Fwd: Science X Newsletter Thursday, Apr 9

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'World first' for extreme premature baby dialysis in Poland

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From: Newsletter Phys.org <not-for-reply@physorg.com>
Date: Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 3:33 AM
Subject: Science X Newsletter Thursday, Apr 9
To: Pascal Alter <pascal.alter@gmail.com>

Multiphysics Simulation for Everyone

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Dear Pascal Alter,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for April 9, 2015:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Physicists show 'quantum freezing phenomenon' is universal
- Panama debate fueled by zircon dating: Americas connected earlier than thought
- Whole-genome sequencing of endangered mountain gorillas
- Researchers deliver large particles into cells at high speed
- Flip-flopping black holes spin to the end of the dance
- Chemists create tiny gold nanoparticles that reflect nature's patterns
- For ultra-cold neutrino experiment, a successful demonstration
- Our Sun came late to the Milky Way's star-birth party
- Automated captioning system processes hundreds of video-hours per day
- How the brain balances risk-taking and learning
- New understanding of electromagnetism could enable 'antennas on a chip'
- Measurement of first ionization potential of lawrencium reignites debate over periodic table
- Review: New MacBook brings iPad's minimalism to laptop
- In the sea, a deadly form of leukemia is catching
- Researchers pluck hair to grow hair

Nanotechnology news

	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers deliver large particles into cells at high speed A new device developed by UCLA engineers and doctors may eventually help scientists study the development of disease, enable them to capture improved images of the inside of cells and lead to other improvements in medical and biological research.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Chemists create tiny gold nanoparticles that reflect nature's patterns Our world is full of patterns, from the twist of a DNA molecule to the spiral of the Milky Way. New research from Carnegie Mellon chemists has revealed that tiny, synthetic gold nanoparticles exhibit some of nature's most intricate patterns.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	New kind of smart-glass changes color and produces electricity (Phys.org)—A team of researchers working at the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a type of smart-glass that not only changes color, but creates electricity. They have published a description of their work and the glass they have produced and some ideas on what the new kind of glass might be used for in their paper published in ACS Nano.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Engineers now understand how complex carbon nanostructures form Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are microscopic tubular structures that engineers "grow" through a process conducted in a high-temperature furnace. The forces that create the CNT structures known as "forests" often are unpredictable and are mostly left to chance. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has developed a way to predict how these complicated structures are formed. By understanding how CNT arrays are created, designers and engineers can better incorporate the highly adaptable material into devices and products such as baseball bats, aerospace wiring, combat body armor, computer logic components and micro sensors used in biomedical applications.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Nanopillar fabrication to lead to more efficient electronics A University of Texas at Arlington engineering researcher will build nanoscale pillars that will lead to more energy-efficient transistors in electronic devices and gadgets.

Physics news

	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Physicists show 'quantum freezing phenomenon' is universal (Phys.org)—Physicists who work on quantum technologies are always looking for ways to manage decoherence, which occurs when a quantum system unavoidably interacts with the surrounding environment. In the past few years, scientists have discovered that some quantum correlations can be "frozen" in a constant state and remain that way in the presence of noise, potentially offering a protective mechanism against decoherence. So far, however, quantum freezing has been shown to exist only on a case-by-case basis and under certain conditions, and its potential protective effect has not been fully exploited.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	New understanding of electromagnetism could enable 'antennas on a chip' A team of researchers from the University of Cambridge have unravelled one of the mysteries of electromagnetism, which could enable the design of antennas small enough to be integrated into an electronic chip. These ultra-small antennas - the so-called 'last frontier' of semiconductor design - would be a massive leap forward for wireless communications.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Measurement of first ionization potential of lawrencium reignites debate over periodic table (Phys.org)—A team of researchers with member affiliations from across the globe has succeeded in conducting a measurement of the first ionization potential of lawrencium. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the team describes how they achieved the feat and what they believe it means for placement on the Periodic Table of Elements. Andreas Türler of the University of Bern offers a News & Views perspective piece on the work done by the team in the same issue.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	For ultra-cold neutrino experiment, a successful demonstration Today an international team of nuclear physicists announced the first scientific results from the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) experiment. CUORE, located at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratories in Italy, is designed to confirm the existence of the Majorana neutrino, which scientists believe could hold the key to why there is an abundance of matter over antimatter. Or put another way: why we exist in this universe.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Quantum interference links the fate of two atoms For the first time, physicists from the CNRS and Université Paris-Sud at the Laboratoire Charles Fabry (CNRS/Institut d'Optique Graduate School) have achieved interference between two separate atoms: when sent towards the opposite sides of a semi-transparent mirror, the two atoms always emerge together. This type of experiment, which was carried out with photons around thirty years ago, had so far been impossible to perform with matter, due to the extreme difficulty of creating and manipulating pairs of indistinguishable atoms. The work is published in the journal Nature dated 2 April 2015.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Cloud of quantum particles can have several temperatures at once Temperature is a very useful physical quantity. It allows us to make a simple statistical statement about the energy of particles swirling around on complicated paths without having to know the specific details of the system. Scientists from the Vienna University of Technology together with colleagues from Heidelberg University have now investigated, how quantum particles reach such a state where statistical statements are possible. The result is surprising: a cloud of atoms can have several temperatures at once. This is an important step towards a deeper understanding of large quantum systems and their exotic properties.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	First NSLS-II X-ray images hint at science to come In another "first" at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, a group working at the Hard X-Ray Nanoprobe has taken the facility's inaugural x-ray images. Their striking renderings of a monarch butterfly specimen demonstrate the synchrotron's ability to generate extremely detailed images and foretell a future of exciting research.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Digging into the "giant resonance", scientists find hints of new quantum physics A cooperation between theoretical and experimental physicists has uncovered previously unknown quantum states inside atoms. The results, described in a paper published today in the journal Nature Communications, allow a better understanding of some aspects of electron behaviour in atoms, which in turn could lead to better insights into technologically relevant materials.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Virtual parachute offers better design, deployment and accident diagnoses Stony Brook University researchers are developing a computational platform to mimic the complex "Inflation Dynamics" behavior a parachute's canopy undergoes as it travels through an airflow to help improve designs.

Earth news

	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Panama debate fueled by zircon dating: Americas connected earlier than thought New evidence published in Science by Smithsonian geologists dates the closure of an ancient seaway at 13 to 15 million years ago and challenges accepted theories about the rise of the Isthmus of Panama and its impact on world climate and animal migrations.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Increased levels of radon in Pennsylvania homes correspond to onset of fracking Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers say that levels of radon in Pennsylvania homes - where 42 percent of readings surpass what the U.S. government considers safe - have been on the rise since 2004, around the time that the fracking industry began drilling natural gas wells in the state.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Fungi thrived in flooded Colorado homes months after waters receded Basements that flooded after heavy rains deluged the Colorado Front Range in September 2013 had higher levels of airborne mold and other fungi months after the waters receded compared with basements that didn't flood, according to a study by the University of Colorado Boulder.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Dispersant used to clean Deepwater Horizon spill more toxic to corals than the oil, study suggests The dispersant used to remediate the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is more toxic to cold-water corals than the spilled oil, according to a study conducted at Temple University. The study comes on the eve of the spill's fifth anniversary, April 20th.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Greatest mass extinction driven by acidic oceans, study finds Changes to the Earth's oceans, caused by extreme volcanic activity, triggered the greatest extinction of all time, a study suggests.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	'Warm blob' in Pacific Ocean linked to weird weather across the US The one common element in recent weather has been oddness. The West Coast has been warm and parched; the East Coast has been cold and snowed under. Fish are swimming into new waters, and hungry seals are washing up on California beaches.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Japan to pledge 20% greenhouse gas cut Japan will promise to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 2013 levels ahead of a global summit on climate change this year, a report said Thursday, despite uncertainty over post-Fukushima energy policy.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Scientists seek source of giant methane mass over Southwest Scientists are working to pinpoint the source of a giant mass of methane hanging over the southwestern U.S., which a study found to be the country's largest concentration of the greenhouse gas.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Ocean 'dead zones' a growing disaster for fish Falling ocean oxygen levels due to rising temperatures and influence from human activities such as agrochemical use is an increasingly widespread problem. Considering that the sea floors have taken more than 1,000 years to recover from past eras of low oxygen, according to a recent University of California study, this is a serious problem.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	System to rate the scarcity of important metals aims to keep shortage at bay Store cupboards usually contain the basics – canned tomatoes, soup, dry goods – but rarely the more exotic additions required in small amounts to make a dish sing. In the same way, a growing shortage of some of the rare elements needed for high-tech electronics and environmental technologies is causing manufacturers and governments to panic, with sporadic shortages leading to price spikes in some metals over the last decade.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers track the toxicity of Lake Erie cyanobacterial blooms Efforts to reduce the amount of phosphorus and other nutrients washing off farm fields and into Lake Erie shifted into overdrive after high levels of a bacterial toxin shut down the drinking water supply to more than 400,000 Toledo-area residents last August.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Road salt guidelines need review to protect food chain in lakes, study finds Salt used for winter road maintenance in Canada could wipe out water flea populations that keep our lakes clear of algae and feed the fish, a recent York University study has revealed.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Ferromanganese crusts record past climates The onset of northern hemispheric glaciation cycles three million years ago has dramatically changed Arctic climate. Scientists of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany have now for the first time reconstructed the history of Arctic climate based on records archived in ferromanganese crusts. The study, a collaboration with the United States Geological Survey and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, has now been published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	The TRMM rainfall mission comes to an end after 17 years In 1997 when the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, or TRMM, was launched, its mission was scheduled to last just a few years. Now, 17 years later, the TRMM mission has come to an end. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) stopped TRMM's science operations and data collection on April 8 after the spacecraft depleted its fuel reserves.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Officials in south China cancel incinerator after protests A city government in southern China has revoked approval of a planned waste incinerator in response to protests, in the latest case of local authorities bowing to a public outcry over health concerns.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	India's Adani dismisses banks' Australia coal project snub India's Adani Group on Thursday brushed aside a decision by three leading French banks not to fund huge coal industry projects in Australia's Galilee Basin near the Great Barrier Reef, saying it had "no bearing" on the company.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Image: Sea ice off Antarctica's Princess Astrid Coast On April 5, 2015, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite acquired this natural-color image of sea ice off the coast of East Antarctica's Princess Astrid Coast.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researcher says forecasting pollution can be difficult and complicated Dr Helen Dacre, a lecturer from the University's Department of Meteorology provides expert opinion on the high levels of pollution forecast for Friday 10th April.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	NOAA to explore depths of Caribbean Sea Beginning April 10, scientists aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer will begin a series of 20 dives to investigate previously unseen depths of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean – and the public can follow along online.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	More food, low pollution effort gains traction Nitrogen fertilizers make it possible to feed more people in the world than ever before. However, too much of it can also harm the environment. Professor Eric Davidson, director of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Appalachian Laboratory, has been leading a group of scientists, economists, social scientists, and agriculture experts in figuring out how to produce more food while lowering pollution at the same time. He calls it a "Mo Fo Lo Po": more food, low pollution.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Small-scale cloud processes improve projections EMSL – the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory – is a national scientific user facility that seeks science solutions for energy and environmental challenges at the molecular level. Located at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and sponsored by the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science, the EMSL supports both open and proprietary research, working with nearly 800 scientists from academia, government labs, and industry and from nearly all 50 states and other countries each year to advance their research. EMSL has in-house tools or researchers can design and build their own specialized instruments. Researchers use EMSL's newest high-performance supercomputer, Cascade, for studies on everything from aerosols impacts to water purification.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Joalane's winds consolidate around its eye The RapidScat instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station (ISS) provided data about Tropical Cyclone Joalane's surface winds that showed how the strongest sustained winds consolidated as the tropical cyclone intensified and developed an eye. As of April 9, warnings were in effect at Rodrigues Island in the Southern Indian Ocean as Joalane approached.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	NASA image: Fires in Western Australia April 2015 Bushfires are inevitable in the fire-prone landscapes of Western Australia. Long dry summers, vegetation and undergrowth, and ignition from lightning or human causes mean that bushfires can and do occur every summer.

Astronomy & Space news

	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Flip-flopping black holes spin to the end of the dance When black holes tango, one massive partner spins head over heels (or in this case heels over head) until the merger is complete, said researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology in a paper published in Physical Review Letters.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Our Sun came late to the Milky Way's star-birth party In one of the most comprehensive multi-observatory galaxy surveys yet, astronomers find that galaxies like our Milky Way underwent a stellar "baby boom," churning out stars at a prodigious rate, about 30 times faster than today.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	NASA: We'll find alien life in 10 to 20 years Are we alone in the universe? Top NASA scientists say the answer is almost certainly "no."
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Archaeology of a million stars to unravel galaxies' evolution Archaeology is no longer earthbound but is being used to solve one of the fundamental mysteries of astronomy.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Heart of the black auroras revealed by Cluster Most people have heard of auroras - more commonly known as the Northern and Southern Lights - but, except on rare occasions, such as the recent widespread apparition on 17 March, they are not usually visible outside the polar regions. Less familiar are phenomena known as black auroras, dark patches which often subdivide the glowing curtains of red and green light.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Scientists building next-generation dark energy probe University of Michigan scientists and students will build components of a giant camera that will map 30 million galaxies' worth of the universe in three dimensions.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	New data shows cosmic rays are more complex than expected During the American Physical Society's 2015 April Meeting, to be held April 11-14 in Baltimore, Maryland, Eun Joo Ahn from Fermilab will present data from the most extensive study yet on the composition of cosmic rays—an 8-year-long project carried out at the Argentina-based Pierre Auger Observatory. Their results show that cosmic rays are more complex than previously thought: instead of being made up solely of very light particles (like protons) or very heavy ones (like iron), the data suggest that midweight particles like helium and nitrogen are significant components of cosmic rays.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Study finds small solar eruptions can have profound effects on unprotected planets While no one yet knows what's needed to build a habitable planet, it's clear that the interplay between the sun and Earth is crucial for making our planet livable - a balance between a sun that provides energy and a planet that can protect itself from the harshest solar emissions. Our sun steadily emits light, energy and a constant flow of particles called the solar wind that bathes the planets as it travels out into space. Larger eruptions of solar material, called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, occur too, which can disrupt the atmosphere around a planet. On Earth, some of the impact of these CMEs is deflected by a natural magnetic bubble called the magnetosphere.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Final solar wing deployment test for Sentinel-2A Once in space, Sentinel-2A will open its solar wing to generate the power it needs to carry out the task of monitoring Earth's vegetation. Engineers have recently made sure this move is well rehearsed before the satellite is packed up and shipped to the launch site.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Building to begin on Solar Probe Plus spacecraft NASA's Solar Probe Plus mission—which will fly closer to the sun than any spacecraft has before—reached a major milestone last month when it successfully completed its Critical Design Review, or CDR.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	The origin of the Moon and its composition The Moon is thought to have formed from the debris of a small planet that collided with the Earth. Since the composition of other planets in the solar system differs from that of the Earth, it was expected that the Moon's composition would also differ from that of the Earth. Surprisingly, the composition of the Earth and the Moon are very similar (no, the Moon is not made out of cheese), raising a major challenge to the "giant impact" origin of the Moon. A new study by researchers from the Technion and Nice University explains the origin of such compositional similarity and helps solve this conundrum

Technology news

	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Automated captioning system processes hundreds of video-hours per day In 2008, four students at the MIT Sloan School of Management developed a system for captioning online video that was far more efficient than traditional methods, which involve pausing a video frequently to write text and mark time codes.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Hey, watch where you're flicking. That's a computer Michigan Micro Mote (M3) is the world's smallest computer. How small? It's about the size of a grain of rice. A University of Michigan's March report can tell you that the team behind the computer have come up with a fully autonomous system that can act as a smart sensing system. "To be 'complete,' a computer system must have an input of data, the ability to process that data - meaning process and store it, make decisions about what to do next – and ultimately, the ability to output the data," said David Blaauw, one of the faculty members who achieved the Michigan Micro Mote.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Tesla Model S 70D introduced at starting price of $75k Tesla Motors has made itself quite famous in car engineering. Talking about its S line, the site said that "Tesla's advanced electric powertrain delivers exhilarating performance. Unlike a gasoline internal combustion engine with hundreds of moving parts, Tesla electric motors have only one moving piece: the rotor. As a result, Model S acceleration is instantaneous, silent and smooth." Now Tesla has launched the new base Model S 70D with a price tag starting at $75,000, and is taking orders with deliveries starting next month. It is "entry-level" but the price suggests it is for consumers able to dabble in luxury-market cars. Nonetheless, in a story about the launch by Lee Hutchinson, senior reviews editor, Ars Technica, a spokesperson from Tesla was quoted:" When you factor in incentives and gasoline savings, Model S 70D becomes competitive with $55,000 cars like the Mercedes E class and BMW 5 series. The small cost increase in o! ur base price adds huge value increase."
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers investigate how conflicting interests threaten to negatively impact the Bitcoin ecosystem Bitcoin, a peer-to peer online payment system that was conceived in 2008, has experienced considerable growth in popularity and has increasingly been adopted as a viable payment scheme in mainstream electronic commerce. However, according to researchers, the decentralized and quasi-anonymous nature of Bitcoin renders it vulnerable to self-interested parties that seek to exploit the system.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Versatile Extra-Sensory Transducer device helps deaf feel, understand speech A vest that allows the profoundly deaf to "feel" and understand speech is under development by engineering students and their mentors at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Review: New MacBook brings iPad's minimalism to laptop From the moment I took it out of the box, Apple's new MacBook looked and felt like an iPad.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	IBM peers into Numenta machine intelligence approach Are we nowhere near the limits to which machines can make sense out of raw data? Some scientists would say that today's programmed computers cannot match a computer approach using biological learning principles for next steps in achieving machine intelligence. Enter Numenta. The premise of Numenta is that the brain is the best example of an intelligent system and provides a roadmap for building intelligent machines. The "machine intelligence" company is in the business of promoting its computational framework based on principles of the brain along with a software suite. They said "an extensive licensing strategy will enable this technology to be embedded within many different applications."
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Early Apple Watch reviews are mixed The best wearable gadget available, but it still has a long way to go. That's the gist of early reviews for the Apple Watch, which goes on sale April 24.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	More deals ahead? China fund buys Silicon Valley chip maker China's aggressive new policy to expand its semiconductor industry is worrying U.S. chipmakers, many of which are based in Silicon Valley, and raising potential national security concerns as it begins to acquire U.S. tech companies.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Smartphones boost US teens' connections It's not just your imagination: most American teenagers are online or on their smartphones every day, and many are almost continually connected.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Ex-Satyam chief gets seven years for 'India's Enron' (Update) An Indian court on Thursday sentenced the former chief of outsourcing giant Satyam to seven years in jail over a $2.25 billion accounting fraud scandal dubbed "India's Enron".
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Baltimore police often surveil cellphones amid US secrecy The Baltimore Police Department has an agreement with the U.S. government to withhold certain information about secretive cellphone surveillance technology from the public and even the courts, according to a confidential agreement obtained by The Associated Press. On Wednesday, the department disclosed it has used the technology thousands of times since 2007.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Samsung hopes to reverse dimming fortunes with Galaxy S6 When Samsung dubbed development of its latest smartphones "Project Zero," it was sounding a note of desperation as sales tumbled and it lost pole position in the crucial Chinese market to rivals Xiaomi and Apple.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Apple Watch isn't the only gadget out this week The public will have its first chance to see, touch and buy the Apple Watch on Friday, as Apple stores in the U.S. and eight markets abroad start previews and online orders commence.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Cybercrime fighting group takes down Beebone botnet A new group of international cybercrime fighters claimed one of its first kills Thursday, pulling the plug on malicious servers that hijacked at least 12,000 machines, most of them in the United States.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Research team develops 'smart' window Commonplace as they are, windows are an important piece of technology. Beyond architectural aesthetics, a building's ecological footprint depends heavily on how its internal light and heat are managed. With this in mind, researchers from around the world are trying to make windows "smarter" by tailoring their properties to be more responsive and finely tuned to changing needs.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Lighted clothing that flashes to beat of music will hit runway These clothes soon may be all the rave: Fiber science and physics students have teamed to create fashionable "smart" garments with vivid, luminescent panels that pulse to music.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Teaching language and cross-cultural communication with avatars and robots Communication skills are critical in a global economy.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Future privacy technologies protect personal data better In Estonia, the public and private sector have databases the merging and analysis of which could help the state and enterprises make better management decisions. However, such consolidation of data would be a serious threat to privacy and violate data protection rules.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	DARPA seeks to create software systems that could last 100 years As modern software systems continue inexorably to increase in complexity and capability, users have become accustomed to periodic cycles of updating and upgrading to avoid obsolescence—if at some cost in terms of frustration. In the case of the U.S. military, having access to well-functioning software systems and underlying content is critical to national security, but updates are no less problematic than among civilian users and often demand considerable time and expense. That is why today DARPA announced it will launch an ambitious four-year research project to investigate the fundamental computational and algorithmic requirements necessary for software systems and data to remain robust and functional in excess of 100 years.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	LinkedIn buys education site lynda.com for $1.5 bn The career social network LinkedIn said Thursday it was buying the online learning site lynda.com in a cash-stock deal valued at $1.5 billion.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Your guide to trying on, ordering Apple Watch Buying an Apple Watch won't be as simple as walking into an Apple store and handing over your credit card.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Apple Watch options: 54 combinations of case, band, size Apple Watch comes with a choice of watch case, band and size—there are 54 possible configurations in all.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	GM to suspend Volt production for four weeks this summer General Motors will stop making the Chevrolet Volt for four weeks in June and July due to slow sales and to deal with the change to an all-new version of the gas-electric hybrid car.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Energy Department to spend $200 million on new supercomputer The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that it will give Argonne National Laboratory $200 million to make the Chicago-area home to a high-performance supercomputer that is five to seven times faster than current top supercomputers.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	New .sucks domain stirs up storm over free speech The new Internet domain .sucks has stirred up a firestorm over free online speech and the potential for extortion against companies and individuals.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Twitter faces Google buyout rumors once again Google is interested in Twitter. Supposedly. The real deal this time? Or just another rumor?
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	French network's broadcasts hacked by group claiming IS ties (Update) Hackers claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group simultaneously blacked out 11 channels of a French global TV network and took over its website and social media accounts on Thursday, in what appeared to be the most ambitious media attack so far by the extremist group.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Lawmakers visit Yucca Mountain, consider nuke waste dumping (Update) Several members of Congress are heading to the mothballed site of a proposed radioactive waste dump in the Nevada desert amid new talk about a decades-old problem—where to dispose of spent nuclear fuel stored at commercial reactors around the U.S.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Awesome! 'Lego Dimensions' combining bricks and franchises The creators of the "Lego" video games are building their own rendition of a toys-to-life franchise.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Widespread use of electric vehicles to help improve the environment in the Philippines Fujitsu Limited and Global Mobility Service, Inc. (GMS), a venture company providing mobility services, today announced that they will commence field testing to expand services in the Republic of the Philippines so as to increase the prevalence of electric tricycles (a three-wheel taxi) that use ICT.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Produce more flexibly with the Industry Cockpit Customers expect products to be tailored to their needs. And not only that: they want to influence the way the product is manufactured as well. As a result, very flexible manufacturing and administrative processes are necessary. This is an enormous challenge for companies – because most processes are quite rigid. Now, with the help of the Industry Cockpit, production has become more variable. Fraunhofer researchers will be presenting it at the Hannover Trade Fair from April 13th to 17th (Hall 17, Booth F14).
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Austrian court closes jurisdiction hearing on Facebook suit An Austrian court asked to hear a class-action suit brought against Facebook alleging invasion of privacy has closed further sessions to the public as it weighs whether it has jurisdiction in the case.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	French TV hack 'a step up' in cyberjihadism The "unprecedented" cyber-attack on French television channel TV5Monde represents a major "step up" in the Internet warfare being waged by highly specialised jihadist hackers, experts said Thursday.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Zynga founder's return as CEO drags down game maker's stock The return of Zynga founder Mark Pincus as the digital game maker's CEO is bringing back bad memories about the problems that prompted him to step down as the company's leader nearly two years ago.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	PC sales declined—again—in first quarter Weak demand for desktop computers caused PC sales to plunge again in the first quarter of this year, reflecting the industry's ongoing struggles with the shift to smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets.

Chemistry news

	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Detecting lysosomal pH with fluorescent probes Lysosomes are the garbage disposals of animal cells. As the resources are limited in cells, organic materials are broken down and recycled a lot—and that's what lysosomes do. Detecting problems with lysosomes is the focus of a new set of fluorescent probes developed by researchers at Michigan Technological University. The Royal Society of Chemistry published their work in January.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Breakthrough finds molecules that block previously 'undruggable' protein tied to cancer A team of scientists at the University of Kansas has pinpointed six chemical compounds that thwart HuR, an "oncoprotein" that binds to RNA and promotes tumor growth.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Company developing commercial tech to convert heat to electricity NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, has licensed patents on high-temperature thermoelectric materials to Evident Technologies, Troy, New York, which provides these kinds of materials and related power systems.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers achieve enzyme-catalyzed Diels-Alder reaction A computational study carried out at Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) focused on the mechanistic pathway of the SpnF-catalyzed cycloaddition reaction leading to Spinosyn A – tetracyclic natural insecticide produced by the cells of the bacterium Saccharopolyspora spinosa. Computational modeling revealed energetically balanced reaction coordinate of the studied process and highlighted new possibilities for enzymatic catalysis of cycloaddition reactions. The study was published in PLOS ONE journal.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers create a 'living kidney membrane' Researchers at the MIRA research institute of the University of Twente and the Radboudumc have created a 'living membrane' combining kidney epithelial cells with a polymeric artificial membrane. This achievement is a first but significant step towards development a new treatment for kidney patients. This research, which started within the BMM - BioKid project (2009-2014), it is currently continued within the EU Marie Curie ITN project 'Bioart'. The aim is achieving improved dialysis techniques and possibly leading to development of a portable kidney, or even an implantable artificial kidney. This collaborative research, of the groups of Prof. Dr. D. Stamatialis in MIRA and Dr R. Masereeuw at Radboudumc, has been published in the scientific journal Acta Biomaterialia.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Synthetic muscle ready for launch to Space Station Lenore Rasmussen's dream of developing a synthetic muscle that could be used to make better prosthetic limbs and more responsive robots will literally become airborne on April 13 at 4:33 p.m. when her experiment will rocket off to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Scientists tackle our addiction to salt and fat by altering foods' pore size, number Two University of Illinois food scientists have learned that understanding and manipulating porosity during food manufacturing can affect a food's health benefits.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Video: How can you see an atom? Since ancient Greek times, philosophers and scientists have pondered the atom. For a couple thousand years, humans could only speculate on the structure and other properties of the smallest unit of matter. It wasn't until the 1980s that chemists saw individual atoms.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers convert ethane to ethanol with an efficiency that could cut natural-gas refining costs The Molecular Foundry is a national user facility, one of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) nanoscale science research centers. It is located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and supported by the DOE's Office of Basic Energy Sciences. The Molecular Foundry serves hundreds of academic, industrial and government scientists from around the world each year who come to the Foundry to perform multidisciplinary research beyond the scope of their own laboratories and to develop science and technology strategies in energy, electronics, materials science, and biology. The world-class scientists at the Molecular Foundry have expertise across the state-of-the-art, unique instrumentation in a broad range of disciplines.

Biology news

	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Whole-genome sequencing of endangered mountain gorillas The first project to sequence whole genomes from mountain gorillas has given scientists and conservationists new insight into the impact of population decline on these critically endangered apes. While mountain gorillas are extensively inbred and at risk of extinction, research published today in Science finds more to be optimistic about in their genomes than expected.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers find hormone receptor that allows mosquitoes to reproduce University of Georgia entomologists have unlocked one of the hormonal mechanisms that allow mosquitoes to produce eggs.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Ocean myth busted: 'Toddler' sea turtles are very active swimmers It turns out sea turtles, even at a tender 6-18 months of age, are very active swimmers. They don't just passively drift in ocean currents as researchers once thought. NOAA and University of Central Florida researchers say it's an important new clue in the sea turtle "lost years" mystery. Where exactly turtles travel in their first years of life, before returning to coastal areas as adults to forage and reproduce, has puzzled scientists for decades.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Hormones that guide root growth rates revealed A plant's roots grow and spread into the soil, taking up necessary water and minerals. The tip of a plant's root is a place of active cell division followed by cell elongation, with different zones dedicated to different functions, all working together to expand into new depths of the soil. Achieving an optimal root growth rate is critical for plant survival under drought conditions, as well as for maximizing resource allocation to the important plant parts such as the fruits and seeds. This is why root-expansion mechanisms are of great interest to scientists and to those interested in improving agricultural yields.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	In the sea, a deadly form of leukemia is catching Outbreaks of leukemia that have devastated some populations of soft-shell clams along the east coast of North America for decades can be explained by the spread of cancerous tumor cells from one clam to another. Researchers call the discovery, reported in the Cell Press journal Cell on April 9, 2015, "beyond surprising."
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Microbes help produce serotonin in gut Although serotonin is well known as a brain neurotransmitter, it is estimated that 90 percent of the body's serotonin is made in the digestive tract. In fact, altered levels of this peripheral serotonin have been linked to diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. New research at Caltech, published in the April 9 issue of the journal Cell, shows that certain bacteria in the gut are important for the production of peripheral serotonin.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers show animals can adapt to increasingly frequent cold snaps As worldwide temperatures rise and the earth sees extreme weather conditions in both summer and winter, a team of researchers with the University of Florida and Kansas State University have found that that there is potential for insects – and possibly other animals – to acclimate and rapidly evolve in the face of this current climate change.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Fast new approach to formulating pest-killing fungi on tap Technological advances by Agricultural Research Service scientists are continuing to improve the way beneficial fungi are formulated for use as biopesticides.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Iconic boab trees trace journeys of ancient Aboriginal people Baobabs, the iconic bottle trees of Africa and Madagascar, have a single relative, the boab, living in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia. No one knows when and how the boab came across from Africa to Australia, or why its natural range is limited to this region.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	The cutting-edge science taking on some of the world's most notorious parasitic plants Thousands of plant species have adopted a "parasitic" mode of life, living off a host plant which supplies it with water and nutrients. Most of these remain harmless, but a few have evolved to become serious agricultural weeds that threaten food security in some of the world's poorest regions.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Mapping the future of Rottnest's furry friends We all know Rottnest Island's iconic quokkas (Setonix brachyurus) love eating treats from tourists and poking around inside public buildings but local researchers have identified plant species on the island that the quokkas need for food and shelter.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Research shows blood cells generate neurons in crayfish A new study by Barbara Beltz, the Allene Lummis Russell Professor of Neuroscience at Wellesley College, and Irene Söderhäll of Uppsala University, Sweden, published in the August 11 issue of the journal Developmental Cell, demonstrates that the immune system can produce cells with stem cell properties, using crayfish as a model system. These cells can, in turn, create neurons in the adult animal. The flexibility of immune cells in producing neurons in adult animals raises the possibility of the presence of similar types of plasticity in other animals.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Lights tuned to birds' eyes may help reduce bird-aircraft collisions Collisions with birds are one of the most common hazards to aircraft, causing $700 million in damage annually in the U.S. A study published this week in The Condor: Ornithological Applications may have important implications for reducing bird strikes through the customization of aircraft and runway lights to birds' visual systems. Megan Doppler and Esteban Fernández-Juricic of Purdue University and Bradley Blackwell and Travis DeVault of the National Wildlife Research Center's Ohio Field Station conducted experiments involving captive cowbirds and remote-controlled aircraft to test how the birds reacted to a variety of lights.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	A revealing new look at the secretive black tinamou After decades in ornithological obscurity, one of the world's least-known birds is finally coming to light thanks to the persistence of a small group of researchers. Pablo Negret, Oscar Garzón, Pablo Stevenson, and Oscar Laverde-R. of the Universidad de los Andes have just published the results of their year-long study of the Black Tinamou (Tinamus osgoodi hershkovitzi) in The Auk: Ornithological Advances, including new ecological information as well as some of the first video and sound recordings of this elusive species.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Every dogwood has its day: Dogwood Genome Project calls on citizen scientists for help The flowering dogwood tree is associated with the beginning of spring throughout much of the U.S. Now, thanks in part to a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation, a group of researchers from universities across the Southeast have joined forces to understand the genetics of this iconic tree.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Dynamic dead zones alter fish catches in Lake Erie New research shows that Lake Erie's dead zones are actually quite active, greatly affecting fish distributions, catch rates and the effectiveness of fishing gear.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	First report of a new crop virus in North America The switchgrass exhibited mosaic symptoms—splotchy, discolored leaves—characteristic of a viral infection, yet tested negative for known infections. Deep sequencing, a new technology, revealed the plants were infected with a new virus in the genus mastrevirus, the first of its kind found in North America.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Shark attacks are so unlikely, but so fascinating Sharks are incredibly unlikely to bite you. They're even less likely to kill you. However, we remain fascinated with their ability – and occasional proclivity – to do just that. With so many things more likely to harm us, why do we pay such rapt attention when sharks make headlines?

Medicine & Health news

	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	How the brain balances risk-taking and learning If you had 10 chances to roll a die, would you rather be guaranteed to receive $5 for every roll ($50 total) or take the risk of winning $100 if you only roll a six?
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Depolarizing wave may trigger sudden death in epilepsy A slow, depolarizing electrical wave – sometimes called a "brain tsunami" – may be the hidden cause of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, a disorder that kills as many as 4,000 people in the United States each year, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Study deciphers the noise in the human brain By directly recording electrical activity from the human brain, neuroscientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that distinct, distant groups of brain areas that support memory retrieval act in concert, even during sleep.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Amniotic stem cells demonstrate healing potential Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital scientists are using stem cells from amniotic fluid to promote the growth of robust, functional blood vessels in healing hydrogels.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Fluorescent dye undergoing trials for pinpointing brain tumors (MedicalXpress)—A team of doctors and researchers at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles is taking a new dye into medical trials to see if it might help make for a better outcome for patients undergoing brain surgery to have a tumor removed—the dye is meant to highlight the tumor making it easier to differentiate between tumor and brain tissue.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Amygdala encodes 'cooties' and 'crushes' in the developing brain Scientists have found a signal in the brain that reflects young children's aversion to members of the opposite sex (the "cooties" effect) and also their growing interest in opposite-sex peers as they enter puberty. These two responses to members of the opposite sex are encoded in the amygdala, the researchers report.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Brain imaging explains reason for good and poor language outcomes in ASD toddlers Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers say it may be possible to predict future language development outcomes in toddlers with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), even before they've been formally diagnosed with the condition.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Touch-sensing neurons are multitaskers Two types of touch information—the feel of an object and the position of an animal's limb—have long been thought to flow into the brain via different channels and be integrated in sophisticated processing regions. Now, with help from a specially devised mechanical exoskeleton that positioned monkeys' hands in different postures, Johns Hopkins researchers have challenged that view. In a paper published in the April 22 issue of Neuron, they present evidence that the two types of information are integrated as soon as they reach the brain by sense-processing brain cells once thought to be incapable of such higher-order thought.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers pluck hair to grow hair If there's a cure for male pattern baldness, it might hurt a little. A team led by USC Stem Cell Principal Investigator Cheng-Ming Chuong has demonstrated that by plucking 200 hairs in a specific pattern and density, they can induce up to 1,200 replacement hairs to grow in a mouse. These results are published in the April 9 edition of the journal Cell.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Genetic screening could improve breast cancer prevention A test for a wide range of genetic risk factors could improve doctors' ability to work out which women are at increased risk of developing breast cancer, a major study of more than 65,000 women has shown.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	We may be looking at wrong mutation for breast cancer treatment A leading gene candidate that has been the target of breast cancer drug development may not be as promising as initially thought, according to research published in open access journal Genome Medicine.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	A downward trend for new cases of pediatric melanoma Melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer that has been increasing in incidence in adults over the past 40 years. Although pediatric melanoma is rare (5-6 children per million), most studies indicate that incidence has been increasing. In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers found that the incidence of pediatric melanoma in the United States actually has decreased from 2004-2010.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Study uncovers genetic diversity of pancreatic cancer A genetic analysis led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers suggests that most pancreatic cancers harbor genetic alterations that could be targeted by existing drugs, using their genetic features as a roadmap for treatment. The findings support a precision approach to treating pancreatic cancer, the fourth most deadly cancer for both men and women.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Japanese Ebola test gives results in 11 minutes: researcher A Japanese research team said Thursday it had developed a field test for Ebola that gives results in just over 11 minutes—down from the 90-minute test used now.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	How science and storytelling influence the debate over vaccines If there is a silver lining to the measles outbreaks in the U.S., it's that the risk of getting sick might lessen opposition to vaccines that protect against infectious diseases. Moving that pendulum will depend in part on how the public responds to news reports and personal stories about the illness, said Michael Dahlstrom, an associate professor of journalism at Iowa State University.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Independent review shows program helps children with disabilities Parents of children with developmental disabilities can take heart from new research which shows that a University of Queensland program can reduce serious emotional and behavioural problems.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	This is your brain on whisky Inspiration came to engineering professor Mike Noseworthy while listening to the radio.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	No evidence to change current transfusion practices for adults undergoing complex cardiac surgery A National Institutes of Health-funded study found no statistical difference in the primary clinical measure—which assessed changes in function of six organs from before to seven days after surgery—between complex cardiac surgery patients receiving transfusions of red blood cell units stored for short (up to 10 days) versus long (21 or more days) periods. These findings indicate there is no need to alter how hospitals currently transfuse blood in adults going through complex cardiac surgical procedures.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers study new treatment for prostate cancer Scientists at the University of York have discovered a potential new treatment for prostate cancer using low temperature plasmas (LTPs).
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Making gene therapy safer Scientists at EPFL have demonstrated a new method that can be used to greatly improve the safety and efficiency of gene therapy using the patient's own stem cells.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Biostatistician helps FDA approve first biosimilar drug Bernard "Chip" Cole got the call in late December. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration summoned the University of Vermont biostatistician for another mission. Since 2013, Cole has sat on an important FDA panel that assesses applications for new cancer medications and makes recommendations to the federal agency.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Wearable device slows deadly brain tumors, clinical trial finds A wearable device that emits low-level electrical fields can slow the progression of glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer, and extend patients' lifespans, a major clinical trial at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and more than 80 other institutions has found.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	The power of public shaming, for good and for ill You may not have heard of Justine Sacco but she gained brief infamy online in 2013 when she sent one ill-considered Tweet that subsequently "blew up" her life, all in the time it took her to fly from London to South Africa. The onslaught of online fury cost her job, but this in many ways was only the beginning of the negative consequences of the event on Sacco's life.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	'World first' for extreme premature baby dialysis in Poland An extremely premature Polish infant weighing just 820 grammes (1.8 pounds) has become the world's smallest and youngest patient to escape death thanks to an artificial kidney, according to the doctor who oversaw the treatment.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Number of people sickened in listeria case grows The number of people sickened by a foodborne illness linked to some Blue Bell ice cream products has grown to include three others in Texas, according to federal health authorities.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Delicate magnolia scent activates human pheromone receptor The question if humans can communicate via pheromones in the same way as animals is under debate. Cell physiologists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have demonstrated that the odorous substance Hedione activates the putative pheromone receptor VN1R1, which occurs in the human olfactory epithelium. Together with colleagues from Dresden, the Bochum-based researchers showed that the scent of Hedione generates sex-specific activation patters in the brain, which do not occur with traditional fragrances.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Why some people hear colour, taste sounds Researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) have shed new light on synesthesia - the effect of hearing colours, seeing sounds and other cross-sensory phenomena.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Medical researchers tackle silent epidemic of fatty liver disease Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is now the most common form of liver disease in Canada and part of a larger liver-disease epidemic.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Students' device helps people take meds as prescribed Steven Graf '15 (BUS) couldn't stop thinking about what he had seen in Ghana after a May 2013 trip there with Global Brigades, a student organization that focuses on helping developing countries.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Drug regulations tied to fewer prescriptions of effective gout drug Well intentioned, but costly and potentially problematic. That's how researchers describe the end result of a decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate colchicine, a drug used to treat gout, among other ailments. Fewer patients are actually now taking it, and it has come at a cost to their wallets, says study leader Aaron Kesselheim of Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard Medical School in the US. The findings appear in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Low-cost incubator gently warms hypothermic infants Rice University students have built a unique incubator for hypothermic infants that can be flat-packed and shipped at minimal cost anywhere in the world.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Brain scan study shows clot-busting drug benefits stroke patients A drug that breaks up blood clots in the brains of stroke patients could be used more widely than at present without increased risk, a brain scan study suggests.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	A grateful heart is a healthier heart Recognizing and giving thanks for the positive aspects of life can result in improved mental, and ultimately physical, health in patients with asymptomatic heart failure, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Maternal and Child Health Handbook promotes antenatal care visits Every year, 300,000 pregnant women and 2,600,000 newborn babies are estimated to die worldwide, and more than 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries. Effective interventions to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality are critically needed, and an ongoing challenge for researchers and health professionals is finding the best way to deliver these interventions in resource-limited settings such as Mongolia. Antenatal visits can provide the first opportunity to deliver these interventions. Now, a new study has shown that Japan's flagship intervention, the Maternal and Child Health Handbook, helped to increase antenatal care visits, identify complications earlier in pregnancy and reduce passive smoking in Mongolia.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Epigenomic changes play an important role during the progression of melanoma KU Leuven researchers have zeroed in on what makes cancer cells in melanoma so aggressive. They also succeeded in taming the effect in cell cultures. Melanoma, a type of skin cancer, is notoriously quick to metastasize and responds poorly to existing cancer treatments. In their study, published in Nature Communications, the researchers report a significant step forward in the characterization and potential treatment of melanoma.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Improving the quality of medical care using computer understanding of human language How can computer-based analysis of free text—the narrative comments found in medical records and expressed in everyday language or technical terminology - help improve the quality of medical care?
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Children with neurological disorders need flu vaccine but don't always get it Children who have neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy or epilepsy are no more likely to be vaccinated against influenza than youngsters without these conditions, despite the increased risk for complications from flu these children experience. Moreover, health care providers may not be familiar with the increased risk among these patients to effectively recommend influenza vaccine.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	The benefits of storytelling in video games A wealth of studies have shown that violent video games contribute to antisocial and aggressive behavior. But what makes those games appealing in the first place? One possibility is that storytelling plays a role, particularly if it lets players engage in meaningful choices. A new study suggests that non-violent video games that capitalize on such storytelling have prosocial benefits that could ultimately be helpful to clinical disorders such as autism.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Axillary lymph node evaluation performed frequently in ductal carcinoma in situ Axillary lymph node evaluation is performed frequently in women with ductal carcinoma in situ breast cancer, despite recommendations generally against such an assessment procedure in women with localized cancer undergoing breast-conserving surgery, according to a study published online by JAMA Oncology.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	New evidence supports success of fecal transplants in treatment of Clostridium difficile infection Research published in the open access journal Microbiome offers new evidence for the success of fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) in treating severe Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), a growing problem worldwide that leads to thousands of fatalities every year.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Facial plastic surgery improves perception of femininity, personality, attractiveness Facial rejuvenation surgery may not only make you look younger, it may improve perceptions of you with regard to likeability, social skills, attractiveness and femininity, according to a report published online by JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Can facial plastic surgery make you more likeable? Facial plastic surgery may do more than make you look youthful. It could change—for the better—how people perceive you. The first study of its kind to examine perception after plastic surgery finds that women who have certain procedures are perceived as having greater social skills and are more likeable, attractive and feminine.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Team discovers mechanism responsible for tumor invasion in brain cancer A neuro-oncology research team at Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center, led by the Director Mark A. Israel, MD with first author Gilbert J. Rahme, PhD, recently identified the transcription factor Id4 as a suppressor of tumor cell invasion in glioblastoma. Their paper, "Id4 suppresses MMP2-mediated invasion of glioblastoma-derived cells by direct inactivation of Twist1 function," was recently published in Oncogene. A key finding was the mechanism by which Id4 silences matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2), determined to be inhibition of the protein Twist1 that is required for MMP2 expression.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Review highlights potential of cancer immunotherapy plus targeted therapy The prospect of combining genomically targeted therapies with drugs that free the immune system to attack cancer suggests "we are finally poised to deliver curative therapies to cancer patients," researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center note in a review in the April 9 edition of Cell.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researchers find new approach to treat drug-resistant HER2-positive breast cancer Resistance to therapy is a major problem in the cancer field. Even when a treatment initially works, the tumors often find ways around the therapy. Using human cell lines of the HER2-positive breast cancer subtype, researchers from the UNC School of Medicine and UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have detailed the surprising ways in which resistance manifests and how to defeat it before it happens.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Study revises theory of how PTEN, a critical tumor suppressor, shuts off growth signals The gene called PTEN is one of the most important of the body's natural tumor suppressors. When the gene is mutated or missing, as it is often observed to be in a host of cancers, growth signals affecting cells can get stuck in the "on" position, enabling cells to proliferate out of control.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Gene loss creates eating disorder-related behaviors in mice Building on their discovery of a gene linked to eating disorders in humans, a team of researchers at the University of Iowa has now shown that loss of the gene in mice leads to several behavioral abnormalities that resemble behaviors seen in people with anorexia nervosa.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	New Ebola study points to potential drug target Opening the door to potential treatments for the deadly Ebola virus, scientists have found that a protein made by the virus plays a role similar to that of a coat-check attendant.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Stem cell disease model clarifies bone cancer trigger Using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a team led by Mount Sinai researchers has gained new insight into genetic changes that may turn a well known anti-cancer signaling gene into a driver of risk for bone cancers, where the survival rate has not improved in 40 years despite treatment advances.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Signal variability and cognitive performance in the aging human brain As we age, the physical make up of our brains changes. This includes changes in neural processing in grey matter, but also in the deterioration of structural connections in the brain, which allow communication between distinct brain regions, so the brain is able to work as a well-wired network system.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	A mother's genes can influence the bacteria in her baby's gut Researchers at UC Davis have found that a gene, which is not active in some mothers, produces a breast milk sugar that influences the development of the community of gut bacteria in her infant. The sugars produced by these mothers, called "secretors," are not digested by the infant, but instead nourish specific bacteria that colonize the babies' guts soon after birth.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Dealing with death in deployment A new University of Utah study is the first to provide clear insight into contributors to suicide risk among military personnel and veterans who have deployed.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Choice of protein and carbohydrate-rich foods may have big effects on long-term weight gain Making small, consistent changes to the types of protein- and carbohydrate-rich foods we eat may have a big impact on long-term weight gain, according to a new study led by researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University. The results were published on-line this week in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Study finds likely genetic source of muscle weakness in six previously undiagnosed children Scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), using state-of-the-art genetic technology, have discovered the likely cause of a child's rare type of severe muscle weakness.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Early physical therapy for low back pain reduces costs, resources A study in the scientific journal BMC Health Services Research shows that early and guideline adherent physical therapy following an initial episode of acute, nonspecific low back pain (LBP) resulted in substantially lower costs and reduced use of health care resources over a 2-year period.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Selenide protects heart muscle in the wake of cardiac arrest Damage to heart muscle from insufficient blood supply during cardiac arrest and reperfusion injury after blood flow is restored can be reduced by nearly 90 percent if selenide, a form of the essential nutrient selenium, is administered intravenously in the wake of the attack, according to a new preclinical study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Golgi trafficking controlled by G proteins A family of proteins called G proteins are a recognized component of the communication system the human body uses to sense hormones and other chemicals in the bloodstream and to send messages to cells. In work that further illuminates how cells work, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a new role for G proteins that may have relevance to halting solid tumor cancer metastasis.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Mental practice and physical therapy effective treatment for stroke, research shows A combination of mental practice and physical therapy is an effective treatment for people recovering from a stroke, according to researchers at Georgia State University.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Editing HIV out of our genome with CRISPR The virus that causes AIDS is an efficient and crafty retrovirus. Once HIV inserts its DNA into the genome of its host cells, it has a long incubation period, and can remain dormant and hidden for years. And while physicians can mix and match a cocktail from a host of antiretroviral drugs to keep the virus in check, the virus can reactivate if treatment is stopped.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Scientists question representation of women in international journal Three leading cognitive scientists from Carnegie Mellon University are questioning the gender representation of invited contributors in the special February 2015 issue, "The Changing Face of Cognition," published by the international journal Cognition.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Many US shoppers choose low-salt fare (HealthDay)—About a third of Americans say they specifically buy foods labeled "low" or "reduced salt or sodium" when they're grocery shopping, a new study finds.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Mindfulness program beneficial for chronic pain (HealthDay)—A mindfulness program appears to be beneficial for patients with chronic pain, according to a study published in the April issue of Pain Medicine.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	UN vaccinates Syrian refugee animals in Lebanon against goat plague The UN has launched an emergency vaccination campaign against lumpy skin disease and goat plague among animals brought to Lebanon by refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict, a report said Thursday.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Canada expands turkey farm quarantine to stem bird flu Canadian health officials broadened a quarantine around two turkey farms to nine Wednesday, after H5 bird flu was detected in one of them.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Oklahoma approves ban on second-trimester abortion method Oklahoma would ban a common second-trimester abortion procedure that critics describe as dismembering a fetus under a measure that lawmakers overwhelmingly approved Wednesday, a day after Kansas became the first state to prohibit the same procedure.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	VA makes little headway in fight to shorten waits for care A year after Americans recoiled at new revelations that sick veterans were getting sicker while languishing on waiting lists—and months after the Department of Veterans Affairs instituted major reforms costing billions of dollars—government data shows that the number of patients facing long waits at VA facilities has not dropped at all.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Neither flashing traffics lights nor the colour yellow deter pedestrians from crossing A study by scientists at the University of Granada (UGR) has shown that neither flashing traffic lights and nor the colour yellow have any effect on pedestrians. Only the two mandatory phases–steady green and steady red–are deterrents for pedestrians, communicating a clear, safe message.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Nintedanib in lung cancer: Added benefit depends on disease severity Since November 2014 nintedanib (trade name: Vargatef) has been approved in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of adults with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) of the glandular tissue (adenocarcinoma) who have already received chemotherapy. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined in a dossier assessment whether this new drug offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Sabra recalls 30,000 cases of hummus over listeria concerns About 30,000 cases of Sabra hummus sold nationwide is being recalled due to a possible Listeria contamination.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Study tallies huge cost of hepatitis C drugs for RI prisons A new study finds that effective new hepatitis C drugs are so expensive the state of Rhode Island would have to spend almost twice its entire prison health budget to treat all its chronically infected inmates. Even providing the medicine only to the very sickest inmates who will remain in custody for at least another year would exceed the state prison system's pharmacy budget more than five times over.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	New Waldenstrom's drug shows sustained benefit at two years The most recent results from a clinical trial show that ibrutinib, a newly approved drug for Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, continued to control the rare blood cancer, with 95 percent of patients surviving for two years, report investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Mexico closes 10 cosmetic surgery clinics in border city Mexican authorities have ordered the closure of 10 cosmetic surgery clinics and offices in the northwest border city of Tijuana for failing to comply with health regulations.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Elder care costs keep climbing; nursing home bill now $91K The steep cost of caring for the elderly continues to climb. The median bill for a private room in a nursing home is now $91,250 a year, according to an industry survey out Thursday.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	New high-throughput screening method may uncover novel treatments for kidney disease A newly developed assay may help investigators identify novel drug candidates to protect kidney cells and prevent or treat chronic kidney disease (CKD). The advance is described in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Serious life events in childhood can triple risk of developing type 1 diabetes New research from Sweden published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) shows that serious life events (SLEs) in childhood, such as death or illness in the family, divorce/separation, a new child or adult in the family, and conflicts in the family, can triple the risk of subsequently developing type 1 diabetes (T1D). The research is by Maria Nygren, Professor Johnny Ludvigsson, Dr Anneli Frostell and colleagues, all from Linköping University, Sweden.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	US clinician cured of Ebola, leaves hospital An American clinician has been cured of Ebola and was discharged from a hospital near the US capital, officials said Thursday.

Other Sciences news

	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Are Neanderthal bone flutes the work of Ice Age hyenas? A study in Royal Society Open Science says that so called 'Neanderthal bone flutes' are no more than the damaged bones of cave bear cubs left by scavengers during the Ice Age.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Researcher investigates "creepiness factor" in online targeted ads A recent study suggests online advertisements that target users based on their web browsing habits and other personal information have a negative impact on the person's intent to purchase the product. But the fact that users find this practice "creepy" runs counter to conventional wisdom among online marketing professionals.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Shakespeare's plays reveal his psychological signature Shakespeare is such a towering literary figure that any new insight into the man, or his work, tends to generate a jolt of excitement in academic and non-academic communities of Shakespeare aficionados. Applying psychological theory and text-analyzing software, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have discovered a unique psychological profile that characterizes Shakespeare's established works, and this profile strongly identifies Shakespeare as an author of the long-contested play Double Falsehood.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Exceptionally preserved fossil gives voice to ancient terror bird A new species of South American fossil terror bird called Llallawavis scagliai ("Scaglia's Magnificent Bird") is shedding light on the diversity of the group and how these giant extinct predators interacted with their environment. The new species, described in the latest issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, is the most complete terror bird ever discovered, with more than 90% of the skeleton exquisitely preserved. The new specimen also reveals details of anatomy that rarely preserve in the fossil record, including the auditory region of the skull, voice box, complete trachea, bones for focussing the eye, and the complete palate, allowing an unprecedented understanding of the sensory capabilities of these extinct predatory birds.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Who's a CEO? Google image results can shift gender biases Getty Images last year created a new online image catalog of women in the workplace - one that countered visual stereotypes on the Internet of moms as frazzled caregivers rather than powerful CEOs.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Sex crimes more common in certain families New research from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with Oxford University, UK, shows that close relatives of men convicted of sexual offences commit similar offences themselves more frequently than comparison subjects. This is due to genetic factors rather than shared family environment. The study includes all men convicted of sex crime in Sweden during 37 years.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	New evidence for combat and cannibalism in tyrannosaurs A new study documents injuries inflicted in life and death to a large tyrannosaurine dinosaur. The paper shows that the skull of a genus of tyrannosaur called Daspletosaurus suffered numerous injuries during life, at least some of which were likely inflicted by another Daspletosaurus. It was also bitten after death in an apparent event of scavenging by another tyrannosaur. Thus there's evidence of combat between two large carnivores as well as one feeding on another after death.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	You scratch his back, he scratches mine and I'll scratch yours: How unethical behaviour can inflate executives' pay If you have a strong network of business colleagues who sit on each other's board, your pay can be a lot heftier —- but often at the expense of your shareholders, according to a new study by Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University and University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Step into the dive boots of a maritime archaeologist What lies at the bottom of the ocean is a long-time source of intrigue, however, many of us lack the capabilities to explore it.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	Research project to improve literacy outcomes Education Minister Hekia Parata says some of the country's youngest students are the focus of literacy research by experts from Massey University.
	" width="60" height="60" alt="">	In learning, communication overrides the 'statistics' of events It is cultural transmission - the ability to pass knowledge on from one individual to another even across generations - that makes us unique among animals. True, we also learn by observing what happens in the world around us, for example, by associating events that frequently occur together (or in a rapid sequence). However, human "communication" may constitute such a powerful instrument that it overrides "statistics", as observed in a study just published in PLOS One and conducted by Hanna Marno, researcher at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste.

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