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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for June 3, 2015:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Proposed synchrotron could store supersonic beams of hydrogen atoms
- After years of forensic investigation, Somerton Man's identity remains a mystery (Part 2: DNA, isotopes, and autopsy)
- Batteroo says $2.50 Batteriser sleeve gives battery extended life
- 'New era' in physics as world's biggest particle smasher cranks up (Update 2)
- Unusual interactions between Pluto's moons
- Cooking up cognition: Study suggests chimps have cognitive capacity for cooking
- Catalyst that converts carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide in water
- The brain's autofocus system helps stabilize vision despite motion
- Google's Im2Calories calculates calories in a meal by examining a photo
- Researchers explain mechanism that makes their mouthwash so effective against tooth decay
- Research pair outline status of decorating behavior in non-humans
- How a box jellyfish catches fish
- MRI technology reveals deep brain pathways in unprecedented detail
- Scientists find that growth factors that build brains also build memories
- Scientists produce strongest evidence yet of schizophrenia's causes

Astronomy & Space news

	Unusual interactions between Pluto's moons Much ink has been spilled over Pluto's reclassification as a dwarf planet. And yet, such discussions have not diminished scientific interest in Earth's most distant cousin. A new study is the first to reveal fascinating details about the orbital and rotational patterns of Pluto and its five known moons.
	Cassini sends final close views of odd moon Hyperion NASA's Cassini spacecraft has returned images from its final close approach to Saturn's oddball moon Hyperion, upholding the moon's reputation as one of the most bizarre objects in the solar system. The views show Hyperion's deeply impact-scarred surface, with many craters displaying dark material on their floors.
	Future issues perchlorate poses for colonizing Mars There's a problem on the surface of Mars, and its name is perchlorate.
	Handshake from space with ESA's Haptics-2 experiment This deceptively modest force-feedback joystick in ESA's Telerobotics Laboratory is set to become a piece of space history.
	ESA heading toward removing space debris ESA's goal of removing a derelict satellite from orbit is picking up pace, as a mission design is assembled to be put before European ministers next year for approval.
	Image: How liquids of different densities behave in weightlessness In space everything is different. In a world with no up or down, hot air does not rise and liquids behave differently, too. In your kitchen, salad dressings will separate into the heavier vinegar on the bottom and the lighter oil on top. This separation does not occur without weight and liquids stay in suspension indefinitely.
	NASA pushes flying saucer parachute test to Thursday High waves forced NASA to postpone until Thursday the first test of the largest parachute ever deployed, during a flying saucer launch that will try out new technologies for landing on Mars.
	Image: Shadow of Surveyor 1 on the moon Surveyor 1, the first of the Surveyor missions to make a successful soft landing, proved the validity of the spacecraft's design and landing technique.
	The difference between asteroids and meteorites Asteroids, meteors, and meteorites … It might be fair to say these rocks from space inspire both wonder and fear among us Earthlings. But knowing a bit more about each of them and how they differ may eliminate some potential misgivings. While all these rocks originate from space, they have different names depending their location—i.e. whether they are hurtling through space or hurtling through the atmosphere and impacting Earth's surface.

Technology news

	Batteroo says $2.50 Batteriser sleeve gives battery extended life A battery-life extender has been announced, claiming up to 800 percent additional performance. The company believes it will have a significant impact on disposable energy market and the environment.
	Wearables fight back as Apple Watch raises bar The Apple Watch raised the bar for wearable technology when it launched in April, but smaller brands are seeking their own niche in the battle for wrist space.
	Dutch 'paddy power' pulls electricity from rice fields Dutch scientists have developed a revolutionary system that could one day help isolated villages around the world steadily generate electricity from mundane water-logged plants such as rice growing in paddy fields.
	Ocean plastic cleanup team plan 2016 system launch Throw-away package wraps, bottles, sandwich wrappings, carrier bags—they all contribute to a sense of hopelessness when one sees the mess of plastic in the ocean thanks to shocking pictures confirming the mess we're in. Thinkers who care and refuse to give up are working out a plan that is not only feasible but now ready to launch.
	Helping robots handle uncertainty Decentralized partially observable Markov decision processes are a way to model autonomous robots' behavior in circumstances where neither their communication with each other nor their judgments about the outside world are perfect.
	Google's Im2Calories calculates calories in a meal by examining a photo At the Rework Deep Learning Summit meeting last week, Google researcher Kevin Murphy unveiled a few details of a project he and coworkers have been working on—called Im2Calories, it is an app that allows a user to snap a photo of a plate full of food with their phone and get back a calorie estimate.
Massive chip consolidation wave is changing semiconductor industry A wave of mergers and acquisitions is reshaping Silicon Valley's semiconductor industry as companies join forces to shoulder the soaring technology costs required to stay competitive.
	Solar Impulse gets inside mobile hangar in Japan Sunshine-powered Solar Impulse 2, which has made an impromptu stop in Japan on its way around the world, was under cover in its mobile hangar Wednesday as the team waited out the weather before heading to Hawaii.
	Tech Tips: Your guide to the myriad phone-upgrade options Upgrading your phone is no longer as simple as paying $100 or $200 and extending your service contract by two years.
	Chombo-Crunch sinks its teeth into fluid dynamics For more than a decade, mathematicians and computational scientists have been collaborating with earth scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to break new ground in the modeling of complex flows in energy and oil and gas applications.
	Japan government eyes urban drone ban Japan plans to ban the public from flying drones above residential areas and at night, as it scrambles to legislate after a device was found on top of the prime minister's office in April.
Most Americans support renewable energy standards Despite recent attempts in many state legislatures to repeal or weaken renewable energy requirements, a University of Michigan poll finds that a majority of Americans—of every race, income and education level, and religious and political affiliation—support such mandates.
	The battery revolution is exciting, but remember they pollute too The recent unveiling by Tesla founder Elon Musk of the low-cost Powerwall storage battery is the latest in a series of exciting advances in battery technologies for electric cars and domestic electricity generation.
	Four easy tips to make your batteries last longer Here are a few things you can do to make your lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries last longer, whether they be used in an electric car, a large home installation – such as Tesla's newly announced Powerwall – or in your portable device, such as a smartphone or laptop.
	The fall of Silk Road isn't the end for anonymous marketplaces, Tor or bitcoin Ross Ulbricht, aka the "Dread Pirate Roberts", has been sentenced to life in prison without parole by a Manhattan Federal Court for masterminding the Silk Road anonymous online illegal marketplace. Ulbricht was labelled a drug dealer and criminal profiteer, and Judge Forrest was unequivocal in stating that "a message must be sent out that no one is above the law".
	Why we fell out of love with algorithms inspired by nature While computers are poor at creativity, they are adept at crunching through vast numbers of solutions to modern problems where there are numerous complex variables at play. Take the question of finding the best delivery plan for a distribution company – where best to begin? How many vehicles? Which stretches of road need to be avoided at which times? If you want to get close to a sensible answer, you need to ask a computer.
	To avoid militarising the internet, cyberspace needs written rules agreed by all In the world of foreign affairs, there are written or unwritten rules – behavioural norms – under which states operate. But there is little, if any, comparable set of structures governing actions taken in cyberspace. As this becomes a larger and more important part of life and the security implications that arise, this poses a problem.
	Computerised braking system could lead to a major improvement in truck safety A computerised braking system in development at the Department of Engineering could lead to a major improvement in lorry safety.
Apple recalls Beats Pill speakers because they may overheat Apple said it is recalling its Beats Pill XL speakers after a customer reported getting burned when it overheated.
Softbank invests $1B in SKorean e-commerce firm Coupang Coupang, a South Korean online shopping site, has secured a $1 billion investment from Japanese Internet company Softbank Corp.
Video: Parallel computing speeds the way to scientific advancements Wu Feng of the College of Engineering's computer science department, along with Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands, tells how parallel computing opens up new worlds. Researchers can now attack problems in a fraction of the time that traditional methods require.
	'Skylanders' injecting vehicles in next installment "Skylanders" is pushing the pedal to the metal.
3-D printing goes high speed and high volume The world's first additive manufacturing (3-D printing) machine that can make plastic parts as fast and as cheaply as traditional manufacturing is to be built by the University of Sheffield.
US officials warn of encrypted communications by extremists U.S. law enforcement officials expressed concern Wednesday about the growing use of encrypted communication and private messaging by supporters of the Islamic State, saying the technology was complicating efforts to monitor terror suspects and extremists.

Medicine & Health news

	Scientists find that growth factors that build brains also build memories A team of New York University neuroscientists has determined how a pair of growth factor molecules contributes to long-term memory formation, a finding that appears in the journal Neuron.
	MRI technology reveals deep brain pathways in unprecedented detail Scientists at Duke Medicine have produced a 3-D map of the human brain stem at an unprecedented level of detail using MRI technology.
	Scientists produce strongest evidence yet of schizophrenia's causes An international team of scientists led by Cardiff University researchers has provided the strongest evidence yet of what causes schizophrenia - a condition that affects around 1% of the global population.
	Study demonstrates drug-induced ear tissue regeneration in mice A study led by Ellen Heber-Katz, PhD, of the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR), part of Main Line Health (MLH), shows that a primordial form of energy production that still exists in mammals can be harnessed to achieve spontaneous tissue regeneration in mice, without the need for added stem cells. The study findings were reported in the June 3, 2015, issue of Science Translational Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Key collaborators in the study, which was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, included Yong Zhang, PhD (LIMR), Iossif Strehin, PhD (Allergan), and Phillip Messersmith, PhD (University of California, Berkeley).
	Study pinpoints what part genes play in the age of first-time mums and family size Researchers have analysed the genomes of thousands of women in the UK and the Netherlands to measure the extent to which a woman's genes play a role for when she has her first baby and how many children she will have. Significantly, they have found that some women are genetically predisposed to have children earlier than others, and conclude that they have passed down their reproductive advantage to the next generation. They also find, however, that while modern women who were born in the 20th century might be expected to have babies even earlier than previous generations did, they are delaying motherhood. Their study, published in the latest issue of the journal, PLOS ONE, says women in modern societies are 'over-riding' natural selection because of the stronger effect of lifestyle choices and social factors.
	Early clinical trial success for new rheumatoid arthritis treatment University of Queensland researchers have developed a world-first vaccine-style therapeutic approach to treat rheumatoid arthritis, a debilitating disease affecting more than 450,000 people in Australia.
	Researchers explain mechanism that makes their mouthwash so effective against tooth decay In 2011, UCLA's Dr. Wenyuan Shi developed a mouthwash that could eliminate the bacteria that is the principal cause of tooth decay.
	High levels of moral reasoning correspond with increased gray matter in brain Individuals with a higher level of moral reasoning skills showed increased gray matter in the areas of the brain implicated in complex social behavior, decision making, and conflict processing as compared to subjects at a lower level of moral reasoning, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in collaboration with a researcher from Charité Universitätsmediz in Berlin, Germany. The team studied students in the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program at the Wharton School. The work is published in the June 3rd edition of the journal PLOS ONE.
	The brain's autofocus system helps stabilize vision despite motion Much like the automatic focus of a camera, our eyes and brains must constantly recalibrate so that we can get a clear view of the changing—and always moving—world around us. Recently, two studies funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI) show how the circuitry for this eye-brain coordination is assembled during early embryonic development.
Nearly one-third of early adulthood depression could be linked to bullying in teenage years Bullying in teenage years is strongly associated with depression later on in life, suggests new research published in The BMJ this week.
No evidence that smoking drug linked to increased risk of suicide or traffic accidents There is no strong evidence that the popular smoking cessation drug varenicline is associated with increased risks of suicidal behaviours, criminal offending, transport accidents, traffic-related offences, and psychoses, finds a study in The BMJ this week.
	TBI linked to Parkinson's risk in patients aged 55 years and older (HealthDay)—Patients aged 55 years and older presenting to an inpatient/emergency department setting with traumatic brain injury (TBI) have an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD), according to a study published in the June issue of the Annals of Neurology.
	Are commercial conflicts of interests justifiable in medical journals? A group of former senior editors, writing in The BMJ today, criticise a "seriously flawed and inflammatory attack" by The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) on what that journal believes have become overly stringent policies on conflicts of interest.
One's ability to identify different smells may impact longevity In a recent study of older adults, those with a reduced ability to identify certain odors had an increased risk of dying during an average follow-up of 4 years. The mortality rate was 45% in participants with the lowest scores on a 40-item smell test, compared with 18% of participants with the highest scores.
Endurance athletes should be tested while exercising for potentially fatal heart condition Some athletes who take part in endurance exercise such as marathon running, endurance triathlons or alpine cycling can develop irregularities in their heartbeats that can, occasionally, lead to their sudden death.
	S. Korea president urges action as MERS outbreak closes schools South Korean President Park Geun-Hye urged officials to ease rising public panic Wednesday over an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that has infected 30 people, killed two and closed hundreds of schools.
	Antibody fragments expand what PET imaging can 'see' in mice To visualize cancer throughout the body, physicians often turn to positron emission tomography (PET), which lights up areas that are metabolically active or growing, like tumors. Today in ACS Central Science, researchers report development of new PET probes composed of labeled antibody fragments that were tested in mice. These probes could someday be used to create targeted probes, giving doctors more information about tumors and how to treat them.
New treatment for polycystic kidney disease A new technique for treating polycystic kidney disease has been identified by researchers at The University of Manchester and UCL.
	Scientists release Ebola sequencing data to global research community online A team of scientists, part of the international effort to curb further spread of the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, has released its first dataset of the virus' genetic structure online. The dataset will allow the global scientific community to monitor the pathogen's evolution in real-time and conduct research that can lead to more effective strategies against further outbreaks.
	Cyberbullying less emotionally harmful to kids than traditional in-person harassment, study finds Contrary to popular belief, cyberbullying that starts and stays online is no more emotionally harmful to youngsters than harassment that only occurs in-person and may actually be less disturbing because it's likelier to be of shorter duration and not involve significant power imbalances, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.
	Benefit of surgery for ductal carcinoma in-situ investigated In a study published in JAMA Surgery on June 3, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) report that breast surgery performed at or shortly after a diagnosis of low-grade ductal carcinoma in-situ (DCIS) did not significantly change patients' survival rate. The team finds that the survival rate for those with intermediate- and high-grade DCIS does improve with surgery, but the work raises concerns about overtreatment and the necessity and benefit of surgery for all patients with low-grade DCIS.
	Alcohol use disorder is widespread, often untreated in the US Alcohol use disorder as defined by a new diagnostic classification was widespread and often untreated in the United States, with a lifetime prevalence of 29.1 percent but only 19.8 percent of adults were ever treated, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry.
	Dynamin—a new tool to tackle neurological disorders In a world first, neuroscientists at Flinders University have identified a series of chemical tools that can either increase or inhibit the release of neurotransmitters by neurons, the cells of the brain.
	Rare instrument collects speech data for dysarthria patients In an effort to create a speech intervention program for patients with the motor speech disorder dysarthria, speech-language pathologist Jimin Lee is using a rare instrument to analyze patients' ability to move various muscles involved in speech production.
	In the blink of an eye, researchers detect early signs of movement disorders Even if you don't know what Parkinson's disease is, you can likely recall the image of Muhammad Ali's trembling hands, halting speech and mask-like expression—common symptoms of a chronic and progressive movement disorder that affects as many as 1 million individuals in the United States alone.
	A genetic approach to clinical addiction symptoms When it comes to diagnosing substance abuse, health care professionals are mainly limited to relying on patient honesty. But a new study aims to find the genetic causes of addiction, which could lead to a more nuanced way of treating complex medical and social problems.
	Government salt reduction initiative needed A government led national salt reduction strategy is needed for New Zealand, according to a new study from the University of Auckland.
	Weight management is critical for survival in motor neuron disease Researchers from around the UK, led by a team at the University of Sheffield's Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), have found new evidence to support early nutrition management in motor neuron disease (MND).
	Arterial thrombosis: Cloaking of collagen frees up the flow Blood clots often form when lipid-rich plaques on the inner surface of arteries rupture and platelets aggregate at the site of injury. Cardiologists from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have now compared the effects of two new platelet aggregation inhibitors.
	Seating adaption aids prostate cancer remedy A simple adaption to currently-available radiation therapy devices for use in treating prostate cancer should reduce the chance of irreversible damage to healthy organs.
	New approach to ID chemicals that raise risk of breast cancer A study published today in Environmental Health Perspectives outlines a new method for assessing how synthetic chemicals and pollutants may contribute to breast cancer risk. In addition to developing the chemical testing approach, the authors identify two critical needs: the need for new chemical safety testing methods, and the need to screen more chemicals.
New knowledge about parental break-up and conflicts Do maternal couple relationships change throughout the child-rearing years and can the likelihood of parental break-up be predicted? A new doctoral study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health has investigated these questions.
	In search of memory storage The hippocampus plays a crucial role in memory formation. However, it is not yet fully understood in what way that brain structure's individual regions are involved in the formation of memories. Neuroscientists at the Collaborative Research Center 874 at RUB have recreated this process with the aid of computer simulations. Their findings challenge the model of memory forming in the hippocampus established to date. Their results have been published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.
	First-in-man clinical trial for Hunter syndrome underway A first-in-man clinical trial, testing a newly developed drug for a rare genetic condition called mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II) or Hunter syndrome, is underway at Emory University.
	Triple treatment keeps cancer from coming back Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, responsible for some 1.59 million deaths a year. That figure is due, in part, to the fact that the cancer often returns after what, at first, seems to be successful treatment. And the recurring cancer is often resistant to the chemotherapy and other drugs that originally drove it into remission. According to new research by the Weizmann Institute's Prof. Yosef Yarden, a new strategy involving a three-pronged approach might keep an aggressive form of lung cancer from returning.
	Re-inflating balloon after carotid stenting appears to double risk of stroke and death After reviewing outcomes from thousands of cases, researchers at Johns Hopkins report that patients with blocked neck arteries who undergo carotid stenting to prop open the narrowed blood vessels fare decidedly worse if their surgeons re-inflate a tiny balloon in the vessel after the mesh stent is in place.
	Scientists discover 'highly effective' new biomarker for lung cancer Survival rates for patients with lung cancer increase dramatically the earlier the disease is diagnosed, underscoring the need for effective biomarkers that can be used for detection. Now, scientists at The Wistar Institute have found a protein that circulates in the blood that appears to be more accurate at detecting non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) than currently available methods used for screening.
Study supports IDH gene as prognostic marker in anaplastic astrocytoma New findings suggest that a gene called IDH1 might be prognostic marker for a rare form of brain cancer. Patients in this study who had a mutated IDH gene lived an average of 7.9 years after diagnosis versus 2.8 years for patients with unaltered IDH.
	Lower birth weight associated with proximity of mother's home to gas wells Pregnant women living close to a high density of natural gas wells drilled with hydraulic fracturing were more likely to have babies with lower birth weights than women living farther from such wells, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health analysis of southwestern Pennsylvania birth records.
	BPA can adversely affect parenting behavior in mice Biparental care of offspring, or care that is administered by both parents, occurs in only a minority of species, including humans. Past studies have shown that maternal care can be negatively affected when females are exposed to widely prevalent endocrine-disrupting chemicals including Bisphenol-A (BPA); however, no studies have shown how this chemical can affect maternal and paternal care when both parents are exposed. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have used the monogamous, biparental California mouse species to prove that offspring born to parents who are exposed to BPA receive decreased parental care by both the mother and father. Scientists believe results could have relevance to human parenting as well.
Air pollution below EPA standards linked with higher death rates A new study by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that death rates among people over 65 are higher in zip codes with more fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) than in those with lower levels of PM2.5. It is the first study to examine the effect of soot particles in the air in the entire population of a region, including rural areas. The harmful effects from the particles were observed even in areas where concentrations were less than a third of the current standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
	Years of good blood sugar control helps diabetic hearts, study finds Day in and day out, for years on end, millions of people with diabetes prick their fingers to test their blood sugar level. And many may wonder if all the careful eating, exercise and medication it takes to keep those levels under control is really worth it.
	Attending breast cancer screening reduces risk of death by 40 percent Women aged 50-69 years who attend mammography screening reduce their risk of dying from breast cancer by 40 per cent compared to women who are not screened - according to a major international review of the latest evidence on breast cancer screening.
	Cancer overtakes cardiovascular disease as UK's No. 1 killer—but only among men Cancer has overtaken cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and stroke, as the UK's No 1 killer—but only among men, reveals research published online in the journal Heart.
Fond memories make fragrances a favorite When the scent of a fragrant product triggers a fond memory that a customer holds, it is more likely to be a hit. So says Rachel Herz of Brown University, and Haruko Sugiyama and colleagues at the Kao Corporation in Japan and the US, who conducted a study now published in Springer's journal Chemosensory Perception. Its results indicate how a product's scent often evokes personal emotional memories and influences its appeals to customers.
	Anti-vaccine parents cluster in rich, white areas (HealthDay)—Parents who cite "personal beliefs" to get their children exempted from routine vaccinations are typically white and well-to-do—at least in California, a new study finds.
	Chantix study finds little evidence to support suicidal, criminal warnings (HealthDay)—The quit-smoking drug Chantix (varenicline) doesn't increase the risk of suicidal behavior, mental illness, criminal acts or traffic accidents, European researchers say.
	Therapy program improves teens' diabetes, depression (HealthDay)—The evidence-based family therapy program Behavioral Family Systems Therapy for Diabetes (BFST-D) improves both diabetes health outcomes and depressive symptoms among adolescents with type 1 diabetes, according to a study published online May 26 in Diabetes Care.
	Omega-3s may be useful adjunct to opioids in pain therapy (HealthDay)—Chronic omega-3 fatty acid (O3) supplementation has an additive effect when combined with acute dosages of morphine in an animal model, according to a study published online May 25 in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology.
	Six-minute walk test predicts pulmonary HTN outcomes (HealthDay)—For patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (PH-HFpEF), the six-minute walk distance (6-MWD) test can independently predict outcome, according to a study published in the June issue of JACC: Heart Failure.
	Review: radioablation offers no benefit for GERD patients (HealthDay)—For patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), evidence shows no difference in physiologic parameters for treatment with a radiofrequency ablation technique known as Stretta versus sham or proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy, according to a review published in the June issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
	24-hour diastolic BP linked to cognitive performance in T2DM (HealthDay)—Among individuals with type 2 diabetes there is a quadratic association for 24-hour diastolic blood pressure (BP) with information processing speed and memory, according to a study published online May 27 in Diabetes Care.
	Post-op myocardial necrosis common after orthopedic sx (HealthDay)—Myocardial necrosis is common after orthopedic surgery and is associated with increased risk of long-term mortality, according to a study published in the June 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.
	Study may radically change approach to blood transfusions on the battlefield Blood research conducted by biomedical engineers from The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) College of Engineering, in collaboration with the Blood Research Program of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR), could change the way injured soldiers are treated on the battlefield.
UN chief urges all nations to help end Ebola in West Africa Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday that as long as there is one Ebola case in West Africa "all countries are at risk" and urged all nations to support the final battles to wipe out the deadly disease in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
	Maggi noodles ordered off India's shelves due to lead level Indian shopkeepers withdrew a popular brand of Nestle instant noodles from their shelves Wednesday after tests revealed the snack contained unsafe levels of lead.
Cartoons offer an important message for carers A new animated series created by the University of Sydney and Alzheimer's Australia NSW uses cartoons to deliver a serious message about how to care for loved ones with dementia.
Czechs to ban smoking in restaurants like most of EU The Czech government on Wednesday agreed to ban smoking in cafes and restaurants starting 2016, paving the way for the country to fall in line with the rest of Europe.
	A disappointing decision over olaparib for ovarian cancer Amidst the excitement over new immunotherapy trials, this morning we were also disappointed to learned that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has made a preliminary decision not to recommend olaparib – a drug that can help women with a form of ovarian cancer – for use on the NHS in England.
	How do you sell death? The tangled world of illicit tobacco Tobacco companies make more profit every year than Coca Cola, McDonald's, Starbucks, Google, and Disney combined – a staggering £30 billion.
Researchers warn G7 leaders on disease preparedness In an article in the official publication for the G7 meeting at Schloss Elmau, Germany, this weekend, Professor Peter Horby, who leads the Epidemic Research Group Oxford (ERGO), and Professor Adrian Hill, director of vaccine research centre the Jenner Institute, warn that it is vital to get ahead of the next outbreak.
Past failures pave way for promising new Alzheimer's treatments Since 2002, close to 300 drug candidates to treat Alzheimer's have run into clinical dead ends. But now, having learned from those failures, researchers are testing—and retesting—a batch of the most promising compounds designed to slow the disease's progression. An article in Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, describes what made this possible and what lies ahead.
	New aptamer-based approach delivers microRNA therapeutic that targets cancer / cardiovascular disease Researchers have shown that a novel delivery strategy can efficiently introduce a functional microRNA that has anti-cancer and angiogenic activities into two different types of cells—breast cancer cells to inhibit tumor growth and metastasis, and cells that line blood vessels to protect against atherosclerosis. The overexpression of miR-126 using a universal aptamer delivery approach is described in an article in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics.
Large majority of Americans—including gun owners—support stronger gun policies A large majority of Americans—including gun owners—continue to support stronger policies to prevent gun violence than are present in current federal and most state law, according to a new national public opinion survey conducted by researchers with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Biology news

	Cooking up cognition: Study suggests chimps have cognitive capacity for cooking These days, cooking dinner requires no more thought than turning a knob on a stovetop, but for early humans the notion that - simply by applying heat or fire - foods could be transformed into something both tastier and easier to digest demanded huge cognitive insight - insights often believed to be limited to humans.
	Birds 'cry hawk' to give offspring chance to escape predators New research has found that the 6 gram brown thornbill mimics the hawk alarm calls of neighbouring species to scare a nest predator by convincing it that a much bigger and scarier predator - the brown goshawk - is on its way.
	Paleo study shows how elevation may affect evolution About 34 million years ago, global temperatures took a dive, causing a sudden wave of extinctions among European mammals. In North America, however, life went on largely unscathed. A new study explains why: The rise of the Rocky Mountains had forced North American mammals to adapt to a colder, drier world.
	Study effort leads to estimates of number of tree species in tropics (Phys.org)—An unusually large team of researchers (over 140) from all walks of life have worked together to provide a new estimate on the total number of tree species in the three main tropical regions on planet Earth: the Americas (neotropics), Indo-Pacific and tropical parts of Africa. In outlining their findings in their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team reports that assumptions about species diversity may have been over-generalized in the past.
	Frogs face virus risk in garden ponds Researchers from the University of Exeter found that the severity of ranavirosis, a devastating disease that kills thousands of frogs each year, increases in the presence of exotic fish. The use of garden chemicals was also associated with increased severity of the disease.
	When plants become space invaders Declines in native biodiversity can open opportunities for imported species to not only grab a foothold in a new territory, but also to evolve into invasive pests.
	A smelling bee? V. destructor mite mimics two types of bee If there were an international smelling bee, a deadly mite would be a favorite to win.
	How a box jellyfish catches fish The first feeding study of tropical Australia's Irukandji box jellyfish has found that they actively fish. They attract larval fish by twitching their extended tentacles, highlighting their nematocyst clusters (stinging structures) and using them as lures.
	Research pair outline status of decorating behavior in non-humans (Phys.org)—A pair of researchers has undertaken a study of the current status of investigation into the decorating behavior of non-human organisms. Graeme Ruxton, with the University of St. Andrews and Martin Stevens with the University of Exeter, both in the U.K. have together published a paper in Royal Society Biology Letters, describing their findings.
	Trouble in the tide pools: Rapid die-off of sea stars and urchins foretells long-term change In August 2011, scientists at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory walked into their labs to a strange, disturbing sight: Thousands of purple sea urchins and other marine invertebrates were dead in their tanks, which are fed directly by seawater. Outside, the tea-colored ocean washed up carcasses of red abalone, large sea stars, and football-sized, snail-like chitons.
	Pregnant pipefish fathers are not super dads Many aquatic species have a reputation for negligent parenting. Having cast their gametes to the currents, they abandon their offspring to their fate. However, hands-on parenting is taken to a whole new dimension in the Syngnathidae fish family. Instead of leaving the responsibility to the females, seahorse and pipefish males take the pledge to care for their young even before the eggs are fertilized. The females depart soon after placing their eggs directly into the male's brood pouch, leaving the soon-to-be fathers to incubate the developing embryos.
The early bird catches the sperm Getting up later in the morning might gain you more sleep, but it could mean you end up fathering fewer offspring—at least if you are a songbird called the great tit. Ecologists from the United States and Germany have discovered that compared with early birds, late risers are more likely to be cuckolded, meaning that they unknowingly end up raising young in their nest that had been fathered by another male. It appears that in the early morning hours, they're still asleep rather than being awake and defending their mate.
	Cat got your tongue? New research says 'no' Cat taste receptors respond in a unique way to bitter compounds compared with human receptors, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience. The study represents the first glimpse into how domestic cats perceive bitterness in food at a molecular level, and could explain why cats are sometimes such picky eaters.
	Restoration of species diversity in dike grasslands makes dikes more resistant Decreased species diversity in the grasslands on dike slopes leads to a dramatic increase in soil erosion and dike deterioration. This was shown in a multi-year research project carried out by the Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group and the Soil Physics and Land Management Group at Wageningen University, under the leadership of Frank Berendse. The results have now been published in the international journal Ecosystems.
	How frogs and fish can help us learn to freeze humans From Star Wars to Futurama to Alien, the idea that humans can be frozen in time in order to be awoken later is a well-established sci-fi trope. While stopping biological time or inducing long-term hibernation is still as far off as the long-distance space travel that it's associated with in fiction, we can freeze and store cells, tissues and organs, and this is of huge scientific and medical importance.
	Kings Park reptiles resilient in face of fire Kings Park's reptile population has overcome 20 years of bushfire, urbanisation and feral predation to maintain similar species diversity to that recorded in 1995.
	New findings about sand tiger shark habitat, migration in Delaware coastal ocean University of Delaware doctoral student Danielle Haulsee is the lead author on a paper reporting the combined use of underwater robotics and acoustic telemetry to understand sand tiger shark habitat and migration in the Delaware coastal ocean.
	New beetle emerges from Gran Canaria's subsoil Thanks to research carried out since 2003 on the subsoil of Gran Canaria (Spain), two Spanish scientists have discovered a new species of beetle, which they have called Oromia thoracica. This blind weevil shares the same brownish-grey colour as the subsoil fauna and has a flattened body and thorax almost covering its head, an adaptation to life underground.
	EU says too soon for animal testing ban The EU pledged Wednesday to phase out animal testing in Europe but said it would be "premature" to ban it outright as demanded by a petition with 1.1 million names.
	Cause or consequence? Scientists help to settle an epigenetic debate New research findings by John Innes Centre (JIC) scientists have helped to settle an important debate in the field of epigenetic inheritance.
	How did the chicken cross the road... safely? For many, summer holidays mean hitting the highway—but nothing puts a damper on a road trip like an accidental collision with a deer.
A first in tree research: European trees planted in China to identify potentially invasive species in our forests INRA scientists worked with colleagues from the Academy of Sciences in Beijing and the Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University to study the ability of Chinese insect and fungal pathogens to colonize European trees.
	Cytoskeletons shaking hands Animal cells harbor three types of cytoskeletal elements: actin filaments, intermediate filaments and microtubules. Despite their name, cytoskeletons are very dynamic structures, which undergo rapid reorganization in cells and thus contribute to numerous cellular processes, such as morphogenesis, motility, intracellular transport, and cell division. Consequently, defects in cytoskeletal structures lead to various diseases, including cancer and neurological disorders.
	Catastrophic mass die-off of saiga antelopes seen in central Kazakhstan More than 120,000 saiga antelopes died in central Kazakhstan in May according to a report by The Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK) – Fauna & Flora International's partner in country.
	A powerful HMMER for data mining HMMER software implements a powerful new generation of mathematical techniques for identifying hundreds of thousands of related sequences. HMMER results help researchers infer the function of a protein and its evolutionary history. A new, open-source web interface at EMBL-EBI offers fast, easy-to-use search and visualization.
	Not all national parks are created equal The forest cover on earth is shrinking at an alarming rate of around 50,000 square miles annually, roughly six times the size of Okinawa every month. To counter the loss of forests, policy makers often resort to designating certain ecologically sensitive areas as protected. New research published in the journal PLOS ONE by Dr. Payal Shah of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and Dr. Kathy Baylis of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign aims to better understand the effectiveness of protected areas in stemming the tide of deforestation. Using statistical tools from econometrics, this research provides a detailed look at how the effectiveness of such protected areas can vary significantly between different parks and even in different regions of the same park. Such studies can help policy makers understand where and whether or not protection has been successful, enabling them to more effectively design future conservation efforts.
	Cracking the function of the fly olfactory system to understand how neural circuits work If a banana is rotting in the fruit basket of your kitchen, chances are that a fruit fly will find it long before you do. How is the nervous system of a tiny fly capable of ascending the odour trail created by a banana? This question has been addressed in a new study conducted by the Sensory Systems and Behaviour laboratory led by Matthieu Louis at the EMBL-CRG Systems Biology Unit of the CRG. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent model system to explore how complex behaviours, such as chemotaxis, are controlled by the activity of neural circuits. Although the word neuroscience may evoke the human brain to most of us, research in smaller genetic model organisms often represents the most direct entry point into the molecular and cellular basis neural functions.

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