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Wednesday, May 18, 2016

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Bringing the Past into the Future: VR Invades the Met

The Met showed off new technologies at an open house on Friday (May 13), to enhance how visitors experience and interpret art in its many forms. Virtual reality, social networking with mobile devices, and tabletop gaming were just a few of the methods employed in a number of media prototypes that museumgoers could use to interact with objects in the collection — and with each other. Players could explore the rooms and objects, and perform activities that drew from information provided during a tour of the actual spaces in the museum. The new media projects were created by the Met Digital Department and Met MediaLab, in collaboration with graduate students at the New York University Game Center.

Bits of 3.5-Billion-Year-Old Asteroid Tell Story of Monster Impact

Now, for the first time, remnants of that impact have been uncovered in ancient sediments in Australia, and they're revealing more intriguing details about the Earth at that time. The mega asteroid that battered the primeval Earth was likely between 12 and 19 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) across, dwarfing the space rock that caused the dinosaur-killing Chicxulub impact, the research suggests.

Blazing meteor creates light show across New England sky

A meteor lit up the night sky over New England and eastern Canada early on Tuesday, startling people who saw it including police officers who captured the show on a dashcam. It was also captured on some security cameras. About 100 tons of dust and sand-sized particles known as meteorites enter the Earth's atmosphere each day, though most are too small to be noticed, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

'Magic' Mirror Reveals Body Changes As You Get Fit

The device, called Naked, is the first 3D body scanner and fitness tracker designed specifically for people to use in their homes, said Ed Sclater, co-founder of Naked Labs, the California-based company behind Naked. As you rotate on the scale, ideally wearing minimal, skin-tight, workout clothing, the sensors create 3D depth maps of your body at around 30 frames per second, Sclater told Live Science.

Lessons from a Baby Bison's Death: Don't. Touch. Wildlife.

What began as a well-intentioned but ill-informed act ended with the death of a young wild animal recently at Yellowstone National Park. During the week of May 9, visitors to Yellowstone came across a solitary bison calf. Later, the newborn calf was released back into the wild, and the National Park Service (NPS) issued the visitors a citation, according to a statement from the NPS released May 16.

German to take command of International Space Station in 2018

Astronaut Alexander Gerst will become the first German and only the second European to take command of the International Space Station, the European Space Agency said on Wednesday. Gerst, 40, previously worked on the ISS in 2014. "When one looks down on the planet from space, that is a very special thing," Gerst told a news conference after being congratulated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Livestock firm Genus ramps up R&D spend in gene editing race

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - British animal genetics firm Genus is diving deeper into the hot area of gene editing, in a move Chief Executive Karim Bitar says will bring long-term gains at the cost of a hefty hike in research spending. The company, which sells pig and bull semen to farmers worldwide, has signed an exclusive global deal with privately owned Caribou Biosciences to use the U.S. firm's CRISPR/Cas9 technology to develop pig and cattle breeds. "The increase in investment will be substantial," Bitar said in an interview on Wednesday, after announcing the collaboration.

Potato-Heavy Diet Linked to High Blood Pressure

Packing potatoes into your diet may put you at higher risk for having high blood pressure, a new study finds, although the researchers acknowledged that the study presents an interesting paradox. People who reported eating four or more servings of potatoes per week were 11 percent more likely to have hypertension, compared with people who ate less than one serving of potatoes per month, according to the study. Moreover, the researchers found that replacing one daily serving of baked, boiled or mashed potatoes with one serving of nonstarchy vegetables was associated with a 7 percent decreased risk of hypertension.

Magic-Mushroom Compound Shows Potential for Treating Depression

A hallucinogenic compound called psilocybin, found in so-called magic mushrooms, has the potential to help treat people with depression one day, a small new study suggests. However, experts caution that much more research is needed to prove psilocybin's effectiveness and safety for this purpose. In the study, 12 people with depression were given psilocybin along with supportive talk therapy.

Penis Transplant: Why It's Done & What Can Go Wrong

The recent announcement of the first U.S. penile transplant is exciting news, and brings hope for many men, including injured combat veterans. On Monday (May 16), doctors announced that a 64-year-old man in Massachusetts had become the first person in the United States to receive a penile transplant. The patient, Thomas Manning, needed his penis removed in 2012 because of aggressive penile cancer.

Scientists, investors seek to identify financial risks of climate change

A Norwegian group of climate scientists will form an alliance on Thursday with investors including BlackRock Inc and the World Bank to try to assess the financial risks of rising global temperatures. The Center for International Climate and Environmental Research, Oslo (CICERO) said it wanted to help investors judge risks from global warming such as more heatwaves, floods, downpours, the extinction of animals and plants and rising seas. The head of CICERO, Kristin Halvorsen, said the aim was to help investors and researchers to "understand each other more easily so that the financial sector can define climate risks".

NASA fuel tank arrives at port ahead of trip through Los Angeles

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A NASA fuel tank arrived at a port on Wednesday ahead of a planned mission this weekend to tow the giant apparatus through the streets of Los Angeles and display it with the space shuttle Endeavour at a science center. The California Science Center, the museum where the external tank known as ET-94 will be placed on exhibit, posted photos online of the 154-foot-long (47-metre) chamber fixed to a barge docking in Marina del Rey on the border with Los Angeles. The orange fuel tank, which the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has donated to the center for display with Endeavour, was designed to carry propellants to thrust a space shuttle into orbit and then detach, mostly disintegrating as it fell to the ocean.

Over a third of North American bird species in danger: scientists

More than a third of all North American bird species are at risk of becoming extinct unless significant action is taken, scientists who are part of a tri-nation initiative said on Wednesday, adding that ocean and tropical birds were in particular danger. The study, compiled by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative and the first of its kind to look at the vulnerability of bird populations in Canada, the United States and Mexico, said 37 percent of all 1,154 species on the continent needed urgent conservation action. The governments of Canada, the United States and Mexico created the North American Bird Conservation Initiative in 1999.

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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Roman-Era Shipwreck Yields Moon Goddess Statue, Coin Stashes

A ship in Israel's Caesarea Harbor was filled with bronze statues headed for recycling when it sank about 1,600 years ago. Now, thanks to a chance discovery by a pair of divers, archaeologists have salvaged a haul of statuary fragments, figurines and coins from the seafloor. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced today (May 16) the discovery of the Late Roman-era artifacts, which include a figurine of a moon goddess and a lamp carrying the likeness of a sun god.

Remarkable evidence of ancient humans found under Florida river

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers who dove hundreds of times into a sinkhole beneath the brown murky waters of Florida's Aucilla River have retrieved some of the oldest evidence of human presence in the Americas including stone tools apparently used to butcher a mastodon. Scientists said on Friday the tools, animal bones and mastodon tusk found at the site showed that people already had occupied the American Southeast by 14,550 years ago, about 1,500 years earlier than previously known. The site provided some of the most compelling evidence that humans had spread across the New World earlier than the so-called Clovis people, who archeologists for six decades considered the Americas' first people.

Echoes of Ancient Cosmology Found at Prehistoric Native American Site

The so-called Heckelman site, located near the town of Milan, in Ohio's Erie County, is on a flat-topped bluff above the Huron River. There, people of the "Early Woodland" period of North American prehistory erected tall, freestanding wooden poles as part of the group's social or religious ceremonies. Archaeologist Brian Redmond, a curator at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, said the location of the site appeared to echo a conception of the cosmos common to many Native American peoples.

Cosmic Dust on Earth Reveals Clues to Ancient Atmosphere

The oldest space dust yet found on Earth suggests that the ancient atmosphere of Earth had significantly more oxygen than previously thought, a new study finds. Although oxygen gas currently makes up about one-fifth of Earth's air, there was at least 100,000 times less oxygen in the primordial atmosphere, researchers say. Previous research suggests that significant levels of oxygen gas started permanently building up in the atmosphere with the Great Oxidation Event, which occurred about 2.4 billion years ago.

New State of Water: Strange 6-Sided Molecule Found

A strange new behavior of water molecules has been observed inside crystals of beryl, a type of emerald, caused by bizarre quantum-mechanical effects that let the water molecules face six different directions at the same time. Under normal conditions, the two hydrogen atoms in each water molecule are arranged around the oxygen atom in an open "V" shape, sometimes compared to a boomerang or Mickey Mouse ears. But in a new experiment, scientists have found that hydrogen atoms of some water molecules trapped in the crystal structure of the mineral beryl become "smeared out" into a six-sided ring.

Genes tell how the giraffe got its long neck

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have sequenced the genome of the giraffe for the first time, uncovering DNA quirks that help explain how the tallest animals on earth developed their remarkably long necks. To pump blood two meters up from the chest to the brain calls for a turbo-charged heart and twice the blood pressure of other mammals. Giraffes also need special safety valves to let them bend down for a drink and raise their heads again without fainting.

Robotic Toy 'Leka' Designed for Kids with Autism

However, there's another spherical, programmable, rolling robot currently in development that's capable of doing important work to engage children with special needs, particularly children on the autism spectrum. Described by its designers as "a robotic companion," the roly-poly Leka robot is shaped like a ball, has an endearing "face" that changes expressions, and uses sound, light and colors to interact with users through customizable games that improve cognitive and motor skills. Caregivers and educators can program the toy to guide children with developmental disabilities through a range of activities, helping them to improve communication and learn to connect with their environment and with others around them.

NASA launches near-space monitoring balloon from New Zealand

NASA successfully launched a super pressure balloon from New Zealand's South Island Wanaka Airport Tuesday to conduct near-space scientific investigations. The launch marks the fifth attempt to get the massive balloon airborne, with previous bids thwarted by bad weather, NASA said in a release. Long-duration balloon flights at constant altitudes play an important role in providing inexpensive access to the near-space environment for science and technology.

Genes tell how the giraffe got its long neck

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have sequenced the genome of the giraffe for the first time, uncovering DNA quirks that help explain how the tallest animals on earth developed their remarkably long necks. To pump blood two metres up from the chest to the brain calls for a turbo-charged heart and twice the blood pressure of other mammals. Giraffes also need special safety valves to let them bend down for a drink and raise their heads again without fainting.

Silent But Deadly: Half of All Heart Attacks Have No Symptoms

Nearly half of all heart attacks may have no symptoms at all — but that doesn't mean they're any less deadly than heart attacks with symptoms, a new study finds. "Silent" heart attacks account for 45 percent of all attacks in the U.S., according to the study, published today (May 16) in the journal Circulation. In addition, the researchers also found that silent heart attacks raise a person's risk of dying from heart disease by three times, compared with if they had not had a heart attack.

That's My Mom: Mother's Voice Lights Up Kids' Brains

There really is something special about a mother's voice, science confirms. Children's brains respond more strongly to their mothers' voices than to the voices of strangers, even when heard for only a fraction of a second, according to a new study published today (May 16), in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We know that hearing [their] mother's voice can be an important source of emotional comfort to children.

Doctors Perform US' 1st Penis Transplant

A 64-year-old man in Massachusetts has become the first person in the United States to receive a penis transplant, doctors announced today. The patient, Thomas Manning, needed his penis removed in 2012 because of aggressive penile cancer. The penile transplant was performed in order to reconstruct the genitalia so it has a more natural appearance, restore urinary function and hopefully achieve sexual function, the doctors said.

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Monday, May 16, 2016

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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BRIEF-Changsheng Bio Technology's unit signs agreement with Japan's Gene Techno Science

May 16 (Reuters) - Changsheng Bio Technology * Says unit signs agreement with Japan's Gene Techno ScienceCo Ltd on medicine project Source text in Chinese: http://bit.ly/24TYsrJ Further company coverage: (Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom)

Volcanoes Spit Out 4.5-Billion-Year-Old Pieces of Earth

Materials from Earth's mantle that were created within the first 50 million years of the solar system's birth have been discovered. In fact, the material — found within volcanic rock on Canada's Baffin Island and in a region near the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific — is about 4.5 billion years old, researchers said in a new study.

Why Belief in Witchcraft Can Do Harm

Belief in witchcraft is linked to a lack of trust for people in sub-Saharan Africa, new research finds. In regions where witchcraft belief is high, people are less likely to trust others, including their family, neighbors and local institutions, American University economist Boris Gershman reports in the May issue of the Journal of Development Economics. "What's more, the children of immigrants from countries with high prevalence of witchcraft beliefs are more distrusting than children of immigrants from other countries," Gershman found, suggesting that such beliefs may contribute to the formation of persistent antisocial attitudes.

Newly Discovered Fetus Is Youngest Egyptian Mummy on Record

A computed tomography (CT) scan of the coffin revealed that the coffin didn't hold mummified internal organs, as researchers had suspected, but instead contains the tiny mummy of a human fetus, according to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. "This landmark discovery … is remarkable evidence of the importance that was placed on official burial rituals in ancient Egypt, even for those lives that were lost so early on in their existence," museum researchers said in a statement. The British School of Archaeology originally uncovered the 17-inch-long (44 centimeters) coffin in Giza in 1907, and the Fitzwilliam Museum added the coffin to the museum collection that same year.

Insect Astronomers? Dung Beetles 'Photograph' the Sky While Dancing

For dung beetles, that means a dance and a mental photograph. A new study finds that dung beetles take a snapshot of the positions of celestial bodies while "dancing" on top of a ball of dung. Previous research discovered that dung beetles, like other insects, use the light of the Milky Way to navigate.

Newfound Ax Blade May Be World's Oldest, Researchers Say

What could be the world's oldest stone ax blade has been identified from fragments found in an ancient rock shelter in northwest Australia, according to archaeologists. The ax fragments were found in layers of sediment at Carpenter's Gap, a large rock shelter in Windjana Gorge National Park,in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Using carbon dating, the fragments are estimated to be between 46,000 and 49,000 years old — much older than similar composite stone axes found elsewhere in Australia and Japan that date from between 30,000 and 35,000 years ago, the researchers said.

Elephantiasis: What Causes This Strange Condition?

A Brazilian man with elephantiasis, a rare condition in which people's limbs become discolored and swell to enormous sizes, was recently featured on the popular Animal Planet show "River Monsters," which often films in tropical, heavily forested locales. As the name "elephantiasis" implies, the condition causes a person's limb to resemble that of an elephant. Elephantiasis is actually a complication of a parasitic infection called lymphatic filariasis.

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