Science X Newsletter Sunday, May 10

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for May 10, 2015:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- New thin, flat lenses focus light as sharply as curved lenses
- Altering genes with the aid of light
- Chemists create new pathway to potential medicines
- Study explores the moment when ancient societies began to 'take a village to raise a child'
- Biologist advances cancer research with new data analysis techniques
- Amazon drone patent has tracking, talking details
- IBM's Watson supercomputer strives to be jack of all trades

Astronomy & Space news

Searching the cosmos in Carl Sagan's name at Cornell The Cornell University institute searching for signs of life among the billions and billions of stars in the sky is being named for—who else?—Carl Sagan.

Technology news

	Amazon drone patent has tracking, talking details How might those proposed delivery drones from Amazon operate? Details have been published by the US Patent Office. By pulling data from people's smartphones, the drones may track the location of the delivery target. The patent, titled "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Delivery System," discussed a scenario where a user could choose a "Bring It To Me" option, where the user's location is determined and the UAV delivers the item. "The current location of the user may be based on, for example, a determined location of a portable device (e.g., mobile phone) associated with the user, the location of the network utilized by the user when placing the order, etc. For example, the user may identify their current location by allowing Global Positioning System ('GPS') data to be provided by their mobile device. Alternatively, if the user is connected through a wireless network (e.g., cellular, Wi-Fi, satellite), the location of the network may be det! ermined and used as the current location of the user."
	IBM's Watson supercomputer strives to be jack of all trades Watson already has won a major TV game show, is looking for a cure for cancer and has ambitious gastronomy ambitions including devising a recipe for chocolate-beef burritos.
Alibaba acquires stake in US online retailer Zulily Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has acquired a more than nine-percent stake in US online retailer Zulily, according to regulatory papers.
	Long-delayed nuclear plant in Tennessee nears completion Tom Wallace started working at the Watts Bar nuclear plant as a young man in 1979, hoping he could eventually become a reactor operator.
Court: Border search of businessman's laptop 'unreasonable' A federal court has ruled that the government's search of a traveling businessman's laptop at the California border was unreasonable and violated his privacy.
	App gives fans another shot at sold-out events During more than a decade as a ticketing agent, Jean-Sebastien Gosuin over and again saw empty seats at sold-out events from FIFA soccer matches to the Olympics.
	US 'concerned' over reported Chinese global censorship tool The United States expressed concern Friday over reports China has used a powerful censorship tool dubbed "Great Cannon" to attack websites around the world.
Some step out as online shoe shop Zappos zaps managers About 14 percent of Zappos workers have reportedly opted for buy-outs as the popular online shoe and clothing shop makes a radical shift to getting rid of manager roles.

Medicine & Health news

Tracking defects caused by brain tumor mutation yields insight to advance targeted therapy St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have gained ground toward developing more targeted therapies for the most common childhood brain tumor. The findings appear today in the Journal of Molecular Biology.
	New combination treatment strategy to 'checkmate' glioblastoma Therapies that specifically target mutations in a person's cancer have been much-heralded in recent years, yet cancer cells often find a way around them. To address this, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center identified a promising combinatorial approach to treating glioblastomas, the most common form of primary brain cancer.
New study analyzes 'thinspiration' images of women on social media sites Some of the most popular social media sites are filled with images of extremely thin women that might be harmful to those who view them—whether they are seeking them or not, according to research from the University of California, Davis. The images were often cropped to remove heads or focus on just a few body parts.
	Miscarriage misunderstood, often leaves women with guilt (HealthDay)—Misconceptions about miscarriages are common, and those mistaken beliefs can make the experience even more painful for those who suffer through it, a new survey reveals.
	Blood thinner warfarin may pose greater bleeding risk for obese: study (HealthDay)—Obese patients taking the blood thinner warfarin appear to have almost twice the risk of severe stomach bleeding compared to their normal-weight counterparts, a new study suggests.
	High-protein diet may be dangerous for those at risk of heart disease (HealthDay)—A high-protein diet may backfire for people at risk for heart disease—increasing the likelihood of weight gain and early death, a new study suggests.
	Morning, midday most common time for babies' arrival, study finds (HealthDay)—Just in time for Mother's Day, a new study looks at when during the day the stork brings American parents that bundle of joy.
Avelox approved for plague (HealthDay)—Avelox (moxifloxacin) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday to treat plague, a rare but deadly bacterial infection that can strike the lungs (pneumonic), blood (septicemic) or lymph nodes (bubonic).
	Drug-loaded microbubbles can diagnose, treat thrombosis (HealthDay)—Targeted theranostic microbubbles (TT-MB), that consist of a fusion construct combining urokinase, echo-enhancing microbubbles for visualization by ultrasonography, and an activated platelet-specific single-chain antibody for specific targeting to thrombi, can diagnose and treat thrombosis. The findings were presented at the American Heart Association's Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology/Peripheral Vascular Disease 2015 Scientific Sessions, held from May 7 to 9 in San Francisco.
	Veteran eye care clinicians use holistic image information (HealthDay)—Experienced eye care clinicians use holistic image information, which is present in fundus photographs but not when using the restricted view of slit lamps, according to a study published online May 1 in Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics.
	Next-generation sequencing panel cost-effective for CRC (HealthDay)—Use of a next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel including genes associated with highly penetrant colorectal cancer and polyposis (CRCP) syndromes is cost-effective for CRCP diagnosis, according to a study published online May 4 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
	Maternal SDB doesn't affect infant neurodevelopment (HealthDay)—Maternal sleep disordered breathing (SDB) during pregnancy does not affect infant neurodevelopment, according to a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
	Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney dz pain often refractory (HealthDay)—The etiology of pain in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is complex, and management of pain should be approached in a stepwise manner, according to a review published in the May issue of The Journal of Urology.
	Vitamin D supplements might help some lose weight (HealthDay)—For obese Americans who are low on vitamin D, taking a supplement of the nutrient might help them lose weight, a new study suggests.
	Liberia is free of Ebola, says World Health Organization Liberia is now free of Ebola after going 42 days—twice the maximum incubation period for the deadly disease—without any new cases, the World Health Organization announced on Saturday.
Five years after quake, Haiti hospital clings to hope In the five years since Port-au-Prince was devastated by an earthquake, staff at Haiti's largest hospital have had to resort to examining patients in shipping containers.
	High-value research of 2014 presented for pulmonary med (HealthDay)—Articles relating to diffuse parenchymal lung disease, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, pulmonary diagnostics, and respiratory infections are included in a special update summary published online April 30 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Two killed, 37 sickened after reactions to vaccine in Mexico At least two children died and another 37 were sickened after babies were vaccinated in a remote village in southern Mexico, officials said Saturday.
Ebola: timeline of a ruthless killer Here are key dates in the current Ebola epidemic, the worst ever outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever which first surfaced in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Biology news

Altering genes with the aid of light Scientists have been manipulating genes for a while. The University of Pittsburgh's Alexander Deiters just found a way to control the process with higher precision.
	Study explores the moment when ancient societies began to 'take a village to raise a child' Hillary Clinton once famously said, "It takes a village to raise a child." It turns out that's been true for centuries: New research by a University of Utah anthropologist explains how and why mothers in ancient societies formed cooperative groups to help raise their children.Karen Kramer, an associate professor of anthropology, published a study in the Journal of Human Evolution titled, "When Mothers Need Others: Life History Transitions Associated with the Evolution of Cooperative Breeding."
	Biologist advances cancer research with new data analysis techniques Patience and persistence are beginning to pay off for University of Montana Professor Mark Grimes, whose research about the behavior of cell proteins in childhood cancer recently was published by the Public Library of Science Computational Biology.
Food and fuel: A model for bioenergy feedstock/vegetable double-cropping systems Much attention has been given to dedicated, perennial bioenergy crops to meet the revised Renewable Fuel Standard mandating production of 36 billion gallons of biofuel by the year 2022. Even so, concern remains over the impending need to convert as much as 30 million acres of U.S. crop land, which would include food crops, to land for perennial energy crops in order to meet that demand.
	A few dozen sei whales beached along south Chilean coast Chilean officials said Friday that a few dozen endangered sei whales have been found beached along the South American country's southern coast.
	South Africa rhino poaching at new record levels South Africa said Sunday that more rhinos were poached in the first four months of 2015 than in the same period last year as the scourge continues to hit record levels.

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