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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for April 18, 2014:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- How mighty Jupiter could have changed Earth's habitability- Know the brain, and its axons, by the clothes they wear
- Impact glass stores biodata for millions of years
- New, more versatile version of Geckskin: Gecko-like adhesives now useful for real world surfaces
- Impurity size affects performance of emerging superconductive material
- Astronomers discover first self-lensing binary star system
- MRI, on a molecular scale: Team develops system that could peer into atomic structure of individual molecules
- Researchers create methylation maps of Neanderthals and Denisovans, compare them to modern humans
- 'Dressed' laser aimed at clouds may be key to inducing rain, lightning
- Researchers successfully clone adult human stem cells
- Continents may be a key feature of Super-Earths
- The importance of plumes
- New study suggests a better way to deal with bad memories
- LinkedIn membership hits 300 million
- All-in-One Media Keyboard offers navigation from the couch
Astronomy & Space news
New satellite sensor will analyze and predict severe space weather
Lockheed Martin has delivered a new solar analysis payload that will help scientists measure and forecast space weather, which can damage satellites, electrical grids and communications systems on Earth. The Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) instrument was integrated with the first flight vehicle of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, known as GOES-R.
Storms threaten second launch try to space station (Update)
SpaceX returned to the launch pad Friday in hopes of finally delivering supplies to the International Space Station, but stormy weather threatened to interfere.
A full-spectrum Mars simulation in a box
There are many reasons why Mars excels at destroying expensive equipment. For one thing, its entire surface is made of partially-magnetized dust. For another, Mars possesses just enough atmosphere so that the dust floats and coats photographic lenses. At the same time, it doesn't have enough of an atmosphere to protect electronics from ultraviolet radiation. The trace gases and humidity in the air it does have contaminate all but the most tightly sealed instruments. Mars' frigid temperatures, low pressures and rapidly changing winds push landers to their operational limits. To build equipment that functions well under these conditions, we need testing environments on Earth that duplicate Mars' many imperfections as perfectly as possible.
Ceres and Vesta Converge in Virgo
Don't let them pass you by. Right now and continuing through July, the biggest and brightest asteroids will be running on nearly parallel tracks in the constellation Virgo and so close together they'll easily fit in the same binocular field of view. The twofer features Ceres (biggest) and Vesta (brightest) which are also the prime targets of NASA's Dawn Mission. Now en route to a Ceres rendezvous next February, Dawn orbited Vesta from July 2011 to September 2012 and sent back spectacular photos of two vast impact basins, craters stained black by carbon-rich asteroids and parallel troughs that stretch around the 330-mile-wide world like rubber bands.
Image: NASA rover Opportunity's selfie shows clean machine
In its sixth Martian winter, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity now has cleaner solar arrays than in any Martian winter since its first on the Red Planet, in 2005. Cleaning effects of wind events in March boosted the amount of electricity available for the rover's work.
Sun emits a mid-level solar flare
The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 9:03 a.m. EDT on April 18, 2014, and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however—when intense enough—they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.
Exoplanets soon to gleam in the eye of NESSI
(Phys.org) —The New Mexico Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Instrument (NESSI) will soon get its first "taste" of exoplanets, helping astronomers decipher their chemical composition. Exoplanets are planets that orbit stars beyond our sun.
Proposed Mars 'Icebreaker' mission detailed
Scientists supported by the Astrobiology Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP) and Astrobiology Instrument Development Programs (ASTID) have outlined the proposed 'Icebreaker' mission to Mars in a recent paper in the Journal of Field Robotics.
Continents may be a key feature of Super-Earths
Huge Earth-like planets that have both continents and oceans may be better at harboring extraterrestrial life than those that are water-only worlds. A new study gives hope for the possibility that many super-Earth planets orbiting distant stars have exposed continents rather than just water-covered surfaces.
The importance of plumes
The Hubble Space Telescope is famous for finding black holes. It can pick out thousands of galaxies in a patch of sky the size of a thumbprint. The most powerful space telescope ever built, the Hubble provided evidence that the Universe isn't slowing down in its infinite rush into whatever lies beyond.
LADEE mission ends with planned lunar impact
(Phys.org) —Ground controllers at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., have confirmed that NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft impacted the surface of the moon, as planned, between 9:30 and 10:22 p.m. PDT Thursday, April 17.
Quest for extraterrestrial life not over, experts say
The discovery of an Earth-sized planet in the "habitable" zone of a distant star, though exciting, is still a long way from pointing to the existence of extraterrestrial life, experts said Friday.
SpaceX launches supplies to space station
A fresh load of supplies is finally on its way to the International Space Station.
How mighty Jupiter could have changed Earth's habitability
Is Jupiter a friendly planet, Earth's enemy, or perhaps both? For decades, scientists have talked about how the giant gas planet keeps some asteroids from striking our small world, while others have pointed out that Jupiter's gravity could send some civilization-shattering asteroids our way.
Astronomers discover first self-lensing binary star system
(Phys.org) —A pair of astronomers at the University of Washington has discovered the first known instance of a self-lensing binary-star system. In their paper published in the journal Science, Ethan Kruse and Eric Agol describe how they happened across the previously theorized system while looking for undiscovered planets.
Impact glass stores biodata for millions of years
(Phys.org) —Bits of plant life encapsulated in molten glass by asteroid and comet impacts millions of years ago give geologists information about climate and life forms on the ancient Earth. Scientists exploring large fields of impact glass in Argentina suggest that what happened on Earth might well have happened on Mars millions of years ago. Martian impact glass could hold traces of organic compounds.
Technology news
White House updating online privacy policy
A new Obama administration privacy policy out Friday explains how the government will gather the user data of online visitors to WhiteHouse.gov, mobile apps and social media sites. It also clarifies that online comments, whether tirades or tributes, are in the open domain.
Venture investments jump to $9.5B in 1Q
Funding for U.S. startup companies soared 57 percent in the first quarter to a level not seen since 2001, as venture capitalists piled more money into an increasing number of deals, according to a report due out Friday.
Toshiba to launch world's fastest microSD memory cards
Toshiba Corporation today announced that it will launch the world's fastest microSD memory cards, compliant with UHS-II, the ultra high speed serial bus interface defined in SD Memory Card Standard Ver. 4.20. Sample shipments for set manufacturers of smartphones and other mobile devices, and for chipset vendors, start today.
Lifting the brakes on fuel efficiency
The work of a research leader at Michigan Technological University is attracting attention from Michigan's Governor as well as automotive companies around the world. Xiaodi "Scott" Huang of Michigan Tech's Department of Materials Science and Engineering helped Governor Rick Snyder promote Michigan's automotive industry at China's 2013 international auto parts expos. Huang's research is the basis for his MTEC SmartZone company, LiteBrake Tech, which was one of eight companies chosen to represent Michigan automotive technology overseas.
Pollution top concern for U.S. and Canadian citizens around Great Lakes
With Earth Day approaching, a new Great Lakes survey by U.S. and Canadian researchers represents one of the largest attempts in recent decades to assess public views on a wide range of issues in the Great Lakes basin.
UT Dallas professor to develop framework to protect computers' cores
UT Dallas cybersecurity expert Dr. Zhiqiang Lin has received funding from the U.S. Air Force to develop a defense framework that burrows deep into a computer system to protect its core.
US newspaper industry revenue fell 2.6 pct in 2013
U.S. newspaper industry revenue continued to fall last year, as increases in circulation revenue failed to offset shrinking demand for print advertising.
Microsoft reports strong sales of XBox One
Microsoft said Thursday it has sold more than five million XBox One consoles since they were launched in November.
Scientists apply new graph programming method for evolving exascale applications
(Phys.org) —Hiding the complexities that underpin exascale system operations from application developers is a critical challenge facing teams designing next-generation supercomputers. One way that computer scientists in the Data Intensive Scientific Computing group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are attacking the problem is by developing formal design processes based on Concurrent Collections (CnC), a programming model that combines task and data parallelism. Using the processes, scientists have transformed the Livermore Unstructured Lagrangian Explicit Shock Hydrodynamics (LULESH) proxy application code that models hydrodynamics (the motion of materials relative to each other when subjected to forces) into a complete CnC specification. The derived CnC specification can be implemented and executed using a paradigm that takes advantage of the massive parallelism and power-conserving features of future exascale systems.
Researcher finds hidden efficiencies in computer architecture
The computer is one of the most complex machines ever devised and most of us only ever interact with its simplest features. For each keystroke and web-click, thousands of instructions must be communicated in diverse machine languages and millions of calculations computed.
Dutch student sells his data for €350, but at what price privacy?
A dutch student has taken the bold decision to sell all his data at auction. It's a decision that should make us think about the future of our own information.
Study finds children use traditional and digital books for different purposes
A furious debate has been raging for some years now between adults. Are you a Kindle lover or a devotee of the good, old-fashioned book? As the e-book spreads into children's publishing, some look in terror at the thought of our children forgetting what an actual book is as they fall for their new devices.
A robot dives into search for Malaysian Airlines flight
In the hunt for signs of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370—which disappeared on March 8 after deviating for unknown reasons from its scheduled flight path—all eyes today turn to a company that got its start at MIT.
Under some LED bulbs whites aren't 'whiter than white'
For years, companies have been adding whiteners to laundry detergent, paints, plastics, paper and fabrics to make whites look "whiter than white," but now, with a switch away from incandescent and fluorescent lighting, different degrees of whites may all look the same, according to experts in lighting.
Android gains in US, basic phones almost extinct
The Google Android platform grabbed the majority of mobile phones in the US market in early 2014, as consumers all but abandoned non-smartphone handsets, a survey showed Friday.
Researchers uncover likely creator of Bitcoin
The primary author of the celebrated Bitcoin paper, and therefore probable creator of Bitcoin, is most likely Nick Szabo, a blogger and former George Washington University law professor, according to students and researchers at Aston University's Centre for Forensic Linguistics (UK).
Computer users circumvent password security with workarounds, according to study
(Phys.org) —When workers and organizations circumvent computer passwords and security rules, they unwittingly open the door to hackers, according to a study co-authored by Ross Koppel, an adjunct professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.
LinkedIn membership hits 300 million
The career-focused social network LinkedIn announced Friday it has 300 million members, with more than half the total outside the United States.
All-in-One Media Keyboard offers navigation from the couch
(Phys.org) —Microsoft this week announced its All-in-One Media Keyboard. This is a peripheral that is targeted for users who want a comfortable, useful keyboard to use whether sitting on the living room couch or in the home-office chair. Brandon LeBlanc, writing on the Windows Experience blog said, "People love to show off their photos and videos to friends and family and a common way to do this is by connecting a device like a laptop or tablet to a TV... we're announcing the All-in-One Media Keyboard that makes it super easy to access and navigate all that content from the comfort of your couch." The new device has a QWERTY keyboard with multitouch trackpad for controlling smart TVs and tablets via swipe, drag, zoom, and click. It has media hotkeys for the web and music, photos, and movies. Microsoft promoted the durability of the keyboard, in making a video showing how the keyboard can stand up to splashes and bumps.
Five features an Amazon phone might offer
Rumors of an Amazon smartphone reached a fever pitch this week, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that the device could be due out this year.
Medicine & Health news
West Africa's Ebola outbreak has claimed 137 lives
The World Health Organization says an Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa has claimed 137 lives.
COPD patient returns to active lifestyle thanks to pulmonary rehabilitation
In the waiting room at UK HealthCare's Pulmonary Rehabilitation Clinic sits a large binder labeled "Success Stories." Inside are pages and pages of testimony from patients who discovered a renewed quality of life as a result of their experience. "I can walk through the mall with my grandkids again," reads one. "Most important thing I've ever done," declares another.
Parkinson's treatment revisited to avoid adverse effects
Parkinson's disease modifies a crucial circuit of the central nervous system in a specific way. This could open up an alternative therapeutic approach that avoids side effects of current therapies.
Foreigner dies of MERS in Saudi
A foreigner has died after she contracted MERS in the Saudi capital, the health ministry said on announced Friday, bringing the nationwide death toll to 73.
US orders farms to report pig virus infections
The U.S. government is starting a new program to help monitor and possibly control the spread of a virus that has killed millions of pigs since showing up in the country last year.
Suddenly health insurance is not for sale
(HealthDay)— Darlene Tucker, an independent insurance broker in Scotts Hill, Tenn., says health insurers in her area aren't selling policies year-round anymore.
Impact of childhood bullying still evident after 40 years
The negative social, physical and mental health effects of childhood bullying are still evident nearly 40 years later, according to new research by King's College London. The study is the first to look at the effects of bullying beyond early adulthood, and is published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Legal claims rising for laser surgery by nonphysicians
(HealthDay)—Legal claims related to cutaneous laser surgery performed by nonphysician operators (NPOs) are increasing, according to research published in the April issue of JAMA Dermatology.
Leeches help save woman's ear after pit bull mauling
(HealthDay)—A pit bull attack in July 2013 left a 19-year-old woman with her left ear ripped from her head, leaving an open wound. After preserving the ear, the surgical team started with a reconnection of a 0.3 millimeter-thick arterial branch. Stephen Sullivan, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of plastic surgery at Brown University in Providence, R.I., joined his colleague Helena Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., to present the case in the April 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The diabetes detectives: Two papers on groundbreaking research into hypoglycemia detection
To the casual observer, the 14-year-old kicking a ball around in the park with his friends looked like he had energy to burn. But the boy has Type 1 diabetes, a chronic debilitating autoimmune disorder that commonly manifests in the early teens.
The effects of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria in African healthcare settings
Researchers from the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group conducted a review of the effects of introducing rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for diagnosing malaria in primary healthcare settings in Africa where laboratory services are unavailable. The review included seven randomized controlled trials, enrolling 17,505 people with fever, and found that using RDTs reduced the prescription of antimalarial drugs by up to three-quarters, but didn't change the number of people still unwell a week later.
Education, breastfeeding and gender affect the microbes on our bodies
Trillions of microbes live in and on our body. We don't yet fully understand how these microbial ecosystems develop or the full extent to which they influence our health. Some provide essential nutrients, while others cause disease. A new study now provides some unexpected influences on the contents of these communities, as scientists have found that life history, including level of education, can affect the sorts of microbes that flourish. They think this could help in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Diagnosing and treating autism
April is National Autism Awareness Month. The Child Development Clinic at Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU (CHoR) provides comprehensive assessment for pediatric patients with developmental delays or disabilities, including those with autism spectrum disorders.
Researchers find new method to combat common childhood illness
Almost all children are infected with respiratory syncytial virus by the time they are two. Most recover quickly from cold-like symptoms. But for others, RSV can cause serious lung infections, such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia, which lands an estimated 75,000 to 125,000 children in the hospital each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Scientists unlock key to the sound of blood pressure reduction in a traffic jam
Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) has released key findings into the effects of music on the cardiovascular system, and most importantly, what we need to be listening to in order to reduce our blood pressure in a traffic jam.
Autonomy and relationships among 'good life' goals
Young adults with Down syndrome have a strong desire to be self-sufficient by living independently and having a job, according to a study into the meaning of wellbeing among young people affected by the disorder.
Research could improve understanding of risky behavior, addiction
(Medical Xpress)—It follows logically: If you are unable to predict how a decision might affect your life, your decisions may be more impulsive.
Tobacco use varies widely among Asian and Pacific Islanders in US
While past research has shown that, as a whole, Asian Americans and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders living in the U.S. smoke at a lower rate than the national average, a new study in American Journal of Health Behavior finds significant differences in tobacco use when analyzed by specific Asian or Pacific Islander ethnicity.
'Brain training' overcomes tics in Tourette syndrome, study finds
(Medical Xpress)—Children with Tourette Syndrome (TS) may unconsciously train their brain to more effectively control their tics, a study led by experts at The University of Nottingham has confirmed.
Common links between neurodegenerative diseases identified
The pattern of brain alterations may be similar in several different neurodegenerative diseases, which opens the door to alternative therapeutic strategies to tackle these diseases
Vietnam battles fatal measles outbreak
Vietnam is scrambling to contain a deadly outbreak of measles that has killed more than 100 people, mostly young children, and infected thousands more this year, the government said Friday.
New research shows people are thinking about their health early in the week
A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine analyzing weekly patterns in health-related Google searches reveals a recurring pattern that could be leveraged to improve public health strategies.
US scientists make embryonic stem cells from adult skin
For the first time, US researchers have cloned embryonic stem cells from adult cells, a breakthrough on the path towards helping doctors treat a host of diseases.
Study: Half of jailed NYC youths have brain injury (Update)
About half of all 16- to 18-year-olds coming into New York City's jails say they had a traumatic brain injury before being incarcerated, most caused by assaults, according to a new study that's the latest in a growing body of research documenting head trauma among young offenders.
Religious music brings benefit to seniors' mental health
A new article published online in The Gerontologist reports that among older Christians, listening to religious music is associated with a decrease in anxiety about death and increases in life satisfaction, self-esteem, and sense of control over their lives. In particular, listening to gospel music is associated with a decrease in anxiety about death and an increase in sense of control.
More than a quarter of emergency contraceptives in Peru falsified or substandard
A survey of emergency contraceptive pills in Peru found that 28 percent of the batches studied were either of substandard quality or falsified. Many pills released the active ingredient too slowly. Others had the wrong active ingredient. One batch had no active ingredient at all.
Mum's diet mirrors child's food allergies
A long-term study evaluating maternal diet's impact on food allergy in later life is expected to uncover causes of allergy in children.
Oil-swishing craze: Snake oil or all-purpose remedy?
(HealthDay)—Allison Bennett of Palm City, Fla., plans to swish daily. Sloshing coconut oil around her mouth for a quarter of an hour every day will make her teeth whiter, she believes.
Standard ultrasound criteria needed in carotid artery stenosis
(HealthDay)—Standardization of the diagnostic criteria defining the degree of carotid artery stenosis is needed for carotid duplex ultrasonography, according to research published online April 15 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
Chronic inflammation linked to 'high-grade' prostate cancer
Men who show signs of chronic inflammation in non-cancerous prostate tissue may have nearly twice the risk of actually having prostate cancer than those with no inflammation, according to results of a new study led by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.
New clues on tissue scarring in scleroderma
A discovery by Northwestern Medicine scientists could lead to potential new treatments for breaking the cycle of tissue scarring in people with scleroderma.
New study suggests a better way to deal with bad memories
(Medical Xpress)—What's one of your worst memories? How did it make you feel? According to psychologists, remembering the emotions felt during a negative personal experience, such as how sad you were or how embarrassed you felt, can lead to emotional distress, especially when you can't stop thinking about it.
Know the brain, and its axons, by the clothes they wear
(Medical Xpress)—It is widely know that the grey matter of the brain is grey because it is dense with cell bodies and capillaries. The white matter is almost entirely composed of lipid-based myelin, but there is also a little room in the grey matter for a few select axons to be at least partially myelinated. A group of well known researchers, mostly from Harvard and MIT, decided to look for possible patterns in the myelin found in cortical grey matter. Their Science published findings suggest that this dynamic balance struck up by each axon, somewhere between zero and full myelination, does not tip to the benefit of action potential speed alone. Instead, it follows a more subtle give and take between different kinds cells.
Biology news
Japan to continue scientific whaling in Pacific: reports
Japan has decided to continue its whaling programme in the Pacific Ocean, reports said Friday, despite losing a United Nations court case on its other "research" hunt in the Antarctic.
Japan to hunt fewer whales in Pacific this season (Update)
Japan will target fewer whales when its Pacific hunt begins next week and will observe them in the Antarctic next season with the aim of resuming full-fledged commercial whaling, the fisheries minister said Friday.
Genetic study tackles mystery of slow plant domestications
(Phys.org) —"The Modern View of Domestication," a special feature of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published April 29, raises a number of startling questions about a transition in our deep history that most of us take for granted. At the end of the last Ice Age, people in many spots around the globe shifted from hunting animals and gathering fruits and tubers to cultivating livestock and plants.
Bacterial immune system has a better memory than expected
Bacteria's memories of hostile viruses are stronger than thought. Even when the intruders change their DNA sequence, the immune system of bacteria can recognise these and subsequently destroy them. That is the conclusion of NWO Vidi researcher Stan Brouns in the journal PNAS.
Technologies for analyzing gene expression at the genomic scale
The emergence of technologies for analyzing gene expression at the genomic scale has required parallel efforts to develop software that make sense of the data. Such 'browser' tools provide scientists with a visual atlas of the thousands of genes that are switched on and off in a given experiment. However, these tools become increasingly unwieldy as the studies grow larger. A team of researchers led by Alistair Forrest and Jessica Severin from the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies have now developed software that can efficiently handle far greater volumes of data.
New insights into how different tissues establish their biological and functional identities
The cell is an immensely complex biological system involving a multitude of components that work together to drive the cellular machine. Identifying how all of the components fit together in any given cell type is a challenge in itself—integrating the pieces into a functional whole across a wide variety of cell types is an undertaking on a different scale entirely. Yet this is the ambitious goal of the international FANTOM5 consortium, led by Alistair Forrest, Piero Carninci and colleagues from the RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies and Yoshihide Hayashizaki from the RIKEN Preventive Medicine & Diagnosis Innovation Program, which has made important progress in assembling a functional blueprint for the myriad genomic elements that control gene expression across hundreds of different mammalian cell types.
Plants with dormant seeds give rise to more species
Seeds that sprout as soon as they're planted may be good news for a garden. But wild plants need to be more careful. In the wild, a plant whose seeds sprouted at the first warm spell or rainy day would risk disaster. More than just an insurance policy against late frosts or unexpected dry spells, it turns out that seed dormancy has long-term advantages too: Plants whose seeds put off sprouting until conditions are more certain give rise to more species, finds in a team of researchers working at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in North Carolina.
Scientists tether lionfish to Cayman reefs
Research done by U.S. scientists in the Cayman Islands suggests that native predators can be trained to gobble up invasive lionfish that colonize regional reefs and voraciously prey on juvenile marine creatures.
Male monkey filmed caring for dying mate (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) —The incident was captured by Dr Bruna Bezerra and colleagues in the Atlantic Forest in the Northeast of Brazil. Dr Bezerra is a Research Associate at the University of Bristol and a Professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil.
Birthplace of the domesticated chili pepper identified in Mexico
Central-east Mexico gave birth to the domesticated chili pepper—now the world's most widely grown spice crop—reports an international team of researchers, led by a plant scientist at the University of California, Davis.
Researchers develop new model of cellular movement
(Phys.org) —Cell movement plays an important role in a host of biological functions from embryonic development to repairing wounded tissue. It also enables cancer cells to break free from their sites of origin and migrate throughout the body.
Researchers successfully clone adult human stem cells
(Phys.org) —An international team of researchers, led by Robert Lanza, of Advanced Cell Technology, has announced that they have performed the first successful cloning of adult human skin cells into stem cells. A paper by the team describing their work has been published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
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