Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for January 19, 2014:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Tiny swimming bio-bots boldly go where no bot has swum before (w/ Video)- Researchers discover how heart arrhythmia occurs
- How to tap the sun's energy through heat as well as light
- Distant quasar illuminates a filament of the cosmic web
- SeeThru AR eyewear device sets sights on consumer market
- Cobweb or cotton candy? Headband aims to control dreams
- Scientists identify 'molecular fossil' in fungi
- New hope for Gaucher patients
- Get used to heat waves: Extreme El Nino events to double
- Hookworm genome sequenced
- Mechanism in Alzheimer's-related memory loss identified
- Encrypted Blackphone goes to war with snoopers
- Scientists investigate the fiber of our being
- Flying car spreads its wings in Slovakia
- The water cycle amplifies abrupt climate change
Astronomy & Space news
Distant quasar illuminates a filament of the cosmic web
Astronomers have discovered a distant quasar illuminating a vast nebula of diffuse gas, revealing for the first time part of the network of filaments thought to connect galaxies in a cosmic web. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, led the study, published January 19 in Nature.
Technology news
Intel chairs ask Obama to send bill on NSA changes
The chairs of the House and Senate intelligence committees are praising President Barack Obama's speech laying out changes to U.S. spying programs. But they're questioning whether Obama's proposal to end the government's control of phone data is necessary.
Violence-torn Venezuela creates phone 'panic button'
A free app for certain smartphones that works as a "panic button" in emergencies has launched in Venezuela, one of the world's most violent countries, a lawmaker said Saturday.
Yahoo honeymoon hits reality for Internet sweatheart Mayer
The axing this week of Yahoo's second-in-command sent a signal that reality is setting in for Silicon Valley sweetheart Marissa Mayer, who leads the struggling Internet pioneer.
US man pleads not guilty to revenge porn website extortion
A US man, accused of running a "revenge porn" website hosting over 10,000 sexually explicit photos as part of an extortion ploy, pleaded not guilty Friday, a court spokeswoman said.
Court: Bloggers have First Amendment protections
A federal appeals court has ruled bloggers and the public have the same First Amendment protections as journalists when sued for defamation: If the issue is of public concern, plaintiffs have to prove negligence to win damages.
20 million people fall victim to S. Korea data leak
The personal data of at least 20 million bank and credit card users in South Korea has been leaked, state regulators said Sunday, one of the country's biggest ever breaches.
Lawmakers say Obama surveillance idea won't work
A chief element of President Barack Obama's attempt to overhaul U.S. surveillance will not work, leaders of Congress' intelligence committees said Sunday, pushing back against the idea that the government should cede control of how Americans' phone records are stored.
Flying car spreads its wings in Slovakia
Mankind's primordial dream of flight is taking off with a new twist as a Slovak prototype of a flying car spreads its wings.
Encrypted Blackphone goes to war with snoopers
It's a fully encrypted smartphone that aims to foil snooping governments, industry rivals and hackers.
Germany eyes swift cuts in renewable energy subsidies
Germany's new energy minister has outlined cuts in subsidies to producers of renewable energy as the country wrestles with soaring costs from its nuclear power exit, according to a document obtained by AFP Sunday.
Flight research center to test shape-changing wing idea
(Phys.org) —Conventional wing designs in the form of hinged flaps are in for a re-think. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has noted how hinged flight control surfaces came along shortly after wing-warping technology developed by the Wright Brothers, and still remain the usual method of construction for flight control surfaces. Something different is being proposed, however. At this year's American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SciTech January event in Washington, new wing technology was introduced by an Ann Arbor, Michigan company. Wing "morphing" may emerge as a technology approach. The company behind the technology is FlexSys, which showcased their FlexFoil, a variable geometry airfoil system. The idea is to use seamless, flexible wings which can operate like flaps but without the extra baggage of inefficiency. The system is designed to optimize wing aerodynamics. FlexFoil is a deformable, seamless surface that changes shape for better per! formance throughout the flight. The company says it uses aerospace-grade materials and actuators.
Tiny swimming bio-bots boldly go where no bot has swum before (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) —The alien world of aquatic micro-organisms just got new residents: synthetic self-propelled swimming bio-bots.
SeeThru AR eyewear device sets sights on consumer market
(Phys.org) —By air, by sea, by workout trails, augmented reality headsets have just got more interesting with Laster Technologies' SeeThru eyewear. Laster recently launched its SeeThru campaign on Kickstarter, introducing this wireless augmented reality glasses device. Standing apart from competitors, according to its creators, SeeThru is distinctive in a number of ways. Those ways include its large vision field, image definition, and the way contextual information is overlaid directly onto the object you're looking at. Also, just as device manufacturers promote "plug and play," Laster is promoting its device as wear and play AR, whereby the creators say there is no need to adjust the eyewear for head size or distance. The SeeThru AR headset does not require the user to look up or down at tiny screens in the corner of the glasses. The device lacks a camera but instead uses integrated sensors: gyroscopes, accelerometers and compasses.
Medicine & Health news
Turkey approves controversial medical aid bill (Update)
A controversial medical bill that makes it a crime for doctors to provide emergency first aid without government authorisation came into force in Turkey on Saturday despite an outcry from rights groups.
S.Korea on alert after bird flu confirmed
South Korea stepped up the culling of poultry and enforced strict quarantine measures Saturday to stop the country's first outbreak of bird flu in three years from spreading, officials said.
US judge: State abortion ultrasound law illegal
A North Carolina law requiring women who want an abortion to have an ultrasound and then have a medical provider describe the image to them is a violation of constitutional free-speech rights, a federal judge ruled Friday.
A world without antibiotics? The risk is real, experts say
Humans face the very real risk of a future without antibiotics, a world of plummeting life expectancy where people die from diseases easily treatable today, scientists say.
Mechanism in Alzheimer's-related memory loss identified
Cleveland Clinic researchers have identified a protein in the brain that plays a critical role in the memory loss seen in Alzheimer's patients, according to a study to be published in the journal Nature Neuroscience and posted online today.
Overexpression of splicing protein in skin repair causes early changes seen in skin cancer
Normally, tissue injury triggers a mechanism in cells that tries to repair damaged tissue and restore the skin to a normal, or homeostatic state. Errors in this process can give rise to various problems, such as chronic inflammation, which is a known cause of certain cancers.
New hope for Gaucher patients
What causes brain damage and inflammation in severe cases of Gaucher disease? Little is known about the events that lead to brain pathology in some forms of the disease, and there is currently no treatment available – a bleak outlook for sufferers and their families. Now, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have discovered a new cellular pathway implicated in Gaucher disease. Their findings, published today in Nature Medicine, may offer a new therapeutic target for the management of this disease, as well as other related disorders.
Cobweb or cotton candy? Headband aims to control dreams
(Medical Xpress)—A dream can be explained as a story that happens while we sleep. Some have dreaded dreams at one time or another of climbing a stairwell that never ends or meeting up with a monster or facing impossible obstacles on the run. Apparently the opportunity to reverse dreaded dreams and instead experience lucid dreaming has captured the attention of many Kickstarter visitors. They are showing interest in a sleep-tracking headband campaign. With three days to go, at the time of this writing, the fundraisers have realized $206,031 in pledges surpassing their $90,000 goal. Those running the campaign are offering a lucid dreaming device called Aurora.
Researchers discover how heart arrhythmia occurs
Researchers have discovered the fundamental biology of calcium waves in relation to heart arrhythmias.
Biology news
Japanese fishermen capture dolphins ahead of slaughter
Fishermen and divers caught at least 25 dolphins in a controversial Japanese fishing village Saturday, according to environmentalists, who said the process was captive selection ahead of a mass slaughter.
Nevada marina deemed safe despite 100K fish kill
Though testing is incomplete, state officials say they're convinced a Nevada marina where an estimated 100,000 trout, bass and catfish died poses no danger to humans or animals.
Scientists investigate the fiber of our being
We are all aware of the health benefits of "dietary fibre". But what is dietary fiber and how do we metabolise it?
Hookworm genome sequenced
Going barefoot in parts of Africa, Asia and South America contributes to hookworm infections, which afflict an estimated 700 million of the world's poor. The parasitic worm lives in the soil and enters the body through the feet. By feeding on victims' blood, the worms cause anemia and, in children, stunted growth and learning problems.
Scientists identify 'molecular fossil' in fungi
(Phys.org) —All but a few eukaryotes die without oxygen, and they respond dynamically to changes in the level of oxygen available to them. UCD scientists used genetic analysis to pinpoint an evolutionary switch in regulating response to low oxygen levels in fungi.
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.
https://sciencex.com/profile/nwletter/
You are subscribed as jmabs1@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment