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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for July 12, 2019:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Low-cost Moon mission puts India among lunar pioneersIndia will step up the international space race on Monday when it launches a low-cost mission to become only the fourth country to land a probe on the Moon. |
 | The machine that made the Moon missions possibleWe've all been there: you're working on something important, your PC crashes, and you lose all your progress. |
 | Ploonets: Exiled moons may explain astronomical mysteriesMoons ejected from orbits around gas giant exoplanets could explain several astronomical mysteries, an international team of astronomers suggests. |
 | Scientists deepen understanding of magnetic fields surrounding Earth and other planetsVast rings of electrically charged particles encircle the Earth and other planets. Now, a team of scientists has completed research into waves that travel through this magnetic, electrically charged environment, known as the magnetosphere, deepening understanding of the region and its interaction with our own planet, and opening up new ways to study other planets across the galaxy. |
 | Maintaining large-scale satellite constellations using logistics approachToday, large-scale communication satellite constellations, also known as megaconstellations, have been more and more popular. OneWeb launched the first batch of satellites of an initial 650-satellite constellation in February 2019, and SpaceX also launched the first batch of its 12,000-satellite constellation in May 2019. On July 8, Amazon also filed an application with the FCC for its planned satellite constellation with 3,236 satellites. These satellite constellations are expected to be a game changer by realizing the worldwide satellite Internet service. |
 | Japanese startup gears up for its fourth rocket launchJapanese startup Interstellar Technologies Inc. (IST) gears up to conduct another rocket launch on Saturday July 13, just about two months after it successfully sent the MOMO-F3 sounding rocket into space. The upcoming mission, designated MOMO-F4 is slated to take to the skies at 11:05 JPT (2:05 GMT) from a launch pad in Taiki, on the island of Hokkaido. |
 | Fifty years after the Apollo 11 moon walk, a vexillologist looks at the challenge of planting the flag on the moonWhen Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the United States flag on the moon 50 years ago this month—July 20, 1969, to be exact—it was a team effort. |
 | Image: Martian meteorite on Earth calibrates camera bound for MarsExhibit 0102.226 may look like just a rock, but this dark and patchy mass is actually a piece of Mars, ejected when an asteroid or comet struck the Red Planet and sent chunks flying towards Earth. |
 | Super salty, subzero Arctic water provides peek at possible life on other planetsIn recent years, the idea of life on other planets has become less far-fetched. NASA announced June 27 that it will send a vehicle to Saturn's icy moon Titan, a celestial body known to harbor surface lakes of methane and an ice-covered ocean of water, boosting its chance for supporting life. |
 | India prepares to land rover on moon in global space raceIndia is looking to take a giant leap in its space program and solidify its place among the world's spacefaring nations with its second unmanned mission to the moon, this one aimed at landing a rover near the unexplored south pole. |
 | Joy Division: 40 years on from 'Unknown Pleasures,' astronomers revisit the pulsar from the iconic album coverThe English rock band Joy Division released their debut studio album "Unknown Pleasures" 40 years ago. The front cover doesn't feature any words, only a now iconic black and white data graph showing 80 wiggly lines representing a signal from a pulsar in space. To mark the anniversary of the album, we recorded a signal from the same pulsar with a radio telescope in Jodrell Bank Observatory, only 14 miles (23 km) away from Strawberry Studios where the album was recorded. |
 | The moon landing was a giant leap for movies, tooIn 1964, Stanley Kubrick, on the recommendation of the science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, bought a telescope. |
 | Ahead of 2nd moon shot, a timeline of India's space programAmid a new global space race, India is preparing to launch a second mission to the moon. Here is a timeline of its space program: |
Technology news
 | Identifying perceived emotions from people's walking styleA team of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Maryland at College Park has recently developed a new deep learning model that can identify people's emotions based on their walking styles. Their approach, outlined in a paper pre-published on arXiv, works by extracting an individual's gait from an RGB video of him/her walking, then analyzing it and classifying it as one of four emotions: happy, sad, angry or neutral. |
 | Automated system generates robotic parts for novel tasksAn automated system developed by MIT researchers designs and 3-D prints complex robotic parts called actuators that are optimized according to an enormous number of specifications. In short, the system does automatically what is virtually impossible for humans to do by hand. |
 | Timeout declared for Walkie-Talkie on Apple WatchPre-iEra, the idea of a Dick Tracy hiding in the corners of a skyscraper, talking to his wrist captured imaginations of children and adults everywhere. Apple did not let us forget. Its Walkie-Talkie app launched last year meant you could chat directly with other Apple Watch users via your wrist. |
 | Huawei calls on US to lift export restrictionsThe chairman of Huawei said Friday the Chinese tech giant has yet to see any benefit from President Donald Trump's promise to allow U.S. companies to sell some components to the company and called on Washington to remove it from a security blacklist. |
 | Japan firm says $32 mn missing in cryptocurrency hackA Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange said Friday it had halted all services after losing cryptocurrency worth more than $32 million in the latest apparent hack involving virtual money. |
 | YouTube looks to dilute nasty programming with curated educational playlistsYouTube, which has come under fire in the past year for allowing conspiracy and hate videos to surface to the top, is making another move to clean up its act. |
 | iPhone 11: What to expect and why waiting may be your best optionYou might want to remain patient before buying your next iPhone. |
 | Nintendo to launch a Switch Lite console in September for $200Nintendo will launch a version of its popular Switch console dedicated to players who really prefer gaming on the go. |
 | Researchers detail privacy-related legal, ethical challenges with satellite dataSatellite technology has been a boon for humanity, leading to faster, clearer communications, quicker emergency responses, accurate location information, and global financial transactions. Smart devices are almost always embedded with GPS satellite chips, enabling people around the world to know where they are; telling motorists whether they are traveling in the right direction for their summer vacations; and allowing athletes to accurately track their runs, walks and bike rides. |
 | Researchers improve AI that can tell from your voice if you're depressedArtificial intelligence can now more accurately detect whether you're depressed by analyzing the sound of your voice, thanks to new research by University of Alberta computing scientists. |
 | How digital technologies can help Africa's smallholder farmersdigitization could change the game for agriculture in Africa. That's a key message in a report recently released by an international institution that enhances smallholder farming in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. |
 | Four ways blockchain could make the internet safer, fairer and more creativeThe internet is unique in that it has no central control, administration or authority. It has given everyone with access to it a platform to express their views and exchange ideas with others instantaneously. But in recent years, internet services such as search engines and social media platforms have increasingly been provided by a small number of very large tech firms. |
 | Google says partner leaked classified Dutch dataInternet giant Google acknowledged Thursday that a language expert it partnered with had leaked sensitive Dutch audio data, following a report by the Belgian media group VRT. |
 | Google launches review after leak of audio conversationsGoogle said it was conducting an internal review after it discovered confidential audio had been leaked by a contractor of private conversations with its digital assistant. |
 | $5 bn US fine set for Facebook on privacy probe: reportUS regulators have approved a $5 billion penalty to be levied on Facebook to settle a probe into the social network's privacy and data protection lapses, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. |
 | Ford, Volkswagen join forces on the new frontier of electric autosVolkswagen and Ford are teaming up on a massive $7 billion project to attack the new frontier in the global auto market: electric and self-driving vehicles, the companies announced Friday. |
Shifts to renewable energy can drive up energy poverty, study findsEfforts to shift away from fossil fuels and replace oil and coal with renewable energy sources can help reduce carbon emissions but do so at the expense of increased inequality, according to a new Portland State University study. | |
Montana energy storage project lines up financial partnerConstruction on a $1 billion energy storage system in central Montana could start as soon as next year after its sponsors said Friday they reached a financing agreement with a Danish firm that invests in renewable energy. | |
 | AI program beats pros in six-player poker—a firstArtificial intelligence programs have bested humans in checkers, chess, Go and two-player poker, but multi-player poker was always believed to be a bigger ask. Mission: accomplished. |
 | Head of Boeing's 737 MAX program to retire: company memoThe head of Boeing's embattled 737 MAX program plans to retire, the company said Thursday, just as it gears up to persuade regulators to return the plane to the skies after two deadly crashes. |
 | Daimler slashes 2019 profit forecast after Q2 lossGerman auto giant Daimler, maker of Mercedes-Benz, on Friday slashed its 2019 profit forecast for the second time in a few weeks, after booking a 1.6-billion-euro ($1.8-billion) operating loss in the second quarter. |
 | China's Fosun Group confirms Thomas Cook rescue bidChina's Fosun Group is considering nearly a billion dollar rescue of embattled British tour operator Thomas Cook, the Hong Kong-listed conglomerate confirmed Friday. |
 | On YouTube or Instagram? Here's what it takes to make money as social media 'influencer'Even after all these years, the offer still sounds really enticing. |
FCC Robocall Summit: Your guide to new SHAKEN/STIR caller verificationToday, a Robocall Summit hosted by the Federal Communications Commission will serve as a progress report on what major phone carriers are doing to protect you from those incessant robocalls interrupting your life. | |
 | Amazon forges fellowship for 'Lord of the Rings' online video gameAmazon has landed a prime franchise on which to build an online game: the Lord of the Rings. |
 | China police bust bitcoin miners for stealing $3 mn in electricityPolice in eastern China have busted a ring of illicit bitcoin miners who stole nearly $3 million worth of electricity to generate the digital currency, prompting a local power company to tip off investigators, authorities said Friday. |
 | VW, Ford team up to make autonomous, electric vehiclesVolkswagen will invest $2.6 billion into a Pittsburgh autonomous vehicle company that's mostly owned by Ford as the automakers who were once rivals deepen their partnership to develop driverless and electric vehicles in an ultra-competitive landscape. |
Medical drones for accident and emergencyRemote or computer-controlled aircraft, commonly referred to as "drones" could revolutionize the way in which emergency medical supplies, such as bags of blood plasma, are delivered to areas hit by disaster, accidents or other life-threatening situations. Of course, drones are costly and require skilled operators. Writing in the International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, a team from the U.S. has undertaken a cost analysis of using drones for this purpose. | |
 | Resource-efficient soft exoskeleton for people with walking impedimentsA lot of people have lower limb mobility impairments, but there are few wearable technologies to enable them to walk normally while performing tasks of daily living. XoSoft, a European funded project, has brought together partners from all over Europe to develop a flexible, lightweight and resource-efficient soft exoskeleton prototype. |
 | Trump warns Facebook over its plan to create a digital currencyPresident Donald Trump on Thursday night warned Facebook Inc. over its plan to create a digital currency, the Libra. |
 | Sudden turbulence that injured dozens is hard to predictPassengers on a flight from Canada to Australia said they had no warning about turbulence that suddenly slammed people into the ceiling of the plane and injured more than three dozen—a phenomenon that experts say can be nearly impossible for pilots to see coming. |
Medicine & Health news
 | The brain's pathways to imagination may hold the key to altruistic behaviorIn those split seconds when people witness others in distress, neural pathways in the brain support the drive to help through facets of imagination that allow people to see the episode as it unfolds and envision how to aid those in need, according to a team of Boston College researchers. |
 | Researchers tie metabolic enzyme to obesity and fatty liver diseaseResearchers from Clemson University's Environmental Toxicology Program have published research connecting an enzyme associated with detoxification to obesity and fatty liver disease, especially in males. |
 | Preterm babies are less likely to form romantic relationships in adulthoodAdults who were born pre-term (under 37 weeks gestation) are less likely to have a romantic relationship, a sexual partner and experience parenthood than those born full term. The meta-analysis by researchers at the University of Warwick with data from up to 4.4 million adult participants showed that those born preterm are 28% less likely to ever be in a romantic relationship. |
 | Study deciphers packaging of tumor 'cargo,' leading to better understanding of how cancers spreadResearchers at the University of Notre Dame have outlined the delivery mechanism tumor cells use to move nucleic acids into small sacs shed from their surfaces—information that is eventually shared with other cells within the tumor microenvironment, causing the cancer to spread. |
 | Researchers write ABCs of language disorderWhile we expect to see scientists publishing in journals aimed at peers, a pair of Western researchers recently targeted a younger audience for their work—a lot younger. |
 | The way a single neuron processes information is never the sameHow do neurons process information? Neurons are known to break down an incoming electrical signal into sub-units. Now, researchers at Blue Brain have discovered that dendrites, the neuron's tree-like receptors, work together—dynamically and depending on the workload—for learning. The findings further our understanding of how we think and may inspire new algorithms for artificial intelligence. |
 | Marathon-running molecule could speed up the race for new neurological treatmentsScientists at the University of Warwick have discovered a new process that sets the fastest molecular motor on its marathon-like runs through our neurons. |
 | Researchers link aging with changes in brain networks related to cognitionFunctional regions within the brain become less distinct and interconnected in the elderly over time, especially in those networks related to attention span and cognition. The finding, published by researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School in The Journal of Neuroscience, adds to current understanding of longitudinal decline in brain network integrity associated with aging. |
 | Elegant antibody nanoparticles override immunological tolerance of tumorsImmune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy using the antibody that combats the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) shows great potential and is causing a revolution in clinical cancer management. Unfortunately, only a subset of treated patients responds to current ICB therapies, likely due to the immunological tolerance of tumors. Therefore, developing a practical strategy to combat this immunological tolerance and amplify ICB therapies has become a priority. |
 | Taking opioids for pain may make it harder to find primary care, study findsFinding a new doctor for health checkups and general care can pose a challenge to anyone. But for people who take prescription opioid pills for their chronic pain, it might be far harder, according to a new study. |
 | An itch to scratch: Scientists identify potential approach to chronic problemChronic itch goes beyond being just a simple annoyance; it can greatly affect a person's quality of life. While scientists have some clues to its causes, effective therapies have been elusive. |
 | Salt intake in China among highest in the world for the past four decadesSalt intake in China is confirmed to be among the highest in the world, with adults over the past four decades consistently consuming on average above 10g of salt a day, which is more than twice the recommended limit, according to new research led by Queen Mary University of London. |
 | Pairing targeted drugs for breast and lung cancer could overcome treatment resistanceTargeted drugs for breast and lung cancer could be used together to overcome resistance to treatment in several different tumour types, a new study shows. |
 | Coping strategy therapy for family dementia carers works long-termA programme of therapy and coping strategies for people who care for family members with dementia successfully improves the carers' mental health for at least a six-year follow-up, finds a UCL study. |
 | Seeing greenery linked to less intense and frequent cravingsBeing able to see green spaces from your home is associated with reduced cravings for alcohol, cigarettes and harmful foods, new research has shown. |
 | C. difficile resists hospital disinfectant, persists on hospital gowns, stainless steelSurgical gowns and stainless steel remained contaminated with the pathogen Clostridium difficile even after being treated with the recommended disinfectant. The research is published July 12 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. |
 | Fewer than half of US adults exposed to court-ordered anti-smoking advertisementsThe tobacco industry's court-ordered anti-smoking advertisements reached just 40.6% of U.S. adults and 50.5% of current smokers in 2018, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Exposure to the advertisements was even lower among certain ethnic and socioeconomic subgroups historically targeted by tobacco industry marketing. |
Root canal work not so bad after allRoot canal work is not as bad as people think when compared to other dental procedures. Self-reporting of their dental health suggests that patients find the procedure no worse than other dental work which overturns the popular belief that root canal work is the most unpleasant dental treatment. | |
 | Study examines racial disparities in reproductive coercionReproductive coercion, a form of relationship abuse that includes pressuring a partner to become pregnant when they don't want to be is prevalent among teenage girls seeking care at high school health centers, according to a UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh study that is published today in the online version of Obstetrics & Gynecology. |
 | Targeting a key protein may keep ovarian cancer cells from spreadingPreventing a protein from doing its job may keep a certain type of ovarian cancer cell from growing and dividing uncontrollably in the lab, according to a new study from Penn State College of Medicine. |
 | Most Americans favor compensation for kidney donors if it leads to more saved livesNearly a fifth of the respondents in a recent survey said they would reverse their opposition to compensating kidney donors if a form of non-cash payment led to a substantial increase in the supply of available organs for transplant. |
 | Cognitive-behavourial therapy helps teens sleep well after a concussionWhen 16-year-old Ethan Ballance became forgetful and unfocused, his mom knew his latest concussion was serious. "Ethan put the cereal box in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard one morning. That's no big deal, but I knew he was getting mixed up a lot," says Cindy Nickerson. |
 | Researchers are using machine learning to screen for autism in childrenFor more than five years, researchers from Duke Engineering and the Duke University School of Medicine have been working toward creating an app that can help screen for autism in young children. With results from the first pilot study rolling in just last year, their work is leading to new insights about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and has the potential to transform how children's development is screened and monitored. |
 | How heat waves increase your craving for sodas: findings from MexicoUnseasonably hot weather hit Europe this June, giving residents and visitors a taste of what could possibly become common in the near future. With ongoing climate change, temperatures are predicted to rise by 0.3-0.7°C by 2035, according to the IPCC. |
 | Healthy blood vessels may be the answer to Alzheimer's preventionIf you're worried about Alzheimer's disease, your best shot at prevention could be maintaining cardiovascular health through exercise and diet and staying on top of conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. |
 | Researchers advance the study of ethical decision-makingWhat would you do? |
 | The TGA's proposed breast implant ban exposes a litany of failures, and fails to protect womenThe proposed ban on some textured breast implants announced by the Australian pharmaceuticals and medical devices regulator earlier this week tells us something very disquieting about the effectiveness of consumer protection. |
 | How the brain prepares for movement and actionsOur behaviour is largely tied to how well we control, organise and carry out movements in the correct order. Take writing, for example. If we didn't make one stroke after another on a page, we would not be able to write a word. |
 | The voice is key to making sense of the words in our brainScientists at the Basque research center BCBL conclude that the voice is fundamental for mentally presenting the meaning of words in the brain. This finding implies a greater knowledge about how sound waves bring additional information to words. |
 | #BeatEngland, beat sunburnUV detection stickers trialled by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers at the November 2017 Ashes Test at the Gabba have scored with cricket fans. |
Rise in early onset colorectal cancer not aligned with screening trendsA new study finds that trends in colonoscopy rates did not fully align with the increase in colorectal cancer (CRC) in younger adults, adding to evidence that the rise in early onset CRC is not solely a result of more detection. The study is published early online in the Journal of Medical Screening. | |
 | Adopt a diet that's good for your gut(HealthDay)—Having "friendly" bacteria in your digestive system is important for good health. They help the body extract nutrients from food, and boost the immune system in the fight against inflammation and many diseases associated with it. |
 | Eight in ten Americans want less nicotine in cigarettes: CDC(HealthDay)—No matter the age, race, gender, education or income level, most Americans favor forcing tobacco companies to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes to make them less addictive. |
 | Awareness, use of PrEP on rise among men who have sex with men(HealthDay)—There has been a recent increase in the awareness and use of HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among men who have sex with men (MSM), according to research published in the July 12 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. |
 | Study examines association between care management and outcomes in Medicare ACOsA new study from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, published this week in JAMA Network Open, finds that Accountable Care Organization (ACO)-reported care management and coordination activities were not associated with improved outcomes or lower spending for patients with complex needs. |
 | CDC: Workplace absenteeism high in 2017/2018 flu season(HealthDay)—Workplace absenteeism during the high-severity 2017 to 2018 influenza season increased sharply in November and peaked in January, reaching a higher level than the average during the previous five seasons, according to research published in the July 5 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. |
 | HIV: Reprogramming cells to control infectionCells from the rare individuals who naturally control HIV infection have been the focus of investigation for nearly 15 years with the aim of elucidating their specific features. Following research on the ANRS CO21 CODEX and CO6 PRIMO cohorts, scientists from the Institut Pasteur have described the characteristics of CD8 immune cells in these "HIV controller" subjects. The unique antiviral power of these immune cells can be attributed to an optimal metabolic program that confers persistence and the ability to react effectively against infected cells. Working ex vivo, the scientists successfully reprogrammed cells from infected non-controller individuals to give them the same antiviral potency as controllers' cells. Their findings are published in the journal Nature Metabolism on July 12, 2019. |
 | Quality Composite Rank provides a consumer-friendly, single-digit rating that makes quality data more meaningfulRush University Medical Center researchers have proposed a rating system that standardizes and combines data from five leading hospital rating systems into an easy-to-understand composite score of one to 10 that will help guide consumer's hospitals choice. |
 | Researchers show how AI can be used to more quickly and accurately diagnose breast cancerBreast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women. It is also difficult to diagnose. Nearly one in 10 cancers is misdiagnosed as not cancerous, meaning that a patient can lose critical treatment time. On the other hand, the more mammograms a woman has, the more likely it is she will see a false positive result. After 10 years of annual mammograms, roughly two out of three patients who do not have cancer will be told that they do and be subjected to an invasive intervention, most likely a biopsy. |
 | New study highlights advantages of living-donor liver transplant over deceased donorLiving-donor liver transplant offers numerous advantages over deceased-donor transplant, including better three-year survival rates for patients and lower costs, according to new research from the UPMC Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. |
Recognizing kidney injury due to burns is improved by artificial intelligenceMany burn victims suffer acute kidney injury (AKI), but early recognition of AKI remains challenging. Now an Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML) model developed at UC Davis Health and reported in a new study can predict acute kidney injury quicker and more accurately than ever. | |
 | New technology improves atrial fibrillation detection after strokeA new method of evaluating irregular heartbeats outperformed the approach that's currently used widely in stroke units to detect instances of atrial fibrillation. |
Does autograft choice in ACL reconstruction affect recurrent ACL revision ratesYoung athletes who have anterior cruciate ligament surgery are more likely to need an additional surgery if they received a hamstring graft compared to a bone-patellar tendon-bone graft, according to research presented today at the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting. The research was conducted by group of clinicians led by Dr. Christopher C. Kaeding of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. | |
Lateral extra-articular tenodesis reduces hamstring autograftThe addition of lateral extra-articular tenodesis to a hamstring autograft in knee surgery in young active patients significantly reduces graft failure and persistent anterolateral rotatory laxity at two years post operatively. The research, presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Orthopedic Sports Medicine Society, received the O'Donoghue Sports Injury Award. | |
 | Make the most of summer's sweet treat: Delicious corn(HealthDay)—Sweet corn is an irresistible summer veggie and a good source of fiber. Ideally, you want to eat it as soon as possible after it's picked, but you can store corn for up to one week—keep the husks on and refrigerate in produce bags. |
 | Medicare drug rebate plan withdrawn by Trump administration(HealthDay)—A plan to let Medicare patients receive rebates that drug companies currently pay to insurers and middlemen has been withdrawn by the Trump administration. |
Europe: Syphilis notifications up by 70% since 2010The number of syphilis cases has been consistently going up across Europe since 2010, mostly affecting men who have sex with men living in urban areas. In 2017, notification rates reached an all-time high in the EU/EEA countries with more than 33,000 reported cases. An in-depth ECDC study describes the factors behind this increase and outlines the evidence-based options for public health control of syphilis, including case finding and management as well as educational activities. | |
 | Improving care quality for hospitalized socially at-risk patientsNurses play a pivotal role in caring for hospitalized patients with social risk factors and preparing them for discharge. Now, a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) illustrates how certain health system constraints present barriers to effective care and impact outcomes for patients with high social risks. |
Biology news
 | How multicellular cyanobacteria transport moleculesResearchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Tübingen have taken a high-resolution look at the structure and function of cell-to-cell connections in filamentous, multicellular cyanobacteria. This enables them to explain how these microorganisms regulate the transport of various substances between the individual cells. |
 | Research team finds new adaptive trick used by Staphylococcus bacteriaIn recently published research into the regulatory mechanisms of a disease bacterium often found in the human body, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Associate Professor of Bacteriology Erin Murphy, Ph.D., and her team didn't find what they went looking for. What they did find, however, opens more research pathways, suggesting science has more to learn about the tools different bacterial pathogens use to adapt to changes in their environment. |
 | Minuscule microbes wield enormous power over the Great Lakes, but many species remain a mysteryNear the deepest spot in Lake Michigan, the crew aboard the research vessel Blue Heron lowers a device outfitted with a cluster of 8-liter bottles into the dark blue waters until it disappears from sight. |
 | Wildfires disrupt important pollination processes by moths and increase extinction risksPublishing their findings today (12 July) in the journal Functional Ecology, an international team of experts, studied the impact of a large wildfire in Portugal on flowers, moths and the complex ways in which they interact. |
 | A skin disease spreading in wild giraffes may be a parasitic attackBesides their graceful long necks and legs, giraffes are most recognizable by their distinctive spots. Now, conservationists are concerned about a different sort of spots on giraffes, made up of dead tissue and crusty sores that ooze blood or pus. |
 | New gene linked to healthy aging in wormsPeople with the same lifespan do not necessarily have the same quality of life. As we live longer, extending quality of life—"healthspan"—is gaining importance. Scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have discovered a gene linked with healthy aging in the roundworm C. elegans, shedding light on the genetics of healthspan. |
 | Early arrival of spring disrupts the mutualism between plants and pollinatorsEarly snowmelt increases the risk of phenological mismatch, in which the flowering of periodic plants and pollinators fall out of sync, compromising seed production. |
 | 'The way you move': Body structure brings coordinated movementA computer model shows that a starfish-like animal can coordinate rhythmic motion based on body structure without the brain telling them to do so. This provides insights useful for physiology and robotics. |
 | Artificial intelligence makes fishing more sustainable by tracking illegal activityThe world's fish stocks are in decline and our increasing demand for seafood may be one of the main drivers. But the true extent of the problem is hard to estimate, especially when fishing occurs in the high seas, which lie beyond national jurisdiction and are hard to monitor. |
 | Comment: lion and tiger farming may not be cause of increased poachingIt is never pleasant to see wild animals caged and abused. A new report by the NGO World Animal Protection suggests that captive-breeding operations for lions and tigers have expanded to meet an increasing demand for big cat products used in traditional Asian medicine. While this is clearly bad news for the captive cats themselves, confined in often horrible conditions, we are not convinced by the report's findings on what this means for wild populations. |
 | Why you shouldn't kill your friendly neighborhood spidersWhen that itsy-bitsy spider climbs up the spout, resist the urge to stomp it out—even if it makes your skin crawl. |
 | Plants under drought stress change their microbes through their rootsPlants that are under stress from drought can change the behavior of nearby fungi and bacteria, according to a new study led by Franciska de Vries, professor of Earth Surface Science at the University of Amsterdam. By changing the cocktail of carbohydrates that leak from their roots, the plants promote the activity of micro-organisms, with the probable effect of releasing more nutrients and promoting their own growth. The study is published on Friday 12 July in New Phytologist. |
 | DDT contaminants in marine mammals may threaten California condor recoveryThe California condor's dramatic recovery from near-extinction was aided by removal of toxic substances from the land, which accumulated in animals whose carrion they ate. |
 | EPA restores broad use of pesticide opposed by beekeepersThe Environmental Protection Agency will allow farmers to resume broad use of a pesticide over objections from beekeepers, citing private chemical industry studies that the agency says show the product does only lower-level harm to bees and wildlife. |
 | Mediterranean sharks risk 'disappearing': conservationistsSharks—the sea's top predators for millions of years—are at risk of disappearing from the Mediterranean as overfishing and plastic pollution choke populations of the endangered hunters, conservationists warned Friday. |
 | Utah farmers and entrepreneurs compete to grow medical potThe wide metal barn on the Utah alfalfa farm owned by Russell and Diane Jones will host their youngest son's wedding next month. By September, they hope the structure will be full of marijuana plants. |
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