Science Headlines for August 2, 2008

How Some Bacteria May Steal Iron From Their Human Hosts

While humans obtain iron primarily through the food they eat, bacteria have evolved complex and diverse mechanisms to allow them access to iron. Scientists have discovered that some bacteria are equipped with a gene that enables them to harvest iron from their environment or human host in a unique and energy efficient manner.This discovery could provide researchers with new ways to target such diseases as tuberculosis.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am

Simple Lab Test For Bone Disease Linked To Risk Of Death In Dialysis Patients

Among patients receiving dialysis for chronic kidney disease, high levels of alkaline phosphatase -- a routinely measured laboratory marker of bone disease -- may signal an increased risk of death, reports a new study.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am

Functional Nanoribbons Carved Using Super-heated, Nano-sized Particles Of Iron

Physicists at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated a new method by which graphene films can be etched along flawless, crystallographic axes using hot nanoparticles, a technique that results in precise, macroscopic length ribbons of graphene. The advance could enable atomically precise and simple construction of integrated circuits from single graphene sheets with a wide range of technological applications.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am

Biological Fathers Not Necessarily The Best, Social Dads Parent Well Too

Men who marry a child's mother parent just as well, if not better than biological fathers. A new study examined differences in the parenting practices of four groups of fathers according to whether they were biologically related to a child and whether they were married to the child's mother.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am

Traumatic Response To Bad Memories Can Be Minimized

Researchers have identified the brain mechanism that switches off traumatic feelings associated with bad memories, a finding that could lead to the development of drugs to treat panic disorders.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am

Newly Discovered Monkey Is Threatened With Extinction

Just three years after it was discovered, a new species of monkey is threatened with extinction according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which recently published the first-ever census of the endangered primate. Africa's 'kipunji' hovers at 1,100 individuals.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 3 Aug 2008 | 12:00 am

New Immune Disease Identified

Medical researchers have identified a strange disease in which the innate immune system works in an irregular fashion. A new study describes 9 cases of children severely infected by common bacteria, specifically pneumococci and staphylococci, who do not react to the infection with an inflammatory response; that is, they have no fever and there is no detected increase in the number of white blood cells in the blood. By the time they see a doctor, the infection is widespread. In fact, 3 of the children, aged between 1 and 11 months, died.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Aug 2008 | 6:00 pm

In Lean Times, Flies Can't Survive Without Their Sense Of Smell

Working with fruit flies reared under laboratory conditions, researchers show that in times of plenty, the sense of smell is irrelevant for survival. But when food is scarce, a well functioning nose can mean the difference between life and death.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Aug 2008 | 6:00 pm

New Method Assesses Risks For Heart Failure Patients

Data from 260 hospitals across the United States has led to the creation of a new method for physicians to more accurately determine the severity of heart failure in patients upon hospital admission, with a goal of reducing in-hospital mortality and more quickly identifying triage methods and treatment decisions.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Aug 2008 | 6:00 pm

Olfactory Fine-tuning Helps Fruit Flies Find Their Mates

Fruit flies fine-tune their olfactory systems by recalibrating the sensitivity of different odor channels in response to changing concentrations of environmental cues, a new study has shown. Disable this calibration system, and flies have trouble finding a mate, the researchers have found. The fly nervous system can dampen its response to intense smells to prevent strong signals from overloading the circuits, they report in the July 31 issue of Neuron.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 2 Aug 2008 | 6:00 pm

Engine test for Falcon 9 rocket

A key milestone is reached in the development of the rocket that may soon be flying cargo and astronauts to the space station.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 2 Aug 2008 | 2:32 pm

Obama calls McCain campaign cynical but not racist (AP)

AP - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Saturday described John McCain's campaign against him as one driven by cynicism but not racism and rejected McCain's criticism that Obama himself had brought race into their debate.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Aug 2008 | 2:04 pm

Scientist in anthrax case said to kill self

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Army scientist who apparently committed suicide this week was close to being charged in connection with a series of deadly anthrax attacks in 2001, federal law enforcement officials said on Friday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 2 Aug 2008 | 12:56 pm

Ancient Greeks used "computer" to set Olympics date

LONDON (Reuters) - A mechanical brass calculator used by the ancient Greeks to predict solar and lunar eclipses was probably also used to set the dates for the first Olympic games, researchers said on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 2 Aug 2008 | 11:35 am

Watching a few areas in the tropics (weather.com)

weather.com -
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Aug 2008 | 10:06 am

Once common on skin, anthrax is deadly in lungs (AP)

AP - Seven years ago, Americans learned to fear anthrax as a white powder in the mail that claimed lives, forced the post office to change the way it handles letters and sparked contamination scares across the country.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Aug 2008 | 1:23 am

Chinese cheered by eclipse a week before Olympics (AP)

AP - Finally, China had an act of nature it could celebrate. After an Olympic year of freakish natural disasters, crowds of Chinese watched a total solar eclipse along the country's ancient Silk Road on Friday, one week before the start of the Summer Games in Beijing.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 2 Aug 2008 | 1:23 am

Field test

Squeeze on wildlife as EU farms ramp up production
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 2 Aug 2008 | 12:50 am

Brazil launches rainforest fund

Brazil launches an international fund to protect the Amazon rainforest but warns against foreign interference in its policy.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 1 Aug 2008 | 11:22 pm

German patient well after transplant of two arms

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - German doctors have succeeded in transplanting two complete arms onto a 54-year old man in what their hospital said was the world's first operation of this kind.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 1 Aug 2008 | 11:01 pm

Oliver Burkeman on why everything takes longer than you think

Oliver Burkeman: We know everything always takes longer than expected; we just seem to forget, again and again
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 1 Aug 2008 | 11:01 pm

Bad science: Ben Goldacre takes a closer look at the 'fame formula'

Ben Goldacre: So event-related fame declines rapidly with time? I don't think anyone is desperately surprised
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 1 Aug 2008 | 11:00 pm

Review: Microcosm by Carl Zimmer

Review: Microcosm: E coli and the New Science of Life by Carl Zimmer
Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 1 Aug 2008 | 10:59 pm

Make Your Own Device: Electronic Legos

New electronic building blocks can be put together to do just about anything
Source: Livescience.com | 1 Aug 2008 | 9:44 pm

Arctic park faces melting crisis

A national park in Canada's Arctic has been partly closed after record high temperatures caused flash flooding.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 1 Aug 2008 | 9:43 pm

Solar Eclipse Wows Airborne Skywatchers Over Arctic Circle

The Aug. 1, 2008 total solar eclipse as seen from a unique vantage.
Source: Livescience.com | 1 Aug 2008 | 9:30 pm

Can a Nuclear Blast Alter Earth's Rotation?

Nuclear bombs are humankind's most powerful weapon, but their destructive impact would unlikely alter the spinning of the Earth on its axis.
Source: Livescience.com | 1 Aug 2008 | 9:28 pm

'Pressure' killed anthrax suspect

A US scientist suspected of anthrax attacks in 2001 killed himself as a result of "accusation and innuendo", his lawyer says.
Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 1 Aug 2008 | 9:27 pm

Solar Eclipse Wows Airborne Skywatchers Over Arctic Circle (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - ABOARD A JET ABOVE THE ARCTIC OCEAN – A total of 147 observers from around the world had a perfect view of this morning's total eclipse of the sun, thanks to an 2,189-mile airlift to a grandstand seat 36,000-feet above the Arctic Ocean at a point between the uninhabited northern coast of Greenland and the Norwegian island group of Svalbard.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Aug 2008 | 9:16 pm

Eclipse darkens NW China, a week before Olympics

JIAYUGUAN, China (Reuters) - Darkness fell over the last outpost of the Great Wall of China on Friday, where a rare total solar eclipse ended its journey across the earth, delighting skywatchers one week before the Olympics open in Beijing.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 1 Aug 2008 | 8:56 pm

Whale stranded off English coast euthanized (AP)

AP - Marine veterinarians euthanized a sick, 26-foot-long whale Friday after it became stranded on a mudflat off the coast of southern England. British wildlife experts and the coast guard had tried all day to save the northern bottlenose whale, which beached off Langstone Harbor, 75 miles southwest of London.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Aug 2008 | 8:51 pm

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