Tough yet stiff deer antler is materials scientist's dream

It is almost impossible to make materials that are tough yet stiff: stiff materials tend to break easily and cannot absorb impacts. But not so dry deer antlers. Surviving impacts that are six times greater than crashes that shatter wet femur, deer antler is stiff enough to endure the dueling animals' pushing contests and could teach us how to make stiff, yet tough, materials.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

Peat fires drive temperatures up: Burning rainforests release huge amounts of greenhouse gases

The forested peatlands of the tropics store vast amounts of carbon. Forest fires convert this into the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Scientists have now quantified these emissions and shown that peatland fires contribute significantly to global warming.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

'Cosmic fruit machine' matches galactic collisions

A new website will give everyone the chance to contribute to science by playing a 'cosmic fruit machine' and compare images of colliding galaxies with millions of simulated images of galactic pile-ups.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

New therapy may be effective against bacterial infections and sepsis

A new study found that certain immune cells primarily associated with asthma and allergies may enhance innate immunity and improve clearance of bacterial infections and may be an effective new therapy against bacterial infections and sepsis in humans.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

New findings suggest strategy to help generate HIV-neutralizing antibodies

New discoveries about anti-HIV antibodies may bring researchers a step closer to creating an effective HIV vaccine, according to a new paper.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

Client-directed therapy technique drastically reduces rates of divorce or separation

Using four simple questions to generate client-directed feedback can greatly increase the chances that struggling couples will stay together, according to a recently published study. Couples that had systematic client feedback incorporated into their sessions were 46.2 percent less likely to wind up divorced or separated.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

How HIV is assembled and released from infected cells

The HIV/AIDS virus continues to ravage populations worldwide. Using a novel combination of optical techniques, researchers visualize how virus particles assemble and are released from infected cells to find new victims -- knowledge which could lead to new technologies for inhibiting this process.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

Rare woodland plant uses 'cryptic coloration' to hide from predators

It is well known that some animal species use camouflage to hide from predators. Individuals that are able to blend in to their surroundings and avoid being eaten are able to survive longer, reproduce, and thus increase their fitness (pass along their genes to the next generation) compared to those who stand out more. This may seem like a good strategy, and fairly common in the animal kingdom, but who ever heard of a plant doing the same thing?
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

Clue to mystery of how biological clock operates on 24-hour cycle

How does our biological system know that it is supposed to operate on a 24-hour cycle? Scientists have discovered that a tiny molecule holds the clue to the mystery.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

Solar power from your windows, awnings, even clothing?

New research could one day lead to photovoltaic materials thin enough, flexible enough and inexpensive enough to go not only on rooftops but in windows, outdoor awnings and even clothing.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

The nation's weather (AP)

AP - Areas from the West Coast to the Midwest were bracing for snow Sunday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Nov 2009 | 3:35 am

Muck into brass

A guide to making your fortune, from BBC Ethical Man
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 29 Nov 2009 | 2:38 am

Indian nuclear plant leak probed

Indian officials investigate the leak of a radioactive substance into drinking water at an atomic power plant.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 29 Nov 2009 | 1:18 am

Leaders say momentum building on climate change (AP)

AP - Leaders of the Commonwealth countries called Saturday for a legally binding international agreement on climate change and a global fund with billions of dollars to help poor countries meet its mandates.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Nov 2009 | 11:41 pm

Venezuela turns to cloud-seeding to battle drought (AP)

AP - Hugo Chavez says he is starting to "bombard" clouds now that Cuba has provided Venezuela with cloud-seeding help in an effort to produce rain and alleviate the effects of a severe drought.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Nov 2009 | 10:40 pm

Queen leaves Commonwealth summit (AFP)

AFP - Queen Elizabeth left Trinidad for Britain late Saturday after completing her ceremonial functions as the head of the Commonwealth, which was holding a weekend summit focused on climate change.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Nov 2009 | 7:02 pm

America's Growing Sewage Problem

It's an open secret now that the Clean Water Act of 1972, a paragon of anti-water pollution legislation, is failing our country. Recent investigations into our water supply have found trace amounts of pharmaceuticals, estrogen-mimicking chemicals like bisphenol A, and ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Nov 2009 | 6:37 pm

Climate battle bill to top $300 billion: Guyana (AFP)

AFP - The true cost of fighting climate change will top 300 billion dollars and developed countries may balk at footing the bill, Guyana's Prime Minister Bharrat Jagdeo said Saturday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Nov 2009 | 5:52 pm

Commonwealth backs climate fund

Commonwealth leaders pledge backing for a multi-billion-dollar fund to help developing nations cope with climate change
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 28 Nov 2009 | 5:36 pm

Climate change: Gulf stream collapse could be like a disaster movie

Scientists predict an ice age could be provoked in a matter of months

The next Ice Age could take only weeks to engulf Britain. Scientists say the last great disruption to the Gulf Stream 12,800 years ago took only a couple of months to trigger a massive plunge in temperatures across Europe.

"It was as if Europe had been shifted 20 degrees north and Ireland moved to Svalbard," said Bill Patterson of Saskatchewan University.

In the Hollywood blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, an Ice Age was set off in a single day when the Gulf Stream was disrupted. "That is silly," said Patterson. "It couldn't happen that quickly. However, previous estimates that it would take decades to switch off the Gulf Stream are not backed by our work. It could happen in a couple of months."

The Gulf Stream carries tropical heat from the Caribbean to northern Europe but is already being disrupted by meltwater pouring from the Arctic as global warming intensifies. One day it may switch off completely, say scientists.

Such an event occurred 12,800 years ago when a vast lake – created from melting glaciers at the end of last Ice Age – overflowed and poured into the north Atlantic, blocking the Gulf Stream. Europe froze – almost instantly, said Patterson.

His team analysed mud samples from Lough Monreagh in Ireland and discovered layers of white sediment made up of calcite crystals from algae. "Then abruptly the sediment turned black. This stuff contained no biological material." In other words, all life in the lake had been extinguished in less than three months. "It was very sudden," added Patterson, "and it could happen again."

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 28 Nov 2009 | 5:07 pm

Video: Exhibition about human identity at London's Wellcome Collection

Identity: Eight Rooms, Nine Lives is a new installation at London's Wellcome Collection

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 28 Nov 2009 | 5:01 pm

Smartphones Could Form Chemical Detection Networks (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Smartphones already stream YouTube videos and surf Facebook, but they might also double as chemical sensors that can transmit alerts to first responders about the release of dangerous chemicals.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Nov 2009 | 3:46 pm

Old Rocket Junk Poses No Threat to Space Station (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - The International Space Station won't have to fire its thrusters Saturday to avoid a close call with part of a spent rocket that launched a comet probe 10 years ago, NASA officials said.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pm

A Way to Heal the World's Oceans

You know that expression people utter when a friend has been dumped, or is the victim of unrequited love? "There are plenty of fish in the sea"...? Well, there aren't. At least, not literally. The oceans are being drained of ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 28 Nov 2009 | 12:56 pm

Rat pack: Scientists warming up to African rodent (AP)

AP - Naked mole rats don't get cancer. They shrug off brushes with acid and age so well, some are older than the college-aged researchers handling them.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Nov 2009 | 12:05 pm

Chimps Enjoy a Good Tune, Too

An experiment finds that chimps may have a sense of musical rhythm.
Source: Livescience.com | 28 Nov 2009 | 7:21 am

Is Cataract Surgery Scary?

Cataract removal is one of the safest and most effective types of surgery. It’s also one of the most common operations performed in the United States.
Source: Livescience.com | 28 Nov 2009 | 7:15 am

Video Scenes Pulled from Peoples’ Thoughts

A researcher develops software that can translate your thoughts onto a video screen.
Source: Livescience.com | 28 Nov 2009 | 7:14 am

Australia welcomes giant pandas with city party (AP)

AP - Two giant pandas from China were welcomed to Australia on Saturday with gifts of bamboo and a city party before settling into their new home, a 25-acre (10-hectare) natural enclosure at the Adelaide Zoo.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Nov 2009 | 6:16 am

Saudi floods death toll rises to 98 (Reuters)

Reuters - The death toll from the heaviest rainfall to hit Saudi Arabia in years rose to 98 on Saturday as more bodies were recovered, with dozens more expected to be found, a rescue services spokesman said.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Nov 2009 | 5:22 am

The cautionary tale of The Whale | SE Smith

The killing of a blue whale by a research vessel off the Californian coast raises larger questions about marine protection

Fort Bragg, with a population of 7,000, is a ragged former timber town on the northern reaches of the California coast. It is in some ways the epitome of idealised small town America: the kind of town where any small happening is news, where the story of any event acquires a mythology almost before it happens.

When a blue whale was struck and killed offshore by the research vessel Pacific Star and drifted into an isolated cove just south of the city limits, she quickly acquired her own story and a name, The Whale, or The Smell, as my father started calling her when the stench of decay drifted into his nearby living room. He invited me over to smell for myself, but I politely declined the 10-minute drive.

News outlets were quick to pick up the story. Initial reports that she would be left to break down naturally were replaced by news that a team of volunteers, supervised by a Humboldt State University biologist, would section the body so that it could be winched up the cliffs. Local companies donated heavy equipment for the task, a composting facility offered to compost the blubber and enterprising local youths sold tickets to would-be spectators who came to gawk and left disappointed when they learned that the cove was in an inaccessible gated community.

Much to the relief of wealthy weekenders who quailed at the thought of having their ocean views replaced with a panorama of decaying whale, the removal effort went quickly. The blue whale is an endangered species, necessitating strict rules about the handling of remains, and the process was meticulously documented.

This narrative is captivating, but it is only one aspect of the story. Almost immediately, accusations of negligence on the part of the Pacific Star's crew emerged, with rampant speculation about the circumstances in which The Whale was struck. All evidence suggests that they did nothing wrong. In fact, the only reason we can confirm the cause of death is because the crew reported the incident, but it brings up a larger discussion about oceanographic research.

Fort Bragg is on a known whale migration route, and it's whale season. Some people questioned whether the Pacific Star should have been out at all, given the risk of whale strikes, and others wondered about the protocol observed by research vessels in waters frequented by whales. Ironically, the boat was on a surveying mission to update National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maps, which will be used to designate new marine protection areas.

This later proved to be another point of contention, with some whale advocates claiming that the echo sounding equipment used by the research vessel might have caused acoustic trauma that could have disorientated the animal. Fisheries advocates also protested at government interference in Fort Bragg's offshore waters, once one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world, now heavily overfished. A cynic might say that the government should have stepped in before we fished to the brink of collapse.

This is the second ship strike and death to occur this year in California's waters, although we're still short of the record four deaths in 2007. Estimates on the number of blue whales left alive vary, but the numbers are low enough that any ship strike is a tragedy. These incidents have raised questions about the need to balance science with the creatures it is trying to save, and have illustrated the growing struggle over the right to use California's offshore waters: who has precedence? The whales, or the growing commercial, scientific, and recreational ship traffic?

Meanwhile, the whale's remains are buried in an undisclosed location in the forest, to let microbes do the work of cleaning the bones. Eventually, they will be mounted for display in a marine education facility which currently exists only in the imagination, much like the glory days of Fort Bragg's now moribund fishing and timber industries.

The smell still lingers.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 28 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

Swine flu vaccine is vital | Robert Read

The anti-immunisation movement has been peddling fear since the 1800s, but we must ignore its misinformation on H1N1

Many people are facing the question of whether to vaccinate themselves and their children against pandemic influenza H1N1 (so-called swine flu) – a vaccine that will provide safe and effective protection against a debilitating and potentially fatal illness. But the question comes at a time when some experts are concerned that a vociferous anti-vaccine lobby will undermine the mass vaccination campaigns being rolled out across Europe, putting the public and individuals' health at risk.

Vaccination – priming the body's immune system to resist attack – is the best defence an individual can have against infectious diseases. It can provide effective protection from infection, and means not having to face the uncertainty of whether treatment with anti-microbial drugs will be successful. Besides protecting us individually, vaccination also has a vital public health role because once the number of people immunised against an infection reaches a critical mass, that infection can no longer spread in the community.

Alongside improvements in sanitation, nutrition, and housing, vaccination has practically eliminated infectious diseases as a cause of childhood deaths in industrialised countries. Our children no longer die or are crippled by diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, or polio, to name a few examples. Even in the world's poorer countries that have yet to benefit from infrastructure improvements, vaccination has eradicated smallpox, is on the verge of doing the same for polio, and has cut deaths from measles by three quarters in the past decade alone. The countless millions of lives saved by vaccination are arguably science's greatest triumph.

The anti-vaccination movement took off in the 19th century as immunisation against smallpox was encouraged and, for example in the UK was then made compulsory by parliament in the 1840s and 1850s. As a 2002 article in the BMJ showed, arguments against the use of vaccines have barely changed in 150 years – opponents cite that they cause illness, they are ineffective, vaccination campaigns are an alliance for profit between government and industry, they are a poisonous chemical cocktail, immunity after vaccination is temporary, and a healthy lifestyle is an effective alternative. Yet in the past century and a half, anti-vaccines campaigners have produced no credible scientific evidence to support their arguments.

Concerns about the Pandemrix vaccine against H1N1, which is being widely distributed across Europe and in the UK, relate to whether it might itself cause flu, whether is has been adequately tested, and the safety of its component parts. The viral components in Pandemrix, which are necessary to stimulate immunity, are dead and cannot therefore cause an infection. The vaccine has been subjected to the same rigorous testing for safety and immunogenicity as seasonal flu vaccines, which have over the past 30 years had an unimpeachable safety record.

Clinical trials of Pandemrix among thousands of volunteers, including children as young as six months and the elderly, showed the vaccine produced a protective immune response in almost all those who received it, and raised no concerns about safety. The vaccine contains an adjuvant (designed to stimulate the immune response) based upon squalene; adjuvants of this type have been used in seasonal flu vaccines in Europe for more than 10 years without safety concerns. It also contains a preservative, thiomersal, which has had a controversial history, but whose safety is now backed by a mass of scientific data.

Although a milder illness than once feared, pandemic influenza is not a negligible disease. There have been an estimated 715,000 cases of H1N1 in the UK and 245 deaths. Children under five are particularly at risk of infection and serious illness, which is the reason why the vaccine is now being made available to this age group. About 80% of under-fives hospitalised for pandemic flu in the UK have no underlying health issues.

Reports from Wales of transmission from person to person of H1N1 virus resistant to the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) also raise concerns that treatment of pandemic flu may become difficult, and further emphasise the point that prevention is better than cure. Given that an effective vaccine without any known adverse event profile is available to prevent a disease with known potential for serious or even fatal illness, the decision to vaccinate seems an easy one to make.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 28 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am