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Thursday, November 28, 2013

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Do Animals Typically Think Like Autistic Savants? (Op-Ed)

Marc Bekoff, emeritus professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is one of the world's pioneering cognitive ethologists, a Guggenheim Fellow, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Over the past few years — and at a meeting of the Animal Behavior Society this past summer —a number of people have asked me to address Temple Grandin's claim that nonhuman animals (animals) typically behave like people with autism. She also claims that autism helps her understand and empathize with animals, who supposedly think in pictures, better than people without autism.

Something Is Rotten at the New York Times (Op-Ed)

Michael Mann is Distinguished Professor of Meteorology at Penn State University and was recognized in 2007, with other IPCC authors, for contributing to the award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a lead author on the "Observed Climate Variability and Change" chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Scientific Assessment Report. This article is adapted from one that appeared on the Huffington Post. When it comes to the matter of human-caused climate change, the Grey Lady's editorial page has skewed rather contrarian of late. A couple months ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its fifth scientific assessment, providing the strongest evidence to date that climate change is real, caused by us and a problem.

Why is a University Accepting Random-Source Research Dogs? (Op-Ed)

Wayne Pacelle is the president and chief executive officer of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). This Op-Ed is adapted from a post on the blog A Humane Nation, where the content ran before appearing in LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. My colleagues and I have released the results of the latest HSUS undercover investigation, in this case, laboratory experiments on dogs and other animals at Georgia Regents University (GRU) in Augusta, Ga. The focus of our investigation was on the use of dogs for unnecessary — and terminal — dental experiments. The dogs were acquired from Kenneth Schroeder — a random source Class B dealer who has been formally charged by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including obtaining multiple dogs from illegal sources.

Humanity in the Age of Frankenstein's Cat (Op-Ed)

Marc Bekoff, emeritus professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is one of the world's pioneering cognitive ethologists, a Guggenheim Fellow, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. I finally got around to reading a book with the catchy title, "Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts" (Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013) by journalist Emily Anthes, and I'm sorry I let it sit on my cluttered desk for as long as I did. In an NPR interview about her fascinating book, Ms. Anthes talks about one example: "One lab in China is even tackling the human genome by way of the mouse genome.

Is the 'Knockout Game' Real?

There's a terrifying craze that — if you believe the media reports — is sweeping the nation: the "knockout game," in which someone walks up to an unsuspecting person and punches them in the face or head, knocking them out cold with one blow. Collecting every reference to the issue over the past two decades could yield enough data to call the knockout game a "growing trend."

Tongue-Controlled Wheelchair Helps Paralyzed People Move

A new wireless device has allowed paralyzed people to drive a wheelchair simply by moving their tongues. In a clinical trial, people with paralysis of all four limbs, a condition known as tetraplegia, effectively used the tongue-drive system to steer a wheelchair through an obstacle course or operate a computer. The device could give people with severe disabilities greater independence and better quality of life, Ghovanloo told LiveScience. the headset then sends these signals to a smartphone, which converts the tongue position into a command to control a computer cursor or drive a wheelchair.

Thanksgiving Holiday Travel Paths Seen from Space (Photo)

Amid one of the busiest travel weeks for Americans, NASA released a nighttime image of the nation from space, illuminating the arteries of transportation that will get so much use around Thanksgiving Day. While some will board planes and trains, more than 90 percent of this week's travelers will be in cars or trucks, using the United States' 4.1 million miles (6.6 million kilometers) of roadways. Nighttime images make it easier to trace this travel web, with nodes that brighten over major metropolitan areas like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The powerful, Earth-observing Suomi NPP satellite captured this view of the continental United States on Oct. 1, 2013, with its Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).

Thanksgiving Myth Busted: Eating Turkey Won't Make You Sleepy

Contrary to popular belief, eating turkey isn't the main reason you feel sleepy after a Thanksgiving feast. The oft-repeated turkey myth stems from the fact that turkey contains the amino acid tryptophan, which forms the basis of brain chemicals that make people tired. In fact, consuming large amounts of carbohydrates and alcohol may be the real cause of a post-Thanksgiving-meal snooze, experts say.

Bringing Back the Unconscious: The Latest Science on Awakenings

But the latest research hints that some of them may still retain reserves of conscious awareness and that there may be ways to reach them — with sleeping pills, antiviral medications, or electric stimulation — and help them to reawaken. George Melendez was all but dead in January of 1998, when he was pulled from the wreckage of a car that had landed in a small pond on a golf course near Houston, TX. Medics revived him but the combined brain trauma of the accident and near drowning left the then 23-year-old college student in what doctors call a minimally conscious state—awake and occasionally aware of his surroundings but incapable of producing any reliable responses—verbal or otherwise. It's these patients, such as Melendez, that scientists are hoping to reach.

Thanksgiving in Space: How to Cook a Zero-G Turkey Dinner

For American astronauts in space, the lack of gravity is no reason to miss a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. On Thursday (Nov. 28), while Americans across the United States chow down on turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pie and other dishes in honor of Thanksgiving Day holiday, Americans in space will be sure to do the same. The six crewmembers on the International Space Station will eat a traditional Thanksgiving dinner as they sail 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the Earth. "We now have about 200 different foods and beverages that are part of our baseline food system for the International Space Station," NASA food scientist Vickie Kloeris said today (Nov. 27) during a video interview with SPACE.com.

More Kids Treated for Mental Health Conditions

The use of mental health treatments in children has increased in recent years much more than it has among adults, a new study finds. The trend signals a growing attention to mental health problems in children, but could also be a source of concern about unnecessary medication use in children, the researchers said. "On the one hand kids who needed treatment are now getting treatment and benefiting from it," said study researcher Dr. Mark Olfson, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University in New York. For example, the non-medical use of prescription drugs on college campuses one of the concerns about stimulants, and is part of a larger picture of substance abuse, Olfson told LiveScience.

See Comet ISON Slingshot Around Sun: Live SOHO Spacecraft Views

Astronomers all over the world are training their eyes and telescopes on Comet ISON as it approaches its closest distance to the sun on Thursday (Nov. 28), with several unblinking space telescopes offering live views of the comet's solar encounter. But rather than the traditional football game, we'd suggest you watch ISON's progress around the sun instead.

Working on Thanksgiving? You're Not Alone

Employees of big box retailers like Walmart and Target aren't the only ones who will be clocking in on Thanksgiving, a new study finds. Specifically, workers in health care facilities, municipalities and other nonbusiness establishments are far more likely to draw Thanksgiving shifts than are their counterparts in other industry sectors. While the number of employees working on Thanksgiving is up from the previous three years, it is lower than 13 years ago, when 48 percent of workers had to clock in. "Even for the 97 percent of employers who designate Thanksgiving as a paid day off, a significant portion plan to keep some lights on in the workplace, requiring at least a few to work on the holiday," said Matt Sottong, director of surveys and research reports for Bloomberg BNA.

SpaceX Sets Table for Thanksgiving Rocket Launch Today: Watch It Live

The private spaceflight company SpaceX will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with a rocket launch from Florida today (Nov. 28) after a two-day delay due to a technical glitch. SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 rocket is now set to blast off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station during a 65-minute launch window that opens at 5:39 p.m. EST (0039 Nov. 29 GMT). The mission will mark a series of firsts for SpaceX, including the company's first launch of its upgraded Falcon 9 rocket from Florida, its first launch of a huge commercial satellite and its first launch into a high geostationary transfer orbit needed for commercial satellites. SpaceX initially attempted to launch the SES-8 satellite on Monday (Nov. 25), but unexpected readings in the liquid oxygen system on the rocket's first stage prompted a delay. "Saw pressure fluctuations on Falcon boost stage liquid oxygen tank," SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk wrote in a Twitter update.

Scientists Explore New Zealand s Deep Sea (Part II)

What 11 Billion People Mean for Space Travel

Editor's note: By the end of this century, Earth may be home to 11 billion people, the United Nations has estimated, earlier than previously expected. As part of a week-long series, LiveScience is exploring what reaching this population milestone might mean for our planet, from our ability to feed that many people to our impact on the other species that call Earth home to our efforts to land on other planets. Robert Zubrin wants humanity to put down roots on Mars, and he thinks he knows how to make it happen at a reasonable price. The key is to travel light and live off the land, accessing the plentiful resources available in the Red Planet's dirt and air, says Zubrin, president and founder of the nonprofit Mars Society, which advocates manned exploration of the Red Planet.

Holiday Drinking: How 8 Common Medications Interact with Alcohol

In some cases, mixing alcohol with medications can be dangerous. Drinking while on other types of medications might have a negative effect on your symptoms or the disease itself. Knocking a few back can also intensify the sleep-inducting effect of medications that may cause drowsiness, making it risky to get behind the wheel or use dangerous machinery. "The danger of combining alcohol and some medications is real and sometimes fatal," said Danya Qato, a practicing pharmacist and doctoral candidate in health services research at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

Thanksgiving Trauma: The 7 Strangest Holiday ER Visits

LiveScience asked emergency room doctors about the weirdest, funniest or most unfortunate reasons for a visit to the ER over Thanksgiving and other holidays. Nothing says Thanksgiving like cooking an obscenely large farm bird. Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that emergency rooms see a lot of fowl-related injuries on Turkey Day. "We've had fires that singed hair and eyebrows, and splash burns to the face," said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

Ghost Hunters Burn Down Historic Mansion

A group of ghost hunters has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to a historic mansion near New Orleans. Perhaps inspired by the hit SyFy television series "Ghost Hunters" and its many imitators, the men climbed through a hole in a fence and broke into the LeBeau Plantation house near the Mississippi Riveron Nov. 21. According to the St. Bernard Sheriff's Office, the men were looking for ghosts. Though the mansion had been shuttered in recent years, its owner, the Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation, had plans to renovate the building.

Wormy Mind May Be First Step to Understanding Human Brain

The roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans is one of biology's most widely studied organisms, and it's the first to have the complete wiring diagram, or connectome, of its nervous system mapped out. Knowing the structure of the animal's connectome will help explain its behavior, and could lead to insights about the brains of other organisms, scientists say. "You can't understand the brain without understanding the connectome," Scott Emmons, a molecular geneticist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York, said in a talk earlier this month at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego. In 1963, South African biologist Sydney Brenner of the University of Cambridge decided to use C. elegans as a model organism for developmental biology.

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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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See the Moon and Mars Before Sunrise on Wednesday

The Red Planet currently shines at magnitude 1.3, a brightness that would rank it near the bottom of the listing of the 21 most luminous stars in the sky. A month from now, however, Mars will have brightened about a half magnitude — a sure sign of much greater things to come this winter and spring. The Red Planet is still too small to show any surface features in most telescopes even when well up in the southeast. It will remain there until early August of next year, and in the process it will engage Virgo's brightest star, Spica, in an unusual triple conjunction, the first of these pairings taking place in early February. The Red Planet will then be a match for Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

Controversial T. Rex Soft Tissue Find Finally Explained

The controversial discovery of 68-million-year-old soft tissue from the bones of a Tyrannosaurus rex finally has a physical explanation. The research, headed by Mary Schweitzer, a molecular paleontologist at North Carolina State University, explains how proteins — and possibly even DNA — can survive millennia. Schweitzer and her colleagues first raised this question in 2005, when they found the seemingly impossible: soft tissue preserved inside the leg of an adolescent T. rex unearthed in Montana. The find was also controversial, because scientists had thought proteins that make up soft tissue should degrade in less than 1 million years in the best of conditions.

2009 Swine-Flu Death Toll 10 Times Higher Than Thought

The swine-flu pandemic of 2009 may have killed up to 203,000 people worldwide—10 times higher than the first estimates based on the number of cases confirmed by lab tests, according to a new analysis by an international group of scientists. Looking only at deaths from pneumonia that may have been caused by the flu, they found that Mexico, Argentina and Brazil had the highest death rates from the pandemic in the world. The new estimates are in line with a previous study published last year that used a different statistical strategy to evaluate the impact of the pandemic caused by the H1N1 virus. However, that study, which was done before countries' data on overall death rates in 2009 had become available, found that the majority of deaths occurred in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Amur Leopard Cubs Spotted on Critter Cam in China

Two Amur leopard cubs were spotted on a wildlife camera in China, the first evidence that this critically endangered big cat is breeding in the region, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced today (Nov. 26). The leopard cubs were seen with a female adult leopard at the Wangqing Nature Reserve in northeast China, about 18 miles (30 kilometers) away from the main Amur leopard population on the Russia-China border. Firstly, it shows that our current efforts are paying off, but, secondly, it shows that China can no longer be considered peripheral to the fate of both wild Amur leopards and tigers," Joe Walston, the Wildlife Conservation Society's executive director for Asia Programs, said in a statement.

23andMe: What's Really Wrong with Personal Genetic Tests

A major shortcoming of the genetic tests offered by the Google-backed company 23andMe is not necessarily their accuracy, but rather the limited information they use to evaluate a person's lifetime risk of complex diseases, experts say. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to 23andMe telling the company to stop marketing its DNA testing kits, because the kits require FDA approval, which the company had not obtained. The letter emphasizes the need for 23andMe to prove that their tests are accurate. "FDA is concerned about the public health consequences of inaccurate results from the [Personal Genome Service] device;

Amazing Ice Circle Appears On River

A spinning ice disk spotted on the Sheyenne River in North Dakota is a totally natural phenomenon and not the work of aliens or secret government spies, according to reports.

White Wine and Beer Important Sources of Arsenic

White wine, beer and Brussels sprouts can be major sources of the toxic metal arsenic in people's diets, according to a new study. Of the 120 foods the researchers looked at, four turned out to significantly raise people's arsenic levels: beer, white wine (and to a lesser extent, red wine), Brussels sprouts and dark-meat fish such as salmon, tuna and sardines, according to the study, published last week (Nov. 16) in the Nutrition Journal. The results suggest that diet can be an important source of people's arsenic exposure over the long term, regardless of arsenic concentrations in their drinking water, the researchers said. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits the arsenic in drinking water to 10 micrograms per litter for drinking water, but there are few limits set for foods.

Should You Eat Breakfast on Thanksgiving?

On Thanksgiving, people may forgo breakfast or lunch to save room for a feast in the evening. "It's a big mistake to fast before a big meal at a party, or at Thanksgiving dinner," said Katherine Tallmadge, a registered dietitian and op-ed contributor to LiveScience. When people skip meals, they end up feeling so hungry by dinnertime that they overeat, Tallmadge said. To avoid this scenario, Tallmadge recommends eating a regular breakfast and lunch on Thanksgiving, at the same time you normally would eat these meals.

How Science Can Help You Cook a Better Thanksgiving Feast

And with only days to go before turkeys hit dinner tables across the country, the Test Kitchen chefs have been busy, said Jack Bishop, chef, TV personality and editorial director of America's Test Kitchen. But the line between cooking a good turkey and awful turkey is relatively small. It's not hard to cook a turkey well, but it's pretty easy to cook one poorly." [Thanksgiving Gallery: 8 Fascinating Turkey Facts] To prepare a fresh turkey, Test Kitchen chefs recommend brining the bird overnight, which involves soaking the turkey in a container of salty water for at least 12 hours.

Comet ISON Nears Sun for Thanksgiving Encounter in NASA Video

A NASA spacecraft has captured its best video yet of the icy Comet ISON streaking toward a Thanksgiving Day encounter with a sun, a close shave that the comet might just not survive.

'Warriors 4 Wireless' Program Helps Vets Find Tech Industry Jobs

A new nonprofit program aims to help veterans and returning service members find jobs in wireless telecommunications, as part of a broader goal to have 5,000 vets employed in the expanding industry by the year 2015, according to officials from the Department of Defense.

New Housecat-Size Feline Species Discovered

Oncillas are housecat-size felines found throughout much of South America, and are also known as little tiger cats, little spotted cats or tigrinas. But not all oncillas are the same: New research suggests that little tiger cats in northeastern Brazil belong to a different species from those elsewhere on the continent, although they look virtually identical. Researchers analyzed the genetic material of oncillas in northeastern Brazil, and compared them with nearby populations in the south. This, along with other genetic differences, led researchers to conclude the two populations do not interbreed and are in fact different species, said study co-author Eduardo Eizirik, a researcher at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

Comet may be visible from Earth if it survives sun's heat, gravity

A comet that left the outer edge of the solar system more than 5.5 million years ago will pass close by the sun on Thursday, becoming visible in Earth's skies in the next week or two - if it survives. "There are three possibilities when this comet rounds the sun," Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in an interview posted on NASA's website. The second possibility is that the sun's gravity could rip the comet apart, creating several big chunks. The third option: If the comet is very weak, it could break up into a cloud of dust and be a complete bust for viewing.

Rare diplodocus dinosaur sells for $650,000 at British auction

The skeleton of a diplodocus dinosaur that roamed what is now the United States some 160 million years ago was sold for 400,000 pounds ($651,100) to an unidentified public institution at an auction in Britain on Wednesday. It was found by the teenage sons of German dinosaur hunter Raimund Albersdoerfer in Dana quarry in Wyoming, in the western United States. The auctioneers, Summers Place Auction, declined to disclose any details about the buyer, who wished to remain anonymous. "Finding a reasonably complete diplodocus of this size is extremely rare," Errol Fuller, a natural history expert and curator of the sale, told Reuters by telephone from West Sussex in England.

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