Science X Newsletter Friday, Jan 15

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for January 15, 2016:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Graphene plasmons used to create tunable terahertz laser
- New type of animated crystal structure discovered
- Scientists identify protein that allows brain cells to dampen their sensitivity
- Extreme turbulence roiling 'most luminous galaxy' in the universe
- Study reveals the way CRISPR/Cas9 cleaves enzymes and positions them for cutting
- Signs of second largest black hole in the Milky Way: Possible missing link in black hole evolution
- Autism-linked protein lays groundwork for healthy brain
- Researchers investigate how light behaves in curved space
- European space boss has Moon Village plan
- NIST simulates fast, accurate DNA sequencing through graphene nanopore
- Spacewalk aborted after water leaks into astronaut's helmet (Update 5)
- Poverty linked to childhood depression, changes in brain connectivity
- Researchers track tyrannosaur's trail
- Genetic 'paint box' shuffled between butterfly species to create new wing patterns
- Two-for-one bacterial virulence factor revealed

Astronomy & Space news

	Extreme turbulence roiling 'most luminous galaxy' in the universe The most luminous galaxy in the Universe - a so-called obscured quasar 12.4 billion light-years away - is so violently turbulent that it may eventually jettison its entire supply of star-forming gas, according to new observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
	China shoots for first landing on dark side of the moon China will launch a mission to land on the dark side of the moon in two years' time, state media reported, in what will be a first for humanity.
	NASA image: Pluto's Wright Mons in color Scientists with NASA's New Horizons mission have assembled this highest-resolution color view of one of two potential cryovolcanoes spotted on the surface of Pluto by the New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015.
	Enceladus dalmatian terrain close-up During its final close flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus, NASA's Cassini spacecraft revisited a landscape, and a mystery, that it had originally glimpsed more than 10 years earlier.
	Spacewalk aborted after water leaks into astronaut's helmet (Update 5) Two astronauts aborted their spacewalk Friday and hurried back into the International Space Station after water leaked into one of the men's helmets in a scary repeat of a near-drowning 2½ years ago.
	Signs of second largest black hole in the Milky Way: Possible missing link in black hole evolution Astronomers using the Nobeyama 45-m Radio Telescope have detected signs of an invisible black hole with a mass of 100 thousand times the mass of the Sun around the center of the Milky Way. The team assumes that this possible "intermediate mass" black hole is a key to understanding the birth of the supermassive black holes located in the centers of galaxies.
	European space boss has Moon Village plan The European Space Agency's new boss elaborated Friday on his vision for a multinational research village on the Moon—a leading contender for a project to succeed the International Space Station.
	Newcomer Sierra Nevada to supply ISS alongside SpaceX, Orbital NASA split a multi-billion-dollar contract to resupply the International Space Station between three US firms: SpaceX, Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada—a newcomer with reusable spacecraft.
	Machine learning helps discover the most luminous supernova in history Machine-learning technology developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory played a key role in the discovery of supernova ASASSN-15lh, an exceptionally powerful explosion that was 570 billion times brighter than the sun and more than twice as luminous as the previous record-holding supernova. This extraordinary event marking the death of a star was identified by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) and is described in a new study published today in Science.
	Image: Fish-eye view of Saturn's moon Titan At first glance, this scene may look like a reptilian eye or a textured splash of orange paint, but it is actually a fish-eye view of Saturn's moon Titan. It was acquired at a height of about 5 km as ESA's Huygens probe, part of the international Cassini–Huygens mission, descended through Titan's atmosphere before landing.
	Australian ESA antenna retired After 30 years of working on dozens of missions, an ESA antenna in Australia has been retired because of urban expansion and the increased risk of radio interference.
	All five bright planets come together in the morning sky For the first time in more than 10 years, it will be possible to see all five bright planets together in the sky. Around an hour or so before sunrise, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, the five planets that have been observed since ancient times, will appear in a line that stretches from high in the north to low in the east.
	Tim Peake's spacewalk will be no stroll in the park Maybe you're having a busy week at work, and you get a call from home: "You know that fault on the sequential shunt unit? Looks like this Friday would be a good time to get it sorted. It'll be easy to fix – just one bolt needs to be undone."
	NOAA's Jason-3 spacecraft ready for launch Jason-3, an international mission led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to continue U.S.-European satellite measurements of the topography of the ocean surfaces, is scheduled for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sunday, Jan. 17. Liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 4 East is targeted for 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 p.m. EST) at the opening of a 30-second launch window. If needed, a backup launch opportunity is available on the Western Range on Jan. 18 at 10:31:04 a.m. PST (1:31:04 p.m. EST).
	How do you build a mirror for one of the world's biggest telescopes? When astronomers point their telescopes up at the sky to see distant supernovae or quasars, they're collecting light that's traveled millions or even billions of light-years through space. Even huge and powerful energy sources in the cosmos are unimaginably tiny and faint when we view them from such a distance. In order to learn about galaxies as they were forming soon after the Big Bang, and about nearby but much smaller and fainter objects, astronomers need more powerful telescopes.
	Money troubles may delay Europe-Russia Mars mission Part of a joint European-Russian mission to search for signs of life on Mars may be delayed due to cash flow problems, the European Space Agency said Friday.
	Follow a live planet hunt—Pale Red Dot campaign launched A unique outreach campaign has been launched that will allow the general public to follow scientists from around the globe as they search for an Earth-like exoplanet around the closest star to us, Proxima Centauri. The observing campaign will run from January to April 2016 and will be accompanied by blog posts and social media updates. No one knows what the outcome will be. In the months following the observations, the scientists will analyse the data and submit the results to a peer-reviewed journal.
'Space Warps' and other citizen science projects reap major dividends for astrophysics Thanks to the Internet, amateur volunteers known as "citizen scientists" can readily donate their time and effort to science—in fields ranging from medicine to zoology to astrophysics. The astrophysics project Space Warps offers a compelling example of why citizen science has become such a popular tool and how valuable it can be.

Technology news

	Metamaterial-enabled antennas help improve satellite communications systems Smaller, lighter weight, better performing and more multifunctional miniature antennas with increased performance may be possible using smart materials, according to Penn State engineers. One particularly promising application of this technology is for satellite communications systems.
	Soft shine, smart functions in launch of Sony light Home living in Japan is to take on a new light. Sony has answered the question: What if the lightbulb in your home could control almost everything else?
China's Haier buying GE appliance unit for $5.4 billion Haier Group, the world's biggest appliance maker, is buying General Electric Co.'s appliance business for $5.4 billion to expand its global presence.
	US pledges $4 bn to speed self-driving cars The US administration pledged to help clear the way for autonomous vehicles with an investment of $4 billion to fund research and testing projects.
George W. Bush page most edited on Wikipedia Former US president George W. Bush may no longer be able to change the course of history—but it has not stopped others trying for him.
Uber subsidiary fined $7.6 mn in California The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday hit an Uber subsidiary with a $7.6 million fine for failing to comply with reporting requirements fully and in a timely manner.
	New technique creates renewable "bio-oil" The idea of replacing fossil-based fuel, such as petroleum, with a renewable source of sustainable energy is enough to get any environmentalist excited.
	Not so science fiction after all, the internet could out-evolve humanity Living things accumulate and reproduce information. That's really the driving principle behind life, and behind evolution.
	Why fast failures make US startups a better bet than those in the UK Eureka Park, Las Vegas: not a housing estate, but "the hall of hopes and dreams" – aisle after aisle of entrepreneurs showing off their wares as part of the Consumer Electronics Show, the biggest tech gadget show in the world. CES, opening in early January for a week each year, is a hive filled with both startup companies and their innovations and tech giants and global brands showing off their latest products.
	Even greener solar power on the way Europe wants to reduce its needs for raw materials and raise the level of recycling of resources in the solar power industry. If this project is successful, greenhouse gas emissions from solar panel manufacture will fall by 25 to 30 per cent.
Amphibious remote-controlled machines to help clean-up nuclear disaster sites Submersible remote-controlled machines are to be created that will accelerate the clean-up operation at nuclear sites such as disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi.
	Building material recycling – a great gain for the environment Constructivate's aim is to increase the recycling of Sweden's second largest source of waste, building and demolition materials. Recycled concrete can become a great gain for the environment.
	How Wikipedia's silent coup ousted our traditional sources of knowledge As Wikipedia turns 15, volunteer editors worldwide will be celebrating with themed cakes and edit-a-thons aimed at filling holes in poorly covered topics. It's remarkable that a user-editable encyclopedia project that allows anyone to edit has got this far, especially as the website is kept afloat through donations and the efforts of thousands of volunteers. But Wikipedia hasn't just become an important and heavily relied-upon source of facts: it has become an authority on those facts.
	Bosses' right to snoop on staff emails is an invasion of privacy and ignores the way we work Since Edward Snowden revealed the existence of internet surveillance programmes such as XKeyScore, Prism and Tempora, there have been many discussions of digital snooping and its implications for privacy, freedom and civil rights.
	The development of a smart desk for teamwork projects New technologies are changing the way people work; in recent years, many companies have tended towards using large open plan spaces, without individual offices, which help to facilitate teamwork. With this in mind, Pynk Systems is launching a new work concept called the "Ergon Desk". This smart desk has an ergonomic design incorporating movable elements, which can be adapted to both laptops and tablets; it is controlled by an application.
	Ghost town tests self-driving cars of tomorrow Tucked away on a tree-lined US college campus, a sprawling ghost town has been built to test the self-driving cars of the future.
	Auto industry agrees to cooperate with government on safety After two tumultuous years of recalls, fines and friction, the government and the auto industry struck a peace treaty of sorts by agreeing to cooperate on safety issues in the future.
	'Call of Duty' conquered video game market in 2015 The "Call of Duty" video game installment released in November went on to rule the market, becoming the top-selling title last year at retail outlets, according to industry tracker NPD Group.
Amazon dips toes into maritime shipping Amazon said Friday it has taken the first steps to begin maritime shipping operations, adding to its already vast arsenal of logistical operations.
BT deal to buy German-French mobile venture is cleared Germany's Deutsche Telekom and France's Orange S.A. say the sale of their mobile joint venture EE to British telecommunications company BT PLC is going ahead.
	Energy saving options for the cultivation of chrysanthemum What energy-saving options are most suitable to be applied at a the cultivation of chrysanthemum? Together with DLV Plant, Wageningen UR greenhouse horticulture has carried out two surveys commissioned by the program 'Kas als Energiebron': one inventory for saving on electricity and one inventory for saving on heat.
ReCRED project takes device-centric access control into the future With e-commerce now exceeding 1 trillion USD per annum, the sharing economy on the rise, and the emergence of the Internet of Things, the need for reliable and user-friendly authentication and authorization mechanisms is more pressing than ever. Researchers from IMDEA Networks are collaborating in the newly launched ReCRED (ReCRED: Real-world Identities to Privacy-preserving and Attribute-based CREDentials)– a research project that aims to improve end-user internet security using the mobile as an authorization proxy.
Holiday sales rose 3 percent below 3.7 percent gain Holiday shoppers flocked online during the critical holiday shopping season, but overall sales in November and December were disappointing.
	High court will hear Microsoft appeal over Xbox lawsuit The Supreme Court will decide whether Microsoft Corp. must face a class action lawsuit by disgruntled owners of the Xbox 360 video-game system who say the console has a design defect that scratches game disks.

Medicine & Health news

	Scientists identify protein that allows brain cells to dampen their sensitivity Strengthening and weakening the connections between neurons, known as synapses, is vital to the brain's development and everyday function. One way that neurons weaken their synapses is by swallowing up receptors on their surfaces that normally respond to glutamate, one of the brain's excitatory chemicals.
	Autism-linked protein lays groundwork for healthy brain A gene linked to mental disorders helps lays the foundation for a crucial brain structure during prenatal development, according to Salk Institute research published January 14, 2016 in Cell Reports.
	Poverty linked to childhood depression, changes in brain connectivity Many negative consequences are linked to growing up poor, and researchers at Washington University St. Louis have identified one more: altered brain connectivity.
Occupational textile dust exposure linked to rheumatoid arthritis Occupational exposure to textile dust is associated with a more than doubling in the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, finds research published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
Link between obesity and increased risk of colorectal cancer revealed Obesity has long been associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer, but the link has never been understood. Now, a research team led by investigators at Thomas Jefferson University has revealed the biological connection, and in the process, has identified an approved drug that might prevent development of the cancer. Their study is published in Cancer Research.
	Zika virus has potential to spread rapidly through Americas The Zika virus, possibly linked to serious birth defects in Brazil, has the potential to spread within the Americas, including parts of the United States, according to an international team of researchers who track the spread of infectious diseases.
UK teens heavily exposed to alcohol and tobacco content in YouTube music videos UK teens are heavily exposed to alcohol and tobacco images and lyrics in digital YouTube music videos, indicates research published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
How, when and where could affect outcome of psychological treatment Meeting patients' preferences for the time and place of their psychological treatment may affect their perception of treatment outcome, a cross-sectional survey by researchers from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Imperial College London involving 14,587 respondents suggests.
	Behind the scenes of Canada's first hand/arm transplant The surgery itself may have taken 14 hours, but the planning for it began five years earlier.
	Psychology study explains when and why bystanders intervene in cyberbullying People on social media are often unsupportive of cyberbullying victims who have shared highly personal feelings, UCLA psychologists report.
	Lack of self–control could be a sign of power Media gaffes, inappropriate comments and the short fuses of Tony Abbott, Shane Warne and Donald Trump may be criticised, but do they serve another function?
	New device could decrease time spent between detection and treatments for cancer patients When treating cancer, time is the most important variable available for both the patient and the doctor. Time allows doctors to increase the knowledge of the specific cancer plaguing a patient. Time allows for improvements in medications and technologies used as part of a prescribed treatment plan. For the individual battling the cancer, every second spent post-diagnosis is counted as if could be the last.
	7 minutes or the knife – short video could decrease likelihood of labiaplasty surgery Watching one short video could influence whether some women choose to undergo labiaplasty surgery, according to Flinders University Psychology researchers who have published a study on how women's perception of 'genital normality' can be altered through education.
Playing sports can lead some boys to binge drink High school boys who participate in sports are more likely to binge drink—especially to an extreme, according to a new University of Michigan study.
Study calls for closer examination of transitional care management program effectiveness Reducing excessive medical costs associated with high hospital readmission rates is a pillar of health care reform. From 2007 to 2011, as many as 19 percent of patients in the United States returned to hospitals less than a month after discharge, accounting for an estimated $15 million in preventable hospitalization costs.
	Help the scientists find out why you sound like your parents Have people often commented on how you sound like your mum or dad, or get your family mixed up on the phone? If so, a team of researchers at The University of Nottingham needs your help in a new and unique project to find out if aspects of the human voice are passed down through our genes.
Understanding 'immune SOS signal' may lead to new psoriasis therapies Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have made an important breakthrough in understanding how an 'immune SOS signal', the protein Interleukin-36, serves an important role in switching on the immune system. The discovery may pave the way for the development of new therapies for treating psoriasis.
	Can a "crowd" diagnose better than a physician? The jury is still out Crowdsourcing a diagnosis may provide answers to some patients with unresolved health problems, but it is unknown how many patients ultimately receive a correct diagnosis using this method, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in a report that appears in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
	Adolescents stress more with poor sleep A new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham indicates that adolescents who experience sleep problems and longer sleep duration are more reactive to stress, which could contribute to academic, behavioral and health issues.
Bone marrow lesions can help predict rapidly progressing joint disease A new study from the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, shows lesions, which can best be seen on MRI scans, could help identify individuals who are more likely to suffer from more rapidly progressing osteoarthritis.
Weight loss, quitting smoking and giving up alcohol may be aided by hormones from our guts Scientists are investigating whether an infusion of gut hormones could help people to stop over-eating, quit smoking, or give up alcohol.
Mentally challenging activities key to a healthy aging mind One of the greatest challenges associated with the growing numbers of aged adults is how to maintain a healthy aging mind. Taking up a new mental challenge such as digital photography or quilting may help maintain cognitive vitality, say researchers reporting in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.
	The science behind why you love a weekend lie-in Sleeping in over the weekend is one of life's great pleasures. Yet some of us are much better at it than others. A teenager is much more likely to emerge from their bed at midday than their middle-aged parents – but even within age groups, individual differences exist.
	If we want medicine to be evidence-based, what should we think when the evidence doesn't agree? To understand if a new treatment for an illness is really better than older treatments, doctors and researchers look to the best available evidence. Health professionals want a "last word" in evidence to settle questions about what the best modes of treatment are.
	Study shows medical marijuana decreases migraines Patients diagnosed with migraine headaches saw a significant drop in their frequency when treated with medical marijuana, according to a new study from researchers at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Study shows less physically mature ice hockey players have prolonged concussion symptoms A study led by a Hasbro Children's Hospital sports medicine physician found that male student ice hockey players in earlier pubertal stages had a significantly increased risk of prolonged symptoms from concussion compared with advanced pubertal and postpubescent players.
Fears mount in Nigeria over Lassa outbreak, response At least 44 people have died from Lassa fever in Nigeria with the death toll expected to rise, underscoring the difficulty in combating deadly viruses in a region still reeling from Ebola.
	How a tumor suppressor gene and chromosome-protecting proteins work together to stave off cancer When it comes to genes associated with cancer, none have been studied more extensively than p53, a tumor suppressor gene that serves as the guardian of our genetic information. More than half of all cancers have mutations of p53, meaning that this particular gene must often be suppressed in order for a cancer to grow and spread.
	Lymphoma survivors may not get all recommended follow-up care (HealthDay)—Some teen and young adult survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma do not receive all the recommended follow-up care, a new study finds.
	Zika virus concerns may curb travel for pregnant women (HealthDay)—Pregnant women in the United States may be warned against traveling to Latin American and Caribbean countries where mosquitoes are spreading a virus that may cause brain damage in newborns.
	Researchers identify process that causes chronic neonatal lung disease Pediatric researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a key component of the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a devastating and sometimes fatal lung disease that affects premature infants. Their findings clarify what prompts the inflammatory response that results in BPD, which previously had been unclear.
Court overturns tobacco company victory over FDA on menthols A federal appeals court has ruled that tobacco companies had no basis to challenge a Food and Drug Administration report on menthol cigarettes, which the industry alleged was written by experts with conflicts of interest.
	Nerve damage from chemo may affect cancer survivors for years (HealthDay)—Many women who survive cancer have symptoms of chemotherapy-related nerve damage in their feet and hands years after treatment, a new study reveals.
	Prophylactic antibiotic choice impacts post-hysterectomy SSI (HealthDay)—For women undergoing hysterectomy, prophylactic antibiotic choice impacts the risk of surgical site infection rates, according to a study published in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
	Intensified Tx doesn't up survival in tuberculous meningitis (HealthDay)—For patients with tuberculous meningitis, intensified antituberculosis treatment is not associated with higher survival than standard treatment, according to a study published in the Jan. 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
	Splenomegaly ups thrombosis in essential thrombocythemia (HealthDay)—In patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET), baseline splenomegaly is associated with increased risk of thrombosis, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in the American Journal of Hematology.
	Flu season continues to be mild, CDC says (HealthDay)—The mild flu season continues to be that way, U.S. health officials said Friday, but they expect activity to pick up in coming weeks.
	Geographic variation in HPV oropharyngeal cancer prevalence (HealthDay)—There is geographic variation in the proportion of head and neck cancers attributable to human papillomavirus (HPV), according to a study published online Jan. 8 in Head & Neck.
	Diabetes mellitus is independent risk factor for A-fib (HealthDay)—Within a general population from China, diabetes mellitus (DM) is an independent risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF), with the correlation persisting after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, according to a study published online Jan. 8 in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation.
Plasma marker of vascular disease confirmed in type 1 diabetes patients In an article published ahead of print on November 24, 2015 in the journal Diabetes, researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), the American University of Beirut (AUB), and Case Western Reserve University report that a molecule called pre-kallikrein (PK) could be a target for the vascular complications associated with type 1 diabetes. Ayad A. Jaffa, Ph.D., who holds a dual appointment at MUSC and AUB, led the study.
Link found between obesity and blood clots in pediatric patients Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have found an association between obesity and the formation of blood clots in the veins of children and adolescents.
	Study shows 45 percent increase in death from law enforcement Between 1999 and 2013 in the United States, between 279 (in 2000) to 507 (in 2012) people were killed each year by legal intervention or law enforcement, other than by legal execution. In 2013, an estimated 11.3 million arrests in the U.S. resulted in approximately 480 deaths from legal intervention. Between 1999 and 2013, there were 5,511 deaths by legal intervention.
	Sociable chimps harbor richer gut microbiomes Spending time in close contact with others often means risking catching germs and getting sick. But being sociable may also help transmit beneficial microbes, finds a multi-institutional study of gut microbiomes in chimpanzees.
Haiti hit with Zika virus outbreak: official Haiti's health ministry said Friday the country has been hit by an outbreak of the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne ailment similar to dengue fever that is rapidly spreading through the Caribbean.
Drugs trial tragedies: a rarity Drugs trial tragedies like that reported in France on Friday which left one person brain dead and three others facing irreversible brain damage are a rarity, experts say.
Probable Ebola case in Sierra Leone reflects ongoing risk: WHO A new probable case of Ebola in Sierra Leone highlights the continued risk in west Africa, the World Health Organization said Friday, a day after the end of the deadliest outbreak in history was announced.
WHO confirms SLeone Ebola death one day after all-clear The World Health Organization confirmed Friday a new death from Ebola in Sierra Leone just a day after west Africa celebrated the end of the outbreak.
Poll shows barriers to finding a trusted health care provider A survey of adults in Ohio found that more than one in 10 said a lack of or type of health insurance had prevented them from finding a trusted health provider. The 2015 Ohio Health Issues Poll (OHIP), funded by Interact for Health, asked Ohio adults about possible barriers they might have experienced when seeking a health care provider they could trust: lack of health insurance, type of health insurance and race or ethnicity.
	A young neurologist explores the mysteries of the teenage brain Mexican doctoral student Lucia Magis Weinberg at the University College London (UCL) researches how the brain develops during adolescence. In this stage of life, the brain undergoes important development and brain maturation occurs at different speeds among different areas.
Patient involvement could improve medicines R&D, industry personnel suggest A new study has revealed a belief among pharmaceutical industry personnel that greater involvement of patients and the public could improve medicines research and development (R&D). The study, which is one of the first of its kind and part of the wider European Patients' Academy (EUPATI) project, was published today in the BMJ Open.
Tonsillectomy can improve quality of life Adults suffering from frequent sore throats might find relief by having their tonsils removed: after undergoing tonsillectomy (surgical removal of the tonsils), people were found to have fewer cases of sore throat, fewer missed working days, and an improved quality of life. These are the results of a new study by Götz Senska and coauthors that analyzed the long-term effects of tonsillectomy based on patient surveys, recently published in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2015; 112: 849-55).
Drug approval: How does it work? The process of vetting experimental drugs is designed, with safety in mind, to be cautiously meticulous.
Zimbabwe: Doctors to perform first heart surgery since 2003 A surgeon says doctors will perform open heart surgery in Zimbabwe for the first time in over a decade.
	Botched French drug trial leaves 1 brain dead, 5 in hospital One man was brain dead and three others faced possible permanent brain damage after volunteering to take part in a trial for a painkiller and anxiety medication based on a natural brain compound similar to the active ingredient in marijuana, French authorities said Friday.
Merck pays $830 M to settle class-action case over Vioxx The drugmaker Merck is paying $830 million to resolve a federal class-action lawsuit involving shareholders and the painkiller Vioxx, which was pulled from the market years ago over safety concerns.
	Vascular surgery research brings new options to high-risk stroke patients The carotid arteries supply oxygenated blood to the brain. Every year, more than 300,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with blockages, or plaques, in their carotid artery. When these arteries become blocked due to plaque build-up, an individual is at high risk for a stroke if the plaque ruptures and flows to the brain. Many individuals can manage carotid artery disease with medications and lifestyle changes. However, many may require carotid artery revascularization surgery to repair the blockage in the artery. Carotid endarterectomy has been the gold standard of treatment with carotid stenting reserved for those who are high risk for open surgery. While largely effective in some patients, carotid stenting from the transfemoral route has been found to carry a higher risk of stroke, with a significant amount of this risk felt to be related to the approach.
CU researchers study hospital readmissions from post-acute care facilities Better coordination between hospitals and post-acute care facilities could reduce patient readmission to hospitals and mortality rates, according to a new study of risk factors by researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
	From tamoxifen to dendrogenin A: Discovery of a mammalian tumor suppressor metabolite Researchers from the Cancer Research Center of Toulouse have conducted the first comprehensive review on dendrogenin A (DDA). DDA is a steroidal alkaloid arising from cholesterol and histamine cross-metabolization that they recently discovered. Importantly, they found that DDA is a tumor suppressor metabolite. Thus 100 years after the discovery of all-trans-retinoic acid, DDA appears as a rare example human metabolite promised to extensive basic research studies and clinical developments.
Canada top court further delays new assisted dying rules Canada's high court gave parliament another four months Friday to rewrite the law in order to allow doctors to help gravely ill patients die upon request.
Portuguese pharma firm says best practice followed in French drug trial Portuguese pharmaceutical company Bial insisted Friday that it had followed "international best practice" in a French drugs trial that has left one person brain-dead and five others hospitalised.

Biology news

	Researchers discover how trypanosome parasites communicate with each other While scientists have known for years that African trypanosomes cause sleeping sickness, they've been left scratching their heads as to how these tiny single-celled organisms communicate. A University of Georgia study, published Jan. 14 in the journal Cell, helps solve this mystery.
	Male squid unfazed by costly sex Sex is costly. It can be time consuming, energetically demanding, and resource depleting. So, it makes sense to choose your mates wisely.
	Study reveals the way CRISPR/Cas9 cleaves enzymes and positions them for cutting (Phys.org)—A team of researchers with the University of California has learned more about the process that is involved during CRISPR/Cas9 gene splicing by using a crystallization technique to get a closer look. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes their study of the way three-stranded structures known as R-loops are formed during the technique and how they used a familiar technique to capture 3D images of the process and what they learned as a result.
	Genetic 'paint box' shuffled between butterfly species to create new wing patterns New research on butterfly genomes has revealed that the genetic components that produce different splotches of colour on wings can be mixed up between species by interbreeding to create new patterns, like a "genetic paint-box".
	Two-for-one bacterial virulence factor revealed We've all seen the headlines. "Man found to be shedding virulent strain of polio"; "Virulent flu strain in Europe hits the economy"; "Most virulent strain of E. coli ever seen contains DNA sequences from plague bacteria."
	Scientists discover a drought tolerance gene that may help plants fight against global warming Global warming increases the amount of moisture that evaporates from land and water, leading to drought in most parts of the world. In drier regions, evapotranspiration produces periods of drought that lowers the water level in rivers, lakes, and groundwater, and reduces soil moisture in agricultural areas. As global temperature rises, the land mass affected by drought is expected to increase, with potentially devastating consequences for agriculture.
	Rare Cambodian elephant footage raises survival hopes Rare footage of an elephant herd roaming through Cambodia's biggest forest sanctuary signals the success of a 14-year conservation programme and raises hopes for the endangered species' survival, an environment group said on Friday.
Video: Galectins defend against wolves in sheeps' clothing To prevent auto-immune attack, our bodies avoid making antibodies against molecules found on our own cells. That leaves gaps in our immune defenses bacteria could exploit. Some of those gaps are filled by galectins, a family of proteins whose anti-bacterial properties were identified by Emory scientists.
	Biologists support Ann Arbor deer cull A University of Michigan evolutionary biologist says he and many of his U-M colleagues support the city of Ann Arbor's plans to kill up to 100 deer this winter, calling the cull "a positive step toward ecological sustainability."
	Why frills put female dinosaurs in the mood for love Part of dinosaurs' popularity has to be their fascinating, bizarre appearance. There's the Stegosaurus with the famous row of plates down its back, the Triceratops with its giant frilled skull, and the "duck-billed" hadrosaurs with their peculiar and diverse array of crests.
Biologists gain new insights about how Hox gene controls feeding behaviour In experiments on the fruit fly model organism Drosophila melanogaster, Heidelberg University biologists gained new insight into how feeding behaviour is encoded and controlled. The research team led by Prof. Dr. Ingrid Lohmann of the Centre for Organismal Studies (COS) studied the function of a special developmental gene of the Hox gene family. This gene is essential for maintaining a motor unit in the fly's head that consists of a muscle and the stimulating neurons that enable the fly to feed. If the function of the Hox gene was damaged or defective, the unit was not or only partially developed and the animals starved. The results of the research were published in the journal Cell Reports.
The RNA alphabet—the key role played by hmC Led by François Fuks from the ULB's Laboratory of Cancer Epigenetics and the ULB-Cancer Research Center (U-CRC), researchers have revealed for the first time the key role played by one of the RNA letters, hmC or hydroxymethylation. Published in the prestigious Science journal, their discovery will help us better understand such diseases as cancer.
	Weather-worn lizards might adapt to new climates James Cook University scientists have found lizards exposed to rain, hail and shine may cope better with extreme weather events predicted as a result of climate change than their fair-weather cousins.
Bird flu found at Indiana turkey farm not same as 2015 virus (Update) A bird flu virus that's a different strain than the one that ravaged turkey and chicken farms in the Midwest last summer has been found at a southern Indiana turkey farm, federal officials said Friday, cautioning that a quick response could stem any larger outbreak.
	Predictability of DNA markers for population-level study based on species-level variation Biologists who use molecular data to study evolutionary dynamics between closely related organisms, such as populations, are constantly searching for regions of the genome with high amounts of variability.
	Teaching animals increasingly being replaced by dummies Simulator-based training of students at Vetmeduni Vienna has been part of the curriculum since 2012. The Skills Lab is a simulated veterinary practice in which students have the chance to train a variety of veterinary interventions in a near-realistic setup on animal dummies.

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