Science X Newsletter Monday, Nov 2

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for November 2, 2015:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Using a DNA scaffold to place molecules with Bohr's radius resolution
- Calcium-48's 'neutron skin' thinner than previously thought
- Best of Last Week – A novel phase of matter, carcinogenic meat and how the brain erases unimportant stuff
- Thin film device able to measure blood flow in new way
- Breeding higher yielding crops by increasing sugar import into seeds
- Ultrasensitive sensors made from boron-doped graphene
- New artificial skin can detect pressure and heat simultaneously
- Antiangiogenic breast cancer treatment may benefit only patients with well-perfused tumors
- Learning more about the link between polycystic ovary syndrome and mental health
- Local destabilization can cause complete loss of West Antarctica's ice masses
- What ever happened to West Nile?
- Researchers show how new hydrogel can facilitate microsurgery
- Study reveals structure of tuberculosis enzyme, could offer drug target
- What the [beep]? Infants link new communicative signals to meaning
- Chimpanzee language claims lost in translation

Astronomy & Space news

	Signs of acid fog found on Mars While Mars doesn't have much in the way of Earth-like weather, it does evidently share one kind of weird meteorology: acid fog.
Space station marks 15 years of nonstop human presence (Update) Humankind marked an off-the-planet pinnacle Monday: the 15th anniversary of continuous residency at the International Space Station.
	Disk gaps don't always signal planets When astronomers study protoplanetary disks of gas and dust that surround young stars, they sometimes spot a dark gap like the Cassini division in Saturn's rings. It has been suggested that any gap must be caused by an unseen planet that formed in the disk and carved out material from its surroundings. However, new research shows that a gap could be a sort of cosmic illusion and not the sign of a hidden planet after all.
	Image: Hubble captures DI Cha star system Two stars shine through the center of a ring of cascading dust in this image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The star system is named DI Cha, and while only two stars are apparent, it is actually a quadruple system containing two sets of binary stars.
	Image: Snowing in space? The flurry of what looks like snow in this video is actually a barrage of energetic particles. This is what's known as a solar radiation storm, hitting an instrument onboard ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, on Oct. 29, 2015. These bursts of incredibly fast-moving protons and electrons are fairly common, but this particular event was interesting because they came from an unusual source: a low-level solar flare and two relatively slow coronal mass ejections, as opposed to the fast, strong eruptions that normally produce them.
	Saturn's moon Dione Thanks to the Cassini mission, a great deal has been learned about Saturn's system of moons (aka. the Cronian system) in the past decade. Thanks to the presence of an orbiter in the system, astronomers and space exploration enthusiasts have been treated to a seemingly endless stream of images and data, which in turn has enabled us to learn many interesting things about these moons' appearances, surface features, composition, and history of formation.
Northern Light secrets uncovered thanks to social networking tools New research led by physicists at the University of Warwick has used tools designed to study social networks to gain significant new insights into the Northern Lights, and space weather – particularly the interaction of events in the sun's atmosphere with Earth's ionosphere.
	Traveling through space? Don't forget your sleeping pills and skin cream If you are planning to take the long trip to Mars, don't forget to pack sleeping pills and skin cream. A new study published in the November 2015 issue of The FASEB Journal, is the first-ever examination of the medications used by astronauts on long-duration missions to the International Space Station.
	Uranus' "Frankenstein moon" Miranda Ever since the Voyager space probes ventured into the outer Solar System, scientists and astronomers have come to understand a great deal of this region of space. In addition to the four massive gas giants that call the outer Solar System home, a great deal has been learned about the many moons that circle them. And thanks to photographs and data obtained, human beings as a whole have come to understand just how strange and awe-inspiring our Solar System really is.
	Uranus' "sprightly" moon Ariel The outer Solar System has enough mysteries and potential discoveries to keep scientists busy for decades. Case in point, Uranus and it's system of moons. Since the beginning of the Space Age, only one space probe has ever passed by this planet and its system of moons. And yet, that which has been gleaned from this one mission, and over a century and a half of Earth- (and space-) based observation, has been enough to pique the interest of many generations of scientists.
	Astrosat's Soft X-ray Telescope sees first light The Soft X-ray focusing Telescope (SXT) onboard Astrosat, India's first satellite dedicated to astronomical observations, saw its first light from an astronomical source on Oct. 26, 2015, after the camera door was opened at 06:30UT. The telescope door covering the optics had already been opened 10 days earlier.

Technology news

	New artificial skin can detect pressure and heat simultaneously A team of researchers with Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology and Dong-A University, both in South Korea, has developed an artificial skin that can detect both pressure and heat with a high degree of sensitivity, at the same time. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the team describes how they created the skin, what they found in testing it and the other types of things it can sense.
	Bosch system to steer attention to vulnerable pedestrian When talking about driver safety, it is all too easy to think about systems preventing any harm to those in cars, either riding as passengers or driving behind the wheel.
	Data analytics on driving behavior help users improve safety and lower insurance rates Are you a safe driver? According to MIT alumnus Brad Cordova SM '13, co-founder of driving-data-analytics startup Censio, you'll probably answer "yes," but the real answer may be "no."
	Does cheering affect the outcome of college hockey games? We all love belting our lungs out at sporting event, hurling insults and encouragements in turn, but does it actually have an effect on either team's performance? A study conducted by a student at the University of Nebraska seeks to answer this question.
	Robots at the reporting desk If you've checked out an online news site lately, there's a good chance at least one of the stories you've read was written by a robot. The Associated Press—the world's biggest news organization—churns out almost 5,000 robot-written stories per quarter, and Forbes uses robots to write many of their company earnings reports.
	Simulating technical textiles perfectly Compression bandages, protective jackets and car seat covers have to meet various requirements. Simulations help to improve such technical textiles for their specific application. Fraunhofer researchers are analyzing structures and yarns as well as the contacts between the individual yarns.
	The navigation app for buildings In large buildings, you can lose your orientation. Fraunhofer researchers have developed an Android app that navigates through passages, corridors, rooms and floors to the desired destination. They use WLAN to help with location. The technology can be customized and integrated into other applications.
	Solar vehicle charging at home Owners of home photovoltaic systems will soon be able to make their households even more sustainable, because PV power is also suitable for charging personal electronic vehicles. A home energy management system created by Fraunhofer researchers incorporates electric vehicles into the household energy network and creates charging itineraries.
	A beautiful defense for smart grids The physical infrastructure of the U.S. electric grid is aging, overburdened and vulnerable to natural hazards.
	Power interruption innovation enhances electromagnetic switch Researchers in Korea have overcome a 100-year old technological limitation by fabricating the world's first Mott device that reduces the size and enhances the performance of traditional electromagnetic switches and circuit breakers.
	Robots help with rural elderly healthcare Healthcare robots in the homes of independent elderly rural residents may help lessen social isolation and help with medical care, according to new research from the University of Auckland.
	Truly empathic robots will be a long time coming The Japanese robot Pepper, made by Aldebaran Robotics, has sparked interest regarding the potential of robots to become companions.
	Technology that lets self-driving cars, robots see LiDAR, once used in the Apollo 15 lunar mission, has shrunk in size and cost, making it easier for researchers and product makers to bring the 3D vision mapping technology to smart devices.
	Secure wireless key distribution verified within a real outdoor environment As the most popular type of wireless systems, cellular communications carry high demand for confidentiality of traffic data of mobile subscribers. Wireless key distribution is one of the most promising and fast-growing areas in modern applied cryptography.
Clash of Clans maker tops high earner lists in Finland Mobile gaming company Supercell is now reportedly Finland's biggest money-maker, with a taxable income nearly 10 times that of one-time cellphone powerhouse Nokia.
	EPA says Volkswagen cheated a 2nd time on pollution tests Volkswagen cheated a second time on emissions tests, programming about 10,000 cars with larger diesel engines to emit fewer pollutants during tests than in real-world driving, according to the U.S. government.
Gov't to add automatic braking to 5-star car safety rating The government is adding automatic braking to its five-star safety rating system designed to help consumers identify the most important safety technologies to look for in new cars.
	Dispute over Internet data collection splits US high court No one at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday disputed the fact that an online profile of Thomas Robins was riddled with false and misleading information.
	New HP Enterprise sees cloud ties with Amazon, others The newly spun-off tech giant HP Enterprise has decided not to compete in public cloud computing and will seek partnerships with Amazon and others, chief executive Meg Whitman said Monday.
Buildings producing their own energy prepared for tomorrow's cities An innovative façade that can turn solar energy into heat for residents' use will be installed next year in a building in Merida, Spain. After a series of tests, the complex insulation system will prove its capabilities in real-life conditions
	Grids that are smart enough to weather tomorrow's storms At the end of October 2012, Hurricane Sandy swept across the northeastern United States at speeds of 150 kph (more than 90 mph). Millions of people were left in the dark. In an era of climate change, energy management systems will have to become increasingly robust in order to withstand natural disasters like Sandy. Siemens Smart Grid technologies have helped for years to make power grids more resilient to hurricanes, heat waves and drought.
	Test bed advances Washington state as hotbed of energy innovation The U.S. Department of Energy is matching a $2.25 million Clean Energy Fund grant from the Washington Department of Commerce to research, develop and demonstrate the technologies needed to create 'smart' buildings, campuses and cities to better manage energy usage. Once buildings and devices are smarter—managing energy resources optimally on their own—they can also be more responsive to the needs of the power grid.
	New special report highlights NSF-funded cybersecurity research and education Cybersecurity is one of the defining issues of our time. Can we keep our networks, devices and critical systems open, safe and secure, while maintaining personal privacy? How do we develop tomorrow's cybersecurity solutions?
Gateway Inc. co-founder Mike Hammond dies at age 53 Mike Hammond, who co-founded computer maker Gateway in an Iowa farmhouse in 1985 and helped turn it into an American success story by shipping PCs straight to customers in boxes with a spotted-cow design, has died at age 53.

Medicine & Health news

	Mutations in gene SETD2 make cancer cells vulnerable to drug inhibiting the protein WEE1 Oxford University researchers have found the Achilles heel of certain cancer cells - mutations in a gene called SETD2. Their findings will be presented to the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Liverpool this Monday.
	Blood vessels store, secrete key blood-clotting protein Rice University scientists have solved a long-standing mystery about where the body stores and deploys blood-clotting factor VIII, a protein that about 80 percent of hemophiliacs cannot produce due to genetic defects.
	Cancer cells hijack glucose, alter immune cells When cancer cells compete with immune cells for glucose, the cancer wins. As a result, the immune T cells are not healthy and don't have the weapons to kill the cancer.
	The innate immune system modulates the severity of multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis, a debilitating neurological disease, is triggered by self-reactive T cells that successfully infiltrate the brain and spinal cord where they launch an aggressive autoimmune attack against myelin, the fatty substance that surrounds and insulates nerve fibers. Over time, the resulting bouts of inflammation permanently damage the myelin sheath and the nerve fibers it protects, disrupting nerve signals traveling to and from the brain.
Quiet 'epidemic' has killed half a million middle-aged white Americans Despite advances in health care and quality of life, white middle-aged Americans have seen overall mortality rates increase over the past 15 years, representing an overlooked "epidemic" with deaths comparable to the number of Americans who have died of AIDS, according to new Princeton University research.
Researchers reduce inflammation in human cells, a major cause of frailty Chronic inflammation, closely associated with frailty and age-related diseases, is a hallmark of aging. Mayo Clinic researchers have discovered that inhibiting key enzyme pathways reduces inflammation in human cells in culture dishes and decreases inflammation and frailty in aged mice. The results appear today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. While further studies are needed, researchers are hopeful that these findings will be a step toward treatments for frailty and other age-related chronic conditions.
	Learning more about the link between polycystic ovary syndrome and mental health Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have high levels of androgens in their blood, which has been assumed able to affect fetal development during pregnancy. An international team of researchers led from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has now identified a hormonal mechanism that might explain why women with PCOS run a higher risk of developing symptoms of mental ill-health, such as anxiety and depression, in adulthood. The results, which are based on animal studies, are presented in the journal PNAS.
	Antiangiogenic breast cancer treatment may benefit only patients with well-perfused tumors A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team, in collaboration with investigators at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, may have found a reason why the use of antiangiogenesis drugs - which has improved outcomes for patients with several types of cancer - fails to benefit some breast cancer patients. In their report published online in PNAS Early Edition, the investigators describe how preoperative treatment with the antiangiogenic drug bevacizumab primarily benefited patients whose tumors were highly perfused with blood vessels prior to treatment.
High-intensity exercise changes how muscle cells manage calcium Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered a cellular mechanism behind the surprising benefits of short, high-intensity interval exercise. Their findings, which are published in the scientific journal PNAS, also provide clues to why antioxidants undermine the effect of endurance training.
	What the [beep]? Infants link new communicative signals to meaning Researchers have long known that adults can flexibly find new ways to communicate, for example, using smoke signals or Morse code to communicate at a distance, but a new Northwestern University study is the first to show that this same communicative flexibility is evident even in 6-month-olds.
	'Inner GPS' study may aid diagnosis of brain diseases A new Dartmouth study sheds light on brain cells in our "inner GPS," which may improve understanding of memory loss and wandering behavior in people with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.
	Molecular 'brake' stifles human lung cancer Scientists at the Salk Institute have uncovered a molecule whose mutation leads to the aggressive growth of a common and deadly type of lung cancer in humans.
Many teen sex assault victims get subpar ER care, study says Many sexually assaulted teens seeking emergency room care don't receive recommended tests and prevention treatments for pregnancy and venereal disease, according to a new study.
Soybean foods may protect menopausal women against osteoporosis Eating a diet rich in both soy protein and isoflavones can protect menopausal women from bone weakening and osteoporosis, according to the results of a preliminary study presented today at the Society for Endocrinology annual conference in Edinburgh.
	Around a fifth of unvaccinated ethnic school girls think they don't need HPV jab Around 20 per cent of girls from ethnic minority backgrounds are not being vaccinated against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) because they feel they don't need to have it, according to a Cancer Research UK survey presented today at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool.
New policies would expand pediatric lung transplant access, study shows Broader geographic sharing of pediatric donor lungs could result in twice as many lung transplants for young patients in the U.S., according to a study published today in the American Journal of Transplantation.
	Could self-disseminating vaccines cut off emerging infectious diseases at source? The 2014/2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa shone the spotlight not only on the unpreparedness of local health services and science to deal with the pandemic, but also on the phenomenon of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs).
	Selective media coverage may cause us to forget certain health facts The health facts presented by mass media in the midst of a disease outbreak are likely to influence what we remember about the disease—new research suggests that the same mass media coverage may also influence the facts that we forget.
	Anti-smoking messages can backfire, research suggests Public health policies targeted at smokers may actually have the opposite effect for some people trying to quit, according to new evidence released today.
	Studying cancer DNA in blood may help personalize treatment in liver cancer Fragments of cancer DNA circulating in a patient's bloodstream could help doctors deliver more personalized treatment for liver cancer, Japanese researchers report.
	The helping hand in the operation room Surgeons have their hands full in the operating room: Among other things, clamps have to be set and tools have to be held. Until now, surgical assistants have been responsible for these tasks. In the future, a metal hand that can be controlled by gestures and speech could take some of the weight off of the doctors' shoulders.
Study reveals how to regenerate mouse ears without a scar In contrast to amphibian tissue regeneration, traumatic injuries in mammals typically heal with a fibrous scar. Researchers discovered that some strains of mice heal without a scar, by disrupting a protein, called Sdf1, that normally recruits white blood cells to sites of injury. Blocking Sdf1 function with a drug or by mouse genetics enhanced tissue regeneration and decreased scarring in normal mice.
Diet lacking soluble fiber promotes weight gain, mouse study suggests Eating too much high-fat, high-calorie food is considered the primary cause of obesity and obesity-related disease, including diabetes. While the excess calories consumed are a direct cause of the fat accumulation, scientists suspect that low-grade inflammation due to an altered gut microbiome may also be involved. A new study in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology finds in mice that a diet missing soluble fiber promotes inflammation in the intestines and poor gut health, leading to weight gain. Moreover, incorporating soluble fiber back into the diet can restore gut health.
Hypersexual disorder linked to overactive stress systems New research from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that hypersexual disorder – known popularly as sex addiction – can be linked to hyperactive stress systems. In a stress regulation test using the cortisone drug dexamethasone, men with hypersexual disorder showed higher levels of stress hormones than controls, a finding that the researchers hope will contribute to improved therapy for this patient group. The results are published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Fatal flaws in PACE chronic fatigue syndrome follow-up study At the outset, let me say that I'm skeptical whether we can hold the PACE investigators responsible for the outrageous headlines that have been slapped on their follow-up study and on the comments they have made in interviews.
	Saving endangered drugs In between the discovery of promising drug candidates for diseases and the ability to buy and sell those drugs in the marketplace lies the Valley of Death. That's the industry term for the failure of well-researched and potentially very useful medicines to make it to market due to regulatory hurdles, patent fights and the sheer cost of pushing drugs all the way through clinical testing. In a recent commentary article in the journal Future Medicinal Chemistry, San Diego State University biologist Roland Wolkowicz makes the case that stronger, more fruitful partnerships between academia and industry are needed to shepherd drugs from the lab to the patient's bedside.
	Female sex hormone may save injured soldiers on the battlefield Breakthrough research suggests a female sex hormone may be the key to saving lives on the battlefield, where between 2001 and 2011 more than 80 percent of potentially preventable U.S. war injury deaths resulted from blood loss.
	New research opens door to understanding human tonsil cancer Researchers at Simon Fraser University and the BC Cancer Agency have developed a groundbreaking method to identify and separate stem cells that reside in the tonsils. Their research, which sheds new light on the fight against oral cancer, is published today in the journal Stem Cell Reports.
Lifestyle a risk factor for celiac disease Celiac disease incidence has increased among Swedish children between 2 to 15 years. The significant escalation in celiac disease can be associated with planned caesarean sections, urinary tract infections during pregnancy, season of birth and being born in south Sweden. This according to a dissertation from Umeå University in Sweden.
Research shows devastating effect war and violence has on children's mental health Violence and conflict in areas affected by war, such as Gaza, can have a devastating effect on the mental health of the children exposed to it, according to research at the University of Leicester.
Scientists identify 'checkpoint' to prevent birth defects and spontaneous miscarriage Researchers from the University of Southampton have established that eggs have a protective 'checkpoint' that helps to prevent DNA damaged eggs being fertilised.
	Students use synthetic biology approach to create anti-malarial 'BioBricks' Students from Trinity College Dublin have successfully created anti-malarial 'biobricks', which could pave the way for easier and more cost-effective production of the key drug artemisinin.
	Sleepwalkers feel no pain, remain asleep despite suffering injuries A new study of sleepwalkers found an intriguing paradox: Although sleepwalkers have an increased risk for headaches and migraines while awake, during sleepwalking episodes they are unlikely to feel pain even while suffering an injury.
Find way to focus on dietary supplement safety, experts say A former principal deputy commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing a solution to the current gridlock over the regulation of dietary supplements: Focus less on whether these vitamins, minerals and herbal extracts actually do what they claim and instead take important steps to improve their safety.
	Abdominal fat in early pregnancy can predict development of gestational diabetes Women who have high levels of abdominal fat during their first trimester of pregnancy have a higher risk of developing diabetes later in their pregnancy, according to a new study published today in Diabetes Care.
	A cray-active solution for cancer research Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center have discovered a new species which is helping them understand epigenetics: all individuals of the marbled crayfish examined so far have been female. They reproduce by parthenogenesis, the unfertilized ovum develops directly into a new individual, and possess completely identical genetic makeup. Differences between individuals must therefore result from epigenetics. Cancer too can also have epigenetic causes, which makes the marbled crayfish an interesting model for cancer research.
	Aedes japonicus mosquitoes found in western Canada Canadian entomologists have reported the first appearance of Aedes japonicus—an invasive, disease-carrying mosquito—in western Canada. Members of the species were found in a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia.
	Increasing vitamin D supplementation Elderly women should take in more vitamin D than previously recommended during the winter months. This is the finding of a new study just released by a team of researchers led by ETH Professor Michael B. Zimmermann.
Male and female mice respond differently to inflammation New research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology shows that male and female mice respond differently to inflammation at the cellular level. Specifically, in male mice the spleen acts as a source of white blood cells, while in females this is not the case. This discovery suggests that human studies are necessary to determine if current medical practices, which treat men and women generally the same, should be altered to reflect sex-specific differences.
	One in five pediatricians drops families who refuse vaccines: survey (HealthDay)—One of every five U.S. pediatricians regularly drops families who refuse to have their children vaccinated, a new survey shows.
	Most preschoolers use tablets, smartphones daily (HealthDay)—Nearly all U.S. kids under age 4 have used a mobile device such as a tablet or smartphone, and they are using them at earlier and earlier ages, a new study finds.
	Middle finger length good guide for intubation depth in children (HealthDay)—Using middle finger length to guide tracheal intubation depth improves the rate of appropriate tube placement in children, according to a study published in the November issue of Pediatric Anesthesia.
	Synchronized prescription renewal process saves time (HealthDay)—A synchronized prescription renewal process can save physicians time and money, which can be dedicated to patient care, according to a report from the American Medical Association (AMA).
	Stewardship could improve appropriate medical imaging use (HealthDay)—Stewardship may be a promising approach for improving appropriate use of medical imaging technology, according to a perspective piece published in the Oct. 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
	Chronic pain conditions cost $32K per patient annually (HealthDay)—Chronic pain conditions pose a substantial utilization burden on the health care system, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in Pain Practice.
	Online cognitive behavioral therapy benefits people with depression, anxiety Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) combined with clinical care has been shown to benefit people with depression, anxiety and emotional distress from illness, according to an evidence-based review in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
	Apgar score for may be tool for predicting whether mother will become critically ill The Apgar score that evaluates a baby's condition at birth may also be a useful tool for predicting whether a mother is critically ill, new research suggests.
	Early contact with dogs linked to lower risk of asthma A team of Swedish scientists have used national register information in more than one million Swedish children to study the association of early life contact with dogs and subsequent development of asthma. This question has been studied extensively previously, but conclusive findings have been lacking. The new study showed that children who grew up with dogs had about 15 percent less asthma than children without dogs.
	Teen sex talks with parents, especially moms, associated with safer sex Talking about sex with parents, especially mothers, had an effect on safer sex behavior among adolescents, especially girls, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics.
Off-label prescription drug use and adverse drug events Off-label use of prescription drugs was associated with adverse drug events in a study of patients in Canada, especially off-label use lacking strong scientific evidence, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
	Immune cells that fight obesity We tend to think of the immune system as guarding us against bacteria, viruses and assorted foreign invaders, but this system has some other surprising roles. Weizmann Institute researchers have now identified a small subtype of immune cells that appears to prevent metabolic syndrome: obesity, high blood pressure, and high levels of blood sugar and cholesterol.
	A newly discovered tumor suppressor gene affects melanoma survival Of the hundreds of genes that can be mutated in a single case of melanoma, only a handful may be true "drivers" of cancer. In research that appeared last week in Nature Genetics, a Weizmann Institute of Science team has now revealed one of the drivers of a particularly deadly subset of melanomas - one that is still seeing a rise in new cases. This gene is a newly identified member of a group of genes called tumor suppressor genes. It is mutated in some 5.4% of melanomas. Furthermore, its expression was found to be lost in over 30% of human melanomas; and this loss, according to the finding, was associated with reduced patient survival. This discovery might open new doors to understanding how this cancer grows and spreads, and it may lead in the future to new directions in treating this disease.
	Rheumatoid arthritis linked to increased risk of death Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been associated with increased risk of death in the past, but a new study by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) brings that risk into sharper focus. Using data from the Nurses' Health Study, which has followed more than 100,000 female registered nurses since 1976, researchers found that rheumatoid arthritis significantly increased participants' overall risk of death, especially risk of death due to respiratory or cardiovascular causes. The new work suggests the importance of vigilance in monitoring respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms among patients with RA, particularly those who are seropositive.
In-house test kits help motivate parents to reduce allergens in their homes In-home test kits, coupled with patient education, help parents reduce allergen levels in their homes, according to scientists from the National Institutes of Health. The researchers found that parents may become more motivated to participate in allergen reduction interventions, when they can actually see results for themselves.
	Does healthier food help low-income people control their diabetes? To determine whether healthy food could help low-income people better control their diabetes, a pilot study by UC San Francisco and Feeding America tracked nearly 700 people at food banks in California, Texas and Ohio over two years.
	Breast cancer in Appalachia: Surprising new findings on obstacles to care Researchers at the School of Medicine have taken a new approach to understanding why so many breast cancer patients in Appalachia aren't getting the care they need, and their findings are set to change how people view the obstacles to care that beset the region.
Breast cancer adjuvant therapy benefit can wax and wane over time, study finds After breast cancer surgery, women are prescribed adjuvant (or follow-up) therapies such as chemotherapy and endocrine drugs to reduce the risk of the cancer returning. It's been assumed that the treatment effects of these therapies remain constant over time, but a new study from the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio suggests the opposite is true.
Researchers decipher molecular basis of resistance in the African vector Anopheles funestus Researchers at LSTM have shown the means by which one of the major species of mosquito responsible for transmitting malaria in Africa is becoming resistant to the insecticides used to treat the bednets which protect people from being bitten. This understanding can help tracking resistance and maintaining the effectiveness of tools used to control these mosquitoes.
	New study uncovers attitudes of African-American children toward overweight peers The childhood obesity epidemic in the United States has been growing for decades. A new study focusing on African-American children shows how the issue can also impact social development. The University of Cincinnati study led by Laura Nabors, an associate professor of health promotion and education, will be featured in a poster presentation on Nov. 2, at the 143rd American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo, in Chicago.
Researchers are on their way to predicting what side effects you'll experience from a drug Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a model that could be used to predict a drug's side effects on different patients. The proof of concept study is aimed at determining how different individuals will respond to a drug treatment and could help assess whether a drug is suitable for a particular patient based on measurements taken from the patient's blood.
	Study reveals new link between Down syndrome and Alzheimer's Individuals with Down syndrome who survive into adulthood face the additional challenge of early-onset dementia, in which toxic amyloid plaques build up in the brain. The condition is strikingly similar to Alzheimer's disease, and as new work led by researchers at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) shows, dementia in Down syndrome involves defects in a regulatory enzyme known as γ-secretase activating protein (GSAP), which also happens to malfunction in Alzheimer's disease.
Cancer cells use secret tunnels to communicate and smuggle cancer signals their neighbors A new discovery published in the Nov. 2015 issue of The FASEB Journal shows that cancer cells use previously unknown channels to communicate with one another and with adjacent non-cancerous cells. Not only does this cast an important light on how cancer metastasizes and recruits cellular material from healthy cells, but it also suggests that these physical channels might be exploitable to deliver drug therapies.
Even a little is too much: One junk food snack triggers signals of metabolic disease We hate to ruin Thanksgiving, but a new report appearing in the Nov. 2015 issue of The FASEB Journal suggests that for some people, overindulgence at the dinner table or at snack time is enough to trigger signs of metabolic disease. Specifically, in some people just one high-calorie shake was enough to make people with metabolic disease worse, while in others, relatively short periods of overeating trigger the beginnings of metabolic disease. This information could be particularly useful for health care providers, nutritionists, and others who counsel people on disease prevention and eating habits.
Lack of exercise linked to alcohol misuse A large-scale survey of African-American men and women found that those who rarely or never exercised had about twice the odds of abusing alcohol than those who exercised frequently, a finding that could have implications across all groups.
	Children's self-esteem already established by age five, study finds By age 5 children have a sense of self-esteem comparable in strength to that of adults, according to a new study by University of Washington researchers.
	Conventional heart drug stops the progression of cancer A common heart drug may stop the progression of angiosarcoma, a cancer of the inner lining of blood vessels, according to a study by researchers at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) El Paso.
	Predicting cancer's growth from few clues Mathematicians at Duke University are developing ways to help doctors predict how different cancers are likely to progress when actual measurements of tumor growth are hard to come by.
	Obese people need more vitamin E, but actually get less A recent study suggests that obese people with metabolic syndrome face an unexpected quandary when it comes to vitamin E - they need more than normal levels of the vitamin because their weight and other problems are causing increased oxidative stress, but those same problems actually cause their effective use of vitamin E to be reduced.
	Federal jury to settle bitter battle between sweeteners Big Sugar and Big Corn face off in court this week in a bitter, multibillion-dollar battle of sweeteners that boils down to a mix of science, semantics and marketing.
Better outcomes using cultured, self-donated, epidermal cells for serious burn victims The use of meshed split skin autographs (SSGs) is a standard treatment for large, deep burns. However, serious scarring is often a result. In an effort to improve wound healing and reduce scarring, a team of researchers in The Netherlands tested a treatment technique on patients with serious, deep burns that employed SSGs along with autologous cultured proliferating epidermal cells (ECs) compared to SSGs alone. In a multi-center, 40-patient clinical trial they found that using SSGs in combination with autologous cultured proliferating epidermal cells provided better wound healing and less scarring than SSGs alone.
	Adjusting to less food availability can impact kids negatively Adjusting to family circumstances where there is less food available than previously can be a traumatic situation for children and can result in behavioral issues, according to new research from sociologists at Rice University. In addition, lack of regular access to food can also result in poorer health among children.
Improvements in US diet lower premature deaths Two new studies from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health shed light on critical dietary issues facing Americans. One study showed that while recent improvements in the U.S. diet have helped reduce disease and premature death, the overall American diet is still poor. Another, which analyzed interventions to reduce childhood obesity, found three that would save more in health care costs than they would cost to implement.
	Restaurants listing calorie counts on the menu offer more lower-calorie items Large U.S.-based chain restaurants that voluntarily list calorie counts on their menus average nearly 140 fewer calories per item than those that do not post the information, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests.
Big Apple menu calorie counts don't add up to leaner diets at fast-food restaurants Some six years out from New York City's attempt to curb the obesity epidemic by mandating calorie counts in chain restaurants, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have found that calorie labels, on their own, have not reduced the overall number of calories that consumers of fast food order and presumably eat.
Opening supermarket in food desert changes diet, study finds Opening a full-service grocery store in a neighborhood deemed to be a food desert may encourage nearby residents to improve their diet—but not because they use the new supermarket, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
New recommendations green-light some athletes with heart disease to compete For the first time, joint recommendations may permit participation in competitive sports for some athletes diagnosed with a specific type of irregular heartbeat and for others who have an implanted medical device that regulates the heart's rhythm.
With help from pharmacists, better blood pressure costs $22 A pharmacist-physician collaborative effort to control blood pressure among a diverse group of patients was considered cost-effective, with a $22 price tag to increase the hypertension control rate by one percent, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension.
Severity of combat injury linked to future chronic diseases Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are more likely to develop chronic diseases based on the severity of their combat injuries, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
Small urban corner stores offer increased healthy food options Federal food policy changes led to increased availability of healthy foods at smaller urban corner stores in Baltimore, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests. Increases in healthy food were greatest in corner stores and in neighborhoods with a majority of black residents.
Acupuncture and Alexander Technique ease chronic neck pain better than usual care A large scale investigation by researchers at the University of York found that the use of Alexander Technique or acupuncture can significantly relieve chronic neck pain.
ncreased sleep duration, chronic short sleep duration linked to increased diabetes risk in middle-aged and older women Chronic short sleep duration of 6 hours or less or increasing average sleeping time by 2 hours or more over a period of several years increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and older women, reports new research published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).
	Researchers find a wide variation in costs to treat low-risk prostate cancer Now, for the first time, UCLA researchers have described cost across an entire care process for low-risk prostate cancer - from the time a patient checks in for his first appointment to his post-treatment follow-up testing - using time-driven activity-based costing. And they found a wide variation in costs for the various available treatments that remained consistent over a 12-year period, indicating a better method to monitor costs could save valuable healthcare dollars, said study first author Dr. Aaron Laviana, a fifth year urology resident.
	US and Mexico must jointly combat Chagas disease Chagas disease—the third most common parasitic infection in the world—affects approximately 7.5 million people, mostly in Latin America. To help reduce outbreaks of this disease in their countries, the United States and Mexican governments should implement a range of programs as well as fund research for the development of Chagas vaccines and treatments, according to a new policy brief by tropical-disease and science policy experts at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Early intervention in dyslexia can narrow achievement gap Identifying children with dyslexia as early as first grade couldnarrow or even close the achievement gap with typical readers,according to a new study by researchers at the University ofCalifornia, Davis, and Yale University.
	Severe obesity costs Medicaid $8 billion annually and rising Nearly 11 percent or $8 billion of the cost to treat severe obesity was paid for by Medicaid in 2013, ranging from a low of $5 million in Wyoming to $1.3 billion in California. Research led by Y. Claire Wang, ScD, associate professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, predicts these costs will only grow as Medicaid eligibility is extended to more people following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. To slow down the rise in obesity-related healthcare costs, states should focus on identifying effective obesity prevention and treatment services, ensure access for those who are Medicaid-eligible, and include obesity in policy discussions around state Medicaid expansions. Findings are published in the November issue of the journal Health Affairs.
	Better diets may be extending Americans' lives (HealthDay)—Despite the stereotype that Americans are eating more unhealthful foods that leave them vulnerable to assorted diseases, a new study suggests the opposite may be true.
	Ranolazine bests old school antianginal medications (HealthDay)—Newer antianginal (AA) medications such as ranolazine show substantial outcome improvements in chronic stable angina pectoris (CSA) compared to traditional medications, according to a study published in the Nov. 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.
	Prediabetes linked to incident cardiovascular disease (HealthDay)—Prediabetes is associated with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), although correlations vary with ethnicity and prediabetes definition, according to a study published online Oct. 20 in Diabetes Care.
Dental health of professional footballers is 'poor' and affects performance Nearly four out of 10 UK professional footballers have active tooth decay, while one in 20 has irreversible gum disease, finds a large representative study of players, published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
	Health law's 3rd sign-up season faces challenges from prices The government's insurance website is faster and easier to use, but as a third sign-up season gets underway, President Barack Obama's health care law is approaching limits.
	Healthcare equality for prisoners would benefit entire community say experts Researchers have proposed a new funding model to provide prisoners with the same health care as other Australians.
	The gene, the whaler, and twenty years of research A genetic research screening programme led by Associate Professor Kathryn Stowell is saving the lives of New Zealanders suffering from a rare genetic disorder Malignant Hyperthermia.
	New applications for tried and tested medicines The Medical University of Vienna is coordinating an international research project, which investigates the effectiveness of tried and tested medicines for the treatment of some of the heaviest burdens of our modern society including diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. One molecule that these disorders have in common is a receptor known as the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR), which is the molecular starting point of this project. Abnormal CaSR function can not only trigger familial benign hypercalcaemia and hyperparathyroidism but it is also involved in various other diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. A four-year EU project is now investigating whether these medicines that modulate the function of CaSR, could be used for the treatment of the above-mentioned diseases.
Liver-simulating device surpasses animal-based alternatives The HEMIBIO project has developed a Hepatic Microfluidic Bioreactor mimicking the structure of the human liver. The project team is confident that the new device will eventually help remove the need for testing chemicals on animal subjects.
What do the new breast cancer screening guidelines recommend about when to start yearly mammograms? In October, the American Cancer Society (ACS) updated its guidelines for when women at average risk should be screened for breast cancer. These new recommendations are less straightforward than past versions, resulting in confusion among the press, physicians and women.
Swedish diagnostic method for Alzheimer's becomes international standard Researchers at Gothenburg University have developed a reference method for standardized measurements that diagnose Alzheimer's disease decades before symptoms appear. The method has now formally been classified as the international reference method, which means that it will be used as the standard in Alzheimer's diagnostics worldwide.
	HIV scientists launch EUR23 million project to develop vaccine A new 23 million euro initiative to accelerate the search for an effective HIV vaccine begins today.
Chipotle closes 43 US restaurants after E.coli outbreak Chipotle Mexican Grill shut 43 restaurants in Oregon and Washington states following an outbreak of E.coli linked to at least 22 cases, a Chipotle spokesman said Monday.
Substantial differences in obstetric care for First Nations women in Canada: BC study There are substantial differences in obstetric care provided to First Nations women compared with women in the general population, and these differences may contribute to higher infant mortality in First Nations populations, according to research published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
	How the Ebola scare stigmatized African immigrants in the US The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa also took its toll socially on one of the fastest growing populations in the United States, African immigrants. Guy-Lucien Whembolua, a University of Cincinnati assistant professor of Africana studies, leads an analysis of national news coverage of the Ebola scare in a poster presentation on Nov. 2, at the 143rd American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo, in Chicago.
	Physician Fee Schedule recognizes importance of Advance Care Planning for older adults Reflecting recommendations from the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and 65 other partner organizations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that voluntary Advance Care Planning (ACP)—a comprehensive, ongoing, person-centered approach to communication about future healthcare choices—will for the first time become a recognized, reimbursable benefit for Medicare recipients. Specifically, the recently released 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which health providers use to orchestrate care, includes two new current procedural terminology (CPT) codes endorsed by the AGS and its partners to help Medicare-eligible professionals provide and track ACP services beginning in January of next year.
	E. coli in Northwest marks Chipotle's 3rd outbreak this year An E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle restaurants in Washington state and Oregon has sickened nearly two dozen people in the third outbreak of foodborne illness at the popular chain this year.
Shire buys US biotech firm Dyax for $5.9bn: companies Dublin-based pharmaceutical group Shire said Monday it had agreed to buy Dyax, a US company specialising in rare diseases, for $5.9 billion (5.34 billion euros).
Nevada investigates whether cryotherapy is safe for public Nevada says it's looking into whether cryotherapy is safe for the general public after the death of a Las Vegas spa worker found inside a treatment chamber chilled by liquid nitrogen.
Duke obesity experts in special issue on food and health Two Duke Global Health Institute faculty members have articles in the November issue of Health Affairs, which is devoted entirely to the subject of food and health, marking the first time the publication has covered the subject in this way.

Biology news

	Breeding higher yielding crops by increasing sugar import into seeds Once a mother plant releases its embryos to the outside world, they have to survive on their own without family protection. To ensure successful colonization by these vulnerable creatures, the mother plant provides the embryo with a backpack full of energy, called the endosperm. Since, over time, the only plants that will survive are those that reproduce and compete successfully, the mother plant's whole life is dedicated to producing sugars in its leaves, which are ultimately stored in these backpacks. The sugars are manufactured in the leaves when the plant turns the Sun's energy into chemical energy and then transported to the seeds. The amount of sugars that fill a seed directly determines the seed's size.
	How highly social mammals optimize group size (Phys.org)—The sizes of social groups among mammals are driven by dynamics from within the group and a combination of pressures and incentives from outside. While aggregation and cooperation are often beneficial for species survival, group size influences the allocation of time and the use of space, and has strong implications for individual health and fitness. Over the years, studies have largely suggested a linear relationship between group size, home range area and daily travel distance, with disadvantages only for the largest groups.
	Ancient British tree undergoing 'sex-change' A British tree thought to be up to 5,000 years old has started to change sex, a "rare and unusual" phenomenon not fully understood by scientists, a botanist said Monday.
	Study reveals the architecture of the molecular machine that copies DNA DNA replication is essential to all life, yet many basic mechanisms in that process remain unknown to scientists. The structure of the replisome—a block of proteins responsible for unwinding the DNA helix and then creating duplicate helices for cell division—is one such mystery.
	Planting in clumps boosts wetland restoration success When restoring coastal wetlands, it's long been common practice to leave space between new plants to prevent overcrowding and reduce competition for nutrients and sunlight
	What ever happened to West Nile? Many people remember the arrival of West Nile in North America in 1999, if only because the initial outbreak killed not just wild crows but also exotic birds in the Bronx Zoo.
	Pineapple genome offers insight into photosynthesis in drought-tolerant plants By sequencing its genome, scientists are homing in on the genes and genetic pathways that allow the juicy pineapple plant to thrive in water-limited environments. The new findings, reported in the journal Nature Genetics, also open a new window on the complicated evolutionary history of grasses like sorghum and rice, which share a distant ancestor with pineapple.
Scientists reveal 90 percent of skin-based viruses represent viral 'dark matter' Scientists in recent years have made great progress in characterizing the bacterial population that normally lives on human skin and contributes to health and disease. Now researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have used state-of-the-art techniques to survey the skin's virus population, or "virome." The study, published in the online journal mBio last month, reveals that most DNA viruses on healthy human skin are viral "dark matter" that have never been described before. The research also includes the development of a set of virome analysis tools that are now available to researchers for further investigations.
	Chimpanzee language claims lost in translation Research published earlier this year claiming chimpanzees can learn each others' language is not supported, a team of scientists concludes after reviewing the study.
	Study elucidates genetics behind Salmonella's host specificity It's called bird flu for a reason. Particular characteristics about the influenza virus known as H5N1 allow it to primarily affect avifauna, though in some worrying cases the disease has been passed to humans.
Team broadens utility of more compact CRISPR-Cas9 by increasing its targeting range A team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators has shown that a method they developed to improve the usefulness and precision of the most common form of the gene-editing tools CRISPR-Cas9 RNA-guided nucleases can be applied to Cas9 enzymes from other bacterial sources. In a paper receiving advance online publication in Nature Biotechnology, the team reports evolving a variant of SaCas9 - the Cas9 enzyme from the Streptococcus aureus bacteria - that recognizes a broader range of nucleotide sequences, allowing targeting of genomic sites previously inaccessible to CRISPR-Cas9 technology.
	Protecting plants from stealthy diseases Stealthy diseases sometimes trick plants by hijacking their defense signaling system, which issues an alarm that diverts plant resources for the wrong attack and allows the enemy pathogens to easily overrun plants.
	Risk assessment, for the birds Every year, backyard songbirds across the United States make an arduous journey to warmer winter climes. They migrate hundreds of miles, occasionally braving tough terrain and nasty weather. Sometimes, they have no place to stop and refuel along the way.
	First evaluation of new fingerprinting methods for ivory Scientists from King's College London and University College London have collaborated with imaging and fingerprint experts from the Metropolitan Police to validate the use of new techniques for retrieving fingerprints from ivory for the first time.
	Bugs collected on rooftop for 18 years reveal climate change effects A volunteer registration of insects for 18 consecutive years on the Copenhagen roof of the Natural History Museum of Denmark has revealed local insect community turnover due to climate change. The research suggests a pattern of specialised species being more sensitive to climate change.
Researchers find vampire bats' saliva specially evolved for blood-feeding As the closest real-world cousin of a Halloween nightmare, the vampire bat is unique among vertebrates because it feeds only on the blood of other mammals. But according to new research from two Texas Tech University faculty members in the Department of Biological Sciences, these bats may now be specially designed for it.
	Treetop leaves of tall trees store extra water A research team led by Associate Professor Ishii Roaki and Doctoral Student Azuma Wakana from the Kobe University Graduate School of Agricultural Science has discovered that the water storage tissue that they recently found in the world's tallest tree, Sequoia sempervirens (coast redwood), is also found in Japan's tallest trees, Cryptomeria japonica (Japanese cedar). The results of this research were published on 4 September 2015 in the online version of the journal Trees.
	Rimu berry 'game changer' for Kakapo breeding New research from Massey University on vitamin D could help bring New Zealand's endemic kākāpō back from the brink of extinction.
	Herpes viruses with an unusual broad host range In general, herpes viruses are considered to be specific to a single species or group of related animals. Recent research findings from the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) contradict this assumption by showing that two equine herpes viruses (type 1 and type 9) have evolved an unusual broad host range. Despite favoring African herbivores these viruses can jump beyond their natural hosts, infecting polar bears and other distantly related species and causing fatalities. Interestingly, herpes virus type 9 (EHV-9) may use the African rhinoceroses as a possible natural host or reservoir. The findings were published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
	Researchers make technological breakthrough against potato cyst nematode A new study by UK scientists has the potential to deal with roundworm infestation that costs the UK agricultural industry £50million a year.
	Elusive curlews come a-calling Eerie wailing calls at night are often the only sign that bush stone-curlews are about.
	How dung beetles navigate Researchers got right into the brains of dung beetles to find out how they use celestial cues such as the sun, the moon and the polarisation pattern of skylight to navigate their dung balls along straight paths across the savanna.
	Animal communications, information theory, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) The idea that we can learn about possible extraterrestrial (ETI) communication systems by studying non-human communications on Earth is similar to the astrobiological idea that one might learn more about exobiology by studying the extremes of life on Earth. Such study was taken up by Dr. Brenda McCowan of University of California, at Davis, Dr. Laurance R. Doyle of the SETI Institute, and their PhD student at the time, the now Dr. Sean F. Hanser. Early work was also helped on by Dr. Jon M. Jenkins also of the SETI Institute at the time.
Eavesdropping on Bering Strait marine mammals Climate change hasn't been kind to the Arctic Circle, as evidenced by the decrease of seasonal ice in the area and the encroachment of temperate species. One way to monitor impacts to the ecosystem is by observing the changes in occurrence or distribution of sea birds and marine mammals.
	Body odor sets female rhesus monkeys apart Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) make use of their sense of smell to distinguish between members of their own and other social groups, according to new research, led by Stefanie Henkel (University of Leipzig, Germany), published in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
	Plants keep one foot on the brakes Pressing on the gas and the brakes at the same time hardly sounds like good driving technique, but Weizmann Institute scientists have discovered that plants drive some of their key processes in precisely such manner.
	Bat disease fungus found to be widespread in northeast China Bats in northeast China are infected with the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease that has decimated bat populations in North America since it first appeared in upstate New York in 2006. A team of American and Chinese researchers found the fungus in caves where bats hibernate and found bats infected with the fungus.
	World's tiniest snail record broken with a myriad of new species from Borneo The world's record for the smallest land snail is broken once again. A minute shell with an average diameter of 0.7 mm was found in Malaysian Borneo by a team of Dutch and Malaysian biologists along with another 47 new species of greatly varying sizes. Called 'dwarf' ("nanus" meaning "dwarf" in Latin), the new snail, Acmella nana, is first-shown to the world in the open-access journal ZooKeys, where the last record-holder was announced only about a month ago.
	Juvenile cowbirds sneak out at night, study finds A new study explores how a young cowbird, left as an egg in the nest of a different species, grows up to know it's a cowbird and not a warbler, thrush or sparrow.
	Once plentiful, northeastern bats now threatened by mysterious white-nose syndrome For summer visitors at Shaver's Creek Environmental Center, the show started at dusk.
In 2030, we will have local protein on our plate In 2030, new sources that will not accelerate climate change and that are located near the consumer will make available both food and fodder. New foodstuffs are being developed by breeding insects, cultivating mushrooms and processing vegetable raw materials.
	New nitrite sensor making waves in Europe's aquaculture sector The sensor was developed through the EU-funded AQUALITY project and is the first to have been designed specifically with aquaculture in mind. Fish farmers have until now had to rely on monitoring tools designed for general water management, which often lack the accuracy needed to ensure the welfare of fish.
	Whales on French beach may have washed up voluntarily: expert A school of 10 whales that washed up Monday in northern France may have done so voluntarily after the death of the dominant male, an expert said.

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