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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for May 27, 2016:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Combined climate, orbit models show that Kepler-62f could sustain lifeA distant planet known as Kepler-62f could be habitable, a team of astronomers reports. |
 | Stars with planets on strange orbits: what's going on?All the planets in our solar system orbit close to the sun's equatorial plane. Of the eight confirmed planets, the Earth's orbit is the most tilted, but even that tilt is still small, at just seven degrees. |
 | Serious simulations upskill defence and police personnelSimulating World War Three scenarios to train military personnel are within the grasp of Perth-based Calytrix Technologies thanks to their virtual simulation technology platform Titan Vanguard CX. |
 | Life on Ceres? Mysterious changes in the bright spots still baffle scientistsBright spots on the dwarf planet Ceres continue to puzzle researchers. When recently a team of astronomers led by Paolo Molaro of the Trieste Astronomical Observatory in Italy, conducted observations of these features, they found out something unexpected. The scientists were surprised to detect that the spots brighten during the day and also show other variations. This variability still remains a mystery. |
Comet contains glycine, key part of recipe for lifeAn important amino acid called glycine has been detected in a comet for the first time, supporting the theory that these cosmic bodies delivered the ingredients for life on Earth, researchers said Friday. | |
 | SpaceX postpones rocket launch after 'tiny glitch'SpaceX on Thursday postponed the launch of an Asian communications satellite after detecting a "tiny glitch" in the Falcon 9 rocket engine, CEO Elon Musk said. |
 | Sentinel-1 helping Cyclone Roanu reliefCyclone Roanu has claimed over 100 lives in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and has left tens of thousands in need of aid. Officials are looking to the sky for information on flooded areas to analyse the cyclone's aftermath and support emergency response activities. |
 | Radiation influences Aalto-1 nanosatellite software designIn his his Master's Thesis, Joonas Javanainen examined the level of preparedness the additional challenges of space impose on software design. |
 | Image: NASA's SDO peers into huge coronal holeThis imagery of the sun captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory from May 17-19, 2016, shows a giant dark area on the star's upper half, known as a coronal hole. |
 | Next time you're late to work, blame dark energyEver since Lemaitre and Hubble's first proposed it in the 1920s, scientists and astronomers have been aware that the universe is expanding. And from these observations, cosmological theories like the Big Bang Theory and the "arrow of time" emerged. Whereas the former addresses the origins and evolution of our universe, the latter argues that the flow of time in one-direction and is linked to the expansion of space. |
 | Saturn at opposition 2016They're back. After a wintertime largely devoid of evening worlds, the planets are once again in the evening sky. First Jupiter, then Mars have crossed opposition over the past few months, and now Saturn is set to take center stage later next week, reaching opposition at 7:00 Universal Time (UT) on the night of June 2/3rd. This places the ringed world in a position of favorable evening viewing, rising in the east as the sun sets in the west, and riding highest near local midnight across the meridian. |
Technology news
 | Teaching robots to feel pain to protect themselvesA pair of researchers with Leibniz University of Hannover has demonstrated the means by which robots might be programmed to experience something akin to pain in animals. As part of their demonstration at last week's IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation held in Stockholm, Johannes Kuehn and Sami Haddaddin showed how pain might be used in robots, by interacting with a BioTac fingertip sensor on the end of a Kuka robotic arm that had been programmed to react differently to differing amounts of "pain." |
 | Google set to explore making music with AIGoogle wants to know. Can computers be truly creative? More specifically, can people bestow upon machines what we know as creativity and have the machines thinking creatively? Google knows that an answer does not come easily and some people may argue that the answer is hairy. |
 | Fast, stretchy circuits could yield new wave of wearable electronicsThe consumer marketplace is flooded with a lively assortment of smart wearable electronics that do everything from monitor vital signs, fitness or sun exposure to play music, charge other electronics or even purify the air around you—all wirelessly. |
Investment in energy storage vital if renewables to achieve full potentialGovernment subsidies should be used to encourage investment in energy storage systems if renewable power is to be fully integrated into the sector, according to researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA). | |
Study shows tax on plug-in vehicles is not answer to road-funding woesGiven declining revenues from gasoline and diesel fuel taxes and the need for new ways of funding road infrastructure, state and federal policymakers are considering or have enacted annual registration fees for plug-in vehicles. In a paper to be published in the August issue of Energy Policy, researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis say that approach is misguided. | |
 | How Alibaba won _ and lost _ a friend in WashingtonIn 2011, a respected anti-counterfeiting coalition in Washington escalated its fight against the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, saying its websites served as a 24-hour market "for counterfeiters and pirates" and should be blacklisted. |
 | Google wins in retrial of Oracle copyright lawsuitA jury ruled Thursday that Google did not unfairly use parts of Java programming language, saving the tech giant from a possible multibillion-dollar verdict in a lawsuit brought by business software firm Oracle. |
Cyborgs closer to reality in future stages of human evolutionOur excitement with and rapid uptake of technology – and the growing opportunities for artificial brain enhancement – are putting humans more firmly on the path to becoming cyborgs, according to evolution experts from the University of Adelaide. | |
Opinion: As Microsoft kills off the remnants of Nokia, it signs off on its own eventual demisePayPal is the latest company to join a long list to ditch support for the "fringe" phone operating systems: Microsoft's Windows Phone, BlackBerry and Amazon's Fire OS. This decision comes on the heels of Microsoft's announcement of getting rid of a further 1,850 jobs, most of them from what remains of the staff that came to Microsoft from its acquisition of Nokia. | |
 | Would you trust your nuclear missiles to a floppy disk?What can you do with a floppy disk these days? Apple retired floppy drives with its original 1998 iMac, PC manufacturer Dell followed suit in 2003 and now they are but a distant memory. But, according to a recent US government public accounts committee report, legacy computer systems using floppy disks are still used today for controlling part of the US Nuclear Command. |
 | Finding solitude in an era of perpetual contactBeing alone has many benefits. It grants freedom in thought and action. It boosts creativity. It offers a terrain for the imagination to roam. Solitude also enriches our connections with others by providing perspective, which enhances intimacy and fosters empathy. |
Engineering team designs novel multi-field invisible sensorA team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has invented a novel camouflage technique that effectively hides thermal and electronic sensors without compromising performance. Led by Assistant Professor Qiu Cheng-Wei from the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at NUS Faculty of Engineering, the team created the world's first multifunctional camouflage shell that renders sensors invisible in both thermal and electric environments. | |
Bank hackers linked to wider campaign: researchersThe hackers behind the $81 million heist from the Bangladesh central bank have likely been involved in a series of attacks on the financial system, a US security firm has concluded. | |
Google-backed Magic Leap alleges workers stole its secretsArtificial reality startup Magic Leap is accusing two Silicon Valley employees of stealing the closely guarded secrets that make its technological tricks work. | |
 | Fast money: Banks making it easier to split the tabSplitting the bill for those pizzas you shared with your buddies or that utility bill that is suddenly due is going to get easier and faster even if you don't all use the same bank. |
 | ISIS propaganda collected in real timeUniversity of Exeter experts will collect large amounts of propaganda put on the internet by Islamic State terrorists in real time to understand how it radicalises people. |
Medicine & Health news
 | Study shows different brain cells process positive, negative experiencesCombining two cutting-edge techniques reveals that neurons in the prefrontal cortex are built to respond to reward or aversion, a finding with implications for treating mental illness and addictions. |
 | Sensory neurons detect fullness and nutrients in the GI tract in surprising waysAfter eating a meal, you can thank your vagus nerve for sensing and signaling that feeling of fullness to your brain. That same nerve also detects nutrients and controls digestion. |
 | ANKRD55: A new gene involved in Multiple Sclerosis is discoveredMultiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease, characterised by demyelination and the onset of chronic, neurodegenerative damage of the central nervous system. Right now, its causes are unknown although various self-immune mechanisms are known to be involved. |
Refusing access to surgery recovery area at a UK hospital unless WHO Safe Surgery Checklist is fully completeNew research showing that refusal to allow surgery teams to take the patient to the recovery room after surgery unless the full WHO Safe Surgery Checklist has been complete is a highly effective way to improve use of the checklist. The study is being presented at Euroanaesthesia 2016 (London, UK, 27-30 May), and is by Dr Rajkumar Rajendram, King's College London, United Kingdom (and formerly of the Royal Free Hospital, London, UK, where the research was carried out) and colleagues. | |
Moving beyond race-based drugsPrescribing certain medications on the basis of a patient's race has long come under fire from those uneasy with using race as a surrogate for biology when treating disease. | |
Teenagers and young adults still fare worse than children for many common cancers, according to Europe-wide studyMore young people of all ages are surviving cancer than ever before, but new research published today in The Lancet Oncology journal shows that adolescents and young adults have a lower chance of surviving eight relatively common types of cancer than children, according to the latest data from a long-running study of cancer survival across Europe. | |
Palliative, hospice care lacking among dying cancer patients, Stanford researcher findsMedical societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, recommend that patients with advanced cancer receive palliative care soon after diagnosis and receive hospice care for at least the last three days of their life. Yet major gaps persist between these recommendations and real-life practice, a new study shows. | |
The dying child: Room for improvement in end-of-life careMany pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists believe that their clinical care extends from treating ill children through end-of-life care. However, are pediatricians actually meeting the needs of families and their dying child? In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers surveyed bereaved parents and found that pediatric end-of-life care needs improvement. | |
 | New study uncovers mechanisms underlying how diabetes damages the heartCardiac complications are the number one cause of death among diabetics. Now a team of scientists has uncovered a molecular mechanism involved in a common form of heart damage found in people with diabetes. |
Small talk: Electronic media keeping kids from communicating with parentsIt happens in many households. Kids are tapping on their cell phones or are preoccupied by their favorite TV show as their parents ask them a question or want them to do a chore. | |
People with disabilities unite to create buzz on political frontsThere's a buzz penetrating the political scene this election year and it's coming from the world's largest minority group: people with disabilities. | |
Meta-analysis shows ketamine effective against persistent post-surgical painA new meta-analysis showing the effectiveness of ketamine for dealing with persistent post-surgical pain (PPSP) is to be presented at Euroanaesthesia 2016 (London, May 27-30 ). Ketamine, a cheap and safe drug, may have the potential to save health systems billions of dollars globally by being used in place of other drugs to prevent PPSP. | |
Study finds consumer knowledge gap on genetically modified foodWhile consumers are aware of genetically modified crops and food, their knowledge level is limited and often at odds with the facts, according to a newly published study by a University of Florida researcher. | |
 | Certain types of choline better for babies' immune developmentIt's well known that lactating women and their babies need choline to maintain their immune systems, but a new University of Alberta study shows that the kind of choline they consume may be just as important as the amount. |
 | Printing customised pills for personalised medicineA team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found a way to make personalised medicine cheaper and easier. Imagine if you could combine the myriad of pills you need to take for your ailment in just one tablet; or if you need only to take a medication once a day, which is released at different rates throughout the day to treat illness; or if doctors could easily make tablets on the spot that are tailored to each patient's needs. |
Deciding for others is more fun than doing it for ourselves, research showsMaking decisions can be tiring, but choosing a course of action for others is less draining and more enjoyable than when we do it for ourselves. | |
Keys to building and maintaining bone strengthOsteoporosis is on the rise as 75 million baby boomers approach their golden years. Yet many patients and physicians are not aware of what they can do to prevent, slow down and treat the condition, which happens when holes develop in bone, creating a risk of fractures from falls. | |
Researchers link gene expression patterns of normal tissue to breast cancer prognosisBreast tissue surrounding tumors could be used to gauge future survival outcomes for women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, a study led by University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers has found. | |
 | Poor compliance by hospitals places patients at risk for opioid-induced respiratory depressionNearly 75 percent of hospitalized patients receiving opioids for pain management are not monitored according to hospital guidelines. |
People more likely to defer making decisions the longer they waitWould you rather eat an apple or a banana? Read Moby Dick or A Tale of Two Cities? Is a cup or a mug holding that coffee? | |
 | Researchers identify immune system irregularities that may cause itchingPeople who suffer itching with no clear cause may have previously unrecognized immune system defects. In a small study of such patients, researchers from the Center for the Study of Itch at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identified immune system irregularities that may prompt the urge to scratch. |
 | New study examines use of multiple tobacco products in college studentsA new study by University of Kentucky researchers found that roughly 15 percent of college students who had ever used tobacco currently use more than one tobacco product. Polytobacco use (using more than one tobacco product) drives nicotine addiction and can prolong the use of tobacco products, leading to acute and chronic negative health risks such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and more. |
Study finds parental perceptions of neighborhood environments affect children's active playA University of Maryland study found that parental perceptions of the home neighborhood environment were linked to how physically active their children were on a daily basis. | |
 | Image: How stem cells create just enough tissueScientists have long wondered just how stem cells generate just the right amount of tissue to perform a biological function. Using live imaging of skin of living mice, Yale scientists have shown that this balance, called homeostasis, is achieved in unexpected ways. In the accompanying movie, the researchers—led by Panteleimon Rompolas and Kailin R. Mesa in the lab of Valentina Greco—captured images of how stem cells (in red) at the bottom layer of epidermis (green) line up in columns and enlarge to replace cells lost at the top layer of skin. |
 | Trypanosome parasites with a different lifestyle hide out in fat tissueFat tissue is a previously unrecognized reservoir of trypanosome parasites in mice with sleeping sickness, according to a new study by HHMI International Scholar Luísa Figueiredo at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular in Lisbon, Portugal. Trypanosomes are transmitted to humans by the bite of a tsetse fly and were previously believed to live mainly in the blood and brain of the host. |
Early-life stress causes digestive problems and anxiety in ratsTraumatic events early in life can increase levels of norepinephrine—the primary hormone responsible for preparing the body to react to stressful situations—in the gut, increasing the risk of developing chronic indigestion and anxiety during adulthood, a new study in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology reports. | |
 | Predicting the spread of the Zika virusA new tool by Japan-based researchers predicts the risk of Zika virus importation and local transmission for 189 countries. |
 | Using virtual users to develop accessible ICT-based applicationsA tool developed by researchers from UPM allows us to assess usability during the design and testing process of accessible ICT-based applications. |
 | New model of T cell activationT cell receptors are an important part of the human immune system. They are able to switch their conformation from an inactive to an active state spontaneously without any antigens present. Cholesterol binds and stabilizes inactive receptors, giving it a decisive role in the activation of a T cell. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schamel and Dr. Susana Minguet, immunologists from the University of Freiburg, and their team of researchers were able to demonstrate this in a study that has been recently published in the journal Immunity. Researchers previously believed that an antigen like a pathogen must bind to a T cell receptor in order to activate it, thereby triggering an immune response. "We demonstrated that it's not the binding to an antigen that causes the switch in the conformation; it happens spontaneously," said Schamel. |
Trial launches for children's brain tumour, ependymomaThe University of Birmingham's Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit will coordinate the UK arm of a large international clinical trial for a type of children's brain tumour, called ependymoma. | |
Vitamin nicotinamide riboside protects mice from diabetes complicationsA naturally occurring vitamin, nicotinamide riboside (NR), can lower blood sugar levels, reduce fatty liver, and prevent peripheral nerve damage in mouse models of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to a new study by researchers at the University of Iowa and the Iowa City VA Health Care System. | |
 | Restoring chemotherapy sensitivity by boosting microRNA levelsBy increasing the level of a specific microRNA (miRNA) molecule, researchers have for the first time restored chemotherapy sensitivity in vitro to a line of human pancreatic cancer cells that had developed resistance to a common treatment drug. |
Rethinking hospital alarmsHospital alarms are currently ranked as the "top medical technology hazard" within the United States. On average, there are about 480,000 patients in hospitals—each generating about 135 clinical alarms per day. But studies show that more than 90 percent of these alarms result in no action. Alarm errors—either alarms that sound and receive no response or alarms that fail to sound when they should —occur roughly 8 million times per day. | |
Pharmacist prescribes education as key to curbing opioid abuseTechnologies that make it harder for people to abuse opioids - like doctoring pills so that they produce unpleasant side effects if broken, crushed or injected—likely will have limited effectiveness in stemming the global epidemic of opioid abuse, according to Adam Kaye, a professor of pharmacy at University of the Pacific. | |
Strathclyde study identifies descendants of medieval Scottish kingA DNA sample provided by a businessman has confirmed him as a descendant of a medieval king of Scotland. | |
Baby talk words with repeated sounds help infants learn languageBabies find it easier to learn words with repetitive syllables rather than mixed sounds, a study suggests. | |
Mosquito trap company surprised by demand amid Zika outbreakThe German manufacturer of traps widely used to monitor mosquitoes that carry Zika says the "enormous demand" due to the virus outbreak caught the company off-guard. | |
 | Guarding the gatekeepersInformation flow in cells relies on calcium as a key agent in several signalling pathways. Calcium dependent signalling is crucial in nearly every aspect of life - muscle movement, immune reactions, nerve function, light sensing and many such processes. In fact, one could consider any cellular function, and calcium signalling is probably involved in it in some way. Now, researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore have discovered a new player in calcium signalling pathways - a protein named Septin 7 that functions as a 'molecular brake' to Orai activation. |
Blood test supports use of potential new treatment for patients with stomach cancerTesting cancers for 'addiction' to a gene that boosts cell growth can pick out patients who may respond to a targeted drug under development, a major new study reports. | |
 | Tasty fat: X-rays finding the blueprint of why fat is yummyFat free ice cream, for all its healthy merits, melts the wrong way. Two seconds on the tongue and it's a slush of milk, flavoring and water instead of the rich glob of slowly melting cream we grew to love as kids. When it comes to taste memories, fats are forever. |
 | How Zika infects the placentaZika virus can infect and replicate in immune cells from the placenta, without killing them, scientists have discovered. The finding may explain how the virus can pass through the placenta of a pregnant woman, on its way to infect developing brain cells in her fetus. |
 | New procedure uses the heart rate to estimate the life expectancy of infarct patientsThe heart rate may be an indicator of a person's life expectancy. A research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has to this end analyzed an effect which at first seems paradoxical: Minor irregularities in the heartbeat are indicative of a healthy body. A clinical study confirmed a strong correlation between this phenomenon and the survival prospects of heart attack patients. The new methods of measurement may soon be applied in medical practice. |
US military members who report poor sleep were less resilient in recent studyA new study found that military service members who reported insomnia symptoms or short sleep durations were less resilient than members who reported healthy sleep hygiene. Several physical and mental variables were evaluated as indices of resilience. These variables were, self-rated general health, lost workdays, deployment, completion of service term, and health care utilization. | |
 | NIH experts question fed study linking cellphones to tumorsNational Institutes of Health expert reviewers are finding flaws in the agency's new study that connects heavy cellphone radiation to a slight increase in brain tumors in male rats. |
 | Social media use may help identify students at risk of alcohol problemsResearch from North Carolina State University and Ohio University finds that having an "alcohol identity" puts college students at greater risk of having drinking problems - and that posting about alcohol use on social media sites is actually a stronger predictor of alcohol problems than having a drink. |
Skin cancer: A team synthesizes new drugs with surprising powersFinding new, more effective and personalised treatments for cancer is the challenge of many researchers. A challenge that has been successfully met by a team from Inserm led by Stéphane Rocchi (Inserm Unit 1065, "Mediterranean Center for Molecular Medicine"), which has just synthesised and developed new drugs for melanoma. One of them, known as HA15, reduces the viability of melanoma cells without being toxic for normal cells. This work has just been published in the journal Cancer Cell. | |
Genomic study tracks African-American dispersal in the Great MigrationAn assessment of genomic diversity in the United States of America clarifies the role of pre-Civil War admixture and early 20th century transit routes in shaping the migration history and genomic diversity among African-Americans communities. The new study, by Simon Gravel of McGill University and colleagues, will publish on May 27, 2016 in PLOS Genetics. | |
 | Netherlands wants to grow human embryos for 'limited' researchThe Dutch government on Friday announced it wants to allow growing human embryos "under strict and limited conditions" for scientific research, thereby giving hope to parents struggling to conceive. |
 | Recognition of patient expertise can improve adherence(HealthDay)—Recognizing the unique role of patients and their expertise within the physician-patient interaction can help to prevent non-adherence based on disagreement, according to an article published online May 18 in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. |
 | Triptorelin doesn't prevent chemo-induced ovarian failure(HealthDay)—Triptorelin plus norethisterone (GnRHa) does not prevent chemotherapy-induced premature ovarian failure (POF) in young patients with lymphoma, according to a study published online May 23 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. |
 | HMI impulses from ultrasound transducer beneficial in STEMI(HealthDay)—High mechanical index (HMI) impulses from a diagnostic ultrasound (DUS) transducer during intravenous microbubble infusion can prevent microvascular obstruction in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), according to a study published in the May 31 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. |
 | Prednisone use linked to increased risk of mortality in RA(HealthDay)—For patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), prednisone use is associated with an increased risk of mortality, according to a study published in the May issue of Arthritis Care & Research. |
 | ISG15 deficiency linked to antiviral immunity in humans(HealthDay)—Investigators describe a strategy for development of a broad-spectrum anti-viral agent. Their research was published online May 19 in Nature Communications. |
 | ACOG provides guidance on optimizing postpartum care(HealthDay)—To optimize postpartum care, anticipatory guidance should be implemented during pregnancy, according to a Committee Opinion published by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). |
Athletes' stem cell use gaining wider appealWhen ailing hockey legend Gordie Howe received stem cells grown by the San Diego company Stemedica, the story attracted international attention. But while Howe's status made his case seem exceptional, this once-exotic therapy is increasingly being adopted not only by athletes, but also the American public. | |
 | Health experts urge WHO to consider moving Rio OlympicsHealth experts on Friday urged the World Health Organization to consider whether the Rio de Janeiro Olympics should be postponed or moved because of the Zika outbreak. |
 | Imaging study shows promising results for patients with schizophreniaA team of scientists from across the globe have shown that the brains of patients with schizophrenia have the capacity to reorganize and fight the illness. This is the first time that imaging data has been used to show that our brains may have the ability to reverse the effects of schizophrenia. |
Fighting diseases affecting the world's most vulnerable populationThe University of Geneva (UNIGE) and Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) join forces with close to twenty researchers from partner institutions in Mo¬zambique, Nepal and Peru, as well as with the Graduate Institute and the Università della Svizzera italiana to address the double burden of chronic diseases (NCDs) and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affecting the most vulnerable populations in low and middle-income countries. Supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Development Cooperation, the COHESION project - which stands for COmmunity HEalth System InnovatiON - aims to assess the current management of NTDs and NCDs in these countries, to understand its challenges and to develop country-specific interventions, in partnership with local stakeholders and taking into account cultural and gender issues. Multidisciplinary teams, comprising medical doctors, economists, health systems specialists as well as anthropologists, will then be able to really support the affected communities. | |
Angola's yellow fever death toll tops 300: WHOAngola's yellow fever outbreak has killed more than 300 people since December, with cases of the deadly disease spreading to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and even China, the World Health Organization has said. | |
First-of-its-kind procedure combines scalp, skull, kidney and pancreas transplantSimultaneous transplantation of a "composite" skull and scalp flap plus a kidney and pancreas—all from the same donor—provided excellent outcomes for a patient with a non-healing scalp defect and declining organ kidney and pancreas function, according to a report in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®. | |
 | New labeling offers more protection for meat lovers(HealthDay)—When you head to the grocery store to select your steaks for grilling this Memorial Day weekend, you might notice a new safety label on the package. |
 | Remaining uninsured may be difficult to reach via ACA(HealthDay)—Uninsurance rates have decreased since the introduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but reaching the remaining uninsured may prove challenging, according to a health policy brief published online May 23 in Health Affairs. |
Biology news
 | Slithery new species: Researchers discover Silver Boa in the Bahamas IslandsThe team encountered the first individual, a beautiful meter-long silvery female, climbing in a Silver Palm tree near the water's edge on a remote island in the southern Bahamas. As dusk approached, Harvard graduate student and team member Nick Herrmann called out on the radio: "Hey, I've got a snake here." The rest of the team came crashing back to his position, and collectively gasped when they saw the boa. Expedition member Dr. Alberto Puente-Rolón, a professor at Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico Arecibo and global expert on West Indian Boas, remarked that this animal appeared unlike any species of boa yet known. The group then set about a systematic survey to locate additional animals, turning up four more individuals by the middle of the night. After recording data from these specimens, the team had lain down on the beach to rest until dawn. During the night, as Dr. Reynolds slept, a boa crawled down from the forest, across the beach, and directly onto his head. This caused him to awake with a start, and upon realizing what had happened, he awoke the others to inform them that they had found their sixth animal. |
 | Study shows sharks have personalitiesFor the first time a study led by researchers at Macquarie University has observed the presence of individual personality differences in Port Jackson sharks. |
 | How to stop dividing cancer cells in their tracksAt busy intersections, traffic signals generally favor the road with the greatest volume to keep traffic moving. In the same way, cell division in the human body is regulated by proteins that control how cells divide, move and protect themselves from stresses. |
Study provides insight into bacterial resilience and antibiotic targetsResearchers at UC San Francisco and Stanford University have performed the first comprehensive survey of the central genes and proteins essential to bacterial life. The study, which combined a new variant of CRISPR gene-editing technology with automated cell imaging, generated new understanding of the fundamental gene networks that make bacteria so resilient to environmental stress and—increasingly—to antibacterial drugs. The research also demonstrated a practical approach to identifying the mechanism of action of potential new antibiotic compounds, which the researchers hope can be harnessed to aid the design of better drugs to fight a growing epidemic of antibiotic resistance. | |
 | Plants are 'in touch' with the world around themThe simple act of water droplets landing on a leaf causes an elaborate response inside of plants, scientists at The University of Western Australia have found. |
 | How sunflowers track the sunPlants tell time. Not the way we do – for example, it's 3.40pm, time to pick up the kids. But like animals, plants can sense that winter is coming and it's time to drop leaves. |
 | Cow embryos reveal new type of chromosome chimeraI've often wondered what happens between the time an egg is fertilized and the time the ball of cells that it becomes nestles into the uterine lining. It's a period that we know very little about, a black box of developmental biology, because observing or doing anything to even the earliest human embryos is frowned upon. |
 | Moulds and plants share similar ways in alkaloid biosynthesisThe fungus Aspergillus fumigatus produces a group of previously unknown natural products. With reference to plant isoquinoline alkaloids, these substances have been named fumisoquins. Researchers from Jena (Germany) discovered the novel substances together with their American colleagues while studying the fungal genome. The family of isoquinoline alkaloids contains many pharmacologically active molecules. This study, which has just been published in Nature Chemical Biology, shows that fungi and plants developed biosynthetic pathways for these complex molecules independently of each other. These findings make Aspergillus an interesting target for the discovery of novel drugs and their biotechnological production. |
 | Simple attraction: Researchers control protein release from nanoparticles without encapsulationA U of T Engineering team has designed a simpler way to keep therapeutic proteins where they are needed for long periods of time. The discovery is a potential game-changer for the treatment of chronic illnesses or injuries that often require multiple injections or daily pills. |
Faster, more efficient CRISPR editing in miceUniversity of California, Berkeley scientists have developed a quicker and more efficient method to alter the genes of mice with CRISPR-Cas9, simplifying a procedure growing in popularity because of the ease of using the new gene-editing tool. | |
 | Hawk moths have a second nose for evaluating flowersFlowers without scent produce fewer seeds, although they are visited as often by pollinators as are flowers that do emit a scent. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, made this surprising observation, when they studied tobacco plants that have been silenced in their ability to produce floral volatiles. The researchers showed that floral scent is crucial for successful pollination: Manduca sexta hawk moths, the most important pollinators of the wild tobacco species Nicotiana attenuata, use their proboscis to smell the floral volatiles when they visit flowers. The olfactory neurons involved in the perception of these volatiles have now been discovered to be located on the Manduca proboscis. Only when flowers produced volatiles did the moths stay long enough to drink nectar, and only when they stayed long enough did they deliver enough pollen on their proboscis to successfully pollinate other scenting flowers. These results have now been published in the journal eLife (eLife, May 2016, DOI: 10.7554/eLife.15039). |
Automating DNA origami opens door to many new usesResearchers can build complex, nanometer-scale structures of almost any shape and form, using strands of DNA. But these particles must be designed by hand, in a complex and laborious process. | |
 | Early neutering poses health risks for german shepherd dogs, study findsRenowned for their intelligence, obedience and loyalty, German shepherd dogs are often the preferred breed for police and military work, as well as popular service dogs and family pets. But as most handlers, breeders and veterinarians are aware, joint disorders are a big concern in these animals. |
 | Complex root tips could be the key to helping crops growA new study into the seemingly simple tip of a plant root may ultimately decrease our dependence on crop fertilisers to help grow food, according to researchers at The University of Western Australia. |
 | A study reveals the impact of the giant reed, an exotic invader plant in the riverbeds, on the ground arthropodsThe reed, an abundant plant in riverbanks around the world, alters the ground arthropod communities and reduces the body size of these invertebrates in the natural habitats it colonizes, according to a study published in the magazine Biological Invasions. |
 | Saving salamanders: Searching for signs of a deadly fungusHolding a sandwich bag containing a squirming, Eastern red-spotted newt, Evan Grant inspects its shiny skin for signs of a killer. |
Microbes' effects on climate, food production, human health under scrutinyScientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are playing a central role as the nation devotes more than $500 million to understand communities of microorganisms and their role in climate science, food production and human health. | |
 | Research highlights the factors necessary for successful apex predatBeing at the top of the food chain is no guarantee of a species survival. Not only are many of these so-called apex predators susceptible to human impacts, they also are slow to recover from them, which makes these animals vulnerable despite their high-ranking ecosystem status. |
Trouble with parasites? Just migrate!Why do animals migrate? Explanations behind the evolution of such a costly, yet common behavior are varied. However, rarely do parasites and pathogens figure into the story. Researchers from the University of Minnesota and the University of Neuchâtel think this is an important oversight, and have worked out the math to prove it. | |
 | Japan's oldest elephant dies, aged 69Japanese animal lovers were mourning the death of the country's oldest elephant, Hanako, on Friday, who passed away "quietly" aged 69 after triggering protests over her captivity. |
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