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Tuesday, April 21, 2015

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Is Freezing Your Eggs Worth the Cost?

Scientists ran all the numbers — the cost of egg freezing, the odds of having a baby at age 40 without in vitro fertilization and the cost of IVF for women who will need it in order to have a baby — and found that it costs about $15,000 less, on average, for women to freeze their eggs at age 35 and use them at age 40, rather than wait until age 40 and try to become pregnant. The study shows that "if a woman invested in having a genetically related child at age 40, egg banking at least once at age 35 is a cost-effective approach," said Dr. Wendy Vitek, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York.

170-Year-Old Champagne Recovered from the Bottom of the Sea

Every wine connoisseur knows the value of an aged wine, but few get the opportunity to sample 170-year-old Champagne from the bottom of the sea. A chemical analysis of the ancient libation has revealed a great deal about how this 19th-century wine was produced. "After 170 years of deep-sea aging in close-to-perfect conditions, these sleeping Champagne bottles awoke to tell us a chapter of the story of winemaking," the researchers wrote in the study, published today (April 20) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In the study, led by Philippe Jeandet, a professor of food biochemistry at the University of Reims, Champagne-Ardenne in France, researchers analyzed the chemical composition of the wine from the shipwreck and compared it to that of modern Champagne.

New U.S. mammogram guidelines stick with screening from age 50

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - New mammogram screening guidelines from an influential panel of U.S. experts reaffirm earlier guidance that breast cancer screening should begin at age 50 for most women, but they acknowledge that women in their 40s also benefit, something experts say is a step in the right direction. "They made it really clear this time around, unlike 2009, that the discussion between a woman and a clinician about breast cancer screening should begin at 40," said Dr. Richard Wender, chief cancer control officer at the American Cancer Society. The Department of Health and Human Services provided for mammogram coverage for women age 40 to 49 after the health panel made its recommendation in 2009. The department said on Monday that the guidelines are only in draft form and that nothing has changed regarding access to mammograms or other preventive services. Critics stressed that keeping 50 as the starting age for screening – a change first introduced by the panel six years ago - could threaten insurance coverage for millions of women age 40 to 49. "If this becomes the final guideline, coverage of mammograms would no longer be mandated under the ACA," said Wender.

Mindfulness therapy as good as medication for chronic depression - study

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may be just as effective as anti-depressants in helping prevent people with chronic depression from relapsing, scientists said on Tuesday. Depression is one of the most common forms of mental illness, affecting more than 350 million people worldwide. It is ranked by the World Health Organization as the leading cause of disability globally. Treatment usually involves either medication, some form of psychotherapy or a combination of both.

Type, frequency of e-cigarette use linked to quitting smoking

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Two new studies looking at whether electronic cigarettes help smokers to quit their deadly habit have found that while some of them can, it depends on the type and how often it is used. Many experts think e-cigarettes, which heat nicotine-laced liquid into an inhalable vapor, are a lower-risk alternative to smoking, but questions remain about their use and safety. The charity Action on Smoking and Health says more than 2 million adults in Britain use e-cigarettes. So-called "cigalike" e-cigarettes are disposable or use replaceable cartridges, while "tank" models look quite different and have refillable containers of nicotine "e-liquid".

Free home heating offered by e-Radiators

A Dutch energy firm is trailing a scheme that offers both the promise of free energy to home-owners and a cheap alternative to large data centers for computing firms. Dutch start-up Nerdalize has teamed up with energy providers Eneco to launch its e-Radiator prototype, which is being tested in five Dutch homes as an alternative heating device. The e-Radiator is a computer server that crunches numbers for a variety of Belgian firms - while the resultant heat will heat the rooms in which they're situated. Nerdalize believes the scheme could be a commercially viable alternative to traditional radiators.

NASA Snaps New Views of Dwarf Planet Ceres' Mystery Spots (Video)

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has photographed Ceres' intriguing bright spots again as it prepares to begin its science mission at the dwarf planet. Dawn, which arrived at Ceres on March 6, imaged the mysterious bright spots on April 14 and 15 during a photography campaign designed to help guide the spacecraft to its first Ceres science orbit by April 23. NASA officials combined the photos into a short video that shows Ceres' bright spots moving as the dwarf planet rotates. "The approach imaging campaign has completed successfully by giving us a preliminary, tantalizing view of the world Dawn is about to start exploring in detail," Dawn Mission Director and Chief Engineer Marc Rayman, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement.

Scientists to share real-time genetic data on deadly MERS, Ebola

Genetic sequence data on two of the deadliest yet most poorly understood viruses are to be made available to researchers worldwide in real time as scientists seek to speed up understanding of Ebola and MERS infections. "The collective expertise of the world's infectious disease experts is more powerful than any single lab, and the best way of tapping into this...is to make data freely available as soon as possible," said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity which is funding the work. The gene sequences, already available for MERS cases and soon to come in the case of Ebola, will be posted on the website virological.org for anyone to see, access and use. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral disease which first emerged in humans in 2012 and has been spreading in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries since then.

Scientists to share real-time genetic data on deadly MERS, Ebola

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Genetic sequence data on two of the deadliest yet most poorly understood viruses are to be made available to researchers worldwide in real time as scientists seek to speed up understanding of Ebola and MERS infections. "The collective expertise of the world's infectious disease experts is more powerful than any single lab, and the best way of tapping into this...is to make data freely available as soon as possible," said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity which is funding the work. The gene sequences, already available for MERS cases and soon to come in the case of Ebola, will be posted on the website virological.org for anyone to see, access and use. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral disease which first emerged in humans in 2012 and has been spreading in Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries since then.

Where in the US Are People Most Worried About Climate Change?

Residents in California are much more worried about the warming planet than those in parts of the central United States, according to a new set of interactive maps showing public opinion on climate change. Leiserowitz and his colleagues from Yale and Utah State University estimated what people in different states, local communities and congressional districts think, in order to tease out smaller trends. "I use this analogy loosely, but it's like getting a microscope for the first time," Leiserowitz told Live Science. The first is that diversity is present on the state, district and county levels.

New U.S. mammogram guidelines stick with screening from age 50

Atomic Clock Is So Precise It Won't Lose a Second for 15 Billion Years

An atomic clock that sets the time by the teensy oscillations of strontium atoms has gotten so precise and stable that it will neither gain nor lose a second for the next 15 billion years. The strontium clock, which is about three times as precise as the previous record holder, now has the power to reveal tiny shifts in time predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity, which states that time ticks faster at different elevations on Earth. "Our performance means that we can measure the gravitational shift when you raise the clock just 2 centimeters [0.79 inches] on the Earth's surface," study co-author Jun Ye, a physicist at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado, Boulder, said in a statement.

New Advice on What To Do About Seizures

Now, a new guideline announced here today (April 20) at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting may offer some advice for this gray area. Currently, most patients and doctors end up waiting, without treatment, to see if a second seizure occurs, said Dr. Jacqueline French, a neurology professor at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York.

Measles Vaccine Not Linked with Autism, Even in High-Risk Kids

Another study has found no link between autism and the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella (called the MMR vaccine). This time, the finding comes from a study of children at high risk of developing autism. The researchers found that there was no link between receiving the MMR vaccine and developing autism, even for the children who had an increased risk of autism because their older siblings had been diagnosed with the condition. The researchers wanted to look at more data on the MMR vaccine and autism risk because "despite the research that shows no link between the MMR vaccine [and autism], parents continue to believe that the vaccine is contributing to autism," said study author Dr. Anjali Jain, of The Lewin Group, a health care consulting firm in Falls Church, Virginia.

Supplements May Raise, Not Lower, Cancer Risk

Although dietary supplements are often touted for their health benefits, they may in fact increase your cancer risk, especially if taken in high doses, according to a new analysis of previous research. "In a nutshell, the answer is no, the vitamin pills do not reduce cancer risk," said the author of the analysis, Dr. Tim Byers, of the University of Colorado Cancer Center. For example, in a study published in 2006 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found that women who had a high intake of folic-acid supplements had a 19 percent greater risk of breast cancer than those who did not take such supplements. Moreover, women who had the highest levels of folate, the water-soluble form of folic acid, in their blood had a 32 percent greater risk of breast cancer than those who had the lowest levels.

Brilliant Venus and Moon Shine Together Tonight: How to See It

This evening will be another one of those special occasions when the two brightest objects in the night sky — the moon and a Venus — will get together and, weather permitting, will attract a lot of attention, even to those who normally do not spend much time in gazing up at the sky.

How the Hubble Space Telescope Changed Our View of the Cosmos

For most of its 25 years in space, the Hubble Space Telescope has been amazing people around the world with its beautiful images. But the spacecraft — a collaboration involving NASA and the European Space Agency — produces much more than pretty pictures. "We hoped [Hubble] would change our view of the universe," Colleen Hartman told Space.com here last week at a screening of "Hubble's Cosmic Journey," a documentary that premiered last night (April 20) on National Geographic Channel.

Ancient Hangover Cure Discovered in Greek Texts

Rather than popping an ibuprofen for a pounding drunken headache, people in Egypt may have worn a leafy necklace. The 1,900-year-old papyrus containing the hangover treatment is one of over 500,000 such documents found in the ancient Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus by researchers Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt about a century ago. Recently, volume 80 was published, containing studies and decipherments of about 30 medical papyri found at Oxyrhynchus, including the papyrus with the hangover treatment. This newly published volume represents "the largest single collection of medical papyri to be published," wrote Vivian Nutton, a professor at University College London, at the beginning of the volume.

Explore Loch Ness Monster's Home on Google Street View

Looking for the Loch Ness monster just got easier, thanks to Google Street View. Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter.

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Monday, April 20, 2015

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Pee-power toilet to light up disaster zones

Led by Professor Ioannis Ieropoulos, the scientists are working with aid agency Oxfam to install cubicles like this in refugee camps.

Dog Flu Outbreak: What You Need to Know

A new strain of flu that likely came from Asia has sickened thousands of dogs in the Midwest, experts say. The new dog flu virus, which has not been seen before in U.S. dogs, has infected more than 1,000 dogs and is responsible for six dog deaths in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana, according to experts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cornell University who have been collecting and testing samples of the virus. "The dog population here has never seen this strain before," said Dr. Keith Poulsen, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The canine sickness causes symptoms similar to those of the human flu, such as coughing, nasal discharge, fever and loss of appetite, though a small percentage of dogs can be carriers of the virus without showing symptoms, Poulsen said.

11,000 Years of Isolation: Remote Village Has Unusual Gut Bacteria

A medical checkup of people living in remote villages deep in the Amazon rainforest in Venezuela has uncovered striking details about these villagers' microbiomes, the bacteria living on and in their bodies, a new study finds. The villagers appear to have the highest levels of bacterial diversity ever reported in a human group, the researchers found. Some of these genes could even make these bacteria resistant to synthetic drugs — an alarming discovery, given that these villagers had never had contact with either people of industrialized societies or commercial antibiotics prior to the study, the researchers said. The Venezuelan Ministry of Health routinely visits newfound communities, and provides them with medical services, including vaccinations aimed at protecting villagers from diseases brought by illegal miners and others venturing into the Amazon, said the study's senior author, Gloria Dominguez-Bello, an associate professor of translational medicine at the New York University School of Medicine.

X-Ray Scans 'Dig' Beneath Layers of Rembrandt Painting

The oil painting, dated and signed in 1647, hangs in Gemäldegalerie, an art museum in Berlin, Germany. The painting illustrates the biblical story of Susanna, who is caught bathing by a group of elders and is blackmailed into coming with them. But the researchers didn't choose to study "Susanna and the Elders" on a whim.

Post Chimp Work, Jane Goodall's Passion for Conservation Still Going Strong

Jane Goodall, the British primatologist who gained worldwide fame for her studies of wild chimpanzees in East Africa, greeted a packed audience here at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last night (April 15) with a series of apelike howls. Though the 81-year-old scientist and activist seems to have a never-ending passion for her first love, chimpanzees, she also revealed the ways in which her life and interests have evolved over the past few decades. She shared stories from the 55 years she has spent studying the social interactions of humans' closest living animal relatives at a national park in Tanzania, and the environmental conservation and advocacy she has devoted herself to for the past 30 years. She also spoke out against climate change, genetically modified foods and human destruction of the environment.

Incredible Video: Curious Whale Inspects Underwater Robot

A lucky group of ocean lovers got the surprise of a lifetime when a huge sperm whale swam into their live video broadcast. The incredible whale footage was filmed yesterday (April 14) by the Nautilus Live expedition, which is exploring the Gulf of Mexico's seafloor methane seeps. The whale suddenly appeared while scientists were watching methane bubbles and sampling seawater with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), called Hercules. The researchers laughed with delight as the curious sperm whale gracefully maneuvered around Hercules, never once bumping the 11-foot-long (3.3 meters) ROV or rubbing its cables.

New Roadkill Map Finds California 'Ring of Death'

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have plotted some 29,000 reports of roadkill to identify the most hazardous roadways for the state's wildlife. The volunteer reports, collected over the past five years, cover more than 40 percent of California's highways and roads. "Larger animals can cause fatal collisions and people will sometimes swerve to avoid smaller animals," said Fraser Shilling, co-director of the UC Davis Road Ecology Center, which coordinates the study. In Southern California, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) plans to build five new wildlife crossings along state Route 94 in San Diego County, where the study identified roadkill hotspots, Shilling said.

Angry Chimp Attack! 5 Bizarre Drone Crashes

Drones are becoming increasingly popular in everyday life, but the technology still has some kinks to work out.

Scary Inhaler Accident: What a Woman Learned from It

A woman in Australia had an unexpected medical emergency on New Year's Eve after she accidentally inhaled one of her earrings, according to a new case report. She had asthma, and reached into her purse for her inhaler, according to the report published April 9 in the journal BMJ Case Reports. The inhaler rattled when she picked it up, but the woman dismissed it as a loose connection within the device. "Unfortunately, she was not taught to replace the cap on the inhaler after she has used it," said the lead author of the case report, Dr. Lucinda Blake, a core medical trainee at St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney.

What Your Poop Says About Your Lifestyle

Your lifestyle affects the bacteria in your poop, a new study shows: The poop of people who live in Western countries may contain a less-diverse group of bacteria than the poop of people who live of nonindustrialized countries, according to the study. In the study, researchers compared poop samples from people in the United States with samples from people in Papua New Guinea, a nation in the South Pacific that is one of the least industrialized countries in the world. The results showed that the diversity of bacteria in the poop was greater in the samples from Papua New Guineans than in those from U.S. residents. In fact, the U.S. poop samples lacked about 50 bacterial types that were found in the samples from the Papua New Guineans.

'$5 Insanity': 5 Crazy Facts About Flakka

The drug, which has the street name of Flakka, is a synthetic stimulant that is chemically similar to bath salts. Flakka is fast developing a reputation for what seem to be its nasty side effects, including a tendency to give people enormous rage and strength, along with intense hallucinations. "Even though addicted, users tell us they are literally afraid of this drug," said James Hall, an epidemiologist at the Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. From what it is to how it may work, here are five facts about Flakka.

Launch, Land, Repeat: Reusable Rocket Technology Taking Flight

SpaceX performed another high-profile rocket reusability test Tuesday (April 14) during the launch of its Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station. The first stage of the company's Falcon 9 rocket came back down to Earth and nearly pulled off a soft landing on an "autonomous spaceport drone ship" in the Atlantic Ocean. "Looks like Falcon landed fine, but excess lateral velocity caused it to tip over post landing," SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk tweeted Tuesday. SpaceX also tried such a rocket landing in January, during the launch of the previous Dragon cargo mission.

Mars Rover Curiosity Runs 10K on Red Planet

Just three weeks after NASA's Opportunity rover completed the first-ever Mars marathon, the robot's bigger, younger cousin wrapped up its own long-distance race on the Red Planet. A 208-foot-long (65 meters) drive pushed the car-size Curiosity rover's odometer past 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) on Thursday (April 16), NASA officials said. Curiosity, which has been exploring Mars' huge Gale Crater since August 2012, is currently studying the foothills of Mount Sharp, which rises 3.4 miles (5.5 km) into the sky from Gale's center. "We've not only been making tracks, but also making important observations to characterize rocks we're passing, and some farther to the south at selected viewpoints," Curiosity science team member John Grant, of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, said in a statement.

Humanoid robot can recognize and interact with people

A humanoid robot which can mimic human expressions greeted visitors on Saturday (April 18) at a Hong Kong electronics fair. About 40 motors control his face to form delicate facial expressions, according to product manager at Hanson Robotics, Grace Copplestone. "So Han's really exciting because not only can he generate very realistic facial expressions, but he can also interact with the environment around him. So he has cameras on his eyes and on his chest, which allow him to recognize people's face, not only that, but recognize their gender, their age, whether they are happy or sad, and that makes him very exciting for places like hotels for example, where you need to appreciate the customers in front of you and react accordingly," Copplestone said.

Did Neanderthals Die Off Because They Couldn't Harness Fire?

Neanderthals may have died off because they failed to harness the power of fire to the extent their human cousins did, a new data analysis suggests. Over time, the anatomically modern human population would have risen, while the Neanderthal population plummeted toward extinction, according to the model. "Fire use would have provided a significant advantage for the human population and may indeed have been an important factor in the overall collapse or absorption of the Neanderthal population," said Anna Goldfield, a doctoral candidate in archaeology at Boston University, who presented the findings here on Thursday (April 16) at the 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Neanderthals had been living on the continent for hundreds of thousands of years when the first modern humans showed up about 45,000 years ago, Goldfield said.

Hubble Telescope at 25: The Trials and Triumphs of a Space Icon

This week, the Hubble Space Telescope completes 25 years in orbit around Earth, and for much of that time, the telescope has sent home photographs that have wowed the world. The film "Hubble's Cosmic Journey," premiering tonight (April 20) at 10 p.m. EDT on the National Geographic Channel, features many of the men and women who worked with the telescope and helped it overcome its many challenges. "Hubble was touted as the best thing for astronomy since Galileo pointed a telescope at the heavens," Jeff Hester, a NASA scientist and chief engineer who appears in the film, told Space.com at the film's world premiere. The idea stayed with the United States' growing space agency, which, in the 1970s, began funding a space telescope named for famed American astronomer Edwin Hubble.

True to Their Name, Vampire Squid May Have Long Lives

No one has ever seen vampire squid mate in the wild. While most female squid and octopuses have just one reproductive cycle before they die, vampire squid go through dozens of egg-making cycles in their lifetimes, scientists have found. The discovery suggests vampire squid may live several years longer than coastal squid and octopuses. During mating, the male squid gives the female a sperm packet, which somehow gets mobilized once she is ready to release her eggs, said Henk-Jan Hoving of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in Germany.

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Sunday, April 19, 2015

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The Milky Way Over Loon Island: A Stargazer's Stunning View (Photo)

This stunning panoramic of the Milky Way shows our host galaxy arching over Lake Sunapee. Astrophotographer A. Garrett Evans took the image Loon Island Lighthouse on Lake Sunapee in Sunapee, New Hampshire on Feb. 28, 2015. Our host galaxy, the Milky Way, is a barred spiral galaxy seen as a band of light in the night sky. Evans found the weather co-operative the night he took the image.

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