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Nasa's Fermi telescope peers deep into a 'micro-quasar'NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has made the first unambiguous detection of high-energy gamma-rays from an enigmatic binary system known as Cygnus X-3. The system pairs a hot, massive star with a compact object -- either a neutron star or a black hole -- that blasts twin radio-emitting jets of matter into space at more than half the speed of light.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Scientists create mouse with key features of HIV infection without being infected with HIVA major obstacle to HIV research is the virus's exquisite specialization for its human host -- meaning that scientists' traditional tools, like the humble lab mouse, can deliver only limited information. Now, a team of researchers has made an ingenious assault on this problem by creating a mouse that has key features of HIV infection without being infected with HIV.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am There are lasers, and then there are compact, multibeam, multi-wavelength lasersScientists have demonstrated compact, multibeam, and multi-wavelength lasers emitting in the invisible part of the light spectrum (infrared). By contrast, typical lasers emit a single light beam of a well-defined wavelength. The innovative multibeam lasers have potential use in applications related to remote chemical sensing pollution monitoring, optical wireless, and interferometry.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Patients say 'no thanks' to risky medical treatmentsA recent study suggests that increasing patient responsibility for making medical decisions may decrease their willingness to accept risky treatment options.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Brain scan study shows cocaine abusers can control cravingsA new brain-imaging study shows that active cocaine abusers can suppress drug craving, suggesting new ways to help them quit and avoid relapse.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Surgeons offering new procedure for acid reflux, GERDSurgeons are now offering patients an incisionless alternative to laparoscopic and traditional surgery for treatment of acid reflux or GERD.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am Hydrogen-powered fuel cell unmanned air vehicle sets 26-hour flight endurance recordThe Naval Research Laboratory's Ion Tiger, a hydrogen-powered fuel cell unmanned air vehicle, has flown 26 hours and 1 minute carrying a 5-pound payload, setting another unofficial flight endurance record for a fuel-cell powered flight.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 6:00 am Probiotic found to be effective treatment for colitis in miceThe probiotic, Bacillus polyfermenticus, can help mice recover from colitis. Mice treated with B.P. during the non-inflammatory period of the disease had reduced rectal bleeding, their tissues were less inflamed and they gained more weight than mice that did not receive the treatment.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 6:00 am Bacteria 'invest' wisely to survive uncertain times, scientists reportLike savvy Wall Street money managers, bacteria hedge their bets to increase their chances of survival in uncertain times, strategically investing their biological resources to weather unpredictable environments. In a new study, researchers describe how bacteria play the market so well.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 6:00 am Stroke and heart disease trigger revealedScientists have identified the trigger that leads to the arteries becoming damaged in the disease atherosclerosis, which causes heart attacks and strokes. The authors of the study say their findings suggest that the condition could potentially be treated by blocking the molecule that triggers the damage. The research also suggests that bacteria may be playing a part in the disease.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 6:00 am Space station crew return to EarthKOROLYOV, Russia (Reuters) - A Russian Soyuz space capsule carrying three astronauts from the International Space Station landed safely in Kazakhstan on Tuesday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 3:32 am French scientists create skin fast from stem cellsPARIS (Reuters) - French scientists have found a way to create human skin rapidly from stem cells, a discovery that could save the lives of many burns victims who are vulnerable to infection and now wait weeks for a skin graft.Source: Reuters: Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 3:15 am The nation's weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 3:05 am International Space Station crew lands safely (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 2:46 am Australian opposition switches on climateAustralia's opposition elects climate change sceptic Tony Abbott as leader, dealing a blow to plans for a carbon trading law.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 1 Dec 2009 | 2:34 am Bordeaux banks on biodiversity (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 2:29 am Antarctica may heat up dramatically as ozone hole repairs, warn scientistsAs blanket of ozone over southern pole seals up, temperatures on continent could soar by 3C, increasing sea level rise by 1.4m The hole in the Earth's ozone layer has shielded Antarctica from the worst effects of global warming until now, according to the most comprehensive review to date of the state of the Antarctic climate. But scientists warned that as the hole closes up in the next few decades, temperatures on the continent could rise by around 3C on average, with melting ice contributing to a global sea-level increases of up to 1.4m. The western Antarctic peninsula has seen rapid ice loss as the world has warmed, but other parts of the continent have paradoxically been cooling, with a 10% increase in ice in the seas around the region in recent decades. Many climate change sceptics have used the Antarctic cooling as evidence against global warming. But John Turner of the British Antarctic Survey said scientists are now "very confident" that the anomaly had caused by the ozone hole above Antarctica. "We knew that, when we took away this blanket of ozone, we would have more ultra-violet radiation. But we didn't realise the extent to which it would change the atmospheric circulation of the Antarctic." These changes in weather have increased winds in the Southern Ocean region and meant that a large part of the continent has remained relatively cool compared with the western peninsula. But because the the CFC gasses that caused the ozone hole now been banned, scientists expect the damage to repair itself within the next 50-60 years. By then the cooling effect will have faded out and Turner said the Antarctic would face the full effects of global warming. This means an increase in average air temperatures of around 3C and a reduction in sea ice by around a third. The biggest threat to the continent comes from warming seas. Robert Binschadler, a glaciologist at Nasa who monitors Antarctic ice sheets, said: "The heat in the ocean is getting underneath the floating ice shelves, these floating fringes of the ice sheet that are hundreds of metres thick. That warm water is melting the underside of the ice shelf, reducing the buttressing effect." Thinning of the ice shelf at the fringes leads to glaciers moving more quickly. The retreat of ice from Antarctica has contributed around 10% to global sea-level rise in recent decades. "The danger is that this warmer water will get under these ice shelves and cause the ice streams to get faster and feed ice out into the ocean," said Turner. Published by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), a coalition of international experts that coordinates international research in the region, the report has been published to give negotiators in Copenhagen the most up-to-date science available. "Everything is connected — Antarctica may be a long way away but it is an important part of the Earth's system," said Colin Summerhayes, executive director of SCAR. "It contains 90% of the world's ice, 70% of the world's fresh water and that is enough, if it melts, to raise sea levels by 63m." SCAR's review also corroborated recent work by Stefan Rahmstorf, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impacts Research in Germany, that average sea-level rise will be closer to 1.4m by the end of the century. This is higher than the rise predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007, said Turner, because the IPCC's forecasts did not include the impact of melting ice sheets on sea level rises. Many of the climate models used by the IPCC have also not taken the ozone hole into account in their simulations. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 1 Dec 2009 | 2:06 am India rejects Danish climate proposal (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 1:27 am Space Station Crew Lands In Kazakhstan (SPACE.com)SPACE.com - A Canadian, a Russian and a Belgian astronaut left the International Space Station and landed on the icy steppes of Kazakhstan Tuesday aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 1 Dec 2009 | 1:03 am In pictures: Satellite eye on Earth: November 20091 Dec 2009: Algae blooms, calving glaciers and sunglint over the Amazon basin were among the images captured by Nasa satellites during November Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 1 Dec 2009 | 12:00 am Internet Fraud Finances TerrorismTerrorist groups and organized crime syndicates are resorting to cybercrime to finance their activities.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 30 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pm Shark Fins Traced to Endangered PopulationsFins from endangered sharks living in waters off of U.S. coastlines are ending up in markets in China.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 30 Nov 2009 | 10:05 pm Winds drive icebergs away from New Zealand (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Nov 2009 | 8:04 pm I, For One, Welcome Our New Space Butterfly OverlordsA painted lady butterfly emerges (National Space Biomedical Research Institute) For the first time in history, two butterflies have survived the chrysalis stage of development and spread their wings as fully grown Painted Lady butterflies in microgravity. Although many species ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 30 Nov 2009 | 7:13 pm Skunk users face greater psychosis riskSkunk, the powerful form of cannabis dominating the street drug market, is seven times more likely to cause psychosis than ordinary cannabis, scientists say. Dr Marta Di Forti and Prof Robin Murray, who are among the authors of today's paper published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, say skunk is now the same price as ordinary cannabis on the streets of south London, where the study was carried out, and is now the one that is easiest for young people to obtain. The researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry in London analysed the cannabis consumption of 280 people who were admitted with a first episode of psychosis to the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and compared them with 174 healthy people from the area. Those who used skunk were almost seven times more likely than ordinary cannabis users to develop psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, they found. "In the last five to six years it has been established that there is a link between heavy cannabis consumption and psychosis, but there is a lot of argument about how important it is," said Murray. Most cannabis users remain healthy, he said, but he pointed to the growing takeover in the street markets of skunk, which contain 18% THC, the substance thought to trigger psychosis, compared with about 4% in cannabis resin (hash). Forti said 80% of the cannabis sold on the streets of south-east London was now skunk. People who use skunk do not necessarily appreciate its toxicity, she said. Those in the study had an average age of 25. Those who had psychotic attacks heard voices and had paranoid illusions, such as a conviction that neighbours or family were conspiring against them. About 1% of the population suffer psychosis at some time in their life. Studies have shown the risk of psychosis doubles in those who use cannabis a few times. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 30 Nov 2009 | 6:33 pm School Bullies Bully at Home, Too (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - Children who bully at school are likely to also bully their siblings at home, a new European study finds.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Nov 2009 | 6:11 pm Naked Mole Rats Survive Extreme Oxygen DeprivationThese blind and nearly hairless creatures have adapted to survive in low-oxygen environments.Source: Livescience.com | 30 Nov 2009 | 6:03 pm Antarctic to feed major sea riseMelting Antarctic ice is likely to contribute to a sea level rise of about 1.4m by 2100, says a major review of climate change on the continent.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Nov 2009 | 5:40 pm Count the Power HogsPower engineers estimate that electronic devices make up 15-percent of household electric demand.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 30 Nov 2009 | 5:29 pm More protection for Scotland's eaglesSix new golden eagle protection areas in the north and west of Scotland are due to be announced by the Scottish government.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Nov 2009 | 5:17 pm Why I'd happily eat lab-grown meatLaboratory-grown meat is getting closer to reality – and we needn't be repulsed, says Leo Hickman What's the most disgusting thing you've ever put in your mouth? Never mind the kangaroo testicles and witchetty grubs pushed before jungle-strewn celebrities: earlier this year I met a man who has tasted a substance that seems to trigger the gag reflex in most people. Willem van Eelen is an 86-year-old Dutchman who survived five years of near-starvation as a PoW in Japan to become the self-proclaimed "Godfather of In Vitro Meat". He now holds the patent to a food technology that repulses and excites people in equal measure. In his Amsterdam apartment he admitted to me, with a mischievous smile, that he once placed a small quantity of in vitro meat – muscle cells grown artificially, rather than in a living animal – in his mouth: "I once put a few cells on the tip of my tongue. I couldn't resist it. It tasted a little like chicken." In vitro meat – also known as cultured or fake meat – is becoming a holy grail for anyone concerned about the environmental and ethical impacts of rearing millions of animals around the world each year for human consumption. Where today we use animals to turn grass into edible protein, in the future we might bypass this inefficient process and grow edible protein in an algae solution in factories instead. The animal rights group Peta has gone as far as offering a $1m prize to the first scientists to bring the meat to market. In what is an encouraging breakthrough, a team of Dutch scientists, with Van Eelen as their figurehead, say they have now grown in vitro meat successfully for the first time in the laboratory. When I visited Mark Post, one of the team's lead scientists, at his lab at the University of Technology in Eindhoven earlier this year, he showed me the plastic dishes in which the meat cells, originally taken from a pig foetus, were being grown. Inside was a pink liquid he described as having the texture of "an undercooked egg". It had yet to be "exercised" via electrical stimulation into a muscle-type texture. Not exactly a pork chop with herb butter, but I said I was willing to taste the future. Alas, he declined. Wait a few years, he said, and he should have got to the stage where long strips of it can be grown and rolled up into frankfurter-like sausages. It will probably be 30 years before we see in vitro pork chops, or anything more sophisticated than the processed meat found in cheap burgers and sausages. On paper, the science sounds compelling, but it will take a superhuman effort on the part of the world's advertising agencies to convince us to swallow it. After living through various food scares – many involving meat – you can understand the hesitancy. The scientists admit all this, saying they've even thought of alternative names for it. ("Krea", the Greek word for meat, was one of their favourite suggestions.) But I for one don't see a problem with placing a forkful of the stuff in my mouth. OK, it's never going to be a gourmet experience, but as a substitute for real meat – one that could boast environmental and animal-welfare positives – it seems too good to leave off the menu. Bon appetit. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 30 Nov 2009 | 5:05 pm Down with ScroogenomicsEconomist Joel Waldfogel says Christmas present-giving is an "orgy of wealth destruction". So does no good at all come of it? Twenty-four shopping days to go. Over the next few frantic weeks, the British will walk for miles, queue for hours and spend around £360 each on Christmas presents. And for most of you, the economist Joel Waldfogel has two words of advice: don't bother. He describes Yuletide present-giving as "an orgy of wealth destruction". The logic is simple: if I buy you a £50 cardigan, which you hate, that's £50 down the drain. Economists call that a "deadweight loss", and there's a lot of it at this time of year. Surveys done by the Wharton business school professor over nearly two decades suggest the treats others give us provide 20% less satisfaction than whatever we would have bought ourselves for the same amount. Presents from far-flung grandparents are more wasteful; but close chums can also come a cropper, as Waldfogel attests: "I was convinced my friend would love a box set of Radiohead CDs. I've never heard him play one.". In a new book, Scroogenomics (released just in time for Christmas, naturally), he works out the global cost of all this mis-giving as £15bn each year. That's the annual GDP of Estonia in surplus socks, unnecessary candles and golfing knickknacks. Entertaining stuff, but I wonder if the economist isn't playing a pantomime dismal scientist. There are the sideswipes at government handouts (if granny can't suss out what you want, runs the argument, how can a faceless bureaucrat? Santa's ineptitude apparently makes the case against free healthcare). There's his dismissal of any sentimental value generated by presents. He also doesn't weigh up how often consumers make duff choices for themselves – all those gross fashion errors that swiftly get relegated to the back of the wardrobe. Like other forms of sharing, giving gifts cements social bonds. Such ties barely exist in Waldofgel's world of consumer-onanism – where shoppers ideally please only themselves – but that isn't the world the rest of us live in. Imagine being a dinner-party guest, Scroogenomics-style. You don't fancy the hosts' trout and muscadet, so you pitch up with a KFC bucket and a giant bottle of Strongbow. The conversation drags so you spend the evening with the Nintendo Wii. They'll never invite you back, but Waldfogel will understand – you were merely being efficient. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 30 Nov 2009 | 5:05 pm Lemons and limeysCertainly, the diet offered by Captain James Cook (Report, 30 November) was sensible with regard to the prevention of scurvy. However, James Lind, the naval surgeon, had published his detailed Treatise of Scurvy 23 years before, in 1753. Among other recommendations, derived from the first-ever clinical trials (conducted at sea) he principally advocated the use of fresh lemons or lemon juice. Lack of interest by the Admiralty led to his recommendations being ignored for over 40 years. Only then, after the forceful promotion of Lind's thesis by the naval surgeons Thomas Trotter and Gilbert Blane, were the fleets appropriately supplied, and scurvy was eradicated almost overnight. Soon, however, for perverse commercial reasons, the Admiralty espoused the use of limes (not recommended by Lind) and scurvy returned to plague sailors and others until the discovery and understanding of vitamins after the first world war. David Harvie Author of Limeys: The Conquest of Scurvy guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 30 Nov 2009 | 5:05 pm In praise of … the Royal SocietyGravity, evolution, the atomic nucleus, DNA. You name it, and the person who discovered it was a Royal Society fellow. While the individual glories of those on its membership roll are well established, its corporate contribution to advancing knowledge is appreciated less often. In the present, that contribution comes through grants, lectures and the esteem of the 44 fellowships dished out every year. In the past, the society had a hand in shaping the scientific method itself. Physics and the like were still regarded as mere provinces within philosophy's empire when the "Invisible College", which preceded the society, was set up to challenge the scholastic view that the world was best understood through abstract reasoning and ancient text. The subversive upshot of instead emphasising experiment is neatly captured in the society's strapline Nullius in verba – roughly, "Take nobody's word for it." But intellectual revolution was cannily mixed with pragmatic politics. As the restored Charles II scrambled around for innovations to prove he was more than a chip off the old chopping block, his endorsement was successfully sought. The archives the society has put online for its birthday this week show how it went on to develop central precepts of modern scientific practice, such as peer review and the faithful writing-up of experiments so that they could be replicated. After 350 years, the evidence is in, and the peculiar experiment of the Royal Society has proved a rip-roaring success. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 30 Nov 2009 | 5:05 pm Intelligent design isn't stupidComplex biological systems have not been explained by neo-Darwinian processes Your article stated that "the government is ready to put evolution on the primary curriculum for the first time after years of lobbying by senior scientists" (Scientists win place for evolution in primary schools, 9 November). Andrew Copson, director of education at the British Humanist Society, found this "particularly important". The plans, you report, come "in the wake of a recent survey commissioned by the British Council which found that 54% of Britons agreed ... that 'evolutionary theories should be taught in science lessons in schools together with other possible perspectives, such as intelligent design and creationism'." As a former science teacher and schools inspector, I am disturbed that proposals for science education are based on near-complete ignorance of intelligent design. I also think the views of most British people in this matter should not be so readily set aside. It is an all too common error to confuse intelligent design with religious belief. While creationism draws its conclusions primarily from religious sources, intelligent design argues from observations of the natural world. And it has a good pedigree. A universe intelligible by design principles was the conclusion of many of the great pioneers of modern science. It is easily overlooked that the origin of life, the integrated complexity of biological systems and the vast information content of DNA have not been adequately explained by purely materialistic or neo-Darwinian processes. Indeed it is hard to see how they ever will. In an area such as this, where we cannot observe what happened directly, a legitimate scientific approach is to make an inference to the best explanation. In the case of the huge bank of functional information embedded in biological systems, the best explanation – based on the observation everywhere else that such information only arises from intelligence – is that it too has an intelligent source. You quote schools minister Diana Johnson, who says: "Learning about evolution is an important part of science education." If so, then thinking about what must have preceded it is also a legitimate area for science. The school pupil's question is always going to be: where did it all come from? There is a tendency in school science to present the evidence for evolution as uniformly convincing and all-encompassing, failing to distinguish between what is directly observable – such as change and adaptation over time through natural selection – and the more hypothetical elements, like the descent of all living things from a common ancestor. The evidence for these various strands is not of equal strength. If you insist that intelligent causation is to be excluded in the study of origins then you are teaching materialist philosophy, not science. I believe current government guidance is wrong in denying intelligent design the status of science. However, it does encourage teachers to handle it "positively and educationally". That's a small step in the right direction. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 30 Nov 2009 | 5:05 pm School Bullies Bully at Home, TooChildren who bully at school are likely to also bully their siblings at home.Source: Livescience.com | 30 Nov 2009 | 4:51 pm 4th-generation southern white rhino born in Ohio (AP)AP - Officials at a southeast Ohio conservation center say a southern white rhinoceros could be the first fourth-generation member of the threatened species born in any other North American managed herd.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Nov 2009 | 4:47 pm Harrabin's NotesDoes climate e-mail affair hold lessons for scientists?Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Nov 2009 | 3:39 pm There’s No Such Thing as a ‘Simple’ Organism
What may be the most thorough study ever of a single organism has produced a beta code for life’s essential subroutines, and shown that even the simplest creatures are more complex than scientists suspected.
The analysis combined information about gene regulation, protein production and cell structure in Mycoplasma pneumoniae, one of the simplest self-sustaining microbes. It’s far closer to a “blueprint” than a mere genome readout, and reveals processes “that are much more subtle and intricate than were previously considered possible in bacteria,” wrote University of Arizona biologists Howard Ochman and Rahul Raghavan in a commentary accompanying the findings, which were published last Thursday in Science. M. pneumoniae has just one-fifth as many genes as E. coli, the traditional single-cell model organism. That makes it an ideal target for systems biologists who want to understand how cells function. To them, genome scans are just a first step. They don’t explain when or why genes are turned on and off, or how different genes interact at different times, or how cellular “machines” use proteins produced by gene instructions. In the new studies, German and Spanish researchers documented almost every single protein used by M. pneumoniae. They looked up the known functions of each of its genes, and made recordings of gene activity. They documented all the chemical reactions inside M. pneumoniae and mapped its physical structure. Then they put all this together.
What emerged was a picture of surprising complexity. M. pneumoniae needs just eight gene “switches” to control its molecular activities, compared to 50 in E. coli — a number so low that it implies other, as-yet-unknown regulatory processes. Groups of genes thought to work in unison did so only intermittently. At other times they worked in isolation, or in unexpected configurations. The findings also showed that chromosome topography — the actual, three-dimensional arrangement of an operating genome, rather than its linear laboratory readout — plays an important part in determining how genes interact. In short, there was a lot going on in lowly, supposedly simple M. pneumoniae, and much of it is beyond the grasp of what’s now known about cell function. Eventually, the thorough analytical approach used to study M. pneumoniae could be applied to other microbes. The findings could also be used by synthetic biologists trying to synthesize microbial life. But for now, they show just how much work remains to be done before life’s essential processes are understood. “Linear mapping of genes to function rarely considers how a cell actually accomplishes the processes,” wrote Ochman and Raghavan. “There is no such thing as a ’simple’ bacterium.” Image: From Science, a 3-D reconstruction (left) of the M. pneumoniae cell; a map (right) of interactions between the amino-acid–making ribosome and the cell’s proteins. See Also:
Citations: “Proteome Organization in a Genome-Reduced Bacterium.” By Sebastian Kühner, Veravan Noort, Matthew J. Betts, Alejandra Leo-Macias, Claire Batisse, Michaela Rode, Takuji Yamada, Tobias Maier, Samuel Bader, Pedro Beltran-Alvarez, Daniel Castaño-Diez, Wei-Hua Chen, Damien Devos, Marc Güell, Tomas Norambuena, Ines Racke, Vladimir Rybin, Alexander Schmidt, Eva Yus, Ruedi Aebersold, Richard Herrmann, Bettina Böttcher, Achilleas S. Frangakis, Robert B. Russell, Luis Serrano, Peer Bork, Anne-Claude Gavin. Science, Vol. 326 Issue 5957, Nov. 27, 2009. “Transcriptome Complexity in a Genome-Reduced Bacterium.” By Marc Güell, Vera van Noort, Eva Yus, Wei-Hua Chen, Justine Leigh-Bell, Konstantinos Michalodimitrakis, Takuji Yamada, Manimozhiyan Arumugam, Tobias Doerks, Sebastian Kühner, Michaela Rode, Mikita Suyama, Sabine Schmidt, Anne-Claude Gavin, Peer Bork and Luis Serrano. Science, Vol. 326 Issue 5957, Nov. 27, 2009. “Impact of Genome Reduction on Bacterial Metabolism and Its Regulation.” By Eva Yus, Tobias Maier, Konstantinos Michalodimitrakis, Vera van Noort, Takuji Yamada, Wei-Hua Chen, Judith A. H. Wodke, Marc Güell, Sira Martínez, Ronan Bourgeois, Sebastian Kühner, Emanuele Raineri, Ivica Letunic, Olga V. Kalinina, Michaela Rode, Richard Herrmann, Ricardo Gutiérrez-Gallego, Robert B. Russell, Anne-Claude Gavin, Peer Bork and Luis Serrano. Science, Vol. 326 Issue 5957, Nov. 27, 2009. “Excavating the Functional Landscape of Bacterial Cells.” By Howard Ochman and Rahul Raghavan. Science, Vol. 326 Issue 5957, Nov. 27, 2009. Brandon Keim’s Twitter stream and reportorial outtakes; Wired Science on Twitter. Brandon is currently working on a book about ecosystem and planetary tipping points.
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 30 Nov 2009 | 3:15 pm Exercise Prevents Aging of CellsA new study shows that regular physical activity has an anti-aging effect at the cellular level.Source: Livescience.com | 30 Nov 2009 | 3:02 pm Twitter: 2009 Word of the YearThe word Twitter, the popular social networking service, tops all others in the past year.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 30 Nov 2009 | 2:25 pm Obstacles Speed Up Exiting CrowdsIf you’ve been to a big concert, or a ball game, with a big crowd of other people, you know what happens when it’s time to leave. A people traffic jam. Bigger doorways don't help, but can you believe that obstacles do?Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 30 Nov 2009 | 2:16 pm Kiwi Rocket Scares Sheep, Reaches Space
A small, private company launched New Zealand’s first rocket into space to cheers from about 50 people gathered on a small island off the country’s coast.
The Atea-1, named after the Maori word for space, was built by Rocket Lab. It’s the first privately built rocket launched from the Southern Hemisphere to reach space. “It’s not trivial sending something into space,” Mark Rocket, Rocket Lab director and former internet entrepreneur, told local media. “This is a huge technological leap for New Zealand.” After the sub-orbital vehicle entered space, it turned back toward Earth and splashed down. The Rocket Lab team is currently trying to locate the rocket, which was expected to fall into the Pacific Ocean about 30 miles northeast of Great Mercury Island, a privately owned resort and the rocket’s takeoff point. If you happen to be in the area and see the payload, don’t go scooping it up, Rocket Lab warned through its Twitter feed. “IMPORTANT: Marine traffic in the Coromandel, do not recover payload, it contains delicate scientific instruments & is potentially hazardous,” the Lab wrote. “If found please mark the payload location, and relay the GPS coordinates to Rocket Lab ASAP.” The Atea-1 is unusually light and small. Including propellant, the 18-foot rocket weighs less than 150 pounds. It’s built largely from carbon-fiber composites and its 30-pound engine generates thrust equivalent to 3,200 horsepower. The Atea can take payloads of up to about four and a half pounds. By comparison, an Atlas V rocket weighs 1.2 million pounds and can carry payloads of 65,000 pounds to low-earth orbit. Video: TVNZ. Image: Rocket Lab. See Also:
WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal’s Twitter, Google Reader feed, and green tech history research site; Wired Science on Twitter and Facebook.
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 30 Nov 2009 | 1:49 pm Dramatic variations in cancer survival rates shock charitiesLung cancer patients in Herefordshire three times more likely to die within a year than those in Kensington and Chelsea The country's biggest cancer charity has expressed shock at government figures revealing huge variations in patients' chances of surviving from one area of the UK to another. The biggest survival gap was in lung cancer, where Department of Health figures showed patients in Herefordshire were three times more likely to die within a year of diagnosis than those in Kensington and Chelsea. In the London borough, 44% of patients survived the first year after diagnosis, compared with only 15% in Herefordshire. In bowel cancer there was also a big gap in survival – 80% in Telford and Wrekin after one year, but only 58% in Waltham Forest and Hastings and Rother. The gap was less pronounced in breast cancer, with the best rate in Torbay, where 99% survived for one year, compared with 89% in Tower Hamlets. "There is no excuse for such a big difference between different areas," said Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK. "It is appalling that someone with lung cancer in Herefordshire should be three times more likely to die within a year than a patient in Kensington, or that a person diagnosed with bowel cancer in Waltham Forest or Hastings should be 22% more likely to die within a year than a patient in Telford. This is the worst kind of postcode lottery." Very few primary care trusts (PCTs) had survival rates that were as good as other countries in Europe now or even as good as Europe was achieving 10 years ago, which Kumar called "a disgrace". "We're pleased that the Department of Health have been bold enough to publish these figures," he said. "The NHS now needs to take them very seriously." One-year survival figures highlight the issues around delayed diagnosis of cancer. That can be partly the responsibility of the GP, who may not see many cancer cases in a year, but is often to do with the reluctance of the patient to seek medical advice when they suspect a problem. The figures are contained in the Cancer Reform Strategy second annual report from national cancer director Mike Richards, who points out that cancer deaths continue to fall and that prevention efforts, such as the cervical cancer vaccination programme for schoolgirls and better screening, will further help. Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said the charity shared the concerns. "Although progress has been made in some parts of the country, in others key Cancer Reform Strategy initiatives are still yet to be implemented," he said. "In particular, urgent action must be taken to ensure that digital mammography is in place by the December 2010 deadline and that, as previously committed by the government, all women with breast problems referred by their GP will see a specialist within two weeks by the end of this year." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 30 Nov 2009 | 12:39 pm Tareq and Michaele Salahi: Epic Fibbers?If now the infamous White House Dinner Party Crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi did in fact lie their way into the Obama receiving line, they must have been pretty convincing. This interview below may explain how they were able to ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 30 Nov 2009 | 11:43 am Anatomy training facts, how to donate (AP)AP - Learning anatomy with cadavers is a centuries-old rite of passage that once again is getting a face-lift as medical schools struggle to mix this core knowledge with an explosion of new information from the genetics revolution.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Nov 2009 | 11:15 am BP pipeline leaks near Alaska's Prudhoe Bay (Reuters)Reuters - BP Plc discovered an oil and gas spill on a pipeline that serves the giant Prudhoe Bay oil fields in Alaska over the weekend, a company spokesman said on Monday.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Nov 2009 | 11:09 am Face of Jesus Appears on Clothing IronMary Jo Coady recently saw an image of Jesus Christ in brownish burn residue on an iron.Source: Livescience.com | 30 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am Bendable Antennas Could Reshape ElectronicsEngineers have built an antenna that can twist and stretch before snapping back to its original shape.Source: Livescience.com | 30 Nov 2009 | 10:57 am Naked Black Hole Builds Future Galactic Dream Home
Astronomers have spied a distant black hole in the act of creating the galaxy that will eventually become its home. By sending a jet of gas and highly energetic particles into a neighboring galaxy, the black hole has touched off star formation at a rate 100 times the galactic average. “Our study suggests that supermassive black holes can trigger the formation of stars, thus ‘building’ their own host galaxies,” David Elbaz, lead author of a paper on the work in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, said in a press release. “This link could also explain why galaxies hosting larger black holes have more stars.”
So, in the latest observations they looked in the mid-infrared part of the spectrum, in which dust shines brightly, using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. But they didn’t see dust, confirming the idea that the quasar really is “naked.” Instead of a surrounding galaxy, Elbaz’s team found the black hole was blasting its neighbor with energy and matter. That injection has caused the observed flurry of star births: 350 new suns are bursting into existence each year in the region. Eventually, the black hole will merge with its neighbor. The two objects are located 22,000 light-years apart and are moving towards each other at less than 125 miles per second. In tens of millions of years, HE0450-2958 will finally get a home. “This would provide a natural explanation for the missing host galaxy,” Elbaz and his co-authors wrote. Images: 1) Artist’s rendering of HE450-2958 and its galactic neighbor. See Also:
WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal’s Twitter, Google Reader feed, and green tech history research site; Wired Science on Twitter and Facebook.
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 30 Nov 2009 | 10:57 am Alleged Nazi Death Camp Guard Faces TrialJohn Demjanjuk is charged with assisting in the murder of 27,900 people at a concentration camp.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 30 Nov 2009 | 10:55 am Siberian Tiger Population DeclinesThe Siberian tiger population is likely on the decline, according to a new report.Source: Livescience.com | 30 Nov 2009 | 10:28 am Debate Over Artificial Legs in SportsIn an ironic twist, Oscar Pistorius' disability has now been shown to be an unfair advantage.Source: Livescience.com | 30 Nov 2009 | 9:48 am Proton Collider Sets Energy RecordA new world record for energy intensity was set today at the The Large Hadron Collider (LHC).Source: Livescience.com | 30 Nov 2009 | 9:47 am Vultures are 'nature's waste managers'Mad cow regulations deprived vultures of carcasses to feed off, reversing revival of European populations, say researchers Europe's carrion-guzzling vultures should be allowed to return to their old jobs as nature's waste managers, according to scientists who say the birds are suffering as they increasingly depend on being fed by people. Stringent regulations brought in because of mad cow disease in 2002 meant the carcasses of dead cows, as well as sheep, goats and other livestock, could not be left in the open. Carrion was crucial part of the vultures' diet, but the birds now do much of their feeding at managed carrion centres set up by authorities. The change means a gradual, decades-old revival of vulture populations around Europe is grinding to a halt. Vultures fed by humans find it harder to reproduce and farmers complain some have taken to attacking live animals. "The effects of this policy include a halt in population growth, a decrease in breeding success, and an apparent increase in mortality of young age classes," a group of Spanish researchers said in a letter to Science magazine. Population growth has flattened out over the past decade after two decades in which vultures, which had been systematically poisoned by farmers, had flourished. The number of griffin vultures in Spain, for example, increased from 3,500 pairs to 18,000 between 1979 and 1999. Last year 20,000 pairs were counted but there is evidence that populations have begun to decline rapidly. One observatory near Segovia, central Spain, reported a 40% drop over five years. Another observatory in La Rioja, northern Spain, reported an 80% drop, and says local vultures have stopped reproducing completely. Spain, which is home to 90% of Europe's griffin, cinereous and bearded vultures, has asked the European Union to relax the ban on leaving dead livestock where they fall. "For centuries there was no problem in leaving carcasses out," said Juan Antonio Gil, of Spain's Bearded Vulture Foundation. "The vultures cleaned them up." "Now carcasses have to be collected and disposed of centrally, with all that means in terms of costs and the energy used," he said. Rather than spend money on tractors, trucks and diesel fuel, he said, the task could be done for free by vultures. "The most efficient and ecologically friendly way to dispose of carcasses it to let the vultures do the job," he said. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 30 Nov 2009 | 9:45 am How to Mix Oil and Water
Scientists in Belgium have uncovered a new way to shake things up. Violent bouncing of a water droplet coated with oil causes the oil layer to move inside and fracture into many oily globs. In a paper published in the December Chaos, researchers at the University of Liège in Belgium call this microemulsion of oil and water the mayonnaise droplet.
Understanding the forces that govern the mayonnaise droplet may help scientists design new microfluidic systems. Bouncing droplets could enable more efficient ways to create complex mixtures of liquids, such as for cosmetics or pharmaceuticals. Images: 1) Flickr/jordi.martorell 2) D. Terwagne et al./Chaos 2009 See Also:
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 30 Nov 2009 | 9:35 am SpacemanA kind of X Factor for future European space missionsSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Nov 2009 | 9:24 am Scalloped Hammerhead and Bonnethead Sharks Have 360 Degree VisionThe old idiom "eyes in the back of your head" holds somewhat true for scalloped hammerhead and bonnethead sharks, according to new research that found these sharks possess a 360 degree field of vision. Virtually nothing can escape their view. ...Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 30 Nov 2009 | 8:46 am Baby Brown Dwarf Twins Spotted by AstronomersThe discovery of the young brown dwarfs could provide valuable insights into star formation.Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 30 Nov 2009 | 8:40 am Solar panel costs 'set to fall'The cost of installing and owning solar panels will fall even faster than expected according to new research.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Nov 2009 | 8:21 am New Chrome Browser: Fast, Safe and SimpleGoogle's latest browser is a shining example of mimimalist efficiency.Source: Livescience.com | 30 Nov 2009 | 6:04 am Spider Builds Body Double to Catch PreyWell-placed decoys help orb spiders elude attack.Source: Livescience.com | 30 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am "Big Bang" collider sets particle beam recordGENEVA (Reuters) - The "Big Bang" experiment at CERN near Geneva scored a world record on Monday by accelerating beams to the highest energy ever achieved in a particle collider, the research center announced.Source: Reuters: Science News | 30 Nov 2009 | 5:09 am Why some 'special' carnivores are especially worth savingCertain carnivores are so unique that special efforts should be made to save them, a study finds.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Nov 2009 | 3:48 am Atom-smasher sets energy recordThe Large Hadron Collider sets a new world record for the energy of its particle beams, officials say.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Nov 2009 | 2:57 am Womb scanMapping the unborn baby's brain in 3DSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Nov 2009 | 2:36 am
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As the noise of the blastoff sent sheep running, the 18-foot rocket raced into the sky, reaching beyond the Kármán line, 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the Earth’s surface, which is traditionally considered the dividing altitude between the upper atmosphere and real space.
The quasar HE0450-2958, located about 5 billion light-years from Earth, is powered by a supermassive black hole. Unlike all other known quasars, this one did not appear to be surrounded by a galaxy, which had puzzled astronomers. They thought perhaps the quasar’s surrounding galaxy was obscured by dust.
When the oil-coated water droplet hit the oil surface and deformed, some of the outer oil layer was ushered into the interior of the droplet. Subsequent bounces shattered this interior oil glob, creating a thoroughly mixed oil-in-water-in oil droplet, the researchers found.