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Wednesday, July 1, 2015

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Minor changes turned Black Death germ from mild to murderous

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The bacterium Yersinia pestis has inflicted almost unimaginable misery upon humankind over the centuries, killing an estimated 200 million or more people and triggering horrific plagues in the 6th and 14th centuries. Yersinia pestis caused two of the deadliest pandemics in human history: the 6th century Justinian Plague, named for the Byzantine emperor who was sickened but survived, and the 14th century Black Death. The addition of the gene long ago transformed Yersinia pestis from a pathogen that caused a mild gastrointestinal infection to one that caused the fatal respiratory disease called pneumonic plague.

Pluto and Charon Starting to Come into Focus (Photo)

Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, posed for a solemn portrait taken by NASA's New Horizon's probe, which is only two weeks away from its close encounter with the dwarf planet. "Looking at pictures on the website, you can see that Pluto and Charon are becoming more distinct in their surface features," Alice Bowman, the missions operations manager for New Horizons, said today (June 30) in a mission update.

Death and Medicine: Why Lethal Injection Is Getting Harder

A controversial drug used in lethal injections will not be banned for use in the death penalty in the United States. A Supreme Court decision yesterday (June 29) found that the sedative had not been proven more "cruel and unusual" than the alternatives. The drug, midazolam, is just the latest to fall under scrutiny as more and more of the drugs used in the death penalty become unavailable, pulled from sale to prisons by manufacturers who don't want their products associated with execution.

US Military's Hypersonic Jet Could Fly 5 Times the Speed of Sound

The U.S. military is reportedly developing a hypersonic jet plane that could soar at up to five times the speed of sound — faster than a bullet, which generally travels at Mach 2, or twice the speed of sound. The new hypersonic vehicle, which could take flight by 2023, builds upon research from a 2013 test flight of an experimental hypersonic vehicle, the X-51A Waverider, according to Military.com. At the time, U.S. Air Force officials said the flight was the longest-ever for a hypersonic vehicle of its kind.

Survey: US political and generation gaps on science issues

WASHINGTON (AP) — Age divides Americans on science issues just as much as political ideology, a new analysis of recent polling shows.

There's a Sign Women Are Ovulating, But Men Can't Detect It

Women's cheeks get redder when they are the most fertile, but this color change is so subtle that it is undetectable by the human eye, a new study finds. After analyzing the photos, the researchers concluded that the women's faces got redder around the time they ovulated. "This is the first study to conclusively show that women's faces do change in redness over the course of the menstrual cycle," said Robert Burriss, a co-author of the study and a research fellow in psychology at Northumbria University in England.

Epic Pluto Flyby Occurs This Month

A NASA spacecraft is less than two weeks away from a historic flyby of Pluto that will cap a nine-year trek across the solar system. NASA's New Horizons probe will cruise within 7,800 miles (12,500 kilometers) of Pluto's surface on July 14, capturing the first-ever good looks of the frigid, faraway and mysterious world. "One of my fondest hopes for the flyby, apart from the great science we'll do, is that we'll excite a lot of people about the power of exploration, the sheer audacity of our species and the great things we can achieve," New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, wrote in a blog post on June 25.

Tiny Glider Could Cruise Through Martian Skies

NASA researchers are developing a glider, called Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars (Prandtl-m), for possible inclusion on a Mars rover mission in the 2022-2024 time frame. "The aircraft would be part of the ballast that would be ejected from the aeroshell that takes the Mars rover to the planet," Prandtl-m program manager Al Bowers, the chief scientist at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, said in a statement. "It would be able to deploy and fly in the Martian atmosphere and glide down and land," Bowers added.

How Will Sunday's Rocket Explosion Affect SpaceX?

Sunday's explosion of the commercial SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has put a dent in the booster's impressive track record. SpaceX must fix whatever caused the problem and return to flight in order to fulfill billions of dollars of launch orders. The company's Falcon 9 rocket disintegrated 139 seconds after liftoff Sunday (June 28), ending the seventh operational flight under SpaceX's Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

Sinkholes Offer Glimpse into Comet's Heart

Strange pits and divots observed on the surface of Ccomet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko may be sinkholes, not unlike those that appear on Earth, a new analysis suggests.

Scientists find new evidence on GSK vaccine link to narcolepsy

By Kate Kelland LONDON, (Reuters) - Scientists investigating why a GlaxoSmithKline flu vaccine triggered narcolepsy in some people say they have the first solid evidence the rare sleep disorder may be a so-called "hit-and-run" autoimmune disease. The researchers were trying to find out why, of two different flu vaccines widely deployed during the 2009/2010 swine flu pandemic, only one -- GSK's Pandemrix -- was linked with a spike in cases of narcolepsy. In a study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, they said the answer could lie in a protein in the H1N1 flu strain found in high amounts in the GSK shot but at much lower levels in the other vaccine, Novartis' Focetria.

Helium Leaking from Earth in Southern California

A natural helium leak in Southern California reveals that the Newport-Inglewood fault is deeper than once thought — with a direct line from the Earth's surface to the planet's hot, dense mantle. Helium-3 comes only from the Earth's mantle, the semisolid rock layer beneath the crust. "The fault, which I don't think people had anticipated, was deeply connected," said Jim Boles, a professor emeritus of earth sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Rosetta spacecraft finds massive sinkholes on comet's surface

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - The comet being studied by Europe's Rosetta spacecraft has massive sinkholes in its surface that are nearly wide enough to swallow Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza, research published on Wednesday shows. Scientists suspect the pits formed when material on the comet's surface collapsed, similar to sinkholes on Earth, a study published in the journal Nature said. The cavities on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which Rosetta has been orbiting since August, are enormous, stretching some 656 feet (200 meters) in diameter and 590 feet (180 meters) in depth.

Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Hawking & the 'Terminator' Talk Science

What scientific questions does Mark Zuckerberg want answered? Stephen Hawking wants to know. In a town hall-style Q&A session held Tuesday (June 30) on Zuckerberg's Facebook profile, the acclaimed British physicist asked the site's co-founder and CEO to share some of the "big questions in science" that he'd like to see answered.

I'll bite: ancient saber-toothed cat's teeth grew prodigiously

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The ferocious saber-toothed cat Smilodon was a star in Hollywood long before it became Tinseltown, with extensive remains of this Ice Age predator that prowled North and South America preserved in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. "If you think about it, Smilodon fatalis likely left their paw prints on what is today Hollywood Boulevard long before Marilyn Monroe left her hand prints at the Chinese Theater," said paleontologist Z. Jack Tseng of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Scientists on Wednesday offered unique insight into the big cat's most famous feature: its dagger-like upper canine teeth.

Recycled Dormitory Water: The Next Big Thing On Campus? (Video)

The idea was dreamed up by Jim Englehardt, professor of environmental engineering at the University of Miami, and brought to life with support from NSF. Englehardt wanted to create a closed-loop water re-use system to treat wastewater and recycle it back to be used — all in one place. Using the Miami on-campus apartment as his guinea pig, Englehardt gave the net-zero water system of his dreams the old college try.

Does Music Give You Math Skills? It's a Tricky Equation

Naomi Eide is a master's student in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. Denny Gulick began playing piano at age 4. When Gulick was 5, his father gave him math multiplication tables that extended up to 16, and taught him pi to 15 decimal places, something Gulick has never forgotten.

What? Hearing Aids Are Out of Range for Most Americans (Op-Ed)

While Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming the Affordable Care Act is good news for millions of Americans who receive subsidies from the program's health care exchanges, the vast majority of Americans with hearing loss will still be left with difficult choices. Hearing aids , which amplify sounds, are widely considered the gold standard and first line treatment for hearing loss — yet fewer than one in three adults age 70 and older who could benefit from hearing aids has ever used one. Part of the reason for the treatment gap is that Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people age 65 and older, does not cover any of the costs associated with hearing aids, routine hearing exams or fittings for hearing aids.

Want to Find Life on Mars? Start in Antarctica (Podcast)

Charlie Heck, multimedia news editor at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. One of the coldest, driest deserts on the planet, Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys may look like a frozen wasteland, but compelling new evidence shows that beneath the surface lies a salty aquifer that may support life. The environment is a possible analog for conditions beneath the surface of Mars, and other desolate locales in the solar system.

Russian Cargo Spacecraft Will Launch to Space Station Early Friday

A robotic Russian cargo vessel will try to buck a negative recent trend when it launches toward the International Space Station early Friday morning (July 3).

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Tuesday, June 30, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Exclusive: U.S. should spurn Russia rocket engines despite SpaceX failure - McCain

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The failure of a SpaceX rocket over Florida on Sunday should not lead U.S. officials to conclude there is need for a Russian rocket engine to help get military equipment into space, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain said on Monday. "This mishap in no way diminishes the urgency of ridding ourselves of the Russian RD-180 rocket engine," McCain said in a statement. (Reporting By Richard Cowan; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

Rosetta Sees Signs of Water Ice on Comet Surface (Photos)

Patches of water ice appear to be speckled across the surface of a comet, according to a new study using observations from a European space probe. The researchers also note that there have been no significant changes to the spots after a month of observations. "Water ice is the most plausible explanation for the occurrence and properties of these features," said Antoine Pommerol, a physicist at the University of Bern, in a statement.

Armored Spiky Worm Had 30 Legs, Will Haunt Your Nightmares

A spiky, wormlike creature with 30 legs — 18 clawed rear legs and 12 featherlike front legs that likely helped it filter food from the water — once lived in the ancient oceans of the early Cambrian period, about 518 million years ago, a new study finds. "It's a bit of a large animal for this time period," said one of the study's lead researchers, Javier Ortega-Hernández, a research fellow in paleobiology at the University of Cambridge. The creature likely used its rear clawed legs to anchor to sponges or other penetrable surfaces, and waved its feathery front limbs to and fro in the current to catch nutrients in the water, Ortega-Hernández said.

Falcon rocket explosion leaves SpaceX launch schedule in tatters

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuters) - SpaceX on Monday was searching for what destroyed its Falcon 9 rocket after liftoff over the weekend, leaving customers still loyal but unsure when their satellites might fly. The privately-held company, owned and operated by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, has flown 18 successful missions with the Falcon 9 before Sunday's failure. Preliminary analysis pointed to a problem with the rocket's second-stage motor liquid oxygen tank, SpaceX said.

Sugary Drinks Kill 184,000 People Every Year

The finding — a revised estimate of numbers first presented at a scientific meeting in 2013 — represents a tally of deaths from diabetes, heart disease and cancer that scientists say can be directly attributed to the consumption of sweetened sodas, fruit drinks, sports/energy drinks and iced teas. The numbers imply that sugary drinks can cause as many deaths annually as the flu. "It should be a global priority to substantially reduce or eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages from the diet," said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author of the study and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

After Trauma, Women Face Heart Disease Risk

Women who experience a traumatic event and develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be at increased risk for heart disease, a new large study suggests. In the study, researchers found that women who had four or more symptoms of PTSD after a traumatic event had a 60 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or stroke, than women who experienced no trauma, over a 20-year period. Women who had experienced traumatic events but who didn't report experiencing symptoms of PTSD had a 45 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the study found.

1 in 3 Americans Owns a Gun

Nearly one in three adults in the United States owns at least one gun, according to a new study. In the study, researchers surveyed a nationally representative sample of 4,000 adults in the United States on gun ownership. Most of the gun owners were white men older than 55, and the majority of them were married, the researchers said.

Spiky little sea 'monster' thrived a half billion years ago

Scientists on Monday announced the discovery in Yunnan Province of beautifully preserved fossils of one of the stranger animals ever to call Earth home. The creature, Collinsium ciliosum, lived during the Cambrian Period, a time of remarkable evolutionary experimentation when many unusual animals appeared and vanished. "Collinsium is definitely an odd-looking animal, and if one were to bump into one of these during a snorkeling or diving trip nowadays it would be quite shocking," said University of Cambridge paleobiologist Javier Ortega-Hernández, whose research appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Shark Attacks in North Carolina: 'Perfect Storm' May Be Causing Bloody Encounters

Two people were bitten by sharks off the coast of North Carolina this weekend, bringing the total number of shark attacks in the state up to five in under three weeks. "It's not a certain thing that makes this happen," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida's Florida Museum of Natural History. Both shark attacks this weekend occurred off North Carolina's Outer Banks, a 200-mile-long (320 kilometers) string of barrier islands that hugs the state's coast.

Dubai says plans world's first 3D printed office building

Dubai said it would construct a small office building using a 3D printer for the first time, in a drive to develop technology that would cut costs and save time as the city grows. 3D printing, which uses a printer to make three-dimensional objects from a digital design, is taking off in manufacturing industries around the world but has so far been used little in construction. Dubai's one-storey prototype building, with about 2,000 square feet (185 square meters) of floor space, will be printed layer-by-layer using a 20-foot tall printer, Mohamed Al Gergawi, the United Arab Emirates Minister of Cabinet Affairs, said on Tuesday.

Camel Spider's Fierce Jaw Is Focus of New Creepy Crawly 'Dictionary'

The camel spiders star in a new publication designed to help researchers better study the Solifugae order. Of course, the camel spider's huge jaws, or chelicerae, also set it apart from its spider cousins. The jaws of a solifuge contain "most of the relevant information" needed to tell one species of camel spider from the next, said Lorenzo Prendini, a curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Iron Age Warrior Lived with Arrowhead in Spine

A horrific spinal injury caused by a bronze arrowhead didn't immediately kill an Iron Age warrior, who survived long enough for his bone to heal around the metal point, a new study of his burial in central Kazakhstan finds. "This found individual was extremely lucky to survive," said study researcher Svetlana Svyatko, a research fellow in the school of geography, archaeology and paleoecology at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland. The researchers have studied the area in central Kazakhstan for more than 20 years.

See Venus and Jupiter Dance Together Tonight

From your outstretched hand, your clenched fist is equal to roughly 10 degrees, so at the beginning of June, Venus and Jupiter appeared about "two fists" apart. Conjunctions between Venus and Jupiter are far from rare events. For this to happen, Venus must be close to inferior conjunction (when it's positioned between Earth and the sun).

'Leap Second' Tonight Will Cause 61-Second Minute

Time will stand still for one second this evening (June 30) as a "leap second" is added to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the time standard by which most clocks are regulated. The extra second will be inserted just before midnight UTC — just before midnight GMT, and just before 8 p.m. EDT. Instead of rolling straight through from 23:59:59 to 00:00:00, UTC will tick over to 23:59:60 for a second.

'Fireball' Over US Southeast Was Probably Falling Space Junk (Video)

The bright light that streaked across skies throughout the American Southeast early Monday morning (June 29) was probably a piece of space junk crashing back to Earth, researchers say. The mysterious sky light blazed up at 1:29 a.m. EDT (0529 GMT) Monday and was witnessed by skywatchers from Louisiana to Virginia — and by all six meteor-observing cameras operated by NASA in the Southeast. But this was no meteor, said Bill Cooke, head of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Space Record: Cosmonaut Logs 804 Days (and Counting) in Orbit

A cosmonaut onboard the International Space Station has beaten the record for the most time spent off the planet — and he still has months to go before he comes home to Earth. Gennady Padalka, a Russian who is serving a record fourth command of the orbiting outpost, logged his 804th day in Earth orbit Monday (June 29), spread over five flights. Scheduled to return to Earth on Sept. 11, Padalka marked his 57th birthday onboard the space station on June 21.

Meet Hades, the Centipede from Hell

Deep beneath the surface of the Earth, in a dank and dismal cave, lives Hades, the invertebrate king of hell.

How Does Execution Drug Midazolam Work?

States can still use the sedative drug midazolam in lethal injections, according to today's Supreme Court decision. But how exactly does the drug work, and why do some say that it's unreliable?

Toxic Fish Poisons More People Than Thought

An illness called ciguatera poisoning, which is caused by eating certain fish, is more common in Florida than previously believed, a new study finds. Each year, 56 Floridians become ill with this kind of poisoning for every 1 million people in the state, according to the new estimate from researchers at University of Florida and the state's Department of Health. Most infections in the state are caused by eating fish that were caught in either the Bahamas or the Florida Keys, though nearly 5 percent of the toxic fish came from Palm Beach County waters, and 4 percent came from Miami-Dade County.

Walking in Nature May Reduce Negativity

Researchers found that the 19 people in the study who took 90-minute walks in a natural setting had lower levels of negative, repetitive thoughts about themselves, compared with another 19 people who took 90-minute walks in an urban setting. Previous research has linked such thoughts, called rumination, to a heightened risk of depression and related conditions. "It was pretty striking that a 90-minute walk had this much of an impact," said study author Gregory Bratman, a doctoral student in the department of biology at Stanford University.

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