Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for August 30, 2019:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | For the first time, astronomers catch asteroid in the act of changing colorLast December, scientists discovered an "active" asteroid within the asteroid belt, sandwiched between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The space rock, designated by astronomers as 6478 Gault, appeared to be leaving two trails of dust in its wake—active behavior that is associated with comets but rarely seen in asteroids. |
 | Exoplanets can't hide their secrets from innovative new instrumentIn an unprecedented feat, an American research team discovered hidden secrets of an elusive exoplanet using a powerful new instrument at the 8-meter Gemini North telescope on Maunakea in Hawai'i. The findings not only classify a Jupiter-sized exoplanet in a close binary star system, but also conclusively demonstrate, for the first time, which star the planet orbits. |
 | Deep Space Antenna 1Deep Space Antenna 1 is ESA's first 35-m deep dish, staring out to space to communicate with missions far from home. |
 | Building a moon base is a huge task, but these tiny satellites will pave the wayThe space race between the US and Russia ended half a century ago when US astronauts became the first to walk on the moon. Today there's yet another race, prompted by China's successful landing on the far side of the moon and involving private companies as well as national space agencies, to put humans back on the lunar surface. |
 | HOT SHOT findings could save defense tech developers time and moneyAn early milestone for developing missile technologies is to show they can work in computer-simulations or large-scale field tests that shake and spin components without falling to pieces. |
Technology news
 | Investigating the best features for predicting a movie's genre and estimated budgetA team of researchers at the University of Virginia has recently carried out a large-scale analysis aimed at identifying features in film trailers that best predict a movie's genre and estimated budget. In their study, outlined in a paper pre-published on arXiv, the researchers specifically compared the effectiveness of visual, audio, text, and metadata-based features. |
 | Artificial intelligence uncovers new details about Old Master paintingsArtificial intelligence has been used to analyse high-resolution digital X-ray images of the world famous Ghent Altarpiece, as part of an investigative project led by UCL. |
 | Google reveals years-long 'indiscriminate' iPhone hackGoogle security experts uncovered an "indiscriminate" hacking operation that targeted iPhones over a period of at least two years and used websites to implant malicious software to access photos, user locations and other data. |
 | How to simulate softnessWhat factors affect how human touch perceives softness, like the feel of pressing your fingertip against a marshmallow, a piece of clay or a rubber ball? By exploring this question in detail, a team of engineers and psychologists at the University of California San Diego discovered clever tricks to design materials that replicate different levels of perceived softness. |
 | AI-powered cameras become new tool against mass shootingsPaul Hildreth peered at a display of dozens of images from security cameras surveying his Atlanta school district and settled on one showing a woman in a bright yellow shirt walking a hallway. |
 | How CERN machine-learning techniques could improve autonomous vehiclesWith about one billion proton–proton collisions per second at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the LHC experiments need to sift quickly through the wealth of data to choose which collisions to analyse. To cope with an even higher number of collisions per second in the future, scientists are investigating computing methods such as machine-learning techniques. A new collaboration is now looking at how these techniques deployed on chips known as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) could apply to autonomous driving, so that the fast decision-making used for particle collisions could help prevent collisions on the road. |
 | Future maps: We have the blueprint for livable, low-carbon citiesOver the past seven years more than 100 research projects at the Co-operative Research center for Low Carbon Living, in collaboration with industry across Australia, have pondered a very big question: How do we build future cities that are sustainable, livable and affordable? |
 | Psychosensory electronic skin technology for future AI and humanoid developmentProfessor Jae Eun Jang's team in the Department of Information and Communication Engineering has developed electronic skin technology that can detect "prick" and "hot" pain sensations like humans. This research result has applications in the development of humanoid robots and prosthetic hands in the future. |
 | Creating batteries to power air travelResearchers at the Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research have created new computer models to predict the life and performance of batteries that could power some passenger airplanes—a step forward for cleaner, more efficient air travel. |
 | Airbus says AirAsia X places $5 billion orderMalaysian low-cost airline AirAsia X has ordered 42 Airbus aircraft worth a total catalogue price of five billion dollars, Airbus said Friday. |
 | Giving people a 'digital identity' could leave them vulnerable to discrimination, experts warnGlobal efforts to give millions of people missing key paper documents such as a birth certificates a digital identity could leave them vulnerable to persecution or discrimination, a new study warns. |
 | 5G: Why you should ignore the hype and wait—until 2020Sprint brought 5G phone service to four of the nation's biggest cities this week, including New York City; Washington, D.C.; and LA, and naturally, tech nerds like myself got really excited. |
 | Here's why your Apple Watch tells you to breathe all the timeMatt Bedsole is a patent attorney in Pittsburgh who finds his Apple Watch's automatic wellness notifications "mildly annoying." |
 | Twitter CEO account hacked, offensive tweets postedTwitter said Friday the account of chief executive Jack Dorsey had been "compromised" after a series of erratic and offensive messages were posted. |
 | Report: YouTube settles FTC complaint for at least $150MGoogle will pay $150 million to $200 million to settle a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over how it treats information from children on its YouTube video site, according to a published report Friday. |
 | EPA forces VW to correct gas mileage on 98,000 vehiclesThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is making Volkswagen Group correct fuel economy labels for about 98,000 gasoline-powered vehicles. |
 | How to improve airport capacity and efficiency with revised standardsDo you have fear of flying and get goose bumps just hearing the term wake turbulence? A phenomenon that occurs when aircraft generates a pair of tornado-like counter-rotating vortices during flight, wake turbulence is a frequently studied topic. Wake vortices can cause violent rolling motions and even flip small aircraft upside down when a large aircraft passes through the air. |
 | 5G technology goes undergroundAutomation and digitalization are increasingly used in almost every major industry to improve efficiency. Thanks to rapid advances in artificial intelligence and robotics, and innovations like X-ray diffraction and electric vehicles, the mining sector is also catching up with the technological revolution. |
 | T-Mobile will let you try its service for a month with your own phone and number—for freeWish you could put a wireless network to the test before ditching your current carrier? |
 | Electric bikes soon to be humming along national park trailsMotorized electric bicycles may soon be humming along serene trails in national parks and other public lands nationwide. It's part of a new Trump administration order—hotly opposed by many outdoors groups—that will allow e-bikes on every federal trail where a regular bike can go. |
 | Overcome the bottleneck of solid electrolytes for lithium batteriesProf. Ma Cheng from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and his collaborators proposed an effective strategy to address the electrode-electrolyte contact issue that is limiting the development of next-generation solid-state Li batteries. The solid-solid composite electrode created this way exhibited exceptional capacities and rate performances. |
 | Airbus drops bid to replace Canada fighter jetsAerospace giant Airbus announced Friday that it is withdrawing from a Canadian government call for proposals to replace 88 aging fighter jets. |
Medicine & Health news
 | White matter affects how people respond to brain stimulation therapy aimed at depression and strokeWhite matter affects how people respond to brain stimulation therapy aimed at depression and stroke |
 | Exercise in pregnancy improves health of obese mothers by restoring their tissues, mouse study findsExercise immediately prior to and during pregnancy restores key tissues in the body, making them better able to manage blood sugar levels and lowering the risk of long term health problems, suggests new research carried out in mice. |
 | Number of years in NFL, certain positions portend greater risk for cognitive, mental health problemsLonger NFL careers and certain playing positions appear to each spell greater long-term risk for serious cognitive problems such as confusion, memory deficits, depression and anxiety in former football players, according to a new report published Aug. 30 in The American Journal of Sports Medicine. |
 | Many who die waiting for a kidney had multiple offers, new study findsPatients who die waiting for a kidney, or who are removed from the transplant waitlist for poor health, are usually considered unfortunate victims of the ever-growing shortage of available organs. |
 | Blue Brain finds how neurons in the mouse neocortex form billions of synaptic connectionsResearchers at EPFL's Blue Brain Project, a Swiss brain research Initiative, have combined two high profile, large-scale datasets to produce something completely new—a first draft model of the rules guiding neuron-to-neuron connectivity of a whole mouse neocortex. They generated statistical instances of the micro-connectome of 10 million neurons, a model spanning five orders of magnitude and containing 88 billion synaptic connections. A basis for the world's largest-scale simulations of detailed neural circuits. |
 | Scientists uncover key new molecules that could help to tackle tooth loss and regenerationOur teeth take thousands of bites per day, and understanding exactly what holds them in place and how is key to helping people live with their own teeth for longer. |
 | Drug discovery offers new hope to halt the spread of malariaBreakthrough research has revealed a new drug that may prevent the spread of malaria, and also treat people suffering with the deadly parasitic disease. |
 | Diverse linguistic environment boosts brain sensitivity to new learning, study findsNumerous studies have noted the brain benefits that come from being bilingual—among them increased executive-level cognitive function and a four- to five-year delay in the risk of developing dementia symptoms. A new University of California, Irvine study, however, has found that monolinguals living in a linguistically diverse environment may be reaping some rewards just by being in the vicinity of multiple languages. |
 | Research presents new ways of developing treatment of chronic inflammationResearchers from Aarhus University Hospital and Aarhus University in Denmark in collaboration with researchers from Colorado in the United States have found a new way to treat the inflammation involved in chronic diseases such as psoriasis, asthma and HIV. A group of transmitter substances (cytokines) in the immune system, the so-called IL-1 family, has been shown to play an important role in many of these diseases by regulating the body's immune responses. |
 | Creation of new brain cells plays an underappreciated role in Alzheimer's diseaseMuch of the research on the underlying causes of Alzheimer's disease focuses on amyloid beta (Aß), a protein that accumulates in the brain as the disease progresses. Excess Aß proteins form clumps or "plaques" that disrupt communication between brain cells and trigger inflammation, eventually leading to widespread loss of neurons and brain tissue. |
 | Discovery paves the way for earlier detection of type 1 diseaseType 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that typically emerges before the age of 20, wipes out the body's ability to produce insulin—a hormone that's essential to life. Diagnosis often comes after symptoms arise, at which point the disease has taken hold. But if there were a way to test at-risk patients for very early signs of the disease, it may be possible to delay its onset. |
 | It's never too late to start exercising, new study showsOlder people who have never taken part in sustained exercise programmes have the same ability to build muscle mass as highly trained master athletes of a similar age, according to new research at the University of Birmingham. |
 | Warnings on individual cigarettes could reduce smokingHealth warnings printed on individual cigarettes could play a key role in reducing smoking, according to new research from the University of Stirling. |
 | New analyses demonstrate link between different forms of menopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer incidenceAn international collaboration, using data from more than 100,000 women with breast cancer from 58 epidemiological studies worldwide, has found that using MHT is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, and that some increased risk persists for more than a decade after use stops. |
 | WHO launches genetic research register after designer-baby scandalThe WHO announced Thursday it will create a global registry to track research into human genetic manipulation, after a call to halt all work on germline genome editing—used in China last year to genetically modify twin baby girls. |
 | Providing more testing choices does not increase colorectal cancer screening ratesOffering patients the choice between home screening or in-office colonoscopy does not increase participation in colorectal cancer screening, according to a new Penn Medicine study. However, the framing of choice did impact patient decision-making, as the proportion of colonoscopies—the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening—fell when the home screening option was presented as an available option. This study was published in JAMA Network Open. |
 | Spatial repellents to reduce infection of vector-borne diseasesA new report from the World Health Organization says initial results from a five-year study into the efficacy of spatial repellents encourage further research into their potential impact to reduce infection of vector-borne diseases including malaria, Zika and dengue fever. |
 | 'Gay gene' search reveals not one but many, and no way to predict sexualityIt has long been clear that a person's sexual preference—whether they prefer male or female sexual partners, or both—is influenced by his or her genetic makeup. The most straightforward evidence for this is that sexual preference is more likely to be the same in identical twin pairs, whose genetic makeup is identical, than in non-identical twin pairs, who share only around 50% of their genetic makeup. |
 | Automated, non-invasive MRI can accurately diagnose Parkinson'sIn an international study at 17 MRI centers in the U.S., Austria and Germany, a research team led by UF's David Vaillancourt, Ph.D., used a non-invasive MRI method with 1,002 patients to develop an automated system to accurately diagnose Parkinson's disease and related but different neurodegenerative disorders. |
 | Seniors feel isolated when brakes put on driving privilegesWhether it's going to the local grocery store or to a friend's home, driving a car plays a major role among seniors seeking to maintain their independence. |
 | Why do some cancer treatments stop working?Cancer treatments can work in lots of different ways, aiming to kill tumor cells or keep them under control. Ideally they cause tumors to shrink, but drugs can also be considered successful if they stop tumors growing. |
 | Building a storytelling app to support literacy amongst deaf childrenAdvances in digital technology including tablets, smartphones, and mobile apps have revolutionized the way people interact, communicate, and learn at home (and in classrooms) around the world. Now, an international team of researchers are working to ensure that this shifting educational landscape doesn't leave deaf children behind and will help support literacy efforts throughout the community. The project, in Telematics and Informatics, published by Elsevier, was recently selected by an external advisory board made up of individuals from NGOs to receive the Atlas Award. |
 | Keto diet and others could contribute to nonalcoholic fatty liver diseaseIf you're looking to shed a few pounds, you might be tempted to try out popular new approaches like the keto diet or fasting. |
 | Taking opioids for chronic pain: here's what the experts recommendChronic pain—acute pain that lasts for longer than three months—affects around one in five people in Europe. The increase in use of strong morphine-type drugs (opioids) for the treatment of chronic pain is an area of much concern, particularly in North America. |
 | Sexual assault: What happens during a forensic medical examinationSexual assault is a traumatic event that affects people in different ways, both mentally and physically. So doctors and nurses know care immediately after an assault needs to be understanding, compassionate and sensitive. |
 | Increasing the 'daddy quota' in parental leave makes everyone happier"To all the Dads in Australia," Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared in his Father's Day message last year, "keep up the good work, because the kids of our country need the best dads possible." |
 | How diet and medication impact gut bacteria and human healthResearch published in Cell on 29th August by the groups of Filipe Cabreiro from the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences and Imperial College and Christoph Kaleta from Kiel University in Germany has demonstrated that diet can alter the effectiveness of a type-2 diabetes drug via its action on gut bacteria. |
 | Factor that predicts long survival in brain tumorsThe discoveries in the cellular and molecular biology of cancer, the development of drugs against specific genetic mutations, and the emergence of immunotherapy are allowing the cure or improvement of the quality of life and life expectancy of patients with tumors. However, gliomas still resist these encouraging trends. |
 | Research breakthrough to safely monitor preterm babiesResearchers at the University of South Australia have successfully trialled new computer vision technology to safely monitor the heart and respiratory rates of premature babies in neonatal units. |
 | Children on front line of fight to stop spread of EbolaBefore dawn, Congolese teenager Doneka Kabowo sets off for school in Uganda, negotiating miles of jungle, the threat of armed militias and an international border to reach her classroom. |
 | Measles epidemic: Anti-vax parents need to hear of the horrors of forgotten diseasesThere's been a surge in measles cases across Europe, putting people's lives at risk according to new findings from the World Health Organization. |
 | CDC: January to July 2018 saw decrease in opioid deathsOpioid deaths decreased during January to July 2018, while deaths from illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF) increased during the same period, according to research published in the Aug. 30 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. |
 | Your fall game plan to avoid weight gainWhen summer fruits and vegetables start to disappear from grocery stores, and the action shifts indoors to watching sports and munching on unhealthy snacks, it helps to have a diet plan in place to avoid weight gain. |
 | The benefits of strength training during pregnancyFor most healthy women, exercise during pregnancy is as important as it is at all times of life. It brings benefits such as better overall health, preventing back pain and keeping you regular, which can be a challenge for some women. |
 | How do hospitals prepare for hurricanes?We all expect hospitals to be open and operating when we need them, but extreme weather events like hurricanes are a strain on resources and pose significant challenges for hospitals. |
 | Victorian child hearing-loss databank to go globalA unique Victorian databank that profiles children with hearing loss will help researchers globally understand why some children adapt and thrive, while others struggle. |
 | Skin cancer risk in athletes: The dangers of ultraviolet radiationThe dangers of ultraviolet radiation exposure, which most often comes from the sun, are well-known. Speaking at The Physiological Society's Extreme Environmental Physiology conference next week, W. Larry Kenney, Penn State University, will discuss how broad its effects can be, from premature aging to cancer, and how this can be influenced by different skin tones and the use of sunscreen. |
 | DR Congo Ebola death toll crosses 2,000 ahead of UN chief's visitThe Ebola outbreak in DR Congo showed no signs of easing Friday on the eve of the UN chief's visit to the country, with the death toll from the highly contagious virus crossing 2,000 and a new fatality in neighbouring Uganda. |
 | Netarsudil lowers IOP in glaucoma, ocular hypertension(HealthDay)—Netarsudil ophthalmic solution (0.02 percent; once daily) significantly reduced mean intraocular pressure (IOP) among patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension, according to a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology. |
 | eScooter-related injuries have increased over time(HealthDay)—Electric motorized scooter (eScooter)-related injuries have increased over time and are frequently associated with alcohol and illicit substance use, according to research published online Aug. 29 in Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open. |
 | Time with grandkids could boost health and even lifespanJulie Brogan's granddaughters, ages 9, 12 and 13, spend part of every summer at her home overlooking Lake Michigan in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. They enjoy paddle boarding, swimming and working on projects in the professional painter's art studio. |
 | Stop adding THC to e-cigarettes: US health authoritiesAmericans who use e-cigarettes should avoid adding substances like cannabis and buying products off the street—or consider refraining altogether—while authorities investigate hundreds of cases of severe lung disease among vapers, health officials said Friday. |
 | As with adults, no easy way to address weight with childrenRed, yellow, green. It's a system for conveying the healthfulness of foods, and at the center of a debate about how to approach weight loss for children. |
Man in Rhode Island tests positive for rare equine virusPublic health officials say a Rhode Island man has tested positive for the potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus eastern equine encephalitis. | |
 | Memphis study suggests transplanting Hep C-infected kidneys to uninfected donors safeTransplantation of kidneys from Hepatitis C-infected donors to uninfected recipients is safe and can be successfully implemented as a standard of care, according to an observational study by physicians at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and the James D. Eason Transplant Institute at Methodist University Hospital. |
 | Mobile app gives cancer patients better quality of lifeAlthough comprising only one eighth of the global population, Europe has a quarter of the total number of cancer cases worldwide. Each year, there are around 3.7 million new cancer cases on the continent, and this figure is expected to increase by at least 65 percent in the next 2 decades. The anticipated rise in the number of patients means there will be more people struggling with the symptoms and side effects of their disease. This makes providing better personalized care more and more important. |
 | Hard-drinking young adults suffer surge in deadly liver diseaseA little over a year ago, Eric Dunham had the operation that saved his life: a double transplant to give him a new liver and a new kidney. Chronic, heavy drinking had destroyed his own organs. It also led to a condition called hepatic encephalopathy that made him feel like he was losing his mind, as well as weakened blood vessels that caused life-threatening stomach bleeding. |
 | E-cigarette maker Juul facing mounting scrutiny by state AGsE-cigarette giant Juul Labs is facing mounting scrutiny from state law enforcement officials, with the attorneys general in Illinois and the District of Columbia investigating how the company's blockbuster vaping device became so popular with underage teens, The Associated Press has learned. |
 | Trump eyes mental institutions as answer to gun violenceWhen shots rang out last year at a high school in Parkland, Florida, leaving 17 people dead, President Donald Trump quickly turned his thoughts to creating more mental institutions. |
 | Opioid settlement would divide money based on local impactThe multibillion-dollar settlement that the maker of OxyContin is negotiating to resolve a crush of lawsuits over the nation's opioid crisis contains formulas for dividing up the money among state and local governments across the country, The Associated Press has learned. |
New ATS Clinical Practice Guideline: Diagnosing fungal infectionsThe American Thoracic Society has published an official clinical guideline on laboratory diagnosis of fungal infections in pulmonary and critical care medicine in the Society's Aug. 30 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. | |
 | Cerebrovascular risk factors may up risk for Parkinson disease(HealthDay)—Most cerebrovascular risk factors are associated with an increased risk for subsequent diagnosis of Parkinson disease, according to a study published online Aug. 29 in the Annals of Neurology. |
| Previous major Ebola outbreaksThe death toll from the latest Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) crossed 2,000 on Friday, making it the second worst ever outbreak of the disease. |
 | New radiomics model uses immunohistochemistry to predict thyroid nodulesAccording to an ahead-of-print article published in the December issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), researchers have validated a first-of-its-kind machine learning-based model to evaluate immunohistochemical (IHC) characteristics in patients with suspected thyroid nodules, achieving "excellent performance" for individualized noninvasive prediction of the presence of cytokeratin 19, galectin 3, and thyroperoxidase based upon CT images. |
Spain's listeria outbreak claims third victimA man died after eating tainted meat in Spain, the third fatality in a listeria outbreak that has also seen five women lose their babies due to the food-borne bacteria, health authorities said Friday. | |
 | Eliminating visual stimulation may help counter symptoms of spatial neglect after strokeA recent report by Kessler researchers and clinicians described the effects of binocular occlusion in a patient with spatial neglect and severe posture impairment. The article, "Impact of eliminating visual input on sitting posture and head position in a patient with spatial neglect following cerebral hemorrhage: a case report," was epublished on July 18, 2019 by Physiotherapy Theory and Practice. The authors are Peii Chen, Ph.D., of Kessler Foundation, Shannon E. Motisi, DPT, Christina Cording, DPT, Irene Ward, DPT, and Neil N. Jasey, MD, of Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation. |
 | Emotion recognition deficits impede community integration after traumatic brain injuryKessler Foundation researchers have found a correlation between deficits in facial emotion recognition and poor community integration in individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Their findings have implications for the development of rehabilitative interventions to reduce social isolation in this population, improve outcomes, and increase quality of life. |
Biology news
 | Tiny thermometer measures how mitochondria heat up the cell by unleashing proton energyArmed with a tiny new thermometer probe that can quickly measure temperature inside of a cell, University of Illinois researchers have illuminated a mysterious aspect of metabolism: heat generation. |
 | Why there are so many species at the equator and so few at the poles?Earth is teeming with strange life forms—crabs with 12-foot-long legs scuttling off the Japanese coast, mushrooms that glow at night in eastern North America, butterflies that drink the tears of Amazonian turtles. |
 | Banning trophy hunting can have a detrimental impact, experts sayExperts have outlined "compelling evidence" that suggests banning trophy hunting can negatively affect conservation—arguing that unregulated killings are far more prevalent in non-hunting zones. |
 | Scientist identifies cone snail's strike as one of the quickest in the animal kingdomWith the use of ultra-high-speed videography, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Associate Professor Emanuel Azizi and colleagues from Occidental College Los Angeles have shed light on the hunting mechanism of the cone snail Conus catus. Published online in Current Biology - Cell Press, the researchers identified the snail's hydraulically propelled feeding structure as the quickest movement among mollusks by an order of magnitude. |
 | 'Google of microbes' could provide digital data from bacteria to solve world problems in health, cropsIt may be an unsettling thought for some—but the human body is home to trillions of "good and bad" bacteria, viruses and other tiny organisms called microbes. But the scientific big data communities recognize the value of good microbes because they show promise in curing diseases and improving crop yields. |
 | Researchers assemble genomic puzzle of cow gut microbesUsing high-tech tools, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their cooperators have taken a deep dive into the microbial "soup" of the cow's rumen, the first of four stomach chambers where tough plant fibers are turned into nutrients and energy. |
 | Biochar: A better start to rain forest restorationAn indigenous farming technique that's been around for thousands of years provides the basis for restoring rain forests stripped clear of trees by gold mining and other threats. |
 | Understanding probiotic yeastResearchers led by Prof. Johan Thevelein (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Microbiology) have discovered that Saccharomyces boulardii, a yeast with probiotic properties, produces uniquely excessive amounts of acetic acid, the main component of vinegar. They were also able to find the genetic basis for this trait, which allowed them to modify the acetic acid production of the yeast. If this unique S. boulardii trait can be further validated to have a probiotic effect in animal models, these results could provide the first genetic basis for S.boulardii's unique probiotic potency. The study is published in Genome Research. |
 | Survey results show positive perceptions of adaptive tree breedingA European survey carried out by the B4EST project shows that improved forest reproductive materials are perceived positively by the forest sector, and are considered important in forest regeneration and afforestation to adapt to climate change. |
 | Aw, shucks: Vet says corn on the cob no treat for dogsCorn on the cob is a treat that many people enjoy each summer. But a Kansas State University veterinarian says don't share that cob with your dog. |
 | What if we paid countries to protect biodiversity?Researchers from Sweden, Germany, Brazil and the U.S. have developed a financial mechanism to support the protection of the world's natural heritage. In a recent study, they developed three different design options for an intergovernmental biodiversity financing mechanism. Asking what would happen if money was given to countries for providing protected areas, they simulated where the money would flow, what type of incentives this would create—and how these incentives would align with international conservation goals. |
 | Daisies that close at night have camouflaged petals to protect them from herbivoresResearchers from Stellenbosch University, South Africa found that tortoises, one of the main herbivores of the daisies, were unable to distinguish the lower petal surfaces against a green leaf background. Tortoises prefer to eat protein-rich flowers over leaves, but when confronted with closed flowers, they showed no preference between them. |
 | Hunters turn gamekeepers to help C. Africa's threatened wildlifeJean moves deftly through the tangle of roots and branches before waiting for the rainforest to give him a clue. |
 | The science that stops possums eating your gardenIn Australia, we have a love-hate relationship with our native possums. |
 | Hand- versus machine-harvested juice and cider apples: A comparison of phenolic profilesA study out of Washington State University sought to determine if there is a measurable impact of harvest method on the phenolic profile of 'Brown Snout' juice and cider to better inform equipment adoption. |
This email is a free service of Science X Network
You received this email because you subscribed to our list.
If you do not wish to receive such emails in the future, please unsubscribe here.
You are subscribed as jmabs1@gmail.com. You may manage your subscription options from your Science X profile
No comments:
Post a Comment