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Monday, June 6, 2016

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Study finds targeted cancer drugs may work in range of tumor types

By Deena Beasley CHICAGO (Reuters) - Early results from a clinical trial of Roche Holding AG cancer drugs released on Saturday suggest some promise in matching treatments based on abnormalities found in a patient's tumor rather than the organ in which the cancer was originally detected. The findings, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, showed that 29 out of 129 patients with 12 different types of advanced cancers responded to drugs targeting genetically driven abnormalities. The drugs were administered outside of indications currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which generally reviews drugs using studies based on the type of organ where the cancer was found.

The Heat Is On: Most of US Likely to Have a Scorching Summer

It's likely to be a sweltering summer for most of the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In a continuing trend of 2016 being a warmer-than-average year, this summer could be a scorcher for a majority of the U.S., NOAA says. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center released its summer outlook last week, which predicts above-average temperatures for the next season.

New Gadget Helps Turn Departed Loved Ones into Trees

The Bios Incube, created by the company Bios Urn, is an incubator that monitors and cultivates trees from human ashes in people's homes. "When someone dies, they physically die, but the people who are around the deceased person still remember," said Roger Moliné, co-founder of Bios Urn. The Bios Incube is a sleek, white plant pot that measures 2.5 feet (76 centimeters) tall and about 1 foot (33 cm) in diameter.

Shape-Shifting Touch Screens Can Morph on Demand

Researchers at the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom, have designed a device that could one day do just that. Its designers say the technology could pave the way to more adaptable handheld gadgets. "I'm very interested in how, as humans, we manipulate things," said Anne Roudaut, a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bristol and lead researcher of the Cubimorph project.

Who Was Sattjeni? Tomb Reveals Secrets About Ancient Egyptian Elite

The coffin, discovered this year in the necropolis at Qubbet el-Hawa across the Nile River from Aswan, belonged to an important local woman, Sattjeni, daughter of one governor, wife of another and mother of two more, said excavation leader Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano, an Egyptologist at the University of Jaén in Spain. Sattjeni was not a royal, but her family practiced royal strategies to hold on to their governing power: She married her sister's widower, and the family also associated itself with the ram-headed deity Khnum, much as pharaohs intermarried to keep power in the family and claimed to be descended from the gods. In an email interview with Live Science, Jiménez-Serrano revealed more about the excavations at Qubbet el-Hawa and the life of Sattjeni.

Lost Underwater 'City' Revealed as Natural Geological Formation

Pipe-like, disc and doughnut-shaped structures discovered by underwater divers near the island of Zakynthos, Greece, were originally believed to be ruins of an ancient city, such as remnants of paved floors, courtyards and columns. Now researchers have found that the "ruins" are in fact geological formations, the results of a natural phenomenon that took place in the Pliocene epoch, up to 5 million years ago. Suspecting a geological explanation, the Greek Ministry brought in researchers from the University of East Anglia and the University of Athens to investigate the oddly shaped structures.

Males' Oversize Right Claw Lures Crustacean Ladies

If she's Dulichiella appendiculata — a tiny relative of the sand-hopping beach flea — she's impressed by the size of the male's enlarged right front claw, which is significantly bigger than its left one. And she definitely prefers righties to lefties. Scientists have investigated the mating success of right-clawed D. appendiculata males versus their left-clawed rivals, and found that righty males attracted more females.

Take the Moon Home with Incredibly Detailed Lunar Globe

If you want a nice view of the moon, instead of squinting into the night sky or cursing tall buildings, you could soon gaze at an expertly crafted model of the stunning celestial object. Its makers used NASA data to re-create the moon's many craters, including Petavius and Copernicus, at 1/20,000,000th the original size. The mini moon comes with a ring of LED lights that revolve around the globe and illuminate the face of the moon as seen from Earth.

Save the last dance for me: Being cute not enough for this spider when choosing a mate

A Sydney scientist has discovered seven new species of the tiny Australian peacock spider - a spectacularly colored, three-millimetre arachnid that dances to attract a female mate. Jurgen Otto, with the help of colleague David Knowles, made the two latest discoveries of the miniature creatures while looking for other spiders in Western Australia in November and had all seven named in the scientific journal Peckhamia last month.

The Science of Football: Which Positions Take the Hardest Hits?

In a new study, researchers at the University of Michigan set out to answer that question. A race car braking and turning is under about 5 G's of force, said Dennis K. Lieu, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, in an email interview with Live Science. The researchers found the running backs in the study — the men generally tasked with carrying the ball — experienced more "severe" impacts (above 10 G's) than all other offensive positions, although not a statistically significant number more than quarterbacks, according to the findings published May 21 in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Why Pregnant Women Shouldn't Give In to Food Cravings

It may seem logical that if you crave certain foods during pregnancy, that craving is just your body's way of telling you what it needs. The more often women in the study gave in to such cravings, the more likely they were to gain too much weight during their pregnancy, according to the study, published May 20 in the journal Appetite. Previous research has shown that the more weight you gain during pregnancy, the harder it is to lose that weight after giving birth.

Workaholism Linked to ADHD and Depression

People who work too much may be more likely to have ADHD or depression, according to a new study from Norway. Researchers found that, among the workaholics in the study, nearly 33 percent had symptoms of ADHD, compared with about 13 percent of non-workaholics. For the study, workaholics were defined as those who met seven criteria, including whether they work so much that it has negatively influenced their health, or they feel stressed when they are prohibited from working.

Astronauts get first look inside space station's new inflatable module

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station on Monday floated inside an experimental inflatable module that will test a less expensive and potentially safer option for housing crews during long stays in space, NASA said. Station flight engineers Jeff Williams and Oleg Skripochka opened the hatch to the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, at 4:47 a.m. EDT (0847 GMT) on Monday. Designed and built by privately-owned Bigelow Aerospace, BEAM is the first inflatable habitat to be tested with astronauts in space.

Russia delays launch to space outpost to ensure safety of new spaceship

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The launch of the next three-man crew to the International Space Station has been postponed until July 7 from June 24 in order to ensure the safety of the first flight of their new "Soyuz-MS" spaceship, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Monday. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov)

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Saturday, June 4, 2016

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Luxembourg sets aside 200 million euros to fund space mining ventures

Luxembourg on Friday upped its bid to be a leader in the nascent space mining industry by setting aside 200 million euros ($223 million) to fund initiatives aimed at bringing back rare minerals from space. Luxembourg in February announced plans for a law that would make it the first state in Europe to give legal clarity to the commercial exploitation of asteroids. "We have a first budget to get started but if we need more money, we will be able to provide it," Etienne Schneider, Luxembourg's economy minister told a news conference.

Scientists discover magma buildup under New Zealand town

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Scientists say they've discovered a magma buildup near a New Zealand town that explains a spate of recent earthquakes and could signal the beginnings of a new volcano — although they're not expecting an eruption anytime soon.

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Friday, June 3, 2016

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Surprise! The Universe Is Expanding Faster Than Scientists Thought

The universe is expanding 5 to 9 percent faster than astronomers had thought, a new study suggests. "This surprising finding may be an important clue to understanding those mysterious parts of the universe that make up 95 percent of everything and don't emit light, such as dark energy, dark matter and dark radiation," study leader Adam Riess, an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said in a statement. Riess — who shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery that the universe's expansion is accelerating — and his colleagues used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to study 2,400 Cepheid stars and 300 Type Ia supernovas.

Scientists propose project that includes making human DNA

NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists proposed a long-term project Thursday that involves creating DNA blueprints for making human beings, a prospect some observers find troubling.

Scientists propose project to build synthetic human genome

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of 25 scientists on Thursday proposed an ambitious project to create a synthetic human genome, or genetic blueprint, in an endeavour that is bound to raise concerns over the extent to which human life can or should be engineered. A synthetic human genome potentially could make it possible to create humans who lack biological parents - raising the spectre, for instance, of made-to-order human beings with special genetic enhancements. The project aims to build such a synthetic genome and test it in cells in the laboratory within 10 years.

Astronomers say universe expanding faster than predicted

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - The universe is expanding faster than previously believed, a surprising discovery that could test part of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, a pillar of cosmology that has withstood challenges for a century. The discovery that the universe is expanding 5 percent to 9 percent faster than predicted, announced in joint news releases by NASA and the European Space Agency, also stirs hypotheses about what fills the 95 percent of the cosmos that emits no light and no radiation, scientists said on Thursday. "Maybe the universe is tricking us," said Alex Filippenko, a University of California, Berkeley astronomer and co-author of an upcoming paper about the discovery.

Clean fuel from 'bionic leaf' could ease pressure on farmland - scientists

By Chris Arsenault RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A new clean technology to turn sunlight into liquid fuel could drastically shrink the need for large plantations to grow crops for biofuels, while combating climate change, Harvard University researchers said on Thursday. Dubbed "bionic leaf 2.0", the technology uses solar panels to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen, the scientists said in a study published in the journal Science. Once separated, hydrogen is moved into a chamber where it is consumed by bacteria, and with help from a special metal catalyst and carbon dioxide, the process generates liquid fuel.

Mexican 'Spiderman' weaves web of knowledge for science students

By Edgard Garrido MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican science teacher has come up with a novel way to get his students' attention - giving lessons dressed as Spiderman. Moises Vazquez, 26, said he was inspired to pull on the tight blue and red suit of the superhero after reading in comics that the Marvel character behind the mask, Peter Parker, worked as a science teacher after his time as a freelance photographer. When giving class at the National Autonomous University of Mexico as the superhero, Vazquez leaves home in eastern Mexico City with his mother's blessing, and rides in public transport to the prestigious seat of learning dressed as the Avenger.

Schrodinger's Cat Arrives? Quantum Weirdness Gets Life Size

The quantum absurdity that leads to the notion of Schrodinger's cat — in which a cat can exist in two states simultaneously — could finally be tested in an object visible to the naked eye, a new study demonstrates. Scientists have created a pendulum-like membrane that is so perfectly isolated from friction and heat "that it would just keep going for 10 years with a single push," said study co-author Simon Gröblacher, a physicist at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. This tiny, flea-size swing could allow scientists to finally test whether the quantum effects behind the Schrodinger's cat thought experiment do indeed exist at large scales.

Greek underwater formation isn't 'lost city,' scientists say

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Scientists say a collection of structures discovered in shallow waters off the Greek island of Zakynthos were actually formed by natural process.

New FDA Salt Targets: Which Foods Would Change Most?

If these target sodium levels are reached over the next 10 years, some of the biggest sodium drops in packaged foods could be in certain sauces and frozen breakfast foods, according to Live Science's calculations. The sodium targets, from the Food and Drug Administration, could help reduce sodium intake for the average American by more than 1,000 milligrams per day — from 3,400 mg per day to 2,300 mg per day, the FDA said. The guidelines are voluntary, but many food companies have already taken steps to lower the amounts of sodium in their products, the FDA noted.

Teen Birthrates Reach Another Record Low, CDC Says

The teen birth rate has declined almost continuously over the past two decades, according to the federal statistics. The 2015 birthrate was a 64 percent decrease from the rate's peak in 1991, at 62 births per 1,000 teens, according to the report, published today (June 2) by researchers at the CDC's Center for National Health Statistics. In the report, the researchers broke down the rate further, by smaller age groups: Among 15- to 17-year-olds, the birthrate decreased from 11 births per 1,000 teens in 2014 to 10 births per 1,000 in 2015.

Black-Death Survey Reveals Incredible Devastation Wrought by Plague

The devastation wrought by the Black Death plague pandemic in medieval England has been revealed in a uniquely detailed archaeological study carried out for more than a decade with the help of thousands of village volunteers. Although some historians have played down the impact of the bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the 1300s, new research shows that the Black Death was as deadly as described in writings that have survived from the time, with some villages suffering an almost 80 percent drop in population after the plague. The study gathered and analyzed data about broken pieces of domestic pottery found in more than 2,000 test pits measuring 11 square feet (1 square meter) at the surface and up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) deep that were dug in 55 villages in eastern England.

19th-Century White House Garden Aligns with Solstice Sun

A 19th-century garden just north of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington, D.C., was designed so that its statues align with the rising and setting sun on the summer and winter solstices, a physics professor has found. Using satellite imagery and astronomical software, Amelia Sparavigna, of Politecnico di Torino in Italy, discovered the phenomenon. The solstice sun aligns with the center of the garden, which contains a statue of President Andrew Jackson, and the endings of four walkways that now contain four statues of generals from the American Revolutionary War, the physicist found.

Mexican 'Spider-Man' weaves web of knowledge for science students

By Edgard Garrido MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican science teacher has come up with a novel way to get his students' attention - giving lessons dressed as Spider-Man. Moises Vazquez, 26, said he was inspired to pull on the tight blue and red suit of the superhero after reading in comics that the Marvel character behind the mask, Peter Parker, worked as a science teacher after his time as a freelance photographer. When giving class at the National Autonomous University of Mexico as the superhero, Vazquez leaves home in eastern Mexico City with his mother's blessing, and rides in public transport to the prestigious seat of learning dressed as the Avenger. Vazquez's family originally thought that pretending to be Spider-Man could hurt his career when he started donning the suit for class a year and a half ago - but instead the unusual turn has gone down well with students and other teachers, he said.

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