Science X Newsletter Wednesday, Dec 11

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for December 11, 2019:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

ROBOSHERLOCK: a system to enhance robot performance on manipulation tasks

Water common—yet scarce—in exoplanets

Single-cell analysis of the earliest cell fate decisions in development

Research confirms timing of tropical glacier melt at the end of the last ice age

Relativistic jet of the blazar S5 0836+710 investigated in detail

Heat energy leaps through empty space, thanks to quantum weirdness

ALMA spots most distant dusty galaxy hidden in plain sight

Close friends help macaques survive

Team develops first of a kind in-vitro 3-D neural tissue model

Arctic has one of warmest years, raising fears over rising sea levels

First commercial electric plane takes flight in Canada

Nvidia works out speedy process to turn out 3-D models from 2-D images

The secret to a long life? For worms, a cellular recycling protein is key

A window into the hidden world of colons

New technique to determine protein structures may solve biomedical puzzles

Astronomy & Space news

	Water common—yet scarce—in exoplanets The most extensive survey of atmospheric chemical compositions of exoplanets to date has revealed trends that challenge current theories of planet formation and has implications for the search for water in the solar system and beyond.
	Relativistic jet of the blazar S5 0836+710 investigated in detail Using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), astronomers have performed comprehensive multiwavelength observations of the radio emission in the blazar S5 0836+710. The new research, presented in a paper published December 2 on arXiv.org, reveals important insights about the structure the blazar's relativistic jet.
	ALMA spots most distant dusty galaxy hidden in plain sight Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have spotted the light of a massive galaxy seen only 970 million years after the Big Bang. This galaxy, called MAMBO-9, is the most distant dusty star-forming galaxy that has ever been observed without the help of a gravitational lens.
	Two rovers to roll on Mars again: Curiosity and Mars 2020 Curiosity won't be NASA's only active Mars rover for much longer. Next summer, Mars 2020 will be headed for the Red Planet. While the newest rover borrows from Curiosity's design, they aren't twins: Built and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, each has its own role in the ongoing exploration of Mars and the search for ancient life. Here's a closer look at what sets the siblings apart.
	Second stellar population found in Milky Way's thick disk A new study on the kinematics and chemical composition of a sample of stars in the vicinity of the sun, led by Dr. Daniela Carollo, researcher of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, has revealed that the stars that make up the thick disk of the Milky Way belong to two distinct stellar populations with different characteristics and not to a single one, as has been thought for more than two decades.
	NASA's treasure map for water ice on Mars NASA has big plans for returning astronauts to the Moon in 2024, a stepping stone on the path to sending humans to Mars. But where should the first people on the Red Planet land?
	A new way to measure cosmic black holes Supermassive black holes are the largest black holes, with masses that can exceed a billion Suns. Just this spring, the first-ever image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy was taken, and researchers recently spotted the largest supermassive black hole ever seen. Despite these groundbreaking efforts, figuring out how these black holes drive a galaxy's shape and structure continues to be a challenge because most of them are too far away for current telescopes to resolve accurately.
	Engineers pull off daring rescue of OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission On Friday, Oct. 11, the OSIRIS-REx team should have been preparing to point their spacecraft cameras precisely over the asteroid Bennu to capture high-resolution images of a region known as Osprey. It is one of four sites scientists are considering from which the spacecraft can safely collect a sample in late 2020.
	Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin rocket makes 12th test flight Blue Origin, the space company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, launched the 12th crewless test of its New Shepard rocket on Wednesday, pushing the first flights with passengers to 2020.
	Revealing the physics of the Sun with Parker Solar Probe Nearly a year and a half into its mission, Parker Solar Probe has returned gigabytes of data on the Sun and its atmosphere. Following the release of the very first science from the mission, five researchers presented additional new findings from Parker Solar Probe at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union on Dec. 11, 2019. Research from these teams hints at the processes behind both the Sun's continual outflow of material—the solar wind—and more infrequent solar storms that can disrupt technology and endanger astronauts, along with new insight into space dust that creates the Geminids meteor shower.
	X-ray satellite XMM-Newton celebrates 20 years in space Two decades ago, on Dec. 10, 1999, an Ariane 5 rocket climbed into the morning sky from Kourou, French Guiana. It carried into orbit the X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM-Newton), the largest scientific spacecraft yet built by ESA (European Space Agency) and a pioneering satellite for studying the universe with different kinds of light. XMM-Newton has studied over half a million X-ray sources, including supernovae, star-shredding black holes and superdense neutron stars.
	Refueling satellites in space with the help of a robot Many technologies that are essential for daily life—from communications to GPS navigation to weather forecasting—rely on the thousands of satellites that are orbiting Earth. When those satellites run out of gas and stop working, there's not much that can currently be done to fix them.
	Image: Holiday Kristall This box of holiday cheer is actually tubes of plasma containing suspended microparticles exposed to an electrical current to form 3-D crystal structures.
	New NASA ebook reveals insights of Earth seen at night from space Earth has many stories to tell, even in the dark of night. Earth at Night, NASA's new 200-page ebook, is now available online and includes more than 150 images of our planet in darkness as captured from space by Earth-observing satellites and astronauts on the International Space Station over the past 25 years.

Technology news

	ROBOSHERLOCK: a system to enhance robot performance on manipulation tasks Over the past decade or so, advancements in machine learning have enabled the development of systems that are increasingly autonomous, including self-driving vehicles, virtual assistants and mobile robots. Among other things, researchers developing autonomous systems need to identify ways to integrate components designed to tackle different and yet complementary sub-tasks.
	First commercial electric plane takes flight in Canada The world's first fully electric commercial aircraft took its inaugural test flight on Tuesday, taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver and offering hope that airlines may one day end their polluting emissions.
	Nvidia works out speedy process to turn out 3-D models from 2-D images The goal: To change 2-D images into 3-D models using a special encoder-decoder architecture. The actors: Nvidia. The praise: A clever utilization of machine learning with beneficial real-world applications.
	Punching holes in opaque solar cells turns them transparent Researchers in Korea have found an effective and inexpensive strategy to transform solar cells from opaque to transparent. Existing transparent solar cells tend to have a reddish hue and lower efficiency, but by punching holes that are around 100 μm in diameter (comparable in size to a human hair) on crystalline silicon wafers, it allows light through without coloring. The holes are then strategically spaced, so the human eye is unable to "see" the pattern. The work appears December 11 in the journal Joule.
	This object-recognition dataset stumped the world's best computer vision models Computer vision models have learned to identify objects in photos so accurately that some can outperform humans on some datasets. But when those same object detectors are turned loose in the real world, their performance noticeably drops, creating reliability concerns for self-driving cars and other safety-critical systems that use machine vision.
	Financial markets embrace brave new world of AI Artificial Intelligence has spread rapidly across markets in recent years as traders constantly strive to gain the upper hand, while regulators have given a guarded welcome to the cutting-edge technology.
	Water-scarce Gulf states bank on desalination, at a cost "We have water, and it's the most important thing in a house," says Abdullah al-Harthi from the port city of Sur in Oman, a country that relies on desalination plants.
	Amid climate change concern, GM rolls out big new Chevy SUVs Global concerns about climate change are not stopping General Motors from making large SUVs for U.S. drivers.
	UK authorities give Amazon 5 days for new Deliveroo plan British authorities are asking Amazon to address concerns that its plan to buy a stake in food delivery platform Deliveroo could damage competition between businesses that do takeaways and those that deliver groceries.
	A new network design for the "internet from space" A new generation of low-flying satellites promises an "internet from space," that will be able to cover even remote regions around the world. Computer scientists at ETH Zurich are proposing a novel network design that could double the network capacity of such systems.
	We calculated emissions due to electricity loss on the power grid – globally, it's a lot When it comes to strategies for slowing the effects of climate change, the idea of reducing wasted energy rarely gets a mention. But our recent Nature Climate Change article makes the case that reducing wastage in the power sector, focusing specifically on the grid, can be a critical lever in lowering national emissions.
	'Robotic blacksmithing': A technology that could revive US manufacturing Although it may not be obvious, there's a close link between manufacturing technology and innovation. Elon Musk often talks of the "machines that build the machines" as being the real enabler in both his space and automotive businesses.
	It could be time to start thinking about a cybernetic Bill of Rights Like it or loathe it, the robot revolution is now well underway and the futures described by writers such as Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl and Philip K. Dick are fast turning from science fiction into science fact. But should robots have rights? And will humanity ever reach a point where human and machine are treated the same?
	Reselling your personal data pays off for Spokeo When you do a search for yourself or others on Google, you are not alone.
	2020: A look back at the decade in tech from Alexa to Xbox "Alexa" was just another female name. Uber hadn't taken anyone for a ride yet. And the buzz around Facebook had more to do with the fact that seemingly everyone you once knew was turning up on "The Social Network," and less about the numerous data and privacy scandals that would tarnish the company's reputation later on.
	Windows 7, Ford Flex, Yahoo Groups are among products vanishing in 2020 In life, nothing lasts forever.
	Austrian court strikes down 'Trojan horse' surveillance law Austria's Constitutional Court on Wednesday struck down parts of a law passed by the previous government which would have enabled authorities to read encrypted messages online using so-called "Trojan horse" software.
	Meet the scholar who diagnosed 'surveillance capitalism' A year ago, Shoshana Zuboff dropped an intellectual bomb on the technology industry. She hasn't stood still since.
	US aviation chief says Boeing 737 MAX won't be recertified until 2020 The top US air transport regulator on Wednesday doused Boeing's hopes that its 737 MAX will return to the skies this year while lawmakers probed why the agency did not ground the plane after the first of two crashes.
	Here's how Facebook's ad delivery system makes the US political divide even wider Facebook is wielding significant power over political discourse in the United States, thanks to an ad delivery system that reinforces political polarization among users, according to new research from a team of computer scientists.
	Testing tech ideas in public? San Francisco says get permit Tired of San Francisco streets being used as a testing ground for the latest delivery technology and transportation apps, city leaders are now requiring businesses to get permits before trying out new high-tech ideas in public.
	Partisan news outlets seek to fill void in US 'news deserts' Open the website of the Kalamazoo Times of Michigan and you will see a smattering of articles such as might be found on the sites of any number of news organizations.
	Trade turbulence pushes airline profits lower Global trade tensions have sent airline profits into a descent, the industry's trade association said Wednesday, and while profitablity is expected to rebound next year it will unlikely match the level hit in 2018.
	Creating a more resource-efficient solar power industry PV systems continue expanding faster than any other renewable energy source thanks to their ability to harvest sustainable, clean and low-cost energy from the sun. Newly installed PV capacities in Europe grew by 31 % year-on-year and reached 9.2 GW in 2017, according to SolarPower Europe's 2018-2022 global market outlook. "If Europe fully embraces the enticing business case of low-cost solar, in 2022 the market could reach 39.1 GW."
	What can drones do to protect civilians in armed conflict? Drones are usually in the news for bad reasons, like controversial killings of suspected terrorists in the Middle East, bombings of Saudi oil facilities or an assassination attempt on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
	Developing a digital twin for the electricity grid The rapid transition to renewable energy threatens to cause major problems to the very expensive electricity grid in the Netherlands. In his quest for solutions, Professor Peter Palensky is now working on a "digital twin" to make it possible to study the grid effectively.
	Sea-Tac is first airport to resist federal push for facial recognition and other biometric technologies At least for now, controversial facial-recognition technology won't be installed at boarding gates at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, making the airport the first in the country to resist the rollout of a federal biometric identification program.

Medicine & Health news

	Team develops first of a kind in-vitro 3-D neural tissue model Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have successfully used stem cells to engineer living biohybrid nerve tissue to develop 3-D models of neural networks with the hopes of gaining a better understanding of how the brain and these networks work.
	A window into the hidden world of colons Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a system that allows for real-time observations of individual cells in the colon of a living mouse.
	Researchers discover new human autoinflammatory disease Scientists from Australia and the US have discovered and identified the genetic cause of a previously unknown human autoinflammatory disease.
	Immune outposts inside kidney tumors predict post-surgery outcomes The immune system establishes "forward operating bases", or lymph node-like structures, inside the tumors of some patients with kidney and other urologic cancers, researchers at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have discovered.
	Scientists pry apart party drug's therapeutic, addictive qualities Stanford University School of Medicine investigators have succeeded in distinguishing the molecular pathway responsible for an illicit drug's abuse potential from the one behind its propensity to make people feel sociable.
	Novel respiratory cell changes identified from cigarette smoke exposure Cigarette smoking changes the types of cells that are present in the respiratory track and some biological processes necessary for detoxification of cigarette smoke are restricted to specific types of cells.
	Father's X chromosome may yield clues to higher rates of autoimmune disease in women UCLA scientists have discovered one reason why autoimmune diseases are more prevalent in women than in men. While males inherit their mother's X chromosome and father's Y chromosome, females inherit X chromosomes from both parents. New research, which shows differences in how each of those X chromosomes is regulated, suggests that the X chromosome that females get from their father may help to explain their more active immune system.
	Unraveling the chemical compounds in food could improve how we manage our health A woman worried about heart disease might check the amount of saturated fats in her snack food. A man with diabetes might track the carbohydrates in his lunch.
	Safer viruses for vaccine research and diagnosis A new technology to produce safer 'hybrid' viruses at high volumes for use in vaccines and diagnostics for mosquito-borne diseases has been developed at The University of Queensland.
	Skipping one night of sleep may leave insomniacs twice as impaired, study says A new study conducted by researchers at Washington State University shows that individuals with chronic sleep-onset insomnia who pulled an all-nighter performed up to twice as bad on a reaction time task as healthy normal sleepers. Their findings were published today in the online journal Nature and Science of Sleep.
	Hyperactive FOXA1 reprograms endocrine-resistant breast cancer to become metastatic A team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School has unveiled a novel mechanism that helps explain how endocrine-resistant breast cancer acquires metastatic behavior, opening the possibility of new therapeutic strategies.
	Mechanisms help pancreatic cancer cells avert starvation A new study reveals the mechanism that helps pancreatic cancer cells avoid starvation within dense tumors by hijacking a process that pulls nutrients in from their surroundings.
	Researchers discover brain circuit linked to food impulsivity You're on a diet, but the aroma of popcorn in the movie theater lobby triggers a seemingly irresistible craving.
	Online tool helps patients demystify the 'Pandora's box' of genomic sequencing A decision aid developed to support patients undergoing genomic sequencing can reduce the amount of time patients spend speaking with overburdened genetic counselors while helping them were more knowledgeable about the benefits of sequencing, suggests a study from St. Michael's Hospital.
	Penn Medicine uses social media-style memes and gifs to encourage staff recognition By their nature, hospitals are fast-paced environments that can induce some stress in the people who work there. Often, the roles taken on by people saving others' lives are somewhat thankless. For this reason, Penn Medicine's Center for Digital Health created "High Five," a web-based recognition system that enables staff members to easily use social media-style memes and humor to compliment each other on anything from the routine to the extraordinary.
	Researchers say 30% of patients taking opioids experience adverse drug interactions Patients who do not disclose use of other medications are at higher risk of adverse drug interactions and addiction, according to new research in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.
	Study: EMC2 tools improved safe dosing of opioids but had no influence on actual use A study to evaluate the effect of an Electronic Medication Complete Communication (EMC2) Opioid Strategy on patients' safe use of and knowledge about opioids found that the EMC2 tools improved demonstrated safe dosing, but these benefits did not translate into actual use based on medication dairies. The study findings are published in the December 2019 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), a journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).
Criteria for clinical trials might be too strict, needlessly excluding patients Federal regulations may keep lung cancer patients out of clinical trials simply because these patients are on medications that might affect the electrical system of the heart. Drilling into the details quickly turns up reasons to think these regulations may be preventing a substantial proportion of patients from participating in clinical trials. There may be alternatives, and researchers and physicians should explore them.
	Researchers develop approach to alter intestinal microbiota, vaccinate against inflammatory diseases Targeted immunization against bacterial flagellin, a protein that forms the appendage that enables bacterial mobility, can beneficially alter the intestinal microbiota, decreasing the bacteria's ability to cause inflammation and thus protecting against an array of chronic inflammatory diseases, according to a new study by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences and the Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University.
	Vesicles released by bacteria may reduce the spread of HIV in human tissues Nano-sized vesicles released by certain bacteria that inhabit the vagina may protect against HIV infection, suggests a study of human cells and tissues by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Bologna, Italy.
	Low-dose aspirin may not help African-Americans prevent heart attack Low-dose aspirin was not associated with a reduced risk of a fatal heart attack among African Americans, according to an observational study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the open access journal of the American Heart Association.
	New study finds a shortage of therapists to treat children with autism The supply of certified applied behavior analysis (ABA) providers is insufficient to meet the needs of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in nearly every state, according to a study published online today in Psychiatric Services. The new study found there is substantial variation across states and regions—for instance, the per capita supply of certified ABA providers is substantially higher in the Northeast than in any other region.
	Take long naps? Sleep more than nine hours a night? Your stroke risk may be higher People who take long naps during the day or sleep nine or more hours at night may have an increased risk of stroke, according to a study published in the December 11, 2019, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
	Study finds association between poor diet, age-related macular degeneration Participants who ate a diet high in red and processed meat, fried food, refined grains and high-fat dairy were three times more likely to develop an eye condition that damages the retina and affects a person's central vision, according to the results of a study from the University at Buffalo.
	Fat-shaming pregnant women isn't just mean, it's harmful December is considered the most fertile month, a time when there's the greatest likelihood that children will be conceived. Some experts even pinpoint Dec. 11 as the most fertile day.
	Scientists discover key neural circuit regulating alcohol consumption Scientists have known that a region of the brain called the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) plays a role in behaviors related to alcohol use and consumption in general. It's been less known which precise populations of brain cells and their projections to other brain regions mediate these behaviors. Now, UNC School of Medicine scientists discovered that specific neurons in the CeA contribute to reward-like behaviors, alcohol consumption in particular.
	Blood pressure drug could help problem drinkers A drug used to treat high blood pressure may alleviate anxiety induced by long-term heavy alcohol use, and also halt the damage such drinking can cause to the brain's ability to grow new cells, QUT research shows.
	One billion people worldwide stop breathing while they sleep. Are you one of them? I thought I was dying.
	New cannabinoid research shows potential for targeted drug therapy Researchers from the University of Aberdeen have identified parts of a gene that could open the door to treatment with medical cannabis for millions of people.
	Examining secondhand smoke and cardiovascular risks in children New research from the University of Minnesota examines how secondhand smoke might impact children and adolescent cardiovascular health.
	A year after the first CRISPR babies, stricter regulations are now in place It's been just over a year since the dramatic announcement of the world's first genome-edited babies using CRISPR technology. Since then, to the chagrin of some and the relief of others, there have been no more such announcements. This is due, in no small part, to discreet actions taken by the People's Republic of China, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Russian Federation.
	The right mouse model is crucial for Huntington's disease drug development Huntington's disease (HD) is an incurable and fatal hereditary disease. Developing disease-modifying drugs to treat patients with HD depends on studying them in animal models. Scientists evaluated the mouse models used for developing new treatments for mood disorders in HD and recommended which of these models are most relevant to their studies. Their findings are published in the Journal of Huntington's Disease.
	Understanding autism: new research dispels common assumptions Sixteen-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg has made headlines not just for her passionate climate activism, but because she is outspoken about having autism. However, her treatment by some members of the media—even being called "mentally ill"—shows that many harmful myths about autism still persist, despite increased awareness.
	Weaponizing stem cells in the war on diabetes There's no sugar coating it—diabetes is shaping up to become one of the greatest health challenges in modern times. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in eleven individuals suffers from diabetes, and the condition was the direct cause of 1.6 million deaths in 2016, based on the latest publicly available data. WHO has since designated diabetes as one of four priority noncommunicable diseases (alongside cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases) to be addressed by global health authorities.
	Taking fish oil tablets for four weeks improves 'night vision,' study says Fish oil supplements can significantly improve 'night vision', according to a new study.
	U.S. primary care doctors face challenges in coordinating care Physicians from the United States and other high-income countries report difficulties with care coordination, with a substantial proportion of U.S. physicians not receiving timely notification or the information needed from specialists or other sites of care, according to a study published online Dec. 10 in Health Affairs.
	Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening recommendations based on sex, age, smoking history The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening vary by sex, smoking status, and family history. These recommendations form the basis of a final recommendation statement published in the Dec. 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
	Current tobacco use prevalent in middle, high school students Almost one-third of high school students report current use of tobacco products, according to research published in the Dec. 6 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
	Adding tucatinib to drug combination extends survival for advanced HER2+ breast cancer patients Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today reported study results showing the addition of tucatinib to capecitabine (Xeloda) and trastuzumab (Herceptin) significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, with and without brain metastasis according to results of the HER2CLIMB clinical trial.
	Diet, not exercise, may be key to addressing our biggest cause of liver disease Edith Cowan University researchers have found that a chronic disease affecting up to 80 per cent of overweight people may be causing an iron deficiency that simply leaves them too tired to get off the couch.
	Scientists eager to explain brain rhythm boost's broad impact in Alzheimer's models The sweeping extent to which increasing 40Hz "gamma" rhythm power in the brain can affect the pathology and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in mouse models has been surprising, even to the MIT neuroscientists who've pioneered the idea. So surprising, in fact, they can't yet explain why it happens.
	New study and pilot curriculum trains students to provide complex care The United States faces a crisis in providing complex care for high-need, high-cost individuals—people who often suffer economic, mental and physical challenges.
	High doses of vitamin D for critically ill patients yield minimal benefit A major study conducted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL) Network into whether high doses of vitamin D can improve health outcomes for critically ill patients has concluded that such supplements do not reduce mortality or improve other non-fatal outcomes.
	Up to two-fifths of antibiotic prescriptions in the US could be inappropriate As much as two fifths (43%) of antibiotic prescriptions in the United States could be inappropriate, warn researchers in a study published by The BMJ today.
	Your genes aren't the only factor dictating Alzheimer's risk The colour of our eyes or the straightness of our hair is linked to our DNA, but the development of Alzheimer's disease isn't exclusively linked to genetics, suggest recently published findings.
	A vaccine against chronic inflammatory diseases In animals, a vaccine modifying the composition and function of the gut microbiota provides protection against the onset of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases and certain metabolic disorders, such as diabetes and obesity. This research was conducted by the team of Benoît Chassaing, Inserm researcher at Institut Cochin (Inserm/CNRS/Université de Paris), whose initial findings have been published in Nature Communications.
	Efforts to end the HIV epidemic must not ignore people already living with HIV Efforts to prevent new HIV transmissions in the United States must be accompanied by advances in addressing HIV-associated comorbidities to improve the health of people already living with HIV, National Institutes of Health experts assert in the third of a series of JAMA commentaries. Previous commentaries detailed the proposed Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America, which aims to reduce new HIV transmissions in the United States by 75% in five years and 90% in 10 years, and discussed the challenges posed by the emerging opioid injection epidemic in rural areas.
	Research sheds important light on the metastasis of neuroblastoma Neuroblastoma can grow and spread in the body very aggressively, making it very difficult to treat. New research has shed important light on the factors at play in the metastasis of neuroblastoma, which could potentially lead to new treatment strategies.
	Artificial intelligence boosts MRI detection of ADHD Deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence, can boost the power of MRI in predicting attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a study published in Radiology: Artificial Intelligence. Researchers said the approach could also have applications for other neurological conditions.
	C. diff carriers are common source of infections in health facilities, study shows Nearly 1-in-10 patients admitted to a New York hospital with no symptoms of diarrhea were found to be carriers of Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), suggesting infections originate outside the hospital setting more often than thought, according to a study published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.
Insights into psoriasis suggest a new treatment target Psoriasis is a skin disorder that affects at least 100 million individuals worldwide. Its economic impact is more than $10 billion annually in the U.S. alone. Involved skin becomes thickened, red, and covered with silvery scales, while changes to the nails and deforming inflammation of the joints may also occur in up to one-third of affected individuals. The underlying cause of psoriasis remains a mystery, and effective targeted therapies remain to be developed.
	All age groups worldwide 'at high risk' of drop in children's physical activity Emphasis on particular groups hinders efforts to address the problem of declining physical activity in children, according to a study led at the University of Strathclyde.
	Tropical flower offers potential new route for treating pancreatic cancer An international team of scientists led by the University of Bath have made drug-like molecules inspired by a chemical found in a tropical flower, that they hope could in the future help to treat deadly pancreatic cancer.
	Concerns about other painkillers contributed to opioid crisis, study finds Patients with chronic pain caught between cardiovascular concerns about non-opioid analgesics and addiction risks of opioids, likely causing significant unmet need for pain relief.
	Study supports long-term benefits of non-drug therapies for pain A new study based on Veterans Affairs health records finds that non-drug therapies given to military service members with chronic pain may reduce the risk of long-term adverse outcomes, such as alcohol and drug disorder and self-induced injuries, including suicide attempts.
	New drugs show rare promise against advanced breast cancer Doctors on Wednesday reported unusually good results from tests of two experimental drugs in women with an aggressive form of breast cancer that had spread widely and resisted many previous treatments.
	Factors examined for time to first therapy for biologic DMARD in RA (HealthDay)—For older patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there is considerable variation in time to receipt of first biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) after prescription of the first conventional synthetic (cs) DMARD, according to a study published online Dec. 6 in JAMA Network Open.
	Trampoline-related pediatric fractures increased 2008 through 2017 (HealthDay)—From 2008 to 2017, there was an increase in the incidence of trampoline-related pediatric fractures, with a significant increase in the odds of a fracture occurring at a place of recreation or sport, according to a study published online Dec. 11 in Pediatrics.
	State legislators react to preventable disease outbreaks (HealthDay)—Increases in vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) outbreaks are associated with an increase in proposed state legislation that would restrict vaccine exemptions, according to a research letter recently published in JAMA Pediatrics.
	Cold heart facts: why you need to watch out in winter When Arctic weather is on the way, forecasters often alert you to protect your pets or watch out on the roads. Perhaps they also should warn you about your heart.
	California considers calling THC in pot a risk to moms-to-be More than three years after California voters broadly legalized marijuana, a state panel is considering if its potent, high-inducing chemical—THC—should be declared a risk to pregnant women and require warnings.
	As heat strikes, here's one way to help fight disease-carrying and nuisance mosquitoes Mosquito-borne disease is a concern for health authorities around Australia. Each year, thousands fall ill to Ross River virus disease caused by mosquito bites.
	How to save a country from snakebite The evening that a snake bit Mahfudin was one like any other. The sun had set behind Mount Lawu, to the west of Mahfudin's village in the central part of Java, Indonesia. Crickets chirped in the hedges. Goats bleated in a shed. An uneven path lit by two dim lamps led to Mahfudin's house: bare bricks and plywood on brown hardened earth, topped by a roof of dried palm leaves. He'd built that house, and once he could afford it, he would paint the walls and tile the floor.
	Using escape games to get adults and children to think and change their diets A new food education project is using the increasingly popular escape room idea to teach children and adults about balanced diets.
	Majority of voters surveyed support greater oversight of industrial animal farms A new survey released by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future finds that the majority of registered voters support greater oversight of industrial animal farms. The Center for a Livable Future is based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
	Study shows vision is not always the cause of learning disorders Learning difficulties in schoolchildren are not always associated with visual problems, since they may be neurobiological or derived from other alterations such as dyslexia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This is the result of scientific work carried out by the University of Alicante Research Group in Optics and Visual Perception and a multidisciplinary team (optician-optometrists, ophthalmologists, psychologists, a speech therapist and a psychiatrist) from the Alto Aragón Polyclinic in Huesca.
	Video discharge instructions in ED associated with less AOM symptomatology Video discharge instructions in the emergency department are associated with less perceived acute otitis media (AOM) symptomatology compared to a paper handout. That is the finding of a study published in the December 2019 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), a journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).
Promising new approach to treating some of the worst types of leukaemia A collaborative research effort by Australian and US scientists has led to the discovery of a promising new approach to treating some of the worst types of leukaemia, including an aggressive leukaemia that mostly affects babies.
	Human consumption of fish antibiotics investigated in new study Consumers seeking cheaper, faster access to antibiotics are apparently consuming antibiotics intended for treating fish rather than humans, according to research presented at the ASHP (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) 54th Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition. This consumption may lead to dangerous unintended consequences such as adverse side-effects, treatment failures, and antibiotic drug resistance, said co-author Brandon Bookstaver, Pharm.D., director of residency and fellowship training at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy.
	Real-time photoacoustic thermometry of tumors during HIFU treatment in living subjects High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) treatment is a non-invasive method that removes unhealthy tissues and tumors by delivering high intensity ultrasound waves from outside of the body to the lesion. It does minimal damage to normal tissues around the lesion and allows fast recovery of a patient, which is why this innovative treatment has been called as the "ultrasound of the next generation." Recently, a research team from Korea developed a photoacoustic (PA) thermometry system for HIFU treatment guidance and demonstrated real-time monitoring of temperature increase at the tumor in living subjects during the HIFU treatment. With this new finding, further development for HIFU treatment is anticipated.
	New research seeks to improve safety equipment for pregnant women As technology advances in the things we use every day, it's generally accepted they also become safer. But according to one UBC engineer, that may not be true for a large portion of the population.
	Modulation of proliferation factors in lung adenocarcinoma A recent study published in Oncotarget found molecular subtypes based on copy number, DNA methylation, and mRNA expression had variable proliferation levels, the highest correlating with decreased survival.
Increasing transparency in the healthcare sector: More might not be better More isn't always better. That's what researchers say when it comes to transparency in the U.S. healthcare system. This research, forthcoming in the INFORMS journal Operations Research, finds that in the short-term, patients who know more about hospital quality is positive, but in the long-term, the benefits may not be what you might think.

Biology news

	Single-cell analysis of the earliest cell fate decisions in development Researchers at the Babraham Institute, EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), CRUK Cambridge Institute and the Wellcome—MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute have provided the first single-cell epigenomic analysis of gastrulation, a crucial process in early embryo development. The researchers analysed over 1,000 cells from mouse embryos to understand the epigenetic priming events preceding gastrulation and the cell fate decisions these establish. The findings, published today in Nature, uncover fundamental knowledge about the processes that programme cell fate in the early embryo to generate all the organs and tissues of the body.
	Close friends help macaques survive Close friendships improve the survival chances of rhesus macaques, new research shows.
	The secret to a long life? For worms, a cellular recycling protein is key Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have shown that worms live longer lives if they produce excess levels of a protein, p62, which recognizes toxic cell proteins that are tagged for destruction. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, could help uncover treatments for age-related conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease, which are often caused by accumulation of misfolded proteins.
	New technique to determine protein structures may solve biomedical puzzles Researchers in Dana-Farber's cBio Center have now demonstrated a powerful 'experimental evolution' method to discover details of protein shape and function, and the method may find uses across a very broad spectrum of biomedical research.
	Tweaking the approach to save the desert tortoise "Increase the size, increase the survival" is the premise behind head-starting—raising an at-risk species in captivity until it is large enough to be less vulnerable to predators after release into the wild. But research conducted by University of Georgia scientists in California's Mojave Desert reveals larger size alone is not enough to save the desert tortoise from predator attacks.
	Sorghum study illuminates relationship between humans, crops and the environment in domestication A new study that examines the genetics behind the bitter taste of some sorghum plants and one of Africa's most reviled bird species illustrates how human genetics, crops and the environment influence one another in the process of plant domestication.
	Researchers create accurate model of organ scarring using stem cells in a lab Every organ in the body is capable, to some extent, of repairing itself after an injury. As part of this process, scar tissue forms and then recedes to make room for normal tissue when healing is complete.
	Researchers identify successful biological control for destructive fruit fly A parasitic wasp has shown tremendous potential attacking and controlling spotted wing drosophila—an invasive, destructive fruit fly that costs Oregon growers close to a billion dollars a year, Oregon State University researchers have found.
	Scientists link decline of baltic cod to hypoxia—and climate change If you want to know how climate change and hypoxia—the related loss of oxygen in the world's oceans—affect fish species such as the economically important Baltic cod, all you have to do is ask the fish.
	Site search: A digital approach to proteins and cancer What if scientists could create more effective drugs to treat cancers and other diseases by better targeting specific sites on proteins in the body?
	A machine learning approach to identify functional human phosphosites Researchers at the EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) have created the largest reference phosphoproteome to date of almost 120,000 human phosphosites. To identify those most likely to be critical, they used a machine learning approach capable of ranking them according to functional importance.
	Deciphering the equations of life: A new theory describes what all animals have in common Research led by the University of Arizona has resulted in a set of equations that describes and predicts commonalities across life despite its enormous diversity.
	Azteca ant colonies move the same way leopards' spots form What could Azteca ants in coffee farms in Mexico have in common with leopards' spots and zebras' stripes?
	'Invisible,' restricted horse racing therapy may leave a trail A treatment called extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is used in patients both human and equine to speed healing of injured tendons and ligaments. Using high-pressure sonic waves, ESWT is thought to increase blood flow to the treated area and has been shown to reduce pain over the short term.
	Invest in pollinator monitoring for long-term gain New research shows that for every $1 invested in pollinator monitoring schemes, at least $1.50 can be saved, from otherwise costly independent research projects.
	Why polar bears at sea have higher pollution levels than those staying on land As the climate changes, myriad animal populations are being impacted. In particular, Arctic sea-ice is in decline, causing polar bears in the Barents Sea region to alter their feeding and hunting habits. Bears that follow sea-ice to offshore areas have higher pollutant levels than those staying on land—but why? A new study in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology reports the likely reasons.
	Estimates of commercial fish biomass from DNA traces in seawater A new study published by scientists from the Faroese Marine Research Institute reveals that traces of DNA left behind in seawater can be used to predict the biomass of Atlantic cod. The findings show that the so-called environmental DNA approach can track the regional patterns of commercially important fish in the ocean. The paper, led by Dr. Ian Salter, was published on the 10th December in Nature Communications Biology.
	Can salmon eat their way out of climate change? Warm waters are a threat to cold water fish like salmon and trout. But a study led by researchers at University of California, Davis suggests that habitats with abundant food sources may help buffer the effects of increasing water temperature.
	Super rats or sickly rodents? Our war against urban rats could be leading to swift evolutionary changes It took only a few seconds to spot one. Then another. As I walked into the small park around noon, dozens of rats could be seen scurrying in every direction. They dashed in and out of burrows scattered around the planting beds. They scampered between the safety of shrub cover and the trash bins containing a smorgasbord for them to feed on. They leaped on and off the unoccupied benches encircling the park. The rats of Churchill Square had returned.
	Tree cavities for wild honeybees The forests in Europe provide habitat for around 80,000 colonies of wild honeybees. That is why more attention should be paid to preserving the nesting sites for these threatened insects, according to researchers.
	Antibiotic resistance and cancer: six surprising places scientists are looking for new drugs Scientists recently announced the discovery of a novel antibiotic produced by bacteria living inside a nematode (roundworm). Although this molecule needs further analyses, the finding, published in Nature, brings hope to the fight against antimicrobial or antibiotic resistance, the growing ability of infectious and sometimes lethal bacteria to survive drug treatment.
	There's a new squid in town "Cephalopods were the first intelligent animals on the planet."
	Virtual reality and drones help to predict and protect koala habitat QUT researchers have used a combination of virtual reality (VR), aerial thermal-imaging and ground surveys to build a better statistical model for predicting the location of koalas and, ultimately, protecting their habitat.
	Mountain goats' air conditioning is failing, study says A new study in the journal PLOS One says Glacier National Park's iconic mountain goats are in dire need of air conditioning.
	Leopard slugs mate in the most beautifully bizarre way – and nobody knows why Under the cover of night, two large leopard slugs begin to court, circling each other, before climbing single-file up a tree or onto a rock. They lower themselves on a mucus rope, while entwining their bodies in a strictly anti-clockwise fashion.
	Illumination drives bats out of caves, no matter the color of the light Artificial light influences the behavior of many nocturnal animals such as bats, which are very sensitive to all types of lighting. Particularly critical is the illumination of natural caves in which bats roost. Cave illumination is widespread in tourist areas worldwide and disturbs the animals in their resting places. Researchers of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (MPIO) have now investigated how the illumination of bat caves affects the animals' behavior and whether the color of light makes a difference on their flight and emergence activity. Although red light irritates the small mammals somewhat less than white light, from the researchers' point of view neither the entrance nor the interior of bat caves should be illuminated if bats are present. The results are published in the journal "Global Ecology and Conservation."
	Uncovering how endangered pangolins, or 'scaly anteaters,' digest food The endangered Sunda pangolin, or "scaly anteater," is a widely trafficked mammal, prized in some cultures for its meat and scales. Little is known about these animals, and raising rescued pangolins is tricky. In the wild, they eat termites and ants, but diets provided in captivity often make them sick. Now, a study in ACS Omega reports that pangolins lack some common digestive enzymes, which could explain why some diets don't work well for them.
	Study to help manage shark populations in Pacific Panama Sharks play a critical role in keeping oceans healthy, balancing the food chain and ensuring species diversity. However, the demand for shark derivatives has led to their exploitation, often without appropriate management strategies in place. In an assessment of Pacific Panama fisheries published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical
	Study sheds light on 'overlooked' bee species The UK's first citizen science project focusing on solitary, ground-nesting bees has revealed that they nest in a far broader range of habitats than previously thought.
	Eavesdropping on the human microbiome uncovers 'potent' new antibiotics The microbes populating the human body play an important role in health and disease, but with few exceptions, how individual microbial species affect health and disease states remains poorly understood. A new study by Princeton researcher Mohamed Abou Donia and his colleagues, appearing in the Dec. 13 issue of the journal Science, gives scientists new tools to explore and understand the human microbiome.
	Scales offer insight into chronic stress of fish, research finds For years, aquatic researchers have sought an easy way to determine when wild fish are under stress. Now University of Guelph researchers have shown for the first time that a key stress hormone, cortisol, accumulates in fish scales slowly and remains there for weeks.
	Understanding Asteraceae: Validation of a Hyb-Seq probe set for evolutionary studies Accurately reconstructing the relationships between different species requires analyzing the sequences of a judiciously selected, and preferably large, sample of different genes. Hybrid capture with high-throughput sequencing, or Hyb-Seq, is a powerful tool for obtaining those gene sequences, but must be calibrated for each group analyzed to ensure an informative sample of genes are sequenced. Researchers must take a variety of considerations into account when selecting which genes to sequence, and the choices made in gene sampling can affect the outcome of the analysis. In work presented in a recent issue of Applications in Plant Sciences, Dr. Katy Jones and colleagues evaluated the performance of a Hyb-Seq probe set designed for the large and diverse sunflower family, Asteraceae, and found it to be effective in reconstructing relationships at multiple taxonomic levels, from subspecies to tribe.
	Teams of microbes are at work in our bodies. Researchers have figured out what they're up to. In the last decade, scientists have made tremendous progress in understanding that groups of bacteria and viruses that naturally coexist throughout the human body play an important role in some vital functions like digestion, metabolism and even fighting off diseases. But understanding just how they do it remains a question.
	School citizen science project dramatically improves children's knowledge of UK mammals Children who participated in a citizen science project called MammalWeb, where they used camera traps to detect wildlife visiting their schools, were able to identify twice the number of UK mammals by the end of the project. The preliminary results are presented today at the British Ecological Society's annual meeting in Belfast.
	Multi-species grassland mixtures increase yield stability, even under drought conditions In a two-year experiment in Ireland and Switzerland, researchers found a positive relationship between plant diversity and yield stability in intensely managed grassland, even under experimental drought conditions. The results are presented today at the British Ecological Society's annual meeting in Belfast.
	Germany on alert as swine fever nears border Sniffer dogs, drones and electrified fences: Germany is deploying a full array of defences to stop boars from bringing swine fever into the country and avert a disaster for its thriving pork industry.
	How sharp is that sniffer? Newly patented Army invention trains, tests working dogs A U.S. Army researcher has scored a patent for inventing a new tool for training dogs to detect chemical compounds.
	MASS: An integrative software program for streamlined morphometric analyses of leaves Analysis of leaf shape and size is a cornerstone of botany, and is crucial in answering a variety of ecological, evolutionary, genetic, and agricultural questions. However, the software packages used to conduct these morphometric analyses can be cumbersome, and sometimes require stringing multiple programs together. This slows the rate of progress in the field, creates higher barriers of entry for newcomers, and introduces unnecessary errors to these calculations. In research presented in a recent issue of Applications in Plant Sciences, Dr. Gillian Ryan and colleagues introduced a new software program, MASS (Morphological Analysis of Size and Shape), that they developed to streamline the process of running geometric morphometric analyses on leaf shape.
	Studies show integrated strategies work best for buffelgrass control Buffelgrass is a drought-tolerant, invasive weed that threatens the biodiversity of native ecosystems in the drylands of the Americas and Australia. Unfortunately, though, land managers trying to control the weed often experience mixed results.

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