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Thursday, June 25, 2015

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500-Million-Year-Old 'Smiling' Worm Rears Its Head

Scientists finally have an answer in the case of the odd ancient worm Hallucigenia, which leaves fossils so bizarre that researchers once thought its top was its bottom and its back was its front. Indeed, after decades, researchers have confirmed which side of Hallucigenia was the head, and found its circular "grinning" mouth lined with teeth, according to a new study detailed today (June 24) in the journal Nature. This toothy ring may be the link that connects creatures as diverse as spiders, nematode worms and teeny-tiny tardigrades — the cute and nearly indestructible micro animals also known as water bears.

Mighty X-Ray Echos Circle 'Lord of the Rings' Neutron Star

This newly observed "X-ray echo" — the largest and brightest of its type ever caught on camera — has allowed researchers to pin down the location of the neutron star Circinus X-1, which was found to lie 30,700 light-years from Earth. Circinus X-1 is a tiny remnant left over after a massive star died in a violent supernova explosion. The neutron star orbits in a binary system with another massive star and tends to emit intense X-rays into the surrounding dust-filled space.

'Oh Pluto': Song Celebrates Upcoming Flyby of Dwarf Planet

A NASA spacecraft's epic flyby of Pluto next month now has a soundtrack. Singer-songwriter Craig Werth has written a song called "Oh Pluto" to highlight and celebrate NASA's New Horizons mission, which will give the world its first up-close looks at the frigid, faraway dwarf planet during a highly anticipated flyby on July 14. "My thought about the song was to treat Pluto as a friend we've been appreciating from afar and are now coming to visit," Werth told Space.com via email.

US Falls in World Happiness Rankings

Panama tops the rankings of the world's happiest countries for the second year in a row, according to a new report. In 2014, people living in the Central American country known for it's man-made canal scored the highest on a yearly survey of global well-being created by Gallup-Healthways. In contrast, Afghanistan scored the lowest out of the 145 ranked countries.

Insight - "Paving paradise": Scientists alarmed over China island building in disputed sea

By Greg Torode HONG KONG (Reuters) - Concern is mounting among some scientists that China's reclamation work in the disputed Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea has done severe harm to one of the most important coral reef systems in Southeast Asia. China's use of dredged sand and coral to build artificial islands on seven reefs had also damaged reef systems beyond the outposts, meaning the affected area could be greater than first thought, several scientists who have studied satellite images of the Spratlys told Reuters. John McManus, a prominent University of Miami marine biologist who has worked with Philippine scientists to research the South China Sea, told fellow experts this month that China's reclamation "constitutes the most rapid rate of permanent loss of coral reef area in human history".

'Paving paradise': Scientists alarmed over China island building in disputed sea

California's Lake Fire Burns Massive 'Scars' into Forest (Photo)

California's four-year-long drought is helping fuel its first major forest fire of the year, a blaze that is engulfing federal land about 80 miles (130 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. As of Tuesday (June 23), the fire had engulfed at least 27 square miles (70 square kilometers) of the San Bernardino National Forest. The satellite images were taken on Saturday (June 20), when the fire had burned about 23 square miles (60 square km) and was just 10 percent contained.

'Endangered' Cougar Has Likely Been Extinct for 70 Years

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is planning to remove the eastern cougar from the endangered species list after determining the subspecies has likely been extinct for 70 years. The proposal comes after a formal review of the subspecies' status that concluded in 2011. Wildlife officials looked at more than 100 reports (going back to 1900) and found that recent "sightings" of the eastern cougar were actually of Florida panthers, wild western cougars or other cougars that escaped from captivity or were released.

Is It Ethical to Choose a Baby's Sex? Kim & Kanye Fuel Debate

Celebrity couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West might not have simply wished for a boy when they found out they were expecting their second child — some sources claim the couple chose their baby's sex during an in vitro fertilization procedure. Earlier this year, Kardashian and West underwent an IVF procedure in which an egg was fertilized in a lab dish and was then implanted in the uterus, after the couple had trouble conceiving. During this type of procedure, it's possible for a fertility clinic to screen the embryos and determine their sex, and in the case of Kardashian and West, an unnamed source told US Weekly that the couple had only male embryos implanted.

It's no hallucination, that creature is just really weird

Hallucigenia is one of the species emblematic of the Cambrian Period, a pivotal juncture in the history of life on Earth when most major groups of animals first appeared and many unusual body designs came and went. "It is nice to finally know rather fundamental things such as how many legs it has, and to know its head from its tail," University of Cambridge paleontologist Martin Smith said. Hallucigenia, whose fossils have been unearthed in the Burgess Shale site in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, belongs to a primitive group of velvet worms, animals that still exist today.

'Yeti' Crab Grows Its Own Food, Lives in Antarctic Spa

A yeti, of course! Or, in this case, a yeti crab — a marine creature that lives near the thermal vents in the ocean floor where hot water gushes into the sea. K. tyleri is the only species of yeti crab known to reside in the Southern Ocean, off Antarctica.

Mars Astronauts Could See Blue Auroras on Red Planet

Astronauts visiting Mars in the future will be awed by dazzling auroral displays in the planet's southern hemisphere, a new study suggests. While previous research had confirmed the presence of beautiful "southern lights" on Mars, the new study predicts for the first time that the auroras of the Red Planet may be visible to the human eye. "An astronaut looking up while walking on the red Martian soil would be able, after intense solar eruptions, to see the phenomena with the naked eye," study co-author Cyril Simon Wedlund, of Aalto University in Finland, said in a statement.

More Pool Outbreaks Tied to 'Crypto' Parasite

From 2011 to 2012, there were 90 outbreaks and 1,788 cases of any illness linked to using recreational water, according to information reported from 32 states and Puerto Rico. Most of these outbreaks (77 percent) occurred in water that was treated (for example, with chlorine or bromine), such as pools, spas and hot tubs, while 23 percent of the outbreaks involved untreated water, such as lakes and oceans, the CDC said. Among the outbreaks linked to treated water, more than half were caused by a parasite called Cryptosporidium, also known as Crypto, which causes diarrhea, the CDC said.

'Crypto' Parasite Outbreaks Increasing in Pools Across US

Scientists crack gene secret that lets poppies make morphine

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have identified a key gene used by poppies to make morphine, paving the way for better methods of producing the medically important drug, potentially without the need for cultivating poppy fields. The latest finding follows recent success in engineering brewer's yeast to synthesize opiates such as morphine and codeine from a common sugar, boosting the prospect of "home-brew" drug supply. "Poppies are not going to be displaced overnight by any stretch of the imagination," said Ian Graham, a professor at the University of York, who worked on the latest gene discovery.

Sunrise at Copernicus: Spot Famous Moon Crater Tonight

As the moon climbs the western sky this week, watch it with binoculars. Earth's natural satellite shows at least as much detail through binoculars as Galileo Galilei saw with his crude telescope 400 years ago. Your first glance through binoculars will reveal large dark areas, the so-called seas or maria (the plural of mare), which in reality are flat lava plains.

Spectacular Northern Lights Show Could Continue This Weekend (Photos, Video)

Throughout Canada and as far south as Philadelphia, the northern lights have been wowing skywatchers this week, and the colorful displays could continue, following another solar explosion spotted by NASA. A large sun storm last weekend known as a coronal mass ejection (CME) sent high-energy particles streaming toward Earth, where their interaction with the atmosphere and the magnetic field supercharged the gorgeous color displays known in the northern hemisphere as the aurora borealis.

Scientists crack gene secret that lets poppies make morphine

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have identified a key gene used by poppies to make morphine, paving the way for better methods of producing the medically important drug, potentially without the need for cultivating poppy fields. The latest finding follows recent success in engineering brewer's yeast to synthesise opiates such as morphine and codeine from a common sugar, boosting the prospect of "home-brew" drug supply. "Poppies are not going to be displaced overnight by any stretch of the imagination," said Ian Graham, a professor at the University of York, who worked on the latest gene discovery.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Teens Are Less Familiar with Marijuana, E-Cigarette Health Risks

Researchers found that although teens are familiar with the negative effects of smoking cigarettes, they know little about the health risks of using marijuana and e-cigarettes, and even describe some benefits they think are related to these products. "The main implication of these findings is that teens are receiving the health messages about smoking cigarettes, but they are not hearing much information about the risks of these other products, so they may perceive them as being OK," said Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, co-author of the study and a professor of pediatrics and adolescent medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California. During these discussions, the teens were asked to describe the risks and benefits of using conventional cigarettes, marijuana and e-cigarettes, as well as how, where and from whom they learned information about these products.

Many Medical Marijuana Edibles May Have Inaccurate Labels

The labels of many edible medical marijuana products may not accurately reflect the actual doses of the compounds within the marijuana, according to a new study. Researchers found that only 13 of the 75 edible marijuana products they tested in the study had labels that accurately listed the product's levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, one the compounds that is thought to drive its health effects. "The majority of the products we tested were inaccurately labeled," said study author Ryan Vandrey, of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Spot Elusive Planet Mercury in the Predawn Sky This Week

Mercury is a difficult object to spot, because it's always clinging closely to the sun's apron strings. Because of the tilt of the ecliptic — the path the sun and planets follow across the sky — some apparitions of Mercury are more favorable than others. A secondary factor affecting Mercury's visibility is the tilt and eccentricity of its orbit.

Pluto Probe Spies Weird 'Dark Pole' on Big Moon Charon (Photos)

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has spotted a strange dark patch at the pole of Pluto's big moon Charon, further whetting researchers' appetites ahead of the probe's epic flyby of the dwarf planet system next month. New Horizons has also detected a rich diversity of terrain types in Pluto's "close approach hemisphere" — the side of the planet New Horizons will zoom past at a distance of just 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) on July 14. The newly resolved features, which New Horizons captured in images taken from May 29 through June 19, are visible in a Pluto-Charon video NASA released today.

Jersey Shore Situation: Man-of-War 'Jellyfish' Pays a Visit

The Jersey Shore is the place to be this summer (if you're a dead sea creature). Last week, a baby dolphin that had been torn apart by sharks washed up in Wildwood, New Jersey. The potentially deadly creature, which can deliver a paralysis-inducing sting, washed ashore at Harvey Cedars, on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, on Sunday (June 21).

Watch Ring-Shaped Molecule Unravel in Record-Fast Movie

For the first time, scientists have observed a chemical reaction as it was happening at the molecular level, at speeds that previously were too fast to see. "We kind of know what CHD looks like," Michael Minitti, lead author of the new study and a staff scientist at SLAC told Live Science. The latter chemical is made of the same chemical elements but is arranged to form a different shape.

Shark-Mounted Cameras Reveal Predators' Deep-Sea Secrets

Previously, scientists assumed that sharks were negatively buoyant (meaning they have a natural tendency to sink) or neutrally buoyant (meaning their buoyancy is canceled out by their weight in the water). Now, by combing through photos and data captured by the swimming sharks, researchers have found that two species of these deep-sea creatures — sixgill and prickly sharks — have a small amount of positive buoyancy that pushes them toward the surface. Scientists at the University of Hawaii and the University of Tokyo attached a flashlight-size camera to deep-sea sharks to study their swimming habits.

Rough-and-Tumble Roach Bots Barrel Over Obstacles

Robots inspired by cockroaches can use the shape of their bodies — particularly, their distinctive round shells — to maneuver through dense clutter, which could make them useful in search-and-rescue missions, military reconnaissance and even on farms, according to a new study. Although many research teams have designed robots that can avoid obstacles, these bots mostly do so by evading stumbling blocks. This avoidance strategy typically uses sensors to map out the environment and powerful computers to plan a safe path around the obstacles.

Roughhousing and Climbing Trees: Some Risks May Be Good for Kids

Kids who engage in thrilling, risky activities, such as roaming far from home, may be healthier, both psychologically and physically, according to a new analysis of existing research. The risky activities could include iconic childhood pursuits like climbing a tree, sledding down an icy hill, play-fighting and even venturing through a wooded area and getting a little lost. "Engaging in risky play increased physical activity, it decreased sedentary behavior, and it promoted social health and behavior," said study co-author Mariana Brussoni, a developmental psychologist and injury prevention researcher at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Fitbit May Help Boost Activity in Older Women

In the study, women who wore a Fitbit saw a boost in their physical activity over a four-month period. About half of these women were given a Fitbit One, a fitness tracker that clips to a person's waistband and tracks a number of metrics: how many steps they take, the total distance they move, the number of floors they climb, the calories they burn, and the total number of minutes during the day that they are active. Both groups were asked to try to do 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week.

Rosetta to Spiral onto Comet's Surface After Extended Mission

Europe's Rosetta spacecraft, which is currently orbiting a comet as it hurtles around the sun, has been given nine additional months of operation time and will likely end its life by spiraling down onto the comet's surface, officials said. The European Space Agency (ESA) said in a statement yesterday (June 23) that it would extend the mission, which was originally funded until the end of December 2015, through September 2016. By December of 2015, Rosetta will no longer receive enough sunlight to continue operations, and its propellant will also be depleted.

It's no hallucination, that creature is just really weird

Shell shock: Triassic reptile was 'grandfather' of all turtles

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It looked like an odd lizard with a bulky body and only the skeletal precursor of a shell, but scientists say 240 million-year-old fossils unearthed in a quarry in southern Germany represent the grandfather of all turtles. The scientists on Wednesday announced the discovery of the oldest-known turtle, an 8-inch (20-cm) Triassic Period reptile combining traits of its lizard-like ancestors with a set of emerging turtle-like features. It is far older than all so far known turtles.

Bizarre Cometlike Alien Planet Is First of Its Kind

The strange, cometlike planet, known as GJ 436b, is orbiting a red dwarf star and is about 22 times as massive as Earth. Astronomers detected the giant gas cloud around the planet using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory. With an orbit of only about 3 million miles (4.8 million kilometers), "GJ 436b is 33 times closer to its star than Earth is to the sun, and 13 times closer than Mercury," Ehrenreich told Space.com.

Ancient Carbon Haze Offers Clues to Galaxy Evolution

Astronomers have detected carbon smog permeating the interstellar atmospheres of early galaxies, helping confirm that these ancient galaxies were mostly dust free. The discovery sheds light on how some of the first galaxies to form in the universe grew and evolved, researchers said. Gas and dust are the main components of the interstellar medium, the matter in galaxies that constitutes the building blocks of stars and planets.

Zombie Burials? Ancient Greeks Restrained the Undead

Archaeologists have known about these two peculiar burials since the 1980s, when they uncovered the graves along with nearly 3,000 others at an ancient Greek necropolis in Sicily. The ancient Greeks believed that, "to prevent them from departing their graves, revenants must be sufficiently 'killed,' which [was] usually achieved by incineration or dismemberment," Carrie Sulosky Weaver wrote in the article, published June 11 in the online magazine Popular Archaeology. Sulosky Weaver, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of the history of art and architecture at the University of Pittsburgh, studied the necropolis for part of her forthcoming book, "The Bioarchaeology of Classical Kamarina: Life and Death in Greek Sicily" (Wordsworth Books and Co., 2015).

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