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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for October 29, 2010:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- A milestone for molecular beams- Advance could change modern electronics: High-performance 'metal-insulator-metal' diode created
- Swiss solar plane confirmed as multiple record-breaker
- Dracula orchids and goblin spiders
- Study links fresh Mars gullies to carbon dioxide
- Understanding coronal mass ejections
- Raising giant insects to unravel ancient oxygen
- Newly discovered gene enables fish to 'disappear'
- Is the shape of a genome as important as its content?
- NVIDIA GPUs power world's fastest supercomputer
- Leaks delay final launch of space shuttle Discovery
- Halloween Special: Why we love to scare ourselves; the anatomy of fright
- Apple beats Blackberry maker in smartphone sales
- The many colors of the Kuiper Belt
- Space station on to the 2nd decade
Space & Earth news
Ariane 5's fourth launch of 2010
Last night, an Ariane 5 lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on a journey to place two telecommunications satellites, W3B and BSAT-3b, into orbit. Flight V197 was Ariane 5's fourth dual-payload mission of the year.
Eutelsat loses just-launched television satellite
European satellite operator Eutelsat said Friday it had lost its W3B television satellite the day after it was launched by an Ariane rocket because of an "anomaly".
Scientists to see if oil spill hurt deep sea life
(AP) -- A team of scientists are leaving on a research cruise to see if the BP oil spill hurt deep-sea coral and organisms that live around natural oil and gas seeps in the Gulf of Mexico.
Warning systems often don't help tsunami victims
(AP) -- Costly warning systems installed across Asia since the deadly 2004 tsunami did nothing to save villagers on these remote Indonesian islands who saw homes and loved ones swept away by a giant wave this week.
Russia's Kamchatka volcanoes calm after eruptions
(AP) -- Two volcanoes that erupted on the far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, blanketing a town with dust and spreading ash clouds across the Pacific, have mostly stopped spewing ash and flights are no longer diverted, Russian officials said Friday.
The body's ability to fight infection studied by NASA
Space shuttle Discovery will bring NASA scientists one step closer to helping astronauts and the public discover ways to battle and prevent serious illness and infection.
NASA's Aqua satellite catches glimpse of Russia's active volcanoes
NASA's Aqua satellite flew over the erupting Shiveluch Volcano in Russia yesterday and captured a visible image of its ash plume. Shiveluch is one of Russia's most active volcano and is currently spewing ash over 6 miles high (10 kilometers) into the atmosphere. That's about 33,000 feet high and just shy of the stratosphere.
Is the ice at the South Pole melting?
The change in the ice mass covering Antarctica is a critical factor in global climate events. Scientists at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences have now found that the year by year mass variations in the western Antarctic are mainly attributable to fluctuations in precipitation, which are controlled significantly by the climate phenomenon El Nino. They examined the GFZ data of the German-American satellite mission GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment). The investigation showed significant regional differences in the western coastal area of the South Pole area.
Troubled islands: Hurricanes, oil spill and sea level rise
The islands flanking the outlet of the Mississippi River are not only facing losses due to sea level rise and local subsidence, according to one study, but new unknown impacts from oil recovery operations, say researchers working on another project. Both will be presenting their work on Nov. 1 and 2 at the meeting of the Geological Society of American in Denver. Some islands could disappear entirely in coming decades, exposing huge swaths of marshland to the waves of the open sea.
EU sticks to 20-percent carbon cuts
The European Union on Friday gave notice it was not prepared to go beyond a planned 20-percent cut in greenhouse-gas emissions ahead of next month's UN climate talks in Cancun, Mexico.
BYU telescope captures Halloween sights in the stars?
(PhysOrg.com) -- What do you see in these gassy remnants of an exploded star? A bird? A plane? A witch?
Space radar provides taste of Comet Hartley 2
Exactly one week before the world gets a new look at comet Hartley 2 via NASA's EPOXI mission, observations of the comet by the Arecibo Planetary Radar in Puerto Rico have offered scientists a tantalizing preview.
Space station on to the 2nd decade
The second decade of a new era in human history -- when not everyone lives on our home planet -- begins Nov. 2, 2010, as the International Space Station crosses the 1.5 billion mile mark of its travels with six residents on board and six visitors en route.
The many colors of the Kuiper Belt
(PhysOrg.com) -- The sun isn't kind to objects without atmospheres. Bombarded by solar radiation, the surfaces of some comets, for example, tend to be a charred carbon-black. But the 1,000 objects so far directly imaged in the Kuiper Belt – that swath of icy bodies circling around the sun with Pluto – appear to be a wide range of colors: red, blue, and white.
Leaks delay final launch of space shuttle Discovery
The launch of the space shuttle Discovery on its final scheduled mission has been delayed by at least 24 hours until Tuesday because of a leak in a pressurization system, NASA said.
Raising giant insects to unravel ancient oxygen
The giant dragonflies of ancient Earth with wingspans of up to 70 centimeters (28 inches) are generally attributed to higher oxygen atmospheric levels in the atmosphere in the past. New experiments in raising modern insects in various oxygen-enriched atmospheres have confirmed that dragonflies grow bigger with more oxygen, or hyperoxia.
Understanding coronal mass ejections
(PhysOrg.com) -- The corona of the sun is the hot (over a million kelvin), gaseous outer region of its atmosphere. The corona is threaded by intense magnetic fields that extend upwards from the surface in loops that are twisted and sheared by the convective stirrings of the underlying dense atmosphere.
Study links fresh Mars gullies to carbon dioxide
(PhysOrg.com) -- A growing bounty of images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals that the timing of new activity in one type of the enigmatic gullies on Mars implicates carbon-dioxide frost, rather than water, as the agent causing fresh flows of sand.
Technology news
UK police learn how to follow crooks -- on Twitter
(AP) -- Trailing suspects is a staple of police work. Aspiring British detectives will soon be learning how to do it online.
Faster, more durable flash memory sought out for project
USB flash drives have become nearly ubiquitous and are now dressed out as everything from Winnie the Pooh to hand grenades. But to further expand flash memory’s use in such applications as the main memory of a computer, more work is needed, says a UT Dallas researcher.
Freescale introduces low-cost, full-featured evaluation board for StarCore-based SC3850 DSPs
Freescale Semiconductor has introduced a low-cost evaluation module for the MSC815x and MSC825x family of programmable digital signal processors (DSPs) intended for medical, aerospace, defense and test/measurement applications.
Ryerson researchers are building an intuitive communication interface
Your cell phone rings during an important meeting. Heads turn, eyebrows are raised, and everything could have been prevented if you had silenced the phone’s ringer. Or soon, thanks to an international Ryerson collaborative research project, your phone will consult your daily schedule, location, and the profiles of the people around you, and decide if the call should be sent directly to your voice mail or should be redirected to someone else. What's more, your phone will also intelligently determine if the call should be handled over Wi-Fi or regular telecommunications channels in order to provide optimal voice and video communications at the lowest cost possible.
Delivering the virtual cell to the world
Although he trained as a medical doctor, Dr. Ion Moraru’s only patients now are computers, tasked to perform a host of incredibly sophisticated computing chores for a growing number of laboratories and departments at the Health Center and worldwide.
Take-Two CEO steps down to travel with family
(AP) -- Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the company responsible for popular video games such as the "Grand Theft Auto" series, said Friday that the CEO hired to turn the company around has stepped down to travel in Asia with his family.
India gives nod to BlackBerry messenger services
India on Friday said BlackBerry messenger services should be able to continue in the country after receiving pledges from the Canadian firm that law enforcers will able to monitor the encrypted data.
S.Africa solar plan draws interest: government
South Africa's plan to build what could become the world's biggest solar project has drawn keen interest from investors even though it is still in its infancy, an official said Friday.
They're watching you: Methods to block nosy Web advertisers
Virtually everything you do online is scrutinized by search engines and advertising networks that evaluate you as a potential customer based on what you search for, the sites you visit and the ads you see -- whether you click on those ads or not.
Redbox to expand movie rentals to Web
As more consumers leave DVDs behind for digital downloads, the company that brought movie vending machines to grocery stores nationwide is following the audience.
'I'm on Everest:' High-speed Internet at base camp
(AP) -- How's this for a Facebook status update: "About to start scaling Mount Everest."
Samsung, Sony book profits but wary of road ahead
(AP) -- Three of the world's biggest names in electronics - Samsung, Sony and Panasonic - are bracing for weaker global demand and a rocky road even as they reported stellar quarterly profits Friday.
Apple beats Blackberry maker in smartphone sales
Apple has for the first time outpaced Blackberry-maker Research in Motion in global smartphone sales thanks to the success of its iPhone 4, a report said Friday.
Swiss solar plane confirmed as multiple record-breaker
Aeronautical authorities on Friday confirmed world records for a Swiss solar-powered aircraft that flew around the clock in July, including those for the longest and highest flight by such an aircraft.
A wiki for the biofuels research community
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have created a technoeconomic model that should help accelerate the development of a next generation of clean, green biofuels that can compete with gasoline in economics and well as performance. This on-line, wiki-based model enables researchers to pursue the most promising strategies for cost-efficient biorefinery operations by simulating such critical factors as production costs and energy balances under different processing scenarios.
Medicine & Health news
China Red Cross calls for urgent blood donations
(AP) -- China's Red Cross asked citizens around the country Friday to urgently donate blood because of an acute shortage that has prompted delays in some surgeries.
In Brief: A week to forget your fears?
Studies with mice have demonstrated that fearful or traumatic memories can be extinguished -- often temporarily, but sometimes permanently.
New breast cancer screening put to test
Researchers are preparing to launch a £1.6million trial of a new imaging technology to see if might be better at screening breast cancer.
California healthcare shoratge detailed in new report
When you get sick and exhaust all your home remedies and family's advice, chances are you go see a doctor. A good old-fashioned doctor who whips off his stethoscope to listen to your heart and lungs, who asks you to say "ahhhhh" while looking at the back of your throat, and who shines a tiny flashlight beam into your pupils.
Online weight program boosted by behavioral feedback
In a time when deficits have reduced states’ budgets and the services they can provide, a new study shows that the Internet might offer communities a low-cost way to motivate their overweight residents to lose pounds.
Helping Latinos kick the habit
Latinos who live the United States are more likely to quit smoking when they take part in an intervention program, finds a systematic review of studies conducted by Monica Webb Hooper, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Miami.
African Americans get needed colorectal cancer screening through programs
African-Americans are less likely than whites to be screened for colorectal cancer, and the disparity almost certainly contributes to higher mortality. A new review of studies identifies effective strategies for improving the situation, but suggests that work remains to be done.
Financial gain from good report cards in nursing homes
Nursing homes that improve their quality of care – and thereby score high on public report cards – might see financial gains.
Stereotactic radiotherapy slows pancreatic cancer progression for inoperable patients
For pancreatic cancer patients unable to undergo surgery – the only known cure for this form of cancer – a highly targeted cancer radiation therapy may help slow cancer progression and lessen disease symptoms, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Wartime urologic injuries require different mindset
Saving a soldier's life takes precedence over treating traumatic urologic injuries on the battlefield, a Medical College of Georgia researcher says.
OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital conducts second phase of landmark Batten study
Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital will lead the next phase of a landmark clinical trial to further assess the safety and preliminary effectiveness of purified human neural stem cells (HuCNS-SC) as a potential treatment for infantile or late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL), a rare and currently fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects infants and children.
Scientists seek urgent treatment for fatal sleeping sickness
Urgently-needed new treatment for a parasitic disease is being investigated in research led at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.
Effects of low testosterone in young type 2 diabetics to be studied
(PhysOrg.com) -- An endocrinologist in the University at Buffalo's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has received a three-year $400,000 Junior Faculty Award from the American Diabetes Society to study the effects of low testosterone levels in young men with type 2 diabetes.
Canned venison a better alternative to grinding your bounty
(PhysOrg.com) -- Deer hunting is an old tradition worth preserving, and when it comes to preserving venison, according to a food scientist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, an old traditional method for preserving meat might be best.
Scientists find gene variant associated with reduced risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease
(PhysOrg.com) -- Hypertension is the leading contributor to global mortality, and is known to depend on the interaction of environmental and heritable factors. However, the genetic variations identified so far only explain 1-2% of the difference in blood pressure in the population, suggesting the presence of many more variations yet to be discovered.
The psychology behind athletic success
The pressure on World Series hitters is immense. It might not have looked that way in game one as hitters battered each team's ace pitcher, especially the previously untouchable Texas Rangers pitcher Cliff Lee. But if game two is close and San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson is winding up to deliver a pitch to a Rangers slugger, what should be going through that hitter's head?
Researchers use math, maps to plot malaria elimination plan
Two University of Florida researchers and their international colleagues have used mathematical models and maps to estimate the feasibility of eliminating malaria from countries that have the deadliest form of the disease.
Debate continues on breast ductal carcinoma in situ
Six years ago, Mary Sullivan of Lido Beach, N.Y., underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with a breast abnormality known as DCIS -- ductal carcinoma in situ -- the most aggressive treatment for a lump neither she nor her doctor could feel.
Women with anorexia nervosa more likely to have unplanned pregnancies
A new study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Norwegian researchers has found that women with anorexia nervosa are much more likely to have both unplanned pregnancies and induced abortions than women who don't have the serious eating disorder.
Surrogate decision makers wish to retain authority in difficult decision
The decision to stop life-support for incapacitated and critically ill patients is, for surrogate decision makers, often fraught with moral and ethical uncertainty, and long-term emotional consequences. But as difficult as these decisions are, more than half of surrogate decision makers prefer to have full authority over the choice than to share or cede that power to physicians, according to a recent study out of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Bypass method alone does not improve insulin resistance
(PhysOrg.com) -- Bypass weight-loss surgeries do not improve insulin resistance independent of weight loss, say researchers from the University of Cincinnati (UC).
Vampire-inspired blood thinner begins new round of trials
(PhysOrg.com) -- Just in time for Halloween, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health physicians have begun testing an experimental blood thinner that mimics a chemical in vampire-bat saliva.
Making ideas harder to read may make them easier to retain
(PhysOrg.com) -- Publishing ideas in a hard-to-read typeface may make concepts harder to learn but easier to retain, according to a new study by researchers from Princeton University and Indiana University.
Halloween Special: Why we love to scare ourselves; the anatomy of fright
Dracula, Frankenstein, witches, ghosts and goblins are all around us at this time of year -- and Hollywood keeps them at our beck and call for the rest of the year as well. Scary movies allow us to experience the tonic of a good fright whenever we want one, but why do people seek out that experience?
Biology news
Less feather pecking with bitter spray
Feather pecking among chickens can be reduced by half if their feathers are sprayed with a bitter substance. Unfortunately, pecking cannot be corrected, says Bas Rodenburg of the Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre of Wageningen University.
New insights into the development of epithelial cells
Scientists of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC) of MDC and Charite in Berlin-Buch have gained new insights into the development of epithelial cells and their molecular repertoire. Dr. Max Werth, Katharina Walentin and Professor Kai Schmidt-Ott have identified a transcription factor (grainyhead-like 2, Grhl2), which regulates the composition of the molecular "bridges" that link adjacent epithelial cells. The authors were able to demonstrate that Grhl2, via DNA-binding, directly regulates the expression of two such cell junctional molecules, E-cadherin and claudin 4.
Getting around gene loss
Genes ‘knocked out’ experimentally in metabolic networks of the model plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana (Fig. 1), are compensated for by duplicate genes or alternative synthetic pathways, according to research led by Kousuke Hanada of the RIKEN Plant Science Center, Yokohama.
Discus fish parent young like mammalian mothers
Few fish are famed for their parenting skills. Most species leave their freshly hatched fry to fend for themselves, but not discus fish. Jonathan Buckley from the University of Plymouth, UK, explains that discus fish young feed on the mucus that their parents secrete over their bodies until they are big enough to forage.
Atlantic sea turtle population threatened by egg infection
An international team of Mycologists and Ecologists studying Atlantic sea turtles at Cape Verde have discovered that the species is under threat from a fungal infection which targets eggs. The research, published in FEMS Microbiology Letters , reveals how the fungus Fusarium solani may have played a key role in the 30-year decline in turtle numbers.
Halloween Special: New world record set for heaviest pumpkin
A new world record was set this month for the heaviest pumpkin ever grown. Taking first place at the Stillwater Harvest Fest in Minnesota -- and beating last year's record by 85 pounds -- this Sasquatch of squashes weighed in at just over 1,810 pounds.
Is the shape of a genome as important as its content?
If there is one thing that recent advances in genomics have revealed, it is that our genes are interrelated, "chattering" to each other across separate chromosomes and vast stretches of DNA. According to researchers at The Wistar Institute, many of these complex associations may be explained in part by the three-dimensional structure of the entire genome. A given cell's DNA spends most of its active lifetime in a tangled clump of chromosomes, which positions groups of related genes near to each other and exposes them to the cell's gene-controlling machinery. This structure, the researchers say, is not merely the shape of the genome, but also a key to how it works.
Newly discovered gene enables fish to 'disappear'
Researchers led by Vanderbilt's Roger Cone, Ph.D., have discovered a new member of a gene family that has powerful influences on pigmentation and the regulation of body weight.
Dracula orchids and goblin spiders
Dracula orchids tempt flies by masquerading as mushrooms. Goblin spiders lurk unseen in the world's leaf litter. The natural world is often just as haunting as the macabre costumes worn on city streets, as highlighted by two studies published this year by curators in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History, David Grimaldi and Norman Platnick.
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