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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for December 26, 2019:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | 'Ring of fire' eclipse wows across AsiaSkywatchers from Saudi Arabia and Oman to India and Singapore were treated to a rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse Thursday. |
Technology news
 | Leaked benchmarks show Intel Tiger Lake's speedWhat's in store for Intel processors? Life after Ice Lake? For a replay of Ice Lake's presence, Hot Hardware reminded readers that Ice Lake was one of the two families of 10th generation mobile processors that were released over the summer; the other was Cornet Lake, but Ice Lake won more attention. |
 | New study: Adaptive cruise-control and other driver-assistance systems may increase distracted drivingDrivers familiar with using adaptive cruise-control and other driver-assistance systems are more likely to drive while distracted, a new study says. |
 | Twitter Android app milked for matching phone numbers, accountsIbrahim Balic has become a name Twitter will certainly remember. The researcher discovered a flaw in a Twitter Android app that resulted in the sorry gift of matching 17 million phone numbers, when he uploaded them, with accounts. |
 | SMAC in the DARQ: five trends shaping tech in 2020In 2020, will the wow factor return to consumer hardware? Will blockchain and 5G punch into the mainstream? Or will the world unify against Big Tech's tax-avoiding practices? |
 | US proposes remote ID requirement for dronesUS regulators on Thursday unveiled a proposal to require privately operated drones to use remote identification—a kind of electronic license plate—as part of efforts to ensure airspace safety. |
 | 5G arrived in Chicago in 2019. What will happen with the fifth generation of wireless in 2020?Wireless companies will continue developing their 5G networks in Chicago in 2020, but it will be years before most consumers take advantage of the ultrafast download speeds. |
 | How Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney changed the video game industryIt would be hard to find a local company that's made more of an impact around the world in recent years than Epic Games. |
 | Inside YouTube's year of responsibilityYouTube spent 2019 answering critics with some of the most drastic changes in its 15-year history. With each step, it gave those activists, regulators and lawmakers more reasons to attack its free-wheeling, user-generated business model. |
 | Thai officials say prison cameras were hacked, broadcastAuthorities in Thailand say they are investigating an apparent online break-in by a computer hacker that allowed him to broadcast surveillance video from inside a prison in the country's south. |
 | Rust Belt region banks on becoming hub for electric vehiclesThe day Youngstown's steel mills began shutting down 40 years ago remains fresh in the minds of those who live in the blue-collar corner of Ohio. Community leaders don't want the recent closing of General Motors' massive assembly plant to leave that same lingering gloom. |
 | Amazon workforce surges for holiday spreeAmazon said Thursday it added some 250,000 employees to handle operations for "record" holiday sales for the online giant. |
 | 2020: What's to come in technology—AirPods Pro, Oculus Quest return to storesThose AirPods Pros that you coveted before the holidays? |
 | The end of the road: 7 tech products that died in 2019Here today, gone tomorrow. With the rapid pace of innovation and competition constantly entering the technology stratosphere, some products don't always last. As 2019 closes out, here are seven notable tech products that shut down this year. |
 | YouTube will shine even more attention on learning in 2020Mention YouTube to a parent, and you get several thoughts. At best, it's a babysitter and an educational resource. |
 | Amazon says holiday shopping broke records this yearAmazon.com Inc. said its holiday season this year was "record breaking" with billions of items shipped and "tens of millions" of Amazon devices like the Echo Dot sold. |
 | Nissan's No.3 to quit in blow to revival effortsThe senior executive in charge of plans to revive crisis-hit Nissan has decided to quit just weeks after taking the job, sending the carmaker's stock plunging more than three percent on Wednesday. |
Game review: 'Phoenix Point' is chaotic and delightfulDespite the controversy surrounding its jump to the Epic Games Store, I've had my eye on "Phoenix Point" for quite a while. Created by Jullian Golop, one of the minds behind the original "XCOM" series, "Phoenix Point" takes the tried and true "XCOM" formula and introduces new ideas and concepts that help really freshen it up a bit. The game isn't perfect by any means, but what Snapshot Games has managed to create is both a triumphant return to the formula for Gollop, and also a technical nightmare at times. | |
 | Early data point to bubbly US holiday salesEarly data on the 2019 holiday shopping season released Thursday suggest Santa Claus was a bit more generous this year as he shifted more into omnichannel mode. |
 | German union vow new Lufthansa strike 'in coming days'A German cabin crew union said on Thursday it would call a fresh strike at Lufthansa "in the coming days", raising the spectre of travel chaos during the busy end-of-year holiday season. |
Medicine & Health news
 | Inputs to the motor cortex make dexterous movements possible in miceIn a sleepy haze, reaching out and grabbing the coffee cup in front of you seems to happen on autopilot. But your caffeine-deprived brain is working hard. It's collecting sensory information and other kinds of feedback—clues about where your arm is in space relative to the mug—and sending it to your motor cortex. Then, the motor cortex plans the upcoming movement and tells your muscles to make it happen. |
 | Intermittent fasting: live 'fast,' live longer?For many people, the New Year is a time to adopt new habits as a renewed commitment to personal health. Newly enthusiastic fitness buffs pack into gyms and grocery stores are filled with shoppers eager to try out new diets. |
 | Brain tumor organoids may be key to time-sensitive treatments for glioblastomasLab-grown brain organoids developed from a patient's own glioblastoma, the most aggressive and common form of brain cancer, may hold the answers on how to best treat it. A new study in Cell from researchers at Penn Medicine showed how glioblastoma organoids could serve as effective models to rapidly test personalized treatment strategies. |
 | Proton therapy lowers risk of side effects in cancer compared to traditional radiationProton therapy leads to significantly lower risk of side effects severe enough to lead to unplanned hospitalizations for cancer patients when compared with traditional radiation, while cure rates between the two groups are almost identical. The findings come from an expanded analysis of the largest review of its kind, performed by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, to evaluate whether or not patients undergoing radiation therapy at the same time as chemotherapy experienced serious adverse events within 90 days. Researchers found proton therapy reduces the relative risk of these side effects by two-thirds. JAMA Oncology published the findings today. |
 | High BMI may improve cancer survivalAbove average or high BMI—often linked to cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular and other diseases—may in some cases improve the chance of survival among certain cancers, new research from Flinders University indicates. |
 | Report links recommended physical activity levels to lower risk of seven cancersA pooled analysis of nine prospective studies involving more than 750,000 adults finds that recommended amounts of leisure-time physical activity were linked to a lower risk for seven cancers, with several cancer types having a 'dose/response' relationship. The study was led by investigators at the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and appears in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. |
 | A medical insight in Michelangelo's David, 'hiding in plain sight'Michelangelo's David is perhaps the world's most famous statue, gazed upon by millions over centuries. |
 | Rwanda avoids US-style opioids crisis by making own morphineIt was something, the silence. Nothing but the puff of her breath and the scuff of her slip-on shoes as Madeleine Mukantagara walked through the fields to her first patient of the day. Piercing cries once echoed down the hill to the road below. What she carried in her bag had calmed them. |
 | Skin-lightening cream could cause nerve damage, CDC report warns(HealthDay)—A skin-lightening cream from Mexico that contained toxic mercury left a California woman with significant central nervous system damage, doctors report in a case study. |
 | The financial reward of slimming down(HealthDay)—If you're overweight or obese, shedding pounds can help improve your health and your longevity. What's more, doing so may also significantly boost your bank balance. |
 | To avoid falls, check your balance(HealthDay)—Bad balance is a common cause of dangerous falls, especially among older adults. Falls send more than 2 million adults to the emergency room every year and often result in lengthy rehab stays. |
 | Fatty diets tied to leading cause of vision loss in seniors(HealthDay)—Diets heavy in red meat and fatty foods could help spur a leading cause of vision loss in older Americans, new research suggests. |
 | Overdose, relapse after buprenorphine discontinuation high(HealthDay)—Buprenorphine treatment may be needed for several years after an opioid overdose to reduce the risk of overdose and other adverse events, according to a study published online Dec. 2 in The American Journal of Psychiatry. |
 | Many do not discuss menopause concerns with their provider(HealthDay)—The majority of women experience symptoms and health concerns associated with menopause, but more than one-third never discuss these concerns with health care providers, according to a report released by HealthyWomen and WebMD. |
 | Polygenic risk score more strongly linked to early-onset CRC(HealthDay)—A polygenic risk score (PRS), developed from 95 colorectal cancer (CRC)-associated genetic risk variants, is more strongly associated with early- than late-onset cancer, especially in the absence of family history, according to a study published online Dec. 19 in Gastroenterology. |
 | Diabetes prevalence varies by race, ethnicity(HealthDay)—The prevalence of diabetes and undiagnosed diabetes varies by race/ethnicity and among subgroups within the adult Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian populations, according to a study published in the Dec. 24/31 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. |
 | Survival up for chronic lymphocytic leukemia 1995 to 2017(HealthDay)—For patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in routine care, overall survival improved from 1995 to 2017, according to a study recently published in Leukemia & Lymphoma. |
Structured, salary-only compensation plan for physicians is a model for pay equity, study findsGender pay equity in the field of medicine remains elusive. Gender-based pay differences have been shown to persist, even when controlling for experience, clinical productivity, academic rank and other factors. These inequities result insignificantly lower lifetime earnings, job burnout and negative attitudes toward work, and adverse effects on the profession and society. One model for eliminating pay disparities among physicians is a structured, salary-only plan that incorporates national benchmarks, and standardized pay steps and increments, such as the plan that is used at Mayo Clinic. | |
 | Cannabis-related psychosis, addiction, ER visits: For young users, marijuana can be a dangerous gameNot long ago when Joseph Garbely, chief medical officer for the Caron Foundation, reviewed younger patients starting drug or alcohol treatment on his unit, he usually saw people shaking, sick and seizing from alcohol or opioid withdrawal. Marijuana was seldom what put them in those medical beds. |
 | Preoperative levels of heart proteins may help predict death or cardiac complications in patients undergoing surgeryAssessing preoperative levels of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), a biomarker of heart stress and structural changes, may improve risk prediction beyond the clinical risk score in patients having noncardiac surgery. Findings from a cohort study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. |
Majority of internal medicine residency program directors misinterpret ABIM leave policiesA recent nationwide survey of 279 internal medicine residency program directors showed that the vast majority did not correctly interpret the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) leave policies. While 51 percent of those surveyed said they understood ABIM's Leave of Absence and Vacation policy, most could not answer specific questions about the rules. These misunderstandings could lead to unnecessary extensions in residents' training programs. Findings from a brief research study are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. | |
 | Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but marriage makes it beat longer—especially for menDear Health Men: I've heard that being married improves one's health. Sounds good, but is it really true? |
Antibiotics failed, then a Minnesota man turned to an old remedy that workedJohn Haverty was ready to have his leg amputated. | |
Biology news
 | Researchers identify that mosquitoes can sense toxins through their legsResearchers at LSTM have identified a completely new mechanism by which mosquitoes that carry malaria are becoming resistant to insecticide. |
 | In an African forest, the enduring mystery of a giant butterflySuspended from branches high above the ground, Nicolas Moulin looked through his binoculars over a seemingly endless sea of emerald green. |
 | Finally, machine learning interprets gene regulation clearlyIn this age of "big data," artificial intelligence (AI) has become a valuable ally for scientists. Machine learning algorithms, for instance, are helping biologists make sense of the dizzying number of molecular signals that control how genes function. But as new algorithms are developed to analyze even more data, they also become more complex and more difficult to interpret. Quantitative biologists Justin B. Kinney and Ammar Tareen have a strategy to design advanced machine learning algorithms that are easier for biologists to understand. |
 | West Coast fishery rebounds in rare conservation 'home run'A rare environmental success story is unfolding in waters off the U.S. West Coast. |
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