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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for March 30, 2018:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Is there life adrift in the clouds of Venus?In the search for extraterrestrial life, scientists have turned over all sorts of rocks. |
 | China says Earth-bound space lab to offer 'splendid' show (Update)A defunct space laboratory that will plunge back to Earth in the coming days is unlikely to cause any damage, Chinese authorities say, but will offer instead a "splendid" show akin to a meteor shower. |
 | Computer searches telescope data for evidence of distant planetsAs part of an effort to identify distant planets hospitable to life, NASA has established a crowdsourcing project in which volunteers search telescopic images for evidence of debris disks around stars, which are good indicators of exoplanets. |
 | NASA ready to study heart of MarsNASA is about to go on a journey to study the interior of Mars. The space agency held a news conference today at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, detailing the next mission to the Red Planet. |
 | Comet provides rare chance to study solar system's originsMore samples of comets are urgently required to better understand the early history of the solar system, say researchers analyzing comet dust brought back to Earth by NASA's Stardust mission in 2006. |
 | Point Nemo, Earth's watery graveyard for spacecraftOne place China's Earth-bound and out-of-control spacelab, Tiangong-1, will probably not hit on Sunday is the forlorn spot in the southern Pacific Ocean where it was supposed to crash. |
 | Out of this world: Inside Japan's space colony centreA newly created Space Colony Research centre led by Japan's first female astronaut is bringing cutting-edge technology to bear on one of mankind's greatest questions: Can we live in space? |
 | Orbital testing begins for advanced small spacecraft communicationsNASA Small Spacecraft Technology Program's Integrated Solar and Reflectarray Antenna, or ISARA, and Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration, or OCSD, spacecraft recently completed systems checkout and have moved into the operational phase to demonstrate a number of technology firsts. |
 | Coming down in flames: Fiery endings for spacecraftChina's defunct Tiangong-1 space lab is expected to make a fiery re-entry into the earth's atmosphere in the coming days and disintegrate in what Chinese authorities promise will be a "splendid" show. |
 | SpaceX says Iridium satellite payload deployed (Update)The private firm SpaceX on Friday said a partially-reused rocket successfully launched and deployed the latest group of satellites to upgrade communication networks for Virginia-based company Iridium. |
 | Image: Testing InSightTesting continued on NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft on inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in early March 2018. |
Technology news
 | Temperature heals lithium dendritesRechargeable lithium-ion, the dominant battery technology for portable electronics, is increasingly becoming the battery of choice for electric-vehicle and electric-grid energy-storage applications. |
 | Cat-like 'hearing' with device tens of trillions times smaller than human eardrumResearchers at Case Western Reserve University are developing atomically thin "drumheads" able to receive and transmit signals across a radio frequency range far greater than what we can hear with the human ear. |
 | Under Armour says 150 mn affected in data breachSports gear maker Under Armour said Thursday a data breach of its fitness application was hacked, affecting some 150 million user accounts. |
 | Robot takes cues from spider that can walk and rollOnce again, we get visual proof that it pays to check out Nature's outstanding engineering tricks in order to work up interesting machines that behave in innovative ways—for machines, that is. |
 | Leaked Facebook memo questions cost of growthFacebook troubles worsened late Thursday with the leak of a two-year-old memo from a high-ranking executive hinting that the social network was determined to grow despite risks to users. |
 | Hollywood's first blockchain movie: an end to piracy?A few years behind Wall Street, Hollywood is turning to the technology behind cryptocurrency bitcoin to distribute movies in a development hailed as the beginning of the end for piracy. |
 | Foreign companies in China brace for VPN crackdownChinese people and foreign firms are girding for a weekend deadline that will curb the use of unlicensed software to circumvent internet controls, as the government plugs holes in its "Great Firewall". |
 | Tesla recalls 123,000 cars for power steering fixTesla on Thursday issued a voluntary recall of 123,000 Model S cars to replace a power steering bolt that could corrode due to salt used on winter roads. |
 | Regulation and apathy hit bitcoin marketWild fluctuations within the bitcoin market have once again sparked debate between investors who believe it is merely undergoing a "correction" and those who see it as a costly fad. |
 | Power to the people: electricity finally reaches Indian landmarkDeepa Bhoir used to sit in darkness outside her island home and stare at Mumbai glowing in the distance. Now she stays up late watching soap operas—one of millions of Indians whose lives have been transformed by a drive to get power to every corner of the country. |
 | China tightens rules on transferring tech know-howChina has issued new guidelines on transferring intellectual property rights from Chinese firms or individuals to foreign investors, as global tensions rise over technology theft. |
 | Why you stink at fact-checkingHere's a quick quiz for you: |
 | Singapore says Uber-Grab deal may flout competition rulesThe sale of Uber's Southeast Asian business to Singapore-based rival Grab may have infringed competition rules, a Singapore watchdog said Friday, imposing restrictions on the deal while it carries out an investigation. |
 | Why education is embracing Facebook-style personality profiling for schoolchildrenThe recent Cambridge Analytica scandal concerned the alleged psychographic profiling of millions of Facebook users without their knowledge. Its controversial actions reflect the wider aspirations of the data analytics industry to see into the hidden depths of people. But this focus on personality measurement is also being reflected in new trends in education. |
 | Understanding how society will change as we move to renewable energy sourcesImagine waking up tomorrow in a world that doesn't depend on oil. |
 | How Cambridge Analytica's Facebook targeting model really worked – according to the person who built itThe researcher whose work is at the center of the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data analysis and political advertising uproar has revealed that his method worked much like the one Netflix uses to recommend movies. |
 | The invisible power of 'flutter'—from plane crashes to snoring to free energyWith the car windows down on the first warm day of spring, the urge is unshakable. You extend your arm into the wind, tracing the city skyline in a natural motion somewhere between swimming and waving. As you move your hand, you alter the flow of the air. The redirected air in turn exerts a force on your hand. |
 | Facebook gets thumbs down for handling of data scandalWhen it comes to its handling of the scandal over how its users' data was harvested to help elect US President Donald Trump, Facebook gets an almighty thumbs down from crisis management experts. |
 | China's Huawei sees profit rebound despite US setbacksChinese telecom giant Huawei saw it profits rebound in 2017, helped by strong smartphone sales as it ramps up R&D spending despite suffering setbacks in its US ambitions. |
Cyberattacks wakeup call for local governments to prepareAtlanta police officers initially had to write reports by hand. Residents still can't pay water bills online. Municipal court dates are being reset. All are fallout from a ransomware attack last week that hobbled the city's invisible infrastructure. | |
 | New EU rules let you watch Netflix, BBC abroadDon't leave your iPad at home this holiday. Starting Sunday, Europeans on vacation can enjoy their online entertainment such as Netflix or BBC iPlayer as if at home all across Europe. |
 | Promises, promises: Facebook's history with privacy"We've made a bunch of mistakes." ''Everyone needs complete control over who they share with at all times." ''Not one day goes by when I don't think about what it means for us to be the stewards of this community and their trust." |
Czechs extradite alleged Russian hacker to USThe Czech Republic extradited a Russian man to the U.S. to face charges of hacking computers at LinkedIn, Dropbox and other American companies, an official said Friday. | |
 | Facebook exec disavows his own his provocative memoThe author of a provocative Facebook memo declaring that growth is justified even if it costs lives says he doesn't actually agree with the memo and wrote it to provoke debate. |
Walmart reportedly eyes deal with insurer HumanaWalmart may be looking to dive deeper into the rapidly evolving health care market by acquiring the insurer Humana, according to The Wall Street Journal. | |
Medicine & Health news
 | Researchers find alternate path for Listeria to sicken peoplePurdue University scientists have found another pathway that Listeria uses to enter the bloodstream, suggesting that forms of the foodborne bacteria considered benign may be more dangerous than once thought. |
 | Preventing tumors from shedding their identifying proteins allows immune system to attackA team of researchers with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital in the U.S. has found that introducing an antibody into a cancerous mouse model prevented the escape of ligands from a tumor surface allowing natural killer cells to attack. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their technique and how well it worked. Lewis Lanier with Heidelberg University, Medical Faculty Mannheim in Germany offers an overview of the work done by the team in a Perspective piece in the same journal issue and also gives an overview of immunotherapy research in general. |
 | U.K. man found to have gonorrhea resistant to conventional treatmentsResearchers at Public Health England have announced, as reported by the BBC, that a U.K. man has contracted a case of gonorrhea that is resistant to the two types of antibiotics that are normally used to treat such infections. It is, they further report, the first known instance of a case where a strain of the bacteria has developed resistance to both treatments. |
 | Pediatric cancer drug shows 93 percent response rateA first-of-its-kind drug targeting a fused gene found in many types of cancer was effective in 93 percent of pediatric patients tested, researchers at UT Southwestern's Simmons Cancer Center announced. |
 | Butterflies of the soul: New study sheds light on the developmental origins of interneuronsModern neuroscience, for all its complexity, can trace its roots directly to a series of pen-and-paper sketches rendered by Nobel laureate Santiago Ramón y Cajal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. |
Using chosen names reduces odds of depression and suicide in transgender youthsIn one of the largest and most diverse studies of transgender youths to date, researchers led by a team at The University of Texas at Austin have found that when transgender youths are allowed to use their chosen name in places such as work, school and at home, their risk of depression and suicide drops. | |
New cancer drug shows promise in pediatric patients with tumor-specific gene mutationsA new cancer drug has proven safe and effective for pediatric patients with a rare tumor gene mutation, according to a study published today in The Lancet. The study tested the safety and dose of larotrectinib (LOXO-195) in pediatric patients with a mutation known as tropomyosin receptor kinases (TRK) that can occur in a variety of tumor types. | |
 | California judge rules that coffee requires cancer warning (Update)Coffee sellers in California should have to post warnings because the brew may contain an ingredient that's been linked to cancer, a judge has ruled. |
Estimating the effect of genetic mutations on neurodevelopmental disorders more accuratelyA recent study, co-edited by Canadian researchers (CHU Sainte-Justine, the Université de Montréal) and French researchers (the Institut Pasteur and the university Paris-Diderot), presents a model that can predict the effect of a genetic variant on a person's cognitive traits and estimate the impact of genetic mutations on IQ. This discovery opens the way to a better interpretation of genetic analyzes and better care for children at risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders, from a very young age. | |
 | Researchers describe the dynamics of P. falciparum infections in adults without feverAsymptomatic malaria occurs when parasites are present in an individual's blood, but do not cause fever or other symptoms. These "afebrile" infections can be detected either by classical diagnostic tests (if there are enough parasites in blood) or by molecular amplification techniques (if there are very few). Individuals that are infected but present no symptoms do not tend to seek health care, and therefore are not diagnosed or treated. However, there is a concern that they serve as parasite reservoirs and contribute to maintain its transmission in communities aiming at malaria elimination. |
 | Study finds apparent benefits of addition of adjunctive antidepressants to mood stabilizers for bipolar disorderBipolar disorder patients, who comprise 1-4 percent of the population, suffer from chronic mood swings that alternate between "manic" episodes, characterized by inflated energy, self-esteem and risky behavior, and depression, which can take a suicidal turn. |
 | Discovery uncovers clue to disarm gonorrhea superbugEvery year, more than 100 million people worldwide develop the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea, with health consequences such as infertility, transmission of the disease to newborn babies, and increased risk of HIV infections. There has been a 63 per cent rise in gonorrhoea in Australia over the past five years. |
 | Fentanyl fuels latest spike in opioid OD deaths(HealthDay)—Drug overdose deaths continue to pile up in the United States, driven largely by the opioid epidemic and the emergence of dangerously potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl, a new government report shows. |
 | Diabetes now affects 23 million U.S. adults(HealthDay)—The latest tally of Americans adults affected by diabetes finds more than 23 million struggle with the blood sugar disease. |
 | Protect your child from opioid poisoning(HealthDay)—America's opioid epidemic is taking a mounting toll on the nation's children—some as young as toddlers. |
Blincyto approval expanded for specific leukemia(HealthDay)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it has expanded approval for Blincyto (blinatumomab) to include adults and children with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia who are in remission but who still have minimal residual disease (MRD). | |
 | Islet transplantation improves quality of life in T1DM(HealthDay)—There are significant improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) following islet transplantation in patients with type 1 diabetes complicated by severe hypoglycemia, according to a study published online March 21 in Diabetes Care. |
 | Lower thromboembolic risk with new A-fib after CABG versus NVAF(HealthDay)—For patients post coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, new-onset postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is associated with lower long-term thromboembolic risk than that seen among patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF), according to a study published online March 28 in JAMA Cardiology. |
 | Duration of antibiotics often exceeds guidelines for sinusitis(HealthDay)—The durations of most courses of antibiotic therapy for adult outpatients with sinusitis exceed guideline recommendations, according to a research letter published online March 26 in JAMA Internal Medicine. |
 | CDC: many adults not receiving sexual risk assessments(HealthDay)—Less than half of women and a quarter of men with recent sexual activity receive sexual risk assessment, according to a March data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. |
 | Traumatic brain injury rare for children with isolated vomiting(HealthDay)—Children presenting with head injury with isolated vomiting rarely have clinically important traumatic brain injury (ci-TBI) or traumatic brain injury on computed tomography (TBI-CT), according to a study published online March 29 in Pediatrics. |
 | Bariatric surgery can lead to changes in relationship status(HealthDay)—Bariatric surgery is associated with changes in relationship status, according to a study published online March 28 in JAMA Surgery. |
 | Relapse in major depression linked to brain cortical changes(HealthDay)—For patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), relapse is associated with brain cortical changes over two years, according to a study published online March 28 in JAMA Psychiatry. |
 | Change in BMI during puberty tied to later heart failure risk(HealthDay)—Change in body mass index (BMI) to overweight during puberty significantly increases men's risk of heart failure later in life, according to a study published online March 12 in the Journal of Internal Medicine. |
 | Non-invasive test can detect urothelial cancer(HealthDay)—UroSEEK, which uses DNA recovered from cells shed into urine, can detect urothelial cancer, according to a study published online March 20 in eLife. |
 | Pharmacists have responsibility to check opioid Rx are legitimate(HealthDay)—Pharmacists should be aware that they are expected to take steps to make sure opioid prescriptions are written for legitimate medical purposes, and should document these efforts, according to a report published in Drug Topics. |
 | Researchers explore yoga healing a shattered countryDunna, a Colombian non-profit organization, is healing its country – one yoga class at a time. |
 | Early childhood incarceration is linked to high rates of severe physical and mental health issues in adulthoodWhen children are placed in juvenile detention centers, jails or prisons before their teenage years, they are much more likely to experience serious physical and mental health issues as adults, according to a new study by UCLA researchers. |
Study reveals key cause of treatment failure in Chagas diseaseResearchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that dormancy of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi prevents effective drug treatment for Chagas disease, which kills more than 50,000 people each year in Central and South America and is a growing threat in the United States and Europe. | |
 | Non-addictive pain medication changing therapy for substance use disorders"It's not often that a psychiatrist gets to hear 'Doctor, you saved my life,' " said Ellen Edens, M.D., FW '09, assistant professor of psychiatry and associate fellowship director in addiction psychiatry. But she gets that a lot from patients receiving outpatient treatment for opioid use disorder. "They tell me, 'I have my children back, I'm working, I feel good.' " |
Drug makers engage in 'co-opetition' through drug middlemenPrescription drug consumers confounded by the cost of their medications can get a peek behind the curtain thanks to new Washington University in St. Louis research into the complex "co-opetition"—cooperation and competition—among drug makers in the middleman-controlled US drug supply chain. | |
 | New facial expression app to monitor mood in stroke patientsA new medical app that helps brain-damaged stroke patients communicate how they are feeling has been developed and tested by researchers at the University of Nottingham. |
Alternative, non-opioid treatments for chronic painAn estimated 2 million people in the U.S. are addicted to prescription opioids—powerful doctor-prescribed medications for chronic or severe pain. The drugs are commonly prescribed to treat gastrointestinal pain caused by conditions such as Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), raising the risk of addiction among this population. A review published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology explores newer, potentially safer therapies for treating chronic abdominal pain with lower risks of addiction and side effects. | |
 | Smart choices for your home gym(HealthDay)—Home exercise equipment has come a long way over the years. It's a great option if you're starting a fitness program and don't want to go to a gym or can't get to your gym often enough. |
 | Structural studies help explain how cancer cells resist chemotherapyIn order to kill cancer cells, chemotherapy drugs must first make their way inside them. But cancer cells are shrewd, and some use molecular pumps to expel the drugs before they have a chance to work. New research from Rockefeller's Jue Chen sheds light on the process by which the cells spit molecules out. |
Linking teen driving behaviors to ADHD, other mental health factorsTeenage drivers ages 16 to 19 are three times more likely to get into fatal accidents than their older counterparts. In this age group, around 20 percent in the United States have been affected by symptoms associated with mental health disorders, including 9 percent with a lifetime history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). | |
Adult-onset neurodegeneration has roots in early developmentThe disease mechanism for adult-onset progressive degenerative diseases begins much earlier than previously thought, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. | |
 | Optimistic Latinos have healthier hearts, study findsLatinos who are the most optimistic are more likely to have healthy hearts, suggests a new study of more than 4,900 people of Latino/Hispanic ancestry living in the U.S. |
 | Federal officials urged to increase perinatal depression treatment in minority womenDespite Latinas' and African-American women's increased risks of perinatal depression and the availability of reliable screening tools and national awareness campaigns, research has shown that these women are significantly less likely to be screened or treated. |
 | With warmer weather comes wrap-up of severe flu season(HealthDay)—Spring continues to take the bite out of this year's brutal flu season, new numbers show. |
 | Many pick the wrong drugs for sneezin' season(HealthDay)—Hay fever sufferers often choose the wrong medication for their seasonal sniffles, new research suggests. |
 | AHA: when a college hoops star died of a heart attack, his family got in the gameMarch Madness, the annual college basketball tournament that glues Americans to their TVs and their brackets, is a bittersweet time for the Cornette family. |
 | Guideline urges hormone test for women with unwanted hair(HealthDay)—Women with dark, coarse hair growth on the face, chest or back should be tested for polycystic ovary syndrome and other underlying health problems, a new Endocrine Society guideline says. |
 | Aortic valve replacement in elderly tied to high mortality(HealthDay)—The 10-year mortality rate in elderly patients who receive surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) is considerable, according to a study published in the April 3 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. |
 | Montreal Parkinson risk of dementia scale deemed accurate(HealthDay)—The office-based, eight-item Montreal Parkinson Risk of Dementia Scale is a valid predictor of development of dementia, according to a study published online March 26 in JAMA Neurology. |
 | Childhood irritability, depressive mood linked to suicidality later(HealthDay)—Children with high irritability and depressive/anxious mood have increased suicidality risk during adolescence, according to a study published online March 28 in JAMA Psychiatry. |
 | ACA has provided better access to care for cancer survivors(HealthDay)—Cancer survivors are more likely to have difficulty accessing and affording health care, but the proportion reporting these issues is decreasing, according to a study published online March 29 in JAMA Oncology. |
 | Early age-related macular degeneration linked to high HDL(HealthDay)—There is a higher risk for early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in individuals with high plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, according to a study published online March 29 in JAMA Ophthalmology. |
 | Lower energy consumption for South Asian migrants with T2DM(HealthDay)—Among South Asian (SA) migrants in the United States, those with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) consume less total energy and have lower consumption of many nutrients than those without T2DM, according to a study published in the April issue of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. |
 | Gut microbes could help better predict risk of hospitalization for patients with cirrhosisThe gut microbiome—a collection of bacteria and other microbes in the gut—could be a highly accurate predictor of hospitalizations for patients with cirrhosis, according to a recently published study led by a researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University. |
 | Science Says: What we know about cancer risk and coffeeTrouble is brewing for coffee lovers in California, where a judge ruled that sellers must post scary warnings about cancer risks. But how frightened should we be of a daily cup of joe? Not very, some scientists and available evidence seem to suggest. |
Study finds children with autism and ADHD at higher rise for anxietyChildren with both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for being diagnosed with or treated for anxiety and mood disorders, according to a study published in Pediatrics today. The study, completed by the Interactive Autism Network (IAN), is one of the largest to compare comorbidities in individuals with ASD alone to individuals with ASD and ADHD. | |
Declines in lung cancer death rates among US women have lagged in two hot spotsWhile lung cancer death rates among women in most of the United States have declined substantially in recent years, progress among women in a region covering central Appalachia and southern parts of the Midwest and in northern parts of the Midwest has lagged. | |
 | A hiccup in gene therapy progress?Zebrafish, roundworms, fruit flies, mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, cats, pigs, and monkeys provide steppingstones to clinical trials to evaluate new treatments for people. The value of animal studies continues, even after a new drug shows promise or is approved. |
 | Losing children to foster care endangers mothers' livesMothers whose children are placed in foster care are at much higher risk of dying young, particularly due to avoidable causes like suicide. |
 | Rational protein engineering can improve effectiveness of mRNA therapiesmRNA drugs offer a promising new approach to deliver therapeutic replacement proteins, and novel strategies designed to engineer more stable and active proteins are further enhancing the potential of mRNA therapies. Specific examples of sequence engineering that led to improved expression, duration, and enzymatic activity of target proteins are reported in a study published in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics. |
Can a Mediterranean diet pattern slow aging?A series of six articles appearing in the March issue of The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences finds new correlations between a Mediterranean diet and healthy aging outcomes—while also underscoring the need for careful approaches to the use of data in order to measure the diet's potential benefits. | |
Biology news
 | Scientists find different cell types contain the same enzyme ratiosBy studying bacteria and yeast, researchers at MIT have discovered that vastly different types of cells still share fundamental similarities, conserved across species and refined over time. More specifically, these cells contain the same proportion of specialized proteins, known as enzymes, which coordinate chemical reactions within the cell. |
 | From infection-dodging stem cells, new tactics for research on viral diseaseFor a stem cell, the future is wide open. It can divide infinitely to create more stem cells, or it can grow up into other kinds of cells, taking its place in the heart, brain, or other organs. But the stem cell loses something during that maturation: its remarkable ability to fight off viruses. |
 | Video games may help ageing pooches stay mentally nimbleAt first sight, enthusiastic Border Collies Miley and Tiara may not appear to be providing insights into the deeper workings of the canine mind. |
 | Scientists found a new genus and species of frogsA team of scientists from MSU and their foreign colleagues have discovered a previously unknown species and genus of batrachians Siamophryne troglodytes. These frogs live in the only one place on Earth—a limestone cave in Thailand. The location of the cave is undisclosed to protect the animals. The results of the study will lead to the reconsideration of the evolutionary history of these amphibia and are valuable for systematics and conservation. The results have been published in the open-access PeerJ. |
 | Soil bacterium tapped for penicillin guard dutyA common soil bacterium may hold the key to preserving the germ-killing power of penicillin. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists in Peoria, Illinois, helped mass produce the antibiotic during World War II to treat Allied soldiers and later civilians. But decades of widespread use has since enabled some germs to develop resistance to it. |
 | Inherent feminizing effect of germ cells—new insights into sex determinationNagoya University-led study shows for the first time germ cells have an inherent property to feminize the body in teleost fish, medaka. |
 | A ban on captive animals could speed up extinctionThe recent death of the last male Northern white rhinoceros —and the imminent extinction of the vaquita porpoise —is a stark reminder we are not going to win every battle to save endangered species in the wild. We can rescue some from total extinction—and have already —but only with the help of zoos and aquariums. |
Basking sharks gather in large groups off northeast US coastGroups of basking sharks ranging from as few as 30 to nearly 1,400 individual animals have been observed aggregating in waters from Nova Scotia to Long Island. While individual sightings are fairly common, seeing large groups is not. | |
 | Phage-host interactions are more complicated than most laboratory studies suggestFor years, scientists have experimented with phages—the viruses that infect bacteria—to learn how they change their host. Because such studies are difficult to accomplish in the wild, most have focused on viruses and host cells tailored for laboratory experiments. Now a team of scientists departs from these "optimal" laboratory-suitable viruses to study the molecular response when bacteria and phages interact in nature, where phages do not always encounter the perfect host. |
A century after WWI, munitions still making way onto beachesA century after World War I ended, discarded munitions from that and other wars continue to make their way onto beaches around the country. | |
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