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Monday, January 27, 2014

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7,000-Year-Old Human Bones Suggest New Date for Light-Skin Gene

An ancient European hunter-gatherer man had dark skin and blue eyes, a new genetic analysis has revealed. The analysis of the man, who lived in modern-day Spain only about 7,000 years ago, shows light-skin genes in Europeans evolved much more recently than previously thought. The findings, which were detailed today (Jan. 26) in the journal Nature, also hint that light skin evolved not to adjust to the lower-light conditions in Europe compared with Africa, but instead to the new diet that emerged after the agricultural revolution, said study co-author Carles Lalueza-Fox, a paleogenomics researcher at Pompeu Fabra University in Spain. The hunter-gatherer's dark skin pushes this date forward to only 7,000 years ago, suggesting that at least some humans lived considerably longer than thought in Europe before losing the dark pigmentation that evolved under Africa's sun.

Dark Matter Mystery Could Be Solved in Next 10 Years

Dark matter — the mysterious stuff that is thought to make up most of the matter in the known universe — may reveal itself during the next decade, one prominent scientist predicts. When the moment comes, it will result in "a pivotal paradigm shift in physics," Gianfranco Bertone, a physicist with the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, said in a talk on dark matter research at a Royal Society Frontiers of Astronomy conference in London in November. The elusive substance may show itself as researchers set out to test "the existence of some of the most promising dark matter candidates, with a wide array of experiments, including the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and a new generation of astroparticle experiments underground and in space," Bertone said. So far, the only evidence of dark matter's existence comes from the gravitational effects it exerts on visible matter.

Marijuana Use During Pregnancy Affects Baby's Brain

Using marijuana during pregnancy could affect a baby's brain development by interfering with how brain cells are wired, a new study in mice and human tissue suggests. Researchers studied marijuana's effects on mice and brain tissue from human fetuses, and found that the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, interferes with the formation of connections between nerve cells in the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for higher thinking skills and forming memories. "Our advice is that [pregnant] mothers should avoid marijuana,"said neuroscientist Tibor Harkany of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and the Medical University of Vienna, in Austria, who led a study detailed today (Jan. 27) in the EMBO Journal.

Source of Galapagos Volcanism Not Where Scientists Thought

The volcanic plume that gave birth to the Galapagos Islands is not where scientists thought it was, a new study finds. Three-dimensional seismic images suggest the plume lies southeast of the chain's Fernandina Island, the spot where computer models place it. What's more, the plume is not being bent eastward by the migrating Nazca tectonic plate (atop which the Galapagos Islands sit), but appears to be moving northward. "Having the plume relocated helped explain why [many of] the Galapagos volcanoes are active," said Douglas Toomey, a geologist at the University of Oregon and leader of the study, detailed online Jan. 19 in the journal Nature Geoscience.

China Moon Rover Hits Snag in Big Lunar Science Mission

China's Jade Rabbit moon rover may have stubbed its lucky foot. The state-run Xinhua news agency reported Saturday that China's Yutu moon rover(the name means Jade Rabbit) "has experienced a mechanical control abnormality, and scientists are organizing repairs." It is not clear how serious the abnormality, but the news agency said the moon rover's malfunction occurred due to the "complicated lunar surface environment," citing the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND).

Dead Plants Hold Earthquake Secrets

With a few tricks borrowed from the oil industry, scientists are hoping to one day better understand why earthquakes start and stop. An easier alternative is to study faults exposed on Earth's surface, and look at "fossilized" earthquakes preserved along the faults. "That was the gold standard," said Heather Savage, a geophysicist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York. Just as rubbing your hands warms them on a winter's day, earthquakes heat the Earth when two sides of a fault slide past each other during a quake.)

How Students Discovered New Supernova in Nearby Galaxy

On Tuesday night (Jan. 21), astronomer Steve Fossey was showing undergraduates how to use a telescope at the University of London Observatory when they spotted a star explosion in Messier 82, a nearby galaxy. "The weather was closing in, with increasing cloud, so instead of the planned practical astronomy class, I gave the students an introductory demonstration of how to use the CCD camera on one of the observatory's automated 0.35–metre [13.7-inch] telescopes," Fossey said in a statement form UCL. The galaxy, also called the Cigar Galaxy, is some 12 million light-years away and it is a popular target for small telescopes because it is bright and quite photogenic. Studying the new supernova

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Sunday, January 26, 2014

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Checking Work Email at Night? Here's Why You Should Stop

Using a smartphone to get more work done at night makes employees less productive the next day, new research suggests. Russell Johnson, a Michigan State University assistant professor of management and co-author of the study, said many smartphone owners consider the devices to be among the most important tools ever invented when it comes to increasing productivity of knowledge-based work. Yet, the National Sleep Foundation says only 40 percent of Americans get enough sleep on most nights and a commonly cited reason is smartphone usage for work. Both studies' surveys showed that nighttime smartphone usage for business purposes cut into sleep and sapped workers' energy the next day in the office.

50 Job Interview Questions You Should Be Prepared to Answer

The online career site Glassdoor believes one of the best ways for job seekers to get ready for an interview is to practice their responses to any questions that may be asked. To help those who are preparing for an upcoming interview put their best foot forward, Glassdoor sifted through tens of thousands of their interview reviews to find out some of the most common questions candidates are getting asked.

3 Reasons to Interview for a Job You Don't Want

In an economy in which full-time opportunities are scarce, many job seekers have adopted a "take what you can get" attitude, accepting any interview they're offered in the hopes of landing a position rather than holding out for their dream job. "Describe your strengths and what you bring to the table, but also ask a lot of questions about what the employer is looking for in a candidate to fill the position."

Ancient Roman Infanticide Didn't Spare Either Sex, DNA Suggests

A new look at a cache of baby bones discovered in Britain is altering assumptions about why ancient Romans committed infanticide. "Very often, societies have preferred male offspring, so when they practice infanticide, it tends to be the male babies that are kept, and the female babies that are killed," said study researcher Simon Mays, a skeletal biologist for English Heritage, a non-governmental organization that protects historic sites. Though ancient Romans indeed preferred boys, there is no evidence they went as far as infanticide to skew the sex ratio, Mays told LiveScience. Mays and his colleagues used a technique called ancient DNA analysis to study infant bones found at a site called Yewden Villa, near Hambleden, in England.

Body's Response to Disease Has a Smell, Study Suggest

Humans may be able to smell sickness, or at least detect a distinct odor in the sweat of people with highly active immune systems who are responding to infection, a new study from Sweden suggests. In the study, eight healthy people were injected with either lipopolysaccharide, a bacterial toxin that produces a strong immune response, or with salt water (which wasn't expected to have any effect).

Cosmic Lens Caught Bending Bright Gamma-Ray Burst, a Space First

A telescope in space has captured a rare kind of cosmic allignment for the first time. NASA's Fermi telescope has captured the first gamma-ray measurements of a gravitational lens, a rare natural alignment in which a massive body distorts light from a more distant object. A team of international astronomers used the observatory to study the emission from one galaxy as its energetic emissions passed through another spiral galaxy on their way toward Earth. Fermi itself could even serve to identify more of these rare natural telescopes.

NASA Flooded with Ideas for 2020 Mars Rover Science Gear

NASA has received a whopping 58 science-instrument proposals for its next Mars rover, which is slated to launch in 2020 to search for signs of past Red Planet life. The proposals are double the usual number submitted during such instrument competitions, NASA officials said. We truly appreciate this overwhelming response by the worldwide science and technical community and are humbled by the support and enthusiasm for this unique mission," John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science, said in a statement. "We fully expect to be able to select an instrument suite that will return exciting science and advance space exploration at Mars," he added.

Grand Canyon's Age? A Mix As Wild As the West

The Colorado River took the easy route when it carved the Grand Canyon through Arizona's ruddy sandstones and pastel limestones, a new study claims. "I think the Colorado River found low places and paleocanyons and ancient topographies that led to the Grand Canyon," said Karl Karlstrom, lead study author and a geologist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. But the study may do little to resolve the heated debate over the age of the Grand Canyon. For the past year, Karlstrom and others have stridently attacked work published Nov. 29, 2012, in the journal Science that suggested the westernmost Grand Canyon was 70 million years old.

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Saturday, January 25, 2014

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Mavericks Competition: Why Surf Spot Has Monster Waves

The world's best surfers are gearing up for Mavericks International, an elite surf competition that pits big-wave riders against the monster swells at a Northern California Beach. The competition happens every year in the winter at Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay, Calif., at a time when the waves and weather align.

Get Off the Couch! Even Light Exercise Has Health Benefits

"These findings demonstrate the importance of minimizing sedentary activities, and replacing some of them with light-intensity activities, such as pacing back and forth when on the phone, standing at your desk periodically instead of sitting and having walking meetings instead of sit-down meetings," study researcher Paul Loprinzi, an assistant professor at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky., said in a statement. The new study was published online Dec. 25 in the journal Preventive Medicine.

Stargazer Snaps Stunning View of Andromeda Galaxy (Photo)

The Andromeda Galaxy takes center stage in this spectacular image captured by an amateur astronomer during a holiday stargazing session.

New Night Sky Supernova: How to See It in Telescopes

One of the closest star explosions in nearly 27 years was discovered this week by students and staff at the University of College London, and the supernova can be easily seen by stargazers equipped with a moderately large telescope. Early on the evening of Jan. 21, a team of students — Ben Cooke, Tom Wright, Matthew Wilde and Guy Pollack — assisted by astronomer Steve Fossey, spotted the new supernova in nearby galaxy Messier 82 (M82), popularly known as the "Cigar Galaxy." You can see the supernova in a live webcast on Saturday (Jan. 24), courtesy of the Virtual Telescope Project in Ceccano, Italy. While the new supernova is not visible to the naked eye, it is visible in telescopes, weather permitting.

Why Wait? Career and Romance Woes Lead to Delayed Childbearing

The new study, from researchers in Sweden, finds the most common reason that 36- to 40-year-old people cite for not having children is that they don't have a suitable partner. "The majority really wanted children, even [many] who were 36 or 40 years old," said study researcher Erica Schytt, who studies women and children's health at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. "At minimum, they don't have the same possibilities of getting pregnant" as younger people, Schytt told LiveScience.

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Friday, January 24, 2014

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Midwest Earthquake Risk Still Looms

After wreaking havoc 200 years ago with huge earthquakes that made the Mississippi River flow backwards, the New Madrid Seismic Zone has continued to rattle the Midwest with about 200 quakes every year. A new study suggests recent reports of the "death" of the New Madrid Seismic Zone were premature. Based on statistical computer models, which predict how many aftershocks from the 19th century quakes should hit the region, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists think the past two centuries of earthquakes suggest the New Madrid Seismic Zone is popping more often than expected. Instead of slowing down, earthquake activity on the Reelfoot Fault continues at a sprightly pace. The New Madrid Seismic Zone is a series of ancient faults cutting the Midwest and now hidden beneath the Mississippi River's thick mud.

LA Earthquakes Could Be Amplified, Models Show

Virtual earthquakes predict greater shaking in the seismically precarious city of Los Angeles than in nearby areas, a new computer modeling study suggests. Shaking in the Los Angeles Basin could be three times larger on average than in the city's surroundings, the models show. These virtual quakes could also predict the risks looming over many other cities across the world, especially those in locations with no recent history of large earthquakes. Los Angeles and other cities sit on top of large sedimentary basins.

Frogs' 'Love Ripples' Bring Death from Above

But new research finds that their love songs have a dark side: They create ripples that attract the attention of frog-eating bats. "Animals have all kinds of sensory systems that they can use in very different ways, and they can combine their senses," said study leader Wouter Halfwerk, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas, Austin.

Ancient Mars May Have Been Habitable for Hundreds of Millions of Years

Mars may have once been capable of supporting microbial life for hundreds of millions of years in the distant past, new findings from a long-lived Red Planet rover suggest. NASA's Opportunity rover, which celebrates 10 years of Mars exploration on Friday (Jan. 24), has uncovered evidence that benign, nearly neutral-pH water flowed on the Red Planet around 4 billion years ago. These results, reported today (Jan. 23) in the journal Science, complement the recent work of NASA's bigger, newer Curiosity rover, which discovered a potentially habitable lake and groundwater system in a different Martian locale dating from about 3.7 billion years ago. "These [benign] water conditions existed over a long period of time," said Ray Arvidson, lead author of the new study and Opportunity deputy principal investigator.

World's Oldest Cancer Arose in a Dog 11,000 Years Ago

But one cancer outlived the dog in which it emerged by spreading its abnormal cells on to other dogs during mating. Now, researchers have named this sexually transmitted canine cancer the oldest known line of cancer cells, at 11,000 years old. Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is one of only two known diseases in which cancerous cells from one animal infect another. "The cancer cells in all the dogs around the world today are derived from the original dog," said Elizabeth Murchison, a study researcher and cancer geneticist at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the University of Cambridge, both in the United Kingdom.

Fever Treatments May Cause More Flu Deaths

People sick with the flu often take medication to alleviate the accompanying fever. But their relief may come at a price for others: New findings suggest that suppressing fever can result in the infection of tens of thousands of additional people each flu season. The condition can lower the amounts of virus in a sick person's body, because viruses replicate less efficiently in higher temperatures. They found that in a typical flu season, fever-reducing drugs such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen may lead to tens of thousands of additional influenza cases, along with more than a thousand deaths attributable to influenza, across North America.

First-Time C-Sections Declining in Many US States

The report is based on data about primary cesarean deliveries from places where this information is recorded on birth certificates, including 28 states and New York City. Email Bahar Gholipour or follow her @alterwired.

Rare Disease Linked to Dengue Virus Caused Texas Woman's Death

A woman in Texas who died in 2012 succumbed to a rare blood cell disease, which was caused by the mosquito-borne dengue virus infection, according to a report of her case published today. The case shows that while dengue remains rare in the United States, vigilance for the disease is important, and health professionals should be aware of the complications the virus can cause. The woman died after her dengue infection brought on another condition called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), in which white blood cells build up in the skin, spleen and liver, and destroy other blood cells. HLH is most frequently associated with Epstein Barr virus infection, but also has been linked to dengue, according to the researchers, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NASA Launches Next-Generation Relay Satellite Into Orbit

NASA's newest communications satellite blasted into space tonight (Jan. 23), beefing up the network that links ground controllers to the International Space Station and Earth-orbiting research observatories. TDRS-L is the latest addition to NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite network, which enables the nearly continuous transmission of information between mission control and a variety of orbiting research and exploration spacecraft. "The TDRS constellation brings back all of the data and video that we see every day from the International Space Station," NASA launch director Tim Dunn said in a statement. "TDRS also supports all of the data from the Hubble Space Telescope and all of our low-Earth orbit NASA science missions."

Rocket blasts off with NASA communications satellite

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An unmanned rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday to put the newest member of NASA's space communications network into orbit. The 19-story tall Atlas 5 rocket, built and launched by United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, lifted off at 9:33 p.m. EST (0233 GMT Friday). With the 3.8-ton (3,447-kg) Boeing-built Tracking and Data Relay Satellite perched on its nose, the rocket blazed through clear, star-filled skies as it headed southeast over the Atlantic Ocean toward orbit. The satellite, called TDRS, is the 12th built for a NASA constellation that circles more than 22,300 miles above Earth.

NASA rover Opportunity finds signs Mars once had fresh water

NASA's decade-old Mars rover, Opportunity, has found evidence that life-friendly fresh water once pooled on the red planet's surface, reinforcing similar discoveries made by newcomer Curiosity on the other side of the planet, scientists said on Thursday. Opportunity, along with its now-defunct twin, Spirit, landed 10 years ago for concurrent 90-day missions to look for clues of the past existence of water. In August 2012, Curiosity, equipped with an onboard chemistry lab, arrived for follow-up investigations to determine if Mars had other ingredients essential for supporting life. On the other side of the planet, meanwhile, Opportunity has been analyzing water-bearing rocks at the rim of an ancient impact crater called Endeavour.

British scientists seek go-ahead for GM 'Omega-3' crop trial

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists have applied for permission to run an open-air field trial of a genetically modified (GM) crop they hope may one day become a sustainable and environmentally friendly source of healthy Omega-3 fats. The proposed trial - likely to generate controversy in a nation where GM foods have little public support - could start as early as May and will use Camelina plants engineered to produce seeds high in Omega-3 long chain fatty acids. No GM crops are currently grown commercially in Britain and only two - a pest-resistant type of maize and a potato with enhanced starch content - are licensed for cultivation in the European Union (EU). But scientists at Britain's agricultural lab Rothamsted Research have developed Camelina plants to produce Omega-3 fats that are known to be beneficial to health but normally found only in oils in increasingly limited fish stocks.

British scientists seek go-ahead for GM 'Omega-3' crop trial

Artificial Bone Marrow Could Be Used to Treat Leukemia

For decades, doctors have been treating leukemia patients by transplanting stem cells from people with healthy bone marrow. Now, researchers are taking the first steps toward making bone marrow in a lab: They are growing stem cells in a setting that mimics the natural environment of bone marrow. The researchers' goal is to create artificial bone marrow that is capable of growing blood stem cells outside the body, said study researcher Cornelia Lee-Thedieck, of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. Such stem cells could then be used to treat leukemia patients.

Mars Rover Photos as Art: Red Planet Wonders Star in Smithsonian Exhibit

Science meets Martian art in a new exhibition celebrating 10 years of Mars exploration by NASA's twin rovers Spirit and Opportuntiy. The "Spirit and Opportunity: 10 Years Roving Across Mars" gallery at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., puts otherworldly images captured by the Spirit and Opportunity rovers (the Mars Exploration Rovers) on vivid display as artwork. SPACE.com visited the exhibit this month as NASA celebrated the 10th anniversary of the rovers' 2004 landing on Mars. Exhibit curator John Grant, a Mars Exploration Rover science team member, sees the gallery as a way to show the public the beauty of Mars and detail some of the science Spirit and Opportunity have done while exploring the Martian surface.

New Supernova in Night Sky Captivates Amateur Astronomers (Photos)

At 12 million light-years away, a new supernova that suddenly appeared in a nearby galaxy this week is the closest star explosion to be spotted from Earth in at least 20 years, so it's no surprise that it has captured the attention of stargazers. Professional astronomers and amateurs skywatchers alike have rushed to their telescopes to capture images of the brilliant star explosion, which was discovered by students at the University College London. So far, astrophotographers from Puerto Rico to Arizona have sent SPACE.com stunning photos of the new supernova in the galaxy M82. Adam Block sent in a photo of M82's newest bright spot as seen on Jan. 23, 2014 from the 32-inch Schulman telescope at the University of Arizona's Mount Lemmon SkyCenter using a ).

Stethoscopes Could Become Extinct, Doctors Say

The image of a doctor with a stethoscope hanging around the neck may seem iconic, but in fact, this image may not last much longer, as hand-held ultrasound devices are predicted to replace 200-year-old stethoscopes in near future, doctors say. "With ultrasound devices, one can not only look at the heart, but all of the organs in the body," said Dr. Jagat Narula, professor of cardiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and one of the authors of the editorial. The ability to get a better look inside the body could prevent misdiagnoses, and help doctors detect abnormalities that need to be followed up with other tests. "As a matter of fact, stethoscope is a misnomer," Narula said.

Trailblazing Mars Rover Celebrates 10 Years on Red Planet

NASA's Opportunity rover marks 10 years of Mars exploration today (Jan. 24), an extraordinary milestone that adds to the robot's growing legend. Though both robots were originally tasked with 90-day missions, Spirit explored the Red Planet until 2010 and Opportunity keeps rolling along to this day, gathering more and more clues about Mars' warmer and wetter past. "It's a well-made American vehicle," Spirit and Opportunity deputy principal investigator Ray Arvidson, of Washington University in St. Louis, told reporters Thursday (Jan. 23) when asked to explain Opportunity's amazing longevity. Still, Opportunity's continued productivity at such an advanced age has surprised the mission team.

River Roulette: Randomness Controls Erosion

Because geoscientists rely on river erosion to track both mountain-building and the warming and cooling of Earth's atmosphere, the discovery means researchers may need to rethink how they calibrate their river clocks. "River incision is the yardstick we use to measure a lot of processes," said Noah Finnegan, lead study author and a geomorphologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. If the mountains were growing at the same time the river cut down, then geologists can start to estimate what's called an uplift rate — how fast mountains grow — by assuming that river erosion keeps pace with the rising range. But Finnegan, who studies the evolution of Earth's surfaces through time, wondered what would have happened if erosion had started and stopped over the millennia.

Polar Bears Hunt on Land as Ice Shrinks

Polar bears have shifted to a diet of more land-based food in response to climate change and melting sea ice in the Arctic, new research finds. The results suggest that polar bears, at least in the western Hudson Bay area, may be slightly more flexible in the face of climate change than previously thought. "We found they were eating more of what is available on the land," including snow geese, eggs and caribou, said study co-author Linda Gormezano, a vertebrate biologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Still, it's not clear that this foraging strategy can offset the negative impacts of climate change, with one scientist saying it is unlikely to make a difference for polar bear numbers.

Squarks & Neutralinos Lurk in the Universe, Physicist Says

LONDON — Squarks, selectrons and neutralinos may be lurking in the universe, say physicists who suggest supersymmetry — the idea that every known particle has a yet-to-be-discovered sister particle — is not dead, despite the lack of evidence found in its favor. The world's most powerful atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), has yet to find evidence of the existence of such sparticles (supersymmetric particles), though perhaps physicists are not interpreting the data in the right way, said particle theorist Ben Allanach of Cambridge University. Speaking here at the Royal Society conference "Before, behind and beyond the discovery of the Higgs Boson" on Tuesday (Jan. 21), Allanach proposed that the LHC might detect the elusive supersymmetric particles once it is up and running again next year with much higher energies. The first run of the LHC at 7 TeV culminated with the successful detection of what is widely believed to be the Higgs boson, a particle thought to explain how other particles get their mass.

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