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Thursday, February 4, 2016

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Smart band-aid on the horizon

By Ben Gruber Cambridge, MASS (Reuters) - Wearable electronics will revolutionize the way doctors diagnose and treat patients, according to researchers at MIT, who are developing stretchable hydrogels that share many of the same properties of human tissue. "Hydrogel is a polymer network infiltrated with water.

U.S. private space companies plan surge in launches this year

U.S. private space companies Space Exploration Technologies and United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and BoeingN , have scheduled more than 30 launches from Florida this year, up from 18 last year, according to company and Air Force officials. The jump in planned launches reflects increasing demand for commercial communications and imaging satellites, as well as business from the U.S. military, International Space Station cargo ships and a NASA asteroid sample return mission.

Russian cosmonauts breeze through spacewalk outside space station

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Two veteran Russian cosmonauts returned to the International Space Station on Wednesday after replacing experiment equipment that is testing how materials and biological samples fare in the harsh environment of space. Station flight engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov left the station's airlock at 7:55 a.m. EST (1255 GMT) for what was expected to be a 5-1/2-hour spacewalk, a live broadcast on NASA Television showed. Malenchenko and Volkov began their spacewalk by casting off a flash drive into space, giving a ceremonial send-off to recorded messages and video from last year's 70th anniversary of Victory Day, said NASA mission commentator Rob Navias.

Human Brain's Bizarre Folding Pattern Recreated in a Vat

Scientists have discovered exactly how the human brain gets its crinkly, wrinkly appearance in utero. It turns out that the huge explosion in the number of brain cells in the brain's outer layer, called the cortex, forces that layer to swell and then collapse in on itself to form those characteristic creases. "This simple evolutionary innovation, with iterations and variations, allows for a large cortex to be packed into a small volume, and is likely the dominant cause behind brain folding, known as gyrification," said study co-author L. Mahadevan, an applied mathematician at Harvard University.

Why Sand Tiger Shark Devours Aquarium Mate (Video)

Any sharks that want to enhance their reputation as fearsome predators should follow the lead of a sand tiger shark at the Coex Aquarium in Seoul, South Korea, that surprised aquarium goers by devouring a fellow shark — and taking nearly a day to finish the job. This sand tiger shark (not to be confused with a tiger shark) is an 8-year-old female, measuring 7.22 feet (2.2 meters) long, Reuters reported. "It's unfortunate anytime you see something like that, regardless of what the circumstances are," said Chris Plante, assistant curator at the Aquarium of the Pacific, after viewing the video at Live Science's request.

Short-legged Oregon arachnid gets 'behemoth' name

By Courtney Sherwood PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Researchers have bestowed a grandiose scientific name on a tiny, spider-like cousin of the daddy longlegs, officially dubbing the newly discovered denizen of remote Oregon forests the Cryptomaster behemoth. The diminutive, short-legged arachnid made its published debut late last month in the peer-reviewed scientific journal ZooKeys, where San Diego State University biologists who made the discovery first described it. Like the daddy longlegs, which is commonly but mistakenly referred to as a spider, the Cryptomaster behemoth actually belongs to an order of arachnids called Opiliones, or harvestmen.

Daddy Longlegs Fossil Keeps Erection for 99 Million Years

That's how long the penis of a newly discovered arachnid fossil has been standing at attention. The harvestman, a spider relative also known as a daddy longlegs, was encased in amber during the Cretaceous in what is now Myanmar. "It was very surprising to see the genitals, as they are usually tucked away inside the harvestman's body," said Jason Dunlop, the curator of the arachnid, millipede and centipede collections at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, who reported the discovery online Jan. 28 in the journal The Science of Nature.

Head Trauma Linked to Same 'Plaques' Seen in Alzheimer's

People with brain injuries from trauma to the head may have a buildup of the same plaques seen in people with Alzheimer's disease in their brains, a small, new study suggests. Moreover, the areas of the brain where the plaques were found in people with brain injuries overlapped with the areas where plaques are usually found in people with Alzheimer's. "People, after a head injury, are more likely to develop dementia, but it isn't clear why," study co-author David Sharp, a neurology professor at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, said in a statement.

Aging May Slow When Certain Cells Are Killed

Killing off certain aging cells in the body may lead to a longer life, suggests a new study done in genetically engineered mice. The drug that the researchers administered to the mice only worked because the mice were transgenic, and researchers "can't make transgenic humans," noted Christin Burd, an assistant professor of molecular genetics at The Ohio State University, who was not involved in the new study. In the study, the researchers developed the genetically engineered mice.

Riding High: Pot-Smoking Drivers Evade Blood Tests

People who drive after smoking marijuana are at greater risk of car crashes, but blood tests to check for the drug may not be a reliable way to catch impaired drivers, a new study suggests. Researchers found that levels of marijuana's active ingredient — tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — decrease very quickly in the blood. This means that a person who was impaired by marijuana while behind the wheel might not have a positive test result by the time a test is administered a few hours later, the researchers said.

4 New 'Flatworm' Species: No Brains, No Eyes, No Problem

Four new species of deep-sea flatwormlike animals that look like deflated whoopee cushions and lack complex organs have helped solve a complicated puzzle about their group's placement on the tree of life, scientists found.

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Wednesday, February 3, 2016

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Sleep tight: genome secrets could help beat the bedbug's bite

No. Bedbugs! These tiny insects have staged a global resurgence in the past two decades after being nearly eradicated in many regions, but scientists on Tuesday unveiled a complete genetic map of the bedbug that could guide efforts to foil the resilient parasite. "This is an enormous new tool for researchers interested in controlling this pest," said George Amato, director of the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. "Bed bugs are now very widespread in most major cities around the world, and they have increasingly become resistant to insecticides, making them harder to control," American Museum of Natural History entomologist Louis Sorkin said.

Scientists map bedbug genome, follow pest through NYC subway

NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists have mapped the genome of bedbugs in New York City, then traced fragments of the nefarious pests' DNA through the subway system.

Scientists to inject fuel in experimental fusion device

GREIFSWALD, Germany (AP) — Scientists in northeast Germany were poised to flip the switch Wednesday on an experiment they hope will advance the quest for nuclear fusion, considered a clean and safe form of nuclear power."

Scientists' path to usable Zika vaccine strewn with hurdles

Making a shot to generate an immune response against Zika virus, which is sweeping through the Americas, shouldn't be too hard in theory. For a start, scientists around the world know even less about Zika than they did about the Ebola virus that caused an unprecedented epidemic in West Africa last year. Ebola, due to its deadly power, was the subject of bioterrorism research, giving at least a base for speeding up vaccine work.

Scientists' path to usable Zika vaccine strewn with hurdles

How Zika Virus Spreads: Chain of Events Explained

Zika virus is "now spreading explosively in the Americas," World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan said on Thursday (Jan. 28), and 3 million to 4 million people in the Americas could be infected by the virus this year alone, according to the latest WHO estimates. However, U.S. officials have said that the virus is likely to cause only small outbreaks in this country. To understand how the Zika virus spreads to new regions, and how researchers can tell whether a region is likely to experience large outbreaks or small ones, Live Science asked the experts what sequence of events has to happen in order for the virus to become established in a new region.

Sexually Transmitted Zika Case Confirmed in Texas

A person in Dallas appears to have spread the Zika virus to another person through sex, Texas health officials said today. Officials at Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) said that a person in the area was infected with the Zika virus after having sexual contact with another person who had returned from Venezuela, where the virus is spreading, and was ill. "Now that we know Zika virus can be transmitted through sex, this increases our awareness campaign in educating the public about protecting themselves and others," Zachary Thompson, the DCHHS director, said in a statement.

Small country, big Universe - Luxembourg aims for space business

By Meredith McGrath BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Luxembourg, the tiny European Union state nestled between France, Germany and Belgium, has a big new goal - it wants to be a center for space mining. Primarily known for its fund management and private banking industry, the duchy is promoting a law that would make it the first in Europe to give legal clarity to the commercial exploitation of asteroids. "In the long-term, space resources could lead to a thriving new space economy and human expansion into the solar system," Etienne Schneider, Luxembourg's economy minister told a press conference.

Map of Winter Storm Jonas' Wind Shows Destructive Gusts

Winter storm Jonas brought with it record-breaking amounts of snow and blustering winds when it plowed through the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States in late January. Now, scientists at NASA have created a new map showing the direction and speeds of the massive storm's wind gusts.

Massive Bird Die-Off Puzzles Alaskan Scientists

Thousands of dead seabirds have washed up on Alaskan shores over the past nine months. Nearly 8,000 common murres (Uria aalge) were found along the shores of Whittier, Alaska, in early January. Over the New Year's holiday, Alaska experienced four days of gale-force winds from the southeast that resulted in dead birds washing ashore, said Robb Kaler, a wildlife biologist for the Alaska branch of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

Meet 'Squishy Fingers': Flexible Robot Advances Undersea Research

Meet "Squishy Fingers," a new remotely operated vehicle designed to delicately grab and take samples of coral. The ROV, described in a Jan. 20 study in the journal Soft Robotics, will help researchers collect specimens from deep underwater reefs without damaging the corals' fragile bodies. "If we're going to go down and study these systems, then we should be as gentle as we possibly can," said study co-senior author David Gruber, an associate professor of biology at Baruch College in New York City and a National Geographic emerging explorer.

Spacewalking Russian cosmonauts begin work outside space station

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Two veteran Russian cosmonauts floated outside the International Space Station on Wednesday to replace experimental equipment that is testing how materials and biological samples fare in the harsh environment of space. Station flight engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov left the station's airlock at 7:55 a.m. EST for what was expected to be a 5-1/2-hour spacewalk, a live broadcast on NASA Television showed. Among the cosmonauts' first tasks was to cast off a flash drive into space, giving a ceremonial send-off to recorded messages and video from last year's 70th anniversary of Victory Day, said NASA mission commentator Rob Navias.

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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

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Flu Season Is Here; CDC Warns of Severe Cases in Young Adults

Flu season has started, and although so far it has not been as bad as last year's, there have been reports of some young and middle-age adults developing severe cases of influenza, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today (Feb. 1), the CDC announced that flu cases are increasing across the country. The most common flu strain circulating now is H1N1, the same strain of flu that caused a pandemic in 2009.

Moms' Beneficial Vaginal Microbes Given to C-Section Babies by New Method

In a new procedure, doctors wiped down the skin of newborns delivered by cesarean section with a gauze carrying their mothers' vaginal fluid. The doctors found that this was a successful way to transfer beneficial microbes from pregnant women to their infants, a new pilot study suggests. This small study showed that this swabbing procedure, known as vaginal microbial transfer, can safely and effectively change the microbial communities of babies delivered by C-section to make them more closely resemble those of vaginally born babies, said José Clemente, an assistant professor of genetics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and a co-author of the research, published today (Feb. 1) in the journal Nature Medicine.

Prehistoric man enjoyed roasted tortoise appetizers, Israeli archaeologist says

Prehistoric cave-dwellers enjoyed munching on tortoises roasted in their shells as an appetizer or side dish, Ran Barkai, an archaeologist at Tel Aviv University, said on Tuesday. Barkai helped lead a research team who found 400,000-year-old tortoise shells and bones in a cave in Israel that showed hunter-gatherers butchered and cooked tortoises as part of a diet dominated by large animals and vegetation. "Now we know they ate tortoises in a rather sophisticated way," Barkai said.

Groundhogs on the Menu? The Wild History of Punxsutawney Phil

Punxsutawney Phil may not know it, but groundhogs were part of the menu on Groundhog Day in the late 1800s. Apparently, groundhogs were the "other white meat" on that day. These days, Punxsutawney Phil doesn't have to worry about ending up on a dish.

What's That Word? Marijuana May Affect Verbal Memory

Years of smoking pot may have an effect on a person's verbal memory, which is the ability to remember certain words, a new study finds. For every five years of marijuana use, researchers found that, on average, one out of two people remembered one word fewer from a list of 15 words, according to the study. Long-term use was not, however, significantly associated with decreases in other measures of cognitive function, such as processing speed or executive function, the researchers wrote in the study, published today (Feb. 1) in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Microcephaly Linked to Zika Virus Is a 'Public Health Emergency,' Officials Say

The recent, dramatic increase in babies in Brazil born with microcephaly — underdeveloped skulls and brains — that has been linked with the Zika virus constitutes "a public health emergency of international concern," Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, said today. Clusters of microcephaly and other neurological complications that are possibly linked to the virus make up "an extraordinary event and a public health threat to other parts of the world," Chan said at a news conference in Geneva today (Feb. 1). However, Chan noted that the Zika virus itself, which is spread by mosquitos and typically causes only mild symptoms and sometimes none at all, did not merit emergency status.

US Military's F-35 Fighter Jets to Make British Debut in July

The U.S. military's next-generation F-35 fighter jets will make their long-awaited overseas debut this summer at two air shows in the United Kingdom, Air Force officials recently announced. The 56th Fighter Wing, stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, will showcase F-35A Lightning IIs at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Gloucestershire and the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire, both in July. The summer events will be the first time the F-35s cross the Atlantic Ocean for the overseas air shows.

Scientists' path to usable Zika vaccine strewn with hurdles

As the World Tackles Climate Change, is Meat Off the Table? (Op-Ed)

Alexandra Clark is a sustainable-food campaigner at Humane Society International. Prior to joining HSI, Clark worked for the vice president of the European Parliament and was responsible for a number of high-profile parliamentary initiatives on sustainable food systems. There is extensive research showing the outsize impacts of animal agriculture on the environment.

Scientists' path to usable Zika vaccine strewn with hurdles

'Climate Snow Job'? Scientists Respond to Attack on Evidence (Op-Ed)

Emmanuel Vincent holds a Ph.D. in climate science and is the founder of Climate Feedback (@ClimateFdbk), a global network of scientists who provide readers, authors and editors with feedback about the accuracy of climate change media articles. Daniel Nethery is editor of Climate Feedback. An opinion piece published Jan. 24 in The Wall Street Journal presented false and misleading statements as if they were fact.

Want to Make a Volcano Explode? Just Add Heat

Volcanoes erupt explosively when gas-charged magma reaches Earth's surface. The formation and growth of gas bubbles are complex processes that fascinate nearly every volcanologist. There are volcanologists who peer inside tiny crystals to measure minuscule amounts of dissolved gas, and there are volcanologists who use spectroscopy — specifically studies of how minerals absorb ultraviolet light — to measure the copious gases billowing from a vent.

The Stars Within Us: Why Everything in You is Stellar

Paul Sutter is a visiting scholar at The Ohio State University's Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP). Sutter is also host of the podcasts "Ask a Spaceman" and "RealSpace," and the YouTube series "Space in Your Face." Sutter contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

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