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Monday, August 17, 2015

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Human bones in Pennsylvania thought to be from 1918 flu pandemic

By David DeKok SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. (Reuters) - Forensic archaeologists on Friday began excavating a highway embankment in eastern Pennsylvania, looking for more bones believed to be from impoverished victims of the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic in 1918. The state highway department, known as PennDOT, received reports of bones in what appeared to be an impromptu burial site beneath a broad meadow that had once been the site of a poorhouse, said Bob Rescorla, a PennDOT inspector at the site. Historians say the Spanish flu pandemic touched all parts of the world and claimed tens of millions of lives.

Hiking in Bear Country? How to Prevent an Attack

News of a grizzly bear attacking a 63-year-old man, who was a skilled hiker, in Yellowstone on Friday (Aug. 7), may have even avid adventurers wondering what's the best way to escape the long and curved claws of such a wild animal. It's unclear how Lance Crosby, who had worked five seasons with Medcor, a company that runs three urgent-care clinics in the park, died. "But the preliminary results show that he was attacked by at least one grizzly bear," according to a National Park Service (NPS) statement.

Medieval Earthquake Moved River 12 Miles

An earthquake in 1570 changed the course of the Po River in Italy, new research finds. The Po, the longest river in Italy, has shifted northward about 12 miles (20 kilometers) between the towns of Guastella and Ficarolo over the past 2,800 years, researchers reported July 20 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. The 1570 temblor caused a 4- to 6-inch (10 to 15 centimeters) uplift of the right flank of the river and resulted in a major one-time shift of the final portion of the waterway, according to geoscientists Livio Sirovich and Franco Pettenati of the National Institute for Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS) in Trieste.

Megacity: Beijing Quadrupled in Size in 10 Years

Beijing has seen explosive growth in recent years, with the physical size of the city quadrupling in just a decade, a new study reveals. Researchers used satellite data to see how much the Chinese capital has expanded, and calculated changes in the urban environment as well. Using NASA's QuikScat satellite, researchers at NASA and Stanford University looked at new roads and buildings that had been constructed in Beijing between 2000 and 2009.

Why Your Eyes Dart Around When Dreaming

The vivid, bizarre images that infuse dreams are formed when people make the darting, rapid eye movements characteristic of a certain stage of sleep, new research suggests. The findings confirm a long-held scientific hypothesis that such rapid eye movements during sleep reflect a person viewing their dream-world in the same way that they would take in a scene when awake. "There was this idea that we scan the dream image, or the mental image when we dream," said study co-author Yuval Nir, a sleep researcher and neuroscientist at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Spacecraft Makes Final Close Flyby of Saturn Moon Dione Today

The Cassini spacecraft will make one last close flyby of Saturn's pockmarked moon Dione today (Aug. 17), in search of direct evidence that the moon is geologically alive and active. Cassini, a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, has been studying the Saturn system since 2004, and its grand mission will come to a close in 2017, after the spacecraft makes a series of dives through the space between the planet and its rings. On Monday, Cassini will make its fifth close flyby of Dione, coming to within 295 miles (474 kilometers) of the moon's surface, at approximately 2:33 p.m. EDT (6:33 GMT).

Why Do Breakups Hurt More for Women? Blame Evolution

Women tend to feel the emotional pain associated with a breakup more acutely than men, but men take longer to "get over" their former lover, according to researchers from Binghamton University and University College London, both in the United Kingdom. For the study, the researchers asked 5,705 people in 96 countries to rate the physical and emotional pain they felt after a breakup on a scale from 1 (no pain) to 10 (unbearable pain). On average, women ranked their emotional pain — including feelings like sadness and depression, as well as anxiety, fear and loss of focus — as being slightly higher than those of their male counterparts (a score of 6.84 versus 6.58).

Hatfields & McCoys Gather (Peacefully) to Unearth Relics at Last Battle Site

Those doing the excavating in Pike County, Kentucky, are the Hatfields and McCoys — two families that are infamous in the United States for their epic feud, which began around the time of the Civil War and ended in 1891 after several decades of violence that claimed at least a dozen lives. In 2012, the Hatfields and McCoys were featured on National Geographic Channel's "Diggers," a show that follows two amateur relic hunters around the U.S. as they search for historical objects buried in the dirt. The feud between the Hatfields and McCoys came to a head on New Year's night 1888, when members of the Hatfield clan set fire to Randolph McCoy's home, resulting in the death of two McCoys.

Astronomical Sleuths Investigate Famous Times Square Kissers

An unlikely group of scientists, including physicists and astronomers, is helping solve one of history's most romantic mysteries: Who are the sailor and the woman in white seen kissing in the iconic "V-J Day in Times Square" photo? Taken 70 years ago today, on Aug. 14, 1945, and published later in Life magazine, the photo is synonymous with the end of World War II and Victory over Japan Day, or V-J Day. In the United States, V-J Day is celebrated on Sept. 2, the day Japan signed the official surrender documents.

Asia's Rapidly Shrinking Glaciers Could Have Ripple Effect

The glaciers in Asia's Tian Shan mountains have lost more than a quarter of their total mass over the past 50 years — a rate of loss about four times greater than the global average during that time, new research shows. By 2050, half of the remaining ice in the Tian Shan (also spelled Tien Shan) glaciers could be lost, and these shrinking glaciers could reduce valuable water supplies in central Asia and lead to fuel conflicts there, the study found. "If water resources really will decline there in the future, there is a big potential for conflicts," said the study's lead author, Daniel Farinotti, a glaciologist at the German Research Center for Geosciences and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research.

How a Tick Bite Can Lead to Limb Amputations

A woman in Oklahoma who contracted Rocky Mountain spotted fever from a tick bite recently needed to have all four of her limbs amputated as a result of her infection. The woman, 40-year-old Jo Rogers, may have been bitten by a tick while on vacation in Grand Lake, Oklahoma, in early July. Doctors tested her for West Nile virus, meningitis and other infections before finally diagnosing her with Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which is caused by the bacteria Rickettsia rickettsia and transmitted by ticks.

Smart People Live Longer — Here's Why

Smarter people tend to live longer than those with less luck in the intelligence department. About 95 percent of the relationship between intelligence and longevity is explained by genetic influences on both traits, researchers reported July 26 in the International Journal of Epidemiology. The study was somewhat limited in that most of the participants took intelligence tests during middle age, rather than in their youth.

New Temperature Record Is Huge Achievement for Superconducting

A new record-high temperature has been achieved for superconductors — extraordinary materials that conduct electricity without dissipating energy. The advance may be an important step in the long-standing quest to achieve a room-temperature superconductor, which could cities build vastly more efficient power grids, researchers say. Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with zero resistance below a certain temperature.

My Planet from Space: UN Photo Exhibit Showcases Earth's Stunning Beauty

While wandering through a maze of vividly detailed depictions of Earth's surface currently on display here at the United Nations Headquarters Visitors' Lobby, a viewer might mistake the images for abstract art. But they are real photographs, and crouched at the center of the exhibit like a spider is a 1:10 scale model of the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1A satellite — one of the sources of these incredible images. All of the images at the "My Planet from Space: Fragility and Beauty" exhibit, which runs until Sept. 9, are scientific images of Earth taken by satellites.

NASA Extracting Tanks from Retired Shuttle Endeavour for Use on Space Station

NASA's space shuttle Endeavour, retired and on exhibit in Los Angeles for the past three years, has been called back into service — or rather, parts of it have — for the benefit of the International Space Station. A NASA team working this week at the California Science Center will remove four tanks from deep inside the winged orbiter to comprise a water storage system for the space station. "The ISS [International Space Station] program has been steadily increasing the amount of crew time dedicated to science and technology development [onboard the station] through initiatives like the water storage system," NASA told Endeavour's curators at the California Science Center, according to information shared exclusively with collectSPACE.com.

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Saturday, August 15, 2015

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Tianjin Explosions Seen from Space (Photo)

Smoke from two massive explosions that rocked the Chinese port city of Tianjin on Wednesday (Aug. 12) floated east over the Bohai Sea before heading south toward the Shangdong Peninsula, NASA satellite images reveal. The images, captured yesterday (Aug. 13) at 2:30 p.m. local time in Tianjin, show a dark plume snaking across the sky over the blue waters of one of the world's busiest seaways. The source of the smoke was likely the industrial fires that burned after the explosions that took place at a warehouse near the city's port that was reportedly storing "dangerous and chemical goods," according to a BBC News report.

Elysium Space Gets Into the Moon Burial Business

San Francisco-based Elysium Space announced Wednesday (Aug. 12) that it has signed a contract with Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology to deliver people's ashes to the surface of the moon aboard Astrobotic's Griffin lander. Another space burial company, Houston-based Celestis, also plans to fly cremated remains to the moon using Griffin (and using the lunar lander being developed by another company, Moon Express, as well). Celestis' moon burial options start at $12,500, while Elysium Space's "Lunar Memorial" service costs $11,950 (though the first 50 participants will receive a special rate of $9,950).

Electrifying Photo Takes Internet by Storm: Why Rainbow Lightning Is So Rare

A real-estate agent and storm chaser captured a snapshot of a lifetime on Aug. 9, when he photographed a rare duo — an eerie flash of lightning framed by a glorious rainbow — in Tucson, Arizona. The electrifying image took social media by storm: As of Aug. 14, Greg McCown's photo had garnered more than 1,000 Facebook likes and more than 3,600 retweets. Although 100 lighting bolts strike the Earth every second, the chances of them flashing near a rainbow are slim, said Randall Cerveny, a professor of meteorology at Arizona State University in Tucson.

Plankton Graveyards Revealed in First Digital Map of Seafloor

Published Aug. 9 in the journal Geology, the interactive map is available online. The last version of the map was hand drawn in the 1970s, according to the University of Sydney. "The old map suggests much of the Southern Ocean around Australia is mainly covered by clay blown off the continent, whereas our map shows this area is actually a complex patchwork of microfossil remains," study author Adriana Dutkiewicz, a sedimentologist at the University of Sydney, said in a statement.

26-Year-Old 'Corduroy' Crowned World's Oldest Living Cat

Twenty-six-year-old Corduroy, a handsome male kitty from the United States, was crowned the oldest living domestic cat this week by Guinness World Records. Corduroy's title replaces another venerable cat in the record book, Tiffany Two, who died recently at the ripe old age of 27 years, 2 months and 20 days. Corduroy's age may not seem that impressive to long-living humans, but the cat's 26 years are notable for a domestic kitty.

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Friday, August 14, 2015

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Scientists use bioengineered yeast instead of poppies to make opioids

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have invented a speedy method to make potent painkilling opioids using bioengineered baker's yeast instead of poppies, but need to fine-tune the process to make it commercially viable, according to a study published on Thursday. The new method, if it can be made more efficient, could significantly change the multibillion-dollar pain medication manufacturing business, but raises concerns about aggravating the growing problem of opioid abuse. The scientists said they altered the yeast's genetic make-up in a way that coaxed the cells to convert sugar into two opioids - hydrocodone and thebaine - in three to five days.

Astronomers photograph a baby Jupiter in another solar system

By Irene Klotz Astronomers have taken a photograph of a baby planet beyond the solar system that may reveal clues as to how planets such as Jupiter are formed and influence their planetary siblings, a study released on Thursday shows. The planet, which is about double the size of Jupiter, is positioned a bit farther away from its parent star than Saturn orbits the sun. 51 Eridani b is one of the smallest planets beyond the solar system to be directly imaged.

US Military's Top-Secret X-37B Space Plane Mission Nears 3-Month Mark

The United States Air Force's X-37B space plane has now been in orbit for nearly three months on its fourth mystery mission. The X-37B spacecraft launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on May 20, kicking off a mission dubbed OTV-4 (short for Orbital Test Vehicle-4). OTV-4 is the second flight of the second X-37B vehicle built for the Air Force by Boeing.

NASA Test-Fires Engine for Next-Generation Megarocket (Video)

NASA put the engine at the heart of its huge next-generation rocket to the test again today (Aug. 13). The agency performed a nearly 9-minute-long "hot fire" test of an RS-25 engine at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Four RS-25s will power the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, which NASA is developing to get astronauts to asteroids, Mars and other deep-space destinations.

Genes Confirm: Octopuses Are Brainy and Weird

Octopuses are known to be brainiacs — they can mimic flounder in a flash, unscrew themselves out of a sealed jar and even use coconut shells to build a mobile home. Determining how octopuses' brains and bodies evolved "represents a first step to understanding these really cool animals at a new level," said Caroline Albertin, the lead researcher on the study and a graduate student studying evolution of animal development at the University of Chicago. "The octopus nervous system is organized in a totally different way from ours: The central brain surrounds the esophagus, which is typical of invertebrates, but it also has groups of neurons in the arms that can work relatively autonomously, plus huge optic lobes involved in vision," study co-author Daniel Rokhsar, a professor of genetics and genomics at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a statement.

Ancient Footprints May Show Dinosaur Duo Strolling Along the Beach

About 142 million years ago, two carnivorous dinosaurs wandered along a beach and left their large footprints behind in the sand, a new study finds. These footprints, now fossilized, are helping researchers understand what types of dinosaurs lived in what is now modern-day northern Germany.

Scientists researching brain disorders create super-clever mice

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have genetically modified mice to be super-intelligent and found they are also less anxious, a discovery that may help the search for treatments for disorders such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Researchers from Britain and Canada found that altering a single gene to block the phosphodiesterase-4B (PDE4B) enzyme, which is found in many organs including the brain, made mice cleverer and at the same time less fearful. "Our work using mice has identified phosphodiesterase-4B as a promising target for potential new treatments," said Steve Clapcote, a lecturer in pharmacology at Britain's Leeds University, who led the study.

Ancient Monolith Suggests Humans Lived on Now-Underwater Archipelago

During a high-resolution mapping of the seafloor surrounding Sicily, researchers discovered an ancient treasure: a stone monolith spanning 39 feet (12 meters), resting on the bottom of the Mediterranean. "It was a great," said lead researcher Emanuele Lodolo, a staff researcher at the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics in Italy.

Low-Fat vs. Low-Carb Diets: Which Trims More Fat?

Following a low-fat diet may help dieters lose more body fat than following a low-carb diet, according to a new study. In comparison, the same people lost 1.9 ounces (53 grams) of fat per day while following a low-carb diet for the same amount of time. "A lot of people have very strong opinions about what matters for weight loss, and the physiological data upon which those beliefs are based are sometimes lacking," study author Kevin Hall, a metabolism researcher at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, said in a statement.

'Exercise Hormone' Irisin Really Does Exist

The "exercise hormone" irisin has generated controversy among scientists — some say it's produced when humans work up a sweat, and holds promise as a weight-loss treatment, but others contend that irisin doesn't even really exist in people.

Melanoma Risk May Be Higher After Organ Transplant

People who receive organ transplants may have an increased risk of developing the deadly skin cancer melanoma, according to a new study. Researchers found that the risk of melanoma among the organ transplant recipients in the study was about double that of people in the general population. Moreover, the organ transplant recipients faced a risk of regional-stage melanoma - cancer that has begun to spread to other parts of the body - that was about quadruple that of the general population.

Jimmy Carter's Cancer: How Doctors May Find Where It Started

Former President Jimmy Carter has not revealed much about his recent cancer diagnosis, but an important part of caring for anyone with cancer is finding out where the disease started, so that doctors can best treat it, experts say. Yesterday, Carter released a statement saying that during a recent liver surgery, doctors discovered metastatic cancer. Metastatic means cancer that has spread to other parts of the body from where it started.

Beautiful Corals in Home Aquariums Can Poison You

Aquarium enthusiasts and people who work in aquarium stores should be aware that some types of coral produce dangerous toxins that can be hazardous to your health, according to a new report. The report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, describes 10 cases of toxin poisoning in Alaska between 2012 and 2014 that were linked to zoanthid corals, a common type of coral in home aquariums. Some zoanthid contain high levels of palytoxin, a toxin that can cause life-threatening symptoms if people touch, inhale or ingest it, the CDC said.

Mobile Health Tech Looks Promising, But Does It Work?

Smartphone apps, health-monitoring devices and wearable sensors that collect real-time data have the potential to help Americans improve their heart health. In a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association published in the journal Circulation, a committee of heart-health experts evaluated the scientific evidence on the mobile health technologies that people might use to reduce their risk of heart disease. "The review found that the research on mobile health technologies is still in the very early stages, and more research is needed to understand the role of mobile solutions for cardiovascular disease prevention," said Dr. Jun Ma, a professor of public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a co-author of the statement.

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