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Wednesday, August 12, 2015

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These are Data's Dark Ages, and That Needs to Change (Op-Ed)

Satyen Sangani is an economist and CEO of Alation, which helps businesses better find, understand and use internal data. Sangani spent nearly a decade at Oracle following positions with the Texas Pacific Group and Morgan Stanley & Co. This Op-Ed is part of a series provided by the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers, class of 2015. Sangani contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Understanding the 'Shape' of Data to Shape Our World

Gurjeet Singh is the co-founder and CEO of data analytics company Ayasdi. This Op-Ed is part of a series provided by the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers, class of 2015. What lies within that data represents the chance for this generation to solve its most pressing problems — from disease and climate change to healthcare and customer understanding.

Does Testosterone Improve Men's Sex Lives?

Testosterone may not rev up men's sex lives as much as they expect it to: Older men with slightly low testosterone levels did not experience improvement in their desire or intimacy after they took testosterone supplements, according to a new study. In the study, about 150 men age 60 and older were given daily testosterone supplements, and another 150 took a placebo. The men's testosterone level at the study's start was a little over 300 nanograms per deciliter, on average, which is on the lower end of the normal range for men.

Coca-Cola Controversy: Is Exercising More or Eating Less Better for Weight Loss?

Coca-Cola has given a million dollars to a new research organization that has pushed a message that lack of exercise is a bigger factor in the obesity epidemic than is calorie consumption. Although exercise makes people healthier, cutting calories usually plays a bigger role in weight loss, experts say. "There's an overwhelming amount of research demonstrating that, from an individual perspective, the key is decreasing calories modestly to successfully lose weight over time," said Dr. Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Your Vote Wanted to Help Name 32 Alien Worlds

A global contest to name 32 alien planets has entered the home stretch. Voting is open through Oct. 31, and the winning names will be announced in mid-November, IAU representatives said. NameExoWorlds kicked off in July 2014, when the IAU — which assigns "official" names to celestial objects and their surface features — chose an initial group of 260 extrasolar systems containing 305 well-characterized alien worlds.

Promising Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight: How to See It

The potentially dazzling meteor shower will reach its peak in the overnight hours tonight, and you can watch it live online - courtesy of NASA - if bad weather rains out your view. The annual Perseid meteor shower will be at its best late tonight (Aug. 12) and early tomorrow, with the best time to catch the celestial fireworks display coming at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT). NASA will host at free webcast of the meteor shower beginning at 10 p.m. EDT (0200 GMT) on NASA TV.

For the Love of Spock! Leonard Nimoy Documentary Surpasses Kickstarter Goal

A documentary commemorating the life of Leonard Nimoy and his iconic "Star Trek" character, Spock, will likely require more funding after exceeding its Kickstarter goal, the film's director says. Nimoy's son, Adam Nimoy, began working on the film project, called "For the Love of Spock," in November 2014 in consultation with his father, who died in February at age 83. The younger Nimoy has been busy preparing plans to film the documentary at conventions and other events.

Mysterious Sunken Ship May Have Belonged to French Baron

By poring over records and documents from the 1800s, researchers were able to tie the wreck to the Baron de Rothschild (1845-1934), or Edmond James Rothschild, one of the preeminent French bankers of his day. Still, without a name, number or other identifying feature on the ship, the case is still circumstantial, said study co-author Deborah Cvikel, a nautical archaeologist at the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa in Israel.

LOL, Haha or Hehe? Online Laughter Differs by Age, Gender

A team of analysts at Facebook recently looked at data from the social media site, to see how people communicate their giggles and chortles to other users. The researchers discovered that men tended to use "haha" more than all other expressions of laughter considered, which also included "hehe," "LOL" and laughter-related emoji. The second most common form of Facebook laughter for men was emoji (e.g., smiley faces), followed by "hehe," the researchers said.

Perseid Meteor Shower: Best Places to See 'Shooting Stars' This Week

The annual Perseid meteor shower is typically the most spectacular "shooting star" display for people in the Northern Hemisphere, and this week, skywatchers could be in for a remarkable show. The meteor shower peaks during the overnight hours tomorrow (Aug. 12) and Thursday (Aug. 13), and weather permitting, stargazers can expect to spot an average of one meteor per minute radiating from the constellation Perseus in the northern sky, somewhat near the North Pole. At the meteor shower's peak, skywatchers could see as many as 100 meteors per hour, according to NASA.

Medieval Sword Carries Mysterious Inscription

A medieval sword inscribed with a mysterious message is stumping researchers and causing a stir among armchair historians. The 13th-century weapon was found in the River Witham in Lincolnshire, in the United Kingdom, in 1825. It now belongs to the British Museum, but is currently on loan to the British Library, where it's being displayed as part of an exhibit on the 1215 Magna Carta.

Trans Fat Linked to Heart Disease, Huge Study Review Concludes

The amount of trans fat in a person's diet is linked with his or her risk of developing or dying from heart disease, a new review of studies suggests. However, the source of trans fats in the diet may be important, said Russell de Souza, a co-author of the study and an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. "Industrially produced" trans fats, which are man-made fats added to foods such as shortening and baked goods, appear to be more harmful than "ruminant" trans fats, which naturally occur in smaller amounts in foods such as butter and beef, de Souza told Live Science.

Omega-3s May Prevent Full-Blown Schizophrenia

Omega-3 fatty acids may prevent the development of full-blown schizophrenia in people who are at high risk of the disease, new research suggests. What's more, omega-3s seemed to prevent the study participants from developing psychosis for several years after people stopped taking them, according to the study. Currently, people with schizophrenia are treated with antipsychotic medications, but the drugs don't work for everyone, have side effects, and typically have to be taken for life, meaning they aren't suitable for people who have some symptoms, but no diagnosis of schizophrenia.

2 Hours of Standing at Work May Boost Your Health

You've probably heard that sitting all day is bad for you, but just how long do you need to spend standing up at your desk, or ambling on a treadmill at the office, to see health benefits? "These findings provide important preliminary evidence that strategies to increase the amount of time spent standing or walking rather than sitting may benefit the heart and metabolism," study researcher Genevieve Healy, of the University of Queensland's School of Public Health, said in a statement. On average, the participants spent 8.8 hours a day sitting, 4.9 hours a day standing and 2 hours a day stepping.

Orbital ATK buys second Atlas rocket launch for space station run

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL (Reuters) - Orbital ATK Inc is buying a second Atlas rocket launch to fly supplies to the International Space Station for NASA while it redesigns its Antares booster following a launch accident last year, the aerospace company said on Wednesday. The Oct. 28 accident, which occurred seconds after launch from Virginia's Wallops Island, destroyed a Cygnus capsule filled with cargo bound for the space station. In December, Orbital said it had bought an Atlas rocket launch from United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, to help fulfill its $1.9 billion cargo delivery contract with NASA while it recovers from the accident.

Armed and dangerous: octopus genetic secrets unveiled

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have unlocked the genetic secrets of one of Earth's underwater wonders - the octopus - whose eight sucker-studded arms bestow an otherworldly appearance and large brain place it among the smartest invertebrates. Researchers on Wednesday unveiled the first complete genome of an octopus or any species of cephalopod, the class of mollusks also including squid, cuttlefish and nautiluses. "Octopuses and other cephalopods are indeed remarkable creatures," said University of Chicago biology graduate student Caroline Albertin, who helped lead the study published in the journal Nature.

Armed and dangerous: octopus genetic secrets unveiled

Bright Jet Erupts from Rosetta Spacecraft's Active Comet (Photo)

The European Space Agency's Rosetta orbiter has been keeping a close eye on the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko – snapping amazing photos as the celestial wanderer hurls dust and gas into space as it approaches its closest point to the sun this week. All rights reserved.

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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Peanut-Shaped Asteroid Zooms Past Earth in Incredible Video

Two giant radio telescopes teamed up to image a peanut-shaped asteroid that zoomed by Earth late last month.

How to Get Electricity to 300 Million People in India, Without Fossil Fuels

The company provides carbon capture technologies to chemical, power and natural-gas plants. This Op-Ed is part of a series provided by the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers, class of 2015. In the fight against climate change, the world needs a global accord to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions.

An Encrypted Internet Is a Basic Human Right (Op-Ed)

Nico Sell is co-founder and co-chairman of Wickr Inc. This Op-Ed is part of a series provided by the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers, class of 2015. George Washington could have become a king, but instead devoted his life to giving power back to the people. Technology, as well as the hopes it fuels, has empowered millions of people across the globe to demand social and political change from some of its most oppressive governments.

Helping Kids Beat the Summertime Bulge

During long summer vacations from school, children are often home all day, watching television, playing video games and surfing the Internet. Therefore, during long, hot summers, America's children — especially those who prefer indoor and sedentary activities — can gain weight. If they lose the weight when school resumes, they may find themselves beginning a yo-yo weight cycle that lasts for years and results in obesity.

Butter, Gravy and Sweet Tea? Southern Foods Tied to Heart Risks

Adults who chow down on traditional Southern foods — such as fried chicken, gravy-smothered liver, buttered rolls and sweet tea — may be at an increased risk of acute heart disease, a new study finds. During the study, there were 536 cases of acute heart disease, which included fatal and nonfatal heart attacks. After controlling for other factors that may influence people's risk of heart disease — such as their level of education, income, physical activity, smoking and age — the researchers found that the people who frequently ate Southern fare were 56 percent more likely to have a heart attack or die from heart disease during the almost six-year study than those who ate it less.

Spacewalking Cosmonauts Give Space Station Window a Shine

Yes, they do windows, even in space: Two cosmonauts scrubbed a window, documented the International Space Station exterior, collected an experiment and battled cold fingers during a speedy spacewalk Monday, August 10. The Russian residents of the space station are experienced spacewalkers: it was flight engineer Mikhail Kornienko's second spacewalk and Expedition 44 commander Gennady Padalka's 10th. Padalkla is the most experienced spacewalker in history, with over 35 hours under his belt — his first was in September 1998, when he repaired damaged cables on Russia's Mir space station.

Beautiful, Rat-Filled Island Seen From Space

OK, it's not much of a tourism slogan, but this space-based image of a small island off the coast of northern Australia highlights a long-standing threat to bird life in the Pacific. Rattus exulans, the Polynesian rat, is an unwelcome intruder on this sandy outpost. According to the Invasive Species Compendium maintained by the agricultural nonprofit Centre for Biosciences and Agriculture, Polynesians colonizing the Pacific brought Polynesian rats to western islands like Samoa and Tonga as far back as 4,000 years ago.

Lightning Can Warp Rocks at Their Core

When this happens, the lightning-zapped rock becomes covered in natural glasses called fulgurites. In the new study, the researchers took a microscopic look at the quartz fulgurites and found "shock lamellae" — a thin layer of warped quartz crystals — underneath the glassy quartz, induced by the high pressure of the strike. The only other known natural event to induce shock lamellae is a meteorite impact.

Thirsty Butterflies Disappearing from the UK

Green-veined white butterflies with pale-yellow wings, among other butterfly species, could disappear from southern Britain in the next 35 years if climate change and habitat loss continue, according to new research. "The results are worrying," Tom Oliver, lead author of the study and an ecological modeler at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, said in a statement.

It's Official: The Universe Is Dying Slowly

The most comprehensive assessment of the energy output in the nearby universe reveals that today's produced energy is only about half of what it was 2 billion years ago. "We used as many space- and ground-based telescopes as we could get our hands on to measure the energy output of over 200,000 galaxies across as broad a wavelength range as possible," Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) team leader Simon Driver, of the University of Western Australia, said in a statement. When the Big Bang created the energy of the universe about 13.8 billion years ago, some portion of that energy found itself locked up as mass.

Perseid Meteor Shower Gets a Boost from Dark Moon, Jupiter

The Perseid meteor shower is the most widely observed and dependable annual meteor display of the year, and its peak this week has all the earmarks of being an excellent example of celestial fireworks, weather permitting. This year, the Perseids will peak in the overnight hours of Wednesday and Thursday (Aug. 12 and 13) just one day before the new moon. Today, NASA released a video on how to see the 2015 Perseid meteor shower.

Publicly Chosen Names for Alien Planets to Be Announced Today

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) will announce the results of its "Name the Exoworlds" campaign — which asked the public to vote on common monikers for 32 alien planets in 20 different star systems — during a press conference this evening (Aug. 11) at the group's 29th General Assembly in Honolulu, Hawaii. The names of the host stars, for their part, are often pulled from catalogues or are taken from the instrument or mission that discovered them (NASA's planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope in the case of Kepler-186). From April through June, astronomy clubs and nonprofit groups submitted common names for the 32 exoplanets and 15 of the 20 host stars (the other five stars already had common names).

Scientists say fetal tissue essential for medical research

BOSTON (AP) — The furor on Capitol Hill over Planned Parenthood has stoked a debate about the use of tissue from aborted fetuses in medical research, but U.S. scientists have been using such cells for decades to develop vaccines and seek treatments for a host of ailments, from vision loss to cancer and AIDS.

Biggest Art Heist Ever: Will Released Tape Bring Paintings Back?

On Thursday (Aug. 6), the Federal Bureau of Investigation released a fuzzy clip of a hatchback pulling up to a side door at the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum in Boston. In the video, a man gets out of the car and is let in a museum side door by the security guard on duty, Richard Abath. The fake officers bound Abath and another guard with duct tape and made off with 13 works of art, including three Rembrandts and a Vermeer.

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