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Radiation Before Surgery Improves Pancreatic Cancer Outcomes, Study ShowsPancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest and most difficult to treat cancers. Now, in a major step forward, researchers have shown that administering radiation therapy prior to surgery nearly doubles survival in pancreatic cancer patients with operable tumors.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Jupiter's Moon Europa Does The Wave To Generate HeatOne of the moons in our solar system that scientists think has the potential to harbor life may have a far more dynamic ocean than previously thought. If the moon Europa is tilted on its axis even slightly as it orbits the giant planet Jupiter, then Jupiter's gravitational pull could be creating powerful waves in Europa's ocean, according to an oceanographer.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Probing Genetic Underpinnings Of Nicotine AddictionSmokers who carry a particular version of a gene for an enzyme that regulates dopamine in the brain may suffer from concentration problems and other cognitive deficits when abstaining from nicotine -- a problem that puts them at risk for relapse during attempts to quit smoking.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Why Climbers Die On Mount EverestResearchers have conducted the first detailed analysis of deaths during expeditions to the summit of Mt. Everest. They found that most deaths occur during descents from the summit in the so-called "death zone" above 8,000 meters and also identified factors that appear to be associated with a greater risk of death, particularly symptoms of high-altitude cerebral edema.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm 4,000-year-old Amber Necklace Has Been Unearthed In EnglandThe rare find was unearthed from a stone-lined grave -- known as a Cist. It is the first time a necklace of this kind from the early Bronze Age has been found in north west England.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Toothbrushing Can Prevent Hospital-borne PneumoniaToothbrushing can prevent hospital-borne pneumonia. Hospital-borne infections are a serious risk of a long-term hospital stay, and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), a lung infection that develops in about 15% of all people who are ventilated, is among the most dangerous.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Mould Toxins More Prevalent And Hazardous Than ThoughtMould toxins in buildings damaged by moisture are considerably more prevalent than was previously thought, according to new international research. Researchers have analyzed dust and materials samples from buildings damaged by mould. Virtually all of the samples contained toxins from mould.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Discovery Could Improve The Lives Of Premature BabiesScientists have identified a potential new avenue for altering lung development in the embryo which may help to improve the outcome for very premature babies. Researchers have discovered a key player in early lung development which is a potential drug target for treating very premature babies with small, immature lungs.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Proinflammatory Cytokines Could Help Improve Diagnosis And Treatment Of Prostate CancerResearchers have concluded that there could be a link between the high expression of proinflammatory cytokines and high levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) with the progression of prostate cancer.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Biologist Modifies Theory Of Cells' EnginesBiologists have known for decades that cells use tiny molecular motors to move chromosomes, mitochondria, and many other organelles within the cell, but no one has been able to understand what "steers" these engines to their destinations. Now, researchers have shed new light on how cells accomplish this feat and the results may eventually lead to new approaches to fighting pathogens and neurological diseases.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Oil sicknessHealth concerns from Canada's oil sands industrySource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 15 Dec 2008 | 11:33 am Video: Meet Bonnie, the whistling orang-utanBonnie, a 30-year-old orang-utan at the Smithsonian National Zoo in, Washington DC, has confounded experts by learning how to whistleSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 15 Dec 2008 | 10:28 am Obesity 'controlled by the brain'Seven new gene variants discovered by scientists suggest strongly that obesity is largely a problem in the brain.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 15 Dec 2008 | 10:27 am Australia sets new climate targetAustralia announces a series of measures to tackle climate change, but critics say the new targets are far too modest.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 15 Dec 2008 | 10:18 am Nanotech sensor detects toxins in living cellsCHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. scientists have developed a tiny sensor that can detect small amounts of cancer-causing toxins or trace the effectiveness of cancer drugs inside living cells.Source: Reuters: Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 9:52 am Ian Sample looks at how baby birds learn to singIan Sample finds out why researchers have been strapping electrodes to baby birds Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 15 Dec 2008 | 8:29 am Australia to cut pollution 5 to 15 percent by 2020 (AP)AP - Australia said Monday it plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by as little as 5 percent by 2020 a reduction that critics say undermines international efforts to reach an effective global pact next year to avert dangerous climate change.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 6:35 am Animal magicPictures from SE Asia's biological 'treasure trove'Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 15 Dec 2008 | 6:03 am Obama left with little time to curb global warming (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Dec 2008 | 5:36 am Wired Science Live: Exploring Cities in Geological Time
That's the central theme of an exciting new book by geologist Jan Zalasiewicz, The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks?, from Oxford University Press. And in a Wired Science first, I'm going to be interviewing Zalasiewicz live in San Francisco with my good friend and the brilliant author of BLDGBLOG, Geoff Manaugh. This event, which we're calling Fossil Cities, will run from 7-9 p.m. this Wednesday, December 17th. The good people of Swissnex, a Swiss-supported innovation embassy and gallery space, have been kind enough to donate their high-design downstairs for our event. (It's located at 730 Montgomery Street; check the map.) We'll be giving away five free copies of the book based on some as-yet-undetermined methodology. If you're an out-of-towner, don't feel too bad because we'll be taping it for inclusion in a Wired Science video podcast. Zalasiewicz's book surpasses last year's The World Without Us by thinking beyond the biological time scales that can be measured in hours or minutes. "The surface of the Earth is no place to preserve deep history. This is in spite of – and in large part because of – the many events that have taken place on it. The surface of the future Earth, one hundred million years now, will not have preserved evidence of contemporary human activity," Zalasiewicz writes. "One can be quite categorical about this. Whatever arrangement of oceans and continents, or whatever state of cool or warmth will exist then, the Earth's surface will have been wiped clean of human traces." In a week filled with geology because of the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting, I think it's safe to say that this evening will be one of the most fascinating moments and definitely the most Wired. Also, if you haven't check out BLDGBLOG, Geoff Manaugh's site, you should jump on the bandwagon now before his book comes out next year and he gets all famous. Image: Joe Alterio for BLDGBLOG. WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter , Google Reader feed, and project site, Inventing Green: the lost history of American clean tech; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 15 Dec 2008 | 12:45 am Top 10 Modern Space Videos
10. CD Players in Microgravity 9. Soyuz Rocket Carries Tourist to Space Station 8. Water Droplets and Alka-Seltzer in Microgravity 7. 3-D Map of Dark Matter 6. First Chinese Spacewalk 5. View of Shuttle Launch from Inside of the Orbiter 4. Drinking Coffee in Space is Tricky 3. The First Private Liquid-Fuel Rocket Makes it to Space 2. The Most Important Image Ever Taken by Humanity 1. Earthrise Seen from the Moon What did we miss? If you know of a great space video that should get some airplay on our website, please tell us about it. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 15 Dec 2008 | 12:15 am Science Weekly podcast: The Enigma cipher machine, and how the European Space Agency is helping the games industryJohn Alexander brings in his cipher machines, including the German Enigma. We attempt to encipher a simple message using it. John also sets a code to be cracked by the end of the programme. And yes, after much scribbling, it does work! Author and journalist Simon Singh tells us how the science of encryption has evolved through the centuries to the current day. Just how safe is your information? Frank Salzgeber, head of technology transfer at the European Space Agency, tells us why space exploration is still important. He also looks at the application of real-time 3D data for a racing game. One day we could end up driving against Lewis Hamilton as the formula one race takes place. Nell Boase, Ian Sample and James Randerson are also in the pod for our last recording in our current studios. ADVISORY: a pen and paper may come in handy. Feel free to post your comments about the show and the code on the blog below. You can also join our Facebook group, where you can scrawl your thoughts on our wall. Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 15 Dec 2008 | 12:06 am Laura Spinney on Bonnie, the whistling orang-utanLaura Spinney: Orang-utans can learn new sounds, which might mean that different populations in the wild have different vocal culturesSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 15 Dec 2008 | 12:06 am Alan Pickup: Star watchThey hang like a stray piece of tinsel in our Christmas sky, yet references to the Pleiades date from long before the Christian era. The cluster of stars is mentioned in the works of the early Greek poets Homer and Hesiod, from 700BC or before, and also in the Bible's book of Job, penned perhaps three centuries earlier. In fact, it seems that they play a role in the myths and folklore of many cultures around the world. From some 30° high and due E at nightfall tonight, the cluster climbs to pass 60° high on the meridian at 22:00. Also called M45 from its entry in Messier's catalogue, its stars lie some 440 light years away and the brighter ones, identified on our image, stretch over 1° of sky (2 Moon-widths) in Taurus. The Pleiades represent the seven sisters of Greek mythology, and their parents Atlas and Pleione. The sisters are siblings of the Hyades, the V-shaped cluster that lies 12° away to the SE. Both are dubbed open star clusters, to distinguish them from the more populous globular clusters. Note that reddish Aldebaran, the eye of Taurus, is a foreground star that happens to lie between the Hyades and the Sun. The Pleiades are often called the Seven Sisters yet not everyone can count seven stars with the unaided eye, and a few people see more. The brightest are Alcyone (mag 2.9), followed by Atlas (3.6) and Electra (3.7). There are various legends of a missing Pleiad, suggesting that one of the stars has faded since antiquity, but scientific evidence for this is lacking. This is not to say that every star is perfectly stable. All are young and hot, many slightly tinged with blue, and several oscillate very slightly in brightness. The exception is Pleione which can vary irregularly by a factor of two in brightness (mag 4.8 to 5.5) when it ejects shells of its atmosphere in the style of Gamma Cassiopeiae, mentioned here last month. The best views of the Pleiades are through a small telescope or binoculars, preferable mounted on a tripod. A glittering swarm of extra stars become visible, though we need a large telescope or a long-exposure photograph to glimpse the blue haze that suffuses the cluster. Our image shows the brightest haze near Merope and Maia, but still longer exposures show it spilling across the whole cluster. Once thought to be the remnants of the cloud of gas and dust from which the cluster condensed some 100 million years ago, we now believe that any stellar afterbirth would have long since dissipated. Instead, it seems that the Pleiades happen to be ploughing through a dusty interstellar cloud which reflects their bluish light as they chase in the direction of S Orion. Within 250 million years, though, the cluster is likely to be broken up through gravitational interactions as it orbits the Galaxy, leaving its stars to make their own way. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 15 Dec 2008 | 12:05 am The Nation's Weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 11:58 pm Two rare white lion cubs born in Belgrade zoo (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 11:31 pm Australia fast-tracks renewable energy funding (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 11:19 pm Experts boost learning in rats with hearing defectsHONG KONG (Reuters) - Scientists have managed to train rats with hearing defects to pick out sounds from background noise, giving a possible solution to hearing-impaired children with difficulties in learning language.Source: Reuters: Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 6:29 pm Study finds six new gene mutations linked to obesityWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers have identified six new gene mutations linked to obesity and said on Sunday they point to ways the brain and nervous system control eating and metabolism.Source: Reuters: Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 6:28 pm Seeds of hope: Freezing vaults guard Earth's flora (AP)AP - The underground bunker can block nuclear fallout, withstand a direct hit by a jetliner, and is cooled to a deathly chill.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 5:58 pm Mumbai attackers more tech savvy than the police (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 3:53 pm Photographs show damage inside Cern's particle colliderOver the past few weeks, images from the underground tunnel that houses the giant particle accelerator at Cern in Geneva have appeared on scientific blogs, some written by staff at the organisation itself. And striking they are to. You don't need to understand the workings of the machine to grasp the violence of the explosion that put the world's most complex machine out of action just 10 days after it was switched on. The picture appears to show what happens when two neighbouring magnets crash into each other. Cern has made available a full technical report on the incident, which was caused by a short circuit that burned a hole in a vessel containing liquid helium. The resulting explosion caused enough damage to put the machine out of action until at least July next year. For Cern this is clearly a major, not to say expensive, accident. But no one said it was going to be easy getting this machine up and running. It all makes for an even more tense endgame in the hunt for the Higgs boson. Cern's Large Hadron Collider is often trumpeted as the machine that will finally discover the elusive beast, but on the other side of the Atlantic, the scientists at Fermilab's Tevatron are working like mad to find it first. I wonder what the bookies' odds are? guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 14 Dec 2008 | 3:05 pm
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