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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

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Regret This Year Could Spur Romance Next Year (Op-Ed)

Amy Summerville is an assistant professor of social psychology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. This article was originally published on the blog of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Summerville contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. For some, Valentine's Day was less a day of flowers and chocolate and more a reminder of the ways that Cupid's arrow has missed the mark.

First biomarker could help boys at risk of major depression

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - British brain scientists have identified the first biomarker, or biological signpost, for clinical depression and say it could help find boys in particular who are at risk of developing the debilitating mental illness. In a study in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS) journal, the team found that teenage boys who have a combination of depressive symptoms and raised levels of the stress hormone cortisol are up to 14 times more likely to develop major depression than those who show neither trait. "We're very bad about looking after our mental health, and yet the problems of mental health are extremely common," said Barbara Sahakian, a Cambridge University professor of Clinical neuropsychology who worked on the study. "(And) we now have a very real way of identifying those teenage boys most likely to develop clinical depression." He said armed with such knowledge, doctors and other carers could target prevention strategies at depression-vulnerable boys and "hopefully help reduce their risk of serious episodes of depression and their consequences in adult life".

Monday night viewing: close encounter with enormous asteroid

(Reuters) - An asteroid estimated to be the size of three football fields is set for its close-up on a live webcast as it whizzes by Earth on Monday, roughly a year after one exploded over Russia and injured 1,200 people. Slooh Space Camera plans to track the close approach of Asteroid 2000 EM26 as it races past the planet at approximately 27,000 miles per hour (43,000 km/h), starting at 9 p.m. EST (2 a.m. GMT, February 18), the robotic telescope service said in a statement on Slooh.com. The 295-yard (270-meter) asteroid was expected to streak by Earth little more than a year after another asteroid exploded on February 15, 2013 over Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring 1,200 people following a massive shock wave that shattered windows and damaged buildings. However, the International Olympic Committee at the last minute said it could be done only after the games and separately.

Warming from Arctic Sea Ice Melting More Dramatic than Thought

Melting Arctic sea ice has contributed considerably more to warming at the top of the world than previously predicted by climate models, according to a new analysis of 30 years of satellite observations. Because of its light color, sea ice has what is known as high albedo, which is the percentage of solar radiation a surface reflects back to space. Since as early as the 1960s, scientists have hypothesized that melting sea ice amplifies global warming by decreasing Arctic albedo.

Prostate's Early Growth May Reveal Cures for Later Illnesses (Op-Ed)

Dr. David Samadi is the chairman of urology and chief of robotic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and is a board-certified urologist and oncologist specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of urologic diseases, kidney cancer, bladder cancer and prostate cancer. Samadi also specializes in many advanced, minimally invasive treatments for prostate cancer; For a surgeon who has successfully treated prostate cancer in many thousands of men by removing their prostate gland, the idea that science might one day be able to regenerate this gland using stem cells is a foreign one — and yet highly intriguing. But this advancement is just one of many potential treatments for prostate cancer or benign prostate enlargement that may eventually arise from important new research on the cellular building blocks of prostate gland development.

In Appalachia, Even Miners Want to Leave Coal Behind (Video)

For four generations, the coal mines of southwestern Virginia gave Nick Mullins's family a life. "Coal mining is on the decline. And the coal industry has set to exploiting workers as much as they used to," he said. Nick Mullins stood out when he joined activists, concerned citizens and members of congress at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) public hearings on proposed carbon-emission regulations for new power plants, including coal and natural gas.

A Conservative's Middle-Ground Solution for Climate Change (Video)

He now covers energy and environmental issues for Climate Nexus. Listening to the political discourse surrounding environmental issues today, you'd be forgiven for forgetting that "conservative" and "conservation" used to go hand-in-hand in the United States. President Richard Nixon expanded the Clean Air Act and initiated the Safe Drinking Water Act, president Ronald Reagan tackled chemicals depleting the ozone layer, and president George H.W. Bush helped devise a market-based solution to reduce acid rain. Today, that attitude of environmental stewardship can be hard to find among self-proclaimed conservatives in the United States.

Why a Climate Scientist's Libel Case Matters (Op-Ed)

Seth Shulman is a senior staff writer at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a veteran science journalist and author of six books. Shulman contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Back in 2012, after the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the National Review each published pieces that likened climate scientist Michael Mann to a child molester and called his work a fraud, Mann fought back with a lawsuit, charging them with libel. Now, in a preliminary ruling, a Superior Court Judge has sided with Mann, paving the way for the case to move forward and potentially setting an important precedent about the limits of disinformation.

Cosmic Creativity: A NASA Resident Artist's View of Space

Rebecca Gross is a writer-editor for the National Endowment for the Arts.This article was provided to Live Science in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts for Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. For the past 10 years, Goods has worked as a visual strategist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. He works to translate the technical, data-driven language of JPL's missions into engaging, public-friendly works of art. When negotiating his position, the original idea was that Goods would create visualizations communicating JPL's work.

First biomarker could help boys at risk of major depression

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - British brain scientists have identified the first biomarker, or biological signpost, for clinical depression and say it could help find boys in particular who are at risk of developing the debilitating mental illness. In a study in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science (PNAS) journal, the team found that teenage boys who have a combination of depressive symptoms and raised levels of the stress hormone cortisol are up to 14 times more likely to develop major depression than those who show neither trait. "We're very bad about looking after our mental health, and yet the problems of mental health are extremely common," said Barbara Sahakian, a Cambridge University professor of clinical neuropsychology who worked on the study. "(And) we now have a very real way of identifying those teenage boys most likely to develop clinical depression." He said armed with such knowledge, doctors and other carers could target prevention strategies at depression-vulnerable boys and "hopefully help reduce their risk of serious episodes of depression and their consequences in adult life".

Monday night viewing: close encounter with enormous asteroid

Ticks May Help Detect Lyme-Disease Bacteria in People

A new potential test for persistent Lyme disease uses an organism that's known to be good at picking up diseases: ticks. In a new study, disease-free ticks were allowed to feed on the skin of 25 people who'd had Lyme disease in the past and received antibiotic treatment for it, and on one person who was receiving antibiotic treatment at the time. Ten of the participants had what's known as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, a condition in which symptoms such as fatigue and muscle aches persist even after the patients complete antibiotic therapy. One of the goals of the study was to see whether, through their blood-sucking abilities, the ticks were able to pick up the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, called Borrelia burgdorferi.

How Nuclear Bombs Could Save Earth from Killer Asteroids

Pretty much any asteroid that poses a threat to Earth can be blasted out of the heavens using a nuclear bomb, even with warning times of a week or less, say a team of scientists who have been developing the idea. "We have the solution, using our baseline concept, to be able to mitigate the asteroid-impact threat, with any range of warning," Bong Wie, of Iowa State University, said Feb. 6 at the 2014 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) meeting at Stanford University. Wie presented his team's latest findings nearly a year to the day after a previously undetected 65-foot-wide (20 meters) space rock detonated in the skies above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring 1,500 people. He and many other researchers regard the Feb. 15, 2013 Russian meteor explosion— which took locals and scientists alike by surprise — as a wake-up call about the threat Earth faces from incoming space rocks.

Space Dust Is Filled with Building Blocks for Life

A study of teeny-tiny meteorite fragments revealed that two essential components of life on Earth as we know it, could have migrated to our planet on space dust. Researchers discovered DNA and amino acids components in a smidgen of a space rock that fell over Murchison, Victoria, in Australia in September 1969. Previous studies of the meteorite revealed organic material, but the samples examined then were much larger. "Despite their small size, these interplanetary dust particles may have provided higher quantities and a steadier supply of extraterrestrial organic material to early Earth," said Michael Callahan, a research physical scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. [5 Bold Claims of Alien Life]

Ancient Rural Town Uncovered in Israel

On the outskirts of Jerusalem, archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 2,300-year-old rural village that dates back to the Second Temple period, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced. "The rooms generally served as residential and storage rooms, while domestic tasks were carried out in the courtyards," Irina Zilberbod, the excavation director for the IAA, explained in a statement. Archaeologists don't know what the town would have been called in ancient times, but it sits near the legendary Burma Road, a route that allowed supplies and food to flow into Jerusalem during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The rural village located on a ridge with a clear view of the surrounding countryside, and people inhabiting the region during the Second Temple period likely cultivated orchards and vineyards to make a living, IAA officials said.

Brain Implant Lets One Monkey Control Another

"However, we were interested in seeing whether one could use brain activity to help control one's own paralyzed limb," said study author Ziv Williams, a neuroscientist and neurosurgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School in Boston. Ultimately, "the hope is to create a functional bypass for the damaged spinal cord or brainstem so that patients can control their own bodies," Williams told Live Science. "I was inspired a little by the movie 'Avatar,'" Williams said. Computers decoded the brain activity of the master monkey and relayed those signals to the spinal cord and muscles of the avatar monkey.

Asian Elephants Console Each Other When in Distress

Asian elephants reassure other distressed elephants by touching them and "talking" to them, which suggests they are capable of empathy and reassurance, according to new research. "There is 50 years of behavioral observational research out of Africa that elephants are highly social, they have empathy and they can think about their social relationships and make specific social decisions that impact themselves and others," said study researcher Josh Plotnik, of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

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Monday, February 17, 2014

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Prehistoric Paint to Shield European Sun Probe from Solar Inferno

A European spacecraft set to launch toward the sun in 2017 will be protected by a paint once used in prehistoric cave art. The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter probe will be coated in a substance derived from burnt bone charcoal — a type of pigment once used by early humans to create art on the insides of caves in France. The robust substance traditionally made from burned bones should help protect the Solar Orbiter when it flies as closer to the sun than any spacecraft before it. While observing the sun from space, the Solar Orbiter will have to face temperatures up to 968 degrees Fahrenheit (520 degrees Celsius), ESA officials said.

Space Station Streaks Across Pleiades Star Cluster in Striking Amateur Photo

The International Space Station streaks through the night sky over Pisa, Italy, as the bright blue Pleiades star cluster glitters in the background in this amazing photo recently submitted to Space.com. Amateur astronomer Giuseppe Petricca took this image of the Pleiades star cluster, which is also known as M45. "But, yesterday, above Pisa, Italy, the International Space Station made a beautiful passage, and it crossed next to the cluster." [See more amazing February night sky photos by stargazers] To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by Space.com readers, visit our astrophotography archive.

Bullying Has Lingering Effects on Children's Mental Health

Researchers found that bullying had its greatest influence on the health of kids who were repeatedly targeted, and it was linked with poorer mental and physical health, increased symptoms of depression and lower self-esteem. The study also revealed that victims of recent bullying fared worse than students who had been picked on by their peers further in the past. "The effects of bullying can snowball over time," said study researcher Laura Bogart, a social psychologist at Boston Children's Hospital. "The results are a strong argument for an immediate, early intervention of bullying," Bogart said.

Whoops! Amazon Green-Up Actually Satellite Error

Surprising dry season growth spurts spotted in the beleaguered Amazon rainforest are fake, the result of misleading satellite data, a new study finds. So scientists were surprised when they discovered the Amazon forest turns green during the tropical dry season from June through October —even during an extreme drought — based on data from NASA's Terra satellite. The initial findings were published in the March 22, 2006, issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters. (During growth spurts, trees and plants produce more chlorophyll, which makes them look greener.)

Will SpaceX Super Rocket Kill NASA's 'Rocket to Nowhere'? (Op-Ed)

The private spaceflight company Space X plans to build a rocket so big it would "make the Apollo moon rocket look small,"the company's CEO, Elon Musk, announced on "CBS This Morning"on Feb. 3. The huge rocket would ultimately send colonists to Mars, but what would SpaceX do in the meantime? The company's primary focus right now is giving NASA astronauts access to the International Space Station (ISS) on American vehicles, drastically lowering prices to Earth orbit versus what the Russians are charging, Musk said. Musk further mentioned SpaceX doing a manned flight around the moon, possibly including a landing.

Are Democratic Presidents Better for Babies?

Having a Democratic president in the United States is linked with a reduction in infant mortality rates, according to a controversial new study. Researchers analyzed U.S. infant mortality rates from 1965 to 2010, a period that spans nine presidencies (four Democratic and five Republican). But when the researchers used statistical methods to focus on short-term changes during this time period, they found that infant mortality rates were about 3 percent higher during years in which a Republican was president, compared with the years in which a Democrat was president. The findings held even after the researchers took into account factors that might affect infant mortality, such as unemployment rates, smoking rates, abortion rates and measures of national education and income level.

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Sunday, February 16, 2014

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Bonobos, like humans, keep time to music: study

By Irene Klotz CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some animals, like humans, can sense and respond to a musical beat, a finding that has implications for understanding how the skill evolved, scientists said on Saturday. A study of bonobos, closely related to chimpanzees, shows they have an innate ability to match tempo and synchronize a beat with human experimenters. They hear above our range of hearing," said Patricia Gray, a biomusic program director at University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Experimenters beat a drum at a tempo favored by bonobos - roughly 280 beats per minute, or the cadence that humans speak syllables.

Academy honors scientists behind special effects

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The scientists and inventors who make big-screen superheroes and spectacular explosions possible have their own Oscar ceremony.

United Nations Takes Aim at Asteroid Threat to Earth

As the anniversary of last year's surprise Russian meteor explosion nears, a United Nations action team is taking steps to thwart dangerous space rocks, including setting up a warning network and a planning advisory group that would coordinate a counterpunch to cosmic threats. A global group of experts on near-Earth objects (NEOs) met in Vienna Feb. 10 to11 for the 51st session of the United Nations' Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Space. On Feb. 15, 2013, a 65-foot-wide (19 meters) space rock detonated without warning over the city of Chelyabinsk, injuring more than 1,200 people and bringing home the reality of the asteroid threat to much of the world. The plans the experts discussed have taken shape over a decade of work by the UN Action Team on Near Earth Objects, known as Action Team 14.

Huge Asteroid to Fly Safely By Earth Monday: Watch It Live

Near-Earth asteroid 2000 EM26 poses no threat of actually hitting the planet, but the online Slooh Space Camera will track the asteroid as it passes by Earth on Monday. Scientists estimate that 2000 EM26 is about 885 feet (270 meters) in diameter, and it is whizzing through the solar system at a break-neck 27,000 mph (12.37km/s), according to Slooh. During its closest approach, the asteroid will fly about 8.8 lunar distances from Earth. "We continue to discover these potentially hazardous asteroids — sometimes only days before they make their close approaches to Earth," Slooh's technical and research director, Paul Cox said in a statement.

Love, Honor & Cherish — But Share a Password?

What about sharing an online calendar, or a social media profile? For a growing number of couples, digital technology is a dominant feature of their relationship, and — for better or worse — how partners use email, social media and other communication tools says a lot about their relationship. Among people in a committed relationship who use the Internet, two-thirds have shared the password to one of their accounts — email, Twitter, Facebook or an online calendar, according to a new report from Pew Research. "Sharing passwords is [a] vehicle for establishing trust," said Jane Greer, a family therapist and author of "What About Me?

Lincoln vs. Eisenhower: Most Science-Friendly President to Be Voted In

A new contest by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) pits Lincoln against Eisenhower and Kennedy against Nixon in a match-up just in time for President's Day (Feb. 17). The goal of the contest is to highlight science in the presidents' careers, "whether it's Jefferson commissioning the Lewis and Clark expedition, Theodore Roosevelt pushing for the Pure Food and Drug Act, or George H.W. Bush launching new Earth observation programs," said Aaron Huertas, a spokesman for the UCS, a nonprofit organization that promotes science in the public sphere.

Under Active Volcanoes, Magma Sits in Cold Storage

Strike that iconic image of a tall, snow-capped volcano sitting atop a liquid pool of hot, molten magma. "People could see the arrival of this hotter magma from below, and it eventually initiated an eruption," he said.

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