From: Newsletter Phys.org <not-for-reply@physorg.com>
Date: Sat, Nov 30, 2013 at 1:52 AM
Subject: Phys.org Newsletter Friday, Nov 29
To: Pascal Alter <pascal.alter@gmail.com>
Dear Pascal Alter,
Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for November 29, 2013:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Visualize this: Automated UV laser microsurgery simplifies microscopy and neurophysiology experiments in live animals- Investigation reveals black market in China for research paper authoring
- Snapshots differentiate molecules from their mirror image
- Japanese firm proposes LUNA RING to send solar energy from moon to Earth
- 3-D images, with only one photon per pixel
- Look, but don't touch: US law and the protection of lunar heritage
- Neurobiologists investigate neuronal basis of crows' intelligence
- Scientists explore memories, true and false
- Bone grafting improvements with the help of sea coral
- Researchers apply Benford's law to physics exams to see if they can do better than chance
- Controversy over the use of Roman ingots to investigate dark matter and neutrinos
- Scientists seek a newer, cheaper solar panel
- Techies vs. NSA: Encryption arms race escalates
- Hydrogen could save regional railways
- Did Comet ISON survive? Scientists see tiny hope (Update)
Space & Earth news
Environment group sues China oil giant for nearly $10 mn
A Chinese government-backed environmental group said Friday it has launched legal action against state-owned oil giant PetroChina for almost $10 million over pollution.
Space image: Aorounga Crater, Chad
This image from Japan's ALOS satellite shows the Aorounga Crater in northern Chad.
Image: Comet ISON on Thanksgiving Day
Comet ISON has moved quite close to the sun as seen by from ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured at 10:51 a.m. EST on Nov. 28, 2013.
Elucidating heavy precipitation events
It is difficult to forecast heavy precipitation events accurately and reliably. The quality of these forecasts is affected by two processes whose relative importance has now been quantified by a team at the Laboratoire d'Aérologie (CNRS / Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier). The researchers have shown that these processes should be taken into account in low wind speed events. Their findings should help forecast these events, which repeatedly cause significant damage, especially in south-eastern France. They are first published online the November 28, 2013 in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
ESA's new vision to study the invisible Universe
The hot and energetic Universe and the search for elusive gravitational waves will be the focus of ESA's next two large science missions, it was announced today.
New generation of climate models capable of simulating abrupt climate change
Scientists have, for the first time, demonstrated that climate models are able to simulate past abrupt changes in the Earth's climate – giving more confidence in predictions of future global climate change.
A self-healing satellite? Students seek your funds to launch prototype
Imagine if your spacecraft was punctured and it could do the repair itself, without the need of you going outside on a dangerous spacewalk. Well, a Canadian team has a prototype idea that could lead to self-healing structures in space. The concept is all set, and they're asking for financial help to launch it on crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter.
This rover could hunt for lunar water and oxygen in 2018
In 2018, NASA plans to go prospecting at the moon's south pole with a rover—possibly, a version of the Canadian one in the picture above. The idea is to look for water and similar substances on the lunar surface, with an eye to learn more about living off the land, so to speak.
Telescope to track space junk using youth radio station
A combination of pop songs, talkback radio and cutting-edge science has enabled Australian astronomers to identify a way to prevent catastrophic, multi-billion dollar space junk collisions, a new study has revealed.
In the Mojave, a scientist-entrepreneur works to 're-create Martians'
The sun is fading, the temperature is dropping and this desert party is just getting started.
Penn State racing to be the first college on the moon
Pennsylvania State University is racing to be the first college on the moon. Since 2011, a team of faculty, researchers, and students has been hatching "Lunar Lion," a robotic spacecraft that is four feet in diameter and weighs 500 pounds. The team hopes that by landing in December 2015 and completing a precise series of tasks, it will win an international competition known as the Google Lunar Xprize.
With mountains of data, tech experts work to help farms weather climate shifts
If farmers can't change the weather - or a seesawing climate - perhaps data-crunchers can outwit Mother Nature.
SpaceX postpones first satellite launch
Private US company SpaceX postponed the launch of a rocket carrying its first telecommunications satellite on Thursday after two unsuccessful attempts at take-off.
44 million stars and counting: Astronomers play Snap and remap the sky
(Phys.org) —Tens of millions of stars and galaxies, among them hundreds of thousands that are unexpectedly fading or brightening, have been catalogued properly for the first time.
Indian Ocean phenomenon helping to predict extreme weather
A phenomenon in the Indian Ocean that affects events in southeast Australia is helping to predict extreme weather up to six months in advance.
Astro-virology
In HG Wells' 'The War of the Worlds', the invading Martians were beaten by that most unassuming of combatants – the common cold. Could the reverse happen and alien viruses pose a threat to human astronauts when they land on Mars? This intriguing question is asked by Dale Griffin in a new paper for the journal Astrobiology, who also asks whether our first evidence of extraterrestrial life could come in the shape of viruses.
Look, but don't touch: US law and the protection of lunar heritage
With India and China planning lunar surface missions, privately-funded space entrepreneurs competing for the US$40 million Google Lunar X Prize and discussions around lunar mining intensifying, working out what to do with our moon's cultural heritage is becoming urgent.
Did Comet ISON survive? Scientists see tiny hope (Update)
A comet that gained an earthly following because of its bright tail visible from space was initially declared dead after essentially grazing the sun. Now, there is a silver of hope that Comet ISON may have survived.
Medicine & Health news
N. Korea produces more food, but malnutrition persists: UN
North Korea has increased food production for a third straight year, but malnutrition remains widespread, UN agencies say, voicing particular concern over stunting in children.
Australia: Change to bicycle helmet laws could be a fatal mistake
Road safety researchers said a Queensland Parliament Committee Report recommendation letting adults off the hook from wearing bike helmets could result in a spike of potentially fatal head injuries.
Indian toddler with swollen head undergoes more surgery
Doctors conducted reconstructive surgery Friday on a two-year-old Indian girl to correct a rare disorder that caused her head to balloon to twice its normal size, a neurosurgeon said.
Is S.Africa's HIV treatment success breeding complacency?
South Africa has been hailed as a model for HIV treatment, but some now fear its very success may be breeding complacency and making people less careful about infection.
Mobility explains the association between social activity and mortality risk in older people
Social activity and health correlate in old age, but less is known about what explains this association. The results of a study carried out in the Gerontology Research Center showed that part of the association between social activity and mortality was mediated by mobility among older men and women. Of other potential mediators, having less depressive symptoms and better cognitive functioning are merely prerequisites for social activity.
Greece: HIV curbed among drug users
Health officials in Greece say an overhauled AIDS-prevention program has helped curb an alarming spike in the number of cases among drug users.
MERS virus strikes Jordan couple in UAE
Two new cases of the potentially deadly MERS respiratory virus, including a heavily pregnant woman, have been reported in the United Arab Emirates, media Friday cited health authorities as saying.
UN finds mother-to-child HIV infections decreasing
The U.N. Children's Fund says it is alarmed about increasing HIV and AIDS rates among adolescents over the last seven years and is advocating an aggressive program that includes condom distribution and antiretroviral treatment.
Sweden divided over criminalising HIV unprotected sex
When Lina Afvander got her HIV diagnosis, it came with a set of prescriptions and a disclosure obligation, which legally requires HIV-positive people in Sweden to reveal their status before having sex.
The potential pandemic
In 2011, scientists successfully engineered a lethal avian flu virus to be transmissible between birds as well as mammals and possibly humans. The novel virus, a genetically engineered variation of H5N1 avian influenza, sparked an enormous debate among both the research community and the public about how to manage such research and whether it should even be carried out at all.
Crisis or catastrophe: Research analyzes mortality rates
New research from the University of Toronto Scarborough shows that when it comes to defining what makes an event catastrophic in terms of the death rate—whether it's an outbreak of war, famine, disease and even extreme weather—the devil can be found in the demographic details.
Urine test could help detect aggressive bladder cancer
A simple urine test could distinguish between aggressive and less aggressive bladder cancers according to a new Cancer Research UK study published in the British Journal of Cancer.
The pauses that refresh the memory
Sufferers of schizophrenia experience a broad gamut of symptoms, including hallucinations and delusions as well as disorientation and problems with learning and memory. This diversity of neurological deficits has made schizophrenia extremely difficult for scientists to understand, thwarting the development of effective treatments. A research team led by Susumu Tonegawa from the RIKEN–MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics has now revealed disruptions in the activity of particular clusters of neurons that might account for certain core symptoms of this disorder.
New study identifies the signal that guides the migration and differentiation of enteric neuron precursors
Neural development involves the proliferation and migration of immature neurons, followed by their differentiation into the multiple cell types that make up the nervous system. These processes are poorly understood but are known to require the coordinated activity of dozens of transcription factors and signaling molecules. Hideki Enomoto, Toshihiro Uesaka and colleagues from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology have now identified a molecule that controls the migration and differentiation of a large population of neurons in the gut, known as the enteric nervous system (ENS).
Researchers find gene responsible for susceptibility to panic disorder
A study published recently in the Journal of Neuroscience points, for the first time, to the gene trkC as a factor in susceptibility to the disease. The researchers define the specific mechanism for the formation of fear memories which will help in the development of new pharmacological and cognitive treatments.
Mitochondria separate their waste
In order to protect themselves from harmful substances, cells need to keep the mitochondria - the boiler room, so to speak - shipshape. Up to now, it was unclear whether this housekeeping work involves sorting out defective proteins when they digest mitochondria. Dr. Jörn Dengjel from the Center for Biological Systems Analysis (ZBSA), Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), and the Cluster of Excellence BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies of the University of Freiburg has now discovered in collaboration with researchers from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, that the proteins are sorted out during the constant fusion and fission of mitochondria. The team published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
Mediterranean diet without breakfast the best choice for diabetics, new study says
For patients with diabetes, it is better to eat a single large meal than several smaller meals throughout the day. This is the result of a current dietary study at Linköping University in Sweden.
Scientists find mystery virus in camels in Qatar
Health officials say they have found a mysterious respiratory virus in a herd of camels in Qatar linked to two human cases of the disease.
Cyclin D1 governs microRNA processing in breast cancer
Cyclin D1, a protein that helps push a replicating cell through the cell cycle also mediates the processing and generation of mature microRNA (miRNA), according to new research publishing November 29 in Nature Communications. The research suggests that a protein strongly implicated in human cancer also governs the non-protein-coding genome. The non-coding genome, previously referred to as junk DNA, makes up most of the human genome, and unlike the coding genome, varies greatly between species.
Malaria vaccine offers new mode of protection against disease
(Medical Xpress)—A novel malaria vaccine developed at Oxford University has shown promising results in the first clinical trial to test whether it can protect people against the mosquito-borne disease.
The heart's own stem cells play their part in regeneration
(Medical Xpress)—Up until a few years ago, the common school of thought held that the mammalian heart had very little regenerative capacity. However, scientists now know that heart muscle cells constantly regenerate, albeit at a very low rate. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim, have identified a stem cell population responsible for this regeneration. Hopes are growing that it will be possible in future to stimulate the self-healing powers of patients with diseases and disorders of the heart muscle, and thus develop new potential treatments.
Scientists explore memories, true and false
(Medical Xpress)—Not all memories are good and some might be so bad that they are debilitating; successful ways of coping with bad memories are to transform them into learning experiences and to derive strength from adversity. Another human reaction is to allow the memories to block the ability to move forward. In short, dwelling on rather than learning from the past is not a good thing. For some people who suffer trauma, though, moving forward may be far easier said than done. Scientists recognize the effects that events such as bombs, childhood abuse, and serious accidents have on human behavior and are exploring ways in which memory affects human behavior. In particular, a recent article in Popular Science calls attention to studies that are exploring ways to erase and even edit memories. "The hope is that this research will lead to medical treatments, especially for addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)."
Visualize this: Automated UV laser microsurgery simplifies microscopy and neurophysiology experiments in live animals
(Medical Xpress)—Although in vivo microscopy is a vital tool for monitoring cellular and neurophysiological processes, preparing live animals for microsurgery has traditionally had several significant limitations – namely, it takes time, requires a great deal of skill, and places constraints on what can be experimentally accomplished. Recently, however, scientists at Stanford University devised a largely automated protocol that addresses these limitations, and can be used in both optical and electrophysiological studies, by employing a highly precise pulsed excimer UV laser. The researchers not only used fruit flies as a model, but also demonstrate their technique in nematodes, ants, and the mouse cranium. Moreover, they see their findings as being of great value in neuroscience for investigating neuronal plasticity, learning, and memory.
This email is a free service of Phys.org
You received this email because you subscribed to our list.
http://phys.org/profile/nwletter/
You are subscribed as pascal.alter@gmail.com
Posty
Brak komentarzy:
Prześlij komentarz