Phys.org Newsletter Tuesday, May 29

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for May 29, 2012:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Irish mathematicians explain why Guinness bubbles sink (w/ video)
- Scientists take steps toward creating artificial graphene
- Ghostly gamma-ray beams blast from Milky Way's center
- Autonomous-driving Volvo convoy takes road in Spain
- Copper-nickel nanowires could be perfect fit for printable electronics
- Mathematicians can conjure matter waves inside an invisible hat
- Physicists store short movies in an atomic vapor
- 50-year cholera mystery solved: Answers may help clear the way for a new class of antibiotics
- Killer fungus spreads to endangered gray bats: US
- Chemical fingerprinting tracks the travels of little brown bats
- Google, Samsung unveil new version of Chromebook (Update)
- Nowhere to hide: New device sees bacteria behind the eardrum
- Study reveals how the world's first drug for amyloid disease works
- Cancerous tumors deliver pro-metastatic information in secreted vesicles
- Scientists discover gene which causes rare disease in babies

Space & Earth news

Iran delays launch of observation satellite
Iran announced Tuesday it has delayed the launch of an experimental observation satellite that was supposed to have happened a week ago, saying it would now take place sometime within the next 10 months.

Caltech Rover ready for rock-yard competition in Houston
(Phys.org) -- Later this week, a four-wheeled robot designed and built by Caltech undergraduate students will maneuver, apparently under its own guidance, through various challenges at the NASA Johnson Space Center Rock Yard in Houston. In actuality, the robot's every move will be under the control of a group of those students who will be located back on campus, in the basement of Spalding Laboratory.

The transit of Venus
Many astronomers and members of the public in Britain will be getting up early on the morning of 6 June, so they can see the final Transit of Venus of the 21st century. The Transit, when Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, was last seen in 2004 and will not happen again until the year 2117. To help the public view  this rare phenomenon, the Royal Astronomical Society has created an online resource about the Transit, including a map of public events around the UK.

Engineers use XBox technology to make 'space building blocks'
Space innovators at the University of Surrey and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) are developing ‘STRaND-2’, a twin-satellite mission to test a novel in-orbit docking system based upon XBOX Kinect technology that could change the way space assets are built, maintained and decommissioned.

Recovering water from tailings ponds
(Phys.org) -- As Alberta faces increasing pressure to make the oil industry more sustainable, one University of Alberta researcher may have found a natural solution to a problem that has been plaguing oil companies for years.

Life on Mars: just add carbon and stir
The building blocks of life have been discovered on Mars ... in Martian meteorites that fell to Earth.

Partial eclipse of the Strawberry Moon
On June 4th, 2012, there's going to be a full Moon.  According to Native American folklore it’s the Strawberry Moon, so-called because the short season for harvesting strawberries comes during the month of June.

Newly found asteroid buzzes Earth
A newly found space rock will give Earth a close shave on May 29, passing by at a distance of just 14,440 kilometers (8,950 miles). That distance puts the small asteroid, named 2012 KT42, in the top ten list of closest asteroid approaches. In fact, this is the sixth closest approach to date. The close pass will occur at about 07:00 UTC (03:00 EDT, midnight PDT in the US) on May 29. 2012 KT42 is estimated to be between 3-10 meters in size, and while there is no possibility this asteroid will hit Earth, even if it did, it would surely burn up in the atmosphere.

CryoSat goes to sea
CryoSat was launched in 2010 to measure sea-ice thickness in the Arctic, but data from the Earth-observing satellite have also been exploited for other studies. High-resolution mapping of the topography of the ocean floor is now being added to the ice mission's repertoire.

Carbon dioxide emissions reach record high
Emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide reached an all-time high last year, further reducing the chances that the world could avoid a dangerous rise in global average temperature by 2020, according to the International Energy Agency, the energy analysis group for the world's most industrialized states.

Study takes novel 'back-casting' approach to transform cities for healthier lives
Researchers at four of the country's leading universities are embarking on a low carbon engineering project that could transform the way cities are built, as well as the way we live in them, by taking a novel 'back-casting' approach to their study.

Greenland's current loss of ice mass
The Greenland ice sheet continues to lose mass and thus contributes at about 0.7 millimeters per year to the currently observed sea level change of about 3 mm per year. This trend increases each year by a further 0.07 millimeters per year.

Is California preparing for climate change? Results from new climate adaptation survey
A majority of California's coastal planners and resource managers now view the threats from climate change as sufficiently likely that practical steps on the ground need to be taken to protect against growing threats, according to results from a new survey published by Stanford University's Center for Ocean Solutions (COS) and the California Sea Grant.

Double quake highlights Italy's seismic perils
Two killer earthquakes that struck northeastern Italy in nine days have shed light on the brutal but complex seismic forces that grip the Italian peninsula, scientists say.

Typhoon Sanvu had a bad weekend
Typhoon Sanvu had a bad weekend. It went from Typhoon status on May 25 to an extra-tropical storm and finally into a remnant low pressure area by May 29, 2012.

NASA satellites watch Tropical Storm Beryl
Tropical Storm Beryl formed off the Carolina coast on Friday, May 25 as "System 94L" and later that day became the second tropical storm of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, before the season even started. Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the U.S. NASA and NOAA satellites kept track of Beryl, feeding forecasters with valuable data.

SpaceX signs 1st customer for big new rocket
(AP) — Space Exploration Technologies says it has signed its first commercial contract for a new rocket that will be more powerful than the one that launched the company's Dragon capsule to the International Space Station last week.

Discovery of historical photos sheds light on Greenland ice loss
A chance discovery of 80-year-old photo plates in a Danish basement is providing new insight into how Greenland glaciers are melting today.

Study finds emissions from widely used cookstoves vary with use
The smoke rising from a cookstove fills the air with the tantalizing aroma of dinner – and a cloud of pollutants and particles that threaten both health and the environment. How families in developing countries use their cookstoves has a big effect on emissions from those stoves, and laboratory emission tests don't accurately reflect real-world operations, according to a study by University of Illinois researchers.

Ghostly gamma-ray beams blast from Milky Way's center
(Phys.org) -- As galaxies go, our Milky Way is pretty quiet. Active galaxies have cores that glow brightly, powered by supermassive black holes swallowing material, and often spit twin jets in opposite directions. In contrast, the Milky Way's center shows little activity. But it wasn't always so peaceful. New evidence of ghostly gamma-ray beams suggests that the Milky Way's central black hole was much more active in the past.

Technology news

China's main microblog restricts user posts
China's best-known microblogging site has introduced new terms and conditions punishing those who post comments deemed offensive, as it comes under government pressure to clamp down on bloggers.

Savvy students' solution can cut costs of power bills
Consumers could save on power bills thanks to an energy saving solution devised by two savvy students at the University of Sydney's Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies.

Graetzel cells are implanted in an iPad keyboard
Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) from EPFL enter the public market. Logitech chose this technology to power its new flagship product.

UK reporter won't be prosecuted for hack leaks
(AP) — British prosecutors said Tuesday they won't press charges against a Guardian journalist and her suspected police source over leaks about the country's high-profile phone hacking investigation.

S.Africa behind other African states in Internet access
Internet penetration in South Africa, the continent's economic powerhouse, is low compared to other leading economies in Africa due to high broadband cost and a lack of infrastructure, a study said Tuesday.

Converting cars to all-electric is catching on, but slowly
Does that old Honda in your driveway need a valve job? Transform it with an electric conversion. A team at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh has come up with a kit to make your 2001-2005 Civic a zero-emission battery car. Converting an existing car instead of buying a new one is good for the planet, and the old beater will have a new lease on life.

Company makes power bills more understandable, suggests how to save energy
It's often said that knowledge is power. Knowledge about power is what drives Opower, a 5-year-old online customer engagement platform.

Dutch lawmakers reject online piracy treaty
(AP) — Dutch lawmakers adopted a motion Tuesday urging the government not to sign a controversial international treaty aimed at reining in online piracy.

Teenagers play detectives on Interpol's new website
Global police agency Interpol Tuesday launched a website to educate teenagers about crimes that can be committed over the Internet and tell them how they can protect themselves from the dangers.

Facebook's stock falls below $30 for first time
(AP) — Facebook's stock has fallen below $30 for the first time since its much-awaited public debut this month.

Hot Apple developers rally gets June 11 keynote
A sold-out Apple gathering devoted to tailoring programs for the company's coveted gadgets will kick off in San Francisco on June 11 with a keynote presentation by top executives.

BlackBerry maker to study options, warns of loss (Update)
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion warned Tuesday it could report a loss in the current quarter and said it had hired investment firms to study its strategic options.

Robotic jellyfish could one day patrol oceans, clean oil spills, and detect pollutants (w/ Video)
(Phys.org) -- Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers are working on a multi-university, nationwide project for the U.S. Navy that one day will put life-like autonomous robot jellyfish in waters around the world.

Global mobile payments to top $171 bn: survey
Worldwide mobile payments are expected to top $171.5 billion in 2012, a 61.9 percent increase from 2011, a research report said Tuesday.

Nowhere to hide: New device sees bacteria behind the eardrum
Doctors can now get a peek behind the eardrum to better diagnose and treat chronic ear infections, thanks to a new medical imaging device invented by University of Illinois researchers. The device could usher in a new suite of non-invasive, 3-D diagnostic imaging tools for primary-care physicians.

Autonomous-driving Volvo convoy takes road in Spain
(Phys.org) -- In the annals of “whatever happened to that big idea” is the 2009 announcement of road trains linking cars in a convoy, a scheme planned for Europe’s motorways. The lead vehicle would have the active driver and the rest of the cars in the convoy would be autonomously driven. Someone, possibly with a sense of humor, dubbed the undertaking as the Sartre Project, standing for Safe Road Trains for the Environment. This month comes the report that the idea has been successfully tested and is a step forward in a plan to change the way vehicles travel.

Medicine & Health news

Brain activity revealed when watching a feature film
Human brain functions have been studied in the past using relatively simple stimuli, such as pictures of faces and isolated sounds or words. Researchers from Aalto University Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science have now taken a highly different approach: they have studied brain functions in lifelike circumstances.

Physical sciences illuminate neurodegenerative diseases
What do physicists, chemists, mathematicians and biologists have in common? One of the answers at Cambridge is a shared interest in unravelling the processes behind neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Motor Neurone Disease.

H5N1 bird flu diagnostic kit detects all known strains of virus with a single test
A close collaboration between scientists from the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC) under the Agency for Science and Technology Research (A*STAR) and clinicians from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has enabled the successful development of the most comprehensive and rapid H5N1 bird flu test kit available to date. With this highly advanced kit, doctors can now rapidly detect all existing strains of the H5N1 viruses in a single test with almost 100% accuracy, within a few hours. This is a big boost to public healthcare system and a great stride forward in pandemic preparedness against this highly infectious disease worldwide.

Cabazitaxel can offer an advantage in certain patients
Cabazitaxel (trade name: Jevtana) has been approved since March 2011 in men with metastatic prostate cancer who no longer respond to conventional therapy with hormone blockers and have already been pre-treated with the cytostatic drug docetaxel. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined whether cabazitaxel offers an added benefit compared with the present standard therapy.

After 25 years, World No Tobacco Day is making an impact
May 31 marks the 25th anniversary of World No Tobacco Day, but does the day really inspire anyone to think about quitting smoking? Yes it does, according to a new study led by investigators from the Informatics Program at Children's Hospital Boston and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. For the study, the research team monitored news promoting cessation and Internet search queries indicative of cessation for six years in seven Latin American nations. Cessation news coverage and Internet search queries for cessation peaked on World No Tobacco Day, increasing as much as 83 percent and 84 percent compared to a typical day, respectively. Their findings appear in the May/June issue of Journal of Medical Internet Research.

'Eat your vegetables!' New book redefines how to raise healthy eaters
How do you get a picky young eater who refuses everything to like fruits and vegetables? How do you get children to try nutritious foods when all they want is something sweet or salty? How do you raise healthy eaters without constant mealtime struggles?

Simulation technology allows users to safely practice phacoemulsification cataract surgery
Phacoemulsification cataract surgery is one of the most frequently performed eye surgeries in the United States, with 1.5 million procedures performed each year. It is also one of the most complex procedures to learn. A new, highly innovative, computer-based simulation tool, the Mass. Eye and Ear Cataract Master, bridges the learning gap that residents and ophthalmologists new to phaco must navigate prior to performing actual surgery.

IU bisexuality studies focus on health, behavior and identity
Bisexuality, often stigmatized, typically has been lumped with homosexuality in previous public health research. But when Indiana University scientists recently focused on the health issues and behaviors specific to behaviorally bisexual men and women, they found tremendous variety, and that commonly used labels, such as heterosexual and homosexual, can sometimes do more harm than good.

Commonly used painkillers may protect against skin cancer
A new study suggests that aspirin and other similar painkillers may help protect against skin cancer. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings indicate that skin cancer prevention may be added to the benefits of these commonly used medications.

PCB can increase risk of abdominal fat
(Medical Xpress) -- There is a correlation between high levels of the environmental toxin PCB and the distribution of body fat to the abdomen. This is shown in a new study published today in the scientific journal Obesity. Abdominal fat is already known to increase the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure, among other conditions.

Pecking orders not just for the birds
(Medical Xpress) -- Despite our inclination to believe equality within a team or group is important, new research suggests that a built-in hierarchy leads to fewer group conflicts and higher productivity.

Happiness wave study reveals happy pensioners, and debunks middle-age blues myth
(Medical Xpress) -- People are at their happiest at retirement age and their most miserable in their geriatric years, a new study has found.

Research reveals the truth behind the evil eyebrows of a cartoon villain
(Medical Xpress) -- New research from the University of Warwick could explain why the evil eyebrows and pointy chin of a cartoon villain make our ‘threat’ instinct kick in.

Night shift might boost women's breast cancer risk: study
(HealthDay) -- Women who work the night shift more than twice a week might be increasing their risk for breast cancer, Danish researchers find.

New findings shift research direction in lupus and asthma
(Medical Xpress) -- Newfound details of the immune system suggest a role for never-before-considered drug classes in the treatment of allergic and autoimmune diseases, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham study published online today in Nature Immunology.

Feeling lackadaisical? sleep apnea may be to blame
(HealthDay) -- Millions of Americans plod through each day exhausted. Not because they're working too hard, over-exercising or not taking enough vitamins.

Too much vitamin D can be as unhealthy as too little
Scientists know that Vitamin D deficiency is not healthy. However, new research from the University of Copenhagen now indicates that too high a level of the essential vitamin is not good either. The study is based on blood samples from 247,574 Copenhageners. The results have just been published in the reputed scientific Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Auto industry lean techniques boost morale and teamwork in the operating room
For a year and a half, the University of Michigan Health System turned one of its head and neck surgery practices into a laboratory.

Study finds significantly higher hospital costs for surgical patients who smoke
Cigarette smoking contributes to significantly higher hospital costs for smokers undergoing elective general surgery, according to a study published in the June 2012 issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. When researchers analyzed data on more than 14,000 patients, they found that postoperative respiratory complications help drive up these health care costs.

Why chemotherapy fails: Scientists show why leukemia often returns
The fight against cancer is not won in a single battle: Long after a cancer has been beaten into remission, it can return. The reason for this is under debate, and much is unclear. New research led by Weizmann Institute scientists shows that, at least for one type of blood cancer, the source of cancer recurrence is in a set of cells that do not proliferate as quickly as regular cancer cells, and thus able to survive chemotherapy. The findings, which appeared today in the journal Blood, have some important implications for the future of the war on cancer.

Use of stun guns increases injuries
The police use of stun guns increases the risk of injuries for those on the receiving end, but tends to increase officer safety, according to the most comprehensive study of such devices to date.

Researchers restore neuron function to brains damaged by Huntington's disease
Researchers from South Korea, Sweden, and the United States have collaborated on a project to restore neuron function to parts of the brain damaged by Huntington's disease (HD) by successfully transplanting HD-induced pluripotent stem cells into animal models.

The Mediterranean diet is definitively linked to quality of life
For years the Mediterranean diet has been associated with a lesser chance of illness and increased well-being. A new study has now linked it to mental and physical health too.

STeleR study: Telerehab improves functioning after stroke
Researchers led by Regenstrief Institute investigator Neale Chumbler, Ph.D., a research scientist with the Center of Excellence on Implementing Evidence-Based Practice at the Richard Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, have developed STeleR, a home telerehabilitation program that they report improves lower body physical functioning after a stroke. Participating in STeleR also increased the likelihood of maintaining a regular fitness routine, enhanced money management skills, and improved the capability to prepare meals and take care of personal needs such as bathing.

The REMARK checklist explained: How to use guidelines on reporting tumor marker prognostic studies
In an "elaboration and explanation" of the REMARK (Reporting Recommendations for Tumor Marker Prognostic Studies) checklist, Doug Altman of the University of Oxford, UK and colleagues provide a detailed reference for authors on important issues to consider when designing, conducting, analyzing and reporting tumor marker prognostic studies. Writing in this week's PLoS Medicine (and co-published in BMC Medicine) the authors explain the checklist items in detail and illustrate each one with published examples of good reporting.

New federal disclosure law may have little impact on drugs prescribed
A Colorado School of Public Health researcher has found that laws designed to illuminate financial links between doctors and pharmaceutical companies have little or no effect on what drugs physicians prescribe.

Older adults may need more vitamin D to prevent mobility difficulties
Older adults who don't get enough vitamin D – either from diet, supplements or sun exposure – may be at increased risk of developing mobility limitations and disability, according to new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

Diabetes drug could be a promising therapy for traumatic brain injury
Although the death toll is relatively low for people who suffer from traumatic brain injury (TBI), it can have severe, life-long consequences for brain function. TBI can impair a patient's mental abilities, impact memory and behavior, and lead to dramatic personality changes. And long-term medical treatment carries a high economic cost.

Mutations impair childhood growth and development by disrupting organization of chromosome pairs
Researchers studying rare genetic disorders have uncovered insights into those diseases in biological structures that regulate chromosomes when cells divide. Focusing on the cohesin complex, a group of proteins forming a bracelet that encircles chromosome pairs, scientists have discovered mutations that disrupt cohesin, causing a recently recognized class of diseases called cohesinopathies.

Children exposed to the common pollutant naphthalene show signs of chromosomal damage
According to a new study, children exposed to high levels of the common air pollutant naphthalene are at increased risk for chromosomal aberrations (CAs), which have been previously associated with cancer. These include chromosomal translocations, a potentially more harmful and long-lasting subtype of CAs.

Gum disease joins hot flashes and PMS associated with women's hormones
Women, keep those toothbrushes and dental floss handy. A comprehensive review of women's health studies by Charlene Krejci, associate clinical professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, has shown a link between women's health issues and gum disease.

Why do Scots die younger?
Life expectancy in Scotland is markedly lower compared to other European nations and the UK as a whole. But what are the reasons for this higher mortality? An explanatory framework, synthesising the evidence is published this month in Public Health.

Researchers discover biomarker for advanced bile duct fibrosis and bile duct cancer
GW Researchers, Jeffrey M. Bethony, Ph.D., associate professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine, and Paul Brindley, Ph.D., professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine at GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, along with colleagues from Khon Kaen University in Thailand have determined that plasma Interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels are an sensitive and specific biomarker for the detection of the advanced bile duct fibrosis and bile duct cancer that comes from chronic infection with the Asian Liver Fluke (Opisthorchis viverrini). The research, titled, "Elevated Plasma IL-6 Associates with Increased Risk of Advanced Fibrosis and Cholangiocarcinoma in Individuals Infected by Opisthorchis viverrini," was recently published in the journal, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Researchers develop new, safer method for making vaccines
While vaccines are perhaps medicine's most important success story, there is always room for improvement. Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) appear to have done just that. As explained in a newly published research paper, Mark Slifka, Ph.D., and colleagues have discovered a new method for creating vaccines that is thought to be safer and more effective than current approaches. The research results are published online in the journal Nature Medicine.

Safeguards against misuse of genetic data urged
Rapid advancements in genetic disease research necessitate innovative safeguards for patients, according to new American Heart Association policy recommendations published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal.

New drug strategy attacks resistant leukemia and lymphoma
Scientists at the Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center have developed an anti-cancer peptide that overcomes the stubborn resistance to chemotherapy and radiation often encountered in certain blood cancers when the disease recurs following initial treatment.

Community and health system approaches improves mental health in Afghanistan
"Treatment of mental disorders within the health care system needs to be accompanied by a community-based approach that focuses on psychosocial problems," say the authors of a case study from Afghanistan published in this week's PLoS Medicine as part of the newly launched series on global mental health practice.

New approach to screen pregnant women for mental health disorders
A new model of care for screening and treating women around the time of childbirth for mental health disorders shows promise according to researchers from South Africa reporting in this week's PLoS Medicine as part of the newly launched series in global mental health practice.

Trafficked women experience violence and poor health
Women who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation experience violence and poor physical and mental health but there is little evidence available about the health consequences experienced by trafficked children, men or people trafficked for other forms of exploitation according to a study by UK researchers published in this week's PLoS Medicine.

Antioxidant shows promise as treatment for certain features of autism, study finds
A specific antioxidant supplement may be an effective therapy for some features of autism, according to a pilot trial from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital that involved 31 children with the disorder.

PUFA formula supplementation doesn't up infant cognition
(HealthDay) -- Supplementation of infant formula with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) is not associated with improved cognition; and infants fed with milk- or soy protein-based formula have similar cognitive development scores, which are slightly lower than those of breastfed infants, according to two studies published online May 28 in Pediatrics.

New discovery could lead to new way to screen drugs for adverse reactions
Adverse drug reactions are a major issue that cause harm, are costly and restrict treatment options for patients and the development of new drugs. A groundbreaking finding by researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology could lead to a new way to dramatically improve drug safety by identifying drugs at risk to cause potentially fatal genetic-linked hypersensitivity reactions before their use in man.

New HIV-inhibiting protein identified
Scientists have identified a new HIV-suppressing protein in the blood of people infected with the virus. In laboratory studies, the protein, called CXCL4 or PF-4, binds to HIV such that it cannot attach to or enter a human cell. The research was led by Paolo Lusso, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Section of Viral Pathogenesis in the Laboratory of Immunoregulation at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH.

World's largest release of comprehensive human cancer genome data helps speed discoveries
To speed progress against cancer and other diseases, the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project today announced the largest-ever release of comprehensive human cancer genome data for free access by the global scientific community. The amount of information released more than doubles the volume of high-coverage, whole genome data currently available from all human genome sources combined. This information is valuable not just to cancer researchers, but also to scientists studying almost any disease.

Scientists discover gene which causes rare disease in babies
A rare disease which often first presents in newborn babies has been traced to a novel genetic defect, scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have found.

Cancerous tumors deliver pro-metastatic information in secreted vesicles
Cancer researchers have known for well over a century that different tumor types spread only to specific, preferred organs. But no one has been able to determine the mechanisms of organ specific metastasis, the so-called "soil and seed" theory of 1889. New details that could help shed light on this hypothesis have been provided by a team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and their collaborators, proposing a new mechanism controlling cancer metastasis that offers fresh diagnostic and treatment potential.

Study reveals how the world's first drug for amyloid disease works
Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and Pfizer Inc. have published a new study showing how a new drug called tafamidis (Vyndaqel) works. Tafamidis, approved for use in Europe and currently under review by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is the first medication approved by a major regulatory agency to treat an amyloid disease, a class of conditions that include Alzheimer's.

Biology news

Australians 'may have to choose what to save'
The responsibility for choosing which Australian native species survive – and which go extinct – may ultimately fall to ordinary Australians.

Genome provides new weapon against sea lice
An international team of researchers has now sequenced nearly the entire genetic material of the sea louse. On 1 March the Institute of Marine Research gave the world open access to this research source, which could enable the aquaculture industry to develop new and more effective medicines to combat this plague.

Flapping protective wings increase lift
New research from Lund University in Sweden reveals the value of carrying two layers of wings around. The researchers studied dung beetles and the way their protective forewings actually function. These wings do not only protect but also help the beetles to lift off from the ground – albeit at a cost.

50-year cholera mystery solved: Answers may help clear the way for a new class of antibiotics
For 50 years scientists have been unsure how the bacteria that gives humans cholera manages to resist one of our basic innate immune responses. That mystery has now been solved, thanks to research from biologists at The University of Texas at Austin.

Killer fungus spreads to endangered gray bats: US
A deadly fungus that has wiped out large populations of bats in North America has spread to a new species, the endangered gray bat, US wildlife officials said Tuesday.

Chemical fingerprinting tracks the travels of little brown bats
They're tiny creatures with glossy, chocolate-brown hair, out-sized ears and wings. They gobble mosquitoes and other insect pests during the summer and hibernate in caves and mines when the weather turns cold. They are little brown bats, and a deadly disease called white-nose syndrome is threatening their very existence.

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