Monday, December 24, 2018

Science X Newsletter Monday, Dec 24

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for December 24, 2018:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

Best of Last Year—The top Tech Xplore articles of 2018

Advancement of artificial intelligence opens health data privacy to attack

Does alcohol on greeting cards undermine public health messages about harmful drinking?

Howler monkey study examines mechanisms of new species formation

#MeToo sparked surge in awareness about sexual harassment: study

Connected cars accelerate down data-collection highway

SpaceX launches Air Force's best GPS yet, ends banner year

Malta energy storage system is looking forward to first pilot

NASA spacecraft hurtles toward historic New Year's flyby

IBM Research shows how health insights may come from fingernail wearable

Hotter days will boost Chinese residential electric use

Trees' enemies help tropical forests maintain their biodiversity

Researchers use 'blacklist' computing concept as novel way to streamline genetic analysis

New global migration estimates show rates steady since 1990, high return migration

Sustainable 'plastics' are on the horizon

Astronomy & Space news

SpaceX launches Air Force's best GPS yet, ends banner year

SpaceX has launched the U.S. Air Force's most powerful GPS satellite ever built.

NASA spacecraft hurtles toward historic New Year's flyby

A NASA spacecraft is hurtling toward a historic New Year's Day flyby of the most distant planetary object ever studied, a frozen relic of the early solar system called Ultima Thule.

Technology news

Best of Last Year—The top Tech Xplore articles of 2018

It was a great year for technological innovation as a team at MIT announced that they had flown the first-ever plane with no moving parts. Instead of turbines, propellers or even fans, the new plane was powered by an "ionic wind"—a flow of ions produced by the plane that generated enough thrust to push the small prototype through the air long enough to produce sustained, steady flight.

Advancement of artificial intelligence opens health data privacy to attack

Advances in artificial intelligence have created new threats to the privacy of health data, a new UC Berkeley study shows.

Connected cars accelerate down data-collection highway

That holiday trip over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house could turn into nice little gift for automakers as they increasingly collect oodles and oodles of data about the driver.

Malta energy storage system is looking forward to first pilot

Malta has received a round of funding and is graduated from "project" to group that can sail. The Cambridge, MA-based company is focused on the storage of electro-thermal energy and the funding put the group in celebration mode this month. In return, the company is turning up the volume on its potential role in the future of energy storage—namely, working out salt-based electro-thermal energy storage.

IBM Research shows how health insights may come from fingernail wearable

A tiny fingernail sensor has been worked up that monitors diseases and movement disorders. IBM Research tells their prototype story in a December video.

Slack: Some accounts mistakenly deactivated during update

Slack says it mistakenly deactivated accounts for some of the users of its work-focused messaging service this week as it implemented a system update to comply with U.S. economic sanctions and trade embargoes.

China's Huawei faces new setbacks in Europe's telecom market

The U.S. dispute with China over a ban on tech giant Huawei is spilling over to Europe, the company's biggest foreign market, where some countries are also starting to shun its network systems over data security concerns.

India's no-frills hotel giant eyes European markets

An Indian startup is turning its attention towards usurping the West's largest hotel chains after establishing itself as India's biggest player and shaking up the Chinese market.

Australia to beef up technology for drone 'crackdown'

Australia will introduce new surveillance technology for a "crackdown" on drones next year, aviation authorities said Monday, as concerns mount over their increasing prevalence in public areas.

South Korea to fine BMW $10 mn over engine fires response

South Korea said Monday it will fine German automaker BMW 11.2 billion won ($10 million) for allegedly dragging its feet in recalling cars with faulty engines linked to dozens of engine fires.

Apple tweaks app rules to allow users to gift in-app purchases

Just in time for the holidays, Apple added a new gifting option that will allow you to give the gift of in-app purchases to your friends and family.

How Miami's Amazon reseller army serves shoppers worldwide—and makes millions

If you bought your Christmas presents on Amazon this year, there is a decent chance someone in South Florida was taking your money.

Idaho lab protects US infrastructure from cyber attacks

It's called the "Dark Side" because the 50 workers there prefer to keep the lights low so they can dim the brightness on their computer screens.

Brazil court overrules injunction on Boeing-Embraer tie-up

A Brazilian court on Saturday shot down a fresh injunction by a judge over a plan by planemakers Boeing of the US and Embraer of Brazil to create a $5.26-billion joint venture, Brazil's state news agency said.

Medicine & Health news

Does alcohol on greeting cards undermine public health messages about harmful drinking?

Birthday and Christmas cards featuring alcohol or harmful drinking "reflect and reinforce a social attitude that excess alcohol consumption is acceptable and associated with celebration," warn experts in The BMJ today.

#MeToo sparked surge in awareness about sexual harassment: study

(HealthDay)—Hundreds of thousands of women have used the #MeToo hashtag to speak out about sexual harassment and assault during the past year.

Researchers use 'blacklist' computing concept as novel way to streamline genetic analysis

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and The Rockefeller University have discovered a new use for a long-standing computational concept known as "blacklisting," which is commonly employed as a form of access or spam control, blocking unwanted files and messages. Using blacklisting as a filter to single out genetic variations in patient genomes and exomes that do not cause illness, researchers have successfully streamlined the identification of genetic drivers of disease. This method is described in the December 2018 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Research describes how neurons could disconnect from each other in Huntington's disease

A hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington's is the progressive death of nerve cells in the brain. The cells don't die quickly, though. They first start to disconnect from each other because their neurites—long finger-like extensions that make connections all through the brain—become smaller.

FDA casts shadow on hemp win, calling CBD products illegal

The hemp industry still has work ahead to win legal status for hemp-derived cannabidiol, or CBD oil, as an ingredient in food or dietary supplements despite the big farm bill President Donald Trump signed this week designating hemp as an agricultural crop.

Put fire safety at the top of your to-do holiday list

(HealthDay)—A horrific 2011 Christmas Day fire killed five people, including three young sisters, in their Stamford, Conn., home.

All that glitters on your Christmas cookies may not be safe to eat

(HealthDay)—Some of those decorative glitters and dusts you're planning to use in your holiday baking aren't meant to be eaten, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.

Incorrect prescribing alerts common for psychotropic meds

(HealthDay)—Incorrect prescribing alerts for psychotropic medications may be common, according to a study published online Dec. 4 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

FDA announces safety monitoring measures for the essure device

(HealthDay)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is implementing a number of steps for long-term safety monitoring of the permanent birth control device Essure, which will no longer be sold or distributed in the United States after Dec. 31, 2018.

Flu has arrived for the holidays, CDC head says

(HealthDay)—The flu has ramped up in time for Christmas, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

South African musician plays guitar during brain surgery

His skull still open, a South African musician with a brain tumor played several notes on his guitar during a successful operation to remove most of the growth.

Winter's many challenges to eye health

(HealthDay)—Dry, itchy eyes are a common problem in the winter and low humidity is a major reason, one ophthalmologist says.

Paramedics can safely evaluate psychiatric patients' medical condition in the field

Emergency medical personnel in Alameda County, California, use a screening process for determining whether to "medically clear" patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies before transporting them. They identify patients who are at low risk for medical emergencies and take them directly to a special Psychiatric Emergency Service facility specifically designed for people experiencing psychiatric crises. The protocol used by Alameda County emergency medical staff is an alternative to standard protocols, in which all patients are transported to the nearest emergency department. During a five-year period ended Nov. 1, 2016, Emergency Medical Services staff used the protocol to transport 41 percent of 53,000 psychiatric emergency cases to the stand-alone psychiatric emergency service facility. As a result, 22,000 psychiatric patients were treated at a specialized facility without first undergoing the standard trip to the emergency department.

A new mom shape-up: stroller walking

(HealthDay)—The exhaustion of a new baby can have negative fitness consequences as you lose the motivation to exercise and feel there's no time to get to the gym.

Take time for 'me time'

(HealthDay)—Husband or wife, mom or dad, the demands on your time can be overwhelming. But even if there's no end to your to-do list, securing some time for yourself is a must.

Medical researchers fear wider spread of paralysis linked to mysterious polio-like virus

Medical researchers fear that more children will develop paralysis from a mysterious poliolike illness that has struck every two years since 2014.

America's psychologists want you to understand how racism holds our country back

The nation's psychologists want us to talk about race. Not in the hushed confines of a therapist's office, but in classrooms, church basements and workplaces.

Muscle atrophy among critically ill kids occurs within one week of mechanical ventilation

Children with life-threatening respiratory failure who require mechanical ventilation in a pediatric intensive care unit commonly experience rapid muscle atrophy, according to a study published online Dec. 19, 2018, in PLOS ONE. More than 80 percent of children enrolled in the study experienced atrophy in at least one muscle group, and almost half experienced atrophy in two or more muscle groups after just one week on the ventilator. Older children and kids with traumatic brain injury appeared to experience even more pronounced muscle loss.

Holidays' pitfalls for those with food allergies

(HealthDay)—Holiday get-togethers can be risky for people with food allergies.

FDA approves drugs for treatment of two rare blood diseases

(HealthDay)—Two drugs have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of rare blood diseases, the agency announced Friday.

How socioeconomic status shapes developing brains

The relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and brain anatomy is mostly stable from childhood to early adulthood, according to a longitudinal neuroimaging study of more than 600 healthy young people published in JNeurosci. This finding draws attention to the importance of preschool life as a period when associations between SES and brain organization may first develop.

Breast cancer drug impairs brain function

A comprehensive study of monkeys given the breast cancer drug letrozole reveals side effects that impact the brain. Published in JNeurosci, the research establishes the common marmoset as an important nonhuman primate model for studying the effects of estrogen-reducing treatments on the nervous system.

Brain activity predicts fear of pain

Researchers applied a machine learning technique that could potentially translate patterns of activity in fear-processing brain regions into scores on questionnaires used to assess a patient's fear of pain. This neuroscientific approach, reported in eNeuro, may help reconcile self-reported emotions and their neural underpinnings.

Catheter ablation superior to standard drug therapy for heart failure

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that catheter ablation was superior to conventional drug therapy alone for patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure. Findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Biology news

Howler monkey study examines mechanisms of new species formation

A new University of Michigan study of interbreeding between two species of howler monkeys in Mexico is yielding insights into the forces that drive the evolution of new species.

At botanical garden in Mexico, natural species blossom again

Imagine a botanical garden, and acres of carefully designed, highly manicured, delicately pruned "zoos for plants" may come to mind. But at El Charco del Ingenio, a botanical garden and natural protected area in central Mexico, the sprawling scrubland has been allowed to return to its unencumbered, wilder roots.

Protected Chilean sea lions are the 'enemy' of fishermen

Off the coast of Chile, fisherman face competition from a cunning carnivorous hunter that has decimated their industry due to its voracious appetite.


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