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Wednesday, November 11, 2015

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Drug industry bemoans Britain's lack of science skills

British pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies face a major skills shortage which threatens future investment and the long-term success of the life sciences sector, according to a new industry report. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said on Wednesday that firms could increasingly seek workers abroad due to low numbers of good quality candidates, particularly those with appropriate biology and maths skills. The report follows a warning this week from lawmakers on the House of Commons science and technology committee that Britain's position as a "science superpower" would be jeopardized if government spending on science was not protected.

Drug industry bemoans Britain's lack of science skills

British pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies face a major skills shortage which threatens future investment and the long-term success of the life sciences sector, according to a new industry report. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said on Wednesday that firms could increasingly seek workers abroad due to low numbers of good quality candidates, particularly those with appropriate biology and maths skills. The report follows a warning this week from MPs on the House of Commons science and technology committee that Britain's position as a "science superpower" would be jeopardised if government spending on science was not protected.

Getting HyQ the robot 'disaster ready'

By Jim Drury Robotics engineers are developing algorithms to make HyQ, a quadruped robot, into a useful tool in disaster missions. The HyQ quadruped robot was developed and built by Claudio Semini, of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa, who completed it in 2010. A copy of the robot was built in 2012 for ETH Zurich Professor Jonas Buchli's laboratory, part funded by the National Science Foundation.

Why Do Supermassive Black Holes Erupt?

Astronomers are dragging the inner workings of black holes out into the light. The powerful X-ray flares seen erupting from supermassive black holes are tied to the motion of these behemoths' surrounding "coronas," mysterious features that are sources of high-energy light, a new study suggests. Specifically, supermassive black holes likely flare when their coronas launch away from them, researchers said.

Ancient Cosmic Crashes May Have Altered Earth's Composition

Mysteriously, Earth's chemical composition is drastically different from that of the rocks that most likely helped to form the planet. Now, scientists think they may have an answer to this long-standing puzzle: The constant pummeling that formed Earth may have altered its composition. Among these, previous research found that enstatite chondrites have a mix of isotopes that is remarkably similar to that of Earth, which suggests they might be the raw material from which Earth originated.

Sweet Beginnings: Origins of Chocolate Found

A genetic tweak about 10 million years ago may be responsible for delicious chocolate bars, new research suggests. The cacao tree's ancient roots suggest it has greater genetic diversity in the wild than previously thought. "We show for the first time that the source of chocolate, Theobroma cacao, is remarkably old for an Amazonian plant species," study lead author James Richardson, a tropical botanist at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland, said in a statement.

Self-Folding Minirobots Possible with Origami-Inspired Graphene

Origami-inspired graphene paper that can fold itself could be used to create anything from miniature robots to artificial muscles, according to a new study. Scientists from Donghua University in China have demonstrated that gently heating a sheet of graphene paper, which is extraordinarily strong (about 200 times stronger than steel by weight), could make it fold into a device that is able to walk forward and backward. The research could help scientists develop self-folding structures and devices for modern applications, including wirelessly controlled micro robots, artificial muscles and devices for tissue engineering, said Jiuke Mu, a Ph.D. student at Donghua University and one of the material's inventors.

Half-Billion-Year-Old Brains Preserved in Fool's Gold

A set of incredible fossils from southwest China reveals something amazing: 520 million-year-old brains, some preserved in fool's gold. Researchers led by Nicholas Strausfeld, a neuroscientist at the University of Arizona, first discovered fossilized brains this old in 2012, but only reported on one specimen. Now, Strausfeld and his colleagues have analyzed seven more fossils and discovered bits of brain in each.

Get a Whiff of This: Man Hasn't Showered in 12 Years

David Whitlock, a chemical engineer in Boston, has not showered for 12 years. To boost the presence of odor-eating bacteria, Whitlock has designed a bacterial spray called AO+ Mist, which is now sold by the company AoBiome under the brand Mother Dirt. The company hopes this bacterial spritz could reduce the need for products such as soaps and deodorants and potentially even reduce or eliminate the need for showering for those so inclined.

Honeybees Sweetened Life for Stone Age Humans

Stone Age people may have satisfied their sweet tooth with honey, new research finds. The chemical residues on pots that prove this are from beeswax, so researchers can't say for sure whether Neolithic people used beeswax alone or both beeswax and honey. "It seems that the first farmers in every single area of Europe were exploiting beeswax from the beginning of farming," said study researcher Mélanie Roffet-Salque, a postdoctoral researcher in chemistry at the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom.

Closest Earth-size Alien Planet Found, May Be a Venus Twin

A newly discovered planet 39 light-years away is being called the closest Earth-size exoplanet ever discovered — and a potential "Venus twin" — providing the mouth-watering opportunity for a close-up look at the environment on a rocky alien world. One of the dire frustrations of studying planets around other stars (and, really, any astronomical object) is their distance from Earth, which makes it onerous or impossible to get many basic details about them. Exoplanets are doubly frustrating because any light they emit (light that would give hints about what's happening on the surface) is often overwhelmed by the light of the parent star.

These Ancient Stars May Be the Oldest Ever Seen in the Milky Way

Astronomers have found what may be the oldest stars in the Milky Way. The stars, discovered in the galaxy's bulge, reveal that extraordinarily powerful explosions known as hypernovas might have dominated the Milky Way during its youth, researchers say. The oldest stars in the universe are poor in what astronomers call "metals" — elements heavier than helium.

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Tuesday, November 10, 2015

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Mountains on Pluto believed to be ice volcanoes, scientists say

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered what appear to be ice-spewing volcanoes on the surface of Pluto, raising questions about how the tiny, distant world has been so geologically active, according to research presented on Monday. The findings, released at an American Astronomical Society meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, paint a far more complicated picture of Pluto and its moons than scientists imagined. "The Pluto system is baffling us," planetary scientist Alan Stern, with the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, told reporters during a webcast news conference.

Icy Volcanoes May Erupt on Pluto

Icy volcanoes may lie on the southern rim of Pluto's frozen heart. Images from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft have identified two peaks that tower nearly 4 miles (6 kilometers) high over the surface of the dwarf planet, and scientists say the peaks' physical features suggest they might be volcanoes. "These are two really extraordinary features," Oliver White, a New Horizons postdoctoral researcher with NASA's Ames Research Center in California, said today (Nov. 9) during a news conference here at the 47th annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).

Scientists warn of health damage from Indonesia's haze fires

By Alisa Tang BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Toxic fumes from the Indonesian fires that have spread a chohttp://cdn.pictures.reuters.com/Doc/RTR/Media/TR3_UNWATERMARKED/8/5/6/6/RTS58G8.jpgking haze across Southeast Asia may be doing more harm to human and plant health than officials have indicated, scientists measuring the pollution say. Farmers are expecting a poor harvest because plants have too little sunlight for normal photosynthesis, while government figures of half a million sickened by the smoke are only the "tip of the iceberg", said Louis Verchot, a scientist with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Meanwhile, the fires are converting carbon stored in burning peatlands into greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change.

CORRECTED - Science's 'Breakthrough' winners earn over $21 million in prizes

(Corrects paragraph 3 to physicists instead of physicians) By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Academia just turned a little more glitzy for a select group of scientists. Russian billionaire Yuri Milner handed out $21 million Sunday in seven Breakthrough Prizes, the award for scientific accomplishment he created three years ago alongside technology giants including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 23andme founder Anne Wojcicki and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The prizes are worth $3 million, around three times the sum a Nobel Prize winner receives.

Virgin Galactic Recruits Female Test Pilot Kelly Latimer

Kelly Latimer, the first female research test pilot ever to join what is now NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, has joined Virgin Galactic as the spaceflight company's newest pilot. Latimer, a retired a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, worked on NASA projects such as the 747 space shuttle carrier aircraft, the T-34 and the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a flying astronomical observatory. "I have wanted to go to space ever since I can remember doing anything," Latimer said in a statement from Virgin Galactic.

'Electric Sails' Could Propel Superfast Spacecraft by 2025

Robotic spacecraft may ride the solar wind toward interstellar space at unprecedented speeds a decade or so from now. Researchers are developing an "electric sail" (e-sail) propulsion system that would harness the solar wind, the stream of protons, electrons and other charged particles that flows outward from the sun at more than 1 million mph (1.6 million kilometers per hour). "It looks really, really promising for ultra-deep-space exploration," Les Johnson, of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said of the e-sail concept here at the 100-Year Starship Symposium on Oct. 30.

Photos Capture Great White Sharks Mid-Bite

Massive great white sharks launching their 3-ton bodies out of the ocean and into the air can be a spectacular sight, if you're lucky enough (and brave enough) to be in the right place at the right time. "I've been in the water with sharks, but the emotion of seeing them flying like a UFO is really something," Daniel Botelho told Live Science. Botelho hit the shark jackpot in Gansbaai, South Africa.

Why You Should Check Your Blood Pressure in the Morning

People who have high blood pressure are often advised to monitor their blood pressure at home, and now, a new study suggests that blood pressure measured in the morning may be a better predictor of stroke risk than blood pressure measured in the evening. In the study, researchers looked at data from people in Japan and found that, when measured in the morning, higher blood pressure was related to an increased risk of stroke. When measured in the evening, however, higher blood pressure was not as closely related to people's stroke risk.

Pandemonium! Motion of Pluto's Moons Perplexes Scientists

The orbits of Pluto's four smallest moons are even more chaotic than scientists had expected, according to new results from the New Horizons mission, which made a close flyby of Pluto in July. "The way I would describe this system is not just chaos, but pandemonium," Mark Showalter, a co-investigator on the New Horizons mission, said today (Nov. 9) during a news conference at the meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. The new results show that as the four moons orbit Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, some of them are spinning incredibly fast, one is spinning backward against its orbit and some are tilted on their sides.

Scientists tracking rain, snow in soggy Washington state

SEATTLE (AP) — Using everything from a customized DC-8 jetliner to ground radars to 4-inch rain gauges, scientists are fanning out across one of the soggiest places in the United States this month to measure raindrops and snowflakes.

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Monday, November 9, 2015

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Most Allergy Sufferers Not Getting Relief from Over-the-Counter Meds

Many hay fever sufferers are turning to over-the-counter allergy medications to relieve their symptoms, but they may not be happy with the results they are getting from these medicines, a new study reveals.

Bus Driver Suffers Vision Loss from Child's Toy Laser

A boy who aimed a laser pointer from a toy at the rearview mirror inside a public bus in Germany permanently damaged the retina of the bus driver's right eye, a new case report reveals. The boy was playing with a laser pointer while sitting about 50 feet (15 meters) away from the driver, according to the case report. When the child pointed the laser at the rearview mirror inside the bus, a beam of red light emitted by the toy reflected off the mirror and into the eye of the 44-year-old bus driver, according to a report published online Oct. 5 in the journal BMJ Case Reports.

Heart Risks Raised by Just One Energy Drink, Study Suggests

Having just one energy drink can cause short-term changes in healthy adults that, over time, could increase the risk of heart disease, a new study finds. In the study, participants who drank one 16-ounce (480 milliliters) can of Rockstar energy drink showed increases in blood pressure and levels of the hormone norepinephrine, compared with before they consumed the drink. One Rockstar energy drink contains 240 milligrams of caffeine, along with other stimulants, including 2,000 mg (0.7 ounces) of taurine and extracts of guarana seed, ginseng root and milk thistle, according to the study.

Science's 'Breakthrough' winners earn over $21 million in prizes

By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Academia just turned a little more glitzy for a select group of scientists. Russian billionaire Yuri Milner handed out $21 million Sunday in seven Breakthrough Prizes, the award for scientific accomplishment he created three years ago alongside technology giants including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 23andme founder Anne Wojcicki and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The prizes are worth $3 million, around three times the sum a Nobel Prize winner receives.

Factbox: Science's 'Breakthrough' prize winners

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The following is a list of winners of the Breakthrough Prizes, worth $3 million each, announced on Sunday in Mountain View, California. Life Sciences: Karl Deisseroth, Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the D.H. ...

Science's 'Breakthrough' winners earn over $21 million in prizes

Science's 'Breakthrough' prize winners

For Tracking Your Diet, Smartphones Beat Paper and Pencil

People who want to lose weight or eat healthier might be interested in keeping a food diary, but a new study finds you may be better off ditching the pencil and paper and logging your food on your smartphone. In the study, the researchers found that people were more dilligent with their smartphone, compared with other types of diaries. Tracking the foods you eat is an important part of trying to lose weight, the researchers said here today (Nov. 8), at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting.

Eye-tracking sensor maker makes play for big time

By Helena Soderpalm STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - An accidental breakthrough in a Stockholm laboratory 15 years ago could reap a fortune for the engineers who made it - as long as they can win over some of the most demanding consumers: video gamers. Since John Elvesjo noticed a sensor tracking his eye movements in a lab experiment, the technology he developed with Henrik Eskilsson and Marten Skogo has helped disabled people use a computer by identifying where they are looking on the screen. Eskilsson says eye tracking will one day be found in all laptops, smartphones, tablets and automobiles.

Tennis study serves up the science of sliding

By Matthew Stock Engineers at the University of Sheffield have teamed up with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to measure the effects of friction between tennis court surfaces and footwear in a bid to ensure the world's top players can play their natural game and slide in a controlled manner, with a reduced risk of injury. Sliding is a key skill on clay courts, mastered by the likes of one-time 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal, who enjoyed years of success in the French Open at Roland Garros. The increase in sliding among top players could be a natural reaction to more powerful racket technology, according to mechanical engineering PhD student Daniel Ura.

'Pompeii of the New World' Reveals Power of Mayan Commoners

A Mayan village frozen in time 1,400 years ago by a volcanic eruption reveals that commoners had power in a culture best known for the works of the elite class. Though elites in city centers had an impressive record in developing arts, hieroglyphs and a complex calendar, rural villagers weren't under the thumb of this ruling class, excavations in El Salvador suggest. In fact, nearly all decisions appeared to be under local control, and villagers had a remarkable quality of life, said Payson Sheets, an archaeologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Parents Targeted by TV Ads Putting 'Healthful' Spin on Kid's Drinks

By using this two-pronged approach to marketing to parents and kids, food-manufacturing companies may be trying to increase the chance that their products will be purchased, said study author Jennifer A. Edmond, an instructor at Dartmouth College's Geisel School of Medicine. "But then they are marketing to parents with a separate set of ads that promote nutrition and a healthy lifestyle," in what might be the hope of preventing the parents from feeling guilty about buying this product for the child, Edmond told Live Science. This approach to marketing to both kids and parents is concerning when it comes to those children's foods and beverages that may not be that healthy, Edmond said.

Rare Dinosaur Find: Fossil Covered in Feathers, Skin

The skeleton of a heavily feathered, ostrichlike dinosaur has "unparalleled" fossilized feathers and skin — anatomical features that aren't usually preserved in dinosaur remains, a new study reports. The remains indicate that the dinosaur — an Ornithomimus, a fast-moving theropod (bipedal, mostly meat-eating dinosaurs) with an uncanny resemblance to an ostrich — sported a feathery coat during the Late Cretaceous, more than 66 million years ago. Study lead researcher Aaron van der Reest found the partial skeleton in Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park in 2009, during his first undergraduate year at the University of Alberta.

What the Flux? No Sign of Aliens Around Strange, Dimming Star

If alien civilizations are broadcasting from around a strangely behaving star, they aren't chatting loud enough for humans to hear them from Earth, new observations show. The star KIC 8462852 garnered popular attention in October, when scientists announced that it showed evidence of periodically dimming by 20 percent or more, which some people theorized could be caused by the shadow of an alien megastructure. "The history of astronomy tells us that, every time we thought we had found a phenomenon due to the activities of extraterrestrials, we were wrong," SETI Institute astronomer Seth Shostak said in a statement.

On Pluto Time: Q&A with New Horizons Leader Alan Stern

This past July, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft provided the first good looks at Pluto, and the piano-size probe might not be done exploring the solar system's outer reaches. New Horizons performed the first-ever flyby of Pluto on July 14, revealing the dwarf planet to be a complex and diverse world with tall mountains, nitrogen-ice glaciers and some areas of surprisingly young terrain. The spacecraft is now cruising through the frigid Kuiper Belt — the ring of bodies beyond Neptune's orbit — and could make even more history during a potential extended mission.

'Mirror Universes' Might Look and Behave Like Ours, Study Finds

Scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) discovered that antimatter protons, called antiprotons, act just like their ordinary-matter cousins when they are close enough to interact via the so-called strong nuclear force, which binds protons and neutrons together into atomic nuclei. Antimatter is essentially the opposite of matter, in which the subatomic particles (protons and electrons) of antimatter have charges opposite to those of ordinary matter. In antimatter, the antiprotons are negatively charged, while the antielectrons (called positrons) are positively charged.

The Future of Drones: Uncertain, Promising and Pretty Awesome

The first drone delivery in the United States took place this past summer, marking an important milestone in the development of the new technology. Instead, Australian startup Flirtey, in partnership with Virginia Tech and NASA, used a drone to carry 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of medical supplies from an airfield in Virginia to a remote clinic about a mile away over three 3-minute flights. While the demonstration was a landmark moment for drone technology and policy, it was a far cry from Amazon's vision of a fleet of drones delivering online purchases to customers' doorsteps within 30 minutes.

Meet Your Microbes: Museum Exhibit Reveals a 'Secret World'

This spectacular hidden world is explored in a new exhibit, called "The Secret World Inside You," that opens today (Nov. 7) here at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Why is the microbiome such a significant part our make up? This doesn't mean that human bodies are mostly made of microbes — human cells take up a lot more space.

The Science of Vitamin C: Can Taking It Prevent a Cold?

But does boosting your vitamin C intake do anything to prevent or shorten colds? Some studies suggest taking vitamin C has a modest effect on the common cold, but don't expect miracles, one expert says. "It's fair to say that vitamin C supplementation both shortens duration of cold and offers some protection against colds, though it's not very dramatic," said Stephen Lawson, a researcher at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, who studies micronutrients.

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