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Friday, April 24, 2015

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Hot times at Yellowstone: huge magma chamber found deeply buried

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Deep beneath Yellowstone National Park, one of the world's most dynamic volcanic systems, lies an enormous, previously unknown reservoir of hot, partly molten rock big enough to fill up the Grand Canyon 11 times, scientists say. Researchers on Thursday said they used a technique called seismic tomography to a produce for the first time a complete picture of the volcanic "plumbing system" at Yellowstone, from the Earth's mantle up to the surface. Scientists already knew of a large magma chamber under Yellowstone that fed the eruptions 2 million, 1.2 million and 640,000 years ago. "The existence of the second magma chamber does not make it any more or less likely that a large volcanic eruption at Yellowstone will occur.

Scientists convinced of tie between earthquakes and drilling

LOS ANGELES (AP) — With the evidence coming in from one study after another, scientists are now more certain than ever that oil and gas drilling is causing hundreds upon hundreds of earthquakes across the U.S.

5 Not-So-Miraculous Dr. Oz Claims

Dr. Mehmet Oz has made a name for himself in part by touting "miracle" cures and weight-loss products, but the TV personality is now facing fire from critics for making health claims that are not supported by scientific evidence. Oz was strongly criticized for his claims about weight-loss supplements in a Senate hearing in June 2014. Oz will respond to his critics on Thursday (April 22) in an episode of "The Dr. Oz Show." The doctor announced it in a preview of the show that was released on Tuesday evening.

Whooping Cough Outbreaks Traced to Change in Vaccine

The recent outbreaks of whooping cough in the United States may be due, in part, to a change made two decades ago to vaccine ingredients, a new study finds. In 2012, the United States had about 48,000 cases of whooping cough (also called pertussis) — the most cases since 1955. They used an enormous data set from a variety of sources on whooping cough cases in the U.S. from 1950 to 2009. They found that a change in vaccine ingredients was the best explanation for the recent whooping cough outbreaks, according to the study, published today (April 23) in the journal PLOS ONE Computational Biology.

Woman's 'Embryonic Twin' Is Not Really an Embryo, Or a Twin

An Indiana woman's brain tumor turned out to contain hair, bone and teeth, and has been dubbed her "embryonic twin" — but experts say that such tumors are not actually twins, nor are they embryos. The 26-year-old patient, Yamini Karanam, underwent brain surgery in Los Angeles after she started having problems understanding conversations and things she read, according to NBC Southern California. Doctors discovered she had a teratoma, a type of tumor that can contain all three of the major cell types that are found in an early stage human embryo. At early states, germ cells have the ability to turn into any cell in the body.

Are Chimps Entitled to Human Rights? NY Court to Decide

Though they won't be knuckle-walking into a courtroom any time soon, two chimpanzees will get their day in front of a judge. Next month, the New York State Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether two research chimpanzees, named Hercules and Leo, should be considered persons, not property, entitled to be set free under the law. In response to a petition from the Nonhuman Rights Project, Justice Barbara Jaffe signed a court order this week asking Stony Brook University to prove why it should be allowed to hold Hercules and Leo. "It's a very big deal for us," said Steven Wise, an attorney with the Nonhuman Rights Project, which has been filing lawsuits on behalf of chimpanzees in New York for more than a year.

Titanic Blob of Magma Found Beneath Yellowstone Supervolcano

A giant blob-shaped reservoir of searing-hot rock has been discovered far below the supervolcano underneath Yellowstone National Park — one that could fill the Grand Canyon more than 11 times over, researchers say. The newfound blob-shaped magma reservoir lies in the lower crust, scientists reported today (April 23) in the journal Science. The molten rock extends from about 12 to 28 miles (19 to 45 kilometers) deep, and measures about 30 miles (48 km) long northwest to southeast and 44 miles (70 km) long southwest to northeast. This magma reservoir is about 11,200 cubic miles (46,700 cubic km) in size.

How Will the Hubble Space Telescope Die?

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has been circling Earth for 25 years, but the iconic observatory won't last forever. Hubble launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990, and has been capturing stunning views of the cosmos since astronauts fixed a flaw in the telescope's mirror during a 1993 servicing mission.

Letting Babies Nap in Car Seat Could Be Deadly, Experts Warn

Placing infants in car seats and other sitting devices for naps may put their lives in danger, according to a new study. In the study, researchers examined 47 cases of children under 2 years old who died while in device designed for them to sit in, or in which they could be carried. In many cases in the study, the researchers found that children had been placed in the devices to help them fall asleep. "When the baby is asleep, and you don't have eyes on the baby, they should be 'ABC,'" meaning they should be alone, on their backs, and in a crib, said study author Dr. Erich K. Batra, of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

Do Mosquitoes Love You? Blame Your Genes

Scientists don't fully understand why mosquitoes seem to feast on some people while only nibbling on others. Past research has shown that attractiveness to mosquitoes could be linked with people's blood type or skin bacteria. In the mosquito study, each participant placed her hands at one end of a Y-shaped tube, while her twin placed her hands on the other branch of the "Y." Mosquitoes were then let into the other end of the tube (the bottom of the "Y"), and the researchers recorded which twin's hands the mosquitoes preferred. Mosquitoes may fly toward certain body odors, which are thought to be partly determined by genes.

Mars Rover Curiosity Spotted from Space (Photo)

NASA's eagle-eyed Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has captured a view of the space agency's Curiosity rover trundling across the Red Planet.

Half the US Faces Earthquake Risk

More than 143 million Americans live in earthquake-prone regions in the Lower 48 states, according to research presented here Wednesday (April 22) at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America. If you include Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, that number rises to about 150 million U.S. citizens, said lead researcher Kishor Jaiswal, a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) contractor. In a previous estimate prepared in 1991, officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said 75 million people in 35 states were at risk of earthquakes. The USGS has also learned more about earthquake hazards.

Rare, Tiny 'Pocket Shark' Seen for 2nd Time

A juvenile male pocket shark has been discovered, making it the second of this type of shark ever recorded, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say. The teensy shark, extending just 5.5 inches (14 centimeters) in length and weighing a mere half ounce (14.6 grams), was found in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, though it was only recently identified, when Mark Grace, of NOAA Fisheries' Pascagoula, Mississippi, Laboratory, examined the specimen. The Gulf pocket shark is one of two such sharks ever reported. "Discovering him has us thinking about where Mom and Dad may be, and how they got to the Gulf," Grace said in a statement.

Hunt for ancient royal tomb in Mexico takes mercurial twist

By David Alire Garcia TEOTIHUACAN, Mexico (Reuters) - A Mexican archeologist hunting for a royal tomb in a deep, dark tunnel beneath a towering pre-Aztec pyramid has made a discovery that may have brought him a step closer: liquid mercury. In the bowels of Teotihuacan, a mysterious ancient city that was once the largest in the Americas, Sergio Gomez this month found "large quantities" of the silvery metal in a chamber at the end of a sacred tunnel sealed for nearly 1,800 years. "It's something that completely surprised us," Gomez said at the entrance to the tunnel below Teotihuacan's Pyramid of the Plumed Serpent, about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Mexico City. Some archeologists believe the toxic element could herald what would be the first ruler's tomb ever found in Teotihuacan, a contemporary of several ancient Maya cities, but so shrouded in mystery that its inhabitants still have no name.

Nearby Alien Planets Not So Life-Friendly After All

The star Tau Ceti, which lies just 11.9 light-years from Earth, is thought to host five exoplanets, two of which have been posited to lie in the "habitable zone" — that just-right range of distances that could support the existence of liquid water on the planets' surfaces. However, a new modeling study throws some cold water on the life-supporting potential of these two candidate worlds, which are known as Tau Ceti e and Tau Ceti f. "Planet e is in the habitable zone only if we make very generous assumptions," lead author Michael Pagano, of Arizona State University (ASU), said in a statement. Tau Ceti f has likely resided in the habitable zone for much less than 1 billion years, researchers said.

F1 technology moves into the supermarket fridge

Formula One's cutting-edge aerodynamic technology is moving into the supermarket chill cabinet. Williams Advanced Engineering, part of the Formula One team, said on Friday they had partnered with start-up Aerofoil Energy to develop a device that will save money and energy by keeping more cold air inside open-fronted refrigerators. Williams said their aerofoil system, modeled with computation fluid dynamics and tested at their F1 factory in central England, can be attached onto each shelf to redirect the air flow. Sainsbury's, Britain's second largest supermarket chain with 1,100 stores, is among retailers testing the product.

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Thursday, April 23, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Scientists: Over 143M Americans live in quake-prone areas

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scientists say more than 143 million Americans in the Lower 48 states now live in earthquake-prone areas.

Kermit the Frog Look-Alike Discovered in Costa Rica

Already dubbed a real-life Kermit, a new species of frog has been identified in the rainforests of Costa Rica. The inch-long creature, scientifically named Hyalinobatrachium dianae, joins Costa Rica's 13 other glass frogs, named for their translucent bodies through which you can view their organs. One of the characteristics that sets the new species apart from other glass frogs is the advertisement call males use to attract females. Study leader Brian Kubicki told CBS News that this frog "sounds more like an insect than most other frogs," which might be why it went unnoticed for so long.

'Safest bike ever' devised by British entrepreneur

Crispin Sinclair and his team have created the Babel Bike, which they are seeking to fund via crowd-sourcing website Indigoego. According to Sinclair, the Babel's protective cage positioned around the rider, combined with a double seatbelt and host of other safety features make it very safe. In large cities like London one of the biggest dangers for cyclists is being struck by a lorry, often without the lorry driver even being aware that a collision has occurred. In addition to the protective cage stopping the cyclist from being crushed against railings or another vehicle, the Babel's automatic horn - as loud as a car horn - alerts a lorry driver to the accident.

Abandoned Baby Tiger Triplets Thrive with Zoo's Aid

Three male Amur tiger cubs were born Tuesday (April 21) at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, Ohio. The baby tigers each weighed 2.5 pounds (1.1 kilograms) at birth, which falls within the typical range of 1.5 to 3 pounds (0.7 to 1.4 kg) for tiger cubs, according to zoo staff. The cubs are now in an incubator, but they are feeding vigorously and are already looking strong, zoo officials said. At such an old age and with one undersized ovary, "there were a number of strikes against her," said Harry Peachey, curator of Asia Quest at the Columbus Zoo.

Traces of Ancient Earthquakes Hidden in Cave Rocks

Shattered cave formations in the central United States may preserve one of the longest records of powerful earthquakes in this region. Historical records from European settlers provide vivid accounts of deadly earthquakes in states such as Missouri, Tennessee and Illinois. For instance, in 1811 and 1812, people saw the ground ripple like ocean waves when the New Madrid Fault Zone unleashed earthquakes thought to be greater than magnitude 8. Geologist John Tinsley says smashed cave formations could provide a new way to fill in the seismic gap.

Blue Bell's Listeria Scare: How It Grows in Ice Cream

With news that Blue Bell Creameries is recalling all of its products because they may be tainted with Listeria bacteria, many are wondering exactly what Listeria is, and how it could raise questions about the food safety of a company's entire product line. In the most recent outbreak, Listeria infections linked with Blue Bell sickened at least five people in Kansas, three of whom died. But just what is Listeria, and how did it get into frozen ice cream? We asked an expert to explain what the bacterium is, how it grows, and what consumers can do to protect themselves from listeriosis, which is the disease caused by Listeria.

Cancer Tech: New Devices Could Speed Up Treatment

Treating cancer is sometimes a process of trial and error, because any given drug or drug combination does not work the same for all patients. Now, two research teams say they have found ways to speed up the process by allowing doctors to try multiple treatments at once: One is an implantable device, and the other is a special injection device. In Seattle, researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the company Presage Biosciences designed a device called CIVO that includes up to eight needles arranged in an array. "Ordinarily, when I write a prescription, I have no way to know if the cancer is resistant" to the drug that's being prescribed, said Dr. James Olson, a pediatric oncologist at Fred Hutchinson and the senior author of the CIVO report, published today (April 22) in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Women Who Received HPV Vaccine May Need Another Shot

Women who receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine may be more likely to be infected with certain high-risk strains of the virus than women who do not get the vaccine, according to a new study. The findings suggest that, although the vaccine is effective in protecting against four strains of HPV, women who received it may still benefit from getting another, recently approved HPV vaccine that protects against nine strains of the virus, the researchers said. "Vaccinated women who got the quadrivalent [four-strain] vaccine may get the nine-valent [strain] vaccine as further protection for them," said Fangjian Guo, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Medical Branch and one of the researchers on the new study. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that girls and young women ages 9 to 26 get any HPV vaccine to protect against cervical cancer, as some strains of HPV have been linked to cervical cancer.

Defying the odds, Hubble telescope still going strong after 25 years

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - NASA on Thursday marked the silver anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope with fireworks, of a celestial kind, conveyed by the orbiting observatory itself. To commemorate Hubble's launch on April 24, 1990, NASA selected a picture of a stellar nursery located about 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina.

NASA Unveils Spectacular Photo for Hubble Telescope's 25th Birthday

The colorful gas cloud to the left of the star cluster is a hotbed of stellar birth known as Gum 29, located 20,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Carina. You can take a video tour of the new Hubble image, courtesy of NASA. "Hubble has completely transformed our view of the universe, revealing the true beauty and richness of the cosmos," said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, in a statement from NASA. The anniversary image was revealed today (April 23) during a Hubble celebration event at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Speakers at the event included NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate John Grunsfeld, Hubble Senior Project Scientist Jennifer Wiseman and Space Telescope Science Institute Interim Director Kathryn Flanagan.

Genome study reveals lonely end for the world's woolly mammoths

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The most complete genetic information assembled on woolly mammoths is providing insight into their demise, revealing they suffered two population crashes before a final, severely inbred group succumbed on an Arctic Ocean island. Scientists unveiled on Thursday the first two full genomes of these mighty elephant relatives emblematic of the Ice Age, showing they experienced an extensive loss of genetic diversity before perishing roughly 4,000 years ago. Well-preserved DNA came from two mammoths: a 45,000-year-old calf carcass from Siberia, and a 4,300-year-old molar from a mammoth in the last population isolated on remote Wrangel Island, off the Russian mainland. Inbreeding was detected in the Wrangel Island mammoth.

Beyond Hubble: Future Space Observatories Will Carry Telescope's Legacy Forward

Few researchers could have predicted the diversity of the Hubble Space Telescope's workload when the iconic observatory launched into orbit a quarter-century ago this week. For example, Hubble helps scientists search for exoplanets, which were first discovered two years after the famous telescope's April 24, 1990, launch. Hubble also charts the universe's accelerating expansion, a surprise discovery the instrument helped make in 1998. Also astounding, from a technological perspective, is that Hubble continues to work perfectly, 25 years after launch, thanks to five different servicing missions astronauts performed between 1993 and 2009.

First experiment 'editing' human embryos ignites ethical furor

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - Biologists in China reported carrying out the first experiment to alter the DNA of human embryos, igniting an outcry from scientists who warn against altering the human genome in a way that could last for generations. The study from China appeared last weekend in an obscure online journal called Protein & Cell. In an interview published on Wednesday on the news site of the journal Nature, lead author Junjiu Huang of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou said both Nature and Science had rejected the paper, partly for ethical reasons. "There have been persistent rumors" of this kind of research taking place in China, said Edward Lanphier, chief executive of California-based Sangamo BioSciences Inc and part of a group of who called last month for a global moratorium on such experiments.

Fossil Teeth Suggest Humans Played Role in Neanderthal Extinction

Ancient teeth from Italy suggest that the arrival of modern humans in Western Europe coincided with the demise of Neanderthals there, researchers said. This finding suggests that modern humans may have caused Neanderthals to go extinct, either directly or indirectly, scientists added. Neanderthals are the closest extinct relatives of modern humans. Recent findings suggest that Neanderthals, who once lived in Europe and Asia, were closely enough related to humans to interbreed with the ancestors of modern humans — about 1.5 to 2.1 percent of the DNA of anyone outside Africa is Neanderthal in origin.

First experiment 'editing' human embryos ignites ethical furore

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - Biologists in China reported carrying out the first experiment to alter the DNA of human embryos, igniting an outcry from scientists who warn against altering the human genome in a way that could last for generations. The study from China appeared last weekend in an obscure online journal called Protein & Cell. In an interview published on Wednesday on the news site of the journal Nature, lead author Junjiu Huang of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou said both Nature and Science rejected the paper, partly for ethical reasons. "There have been persistent rumours" of this kind of research taking place in China, said Edward Lanphier, chief executive of California-based Sangamo BioSciences Inc and part of a group of scientists who called last month for a global moratorium on such experiments.

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