GoogleTrends

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

(Sponsor this newsletter)

Deadly, Rare Tropical Cyclone Hits Somalia

A slow-moving tropical storm pounded the Somalia coast this weekend, a rare hit for the war-torn country that killed more than 100 people and devastated coastal communities. The unnamed tropical storm made landfall on Sunday (Nov. 10) north of Eyl in the Puntland state, a semiautonomous region that typically receives less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain every year. Weak storms such as Cyclone 3A can wreak havoc along the arid African coast because they trigger flash floods, said Amato Evan, an atmospheric scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. "Even a very weak storm can cause huge damage and loss of life in this area," Evan told LiveScience.

Northern Lights Dance Over Sweden in Stunning Time-Lapse (Video)

From the frigid northern edge of Sweden, videographer Chad Blakley has captured amazing footage this fall of the northern lights, which have been stimulated by a recent uptick in solar activity. Blakley shot his latest time-lapse northern lights video on Nov. 9 from Abisko National Park, which is well inside the Arctic Circle in Lapland, the northernmost province in Sweden. "The auroras started almost immediately after the sun went down and danced overhead all night long," Blakley told SPACE.com in an email. Solar storms can send high-speed charged particles crashing into Earth's magnetic field, which sparks the geomagnetic storms responsible for the northern lights, also called the aurora borealis.

Saturn, Earth Shine in Amazing New Photo by NASA Probe

A NASA spacecraft has revealed an unprecedented view of Saturn from space, showing the entire gas giant backlit by the sun with several of its moons and all but one of its rings, as Earth, Venus and Mars all appear as pinpricks light in the background. The spectacular image, unveiled Tuesday (Nov. 12), is actually a mosaic of 141 wide-angle images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft taken in natural color, which mimics how human eyes might see the ringed planet. The pictures that make up the mosaic were snapped on July 19, 2013 — the same day that Cassini took advantage of a rare opportunity to photograph Earth without interference from the sun, which was totally eclipsed by Saturn at the time. "In this one magnificent view, Cassini has delivered to us a universe of marvels," Carolyn Porco, who leads Cassini's imaging team at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo., said of the new image in a statement from NASA. "And it did so on a day people all over the world, in unison, smiled in celebration at the sheer joy of being alive on a pale blue dot."

Mars Rover Curiosity Recovers from Software Glitch

NASA's Curiosity rover has bounced back from a glitch that put the 1-ton robot into a protective "safe mode" for three days over the weekend. The car-size Curiosity rover went into safe mode Thursday (Nov. 7), a few hours after receiving a software update from its handlers on Earth. But mission engineers have identified and fixed the problem, allowing Curiosity to resume normal operations on Sunday (Nov. 10), NASA officials said. "We returned to normal engineering operations," Rajeev Joshi, a mission software and systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement Tuesday (Nov. 12).

Too Aware? The Downside of Mindfulness Revealed

"Mindfulness" is the watchword of gurus and lifestyle coaches everywhere. Automatic processes lead to the formation of habits — both good and bad, said study researcher Chelsea Stillman, a doctoral student in psychology at the Georgetown University Center for Brain Plasticity and Recovery. Next, each participant completed one of two implicit learning tasks. If they automatically caught on to this hidden warning, their reaction times would be faster, indicating implicit learning.

Scientists: Oldest big cat fossil found in Tibet

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scientists have unearthed the oldest big cat fossil yet, suggesting the predator — similar to a snow leopard — evolved in Asia and spread out.

No, Stuxnet Did Not Infect the International Space Station

Did the Stuxnet cyberweapon infect the International Space Station? "The American-made Stuxnet virus has infected the International Space Station," said ExtremeTech. "Stuxnet, America's Nuclear Plant-Attacking Virus, Has Apparently Infected the International Space Station," trumpeted Vice. "Stuxnet, gone rogue, hit Russian nuke plant, space station," asserted the Times of Israel.

Ouch! Hermaphrodite Sea Slug Stabs Mate in Head During Sex

Cats may bite, and geese may have barbed penises, but one newly described hermaphroditic sea slug has taken violent animal sex to a new level by stabbing its mates in the head. 1, is a small sea slug found off the northeast coast of Australia. A simultaneous hermaphrodite, it has both male and female reproductive organs that it uses simultaneously during sex. This stabbing behavior, known as traumatic secretion transfer, is fairly common amongst hermaphroditic sea slugs, and does not actually traumatize the slug — the term trauma refers to the Greek translation as "wound." The behavior is well documented, but still not very well understood.

Oldest Big Cat Fossils Discovered in Tibet

The fossils, which were discovered on the Tibetan plateau, belong to a sister species of the snow leopard that prowls the Himalayan region today, said study co-author Zhijie Jack Tseng, a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In addition, the cat skull came from a region where other fossils of mega-creatures have been found, suggesting perhaps this is the region where Pleistocene megafauna, including "big furry guys" such as wooly mammoths and rhinos, evolved, Meachen said.

Incoming comet ISON heading for close encounter with sun

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A comet is heading for a close encounter with the sun later this month, and if it is not vaporized or torn apart, it should be visible to the naked eye in December. Comet ISON is expected to pass just about 621,000 miles (1 million km) from the sun's surface on November 28. Scientists are not sure how ISON will hold up. As it blasts around the sun, traveling at 234 miles per second (377 km per second) the comet will be heated to about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees C), hot enough to vaporize not just ice in the comet's body, but also rock and metal.

Home HPV Test May Help Detect Early Cervical Cancer

BOSTON — Home tests for the human papillomavirus (HPV) may help detect cervical cancer in women who would not otherwise be screened by a doctor, a new study suggests. In the study, researchers mailed home HPV test kits to 155 women ages 30 to 64 in North Carolina. (Pap smears are recommended every three years as a way to screen for cervical cancer, which can be caused by HPV.) About 12 percent of women were infected with high-risk HPV types that increase the risk of cervical cancer, said study researcher Andrea Des Marais, of the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, who presented the findings this week here at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association.

Area 51 Declassified: Documents Reveal Cold War 'Hide-and-Seek'

Newly declassified documents reveal more detail about past use of the mysterious Nevada test site known as Area 51 and the concern for maintaining secrecy about the work done at the facility. The area was photographed with American reconnaissance assets to better assess what the Soviet Union's spy satellites might be able to discern. The documents also detail the debate over the possible release of a photograph "inadvertently" taken of the secret facility by NASA astronauts aboard the Skylab space station in 1974. More than 60 declassified documents in an Area 51 file were posted on the Internet by the National Security Archive late last month, compiled and edited by archive senior fellow Jeffrey Richelson.

Estrogen May Shield Memories from Stress After Menopause

SAN DIEGO — Menopause comes with its share of unpleasant side effects, which may include memory loss. The hormone estrogen appears to protect against the effects of stress and associated memory loss in aging women. Now, it seems that estrogen replacement therapy in postmenopausal women could prevent memory loss associated with stress, according to findings presented here Sunday (Nov. 10) at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. "Women who are going through menopause report feeling their memory is getting worse, though the reports are anecdotal," said study researcher Alexandra Ycaza of the University of Southern California.

Missing Piece of Long-Neck Dinosaur Finally Discovered

DENVER — A small roadside quarry west of Denver, site of some of the infamous "Bone Wars" of the 19th century, has revealed a new treasure: the snout of the long-necked dinosaur Apatosaurus ajax. The specimen, nicknamed Kevin, is the first Apatosaurus ajax muzzle ever found, and the discovery is likely to help paleontologists understand how A. ajax is related to other Apatosaurus kin, said Matthew Mossbrucker, the director of the Morrison Natural History Museum in Morrison, Colo., and the paleontologist who first identified the bones. "It's the finest Apatosaurus snout on the planet," Mossbrucker told LiveScience at his office, tucked away in a corner next door to the room where he and volunteers have been painstakingly carving Kevin's bones out of sandstone for two years. The dinosaur species was discovered first by naturalist Arthur Lakes in the foothills of Colorado, along a ridgeline now visible from Mossbrucker's office.

5 Ways Our Cavemen Instincts Get the Best of Us

"Like it or not, we evolved to be sweaty, fat bipeds that are furless and big brained," Harvard evolutionary biologist Jason Lieberman said during a public lecture on Nov. 6 here at the American Museum of Natural History. We evolved to be physically active, but we also evolved to be lazy," said Lieberman, who discussed the consequences of living with a Stone Age body in a Space Age world. During the talk, Lieberman described some of the ways that instincts humans inherited from the Stone Age — also known as the Paleolithic Period, stretching from between 2.6 million to about 10,000 years ago — now conflict with modern life and contribute to increasingly common lifestyle-induced diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

One World Trade Center: A Look at the World's Tallest Things

In a hotly anticipated decision, a blue-ribbon panel of experts Tuesday (Nov. 12) declared that One World Trade Center in New York City is the tallest building in the United States. The Height Committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat ruled that the new structure is taller than Chicago's Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower). The spat was initiated when some skyscraper fans complained that One World Trade Center does not rise to the expected height of 1,776 feet (541 meters), but cheats by using a rooftop needle to elevate its profile above the Willis Tower, which stands at 1,451 feet (442 m).

Hydrogen phone chargers to keep Africans connected when power runs short

By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - African smartphone users will soon have an alternative means to get round the power shortages afflicting much of the world's poorest continent - a portable charger that relies on hydrogen fuel cells. British company Intelligent Energy plans to roll out 1 million of the new chargers in mid-December, mainly in Nigeria and South Africa, after successfully testing them in Nigeria over the last five months, its consumer electronics managing director, Amar Samra, said. "In emerging markets where the grids are not reliable and people are using (mobile phones) as a primary device, it is mission critical; The chargers are designed to back up the spread of smartphones and tablets across countries where cellphones have already helped to transform lives and businesses.

SES suffers launch delay to satellite ASTRA 5B

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - SES, one of the world's largest commercial satellite operators, said on Wednesday that the planned launch of one of its satellites had been delayed until January. SES aimed to launch its ASTRA 5B satellite on board the Ariane 5 booster from Kourou in French Guiana on December 6. The satellite is to serve the European market. The delay was due to adjustments required for a different satellite to be launched on the same rocket for Spain's HISPASAT. Previous satellite launch delays have led SES to trim its guidance for 2013. ...

EasyJet, Airbus team create world's first man-made ash cloud

The world's first man-made ash cloud has been created by a team led by airline easyJet and planemaker Airbus to test how passenger aircraft cope with volcanic blasts such as the 2010 Icelandic eruption. The eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano shut down much of Europe's airspace for six days, affecting more than 10 million people and costing $1.7 billion. An Airbus A400M test plane on Wednesday dispersed one tonne of ash over the Bay of Biscay, off western France, creating conditions similar to that of the 2010 eruption, said the team, which also included Norwegian sensor maker Nicarnica Aviation. The ash used in the test was from the Eyjafjallajokull eruption, collected and stored by scientists in Reykjavik.

Rarely Seen 'Asian Unicorn' Caught on Camera

One of the most secretive creatures on Earth — the saola — has been photographed in Vietnam for the first time in 15 years. Scientists first discovered the saola in 1992 in Vietnam near the country's border with Laos. A lone saola was documented this past September by a camera trap set up in the Central Annamite Mountains by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Vietnamese wildlife officials. "When our team first looked at the photos we couldn't believe our eyes," Van Ngoc Thinh, head of the WWF in Vietnam, said in a statement.

Crazy Cretaceous Find: Intersex Crabs

DENVER — It's a crustacean conundrum: Why did some Cretaceous crabs sport both male and female characteristics? The answer is unknown, but new fossil discoveries reveal that intersex crabs were a small but persistent part of the population in South Dakota during the Cretaceous Period — and a parasitic barnacle may have been to blame. Gale Bishop, an emeritus professor at Georgia Southern University, excavated these specimens throughout the 1970s; the crabby collection now belongs to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

Guts of Superfast Black Hole Jets Revealed

Astronomers have taken an unprecedented look at the superenergetic jets blasted out by black holes, and thus have answered a key question about the composition of these mysterious beams. "We've known for a long time that jets contain electrons but haven't got an overall negative charge, so there must be something positively charged in them, too," study co-author James Miller-Jones, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research in Australia, said in a statement. "Since our results found nickel and iron in these jets, we now know ordinary matter must be providing the positive charge." The researchers took the measure of 4U1630-47, a black-hole candidate just a few times more massive than the sun.

Ancient Atlantic Seawater Twice As Salty As Today's Oceans

When scientists drilled deep into the center of a huge crater beneath the Chesapeake Bay, they discovered ancient seawater that had been locked up in sediments since the early Cretaceous Period. Researchers examined the saltiness, or salinity, of water retrieved from drilled cores deep under Chesapeake Bay— a sprawling estuary bordered by Maryland and Virginia — and determined that the briny samples dated back to when the North Atlantic was transitioning from being a closed basin to the wide, open ocean we see today. The findings offer a glimpse into the evolution of the North Atlantic Ocean, which formed approximately 130 million years ago, when the ancient supercontinent Pangaea began drifting apart, said study lead author Ward Sanford, a hydrologist at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Reston, Va. [The World's Biggest Oceans and Seas] "This is really the first solid look at the North Atlantic at the time it was opening, to see how that salinity was changing over time," Sanford told LiveScience.

Philippines Relief: The Emerging Science of Why We Give

In a recent study led by scientists at Stanford University, participants were more likely to donate all or part of $15 they were provided in the study when they saw head shots of orphans or refugees rather than silhouettes.

'Rare' Atom Finding May Advance Quantum Computers

Quantum computers could crack codes and run more complex simulations than current machines, but actually building one is hard to do. The bits that store this complex data don't last long, because they are made of single atoms that get knocked around by stray electrons and photons in the environment. They found a way to get the bits to last long enough to do computations with, using the magnetic properties of a rare earth element called holmium and the symmetry of platinum. The experiment, detailed in tomorrow's (Nov. 14) issue of the journal Nature, is an important step in creating quantum computers and making quantum memory useful.

(Sponsor this newsletter)

Delievered to you by Feedamail.
Unsubscribe

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

(Sponsor this newsletter)

US Military Aids Recovery in Typhoon-Ravaged Philippines

The U.S. military is assisting with recovery efforts and humanitarian relief in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, which caused devastating damage and is estimated to have killed more than 10,000 people. Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel directed the U.S. Pacific Command to help local search-and-rescue operations in the central Philippines, and provide air support to monitor the effects of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which battered the island nation when it made landfall last Thursday (Nov. 7). The deadly typhoon (known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines), which reached super typhoon strength, has become one of the largest Pacific storms ever recorded. It ravaged the coastal city of Tacloban with storm surge that reached up to 20 feet (6 meters) in places, whipped up by winds that were estimated at 195 mph (314 km/h) hours before landfall.

Lice Reveal Clues to Human Evolution

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Clues to human evolution generally come from fossils left by ancestors and the molecular trail encoded in the human genome as it is tweaked over generations. in spite of human attempts to get rid of the parasites, their persistence has made them a potential reservoir of information for those who want to know more about human evolution and history, said David Reed, associate curator of mammals at the Florida Museum of Natural History, on Sunday (Nov. 3) here at the ScienceWriters2013 conference. Clues from the bloodsucking hitchhikers, for instance, suggest modern humans intermingled with Neanderthals (a theory also supported by other genetic research) and that humans may have first put on clothing before leaving Africa.

Inside the Most High Tech Cab in New York: Car Force One

If you ever wanted to play on a PlayStation 4, watch cable TV, finish some work on a full-size keyboard, print photos and/or enjoy a beer as strobe lights pulsate around you on your way to work in a clean, comfy cab, take a ride in Car Force One. A ride fit for a president, Car Force One is a luxury car service that chauffeurs you around the New York area in the most teched-out car in the world. According to Car Force One founder and CEO Ishai, the company's priority is customer satisfaction. It's for the clients," said Ishai, who declined to divulge his last name.

Bacteria Control Hyena Communication

But the hyenas themselves do not produce these scents — they are actually the product of bacteria that live in the animals' scent glands, a new study shows. As bacterial communities within scent glands change and evolve, so do the odiferous compounds that waft forth, said Kevin Theis, lead author of the study and an ecologist at Michigan State University. "It's an extremely important study showing the role of bacteria mediating interactions between mammals," said David Hughes, a researcher at Penn State who wasn't involved in the study. They then took the material back to Michigan State, where they identified the types of bacteria by looking at their genes, and analyzed the chemical odors with a technique called mass spectrometry.

Incoming Comet ISON Now Visible in Binoculars

The potentially dazzling Comet ISON has brightened enough on its highly anticipated approach toward the sun that it's now visible through a decent pair of binoculars. Skywatchers around the world have recently used binoculars to spot Comet ISON, which is streaking toward a close encounter with the sun on Nov. 28 that will bring the icy wanderer within just 730,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) of the solar surface. "I have made my first confirmed binocular sighting of C/2012 S1 ISON as well," Pete Lawrence, of the town of Selsey in the United Kingdown, told the website Spaceweather.com on Saturday (Nov. 9). "ISON's head appears small and stellar through a pair of 15x70s optics." [See amazing photos of Comet ISON by stargazers]

Effect of Most Vitamins on Cancer Is Inconclusive

Taking vitamin E or beta-carotene does not appear to reduce the risk of cancer or cardiovascular disease, according to a new review from a government-appointed panel of experts. However, there isn't enough evidence to say whether other vitamins or minerals (such as vitamin D, calcium and selenium) or multivitamins reduce the risk of these two conditions, according to the review from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Although the effect of vitamins is unclear, some studies do suggest that a healthy diet reduces the risk of cancer and heart disease, the researchers said. "In the absence of clear evidence about the impact of most vitamins and multivitamins on cardiovascular disease and cancer, health care professionals should counsel their patients to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet that is rich in nutrients," said Dr. Michael LeFevre, co-chair of the task force.

Astronaut Sees Super Typhoon Haiyan from Space (Photo)

An astronaut in orbit has snapped a striking view of Super Typhoon Haiyan as it appears from space — an image taken one day after the monster storm devastated the Philippines as it heads toward Vietnam. NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg spotted Typhoon Haiyan through a window on the International Space Station on Saturday (Nov. 9), just one day after the storm caused widespread damage and loss of life in the Philippines. The so-called super typhoon slammed into the Philippines on Friday (Nov. 8) and has been blamed for potentially thousands of deaths due to storm flooding and widespread devastation, according to the Associated Press. According to the Associated Press, the Typhoon Haiyan had sustained winds of up to 147 mph (235 km/h) and gusts of up to 170 mph (275 km/h).

Dig for Hominid Bones Begins in Cradle of Humankind

An expedition to probe the deep recesses of a cave that may contain fossilized specimens of early humans is currently underway in South Africa. An international team of paleoanthropologists is exploring the Rising Star Cave at a site in South Africa dubbed the Cradle of Humankind, which is located roughly 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Johannesburg. The Cradle of Humankind is one of the richest fossil sites in Africa, and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. The scientists found several hominid fossils, including a mandible, which forms part of the lower jaw.

Execs Watching Porn a Leading Cause of Computer Viruses

While employees may get the brunt of the blame for security breaches, company leaders are doing their fair share of damage as well, a new study finds. Research from ThreatTrack Security revealed that 40 percent of security professionals found that a device used by a member of their company's senior leadership team had been infected by malware because of a visit to a pornographic website, and nearly 60 percent of the security professionals surveyed have cleaned malware from a device after an executive clicked on a malicious link or was duped by a phishing email. In addition, 45 percent of respondents said they have found malware on a senior leader's device because the executive allowed a family member to use it, with one-third of security professionals discovering it on an executive's mobile devices because they installed a malicious app. ThreatTrack CEO Julian Waits Sr. said that while it is discouraging that so many malware analysts are aware of data breaches that enterprises have not disclosed, it is no surprise that the breaches are occurring.

GlaxoSmithKline heart drug misses goal in major study

drug, designed to fight heart disease in a new way, failed to meet its main goal in a major late-stage clinical study, dealing a blow to one of the company's biggest new treatment hopes. Darapladib's inability to reduce the overall risk of heart attacks and strokes in the first of two big Phase III studies is disappointing, but not a huge surprise. Shares in Britain's biggest drugmaker had fallen 1.2 percent on the news by 1050 GMT on Tuesday, and Deutsche Bank analyst Mark Clark said failure of the drug removed some "blue sky fantasy" about potential multibillion-dollar sales. GSK obtained full rights to darapladib, along with lupus drug Benlysta, when it bought U.S. biotech firm Human Genome Sciences last year for $3 billion.

The Physics of Peeing, and How to Avoid Splash-Back

Enter the Splash Lab at Brigham Young University, where researchers are trying to figure out how to prevent urinal splash-back. Fluid dynamics scientist Randy Hurd and his graduate adviser, Tadd Truscott, created a model of the male urethra on a 3D printer — a cylinder measuring 0.31 inches by 0.12 inches (8 millimeters by 3 millimeters). Before reaching the urinal walls, the urine stream broke up into individual droplets. The greatest pee splash occurred when the urine stream came in angled perpendicular to the urinal wall, down to about 45 degrees.

Recognizing Giant Leaps: Google Lunar XPRIZE Establishes Milestone Prizes (Op-Ed)

Alexandra Hall, senior director of the Google Lunar XPRIZE, contributed this article to SPACE.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Back in 2007, building upon the successes of the Ansari XPRIZE for suborbital spaceflight and the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, XPRIZE and Google launched the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE, the largest incentivized competition to date. This week, XPRIZE and Google announced a series of Milestone Prizes available to competing teams. Over the past decade, XPRIZE has successfully launched and awarded a number of competitions, learning a great deal about what makes for optimum prize design.

Giant Moon-Forming Impact On Early Earth May Have Spawned Magma Ocean

LONDON — Billions of years ago, the Earth's atmosphere was opaque and the planet's surface was a vast magma ocean devoid of life. This scenario, says Stanford University professor of geophysics Norman Sleep, was what the early Earth looked like just after a cataclysmic impact by a planet-size object that smashed into the infant Earth 4.5 billion years ago and formed the moon. The moon, once fully formed, which would have appeared much larger in the sky at the time, since it was closer to Earth

4 Secrets of Creativity from Pixar's President

SAN DIEGO — If anyone knows about creativity, it's Ed Catmull. The president of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif., has spent a lifetime bringing richly imaginative stories to life on the silver screen, from "Toy Story" to "Wall-E." His personal trajectory took him from graduate school in computer science, to working for George Lucas, to leading Pixar and Disney animation.

Health 'Score' on Food Packages May Help Consumers Make Healthier Choices

For people trying to wade though nutrition labels and choose healthy options, a front-of-package food label that boils down nutrition information to a single "score" may be the most user-friendly approach, a new study suggests. In recent years, the fronts of some food packages have been decorated with short food labels, which are intended to briefly summarize a product's nutrition, and make unhealthy ingredients (such as high levels of saturated fat) highly visible to consumers. However, there is currently no standard for what information needs to be on these labels, leading to a variety of front-of-package food labeling systems that may confuse consumers, said study researcher Christina A. Roberto, a psychologist and epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. The new study attempted to help answer this question by comparing five front-of-package food labeling systems, as well as packages with no label.

Can You Give HPV to Yourself?

One potential risk factor for getting oral infections with the human papillomavirus (HPV) may have been overlooked by researchers: giving it to yourself. In a new study, women who engaged in behaviors that could potentially transfer HPV from their genitals to their mouths were nearly four times more likely to have an oral HPV infection than those who did not engage in such behaviors. (Presumably, women would need to already have an HPV infection in their genitals for such a transfer to occur.) The results held even after the researchers took into account other behaviors that could increase the women's risk of oral HPV infection, such as their number of oral sex partners.

People with Depression May Age Faster

People suffering from depression may be aging faster than other people, according to a new study from the Netherlands. In the study of about 1,900 people who had major depressive disorders at some point during their lives, along with 500 people who had not had depression, researchers measured the length of cell structures called telomeres, which are "caps" at the end of chromosomes that protect the DNA during cell division. Normally, telomeres shorten slightly each time cells divide, and their length is thought to be an index of a cell's aging. The researchers found telomeres were shorter in people who had experienced depression compared with people in the control group.

Big Brother: Streetlights That Watch and Listen

They look like ordinary streetlights, shining down on Las Vegas sidewalks after the sun has set. But Sin City's new streetlights have a few special capabilities that have civil libertarians up in arms. The city is installing Intellistreets, a brand of street lighting that is capable of recording video and audio of pedestrians and motorists. What happens in Vegas, it seems, no longer stays in Vegas.

Underwater Mission by Jacques Cousteau's Grandson Postponed

A monthlong underwater research mission led by Fabien Cousteau, grandson of the celebrated oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, has been postponed until the spring. Follow Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow.

How Typhoon Haiyan Compares to the 2004 Tsunami

Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the central Philippines on Friday (Nov. 8), affecting millions and displacing hundreds of thousands. It will likely go down as one of the five strongest storms in the last 50 years, even though estimates of the storm's strength vary, said Brian McNoldy, a tropical storm expert at the University of Miami. Jeff Weber, a researcher at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., put Haiyan in the top three strongest storms, as measured by wind speed at landfall. "The last time I saw something of this scale was in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami," said Sebastian Rhodes Stampa, the head of a United Nations disaster assessment team that visited the area on Saturday, according to The New York Times.

11/12/13: What Makes Today So Special?

Perhaps it's only notable for spawning a midweek blitz of weddings or a rush to buy lucky lotto tickets, or being a good day for Count von Count. A David's Bridal survey estimated that more than 3,000 brides would get married today across the United States — a 722 percent increase compared with this Tuesday last year. "Iconic dates have become a trend in the United States, reaching new heights when over 65,000 couples tied the knot on 07/07/07," Brian Beitler, chief marketing officer for David's Bridal, said in a statement.

How the Brain Creates Out-of-Body Experiences

The findings, presented here Sunday (Nov. 10) at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, highlight which brain regions are active when a person has an out-of-body experience. The findings suggest the brain relies on a complex interplay of information from different senses to produce the experience of being inside of a body — even when it's someone else's.

New Type of Quasar Found, Baffling Scientists

Astronomers have discovered a new type of quasar — an incredibly bright galactic core powered by a supermassive black hole — that current theory fails to predict. The newly found quasars do demonstrate this behavior, but, surprisingly, some of the gas also appears to be falling back to the center, researchers said. "Matter falling into black holes may not sound surprising," study lead author Patrick Hall, an astronomer at York University in the United Kingdom, said in a statement. Gas flow in and around quasars can be calculated by examining its Doppler shift, or the change in the wavelengths of light that are produced as the gas moves.

(Sponsor this newsletter)

Delievered to you by Feedamail.
Unsubscribe