Science Headlines for October 4, 2008

Where You Live Matters When You're Seriously Ill: Three U.S. States Earn 'A' Grade, Three An 'F'

America does a mediocre job caring for its sickest people. The nation, says a new report, gets a C. Only Vermont, Montana and New Hampshire earned an A, according to America's Care of Serious Illness: A State-by-State Report Card on Access to Palliative Care in Our Nation's Hospitals, a report based on a study in the October issue of the Journal of Palliative Medicine.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am

Scientists Design A Chip To Measure The Wind On Mars

A new chip will be used to measure the wind on Mars. This chip is the key piece of the anemometer on a weather monitoring station run by Spanish scientists for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, whose launch is planned for fall 2009.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am

Meteorites From Inner Solar System Match Up To Earth's Platinum Standard

Some of the world's rarest and most precious metals, including platinum and iridium, could owe their presence in the Earth's crust to iron and stony-iron meteorites, fragments of a large number of asteroids that underwent significant geological processing in the early Solar System.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am

Study On Properties Of Carbon Nanotubes, Water Could Have Wide-ranging Implications

A fresh discovery about the way water behaves inside carbon nanotubes could have implications in fields ranging from the function of ultra-tiny high-tech devices to scientists' understanding of biological processes, according to new research.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am

Making Metabolism More Inefficient Can Reduce Obesity

In a discovery that counters prevailing thought, a study in mice has found that inactivating a pair of key genes involved in "fat-burning" can actually increase energy expenditure and help lower diet-induced obesity.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am

Parents Still Fear Autism Could Be Linked To Vaccines, Poll Shows

Scientists say there is no evidence linking vaccines and autism, but the lingering fear is leading to fewer parents having their children vaccinated and a growing number of measles infections. The first national survey of attitudes toward autism reveals that a small but significant percentage of people still believe the disease is caused by childhood vaccines. The poll results help explain growing number of measles infections.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Oct 2008 | 12:00 am

Discovery Of Natural Compounds That Could Slow Blood Vessel Growth

Using computer models and live cell experiments, biomedical engineers have discovered more than 100 human protein fragments that can slow or stop the growth of cells that make up new blood vessels.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Oct 2008 | 6:00 pm

Gas From The Past Gives Scientists New Insights Into Climate And The Oceans

In recent years, public discussion of climate change has included concerns that increased levels of carbon dioxide will contribute to global warming, which in turn may change the circulation in the Earth's oceans, with potentially disastrous consequences. Ice core and ocean deposit comparisons show complex links between carbon dioxide levels, ocean currents and climate, which may help explain past, present and future climate trends.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Oct 2008 | 6:00 pm

Navy Confirms Sunken Submarine Is Grunion

A sunken vessel discovered off the coast of the Aleutian Islands is in fact the World War II submarine USS Grunion (SS 216). The submarine Grunion arrived at Pearl Harbor on June 20, 1942.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Oct 2008 | 6:00 pm

Researchers Propose Minocycline As A Promising Drug For Patients With Fragile X Syndrome

Biomedical scientists have found that a readily available drug called minocycline, used widely to treat acne and skin infections, can be used to treat Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental impairment and the most common cause of autism. The study's findings have already impacted future therapies, with the approval of a new clinical trial in Toronto, Canada, that will test minocycline in patients with Fragile X.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Oct 2008 | 6:00 pm

Big cat kill caught on BBC webcam

BBC webcams in Kenya's Masai Mara Reserve catch some remarkable pictures of lions in action.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 4 Oct 2008 | 10:53 am

Brazil's air force picks up hundreds of lost penguins

Hundreds of penguins lost along Brazil's coast are returned to native territory in the south Atlantic ocean by an air force plane.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 4 Oct 2008 | 3:32 am

Help red squirrels, public urged

Conservationists urge the public to report sightings of red squirrels in an attempt to protect them from a deadly virus.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 4 Oct 2008 | 1:25 am

Tax breaks big and small sweeten financial bailout (AP)

AP - Millions of taxpayers, thousands of businesses and groups as diverse as solar power developers and natural disaster victims will see tax relief with the House vote Friday to approve and send to the president a $700 billion financial rescue plan.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Oct 2008 | 1:15 am

Ben Goldacre: Making space for the wild and wonderful

Ben Goldacre: Ejaculation and nasal congestion are only tenuously linked
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 3 Oct 2008 | 11:12 pm

Diary found on doomed space shuttle goes on display

Two of 30 pages written by Israel's first astronaut to be unveiled in Jerusalem
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 3 Oct 2008 | 11:03 pm

Spermicide Coke, stale chips research wins Ig Nobels

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A researcher who figured out that Coke explodes sperm and scientists who discovered that people will happily eat stale chips if they crunch loudly enough won alternative "Ig Nobel" prizes Thursday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 3 Oct 2008 | 11:01 pm

Comet Capture Capsule Goes On Display (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - A NASA capsule that collected the first samples from a comet has become part of a collection itself.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Oct 2008 | 10:30 pm

South Korean Astronaut is Crazy, Sexy, Cool

GLASGOW, Scotland -- Yi Soyeon, who became the first South Korean astronaut to go into space this April, said that if she had to use three words to describe herself they would be "crazy, sexy, cool." Sounds good to me.

Yi was in fine form this week in Glasgow, Scotland talking to the gathered space industry masses at the International Astronautical Congress. Sporting a pale grey spacesuit that ended in a go-go skirt, you could see her spunk shining through.

On this afternoon's plenary panel of four veteran space travelers, Yi held her own joking that if Sergei Kirkalev spoke for 10 minutes about his 26+ months in space over six missions, that she should probably only get 10 seconds to cover the 10-day mission that she beat out 35,000 other South Korean applicants for.

Although English is a second language for Yi, her comments were charming. When asked about what her first few minutesmback on Earth were like she talked of their ballistic re-entry and how all the reference manuals fell on top of her head. The crew managed to climb out and found a crowd of locals staring at them as if they were aliens. They layed down outside the capsule to rest and the local people crept up to them and nudged them. Finally Soyeon said, she had to talk to them and say, "I am not an alien, I am an astronaut!"

Another audience member asked if they would accept a one way ticket to space. Yi said that she could see two possible replies. One, she could promise to work off the cost of the return ticket when she got back to Earth. Or two, "I would find a really attractive guy and would take him with me." (I don't think it is the same without the Korean accent...)

When asked about her health Yi said that she has a peculiar quirk, when going in camping trips or vacations with friends, she never gets motion sick, but when she goes on business trips, plane and trains always make her queasy. Doctors predicted Yi would be sick on orbit for three and a half days (it often takes people three days to adjust to life at sea or life in space), but Yi was proud that she was sick less than two days. "I guess being in space was not like a business trip for me!"

Although it may not have felt like work, the 30-year-old scientist conducted 18 different experiments during her 10-day stay on the International Space Station. She is now working as a researcher at the Korean Aerospace Research Institute and is also serving as Korea's space ambassador.

See Also:

South Korea Switches to Female Back-up Astronaut

Image: NASA

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 3 Oct 2008 | 9:24 pm

Bacteria Think Ahead (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Bacteria may be humble single-celled creatures, but they're sophisticated enough to anticipate regular events, such as the arrival of day, thanks to their internal circadian clocks. A new study shows that they can also anticipate and prepare for sporadic events, as long as the events are reliably preceded by a signal.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Oct 2008 | 9:16 pm

Bone Fragment Might Not ID Fossett

Whether the legacy of Steve Fossett is allowed to rest, or remains dogged by conspiratorial accusations that he faked his own death, may be determined by a single sliver of bone.

But though it's been reported that the bone, found amidst the wreckage of Fossett's plane, is human, that's not yet clear. And if it is human, it may still not be possible to prove whether it belongs to Fossett.

"When you find a bone fragment, there's no way to know, until you give it to a forensic lab, whether it's human or animal," said Erica Stuart, a spokeswoman for the Madera County Sheriff's Department, which is handling the recovery. "We won't know until it's analyzed."

The outcome of the forensic investigation could not only put to bed rumors rumors that the billionaire adventurer faked his death to evade marital and financial difficulties, it could also ultimately determine the fate of his fortune, which a court transferred to his widow when he was declared legally dead in February.

The two-and-a-half-inch long fragment was discovered by investigators amidst the wreckage of Fossett's plane, located Wednesday after hikers found his pilot's license and $1,000 in cash on a remote mountainside near Mammoth Lakes, California.

Debris from the wreckage was scattered across the mountainside, prompting National Transportation Safety Board acting chairman Mark Rosenker to call it "indicative of a high-impact crash which appears to be consistent with a non-survivable accident."

Though Rosenker said that genetic analysis will determine its origins, some forensic scientists say that identification is not guaranteed.

"The passage of time is going to be the greatest problem in this case," said Anthony Falsetti, director of the University of Florida's human identification laboratory. "He's been dead for thirteen months, and that bone has been sitting out, subject to the weather, to anything that could happen to that bone from an animal or the environment."

Condensation, temperature fluctuations and distress by scavengers could corrupt the integrity the bone's DNA, making it difficult to match with samples from Fossett. Another bone would make the task easier, but this could be the only one.

Turhon Murad, a California State University, Chico forensic anthropologist, was more optimistic. "I wouldn't expect it to be so difficult it's going to be impossible," he said.

If DNA can be salvaged, the rest should be easy: scientists will compare it to genetic traces left by Fossett in blood tests or in his home. If those can't be found, the sample can be compared to a maternal relative, who would share his mitochondrial DNA.

The fragment is now at a state forensics laboratory in Fresno, California, where testing could take several months. But Falsetti cautioned that conspiracy theories won't likely die, even if the bone does belong to Fossett.

"I still get emails from people who believe their father was Alexei Romanov," he said. "People will believe what they want to believe."

See Also:

Images: Plane wreckage, from Associated Press/Mono County Sheriff's Search and Rescue; Fossett, from Associated Press/Kirsty Wigglesworth

WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 3 Oct 2008 | 7:59 pm

CERN computer grid links 7,000 scientists

GENEVA (Reuters) - CERN, the world's biggest particle physics laboratory and creator of the Worldwide Web, on Friday unveiled a new computer network allowing thousands of scientists around the world to crunch data on its huge experiments.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 3 Oct 2008 | 7:26 pm

Boy wreaks zoo havoc while feeding croc (Reuters)

Reuters - The parents of a 7-year-old boy who broke into an Australian outback zoo and fed a string of small animals to its resident crocodile are likely to be sued after police said the boy was too young to be held responsible.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Oct 2008 | 7:10 pm

Israeli Astronaut's Diary Goes on Display

Five years post-Columbia, astronaut Ilan Ramon's diary will go on public display.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 3 Oct 2008 | 6:51 pm

Mammoth Tooth Fossil Found in Ike-ravaged Yard

Paleontologist finds mammoth tooth unearthed by Hurricane Ike in beachfront yard.
Source: Livescience.com | 3 Oct 2008 | 6:16 pm

Inevitable union

Why UK ministers brought energy and climate together
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Oct 2008 | 6:11 pm

Beaked whales

Your questions answered on the deep sea mammals
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Oct 2008 | 6:00 pm

What Does the Vice President Do, Anyway?

Just how much power does the vice president officially have?
Source: Livescience.com | 3 Oct 2008 | 5:47 pm

Ancient Peru Pyramid Spotted by Satellite

Archaeologists find a pyramid buried intentionally more than 1,700 years ago.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 3 Oct 2008 | 5:30 pm

Uncertainty Clouds Remains From Fossett Crash Site

The hope of conclusively determining whether Steve Fossett died on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains, or whether conspiracy theories will continue to dog his disappearance, rests with a two-and-a-half inch sliver of bone.

The bone was discovered by investigators at the wreckage of Fossett's plane, spotted Wednesday during an aerial search near Mammoth Lakes, California, where hikers found Fossett's identification cards and $1000 in cash. Debris from the plane was scattered across the mountainside.

"That information is indicative of a high impact crash which appears to be consistent with a non-survivable accident," said Mark Rosenker, acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, at a press conference.

But rumors that the billionaire adventurer faked his death to escape financial and marital difficulties have swirled ever since his traceless disappearance 13 months ago. The bone sliver, found amidst the debris, may finally put that to rest -- or not. Rosenker said the remains were human, but Madera County Sheriff John Anderson told reporters that the bone may not be human.

Is this just a typical procedural disgreement, or the beginning of what conspiracy theorists might eventually call a coverup? More to come....

See Also:

Image: The location of the crash, as visited on Google Earth.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 3 Oct 2008 | 5:12 pm

Power tool

Hopefuls use tech to boost campaigns
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Oct 2008 | 4:51 pm

Lord Drayson takes science brief

Racing driver and businessman Lord Drayson becomes the UK's third science minister in two years.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Oct 2008 | 4:43 pm

Genes pinpoint people at risk for gout: study (Reuters)

Reuters - Scientists have pinpointed three genes related to the high blood levels of uric acid that cause gout in a step that could help identify people at special risk for this common and painful type of arthritis.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Oct 2008 | 4:30 pm

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