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Thursday, March 24, 2016

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Microcephaly Could Affect More Than 2,500 Infants in Brazil

More than 2,500 babies could be diagnosed with microcephaly in Brazil if current trends within the Zika-affected country continue, the World Health Organization (WHO) told reporters today at a news conference in Geneva. To fight Zika, a vaccine against the virus and measures to control mosquitoes will be crucial, WHO officials said. "In less than a year, the status of Zika has changed from a mild medical curiosity to a disease with severe public health implications," Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, told journalists.

Hidden Text in England's Oldest Printed Bible Revealed

Long-hidden annotations in a Henry VIII-era Bible reveal the messy, gradual process of the Protestant Reformation. The handwritten notes were just discovered in a Latin Bible published in 1535 by Henry VIII's printer. The version with the annotations is in the Lambeth Palace Library in London.

Oslo trash incinerator in carbon capture trial

The world's first experiment to capture carbon dioxide from the fumes of burning rubbish is nearing completion in Oslo. The trial at the Norwegian capital's main waste incinerator began in January in a groundbreaking bid to develop technology to enlist the world's trash in slowing global warming. The test at the Klemetsrud incinerator, which burns household and industrial waste, is a step beyond most efforts to capture and bury greenhouse gases at coal-fired power plants or factories using fossil fuels. So far, high costs have plagued technology for carbon capture and storage. Last December, almost 200 nations agreed a deal in Paris to fight climate change in a new spur for technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Johnny Stuen, technical director of the Klemetsrud waste-to-energy incinerator, said the plant already generates heat to warm buildings in the city.

Mood lighting for stress-free chickens

By Matthew Stock A new energy efficient lighting system for poultry farms uses bulbs with a light spectrum specially adjusted for chicken retinas. According to John Matcham from Greengage Lighting Ltd., the chicken's superior eyesight isn't taken into account by traditional lighting that is better suited for human sight.

Elusive Marbled Cats Secretly Photographed in Borneo

A secret photo shoot deep in the forests of Malaysian Borneo is helping researchers determine just how many marbled cats — rare, tree-climbing felines — live in the region, according to a new study. To get a better idea of the cats' stomping grounds, the researchers placed camera traps in eight forests and two palm oil plantations in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, they said. "We show that marbled cats can still survive in logged forests," said study lead researcher Andrew Hearn, a doctoral candidate at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

Sunken Pirate Ship from Explorer Vasco da Gama's Fleet Discovered

Marine archaeologists think they've discovered a lost Portuguese ship from explorer Vasco da Gama's fleet off the coast of present-day Oman, more than 500 years after it sank in a deadly storm. A team led by David Mearns, of the U.K.-based Blue Water Recoveries, first located the shipwreck in 1998 using archives and historical documents as a guide. After recent underwater excavations and careful analysis of more than 2,800 artifacts, including cannonballs and rare coins, the researchers are now fairly certain they have found the nau Esmeralda, the doomed ship commanded by da Gama's uncle.

World's Largest Aircraft Readies for Takeoff

The world's largest aircraft, some 65 feet (20 meters) longer than the world's biggest passenger airliner, is just about ready to leave its hangar near London and take to the skies.

Genetic study tracks start of Zika's invasion of Americas back to 2013

The Zika virus currently sweeping through the Americas looks to have hitched a ride on a plane into Brazil in 2013 and begun its invasion of the continent from there, scientists said on Thursday. In the first genome analysis of the current Zika epidemic, which has been linked in Brazil to cases of birth defects known as microcephaly, researchers said the virus' introduction to the Americas almost three years ago coincided with a 50 percent rise in air passengers from Zika-affected areas. The strain of the virus circulating in the current outbreak is most closely related to one from French Polynesia, the scientists said, although it is also possible that Zika was introduced separately to the Americas and French Polynesia from South East Asia.

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Wednesday, March 23, 2016

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New 3D View of Richard III's Humble Grave Revealed

Richard III's lost skeleton was discovered under a parking lot in Leicester in 2012. In honor of this one-year anniversary, the University of Leicester has released a digital 3D model of Richard III's original grave.

3-D printer, 'Gecko Grippers' head to space station

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket loaded with supplies and science experiments blasted off from Florida on Tuesday, boosting an Orbital ATK cargo capsule toward the International Space Station. United Launch Alliance is a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Perched on top of the rocket was a Cygnus capsule loaded with nearly 7,500 pounds (3,400 kg) of food, science experiments and equipment including a 3-D printer to build tools for astronauts and non-stick grippers modeled after gecko feet.

#TheInternetNamesAnimals: Do Animals Get the Monikers They Deserve?

Over the past several days, a massive wave of online support propelled the unlikely name "Boaty McBoatface" to the top of a poll proposing monikers for a British polar research vessel.

Trippy! Psychedelic Zebrafish Reveal How Cells Regenerate

In what looks more like a post-impressionist painting than a scientific achievement, a transgenic zebrafish is revealing how hundreds of its cells regenerate in a bouquet of colors. Scientists genetically programmed every cell on the zebrafish's body surface, including its cornea, scales, fins and barbels, to express a unique combination of green, red and blue fluorescent proteins, according to lead scientist Kenneth D. Poss, a cell biology professor at Duke University. The result: images of a technicolored zebrafish — revealing 70 different hues — that could just as easily hang in an art museum as appear in a scientific journal.

Butchered Bear Pushes Back Human Arrival on Ireland

The slashed kneecap of a bear found deep inside a prehistoric cave suggests human hunters lived in Ireland earlier than had been previously thought, a new study finds. Researchers found the kneecap in Ireland's Alice and Gwendoline Cave, in County Clare, in 1903. Then, in 2010 and 2011, Ruth Carden, an animal osteologist at the National Museum of Ireland, began going through the cave's many bone artifacts.

Holy Drones, Batman! Real-Life 'Batplane' Mimics Flexible Wings

Inspired by the wings that allow bats to pull off such impressive maneuvers, a team of engineers designed new kinds of wing surfaces for drones. At the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, a group led by engineering professor Bharathram Ganapathisubramani designed a flexible, membrane wing for small drones, otherwise known as micro air vehicles (MAVs). MAVs are used for a variety of purposes, including reconnaissance and scientific work.

Birds Use Alligators As Bodyguards

Birds may use alligators as bodyguards to protect their nests from hungry raccoons and opossums, but gator payment may come at a steep cost — namely, in the form of the birds' chicks that are dropped into the water, researchers say. Previous research found that wading birds — such as storks, herons, egrets, ibises and spoonbills — often choose to nest above alligators. However, there was little research into what, if anything, alligators gained from such arrangements.

Swedish university fires stem cell scientist over negligence

LONDON (AP) — Sweden's Karolinska University says it has fired Italian stem cell scientist Paolo Macchiarini, whose work was once considered revolutionary but has since been deemed to have breached medical ethics.

Wireless mice leave billions at risk of computer hack: cyber security firm

By Ben Gruber San Francisco, CA (Reuters) - Marc Newlin and Balint Seeber are checking how far apart they can be while still being able to hack into each other's computers. It turns out its pretty far - 180 meters - the length of a city block in San Francisco. The pair work for Bastille, a startup cyber security company that has uncovered a flaw they say leaves millions of networks and billions of computers vulnerable to attack. Wireless mice from companies like HP, Lenovo, Amazon and Dell use unencrypted signals to communicate with computers. "They haven't encrypted the mouse traffic, that makes it possible for the attacker to send unencrypted traffic to the dongle pretending to be a keyboard and have it result as keystrokes on your computer.

Moderate Drinking Has No Health Benefits, Large Review of Studies Concludes

Researchers reviewed 87 studies that found a link between moderate drinking and longevity, and they found major problems with way the studies were designed. "From a scientific standpoint, the relationship between alcohol consumption and health is obviously very important, and is a very controversial area," Dr. Tim Naimi, a physician and researcher at Boston Medical Center and co-author of the new review, told Live Science.

Mindfulness Meditation May Reduce Low Back Pain

People with chronic low back pain may benefit from meditating, a new study finds. In the study, a group of people with chronic low back pain participated in an eight-week program called mindfulness-based stress reduction, which involved using meditation to increase their awareness of the present moment, and their acceptance of difficult thoughts and feelings, including their pain. About six months after the start of the study, the people who participated in the meditation program were more likely to experience at least a 30 percent improvement in their ability to carry out daily activities, compared with the people who received only standard treatments for low back pain, such as medication.

'Japanese Diet' Linked to Longer Life

Eating the traditional Japanese diet may lead to a longer life, a new study finds. Adults in Japan who closely followed that country's government-recommended dietary guidelines had a 15 percent lower risk of dying during a 15-year time period, as compared to people who didn't follow the guidelines, according to the new study. In particular, those people who most closely followed the dietary guidelines were 22 percent less likely to die of stroke during the time period, according to the study, published today (March 22) in The BMJ.

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Tuesday, March 22, 2016

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Sticky, Eagle-Eyed, Explosive Science Prepped for Space Station Launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — An unmanned Cygnus cargo spacecraft launching tomorrow (March 22) is ready to lug more up to the International Space Station than ever before, including experiments primed to spy on meteors, 3D print rare parts and start a huge fire. The commercial spacecraft, built by Orbital ATK, is scheduled for launch at 11:05 p.m. EST (0305 on March 23 GMT) and will approach the station for three days before it's snapped up by the space station's robotic arm. Then, the space station crew will begin to unload the fresh crop of supplies and experiments - nearly 3.5 tons of new gear for the orbiting laboratory.

A vegetarian world would be healthier, cooler and richer: scientists

By Megan Rowling BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - By eating less meat and more fruit and vegetables, the world could avoid several million deaths by 2050, cut planet-warming emissions substantially, and save billions of dollars in healthcare costs and climate damage, researchers said. A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, is the first to estimate both the health and climate change impacts of a global move towards a more plant-based diet, they said. Unbalanced diets are responsible for the greatest health burden around the world, and our food system produces more than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, said lead author Marco Springmann of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food.

This week's space station delivery rich in science and tech

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A space station supply ship is set to blast off Tuesday night with a commercial-quality 3-D printer for astronaut as well as public use — for a price — and the makings for a large-scale fire.

Why You Probably Can't Trust Fitness Tracker Calorie Estimates

If you think your fitness tracker isn't telling you the truth about how many calories you've burned, you're probably right — a new study finds that the devices can vary widely in their calorie estimates and tend to underestimate the number of calories burned. The findings "suggest that most wearable devices do not produce a valid measure of total energy expenditure," the researchers wrote in their article. In the study, conducted in Japan, researchers had each of the 19 healthy people wear a whopping 12 fitness trackers (all at the same time) at various places on their waist, chest and wrist.

A vegetarian world would be healthier, cooler and richer - scientists

By Megan Rowling BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - By eating less meat and more fruit and vegetables, the world could avoid several million deaths per year by 2050, cut planet-warming emissions substantially, and save billions of dollars annually in healthcare costs and climate damage, researchers said. A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, is the first to estimate both the health and climate change impacts of a global move towards a more plant-based diet, they said. Unbalanced diets are responsible for the greatest health burden around the world, and our food system produces more than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, said lead author Marco Springmann of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food.

DNA data storage could last thousands of years

By Matthew Stock Researchers in Switzerland have developed a method for writing vast amounts of information in DNA and storing it inside a synthetic fossil, potentially for thousands of years. In past centuries, books and scrolls preserved the knowledge of our ancestors, even though they were prone to damage and disintegration. In the digital era, most of humanity's collective knowledge is stored on servers and hard drives. But these have a limited lifespan and need constant maintenance. ...

Pharaoh Ramesses III Killed by Multiple Assailants, Radiologist Says

The New Kingdom Pharaoh Ramesses III was assassinated by multiple assailants — and given postmortem cosmetic surgery to improve his mummy's appearance. Those are some of the new tidbits on ancient Egyptian royalty detailed in a new book by Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and Cairo University radiologist Sahar Saleem, "Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies" (American University in Cairo Press, 2016). Hawass and Saleem studied royal mummies from the 18th to 20th dynasties of Egypt, spanning from about 1543 B.C. to 1064 B.C. Rulers during this period included famous names like Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Tutankhamun, Seti I and the murdered Ramesses III. Previously, Hawass and colleagues had reported that Ramesses III's throat was slit, likely killing him instantly.

'Boaty McBoatface' Controversy: How Ships Get Named

"Name our ship!" This was the call from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) in an online poll soliciting names for a U.K. polar research vessel. And the Internet responded in the most predictable way possible: The people have spoken — and the name they want is "Boaty McBoatface."

'Boaty McBoatface' Tops Poll to Name Polar Research Vessel

"Name our ship!" This was the call from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) in an online poll soliciting names for a U.K. polar research vessel. The whimsical suggestion captured the public imagination and rocketed the humorous moniker into first place, trouncing even recommendations honoring beloved British icons like Sir Richard Attenborough and recently deceased musician David Bowie. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) currently boasts two polar research vessels — a stately pair of ships named for famed arctic explorers: the Royal Research Ship (RRS) James Clark Ross, used primarily for conducting oceanographic research, and the RRS Ernest Shackleton, which transports cargo, passengers and fuel to polar research destinations.

High Anxiety Risk in Adolescence Linked to One Gene

Anxiety disorders often emerge in adolescence, when the brain goes through massive changes and new genes are expressed. Now, researchers have found a gene that may be a factor in the general peak of anxiety during this time. They also found that carrying a common version of this gene may protect people from anxiety.

New Patch Analyzes Sweat to Detect Blood Sugar Levels

A stick-on patch that tracks, and even regulates, blood sugar levels could be used by people with diabetes one day, according to a new study. Unlike finger pricking — the traditional method of monitoring levels of the blood sugar glucose — the new patch detects the levels of glucose in a person's sweat. Research has shown that glucose levels in sweat accurately reflect glucose levels in the blood, the researchers said.

Beetle's chemical signal tells mate, 'Honey, I'm not in the mood'

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When a female "burying beetle" is focused on caring for babies and not making new ones, she releases a chemical signal to her libidinous mate that says in no uncertain terms, "Honey, I'm not in the mood." Scientists described on Tuesday how these females employ an anti-aphrodisiac chemical known as a pheromone during a three-day period critical for raising offspring to tell the male she is temporary infertile and prevent him from trying to copulate. It provides insight into how animals change their behavior to provide care for their young, in this instance favoring parenting over sexual activity to produce new offspring. "Our study helps to understand animal family life and how it is coordinated between family members," said biologist Sandra Steiger of Germany's University of Ulm, who led the study published in the journal Nature Communications.

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