Science X Newsletter Friday, Jul 10

Dear Reader ,

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

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- When will we know we have found extraterrestrial life?
- New network design exploits cheap, power-efficient flash memory without sacrificing speed
- Researchers test meth-addicted rats in a rodent casino
- Mitochondria control oncogenesis through metabolic reprogramming
- Schizophrenia and the resilience of brain functional networks
- New study finds heat is being stored beneath the ocean surface
- Distant black hole wave twists like giant whip
- Making more myelin: Liver X receptors key to cerebellar myelination and remyelination
- Men may feel more threatened by female bosses, research finds
- Cell machinery wears complex coat
- Zooplankton filmed eating bits of plastic trash
- A shape-shifting building material based on pinecones
- 3D print win invites choice of beach buggy or sleek sports car
- Study finds surprisingly high geothermal heating beneath West Antarctic Ice Sheet
- SA's archaeological wonder-sites reveal more of the origins of our unity and diversity

Astronomy & Space news

	When will we know we have found extraterrestrial life? (Phys.org)—As we become more advanced in astronomy, continuously searching and finding lots of potentially habitable extrasolar planets that could harbor alien life, it seems that it's not a matter of if but when we will find extraterrestrial organisms. However, the real tough problem here is: How we could determine if the alien life has really been found? "The question is not so much 'when will we find extraterrestrial life?' But 'when will we know we have found extraterrestrial life?'" Terence Kee, the President of the Astrobiology Society of Britain told Phys.org. "My feeling is that we may indeed find signs of life in a few decades, but whether we will be unambiguously able to identify it as 'extraterrestrial life' - as opposed to terrestrial contamination or abiotic far-from-equilibrium processes - in such a short time-frame, I'm not so sure."
	Distant black hole wave twists like giant whip Fast-moving magnetic waves emanating from a distant supermassive black hole undulate like a whip whose handle is being shaken by a giant hand, according to a new study using data from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Long Baseline Array. Scientists used this instrument to explore the galaxy/black hole system known as BL Lacertae (BL Lac) in high resolution.
	Highest resolution image ever obtained for the planetary nebula NGC 2346 NOAO scientists, using the Gemini Observatory 8-meter telescope in Chile, have obtained the highest resolution image ever obtained for the planetary nebula NGC 2346. Shaped like a butterfly, or an hourglass, but known scientifically as a bipolar planetary nebula, this object is at a distance of 2300 light years from our sun in the constellation Monoceros.
	NASA missions have their eyes peeled on Pluto What's icy, has "wobbly" potato-shaped moons, and is arguably the world's favorite dwarf planet? The answer is Pluto, and NASA's New Horizons is speeding towards the edge of our solar system for a July 14 flyby. It won't be making observations alone; NASA's fleet of observatories will be busy gathering data before and after to help piece together what we know about Pluto, and what features New Horizons data might help explain.
	Philae phones home for the eight time (Update) Europe's robot lab Philae, zipping towards the Sun on a comet, has called home for the eighth time since waking up from hibernation last month, French space agency CNES said Friday.
	Fermi sees record flare from a black hole in a distant galaxy Five billion years ago, a great disturbance rocked a region near the monster black hole at the center of galaxy 3C 279. On June 14, the pulse of high-energy light produced by this event finally arrived at Earth, setting off detectors aboard NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and other satellites. Astronomers around the world turned instruments toward the galaxy to observe this brief but record-setting flare in greater detail.
	Scientists simulate the space environment during New Horizons flyby When destined to stay close to Earth, spacecraft often must withstand the hazards of our space environment. They can be exposed to regular radiation showers from the sun and - if the space weather is particularly intense, such as when the giant clouds of solar material that erupt off the sun called coronal mass ejections pass by - they can go into safe mode.
	Chameleon satellite to revolutionise telecom market Telecom satellites are set to enter a new age, as ESA, Eutelsat and Airbus Defence & Space begin designing the most flexible payload ever.
	New Horizons' close encounter with Pluto will reveal its icy secrets At around 10 pm AEST on Tuesday July 14, the New Horizons spacecraft will sweep past the dwarf planet Pluto at a distance of less than 12,500 kilometres. In doing so, it will bring one of humankind's most remarkable achievements to a thrilling climax.
	Why can't we see the center of the Milky Way? For millennia, human beings have stared up at the night sky and stood in awe of the Milky Way. Today, stargazers and amateur astronomers continue in this tradition, knowing that what they are witnessing is in fact a collection of hundreds of millions of stars and dust clouds, not to mention billions of other worlds.
	Why don't we send probes "up" in the solar system? Dammit, science people! Why are you always firing probes "outwards"? Then they have to go past all this stuff, like planets and asteroids and crap to escape the solar system. Don't you realize that if we want to see what's outside the solar system we just need to shoot them straight up?
	Pluto sweats, and 5 other things you didn't know about the dwarf planet After nine years and six billion kilometres, the New Horizons space probe will fly past Pluto July 14.

Technology news

	New network design exploits cheap, power-efficient flash memory without sacrificing speed Random-access memory, or RAM, is where computers like to store the data they're working on. A processor can retrieve data from RAM tens of thousands of times more rapidly than it can from the computer's disk drive.
	3D print win invites choice of beach buggy or sleek sports car Welcome to the car of the future. Where have you heard that line before? In the world's auto shows for the last five years? On a dozen-plus web sites where car vendors post their videos? Wait a minute. Here's another, and this one is worth watching.
	Upstart vs Airbus: First electric planes cross English Channel (Update 2) With zero fanfare, an independent French pilot beat aeronautics giant Airbus by about 12 hours Friday in the race to fly the first electric plane across the English Channel—a symbolically important step toward making battery-powered flight viable in the long term.
	Vortex robot wants to join kids for play and programming You can't argue with doting parents. From yesterday's huggable teddy bears to fingerpaint sets to today's cute spaceman robots, they easily conclude there is always room for one more toy. This time around, a robot called Vortex is the tempting offer, and the makers have turned to Kickstarter to generate funds.
	A shape-shifting building material based on pinecones Chao Chen, a student in the Masters Program at the Royal College of Art in London has come up with a unique building material—a surface that changes its appearance automatically when exposed to water, whether directly, or via humidity. He has told the media that the new material was inspired by pinecones.
	Researchers to test 3D-printed, autonomous 'SmartCarts' A fleet of autonomous "SmartCarts"—high-tech, 3D-printed, low-speed electric vehicles—could one day zip around the University of Michigan's North Campus, taking students, professors and staff to class, labs and offices while also serving as one of the first test beds for on-demand autonomous transit.
	Computer program fixes old code faster than expert engineers Last year, MIT computer scientists and Adobe engineers came together to try to solve a major problem that many companies face: bit-rot.
	US: More than 21 million affected by government data breach (Update) Hackers stole Social Security numbers, health histories and other highly sensitive data from more than 21 million people, the Obama administration said Thursday, acknowledging that the breach of U.S. government computer systems was far more severe than previously disclosed.
	Japan launches free Wi-Fi on Mount Fuji Climbers who reach the summit of Mount Fuji will now be able to share their achievement via free Wi-Fi.
Pacific islands cable breaks, cutting off phones, Internet Technicians are restoring telephone and Internet service in the U.S Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands after a break in undersea cable disconnected the islands from the rest of the world.
	Nation's largest smart grid demo provides lessons for future grid modernization Smart meters, automated control of power distribution and other intelligent energy technologies can improve energy efficiency and possibly reduce power costs, according to the final results of a comprehensive, five-year regional smart grid pilot project.
	Diesel vehicles save money over a period of years Vehicles with clean diesel technology may be more expensive to buy or lease than those that run on gasoline, but they can save their owners thousands of dollars within just a few years, says a University of Michigan researcher.
	Trusting hackers with your security? You'd better be able to sort the whitehats from the blackhats To think that men are so foolish that they take care to avoid what mischiefs may be done them by polecats or foxes, but are content, nay, think it safety, to be devoured by lions.
	Norway could be Europe's green battery Norwegian hydropower could make Norway the "green battery" of Europe—not by building new power plants, but by further developing the hydropower installations that were built out beginning at the turn of the last century.
World's first match-in-sensor fingerprint authentication technology Synaptics Inc. today announced a new Match-in-Sensor fingerprint authentication technology, the industry's first fully hardware encapsulated fingerprint sensor and matching solution. Synaptics' innovative Match-in-Sensor secure authentication technology is literally off the grid, isolating fingerprint image enrollment, pattern storage and biometric matching within the fingerprint sensor to provide ultimate protection against on-device threats.
	Researchers developing dynamic mechanisms to maintain the web's enormous performance capability Every internet user knows the situation. Just when you find your favourite TV show on YouTube and press play, the video quivers and hangs because the network is overloaded. Or even worse, the deciding goal in the final game of the World Football Cup reaches your TV streamer later than your neighbours' due to so-called latencies, that is, delays in transmitting the game. More and more data, users, apps, end devices, new forms of communication like hashtags and flashmobs and augmented reality games like Ingress are pushing the internet to the borders of its capacity and sometimes bringing it to a standstill.
Mobile connectivity indoors has just got better Researchers at IMDEA Networks invent the simplest solution available today to swiftly build a mobile wireless positioning system in a new indoor environment. Unlike other systems, it requires neither manual and costly offline pre-calibration nor any special hardware.
	Mali to build west Africa's first solar plant Mali has signed an agreement with a Norwegian renewable energy specialist to build west Africa's first industrial-scale solar power plant, the company announced in a statement on Friday.
	Top US official quits after massive government hack The director of the US Office of Personnel Management resigned Friday after a devastating hack of government databases that saw the personal information of millions of federal workers and contractors stolen.
With data breaches, bad news can show up well down the road The revelation that the data breach at the U.S. government's personnel office was actually much worse than the government originally thought is following a familiar script.
China's Tencent says former executive in graft case Tencent Inc., operator of the popular WeChat social media service and China's most valuable tech company, said Friday the former general manager of its video unit and other employees have been detained in a corruption case.
	Film capacitors with high pulse strength and current capability in a compact design TDK Corporation presents two new series of EPCOS MMKP capacitors, which employ a film that is metallized on both sides. The new capacitors offer particularly high pulse strength as well as a high current capability. Depending on the type and frequency, the permissible current can be up to more than 10 ARMS. A further outstanding feature is the compact design of the MMKP series. The capacitors have dimensions of between 4 mm x 9 mm x 13 mm and 11 mm x 18.5 mm x 18 mm and are available with lead spacings of 10 mm and 15 mm.

Medicine & Health news

	Making more myelin: Liver X receptors key to cerebellar myelination and remyelination (Medical Xpress)—Myelin is an electrically insulating layer, or sheath, made of protein and fatty molecules, and synthesized by cholesterol-rich oligodendrocytes, that forms around neurons and allows electrical impulses to propagate rapidly along the axon. (Oligodendrocytes are glial cells – non-neuronal cells that maintain homeostasis, form myelin, and provide support and protection for neurons in the central and peripheral nervous systems.) The myelin sheath is critical to normal central nervous system behavior, but oligodendrocyte cell death or injury can lead to demyelination, which if not followed by normal remyelination typically leads to axonal degeneration, functional impairments, and clinical disability. Taking a novel approach to the myelination and remyelination processes, scientists at Paris Descartes University studied Liver X Receptor, or LXR, isoforms LXRα and LXRβ – oxysterol-activated proteins able to modu! late gene expression – to investigate their possible role in the myelin physiology of the cerebellum. (Isoforms are any of several different forms of the same protein.) They found – for the first time – that mice genetically invalidated for both LXRs exhibit alteration in motor coordination and spatial learning linked with myelination deficits, and moreover demonstrated that LXRs intervene both in oligodendroglial cell maturation and in the transcriptional control of myelin gene expression during both myelination and remyelination processes. The researchers state that their findings could potentially lead to the development of pharmacological and translational therapies for conditions resulting from demyelination, such as multiple sclerosis.
	Researchers test meth-addicted rats in a rodent casino (Medical Xpress)—The altered decision-making patterns associated with neuropsychiatric disorders such as substance addiction are well documented, but it is unclear whether this dysfunction is the result of preexisting conditions or a consequence of the habitual abuse of drugs. Certainly, it's true that addiction is characterized by the continuous use of harmful substances despite negative consequences and in the absence of positive consequences.
	Schizophrenia and the resilience of brain functional networks (Medical Xpress)—Neuroscience has come to view schizophrenia as a disorder of brain network organization in which the topology of nodal connections is abnormally random. The origin of such network dysconnectivity, whether genetic or environmental, has not been clearly established. To bring clarity to the discussion, an international group of researchers recently conducted a study that used fMRI to compare the functional brain networks of schizophrenic subjects with those of their first-degree relatives. The researchers have published their results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Surprisingly, their findings bear similarities to known properties of communications networks such as the Internet.
	Mitochondria control oncogenesis through metabolic reprogramming (Medical Xpress)—Perhaps the boldest attempt to date at a single unified explanation of cancer is that offered by Albert Szent-Gyorgi in his classic book, The Living State. That was over 40 years ago. His insights on the processing of radicals in particular, and on the primal significance of electron donors and acceptors in general, still stand as remarkably compact descriptions of the constant essential features of cell function as its specific type varies.
	Can smoking drive you mad? Study suggests it might People who suffer from psychosis are about three times more likely to be smokers, but scientists have long scratched their heads over which one leads to the other.
	Absence of tumor-suppressing gene derails DNA replication, leaving cells vulnerable to cancer Cell duplication and growth is essential to sustaining life, and in order for this critical function to take place, cells must unwind the tight ball of DNA in their nucleus and then duplicate their genomic information. This is a delicate maneuver, ripe for errors or omissions, and if PTEN, a known tumor-suppressor gene, has mutated or is absent, the replication process derails and can lead to cancer development, Weill Cornell Medical College researchers found in a new study.
	New research allows doctors to image dangerous 'hardening' of the arteries Researchers at the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh, have shown how a radioactive agent developed in the 1960s to detect bone cancer can be re-purposed  to highlight the build-up of unstable calcium deposits in arteries, a process that can cause heart attack and stroke.
	The role of the microbiota in preventing allergies The human body is inhabited by billions of symbiotic bacteria, carrying a diversity that is unique to each individual. The microbiota is involved in many mechanisms, including digestion, vitamin synthesis and host defense. It is well established that a loss of bacterial symbionts promotes the development of allergies. Scientists at Helmholtz Zentrum Munich, at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and Institut Pasteur in Paris have succeeded in explaining this phenomenon, and demonstrate how the microbiota acts on the balance of the immune system: the presence of microbes specifically blocks the immune cells responsible for triggering allergies. These results are published in the journal Science.
	Researchers poke around for blood genes Even though the transplantation of blood stem cells, also known as bone marrow, has saved many lives over many decades, the genes that control the number or function of blood stem cells are not fully understood. In a study published in June in Stem Cell Reports, the USC Stem Cell labs of Hooman Allayee and Gregor Adams uncovered new genes that affect blood stem cell development and maintenance.
Diet and exercise does not prevent gestational diabetes in obese women A diet and exercise regime for high-risk obese pregnant women, whilst effective in promoting a healthy lifestyle, does not prevent gestational diabetes, finds a study led by King's College London. The findings, published in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, suggest that programmes promoting healthy behaviours are unlikely to be effective in preventing diabetes in obese women; instead, resources should be directed towards better screening and treatment, including the use of a more stringent threshold for diagnosis.
Strong family bonds reduce anxiety in young people with lived experience of domestic violence Strong relationships with other family members can help raise self-esteem and reduce anxiety for some young people who grow up in homes affected by parental domestic violence.
'Jumping genes' may drive esophageal cancer Cancer Research UK scientists have found that 'jumping genes' may add to the genetic chaos behind more than three-quarters of oesophageal cancer cases, according to research published in BMC Genomics today.
	Risk of COPD may already occur in adolescence Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of most common causes of death in the world today - active smoking accounting for approx. 85% of all cases. Yet ground-breaking research from the University of Copenhagen indicates that accelerated decline of lung function is not a prerequisite for COPD.
	House Oks bill to speed drug approvals, boost bio research (Update) Urged on by the medical industry and patients' groups, the House overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill that would speed federal approval of drugs and medical devices and boost biomedical research.
Is defeat sweeter than victory? Researchers reveal the science behind emotional eating Victory was sweet for the U.S. Women's World Cup team 5-2 victory this weekend – but it's a safe bet that the vanquished team from Japan was reaching for actual sweets after the stunning upset.
	Faulty arginine metabolism contributes to cardiopulmonary dysfunction in thalassemia A research study of patients with thalassemia found that low bioavailability of the amino acid arginine may contribute to pulmonary hypertension – increased blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein or pulmonary capillaries. Pulmonary hypertension is a common problem in patients with thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that results in abnormal formation of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen.
	Research to unlock study doping facts Is the use of so-called 'study drugs' among tertiary students as common as depicted, or is it a subject of exaggeration?
	Research investigates how infants learn to become wary of heights Wide eyes, clammy palms, racing heart—fear. It's a common physiological reaction to heights in children and adults. Infants don't typically show it until they reach 7 to 9 months old.
	Study suggests young people with celiac disease may be eating too much processed gluten-free food Children and teens who have celiac disease and are treating it with a gluten-free diet are courting extra problems if much of the gluten-free food they're eating is processed.
	Busting the myths about type 2 diabetes When it comes to misunderstood medical conditions in Australia, type 2 diabetes is hard to beat.
	Organic food and malformations in the urinary tract (hypospadias) in newborn boys Women who ate organically produced food during pregnancy had halved likelihood of giving birth to a boy with hypospadias compared to women who never or seldom did so.
	Cyclical changes in cell membranes could have a significant impact on health and disease Life is subject to natural rhythms, such as the light and dark cycle or seasonal variation in temperature. A recent study by researchers at the Vetmeduni Vienna, shows that the composition of human cell membranes varies depending on the time of day. These cyclical changes in cell membranes could have a significant impact on health and disease. The results were published in the Journal of Biological Rhythms.
	Gene therapy clinical trial underway for children's motor neuron disease It's an unacknowledged law of nature that whatever the texture of a girl's hair, she wants the opposite.
	Discovery of molecule responsible for birth timing could lead to preterm labour prevention Researchers at the University of Adelaide have identified that the activation of the TLR4 molecule is key in controlling the timing of birth, acting as a trigger common to both preterm and on-time labour.
	Multiple myeloma hides in bones like a wolf in sheep's clothing Multiple myeloma uses a trick akin to a wolf in sheep's clothing to grow in and spread to new bone sites. By overexpressing Runx2, a gene that normally is a master regulator of bone formation, the cells of this largely incurable cancer produce proteins that mimic the normal bone-resident cells, according to research published in the journal Blood by Yang Yang, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
	Cervical cancer tests too expensive for poor populations Part of South Africa's strategy to prevent cervical cancer was to adopt a programme that was successful in high-income countries such as the UK and the US. But, 13 years after its implementation, the policy has failed to kick off and its success is limited.
	Acceleration of the G1 phase transit during cell division makes human blood stem cells more powerful For the first time, the research group of Prof. Claudia Waskow at the Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine at Dresden Technical University is now describing a new mechanism in which the length of the G1 phase of the cell cycle has a dramatic impact on the fitness of human blood stem cells. In the study, the shortened G1 phase resulted in much improved continuous production of mature blood cells from stem cells over a prolonged period of time. It is imaginable that the stem cell function can also be increased in the human body in the future by an acceleration of cell cycle transition kinetic. The work has now been published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Federal report shows drop in preterm birth rate The number of American infants born before the 37th week of pregnancy dropped slightly in 2013, as did the percentage of children with asthma under the age of 17. The percentage of teens who experienced a major depressive episode increased.
Obesity drug has no effect on baby birthweights, study finds Treating obese pregnant women with a diabetes drug does not stop their babies from being born overweight, a study has found.
Findings identify receptors modulating macrophage responses to spinal cord injury Macrophages are cellular sentinels in the body, assigned to identify "attacks" from viruses, bacteria, or fungi and sound the alarm when they are present. However, these cells are a "double edged sword" in spinal cord injury, providing both neural repair-promoting properties and pathological functions that destroy neuronal tissue
Cancer patients treated in world-first clinical trial of Canadian viral therapy Canadian researchers have launched the world's first clinical trial of a novel investigational therapy that uses a combination of two viruses to attack and kill cancer cells, and stimulate an anti-cancer immune response. Previous research by this team and others worldwide suggests that this approach could be very powerful, and could have fewer side effects than conventional chemotherapy and radiation, although it will take years to rigorously test through this trial and others.
	Study identifies factors affecting prescription pain reliever misuse People who misuse prescription pain relievers all have one thing in common, University of Georgia researchers have discovered: a history of recent illicit drug use. How they acquire such drugs varies according to age, however. The findings, published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, may help health care providers and others curb painkiller misuse.
	Tests show Ebola in Liberia linked to virus found months ago Samples taken from the 17-year-old boy who died from Ebola in Liberia nearly two weeks ago show the virus is genetically similar to viruses that infected many people in the same area more than six months ago, the World Health Organization said Friday.
Foreigner with MERS in Philippines now free of the virus A 36-year-old foreigner who tested positive for MERS after arriving in the Philippines from the Middle East is now free of the virus and will leave the hospital this weekend, officials said Friday.
No need to treat stable meniscus tears during ACL surgery, new research shows While athletes undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery often have an additional meniscus injury, treating these tears at the same time may not be necessary. Research presented today by the MOON Knee Group at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Orlando shows positive results for meniscal tears that were deemed stable and left alone at the time of ACL reconstruction.
Treatment of shoulder instability helps return collegiate athletes to playing field Athletes who suffer a shoulder instability injury may return to play more successfully after being treated arthroscopically compared to nonoperative treatment, say researchers presenting their work today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting.
Surgery may be best treatment option for multidirectional shoulder dislocations While multidirectional instability of the shoulder (MDI) has been traditionally treated without surgery, research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, shows surgery is also effective for this type of dislocation.
Majority of Poles want legal medical marijuana: survey Nearly 70 percent of Poles favour the legalisation of medical marijuana, according to the first survey of its kind in the central European country published Friday.
	Using garlic to combat antimicrobial resistant urinary tract infections Garlic extract may be an effective weapon against multi-drug resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria associated with urinary tract infections (UTI), according to a recent study published in the Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science.
Critics slam Muslim maternity trousers as unsafe Maternity trousers that seek to cover Muslim women's private parts during childbirth have been heavily criticised by women's groups in Malaysia, who question their safety during pregnancy and labour.
S. Korea reports 36th MERS death South Korea Friday reported its 36th death from MERS, although it has had no confirmed new cases of the virus in the past five days.
	Is a resilient community a healthier community? Can resilience improve health outcomes in Aboriginal young people?
Polish Senate approves new law on in vitro fertilization Poland's Senate approved a government bill that provides coherent regulations for in vitro fertilization and makes the procedure also available to unwed couples, part of a larger effort to promote more births in the aging nation.
	Neuroscience and technology come together to support people with disabilities Scientists at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the research company Starlab and the group BR::AC (Barcelona Research Art & Creation) of the University of Barcelona developed a device that produces sounds from brain signals. This highly interdisciplinary team is led by Mara Dierssen, head of the Cellular & Systems Neurobiology group at CRG. Its ultimate goal is to develop an alternative communication system for people with cerebral palsy to allow them to communicate—and more specifically in this pilot phase, to communicate their emotions. Scientists are carrying out the project with volunteers who are either healthy or who have physical and/or mental disabilities, working together with the association Pro-Personas con Discapacidades Físicas y Psíquicas (ASDI) from Sant Cugat del Vallès.
	Can you actually hear 'inaudible' sound? Are wind farms harmful to humans? Some believe so, others refute this; this controversial topic makes emotions run high. To give the debate more objectivity, an international team of experts dealt with the fundamentals of hearing in the lower limit range of the audible frequency range (i.e. infrasound), but also in the upper limit range (i.e. ultrasound). The project, which is part of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), was coordinated by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). At PTB, not only acoustics experts, but also experts from the fields of biomagnetism (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were involved in the research activities. They have found out that humans can hear sounds lower than had previously been assumed. And the mechanisms of sound perception are much more complex than previously thought. Another vast field of research opens up here in which psychology also has to be ta! ken into account. And there is definitely a need for further research.
Study shows variation in rates of secondary cleft lip and palate surgery For children with cleft lip and palate, the chances of undergoing secondary surgery vary depending on the center where they're treated, reports a study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery—Global Open, the official open-access medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Biology news

	Cell structure discovery advances understanding of cancer development University of Warwick researchers have discovered a cell structure which could help scientists understand why some cancers develop.
	Ancestral diets determine vulnerability to type 2 diabetes The middle classes from developing countries are more susceptible than western Caucasians to obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in today's changing environment. New research published today in Cell Metabolism from the University of Sydney's NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, the National Centre for Cell Science, KEM Hospital and the DYP Medical College, Pune, India reveals this may be a result of the nutrition endured by their ancestors.
	Cell machinery wears complex coat Researchers at EMBL Heidelberg have produced detailed images of the intricate protein-coats that surround trafficking vesicles - the "transport pods" that move material around within biological cells. The study, published today in Science, provides a new understanding of the complex machines that make up the cells' logistics network.
	Researchers seek to preserve Earth's genomic plant diversity The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History announced today that scientists with the museum's Global Genome Initiative will attempt to capture the genomic diversity of half the world's living plant genera in the next two years. To start, GGI scientists and field teams from the museum's Department of Botany have begun sampling plants in the holdings of Smithsonian Gardens, the U.S. Botanic Garden and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's U.S. National Arboretum.
	African universities reap fruits of fly research Fruit flies are proving the unlikely source of a new initiative to help improve postgraduate research opportunities in Africa, with the support of Cambridge academics.
	Egg cage system may bolster native ladybug's biocontrol prospects "Necessity is the mother of invention," the saying goes. Such was indeed the case when entomologist Meg Allen devised a jar-like cage to safely collect the eggs of Coleomegilla maculata for her research on the genetics of this helpful ladybug species, a.k.a. pink spotted lady beetle.
Scientists find new research models to study food crops Farmers often are required to apply nitrogen fertilizers to their crops to maintain quality and improve yields. Worldwide, farmers used more than 100 million tons of nitrogen in 2011, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. In the same year, the U.S. alone produced and imported more than $37 billion in nitrogen. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri are working toward less reliance on nitrogen in plants, which could help decrease costs for farmers, develop heartier plants, eliminate runoff in water supplies and provide food for a growing global population.
Spotting the elephant not in the room An automated thermal detection system that can discern wild elephants from background and other animals in infrared images could save lives in parts of the world where the animals roam free and often enter villages and other human habitation, according to research published in the International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics.
	To avoid dangerous shark encounters, information trumps culling The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) has a terrifying reputation. Shark attacks, though very rare, loom large in our imaginations, drawing intense media attention when they occur. Recent injuries in North Carolina are putting sharks in the limelight again. But going after sharks à la Jaws is not the best way to protect people in the water, said shark researchers.

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