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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for July 15, 2019:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Astronomers detect new massive stars in the young cluster VVV CL074Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), an international team of astronomers has investigated a population of massive stars in the young cluster VVV CL074. The observations resulted in disclosing fundamental properties of 25 stars, out of which 19 were identified for the first time. The findings were presented in a paper published July 4 on arXiv.org. |
 | Silica aerogel could make Mars habitablePeople have long dreamed of re-shaping the Martian climate to make it livable for humans. Carl Sagan was the first outside of the realm of science fiction to propose terraforming. In a 1971 paper, Sagan suggested that vaporizing the northern polar ice caps would "yield ~10 s g cm-2 of atmosphere over the planet, higher global temperatures through the greenhouse effect, and a greatly increased likelihood of liquid water." |
 | Russia launches space telescope (Update)Russia launched a space telescope Saturday from the cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, in a joint mission with Germany intended to map X-rays across the sky and replace a project lost in January. |
 | The habitability of Titan and its oceanSaturn's largest moon, Titan, is a hotbed of organic molecules, harboring a soup of complex hydrocarbons similar to that thought to have existed over four billion years ago on the primordial Earth. Titan's surface, however, is in a deep freeze at –179 degrees Celsius (–290 degrees Fahrenheit, or 94 kelvin). Life as we know it cannot exist on the moon's frigid surface. |
France's Macron announces creation of a new space force commandFrench President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday announced the creation of a new national military space force command that will eventually be part of his country's air force. | |
To the Moon and back: 50 years on, a giant leap into the unknownThe first four days of Apollo 11's journey to the Moon had gone according to plan, but just twenty minutes before landing, the atmosphere grew tense as the crew encountered a series of problems. | |
 | India scrubs Moon mission launch one hour before liftoffIndia on Monday postponed the launch of a lunar probe less than an hour before blast-off because of a technical problem, delaying its bid to become only the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on the Moon. |
 | Image: HiRISE spots Curiosity rover at Mars' Woodland BayA dramatic Martian landscape can be seen in a new image taken from space, showing NASA's Curiosity rover examining a location called "Woodland Bay." It's just one of many stops the rover has made in an area referred to as the "clay-bearing unit" on the side of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain inside of Gale Crater. |
 | Confirmed: In space no one can hear you screamThe old tagline "in space no one can hear you scream" has been confirmed by a South African mother loudly shouting for her children to tidy their room from 33,000 meters above the ground. Or not so loudly, as the case appears to be. |
 | Image: Earth and an eclipsed moonSMART-1, ESA's first mission to the moon, captured this series of unique images of our home planet Earth and the moon during a total lunar eclipse. |
 | Moon dust is not to be sneezed atWhen the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission returned to Earth, they had almost 22 kilograms of rock from the surface of the moon in their baggage. Josef Zähringer from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg was one of the first researchers allowed to analyze the material in the US. Two months later, Heinrich Wänke's team at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz also received a grain. |
 | Researcher sees potential for ancient life on Martian surfacePhotos taken by the Mars Curiosity rover may show a desolate rocky landscape to some, but to Penn State researcher Christopher House, the photos show potential for ancient life. |
 | Image: Hubble peers at galactic cherry blossomsThe galaxy NGC 1156 resembles a delicate cherry blossom tree flowering in springtime in this Hubble image. The many bright "blooms" within the galaxy are in fact stellar nurseries—regions where new stars are springing to life. Energetic light emitted by newborn stars in these regions streams outwards and encounters nearby pockets of hydrogen gas, causing the gas to glow with a characteristic pink hue. |
 | Successful launch for eROSITA X-ray telescopeThe Russian-German Spektrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) space mission successfully lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome on Saturday, July 13 at 14:31. Onboard is the eROSITA X-ray telescope, which was developed and built by a consortium of German institutes supported by Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) and led by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE). Astronomers from the University of Bonn are involved in the scientific preparation and exploitation. 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, eROSITA will perform a deep survey of the entire X-ray sky over the next four years, providing the first ever deep imaging survey of the sky at soft and hard X-rays. |
 | Mapping the moon for ApolloAt an International Astronomical Union meeting in 1955, noted astronomer Gerard Kuiper asked for suggestions and collaborators on a project to make a map of the moon. At the time, the best lunar atlases had hand-drawn images, and Kuiper wanted to use state-of-the-art telescopes to make a photographic atlas. |
 | India assesses technical snag that aborted moon missionIndia's space organization is examining the technical snag that led to the aborting of the launch Monday of a spacecraft intended to land on the far side of the moon, an official said. |
 | Lunar eclipse marks Moon landing's 50th anniversaryFifty years to the day since mankind launched the first mission to set foot on it, the Moon is set to treat Earthlings to a partial lunar eclipse on Tuesday. |
Technology news
 | SentiArt: a sentiment analysis tool for profiling characters from world literature textsArthur Jacobs, a professor and researcher at Freie Universität Berlin, has recently developed SentiArt, a new machine learning technique to carry out sentiment analyses of literary texts, as well as both fictional and non-fictional figures. In his paper, set to be published by Frontiers in Robotics and AI, he applied this tool to passages and characters from the Harry Potter books. |
 | Motor, other components, in wheels may shape future of car industryA Tel Aviv-based startup has emerged from stealth and they are spelling out their concept for motors in wheels for engines in electric cars. Tech-watching headlines are calling it a reinvention of wheels but it is essentially a reinvention of the car. |
 | Mobile home robots may still get TLC from AmazonPsst. The whispers flared up and then went away. In April last year Todd Bishop in GeekWire joined the ever-louder whisperfest coming from the halls at Bloomberg over stories that Amazon had a top secret Vesta project for a line of robots that could roll around your home. |
 | Curbing indoor air pollution in IndiaAround the world, more than 3 billion people—nearly half the world's population—cook their food using solid fuels like firewood and charcoal on open fires or traditional stoves. This produces a lot of smoke, creating indoor air pollution, which, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), kills millions of people annually. This type of pollution is of particular concern in India, where women and their young children, who typically stay close to their mothers while they are cooking, bear the brunt of the health problems caused by indoor pollution. |
 | Study finds online restaurant information can closely predict key neighborhood indicatorsApartment seekers in big cities often use the presence of restaurants to determine if a neighborhood would be a good place to live. It turns out there is a lot to this rule of thumb: MIT urban studies scholars have now found that in China, restaurant data can be used to predict key socioeconomic attributes of neighborhoods. |
 | High-performance sodium ion batteries using copper sulfideResearchers presented a new strategy for extending sodium ion batteries' cyclability using copper sulfide as the electrode material. This strategy has led to high-performance conversion reactions and is expected to advance the commercialization of sodium ion batteries as they emerge as an alternative to lithium ion batteries. |
 | Researchers' deep learning algorithm solves Rubik's Cube faster than any humanSince its invention by a Hungarian architect in 1974, the Rubik's Cube has furrowed the brows of many who have tried to solve it, but the 3-D logic puzzle is no match for an artificial intelligence system created by researchers at the University of California, Irvine. |
 | New election systems use vulnerable softwarePennsylvania's message was clear: The state was taking a big step to keep its elections from being hacked in 2020. Last April, its top election official told counties they had to update their systems. So far, nearly 60% have taken action, with $14.15 million of mostly federal funds helping counties buy brand-new electoral systems. |
 | In Paris, cars forced to make way for the two-wheel revolutionWith the wind rushing through their hair, they zip past on bikes, electric scooters and mono-wheels, effortlessly passing lines of hot-and-bothered drivers stuck in the endless Paris traffic. |
 | Amazon 'Prime Day' becomes phenomenon as rivals jump inIt started as a simple sales promotion, but Amazon's Prime Day has now morphed into a major phenomenon joined by scores of retailers jockeying with the US colossus for a bigger slice of the e-commerce pie. |
 | Facebook's Libra currency under fireFacebook's planned virtual unit Libra, already under heavy attack from US President Donald Trump and global regulators, faces scepticism among the wider cryptocurrency community as well. |
 | Thousands left in the dark during NYC power outageOn the anniversary of a 1977 blackout that hit most of New York City, a massive power outage brought the curtain down on Broadway shows and stalled traffic on Manhattan streets. Underground, the power outage affecting 73,000 customers for hours also left the subway system in disarray. |
 | As ransomware rages, debate heats up on responseCity services in Baltimore, Maryland, were paralyzed earlier this year when a ransomware attack locked up computer networks and made it impossible for residents to make property transactions or pay their municipal bills. |
 | Dirty bomb simulator prepares respondersIf a radiological dispersal device (RDD), or "dirty bomb," ever explodes in the United States, emergency crews may be better prepared because of a simulator developed by an Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) visualization technologist. |
 | New dual-propeller drone can fly twice as longEPFL startup Flybotix has developed a novel drone with just two propellers and an advanced stabilization system that allow it to fly for twice as long as conventional models. That fact, together with its small size, makes it perfect for inspecting hard-to-reach parts of industrial facilities such as ducts. |
 | It's not easy to give a robot a sense of touchWe have robots that can walk, see, talk and hear, and manipulate objects in their robotic hands. There's even a robot that can smell. |
 | Codebreaker Alan Turing to be face of new British banknoteCodebreaker and computing pioneer Alan Turing has been chosen as the face of Britain's new 50 pound note, the Bank of England announced Monday. |
 | How do lithium-ion batteries work?The smartphone era is only just over a decade old, but the pocket-sized computers at the heart of that societal transformation are only really possible because of another technology: lithium-ion batteries. |
 | Smart textiles boost connectivity between wearable sensors by 1,000 timesOver the past decade, a major trend in electronics has been the development of sensors, displays and smart devices which are seamlessly integrated onto the human body. Most of these wearable devices are singularly connected to a user's smart phone and transmit all data via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi signals. But as consumers wear increasing numbers of wearable devices, and as the data they transmit increases in sophistication, more innovative connection methods are being sought after. |
 | Thinking about future mobility and production engineeringTransport paths of people and goods are the main arteries of our networked society, locally as daily used commutes or globally as international merchant shipping routes on the oceans. Classical transport means, however, no longer appear viable in times of urbanization, resource scarcity, and climate change. For this reason, the State of Baden-Württemberg now funds the Innovation Campus "Future Mobility" (ICM) of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Stuttgart University. It will break new ground to enable ideas and business models for future sustainable mobility. The ICM is a main element designed by the Ministry for Science in the "Strategic Dialog for the Automotive Sector in Baden-Württemberg." |
 | Researchers create innovative model for supercritical carbon dioxide power generationSouthwest Research Institute and The University of Texas at San Antonio are collaborating to acquire data for a computational model for supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) energy generation. The work, led by Jacob Delimont of SwRI's Mechanical Engineering Division and Christopher Combs of UTSA's College of Engineering, is supported by a $125,000 grant from the Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) Program. |
 | Automation has doubled in global manufacturingThe use of robots in US manufacturing has more than tripled over the two decades, and has doubled in the rest of the world, replacing certain categories of worker, according to a report published Monday. |
 | France begins process to allocate 5G frequencies: regulatorFrance's telecoms regulator on Monday officially launched the process to allocate to operators frequencies for next-generation 5G mobile telephone networks. |
 | French inventor soars above Champs-Elysees on flyboard at Paris parade: AFPA French inventor and entrepreneur on Sunday soared above the Champs-Elysees on a turbine engine-powered flyboard in front of President Emmanuel Macron and other EU leaders. |
 | Huawei planning major job cuts in US: WSJChinese telecoms giant Huawei, which is subject to US sanctions over concerns about its ties to the government in Beijing, is planning to make major job cuts at its US operations, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. |
 | One in five US Twitter users follows Trump: surveyNineteen percent of US Twitter users follow President Donald Trump on the social platform, and a majority of those people approve of his job performance, a survey showed Monday. |
 | Canada's new rules offer extra compensation for passengers bumped by airlinesCanada introduced new consumer protection rules Monday for airline passengers traveling to or from the country, offering up to Can$2,400 (1,634 euros) in compensation for people who miss flights because airlines have overbooked. |
 | Amazon staff stage strikes in Germany on big sale dayAmazon employees went on strike at seven locations in Germany on Monday, demanding better wages as the US online retail giant launched its two-day global shopping discount extravaganza called Prime Day. |
 | Facebook needs 'very high standard' for Libra coin: US TreasuryFacebook must meet "a very high standard" before it moves ahead with its planned digital currency Libra, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday. |
 | Huawei says it plans to invest $3.1 billion in ItalyChinese tech giant Huawei said Monday it plans to invest $3.1 billion (2.75 billion euros) in Italy over three years, as the firm looks to strengthen its foothold in Europe after the US labelled it a major security risk. |
 | Twitter revamps website in bid to mimic mobile appTwitter on Monday began rolling out an overhauled version of its website, making it more similar to the mobile version of the one-to-many messaging platform. |
Medicine & Health news
 | Relating sentence representations in deep neural networks with those encoded by the brainResearchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have recently carried out a study exploring the relationship between sentence representations acquired by deep neural networks and those encoded by the brain. Their paper, pre-published on arXiv and set to be presented at this year's Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) conference, unveiled correlations between activations in deep neural models and MEG brain data that could aid our current understanding of how the brain and deep learning algorithms process language. |
 | Unlocking chemo-resistance in cancerLa Trobe University researcher Associate Professor Hamsa Puthalakath is the first scientist to have unlocked a long-standing mystery as to why some cancers do not respond to treatment with one of the most effective chemotherapy drugs: 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU). |
 | Genetic study reveals metabolic origins of anorexiaA global study, led by researchers at King's College London and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, suggests that anorexia nervosa is at least partly a metabolic disorder, and not purely psychiatric as previously thought. The research was published in Nature Genetics today. |
 | Holes in the immune system left unrepaired despite drug therapyIf they don't receive antiretroviral therapy (ART), most HIV patients see a progressive weakening of their immune system. But a very small percentage of patients—0.3%—spontaneously control the virus themselves, without ART. Could an explanation lay partly in the sets of genes expressed by scarce white blood cells that recognize HIV? Yes, according to a study published in Nature Immunology and conducted by researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM). |
 | Methodological limitations keeping at-risk individuals from accessing lifesaving HIV prevention pillMethodological limitations in HIV drug implementation studies help to explain why high-risk individuals are not accessing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that can reduce the subsequent risk of HIV infection, according to a new University of Michigan study. |
 | People who microdose psychedelic substances report improved mood and focusA University of Toronto Mississauga researcher and his colleagues have "uncovered high potential research avenues" for assessing the benefits and drawbacks of microdosing with the psychedelic substances LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and psilocybin (the key ingredient in magic mushrooms). |
 | Turbo chip for drug developmentIn spite of increasing demand, the number of newly developed drugs decreased continuously in the past decades. The search for new active substances, their production, characterization, and screening for biological effectiveness are very complex and costly. One of the reasons is that all three steps have been carried out separately so far. Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now succeeded in combining these processes on a chip and, hence, facilitating and accelerating the procedures to produce promising substances. Thanks to miniaturization, also costs can be reduced significantly. The results are now published in Nature Communications. |
 | Differences in MS patients' cerebrospinal fluid may be key to drugs that halt progressionThe disability burden for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) can vary significantly depending on whether they have a relapsing/remitting form of the disease, where they experience periods of clinical remission, or a progressive form, where they have continued neurological deterioration without clinical remission. Effective therapies exist for managing relapsing/remitting MS, but treatment for progressive MS has proved more challenging. Now, a new paper published in the journal Brain from researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) at The Graduate Center, CUNY and Friedman Brain Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has identified potential mechanisms that may inform the development of therapies that effectively manage progressive MS. |
 | Loose RNA molecules rejuvenate skin, researchers discoverWant to smooth out your wrinkles, erase scars and sunspots, and look years younger? Millions of Americans a year turn to lasers and prescription drugs to rejuvenate their skin, but exactly how that rejuvenation works has never been fully explained. Now, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that laser treatments and the drug retinoic acid share a common molecular pathway. Moreover, that pathway—which lets skin cells sense loose RNA molecules—is also turned up in mice when they regenerate hair follicles. Results are described in the June 26 issue of Nature Communications. |
 | Neuroscientists find brain activity patterns that encode our beliefsFor decades, research has shown that our perception of the world is influenced by our expectations. These expectations, also called "prior beliefs," help us make sense of what we are perceiving in the present, based on similar past experiences. Consider, for instance, how a shadow on a patient's X-ray image, easily missed by a less experienced intern, jumps out at a seasoned physician. The physician's prior experience helps her arrive at the most probable interpretation of a weak signal. |
New study uncovers weakness in C. diff toxinA new study, led by researchers from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), uncovers the long-sought-after, three-dimensional structure of a toxin primarily responsible for devastating Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). | |
 | Helping transplanted stem cells stick around and do their jobsBone marrow transplants of hematopoietic stem cells have become standard treatment for a host of conditions including cancers of the blood and lymphatic systems, sickle cell anemia, inherited metabolic disorders, and radiation damage. Unfortunately, many bone marrow transplants fail due to rejection by the patient's immune system or graft-versus-host disease (in which the transplanted marrow cells attack the patient's healthy cells), both of which can be fatal. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are known to secrete compounds that modulate the immune system and have shown promise in mitigating these problems in animal trials. However, clinical results with MSCs have been disappointing thus far, as they are rapidly cleared from the body and can draw attack from patients' immune systems, and efforts to encapsulate MSCs in protective biomaterials have resulted in large, bulky hydrogels that cannot be given intravenously and compromise the cells' functions. |
Lower quadricep strength can indicate increased risk of future ACL injuryYoung athletes who do not achieve a 90 percent score on a battery of tests that measure fitness to return to athletic competition, including quadricep strength, are at increased risk for a second knee injury, according to research presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine. | |
 | Healthy lifestyle may offset genetic risk of dementiaLiving a healthy lifestyle may help offset a person's genetic risk of dementia, according to new research. |
Adults with HIV who have compassionate care providers start and remain in treatment longerAdults with HIV are more likely to continue life-saving treatments if their primary health care providers show respect, unconditional empathy without judgement and demonstrate an ability to partner with patients in decision making to address their goals, a Rutgers study finds. | |
Does use of headgear reduce the rate injuries in high school women's lacrosse?Headgear worn during women's lacrosse practice and games can reduce the rate of head and face injuries as well as concussions, according to research presented by researchers in the Department of Orthopedics at the New York University Langone Health. The research was presented today at the American Orthopedics Society of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting. | |
 | Sudden cardiac arrest in athletes: Prevention and managementIt's marathon season, and every so often a news report will focus on an athlete who has collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest. Although uncommon, these events get attention. A new review in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) looks at recent evidence to help physicians prevent and manage the risk of sudden cardiac arrest in competitive athletes. |
Political support, strong public health systems key to eliminating measles outbreaks worldwideStrong political support and strong public health systems are necessary to combat measles outbreaks, which are growing in frequency around the world, argue public health experts in a commentary in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). | |
 | New study identifies key characteristics of people who internalize weight biasWeight bias is a common form of prejudice against people who are viewed as having excess weight. Some individuals who struggle with weight may internalize the stigma directed toward them, blaming and devaluing themselves because of their weight. While it's known that weight "self-stigma" is associated with poor mental and physical health, it isn't clear who is most prone to this internalization. In a new study published today in Obesity Science and Practice, researchers at Penn Medicine and the University of Connecticut Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity surveyed more than 18,000 adults enrolled in the commercial weight management program WW International (formerly Weight Watchers Inc.), and found that participants who internalized weight bias the most tended to be younger, female, have a higher body mass index (BMI), and have an earlier onset of their weight struggle. Participants who were black or had a romantic partner had lower levels of internalization. |
 | Cancer tissue-freezing approach may help more breast cancer patients in lower income countriesA new reusable device created by the Johns Hopkins University can help women with breast cancer in lower income countries by using carbon dioxide, a widely available and affordable gas, to power a cancer tissue-freezing probe instead of industry-standard argon. |
 | Strict state laws and universal background checks linked to lower pediatric firearm-related deathsStates with stricter firearms laws had lower firearm-related deaths among children and adolescents, finds research led by faculty at Children's National in Washington, D.C. Furthermore, state laws that had been in place for more than five years requiring universal background checks for firearm purchases were associated with a 35% lower firearm-related death rate among children. The findings underscore the need for robust research to understand the interplay between legislation type and pediatric deaths due to firearm injuries, according to research published online July 15, 2019, in Pediatrics. |
 | Scientists explore blood flow bump that happens when our neurons are significantly activatedWhen a group of our neurons get activated by thinking hard about a math problem or the vibrant colors of an exotic flower, within a single second blood flow to those brain cells increases a bit. |
 | Hope for restoring sight in acid attack victimsA revolutionary approach to treating chemical burns in the eye is beginning a clinical trial. |
 | Increases in social media use and television viewing associated with increases in teen depressionA new study by a team of CHU Sainte-Justine and Université de Montréal scientists has revealed that social media use and television viewing are linked to increases in adolescent depressive symptoms. |
 | Doctor burnout costs health care system $4.6 billion a yearBurnout among doctors is costing the U.S. health-care system an estimated $4.6 billion a year in billings because of reduced hours, physician turnover, and expenses associated with finding and hiring replacements, according to a first-time analysis of the overall economic impact of the problem. |
 | 3-D brain imaging may improve treatment path for MS patientsA new way of looking at the brains of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients could greatly enhance doctors' ability to select the best therapy for each person. |
 | Surgery before pregnancy linked to higher risk of opioid withdrawal in babiesBabies whose mothers underwent surgery before pregnancy have an increased risk of opioid withdrawal symptoms at birth, according to a new study done by Dr. Nathalie Auger, researcher at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM), and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. |
 | High intensity interval training (HIIT) may prevent cognitive declineHigh intensity interval training (HIIT) may be doing more than just keeping you fit and strong—it may also help prevent age-related cognitive illnesses, such as dementia. |
 | New look at atherosclerosisAtherosclerosis is the slow and progressive narrowing of arteries due to plaque formation. The atherosclerotic plaque forms by local proliferation of leukocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in the vessel wall along with associated changes in cellular metabolism. |
 | Working memory in psychotic disordersWorking memory—the ability to temporarily store information for decision making and guiding behavior—is impaired in psychotic disorders. |
 | New data on e-cigarette use among New Zealand adultsAround one in six New Zealand adults have tried e-cigarettes but only 2 percent are using them currently, a national survey has found. |
Older Australians taking multiple medicines may be putting their health at riskThe number of Australians over the age of 70 taking five medicines or more a day has risen to nearly one million people and is increasing, according to a new study led by The University of Western Australia in collaboration with UNSW, Sydney. The study has been published in the Medical Journal of Australia. | |
 | Make picnics safer by guarding against foodborne bacteriaJuly is National Picnic Month and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts have some advice on how to make a picnic safer by protecting against foodborne bacteria. |
 | Helping patients shop around for health care could control costs better than current systemMost consumers haven't shopped around for standard medical procedures such as a knee replacement, but reference pricing could open that possibility for many services and lower health care costs at the same time. |
 | Digital twin for personalized therapiesVirtual doppelgangers could one day revolutionize medicine: Empa researchers are developing a digital twin, which should facilitate the development of personalized therapies. The goal is for these avatars to demonstrate how a pain sufferer or a diabetic needs to be treated individually. In doing so, the digital twin also enables a personalized prognosis for the treatment process. |
 | Ticks spread plenty more for you to worry about beyond Lyme diseaseWhen it comes to problems caused by ticks, Lyme disease hogs a lot of the limelight. But various tick species carry and transmit a collection of other pathogens, some of which cause serious, even fatal, conditions. |
 | Leishmaniasis causes skin lesions, and is often lethalLeishmaniasis ranks on the World Health Organisation's list of neglected tropical diseases, along with the usual suspects such as dengue, chikungunya and rabies. |
 | Loss of multiple senses increases dementia riskTwo studies presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2019 have explored whether losing multiple senses, including hearing and sight, increases the risk of dementia. |
 | How accommodating workers with autism benefits employers—and everyone elseCompanies seek a competitive edge by hiring talented people, yet many capable workers are overlooked because they have autism. |
 | The human microbiome is a treasure trove waiting to be unlockedBacteria are at the center of all life forms on planet earth and are the essential building blocks that make living organisms the way they are. |
 | Comics can improve queer men's body imageBuilt, buff and metrosexually styled—such is the dominant stereotype of what queer men should look like. Magazines, websites, image-based social media and dating apps contribute to creating idealized images of muscular and fat-free men's bodies. Is it any surprise that body dissatisfaction has been reported to negatively influence queer men's mental, emotional and sexual health? |
 | Which body organs are most at risk during a heat wave?In June 2019, much of Europe was struck by early heatwave, with temperatures reaching nearly 46 Centigrade (115 Fahrenheit) in France, an all-time record. |
 | 1 in 10 patients are infected in hospital, and it's not always with what you thinkMost people expect hospital treatment to make them better. But for some, a stay in hospital can actually make them sicker. Their wound might get infected after an operation or they might get a blood infection as a result of a medical procedure. |
 | Improving the nutritional quality of baby foodA nutritional survey of baby food on sale in Europe has shown that a significant number of products contain high sugar levels that contradict World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations. |
 | An inflammatory diet correlates with colorectal cancer riskResearchers from the Molecular Mechanisms and Experimental Therapy in Oncology program (Oncobell) of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), together with the Biodonostia Health Research Institute (IIS Biodonostia), among others, have published in Nutrients the results of a multicenter study that unveils a correlation between inflammatory and antioxidant diets and the risk of developing colorectal and breast cancer. Dr. Mireia Obón-Santacana from IDIBELL-ICO is the first author of a research which was led by Dr. Pilar Amiano, principal investigator at IIS Biodonostia, and Dr. Víctor Moreno, head of the colorectal cancer research group at IDIBELL-ICO. Part of the study has been possible thanks to the funding provided by the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC). |
 | Iatrogenic disorders in psychiatry are common and neglectedIn a paper published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Giovanni Fava and Chiara Rafanelli analyze the literature concerned with iatrogenic disorders in psychiatry, which may be due to medications or psychotherapy. |
Science of microdosing psychedelics remains patchy and anecdotal, say researchersThe practice of taking small, regular doses of psychedelic drugs to enhance mood, creativity, or productivity lacks robust scientific evidence, say scientists. | |
 | Persistent HIV DNA in spinal fluid may be associated with cognitive challengesInvestigators from the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), the world's largest and longest-established HIV research network, today announced that the Journal of Clinical Investigation published new findings from the ACTG HIV Reservoirs Cohort Study (A5321). The study found that HIV DNA remained in the cerebrospinal fluid of half of participants with well-managed HIV (virologic suppression in the plasma), confirming that the central nervous system (CNS) is a major reservoir for latent HIV. Individuals who harbored HIV DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid were more likely than other study participants to experience cognitive deficits on neurocognitive testing. |
 | 20mn children not vaccinated in 2018: UN warns against 'stagnation'Almost 20 million children missed out on potentially life-saving vaccinations last year, the UN said Monday, as surging measles cases highlighted "dangerous" gaps in efforts to shield kids from preventable illness. |
 | New e-cigarette laws could drive some users to smoke more cigarettesEfforts by the FDA and some cities to limit the availability and appeal of e-cigarettes to young users could drive some existing users to smoke more tobacco cigarettes to get their fix, according to new research from Duke Health. |
 | Lower than expected risk of bone density decline with Truvada PrEPResearchers have shown that among users of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent against AIDS that includes tenofovir (Truvada), those with daily use—very high adherence—had only about a 1% average decrease in bone mineral density in the spine and a 0.5% decline in the hip. The study findings and the implications for the lower than expected results on the potential for broader use of Truvada in PrEP and in AIDS treatment are explored in an article published in AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. |
 | A legal framework for vector-borne diseases and land useVector-borne diseases cause more than 700,000 deaths and affect hundreds of millions of people per year. These illnesses—caused by parasites, viruses, and bacteria transmitted by insects and animals—account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases on Earth. |
 | Combined breast and gynecologic surgery: Study says not so fastBreast cancer patients and women undergoing cancer-preventive breast surgeries may consider combining these procedures with hysterectomy and/or ovarian removal. However, a University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in Breast Journal argues against this combined approach: Patients undergoing coordinated breast and gynecologic procedures had a significantly longer length of hospital stay, and higher complication, readmission, and reoperation rates compared with patients who underwent single site surgery. |
 | Study shows widespread global implementation of WHO's 'Treat All' HIV recommendationA new study published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society shows that the World Health Organization's (WHO) 2015 recommendation for immediate treatment of all people living with HIV has become the standard of care across HIV clinics in countries around the world. While most countries have adopted the WHO's "Treat All" recommendation, the extent to which these guidelines had been translated into practice at HIV clinics around the world was previously unknown. |
 | Study demonstrates stress reduction benefits from petting dogs, catsCollege is stressful. Students have classes, papers, and exams. But they also often have work, bills to pay, and so many other pressures common in modern life. |
 | Biocompound from Atlantic Rainforest combats leishmaniasis and Chagas diseaseNatural compounds isolated from Nectandra leucantha, a neotropical tree species belonging to the laurel family (Lauraceae) and endemic to the Atlantic Rainforest biome in Brazil, where its common name is canela-seca or canela-branca, could result in new medications for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. |
 | Can magnetic stem cells improve cartilage repair?Cells equipped with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIOs) can be directed to a specific location by an external magnetic field, which is beneficial for tissue repair. Researchers have now taken the important step of evaluating the safety and efficacy of magnetically labeled mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for use in repairing cartilage defects. The study is published in Tissue Engineering, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. |
 | Study shows advantages for stress urinary incontinence surgeryOne of the most commonly performed surgeries to treat stress urinary incontinence in women may have better long-term results than another common surgical technique, according to a study led by Mayo Clinic researchers. |
 | Can videogames promote emotional intelligence in teenagers?A new study has shown that videogames, when used as part of an emotional intelligence training program, can help teenagers evaluate, express, and manage their own emotions immediately after the training. The study design, interpretation of results, and implications of these findings are published in Games for Health Journal, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers. |
 | Many perceive lack of choice in receipt of RAI for thyroid cancer(HealthDay)—Many patients diagnosed with differentiated thyroid cancer perceive that they have no choice about receiving radioactive iodine (RAI), according to a study published online July 8 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. |
 | The happiness dividend: Longer, healthier lives(HealthDay)—Happiness may truly be some of the best medicine available to us, a new study suggests. |
 | Dance your way to better health(HealthDay)—Two very different studies show that dancing is more than just fun. It can keep your mind sharp and your heart healthy. |
 | Timing is everything when it comes to calorie intake(HealthDay)—If you skip or skimp on breakfast, grab a quick lunch and then load up at dinner, your food intake is likely out of sync with your body's needs. |
Child psychiatry telephone programs help increase mental health services for childrenTelephone hotlines that allow primary care doctors to immediately consult with a child psychiatrist about urgent patient problems appears to increase the number of children who receive aid, offering one strategy to help more children receive mental health services, according to a new study from the nonprofit RAND Corporation. | |
 | Cannabis treatment counters addiction: First study of its kindAn Australian study has demonstrated that cannabis-based medication helps tackle dependency on cannabis, one of the most widely used drugs globally. |
 | Cholesterol-lowering drugs under-prescribed for prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseaseStatins, the most commonly used effective lipid-lowering drugs, are significantly underutilized to treat lipid abnormalities in patients with and at risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), according to a retrospective study of more than 280,000 patients in Alberta, Canada. Investigators report in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, published by Elsevier, that only two-thirds of these patients were receiving moderate/high-intensity statins, and of the ones treated, more than a third are under-treated based on the fact that they did not achieve recommended low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels at follow-up testing. |
Biofilm researchers help doctors understand, treat chronic woundsLike doctors around the world, Randy Wolcott was confounded by diabetic foot ulcers. | |
 | Investigation into fungal infection reveals genetic vulnerability in HmongTen years ago, in Marathon County, Wisconsin, 55 people were sickened by an uncommon fungal infection called blastomycosis. Thirty patients were hospitalized. Two people died. |
 | Defective potassium channels cause headache, not body painDefective potassium channels involved in pain detection can increase the chance of developing a headache and could be implicated in migraines, according to research in mice published in eNeuro. |
 | Reducing seizures by removing newborn neuronsRemoving new neurons born after a brain injury reduces seizures in mice, according to new research in JNeurosci. This approach could potentially help prevent post-injury epilepsy. |
 | Scientists close in on blood test for Alzheimer'sScientists are closing in on a long-sought goal—a blood test to screen people for possible signs of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. |
High blood pressure, cholesterol in young adults associated with later heart diseaseElevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels in young adulthood may lead to an increased risk of heart disease later in life, regardless of later in life exposure to these risk factors, according to research published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. | |
| Even one small glass of juice or soda a day can increase cancer risk, study saysScientists have previously warned against drinking too much soda or juice. Now they believe even one small glass can pose possible dangers, according to a new report. |
 | Researchers describe new ALS biomarkers, potential new drug targetsAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is an adult-onset neurodegenerative disease that causes paralysis and ultimately death when the nerves enervating the lungs cease to carry the signals needed for breathing. The disease has what is called a "focal onset," where paralysis starts with an arm or a leg and spreads throughout the body as motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain die off. |
Outcomes of non-operatively treated elbow ulnar in professional baseball playersProfessional baseball players with a low-grade elbow injury that occurs on the humeral side of the elbow have a better chance of returning to throw and returning to play, and a lower risk of ulnar collateral ligament surgery than players who suffered more severe injuries on the ulnar side of the elbow. The research was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Orthopedic Society of Sports Medicine. | |
Over-conditioning kills: Non-traumatic fatalities in football is preventableMost non-traumatic fatalities among high school and college football athletes do not occur while playing the game of football, but rather during conditioning sessions which are often associated with overexertion or punishment drills required by coaches and team staff, according to research presented today at the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting. The research was presented by Dr. Barry P. Boden of The Orthopaedic Center, Rockville, Md. | |
Ebola case in DRC's Goma 'a warning': WHOA confirmed Ebola case in the key Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma is "a warning" about the dangers of the outbreak, a top UN official said Monday. | |
Biology news
 | Study gives insight into sun-induced DNA damage and cell repairA team led by a Baylor University researcher has published a breakthrough article that provides a better understanding of the dynamic process by which sunlight-induced DNA damage is recognized by the molecular repair machinery in cells as needing repair. |
 | DNA replication machinery captured at atom-level detailJuly 15, 2019) Life depends on double-stranded DNA unwinding and separating into single strands that can be copied for cell division. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have determined at atomic resolution the structure of machinery that drives the process. The research appears today in the journal Nature Communications. |
 | Ribosome standby: How bacteria translate proteins from structurally blocked mRNAsBacterial ribosomes need a single-stranded ribosome binding site (RBS) to initiate protein synthesis, whereas stable RNA structure blocks initiation. Paradoxically, structured mRNAs can nevertheless be efficiently translated. Researchers at Uppsala University have now elucidated the anatomy of a "standby" site and its requirements, to overcome RNA structure problems for translation. |
 | Australian research finds little lizards learn very quicklyYoung Australian eastern blue-tongue lizards (Tiliqua scincoides) are every bit as clever as adults, researchers have found. |
 | Grasshoppers and silkworms have antioxidant capacity similar to fresh orange juice, says studyFor the first time, a study has measured antioxidant levels in commercially available edible insects. |
 | Determining gene function will help understanding of processes of lifeScientists at the University of Kent have developed a new method of determining gene function in a breakthrough that could have major implications for our understanding of the processes of life. |
 | World's island conifers threatened with extinction from climate changeA new study finds that climate change will put many conifer species native to small islands around the world on the road to extinction by 2070, even after allowing for some realistic wiggle room in the range of climate conditions those species might be able to withstand. |
 | Nature plants review explores the current state and future of CRISPR technology in cropsCRISPR is often thought of as "molecular scissors" used for precision breeding to cut DNA so that a certain trait can be removed, replaced, or edited, but Yiping Qi, assistant professor in Plant Science & Landscape Architecture at the University of Maryland, is looking far beyond these traditional applications in his latest publication in Nature Plants. In this comprehensive review, Qi and coauthors in his lab explore the current state of CRISPR in crops, and how scientists can use CRISPR to enhance traditional breeding techniques in nontraditional ways, with the goal of ensuring global food and nutritional security and feeding a growing population in the face of climate change, diseases, and pests. |
 | Scientists use technology to examine questions around climate, biodiversityA clam shell may be a familiar find on the beach, but its intricate curves and markings tell a rich tale. For centuries, biologists have collected, drawn, measured and compared the shells of bivalve species, pursuing knowledge about how the environment and behavior shape biodiversity. |
 | Fossil of smallest Old World monkey species discovered in KenyaResearchers from the National Museums of Kenya, University of Arkansas, University of Missouri and Duke University have announced the discovery of a tiny monkey that lived in Kenya 4.2 million years ago. |
 | Female mammals kill the offspring of their competitors when resources are scarceDieter Lukas and Elise Huchard have now looked into infanticide by female mammals. In previous studies, males have been found to kill when females will not mate with them if they are still caring for an offspring sired by their previous partner. "Across mammals, females are more likely to commit infanticide when conditions are harsh and when having offspring is particularly costly to females," says Huchard. "The potential triggers and likely benefits of infanticide however appear to differ according to the specific circumstances." |
 | Out of Africa and into an archaic human melting potGenetic analysis has revealed that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with at least five different archaic human groups as they moved out of Africa and across Eurasia. |
 | Does rearranging chromosomes affect their function?Molecular biologists have long thought that domains in the genome's 3-D organization control how genes are expressed. After studying highly rearranged chromosomes in fruit flies, EMBL researchers now reveal that while this is the case for some genes, their results challenge the generality of this for many others. Their results, published in Nature Genetics on 15 July, reveal an uncoupling between the 3-D genome organization—also called chromatin topology—and gene expression. |
 | Spain's natural river basins network should expand to protect biodiversity in riversThe European eel (Anguilla anguilla), the freshwater blenny (Salaria fluviatilis), the freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera auricularia) and the pronged clubtail (Gomphus graslini) are some of the vulnerable species that are not sufficiently represented in the biodiversity catalog of the Natural River Basins (RNF) in Spain, according to a new article published in the journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. Researchers Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles and Núria Bonada from the Research Group Freshwater Ecology, Hydrology and Management (FEHM) of the University of Barcelona participated. |
 | Armyworms on the march post-Tropical Storm BarryFall armyworms could follow rainfall delivered by Tropical Storm Barry, warns a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert. |
 | Back-to-back heatwaves kill more than two-thirds of coralBy comparing reefs before and after two extreme heatwaves only 12 months apart, a collaborative team of researchers including scientists from Bangor's School of Ocean Sciences found that living hard corals in the central Indian Ocean reduced by 70 percent. Despite this, their results suggest that some coral species are more resilient to rising temperatures, which offers hope for these vital habitats. |
 | Environment, not evolution, might underlie some human-ape differencesApes' abilities have been unfairly measured, throwing into doubt the assumed belief that human infants are superior to adult chimpanzees, according to a new study by leaders in the field of ape cognition. |
 | New study on the immune system of plants: It works differently than expectedWhat happens at the molecular level when plants defend against invading pathogens? Previously it was assumed that the processes were roughly the same in all plants. However, this is not true, as a team of biologists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) has demonstrated in a new study published in the scientific journal The Plant Cell. The researchers investigated defence processes in the wild tobacco plant N. benthamiana and found that the processes work quite differently than previously thought. The team also describes in the study how they discovered this complex interaction with the aid of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing techniques. |
 | New study highlights peculiar reproductive strategies of tiny planktonFlourishing in spectacular numbers in lakes and ponds around the world, tiny creatures known as Daphnia play an essential role in freshwater ecology. Daphnia, a type of planktonic crustacean, are the primary consumers of algae and are an important food source for fish and other aquatic life. |
 | Empty nets as overfishing and climate change sap Lake MalawiOn the shores of Lake Malawi, a crowd eagerly awaits the arrival of a white and yellow cedarwood boat carrying its haul. |
 | Video: Friend or foe? Fun facts about sharksSharks often get a bad rap, even though most species are harmless to humans, says Katherine Maslenikov, manager of the UW Fish Collection at the Burke Museum. |
 | Tiny bivalve found in Brazil sheds light on tropical Atlantic biogeographyFor the first time, the bivalve mollusc Guyanella clenchi has been reported from Abrolhos Bank, Brazil. This almost unknown bivalve had previously been reported solely from the Caribbean region. Apart from being the southernmost record for the species, its presence also helps the experts to determine the way the marine fauna from the Caribbean interacts with its South American relatives. |
 | New study provides clarity on the recognition and signs of canine chiari associated painA recent study from Fitzpatrick Referrals and the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Surrey, has found that canine chiari-like malformation can cause significant pain and impact on activity, temperament and sleep in dogs. |
 | Off the hook: Manta ray asks divers for helping handA giant manta ray with several fishing hooks caught below its eye appeared to ask two nearby divers for help in removing them, and then waited patiently for them to do so. |
 | Smallholder agriculture is threatening the western AmazonA verdant, nearly roadless place, the Western Amazon in South America may be the most biologically diverse place in the world. There, many people live in near isolation, with goods coming in either by river or air. Turning to crops for profit or sustenance, farmers operate small family plots to make a living. |
 | Next generation metagenomics: Exploring the opportunities and challengesA new expert review highlights the opportunities and methodological challenges at this critical juncture in the growth of the field of metagenomics. With important implications and applications in clinical medicine, public health, biology, and ecology, metagenomics is benefitting from advances in high-throughput techniques and technology, while facing the challenges of big data storage and analysis, according to the review article published in OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, the peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. |
 | Invasive parrots have varying impacts on European biodiversity, citizens and economyNon-native parrots can cause substantial agricultural damage and threaten native biodiversity, although impacts vary strongly depending on where these parrots have been introduced. Brought to Europe as pets, escaped or released parrots have established numerous wild populations across Europe. Tens of thousands of ring-necked and monk parakeets make up the bulk of Europe's parrots, but several more species are gaining a foothold too. |
 | Blood samples from the zoo help predict diseases in humansThe zoos of Saarbrücken and Neunkirchen are home to penguins, Asian elephants and many other species. Since they come from different continents, blood samples are regularly taken from the animals to check their health. These blood samples have now been used by bioinformaticians and human geneticists at the University of Saarland to search for biomarkers that can be used to detect diseases at an early stage. The researchers want to use similar genetic patterns, which have been present in the blood of humans and animals for thousands of years, to improve computer-assisted disease prognosis. |
 | Study documents impacts of selective logging on Congo's intact forest landscapesA new study says that the tropical forests of Western Equatorial Africa (WEA) - which include significant stands of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) - are increasingly coming under pressure from logging, poaching, and associated disturbances. |
 | Researchers publish new study on citrus greening diseaseOrange juice is a staple on many breakfast tables, but the future availability of citrus products is threatened by the global spread of huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening disease. |
EPA approves use of bee-killing pesticideJust days after another federal agency suspended its periodical study of honey bee populations, the EPA greenlighted the wider use of a pesticide that environmental activists warn could further decimate the pollinators. | |
 | Let's talk about gay penguins: Munich zoo joins Pride weekOrganisers of this year's Gay Pride week in Munich have a group of rather wild partners—penguins, giraffes and lions at the city zoo where tours are being run about same-sex love in the animal kingdom. |
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