PhysOrg Newsletter Friday, Sep 23

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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for September 23, 2011:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Cloaking magnetic fields: The first 'antimagnet' device developed
- Revolutionary conducting polymer enables silicon use as next generation of lithium-ion battery anodes
- Bees outpace orchids in evolution
- First life may have arisen above serpentine rock, researchers say
- Lessons to be learned from nature in photosynthesis
- Software developer shows face-swapping in realtime (w/ video)
- Hints of universal behavior seen in exotic three-atom states
- Falling satellite slows down, Earth strike delayed
- Dust makes light work of vehicle emissions
- All-access genome: New study explores packaging of DNA
- Engineers simulate large quake on curved bridge (w/ video)
- Bimetallic nanoantenna separates colors of light
- Bird disease spreads from UK to Europe
- Protein 'switches' could turn cancer cells into tiny chemotherapy factories
- Edible carbon dioxide sponge

Space & Earth news

Lots of space junk is circling our planet at high speeds
Dr. William Schonberg says academia is cool because you usually get to research what you're really curious about. As chair of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Schonberg, when he has time, likes to study high-speed impacts - specifically, those that could be caused by space debris.

Image: Orion prepares for next round of acoustic testing
The Orion MPCV ground test vehicle is lifted into the acoustic chamber at Lockheed Martin’s facilities near Denver on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011, in preparation for the Launch Abort Vehicle Configuration Test.

Exploring an asteroid with the Desert RATS
Earlier this month, European scientists linked up with astronauts roaming over the surface of an asteroid. Desert RATS, NASA’s realistic simulation of a future mission, this year included a European dimension for the first time.

Breathless in the Megacity
Megacities offer the enticing prospect of employment and the benefits of an urban infrastructure – but they also expose their inhabitants to high levels of air pollution. Together with an Indian Partner Group of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Bhola Ram Gurjar is analyzing this pollution and how badly it is affecting the health of city dwellers.

Japan launches new spy satellite
Japan launched a new spy satellite into orbit Friday, officials said, in its latest effort to beef up surveillance against the threat of North Korean missiles.

An X1.4 Solar Flare and a CME
(PhysOrg.com) -- A large coronal mass ejection (CME) shot off the West (right) side of the sun at 6:24 PM ET on September 21, 2011. The CME is moving away from Earth at about 900 miles per second.

NASA satellite to crash into Earth Friday
A six-ton satellite hurtled toward Earth on Friday, and NASA admitted it had little idea where the biggest piece of US space junk in 30 years will crash into the planet.

NASA completes Orion spacecraft parachute testing in Arizona
NASA this week completed the first in a series of flight-like parachute tests for the agency's Orion spacecraft. The drop tests at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona support the design and development of the Orion parachute assembly.

Globular clusters on a plane
Globular clusters are generally some of the oldest structures in our galaxy. Many of the most famous ones formed around the same time as our galaxy, some 13 billion years ago. However, some are distinctly younger. While many classification schemes are used, one breaks globular clusters into three groups: an old halo group which includes the oldest of the clusters, those in the disk and bulge of the galaxy which tend to have higher metallicity, and a younger population of halo clusters. The latter of these provides a bit of a problem since the galaxy should have settled into a disk by the time they formed, depriving them of the necessary materials to form in the first place. But a new study suggests a solution that’s not of this galaxy.

Solar activity can affect re-entry of UARS satellite
The world's eyes are on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) headed toward re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. The satellite is currently predicted to re-enter sometime on the afternoon of Friday, September 23, 2011, but it hasn't been easy to precisely determine the path and pace of UARS despite the fact that scientists well understand how satellites move through space. The problem lies in the fact that space itself changes over time -- the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere can warm up and, more importantly, puff up in response to incoming energy and particles from the sun.

Most accurate measurements of big-city pollution
(PhysOrg.com) -- One of NASA's satellites has provided the most detailed map yet of the pollution generated by some of the world’s biggest cities, and given an indication of the volume of emissions of the nitrogen oxides from direct measurements rather than relying on computer models and a range of assumptions.

Our ability to model past climates does not guarantee future success
(PhysOrg.com) -- New research from the University shows that past trends in climate must be very carefully understood before using them to model the future.

Aquarius yields NASA's first global map of ocean salinity
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's new Aquarius instrument has produced its first global map of the salinity of the ocean surface, providing an early glimpse of the mission's anticipated discoveries.

Living in the galactic danger zone
We know for certain that life exists in the Milky Way galaxy: that life is us. Scientists are continually looking to understand more about how life on our planet came to be and the conditions that must be met for its survival, and whether those conditions can be replicated elsewhere in the Universe. It turns out that looking at our entire Galaxy, rather than focusing just on life-giving properties of our planet or indeed the habitability of regions of our own Solar System, is a good place to start.

NASA to demonstrate communications via laser beam
It currently takes 90 minutes to transmit high-resolution images from Mars, but NASA would like to dramatically reduce that time to just minutes. A new optical communications system that NASA plans to demonstrate in 2016 will lead the way and even allow the streaming of high-definition video from distances beyond the Moon.

Dust makes light work of vehicle emissions
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers have identified a silver lining in the cloud of red dust that enveloped much of eastern Australia two years ago.

Falling satellite slows down, Earth strike delayed
A dead 6-ton satellite baffled NASA experts Friday by slowing its descent toward Earth and delaying its ultimate crash until the early part of the weekend.

First life may have arisen above serpentine rock, researchers say
(PhysOrg.com) -- About 3.8 billion years ago, Earth was teeming with unicellular life. A little more than 4.5 billion years ago, the Earth was a ball of vaporous rock. And somewhere in between, the first organisms spontaneously arose. Pinpointing exactly when and how that shift happened has proven a difficult bit of interdisciplinary detective work.

Technology news

Cellphone service coming to 6 NYC subway stations
(AP) -- The long-delayed project to wire New York City subway stations for cellphone service is finally bearing fruit. A person close to the matter says six stations will go live with the service on Tuesday.

ONR goes back to school to open new pathways into science education
Enlisting the aid of experts from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), a Maryland-based nonprofit rolled out a series of educational science competitions for area middle and high school students on Sept. 17.

Elpida develops industry's first 25nm process 4-gigabit DDR3 SDRAM
Elpida Memory today announced it had completed development of the industry's first 25-nanometer (nm) process 4-gigabit DDR3 SDRAM. The new chip is also the smallest 4-gigabit DRAM. The new cutting-edge smallest available 4-gigabit chip uses ultra fine-width 25nm process migration technology. Back in May, Elpida finished development of a 2-gigabit DDR3 SDRAM using the advanced 25nm process and began sample shipments in July.

Shape memory materials ready for mass production
Five years ago, Professor Mirko Gojic, a researcher at the University of Zagreb in Croatia, wondered what his small team of researchers could do to lower the price of 'smart metals': a type of high-tech materials that can remember their original cold-forged shape, returning the pre-deformed shape by heating – a property that makes them crucial in a series of industries. The idea was there, but problems quickly aroused from lack of money and key equipment. Thanks to the support of EUREKA, the product is now almost finalised and could be rolled out within the next two years. Gojic thinks that this international research project he led could soon turn into commercial production of a cheaper alloy for use in aerospace engineering or electronics.

Music, media firms pin hopes on new Facebook ties
Music and media companies are pinning fresh hopes for reviving their businesses on a small ribbon that Facebook has begun putting on user profiles called the "ticker."

Questions and answers on the latest 'New Facebook'
Every year or so - and sometimes more often - Facebook manages to miff a vocal percentage of users by changing the look and feel of its site. As it adds new features, it invariably takes away things that people have grown attached to. It's no different with the changes unveiled this week. Some have already gone live while others will be coming to your Facebook page soon.

Interview: Samsung to step up Apple patent war
(AP) -- A top Samsung executive says the company will take a bolder stance in its patent battle with smartphone and tablet rival Apple, which Samsung claims has been "free riding" on its patented wireless technologies.

A made-to-measure social network for the academic world
(PhysOrg.com) -- The scientists working at EPFL didn’t wait for Netvibes to get famous on connecting through a collaborative Web 2.0 platform. Already completely functional, Graaasp goes one step further than social networks, it responds to the specific needs of the academic world in terms of project management and knowledge sharing.

Self-healing membranes: Nature shows the way
Lianas whose stabilization rings of woody cells heal spontaneously after suffering damage serve as a natural example to bionic experts of self-repairing membranes. Empa researchers have borrowed this trick from nature and developed a polymer foam surface coating with a closed cell construction which not only reduces the pressure loss after the membrane is damaged but also makes the inflatable structure more resistant and giving it a longer operational life.

Russia believes US, Israel behind Iran worm attack: official
Russia believes Israel and the United States were responsible for unleashing the malicious Stuxnet computer worm on Iran's nuclear programme last year, a top official said Friday.

CO2 storage law falls through in Germany
Germany's parliament Friday blocked a law allowing the storage of carbon dioxide underground, as Europe's top economy wrangles over energy policy following Japan's nuclear disaster.

HP stock hits 6-year low after Whitman named CEO
(AP) -- Hewlett-Packard Co.'s stock sank Friday to its lowest level in six years, as investors worried that new CEO Meg Whitman isn't the right person to turn the company's fortunes around.

Researchers studying 10,000 Solutions participatory online platform
What are the conditions that increase and sustain collective action?

Calif. governor signs compromise on Internet taxes
(AP) -- Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Friday that postpones new sales taxes rules that would have affected online purchases in California, granting more time for traditional and online retailers to lobby Congress for a national standard on the high-stakes issue.

US satellite TV network launches Netflix challenge
US satellite television provider DISH Network has teamed with Blockbuster to stream films in a challenge to online video rental giant Netflix.

OECD report shows dramatic decline in patent quality
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has published its Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard for 2011 and one section shows that patent quality over the past 20 years has declined dramatically, mainly the authors say, due to excessive litigation by so-called non-practicing entities that seek to exploit patent laws. The result they say, is a glut of minor or incremental patent applications that add little to scientific progress.

New holographic radar system can track high speed shells
(PhysOrg.com) -- The British firm Cambridge Consultants has announced the successful test of its new 3D holographic radar system that can track fired shells traveling up to 1000 miles per hour. The new system called the Land and Surface Target Scorer (LSTS) and developed for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), is expected to help lower the cost of training and hopefully defend against small high speed enemies.

Engineers simulate large quake on curved bridge (w/ video)
Six full-size pickup trucks took a wild ride on a 16-foot-high steel bridge when it shook violently in a series of never-before-conducted experiments to investigate the seismic behavior of a curved bridge with vehicles in place. The 145-foot-long, 162-ton steel and concrete bridge was built atop four large, 14-foot by 14-foot, hydraulic shake tables in the University of Nevada, Reno's world-renowned Large-Scale Structures Earthquake Engineering Laboratory.

Amazon press invites could herald iPad rival
Amazon.com on Friday sent out enigmatic invitations to a press event, fueling expectations that the online retail titan will release a tablet computer to challenge Apple's iPad.

Software developer shows face-swapping in realtime (w/ video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Software developer Arturo Castro and media artist Kyle MacDonald have put out a video demo of their software that replaces their faces with other faces in realtime. Their face-swapping, face-morphing technology shows how their software can transform new or celebrity faces with your own. The two of them pout, pucker up, grimace, and perform other facial antics to breathe even more life into their changing faces of the likes of Paris Hilton, Marilyn Monroe, Chairman Mao, Lenin and Andy Warhol.

Medicine & Health news

China shuts US plant in lead scare: report
An American-owned battery plant in China will remain shut until the end of the year over fears it has caused lead poisoning in local children, the Shanghai Daily reported on Friday.

Parents, siblings, and people with Down syndrome report positive experiences
Three related surveys led by a physician at Children’s Hospital Boston suggest that the experience of Down syndrome is a positive one for most parents, siblings and people with Down syndrome themselves.  The results, published in three reports in the October issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics, may serve to inform expectant parents and clinicians providing prenatal care.

Statewide program helps mental health consumers quit tobacco, improve wellness
Individuals living with severe and persistent mental illness are among the people most likely to smoke, with tobacco-related diseases a main cause of death for people living with severe and persistent mental illness. Yet, few services exist to help those wanting to quit smoking through the mental health system.  

Drug pushing in the New Europe
An investigation by academic researchers has revealed how backroom deals and discreet pressure by pharmaceutical corporations are determining which drugs are delivered to hospital patients in Poland.

Regular exercise may cure brain fatigue
OK, couch potatoes. As if the promise of a healthy heart and a trim waistline weren’t enough to get you moving, researchers at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health have found another reason to hit the gym: an energized brain.

New treatment for kala azar, the most deadly parasitic disease after malaria
East Africa is fighting the worst kala azar outbreak in a decade. Collaboration across the region through the Leishmaniasis East Africa Platform (LEAP) has resulted in the development of a new combination therapy (SSG&PM) which is cheaper and nearly halves the length of treatment from a 30 day course of injections to 17 days. East African endemic countries are taking the necessary regulatory measures to use it in their programmes, but experts warn that without international funding or interest in supporting governments in the roll out, too few patients will benefit.

Internists express 'very substantial concerns' over MedPAC physician pay proposal
"While ACP (the American College of Physicians) appreciates that MedPAC (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) has put forward a comprehensive proposal to eliminate the SGR (sustainable growth rate) with the intent of protecting access to primary care for Medicare beneficiaries, we have very substantial concerns that preclude us from supporting it," Virginia L. Hood, MPPS, MPH, FACP, president of ACP, said today in a letter responding to a MedPAC proposal made last week. She noted that the comments provided in the letter are a constructive effort to develop a framework that would have ACP's full support.

Man held in Britain over contamination of painkillers
British police arrested a man on Friday after anti-psychotic and epilepsy drugs were placed in packets of the painkiller Nurofen Plus, Scotland Yard said.

Heart drug offers possible treatment for patients facing respiratory failure
Treatment with the calcium-sensitizing drug levosimendan may be effective in improving muscle function in patients with respiratory muscle weakness, which often accompanies chronic diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure, according to researchers in the Netherlands, who studied the effects of the drug on healthy volunteers. The drug, which is normally prescribed in patients with acute heart failure,increases the sensitivity of muscle tissue to calcium, improving the muscle'sability to contract.

Hospitals face drug price-gouging
(AP) -- A severe drug shortage is endangering patients and forcing hospitals to buy life-saving medications from secondary suppliers at huge markups because they can't get them any other way.

Study helps predict which ARVD patients are at highest risk of sudden cardiac death
(Medical Xpress) -- Johns Hopkins experts in arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD) have defined a set of criteria that could be used to assess a patient’s need for an implanted defibrillator to prevent sudden death. In a study to be published in the September 27 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that is now online, the researchers report that using those criteria, they were able to separate the patients at high risk for a life-threatening irregular heart rhythm from those with low risk.

Researchers develop stem cell-based models for studying mitochondrial disorders
(Medical Xpress) -- Virginia Commonwealth University researchers from the Center for the Study of Biological Complexity, the School of Engineering and the School of Medicine have developed a novel approach for generating stem cell-derived cell models to study neurodegenerative disorders that have defects in their mitochondrial genome and physiology such as Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy, Leigh’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Trappings of parenthood leads to long-term weight gain, new study shows
Parenthood accelerates weight gain over the life course according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin.

Rewiring the brain to regain control after stroke
Kris Appel was a federal employee for 17 years, working for the National Security Agency, when she realized she wanted to join the ranks of America's entrepreneurs.

Poor diet linked to teen mental health problems
Adolescents who eat unhealthily are more likely to develop mental health problems than those with good diets, a new study has found.

Could a drug reverse Type 2 diabetes?
Australian researchers have isolated a ‘master gene’ that controls Type 2 diabetes and say drugs that prevent or reverse the condition by switching off the gene may be as little as five years away

A micro-RNA as a key regulator of learning and Alzheimer's disease
Proteins are the molecular machines of the cell. They transport materials, cleave products or transmit signals – and for a long time, they have been a main focus of attention in molecular biology research. In the last two decades, however, another class of critically important molecules has emerged: small RNA molecules, including micro-RNAs. It is now well established that micro-RNAs play a key role in the regulation of cell function.

Reports of mental health disability increase in US
The prevalence of self-reported mental health disabilities increased in the U.S. among non-elderly adults during the last decade, according to a study by Ramin Mojtabai, MD, PhD, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At the same time, the study found the prevalence of disability attributed to other chronic conditions decreased, while the prevalence of significant mental distress remained unchanged. The findings will appear in the November edition of the American Journal of Public Health.

Targeting HIV's sugar coating: New microbicide may block AIDS virus from infecting cells
University of Utah researchers have discovered a new class of compounds that stick to the sugary coating of the AIDS virus and inhibit it from infecting cells – an early step toward a new treatment to prevent sexual transmission of the virus.

Learning and remembering linked to holding material in hands, new research shows
New research from the University of Notre Dame shows that people’s ability to learn and remember information depends on what they do with their hands while they are learning.

Sniffing out Parkinson's
A team of neuroscientists in UConn's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has mapped the brain’s nerve connections that help control the sense of smell, which could add another brain region to the list of those affected by Parkinson’s Disease.

Protein 'switches' could turn cancer cells into tiny chemotherapy factories
Johns Hopkins researchers have devised a protein "switch" that instructs cancer cells to produce their own anti-cancer medication.

Biology news

Economy and weather put the squeeze on wine grape supply, survey finds
The sluggish economy and unusually cool weather this season have dramatically tightened the supply of wine grapes, a situation that will likely continue for several years, reports Robert Smiley, dean and professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, Graduate School of Management.

Exploring the 'last frontier' of our genome
The human genome first appeared in print in 2001. But scientists aren’t done yet. There’s part of our DNA that geneticists have yet to assemble a sequence for: the centromeres.

Keeping pets sweet: Treating diabetes in dogs
Diabetes affects not only humans but also animals. As in humans treatment should be based on an understanding of natural fluctuations in blood glucose levels but these are hard to determine. Researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, have now shown that a commercially available system for continuous glucose monitoring can be applied to dogs without requiring the animals to be kept in a clinic. The work is published the journal Veterinary Record.

Researchers unlock key to iron-rich rice
On the back of a groundbreaking scientific discovery, researchers from Flinders University are pushing ahead with a plan to create super-rice that could potentially combat nutrient deficiencies in third-world countries.

Scientists find H1N1 flu virus prevalent in animals in Africa
(PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA life scientists and their colleagues have discovered the first evidence of the H1N1 virus in animals in Africa. In one village in northern Cameroon, a staggering 89 percent of the pigs studied had been exposed to the H1N1 virus, commonly known as the swine flu.

What's so unique about the tropics? 'Less than we thought'
(PhysOrg.com) -- The temperate forests of Canada or Northern Europe may have much more in common with the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia or South America than commonly believed, according to a research group led by a University of British Columbia ecologist.

All-access genome: New study explores packaging of DNA
While efforts to unlock the subtleties of DNA have produced remarkable insights into the code of life, researchers still grapple with fundamental questions. For example, the underlying mechanisms by which human genes are turned on and off -- generating essential proteins, determining our physical traits, and sometimes causing disease -- remain poorly understood.

Bird disease spreads from UK to Europe
(PhysOrg.com) -- The deadly bird disease trichomonosis, which has been killing off large numbers of greenfinches and chaffinches in Britain since 2005, has spread to Europe according to a new study published in EcoHealth.

Bees outpace orchids in evolution
(PhysOrg.com) -- Orchid bees aren’t so dependent on orchids after all, according to a new study that challenges the prevailing view of how plants and their insect pollinators evolve together.

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