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Sunday, February 21, 2016

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'Good' Bacteria Lacking in City Homes

The researchers found that homes in urban areas in South America tended to have lower levels of certain microbes commonly found in the environment, compared with homes in rural areas. However, homes in urban areas had higher levels of microbes associated with human presence, which could potentially mean an increase in the transmission of the bacteria that cause disease, the researchers said. For now, the researchers don't know with certainty whether the differences in bacterial composition found in the new study may affect people's health, said study author Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, an associate professor in the Human Microbiome Program at the New York University School of Medicine.

Adderall Misuse Is a Growing Problem, Experts Warn

Improper use of the stimulant Adderall is becoming a bigger problem among young adults — a growing percentage say they use the drug without a prescription, a new study finds. The results from a nationwide health survey show that from 2006 to 2011, the percentage of adults who said they took Adderall without a prescription increased from 0.73 percent to 1.2 percent. Young adults should be aware that Adderall can cause serious side effects, including high blood pressure and stroke, the researchers said.

Surgery Leaves Woman with 'Temporary Kleptomania'

A woman in Brazil who had cosmetic surgery ended up with not only a flatter stomach and larger breasts, she also developed kleptomania for a few weeks, a new case report reveals. A few days after being released from the hospital following her cosmetic surgery, the 40-year-old woman began to have "recurring, intrusive thoughts and an irresistible compulsion towards stealing," according to the case report, published online Jan. 29 in the journal BMJ Case Reports. The most likely explanation for her symptoms is that the woman suffered from inadequate blood flow to the brain at some point during or right after the surgical procedure, said case report co-author Dr. Fabio Nascimento, who is currently a neurologist at Toronto Western Hospital in Canada, but who was part of the medical team during the woman's hospitalization in Brazil at the time of the case.

China looks to reward academic innovation to drive economic growth

China will give greater financial rewards to innovative academics and small research bodies in a drive to convert interesting scientific ideas into commercial realities and rev up its high-tech industries as wider economic growth stalls. China's State Council said research bodies and university units who transferred their work to outside firms to develop and market should receive no less than half of the net income earned from the product as a reward. China is trying to boost its high-tech industries, from medicines to computer chips, to offset a slowdown in manufacturing and exports that has dragged its economic growth to its slowest level in a quarter of a century.

Out of Africa, and into the arms of a Neanderthal

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Research showing that our species interbred with Neanderthals some 100,000 years ago is providing intriguing evidence that Homo sapiens ventured out of Africa much earlier than previously thought, although the foray appears to have fizzled. Scientists said on Wednesday an analysis of the genome of a Neanderthal woman whose remains were found in a cave in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia near the Russia-Mongolia border detected residual DNA from Homo sapiens, a sign of inter-species mating. Previous research had established that Homo sapiens and our close cousins the Neanderthals interbred around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, said geneticist Sergi Castellano of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.

1st Case of Cancer in Naked Mole Rats Confirmed

Naked mole rats are renowned for their ability to live cancer-free, even when researchers try to induce the disease artificially. For the first time on record, researchers have diagnosed two naked mole rats (Heterocephalus glaber) with cancer. "These cases represent the first formal reports of cancer in the naked mole rat, a rodent species best known for its extreme longevity and apparent resilience to typical health-span-limiting diseases, including cancer," the researchers wrote in the report, published online today (Feb. 17) in the journal Veterinary Pathology.

Medieval Shipwreck Hauled from the Deep

The boat was likely deliberately sunk by maritime engineers more than 600 years ago in an effort to alter the flow of the Ijssel River, an offshoot of the mighty Rhine River that flows through six European countries. The trading ship sailed at a time when the Hanseatic League, a group of guilds that fostered trade across Europe, dominated the seas. The boat was first discovered in 2012 at the river bottom during efforts to widen the flow of the Ijssel River.

Fertile Crescent? Neanderthals & Humans Likely Bred in the Mideast

Neanderthals and modern humans may have interbred much earlier than thought, with ancient liaisons potentially taking place in the Middle East, researchers say. This finding supports the idea that some modern humans left Africa long before the ancestors of modern Europeans and Asians migrated out of Africa, scientists added. The Neanderthals were once the closest relatives of modern humans, living in Europe and Asia until they went extinct about 40,000 years ago.

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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

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Whoa! Mind-Controlled Arm Lets Man Move Prosthetic Fingers

A new mind-controlled prosthetic arm was used to help a patient wiggle the device's fingers simply by thinking about it, and required very little training on the patient's part, according to a new study. "We believe this is the first time a person using a mind-controlled prosthesis has immediately performed individual digit movements without extensive training," study senior author Dr. Nathan Crone, a professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a statement.

Why 10,000-Plus Sharks Are Hanging Out in Florida Waters

Approximately 10,000 to 12,000 blacktip sharks are currently swimming off the Florida coast, but while these numbers may seem menacing, shark researchers say it's not unusual to see these animals — visible as tiny dark spots in aerial photos and video — in the area at this time of year. These annual visitors are there to feed on fish and bask in warm coastal waters, according to Stephen Kajiura, a professor of biological sciences at Florida Atlantic University who conducts a survey of the migrating sharks every winter. Visitors to those beaches could even catch a glimpse of the blacktips breaching, leaping out of the water "like dolphins," Kajiura said.

Bee Pollen Could Boost Battery Performance

Pollen — the pesky, sneeze-inducing stuff that makes allergy sufferers everywhere miserable — could be the next greatest thing in battery research, according to a new study. Scientists at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana, have been researching ways to make better batteries, and recently discovered that pollen grains, and their unique microstructures, could be put to use as a more efficient type of energy storage unit.

Out of Africa, and into the arms of a Neanderthal

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Tuesday, February 16, 2016

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Dogs can read human emotions

Many dog owners believe their pets are able to pick up on their moods, but scientists have demonstrated once and for all that man's best friend can actually recognize emotions in humans. Researchers found that by combining information from different senses dogs form abstract mental representations of positive and negative emotional states in people. Previous studies have shown that dogs can differentiate between human emotions from signs such as facial expressions.

Solar tower poised to energize market

In contrast, towers that use concentrated solar power, known as CSP, require a lot of land and are only cost-efficient in large-scale projects. For that reason they have seen limited deployment, and mainly in the United States and Europe. Megalim's tower in the Negev desert, which stands out for miles around, is surrounded by 50,000 computer-controlled mirrors, to project the sun's rays. Shareholders including power tower pioneer Brightsource Energy as well as General Electric, which will provide the turbine, want to build more such towers around the world. "We're making strides in efficiency, we're making strides in compressing the time of construction," said Megalim's Chief Executive Eran Gartner.

Ancient Roman Brooch Contains 'Lovely' Palindrome

A person with a metal detector has discovered a 1,800-year-old copper brooch, engraved with the letters "RMA," on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. The letters on the brooch, which dates to a time when the Roman Empire controlled Britain, contain different meanings depending on how they are read. When read left to right, the letters form a monogram for "Roma," the name of Rome and its deity.

Muppet-Faced Fish Swam Alongside Dinosaurs

A Muppet-faced fish with a lanky body more than 6 feet long gulped down plankton in Earth's ancient oceans about 92 million years ago, a new study finds. "Based on our new study, we now have three different species of Rhinconichthys from three separate regions of the globe, each represented by a single skull," study co-researcher Kenshu Shimada, a paleobiologist at DePaul University in Chicago, said in a statement.

Rare Wall Mural from Roman Era Uncovered in London

Nearly 20 feet (6 meters) below the streets of London, archaeologists discovered a fragile Roman painting featuring deer and birds that may have once decorated the wall of a wealthy citizen's home. Excavators from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) were carefully digging for Roman artifacts at 21 Lime Street, near Leadenhall Market in central London, ahead of the construction of an office building at the site.

30-Year Amnesia: How the Brain Suddenly Remembers

Although amnesia is a clichéd plot device for mystery novels and soap operas, this type of global amnesia — in which a person forgets everything about his or her life, typically called a fugue state — is very rare, said Jason Brandt, a neuropsychologist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, who was not involved in Latulip's care. "These cases of people disappearing for 30 years and then waking up and coming to —these are very rare," Brandt told Live Science. What is amnesia?

Zika Virus in Semen Provides More Evidence of Sexual Spread

The case of a man in the United Kingdom who had Zika virus a few years ago provides even more evidence that the virus can be transmitted through sex, according to a new report. "Our data may indicate prolonged presence of [Zika] virus in semen, which, in turn, could indicate a prolonged potential for sexual transmission," the researchers, from Public Health England, part of the U.K.'s Department of Health, write in an article to be published in the May issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. The Zika virus, which is currently spreading in more than 20 countries in Central and South America, is usually transmitted by mosquitoes.

30 Cases of Zika Now Confirmed in Puerto Rico

Healthcare workers have confirmed Zika virus infections in 30 people in Puerto Rico since November, according to a new report. The first locally transmitted case of Zika was reported there in late December. The virus poses a significant concern to pregnant women, as it may lead to microcephaly (small head size) and other birth defects in their children.

Better water management could halve global food deficit - scientists

By Astrid Zweynert LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Investing in agricultural water management could substantially reduce hunger while limiting some of the harmful effects of climate change on crop yields, scientists said in a study released on Tuesday. Scientists investigated the potential for producing more food with the same amount of water by optimising rain use and irrigation. As global warming is expected to worsen droughts and change rainfall patterns, water availability becomes even more crucial in reducing threats to the global food supply.

'MyShake' App Turns Your Smartphone into Earthquake Detector

Seismologists and app developers are shaking things up with a new app that transforms smartphones into personal earthquake detectors. By tapping into a smartphone's accelerometer — the motion-detection instrument — the free Android app, called MyShake, can pick up and interpret nearby quake activity, estimating the earthquake's location and magnitude in real-time, and then relaying the information to a central database for seismologists to analyze. In time, an established network of users could enable MyShake to be used as an early- warning system, the researchers said.

Let's All Chill: Antarctica's Adélie Penguins Are Probably Fine

Let's give the penguins a little credit. The news reported around the world was startling — that some 150,000 Adélie penguins have died in Antarctica because a colossal iceberg cut off their sea access. It wouldn't be the first time Adélie penguins marched to new digs.

Europe launches satellite to help track global warming

Europe launched a satellite on Tuesday that will help predict weather phenomena such as El Nino and track the progress of global warming as part of the multibillion-euro Copernicus Earth observation project. "When we speak about global warming we often focus on rising air temperatures, but 90 percent of the energy put out on our planet ends up in the ocean," Volker Liebig, director of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Observation program, told Reuters ahead of the launch. The Copernicus project, for which the European Union and the European Space Agency (ESA) have committed funding of more than 8 billion euros ($9 billion) until 2020, is described by the ESA as the most ambitious Earth observation program to date.

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Monday, February 15, 2016

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'Ready Jet Go!' New PBS KIDS Show Brings Space Science Down to Earth

VENICE, Calif. — PBS KIDS and PBS SoCal touted their new animated series, "Ready Jet Go!," with a first-look screening, live musical performances and a conversation about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education here at Google's Venice office last month.

Deadly beauty: Amber-entombed flower may have been toxic

A newly identified and exquisitely preserved flower found entombed in amber – fossilized tree sap – may have packed quite a punch. Scientists announced on Monday the discovery of the flower that lived 20 million to 30 million years ago, named Strychnos electri, inside amber dug out of the side of a mountain in the Dominican Republic. According to the researchers, it also likely boasted toxic compounds. The scientists found two examples of the small tubular-shaped flower, measuring roughly four-tenths of an inch (10 mm), in the tan-colored amber, and were amazed at the remarkable state of preservation, among the best of any fossil flower. "These amber pieces are like time capsules, a frozen moment of life that we can now relive and study," Rutgers University botanist Lena Struwe said.

Shark Attacks at a Record High in 2015

Last year was the worst year on record for unprovoked shark attacks, with the predatory fish biting 98 people, according to a new analysis by the International Shark Attack File. The next highest year for shark attacks was 2000, in which 88 people faced unprovoked bites by sharks.

Trilobites Were Stone-Cold Killers

Trilobites were savvy killers who hunted down their prey and used their many legs to wrestle them into submission, newly discovered fossils suggest. A statistical analysis of these burrows and their intersections shows that they cross one another more than expected, a sign that the trilobites were deliberately hunting down their wormy prey. In a subset of those cases, the trilobites seemed to sidle up to the burrows in parallel, perhaps so they could latch onto the worms lengthwise with their row of legs.

Cheaper, greener, route to bioplastic

By Jim Drury Polylactic acid (PLA) plastic is an increasingly common, environmentally friendly, alternative to conventional petrochemical-based mass plastics. The pre-product is subsequently broken down into building blocks for PLA.

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