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Lizards Bask In The Sun For A Vitamin D BoostKeeping warm isn't the only reason lizards and other cold-blooded critters bask in the sun. Chameleons alter their sunbathing behavior based on their need for vitamin D.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 6:00 pm Early Oxygen Rich Atmosphere? Origins Of Sulfur In Rocks Tells Early Oxygen StorySedimentary rocks created more than 2.4 billion years ago sometimes have an unusual sulfur isotope composition thought to be caused by the action of ultra violet light on volcanically produced sulfur dioxide in an oxygen poor atmosphere. Now geochemists can show an alternative origin for this isotopic composition that may point to an early, oxygen-rich atmosphere.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 6:00 pm Carbon Dioxide Snatched From The AirResearchers have developed a novel reaction scheme by which carbon dioxide can be efficiently converted into methanol under very mild conditions.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 6:00 pm Blood Cells Can Be Reprogrammed To Act As Embryonic Stem CellsResearchers have reprogrammed cells found in circulating blood into cells that are molecularly and functionally indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells, a revolutionary achievement that provides a readily accessible source of stem cells and an alternative to harvesting embryonic stem cells.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 6:00 pm Nearly 1 In 10 Youth Gamers Addicted To Video GamesIn a new national study of 1,178 American youths, psychologists found nearly one in 10 of the gamers (8.5 percent) to be pathological players according to standards established for pathological gambling.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 6:00 pm Valve Implantation On The Beating HeartTranscatheter valve implantation is a newly developed technique for the curative treatment of high-grade aortic stenosis. It is likely to be of benefit especially to elderly, multi-morbid patients for whom the risk of open heart surgery would be too great.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 6:00 pm Turmeric: India's 'Holy Powder' Finally Reveals Its Centuries-old SecretScientists in Michigan are reporting discovery of the secret behind the fabled healing power of the main ingredient in turmeric -- a spice revered in India as "holy powder."Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 3:00 pm Huntington Disease Begins To Take Hold Early OnA global analysis of brain proteins over a 10-week period in a mouse model of Huntington disease has revealed some new insights into this complex neurodegenerative disorder.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 3:00 pm First Broad-spectrum Anti-microbial Paint To Kill 'Superbugs'Scientists have developed the first broad-spectrum antimicrobial paint, a material that can simultaneously kill not just disease-causing bacteria but mold, fungi, and viruses. Designed to both decorate and disinfect homes, businesses, and health-care settings, the paint is the most powerful to date, according to their new study.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 3:00 pm Genetic Source Of Rare Childhood Cancer Found; Gene Is Implicated In Other CancersThe search for the cause of an inherited form of a rare, aggressive childhood lung cancer has uncovered important information about how the cancer develops and potentially sheds light on the development of other cancers. The finding adds the final link to the chain connecting the gene DICER1 to cancer development.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 3:00 pm Days to Lengthen With Climate ChangeChanges in atmospheric circulation due to global warming will lengthen Earth's days.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 21 Apr 2009 | 1:10 pm Stephen Hawking's family expects his recovery (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 1:05 pm U.S. National Cancer Institute to fund more researchWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The federal government's stimulus package plus budget increases will give the National Cancer Institute enough money to raise by a third the number of research projects it pays for, the agency's director said on Monday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 12:32 pm B-Schools: Make Climate Change Front and Center (BusinessWeek Online)BusinessWeek Online - Money and climate go hand in hand. Lord Nicholas Stern, the former chief economist of the World Bank, explained the economics of climate change nearly three years ago: the benefits of strong, early action far outweigh the high costs that will be incurred if we do nothing.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 12:08 pm Scientists discover an Earth-sized planet (AP)AP - Scientists say they've discovered a planet outside our solar system that is close to Earth in size far different from the behemoths they had previously seen so far.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 11:57 am Lightest Known Exoplanet Discovered (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - The lightest exoplanet yet discovered — only about twice the mass of Earth — has been detected, astronomers announced today.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 11:45 am Lightest Known Exoplanet DiscoveredAstronomers detect lightest exoplanet yet; place another planet in habitable zone.Source: Livescience.com | 21 Apr 2009 | 11:45 am Physicist Stephen Hawking "comfortable" in hospitalLONDON (Reuters) - Physicist Stephen Hawking, the author of "A Brief History of Time" who is almost completely paralyzed by motor neurone disease, was comfortable in hospital on Tuesday, his university said.Source: Reuters: Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 11:34 am All the buzzUK apiarists say research money is the bees' kneesSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 21 Apr 2009 | 11:19 am Hawking expected to make full recoveryDoctors say condition of scientist, 67, is improving after he was taken to hospital 'very ill' The family of physicist Stephen Hawking said today they were looking forward to him making a full recovery after he fell ill and was admitted to hospital yesterday. Hawking, 67, was taken by ambulance to Addenbrooke's hospital, Cambridge, for tests after he fell "very ill", but his condition appears to have improved and he was said to be in a "comfortable" condition today. "Professor Hawking is being kept in for observation at Addenbrooke's hospital this morning," a spokesman for Cambridge University said. "He is comfortable and his family is looking forward to him making a full recovery." Hawking has been unwell for a couple of weeks, and earlier this month pulled out of a headline appearance at a science conference in Arizona to recover from a chest infection. A Cambridge University spokesman said Hawking was still having tests for a condition that was not related to his respiratory infection, and was not life threatening. The scientist, who rose to wider public prominence in 1988 with the publication of his bestselling A Brief History of Time, began to develop the symptoms of incurable motor neurone disease in the 1960s, gradually losing the use of his limbs and voice. He has worked at the university's department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics for over 30 years, but is due to step down as Lucasian professor of mathematics, a post once held by Sir Isaac Newton, at the end of the academic year. It is customary to retire from the post at 67, though Hawking intends to continue as professor emeritus. In a career spanning almost 50 years, Hawking has wrestled with some of the most puzzling questions in cosmology. With Sir Roger Penrose, at Oxford University, he used the physics of collapsing stars to argue that space and time could begin at points in the universe called "singularities". In a lecture he gave in 2007 in honour of Nasa's 50th anniversary at George Washington University in Washington DC, Hawking suggested primitive alien life might be common. In 2002 Hawking, one of the most recognisable figures on the streets of Cambridge, drove his high-powered wheelchair into a wall while in a rush to get into town. He broke his hip and almost missed his 60th birthday celebrations. In 2007 he became the first disabled person to experience weightlessness aboard a Boeing 727 that replicates the freefall conditions of being in orbit. The plane, which flew from Nasa's Cape Canaveral site in Florida, performed eight steep dives over the Atlantic, allowing the physicist to float freely for 25-second spells. Hawking has since signed up to fly to the edge of space next year as one of Sir Richard Branson's first space tourists aboard the Virgin Galactic spacecraft. His progressive disease has left Hawking reliant upon a computer screen and a voice synthesiser to communicate. His cultural reach has led to appearances in The Simpsons, Futurama and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Motor neurone diseases steadily destroy the nerves that control muscles. Doctors usually give patients three years to live after their first symptoms appear. Hawking, who is thought to have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is one of the world's longest-surviving MND patients and has round-the-clock care from a team of nurses. Brian Dickie, director of research at the Motor Neurone Disease Association, said only 5% of people diagnosed with ALS survive for 10 years or longer. Hawking "is at the extreme end of the scale when it comes to survival", Dickie said. Peter Haynes, head of the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics, said: "Professor Hawking is a remarkable colleague. We all hope he will be amongst us again soon." Hawking was born in Oxford and grew up in St Albans, Hertfordshire. He studied at Oxford University before moving to Cambridge to carry out research in cosmology. He was awarded the CBE in 1982, made a Companion of Honour in 1989 and is a fellow of the Royal Society. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 21 Apr 2009 | 11:10 am Hawking 'to make full recovery'Professor Stephen Hawking is expected to make a full recovery after being admitted to hospital with chest problems.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 21 Apr 2009 | 10:59 am EU funding push in blue-sky techThe European Commission announces a large initiative to fund blue-sky technology research.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 21 Apr 2009 | 10:44 am Stephen HawkingHis form of debilitating motor neurone diseaseSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 21 Apr 2009 | 10:04 am Lightest exoplanet is discoveredAstronomers announce the discovery of the lightest planet ever detected outside our Solar System.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 21 Apr 2009 | 9:55 am Complex molecules seen in spaceAstronomers detect two of the most complex carbon-rich molecules ever found in interstellar space.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 21 Apr 2009 | 9:28 am China says planning more dams on troubled Yangtze (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 6:35 am Star dimmedWhy the sun is showing little activitySource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 21 Apr 2009 | 5:04 am Can High IQ Make You Rich? (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - Smarter people are better at earning and managing money, a new study of wannabe truck drivers suggests.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 4:19 am Lizards Sunbathe for Better HealthThey sun themselves to keep warm and to produce vitamin D.Source: Livescience.com | 21 Apr 2009 | 4:10 am 2 Calif. animal rights activists indicted (AP)AP - Two animal rights activists were charged Monday with conspiracy, stalking and other crimes against researchers at University of California, Los Angeles and executives of a juice company.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 21 Apr 2009 | 2:54 am EU commission urges fishing cutsEU fishing fleets need major cuts if stocks are to be managed sustainably, the European Commission says.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 21 Apr 2009 | 1:05 am Oxfam warns of climate disastersThe number of people hit by climate-related disasters worldwide could rise 50% within six years, Oxfam says.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 21 Apr 2009 | 12:44 am Building a Better Alien-Detection System
By measuring the photon signatures left when light bounces off photosynthesizing cells, astronomers may soon have a new tool for detecting extraterrestrial organisms. "When you look at objects in the solar system, what's a high-probability way of determining whether or not that planet has life?" said Neill Reid, a Space Telescope Science Institute astrobiologist. "Circular polarization has the potential to be a signature of life." Other proposed signs of life include gases produced by biological processes, or infrared light reflected by radiation-tolerant microbes. However, those methods are limited. Not all microbes are radiation-tolerant, and nonbiological processes can sometimes produce gases typically associated with life. The new technique exploits the tendency of some photons to adopt a corkscrewed rather than up-and-down wavelength after hitting a molecule. Those photons are said to be circularly polarized, and their precise path is dictated by the molecule that sets them spinning. Put a spectrometer calibrated to detect life-specific circular polarized light on a telescope, and you'd have "a powerful remote sensing technique for generic life searches," the researchers wrote Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
That configuration produced the circular polarization wavelengths identified in two species of photosynthesizing bacteria by Reed's team, which was led by STSI colleague Bill Sparks and University of Hertfordshire astrophysicist Bill Thompson. Whether those signatures are also present in more complex organisms has yet to be determined. However, the researchers consider the bacteria, believed to be direct-line descendants of species that evolved three billion years ago, to be a plausible stand-in for early life elsewhere in the universe. It's also possible that the homochirality seen on Earth is not universal. "You can conceive of life where homochirality is not so widespread," said Sandra Pizzarello, an Arizona State University biochemist who was not involved in the study. "It happens that on Earth, amino acids are left-handed, but if you think of the possibilities out there, that's not strictly necessary. But Pizzarello still called the work "ingenious." Any search for extraterrestrial life relies on Earth-based assumptions, and those the researchers made are at least sound, she said. "They say that photosynthesis is plausibly commonplace, and that's
true," Pizzarello said. Adding weight to the assumption of widespread homochirality is
the predominance of left-handedness among amino acids found in
meteorites that struck Earth. The researchers' life-detecting apparatus is presently restricted to a laboratory bench, but could eventually be installed in large telescopes and space-faring satellites, said Reid. The researchers next plan to measure circular polarization in other organisms, and to analyze circular polarized light reflected from Mars. See Also:
Citation: "Detection of circular polarization in light scattered from photosynthetic microbes." By William B. Sparks, James Hough, Thomas A. Germer, Feng Chen, Shiladitya DasSarma, Priya DasSarma, Frank T. Robb, Nadine Manset, Ludmilla Kolokolova, Neill Reid, F. Duccio Macchetto, and William Martin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 106, No. 16, April 20, 2009. Images: 1. The relatively Earth-like Gliese 581c, envisioned by Karen Wehrstein for NASA 2. PNAS Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 20 Apr 2009 | 11:48 pm UK scientists get £8m for research into bee declineScientists will use the funding to investigate the decline in the UK's honeybee population, numbers of which have fallen by 15-30% in the last two years Leading scientists are to receive a substantial cash injection to help them investigate the decline of the British honeybee. Up to £8m will be made available for research into bees by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Wellcome Trust and the Scottish government. The new funding is in addition to the £2m announced earlier this year by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to help bee research. The funding increase marks a significant rise in government spending on bee health, which previously amounted to £1.2m annually in the UK, with the vast majority spent on bee inspectors. Bee numbers in the UK have fallen 15-30% in the last two years, mirroring steep declines and empty hives witnessed in the US, mainland Europe and elsewhere. Honeybees are vital insect pollinators, responsible for the healthy development of many of the world's major food crops. The decline in bee health has been linked to the varroa mite which attacks bee larva, poor weather in recent summers , and agricultural chemicals and air pollution. Last year Germany banned a family of pesticides blamed for the death of millions of honeybees. But the phenomenom is still poorly understood. "We are facing a fundamental problem with the decline of bees and other pollinators. They have an absolutely crucial role in pollinating many of our important crops. Without effective pollination we will face higher food costs and potential shortages. This programme will help us to understand why numbers have decreased and the steps we could take to reverse this," said Douglas Kell, BBSRC's chief executive. "Our sincere hope is that the majority of these funds will be directed towards practical research into the problems and threats that honeybees face in this country," said Tim Lovett, the president of the British Beekeepers' Association. But some scientists expressed concern that much of the money would go go to study pollinators like butterflies and beetles which are only marginally important to crop pollination in Britain. "It's welcome, but it will not necessarily go to bees, which are far and away the most important species," said one bee scientist, who asked to remain anonymous. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 20 Apr 2009 | 11:05 pm Galaxy's centre tastes of raspberries and smells of rumThe hunt for chemicals in deep space that could seed life on other planets has yielded a large, fruity molecule Astronomers searching for the building blocks of life in a giant dust cloud at the heart of the Milky Way have concluded that it tastes vaguely of raspberries. The unanticipated discovery follows years of work by astronomers who trained their 30m radio telescope on the enormous ball of dust and gas in the hope of spotting complex molecules that are vital for life. Finding amino acids in interstellar space is a Holy Grail for astrobiologists, as this would raise the possibility of life emerging on other planets after being seeded with the molecules. In the latest survey, astronomers sifted through thousands of signals from Sagittarius B2, a vast dust cloud at the centre of our galaxy. While they failed to find evidence for amino acids, they did find a substance called ethyl formate, the chemical responsible for the flavour of raspberries. "It does happen to give raspberries their flavour, but there are many other molecules that are needed to make space raspberries," Arnaud Belloche, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, told the Guardian. Curiously, ethyl formate has another distinguishing characteristic: it also smells of rum. The astronomers used the IRAM telescope in Spain to analyse electromagnetic radiation emitted by a hot and dense region of Sagittarius B2 that surrounds a newborn star. Radiation from the star is absorbed by molecules floating around in the gas cloud, which is then re-emitted at different energies depending on the type of molecule. While scouring their data, the team also found evidence for the lethal chemical propyl cyanide in the same cloud. The two molecules are the largest yet discovered in deep space. Dr Belloche and his colleague Robin Garrod at Cornell University in New York have collected nearly 4,000 distinct signals from the cloud but have only analysed around half of these. "So far we have identified around 50 molecules in our survey, and two of those had not been seen before," said Belloche. The results are being presented today at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science at the University of Hertfordshire. Last year, the team came tantalisingly close to finding amino acids in space with the discovery of a molecule that can be used to make them, called amino acetonitrile. The latest discoveries have boosted the researchers' morale because the molecules are as large as the simplest amino acid, glycine. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and are widely seen as being critical for complex life to exist anywhere in the universe. "I wouldn't be surprised if we find an amino acid out there in the coming years," said Belloche. Previously, astronomers have detected a variety of large molecules, including alcohols, acids and chemicals called aldehydes. "The difficulty in searching for complex molecules is that the best astronomical sources contain so many different molecules that their 'fingerprints' overlap and are difficult to disentangle," Belloche said. The molecules are thought to form when chemicals that already exist on some dust grains, such as ethanol, link together to make more complex chains. "There is no apparent limit to the size of molecules that can be formed by this process, so there's good reason to expect even more complex organic molecules to be there," said Garrod. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 20 Apr 2009 | 11:05 pm In praise of ... airshipsAnyone who tries to praise airships (as the Guardian's George Monbiot did last year) has to confront a bundle of historical prejudices - half-remembered black-and-white images of the skeleton of Britain's crashed R101 in France, and the Nazis' Hindenburg bursting into flames as it tried to dock in New Jersey. Since then, with a few small exceptions, airships have been swept from the skies by jet aircraft. It is time for a comeback. They will never match planes for speed. But they are ideally suited to long-distance, low-carbon air transport, especially for cargo - less polluting than planes or ships. Britain could be a leader at producing them, too, if the industry could secure enough backing to develop prototypes from test models now being built. One company, Hybrid Air Vehicles, based in Cardington (which is where the R101 was once built), says it is ready to build an aircraft that could carry 200 tonnes of cargo for 3,200 nautical miles, at four times the speed of a typical modern cargo ship. The firm is searching for the €50m it needs to put a demonstration model in the skies. Airship technology has come a long way since the 1930s: no more combustible hydrogen (although helium has less lift), and, in the proposed SkyCat design, a docking system evolved from a hovercraft that would get rid of the need for mooring winches and cables. Will it work? The way to find out is to build one. This is the sort of high-skilled, green industry Britain needs to develop. The chancellor should lend a hand tomorrow. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 20 Apr 2009 | 11:01 pm 'I feel my brain is not my own'After chemotherapy, patients can experience huge cognitive problems. For many, it's the last straw. Lucy Atkins reports Susan Sontag likened hers to the symptoms of a stroke, while Kylie Minogue complained that it made her forget everything. Welcome to chemobrain or, less catchily, "cancer treatment-related change in cognitive function" - a widespread problem for cancer patients which, until recently, has been largely ignored by clinicians. For many, it's the last straw after months of treatment. You might struggle to find the right word for an object or be unable to follow a fast-paced conversation. Or you might have trouble multitasking. You might even forget your own phone number. More than just irritating, these occurrences can shake your confidence, damage your career, upset your social and family lives and, in extremis, even put you in danger. Joanne Redford, 37, was diagnosed with breast cancer when her second child was 10 months old. Through 18 months of chemotherapy, she stayed positive. But now, one year on, she says, "I feel like my brain is not my own. Socially, her confidence is at rock bottom. "I'm nervous about striking up a conversation with anyone new these days. I think, 'What if I forget what I'm talking about?' " Until now Redford has told nobody about these symptoms - not even her husband. "I just try to cover it up," she says. "People think that because the treatment has finished, you are fine. That you feel lucky to be alive. They don't realise what you are still going through." Not everyone who undergoes cancer treatment experiences chemobrain, although no official figures exist on what proportion of people are affected, and research into the causes is in its infancy. However, one of the most recent studies on the subject, according to Ellen Clegg, Boston-based author of a new and controversial book, Chemobrain: How Cancer Therapies Can Affect Your Mind, suggests that the problem could be the result of chemotherapy temporarily damaging the brain's ability to grow new cells (the progenitor cells). "Some doctors are looking at whether chemotherapy agents influence the blood-brain barrier [whereby chemicals or bacteria in the bloodstream cannot pass into the neural tissue], or actually cross it, causing damage to brain cells," she says. Clegg believes that doctors in America do not tell patients about these theories because they, understandably, do not want to put people off life-saving treatments. Consequently, she says, there is widespread distress and confusion. "Patients wonder what is going on, when their hair grows back and fatigue abates, but a spaced-out feeling lingers." The issue is starting to be taken more seriously in the medical arena, with new studies springing up worldwide. According to Emma Pennery, clinical director at Breast Cancer Care, awareness of the problem is growing among oncologists. Clegg puts this down to patients who are refusing to be fobbed off. "When patients ask to be heard and doctors listen," she says, "it can be transformative." "Some doctors are investigating whether the cancer itself is causing chemobrain effects," says Clegg. "Certain cancers may release metabolic products that could cause these symptoms, or the symptoms could be part of the body's immune response to the cancer." Elsewhere, researchers are investigating whether the symptoms in women could be related to lowered oestrogen levels caused by chemotherapy. "It is very difficult to untangle contributing factors," says Pennery. "There are so many different types of cancer treatment and these can all cause stress, depression and profound fatigue, all of which can affect your memory, concentration and ability to focus." Pennery says that women who call the Breast Cancer Care helpline often complain that doctors dismiss these symptoms, "or put them down to stress, depression, fatigue or the menopause." When they hear that there may be concrete physical causes, and that the condition usually abates a year or two after the chemo finishes, their relief is palpable. Chemobrain ... How to cope with the effects• Discuss symptoms with your clinician or specialist care team – don't try to hide them. • Get help with other supposedly "manageable" chemotherapy side-effects that can have a knock-on effect, such as night sweats, which disturb sleep, which in turn can reduce cognitive function. • Stay organised. Use calendars or planners and write everything down. • Take frequent breaks: divide tasks up, and rest each time you complete a part. • Exercise your brain: do crossword puzzles and number games, take up a new hobby, or learn a new skill. • Exercise your body: moderate exercise can help with stress, fatigue and depression. • Hang on in there: studies show that symptoms lessen a year after chemotherapy and decrease even more two years on. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 20 Apr 2009 | 11:01 pm Robots Getting More Like UsRobots can do amazing things, as this list shows.Source: Livescience.com | 20 Apr 2009 | 10:18 pm Manhattan Depicted Before Human ImpactA new study reveals what the island of Manhattan looked like before it became a concrete jungle.Source: Livescience.com | 20 Apr 2009 | 9:48 pm Orion hides busy star "nursery": astronomersLONDON (Reuters) - The constellation Orion hides a busy stellar nursery, crowded with young stars blasting jets of gas in all directions, astronomers reported on Sunday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 20 Apr 2009 | 9:24 pm Childbirth Painful for Neanderthal Women, TooChildbirth was probably just as painful for Neanderthals as it is for us.Source: Livescience.com | 20 Apr 2009 | 9:05 pm Can High IQ Make You Rich?Smarter people are better at earning and managing money, a new study suggests.Source: Livescience.com | 20 Apr 2009 | 9:01 pm Radio Buffs Tune in to JupiterRadio astronomers can listen to loud pops and crackles emanating from Jupiter.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Apr 2009 | 7:45 pm Twitter Telepathy: Researchers Turn Thoughts Into Tweets
Early on the afternoon of April 1, Adam Wilson posted a message to Twitter. But instead of using his hands to type, the University of Wisconsin biomedical engineer used his brain. "USING EEG TO SEND TWEET," he thought. That message may be a modern equivalent of Alexander Graham Bell's "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you." Brain-computer interfaces are no longer just a gee-whiz technology, but a platform for researchers interested in immediate real-world applications for people who can think, but can't move. "We're more interested in the applications," said Justin Williams, head of the University of Wisconsin's Neural Interfaces lab. "How do we actually make these technologies useful for people with disabilities?" The researchers built upon the BCI2000, a software tool pioneered by Williams and Wadsworth Center neural injury specialist Gerwin Schalk. The software translates thought-induced changes in a scalp's electrical fields to control an on-screen cursor. "A lot of these have been scientific exercises, geared to writing things out but not really doing anything with it," said Williams. "We wanted to say, that's not how a person would want to communicate, especially with the advent of online communications." The work is special because it meets the immediate needs of locked-in people, said Purdue University biomedical engineer Kevin Otto, who was not involved in the project. "It's in tune with what patients want," said Otto. "Social networking and communication is really their first desire. There's been quite a bit of success, and a few demonstrations, helping people to e-mail. But the same reason why people choose Twitter and Facebook over e-mail is the same reason why this is significant." Williams described e-mail as a a relatively difficult and inefficient task for someone on a brain-computer interface. "It's difficult enough to be able to spell words, much less find an address book and select names. The overhead involved in these applications is just too much," he said. "Twitter is very serendipitous. It handles all the things that we've been struggling to make easy for a patient to do. It puts messages where people can find them. Let the world know how you're doing, what you're thinking, and they'll find you. And that's perfect for these patients and their families." Wilson will soon install their program in the homes of 10 people already outfitted with trial versions of the BCI2000. That system is not yet commercially available, but that day could come soon. "It's at the point where it's beyond proof of concept," Wilson said. "We know it works. The next question is how to integrate it into people's homes, so that a caretaker could set it up without need for outside help." Other brain-computer interfaces may someday help people control robotic prostheses, even body-sheathing exoskeletons that return a user's body to functionality. "Those are going to be great applications in the future, but at the same time we need to see what BCIs can do right now," said Williams. Wilson's later brain-to-Twitter messages included "GO BADGERS" and "SPELLING WITH MY BRAIN." See Also:
Video: YouTube/University of Wisconsin Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 20 Apr 2009 | 6:39 pm Biosphere 2 Not Such a Bust
In most people's minds, Biosphere 2 was a fabulously expensive failure, a $200 million earth-in-a-bottle that choked on carbon dioxide and was overrun by ants. But not everybody feels that way. "In our view, Biosphere 2 was a tremendous success," said Bill Dempster, the project's engineering systems director and designer of the sphere's remarkable lungs. "Many people don't realize that hundreds of papers were written about it." Columbia University and the University of Arizona eventually took over the sphere, and its original inhabitants are largely remembered for personality conflicts, controversy and general New Age oddness. But they left some interesting science behind. Extraterrestrial settlement. Before humanity can establish communities on other planets, it will have to figure out how to live there, most likely in self-sustaining artificial habitats. Those discussions, dating back to NASA physicist Gerard O'Neill's deep-space cornucopias in the 1970s, fueled Biosphere 2's conception. Dozens of papers discuss its technical lessons for future settlements. Among them: "The legacy of Biosphere 2 for the study of biospherics and closed ecological systems" and "Living in space: results from Biosphere 2's initial closure, an early testbed for closed ecological systems on Mars."
"They did the best seal ever made of anything," said University of California, Santa Barbara naturalist Daniel Botkin, one of the sphere's original advisors. Biosphere 2 leaked just 10 percent of its oxygen a year. The space shuttle leaks 2 percent a day. (See "Methods for measurement and control of leakage in CELSS and their application and performance in the Biosphere 2 facility" and "Oxygen loss in Biosphere 2.") Atmospherics. "It motivated a lot of research into oxygen dynamics and measurements of the pathways that the carbon cycle was going through," said Mark Nelson, one of the original B2 crew members. "In the global biosphere, despite all the research going into climate change, there is still missing carbon. Is it in the land? The ocean? In Biosphere 2, we could pinpoint exactly where carbon and oxygen resided." (Read more in "Self-organized Criticality in Closed Ecosystems: Carbon Dioxide Fluctuations in Biosphere 2" and "Simulation of community metabolism and atmospheric carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations in Biosphere 2.") Agriculture. According to Nelson, the the agriculture system was arguably the most productive half-acre of land in farming history. Sure, they lost a lot of weight, and ate so little as to produce an early human study of caloric restriction, but they did survive for two years on a half-acre output. And contrary to most extraterrestrial-farming thinking, it used old-fashioned soil. "You need a soil that's rich and uses compost," said Abigail Alling, a Biosphere 2 inhabitant and director of research. "You can't do it on hydroponics alone. (See "Soil in the agricultural area of Biosphere 2" and "Crop yield and light/energy efficiency in a closed ecological system: two laboratory biosphere experiments.") Bioremediation. The inhabitants' wastewater was treated in Biosphere 2's swamp biome, anticipating the contemporary trend of using artificial or resurrected wetlands to handle urban waste. (Read "Bioregenerative recycling of wastewater in Biosphere 2 using a constructed wetland: 2-year results" and "Wetland systems for bioregenerative reclamation of wastewater: from closed systems to developing countries.") Finally there's the cultural legacy, a general awareness of Earth itself as a largely-closed system that can be easily and unpredictably perturbed. It's a useful lesson in a geological age referred to by scientists as the anthropocene. "Up until Biosphere 2, there had never been any biosphere in the known universe, except for Earth," said Dempster. After the project's completion, "all of a sudden everybody was very conversant with the idea of a biosphere, and now it's a common word." "The humans became a very important part of Biosphere 2," said Alling. "It's a very hopeful message. Even though the dynamics were a challenge, we loved our biosphere. If it was well, we were well." For a comprehensive list of Biosphere 2 papers, see bibliographies at the Institute of Techtonics and Biospherics. See Also:
Images: University of Arizona Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 20 Apr 2009 | 6:35 pm Stephen Hawking Hospitalized, Reported Very IllFamed mathematician Stephen Hawking has been rushed to the hospital.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Apr 2009 | 6:35 pm Scary Scenario: Devastating Earthquake VisualizedImagine what a mag. 7.8 quake would look like if you could see Earth's vibrations from high above southern California. A TeraGrid supercomputer shakes out a scintillating simulation.Source: Livescience.com | 20 Apr 2009 | 6:27 pm Hurricanes Shoot Water Ice into the StratosphereHurricanes and other tropical cyclones inject ice far into the stratosphere.Source: Livescience.com | 20 Apr 2009 | 5:48 pm e-Merlin network sees 'first light'Astronomers at the site in Cheshire have processed signals from two of the telescopes in the brand new seven-telescope network A powerful new radio telescope network that will allow astronomers to carry out three years' worth of observations in a single day received its first signals from space today. Engineers and astronomers at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire saw "first light" with e-Merlin, successfully processing signals from two of the telescopes in the seven-telescope network. e-Merlin is designed to make detailed radio images of stars and galaxies using telescopes spread up to 217km apart across the UK. The radio signals collected by the telescopes are brought back to Jodrell Bank using 600km of high-speed optical fibre cables that will carry as much data as the rest of the UK internet combined. This is just the latest chapter in Jodrell Bank's distinguished scientific and cultural story. In 1957, its first year of operation, the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank tracked the ballistic missile that had blasted the Soviet Sputnik 1 satellite into space. Lovell went on to play a major role in the discovery and identification of quasars and was instrumental in demonstrating gravitational lensing. It has also played a starring role on the small screen. In a 1981 episode of Doctor Who, the Doctor's fourth incarnation, played by Tom Baker, fell to his death from a walkway at the Lovell telescope. He regenerated into Peter Davison. And in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Jodrell Bank scientists missed the alien invasion because they were having a cup of tea. The observatory even featured in a song and a video when its very existence seemed to come under threat due to funding cuts last year. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 20 Apr 2009 | 5:17 pm Moon-Mapping Spacecraft Preps for MissionNASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is getting finishing touches in Florida.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Apr 2009 | 5:15 pm Bottling moonshine... do lunar cycles affect the taste of wine?Supermarkets are arranging wine tasting sessions around "good" and "bad" days as dictated by the lunar calendar. So does the moon really change the taste of wine?Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 20 Apr 2009 | 4:54 pm Some Children Really Are Addicted to Video GamesAbout 8.5 percent of youth age 8 to 18 who play video games do so pathologically.Source: Livescience.com | 20 Apr 2009 | 4:36 pm Stephen Hawking 'Very Ill'The mathematician Stephen Hawking was rushed to a hospital.Source: Livescience.com | 20 Apr 2009 | 4:15 pm Coolest Brown Dwarf SpottedThe coolest star-like object ever found outside the solar system has been spotted.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Apr 2009 | 4:15 pm China's Great Wall Far Longer Than ThoughtA new survey reveals China's Great Wall is more than 2,000 miles longer than thought.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Apr 2009 | 3:15 pm Nobel Prize Scientist, Age 100, Still at ItNobel Prize winner Rita Levi Montalcini is turning 100 and says her mind is still sharp.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Apr 2009 | 2:43 pm Great Wall of China longer than believed as 180 missing miles foundUsing infrared range finders and GPS devices, official mapping project discovers sections concealed by hills, trenches and rivers The Great Wall of China is even greater than once thought, after a two-year government mapping study uncovered new sections totalling about 180 miles, according to a report posted on the website of the country's national mapping agency. Using infrared range finders and GPS devices, experts discovered portions of the wall concealed by hills, trenches and rivers that stretch from Hu Shan mountain in northern Liaoning province to Jiayu Pass in western Gansu province, the official China Daily reported on Monday. The newly mapped parts of the wall were built during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) to protect China against northern invaders and were submerged over time by sandstorms that moved across the arid region, the study said. The additional parts mean the Great Wall – construction of which began more than 2,000 years ago to prevent incursions into China by the Mongols and others – spans about 3,900 miles through the northern part of the country. The latest mapping project, a joint venture by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, will continue for another year in order to map sections of the wall built during the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC-9 AD), the China Daily reported. Recent studies by Chinese archaeologists have shown that sandstorms are reducing sections of the wall in Gansu to "mounds of dirt" and that they may disappear entirely in 20 years. These studies mainly blame the erosion on destructive farming methods used in the 1950s that turned large areas of northern China into desert. In addition, portions of the wall in Gansu were made of packed earth, which is less resilient than the brick and stone used elsewhere in much of the wall's construction. China in recent years has begun restoring parts of the wall as well as trying to curb commercial development on or next to the ancient structure. The wall's modern sections around the Chinese capital date from the Ming dynasty, including those restored since the Chinese Communist party took power in 1949, and several areas – including the most popular, Badaling, just north of Beijing – draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Tourist encroachment also has been a problem in recent years, with state media saying that near Badaling almost every brick on a popular section of the wall has been carved with people's names or other graffiti. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 20 Apr 2009 | 2:29 pm 'Crowd Sourcing' Taps the Masses for IdeasA company called InnoCentive issues problems to as many potential solvers as possible.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Apr 2009 | 1:43 pm World's Land Slipping in QualityNearly a quarter of land around the world is degrading, finds new research.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 20 Apr 2009 | 1:33 pm Archaeologists hunt for Cleopatra's tombALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) - High on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, buried deep under the crumbling limestone of a temple to the goddess Isis, archaeologists believe the body of Queen Cleopatra may lie.Source: Reuters: Science News | 20 Apr 2009 | 1:23 pm Science Weekly: Amazing plastic brainsThis week, a brain special, sort of. Norman Doidge, a psychiatrist at the University of Toronto, tells us it's never too late to re-mould our brains. He explains the organ's amazing ability to relearn and adapt – even after major traumas like a stroke. He also reveals the key to monogamy (variety, apparently) and why people become addicted to internet porn. We hear Jemima Kiss interview Baroness Susan Greenfield, who clarifies her widely reported remarks about the effects of social networking and gaming on the brain. It's not as simple as saying Facebook rots your brain – though she advises that more research is needed. The full interview will be in tomorrow's Tech Weekly podcast. We also speak to David Jentsch of the Brain Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, about his stand against increasingly violent animal rights campaigners. Jentsch describes his own encounter with extremism when activists set fire to his car last month. All that plus some non-brain stuff in the Newsjam: GM crops, building living machines from the parts of organisms and Nasa's decision to ignore a popular vote to name a new module on the International Space Station after a comedian. Don't forget to ... • Comment below ... Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 20 Apr 2009 | 12:40 pm Who should be MI5's Q?The Security Service is looking for a chief science adviser to keep its spooks up-to-date and equipped with the latest scientific and technological inventions The deadline for applications is fast approaching for what could be the most exciting science job in Britain, but there's still time to mull over who we'd like to see take up the new job at Thames House. I was looking over the application forms at the weekend and there are a few interesting details in there. The person may well already be a scientific adviser elsewhere, is likely to be a Fellow of the Royal Society or a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and is expected to come up with a progressive scientific strategy for the Service. As for a candidate's individual expertise, the service is looking for competence in at least one of the following: physics, chemistry, acoustics, optics, materials science, rf technologies, communications, telephony and data mining. There's a nice blue form you have to fill in for security vetting, and you won't necessarily be sent packing if you've picked up some speeding tickets or smoked the odd joint at college. Oh, and they'll only need you a few days a week. So who might be in the running? Here's a list of people who immediately come to mind, but I'm sure you can think of plenty of others. In no particular order: Stephen Fry Professor John "Perfect Storm" Beddington Professor Mark Welland Alan Pratt Dr Ian Lawston Lee Evans Did I miss anyone? guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 20 Apr 2009 | 12:29 pm Bone drugs may protect against radiation exposureCHICAGO (Reuters) - Drugs commonly used to strengthen bones to prevent osteoporosis may protect people exposed to radiation against developing leukemia, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 20 Apr 2009 | 11:56 am
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