Science X Newsletter Friday, Sep 5

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for September 5, 2014:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- First graphene-based flexible display produced
- Algolux tackles optics challenges in smartphones
- Apple ramps up iCloud defense against hackers
- Banked blood grows stiffer with age, study finds
- Motorola puts smartwatch on sale, upgrades phones
- Cost-effective, high-performance micropumps for lab-on-a-chip disease diagnosis
- Researchers find a way to reduce contact resistance with molybdenum disulphide nanosheets
- Dietary recommendations may be tied to increased greenhouse gas emissions
- Researchers find new gene mutations for Wilms Tumor
- 'Disease in a dish' approach could aid Huntington's disease discovery
- Psychologists say Milgram's famous experiment on obedience to authority has been misunderstood
- Variables of nature
- Marine experts suggest IWC learn from ICJ ruling when reviewing whale research proposals
- Near-extinct African amphibians 'invisible' under climate change
- California blue whales rebound from whaling, first of their kin to do so

Astronomy & Space news

	Curiosity captures images of Martian clouds Curiosity celebrated two years on Mars on August 5, 2014, and is continuing its progress across the surface of the planet. The rover has already fulfilled one of its primary mission goals by confirming that environments theoretically capable of supporting microbial life were once present on ancient Mars. Now Curiosity is continuing its journey toward the slopes of Mount Sharp and is currently headed for an outcrop dubbed 'Pahrump Hills.
	NASA scientists listen to data Robert Alexander spends parts of his day listening to a soft white noise, similar to water falling on the outside of a house during a rainstorm. Every once in a while, he hears an anomalous sound and marks the corresponding time in the audio file. Alexander is listening to the sun's magnetic field and marking potential areas of interest. After only ten minutes, he has listened to one month's worth of data.
	Image: NASA's RapidScat payload NASA's ISS-RapidScat wind-watching scatterometer, which is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station no earlier than Sept. 19, will be the first science payload to be robotically assembled in space since the space station itself. This image shows the instrument assembly on the left, shrouded in white. On the right is Rapid-Scat's nadir adapter, a very sophisticated bracket that points the scatterometer toward Earth so that it can record the direction and speed of ocean winds. The two pieces are stowed in the unpressurized trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
	Review says NASA Curiosity rover missing 'scientific focus and detail' in Mars mission NASA's planetary senior review panel harshly criticized the scientific return of the Curiosity rover in a report released yesterday (Sept. 3), saying the mission lacks focus and the team is taking actions that show they think the $2.5-billion mission is "too big to fail."
	First light for Onsala Space Observatory The 20-metre radio telescope at Onsala Space Observatory, is getting a new lease of life thanks to an upgrade of its protective radome.

Technology news

	Algolux tackles optics challenges in smartphones Algolux is a company aiming to tackle blurring problems through computational optics. Algolux said its efforts are presently focused on smartphones and tablets. One can appreciate how this company sees their technology attracting interest in this way. The technology allows for lens designs to be less complex, smaller, lighter and cheaper which would be especially interesting in smartphone imaging where space is at a premium, said Connect, a website on mobile photography technology. The company tells site visitors that "Our computational optics enable better pictures, thinner cameras and cheaper optics." The technology allows manufacturers' devices to capture clearer pictures with their existing equipment, including in low-light conditions. Also, the quantity and quality of optical elements needed are diminished; manufacturers can obtain desirable results at a lower cost.
	Apple ramps up iCloud defense against hackers Apple is ramping up iCloud defenses in the aftermath of hackers swiping nude photos of celebrities from the online digital vault, the Wall Street Journal reported.
	Motorola puts smartwatch on sale, upgrades phones Motorola kicked off sales of its new smartwatch Friday, in a series of product launches which could be the last before the Google-owned electronics firm is sold to China's Lenovo.
	Wearable clip tells parents, coach about head impact According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a concussion is a type of injury caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. Concussions may occur from a blow that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth. Sport-related concussion has been a frequent topic in the media as professionals have expressed concern over incidents that may go underreported. While football has a high incidence, girls have higher concussion rates than boys do in similar sports. Concussions happen in collision sports, such as football, rugby, or ice hockey but also in contact sports such as soccer, basketball, wrestling, and lacrosse. On Friday, for example, in just one U.S. state, the Star Tribune reported that Minnesota's high school athletes suffered about 3,000 sports-related concussions in the past school year, with nearly half of them involving football players and on! e in 20 resulting in severe symptoms that lingered for more than two weeks, based on a tally by the state Department of Health. Doctors in general would agree to never ignore a head injury, no matter how minor.
	Facebook rolls out 'privacy checkup' Facebook on Thursday began rolling out its "privacy checkup" aimed at helping users of the huge social network better manage sharing their information and postings.
	Nevada offers Tesla up to $1.3B for battery plant Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval is asking state legislators to approve tax breaks and other incentives worth up to $1.3 billion over 20 years to bring Tesla Motors' battery factory to the state.
Uproar over talk of tampering with Twitter stream Twitter erupted with worry Thursday after word spread that the globally popular messaging service might try to tame its raw stream of real-time posts.
	Vehicle fuel economy at record high Fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the U.S. is now at an all-time high, say researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
	Novice mistake may have been the cause of the iCloud naked celebrities hack The investigation of the hack that gave the world access to hundreds of nude celebrity pictures identified another massive gap in online security. Given Apple's reputation of being among the more secure tech companies, this puts them in a tight spot. Also, the ramifications of the security weakness for other companies are quite serious, as more and more people use cloud services to store their data.
Loudspeakers in jet engines Unless one is attending an aeronautics convention or going on a trip, noise associated with aircraft engines is rarely tolerable. Different means of significantly reducing that noise are being tested by EPFL's Electromagnetics and Acoustics Laboratory.
	Success in test of ultra-high-speed optical transmission up to distances of 10,000km Fujitsu Limited, NTT Corporation, and NEC Corporation today announced that they have achieved a successful transmission test of the world's top-level, 400Gbps/channel-class digital coherent optical transmissions technology, marking a step toward commercialization. The test, with 400Gbps-class signals multiplexed up to 62 channels, verified fiber-optic transmissions of 12.4-24.8Tbps wavelength division multiplexed signals having different capacities for each modulation method at distances ranging from several thousand kilometers up to 10,000km.
	Neural network-based forecasting for renewable energy transmission Everything was simpler in the past. Power plants were distributed throughout countries and their output was adjusted according to energy demand. Power plants used calendars and weather forecasts, among other means, to predict the power needs of regions and large production plants.

Medicine & Health news

	Stimulation and deprivation alter vascular structure in the brain (Medical Xpress)—Nerves and blood vessels lead intimately entwined lives. They grow up together, following similar cues as they spread throughout the body. Blood vessels supply nerves with oxygen and nutrients, while nerves control blood vessel dilation and heart rate.
	Psychologists say Milgram's famous experiment on obedience to authority has been misunderstood Just over half a century ago, Stanley Milgram ran the most renowned studies in the history of psychology. He showed how ordinary people can do extraordinary harm to others when asked to do so. His conclusion, made famous through his film of the research, Obedience, was that humans are programmed to obey orders, no matter how noxious. But now, new research, complemented by a powerful new film, suggests that Milgram was wrong.
	Banked blood grows stiffer with age, study finds It may look like fresh blood and flow like fresh blood, but the longer blood is stored, the less it can carry oxygen into the tiny microcapillaries of the body, says a new study from University of Illinois researchers.
	Researchers find new gene mutations for Wilms Tumor Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and the Gill Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children's Medical Center, Dallas, have made significant progress in defining new genetic causes of Wilms tumor, a type of kidney cancer found only in children.
	'Disease in a dish' approach could aid Huntington's disease discovery Creating induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells allows researchers to establish "disease in a dish" models of conditions ranging from Alzheimer's disease to diabetes. Scientists at Yerkes National Primate Research Center have now applied the technology to a model of Huntington's disease (HD) in transgenic nonhuman primates, allowing them to conveniently assess the efficacy of potential therapies on neuronal cells in the laboratory.
	First international standards for growth of developing babies and size of newborns The first international standards for fetal growth and newborn size have been developed by a global team led by scientists from Oxford University.
	WHO-commissioned report on e-cigarettes misleading, experts say World leading tobacco experts argue that a recently published World Health Organization (WHO)-commissioned review of evidence on e-cigarettes contains important errors, misinterpretations and misrepresentations putting policy-makers and the public in danger of foregoing the potential public health benefits of e-cigarettes.
Caffeine therapy for apnea of prematurity does not have long-term harmful effects on sleep Caffeine therapy for apnea of prematurity has no long-term harmful effects on sleep or control of breathing, according to a new study of 201 preterm children assessed at ages 5-12, the first study in humans to examine the long-term effects of neonatal caffeine treatment on sleep regulation and ventilatory control.
	Research finds no association between wearing a bra and breast cancer A population-based case-control study found no association between bra wearing and increased breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women, according to research published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
New blood test could offer more tailored treatment of ovarian cancer (Medical Xpress)—A new blood test allowing doctors to predict which ovarian cancer patients will respond to particular types of treatment is a step closer following a new study by Manchester scientists.
	Common diabetes drug not linked to short-term risk of pancreatic cancer (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and the UNC School of Medicine have found that a popular class of diabetes medications called DPP-4 inhibitors does not increase the short-term risk of pancreatic cancer, as was previously reported by other researchers.
	Use of dengue vaccine may cause short-term spikes in its prevalence (Medical Xpress)—As researchers continue to work toward vaccines for serious tropical diseases such as dengue fever, experts caution in a new report that such vaccines will probably cause temporary but significant spikes in the disease in the years after they are first used.
	Saying 'thank you' does make a difference according to research Most of us were taught that saying "thank you" is simply the polite thing to do. But recent research in social psychology suggests that saying "thank you" goes beyond good manners – it also serves to build and maintain social relationships.
	Stigma as a barrier to mental health care Over 60 million Americans are thought to experience mental illness in a given year, and the impacts of mental illness are undoubtedly felt by millions more in the form of family members, friends, and coworkers. Despite the availability of effective evidence-based treatment, about 40% of individuals with serious mental illness do not receive care and many who begin an intervention fail to complete it. A new report, published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, investigates stigma as a significant barrier to care for many individuals with mental illness.
	Poor health habits linked to financial insecurity Financial hardship, or feeling that one can't make ends meet, may be more predictive of health risk behaviors than actual income levels for people with low-incomes, finds a recent study in the American Journal of Health Promotion.
African mothers doctor themselves In order to improve children's health care in Africa is important to find out what African mothers do when their children fall ill and what decisions they make. Mothers make a choice between regular healthcare, herbalists and their own medicinal herbs knowledge. Leiden PhD candidate Alexandra Towns researched the choices African mothers make and what treatments they use when their children fall ill. She collected 400 species and determined them in Naturalis. The study took place within the NWO Vidi project of dr Tinde van Andel.
	Researchers invent novel microneedle patch for faster and effective delivery of painkiller and collagen Individuals who are squeamish about injections or are looking for a way to let collagen penetrate deeper into the skin may soon have a solution that is faster, more effective and painless. The key lies in a small adhesive patch topped with minuscule needles that is pioneered by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Health experts look to untested drugs to fight Ebola (Update) Health experts honed in Friday on a handful of unproven drugs they hope might turn the lethal tide of Ebola, as key figures urged that funds go for frontline crisis care in some of the world's poorest states.
Brain mechanism underlying the recognition of hand gestures develops even when blind Does a distinctive mechanism work in the brain of congenitally blind individuals when understanding and learning others' gestures? Or does the same mechanism as with sighted individuals work? Japanese researchers figured out that activated brain regions of congenitally blind individuals and activated brain regions of sighted individuals share common regions when recognizing human hand gestures. They indicated that a region of the neural network that recognizes others' hand gestures is formed in the same way even without visual information.
	Synthetic messenger boosts immune system Specific immune cells, known as T lymphocytes, have to be activated so that the body can develop long-term protection against infections. Previously, it was believed that this process only took place in the lymph nodes and the spleen. Now scientists from Technische Universität München have discovered that T cells can also be activated in the liver—via a much faster, more direct signaling pathway. The findings could lead to improvements in the formulation of vaccines.
Combination microRNA therapy shown to suppress non-small-cell lung cancer Micro RNAs (miRNA) have recently emerged as key therapeutic agents against cancers and are actively being evaluated in pre-clinical models of various cancers as well as in human clinical trials.
Study reveals breast surgery as a definitive and safe treatment for elderly patients A study conducted by National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) has shown that age per se is not a contraindication to breast cancer surgery, and such surgeries may be safely performed for women aged 80 years and above. Led by Dr Ong Kong Wee, Senior Consultant in the Division of Surgical Oncology, the team consists of Dr Veronique Tan, Consultant, and Dr Lee Chee Meng, Resident Doctor. The study explores the safety of breast cancer surgery in women aged 80 years and above.
Novel immunotherapy vaccine decreases recurrence in HER2 positive breast cancer patients A new breast cancer vaccine candidate, (GP2), provides further evidence of the potential of immunotherapy in preventing disease recurrence. This is especially the case for high-risk patients when it is combined with a powerful immunotherapy drug. These findings are being presented by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology's Breast Cancer Symposium in San Francisco.
	Family troubles tied to poorer dental health, study discovers (HealthDay)—Parents and children in troubled families, where violence and verbal aggression are a common part of the daily landscape, tend to have more cavities and missing teeth, a new study suggests.
	Psoriasis treatment choices improving, FDA says (HealthDay)—A growing knowledge of the skin disease called psoriasis is leading to greater treatment choices, including personalized therapies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports.
	ASCO: BMI, menopause status linked to breast inflammation (HealthDay)—Body mass index (BMI) and postmenopausal status are independently associated with breast white adipose tissue (WAT) inflammation, according to a study scheduled to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's 2014 Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Sept. 4 to 6 in San Francisco.
	High-volume surgeons lead use of robotic procedures (HealthDay)—From 2003 to 2010 there was widespread adoption of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP), especially among high-volume surgeons, according to a study published online Aug. 26 in BJU International.
	Water: Too much of a good thing can be deadly for athletes (HealthDay)—The recent deaths of two high school football players highlight the danger faced by athletes if they drink too much water or too many sports drinks, a new study says.
WHO eyes Ebola vaccine by Nov as death toll passes 2,000 The death toll from the Ebola epidemic has climbed above 2,000, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Friday, as it voiced hopes a vaccine could be available in November.
One in five child deaths in England preventable Child deaths have fallen to very low rates in all industrialised countries, but many deaths in children and adolescents are still potentially preventable, and much more could be done to cut future deaths, according to a new three-part Series on child deaths in high-income countries, published in The Lancet.
Filipino nurse thought to have MERS virus did not The Filipino nurse who was thought to have contracted Middle East respiratory syndrome while working in Saudi Arabia never had the virus, Philippine health officials said Friday.
Obamacare to get new US appeals court review A US appeals court agreed Thursday to revisit a July ruling that threatened to undermine President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare reform law.
Video: Imaging the living brain Elizabeth Hillman, associate professor of biomedical engineering, leads a team that is developing new imaging methods for the living brain. Their goal is to understand the way that the brain functions and regulates its blood flow, which can provide important clues to understanding early brain development, disease and aging.
Experts warn US in danger of losing biotechnology edge The United States is in danger of losing its biomedical edge to countries that are aggressively funding research into personalized medicine.
Taiwan probes tainted oil in latest food scare Taiwanese health authorities said Friday they were investigating more than 200 companies which allegedly used recycled cooking oils obtained from restaurants in their products, in the latest food safety scandal to hit the island.
Trials begin with a new fall detector for the elderly that automatically notifies the emergency services Researchers from the Technical Research Centre for Dependency Care and Autonomous Living (CETpD), on the UPC's Vilanova i la Geltrú Campus, have designed a device that detects falls in elderly people without them having to press a button for assistance. It pinpoints their location inside or outside the home and notifies the emergency services if necessary.
IBD patients: Consider giving infliximab a second try Restarting infliximab therapy after a drug holiday is safe and effective for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.
EU sharply increases aid for Ebola-hit West Africa The European Union on Friday announced 140 million euros ($183 million) in funds to fight the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, a sharp increase over its previous pledge as the outbreak worsens.
American Ebola patient arrives in US for treatment An American doctor who was recently infected with the Ebola virus in Liberia arrived in the United States Friday for treatment.
	Ebola ravages health care in Sierra Leone capital Health care in Sierra Leone's capital city has "crumbled" because the deadly Ebola outbreak has made people too terrified to go to hospitals and some doctors wary of treating those who do show up, a physician said Friday.
	UN goal: Stop Ebola transmission in 6-9 months The United Nations is establishing an "Ebola Crisis Center" with a goal of stopping transmission in affected countries within six to nine months, the U.N. chief said Friday, as the death toll from the outbreak surpassed 2,000 for the first time.
	US doctor infected with Ebola in stable condition A doctor who became infected with Ebola while working in Liberia is sick, but in stable condition at the Nebraska Medical Center, officials said Friday.
	WHO: Use Ebola survivors' blood to treat patients Desperate to restore hope amid the Ebola crisis, the World Health Organization said Friday it would accelerate the deployment of experimental treatments and vaccines to contain the expanding epidemic in West Africa.
NephroCheck test approved to predict kidney injury risk (HealthDay)—The NephroCheck test, designed to predict the risk of sudden kidney injury within 12 hours, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Biology news

	Near-extinct African amphibians 'invisible' under climate change An international team of researchers has found that the majority of threatened species are 'invisible' when using modern methods to predict species distributions under climate change.
	California blue whales rebound from whaling, first of their kin to do so The number of California blue whales has rebounded to near historical levels, according to new research by the University of Washington, and while the number of blue whales struck by ships is likely above allowable U.S. limits, such strikes do not immediately threaten that recovery.
	Marine experts suggest IWC learn from ICJ ruling when reviewing whale research proposals (Phys.org) —A trio of marine scientists has printed a Policy Forum piece in the journal Science, detailing the recent history of Japan's research projects in the Antarctic region, and suggesting that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) learn from the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that found Japan's research project unscientific and put a stop to it. In their article, William de la Mare and Nick Gales, of the Australia Arctic Division and Marc Mangel with the University of California, suggest that in the future, the IWC follow the logic outlined by the ICJ in making their decisions, hopefully setting a precedent.
	Glanville fritillary genome sequenced The Glanville fritillary has long been an internationally known model species for ecology and evolutionary biology, whose population biology has been studied on the Åland Islands for more than twenty years. Now the species has become even more significant. Led by Research Professor Ilkka Hanski, the Metapopulation Research Group (MRG) at the University of Helsinki has sequenced the full genome of the Glanville fritillary together with three groups from the Institute of Biotechnology at the same university.
	Kenya poaching crisis a 'national disaster' Kenya's government was under renewed pressure Friday to declare a "national disaster" because of the rampant slaughter of elephant and rhino.
	Bluefin tuna found hunting for mackerel in East Greenland waters On a warm summer day in August 2012, Greenlandic fishermen and biologists caught an unusual catch while conducting an exploratory fishery for mackerel.
	Agriculture researchers developing ero–caf coffee bean It will soon be possible to grow premium-quality caffeine-free coffee, tea and cocoa, thanks to research involving University of Queensland expertise.
	International variety trial will help brew better future for global coffee industry The first shipment of coffee plantlets from World Coffee Research to test farms in 19 coffee-producing countries will go out before the end of summer, said researchers involved in the new International Multi-Location Variety Trial.
	Genetic system found in all land plants controls the development of structures essential for survival The colonization of land by the first land plants was a key step in the evolution of life on Earth. The exact circumstances of this shift, however, have not been fully explained. Taku Demura and colleagues from the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science have now contributed to the identification of a major set of plant genes that control two fundamental properties required for terrestrial life: structural support and water transport.
	Gene sequencing refines threatening parasite list Twenty-six species of Cryptosporidium have been recognised and 18 species declared non-valid in a recent shake-up of the parasite's taxonomy using DNA sequencing techniques.
	How to tell good stem cells from the bad The promise of embryonic stem cell research has been thwarted by an inability to answer a simple question: How do you know a good stem cell from a bad one?
	Canine cancer treatments getting more dog-specific (HealthDay)—Cancer rates in dogs are about the same as in people, but there are far fewer drug treatments specifically targeted for dogs.
How much effect does a microhabitat change truly have? To understand the behavioral patterns of all organisms co-existing together, we must examine our ecosystems, habitats, and even microhabitats. Even variation in climate change or human influence at small scales can ultimately have large impacts on the ecosystem as a whole.

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