Science X Newsletter Tuesday, Feb 14

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for February 14, 2017:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

Scientists observe first planet-induced stellar pulsations

Ancient jar handles offer record of Earth's magnetic field strength over time

Monkeys taught to pass mirror self-awareness test

Graphene foam gets big and tough: Nanotube-reinforced material can be shaped, is highly conductive

Fossil discovery rewrites understanding of reproductive evolution (Update)

Dating on the fly—female flies are attractive to mates on sunny days

Tiny magnetic implant offers new drug delivery method

Laid-back browsing, or work, it's all reasonable with Samsung Chromebook Pro

Researchers identify cells linked to the development of the heart's ventricular chambers

Researchers develop brain model to quantify pain beyond sensory input

Sperm-egg fusion proteins have same structure as those used by Zika and other viruses

Optogenetics used to kick start gene that plays role in neural defects

Researchers determine that planetary collision can form a moon large enough for Kepler to detect

Researchers personalize virtual reality displays to match a user's eyesight

New insights into ubiquitin signalling

Astronomy & Space news

	Scientists observe first planet-induced stellar pulsations For the first time, astronomers from MIT and elsewhere have observed a star pulsing in response to its orbiting planet.
	Researchers determine that planetary collision can form a moon large enough for Kepler to detect The Kepler spacecraft has been prolific in its search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets, discovering thousands since its launch in 2009. But the hunt for moons orbiting these exoplanets, or exomoons, is vastly more challenging. While no exomoons have been found to date, a new study shows that the search is not futile.
	Image: Rosetta's shadow crosses Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in daring encounter Valentine's Day 2015 and ESA's Rosetta swooped in towards Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko for a daring close encounter. At just 6 km from the surface, it was the closest the spacecraft had ever been to the comet at that point in the mission.
	Astronomers observe black hole producing cold, star-making fuel from hot plasma jets and bubbles The Phoenix cluster is an enormous accumulation of about 1,000 galaxies, located 5.7 billion light years from Earth. At its center lies a massive galaxy, which appears to be spitting out stars at a rate of about 1,000 per year. Most other galaxies in the universe are far less productive, squeaking out just a few stars each year, and scientists have wondered what has fueled the Phoenix cluster's extreme stellar output.
	No close partner for young, massive stars in Omega Nebula Astronomers from Leuven (Belgium) and Amsterdam (Netherlands) have discovered that massive stars in the star-forming region M17 (the Omega Nebula) are—against expectations—not part of a close binary. They have started their lives alone or with a distant partner star. The researchers base their findings on data from the X-shooter spectrograph on ESO's Very Large Telescope in northern Chile. The study will be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters.
	Astronomers propose a cell phone search for galactic fast radio bursts Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are brief spurts of radio emission, lasting just one-thousandth of a second, whose origins are mysterious. Fewer than two dozen have been identified in the past decade using giant radio telescopes such as the 1,000-foot dish in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Of those, only one has been pinpointed to originate from a galaxy about 3 billion light-years away.
	India to launch 104 satellites in record mission India hopes to make history by launching a record 104 satellites from a single rocket Wednesday as its famously frugal space agency looks to zoom ahead in the commercial space race.
	Rare delta Scuti pulsating star 7,000 light years away is one of only 7 in Milky Way Astronomers are reporting a rare star as big—or bigger—than the Earth's sun that is expanding and contracting in a unique pattern in three different directions.
	Comet breaking up on flight by Earth caught by Slooh members Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann has experienced a breakup on its journey past the Earth on its way toward the Sun. On the night of February 12th, Slooh members using the company's telescopes in Chile were able to view the comet as it broke into two pieces. This seems to be the continuation of a process that was first witnessed in 1995, then again in 2006.
	NASA to launch Raven to develop autonomous rendezvous capability Launching soon, aboard the 10th SpaceX commercial resupply mission, will be a technology module called Raven, which will bring NASA one step closer to having a relative navigation capability. When affixed outside the International Space Station, Raven will test foundational technologies that will enable autonomous rendezvous in space, meaning they will not necessitate any human involvement—even from the ground.
	OSIRIS-REx takes its first image of Jupiter This magnified, cropped image showing Jupiter and three of its moons was taken by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft's MapCam instrument during optical navigation testing for the mission's Earth-Trojan Asteroid Search. The image shows Jupiter in the center, the moon Callisto to the left and the moons Io and Europa to the right. Ganymede, Jupiter's fourth moon, is also present in the image, but is not visible as it is crossing in front of the planet.
	Onsala Twin Telescopes ready for the world Two new radio telescopes have been built at Onsala Space Observatory on Sweden's west coast, and on 18 May 2017 they will be inaugurated. The Onsala Twin Telescopes are part of an international network of radio telescopes that use astronomical techniques - and distant black holes - to make high-precision measurements of the Earth and how it moves.

Technology news

	Laid-back browsing, or work, it's all reasonable with Samsung Chromebook Pro (Tech Xplore)—Whoa, whoa, steady Windows fans, Apple loyalists. Here comes a real threat to your belief system.
	Researchers personalize virtual reality displays to match a user's eyesight Some new technologies can be tuned to our personal characteristics, like the voice recognition on smartphones trained to recognize how we speak. But that isn't possible with today's virtual reality headsets. They can't account for differences in vision, which can make watching VR less enjoyable or even cause headaches or nausea.
	Researchers calculate major cost savings of 3-D printing household items Interested in making an investment that promises a 100 percent return on your money, and then some? Buy a low-cost, open-source 3-D printer, plug it in and print household items.
	Queen to unveil Britain's new cyber security centre Queen Elizabeth II will inaugurate Britain's National Cyber Security Centre on Tuesday, spearheading the country's efforts to combat a growing wave of cyber attacks notably from Russia.
	Taiwan's HTC posts seventh consecutive quarterly loss Taiwan's HTC on Tuesday announced worse than expected fourth-quarter results and analysts said its much-hyped virtual reality products had failed significantly to boost the struggling smartphone maker.
	Toshiba warns of huge losses in US nuclear power unit Toshiba hinted at a possible fresh accounting scandal Tuesday as it delayed the release of financial results but warned it would lose billions of dollars in its US nuclear power unit.
Britain: 65 percent of large companies suffered cyberattacks Britain's treasury chief has warned that cyberattacks are increasing in severity and sophistication as authorities open a new center devoted to thwarting such threats.
	Researchers restore magnificent cake to original grandeur Cutting-edge technology has brought Queen Elizabeth II's wedding cake back to life – thanks to research by WMG at the University of Warwick.
	Turning sunshine into liquid gold Tiny metalic-gold particles are being used to convert sunlight into fuel. The technology is being developed in South Australia to store solar energy as an alternative to battery storage.
	Cracking under pressure is no problem for high strength self-healing cement With an average life span of 30-40 years, the cement around geothermal production wells eventually cracks over time. Because wells with cracked cement are vulnerable to leakage, reduced strength, and corrosion, it's important to repair them in a timely fashion. However, repairs can easily top $1.5 million dollars; the cost of new materials, excavation, installation, and halting power production adds up fast.
	Should cybersecurity be a human right? Having access to the internet is increasingly considered to be an emerging human right. International organizations and national governments have begun to formally recognize its importance to freedom of speech, expression and information exchange. The next step to help ensure some measure of cyber peace online may be for cybersecurity to be recognized as a human right, too.
	Amazon launches videoconferencing for cloud customers US online giant Amazon on Tuesday announced the launch of a "unified communications service" which offers video and audio conferencing through its cloud computing service.
Optimizing data center placement and network design to strengthen cloud computing Telecommunication experts estimate the amount of data stored "in the cloud" or in remote data centers around the world, will quintuple in the next five years. Whether it's streaming video or business' database content drawn from distant servers, all of this data is—and will continue in the foreseeable future to be - accessed and transmitted by lasers sending pulses of light along long bundles of flexible optical fibers.
	Toshiba chairman resigns over huge nuclear business loss Toshiba Corp.'s chairman resigned Tuesday after the company logged such massive losses in its nuclear business that it must sell its lucrative computer-chip business to avoid going belly-up.
YouTube star PewDiePie dumped over anti-Semitic videos (Update) YouTube's most watched blogger PewDiePie will lose his preferred status on the Google-owned video service after posting several videos containing anti-Semitic remarks and Nazi references, the tech firm said Tuesday.
Video: Engineering team designs new solar-paneled walls that make greywater reusable Architect Maria Paz Gutierrez is a woman on a mission. In addition to mentoring student building designers at the University of California (UC), Berkeley, Paz Gutierrez is putting her own design skills to work to address a key environmental and socioeconomic issue around the world—water scarcity.
	Senators launch query on Trump's smartphone security Two US senators have requested details on President Donald Trump's smartphone security, saying he could jeopardize national secrets if he is still using his old handset, as some reports say.
	Building a home that helps residents stay healthy What if your house could help keep you healthy?

Medicine & Health news

	Researchers identify cells linked to the development of the heart's ventricular chambers A population of cells in early development may give rise to the ventricular chambers of the heart, but not the atria, according to a study led by researchers from the Mindich Child Health and Development Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in Nature Communications.
	Researchers develop brain model to quantify pain beyond sensory input Pain is a signal of actual or potential damage to the body, so it is natural to think of it as a localized sensation: knee pain in the knee, back pain in the back and so on.
	Optogenetics used to kick start gene that plays role in neural defects Purdue University and Indiana University School of Medicine scientists were able to force an epigenetic reaction that turns on and off a gene known to determine the fate of the neural stem cells, a finding that could lead to new therapeutics in the fight against select cancers and neural diseases.
	App to predict chemistry of romance Psychologists from the University of Bristol are launching a revolutionary new dating app this Valentine's Day.
	Research uncovers mechanism, protective purpose of muscle soreness following exercise New research from the University of Queensland has revealed the way human muscles recover after fatigue.
	When choosing your next move, your brain is always ready for plan B Whether we're navigating a route to work or browsing produce at the grocery store, our brains are constantly making decisions about movement: Should I cross the street now or at the intersection? Should I reach for the red apple or the green apple? When you're presented with two options, your brain's motor neurons prep for both possibilities before you've decided which action to take, say researchers in a study published February 14 in the journal Cell Reports.
	Scientists show 'matchmaker' role for protein behind SMA A puzzling question has lurked behind SMA (spinal muscular atrophy), the leading genetic cause of death in infants.
	Your brain's got rhythm Not everyone is Fred Astaire or Michael Jackson, but even those of us who seem to have two left feet have got rhythm—in our brains. From breathing to walking to chewing, our days are filled with repetitive actions that depend on the rhythmic firing of neurons. Yet the neural circuitry underpinning such seemingly ordinary behaviors is not fully understood, even though better insights could lead to new therapies for disorders such as Parkinson's disease, ALS and autism.
	Study of 52,000 men uncovers the genetics underlying male pattern baldness A genomic study of baldness identified more than 200 genetic regions involved in this common but potentially embarrassing condition. These genetic variants could be used to predict a man's chance of severe hair loss. The study, led by Saskia Hagenaars and W. David Hill of The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, is published February 14th, 2017 in PLOS Genetics.
Better health for women involved in clinical trials Women who participate in obstetric and gynaecology clinical trials experience improved health outcomes compared to those who are not involved in trials, according to research by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). This is the case regardless of whether or not the treatment is found to be effective in the trial.
	Fructose consumption linked to the increase of liver disease among adolescents and children Recent research suggests that dietary fructose intake may increase serum uric acid concentrations and that both uric acid concentration and fructose consumption may be increased in individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Investigators have now established that both dietary fructose consumption and serum uric acid concentrations are independently associated with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Their conclusions are published in the Journal of Hepatology.
Dietary supplement could improve heart health Dietary intervention could benefit heart health in those with muscular dystrophy. That's according to new research published in Experimental Physiology. If these findings are confirmed in humans, it could mean that off the shelf supplements could improve health and life expectancy.
	To please your friends, tell them what they already know We love to tell friends and family about experiences we've had and they haven't—from exotic vacations to celebrity sightings—but new research suggests that these stories don't thrill them quite as much as we imagine. A series of studies published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, shows that both speakers and listeners expect novel stories to be bigger crowd pleasers, but that listeners end up enjoying familiar stories more.
Australia misses targets to improve Aboriginal lives Australia is failing to improve Aboriginal lives, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Tuesday, as a new report showed the government missing key targets, including cutting child mortality and raising life expectancy.
	Why you should donate your data (as well as your organs) when you die Most people are aware they can donate their organs when they die. Doing so is very important: Each deceased donor can save several lives if he donates his organs and tissue and they are used for transplantation. Support for organ donation among members of the public is very high – at over 80 percent in some countries, even if many people have not yet gotten around to registering as an organ donor.
	Expert discusses the science of commitment During the month of February, couples usually take time to think of all the meaningful ways to show their love and affection toward each other. But what does it take to make that love last? One Baylor College of Medicine expert explains what commitment means and offers tips on maintaining a successful relationship.
	Sexual health and sexual well-being not an irrelevance to older people A new report from The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University has highlighted that the sexual health of older people should not be overlooked by health care professionals in the broader context of maintaining well-being during ageing.
	More serotonin, less motivation? It depends on the circumstances A new study in mice shows that increasing serotonin, one of the major mediators of brain communication, affects motivation—but only in certain circumstances. Furthermore, the study revealed that the short and long term effects of increased serotonin levels are opposed—a completely unforeseen property of this neurotransmitter's functional system.
	Massive study will try to determine benefits of cocoa powder Yes, we love cocoa in winter, particularly around Valentine's Day. But does cocoa love us?
	Think you're not having enough sex? Try being a senior in assisted living Love is in the air for millions today, but probably not so much for seniors in assisted living facilities. And it may not be for lack of desire.
Four ways to stay mentally fit if you're struggling with the political climate "This can't be happening.""I feel like throwing up." "I don't want to get out of bed in the morning." "Life is going to get a lot worse for people like me." "I'm so sad I can't even think about it anymore." "Things are never going to be the same again."
	Study upsets beliefs about feelings and exercise probability A pilot study tracking adolescents' internal psychological states around engaging in physical activity suggests that prevailing assumptions about how to increase physical activity might need a reboot.
	Patients with opioid addiction benefit from treatment initiated in ED Patients addicted to opioids often seek care in the emergency department (ED). They are more likely to receive addiction treatment, and reduce opioid use long-term if they are started on medication to reduce cravings in the ED, according to a new Yale study.
	Loss of muscle mass represents a significant risk to oesophageal cancer survival Oesophageal cancer patients who suffer loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia) during neoadjuvant therapy (chemotherapy prior to surgery) survive, on average, 32 months less than patients with no sarcopenia. This is the central finding of a recent study conducted at the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) of MedUni Vienna and Vienna General Hospital. The study has recently been published in the European Journal of Cancer Surgery.
	New RNAi treatment targets eye inflammation Scientists have developed a new RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic agent that safely blocked ocular inflammation in mice, potentially making it a new treatment for human uveitis and diabetic retinopathy.
Children of patients with C9orf72 mutations are at a greater risk of frontotemporal dementia or ALS at a younger age The most common genetic cause of the brain diseases frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a mutation in the C9orf72 gene. Researchers from VIB and UAntwerp, headed by Prof. Christine Van Broeckhoven, have demonstrated that if an affected parent passes on this mutation, the children will be affected at a younger age (than the parent). There are no indications that the disease progresses more quickly. These results are published today in the international scientific journal JAMA Neurology.
	Major increase in midwifery unit births since 2010 Births in midwifery units in England have trebled, up from five per cent to 14 per cent over the last six years, a new study by researchers at The University of Nottingham has shown.
	There are six styles of love. Which one best describes you? Love is a complex and powerful force, one that plays out in a number of emotional, cognitive and social ways.
	How to turn your emotional baggage into dating success It may seem that new relationships are entirely fuelled by dreams and hopes for a perfect future. But the past can have a powerful influence too – often more so than we would like to admit. The "emotional baggage" that we bring from the past can mean that we sometimes pick a partner who's not quite right, make bad relationship decisions or find it difficult to fully devote ourselves to the person we are with.
	New cavity treatment offers no drilling, no filling A new clinical trial at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry is offering patients with cavities in between teeth a new, less painful treatment option.
	Autism screening system could benefit millions of Indian children More than two million children in India could benefit from new research into a new low-cost ways to detect autism risk.
Blushing anxiety could become a thing of the past Researchers at Murdoch University have been the first to investigate the underlying psychological mechanisms that leads to a fear of blushing.
Study finds flag football may be no safer than tackle football for young athletes There has been significant focus recently on injuries athletes sustain while playing sports. Much attention has been paid to rates of concussion in American football, and the long-term effects of repeated head injury. These reports have led many parents to wonder if putting their children in contact sports at an early age could be detrimental to their health by potentially put their children at risk for injury.
	Do children inherit drug protection from parents exposed to nicotine or drugs? A father's nicotine use may have a significant impact on children's risk of some diseases. In a study published in the online biomedical sciences journal eLife, Oliver J. Rando, MD, PhD, and colleagues at UMass Medical School, demonstrate that mice born of fathers who are habitually exposed to nicotine inherit enhanced chemical tolerance and drug clearance abilities. These findings offer a powerful framework for exploring how information about a father's environmental exposure history is passed down to offspring.
Avoiding medications that promote weight gain when managing obesity While diet, exercise and behavior modification are essential components of obesity management, a successful long-term weight loss strategy should also include avoiding or minimizing medication-related weight gain, according to a new report from Weill Cornell Medicine.
	Population density pushes the 'slow life' Big cities with lots of people usually garner images of a fast paced life, where the hustle and bustle of the city is met, and at least tolerated, by those who live there. They live for the "rush" of city life, and all of the competition that lies therein.
	Scientists reveal how the brain maintains useful memories Researchers from the University of Toronto, Canada, have discovered a reason why we often struggle to remember the smaller details of past experiences.
	Some partners need extra loving this Valentine's day (HealthDay)—The best gift you can give a stressed or depressed partner this Valentine's Day is extra love and support, researchers say.
	The best place to find your Valentine (HealthDay)—If you're still searching for your perfect Valentine, maybe you've been looking for love in all the wrong places.
	Heart disease affects far more than the heart (HealthDay)—Heart disease affects more than just the heart. It also can take a toll on the legs, feet, kidneys and even the brain, according to vascular surgery experts.
	Listening to music can improve unconscious attitudes towards other cultures Listening to five minutes of West African or Indian pop music can give the listener more positive attitudes towards those cultures, research from the Universities of Oxford and Exeter has found.
Sexual statistics—studying the intimate relationship between narcissism and satisfaction If you learned that your next-door neighbours were having sexual relations more frequently than you and your partner, would it bother you?
	A new study reveals the level of physical activity and sport per European country Sweden, Finland and Denmark are the European countries that do more sport on a regular basis, according to a study published in the Open Access Library Journal by an international collaborative of researchers. According to the study, people in Portugal, Italy, Spain and especially Greece, are listed below the European average regarding the indicators on population and sport.
	LSD 'microdosing' is trending in Silicon Valley – but can it actually make you more creative? It may seem like a doomed attempt to mix business and pleasure. But a growing number of young professionals in Silicon Valley insist that taking small doses of psychedelic drugs simply makes them perform better at work – becoming more creative and focused. The practice, known as "microdosing", involves taking minute quantities of drugs such as LSD, psilocybin (magic mushrooms) or mescaline (found in the Peyote cactus) every few days.
	How authentic are photographic memories? Since the invention of photography itself, people have used photograph-themed metaphors when thinking and talking about memories and remembering. When we want to retain memories of everyday events for example, we take "mental snapshots", and when we think back to momentous events, we regard them as "flashbulb moments". But are memories ever truly like photographs?
	GPs want more support to prescribe cancer prevention drugs GPs want more support when offering drugs that lower the risk of certain cancers, a new report by the University of Leeds and Cancer Research UK reveals.
Immune cell study prompts rethink on how to tackle infections Fresh insights into how immune cells are regulated could signal a new approach to tackling infections.
Limited evidence that styrene, a high volume plastics chemical and animal carcinogen, causes cancer in humans In 2011, the styrene, a high volume plastics chemical and animal carcinogen, was the focal point in a 'poison scandal' in the Danish media; but now a registry study of more than 72,000 employees from more than 400 companies that have been exposed to styrene during production of glassfibre reinforced plastics, has not found an increased incidence of a wide range of cancer types. The Department of Occupational Medicine at Aarhus University is behind the study.
Sick and tired—not just a figure of speech Already feeling drained so early in the year? Genes might contribute in a small but significant way to whether people report being tired and low in energy. This is according to UK researchers led by Vincent Deary of Northumbria University, Newcastle, and Saskia Hagenaars of the University of Edinburgh, in a paper in Springer Nature's journal Molecular Psychiatry.
	Researchers identify phosphorylation process vital to cancer growth Scientists at VIB-KU Leuven have identified a new mechanism that impacts tumor growth. The typical lack of oxygen in tumors doesn't only stimulate proliferation, but also offsets the important role of the protein PHD2 as 'cancer cell killer'. A possible solution lies in blocking the enzyme PP2A/B55, which restores the function of PHD2 and consequently slows down cancer growth. The research, led by prof. Massimiliano Mazzone (VIB-KU Leuven), is published in the leading scientific journal Cell Reports.
	New infusion therapy may help smooth out movement for patients with Parkinson's Constant infusion of a drug now used intermittently to "rescue" patients with Parkinson's from bouts of immobility may also help avoid these debilitating symptoms and smooth out their movement throughout the day, physician-scientists say.
Gene variants associated with body shape increase risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes A study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers has found that a pattern of gene variants associated with an "apple-shaped" body type, in which weight is deposited around the abdomen, rather than in the hips and thighs, increases the risk for type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease, as well as the incidence of several cardiovascular risk factors. The report appears in the February 14 issue of JAMA.
With stringent oversight, heritable human genome editing could be allowed: report Clinical trials for genome editing of the human germline - adding, removing, or replacing DNA base pairs in gametes or early embryos - could be permitted in the future, but only for serious conditions under stringent oversight, says a new report from the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. The report outlines several criteria that should be met before allowing germline editing clinical trials to go forward. Genome editing has already entered clinical trials for non-heritable applications, but should be allowed only for treating or preventing diseases or disabilities at this time.
People can 'suppress' hay fever with three years of pollen pills or injections Patients blighted by hay fever could markedly reduce symptoms for several years after a three-year course of treatment, but not after two years of treatment, researchers have found.
Shorter course of immunotherapy does not improve symptoms of allergic rhinitis long-term Among patients with moderate to severe seasonal allergic rhinitis, two years of immunotherapy tablets was not significantly different from placebo in improving nasal symptoms at 3-year follow-up, according to a study appearing in the February 14 issue of JAMA.
Scalp cooling device may help reduce hair loss for women with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy Two studies in the February 14 issue of JAMA examine hair loss among women with breast cancer who received scalp cooling before, during and after chemotherapy.
	Study confirms key therapeutic advance for children living with HIV and tuberculosis The non-profit research and development organization Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) has released results of a study in South Africa that will make it easier for healthcare workers to treat children living with HIV who are co-infected with tuberculosis (TB). The study, presented as a late-breaker this week at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle, provides essential evidence and data to counter the negative interactions between two critical HIV and TB treatments.
	Researchers identify new process to raise natural armies of cancer-targeting T lymphocytes Mayo Clinic and University of Washington researchers have discovered a new culture method that unlocks the natural fighter function of immune T cells when they are passing through the bloodstream. This allows T cell armies to be raised directly from blood that naturally recognize and target proteins that are present on most human cancers. The results are published in the Feb. 14 issue of Oncotarget.
	Communicating health risks in a post-truth world Public officials faced with the tough task of communicating risk on contentious issues like vaccination or fluoridation - where the actual risk is low but public concern remains high - need to show that they care, demonstrate that they are taking action and strategically engage with the media. That's the message of a paper published today in the Sax Institute's Public Health Research & Practice journal.
	Tis better to give—to your spouse We've all heard that it's better to give than to receive. Now there's empirical evidence to show that being compassionate to a spouse is rewarding in and of itself.
	Cardiovascular disease costs will exceed $1 trillion by 2035 A new study projects that by 2035, cardiovascular disease, the most costly and prevalent killer, if left unchecked, will place a crushing economic and health burden on the nation's financial and health care systems. The study was conducted by RTI International for the American Heart Association.
	'Fat taxes' could save billons in healthcare costs: study Taxing unhealthy foods that contain salt, sugar and fat could save Australia billions in health care costs and extend people's lives by coaxing them to eat better, researchers said Tuesday.
Study finds that melatonin content of supplements varies widely A new study suggests that the melatonin content of dietary supplements often varies widely from what is listed on the label.
Smoking cessation counseling successful when paired with lung cancer screening In the first successful randomized trial of its kind, researchers have provided preliminary evidence that telephone-based smoking cessation counseling given to smokers shortly after undergoing lung cancer screening can be effective at helping people stop smoking.
Needless shocks from heart devices can trigger extra health costs, researchers say A team led by a Stanford University School of Medicine researcher has discovered that shocks from implantable cardioverter defibrillators often trigger a cascade of health tests and interventions, even when the shocks they deliver are not needed.
Shock from heart device often triggers further health care needs A shock from an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) may trigger an increase in health care needs for many people, regardless whether the shock was medically necessary, according to a new study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.
Revised US tally: HIV infections fell 18 percent in 6 years New calculations to better track HIV infections confirm that the U.S. is seeing a strong and steady decline.
New findings reveal health, aging experiences of LGBT older adults across nation In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from the University of Washington's School of Social Work have released new findings this month on the health and aging of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender older adults in the U.S.
	Ultrasound technology for varicose treatment Researchers from the the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) and collaborators from industry have developed new technology for varicose vein obliteration treatment by the means of focused, high-intensity ultrasound.
Women's educational attainment and origin are risk factors in abortions A study conducted by the UPV/EHU's Social Determinants of Health and Demographic Change (OPIK) research group analysed the voluntary pregnancy termination rate and the differences between the immigrant and the native population (women between the ages of 12 and 49), and determined the contribution of educational attainment of women who undergo voluntary pregnancy termination. "We were interested in seeing the extent to which inequalities exist in the Basque country despite the fact that, in principle, access to healthcare services (also with respect to voluntary pregnancy terminations) is universal and free of charge for the whole population, irrespective of people's social position," explained Yolanda-González Rábago, a member of the research group.
	Opinion: Australia's looming e-cigarette ban robs smokers of a chance to quit The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration's (TGA) recent interim decision to effectively ban nicotine-containing e-cigarettes is a harsh blow to smokers.
	Tracking superbugs for antibiotic resistance An antibiotic resistant strain of bacteria found circulating in Jeddah's municipal wastewater could have severe implications for public health.
	Designers take a holistic approach to health-care spaces Health-care facilities can be stressful places for patients and visitors, with depressing waiting rooms, rows of uncomfortable seating, a blaring television. But designers of some medical spaces are remedying the situation.
	Aetna, Humana call off $34 billion deal Major health insurers Aetna and Humana called off their $34 billion combination after a federal judge, citing concerns about prices and benefits, rejected the deal.
Radiation therapy continues to be gold standard to palliate painful bone metastases The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) recently published an updated clinical guideline that underscores the safety and effectiveness of palliative radiation therapy (RT) for treating painful bone metastases. Based on recent clinical trial data, the guideline recommends optimal RT dosing schedules for pain relief, including options for re-treatment. The guideline, "Palliative radiation therapy for bone metastases: Update of an ASTRO Evidence-Based Guideline," is available as a free access article in Practical Radiation Oncology, ASTRO's clinical practice journal.
	Researcher reports on the importance of football for disabled supporters An EU-funded researcher has made a major contribution to a landmark report over the English Premier League's failure to meet the needs of disabled fans.
The little yellow box that's made thousands of operations safer Gundegmaa Tumurbaatar glimpsed her son only for an instant as he was carried into the ageing Soviet-built hospital where she works. It was one of the first fine days after the gruelling Mongolian winter, and she had left Gunbileg, aged three, and his older brother playing outside, telling them to be careful. Now, he was moaning in pain and covered from head to toe in filth and blood. A passer-by had brought Gunbileg to the hospital after seeing the two boys trying to jump over an open manhole above a sewer – watching in horror as the younger boy had fallen into the jagged pit on his abdomen. By the time Gundegmaa saw him, he was in shock, his belly frighteningly distended, an internal haemorrhage putting him at imminent risk of cardiac arrest.
Pilot project offers blueprint for addressing mental health needs of homeless children A research team led by North Carolina State University outlines the lessons learned in a five-year pilot project that was designed to help meet the mental health needs of children in homeless families – and could serve as a blueprint for similar efforts around the country.
Mind the (osteoporosis treatment) gap With the first of the baby boomer generation now entering their eighties, the next decade will see a significant increase in the number of people living with osteoporosis and experiencing the often devastating outcome of fragility fractures.
	Traditional Chinese medicine in HIV cure issue of AIDS Research & Human Retroviruses A special issue on progress toward a cure for HIV includes a description of a previously unreported study started in the early 2000s that describes AIDS patients currently ages 51-67 in good health. These nine individuals were treated with a unique formula of traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCM) from 2001-2006 or longer, with or without occasional antiviral therapy added later. The fact that the patients currently have low or undetectable HIV in their systems is unexpected and intriguing, and suggests a potential promise of TCM as a functional cure for HIV/AIDS, as discussed in a Letter to the Editor in the special issue of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.
	Two from UW-Madison contribute to human gene editing report The National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine issued a 258-page report Tuesday (Feb. 14) focused on human genome editing. It lays out principles and recommendations for the U.S. government and governments around the globe grappling with how to handle rapid advances in human genome-editing technology as it applies to human health and disease.
Moral distress in health care: Special report outlines strategies to increase moral resilience Nurses in all roles and specialties face complex ethical situations that challenge their values, giving rise to moral distress. New approaches to overcoming the challenges of moral distress by increasing moral resilience are presented in a supplement to the February issue of the American Journal of Nursing.

Biology news

	Monkeys taught to pass mirror self-awareness test (Phys.org)—A team of researchers at the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences has found that rhesus monkeys can pass the mirror self-awareness test if they are first taught how mirrors work. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes how they taught the monkeys to understand how mirrors work and how the monkeys behaved once they had it down.
	Dating on the fly—female flies are attractive to mates on sunny days Female green bottle flies attract potential mates by flashing sunlight at particular frequencies from their wings, according to research published in the open access journal, BMC Biology.
	Sperm-egg fusion proteins have same structure as those used by Zika and other viruses The protein that helps the sperm and egg fuse together in sexual reproduction can also fuse regular cells together. Recent findings by a team of biomedical researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Argentina, Uruguay and the U.S. show this protein is part of a larger family of proteins that helps other cells bind together to create larger organs, and which also allows viruses like Zika and Dengue to invade healthy cells.
	New insights into ubiquitin signalling Scientists at the University of Würzburg have generated new insights into the intricate molecular underpinnings of ubiquitin signaling. Their results may provide new avenues for cancer therapy.
	Sexual harassment in the fish world—male guppies suffer most Male guppies pay a high cost for their sexual harassment of female guppies – including much higher mortality rates – a new study from Macquarie University has found.
	Geneticists track the evolution of parenting University of Georgia researchers have confirmed that becoming a parent brings about more than just the obvious offspring—it also rewires the parents' brain.
	Researchers develop 'living diode' using cardiac muscle cells Scientists are one step closer to mimicking the way biological systems interact and process information in the body - a vital step toward developing new forms of biorobotics and novel treatment approaches for several muscle-related health problems such as muscular degenerative disorders, arrhythmia and limb loss.
	No designer babies, but gene editing to avoid disease? Maybe Don't expect designer babies any time soon—but a major new ethics report leaves open the possibility of one day altering human heredity to fight genetic diseases, with stringent oversight, using new tools that precisely edit genes inside living cells.
	Emergency UN meeting in Harare over armyworm outbreak International experts will hold emergency talks in Harare on Tuesday to tackle an outbreak of crop-eating "armyworm" caterpillars advancing across several African countries.
	Fears of exploding whales as New Zealand clears carcasses The grim task of clearing hundreds of washed-up whale carcasses was under way in New Zealand Tuesday, with the beach closed over fears the bodies will fill with gas and explode as they decompose.
Researchers unravel how ticks protect themselves from Lyme bacteria and other microbes Everyone agrees that ticks are exceedingly nasty creatures. For hundreds of millions of years, they have survived on Earth by sucking blood from their victims for days, often leaving behind terrible diseases as a thank-you note. In humans, these diseases include many unpleasant and dangerous illnesses, such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, babesiosis, Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever, and tularemia, to name a few.
	Accelerated chlorophyll reaction in microdroplets to reveal secret of photosynthesis DGIST research fellow Hong-Gil Nam and the research team of Professor Richard N. Zere of Stanford University have reported that they have accelerated chlorophyll demetallation by 1000 times over current techniques using microdroplets.
Why presenting "just the facts" won't work for GM foods When it comes to controversial science issues, scientists need to rethink their approach to engaging the public, according to the authors of a new study looking at women's attitudes towards genetically modified (GM) foods.
	Hunting as a group makes sailfish attacks less predictable to prey Sailfish are large oceanic predatory fish that attack their prey with their long, sharp bills. When hunting, individuals increase their success rate by specialising in one attacking side, as a team led by researcher Dr. Ralf Kurvers from the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) has now been able to show. The crucial factor: Sailfish always hunt in groups containing roughly the same number of individuals that attack from the right as those that attack from the left. In this way, their prey is unable to predict from which side the attack will occur.
	New metalloid oxide reducing bacteria found in manitoba's nopiming gold mine tailings A new study published in the Canadian Journal of Microbiology has identified new toxic metalloid-reducing bacteria in highly polluted abandoned gold mine tailings in Manitoba's Nopiming Provincial Park. "These bacteria have the ability to convert toxic components that exist as a result of mining activities into less toxic forms and are prevalent in extreme environments," says Dr. Vladimir Yurkov, Professor at the University of Manitoba. These bacteria or their enzymes may be potential candidates for the development of bioremediation technologies, a treatment that uses naturally occurring organisms to break down toxic substances. "We wanted to look at the bacterial resistance to toxic waste, which would be an important asset within the context of heavily polluted mines. We also aimed to enrich our understanding of the microbial diversity of extreme environments, knowing that the vast majority of these microbes and their potential uses and benefits, remain undiscovered," continued Dr. Yurkov.
	New peptide hormone aids waterproof barrier formation in plant roots Plant growth and development relies on the movement of mineral ions from the soil to the transport system of root cells (xylem tissue) and subsequent transfer to the shoot. Because this process usually occurs against a concentration gradient, passive diffusion is prevented and homeostasis ensured by the presence of a waterproof lignin-rich barrier known as the Casparian strip that surrounds xylem and phloem tissue in a ring. Several proteins were known to be necessary for Casparian strip formation, including the receptor kinase GSO1/SGN3.
	Genes in albino orchids may hold clues to parasitic mechanism used by non-photosynthetic plants How do plants give up photosynthesis and become parasites? A research team in Japan are using comprehensive analysis of gene expression in albino and green orchids to investigate the evolution of parasitic plants.
Biological experiments become transparent – anywhere, any time Biological experiments are generating increasingly large and complex sets of data. This has made it difficult to reproduce experiments at other research laboratories in order to confirm – or refute – the results. The difficulty lies not only in the complexity of the data, but also in the elaborate computer programmes and systems needed to analyse them. Scientists from the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg have now developed a new bioinformatics tool that will make the analysis of biological and biomedical experiments more transparent and reproducible.
	The importance of maintaining a diversity of habitats in the sea Researchers from University of Gothenburg and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) show that both species diversity and habitat diversity are critical to understand the functioning of ecosystems.
	Study rewrites the history of corn in corn country A new study contradicts decades of thought, research and teaching on the history of corn cultivation in the American Bottom, a floodplain of the Mississippi River in Illinois. The study refutes the notion that Indian corn, or maize, was cultivated in this region hundreds of years before its widespread adoption at about 1000 A.D.
Showing some love: Penguins get Valentine's hearts for nests Penguins at a California aquarium got more than their daily helping of fish to celebrate Valentine's Day.
	Seeing the world through fresh eyes There are many different structures in our eyes that work in conjunction to allow us to see. These structures are strikingly similar between different species, from zebrafish to humans. The growth of ocular tissues must be tightly controlled in order to maintain the correct eye size and shape that allow us to see. This tight regulation has intrigued developmental biologists for decades.
	Molecules do not have colour The 2017 Pantone Color of the Year is Greenery.
	Cultivated scallops populations develop distinct genetic structure The scallop is one of the largest edible molluscs, and gourmets consider it to be a great delicacy. To meet this demand, the fishing industry cultivates these shellfish in coastal aquafarms. In a new analysis, behavioural ecologists at Bielefeld University have confirmed that cultivated scallops developed their own genetic structure that differs from that of natural scallops. The biologists studied a total of nine populations of scallops (Pecten maximus) along the coast of Northern Ireland. They are presenting their results this Wednesday in the research journal 'Royal Society Open Science'.
	Gut feeling essential for migrating fish Why do trout spend so much time in potentially dangerous estuaries before migrating to sea? In a new thesis published at University Gothenburg, Jeroen Brijs reveals that the answer may lie in the gut.

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