Science X Newsletter Friday, Mar 25

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for March 25, 2016:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Mathematician finds his 'new' solution to Poisson formula problem buried in 1959 paper
- Liquid battery made of biomass could store energy from wind and solar power
- New simulation of the sun shows both large and small scale processes
- Physicists demonstrate a quantum Fredkin gate
- One atom can make a difference: Hydrogen-bonding pairing helps design better drugs to neutralize gut
- Researchers link absence of protein to liver tissue regeneration
- Engineers develop material that can sense fuel leaks and fuel-based explosives
- New class of molecular 'lightbulbs' illuminate MRI
- Biologists discover sophisticated 'alarm' signals in honey bees
- Iron nitride transformers could boost energy storage options
- What's in a name? In some cases, longer life
- Ancient bones point to shifting grassland species as climate changes
- Read my lips: New technology spells out what's said when audio fails
- Study shows people are capable of multiple, simultaneous life changes
- Scientists prove reliability of quantum simulations for materials design

Astronomy & Space news

	New simulation of the sun shows both large and small scale processes (Phys.org)—A team of researchers from the U.S., China, and Japan has developed a computer simulation of the sun that is able to show both large and small scale processes. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes how their simulation works and why they believe it will help solve one of the big questions in solar research.
	Comet flying by Earth observed with radar and infrared Astronomers were watching when comet P/2016 BA14 flew past Earth on March 22. At the time of its closest approach, the comet was about 2.2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers) away, making it the third closest comet flyby in recorded history (see "A 'Tail' of Two Comets"). Radar images from the flyby indicate that the comet is about 3,000 feet (1 kilometer) in diameter.
Comet Pan-STARRS' reflective properties provide size estimation Astronomers at the Planetary Science Institute made observations of Comet Pan-STARRS (P/2016 BA14) using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i that show that it reflects less than 3 percent of the sunlight that falls on its surface. For comparison, fresh asphalt reflects about 4 percent of the light that falls on it.
	Comet 252P/LINEAR soars into predawn view this week Astronomers who scan the skies for returning comets are often disappointed. Sometimes these icy visitors from the fringes of our planetary system end up being much fainter than predicted.
	Image: Alluvial fans in Saheki Crater, Mars Alluvial fans are gently-sloping wedges of sediments deposited by flowing water. Some of the best-preserved alluvial fans on Mars are in Saheki Crater, an area that has been imaged many times previously.
	How astronomers could find the 'real' planet Krypton The search for exoplanets, worlds orbiting stars other than our own, has become a major field of research in the last decade – with nearly 2,000 such planets discovered to date. So the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice got me thinking: does Superman's home planet of Krypton actually exist? Or at least a planet very much like it?
	ExoMars mission narrowly avoids exploding booster On March 14, the ExoMars mission successfully lifted off on a 7-month journey to the planet Mars but not without a little surprise. The Breeze-M upper booster stage, designed to give the craft its final kick toward Mars, exploded shortly after parting from the probe. Thankfully, it wasn't close enough to damage the spacecraft.
	Streaks galore as Cygnus soars, chasing station for science Tuesday evening, March 22, turned into 'streaks galore' on Florida's space coast, as the nighttime launch of an Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo freighter atop an Atlas V rocket was captured in unforgettable fashion by talented space photographers as it chases down the International Space Station (ISS), loaded with hundreds of science experiments.

Technology news

	Liquid battery made of biomass could store energy from wind and solar power (Tech Xplore)—Researchers have designed a liquid battery whose catholyte is made of an organic solution, hydroquinone, which is part of the quinone family that can be extracted directly from biomass such as certain plants. The bioinspired battery can overcome some of the limitations facing conventional liquid batteries, resulting in a higher output voltage and lower cost. One of the main applications of liquid batteries is storing the energy produced by wind and solar power.
	Read my lips: New technology spells out what's said when audio fails New lip-reading technology developed at the University of East Anglia (UEA) could help in solving crimes and provide communication assistance for people with hearing and speech impairments.
	Phone-based laser rangefinder works outdoors The Microsoft Kinect was a boon to robotics researchers. The cheap, off-the-shelf depth sensor allowed them to quickly and cost-effectively prototype innovative systems that enable robots to map, interpret, and navigate their environments.
	Iron nitride transformers could boost energy storage options A Sandia-led team has developed a way to make a magnetic material that could lead to lighter and smaller, cheaper and better-performing high-frequency transformers, needed for more flexible energy storage systems and widespread adoption of renewable energy.
For first time, drone delivers package to residential area A drone has successfully delivered a package to a residential location in a small Nevada town in what its maker and the governor of the state said Friday was the first fully autonomous urban drone delivery in the U.S.
The rise of on-demand viewing divides Hollywood Hollywood's traditional media players are facing an unprecedented challenge to their business model as "cord-cutters" opt to cancel their expensive cable subscriptions in favor of on-demand streaming services.
	'Popping rocks' with robots When I was offered a spot in the science team for the Popping Rocks cruise I got really excited: My first research cruise! The open ocean! Mid-ocean ridge basalts! HOV Alvin dives! Escaping the New York City winter! At the same time, I was a little apprehensive. Over the past decade I've studied lava flows on four continents and four planets, but I've never studied submarine flows beyond a few classroom assignments when I was a student. How are submarine flows different from subaerial flows? How do we collect data? Will I know how to process the data? Will I recognize submarine flows in data and imagery? So I started doing some research.
	Task allocation—computing the logistics of snow-plowing In winter, snowfall can rapidly disrupt daily life and impact on Japan's economy. Snowplowing is a considerable annual expense, and methods for co-ordinating plowing activity are needed to ensure an efficient, cost-effective service. Clever computer models are needed to manage such complex activities, which involve many agents and interactions.
	What if America's next big fuel source is its trash? According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United States produced 254 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2013. And though 87 million tons of that material from the landfill was diverted through recycling and composting, what if the nation could do better? What if landfills could become local sources of clean energy production? Better yet, what if all waste streams, like those from agricultural, livestock, and food production, could essentially become fuel refineries at a local level?
	A wrench fends off injury, feeds the economy The gas meters that measure energy consumption in buildings pose as great a threat to workers who service them as downed power lines do to electric utility workers. Left in place for decades, the meters are often painted over and rusted, making nuts difficult to budge. Heavy pipe wrenches can slip when workers apply excessive force, violently jolting shoulders and backs.
Citing FBI quest, Apple asks judge to delay iPhone data case Apple wants a judge to delay government demands for data from a locked iPhone in a Brooklyn drug case while the FBI sees if it can get contents from a San Bernardino attacker's phone without Apple's help.
	Most tweets following fall Paris attacks defended Islam, Muslims The Paris terrorist attacks of November 13, 2015, sparked a massive global discussion on Twitter and other social media sites between those attacking and those defending Islam and Muslims. The March 22 terrorist attack in Brussels is, of course, sparking similar, heated online debate.
	The time for unmanned ships has arrived Unmanned ships have received relatively little media attention compared to aerial drones and self-driving cars. Researchers in Korea have been developing technologies to enable and facilitate the realization of unmanned autonomous ships in the near future.

Medicine & Health news

	Promising treatment for flu-related lung injury (Medical Xpress)—Influenza is highly communicable, and often causes acute lung injury and respiratory distress, particularly in aged people. Therapeutic options after infection with the virus are limited, and health organizations emphasize vaccination and sanitary measures to prevent the spread of flu viruses. Additionally, antiviral therapy does not always reduce acute lung injury, and medical researchers are keen to find new approaches.
	Policy experts advocate mutual recognition for reviews of data-intensive international research Genomic research holds great potential to advance human health and medicine. But for the millions of data points now being collected through large-scale sequencing efforts to be truly valuable, they must be analyzed in aggregate and shared across institutions and jurisdictions. This raises many challenges, including navigation of complex ethics-approval processes at multiple sites and in multiple jurisdictions.
	Researchers identify important signaling molecule An international team of scientists have provided insights into the working of a "signaling molecule", which will provide new strategies for medicines in areas such as pain medication.
	Study shows people are capable of multiple, simultaneous life changes Let's say you've decided to make some changes in your life. You're out of shape, your mind wanders, your self-esteem is wavering, and you have no idea what you just read. So you decide to focus on one thing—losing weight, maybe—and tackle the other issues later. You don't want to take on too much at once, right?
Researchers link absence of protein to liver tissue regeneration Scientists at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) report that inactivating a certain protein-coding gene promotes liver tissue regeneration in mammals.
Curcumin may help overcome drug-resistant tuberculosis New research indicates that curcumin—a substance in turmeric that is best known as one of the main components of curry powder—may help fight drug-resistant tuberculosis. In Asia, turmeric is used to treat many health conditions and it has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and perhaps even anticancer properties.
	Study shows that Wnt secretion preventing drugs may reduce renal fibrosis Renal fibrosis or the scarring of kidneys, following an injury, reduces their function and can cause kidney disease to progressively worsen. In a recent study, published in Kidney International, researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) in Singapore and Duke University have shown that drugs that target Wnt secretion by inhibiting Porcupine, a protein usually targeted for cancer treatment, may reduce renal fibrosis and protect the kidneys.
Parents think life quality is worse for teens and adults born very premature Parents of very premature babies are more worried about their grown up children's lives than mothers and fathers whose babies were born full term.
	Beta-carotene, lycopene prevent dermatitis in murine model (HealthDay)—Oral administration of β-carotene or lycopene prevents atopic dermatitis (AD)-like dermatitis in HR-1 hairless mice, according to an experimental study published online March 19 in the Journal of Dermatology.
	Distinct demographics for persistent A-fib from onset (HealthDay)—Patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) from the onset (PsAFonset) have distinct demographics and poorer clinical outcome, according to a study published online March 23 in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology.
Intensive exercise may keep the aging mind sharp Older Americans who engage in strenuous exercise are more mentally nimble, have better memory function and process information more speedily than do their more sedentary peers, new research suggests. And as they continued to age, participants who were very physically active at the start of a five-year study lost less ground cognitively than did couch potatoes, according to the study.
	California: Chemical warning may scare poor from canned food California plans to delay state-required warnings on metal cans lined with the chemical BPA, arguing too-specific warnings could scare stores and shoppers in poor neighborhoods away from some of the only fruits and vegetables available—canned ones, officials said Thursday.
	Psychological method to improve football players' professional training Lomonosov Moscow State University psychologists describe an approach to improve footballers' play during physical training, while also considering their individual perspectives and behavioral peculiarities. The outcomes of the study were presented at the International Congress of Sciences and Football—Image, Multimedia & New Technologies and published in Proceedings of the International Congress of Sciences and Football: Image, Multimedia & New Technologies.
Research team develops social app to support Alzheimer's caregivers Every day, more than 15 million unpaid caregivers provide care to people with Alzheimer's disease, with little outside support and often at the risk of their own health.
	Seeing holes in effort to bridge 'word gap' in poor children When former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced his foundation was awarding $5 million to launch Providence's high-tech idea to improve the vocabularies of the city's youngest children, he said he hoped the pilot could take root in Rhode Island and spread across the nation.
	Brazil to launch anti-Zika app for Olympics Brazil's health ministry said Thursday it will launch a smartphone application to track the Zika virus during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and help visitors detect the disease.
	Genetic research now integrated into MyHeart Counts app A phone app developed at Stanford to study heart disease risk and help ordinary people manage that risk has teamed up with 23andMe to add a genetics option.
	Pregnancy weight gain recommendations for overweight women Most expectant mothers have normal, healthy pregnancies and babies, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks being overweight or obese during pregnancy at nearly the same risk level as uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, or drinking.
Six tips for traveling with heart disease Traveling can come with many different challenges when it comes to eating healthy, getting enough rest, and physical exercise. But having heart disease should not limit your traveling abilities; in fact, it's good for your health! According to two long-term studies, traveling may lower your risk of a heart attack. Dr. John Paul Vavalle at UNC Center for Heart & Vascular provides advice on travel precautions and how to maintain your heart-healthy lifestyle while vacationing.
Millennials annoyed by 'narcissist' label So-called millennials consider their generation the most narcissistic ever.
	New immunotherapy trial for Type 1 diabetes The search for a treatment for Type 1 diabetes (T1D) - which affects over 400,000 people in the UK – will be stepped up with the start of a new phase one clinical trial at Guy's Hospital in London.
	The cognitive dynamics behind our visual understanding of the world The question is straightforward enough: How does the brain learn to make sense of the visual world? The full answer is complicated by the fact that infants can't talk about what they're taking in. Pawan Sinha seems to have bridged this gap. Through his research, and with the help of making art, the professor of vision and computational neuroscience works with children who have gained sight after a lifetime of blindness, and from them comes data on how the brain immediately starts learning.
	An unprecedented TB outbreak in Papua New Guinea An outbreak of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Papua New Guinea may well become a replay of the disastrously delayed response to the West African Ebola pandemic, says Jennifer Furin, Harvard Medical School lecturer on global health and social medicine, in a commentary she co-authored with Helen Cox, senior lecturer in the Division of Medical Microbiology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. The commentary was published in Lancet Respiratory Medicine on March 23 to coincide with World TB Day, which is today, March 24.
	iPhone app helps to power study of postpartum depression risk About one in eight women experience postpartum depression, and a similar proportion experience depression during pregnancy, but psychiatrists still don't know enough about what contributes to the risk. In a major new study, researchers including Dr. Katherine Sharkey will employ an iPhone app and genetic screening to amass the data needed to advance that understanding.
	Work-family stress ongoing for mothers It would not surprise many people to learn that being a new mum coupled with working is quite stressful but WA researchers have determined that this high stress level remains constant throughout the first eight years of their children's lives.
	New study explores carb-loading's effect on heart Consuming a high-carbohydrate load may have an acute and detrimental effect on heart function, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
	Scientists turn to 3-D printing, digital simulations to treat heart disease My mother bought her first GPS in the 1990s. A few months later, she came home angry because it had directed her to the wrong side of the city, making her an hour late. "That's too bad," I said, and we went on with our lives. We both understood that commercial GPS was a new technology and wasn't infallible, but one wasted hour was a small price to pay for the 99 percent of driving trips on which it worked correctly. We knew that with further testing and user feedback, GPS technology would continue to improve.
	Low frequency noise conditions to be replicated for first major study on windfarms and sleep Flinders University's Associate Professor Peter Catcheside and a team of specialist researchers will replicate the low frequency noise conditions generated by wind farms in a sleep lab for the first major study of its kind on wind farms and sleep.
	The other opioid crisis—people in poor countries can't get the pain medication they need There are two opioid crises in the world today. One is the epidemic of abuse and misuse, present in many countries but rising at an alarming rate in the United States. The other crisis is older and affects many more people around the world each year: too few opioids.
	Esophageal rupture described after drinking PEG solution (HealthDay)—Esophageal rupture can occur in association with colonoscopy preparation, according to a letter to the editor published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
	AP-NORC Poll: Most Americans see drugs as a big problem Sharon Johnson calls herself an addict, although she's been sober for three years now. She started by smoking pot and eventually moved to crack cocaine. Her daughter has tried heroin and "I believe I'm going to pull her out of the gutter someday," Johnson laments.
CDC: Birth control needed in Puerto Rico during outbreak Health officials say tens of thousands of IUDs and other forms of birth control are badly needed in Puerto Rico to help prevent unintended pregnancies during an outbreak of Zika, the tropical disease linked to birth defects.
	Spring a good time to instill healthy habits in kids (HealthDay)—The arrival of warm weather is a perfect time to make family lifestyle changes that can help children achieve and maintain a healthy weight, a doctor says.
	Low-normal sodium deemed major risk for mortality in elderly A slightly lower serum sodium concentration within the normal range is a major risk factor for mortality in elderly adults, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
	Cold-induced lipolysis effective for male pseudogynecomastia (HealthDay)—Cold-induced lipolysis is safe and effective for the treatment of male pseudogynecomastia, according to a study published online March 21 in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.
	Boston children's hospital unveils novel ACL repair method (HealthDay)—A new method of repairing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears shows promise, according to a new study.
	Medicare may soon cover diabetes prevention program (HealthDay)—Medicare could soon pay for a program aimed at diabetes prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced this week.
The risks of growing up in interface communities in northern Ireland A joint report produced by the University of Liverpool's Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast and the University of Notre Dame, Indiana released today sheds new light on the risks encountered by young people and children growing up in places of high religious segregation.
Gerber recalls 2 types of organic baby food pouches The New Jersey-based Gerber Products Co. says it's recalling two types of organic baby food because of a packaging defect that could make them susceptible to spoilage while being transported and handled.
Research proposes new test on prosthetic legs in competitive sports New research carried out at Bournemouth University, UK, investigates the use of lower-limb running prostheses (LLRPs) used in competitions by below-knee amputees. Due to significant controversy surrounding running prosthetic limbs in both the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games, this new research published in Cogent Engineering proposes new guidelines for prosthetic leg technology in international sporting events to prevent competitive advantage. The guidelines include the use of a dynamic drop jump technique to assess the quality of prosthetic legs as a new assessment strategy.
Jury: Gilead owes Merck $200M in damages over drug patents (Update) The federal jury in a patent trial has ordered drugmaker Gilead Sciences to pay Merck $200 million in damages for infringing on patents for hepatitis C drugs.
Leading private-sector health system woos veterans in ads A leading hospital system in the U.S. is courting military veterans with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign, raising concerns from some veterans groups that private sector marketing could weaken the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system.
Officials: 12 hepatitis cases linked to W.Va. heart clinic Officials have investigated at least 12 cases of hepatitis linked to a heart clinic in West Virginia.

Biology news

	Tropical species are especially vulnerable to climate change, according to researchers Changes in temperature and weather patterns pose a serious threat to the millions of animal, plant and fungi species found in the tropics. In an article published in Science, lead authors and biology Ph.D. students Timothy Perez and James Stroud explain how species found in environments such as the tropics have lower tolerances to climate change. With greater amounts of thermally sensitive species than environments found at higher latitudes, the threat of global climate change puts tropical species at a greater risk of extinction than their temperate counterparts. The article is coauthored with biology professor Kenneth Feeley.
	Biologists discover sophisticated 'alarm' signals in honey bees Bees can use sophisticated signals to warn their nestmates about the level of danger from predators attacking foragers or the nest, according to a new study.
	Biologists report on the long-term effects of heat stress on cells Heat shock (or stress) is a well-known factor of cell stress, though its delayed effects remain largely unknown. According to two articles by Russian scientists —a 2015 article in Nucleic Acids Research and a February article in Cell Cycle—heat shock mostly influences cells at an early synthetic phase, and not only temporarily stops DNA replication, but also causes some more serious consequences. According to one of the authors, Sergey Razin, head of the molecular biology department of Lomonosov Moscow State University, the results of the research may lead to new methods for curing cancer.
	Protein recipe requires precise timing The activation of genes is a complicated biochemical endeavor akin to cooking a meal, and a new Yale study details just how precisely choreographed those steps need to be.
	Antarctic birds recognize individual humans You may have heard of crows, magpies, and mockingbirds recognizing individual people. These birds live among people, so it may be natural that they learn to differentiate people. But what about the animals that live in remote areas?
	Over 300 new beetle records for New Brunswick, Canada Beetles diversity in New Brunswick, Canada, has elicited the interest of biologists for over a century and continues to do so. In 1991, 1,365 species were known from New Brunswick. That number had increased to 2,703 by 2013, as a result of a series of publications in three previous special ZooKeys issues and other publications. In spite of that work, there were still gaps in the knowledge of the Coleopteran fauna.
	Micro-sanctuaries key to survival of wildlife in human-dominated landscapes A new study by a team of researchers from the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Manipal University, Centre for Wildlife Studies and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)-India, says that maintaining even the tiniest wildlife sanctuaries will help preserve some biodiversity in increasingly urbanized landscapes.
Botulism in waterbirds: Mortality rates and new insights into how it spreads Outbreaks of botulism killed large percentages of waterbirds inhabiting a wetland in Spain. During one season, more than 80 percent of gadwalls and black-winged stilts died. The botulinum toxin's spread may have been abetted by an invasive species of water snail which frequently carries the toxin-producing bacterium, Clostridium botulinum, and which is well adapted to wetlands polluted by sewage. Global warming will likely increase outbreaks, said corresponding author Rafael Mateo, PhD. The research was published March 25th in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
	Australia slams Japan Antarctic whale hunt Australia on Friday branded Japan's killing of 333 whales "abhorrent", saying there was no scientific justification for the Antarctic hunt.
	Defending Nigeria's last elephants against poachers For years, blacksmith Hashimu Abdullahi was making guns for ivory poachers and hunters invading the Yankari Game Reserve, one of the last wildlife areas home to elephants in Nigeria.
	Researchers study health issues linked to wildlife-human interactions Sri Lanka is a global biodiversity hotspot with many forms of wildlife found nowhere else on the planet. Unique subspecies such as the Sri Lankan leopard and the largest Asian elephant are an important tourist draw for a country finding its feet after decades of civil war.
	Beaver Hills area named UNESCO biosphere reserve An ecologically rich area of Alberta that is home to a University of Alberta research station and fertile ground for dozens of researchers over the years has won international recognition.
	Japan court orders dolphin-hunt town to pay damages to Australian An anti-dolphin hunting activist is being paid damages by a Japanese town made notorious by the Oscar-winning film "The Cove," after it refused to let her into its aquarium.
	Baby seal found 4 miles from water in San Francisco Bay Area Authorities say a baby seal made it 4 miles from the water to the front yard of a home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
	North America's oldest orangutan born in zoo dies in Seattle The Seattle zoo says North America's oldest orangutan born in a zoo has died after struggling with respiratory problems.

---

This email is a free service of Phys.org
You received this email because you subscribed to our list.
If you no longer want to receive this email use the link below to unsubscribe.
https://sciencex.com/profile/nwletter/
You are subscribed as jmabs1@gmail.com