Phys.org Newsletter Friday, Jan 25

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for January 25, 2013:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- You don't exist in an infinite number of places, say scientists
- iRobot proposes 3-D printing with less human intervention
- New study reveals contribution of little known Austrian physicist, Friedrich Hasenöhrl, to famous Einstein equation
- At least one in five were infected in flu pandemic, international study suggests
- Smartphone sales exploded in 2012, surveys show
- Wolfram Alpha expands Facebook analytics
- Diet, parental behavior, and preschool can boost children's IQ
- MOOC2Degree program to offer credit for free online college courses
- Evolution inspires more efficient solar cell design: Geometric pattern maximizes time light is trapped in solar cell
- Expert warning: Resistance to antibiotics to be apocalyptic
- Researchers identify new target for rheumatoid arthritis
- Web inventor says governments stifling net freedom (Update)
- Forget Moore's Law: Researchers define new ways to evaluate new technologies
- New tool for mining bacterial genome for novel drugs
- Indiana using new concrete to increase bridge life span

Space & Earth news

Global warming less extreme than feared?
Policymakers are attempting to contain global warming at less than 2°C. New estimates from a Norwegian project on climate calculations indicate this target may be more attainable than many experts have feared.

NSF cooperating with Italy, New Zealand in search for downed plane in Antarctica
Officials with the U.S. Antarctic Program are cooperating with their Italian and New Zealand counterparts, as well as the Rescue Coordination Centre in Wellington, NZ, in a search-and-rescue effort to locate a propeller-driven aircraft that is believed to have crashed in a remote and mountainous part of Antarctica.

Brazil to do a biodiversity study of the Amazon
The Brazilian government says it's undertaking a four-year, $33 million study of its vast Amazon rainforest to compile a detailed inventory of the plants, animals and people that live there.

Reconciling agronomic production, water-saving and soil preservation
Unexpectedly, some crops such as maize or rapeseed have been found to act as carbon sinks, extracting CO2 from the atmosphere. However, others like sunflower and silage maize are carbon sources. These are the main conclusions of a study carried out by a research team from the Centre d'études spatiales de la biosphère. Over seven years, researchers measured the carbon and water fluxes of two experimental field plots. Their results show that the environmental impact of agriculture can be reduced by the right cropping practices, making it possible for agriculture to reconcile environmental and agronomic objectives. This work was published in Agricultural and Forestry Meteorology on 15 January 2013.

Depression-era drainage ditches emerge as sleeping threat to Cape Cod salt marshes
Cape Cod, Massachusetts has a problem. The iconic salt marshes of the famous summer retreat are melting away at the edges, dying back from the most popular recreational areas. The erosion is a consequence of an unexpected synergy between recreational over-fishing and Great Depression-era ditches constructed by Works Progress Administration (WPA) in an effort to control mosquitoes. The cascade of ecological cause and effect is described by Tyler Coverdale and colleagues at Brown University in a paper published online this month in ESA's journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

The origin and maintenance of a retrograde exoplanet
Astronomers have used the Subaru Telescope to show that the HAT-P-7 planetary system, which is about 1040 light years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus, includes at least two giant planets and one companion star (Figure 1). The discovery of a previously unknown companion (HAT-P-7B) to the central star (HAT-P-7) as well as confirmation of another giant planet (HAT-P-7c) orbiting outside of the retrograde planet HAT-P-7b offer new insights into how retrograde planets may form and endure.

Study discovers high levels of air-cleansing compound over ocean
(Phys.org)—Researchers have detected the presence of a pollutant-destroying compound iodine monoxide in surprisingly high levels high above the tropical ocean, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.

Technology news

Advanced adsorption chiller uses nanomaterial to be up 50 percent more efficient
A new, energy-efficient air chilling system could keep troops on the front lines cool while using about half as much diesel as current systems. The system's decreased fuel consumption could also save lives by reducing attacks on American soldiers who deliver fuel to field operations.

Sundance film reads 'false God' lesson in Google Books
Google Books, the doomed project to build the world's biggest library online, provides a powerful lesson in the danger of "blind faith" in technology, according to British director Ben Lewis.

Hashtag goes Gallic in French lawbooks
(AP)—The French government is redefining hashtag with a Gallic touch. The country that has an academy devoted solely to the use of the French language has given its official seal of approval to a new word for the Twittersphere: mot-diese.

'Live burns' in Spartanburg, S.C., will benefit research and firefighter training
Fire researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and colleagues from fire service organizations will turn abandoned wood-frame, single-family houses near the site of an old Spartanburg, S.C., textile mill into proving and training grounds for new science-driven fire-fighting techniques this week. The objective of the study is to improve firefighter safety and effectiveness.

Samsung 4Q profits top forecasts on Galaxy sales
Samsung Electronics Co. said quarterly profit soared 76 percent, boosted by the popularity of its Galaxy smartphones, which outsold the iPhone for a fourth straight quarter.

Corps of Engineers completes Army's largest solar array installation
The largest solar power system in the U.S. Army is coming online at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and officials gathered Jan. 16, to mark the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Exxon passes Apple as most valuable company (Update)
Exxon has once again surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company after the iPhone and iPad maker saw its stock price falter.

Verizon sells spectrum to AT&T for $1.9 billion
Verizon Wireless says it's selling space on the airwaves to AT&T in exchange for $1.9 billion and the transfer of some airwave rights from AT&T.

Silicon Valley plant named as Apple manufacturer
Apple on Friday listed a Silicon Valley facility as a location where the California company's Macintosh computers are assembled.

Multi-tasking micro-lights could spark a communications revolution
Tiny LED lights now being developed could deliver Wi-Fi-like internet communications, while simultaneously displaying information, and providing illumination for homes, offices and a whole host of other locations.

Smartphone sales exploded in 2012, surveys show
Global smartphone sales soared in 2012, taking a huge slice of a mobile phone market that was otherwise flat, survey data showed Friday.

Wolfram Alpha expands Facebook analytics
(Phys.org)—Wolfram Alpha, the computational search engine has announced a major upgrade to its Personal Analytics for Facebook. Now instead of a few basic facts about a user's Facebook page, those who use the engine on their own page can gain new insights into the various ways people are related to them on the social networking site.

Web inventor says governments stifling net freedom (Update)
The inventor of the World Wide Web warned Friday that government control is limiting the possibilities of the Internet, as dozens of countries and businesses signed a cybersecurity deal at the Davos forum.

Forget Moore's Law: Researchers define new ways to evaluate new technologies
The bread and butter of investing for Silicon Valley tech companies is stale. Instead, a new method of predicting the evolution of technology could save tech giants millions in research and development or developments of new products—and help analysts and venture capitalists determine which companies are on the right track.

Indiana using new concrete to increase bridge life span
(Phys.org)—Purdue University research is enabling Indiana to improve bridges in the state with a new "internally cured" high-performance concrete.

iRobot proposes 3-D printing with less human intervention
(Phys.org)—iRobot Corporation, the Bedford, Massachusetts-based makers of Roomba, have a wish list for 3-D printing that goes something like this: Cut out the human labor, automate everything, and the result is reduced manufacturing costs and higher product quality. Putting their efforts into action, iRobot filed a patent last year for just that reason. Their patent calls for a 3-D printer that produces completely finished products without the need for humans to assemble or finish the object.

Medicine & Health news

Frontiers publishes systematic review on the effects of yoga on major psychiatric disorders
Yoga has positive effects on mild depression and sleep complaints, even in the absence of drug treatments, and improves symptoms associated with schizophrenia and ADHD in patients on medication, according to a systematic review of the exercise on major clinical psychiatric disorders.

Cambodia reports 3 new bird flu cases, 2 fatal
Cambodia on Friday reported three new human cases of bird flu, two of them fatal, in the first three weeks of this year. That's as many cases as the Southeast Asian country reported in all of 2012.

Lupus: Peptide P140/LupuzorTM effectiveness confirmed
A clinical trial with 149 patients suffering from the very disabling autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus, has shown the effectiveness of a synthetic peptide developed by a team of researchers led by CNRS biologist Slyviane Muller at the Institut de Biologie Moleculaire (IBMC) in Strasbourg, France.

Improving health care for Cambodian-Americans
Scarred by years of torture and abuse under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, Cambodian refugees in the United States have been found to have significantly higher physical and mental health problems compared to the general population.

Street youth more likely to trade sex for food, shelter if they were abused as children, study finds
New research led by Ryerson scientists have found that street youth who have been sexually abused as children are far more likely to engage in trading sex for food, shelter and other basic necessities.

Female thin bodies like men more than women
A study conducted at the University of Granada has demonstrated that men like female thinness more than women and they find female overweight more unpleasant than women. In addition, the study revealed that women who are not comfortable with their body perceive women with a "normal" body –i.e. women with a healthy weight– as a threat. Specifically, when these women see a "normal" body they experience feelings of displeasure and lack of control, since they feel they have not any control on their own body and cannot make it be as they want.

Singapore scientists discover p53 mutation hinders cancer treatment response
Scientists from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) have discovered the workings of the gene that has been hindering treatment response in cancer patients. This discovery was made after 5 years of studying the mutant form of the p53 gene, the major tumor suppressor in humans, which is generally found mutated in over 50% of all type of human cancers.

An important LINC in human hearing
In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Karen Avraham and colleagues at Tel Aviv University identified a genetic mutation in two families with hereditary high frequency hearing loss.

AAFP to Obama: Family docs key in violence prevention
(HealthDay)—Family physicians can play a role in addressing and preventing violence in the community, according to a Jan. 17 letter to President Obama from the American Association of Family Physicians (AAFP).

Predictors of dissatisfaction with midface rejuvenation ID'd
(HealthDay)—For patients who undergo midface rejuvenation surgery, the rate of dissatisfaction with outcome is associated with malar hypoplasia and loss of elasticity, according to a study published online Jan. 24 in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery.

Support players needed to improve primary care delivery
(HealthDay)—Practice facilitators and care managers can play important roles in improving delivery of primary care, according to a study published in the January/February issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.

UN deputy chief urges action on water rights
(AP)—Most of the world's urgent problems boil down to water and sanitation, and global leaders must act to reduce child mortality and urban poverty, the UN's deputy chief said Friday.

Researcher pinpoints prescription for successful Primary Care Networks
A newly-released study on early adoptees of the Primary Care Network initiative proposes that their success lies with three key elements: strong leadership, a redefined, inclusive workspace and allowance for creative discord.

UK study shows abuse may affect cancer-related well-being in female patients
A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows evidence that certain forms of abuse negatively influence women cancer patients' quality of life.

Gleevec's latest approval is for pediatric cancer
(HealthDay)—The anti-cancer drug Gleevec (imatinib) has received new U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to treat the most common type of pediatric cancer, affecting some 2,900 children each year, the agency said Friday.

Risk of death up for PE patients with high plasma lactate levels
(HealthDay)—Adult patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) with elevated plasma lactate levels are at a high risk of death and adverse outcomes, regardless of whether they also present with shock or hypotension; right-sided ventricular dysfunction; or elevation of troponin I, according to research published online Jan. 9 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

Surgeon volume, prognosis post-esophageal cancer op linked
(HealthDay)—For patients with esophageal cancer undergoing resection, surgeon volume, but not hospital volume, is independently associated with prognosis, according to research published online Jan. 7 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

CDC: Salmonella cause of most foodborne-illness outbreaks
(HealthDay)—Food poisoning sickens millions of Americans each year, and most outbreaks are caused by salmonella-tainted foods or norovirus, federal health officials report.

Meta-analysis confirms folic acid supplementation unlikely to increase cancer risk
Researchers have established that short-term use of folic acid supplements is unlikely to substantially increase or decrease overall cancer risk and has little effect on the risk of developing any specific cancer including cancer of the colon, prostate, lung, and breast, according to a meta-analysis involving almost 50,000 individuals published Online First in the Lancet.

Science needs a second opinion: Researchers find flaws in study of patients in 'vegetative state'
A team of researchers led by Weill Cornell Medical College is calling into question the published statistics, methods and findings of a highly publicized research study that claimed bedside electroencephalography (EEG) identified evidence of awareness in three patients diagnosed to be in a vegetative state.

Organizing human specimen collections: Getting the best out of biobanks
The diversity of biobanks, collections of human specimens from a variety of sources, raises questions about the best way to manage and govern them, finds a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Medicine. The research highlights difficulties in standardizing these collections and how to make these samples available for research.

Do non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs cause kidney failure in children?
Sick children, especially those with some dehydration from flu or other illnesses, risk significant kidney injury if given drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen, Indiana University School of Medicine researchers said Friday.

Tumor cells engineer acidity to drive cell invasion
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at Wayne State University School of Medicine investigated the acidity in solid tumors to determine if pH levels play a role in cancer cell invasion in surrounding tissues. They found that an acidic microenvironment can drive cancer cells to spread and propose that neutralizing pH would inhibit further invasion, providing a therapeutic opportunity to slow the progression of cancers.

Leprosy: An ancient disease thrives in 21st century
It has been called the world's oldest recorded disease, an evil that humans have known for more than 3,500 years, as papyri from ancient Egypt testify.

Portable metabolism tracker launched
Breezing, a new startup based on technology developed by researchers at Arizona State University, is offering the world's first portable device that can track an individual's metabolism and use that information to provide diet and exercise recommendations for maintaining or reaching a healthy weight.

Providing brain cells with the 3rd dimension to grow outside the body
Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy in collaboration with Chalmers University of Technology developed a unique Bioactive3D culture system for brain cells. This system gives new possibilities to study cell-cell interactions and disease pathogenesis on cellular and molecular levels.

New method identifies genes that can predict prognoses of cancer patients
In recent years, it has been thought that select sets of genes might reveal cancer patients' prognoses. However, a study published last year examining breast cancer cases found that most of these "prognostic signatures" were no more accurate than random gene sets in determining cancer prognoses. While many saw this as a disappointment, investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) saw this as an opportunity to design a new method to identify gene sets that could yield more significant prognostic value.

Analysis of social media use could give therapists more complete view of patients' health
Facebook activity provided a window into the psychological health of participants in a study at the University of Missouri. Social media profiles could eventually be used as tools for psychologists and therapists, according to study leader Elizabeth Martin, doctoral student in MU's psychological science department in the College of Arts and Science.

Using Twitter to track the flu: Researchers find a better way to screen the tweets
Sifting through social media messages has become a popular way to track when and where flu cases occur, but a key hurdle hampers the process: how to identify flu-infection tweets. Some tweets are posted by people who have been sick with the virus, while others come from folks who are merely talking about the illness. If you are tracking actual flu cases, such conversations about the flu in general can skew the results.

ACPE survey finds skepticism relating to online doc ratings
(HealthDay)—Physicians are skeptical of online ratings, and believe that few patients use them, according to a survey published by the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE).

Psychological factors impact upper-extremity disability
(HealthDay)—Psychological factors, including kinesiophobia and catastrophic thinking, are important predictors of the magnitude of upper-extremity-specific disability, according to a study published in the Jan. 2 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.

Retinopathy severity linked to cardiovascular outcome
(HealthDay)—For individuals with type 2 diabetes, incident cardiovascular outcomes are determined not only by the severity of diabetic retinopathy but also by its progression, according to research published online Dec. 13 in Diabetes Care.

The other incontinence: New treatments helping sufferers regain bowel control, decrease suffering, shame
In an era when people talk about just about anything, fecal incontinence is one of the few medical conditions that is so embarrassing, so disturbing, that people don't even tell their doctors about it.

Patients seek stem-cell 'miracle,' but scientists warn of dangers
Boca Raton, Fla., parents Gary and Judy Susser say they know the hope and promise of stem-cell therapy. Nine years ago they traveled to Mexico for stem cell injections for their son Adam, who has cerebral palsy.

Maryland researchers study how flu is spread, question direct vs. indirect contact
Every flu season, doctors instruct their patients in the basics of respiratory etiquette: To limit spread of the disease, wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough and practice good hygiene.

How to find the best medical information online
If you turn to Google before turning to a doctor when you're feeling icky, you're not alone.

Study may lead to new strategies against sepsis
Scientists at the Center for Translational Medicine at the Temple University School of Medicine are inching closer to solving a long-standing mystery in sepsis, a complex and often life-threatening condition that affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. every year. By blocking the activity of a protein, STIM1, in cells that line the insides of blood vessels in mice, they have halted a cascade of cellular events that culminates in the out-of-control inflammation that marks sepsis, and protected lungs from severe damage.

Daily antiseptic baths slash risk of bloodstream infections in critically ill children
Daily baths with an ordinary antibacterial cleanser can safely reduce the risk of dangerous bloodstream infections in critically ill children, according to a trial conducted in five pediatric hospitals and led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. A report on the findings of the research—the first of its kind in children and one of the largest infection-prevention trials to date—will be published online Jan. 26 in the Lancet.

Prostate cancer cells thrive on stress
Not surprisingly, a cancer diagnosis creates stress. And patients with prostate cancer show higher levels of anxiety compared to other cancer patients.

CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West
New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.

No more 'empty nest:' Middle-aged adults face family pressure on both sides
The "empty nest" of past generations, in which the kids are grown up and middle-aged adults have more time to themselves, has been replaced in the United States by a nest that's full – kids who can't leave, can't find a job and aging parents who need more help than ever before.

Marked geographic variation in mental health medication use
(HealthDay)—There is considerable local and regional variation within the United States in the use of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and stimulants, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in Health & Place.

Increases in mean platelet volume after PCI tied to death
(HealthDay)—For patients who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), mortality is associated with increases in mean platelet volume (MPV) over time following the procedure, according to a study published in the Jan. 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

Performance differences seen in continuous glucose monitors
(HealthDay)—Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices vary in performance characteristics, according to a comparative effectiveness study published online Dec. 28 in Diabetes Care.

Flu still at epidemic levels: CDC
(HealthDay)—While flu activity remains high across the United States, there are signs that the number of infections may be leveling off, federal health officials reported Friday.

Bisexual women at especially high risk of sexual violence, CDC says
(HealthDay)—Bisexual women in the United States are more likely to suffer from domestic violence than either lesbian or heterosexual women, a new government report shows.

First OTC drug approved for women with overactive bladder
(HealthDay)—The drug Oxytrol has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the first over-the-counter treatment for women 18 and older with overactive bladder.

Study finds qigong improves quality of life for breast cancer patients
Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found qigong, an ancient mind-body practice, reduces depressive symptoms and improves quality of life in women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer.

FDA panel wants limits on hydrocodone painkillers
Federal health advisors want new restrictions on hydrocodone, the highly addictive ingredient found in Vicodin and other widely abused prescription painkillers.

Lead levels down in U.S. kids, but asthma cases rising
(HealthDay)—Lead levels in young children in the United States have declined dramatically in recent decades, according to government figures released Friday. But the new report on the environment and children's health also found a rise in asthma among kids.

Chronic heartburn could spur asthma in some patients
(HealthDay)—Chronic heartburn is a major cause of asthma in adults, a new study suggests.

ER visits linked to ADHD meds up sharply
(HealthDay)—U.S. emergency department visits involving attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs more than doubled from 2005 to 2010, with the largest hike occurring among adults, says a new government report.

Smoking still takes a heavy toll in US, CDC finds
(HealthDay)—Even though proven anti-smoking strategies exist, more than 440,000 Americans still die each year from cigarette smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke, federal health officials said Friday.

Expert warning: Resistance to antibiotics to be apocalyptic
(Medical Xpress)—The chief medical officer for Britain's Department of Health has issued a warning that resistance to bacteria is a more urgent threat to humanity than global warming, with bacteria becoming resistant to current antibiotics at an alarming rate, and there are almost no new antibiotics in the pipeline.

Discovery offers unprecedented look at regulation of gene expression
(Medical Xpress)—A groundbreaking technique developed at the University of Virginia School of Medicine is allowing scientists to examine histone modifications of genetic loci – a process that regulates gene expression – in single cells. The researchers believe the new method will have broad applications for most biomedical areas, most immediately in atherosclerosis research.

Altering eye cells may one day restore vision
(Medical Xpress)—Doctors may one day treat some forms of blindness by altering the genetic program of the light-sensing cells of the eye, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Long non-coding RNA molecules necessary to regulate differentiation of embryonic stem cells into cardiac cells
When the human genome was sequenced, biologists were surprised to find that very little of the genome—less than 3 percent—corresponds to protein-coding genes. What, they wondered, was all the rest of that DNA doing?

At least one in five were infected in flu pandemic, international study suggests
(Medical Xpress)—At least one in five people in countries for which data are available were infected with influenza during the first year of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a new study.

Diet, parental behavior, and preschool can boost children's IQ
Supplementing children's diets with fish oil, enrolling them in quality preschool, and engaging them in interactive reading all turn out to be effective ways to raise a young child's intelligence, according to a new report published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

Researchers identify new target for rheumatoid arthritis
Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified a potential new target for drugs to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a protein known as IRHOM2. The finding could provide an effective and potentially less toxic alternative therapy to tumor necrosis factor-alpha blockers (TNF-blockers), the mainstay of treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, and could help patients who do not respond to this treatment. Efforts to develop drugs that hone in on this new target are underway.

Biology news

Treat illegal wildlife trade as serious crime: CITES
Illegal trade in wildlife products like ivory and rhino horn must be treated as a serious crime in order to end the devastating poaching of protected species, the head of UN wildlife trade regulator CITES said Thursday.

Fighting back against citrus greening
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists in Fort Pierce, Fla. are helping citrus growers and juice processors address the threat posed by Huanglongbing (HLB), a disease that is costing the citrus industry millions of dollars each year.

US backs adding teeth to global shark protection
The United States said Friday it would support proposals to curb the trade of five shark species and manta rays, whose numbers are declining because of demand for fins and gills.

Brazil to inventory Amazon rainforest trees
Brazil will undertake the massive task of cataloging the trees of the Amazon, in an effort to better monitor and protect the world's largest tropical forest, the environment ministry announced Friday.

Chimps use touches and noisy gestures when trying to get another chimps attention, researcher finds
(Phys.org)—A team led by USC Dornsife Ph.D. student Maureen McCarthy found evidence that chimpanzees are aware of the attention and responsiveness of the chimp they're communicating with, modifying their method of communication to suit.

New map shows turtle nest spots cut off by conflict, at risk as globe warms
A new map of potential sea turtle nesting spots, including remote locations cut off by conflict, will help researchers track how the reptiles respond to climate change, turtle experts said today.

Research offers new control strategies for bipolar bark beetles
Population explosions of pine beetles, which have been decimating North American forests in recent decades, may be prevented by boosting competitor and predator beetle populations, a Dartmouth study suggests.

DNA data storage: 100 million hours of HD video in every cup
Biological systems have been using DNA as an information storage molecule for billions of years. Vast amounts of data can thus be encoded within microscopic volumes, and we carry the proof of this concept in the cells of our own bodies.

Cows fed flaxseed produce more nutritious dairy products
Dairy cows that are fed flaxseed produce more nutritious milk, according to a new study by Oregon State University.

Researcher investigates how cells tune in to important information
(Phys.org)—Every minute of its existence, a living cell must assess and analyze myriad bits of information—everything from the temperature of its environment to the chemical makeup of its surroundings. Sometimes, these inputs cause a cell to change how it functions, but other times, the information may not lead to a measurable change in the cell's activity. Now, Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have discovered how a single molecule in a cell can tune its response to different strengths of an input, an important advance in understanding how a whole cell varies its behavior in different situations.

Jellyfish 'blooms' wax and wane in natural cycles
Once a month, on the darkest nights near the new moon, otherworldly beings emerge from Pacific Ocean depths and drift onto the beaches of Hawaii.

IBM: Our new gel can kill superbugs
Researchers from computer firm IBM say they have invented a new non-toxic gel that can kill deadly drug-resistant bacteria by cutting through the sludge that shelters them and attacking the germ's cell membrane.

Study shows potential of differentiated iPS cells in cell therapy without immune rejection
A new study from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows that tissues derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in an experimental model were not rejected when transplanted back into genetically identical recipients. The study, published online in Cell Stem Cell, demonstrates the potential of utilizing iPS cells to develop cell types that could offer treatment for a wide range of conditions, including diabetes, liver and lung diseases, without the barrier of immune rejection.

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