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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for December 27, 2019:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Deep eclipses detected in the cataclysmic variable J0130Russian astronomer Valery Kozhevnikov has conducted photometric observations of the cataclysmic variable (CV) IPHAS J013031.89+622132.3 (J0130 for short), finding that the object exhibits deep eclipses. The discovery, presented in a paper published December 17 on arXiv.org, could provide more clues on the nature of this CV. |
 | China to complete Beidou competitor to GPS with new launchesChina said Friday its Beidou Navigation Satellite System that emulates the U.S. Global Positioning System will be competed with the launch of its final two satellites in the first half of next year. |
 | Calculating the time it will take spacecraft to find their way to other star systemsA pair of researchers, one with the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, the other with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at CIT, has found a way to estimate how long it will take already launched space vehicles to arrive at other star systems. The pair, Coryn Bailer-Jones and Davide Farnocchia have written a paper describing their findings and have uploaded it to the arXiv preprint server. |
 | China launches powerful rocket in boost for 2020 Mars missionChina Friday launched one of the world's most powerful rockets in a major step forward for its planned mission to Mars in 2020. |
 | Waiting for Betelgeuse: what's up with the tempestuous star?Have you noticed that Orion the Hunter—one of the most iconic and familiar of the wintertime constellations—is looking a little… different as of late? The culprit is its upper shoulder star Alpha Orionis, aka Betelgeuse, which is looking markedly faint, the faintest it has been for the 21st century. |
Technology news
 | Japan revises Fukushima cleanup plan, delays key stepsJapan on Friday revised a roadmap for the cleanup of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, further delaying the removal of thousands of spent fuel units that remain in cooling pools since the 2011 disaster. It's a key step in the decadeslong process, complicated by high radiation and other risks. The government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., are keeping a 30- to 40-year completion target. |
 | Turkey unveils national electric car prototypesTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled Friday prototypes of a domestically manufactured electric car that is hoped will hit the road within three years. |
 | New Russian weapon can travel at 27 times the speed of soundA new intercontinental weapon that can fly 27 times the speed of sound became operational Friday, Russia's defense minister reported to President Vladimir Putin, bolstering the country's nuclear strike capability. |
 | Volkswagen raises forecast for electric car productionAutomaker Volkswagen is accelerating its move into battery-powered cars, saying it will reach its goal of 1 million electric cars per year two years earlier than planned. Friday's announcement came as European automakers are under pressure to meet lower emissions limits aimed at fighting global warming. |
 | Drones need huge tracking network for expanded flights, FAA saysAll but the smallest civilian drones would have to broadcast radio tracking data to ensure greater safety and prevent terrorism under a sweeping proposal unveiled by U.S. regulators Thursday. |
 | California is rewriting the rules of the internet and businesses are scrambling to keep upA sweeping new law that aims to rewrite the rules of the internet in California is set to go into effect on Jan. 1. |
 | Amazon/Deliveroo deal faces in-depth UK probeBritain's competition regulator on Friday launched an in-depth investigation into Amazon's bid to buy part of online takeaway delivery group Deliveroo. |
Medicine & Health news
 | How signalling proteins affect wound healingWhat do a scraped knee, a paper cut, or any form of surgery have in common? The short answer is a wound in need of healing—but the long answer lies in a series of biological activities that allow tissues to repair themselves. |
 | New approach for studying experience-driven activity of transcription factors in vivoBrains are highly adaptable. Neuronal connections are constantly changing, molded by what people experience in their daily lives. New memories, information learned, and new skills spark this dynamic process, causing lasting changes to neuronal circuits. As the saying goes, experience is the best teacher, and it couldn't be truer for brains. |
 | Combining natural and artificial vision to treat a common form of blindnessMacular degeneration (AMD) causes blindness in millions of people in the Western world. It is the most common cause of severe vision loss among those aged 50 and over, and its prevalence increases with age. Though there is no cure for AMD, recent advances in artificial retina implants may lead to effective treatment. |
 | E-bike injuries found to result in more internal injuries than for scooters or regular bikesA team of researchers from the NYU School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center has found that people involved in e-bike accidents are more likely to have internal injuries than are those riding electric scooters or pedal-powered bicycles. In their paper published in the journal Injury Prevention, the group describes their study of emergency room data and what it showed about powered two-wheeled transportation devices. |
 | Could brain scans spot children's mood, attention problems early?Children's mental health issues are hard to predict until they're causing problems, but researchers may have found a way to use brain scans to spot which kids are at risk for depression, anxiety and attention problems. |
 | Biomarker predicts which patients with heart failure have a higher risk of dying within 1 to 3 yearsA UCLA-led study revealed a new way to predict which patients with "stable" heart failure—those who have heart injury but do not require hospitalization—have a higher risk of dying within one to three years. Although people with stable heart failure have similar characteristics, some have rapid disease progression while others remain stable. The research shows that patients who have higher levels of neuropeptide Y, a molecule released by the nervous system, are 10 times more likely to die within one to three years than those with lower levels of neuropeptides. |
 | Placental protein makes a critical contribution to healthy fetal developmentRIKEN researchers have determined how a protein that transports essential amino acids across the placenta contributes to normal embryonic development in mammals. |
 | Mindfulness video game changes areas of the brain associated with attentionWith an estimated 97 percent of adolescents playing video games in their free time, there is growing potential to design games as tools for attention-building instead of attention-busting. |
 | Can MRI predict intelligence levels in children?A group of researchers from the Skoltech Center for Computational and Data-Intensive Science and Engineering (CDISE) took 4th place in the international MRI-based adolescent intelligence prediction competition. For the first time ever, the Skoltech scientists used ensemble methods based on deep learning 3-D networks to deal with this challenging prediction task. The results of their study were published in the journal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Neurocognitive Prediction. |
Progressive gender beliefs in teen boys may be protective against violenceTeenage boys who witness their peers abusing women and girls are much more likely to bully and fight with others, as well as behave abusively toward their dates, compared to teenage boys who don't witness such behaviors, according to an analysis led by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. | |
 | Hematopoietic stem cell marker: A key player in the ontogeny of hematopoiesisA group of researchers at Osaka University revealed that endothelial cell-selective adhesion molecule (ESAM), a surface marker for hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and vascular endothelial cells (ECs), played an important role in the ontogeny of hematopoiesis in mice, particularly in the development of adult-type erythropoiesis. Their research results were published in Stem Cell Reports. |
 | A better testing method for patients with Parkinson's diseaseParkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that manifests through symptoms such as tremor, slow movements, limb rigidity and gait and balance problems. As such, nearly all diagnostic testing revolves around how a patient moves and requires the patient to walk for extensive distances and amounts of time. The discomfort caused to patients by this kind of testing is unacceptable, according to an international team of researchers based in Saudi Arabia and Sweden. |
 | Costly group apologies perceived as more sincere, study findsA research team led by Professor OHTSUBO Yohsuke of Kobe University's Graduate School of Humanities has been investigating how group apologies are perceived. Their results revealed that apologies that are costly for the apologizing organization are deemed to be more genuine. This was similar to previous findings by Professor Ohtsubo et al. when they looked into apologies from individuals such as friends or colleagues. |
 | News of vaping-related injury getting vapers' attention(HealthDay)—Survey results show more than eight in 10 informed vapers are more cautious and likely to reduce vaping as a result of news of vaping-related illnesses and deaths, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). |
 | How to pick the right sunscreen when you're blinded by choiceThere's an enourmous variety of sunscreens to choose from. Major supermarkets each sell more than 60 options. And one large pharmacy chain sells more than 100. |
 | 'Detox products' may have gone digital, but a historian explains this centuries-old trendIf you use social media platforms such as Instagram, there's a good chance you've seen accounts promoting diet pills and teas. These products often claim to be "detoxifying," as well as promising weight loss and increased energy. |
 | Researchers identify new therapeutic target for colorectal cancerResearchers at the University of Toronto have identified a key protein that supports the growth of many colorectal cancers. The study, which will be published December 27 in the Journal of Cell Biology, reveals that a protein called Importin-11 transports the cancer-causing protein βcatenin into the nucleus of colon cancer cells, where it can drive cell proliferation. Inhibiting this transport step could block the growth of most colorectal cancers caused by elevated βcatenin levels. |
 | How you can be overfat without being overweight(HealthDay)—You know that you need to watch your weight to lower your risk for heart disease, but that is far from the whole story. |
 | Targeting cholesterol metabolism in macrophages to eliminate viral infectionRecent evidence suggests a link between cholesterol metabolism and innate immunity. Upon viral infection, macrophages show reduced cholesterol synthesis accompanied by enhanced expression of antiviral genes, including type I interferon (IFN-I). |
 | Children born preterm are more likely to be placed outside the homeChildren born prematurely, i.e. before week 37, are more likely to be placed outside the home as a supportive child welfare measure than their full-term counterparts, according to a population study conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The more premature a child is born, the greater the probability that the child will be placed outside the home. |
 | Women with single dose of HPV vaccine gain similar protection as multiple dosesA new study revealed that one dose of the HPV vaccine may prevent infection from the potential cancer-causing virus, according to research published in JAMA Network Open from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). |
 | Alzheimer's caregiving: How can I find joy in the holidays?Q: I feel sad around the holidays because I can't stop thinking about how things were before my loved one developed Alzheimer's disease. How can I bring back the joy of the holidays? |
 | Public insurance tied to lower cancer survival in young patients(HealthDay)—Young, low-income patients with bone or soft tissue sarcomas have decreased overall survival (OS), regardless of disease stage at presentation, according to a study published online Dec. 15 in Cancer Medicine. |
 | Liposuction benefits women with lipedema(HealthDay)—Liposuction improves the quality of life for women with lipedema, according to a study published in the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. |
 | Bariatric surgery in teens may cut diabetic kidney disease risk(HealthDay)—Among obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes, metabolic bariatric surgery is associated with decreased rates of hyperfiltration and elevated urinary albumin excretion (UAE), according to a study published in the January issue of Diabetes Care. |
 | Recall of pacemaker in November 2015 was delayed unnecessarily(HealthDay)—Recall of a cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker, which occurred in November 2015, was delayed unnecessarily, according to a report published online Dec. 20 in JAMA Internal Medicine. |
 | 'Tough year' for measles and other infectious diseases in USThis year, the germs roared back. |
 | Severity of autism symptoms varies greatly among identical twinsIdentical twins with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience large differences in symptom severity even though they share the same DNA, according to an analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings suggest that identifying the causes of this variability may inform the treatment of ASD-related symptoms. The study was conducted by John Constantino, M.D., of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and colleagues. Funding was provided by NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The study appears in Behavior Genetics. |
 | Recipes for healthy holiday appetizers(HealthDay)—Finger foods are delicious, but they can pack on the calories even when you just nibble. Here are two appetizer makeovers with plenty of flavor and a lot less fat. |
Biology news
 | Scientists reveal function of histone variant H2A.Z in DNA replication selectionDNA replication is a tightly regulated process that ensures the precise duplication of the genome during cell proliferation. Replication origins determine where replication starts on the genome and regulate the whole genome replication program. The human genome contains tens of thousands of origins; however, only about 10 percent of them are used in each cell cycle. So how are origins selected? |
 | Bacteria can 'outsmart' programmed cell deathCertain bacteria can override a defence mechanism of the immune system, so called programmed cell death, through inhibition of death effector molecules by their outer membranes components. Shigella bacteria, which cause diarrhoea, use lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on their surface to block the effector caspases. Lipopolysaccharides are a component of the bacterial outer membrane. This strategy enables the bacteria to multiply within the cell. This is the result of a study conducted by the molecular immunologist Professor Hamid Kashkar and his team in the institute for Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the CECAD Cluster of Excellence in Aging Research at the University of Cologne. The article, "Cytosolic Gram-negative bacteria prevent apoptosis by inhibition of effector caspases through LPS," by Günther et al., appeared in the current issue of Nature Microbiology. |
 | New insight into how dividing cells control the separation of their dnaA study published today in the journal eLife has shown that a protein called Astrin is important for the timely and even separation of chromosomes during cell division. |
 | Diet has rapid effects on sperm qualitySperm are influenced by diet, and the effects arise rapidly. This is the conclusion of a study by researchers at Linköping University, in which healthy young men were fed a diet rich in sugar. The study, which has been published in PLOS Biology, gives new insight into the function of sperm, and may in the long term contribute to new diagnostic methods to measure sperm quality. |
 | Evolution: A revelatory relationshipA new study of the ecology of an enigmatic group of novel unicellular organisms by scientists from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich supports the idea hydrogen played an important role in the evolution of Eukaryota, the first nucleated cells. |
 | Using deep learning to predict disease-associated mutationsDuring the past years, artificial intelligence (AI)—the capability of a machine to mimic human behavior—has become a key player in high-tech areas like drug development projects. AI tools help scientists to uncover the secret behind the big biological data using optimized computational algorithms. AI methods such as deep neural network improves decision making in biological and chemical applications i.e., prediction of disease-associated proteins, discovery of novel biomarkers and de novo design of small molecule drug leads. These state-of-the-art approaches help scientists to develop a potential drug more efficiently and economically. |
 | New insights into the earliest events of seed germinationPlant seeds may strike the casual observer as unspectacular—but they have properties that are nothing short of superpowers. In a dry state they can store their energy for years and then suddenly release it for germination when environmental conditions are favourable. One striking example is the "super bloom" in Death Valley National Park, when seeds that have endured the dry and hot desert for decades suddenly germinate at rainfall followed by a rare and spectacular desert bloom several months later. Seeds conserve a fully formed embryo, which only continues growing when conditions are right for it to do so. This may be the case only years—or in more extreme cases even centuries—later. |
 | Colombian botanist risking his life to preserve nature's memoryFor the last three decades, botanist Julio Betancur has braved minefields and penetrated deep into jungle territory infested with drug traffickers and armed gangs in a bid to document Colombia's rich biodiversity. |
 | Researchers map malaria parasites that proliferate in human blood cellsMalaria parasites transform healthy red blood cells into rigid versions of themselves that clump together, hindering the transportation of oxygen. The infectious disease affects more than 200 million people around the world and causes nearly a half-million deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization's 2018 report on malaria. Until now, however, researchers did not have a strong understanding of how the parasite so effectively infiltrated a system's red blood cells. |
 | A 'pivotal' moment for understanding whale evolutionScientists could soon better investigate the feeding behaviors of extinct dolphin and whale species. A third year student at Japan's Nagoya University has found that the range of motion offered by the joint between the head and neck in modern-day cetaceans, a group of marine mammals that also includes porpoises, accurately reflects how they feed. The authors of the study, published in the Journal of Anatomy, suggest this method could help overcome current limitations in extrapolating the feeding behaviors of extinct cetaceans. |
 | Secrets of Germany's 'Alcatraz' virus island revealedOn a Baltic Sea island once used by the Nazis for biological weapon research, German scientists are developing virus vaccines that could save lives. |
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