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Sunday, February 15, 2015

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Ebola Virus Still Infectious for a Week After Death

The Ebola virus may still be able to cause disease a week after a person infected with the virus has died, a new study suggests. The study involved five macaque monkeys that had been infected with Ebola for previous research, and were euthanized after they showed symptoms of the disease. The scientists detected infectious virus on the bodies up to seven days after the monkeys' deaths. The study also detected genetic material from the Ebola virus for up to 10 weeks after death.

Leaking Brain Fluid Traced to Pilates Injury

A woman who had persistent headaches found there was a strange culprit for her pain: a Pilates class that caused her brain fluid to leak, according to a new case report. The brain fluid leak led to a persistent, worsening headache that was only alleviated when the 42-year-old British woman laid down, according to the report that was published in December in the Journal of Medical Case Reports. Though doctors never identified the exact location of the leak, the patient improved after a few weeks of bed rest and pain relievers. Cerebrospinal fluid is a clear liquid that flows between the brain and its outer covering, and between the spinal cord and its outer covering.

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Saturday, February 14, 2015

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U.S. approves biotech apple that resists browning

U.S. regulators on Friday approved two genetically engineered apple varieties designed to resist browning, rejecting efforts by the organic industry and other GMO critics to block the new fruit. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved the new apples, developed by the Canadian biotech company Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc., as "unlikely to pose a plant pest risk to agriculture." Okanagan plans to market the apples as Arctic® Granny and Arctic® Golden, and says the apples are identical to their conventional counterparts except that they will not turn brown. Okanagan President Neal Carter, called the USDA approval a "a monumental occasion." "It is the biggest milestone yet for us, and we can't wait until they're available for consumers," he said in a statement. Carter said Arctic apples will first be available in late 2016 in small quantities, and it will take many years before the apples are widely distributed.

Hidden Faults Explain Earthquakes in Fracking Zones

Oklahoma, Ohio and Arkansas have experienced an unusually large number of earthquakes in recent years. In Oklahoma, hidden faults beneath the surface are primed to pop, reports a study published Jan. 27 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Some of these faults were previously unknown and threaten critical structures, such as huge oil-storage facilities, said lead study author Daniel McNamara, a U.S. Geological Survey research geophysicist based in Golden, Colorado. In the first study, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzed more than 3,600 recent Oklahoma earthquakes to precisely locate known and unknown faults.

All About Me: Powerful People Inspire Themselves

During his 2014 Oscar acceptance speech for best actor, Matthew McConaughey recalled that a woman asked him as a teenager, "Who's your hero?" He replied, "You know who it is? It's me in 10 years." McConaughey, one of Time Magazine's most influential people of 2014, described how he needed a role model for inspiration and motivation, and he found those in his future self. A new study on how powerful people find inspiration shows that McConaughey is not alone. "Powerful people draw inspiration from their own experiences, not from those of others," said Gerben van Kleef, the lead researcher of the study and a professor of social psychology at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

The Nanotech View of the Microbiome (Kavli Roundtable)

Alan Brown, writer and editor for the Kavli Foundation, edited this roundtable for Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. One might grow better at higher temperatures, another if temperatures drop.

Why 'Fifty Shades' Could Give Dangerous Message to Teens (Op-Ed)

Dr. Andrew Adesman is chief of the Division of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics at Cohen Children's Medical Center (CCMC) of New York and recently co-authored aresearch review article on the adverse impact of violent video games and pornography on teenagers.

Wayward Grand Canyon Wolf Was Killed in Utah, DNA Confirms

DNA tests have confirmed that an endangered gray wolf killed in Utah in December was the same lone wolf that had been spotted and photographed near Arizona's Grand Canyon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced this week. Gray wolves hadn't been seen in Arizona since the 1940s, but this past fall, wildlife officials began tracking a wayward wolf near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. A coyote hunter shot the wolf near the south end of the Tushar Mountains near Beaver, Utah, on Dec. 28. When the hunter realized his kill was a wolf and not a coyote, he alerted state officials and FWS began investigating the case.

Climate of Opportunity: New School Divests From Fossil Fuels (Op-Ed)

Benjamin Silverman is a recent graduate from The New School, where he was heavily involved as a student leader in the fossil fuel divestment campaign. The crisis of climate change presents us with daily reminders of how the world's runaway temperatures are getting worse. But in these trying times a new and positive trend is emerging: Human beings are rising to meet the challenges of climate change. If the hottest flames make the hardest steel, then the adversity of climate change has the potential to bring out the best in us at all levels.

Gimme Shelter: A Blueprint for Living in Extreme Environments (Op-Ed)

Stacey Severn is a science enthusiast and blogger whose writing and photos appear in StarTalk, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, Space.com and other platforms. She is the community manager for Neil deGrasse Tyson's StarTalk Radio, and advisor to the Space Advisory Committee at The Explorer's Club. Dave Irwin, founder of Terra Projects, is an energetic, talented young architect whose designs merge with the Earth's natural environment. Irwin was part of the collective behind a nature-inspired installation, Rhizome, in New York's Brooklyn Bridge Park, and a number of endeavors pairing the artistic with the environment.

Valentine's Science: How Mouth Germs Shape Attraction

The human body is home to 100 trillion microbes, known collectively as the microbiome. In recent years, scientists have found that these communities of organisms are crucial for human metabolism and immune system function. "So it shouldn't be surprising that [the microbiome] has effects not only on metabolic processes, but on the way we look at things ... and even in sexual attraction," said Dr. William Miller, a retired physician, evolutionary biologist and author of the book "The Microcosm Within: Evolution and Extinction in the Hologenome" (Universal Publishers, 2013). For example, microbes may be invisible musicians in the complex orchestra of human attraction.

European Cargo Ship Leaves Space Station for Final Time

The European Space Agency's fifth and final Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-5) has left the International Space Station ahead of a planned plunge into Earth's atmosphere on Sunday (Feb. 15).

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Friday, February 13, 2015

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Dogs Can Tell Happy or Angry Human Faces

Dogs may indeed be able to discriminate between happy and angry human faces, according to a new study. During the training stage, each dog was shown only the upper half or the lower half of the person's face. The investigators then tested the pups' ability to discriminate between human facial expressions by showing them different images from the ones used in training. The dogs were shown either the other half of the face used in the training stage, the other halves of people's faces not used in training, a face that was the same half as the training face but from a different person, or the left half of the face used in the training stage.

2 Jurassic Mini Mammal Species Discovered in China

Dinosaurs may have dominated the planet during the Jurassic Period, but they shared the landscape with little rodentlike creatures. Two new species of these pocket-size early mammals have been discovered in China — one was a horny-clawed tree-dweller, and the other was a tunnel-digger with shovel-like paws.

Future Space Station Crew Dons Jedi Robes for Star Wars-Inspired Poster

NASA on Thursday (Feb. 12) revealed the official poster for the International Space Station Expedition 45 crew and let's just say, the Force is strong with them. The six astronauts and cosmonauts, who will begin their residency on the orbital outpost beginning this September, traded their blue NASA flight suits for brown Jedi robes at the photo shoot. Entitled "International Space Station Expedition XLV: The Science Continues," the poster features the station's first year-long mission crew Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko (right, bottom and middle), together with NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren (left, bottom), Russian cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko (right, top and left, top) and Kimiya Yui with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The poster includes the crew's official mission patch at its center (which may or may not be coincidentally the same shape as an Imperial Star Destroyer), flanked on its sides by a Russian Soyuz rocket like the type the crew will ride to orbit and a European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) with its distinctive "X-wing" solar panels.

Four Space Shuttle Fliers to Be Inducted by Astronaut Hall of Fame

The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame will honor four space shuttle astronauts this spring as it marks 25 years since its founding. Spacewalker John Grunsfeld and Rhea Seddon, who was one of NASA's first female astronauts, will be enshrined alongside space shuttle commanders Steven Lindsey and Kent Rominger during a May 30 ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "This year marks the historic 25th anniversary of the Hall, which was conceived in 1989 by the Mercury astronauts," Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex officials stated on Thursday (Feb. 12).

Furry forerunners: Jurassic arboreal, burrowing mammals unearthed

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It may not have been the most opportune time to be a furry little critter, what with all those hungry dinosaurs and flying reptiles hanging around. Scientists on Thursday described fossils unearthed in China of two shrew-sized creatures that represent the oldest-known tree-climbing and burrowing mammals and show that early mammals had claimed a variety of ecological niches.

For many of China's biotech brains-in-exile, it's time to come home

By Irene Jay Liu SHANGHAI (Reuters) - In biotech parks across the Yangtze River Delta, dozens of start-ups are working to develop drugs to treat China's biggest emerging diseases - from diabetes and Hepatitis B to respiratory illnesses and cancer. It's early days, but firms like Hua Medicine and Innovent Biologics embody China's hopes for competitive biomedical innovation. From school in the late 1970s and 1980s, when only elite students gained entry into China's few biochemistry and molecular biology programs, they left China, graduated and worked their way up to senior positions in the world's top pharmaceutical companies. For decades, China tried to woo them home, but they were reluctant to return to a cloistered, politicized scientific establishment where winning research funds and promotion often depends on who you know.

New Footage Reveals Discovery of Richard III's Death Blow

Newly released footage depicts the moment scientists discovered the fatal wound that almost certainly took the life of King Richard III of England. Richard III's long-lost grave was rediscovered in a parking lot in Leicester, England, in 2012. Richard III held the throne for only two years before his death, which occurred as part of the Wars of the Roses. He has long been a controversial figure, in particular because of a William Shakespeare play, "Richard III," which portrays him as an immoral, hunchbacked villain.

These Spectacular Comet Photos from Rosetta Will Only Get Better

A European spacecraft orbiting a comet continues to beam incredible photos of the icy, dusty cosmic body back to Earth. Rosetta was about 17 miles (28 kilometers) from the center of Comet 67P/C-G when it took the amazing photos, and now, the spacecraft is about to embarking on a different kind of orbit that will bring it even closer to the comet's surface. "On 4 February, Rosetta moved into a new operating phase characterised by a series of flybys past 67P/C-G at a range of distances, the first of which will be the very close encounter planned for next weekend, when Rosetta will pass just 6 km from the surface of the comet on 14 February," ESA officials said in a blog post.

Student Loans May Be Bad for Young Adults' Mental Health

College takes a heavy toll on a student's mental health. A new study is one of the first to look at the link between student loans and mental health in young adults. Lead author Katrina Walsemann, an associate professor in the Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior at the University of South Carolina, and her colleagues analyzed responses from 4,643 Americans born between 1980 and 1984. As the researchers suspected, the data show a clear trend: the higher the student's loans, the poorer his or her mental health.

13 Freaky Things That Happened on Friday the 13th

Perhaps Friday the 13th wasn't the best day to stage a leap into New York's Genesee River. Patch, who was born around 1800, lived before Friday the 13th superstitions were prevalent.

Origins of Friday the 13th: How the Day Got So Spooky

Certainly the idea was firmly implanted in the cultural consciousness by 1980, when the slasher flick "Friday the 13th" was released. The hockey-masked villain of that tale, Jason Voorhees, has taken on a life of his own, driving 12 films as well as multiple novellas and comic books. Thus, it's no surprise that a Google Ngram search of the phrase "Friday the 13th" finds the term shot up in use in books in 1980. Credit for popularizing the Friday the 13th myth often goes to Capt. William Fowler, a noted soldier who rubbed elbows with former presidents and other high-profile people of the late 1800s.

Doctors Who Treat Ebola Feel More Socially Isolated

Doctors who take care of very sick Ebola patients may feel socially isolated, but surprisingly, they may not feel more stressed than usual, a new study from Germany suggests. Researchers surveyed 46 health care workers who treated Germany's first Ebola patient in August 2014, as well as 40 health care workers who worked in the same hospital but did not treat the Ebola patient.

It's Raining Milk! Odd Weather Puzzles Scientists

Milky white rain poured down on eastern Washington state and northeast Oregon on a wintery morning last week. "I walked out to go somewhere in my car, and I noticed it was covered with mud," said Robin Priddy, director of Benton Clean Air in Kennewick, Washington. Dust likely gave the rain its light hue, but it's unclear where the dust came from, especially since it was a windless day, Priddy told Live Science. The inland Northwest is typically dry, so "it's not crazy unusual to get dust storms here," Priddy said.

Glowing Protein Reveals Animals' Brain Activity

With the help of a protein, researchers now have a more precise way to see brain activity — right down to what's going on in a single cell, in living brains. A team of researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland has found a protein that binds to calcium particles in the brain and changes color from green to red as the brain cells become active. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one way to show brain activity — it is based on the idea that blood flow in the brain corresponds with activity. Another method, which is aimed at letting researchers see the activity of individual cells, involves genes called immediate early genes (IEGs) that code for proteins that are only present when neurons are active.

Online Dating Tips to Help You Find 'The One'

Among the findings: picking a screen name that starts with a letter in the first half of the alphabet may be as important as a pretty photo. It's best to survey the pickings on a dating site before committing to that service. "Most people just don't do this," said study co-author Khalid Khan, an epidemiologist at Queen Mary University of London. For the current study, the motivation was personal: Dr. Sameer Chaudhry, an internist at the University of North Texas in Dallas, was having no luck finding love online.

Scientists spot 2nd baby orca in endangered pod in 2 months

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. (AP) — A scientist who tracks a group of endangered killer whales that frequent Puget Sound says he's spotted a second baby born to the pod in the past two months.

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