Tuesday, April 7, 2015

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Western Canada's Glaciers Could Vanish by 2100

Canada's glacial ice draws millions of tourists and provides drinking water to two countries, but this important economic resource could disappear by the end of the 21st century, a new study finds. For the study, scientists devised a new computer model that predicts how glaciers will respond to future climate change. In the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and British Columbia, 90 percent of the spectacular mountain glaciers may vanish by 2100, according to research published today (April 6) in the journal Nature Geoscience. This region includes the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park, visited by more than 1 million people every year.


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Key to Longevity Is Kindness, World's Oldest Person Said

The world's oldest person, an Arkansas woman named Gertrude Weaver, died at age 116 on Monday, according to news reports. Weaver had something in common with the woman who now holds the title of the world's oldest person: both attributed their longevity to exercise, as well as a compassionate spirit. Weaver held the title of the world's oldest person for only five days, after Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman who lived to be 117, died last Wednesday (April 1). Now, the world's oldest living person is Michigan woman Jeralean Talley, who is closely followed by Susannah Mushatt Jones of New York City and Emma Morano of Italy, all of whom are 115,USA Today reported.

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11 Weight-Loss Programs After 1 Year: Which Work?

Among commercial weight-loss programs, Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig show the strongest evidence that they can help dieters keep weight off for at least 12 months, a new study suggests. Researchers found that after one year, Jenny Craig participants lost an average of 4.9 percent more weight, and people enrolled in Weight Watchers lost an average of 2.6 percent more weight than people who either dieted on their own, were given printed advice about weight loss or received a few sessions of health education and behavioral counseling. The study showed that for the majority of commercial weight-loss programs out there, researchers don't know whether or not they work, said lead author Dr. Kimberly Gudzune, a weight-loss specialist and an assistant professor of medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. In this review study, the researchers looked for published studies on weight-loss programs that were rigorous, long-term randomized controlled trials, which are considered the highest-quality data to evaluate whether a program works.

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Near-Death Experiences: What Happens in the Brain Before Dying

Scientists studied the heart and brain activity of rats in the moments before the animals died from lack of oxygen, and found that the animals' brains sent a flurry of signals to the heart that caused irrevocable damage to the organ, and in fact caused its demise. "People naturally focus on the heart, thinking that if you save the heart, you'll save the brain," said study co-author Jimo Borjigin, a neuroscientist at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor.

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Some Popular Supplements Still Contain Untested Compound

A number of supplements marketed for weight loss and improved athletic performance contain a synthetic compound that is similar to the drug amphetamine, and that compound has not been tested in people, according to a new study. What's more, the Food and Drug Administration has known about the presence of this drug in supplements for two years, but still has not warned consumers about the issue or acted to take the supplements off the market, according to the study. The FDA "did a lot of hard work to figure out this brand-new designer stimulant was in supplements … and then failed to inform the public," said Dr. Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the new study. The FDA told Live Science that the agency does not have "a specific safety concern at this time" about these supplements.

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Robotic glove could help stroke survivors

By Jim Drury A robotic glove designed to help stroke sufferers regain movement in their hands and rebuild their muscles has been developed as part of a collaborative project in Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. The device is called SCRIPT (Supervised Care and Rehabilitation Involving Personal Tele-robotics), and has been developed by researchers at the University of Hertfordshire and a team of European partners. Double stroke survivor Shani Shamah, a former financial services worker, wasn't one of those involved, but she has twice used the device to help provide feedback to SCRIPT co-ordinator Dr Farshid Amirabdollahian, who devised the glove. Shamah was not expected to survive her injuries after a second stroke within a matter of days in April 2013 left her with bleeding on the brain.

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Why Dangerous Sinkholes Keep Appearing Along the Dead Sea

For millennia, the salty, mineral-rich waters of the Dead Sea have drawn visitors and health pilgrims to its shores. Nestled between Israel and the Palestinian territories to the west, and Jordan to the east, the Dead Sea is famous for is extreme salinity (34 percent salt, almost 10 times as salty as the ocean), and for having the lowest elevation on Earth, at 1,407 feet (429 meters) below sea level. But for the past few decades, the sea has been shrinking rapidly, due to the diversion of water from the Jordan River (which feeds the Dead Sea) and mineral mining from its waters in the south. The water's surface is currently receding by about 3 feet (1 m) per year, according to Hanan Ginat, a geologist and academic chairman of the Dead Sea and Arava Research Center, in Israel.


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'Extinct' No Longer? Brontosaurus May Make a Comeback

The Brontosaurus is back. Because A. excelsus was famously first known as Brontosaurus until 1903, the species would revert back to that original name and become Brontosaurus once again. It's a proposal that excites some paleontologists and leaves others skeptical, but researchers say it's entirely possible that Brontosaurus may eventually regain its place in the scientific nomenclature. Mossbrucker was not involved in the new study, but is "wholly in favor of bringing the genus Brontosaurus back," he said.


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Space Apps Challenge Lets Nonscientists Solve Real-World Problems

In this two-day global code-a-thon taking place April 10 to 12, participants will develop mobile applications, software, hardware, data visualization tools and platforms that solve real-world problems for both scientists and the public. Astronaut Cady Coleman and NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan will be on hand at the New York City event. "There's this huge mass of people all around the world who are incredible fans of NASA and space in general," said Sean Herron, a technologist and developer who was a member of the original NASA team that started the International Space Apps Challenge.


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New Technique Shines Light on Titan, Largest Moon of Saturn (Photo)

A new image-processing technique is bringing Saturn's largest moon, Titan, into clearer view than ever before. The NASA probe, which is exploring the Saturn system, has uncovered the largest dune fields in the solar system and hydrocarbon lakes that grow and shrink with the seasons on Titan. The grainy appearance of the images particularly bothered Antoine Lucas, at the astrophysics division of France's nuclear center. Lucas worked closely with that team to apply their algorithm to the Cassini radar data, and it has made all the difference, he said.


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1 in 3 Breast Cancer Patients Interested in Genetic Testing

One in three women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer may want genetic testing, to see whether they are at risk for other types of cancer, or to look at the likelihood that a family member could develop cancer, according to a new study. In the study, researchers surveyed 1,536 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2005 and 2007. The scientists found that 35 percent of the women expressed a strong desire to undergo genetic testing. "Our findings suggest a marked unmet need for discussion about genetic risk," study author Dr. Reshma Jagsi, an associate professor of radiation oncology at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a statement.

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More Teens Using Long-Term Birth Control

More U.S. teens are using long-term forms of birth control that they don't have to remember every day, but these methods are still relatively uncommon, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2013, among teens seeking birth control, 7.1 percent used intrauterine devices (IUDs) or birth control implants , whereas just 0.4 percent of these teens used one of these methods in 2005, the study found. Use of these methods varied widely by state: In 2013, nearly 26 percent of teens seeking birth control in Colorado used IUDs or implants, compared to just 0.7 percent in Mississippi. Because these methods, known as long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), are the most effective types of birth control for teens, more efforts are needed to increase access to them, the CDC says.

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Jeff Bezos' rocket company to begin suborbital test flights this year

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A space company owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has finished work on a rocket engine for a suborbital spaceship and expects to begin flight tests this year, Blue Origin officials said on Tuesday. The so-called New Shepard spaceship is designed to fly three people and/or a mix of passengers and payloads to altitudes about 62 miles (100 km) above Earth. It will launch from Blue Origin's west Texas facility near Van Horn, Texas, southeast of El Paso. Testing and development of the rocket engine, called BE-3, has been completed, the last major milestone before the liquid oxygen- and liquid hydrogen-fueled motor is attached to the New Shepard capsule for flight, Blue Origin President Rob Meyerson told reporters on a conference call.


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New aluminum battery for smartphones can be charged in a minute

The researchers, who detailed their discovery in the journal Nature, said the new aluminum-ion battery has the potential to replace lithium-ion batteries, used in millions of laptops and mobile phones. Besides recharging much faster, the new aluminum battery is safer than existing lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames, they added. A team lead by chemistry professor Hongjie Dai at Stanford University in California made a breakthrough by accidentally discovering that graphite made a good partner to aluminum, Stanford said in a statement. A prototype aluminum battery recharged in one minute, the scientists said.

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Scientists restore the good name of Brontosaurus

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Paleontologists are restoring the good name of Brontosaurus more than a century after it was deemed scientifically invalid and the famous dinosaur was reclassified as another genus called Apatosaurus. They unveiled on Tuesday an exhaustive analysis of Brontosaurus remains, first unearthed in the 1870s, and those of closely related dinosaurs, determining that the immense, long-necked plant-eater was not an Apatosaurus and deserved its old name back. Paleontologist Emanuel Tschopp of Portugal's Universidade Nova de Lisboa cited important anatomical differences including Apatosaurus possessing a wider neck than Brontosaurus and being even more massively built. "The differences between Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus are numerous enough to revive Brontosaurus as a separate genus from Apatosaurus," Tschopp said.

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Scientists restore the good name of Brontosaurus

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Paleontologists are restoring the good name of Brontosaurus more than a century after it was deemed scientifically invalid and the famous dinosaur was reclassified as another genus called Apatosaurus. They unveiled on Tuesday an exhaustive analysis of Brontosaurus remains, first unearthed in the 1870s, and those of closely related dinosaurs, determining that the immense, long-necked plant-eater was not an Apatosaurus and deserved its old name back. Paleontologist Emanuel Tschopp of Portugal's Universidade Nova de Lisboa cited important anatomical differences including Apatosaurus possessing a wider neck than Brontosaurus and being even more massively built. "The differences between Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus are numerous enough to revive Brontosaurus as a separate genus from Apatosaurus," Tschopp said.


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Monday, April 6, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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The World's Most Powerful Atom Smasher Restarts With a Big Bang

The world's most powerful atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, which provides a window into the universe just milliseconds after the Big Bang, came back to life this morning, after more than two years of maintenance and upgrade work, and it's stronger than ever. Then at 12:27 p.m. Geneva time, another proton beam trekked around the ring in the opposite direction, officials at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) reported today (April 5). In the first run of the restart, the LHC hit energies of 450 GeV, where one GeV is equivalent to the mass of a proton. In the coming days, LHC operators plan to amp up the energy of the proton beams to the highest ever achieved.


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Breast Milk Sold Online May Not Be 100% Human Milk

Buying breast milk online in order to nourish a baby with important nutrients that are not available from formula may not always be the safest choice, a new study suggests. Researchers found that one in 10 samples of breast milk that they bought over the Internet and tested contained genetic material from cow's milk. They said it was likely that the cow's milk was intentionally added to human milk, to stretch its volume. Giving babies breast milk that contains even small quantities of cow's milk could be harmful because some infants may have problems tolerating cow's milk, or they might have an allergy to cow's milk protein.

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Huge Colorado Floods Helped Sculpt Mountains

In 2013, heavy rains unleashed devastating slurries of rock, soil and water on cities and towns along the Colorado Rockies. "While it strikes us as very random, our research suggests this is one of the formative processes in this landscape," said lead study author Scott Anderson, a geomorphologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Tacoma, Washington. The 2013 Colorado floods triggered more than 1,100 landslides and debris flows in the Front Range after several days of unusually heavy rain in September. The resulting debris flows carried huge volumes of rock and sediment down mountain valleys, scouring out river channels like sandpaper.


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Junk Food Is Making NYC Ants More Like Humans

If you were in New York City recently and you saw a man sucking stuff off of the sidewalk with a weird contraption that resembled a water bong, you may have inadvertently witnessed serious biological fieldwork in action. To study the diet of urban ants, Clint Penick, a postdoctoral researcher at North Carolina State University, went to Broadway, aspirator in hand, to collect specimens. "Nobody ever talked to me," Penick said.


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Here Be Dragons: 3 Spiky Lizard Species Found in Andes

The three new species were found in the cloud forests of Peru and Ecuador, an international research team reported today (April 6) in the journal ZooKeys. The team, led by Omar Torres-Carvajal of the Museo de Zoología QCAZ in Ecuador, also ferreted out the five other woodlizard species recorded in recent years.


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Zap! New Map Charts Every Lightning Bolt

"It's taking very rapid updates," said Daniel Cecil, a member of the Global Hydrology and Climate Center's lightning team. Roughly 90 percent of the lightning strikes on Earth occur between the 38th parallel south and 38th parallel north latitudes, said Cecil. But even on equatorial land, lightning strikes vary with different types of thunderstorms. The number of lightning strikes per storm, however, is relatively low, with only a few flashes per minute, Cecil said.


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Ghostly Faces and Invisible Verse Found in Medieval Text

"It's easy to think we know all we can know about a manuscript like the 'Black Book,' but to see these ghosts from the past brought back to life in front of our eyes has been incredibly exciting," Myriah Williams, a doctoral student at the University of Cambridge, said in a statement. In 1904, Sir John Williams, the founder of the National Library of Wales, bought the book, which measures 6.7 by 5 inches (17 by 12.5 centimeters). Only recently did Myriah Williams and Paul Russell, a professor at Cambridge's department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic (ASNC), examine the pages of the book.


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Pluto Weather Forecast: Probe Likely to Find It Gusty and Gassy

Wondering how the space weather will be around Pluto this summer? Scientists working with NASA's New Horizons mission are predicting gusts of charged particles with speeds up to 1 million mph (1.6 million km/h) that will slow as they interact with the dwarf planet's atmosphere. New Horizons, which will make a highly anticipated flyby of Pluto on July 14, has already been sampling the space weather environment in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune. "Results from those measurements are being radioed to the ground, and our team is already learning new things about the distant environment near Pluto's orbit, 3 billion miles [4.8 billion kilometers] from Earth," New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Colorado, said in a statement.


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Want to Live Longer? Optimal Amount of Exercise Revealed

Doing a few hours of exercise every week will probably help you live longer, but doing a whole lot more exercise doesn't provide much extra benefit, according to a new study on physical activity and longevity. Still, doing as much as 10 times the recommended amount of exercise was not linked with an increased risk of dying during the study period. In the study, researchers analyzed information from more than 660,000 people ages 21 to 98 in the United States and Sweden who answered questions about how much time they spent doing physical activity, including walking, running, swimming and bicycling. People who got some exercise, but not enough to meet the physical activity recommendations were still 20 percent less likely to die over a 14-year period than those who did not do any physical activity.

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Sunday, April 5, 2015

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'Big Bang' particle collider restarts after refit: CERN

ZURICH/GENEVA (Reuters) - Scientists at Europe's nuclear research center CERN said on Sunday they had restarted their Large Hadron Collider (LHC) "Big Bang" machine after a two-year refit, launching a new bid to resolve some of the mysteries of the universe. In a live blog covering the restart, CERN said one of the two beams had completed the circuit of the LHC. The LHC had been shut down for two years for a refit of its machinery and wiring. Any new discoveries it makes are unlikely to emerge until mid-2016. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Robert Evans; editing by John Stonestreet)


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CERN restarts 'Big Bang' collider after two-year refit

ZURICH/GENEVA (Reuters) - Scientists at Europe's particle physics research centre CERN on Sunday restarted their "Big Bang" Large Hadron Collider (LHC), embarking on a new bid to resolve some mysteries of the universe and look for "dark matter". Hopes for the second run lie in breaking out of what is known as the Standard Model of how the universe works at the level of elementary particles, and into "New Physics".


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CERN restarts "Big Bang" collider after two-year refit

ZURICH/GENEVA (Reuters) - Scientists at Europe's particle physics research centre CERN on Sunday restarted their "Big Bang" Large Hadron Collider (LHC), embarking on a new bid to resolve some mysteries of the universe and look for "dark matter". Hopes for the second run lie in breaking out of what is known as the Standard Model of how the universe works at the level of elementary particles, and into "New Physics".


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How Easter Helped Bring Down a Medical Myth About Ulcers

Some people will celebrate Easter this Sunday. Some scientists, meanwhile, will celebrate the birthday of the humble bacterium Helicobacter pylori. H. pylori infects more than half of the world's population. Many people who carry the bacterium won't ever experience any symptoms of the infection, but it's the culprit behind most ulcers and many cases of stomach cancer — and it hid, unidentified, inside human stomachs for thousands of years.

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