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Thursday, January 2, 2014

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Smarter, Deadlier Drones Mapped Out in Defense Plan

Drones that can decide for themselves how best to complete a pre-programmed mission — that's just one of the many advanced capabilities the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) wants to develop over the next 25 years as part of its Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap. But drones definitely get pride of place in the document, with the DoD exploring such technologies as precision navigation, swarming munitions and increased autonomy. Unmanned aircraft currently depend on GPS for navigation. Addressing this problem, the roadmap cites the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) ongoing work with so-called pinpoint inertial guidance systems that are jam-proof.

Relapse of 'cured' HIV patients spurs AIDS science on

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists seeking a cure for AIDS say they have been inspired, not crushed, by a major setback in which two HIV positive patients believed to have been cured found the virus re-invading their bodies once more. True, the news hit hard last month that the so-called "Boston patients" - two men who received bone marrow transplants that appeared to rid them completely of the AIDS-causing virus - had relapsed and gone back onto antiretroviral treatment. "It's a setback for the patients, of course, but an advance for the field because the field has now gained a lot more knowledge," said Steven Deeks, a professor and HIV expert at the University of California, San Francisco. He and other experts say the primary practical message is that current tests designed to detect even very low levels of HIV present in the body are simply not sensitive enough.

Relapse of "cured" HIV patients spurs AIDS science on

Incredible Technology: How to Mine Water on Mars

The bone-dry desert of present-day Mars may seem like the last place you would look for water, but the Red Planet actually contains a wealth of water locked up in ice. Evidence that Mars once supported liquid water has been mounting for years, and exploratory missions have found that water ice still exists on the planet's poles and just beneath its dusty surface. Accessing that water could require digging it up and baking it in an oven, or beaming microwaves at the soil and extracting the water vapor. Now, the Netherlands-based organization Mars One, which wants to establish a permanent human settlement on the Red Planet, is planning to send an unmanned lander to Mars in 2018 that would carry an experiment to demonstrate that water extraction is possible.

UrtheCast, Russia Investigate Space Station HD Cameras After Spacewalk Glitch

The Canadian company UrtheCast and its Russian partners are investigating what went wrong when its new Earth-watching cameras suffered a glitch shortly after being installed outside the International Space Station last week. In an eight-hour spacewalk on Friday (Dec. 27), Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy installed UrtheCast's two powerful cameras on the orbiting outpost only to have to remove and return the devices to storage after an unspecified data connection problem. UrtheCast officials announced Monday (Dec. 30) that the Earth-watching cameras were installed properly, but mission controllers were unable to confirm the cameras were receiving power from the space station, so the devices were removed as a safety precaution. George Tyc, UrtheCast's Chief Technology Officer, said the fact that neither camera could communicate with Russia's Mission Control Center just outside of Moscow suggests the root of the problem is inside the space station.

3D Brain Maps Guide Doctors — via iPhone

The phones have started to fulfill this role, in part, thanks to the thousands of 3D brain images, produced by Dr. Albert Rhoton at the University of Florida, that are freely available online. "I've had young surgeons from Africa, Brazil and other countries tell me they're pulling the images into the operating room" and using them during surgery, said Rhoton, head of the Neuro-Microanatomy Lab at the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute. The images are "our small contribution to making what is a delicate, awesome experience for neurosurgery patients more accurate, gentler and safer," Rhoton told LiveScience. Rhoton has collected images of brain anatomy for as long as he's been teaching surgery — 50 years — and began moving to 3D technology 25 years ago.

'Baboon Syndrome': An Unusual Complication of Antibiotics

A 40-year-old man with a sore throat and fever was diagnosed with tonsillitis, and was prescribed penicillin, a common antibiotic. But several days later, the man developed a rash over his armpits, groin and buttocks — an unusual condition known as "baboon syndrome." The condition, more formally called symmetrical drug-related intertriginous and flexural exanthema (SDRIFE), is known as baboon syndrome because the rash on the patient's buttocks resembles the red hindquarters of some monkeys. The condition is usually caused by an allergic reaction to penicillin drugs, but can also be caused by exposure to mercury or nickel, said Dr. Andreas Bircher, a dermatologist at University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland.

Lost 'Biblical Blue' Dye Possibly Found in Ancient Fabric

"The importance of this fabric is extremely significant as there are practically no parallels for it in the archaeological record," Israel Antiquities Authority officials say in a statement, referring to the blue color. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, thousands of textile bits from the Roman period have been found in this desert region, but only two fabrics before actually bore traces of the richly colored snail dye, which makes the new discovery all the more remarkable. "There were times when the masses were forbidden from dressing in purple clothing, which was reserved for only the emperor and his family," officials with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said in a statement. Na'ama Sukenik, a researcher with the IAA, turned up the three murex-dyed fabrics while conducting a chemical analysis of 180 textiles specimens from the Judean Desert caves for her doctoral dissertation at Bar Ilan University.

Mission shortlists over a thousand candidates for life on Mars

Mars One was set up in 2011 by two Dutch men with the goal of establishing permanent human life on Mars in 2025. The 1,058 candidates who got through to the first round come from all over the world. They must now undergo rigorous tests, including simulations of life on Mars and coping with isolation, co-founder Bas Lansdorp said.

Hubble Telescope Reveals Super-Planets Covered in Alien Clouds

Two teams of researchers used the Hubble Space Telescope to characterize the atmospheres of the two exoplanets. One of the alien planets is a so-called "super-Earth" larger than the Earth, while the other has been dubbed a "warm Neptune." Studying both types of worlds can help scientists learn to classify the atmospheres on other Earth-like planets in the future. It is classified as a "warm Neptune" because its orbit is closer to its parent star than the distance between Neptune and the sun in our solar system. As GJ 436b and the super-Earth GJ 1214b pass in front of their parent stars, the atmosphere creates a bloated sphere that precedes the body of the planet in the front and follows it in the back.

States Take National Lead in Regulating Fracking (Op-Ed)

They contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. In the absence of additional federal action to regulate hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), states have increasingly adopted policies to govern the technology that has opened up large reserves of previously inaccessible natural gas and oil. California, Illinois and Colorado have recently released draft fracking regulations, adding to an already significant body of existing rules and pending legislation at the state level. It can be challenging to irrefutably link a particular instance of pollution with a particular oil and gas operation, but evidence is accumulating that environmental damages from fracking are occurring : examples include methane contamination of groundwater supplies, toxic wastewater flooding nearby landsand air pollutant leakage at the well site.

Why Cities are Adopting Open Cloud Technology (Op-Ed)

Dixon leads IBM's vision, strategy and operations for teams active in cities around the world. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. With cloud computing, smaller cities have an opportunity to leapfrog giant metropolises, gaining a competitive advantage in efficiency and innovation — even without large information technology (IT) departments and vast data centers. Cloud computing is a means for cities to share a wealth of valuable data with citizens in new ways, wherever they are located, via smartphones and tablets.

Six Science-Based Strategies to Beat Holiday Bloat (Op-Ed)

Tallmadge contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. So, when served larger portions, we adjust our level of satiety to accommodate greater calorie intakes. Fortunately, studies have also found that the reverse is true.

'Jumping Genes' Linked to Schizophrenia

Some so-called jumping genes that copy and paste themselves throughout the genome may be linked to schizophrenia, new research suggests. The new study, published today (Jan. 2) in the journal Neuron, suggests these jumping genes may alter how neurons (or nerve cells in the brain) form during development, thereby increasing the risk of schizophrenia, study co-author Dr. Tadafumi Kato, a neurobiologist at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan, wrote in an email. Earlier studies had found that a certain type of jumping gene, known as long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1), was active in human brain cells. To find out, the team conducted a post-mortem analysis of 120 human brains, 13 from patients who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Is Genetics Key to Climate Change Solutions? (Op-Ed)

Thomas Whitham is a regents' professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the executive director of the Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research at Northern Arizona University. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. One important part of the puzzle, however, involves unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants to identify those species and populations best able to cope with changing conditions. Just as researchers have used genetics to improve food production, it can also provide solutions that maintain biodiversity and protect the services provided by native ecosystems.

The Koch Brothers Are Still Trying to Break Wind (Op-Ed)

Elliott Negin is the director of news and commentary at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). As Congress dithers for the umpteenth time over extending a key subsidy for wind energy, the fate of the industry once again is up in the air. Given that the planet needs to transition as quickly as possible away from coal and natural gas to carbon-free energy to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, who would be against renewing wind's tax credit? Never mind the fact that the oil and gas industry has averaged — in federal tax breaks and subsidies — four times what the wind tax credit is worth, annually, for the last 95 years.

'Tis the Season to be Jolly, or Not: Tips for Coping with Holiday Blues

She contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. As a mood disorders specialist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, I often treat people who are suffering from the "holiday blues." Sometimes these so-called holiday blues may be caused in part by seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is a biologically driven condition that occurs throughout the winter months when people's daily body rhythms are out of sync with the sun.

Exercise Improves Depression in People with Parkinson's

She contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Not only can exercise help with the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but a new pilot study that I recently completed showed that patient participation in exercise — in earlier stages of the disease — can improve depression in patients. The study, at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, also found that long-term group exercise programs are feasible for people with Parkinson's disease. Each year, about 60,000 Americans are newly diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Wolves Must Not Lose Their Endangered Status (Op-Ed)

Andrew Wetzler is director of the Land & Wildlife Program at the NRDC. This Op-Ed originally appeared on the NRDC blog Switchboard. Wetzler contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Tuesday marked the official end of the public comment period on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's proposed nation-wide regulation removing the gray wolf from the federal list of endangered species.

Ignoring Nature No More: The State of the Animals 2013 (Op-Ed)

Marc Bekoff, emeritus professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is one of the world's pioneering cognitive ethologists, a Guggenheim Fellow, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Denise Herzing's recently gave a TED talk entitled "If We Could Talk To the Animals" about the clearly smart and emotional dolphins she and her team study.

What Does Your Dog Want for Christmas? (Op-Ed)

Brian Hare is an Associate Professor in Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke Universityand the founder of Dognition, a Web-based service that helps people find the genius in their dogs. Hare contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Who's to Blame for Climate Change? (Op-Ed)

Elliott Negin is the director of news and commentary at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Negin contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The Climate Accountability Institute's new study documenting that just 90 companies are responsible for two-thirds of manmade carbon emissions since the Industrial Revolution triggered some pushback in the blogosphere. Blame the likes of BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell for global warming ?

New Agreement Slashing Set-Top Box Energy to Save $1 Billion Annually (Op-Ed)

Noah Horowitz is a senior scientist and director of the Center for Energy Efficiency at the NRDC. This Op-Ed is adapted from a post to the NRDC blog Switchboard. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The signatories include NRDC and other energy-efficiency advocacy groups and companies in the pay-TV industry that include household names such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DIRECTV, AT&T and Motorola.

Bottlenose Dolphins Oiled By Deepwater Horizon Spill are Dying (Op-Ed)

The dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are sick and dying. Captain Lori DeAngelis told me this last Christmas. She is more commonly known as the Dolphin Queen by the folks in Orange Beach, Ala., because she captains a boat named the Dolphin Queen and is so conversant with the local dolphins that, when she's on the water, she greets them individually by name. A study published this week in the journal Environmental Science & Technology compared bottlenose dolphins in Barataria Bay, La., that were oiled by the Deepwater Horizon spill with ones in Sarasota Bay, Fla., that did not come into direct contact with the oil spill and found that the Louisiana dolphins were sicker.

Brooklyn and Naythyn Among First Babies of 2014

The Y's have it in 2014, if the first baby names of the year are anything to go on. Brooklyn, Layla, Rylee and Naythyn were among the first babies born in the United States on New Year's Eve, according to baby-naming website Name Candy, which tracks the first babies in each state. Naythyn, born at 12:09 a.m., hails from Oregon, while Rylee (a boy) was born at 6:34 a.m. in West Virginia. The New Year welcomed two new Brooklyns, one at 12:03 a.m. in Colorado and another in Maryland at 12:07 a.m.

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Wednesday, January 1, 2014

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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7 Ways to Cheat a Hangover

Here are seven wise tricks to ward off a brutal hangover. (Of course, the best way to avoid a hangover is to not down too much booze the night before.) Light-colored drinks, such as gin and vodka, cause a milder hangover than darker drinks, such as bourbon or whiskey, according to research. The reason appears to be what are called congeners, or toxic substances produced during alcohol fermentation.

One-Way Mars Trip: 1,058 Private Martian Colony Volunteers Pass 1st Cut

Mars One announced Monday (Dec. 30) that it has picked 1,058 aspiring spaceflyers to move on to the next round in its search for the first humans to live and die on the Red Planet. More than 200,000 people applied for a spot on Mars One's list of future colonists by the time the initial application window closed on Aug. 31. The group's co-founder Bas Lansdorp said in a statement it was challenging to separate "those who we feel are physically and mentally adept to become human ambassadors on Mars from those who are obviously taking the mission much less seriously," adding that some even appeared nude their application videos. All told, Mars One is looking at applicants from 107 different countries, according to figures released by the group.

An Intrepid Look at Winter with Climate Scientist and Adventurer Felicity Aston

Champagne Toasts: How Climate Affects the Quality of Bubbly

The quality of sparkling wine — including France's famed champagne, Spain's cava, or Italy's prosecco — depends on numerous factors ranging from soil type to bottling practices. Grapes destined to become sparkling wine are picked before they are fully ripe, while still small and tart and containing less sugar than standard non-sparkling wine grapes. On the other hand, too little water early in a season slows photosynthesis — the process by which the grapevines create sugar — and can delay ripening, causing the final product to taste unpleasantly tart. Wine grapes generally thrive in relatively dry environments with just enough rain to keep roots moist and photosynthesis in action.

Mock Mars Mission: How to Pack the Red Planet Way

OTTAWA, CANADA — I'll admit it: I've become that annoying friend and family member, just in time for the busy holiday season. "Can I nab your warm sleeping bag?" I said to a friend who then had to make a special trip to my place with her precious cargo in the car. "Is it okay if I take your DSLR — and can you show me how to make videos with it?" I asked a long-suffering family member who, despite a punishing schedule, is always being harassed for tech support. I, along with the rest of a University of North Dakota-led crew, will be onsite at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) starting Jan. 4.

Astronauts Wish Earth Happy New Year from Space (Video)

The people of Earth rang in 2014 with raucous celebrations that reached all the way to space, where astronauts on the International Space Station helped usher in the New Year. Three space station astronauts recorded a video wishing humanity a Happy New Year that was broadcast in Times Square during New York City's epic New Year's Eve bash. The video was introduced by NASA astronaut Mike Massimino from Times Square and featured on the iconic Toshiba Vision screen. In the video, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, joined by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, wish people on Earth a happy new year before floating up out of view.

LEGO Launches Mars Curiosity Rover, 5 More Toy Brick Spacecraft Await Liftoff

NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has landed in LEGO's toy catalog and is now available for order. The fifth in a line of fan-created, LEGO-produced building kits, the six-wheeled science laboratory could be followed by the now Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft, Hubble Space Telescope, or other space-themed kits, if the public votes for them online. The Curiosity rover kit came to be through LEGO CUUSOO, the company's social creation platform. "CUUSOO," which in Japanese means "imagination" or "wish," is a website that invites enthusiasts to share ideas for new LEGO products.

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