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Wednesday, June 29, 2016

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Novel Tech Aids in Search for Hidden Tombs & Mysteries of the Eye

Researchers used the new devices to probe both the tombs and the eye canal, said Dr. L. Jay Katz, the director of glaucoma service at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia and the author of the commentary. In both cases, the devices sent out signals and then observed how they bounced back, Katz said. In the study of the human eye, a precise technology called optical coherence tomography or OCT, has recently been used to map out very tiny areas that researchers previously couldn't see, Katz told Live Science.

California Has Way More Water Than Thought

California has more water in reserve than previous estimates suggested, new research finds — but it will be expensive to pump it from the ground and treat it for use. Deep groundwater aquifers under California's Central Valley contain enough usable water to bring the Central Valley's groundwater stores to about 650 cubic miles (2,700 cubic kilometers), Stanford University researchers reported June 27 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The additional water is deep and briny, but given that California is in its fifth year of drought, it may be worth the expense to use it, the researchers said.

Record-Breaking Electric Car Goes from 0 to 62 Mph in 1.5 Seconds

In a record-setting feat, an electric car zoomed from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 1.513 seconds last week, making it the fastest known electric car in the world. The "Grimsel" electric car took less than 98 feet (30 meters) to reach 62 mph, according to ETH Zurich, a science, technology, engineering and mathematics university in Zurich, Switzerland. The new record was set at the Dübendorf Air Base near Zurich on June 22.

Mummified, 99-Million-Year-Old Wings Caught in Amber

About 99 million years ago, a hummingbird-size bird likely fought for its life after getting stuck in a glob of tree resin, but it couldn't tear itself away and eventually died, leaving its feathers to mummify in what became a lump of amber, a new study finds. "There appear to be claw marks in the resin, which would suggest a struggle," said co-lead study researcher Ryan McKellar, a curator of invertebrate paleontology at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada. Another preserved wing found in the clump of amber "appears to be a severed limb that may have been torn off by a predator, or may have floated free from the rest of the corpse due to resin flows," McKellar told Live Science in an email.

More Victims of Vesuvius Eruption Found Near Pompeii

Recent excavations on the outskirts of Pompeii in southern Italy have revealed more victims of the volcanic eruption that buried the ancient city in ash nearly 2,000 years ago. The group of people seem like they tried to take shelter in the backroom of the shop when Mount Vesuvius unleashed a deadly eruption in A.D. 79. The skeletons appear to have been disturbed by looters who went digging through the ash in search of valuables some time after the volcanic eruption, according to the archaeologists' announcement.

Can You 'Catch' Stress in a Classroom? Science Says Yes

Researchers found that when 4th- to 7th-grade teachers reported feeling "burned out," their students also had elevated stress levels. The study "is the first of its kind connecting teachers' stress-related experiences to students' stress physiology in a real-life setting," the researchers wrote in their study, published today (June 27) in the journal Social Science & Medicine. Teacher burnout is likely the leading reason for which teachers leave the profession, according to the study.

Pat Summitt's Death: Why Alzheimer's Disease Is Deadly

Hall of Fame women's basketball coach Pat Summitt died today (June 28) at age 64 after a five-year battle with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Although Alzheimer's disease shortens people's life spans, it is usually not the direct cause of a person's death, according to the Alzheimer's Society, a charity in the United Kingdom for people with dementia. Alzheimer's is a progressive brain disease in which abnormal protein deposits build up in the brain, which causes brain cells to die.

Jewish Escape Tunnel Uncovered at Nazi Massacre Site

A 115-foot-long escape tunnel hand-dug by Jewish prisoners has been discovered at a Nazi execution site in Lithuania, a team of archaeologists and geoscientists announced today. Using a remote-sensing technique, a group of researchers was able to relocate the narrow tunnel at Ponar without ever breaking ground. Soon afterward, the military established Jewish ghettos in the city and began periodic killings at Ponar.

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Tuesday, June 28, 2016

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Aliens Attack! Invasive Lionfish Arrive in Mediterranean

Venomous lionfish are striking to look at, with bold stripes and flowing, sail-like fins. A new study shows that the first wave of a lionfish invasion has struck in the Mediterranean Sea, a region where these fish had not been established before. As ocean temperatures warm, numerous non-native fish have invaded Mediterranean waters — about 130 species since 2001, according to the study authors.

Quantum Computer Could Simulate Beginnings of the Universe

Quantum mechanics suggest that seemingly empty space is actually filled with ghostly particles that are fluctuating in and out of existence. This research could help shed light on currently hidden aspects of the universe, from the hearts of neutron stars to the very first moments of the universe after the Big Bang, researchers said. Quantum mechanics suggests that the universe is a fuzzy, surreal place at its smallest levels.

Tau Day: Should Pi Be Downgraded?

June 28. National Paul Bunyan Day, National Insurance Awareness Day, National … Tau Day?

Huge Cache of Ancient Helium Discovered in Africa's Rift Valley

Researchers in the United Kingdom and Norway say the newly discovered helium gas field, found in the East African Rift Valley region of Tanzania, has the potential to ease a critical global shortage of helium, a gas that is vital to many high-tech applications, such as the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners used in many hospitals. The researchers say the discovery is the result of a new approach to searching for helium that combines prospecting methods from the oil industry with scientific research that reveals the role of volcanic heat in the production of pockets of helium gas. By one estimate, the newly discovered helium field in the geothermally active East African Rift Valley may contain more helium than the U.S. Federal Helium Reserve near Amarillo, Texas, which holds about 30 percent of the world's helium supply.

Gateway to Ancient Greek God's Compound Uncovered?

Archaeologists in northern Israel may have unearthed a sanctuary of the Greek god Pan in the ancient city of Hippos. Excavations by the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa have uncovered a monumental Roman gate, which may have led to a compound dedicated to the worship of Pan, the god of flocks and shepherds, who is depicted as half man and half goat in Greek mythology. The new archaeological find may help researchers better understand previous discoveries in the ancient city.

Science groups to Congress: Climate change is real threat

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thirty-one of the country's top science organizations are telling Congress that global warming is a real problem and something needs to be done about it.

Southeast Asian fires emitted most carbon since 1997: scientists

By Beh Lih Yi JAKARTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Forest fires that blanketed Southeast Asia in thick haze last year released the greatest amount of climate-changing carbon since record blazes in 1997, producing emissions higher than in the whole of the European Union, scientists said on Tuesday. Singapore, Malaysia and northern Indonesia choked under a layer of toxic smog in September and October last year, caused by thousands of fires started in Indonesia to cheaply clear land for palm oil crops and for pulp and paper plantations. The study by scientists from the Netherlands, Britain and Indonesia, published in the online journal Scientific Reports recently, was the first scientific report calculating greenhouse gas emissions from the fires using measurements on the ground combined with satellite observations.

Southeast Asian fires emitted most carbon since 1997 - scientists

Supreme Court Abortion Ruling Explained

The Supreme Court has overturned parts of a Texas law that would have caused many abortion clinics in the state to close down. In a 5-3 decision, the court said that parts of law, which imposed a number of restrictions on abortion clinics, were unconstitutional. What did the Texas law require clinics to do?

Omega-3 Fatty Acids Reduce Risk of Fatal Heart Attack

Eating fish, nuts, seeds and plants with omega-3 fatty acids may significantly lower your risk of dying from a heart attack, according to the most thorough study to date on this contested nutritional topic. Previous research on fish oil supplements and other sources of omega-3 fatty acids has shown mixed results, with some studies revealing heart-healthy benefits and others finding no benefit at all. The latest research, reported today (June 27) in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, was the largest of its kind to measure the actual levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the participants' blood, as opposed to relying on questionnaires in which people report what they eat.

Magnets Make People Think of Love, Study Finds

Animal magnetism may be a more literal concept than it's given credit for, according to a new study that finds that people are more attracted to their romantic partners after playing with magnets. The idea holds that when people are "primed" or prompted to think about a particular concept — such as physical magnetic attraction — it affects their cognition in surprising ways. In this case, the magnets may make the metaphor of love as a physical force more prominent in people's minds, leading them to report closer feelings with their partners, said Andrew Christy, a graduate student in psychology at Texas A&M University and a co-author of the new study.

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Monday, June 27, 2016

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Bat wings inspire new breed of drone

By Matthew Stock The unique mechanical properties of bat wings could lead to a new breed of nature-inspired drone. A prototype built by researchers at the University of Southampton shows that membrane wings can have improved aerodynamic properties and fly over longer distances on less power. Using a paper-thin rubber membrane, the team designed wings that mimic the physiology of the muscles in a bat's wing, changing shape in response to the forces it experiences.

Stinging Jellyfish Come to Jersey, But Beaches Still Safe

A dime-size jellyfish that can deliver severely painful stings has been spotted in New Jersey waters for the first time. Gonionemus vertens, commonly known as the clinging jellyfish, is responsible for the hospitalization of a man named Matt Carlo, according to a June 15 alert posted on Facebook by the Monmouth Beach Office of Emergency Management in New Jersey. Carlo was stung while swimming in the Shrewsbury River in Monmouth Beach.

Ancient Greek 'Computer' Came with a User Guide

Thanks to high-tech scanning, 2,000-year-old inscriptions on the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek "computer," can be read more clearly than ever before, revealing more information about the device and its possible uses. Ever since the first fragments of the device were pulled from a shipwreck off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera in 1901, scientists and historians have been trying to learn more about its purpose. The 82 corroded metal fragments of the Antikythera mechanism contain ancient Greek text, much of which is unreadable to the naked eye.

Where's the Exit? Python Caught in Circle of Own Molted Skin

The serpent slithered around and around for about 3 hours until it eventually broke free, according to a reptile center in Australia. Stimson's pythons molt all the time, about once a month on average, but it's rare for one to get stuck in its sloughed-off skin, said David Penning, a doctoral fellow of biology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, who is not affiliated with the reptile center. "A young snake that's growing will shed more often than an older snake, because they're literally running out of space inside their skin," he said.

Rare Bronze Wing from Roman Sculpture Uncovered in England

The 5.5-inch-long (14 centimeters) wing is small enough to fit in a person's hand, the archaeologists said. It's meticulously covered with detailed plumage, and was likely part of a Roman bronze sculpture of a god or goddess, they said. Archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology discovered the wing while they were investigating a site before a construction project, called the Greyfriars Development, in Gloucester, a city in southwest England.

Rainbow-Colored Shooting Stars May Fly Overhead Someday

The Japanese company ALE plans to create and release artificial meteors into space that emit colorful trails when they burn up in Earth's atmosphere. Normally, shooting stars form when particles in space — usually much smaller than an inch (just a few millimeters long) enter the atmosphere and burn brightly, in a process known as plasma emission. The company plans to launch a satellite carrying about 500 to 1,000 "source particles," which will become the artificial meteors.

The Kilogram May Be Redefined

The official metallic cylinder that defines the mass of a kilogram may soon be set aside in favor of a measurement that is defined by fundamental constants of nature. But researchers are making strides, and at the current pace, believe they can redefine the kilogram as soon as 2018.

Pretty as a Princess: Disney Movies May Be Making Girls 'Girlier'

New research finds that preschoolers who watch Disney's princess movies are not only more likely to don the sparkling ultrafeminine fashion but also to internalize stereotypical gender roles. Researchers surveyed almost 200 4-year-old girls and boys, as well as the children's mothers and teachers, to learn about each kid's Disney movie- and TV-watching habits, favorite princesses and playtime routines. "Girls who were into the princess culture at the first wave were more gender-stereotyped one year later," said study lead researcher Sarah Coyne, an associate professor of family life at Brigham Young University in Utah.

Pretty Risky: Men Would Skip Condoms with Attractive Women

Previous research has suggested that there is a link between perceived attractiveness and a person's willingness to have unprotected sex, the researchers, led by Anastasia Eleftheriou, a graduate student in computer science at the University of Southampton in England, wrote in the new study. One earlier study of women, for example, found that the more attractive they considered a man to be, the more willing they would be to have unprotected sex with that man. Fifty-one heterosexual men completed a survey in which they were asked to rate the attractiveness of 20 women in photographs on a scale from 0 to 100.

5 Surprising Facts About Egg Freezing

A city in Japan has announced that it will pay a large part of the cost of egg freezing for women who live there, as part of a program aimed at raising the country's low birth rate. Egg freezing is the process of extracting egg cells from a woman's ovaries and storing them for later use. Urayasu, a city near Tokyo, will provide the currency equivalent of $850,000 over a three-year period to fund a research project on egg freezing, according to the Associated Press.

New 'Artificial Synapses' Could Let Supercomputers Mimic the Human Brain

Large-scale brain-like machines with human-like abilities to solve problems could become a reality, now that researchers have invented microscopic gadgets that mimic the connections between neurons in the human brain better than any previous devices. The new research could lead to better robots, self-driving cars, data mining, medical diagnosis, stock-trading analysis and "other smart human-interactive systems and machines in the future," said Tae-Woo Lee, a materials scientistat the Pohang University of Science and Technology in Korea and senior author of the study. Previous research suggested that the brain has approximately 100 billion neurons and roughly 1 quadrillion (1 million billion) connections wiring these cells together.

Music Festival Season Is Here: How to Avoid Dangerous Health Problems

Your favorite bands aren't the only things that make headlines when summer music festival season is in full swing — each year, there are also news stories of people becoming dangerously ill and even dying at these events. Indeed, summer music festivals can be a perfect storm of heat, dehydration and drug use that can lead to deadly consequences. When it comes to drugs at these events, the biggest problem is ultimately the bad decision-making that goes hand-in-hand with drug use, said Dr. Lewis Nelson, a toxicologist and emergency medicine physician at New York University Langone Medical Center.

Caffeine's 'Boost' Disappears When You're Extremely Sleep-Deprived

"These results are important, because caffeine is a stimulant widely used to counteract performance decline following periods of restricted sleep," the lead author of the study, Tracy Jill Doty, a behavioral biology scientist at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, said in a statement.

Docs Diagnose Smartphone 'Blindness' in 2 Women

For two women in the United Kingdom, mysterious vision problems that happened only at night or early in the morning turned out to have a rather innocuous cause: looking at a smartphone in the dark. An eye exam showed her vision was normal, and she had no signs of a blood clot or other conditions that could cause short-term vision loss, the doctors said. This vision problem lasted about 15 minutes, and happened on and off for six months, the report said.

Stomach Sucker: How Does New Weight-Loss Device Work?

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a weight-loss device that may sound like something out of a science-fiction movie: a small tube inserted into the stomach allows patients to drain a portion of their gut's contents before the body absorbs those calories. The device, called AspireAssist, was approved by the FDA after a year-long clinical trial on 171 people, 111 of whom underwent a procedure to place the device. But not all weight-loss experts think the device is a game-changer.

These Plant Compounds May Reduce Menopause Symptoms

Some plant-based therapies, including supplements with compounds found in soybeans, may help reduce symptoms of menopause, according to a new review of relevant research. In these studies, the women took either a planted-based therapy, such as a supplement or herbal remedy, or a placebo to treat symptoms of menopause. The plant-based therapies included a class of compounds called phytoestrogens, which are found in certain foods, like soybeans.

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