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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

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Apple's ResearchKit to give scientists ready access to study subjects

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - Apple Inc on Monday released ResearchKit, an open-source software tool designed to give scientists a new way to gather information on patients by using their iPhones. Several top research institutions have already developed applications to work on the ResearchKit platform, including those pursuing clinical studies on asthma, breast cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson's disease. They include Stanford University School of Medicine and Weill Cornell Medical College. "With hundreds of millions of iPhones in use around the world, we saw an opportunity for Apple to have an even greater impact by empowering people to participate in and contribute to medical research," said Jeff Williams, Apple's senior vice president of Operations, said in a statement.

More Measles Outbreaks 'Will Undoubtedly Occur,' Experts Warn

More measles outbreaks are sure to occur in the United States because of people refusing vaccinations, researchers say. So far this year, 170 people in 17 states have been sickened with measles, and most of these cases are part of a large measles outbreak that started in Disneyland at the end of December, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak captured attention in part because it has sickened infants who were too young to be vaccinated, as well as children who aren't able to receive the vaccine for medical reasons, Dr. Neal Halsey and Dr. Daniel Salmon, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote in an editorial published today (March 9) in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Last year, there were 23 outbreaks of measles in the U.S. (most outbreaks are smaller than the Disneyland outbreak), including a total of nearly 650 cases of the disease, they said.

Astronauts Filming New IMAX Movie Deliver 'Deluge of Beautiful Images'

Astronauts on the International Space Station are about a third of the way through filming scenes for a new IMAX documentary to be released next year, the film's director revealed in a new interview. Toni Myers, the filmmaker behind "Hubble 3D" and IMAX's other shot-in-space giant screen movies, gave an update about her new project in a NASA interview on Wednesday (March 4). "The IMAX project is a film about our planet and our future on it and off it," Myers told a NASA commentator at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

On Mars, Opportunity Rover Spots Weird Rocks Near Marathon Finish Line

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover is taking a break in the home stretch of its Red Planet marathon to study some rocks the likes of which it's never seen before. The intriguing rocks lie atop a hill overlooking a site dubbed Marathon Valley — so named because Opportunity will have traveled the marathon distance of 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometers) on Mars by the time it gets there. The examined rock is rich in silicon and aluminum, and its composition is different than anything observed by Opportunity or its twin, Spirit, on the Red Planet, NASA officials said. The golf-cart-size rovers found plenty of such evidence, helping reshape researchers' understanding of the Red Planet and its history.

Mini army drones developed

A Polish firm who develop new technologies for the military has devised a system of miniature drones capable of operating from vehicles for surveillance and even directly supporting infantry units. WB electronics, which already manufactures surveillance and target acquisition systems for the Polish army, teamed up with another firm, Optimum, to develop drones with camera systems capable of attacking small targets with explosive charges.

Cockroaches have personalities, study finds

The discovery could explain why cockroaches are considered such great survivors and able to adapt to inhospitable surroundings. Scientists studied the behavior of Periplaneta americana, or the American cockroach, when exposed to light. The tests were carried out over a period of three months, with 16 cockroaches for each trial released in a round arena beneath a bright light. These chips transmitted their location to a nearby computer where researchers could monitor whether or not they were venturing out into the open light or hiding under a shelter.

Dealing with Asteroid Threats: UN Completes First Planning Phase

A special United Nations team on hazardous asteroids has been dissolved after completing its task of setting up organizations to deal with planet-threatening space rocks. The UN's Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space formally dissolved its Action Team 14, in recognition of the group's successful completion of its mandate to coordinate international mitigation efforts for near-Earth object (NEO) threats, officials announced last month. "Action Team 14 coordinated the establishment of the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG) and the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN), and thus played a vital role in the international community's response to any potential near-Earth object impact threat," said Elöd Both of Hungary, chair of the subcommittee. Their existence is truly a tangible and very important step in protecting Earth from an impact by an asteroid or in mitigating the consequences if the Earth should receive an impact," said Sergio Camacho, who served as chair of Action Team 14 (AT-14).

Florida Isn't the Only State to 'Ban' Climate Change

Florida, one of the states most susceptible to the effects of climate change and sea-level rise, verbally banned state environmental officials from using the term "climate change," an investigation revealed. North Carolina, Louisiana and Tennessee have all passed laws that attempt to cast doubt on established climate science in boardrooms and classrooms. The reality of climate change due to human activity has been widely accepted by climate scientists, and some experts worry that attempts to deny the science could prevent states from preparing for sea level rise, extreme weather and other effects of a warming planet. In an investigation published yesterday (March 8), the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting (FCIR) found evidence of an unwritten policy that banned officials at the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) from using specific terms related to climate change in official communications, emails or reports.

Ancient Chilean Mummies Now Turning into Black Ooze: Here's Why

The famous Chinchorro mummies, which have remained preserved in Chile for more than 7,000 years, are now under threat from increased levels of moisture. Humid air is allowing bacteria to grow, causing the mummies' skin "to go black and become gelatinous," said Ralph Mitchell, a professor emeritus of applied biology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who examined the rotting mummies.

Toxic Lead Pollution Left Its Mark in Andes Mountains

Toxic lead buried in icy layers of an Andes glacier reveals that leaded gasoline was the region's worst polluter in the past 2,000 years, a new study reports. For instance, the research team found spikes in lead pollution during the height of the Tiwanaku-Wari culture (450 to 950) and the Inca Empire (450 to 1532). Pollution levels also rose when invaders expanded the local silver and copper mines during colonial times (1532 to 1900), and when there was a tin boom in the early 1900s, according to the report, published March 6 in the journal Science Advances. But the Swiss researchers discovered that lead levels tripled in the 1960s, when leaded gasoline was introduced, adding more lead pollution to the glacier than at any time in the past 2,000 years.

ESA Launches Stargazer Lottie Essay Contest for Young Astronomers

Calling all young astronomers and creative writers! The European Space Agency is asking for kids 12 and under to submit their most fantastic stories inspired by the stars for a chance to win a Stargazer Lottie doll. Stargazer Lottie is one of Space.com's favorite new space-themed toys because she's full of real space science: she comes with her own telescope, solar system trading cards and a list of famous female astronomers. The European Space Agency (ESA) stated on the contest website that the stories can be written in any language, "So don't worry if English isn't your first language! Stargazer Lottie is produced by Arklu Ltd., and belongs to the Lottie family of dolls, which includes a Pirate Queen Lottie, Kawaii Karate Lottie, Robot Girl Lottie and the new Fossil Hunter Lottie.

Cavers Find Ancient Hoard of Coins and Jewelry in Israel

While spelunking in northern Israel, cavers stumbled upon a hidden stash of ancient coins and jewelry from the era of Alexander the Great, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced today (March 9). IAA officials suspect locals may have put these artifacts in the cave for safekeeping during a time of political unrest 2,300 years ago — but they wouldn't have been the first.

Why Head Transplants Won't Happen Anytime Soon

Although an Italian neurosurgeon recently boasted that he plans to conduct a human head transplant within two years, experts say this proposal is scientifically and ethically absurd. The surgeon said he plans to achieve this feat by joining the spinal cords of the severed head and new body. "I don't think it's possible," said Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, a professor of reconstructive plastic surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, who performed the world's most complete facial transplant in 2012. In other words, because researchers have not found a way to rejoin two parts of an injured person's spinal cord, it's difficult to think that they could join two spinal cords from two different people.

Keeping Up with Kim Kardashian: Butt Augmentation Gets Bigger

"There are plenty of people that are fascinated by watching Kim Kardashian or Nicki Minaj or some of these women who have larger bottoms, and they strive for that," said Dr. Michael Edwards, the president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, which collected the data. Though liposuction, breast augmentation and Botox remain the most popular cosmetic procedures, buttock augmentation has grown dramatically in the last year. In 2014, more than 10 million procedures were performed by board-certified plastic surgeons, according to the data.

Apple Tool Could Transform How Doctors Gather Your Data

Apple's new iPhone platform could enable doctors to dramatically increase the amount of health data they can gather on patients, the company says. The company revealed the platform, called ResearchKit, today at a talk at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California. ResearchKit allows doctors to develop their own apps to gather data on people's health conditions, from asthma to Parkinson's disease. The new system also makes it easy for medical researchers to enroll patients in clinical trials, a typically expensive and slow process.

Brain's 'Pain Meter' Identified

"We have identified the brain area likely to be responsible for the core 'it hurts' experience of pain," Irene Tracey, who is the lead author of the study and a professor of anesthetic science at the University of Oxford in England, said in a statement. Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter.

$1.1 Million Brain Prize Awarded for Technique to Visualize Live Brain Cells

The world's most valuable prize for neuroscience research was awarded today (March 9) to four German and American scientists who invented a microscopy technique that reveals the finest structures of the brain, in both health and disease. American scientists Karel Svoboda and David Tank and German scientists Winfried Denk and Arthur Konnerth shared the $1.08-million (1 million euro) Brain Prize for the invention and development of two-photon microscopy, a technique to create detailed images of brain cells and the connections, or synapses, between them, in action. "Thanks to these four scientists, we're now able to study the normal brain's development and attempt to understand what goes wrong when we're affected by destructive diseases such as Alzheimer's and other types of dementia," Povl Krogsgaard-Larsen, chairman of the Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Foundation, which awards The Brain Prize, said in a statement. Two-photon microscopy is an advanced form of fluorescence microscopy, a technique that involves labeling parts of cells with molecules that glow, or fluoresce, when light of a certain wavelength shines on them (typically ultraviolet light).

Chameleons' Color-Changing Secret Revealed

The chameleon's uncanny ability to change color has long mystified people, but now the lizard's secret is out: Chameleons can rapidly change color by adjusting a layer of special cells nestled within their skin, a new study finds. Unlike other animals that change color, such as the squid and octopus, chameleons do not modify their hues by accumulating or dispersing pigments within their skin cells, the researchers found. To investigate how the reptiles change color, researchers studied five adult male, four adult female and four juvenile panther chameleons (Furcifer pardalis), a type of lizard that lives in Madagascar.

Soprano Brightman to hit new high note with space station trip

By Anastasia Gorelova LONDON (Reuters) - After a stellar career ranging from the disco hit "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper" to global success in "Phantom of the Opera", British soprano Sarah Brightman is preparing for a unique performance: a live concert from space. Brightman, 54, will be the eighth space tourist, and first professional singer, traveling as one of a three-person team to the International Space Station in a Soyuz space rocket that will launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 1. "I cannot explain in full why this is something that has been very strong within me," Brightman said on Tuesday at a press launch event for her trip. Brightman is reported by British media to have paid 35 million pounds ($53 million) for the trip.

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Monday, March 9, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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First round-the-world solar flight takes off from UAE

Two pilots attempting the first flight around the world in a solar-powered plane began the maiden leg of their voyage on Monday, the mission's official website said. Solar Impulse 2 took off from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates en route to the Omani capital Muscat at the start of a five-month journey of 35,000 km (22,000 miles) organized to focus the world's attention on sustainable energy. "Solar Impulse wants to mobilize public enthusiasm in favor of technologies that will allow decreased dependence on fossil fuels, and induce positive emotions about renewable energies," said the mission website, which maps out the plane's location and broadcasts audio from the cockpit in real time. The flight will make stopovers in India, Myanmar and China before crossing the Pacific Ocean and flying across the United States and southern Europe to arrive back in Abu Dhabi.

Electric 'noise' treats Parkinson's symptoms

A wearable device that stimulates the sense of balance with electric "noise" could help Parkinson's disease patients, according to Swedish scientists. Scientists from the University of Gothenburg's Sahlgrenska Academy have developed a portable pocket-sized vestibular, or balance, stimulation device in a bid to improve the lives of Parkinson's sufferers. The research was led by Associate Professor Filip Bergquist, who said the simple device was similar to the TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) therapy which is used for pain relief, for example in child birth. So you do not get the impression that the world is moving or that you are moving, you actually do not feel anything," Bergquist explained.

NASA Finds Likely Source of Mars Rover Curiosity's Short Circuit

The short circuit that has stalled some of the science work by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity apparently originated in the robot's rock-boring drill, mission team members say. Those diagnostic tests have been productive, Curiosity Project Manager Jim Erickson, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said Friday (March 6). A brief short occurred during a test on Thursday (March 5) that used the drill's percussive action, NASA officials explained. Curiosity may start moving its arm again as early as next week, NASA officials said.

These 3 Student Inventions May Make Life Easier

Some of those dreams might become reality, thanks to a few engineering students at The Cooper Union in New York City, who, as part of a college competition, came up with a host of products that could save both time and energy. "Every [kind of] tape has a different dispenser, and a lot don't even have a dispenser," Marshall told Live Science.

6 Ways Albert Einstein Fought for Civil Rights

Albert Einstein earned international fame for his general theory of relativity, which was published 100 years ago. Most people know that Einstein was an anti-war activist, but after moving to the United States in 1933 and becoming a U.S. citizen, the iconic scientist also confronted American racism. According to the authors of "Einstein on Race and Racism," (Rutgers University Press, 2006), Einstein was keenly aware of the similarities between American segregation and the treatment of Jews in Germany. Before moving to Princeton, New Jersey, Einstein was harassed and denounced by the Nazis.

Secret Hideout Helped Penguins Survive the Ice Age

Earth's last ice age was so cold that even Antarctica's emperor penguins had trouble with the chill, a new study finds. Just three populations of emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) likely survived the last ice age, which occurred from about 19,500 to 16,000 years ago, with one such population likely setting up a refuge in the Ross Sea, an Antarctic body of water southeast of New Zealand, the researchers said. In the study, the researchers examined how climate change affected emperor penguins during the past 30,000 years. They looked at the genetic diversity of modern and ancient populations of emperor penguins in Antarctica, and estimated how it had changed over time.

Beyond Relativity: Albert Einstein's Lesser-Known Work

Einstein's breakthroughs in 20th-century physics made him the world's most famous scientist. In the 1870s, British chemist Sir William Crookes developed a neat little curiosity called the radiometer, or the light mill. The contraption was made up of a glass bulb with most of the air sucked out, with several metal, rectangular pieces aligned inside, like a windmill. He even convinced his niece Edith Einstein to focus on the topic for her research, said Daniel Kennefick, a physicist at the University of Arkansas and author of "Traveling at the Speed of Thought: Einstein and the Quest for Gravitational Waves" (Princeton University Press, 2007).

25 Robots Set to Compete in Ambitious Contest This Summer

Fourteen new teams from around the world, including participants from Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, China, South Korea and the United States, have joined 11 previously selected teams to compete in the June event, hosted by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Pomona, California. The winning three teams will take home a combined $3.5 million in cash prizes, DARPA officials said. "We are trying to make robots and human beings work together," Gill Pratt, program manager for the contest, said Thursday (March 5) in a news conference. In December 2013, 16 teams competed in the DARPA Robotics Challenge Trials, to compete for funding to take part in the Robotics Finals.

Marijuana May Trigger Allergies in Some People

Just like ragweed and birch trees, marijuana plants may trigger allergic reactions in some people, according to a new review of previous studies. And because of the increasing use and cultivation of marijuana that has followed in the wake of legalization in some places, allergies to marijuana may be on the rise, experts say. "Although still relatively uncommon, allergic disease associated with [marijuana] exposure and use has been reported with increased frequency," wrote the authors of the review, published March 3 in the journal Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. In fact, allergies to marijuana have likely gone underreported, because of marijuana's illegal status, said Dr. Purvi Parikh, an immunologist of the Allergy & Asthma Network, a nonprofit organization that promotes allergy research and education.

Alcohol Intake Peaks at Age 25, But Continues into Old Age

Men generally drink more alcohol than women, but the genders go through similar changes in their drinking habits over their lifetimes, a new study on people in the United Kingdom finds. Both men and women in the study reported a sharp uptick in alcohol intake during adolescence that peaked in early adulthood, plateaued in midlife and then declined into older age. But the researchers also found that, although younger guys drank the largest quantities of alcohol, it was older men who drank the most often, "with lots of men drinking on a daily basis in later life," said lead researcher Annie Britton, a senior lecturer of epidemiology at University College London. It could mean that they are becoming dependent on alcohol, she told Live Science.

High-Fiber Diet May Help Prevent Allergies

From overly clean dishes to skyrocketing rates of cesarean-section births, scientists have proposed dozens of explanations for the sharp rise in food allergies in recent years. Now, several new studies suggest another factor that could play a role in food allergies: dietary fiber. This notion is based on the idea that bacteria in the gut have the enzymes needed to digest dietary fiber, and when these bacteria break down fiber, they produce substances that help to prevent an allergic response to foods, said Charles Mackay, an immunologist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Up to 15 million Americans have food allergies — a number that increased by 50 percent between 1997 and 2011, according to Food Allergy Research & Education, a nonprofit organization that advocates for people with food allergies.

Fitness Trackers May Boost Weight Loss

Fitness trackers may help some people get more out of using a weight loss app, a new survey suggests. The survey, which involved more than 5,000 people who use the popular weight loss app Lose It!, found that 60 percent of users said they lost more weight when they paired a fitness tracker with the app, compared with when they didn't use a tracker. In fact, 96 percent of the responders said they were using an activity tracker along with the app. Adding a fitness tracker to the app may provide "another level of accountability" for users, said Charles Teague, CEO of Lose It! "Motivation is a major factor in helping our members lose weight and it was exciting to see the role connecting an activity tracker to Lose It! can play," Teague told Live Science.

Solar-Powered Plane Takes Off on Epic Round-the-World Flight

A solar-powered plane, dubbed Solar Impulse 2, took flight today (March 8), embarking on the historic first leg of a planned journey around the world. The aircraft, which can fly without using any fuel, took off from Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, shortly after 11:10 p.m. EDT (7:10 a.m. local time on March 9). After journeying across the Atlantic Ocean, the plane will make a stopover either in southern Europe or North Africa before returning to Abu Dhabi, according to company officials. If successful, Solar Impulse 2 will become the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the globe.

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