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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

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Scientists assembled for Monsanto say herbicide not carcinogenic, disputing WHO report

By Karl Plume CHICAGO (Reuters) - A panel of scientists is disputing a World Health Organization report published earlier this year that concluded glyphosate, the world's most widely used weed killer and main ingredient in Monsanto Co's Roundup herbicide, is probably carcinogenic to humans. The 16-member panel, assembled by Intertek Scientific & Regulatory Consultancy, will present its findings to the annual meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis on Monday, aiming to publish the study at a later date after peer review. Monsanto paid Intertek for the panel's work.

Scientists assembled for Monsanto say herbicide not carcinogenic, disputing WHO report

Disease-resistant pigs latest win for gene editing technology

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - A British animal genetics firm, working with U.S. scientists, has bred the world's first pigs resistant to a common viral disease, using the hot new technology of gene editing. Genus, which supplies pig and bull semen to farmers worldwide, said on Tuesday it had worked with the University of Missouri to develop pigs resistant to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSv). By using precise gene editing, the team from the University of Missouri was able to breed pigs that do not produce a specific protein necessary for the virus to spread in the animals.

Women in Combat: Physical Differences May Mean Uphill Battle

The Pentagon announced last week that it would open up all positions in the military to women — including combat positions. But in one way, the sex difference is stark: Men are physically stronger than women, on average.

Death by Flatfish: Whales Suffocate After Soles Clog Blowholes

Two long-finned pilot whales died along the Dutch coast last winter after flatfish got stuck in the whales' blowholes and suffocated the giant mammals, a new study finds. Blowhole suffocation due to fish is rare, and the researchers called it a "lose-lose situation," because both the whale and the flatfish, which were common sole (Solea solea), died during the event. It just went wrong," said study lead researcher Lonneke IJsseldijk, a biologist and a faculty member of veterinary medicine at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Thunder-Thighed Dinosaurs Arose Quickly from Predecessors

Dinosaurs took less than 5 million years to evolve from their reptile predecessors, the early dinosauromorphs, a new study finds. The finding revamps the time line between the dinosaurs and early dinosauromorphs. Until now, researchers thought that it took at least 10 million to 15 million years for the early dinosauromorphs to evolve into dinosaurs.

Raytheon's GPS control system is 'a disaster': U.S. Air Force general

General John Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, on Tuesday called Raytheon Co's work on a new ground control system for GPS satellites "a disaster," and said the Pentagon would undertake "significant" changes with the company to address the issues. Hyten said he attended a "deep dive" on the program hosted by the Pentagon's chief arms buyer, Frank Kendall, last Friday, and said significant changes were planned to get the program on track.

Childhood Allergies Could Signal Heart Disease Risk

Researchers found that kids with such allergies had higher rates of being overweight or obese — risk factors for heart disease — than children who don't have these allergic conditions. The investigators also found that children and teens with asthma or hay fever were twice as likely to have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, which are also risk factors for heart disease, according to the study, published today (Dec. 8) in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.

Marijuana Extract May Help Treat Epilepsy, Small Study Suggests

A medicine derived from marijuana may help treat children with severe epilepsy, new studies suggest. In one of the new studies, researchers administered the medicine to 261 people with severe epilepsy for three months. The study included children as young as 4 months and adults as old as 41, but most of the patients in the study were children, whose average age was 11.

Meet a Hibernating Primate: Vietnam's Slow Loris

Hibernation is well-documented in a number of animal species, and is common across the mammal family tree. Until recently, the only primates known to hibernate were Madagascar lemurs. Researchers conducted the first-ever study of hibernation in pygmy slow lorises (Nycticebus pygmaeus), working with six adult animals at Vietnam's Endangered Primate Rescue Center.

Laser-Armed Cameras Can 'See' Around Corners

With the help of lasers, cameras can track moving objects hidden around corners, scientists say. Laser scanners are now regularly used to capture 3D images of items. This measurement reveals how far the light pulses have traveled, which can be used to recreate what the objects look like in three dimensions.

No hiatus in global warming, says IPCC chief

By Nina Chestney PARIS (Reuters) - Global warming has not paused, but more research is needed to understand the level that might cause tipping points, or irreversible damage to the earth's climate system, the chair of the U.N. panel of climate scientists told Reuters on Tuesday. In 2013, the panel reported a slowdown or "hiatus" in warming since about 1998, despite rising man-made emissions of greenhouse gases, heartening sceptics who said the risks of climate change had been exaggerated. "There is no hiatus (in global warming).

Why It's Time to Map the Microbiome (Kavli Roundtable)

Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights

Friends for Life: How Good Bugs Keep You Healthy (Op-Ed)

Body by Darwin: How Evolution Shapes Our Health and Transforms Medicine Not A Chimp: The Hunt For The Genes That Make Us Human

Saint West? Kim & Kanye Choose Baby Name That Fits Trend

Though Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West may be trendsetters, in one way, they are swimming with the current. "Kimye," as the couple is often called, have named their newborn son Saint West, who joins older sister North West in the high-profile Kardashian-West clan. "Though some may be scratching their heads at their [Kim and Kanye's] name choice, the name could take off because it actually reflects a growing trend in society," said Laura Wattenberg, the founder of the baby-name website babynamewizard.com and the author of "The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby" (Three Rivers Press, 2013).

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Monday, December 7, 2015

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Scientists enlist the big gun to get climate action: Faith

PARIS (AP) — The cold hard numbers of science haven't spurred the world to curb runaway global warming. So as climate negotiators struggle in Paris, some scientists who appealed to the rationale brain are enlisting what many would consider a higher power: the majesty of faith.

AP Interview: Redford says fighting global warming is urgent

PARIS (AP) — American actor and environmental activist Robert Redford called global warming "an urgent matter" Friday and encouraged mayors to reduce local emissions even as world diplomats are trying to work out a global climate accord.

Orbital heads back to International Space Station on cargo run

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Florida on Sunday, sending a long-awaited Orbital ATK cargo ship on its way to the International Space Station for NASA. The Atlas 5, built and flown by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 4:44 p.m. EST (2104 GMT) after three days of delays to wait out poor weather and high winds. Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital, an aerospace and defense company with annual revenues of about $4.4 billion, hopes to return its own Antares rocket to flight in May, following an October 2014 launch accident.

Watt or Fleming? RBS seeks Scottish scientist for plastic banknote

Royal Bank of Scotland is asking the public to choose a Scottish scientist or other innovator to feature on its first plastic 10 pound note. Edinburgh-based RBS said on Monday nominees must be historical figures who are Scottish or have made a significant contribution to Scotland in the field of science and innovation. Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, and Watt, who improved the design and function of the steam engine, are both in the Scottish Science Hall of Fame.

Scientists enlist the big gun to get climate action: Faith

PARIS (AP) — The cold hard numbers of science haven't spurred the world to curb runaway global warming. So as climate negotiators struggle in Paris, some scientists who appealed to the rational brain are enlisting what many would consider a higher power: the majesty of faith.

Mysterious Egyptian Mummy Has Head Full of Dirt

A mysterious Egyptian mummy dating back about 3,200 years has dirt in the skull, a new investigation reveals. The presence of what looks like dark sediment inside the mummy's head is bizarre, said the researchers, who used computed tomography (CT) to peer inside the mummy. "It's some form of material added into the brain case while the brain was left inside," Jonathan Elias, the director of the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium, said in a statement.

Ancient 'Wand' May Be Oldest Example of Lead Work in the Levant

A lead and wood artifact discovered in a roughly 6,000-year-old grave in a desert cave is the oldest evidence of smelted lead on record in the Levant, a new study finds. The artifact, which looks like something between an ancient wand and a tiny sword, suggests that people in Israel's northern Negev desert learned how to smelt lead during the Late Chalcolithic, a period known for copper work but not lead work, said Naama Yahalom-Mack, the study's lead researcher and a postdoctoral student of archaeology with a specialty in metallurgy at the Institute of Earth Sciences and the Institute of Archaeology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Moreover, an analysis of the lead suggests that it came from Anatolia (in modern-day Turkey), which is part of the Levant, or the area encompassing the eastern Mediterranean.

Mark Zuckerberg's Donation: What Can You Buy with $45 Billion?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, made a shocking announcement this week, saying they would donate 99 percent of their financial worth over their lifetimes. Though the charitable act would have several tax benefits, as The New York Times pointed out, the power couple said they hope to use that money to "advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation," according to a long post by Zuckerberg on his Facebook page. In focusing on philanthropy, the duo joins other high-profile billionaires, such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, who have committed vast sums of money in an effort to reduce poverty and improve conditions around the world.

Superquiet Supersonic: NASA Aims for Softer Booms

The space agency is currently developing technologies that could make supersonic planes less noisy and therefore less "annoying" for those on the ground. NASA and its partners in the aviation industry are building "low-boom aircraft," with different designs than those used in older supersonic jets, like the retired Concorde. The new generation of planeswill have a body shape that reduces the "annoying noise, rattle and vibration" that occurs when aircraft break the sound barrier, creating the shock waves that produce sonic booms, NASA said.

400-Year-Old Embalmed Hearts Found Under French Convent

Four hundred years after they were buried in heart-shaped lead urns, five embalmed human hearts have been discovered in a cemetery in northwestern France. The hearts were discovered underneath the basement of the Convent of the Jacobins in Rennes, where archaeologists with France's National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research have been excavating graves for the past several years, ahead of a plan to turn the site into a conference center. So far, the archaeologists have unearthed hundreds of burials dating back to the late 16th or early 17th centuries, including the well-preserved corpse of a widow named Louise de Quengo, Lady of Brefeillac, who died in 1656.

New Superbug's Genetic Trick Could Help It Spread

Health experts are keeping a close eye on a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria called CRE that, while still rare, has the potential to become more widespread in the United States. A new report released on Thursday said that in the past five years, researchers have identified 43 patients in the United States who became sick with infections from one type of CRE. These cases all involved CRE that share a particular method of defeating the antibiotics: they have enzymes called OXA-48-like carbapenemases that break down the drugs, said the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wi-Fi 'Allergies': Is Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Real?

For some time now, people with unexplained and recurring headaches, dizziness and skin irritation have been blaming their often severe discomfort on sensitivity to electromagnetic field sources, a condition sometimes called electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In a recent case, the family of a 15-year-old girl in the United Kingdom who died by suicide said the girl had suffered from an allergy to Wi-Fi signals. Participants in a survey of people claiming to be suffering from EHS described physical symptoms such as headache and fatigue that appeared whenever they were close to devices that emit electromagnetic signals, such as Wi-Fi stations, cellphones and computer screens.

Many People Who Would Benefit from Statins Aren't Taking Them

The study found that cholesterol-lowering drugs would be recommended for about 78 million U.S. adults because they have either high cholesterol levels or risk factors for heart disease. And although lifestyle changes such as exercise and weight loss can help lower cholesterol levels, 35.5 percent of adults who would benefit from lowering their cholesterol levels said they aren't taking these drugs or making lifestyle changes to lower their cholesterol levels. Minority populations, including blacks and Mexican Americans, were less likely than whites to be taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, the researchers said.

9 Hacks for Making Healthier Holiday Cookies

When a huge array of holiday cookies is out on display, people do not have just one cookie and feel satisfied, said Libby Mills, a nutrition and cooking coach in Philadelphia and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Those extra calories can add up to too many, at a time when people are already frequently celebrating around food and beverages, Mills said. This is a good reason to be smart about the size of cookie that you eat or bake, and to stick with a smaller cookie, said Sara Haas, a dietitian and chef in Chicago and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Stick-Figure Science: Cartoonist Makes Complicated Stuff Simple

Randall Munroe once designed robots at NASA, and now he's undertaken a comparably tough task: describing the science of complex "stuff" such as elevators, the Mars Curiosity rover and nuclear reactors using only the 1,000 most commonly used words in the English language. Granted, Munroe's new book "Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words"(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015) contains diagrams of the things he's explaining, such as "boxes that make clothes smell better" (washing machines and dryers) and a "hole-making city boat" (oil rig), that help readers understand each concept. Munroe studied math and physics in college, but constantly worried that people would think he was stupid if he didn't always use the correct technical term, he said at a reading in New York City on Tuesday (Nov. 24), the day of his book's release.

CERN in a Shoebox? Tiny Particle Accelerators Are Coming

Scientists could soon develop particle accelerators that can fit into a shoebox, experts say. The project, which is still in its infancy, would rely on lasers, rather than microwaves, to ramp particles to near light speed. Using lasers, "you can accelerate particles in a shorter distance to get to a higher energy," said Joel England, a researcher at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California, and one of the principal researchers involved in the project.

Little Male Songbird Makes Colorful Splash at Brooklyn Park

A stunningly colorful little male songbird has drawn a big crowd to Brooklyn's Prospect Park this week. The painted bunting (Passerina ciris), a member of the cardinal family, has never (in recent memory) been spotted in the treasured 526-acre (2.1 square kilometers) park. "This is the first recorded sighting of a male painted bunting in Brooklyn in recent memory," stated the Prospect Park Alliance.

Fusion power getting closer, say UK scientists

By Jim Drury As world leaders meet in Paris to agree a legal framework aimed at limiting use of fossil fuels and the resulting rises in global temperatures, a UK company says it could be as little as five years from making "reactor relevant" fusion, a potential game changer in energy production. A British company believes it is within five years of achieving "reactor relevant" fusion, a major landmark in the six decade long scientific search for the veritable Holy Grail of energy production. Fusion is how stars produce energy. It occurs when the nuclei of light atoms, such as hydrogen, are fused together under extreme pressure and heat. Tokamak Energy, from Oxfordshire, believes that the third version of their compact, spherical tokamak reactor will be able to reach temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius by 2020.

Chinese researchers unveil brain powered car

Chinese researchers have developed what they say is the country's first car that uses nothing but brain power to drive. The research team from Nankai University, in the north-eastern Chinese port city of Tianjin, has spent two years bringing the mind-controlled vehicle to reality. By wearing brain signal-reading equipment a driver can control the car to go forward, backwards, come to a stop, and both lock and unlock the vehicle, all without moving their hands or feet. Researcher Zhang Zhao told Reuters the equipment comprises 16 sensors that capture EEG (electroencephalogram) signals from the driver's brain. The core of the whole flow is to process the EEG signals, which is done on the computer," said Zhang. Associate Professor Duan Feng, from the university's College of Computer and Control Engineering, led the project.

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Saturday, December 5, 2015

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AP Interview: Redford says fighting global warming is urgent

The Latest: Redford says fighting global warming is urgent

LE BOURGET, France (AP) — The latest news from the U.N. climate conference in Paris, which runs through Dec. 11. All times local:

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