Science X Newsletter Wednesday, Dec 31

View proceedings from 2014 COMSOL Conferences: http://goo.gl/Ei4y2q

Engineers, scientists, and researchers from around the world share their latest achievements in this collection of over 600 technical presentations, available for online viewing or download.

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for December 31, 2014:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Thermodynamic analysis reveals large overlooked role of oil and other energy sources in the economy
- Scientists identify patterns of RNA regulation in the nuclei of plants
- Tracking the Fukushima radioactivity plume across the Pacific
- 3-D culture system for pancreatic cancer has potential to change therapeutic approaches
- Little change seen in fast food portion size, product formulation between 1996 and 2013
- Patient stem cells used to make dementia-in-a-dish; help identify new treatment strategy
- New technologies harvest energy from movements, sound and more
- Unique Sulawesi frog gives birth to tadpoles

Astronomy & Space news

Solar observatories face the prospect of being eclipsed Motors whirred as a gleaming white dome slowly opened, allowing one of the premier solar telescopes in the world to track the magnetic fields and exploding flares of the sun. In a few hours, computers would translate that data into detailed video and pictures of the sun's turbulent surface.

Technology news

New technologies harvest energy from movements, sound and more Fed up with constantly having to recharge or replace batteries in your ever-expanding trove of electronic gadgets? The solution may be just a few steps away.
	Airline, travel site sue over 'hacked' airfares United Airlines and online travel website Orbitz have filed suit against a young computer programmer who used a clever trick to get discounted airfares.
China regional jet certified to fly domestic routes A Chinese-developed passenger plane has been certified by the country's aviation regulator, clearing the way for the ARJ21 regional jet to fly domestic routes, the manufacturer and state media said.
	NYPD seeks to engage with 'Twitter school,' blog As city officials work to soften the New York Police Department's image and change how officers engage with citizens through reforms and training, part of the effort is happening online.
New Year's Eve to test Uber, Lyft After the clock strikes midnight, the champagne is popped and verses of "Auld Lang Syne" are sung with the slur of too many libations, for millions of people on New Year's Eve there will be only one thing left to do - order an Uber or Lyft for the drive home.
Samsung launches Milk VR app to stream 360-degree video to VR headset South Korean electronics conglomerate Samsung launched Milk VR on Tuesday, a new app that lets users download and stream free 360-degree videos to watch on Gear VR headsets.
Grocery delivery startup Instacart raises $210 million from investors Grocery delivery startup Instacart has raised a bumper crop of $210 million from investors.
	Uber prices to surge during New Year's Eve New Year's Eve: the day to overpay for everything from that glass of flat Champagne to the impossibly-high heels you'll wear just once, to, once again, that ride home from Uber.
	Beyond the Uber surge: How to get around on New Year's Eve New Year's Eve: the day to overpay for everything from that glass of flat Champagne to the impossibly-high heels you'll wear just once, to, once again, that ride home from Uber.
Hotels make Internet free but tighten cancellation policies Big changes are coming in 2015 for hotel guests, one will save travelers lots of money and another may cause a few headaches.
Is Lyft too friendly to battle Uber? Matt Peterson has developed a customer base by picking up strippers.
Best of 2014: The top 10 video games of the year With the launch of new consoles, expectations were high for 2014. Games such as "Titanfall" and "Watchdogs" captured fans' imaginations and offered a glimpse of what the next level of games would look like. Unfortunately, those hyped titles fell short of their lofty promises or had bugs that ruined the experience.
	Review: Virtual reality? Samsung Gear VR looks pretty real to me Virtual reality goggles. When I type those words, I think of very bulky helmets worn at high-end arcades or at trade shows.
Sony breach fuels email security fears at other companies You're welcome to dance like there's nobody watching. But you'd better write emails like your email provider is going to be hacked.
Startup rents privately owned cars at Oakland airport Hoping to challenge the rental car industry from the outside, a San Francisco company is offering Oakland airport travelers free parking and a little bit of money in exchange for rental fees on their cars while they are away.
Xbox outages, IRS lawsuits, and other year-end drama One holiday-shortened week gone, another arrived. Here's a rundown of the Microsoft-flavored news you missed if you had the good fortune to unplug last week:

Medicine & Health news

	3-D culture system for pancreatic cancer has potential to change therapeutic approaches Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer, with only 6 percent of patients surviving five years after diagnosis. Today, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and The Lustgarten Foundation jointly announce the development of a new model system to grow both normal and cancerous pancreatic cells in the laboratory. Their work offers the potential to change the way pancreatic cancer research is done, allowing scientists to interrogate the pathways driving this devastating disease while searching for new drug targets.
	Patient stem cells used to make dementia-in-a-dish; help identify new treatment strategy Belgian researchers have identified a new strategy for treating an inherited form of dementia after attempting to turn stem cells derived from patients into the neurons most affected by the disease. In patient-derived stem cells carrying a mutation predisposing them to frontotemporal dementia, which accounts for about half of dementia cases before the age of 60, the scientists found a targetable defect that prevents normal neurodevelopment. These stem cells partially return to normal when the defect is corrected.
	Little change seen in fast food portion size, product formulation between 1996 and 2013 Two new reports from researchers at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University shows little change in fast food portion sizes and product formulation between 1996 and 2013. Led by Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc., director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA, the researchers analyzed the calorie, sodium, saturated fat and trans fat content of popular menu items served at three national fast-food chains between 1996 and 2013. They found that average calories, sodium, and saturated fat stayed relatively constant, albeit at high levels. The exception was a consistent decline in the trans fat of fries.
Australia bans commercial sunbeds over cancer fears Most Australian states and territories are set to ban commercial sunbeds from Thursday, in a crackdown on artificial tanning in a country that has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.
Poll: Americans support menu labeling Most Americans favor labeling calories on menus in fast food and sit-down restaurants. That's according to an Associated Press-GfK poll conducted in December that found most favor labels for prepared foods in the grocery store, too.
	Women with atypical hyperplasia are at higher risk of breast cancer Women with atypical hyperplasia of the breast have a higher risk of developing breast cancer than previously thought, a Mayo Clinic study has found. Results of the study appear in a special report on breast cancer in the New England Journal of Medicine.
	Can exercise help people with Parkinson's disease? Exercise may help people with Parkinson's disease improve their balance, ability to move around and quality of life, even if it does not reduce their risk of falling, according to a new study published in the December 31, 2014, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
	Rebleeds common post-capsule endoscopy for obscure GI bleeds (HealthDay)—Nearly one-third of patients who undergo capsule endoscopy (CE) for obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) have rebleeding a year or more later, according to research published online Dec. 15 in the Journal of Digestive Diseases.
More than 1.5 million cancer deaths averted during two decades of dropping mortality The American Cancer Society's annual cancer statistics report finds that a 22% drop in cancer mortality over two decades led to the avoidance of more than 1.5 million cancer deaths that would have occurred if peak rates had persisted. And while cancer death rates have declined in every state, the report finds substantial variation in the magnitude of these declines, generally with the states in the south showing the smallest decline and in the Northeast the largest decline.
	Researchers find significant link to daily physical activity, vascular health As millions of Americans resolve to live healthier lives in 2015, research from the University of Missouri School of Medicine shows just how important diligent daily physical activity is. The researchers found that reducing daily physical activity for even a few days leads to decreases in the function of the inner lining of blood vessels in the legs of young, healthy subjects causing vascular dysfunction that can have prolonged effects.
	New Year often ushers in pledge to quit drinking (HealthDay)—People with drinking problems often make a New Year's pledge to stop or cut back on their drinking, but actually doing it can be a struggle, an addiction expert says.
	Top UK doctor: Ebola screening should be improved (Update) Britain's Ebola screening procedures should be improved, the country's chief medical officer said Wednesday, after a nurse was cleared to fly hours before she was diagnosed with the disease.
	Five things to know: Obama health law again in play New episodes in the nation's long-running political drama over health care are coming via your news feed in 2015.
Some businesses use part-time to meet health law Many businesses in low-wage industries have hired more part-time workers and cut the hours of full-timers recently to soften the impact of new health law requirements that take effect Thursday, some consultants say.
Two patients test negative for Ebola in Britain Two patients who recently returned from west Africa tested negative for Ebola in Britain on Wednesday as calls mounted for a review of airport screening procedures following a confirmed case this week.
Ebola-hit UK nurse treated with survivor's plasma, trial drug A British nurse who contracted Ebola in west Africa is being treated with the blood plasma of someone who survived the virus and an experimental anti-viral drug, the doctor supervising her care said Wednesday.

Biology news

	Scientists identify patterns of RNA regulation in the nuclei of plants When the human genome was first sequenced, experts predicted they would find about 100,000 genes. The actual number has turned out to be closer to 20,000, just a few thousand more than fruit flies have. The question logically arose: how can a relatively small number of genes lay the blueprint for the complexities of the human body?
	Unique Sulawesi frog gives birth to tadpoles University of California, Berkeley, herpetologist Jim McGuire was slogging through the rain forests of Indonesia's Sulawesi Island one night this past summer when he grabbed what he thought was a male frog and found himself juggling not only a frog but also dozens of slippery, newborn tadpoles.
Death of young killer whales raises worry about the species' survival He's trailed them and photographed them, mapped their family trees and counted their offspring, coming to identify individuals by their markings, sometimes even ascribing personalities based on behavior.

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