Surprising infection inducing mechanism found in bacteria

A new study demonstrates that bacteria have a surprising mechanism to transfer virulent genes causing infections. The researchers describe an unprecedented evolutionary adaptation and could contribute to finding new ways of treating and preventing bacterial infections.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 May 2010 | 12:00 pm

Fly the eco-friendly skies: Airplanes that would use 70 percent less fuel than current models

In what could set the stage for a fundamental shift in commercial aviation, a team of researchers has designed a green airplane that is estimated to use 70 percent less fuel than current planes while also reducing noise and emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 May 2010 | 12:00 pm

'Experienced' female lizards attract greater attention from male lizards

Female sagebrush lizards with greater courtship experience are more likely to be courted by their male counterparts, according to a recent study.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 May 2010 | 12:00 pm

Asteroid caught marching across Tadpole Nebula

A new infrared image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, showcases the Tadpole nebula, a star-forming hub in the Auriga constellation about 12,000 light-years from Earth. As WISE scanned the sky, it happened to catch an asteroid in our solar system passing by.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 May 2010 | 12:00 pm

NASA, Google data show North Korea logging in protected area

Using NASA satellite data and Google Earth, a Purdue University researcher has reported finding evidence that North Korea has been logging in what is designated as a protected United Nations forest preserve.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 May 2010 | 12:00 pm

Between the genes: Making sense of genomic 'dark matter'

Scientists have uncovered some of the secrets behind what molecular biologists call "dark matter" transcripts. The term "dark matter" refers to the genomic output that does not originate from known genes, arising instead from regions that were once thought of as nothing more than "junk DNA." When genetic signals, namely RNA transcripts, were discovered coming from these areas, many believed there was a whole new mystery to solve, and that much more was going on than originally expected.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 May 2010 | 12:00 pm

Dopamine system in highly creative people similar to that seen in schizophrenics, study finds

New research shows a possible explanation for the link between mental health and creativity. By studying receptors in the brain, researchers in Sweden have managed to show that the dopamine system in healthy, highly creative people is similar in some respects to that seen in people with schizophrenia.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 May 2010 | 9:00 am

Long-lasting sensory loss in World Trade Center workers from airborne toxins after 9/11 attacks

Workers exposed to the complex mixture of toxic airborne chemicals following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City had a decreased ability to detect odors and irritants two years after the exposure, new research shows.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 May 2010 | 9:00 am

Preserving memory with age: Two methods of extending life span have very different effects

If you lived longer, would you still remember everything? It depends. Two methods of extending life span have very different effects on memory performance and decline with age, researchers show in a new study.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 May 2010 | 9:00 am

Challenging the use of routine repeated chest X-rays in certain patients

A high school student presents findings on the medical necessity and cost effectiveness of repeated chest X-rays in children who are dependent on home mechanical ventilation.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 May 2010 | 9:00 am

A bioblitz audit of Juliette Jowit's garden

Botanists from the Natural History Museum's new Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity crawl over Juliette Jowit's garden to identify some of England's 55,000 species of flora and fauna

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 19 May 2010 | 4:00 am

Gulf Coast fears spreading slick, fishing ban widens (Reuters)

Reuters - BP Plc forged ahead on Wednesday with efforts to stem its leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well, amid fears powerful currents were pushing the slick toward prized U.S. tourist resorts and fisheries.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 May 2010 | 3:15 am

BP Stems Gulf Oil Spill as Criticism Turns to Washington (Time.com)

Time.com - On Sunday, BP managed to thread a mile-long tube into the broken oil pipe in the Gulf of Mexico to siphon about 1,000 barrels of oil a day to a drilling ship. But criticism continues to build against the oil company -- and in Washington
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 May 2010 | 3:10 am

Waterlily saved from extinction

A scientist based at the UK's Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew prevents the world's smallest waterlily from becoming extinct.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 May 2010 | 2:48 am

The nation's weather (AP)

AP - Multiple weather features were forecast to bring active weather to the U.S. on Wednesday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 May 2010 | 2:45 am

Fishing ban widens as as oil spill spreads in Gulf (Reuters)

Reuters - BP Plc forged ahead on Wednesday with efforts to stem its leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well, amid fears powerful currents were pushing the slick toward prized U.S. tourist resorts and fisheries.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 May 2010 | 2:30 am

Spacewalk 2: Tangled cable, batteries await crew (AP)

AP - The Atlantis astronauts have an extra chore on their spacewalking plate.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 May 2010 | 2:21 am

Why mice fear the smell of cats

Scientists have discovered that a chemical signal in cat saliva elicits a fearful reaction in mice.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 May 2010 | 12:59 am

Atlantis Astronauts Gear Up for Second Spacewalk (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Two shuttle Atlantis astronauts plan to float outside the International Space Station Wednesday on a spacewalk to fix a snagged cable on their spacecraft and install new solar array batteries on the orbiting laboratory.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 May 2010 | 12:47 am

Moon Appears to Eat Venus in New Photos (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Striking new photos from a skywatcher in Hong Kong show the Earth's moon appear to swallow Venus during a weekend cosmic event.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 18 May 2010 | 11:45 pm

Smallest waterlily in the world saved from extinction – by Kew Gardens

The thermal waterlily, extinct in the wild since it disappeared from Rwanda in 2008, has been granted a new lease of life

Plant experts at Kew Gardens have rescued the smallest waterlily in the world from the brink of extinction.

The thermal waterlily has not grown in the wild since the last specimens vanished two years ago from its only known habitat, a hot spring in southwest Rwanda.

After a year-long struggle, a Kew Gardens biologist worked out a way to grow the plants at the botanic gardens, paving the way for their reintroduction in the wild.

Carlos Magdalena, the plant scientist who grew the waterlily, said: "Waterlilies are among the most ancient of flowering plants. This species could provide information about the evolution of flowering plants as it is truly unique."

He added: "This species may provide an opportunity to breed beautiful, small and compact waterlily hybrids that don't need a pond. Gardeners would love something like this, the advent of the no-waterlily."

With pads as little as 1cm across, the plant disappeared from Rwanda when over-exploitation caused its spring to dry up.

Samples were rescued and given to Bonn Botanic Gardens by the German botanist Eberhard Fischer, of Koblenz-Landau university, who discovered the plant in 1985.

Bonn horticulturists preserved the waterlilies, but could not get them to propagate.

Magdalena, who received some of their seeds last summer, said: "When I received this donation from Bonn, I realised how important it was for the survival of the species to find a way of growing them successfully.

"Now we have over 30 healthy baby plants growing here at Kew and some are producing seeds so soon we may have an army of these tiny waterlilies. Its future in botanical collections seems secured for the long term."

The key was exposing them to the higher concentrations of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air. Kew's collection of the waterlilies flowered for the first time in November. They are now on display and, if the natural flow of water is restored in Rwanda, could be reintroduced to the wild.

Stephen Hopper, director of the gardens said: "Kew is one of those places that offers a sense of hope in a time of relative doom and gloom about the state of the natural world, where individuals, by doing practical things with plants, can make a real difference to biodiversity conservation."

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 18 May 2010 | 11:00 pm

Dinosaur Demoted to 'Ancient Reptile' Status (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - A four-legged weed-whacker of sorts that lived some 230 million years ago just lost its dinosaur affiliation.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 18 May 2010 | 8:50 pm

Is Elon Musk the SpaceX 'Rocket Man' or 'Iron Man'?

After a short cameo appearance on Iron Man 2, how else is the SpaceX CEO connected to the sci-fi action thriller?
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 18 May 2010 | 8:48 pm

Texting Service Lets Waterways Communicate

This being springtime, you might have passed a swollen river or waterway nearby and thought, "Hmm. That's looking bad. Is it going to flood?" A new texting service created by the U.S. Geological Survey can send you a message if ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 18 May 2010 | 8:32 pm

Existence of RNA 'dark matter' in doubt

The abundance of transcripts from the genome may have been overestimated.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/news/rss/today/~4/-BsXzcyI57A" height="1" width="1"/>
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 18 May 2010 | 7:00 pm

3D Laser Helps Preserve Mt. Rushmore

The years are not kind to George and Abraham. The erosive forces of wind, rain, heat and cold constantly badger the granite and other metamorphic rock from which the Mount Rushmore National Monument was carved. Water seeps into cracks, freezes ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 18 May 2010 | 6:28 pm

Endangered Language: Native American Sign Speech

Known as "Hand Talk," Indian nations across America once used sign for trade and social communication. Now researchers seek to capture this subtle "speech" before it disappears permanently. NOTE: This video is open-captioned.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 May 2010 | 5:24 pm

Letters: Received wisdom on flat vowels

I don't know what Steve Seddon is talking about when he refers (Letters, 17 May) to "properly spoken English". There are a huge number of varieties of spoken English, a small number of which are regarded as standard (not "proper") in certain regions. For example, standard American English is the variety spoken in the midwest. In England (not Britain, note) the standard is received pronunciation, a variety that is not associated with any particular part of the country (certainly not London, or Oxford), but which has most similarities with accents found in southern England. While it's true that there is no "flatness" about distinguishable vowels, this is because the term "flat" used to refer to northern vowels is meaningless.

Phoneticians describe vowel sounds according to the height of the tongue (and correspondingly whether the jaw is relatively open or closed) and which part of the tongue (front or back) is the highest, ie closest to the roof of the mouth. The vowel sound in (RP) "book" is closer and further back than that in "buck", while the vowels in "back" and "bark" are front open and back open respectively. I'm not sure where the term "flat" comes from, but arguably the flattest vowel is not the "far back 'urr' in Sloane Square", which is actually a central vowel if it's the one I think he's referring to, but the "ah" that doctors ask you to say when they want your tongue out of the way so they can see the back of your throat.

Emeritus professor Harold Somers

Manchester University

• As a Bangladeshi student of mine said: "If only all English people spoke like they do in Yorkshire, I could spell!"

Gill Kaffash

London

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 18 May 2010 | 5:05 pm

Notes and queries

The dangers of travelling faster than light; Why is the alphabet in alphabetical order? How cool is Shiraz Engineer?

If I could travel faster than the speed of light, wouldn't I bump into things that I couldn't see?

Yes, your eyeballs.

Steve Vanstone, Purley, Surrey

Yes, although the phrase "bump into" probably fails to adequately describe the collision.

Andrew Marston, Penryn, Cornwall

Well, Star Trek's USS Enterprise manages to avoid collisions while travelling at warp-factor-eight or whatever, much faster than the speed of light. How does it do that?

Jack Johnson, Birmingham

Kind of, but there is a problem in your premise: if you were travelling faster than the speed of light you would outpace the light coming from behind you, so if you were to look over your shoulder you would effectively see nothing, because no light would be reaching you. If you were facing forward you would see things, but they'd be moving towards you at pace . . . you'd need faster-than-light reactions, too.

But travelling through hyper/sub/underspace . . . now that's a different proposition.

Paul Munro, Dunfermline, Fife

The correspondent raises a question similar to one that Einstein answered in 1896, when he was just 16. Although it was already known that the ether did not exist, Einstein developed a thought experiment (gedanken in German) to reason why. He wondered what would happen if he were moving at the speed of light holding a mirror in front of his face. Would he still be able to see his own reflection? After all, in order to leave his face and reach the mirror, the light would need to go faster than his face – and therefore faster than the speed of light. Even if he were travelling in the hold of a spaceship, he would know the ship had reached the speed of light as soon as his reflection disappeared.

Mike Follows, Willenhall, West Mids

No, but you might bump into things that couldn't see you. Assuming you could violate the rules of relativity and travel faster than light, you would still catch any light being emitted from objects you are travelling towards. However, those objects would only be able to see the position of your craft in the past, and never your true location, as any photons of light given off by your ship would not have reached them by the time your ship does.

Rudi Meek, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs

Why are the 26 letters we use in alphabetical order? Who decided the order?

Our alphabet originates in the Egyptian hieroglyphs and was passed with some alterations through the centuries from Phoenician to Greek to Latin, and then to most European languages. There is no particular system to the order of the letters. 

Some other alphabets, for instance those of South Asian languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi (all derived from Sanskrit), are arranged according to sounds: the vowels (a, e, i, o, u) come first, and the consonants travel from the back to the front of the mouth. This system makes it easy to remember the order of letters, whereas for our, more arbitrary, alphabet we need rhymes and songs to fix the correct order in our minds.

Dr Hanne-Ruth Thompson, Wembley Park, London

The alphabet would be better grouped in vowels and consonants, as in Countdown. Alternatively, it could be in order of how often they are used, which from memory, starts ETAONRISHDL. The problem is that each language would end up with a different order, so maybe that one doesn't work so well.

Andrew Jackson, Barnet, Herts

Has there ever been a cooler name than (N&Q contributor) Shiraz Engineer?

Good heavens, how long have you got? Even if we exclude those depending on being anglophone (Giovanni Rambotti being a recent favourite), our list of 200 or so, accumulated over years, offers Taffeta Scrimshaw, Marsland Gander, Alexis Nethercleft and Florizel Glasspole.

John and Charlotte Tate, Wellingborough, Northants

Any answers?

What should I do when I see someone driving and texting at the same time?

Margaret Bozic, Washington, Tyne and Wear

The Trojan horse became a byword for military cunning. But have other battles been won by even more devious means?

Henry Hall, Glasgow

Send questions and answers to nq@guardian.co.uk. Please include name, address and phone number.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 18 May 2010 | 5:00 pm

U.S. probes another BP rig, seeks MMS shakeup (Reuters)

Reuters - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Tuesday the U.S. government was investigating another big BP oil rig while admitting his agency came up short in preventing the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 18 May 2010 | 4:46 pm

Study Helps Explain Common Kidney Cancer

Genes help explain much of the biology of renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), a common kidney cancer.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 May 2010 | 4:38 pm

Hunt for genetic causes of diseases narrows targets

The search is on for rare variants that might explain missing heritability.
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 18 May 2010 | 4:37 pm

30-Year Time-Lapse: Mount St. Helens Recovery From Space

The eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 has a special place in the evolution of our scientific understanding of volcanoes. Though it won’t go down in the record books as the biggest, longest or deadliest eruption, it is one of the best-studied eruptions in history and the only major volcanic explosion in the continental United States since geologists and seismologists became equipped with modern technology to analyze such an event.

In the three decades since the eruption, the mountain has been an incredible place for scientists to study how life recovers from a catastrophe and recolonizes the landscape. Some of this can be seen in the time-lapse video above, which combines photo-like images from the Landsat series of satellites, run by the USGS and NASA, from 1984 through 2009. Prior to 1984, the Landsat satellites didn’t have the ability to see blue wavelengths of light, and consequently images appear red, such as the ones below of the mountain before the eruption in 1979 and shortly after in 1980.

The area around the mountain was devastated by the collapse of the northern flank of the mountain in what amounted to one of the largest landslides ever recorded, which buried 24 square miles of land under as much as 600 feet of debris. The nine-hour eruption blew 520 million tons of ash over 230 square miles and knocked down 14 billion board feet of timber. Fifty-seven people died, including one geologist, and more than $1 billion in damage (1980 dollars) was done, making it the most destructive eruption in U.S. history. Video of a few minutes of the eruption can be seen below.

In the time-lapse above, you will first notice some recovery in the northwestern part of the blast zone, away from the volcano. Then the area around Spirit Lake becomes greener in the late 1990s. In the most recent images, the only area that still appears to be desolate is known as Pumice Plain. Research on the ground has found the first signs of life in recent years as flowers, insects and small animals have begun to reinhabit the plain. But these changes can’t yet be seen from space.

Videos: Fernando Cardoso, Wired.com

Images: USGS/NASA

See Also:

• Erupting Volcanoes on Earth as Seen From Space
• 8 Hot Volcanic Eruptions
• 5 Most Dangerous U.S. Earthquake Hot Spots Beyond California …
• California Is Due for a Katrina-Style Disaster
• Videos Simulate Earthquake in San Francisco Bay Area

Follow us on Twitter @betsymason and @wiredscience, and on Facebook.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 18 May 2010 | 4:33 pm

Space-science hopes rest on rocket test

New launch vehicle could carry next generation of NASA's research probes.
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 18 May 2010 | 3:04 pm

Neglected diseases fund touted

Initiative seeks billions of dollars to develop promising drugs and vaccines.
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 18 May 2010 | 3:01 pm

Oil cruise finds deep-sea plume

reports from the research ship as scientists map the hidden extent of the Deepwater disaster.
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 18 May 2010 | 3:00 pm

Remembering Mt. St. Helens: Interview with Don Swanson

Among the team of geologists monitoring Mt. St. Helens at the time of its violent eruption 30 years ago, Don Swanson recounts his experience with poignant clarity.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 18 May 2010 | 2:58 pm

Mars Simulation Volunteers: 'We Are Trailblazers'

For over 500 days, six men will live in isolation, simulating a full-duration flight to Mars.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 18 May 2010 | 2:35 pm

Wildlife death toll from oil spill still uncertain (AP)

AP - Federal officials say they don't know whether a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico killed 189 sea turtles, birds and other animals found dead since it started.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 18 May 2010 | 2:31 pm

Dinosaur Demoted to 'Ancient Reptile' Status

New analyses of a dinosaur skull suggest the plant-eating beast is not a dinosaur but an ancient reptile.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 May 2010 | 2:28 pm

How Is Uranium Enriched?

Only a certain type of uranium works in nuclear reactors and bombs. Separating that type from the more common kind requires a great deal of engineering skill.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 May 2010 | 2:02 pm

The secret life of a suburban garden

How many different species would you expect to find in a rather scruffy, small suburban garden? Juliette Jowit invited four ecologists round for a 'bioblitz' – with unexpected results

Audio slideshow: A bioblitz audit of Juliette Jowit's garden
Results: A bioblitz of a London garden

There are four bodies lying and crouching in our tiny back garden. The ecologists from the Natural History Museum (NHM) got here only minutes ago, but, while the kettle boils, they are already grubbing about behind our bins, under our windowsills, in the lawn, flowerbed and log pile.

They are doing a "bioblitz" – trying to find as many species of animal and plant as possible in this small, suburban south-west London garden. Our back garden is only 12 paces long and seven wide, with, now I look at it through the eyes of ecologists, pitifully few flowers. Happily, they appear undaunted. "The great thing is, even with gardens like this that look fairly sterile, there's always something there," says the museum's insect specialist, Stuart Hine. "We'll move plant pots, and we'll have a look through your log pile . . . Lots of spiders, centipedes, woodlice, slugs – they'll all be there."

Bioblitzing is the latest buzz-word in conservation, and this one marks the opening of the NHM's new Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity, which encourages the public to learn to identify more of the 55,000 species of flora and fauna that exist in England alone. (A questionnaire carried out for the opening suggests that less than a third of the population know what a sycamore tree looks like, while two-thirds do not recognise a peacock butterfly.)

A proper bioblitz would last 24 hours in a public place, bringing together members of the public and experts. "The idea is it's a snapshot, a moment in time," explains Hine. "It's finding everything of biological origin in one place in one time."

While we have been talking, John Tweedle, who runs bioblitzes under the museum's Open Air Laboratories scheme, has already filled nine test tubes with bugs and slugs from around the birdbath. Hine is grubbing for spiders under the windowsill, and finds the intriguingly named missing sector orb weaver (pictured above), a lace web and a Tegenaria species of house spider – plus the egg sac of a false widow spider. Gill Stevens, the director of the new centre, is studying lichens on the log pile – a useful indicator of air pollution, she says. There are not many varieties, which may be connected to the fact that I live under the Heathrow flight path.

The centre runs three drop-in sessions for the public each week. Stevens says people can describe their find, send in pictures, or even post samples of things such as rocks, fossils or birds' eggshells found on the ground. "It's about encouraging people to learn more about the environment where they live; that they don't have to go somewhere exotic to see natural history. We have to take a bit more responsibility for the quality of the environment we live in, and to do that we have to understand it a bit more."

I won't pretend that the creatures in this particular suburbia are exotic (except for the parakeets). But still, some of the creatures they find have relatively exotic names: the vestal cuckoo bee, buff-tailed bumblebee, hairy-footed flower bee, spittlebug, wolf spider, and the lesser broad-bordered yellow underwing – the latter a moth with (confusingly) red upper-wings.

A week later, I am sent the final results: 87 species of flowering plant plus 27 mosses and a single fern on the plant list; 11 birds plus plenty of worms, slugs, algae, ladybirds, woodlice, flies, an ant, hoverflies, a weevil, bees and spiders – including a handful of things that had still not been identified. In all, nearly 200 different species – in just two hours, in this rather scruffy, badly planted patch of suburbia.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 18 May 2010 | 1:59 pm

Greenland Rising Rapidly as Ice Melts

The ice is melting so fast in Greenland that the giant island is rising noticeably as the weight is lifted.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 May 2010 | 1:22 pm

Willetts 'will argue for science'

New science minister will argue case for science but says getting public finances under control is government's priority.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 May 2010 | 1:10 pm

Foucault’s Pendulum Dented in Museum Mishap

The cable holding a model of Foucault’s pendulum snapped last month at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, sending the 60-pound ball crashing to the ground. It was permanently dented in the fall.

Léon Foucault’s 1851 experiment remains a mesmerizing evidence that the Earth does, in fact, rotate. Scientists were aware of this, but the fact that the pendulum swings through many degrees of a circle over the course of a day provides tangible proof that we are on a planet spinning in space. (The actual number of degrees that the Earth rotates underneath the pendulum is equal to the Earth’s rotation rate multiplied by the sine of the pendulum’s latitude; a Foucault’s pendulum installed at the poles would move through 360 degrees, while in Paris, only three-quarters of a revolution (270 degrees) occurs in a 24-hour period.)

The Umberto Eco novel, Foucault’s Pendulum, made the mid-19th-century physics demonstration famous. The novel even opens at the Musée des Arts et Métiers. The pendulum played a key role in the high-literary conspiracy involving the Knights Templar at the heart of the novel.

Via Geoff Brumfiel at Nature News

Photo: Graham Chandler/Flickr

WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal’s Twitter, Tumblr, and forthcoming book on the history of green technology; Wired Science on Twitter and Facebook.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 18 May 2010 | 1:03 pm

Pact protects Canadian forests

Huge conservation deal will benefit caribou and maybe climate.
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 18 May 2010 | 12:44 pm

Fly the Eco-Friendly Skies

Airplanes are notorious polluters. They're as noisy as a rock concert, spew poisons like volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides into the air as well as dump millions of pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. In this ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 18 May 2010 | 12:37 pm

Taser Agony Felt Firsthand in Air Force Training

U.S. Air Force security trainees experience the pain of a taser device they may someday be called upon to used on someone else. The weapon induces torturous muscle contractions.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 May 2010 | 12:34 pm

Six men get ready for 520-day simulated Mars trip

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Six men from Russia, Europe and China are preparing to spend 520 days together in a sealed-off warren to take a simulated trip to Mars to test how long isolation would affect humans.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 18 May 2010 | 12:21 pm

Smart Bandage Kills Only Bad Bacteria

Antibiotics kill both harmful and helpful bacteria. Plus, over time and prolonged use of antibiotics, some bacteria develop a resistance to these drugs. That's causing new and life-threatening strains of bacteria to appear for which no antibiotic has been developed. ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 18 May 2010 | 12:09 pm

Knife-Wielding Robots Could Soon Invade the Kitchen

If robots are ever to handle "edgier" tasks, people will need to feel safe around domestic machines wielding sharp tools.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 May 2010 | 12:03 pm

Dementia Caregivers More Likely to Also Get the Disease

Elderly people who care for a spouse who has dementia are at increased risk of developing dementia themselves, a study finds. The stress of attending to a mentally incapacitated spouse may somehow contribute to the added risk, scientists report in the May Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Previous studies have shown that chronic stress leads to increased levels of the hormone cortisol in the body, which can suppress immunity, says study co-author Peter Rabins, a psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore who teamed with researchers at Utah State University in Logan to do this study. “It’s long been thought that this might have adverse outcomes psychologically and physiologically.”

Taking care of a spouse with dementia takes a toll in other ways as well, Rabins says. “Caregivers often complain that they lose their friends,” he says, because they don’t have time to socialize. But the biological mechanisms that might link these challenges to heightened dementia risk remain unclear.

In the new study, the researchers assessed the mental status of 1,221 Utah couples who had agreed to be part of a community-wide health study that started in 1995. The men averaged age 76 and the women 73 at that point, and 95 percent had been married for more than 20 years. Researchers tracked these couples’ mental status with up to four exams over the next decade with a median followup of 3.3 years. No participants in this analysis had dementia at the start.

During the followup years, 229 people found themselves caring for a spouse with dementia. The caregivers were six times more likely to develop dementia themselves compared with people whose spouses did not develop dementia. The researchers accounted for differences between the couples in age, education, socioeconomic status and the presence of variants in the APOE gene that can increase risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

While this is the first study to look at actual dementia risk in spousal caregivers, other research has documented an array of physical and mental problems associated with caregiving. These include depression, sleep problems, less exercise and unhealthy diet, says Peter Vitaliano, a psychologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, writing in the same issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. All these conditions may be risk factors for dementia, he notes.

In the new study, the authors point out that some of the increased risk of dementia in caregivers may be due to shared environment. The couples had been married on average for 49 years upon enrollment in the study. But what those shared environmental risk factors might be remains unknown.

One other possible contributor to this dementia risk could be the tendency of people who are prone to distress or mental illness to find and marry one other, Rabins says.

Bruce McEwen, a neuroscientist at Rockefeller University in New York City, says that in the future researchers might do well to investigate whether caregiver spouses who have less social support — or who are just more isolated — might be at the most risk.

Photo: Up Your Ego/Flickr

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 18 May 2010 | 11:42 am

Viagra Users at Risk for Hearing Loss, Study Suggests

Men who take Viagra could be at an increased risk for long-term hearing loss, a new study suggests.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 May 2010 | 11:33 am

Russian module added to station

Astronauts attach a new Russian docking and storage module called Rassvet to the International Space Station.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 May 2010 | 11:02 am

Doomsday Haven Available in Mojave Desert

Who says you can't ride out doomsday in comfort and luxury?
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 18 May 2010 | 10:45 am

Canada firms vow to save forests

Environment groups and timber firms agree to protect two-thirds of Canada's vast forests from unsustainable logging.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 May 2010 | 10:33 am

NASA Finds Cause of Voyager 2 Glitch

What a difference a bit makes. NASA engineers believe they have traced the cause of Voyager 2's gibberish to single bit in the spacecraft’s memory.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 18 May 2010 | 10:29 am

Dinosaur Is Demoted

Azendohsaurus just got demoted. Find out how and why this animal lost its dinosaur status.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 18 May 2010 | 10:05 am

Obama to set up oil spill panel

US President Barack Obama will set up a commission to investigate the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, officials say.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 May 2010 | 9:56 am

Scientists reveal the smallest man-made pump ever built

Scientists reveal the smallest man-made pump ever built - the size of a human red blood cell.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 May 2010 | 9:28 am

Ancient tomb unearthed in Mexico

Tomb of dignitary inside pyramid in southern Mexico may be oldest such burial documented in Mesoamerica

Archaeologists in southern Mexico have discovered the 2,700-year-old tomb of a dignitary inside a pyramid that may be the oldest such burial documented in Mesoamerica.

The tomb held a man aged about 50, who was buried with jade collars, pyrite and obsidian artefacts and ceramic vessels. Archaeologist Emiliano Gallaga said the tomb dates to between 500 and 700BC.

"We think this is one of the earliest discoveries of the use of a pyramid as a tomb, not only as a religious site or temple," Gallaga said.

Pre-Hispanic cultures built pyramids mainly as representations of the levels leading from the underworld to the sky; the highest point usually held a temple.

The tomb was found at a site built by Zoque Indians in Chiapa de Corzo, in southern Chiapas state. It may be almost 1,000 years older than the better-known pyramid tomb of the Mayan ruler Pakal at the Palenque archaeological site, also in Chiapas.

The man – probably a high priest or ruler of Chiapa de Corzo, a prominent settlement at the time – was buried in a stone chamber. Marks in the wall indicate wooden roof supports were used to create the tomb, but the wood long ago collapsed under the weight of the pyramid built above.

Archaeologists began digging into the pyramid mound in April to study the internal structure – pyramids were often built in layers, one atop another – when they happened on a wall whose finished stones appeared to face inward. In digging last week, they uncovered the 4 x 3 metre tomb chamber about 6 or 7 metres beneath what had been the pyramid's peak.

The body of a one-year-old child was laid carefully over the man's body inside the tomb, while that of a 20-year-old male was tossed into the chamber with less care, perhaps sacrificed at the time of burial. The older man was buried with jade and amber collars and bracelets and pearl ornaments. His face was covered with what may have been a funeral mask with obsidian eyes. Nearby, the tomb of a woman (left), also about 50, contained similar ornaments.

The ornaments – some imported from as far away as Guatemala and central Mexico – and some of the 15 ceramic vessels found in the tomb show influences from the Olmec culture, long considered the "mother culture" of the region.

The find raised the possibility that Olmec pyramids might contain similar tombs of dignitaries, especially at sites such as La Venta. Olmec pyramids, while well-known, have not been excavated, in part because the high water table and humidity of their Gulf coast sites are not as conducive to preserving buried human remains.

"The Olmec sites have not been explored with the depth they deserve," said Lynneth Lowe, an archaeologist at Mexico's National Autonomous University who participated in the dig. "It is possible that this type of tomb exists at La Venta."

Despite the Chiapa de Corzo tomb's location, experts said it is not clear the later Maya culture learned or inherited the practice of pyramid burials from the Zoques, or Olmecs.

"While I have no doubt it relates to Olmec, there is no tie to Maya at this time per se," said archaeologist Lisa Lucero of the University of Illinois, who was not involved in the Chiapa de Corzo project. "There are scholars who would like to see Olmec-Maya connections so they can show direct ties from Olmec to Maya, but this would be difficult to show with evidence at hand."

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 18 May 2010 | 9:25 am

NASA astronauts attach new room to space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA astronauts attached a Russian docking and research module onto the International Space Station on Tuesday, bringing the $100 billion complex to near completion.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 18 May 2010 | 9:24 am

Ancient Nursery of Giant, Extinct Sharks Found

A nursery for the extinct megalodon has been unearthed.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 May 2010 | 9:20 am

New climate head demands ambition

The Costa Rican diplomat just selected as top UN climate official asks countries to ramp up efforts to curb climate change.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 May 2010 | 8:30 am

Dads Get Postpartum Depression, Too

One in 10 fathers experience prenatal or post-partum depression, with the risks peaking when the new baby is 3 to 6 months old, reports a new study.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 May 2010 | 8:05 am

Dogs with bad knees could help injured sport stars

Research into cruciate ligament problems in Newfoundland dogs will lead to comparison with human sufferers

They are strong, loyal and have sweet tempers – and they may also share some characteristics with golfer Tiger Woods and footballers Paul Gascoigne and Roy Keane.

Scientists are appealing for owners of Newfoundland dogs to help prevent cruciate ligament disease in canines and, maybe, pave the way for a better understanding of the common knee injury that has interrupted the careers of sports stars.

Researchers at Liverpool university are exploring whether genetic factors make some animals – and possibly humans – more prone to the condition and more likely to suffer a ligament rupture, which often happens without physical contact with an opponent.

Gascoigne was out of the game for a year after his infamous tackle on Gary Charles in the 1991 Spurs-Nottingham Forest FA Cup final, while Keane snapped his ligament attempting to challenge Alf-Inge Haaland of Leeds in 1997, prompting one of football's savage ripostes when he set out to cripple Haaland more than three years later. Woods's first long absence from the golf course was down to his knee, rather than scandal over his private life. Others succumbing to the injury include Ruud van Nistelrooy, Michael Owen, Joe Cole, cricketer Simon Jones and rugby player Lawrence Dallaglio.

The Liverpool study team is looking for Newfie dogs of any age which have had the disease and older dogs which have not, sending kits to their owners to take saliva samples for DNA comparison, or checking blood samples taken by vets.

Arabella Baird, from Liverpool university's veterinary department and a member of its musculoskeletal research group, said: "If we can identify the genes that are involved in this debilitating condition, we can help develop a test to detect it early on. This information will be significant in influencing breeding strategies to reduce the risk of the disease being passed on down the generations.

"This condition is also common in humans, particularly athletes, so if we can identify the genes in dogs, we may also be closer to identifying them in humans."

Baird added: "The disease in humans tends to occur when stress is put on the ligament, but there have been some preliminary findings that suggest there is a genetic component that could predispose humans to the condition.

"Research also shows that females are more predisposed to the disease than their male counterparts, although more study is needed to understand if genetics or hormones play a part in this. Our project will be looking at many genes and the results of our study in dogs will be comparative to the human medical field."

Cruciate ligament disease was one of many rheumatology/orthopaedic conditions that occurred in dogs and which could exist in an identical or similar form in humans, said Baird.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 18 May 2010 | 6:52 am

Car control systems 'vulnerable'

The computer systems used to control modern cars are "fragile" and very vulnerable to attack, say experts.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 May 2010 | 6:40 am

Spaceman

Solar sailing: Here's the shipping forecast for space
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 May 2010 | 5:38 am