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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for December 29, 2017:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Russia restores contact with Angolan satelliteRussian specialists on Friday said they have restored communication with Angosat-1, the first national satellite it launched for Angola, days after they lost contact with it. |
Technology news
 | Google offers update on its human-like text-to-speech systemGoogle has offered interested tech enthusiasts an update on its Tacotron text-to-speech system via blog post this week. In the post, the team describes how the system works and offers some audio samples, which Ruoming Pang and Jonathan Shen, authors of the post, claim were comparable to professional recordings as judged by a group of human listeners. The authors have also written a paper with the rest of their Google teammates describing their efforts, and have posted it to the arXiv preprint server. |
 | SoftBank group acquires major stake in UberA group led by Japanese technology conglomerate Softbank has acquired a major stake in Uber, potentially tamping down internal warfare at the troubled ride-hailing company and strengthening the hand of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi as he seeks to move it past the firestorm that has consumed it for the past year. |
 | California company gets FCC approval for at-a-distance device chargingEnergous, a San Jose, Calif., company, is the first firm to receive federal approval for a wireless charging system purported to power devices from up to 3 feet away, the company said. |
 | Will we get a sad poop emoji? Well, there's a processWe have a smiling pile of poop. What about one that's sad? |
Masayoshi Son: From chicken feed to Japan's richest tycoonOnce asked on Twitter about his receding hairline, Masayoshi Son, founder of Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank, retorted: "My hair is not receding. I'm advancing." | |
 | Apple apologizes for slowing iPhones, offers discounted batteriesApple on Thursday apologized to its customers for slowing down performance of older iPhone models and said it would discount replacement batteries for some of its handsets. |
Carving out circuits that click into placeA strategy for assembly of electronic systems-especially the flexible structures needed for high-performance devices of the future-uses integrated circuits as Lego-like building blocks. "This plug-and-play approach is absolutely disruptive," says Ph.D. candidate Sohail Shaikh from KAUST: this unique method of assembly creates completely new options for manufacturing processes of these systems. | |
 | AI is learning from our encounters with nature – and that's a concernThe idea seems wonderful—a phone app that allows you to take a photo of a plant or animal and receive immediate species identification and other information about it. A "Shazam for nature" so to speak. |
 | The wave power farm off Mutriku could improve its efficiencyThe study by the UPV/EHU's EOLO (Meteorology, Climate and Environment) research group reveals that the technology used at the farm off Mutriku—a global pioneer in generating wave power—needs to improve its output to be on a par with the values of other renewable energy sources, and to facilitate the marketing of its power. |
Whole Foods' wine business replaces Amazon's; WineWoot founder sees an openingAmazon.com's purchase of Whole Foods Market is showing up in the wine category. Amazon has shut down Wine.Woot and its own wine marketplace in favor of Whole Foods expansive wine operation. | |
Medicine & Health news
 | Alternative therapies for mild infections could help combat antibiotic resistanceGot a sore throat? The doctor may write a quick prescription for penicillin or amoxicillin, and with the stroke of a pen, help diminish public health and your own future health by helping bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics. |
Ophthalmologists increasingly dissatisfied with electronic health recordsOphthalmologists' use of electronic health records (EHR) systems for storing and accessing patients' medical histories more than doubled between 2006 and 2016, while their perceptions of financial and clinical productivity following EHR implementation declined, a study published today in JAMA Ophthalmology shows. | |
Anxiety, evasion and addiction: how Mexicans deal with endless violenceBetween anxiety, addiction and evasion, Mexicans have found coping mechanisms to deal with the violence plaguing their country and which peaked in 2017 to the highest level in two decades. | |
UK considers 'drunk tanks' to ease strain on health servicesBritish health officials are considering turning to so-called drunk tanks to ease the strain on emergency rooms and ambulance services caused by heavy drinkers. | |
 | Defect in zinc supply mechanism affects pathology of intractable pulmonary diseasesObstructive pulmonary disease is a collective term for refractory respiratory diseases with chronic airway inflammation and excessive mucus retention that are accompanied by airway obstruction. They include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that presents with chronic bronchitis or pulmonary emphysema, and cystic fibrosis (CF), an intractable hereditary disease characterized by mucus retention and chronic bacterial infection. |
 | Uncovering molecular targets for childhood cancer therapeuticsNeuroblastoma (NB) is the most common solid tumor found in children. It starts in some very early forms of nerve cells found in the embryo or fetus. Amplification of the gene MYCN is a well-characterized genetic alteration in NB and is directly associated with advanced disease and poor prognosis. Besides MYCN amplification, several other genome alterations in NB have been reported. Notably, deletion of the long arm of chromosome 11 (11q deletion) is one of the most frequent events in aggressive neuroblastoma. |
 | How neurotechnologies impact risk appetiteResearchers from the Higher School of Economics have shown that by stimulating the frontal cortex, a person's financial risk appetite can be increased temporarily. Their article on the cognitive mechanisms of risky decision-making was published in eNeuro , an international peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Society for Neuroscience. |
 | Resolve to improve health rather than to lose weightWhen the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, everyone looks forward to the changes they are going to make in the year to come. However, if these changes are related to diet and weight loss, a registered dietitian with Baylor College of Medicine says to focus on making changes in your routine that will improve your health and the weight loss will follow. |
 | Is mixing drinks actually bad?As we enjoy the festive season, many strongly-held beliefs about avoiding hangovers are thrown around. One is that mixing different types of drinks is likely to make you feel unwell during your drinking session and contribute to a worse hangover. |
 | New resolve for New Year's resolutions(HealthDay)—What would New Year's be without resolutions? But the way you approach change can make the difference between reaching successful milestones and abandoning your resolutions faster than you can say Valentine's Day chocolates. |
 | How to survive a New Year's hangover(HealthDay)—Excess drinking on New Year's Eve can lead to a painful morning after, with no sure-fire cure available. But helpful strategies for treating a hangover do exist. |
 | Criteria developed for idiopathic inflammatory myopathies(HealthDay)—New classification criteria have been developed for idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM), according to an article published in the December issue of Arthritis & Rheumatology. |
 | Neuroanatomic abnormalities ID'd in those at risk for autism(HealthDay)—Neuroanatomic abnormalities are seen in cohorts at high risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a study published in the January issue of Radiology. |
 | Effective treatments exist for nausea, vomiting of pregnancy(HealthDay)—Early treatment of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy can prevent complications, according to a Practice Bulletin published online Dec. 21 in Obstetrics & Gynecology. |
 | Three-quarters receiving 'End of Life Option Act' drugs take them(HealthDay)—About three-quarters of patients in California who receive End of Life Option Act (EOLOA) drugs ingest them and die, according to a research letter published online Dec. 26 in JAMA Internal Medicine. |
 | Atopic dermatitis associated with higher risk of skin cancer(HealthDay)—Atopic dermatitis (AD) is associated with an increased risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), according to a study published online Dec. 15 in the International Journal of Dermatology. |
 | Tips offered for patient-provider opioid tapering talks(HealthDay)—Helping patients understand individualized reasons for opioid tapering and encouraging them to provide input into the process are key for patient-provider communications, according to a study published in the November issue of the Journal of Pain. |
 | Guidelines developed for optimizing treatment of HFrEF(HealthDay)—Guidelines have been developed to help optimize treatment of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), according to an Expert Consensus Decision Pathway published online Dec. 22 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. |
 | More than a third of patients do not respond to antiepileptics(HealthDay)—More than one-third of patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy do not respond to treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), according to a study published online Dec. 26 in JAMA Neurology. |
Sickle cell patients, families and doctors face a 'fight for everything'The day before his 30th birthday, Marqus Valentine was in a panic. "I was so scared for midnight to come rolling around because subconsciously I was like, 'This is it. Tomorrow's my last day on Earth,'" he said. | |
 | Researchers inhibit Ebola virusThe incurable Ebola virus has long been feared due to its high mortality rate and danger of infection. Now researchers from the University of Copenhagen and Phillips Universität Marburg have succeeded in inhibiting the virus in cell cultures. The researchers hope to be able to continue doing animal testing and developing an actual drug. |
 | Can e-cigarettes help smokers quit?As e-cigarettes become more popular, fewer people are taking up smoking traditional cigarettes. But can e-cigarettes, an electronic nicotine delivery system, help people quit smoking altogether? That was the focus of a recent study led by a Hollings Cancer Center researcher. |
 | Berry gives boost to cervical cancer therapyAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 12,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year. One of the most common treatments for cervical cancer is radiation. While radiation therapy destroys cancer cells, it also destroys nearby healthy cells. University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers studied in vitro human cancer cells to show that combining blueberry extract with radiation can increase the treatment's effectiveness. |
Biology news
 | A phospholipid pathway from plants to parasitesRecent findings by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis may aid in the development of therapies to treat parasitic infections, including malaria, and may help plant scientists one day produce hardier crops. The research team's work is published in the Dec. 29 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. |
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