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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

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Sunscreen ingredient toxic to coral, killing off reefs: research

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - A common ingredient found in sunscreen is toxic to coral and contributing to the decline of reefs around the world, according to new research published on Tuesday. Oxybenzone, a UV-filtering chemical compound found in 3,500 brands of sunscreen worldwide, can be fatal to baby coral and damaging to adults in high concentrations, according the study published in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. The international research team that conducted the study, led by Craig Downs, found the highest concentrations of oxybenzone around coral reefs popular with tourists, particularly those in Hawaii and the Caribbean.

One tough bird: vulture's genes help it thrive on rotting flesh

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A diet of putrid rotting flesh may not be your cup of tea, but to the cinereous vulture, found across southern Europe and Asia, it is positively delightful. Researchers on Tuesday said they have sequenced the genome of this big scavenger, also called the Eurasian black vulture, identifying genetic traits that account for a stalwart stomach and powerful immune system that let it carry on eating carrion. "It is known that they are all but immune to botulism and that they can happily eat the flesh of an animal coated in Bacillus anthracis that causes anthrax," said geneticist Jong Bhak of South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology.

One tough bird: vulture's genes help it thrive on rotting flesh

23andMe launches new consumer test service to check for genetic disorders

By Caroline Humer and Julie Steenhuysen NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Genetics company 23andMe announced the launch of a new consumer genetic test service on Wednesday that will show whether an individual carries genes associated with 36 different disorders, such as cystic fibrosis. The launch is a major step for the company, which in 2013 was ordered by the Food and Drug Administration to stop selling its Personal Genome Service because the regulatory agency had not approved the tests it offered. The Personal Genome Service, launched in 2007, analyzed a broad menu of genetic links to disease, including a predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer, certain heart conditions and Alzheimer's. 23andMe said it is still working with the FDA for approval of those tests, as well as analyses that can predict a person's response to specific drugs.

Begin Mammograms at Age 45, New Guidelines Say

Women with an average risk of breast cancer should begin getting mammograms annually at age 45, according to new guidelines from the American Cancer Society (ACS). "The guideline-development group concluded that the risk of cancer is lower for women ages 40 to 44," and the risk of false positives is somewhat higher, compared with women in the 45-to-49 age group, said Elizabeth T. H. Fontham, a co-author of the guidelines and the dean of the Louisiana State University's School of Public Health in New Orleans. "So a direct recommendation to begin screening at age 40 was no longer warranted." A false positive is an error in a test result that indicates a woman has breast cancer when she actually does not.

11 Moles on Your Arm May Signal Higher Melanoma Risk

People who have 11 or more moles on one of their arms could have a higher risk of the deadly skin cancer melanoma, according to a new study. Researchers counted the number of moles that study participants had on 17 sites on the skin of their bodies — such as the left leg, the chest and the back — and found that the arms were the site that was the best indicator of the total number of moles on the whole body. For example, women with at least seven moles on an arm were nine times more likely to have at least 50 moles on their entire body than those who had fewer than seven moles on their right arm.

Different Drums: Male and Female Hearts Don't Age the Same

Men and women will always have their differences, but a new analysis finds that these differences extend to heart anatomy. The study focused on one heart chamber, the left ventricle, which pumps oxygenated blood out of the heart into the body. As people age, the left ventricle declines in its capacity to pump blood.

Marble Medusa Head Unearthed in Ancient Roman Ruins

In the ruins of a Roman city in southern Turkey, archaeologists have discovered a marble head of Medusa, somehow spared during an early Christian campaign against pagan art. The head was unearthed at Antiochia ad Cragum, a city founded during the first century, around the rule of Emperor Nero, that has all the marks of a Roman outpost —bathhouses, shops, colonnaded streets, mosaics and a local council house. At Antiochia, a Medusa architectural sculpture would have served an apotropaic function, intended to avert evil —but later, her likeness would have been considered idolatrous by the Christians who came to live at the site.

Robot builder designed for construction sites

Designers at the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Digital Fabrication laboratory believe a future generation of the robot could be used widely on building sites. Matthias Kohler, of ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich), is one of the supervising professors on the research team. According to Kohler, who is also an architect, it is "the first machine that can actually go on construction sites and build non-standard designs, meaning designs which can vary and adapt to the local conditions directly in the building site." Professor Jonas Buchli supervises the research.

60 Days in Bed: Study Tests Spaceflight's Effect on Human Body

On Sept. 9, the first of those brave volunteers took to his bed for a study that will hopefully lead to better understanding of the ways spaceflight affects the human body — and how to stop the muscle and bone loss that comes with extended time spent in orbit. The study requires volunteers to lie in a bed with their feet inclined at a 6-degree angle — meaning their heads will be lower than the rest of their body throughout all 60 days of the experiment. "Organizing month-long scientific studies is a huge task, and, aside from coordinating the researchers from all over Europe, choosing the test subjects is extremely important as the success of the study depends on their commitment," Jennifer Ngo-Anh, head of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Human Research Office, said in a statement.

Obama Greets Young Stargazers for White House Astronomy Night

Last night on the White House's chilly South Lawn, under a vividly glowing crescent moon, future scientists and astronaut-hopefuls gathered to learn and celebrate the science of the stars — and across the country more than 80 other sites joined in with their own stargazing events. The event featured NASA astronauts, science celebrities and President Barack Obama. "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…" began the president in a speech to the attendees, referencing the famous starting line of the "Star Wars" movies.

Poof! Futuristic Flying Vehicles Could Vanish After Deliveries

The development of this far-out delivery system is being led by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the branch of the U.S. Department of Defense charged with developing new technologies for the U.S. military. Several years ago, DARPA launched its Vanishing Programmable Resources (VAPR) program, which is devoted to building small electronic systems that do their jobs and then self-destruct. Although it might sound counterintuitive to build something that's going to disappear, self-destructing systems are useful for a range of situations, according to DARPA.

What Do Americans Fear Most? Big Brother & Cybercrime

Americans' biggest fears are related to government and technology, not ghosts and goblins, according to the Survey of American Fear by researchers at Chapman University in California. For the survey, the researchers polled a representative sample of approximately 1,500 Americans and found that the majority of Americans (58 percent) are either "afraid" or "very afraid" of the corruption of government officials. Fears related to the government and the malicious use of technology beat out what some people may view as much spookier stuff — things like biological warfare, being murdered or ghosts.

Ebola Returns: 2nd Case of Relapse Raises Questions

Scottish nurse Pauline Cafferkey — who became sick with Ebola about a year ago and recovered, but then became very ill again last week with what may be a relapse of the deadly virus — is now improving. "Pauline Cafferkey's condition has improved to serious but stable," representatives from London's Royal Free Hospital said in a statement Monday (Oct. 19). Hospital representatives said on Oct. 9 that the nurse had developed an "unusual late complication" of the virus, and reported last week that she was "critically ill." Cafferkey originally became sick with the disease in 2014 while caring for Ebola patients in Sierra Leone, becoming the United Kingdom's first Ebola patient.

Einstein wouldn't like it: New test proves universe is "spooky"

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - The universe really is weird, which is bad news both for Albert Einstein and for would-be hackers hoping to break into quantum encryption systems. Writing in the journal Nature, researchers detailed an experiment showing how two electrons at separate locations 1.3 km (0.8 mile) apart on the Delft University of Technology campus demonstrated a clear, invisible and instantaneous connection. Importantly, the new study closed loopholes in earlier tests that had left some doubt as to whether the eerie connection predicted by quantum theory was real or not.

'Death Star' Vaporizes Its Own Planet: 1st Evidence

The planet-destroying Death Star from "Star Wars" may be fictional, but a star at the end of its life and only a bit bigger than Earth could be its real-world twin: The star is currently destroying and disintegrating an orbiting planet bit by bit. The ill-fated planetary body and its debris are about the size of Texas or the dwarf planet Ceres, the largest asteroid in Earth's solar system, and it will be fully destroyed within about a million years, researchers said. Scientists watching the object disintegrate will get the best-ever view of a solar system's death — and a look at the likely future of our own system.

Big, 'Spooky' Asteroid to Fly by Earth on Halloween

An asteroid the size of a football stadium will zoom past Earth on Halloween, in a close encounter that astronomers view as far more treat than trick. The massive asteroid 2015 TB145 will come within 310,000 miles (500,000 kilometers) of the planet — or about 1.3 times the distance from Earth to the moon — on the afternoon of Oct. 31, just three weeks after the space rock was discovered, according to NASA. There's no threat of an impact on this pass, NASA officials said.

Earth's Photo Diary: See New Glamour Shots of Blue Marble Daily

Stunning images of Earth's sunlit face, snapped by a satellite located 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) away from the planet, will be available daily for people to browse on a new NASA website. The agency plans to post at least 12 new color images of Earth each day, taken by NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). "Each daily sequence of images will show the Earth as it rotates, thus revealing the whole globe over the course of a day," according to a NASA statement.

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Tuesday, October 20, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Solar powered car racers set off in Australian challenge

BARROW CREEK, Australia - More than 40 racing teams from two dozen countries left Darwin on Sunday to race across Australia to the southern city of Adelaide in the 2015 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. The 3,000 kilometer (1,864 mile) trek is one of the most prestigious solar car races. The biannual event first began in 1987 and is based on the original notion that a 1000 watt car would complete the trip from Darwin to Adelaide in 50 hours.

Ancient crystal suggests life on Earth appeared 4.1 billion years ago

(Reuters) - An ancient zircon crystal unearthed in Western Australia may hold evidence that life appeared on the planet 4.1 billion years ago, or about 300 million years earlier than previously thought, according to a team of U.S. researchers. Scientists from Stanford University and the University of California, Los Angeles said they recently collected some 10,000 multibillion year-old zircons in Jack Hills, Australia, including one believed to contain a carbon deposit that is 4.1 billion years old, give or take 10 million years.

Obama, budding astronomers look at moon, dream of Mars at White House

By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama got a guided tour of the moon on Monday, peering at its craters through a large reflective telescope set up on the South Lawn of the White House to promote science and technology careers at "Astronomy Night." Obama was joined by budding young scientists who checked out a moon rock and took selfies with NASA astronauts and other science celebrities. Chief among the selfie targets: Ahmed Mohamed, better known as "clock boy. ...

Puzzling Reaction: Sudoku Brainteasers Trigger Man's Seizures

Sudoku puzzles can be brainteasers, but one man's brain had an unusual response to solving the numerical grid puzzles: He developed seizures. The 25-year-old German man didn't always react this way to Sudoku, according to a new report of his case.

'Herbal Viagra' and Lamar Odom: What's in These Supplements?

Former NBA championship winner and reality TV star Lamar Odom awoke from a coma on Friday (Oct. 16) after he was found unconscious earlier in the week at the Love Ranch brothel in Nevada. Odom took a diet supplement touted as "herbal Viagra" before falling unconscious, and while it isn't clear exactly what happened to the 35-year-old athlete, federal agencies and researchers have warned that such supplements may contain hidden drug ingredients, and cause severe side effects. Authorities reported that Odom had also used several drugs, including cocaine and opiates, before losing consciousness.

Meet Jane, the Most Complete Adolescent T. Rex Ever Found

An adolescent Tyrannosaurus rex named Jane may settle a dispute more than 70 years in the making: Whether small carnivorous dinosaurs are younger versions of T. rex, or another species altogether, a new study finds. The authors of the new study contend that small and slender Jane is a young, 11-year-old T. rex. Before Jane, there was a critical gap between juvenile and adult T. rex dinosaur specimens, and it was unclear how their body structures changed over time, said study lead researcher Thomas Carr, an associate professor of biology at Carthage College in Wisconsin.

Bloody Ancient Arrowhead Reveals Maya 'Life Force' Ceremony

An ancient arrowhead with human blood on it points to a Maya bloodletting ceremony in which a person's "life force" fed the gods, two researchers say. The ceremony took place around 500 years ago in Guatemala at a temple at the site of Zacpetén. "The general consensus (among scholars) is that bloodletting was 'feeding' the gods with the human essential life force," said Prudence Rice, a professor emeritus at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

Chasing Wormholes: The Hunt for Tunnels in Space-Time

Science fiction literature is full of stories in which tunnels in space-time — known as wormholes — are used for time travel. Scientists are looking at ways to use traversable wormholes (if they exist) to travel faster than the speed of light — and even to travel through time itself. "A traversable wormhole is a hyperspace tunnel, also called a throat, that connects together two remotely distant regions within our universe, or two different universes — if other universes exist — or two different periods in time, as in time travel, or different dimensions of space," physicist Eric Davis told Space.com by email.

Mars Water Discovery Sparks Exploration Debate

The revelation that dark streaks flowing downhill on Mars are signs of present-day liquid water has sparked debate on how best to investigate the Red Planet features. These dark streaks, called Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL), flow down steep slopes during warm seasons and fade when the weather is cooler. The streaks are caused by liquid water laden with salts, scientists announced last month.

20 Years On, Future Bright for Exoplanet Science

On Oct. 6, 1995, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz of Switzerland's Geneva Observatory announced the discovery of the huge, scorching-hot 51 Pegasi b, the first alien planet ever found around a sunlike star.

Take a Trip to Comet 67P in This Awesome Video from the Philae Lander

As the Philae lander plunged down to land on a comet in 2014, it captured a view of the great comet closer than any had ever seen. Now a new video lets viewers ride along, showing exactly what the lander saw as it descended. The European Space Agency put together the video to celebrate the one-year anniversary of choosing Philae's prime landing site.

BRIEF-Shenghua Biok Biology to acquire info tech firm for 1.6 bln yuan

Oct 20 (Reuters) - Zhejiang Shenghua Biok Biology Co Ltd * Says to acquire information technology firm for 1.6billion yuan ($252.05 million) via cash, share issue * Says plans to raise up to 1.5 billion yuan in privateplacement of shares to fund acquisition, project Source text in Chinese: http://bit.ly/1QOBD1d Further company coverage: ($1 = 6.3480 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Hong Kong and Singapore newsrooms)

Search For Intelligent Aliens Near Bizarre Dimming Star Has Begun

The search for signs of life in a mysterious star system hypothesized to potentially harbor an "alien megastructure" is now underway. Astronomers have begun using the Allen Telescope Array (ATA), a system of radio dishes about 300 miles (483 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, to hunt for signals coming from the vicinity of KIC 8462852, a star that lies 1,500 light-years from Earth. NASA's Kepler space telescope found that KIC 8462852 dimmed oddly and dramatically several times over the past few years.

Chasing Wormholes: The Hunt for Tunnels in Space-Time

Search For Intelligent Aliens Near Bizarre Dimming Star Has Begun

Orionid Meteor Shower Promises Bright Sky Show This Week

Now, one of the more reliable meteor showers — sort of a junior version of the Perseids — is set to reach its maximum before sunrise on Thursday morning (Oct. 22). This upcoming display is known as the Orionids, because the meteors seem to fan out from a region to the north of the constellation Orion's second-brightest star, ruddy Betelgeuse. Currently, Orion appears to be ahead of Earth as the planet journeys around the sun, and the constellation has not completely risen above the eastern horizon until after 11:00 p.m. local daylight time.

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