstration that the rate at which this tree branches depends on the ecological versatility of the ancestors. The study was published in the scientific journal PNAS.
Birds outsmart wasps to feed young
(Phys.org) —A species of bird found in Central and South America is able to supply its young with a steady diet of wasp larvae, evading stings from defending workers by using physical, not chemical tactics as previously thought, Simon Fraser University biologists have found.
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