Fwd: Science X Newsletter Friday, Jun 26

HOT!

Human trials of manufactured blood within two years

NASA, Microsoft collaborate to bring science fiction to science fact

RESPEKT!

More studies of breast milk could lead to healthier guts for everyone

Improved sensors help navigate gravity waves

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Newsletter Phys.org <not-for-reply@physorg.com>
Date: Sat, Jun 27, 2015 at 3:47 AM
Subject: Science X Newsletter Friday, Jun 26
To: Pascal Alter <pascal.alter@gmail.com>

Dear Pascal Alter,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for June 26, 2015:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Fuel-free nanomotor is powered by ultrasound and magnetic fields
- Belgrade researchers view art as self-organization process
- Researchers successfully transform liquid deuterium into a metal
- Helium 'balloons' offer new path to control complex materials
- Can planets be rejuvenated around dead stars?
- Researchers train computer to create games by watching YouTube
- Monster black hole wakes up after 26 years
- Is the universe ringing like a crystal glass?
- Opening a new route to photonics: Researchers find way to control light in densely packed nanowaveguides
- Scientists identify a calcium channel essential for deep sleep
- Scientists identify 'decoy' molecule that could help sharply reduce risk of flu death
- SpaceX capsule to deliver new parking spot for space station
- Audio overkill? Some question benefits of 'high-res' music
- US Internet adoption steady as 'digital gaps' persist
- Why are seabirds abandoning their ancestral nesting grounds in the Gulf of California?

Nanotechnology news

Fuel-free nanomotor is powered by ultrasound and magnetic fields (Phys.org)—Nanoscale motors, like their macroscale counterparts, can be built to run on a variety of chemical fuels, such as hydrogen peroxide and others. But unlike macroscale motors, some nanomotors can also run without fuel, instead being powered by either magnetic or acoustic fields. In a new paper, researchers for the first time have demonstrated a nanomotor that can run on both magnetic and acoustic fields, making it the first magneto-acoustic hybrid fuel-free nanomotor.

Graphene breakthrough as Bosch creates magnetic sensor 100 times more sensitive than silicon equivalent Graphene Week 2015 is awash with outstanding research results, but one presentation has created quite a stir at this Graphene Flagship conference. To a stunned audience, Robert Roelver of Stuttgart-based engineering firm Bosch reported on Thursday that company researchers, together with scientists at the Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research, have created a graphene-based magnetic sensor 100 times more sensitive than an equivalent device based on silicon.

Physics news

	Helium 'balloons' offer new path to control complex materials Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new method to manipulate a wide range of materials and their behavior using only a handful of helium ions.
	Opening a new route to photonics: Researchers find way to control light in densely packed nanowaveguides A new route to ultrahigh density, ultracompact integrated photonic circuitry has been discovered by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley. The team has developed a technique for effectively controlling pulses of light in closely packed nanoscale waveguides, an essential requirement for high-performance optical communications and chip-scale quantum computing.
	Building a better semiconductor Research led by Michigan State University could someday lead to the development of new and improved semiconductors.

Earth news

	A 'hydrothermal siphon' drives water circulation through the seafloor Vast quantities of ocean water circulate through the seafloor, flowing through the volcanic rock of the upper oceanic crust. A new study by scientists at UC Santa Cruz, published June 26 in Nature Communications, explains what drives this global process and how the flow is sustained.
	Researchers pinpoint massive harmful algal bloom The bloom that began earlier this year and shut down several shellfish fisheries along the West Coast has grown into the largest and most severe in at least a decade.
	Beijing quadrupled in size in a decade, NASA finds A new study by scientists using data from NASA's QuikScat satellite has demonstrated a novel technique to quantify urban growth based on observed changes in physical infrastructure. The researchers used the technique to study the rapid urban growth in Beijing, China, finding that its physical area quadrupled between 2000 and 2009.
Analysis shows increased carbon intensity from Canadian oil sands The U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory this week released a study that shows gasoline and diesel refined from Canadian oil sands have a higher carbon impact than fuels derived from conventional domestic crude sources.
	The ashes of Mt. St. Helens The massive eruption of Mt. St. Helens 35 years ago is one of the largest ever seen in North America. LMU volcanologists now report a retrospective analysis of salts leached from the ash deposited by the volcano on that occasion.
	Image: Central California and the San Andreas Fault This image captured by Sentinel-1A's radar on 1 April 2015 shows a central region of California in the US.
	New 'Arctic-proof' drone to track the effects of climate change Drones generally get a bad press but there's far more to them than destruction and war – for example drone technology can help save lives in disaster zones reaching places that no humans can tread. Now researchers from Laval University in Canada have revealed another surprising and positive drone application – tracking the impact of climate change in the Arctic.
	California oil spill gushed like hose 'without a nozzle' Firefighters investigating a reported petroleum stench at a California beach last month didn't take long to find a spill—oil was spreading across the sand and into the surf. Tracing the source, they found crude gushing from a bluff like a fire hose "without a nozzle," records show.
	Fossil fuel divestment alone will not halt climate change: Gates Fossil fuel divestment would be ineffective on its own as a means of halting global warming, software billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates said Friday.

Astronomy & Space news

	Monster black hole wakes up after 26 years Over the past week, ESA's Integral satellite has been observing an exceptional outburst of high-energy light produced by a black hole that is devouring material from its stellar companion.
	Can planets be rejuvenated around dead stars? For a planet, this would be like a day at the spa. After years of growing old, a massive planet could, in theory, brighten up with a radiant, youthful glow. Rejuvenated planets, as they are nicknamed, are only hypothetical. But new research from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has identified one such candidate, seemingly looking billions of years younger than its actual age.
	Is the universe ringing like a crystal glass? Many know the phrase "the big bang theory." There's even a top television comedy series with that as its title. According to scientists, the universe began with the "big bang" and expanded to the size it is today. Yet, the gravity of all of this matter, stars, gas, galaxies, and mysterious dark matter, tries to pull the universe back together, slowing down the expansion.
	Wishing on a shooting star in Japan with man-made meteors Fancy a meteor shower racing across the night sky to mark your birthday? One Japanese start-up is hoping to deliver shooting stars on demand and choreograph the cosmos.
	NASA explains why June 30 will get extra second The day will officially be a bit longer than usual on Tuesday, June 30, 2015, because an extra second, or "leap" second, will be added.
	SpaceX capsule to deliver new parking spot for space station SpaceX stands ready to launch a much-needed load of supplies to the International Space Station this weekend on the heels of a failed supply run by Russia.
	Under-ice rover chills with fish at aquatic exhibit A school of sardines fluttered by as giant leafy kelp swayed back and forth at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Monday, June 22. At the bottom of this 188,000-gallon aquatic tank, a bright orange garibaldi fish seemed to ignore a new visitor to the aquatic wonderland: the silver body of an under-ice rover.
	High-tech hardware supporting biomedical experiments launches to space station A University of Colorado Boulder space center will fly high-tech hardware on the commercial SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launching to the International Space Station Sunday, the 50th space mission flown by BioServe Space Technologies since it was founded by NASA in 1987.
Understanding the oscillations of magnetic white dwarfs Researchers at the Paris-Saclay "Astrophysics, Instrumentation, Modelling" laboratory (AIM – CNRS/CEA/Université Paris Diderot), of the CEA's Military Applications Division (DAM) and from the Universe and Theories Laboratory (LUTH – Observatoire de Paris/CNRS/Université Paris Diderot) at the Paris Observatory, have succeeded in modelling an enigmatic phenomenon of quasi-periodic oscillations present on the surface of strongly magnetic "white dwarf" stars, called "polars". By means of these numerical simulations, they were able to study the scale of the plasma instabilities leading to the rapid variations in the brightness of these stars. It will be possible to confirm these results through the use of high-energy lasers which, in the near future, will be able to reproduce physical conditions in the laboratory that are comparable to those encountered on the surface of white dwarfs. This work is the subject of two publications ! in the 22 June 2015 edition of the Astronomy & Astrophysics review.
	NASA, Microsoft collaborate to bring science fiction to science fact NASA and Microsoft are teaming up to develop Sidekick, a new project using commercial technology to empower astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
	Improved sensors help navigate gravity waves Efforts to detect gravitational waves—which were first predicted by Albert Einstein nearly 100 years ago—are advancing with international researchers including UWA researchers boosting the sensitivity of wave detectors.
	A brief history of nukes in space In just a few short weeks, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will make its historic flyby of Pluto and its moons. Solar panels are unable to operate in the dim nether regions of the outer solar system, and instead, New Horizons employs something that every spacecraft that has thus far ventured beyond Jupiter has carried in its tool kit: a plutonium-powered Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, or RTG.
	Million-mile journey to an asteroid begins for ASU-built instrument A journey that will stretch millions of miles and take years to complete begins with a short trip to a loading dock.

Technology news

	Researchers train computer to create games by watching YouTube Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have developed a computing system that views gameplay video from streaming services like YouTube or Twitch, analyzes the footage and then is able to create original new sections of a game.
	Belgrade researchers view art as self-organization process How do you tell an original from a fake original? Two Belgrade researchers said they have a method that does not need any prior knowledge on the originality of the work of art. The authors' method is illustrated by recognizing the original paintings from the copies made by the artists themselves, including the works of surrealist painter Magritte. (They said that "Magritte was highly skilled in copying his own work and that perhaps he devised a special technique for that purpose, a practice that would be in the spirit of surrealism and surrealists.")
	Blade supercar has bi-fuel engine, signifies 3D-print platform Divergent Microfactories made a name for itself this week with a twin announcement of its supercar prototype and the business platform underlying the car. It's all about 3D printing and the claims are impressive.
	Tissue-penetrating approach involves MRI-powered millirobots Last month at the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Seattle a team presented their work, "Toward Tissue Penetration by MRI-powered Millirobots Using a Self-Assembled Gauss Gun.". Their work suggests an approach for the MRI-based navigation and propulsion of millirobots for minimally invasive therapies. They discussed a technique for generating large impulsive forces to penetrate tissue. Aaron T. Becker, Ouajdi Felfoul and Pierre E. Dupont authored the study.
	Design to improve material properties of sodium-ion batteries In collaboration with the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, ANSTO researchers have manipulated the electrochemical properties of a material that could improve the capacity and life of sodium-ion batteries.
	Throwable tactical camera gets commercial release Unseen areas are troublesome for police and first responders: Rooms can harbor dangerous gunmen, while collapsed buildings can conceal survivors. Now Bounce Imaging, founded by an MIT alumnus, is giving officers and rescuers a safe glimpse into the unknown.
	Audio overkill? Some question benefits of 'high-res' music Its backers say it does for music lovers what ultra high-definition television has done for couch potatoes.
	US Internet adoption steady as 'digital gaps' persist The percentage of Americans using the Internet has remained unchanged for the past three years, with older and low-income people making slow progress getting online, a study showed Friday.
	Apple Watch lands in competitive S. Korea market Apple's first smartwatch landed in South Korea, one of the world's most competitive markets Friday, drawing a good response from fans, but analysts cast doubt on its long-term success there, citing a tough challenge from local brands.
	NIST revises key computer security publication on random number generation In response to public concerns about cryptographic security, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has formally revised its recommended methods for generating random numbers, a crucial element in protecting private messages and other types of electronic data. The action implements changes to the methods that were proposed by NIST last year in a draft document issued for public comment.
	Students' designs give prosthetics a new look A project by Kansas State University interior architecture & product design students is giving individuals with prosthetic limbs a chance to add some personality to their prosthetic and show the students that their discipline goes beyond creating products or designing spaces.
	California tackles water-energy interdependence by getting decision-makers to talk Across the western U.S., water and power are linked. Hydropower provides about 21 percent of the region's electricity. Nearly 20 percent of California's electricity is used to move, treat and heat water.
	You face on your espresso? Highlights from tech show Imagine staring deep into the foam of your favorite espresso drink and seeing a face looking back at you. Or how about using the charge in your fingers to clean your teeth?
	Avoiding future freeway congestion could come with a cost Fewer of tomorrow's freeways will be free. In exchange, drivers willing and able to pay will avoid the traffic congestion that bedevils everyone else.
	Fear of longer commutes puts pressure on US cities to act At 4:35 a.m. each weekday, Stan Paul drives out of his Southern California suburb with 10 passengers in a van, headed to his job as an undergraduate counselor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Some 80 miles and 90 minutes later, the vanpoolers finally arrive to start their workday.
	Nintendo to allow gay marriage in latest 'Fire Emblem' game The sword and spear-wielding warriors in the new instalment of Nintendo's hit "Fire Emblem" series will be able to marry whomever they like, the Japanese game-maker has said.
Former Qualcomm executive sent to prison for insider trading A former Qualcomm Inc. executive was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison and fined $500,000 for an insider trading scheme to profit off the wireless technology company's confidential information and then covering up his crimes.

Chemistry news

	Researchers successfully transform liquid deuterium into a metal (Phys.org)—A team of researchers working at Sandia National Labs working with another team from the University of Rostock in Germany, has succeeded in squeezing liquid deuterium into becoming what appeared to be a metal. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes their new technique which has brought researchers closer to the ultimate goal of creating solid metallic hydrogen.
	Research team develops eco-friendly oil spill solution City College of New York researchers led by chemist George John have developed an eco-friendly biodegradable green "herding" agent that can be used to clean up light crude oil spills on water.
Researchers introduce new layered semiconducting materials as silicon alternative When the new iPhone came out, customers complained that it could be bent—but what if you could roll up your too big 6 Plus to actually fit in your pocket? That technology might be available sooner than you think, based on the work of USC Viterbi engineers.
	A gel that can make drugs last longer Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of A*STAR have developed a drug-delivering hydrogel to treat chronic diseases such as hepatitis C, a liver disease that kills around 500,000 people worldwide every year.

Biology news

Scientists decipher the tick-tock of biological clocks Researchers at the University of California, Merced, have taken another step toward unlocking the mysteries of the biological clock.
	High-performance microscope displays pores in the cell nucleus with greater precision The transportation of certain molecules into and out of the cell nucleus takes place via nuclear pores. For some time, detailed research has been conducted into how these pores embedded in the nuclear envelope are structured. Now, for the first time, biochemists from the University of Zurich have succeeded in elucidating the structure of the transportation channel inside the nuclear pores in high resolution using high-performance electron microscopes.
	Rats 'dream' paths to a brighter future When rats rest, their brains simulate journeys to a desired future such as a tasty treat, finds new UCL research.
	Researchers describe how an approaching object triggers a flight reaction in the fish brain Humans and animals instinctively evade rapidly approaching objects. By doing so, they avoid collisions or escape attacking predators. For this to happen, the brain must calculate the direction and speed of a stimulus in the visual system and initiate an appropriate evasive reaction. How the brain achieves this is largely unclear. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now shown in zebrafish larvae what is interpreted as an approaching foe and which area of the brain recognizes an object as a threat and initiates a flight reaction.
	Attractive female flies harmed by male sexual attention Too much male sexual attention harms attractive females, according to a new Australian and Canadian study on fruit flies.
	Why are seabirds abandoning their ancestral nesting grounds in the Gulf of California? Isla Rasa, in the Gulf of California, is renowned for its massive aggregations of nesting seabirds. Over 95 percent of the world populations of Elegant Terns and Heerman's Gulls concentrate unfailingly every year on this tiny island to nest. Ever since the phenomenon was described by L. W. Walker in 1953 the island has been a magnet for tourists, naturalists, filmmakers, and seabird researchers.
	Natural wilderness areas need buffer zones to protect from human development Despite heavy development, the U.S. still has millions of acres of pristine wild lands. Coveted for their beauty, these wilderness areas draw innumerable outdoor enthusiasts eager for a taste of primitive nature.
	Study shows orange carotenoid protein shifts more than just color for cyanobacterial photoprotection Overexposure to sunlight, which is damaging to natural photosynthetic systems of green plants and cyanobacteria, is also expected to be damaging to artificial photosynthetic systems. Nature has solved the problem through a photoprotection mechanism called "nonphotochemical-quenching," in which excess solar energy is safely dissipated as heat from one molecular system to another. With an eye on learning from nature's success, a team of Berkeley Lab researchers has discovered a surprising key event in this energy-quenching process.
	Molecular features of the circadian clock system in fruit flies Studies of mutant fruit flies reveal how both photoreceptors and the visual system influence circadian clock neurons in response to changing light-dark cycles. The results are reported in the Journal of Neuroscience give new insights into sleep disorders including jet-lag.
	Confirming microbial lineages through cultivation-independent means The number of microbes found on Earth has been compared to the number of stars in the Milky Way. Yet the proportion of those microbes that can actually be grown under laboratory conditions is so small it would be akin to those stars that can be seen on a full-moon night in New York City—not many. To learn more about the uncultivated bacteria and archaea surrounding us, researchers are increasingly relying on culture-independent techniques such as single-cell genomics and metagenomics to fill in the still-unexplored branches on the Tree of Life. By carrying out such investigations, scientists hope not only to better understand the organization of microbial life on Earth but also to have more thorough surveys of potentially useful microbial genes, enzymes, pathways, and capabilities that could help DOE advance its energy and environmental missions.
	Python dies after eating giant porcupine in S.Africa An African rock python died in unusual circumstances after swallowing a giant 13.8 kilogramme porcupine at a private game park in South Africa, the manager said Friday.
	Study finds pet owners reluctant to face up to their cats' kill count Cats are increasingly earning themselves a reputation as wildlife killers with estimates of animals killed every year by domestic cats in the UK numbering into the millions. This new study on the attitudes of cat owners suggests that proposals to keep cats indoors in order to preserve wildlife would not be well received.
	Eagles continue their advance along James River The James River continues to be one of the best barometers of bald eagle recovery within the Chesapeake Bay and likely the nation. Not only does the breeding population continue to rise to new highs year after year, but the birds also are revealing patterns that reflect their shifting ecology.
	Selective breeding and immunization improve fish farm yields Fish farming, or aquaculture, began in Malaysia as early as the 1920s, with the 1990s ushering in intensive commercial production. It is a rapidly growing sector that has witnessed a growth rate of ten percent in the last five years. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, Nile tilapia accounts for 44.7 percent of the total freshwater aquaculture production in Malaysia, followed by catfish and carps.
Shrinking fish sizes in exploited stocks An experimental study with size-selectively harvested zebrafish that began in 2006 at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin, Germany reveals that size-selective harvesting causes changes in key life-history traits, leading to low maximum body size and poor reproductive output.
Agronomist helps improve Uganda's coffee production An NDSU crop production expert has been helping Ugandan farmers find ways to increase their country's coffee production.

Medicine & Health news

	Rapid Ebola diagnostic successful in field trial A new test can accurately diagnose Ebola virus disease within minutes, providing clinicians with crucial information for treating patients and containing outbreaks.
	MARCKS protein may help protect brain cells from age damage A common protein, when produced by specialized barrier cells in the brain, could help protect the brain from damage due to aging. This protein – MARCKS – may act as both a bouncer and a housekeeping service, by helping clear away proteins and keeping the cell barrier intact, and its absence in these cells weakens their ability to serve as a barrier and transport system for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain.
	Fight or flight neural pathway mapped in mouse brain (Medical Xpress)—A team of researchers working at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has succeeded in mapping the neural pathway that is involved when a mouse sees something frightening. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team describes how they used optogenetic techniques to stimulate brain parts to trace each step along the network until they were able to map the entire thing.
	More studies of breast milk could lead to healthier guts for everyone (Medical Xpress)—A pair of researchers has published a Persptctive piece in the journal Science, calling for more research into the ways breast milk impacts fetal development. In their paper, Katie Hinde, of Harvard University and Zachery Lewis with the University of California describe the current state of breast milk research and how it relates to fetal health and development and why they believe more research needs to be done.
	Braking mechanism identified for cell growth pathway linked to several cancers Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a self-regulating loop in the Hippo pathway, a signaling channel garnering increased attention from cancer researchers due to its role in controlling organ size, cell proliferation and cell death.
Scientists identify 'decoy' molecule that could help sharply reduce risk of flu death The flu virus can be lethal. But what is often just as dangerous is the body's own reaction to the invader. This immune response consists of an inflammatory attack, meant to kill the virus. But if it gets too aggressive, this counterattack can end up harming the body's own tissues, causing damage that can lead to death.
	Scientists develop potential new class of cancer drugs in lab In research published in Cancer Cell, Thomas Burris, Ph.D., chair of pharmacology and physiology at Saint Louis University, has, for the first time, found a way to stop cancer cell growth by targeting the Warburg Effect, a trait of cancer cell metabolism that scientists have been eager to exploit.
	Scientists identify a calcium channel essential for deep sleep Sleep seems simple enough, a state of rest and restoration that almost every vertebrate creature must enter regularly in order to survive. But the brain responds differently to stimuli when asleep than when awake, and it is not clear what brain changes happen during sleep.
Women in developed world still face many barriers to early abortion Women in developed countries still find it very difficult to get an abortion in early pregnancy, despite facing fewer legal constraints than in other parts of the world, concludes an analysis of the available evidence, published in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care.
SSRI antidepressants taken for menopausal symptoms may boost bone fracture risk The class of antidepressants known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), taken to curb menopausal symptoms, may boost bone fracture risk, suggests research published online in the journal Injury Prevention.
Online computer game can help shed weight and reduce food intake A simple new computerised game could help people control their snacking impulses and lose weight. Psychologists at the University of Exeter and Cardiff University have today published a study that shows that participants lost an average of 0.7kg and consumed around 220 fewer calories a day whilst undergoing the week of training.
Medically complex patients with Type 2 diabetes could benefit from seeing a specialist soon People recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and who have other serious chronic health issues have less heart disease and lower death rates if they see an endocrinologist within one year of diagnosis, new research suggests.
Emergency visits for childhood food allergy on rise in Illinois Emergency room visits and hospitalizations of children with severe, potentially life-threatening food allergy reactions increased nearly 30 percent in Illinois over five years, reports a Northwestern Medicine study.
South Korea passes new law to curb MERS outbreak South Korea has introduced a new law designed to curb a MERS outbreak, tightening quarantine restrictions and imposing jail sentences on those who defy anti-infection measures in a crisis that has now left 31 dead.
	Study finds that one-quarter of California adults are obese More Californians than ever are obese, according to a new report by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
Breast cancer treatment with fewer potential side effects has equally good patient outcomes, study shows A new study by UCLA scientists has found that women diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with a one-week regimen of partial breast radiation after the surgical removal of the tumor, or lumpectomy, saw no increase in cancer recurrence or difference in cosmetic outcomes compared to women who received radiation of the entire breast for a period of up to six weeks after surgery. The study is one of the largest ever done on partial breast irradiation.
	PTSD soldiers more likely to see a world full of threat Soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may see a world more full of threat than those not suffering from the affliction, according to a study led by UBC and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto.
	Risk of bowel cancer reduced by taking aspirin for Lynch syndrome patients An international study led by The University of Melbourne has confirmed that long-term regular taking of aspirin or ibuprofen reduces the risk of bowel cancer by more than half for people with the genetic mutation causing Lynch syndrome.
	New study helps explain why a cleaner mouth could mean a healthier heart New research from the University of Alberta shows that how clean you keep your mouth may affect your chances of developing heart disease.
	Muscle contraction may contribute to stroke damage, researchers find An investigation of blood flow network in the brain has revealed some surprising behavior of vessels during stroke, according to Yale researchers
	Redefining 'overuse' in medicine to include cost As the cost of health care in the United States continues to rise, a new study by Yale researchers offers insight into a key factor influencing increased costs: overuse of medical services.
	Better memory in old age linked with neural compensation A new study by neuroscientists in Trinity College Dublin on successful ageing has linked better memory performance in older age with patterns of neural compensation. The research sheds light on how memory can remain efficient in spite of common age-related neural decline.
	Don't let summer fun interfere with keeping your eyes protected While the warm summer months are perfect for spending time outside, several environmental factors can spell trouble for eyesight. One University of Alabama at Birmingham optometrist says knowledge of what to do, and what not to do, will keep eyes healthy.
	Potential drug lessens neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease model The first test in a mammalian model of a potential new class of drugs to treat Parkinson's disease shows abatement of neurodegeneration in the brains of test rats and no significant toxicities, University of Alabama at Birmingham and Pfizer Inc. researchers report online in The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Sperm banking 'should be free on the NHS' to reduce risks of genetic disease Sperm banking should be offered free to all young men in an effort to reduce the risks associated with delayed fatherhood, a new paper published in the Journal of Medical Ethics proposes.
	Action spectrum of sun skin damage documented Scientists document for the first time the DNA damage which can occur to skin across the full range of ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
	It feels instantaneous, but how long does it really take to think a thought? As inquisitive beings, we are constantly questioning and quantifying the speed of various things. With a fair degree of accuracy, scientists have quantified the speed of light, the speed of sound, the speed at which the earth revolves around the sun, the speed at which hummingbirds beat their wings, the average speed of continental drift….
	The majority of amateur athletes undergoing hypoxic training are not advised by specialists Physical performance after periods of hypoxic training in low-oxygen conditions has become a matter of growing controversy within the scientific community. An international study, with the help of Spanish researchers, compared professional and amateur athletes' knowledge and understanding of this type of training. According to the results, just 25% of amateurs are assessed and monitored by specialists.
	Key protein may affect risk of stroke Studies on mice reveal that a special protein in the brain's tiniest blood vessels may affect the risk of stroke. Peter Carlsson, professor in genetics at the University of Gothenburg, and his research team are publishing new research findings in the journal Developmental Cell about how the blood-brain barrier develops and what makes the capillaries in the brain different from small blood vessels in other organs.
	Endogenous proteins as anti-inflammatory agents Today the new Christian Doppler Laboratory for Complement Research was opened at the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology at MedUni Vienna. The research institute, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economic Affairs (BMWFW) is concentrating on a special protein that is thought to play an important role in controlling excessive immune reactions.
	Ambitious research project trials promising new therapy for motor neurone disease Researchers from the University of Sheffield's Institute for Translational Neuroscience are involved in an ambitious European research project aimed at finding a new treatment for motor neurone disease (MND).
Children with asthma likely born in Toronto area with high air pollution Children who develop asthma in Toronto are more likely to have been born in a neighbourhood that has a high level of traffic-related air pollution, new research suggests.
	Hospital prints first 3D heart using multiple imaging techniques Congenital heart experts from Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children's Hospital have successfully integrated two common imaging techniques to produce a three-dimensional anatomic model of a patient's heart.
	Inactivity reduces people's muscle strength New research reveals that it only takes two weeks of not using their legs for young people to lose a third of their muscular strength, leaving them on par with a person who is 40-50 years their senior. The Center for Healthy Aging and the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen conducted the research.
Daily bathing of pediatric patients with antiseptic cuts bloodstream infections by 59 percent Daily bathing of pediatric patients with disposable cloths containing 2 percent chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) reduced central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) by 59 percent and saved approximately $300,000 in one hospital over a six-month period, according to a new study.
	High blood pressure linked to reduced Alzheimer's risk, meds may be reason A new study suggests that people with a genetic predisposition to high blood pressure have a lower risk for Alzheimer's disease.
Fetuses more vulnerable to some environmental contaminants penetrating into cord blood Toxic environmental contaminants are increasingly known to cause a number of severe health problems, in particular on fetuses, including heart failure, low cognitive ability, delayed development, and neurobehavioral disorders.
	Having a stroke? Where you are makes a huge difference in your treatment It looks like a crazy quilt spread over the continent. But a new map of emergency stroke care in America shows just how much of a patchwork system we still have for delivering the most effective stroke treatment.
Bill Gates hopeful of AIDS vaccine in 10 years Billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates, who spends millions of dollars on AIDS drug development, said Friday he hoped for a vaccine against the disease within the next decade as a cure remains far off.
India's abortion law puts women at risk and should be changed Proposed amendments to India's abortion law are "contradictory" and need "urgent redrafting" to prevent women from making ill informed decisions and risking their lives with illegal terminations, writes a senior doctor in The BMJ this week.
European rule changes on cross border pet transport may heighten rabies risk Recent changes to regulations on the transport of pets across Europe may have increased the threat of introducing rabies from rescue dogs into countries considered free of the disease, suggests research published in Veterinary Record.
	Coverage worries persist amid relief over health care ruling Throughout the country, relief was the dominant emotion among consumers who get help from the government to lower their health insurance costs following Thursday's Supreme Court ruling upholding the subsidies underpinning President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
California moves closer to stricter vaccinations rules California's lawmakers moved closer to tightening exemptions for vaccinations, following last month's outbreak of measles and the ensuing outcry over the issue across the country.
French vegetative man's parents to appeal decision allowing him to die The parents of a severely brain-damaged Frenchman will challenge a European Court of Human Rights decision to allow him to die, their lawyers said Friday.
'Obamacare'—saga of legal and political challenges Upheld again by the US Supreme Court on Thursday, President Barack Obama's landmark health care law has survived numerous political and legal challenges since it was passed by Congress more than five years ago.
	The first human trials of lab-produced blood to help create better-matched blood for patients with complex blood conditions has been announced by NHS Blood and Transplant. Research led by scientists at the University of Bristol and NHS Blood and Transplant, used stem cells from adult and umbilical cord blood to create a small volume of manufactured red blood cells.
	World-first trial to test whether statins prolong good health Monash University has launched the world's largest study to look at whether statins – used to lower cholesterol - can help people live longer, healthier lives.
	First hospital light fixture to kill bacteria safely, continuously is commercialised Kenall Manufacturing today introduced Indigo-Clean, a light fixture that uses Continuous Environmental Disinfection technology to continuously kill harmful bacteria linked to hospital acquired infections (HAIs). The technology behind Indigo-Clean inactivates a wide range of micro-organisms that are known causes of HAIs, including MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), C.difficile and VRE (Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus).
Study guides efforts to find new strategies, solutions to fight pediatric asthma Low flu vaccination rates, medication compliance and limited access to primary care providers have contributed to the high pediatric asthma rates in California, say UC Davis pediatricians Ulfat Shaikh and Robert Byrd, who have published an extensive study describing the challenges faced by children with asthma in California.

Other Sciences news

Head Start program played anti-segregation role in the Deep South A federal preschool program did more than improve educational opportunities for poor children in Mississippi during the 1960s. The program also gave a political and economic boost to the state's civil rights activists, according to a Penn State historian.
	Study finds blacks and Hispanics typically need higher incomes than whites to live in affluent neighborhoods Researchers at Stanford Graduate School of Education have found that black and Hispanic families effectively need much higher incomes than white families to live in comparably affluent neighborhoods.
	Research shows how Spanish colonists changed life in the Middle Rio Grande Valley Spanish settlement of the Middle Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico changed the way people lived, but a new paper in the journal "The Holocene" by UNM Assistant Professor of Anthropology Emily Jones, suggests the change did not come quickly.
Smithsonian to improve ethics policies on research funding After revelations that a scientist failed to disclose his funding sources for climate change research, the Smithsonian Institution said Friday it is improving its ethics and disclosure policies to avoid conflicts of interest.
	Law enforcement ranks anti-government extremism as most prevalent terrorist threat U.S. law enforcement agencies rank the threat of violence from anti-government extremists higher than the threat from radicalized Muslims, according to a report released Thursday by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security (TCTHS).

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