Health

Unmarried women are more politically liberal–here’s why

Written By: John Hopton
Christopher Pilny

Past research has shown that unmarried women – defined as those over 18 who have never married or who are divorced – are more politically liberal. Now, a new study has looked more into why this might be the case.

The fact that married women are on the whole more likely to be conservative and/or Republican, while unmarried women are more liberal, is referred to as the “marriage gap”.

The new study, which will be presented at the 110th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA), has revealed findings that can in part be explained by another established political-science term: “Linked fate.”

The phrase has previously been used to understand why African Americans and Latinos are more likely than other underrepresented groups to vote en masse for candidates, parties, and policies that will benefit the majority of the group, even if not necessarily a lot of the individuals within it.

When it comes to the marriage gap, researchers found that unmarried women are more concerned about the status of women as a collective group, and more aware that an individual woman’s success depends on the success of women in general.

“Over 67 percent of never married women and 66 percent of divorced women perceive what happens to other women as having some or a lot to do with what happens in their own lives,” said Kelsy Kretschmer, a co-author of the study and an assistant professor of sociology at Oregon State University. “Only 56.5 percent of married women hold the same views.”

The sum is greater than its parts 

Kretschmer explained that there are several issues that might not affect all or even most women, but unmarried women view as being essential in determining the direction and future success women everywhere.

“For a woman, when it comes to politics, having a high level of gender linked fate generally means she thinks in terms of what will benefit women as a group,” Kretschmer said. “This could encompass things such as wage equality, workplace protections for pregnancy and maternity leave, anti-domestic violence laws, and welfare expansion. Not every individual woman needs these things, but women who have a strong sense of gender linked fate will think in terms of how women as a group will benefit from them. These issues have been most championed in the United States by liberals, female representatives, and the Democratic Party.”

Kretschmer, along with co-authors Christopher Stout, an assistant professor of political science at Oregon State University, and Leah Ruppanner, an assistant professor in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Melbourne, also found that women who never married put considerably more value on having females elected to political positions than married women did.

The study was based on data from the nationally representative 2010 American National Election Study (ANES), which asked a wide range of questions about political attitudes and behaviors.

Also examined were widowed women, who were interestingly much closer in their views to married women.

“Widowed women are frequently older and never ruptured their relationships with their husbands by divorcing them,” Kretschmer explained. “They may still be receiving their husbands’ pensions, social security, or health benefits. In other words, despite not having a husband, many widows are still engaged in the marriage institution in ways that make them more like married women than never married or divorced women.”

As fewer women marry and others spend longer periods of their life unmarried, the assumption must be that support for liberal viewpoints, and the Democrats, will grow.

—–

Feature Image: Thinkstock

Health

Could breast milk be toxic?

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

Mothers who breastfeed their children may be passing along much-needed vitamins and nutrients to help their brains develop and their immune system fight off infection, but a new study shows that breast milk may also be exposing infants to toxic industrial chemicals.

The research, which was published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology, discovered that a commonly-used class of chemicals called perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFASs) appeared to accumulate in infants by up to 20 to 30 percent for every month that those children received mother’s milk.

Experts had known that these chemicals occurred in breast milk, but the study authors claim that this is the first study to demonstrate the extent to which PFASs are transferred to babies through breast milk, and to quantify their levels over time, confirming that they build-up in infants.

PFASs have been used for more than six decades, and are added to products to make them resist water, grease, and stains. These chemicals are used in paints and lubricants, some food packaging, and even waterproof clothing, among other things. They are also regularly found in the blood streams of humans and other animals, and have previously been linked to reproductive issues and immune system dysfunction.

No reason to discourage breastfeeding, experts say

In the study, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, the University of Southern Denmark and the University of Copenhagen tested the blood of 81 children who were born in the Faroe Islands between 1997 and 2000. They were tested for five types of PFASs in their blood at birth and at the ages of 11 months, 18 months, and five years.

They found that the children’s levels of PFASs exceeded those deemed safe by previous research, the Huffington Post said. While partial breastfeeding led to lower increases, the scientists found that in children who were exclusively breastfed, PFAS concentrations in their blood increased by 20 to 30 percent per month, and that by the end of breastfeeding, the babies had higher serum concentration levels of PFASs than their mothers.

In a statement, Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at Harvard, said that there is “no reason to discourage breastfeeding.” However, he added that he and his fellow study authors “are concerned that these pollutants are transferred to the next generation at a very vulnerable age. Unfortunately, the current US legislation does not require any testing of chemical substances like PFASs for their transfer to babies and any related adverse effects.”

“This was a study of a very specific group of women, with very specific diets, which may have led to increased exposure of their infants to PFAS through breastmilk,” Dr. Henry Farrar, a clinical pharmacologist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock who was not involved in the study, told Forbes. “Therefore, this study may present a setting in which there are valid concerns in a very specific group of people.”

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Science

National Zoo panda gives birth to twins!

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

Mei Xiang, the giant panda at Washington’s National Zoo, surprised staff at the facility over the weekend by giving birth to a pair of twins less than five hours apart, and adding two new members to the population of one of the world’s most endangered species.

According to Reuters and NBC Washington, the newborn twins are healthy and active, nursing, and even vocalizing as of early Monday morning. Mei Xiang, who had been artificially inseminated, was seen picking up and licking her first cub at 5:35pm Saturday. The second cub was born shortly after 10pm that evening, zoo officials noted.

In keeping with the zoo’s practice, they will be swapping out the cubs with Mei Xiang, helping her to adjust to life with her newborns by allowing her to care for one while the other is placed in an incubator. Dr. Don Neiffer, chief veterinarian at the zoo, told reporters that the panda mother was nursing her cubs and had thus far been “the perfect mom.”

The second cub, which was the first retrieved by zoo staff, weighed about 138 grams and was doing well. The first cub was smaller at slightly more than 86 grams (three ounces), which was within acceptable parameters. It was said to be very active, reportedly trying to crawl away from vets during its exam.

The father remains unknown – should we call Maury Povich?

Dr. Neiffer told Reuters that the first few hours after the pandas’ birth were the most critical for the cubs, as they had nearly no fur. During this time, they are “not able to thermo-regulate very well and they need to constantly be receiving some calories,” he explained. While most of their nutritional needs will be handled by their mother, they will receive supplements as needed.

In keeping with tradition, the cubs will not be named until 100 days after their birth in a naming ceremony, zoo officials told NBC Washington. The newborns will join their two-year-old sibling Bao Bao at the zoo, marking the first time that the facility has ever had both newborns and an older cub at the same time.

Mei Xiang has previously given birth to four cubs, two of which survived: a male, Tai Shan, who was born at the zoo in 2005 and now lives in China, and Bao Bao. One of her female cubs died in 2012, and another, Bao Bao’s twin, was stillborn. The National Zoo’s Tian Tian was the father of all four cubs, and was one of two pandas whose sperm was used to impregnate Mei Xiang this time. It is not known if he or Hui Hui, a panda in China, is the father of the new cubs.

According to Reuters, giant pandas have a very low reproductive rate, especially when they are in captivity. There are about 300 of the creatures currently living in captivity and another 1,600 living in their natural home, the mountain ranges in central China.

(Image credit: Smithsonian National Zoo)

Science

UK researchers find world’s oldest message in a bottle

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

The next time you find yourself complaining about slow mail delivery, consider this: A message in a bottle sent more than 100 years ago has finally reached its intended destination, washing ashore on the beaches of the German island of Amrum, according to published reports.

The bottle was thrown into the North Sea sometime between 1904 and 1906, said the Associated Press (AP), and was only found by a couple back in April. It was one of about 1,000 such bottles that were released into the sea by researcher George Parker Bidder, the wire service added.

message in a bottle

The bottles were weighed down to float just above the sea bed, and were used as part of a study into the movement of sea currents. Inside the bottle was a postcard asking the person or persons who found the bottle to return it to the Marine Biological Association of the UK (MBA), offering a one shilling reward in exchange for the message and information about how it was found.

Bottle could set a new Guinness world record

According to the Press Trust of India, that one-shilling reward was given to retired postal worker Marianne Winkler, who discovered it during her holiday to the island. Guy Baker, a spokesman at the MBA, explained that most of the bottles were recovered and returned decades ago and that the organization was “very excited” about the newfound bottle.

“We certainly weren’t expecting to receive any more of the postcards,” he told the AP. Baker said that the group was currently having the Guinness Book of Records investigate to see if it officially qualifies as the oldest message in a bottle ever found. The current record holder was released in 1914 as part of a scientific experiment. It was found 99 years, 43 days later.

An older message-in-a-bottle was discovered in Germany last year, Metro said, but has not been officially recognized as of yet. However, the bottle found by Winkler, if verified, would be older than either this bottle or the current record older, the UK-based website explained.

“It was quite a stir when we opened that envelope, as you can imagine,” said Baker. “It was a time when they were inventing ways to investigate what currents and fish did. The association still does similar research today, but we have access to technology they didn’t have, such as electronic tags. Many of the bottles were found by fishermen trawling with deep sea nets.”

—–

Feature Image: One of Bidder’s bottles used to elucidate ocean currents. (Credit: MBA archive)

Story Image: George Parker Bidder. (Credit: MBA archive)

Space

Is Mars about to be as visible to the naked eye as the Moon?

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

Are stargazers about to be treated to a rare phenomenon in which Mars will be as visible in the night sky as the Moon, appearing every bit as large as Earth’s natural satellite even without help from powerful telescopes?

The answer is: no, unfortunately not, according to astronomers.

The reports, which have been going viral in recent weeks, are part of what Space.com refers to as the “Mars Hoax”, which finds its origins in an email sent out by an unidentified source all the way back in 2003. Based on a misinterpretation of that message, some people have come to think that the Red Planet will be closer to Earth than ever before on Thursday (August 27).

According to the website, the email appears to have been sent in an effort to pass along some interesting (and accurate) information about a close encounter with Mars on August 27, 2003, in which the planet would come to “within 34,649,589 miles (55,763,108 kilometers)” of Earth and would be the one of the brightest objects in the night sky.

“It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide,” the email reportedly said. “At a modest 75-power magnification, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot.” Somewhere along the line, however, the date and the need to use telescopes to see the phenomenon were lost and an urban legend was born.

The truth behind the rumors

As Snopes pointed out, the information is necessarily false or a hoax, it’s simply outdated. Back in August 2003, Mars did actually appear to be six times larger and 85 times brighter in the night sky than normal, the website said. It was the planet’s closest approach in nearly 60,000 years but only appeared larger to those using telescopes, not to the unaided observer.

Snopes added that the Red Planet did have a second close encounter with Earth, in October 2005, but that it appeared 20 percent smaller than it had two years earlier. Mars also made a somewhat close approach to Earth in December 2007, as it was about 55 million miles from Earth. In 2018, it will be about as close as it was in 2003, and will appear closer in the year 2287.

Finally, Space.com pointed out that even though Mars was brighter than usual, it was still not the second-brightest object in the night sky, behind only the moon. In fact, Venus still appeared to be brighter, and even at its brightest, Mars was a full magnitude fainter than Venus, they noted.

Currently, Mars is nearly seven times farther away than it was back in 2003, nearly 240 million miles (385 million kilometers) from the Earth, the website said. Furthermore, at magnitude +1.7, the Red Planet is about 70 times fainter compared to 2003, meaning that binoculars or telescopes are needed to even find it in the sky.

—–

Feature Image: Thinkstock

Health

Washing your deck could make it toxic to children

Written By: Shayne Jacopian
Brian Galloway

New research from the University of Florida has found that pressure washing a wooden deck can be hazardous for small children and pets, Futurity reports.
If your wooden deck was manufactured before 2004, chances are, it’s made from CCA-treated wood, which contains arsenic and chromium. Both of these are carcinogenic, and wet wood releases more arsenic than dry wood, according to the study.
Bleach makes things even worse, according to the source—it reacts with the chromium and causes the wood to release chromate, which is also carcinogenic. Since millions of homes still have decks made of CCA-treated wood, and they can last for up to forty years, millions of families are at risk for continuous arsenic exposure.
Testing the danger
To test this, the researchers applied water to CCA-treated wood and wiped it away to see how much arsenic was released, repeating the process and varying the kind of water used—tap water, bleach-water solution, and so on. They also tried pressure washing.
Water caused three times as much arsenic to gather on the surface of wood, showing that a wet deck is not a good deck for your pets and children.
That doesn’t mean you should live with a dirty deck all the time, though—you just have to be careful. Make sure that you avoid skin contact with a wet deck, especially if you clean it with a bleach water mixture. Additionally, normal rainfall will cause the arsenic in the deck to contaminate surrounding soil.
According to Futurity, you can protect yourself, your children, and your pets by taking precautions such as not growing vegetables in soil near CCA-treated decks, keeping children and pets off of a wet deck, and if you want to be extra safe, cut your losses and have your CCA-treated deck removed and replaced. Nothing is better than that new-deck smell.
—–
Image credit: Thinkstock

Science

Study shows more guns lead to more mass shootings

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Brian Galloway

In the 235 days of 2015 that have gone by, America had 225 mass shootings—a statistic that fits a frightening pattern, according to new research presented at the 110th American Sociological Association Annual Meeting. According to this global study, the five countries with the highest gun ownership rates per capita also have some of the highest numbers of public mass shooters per capita.

“The United States, Yemen, Switzerland, Finland, and Serbia are ranked as the Top 5 countries in firearms owned per capita, according to the 2007 Small Arms Survey, and my study found that all five are ranked in the Top 15 countries in public mass shooters per capita,” said study author Adam Lankford, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Alabama, in a press release. “That is not a coincidence.”

The study examined multiple international sources involving 171 countries between the years 1966-2012, including the New York City Police Department’s 2012 active shooter report and the FBI’s 2014 active shooter report—while excluding incidents that occurred solely in domestic settings or were primarily gang-related, drive-by shootings, hostage taking incidents, or robberies.

“My study provides empirical evidence, based on my quantitative assessment of 171 countries, that a nation’s civilian firearm ownership rate is the strongest predictor of its number of public mass shooters,” Lankford said. “Until now, everyone was simply speculating about the relationship between firearms and public mass shootings. My study provides empirical evidence of a positive association between the two.”

All eyes on the US

The team focused extra attention on the U.S.—and determined that though it has only 5% of the world’s population, it has 31% of the mass shooters. American mass shooters are more likely to attack schools, factories, or office buildings; offenders abroad are more likely to select a military target. Further, mass shooters in other countries were 3.6 times less likely to have used multiple weapons (including more guns)—over half of American shooters used at least two.

“Given the fact that the United States has over 200 million more firearms in circulation than any other country, it’s not surprising that our public mass shooters would be more likely to arm themselves with multiple weapons than foreign offenders,” Lankford said. “I was surprised, however, that the average number of victims killed by each shooter was actually higher in other countries (8.81 victims) than it was in the United States (6.87 victims) because so many horrific attacks have occurred here.”

The exact reason for this is unknown, but Langford suggested it might be a side-effect of having so many mass shootings: US law enforcement receives more and better training in how to handle these shootings.

So what now?

According to Lankford, “The most obvious implication is that the United States could likely reduce its number of school shootings, workplace shootings, and public mass shootings in other places if it reduced the number of guns in circulation.”

A controversial idea to be sure, but there is evidence that such an approach could work, according to Lankford. “From 1987-1996, four public mass shootings occurred in Australia,” he said. “Just 12 days after a mass shooter killed 35 people in the last of these attacks, Australia agreed to pass comprehensive gun control laws. It also launched a major buyback program that reduced Australia’s total number of firearms by 20 percent. My study shows that in the wake of these policies, Australia has yet to experience another public mass shooting.”

—–

Image credit: Thinkstock

Health

Storytime leads to higher childhood brain activity

Written By: Abbey Hull
Brian Galloway

Like other children, my mother made a bibliophile out of me at age four by reading to me everyday, and now, thanks to a new study published in Pediatrics, I have yet another reason to be thankful on Mother’s Day. According to the research team led by pediatrician John Hutton of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, living in a house filled with books may also influence a child’s brain activity.

What defines bookishness?

To begin, researchers measured the bookishness (devotion to reading over other interests) of 19 preschoolers, ranging from three to five years old, through a questionnaire, which asked questions about the amount of reading they receive, the number of library visits they make in a week, and the number and variety of books they have at home. The team then scanned the childrens’ brains during story time using a functional MRI.

In the scanner, the children listened to exciting stories with plot twists such as, “The frog jumped over the log.” Sure, these aren’t twists like in Inception, but  just remember: the study worked with four year olds. They wouldn’t understand whole “dream levels” thing (honestly, it took us a while).

At the end of the story—and the study—the results show that children who grew up in more book-friendly homes showed signs of higher brain activation in the parietal-temporal-occipital region than children who interacted with fewer books. This region, located on the back left side of the brain, is a specific area linked to literary skills like mental imagery and story comprehension, both necessary for any imagination.

It’s important to note, however, that a child’s brain activation is not restricted to only the number of books they encounter. “Our study, the way it’s designed, can only show association,” said Hutton concerning the link between book-filled homes and active brains. “It provides a signal for areas that we think are going to be important.”

So what other plot twists are there?

While the study comes to some promising conclusions, it also creates even more questions about the relationship between books and brains. While some concerns surround the lasting brain activity of children as they grow and the reliability of the fMRI when working with children, the largest question surrounds tradition vs. technology.

The unknown impact of the digital book over the traditional book is a large, new wrinkle in the researchers’—and book-lovers’—brains. While we know both the printed and the e-book are not dying out anytime soon, researchers are still not certain how books on smartphone screens influence a child’s brain.

However, as scientists work to understand this link, Hutton states that reading to children using digital books is probably OK, so long as both the parent and child remain engaged with the book at hand.

“I think there is value to all of them as long as the parent stays involved in the process with the child, and the child is encouraged to use his imagination as much as possible,” Hutton said. So turn off the television and pull out the children’s books—this new tradition may be just the thing your child needs.

—–

Image credit: Thinkstock 

Science

‘Gene Simmons’ bat, new frog species discovered

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Brian Galloway

Gene Simmons is still alive and well (somehow), but his spirit is found elsewhere in the animal kingdom. Bolivian scientists on the expedition known as Identidad Madidi have discovered the bat with the longest tongue in Madidi National Park—one of the most diverse areas on Earth—along with a new species of frog.

The bat is known appealingly as the tube-lipped nectar bat (Anoura fistulata), and has been described before—but only in three records about 10 years ago, and never outside of Ecuador. Moreover, its roughly 3.3 inch tongue isn’t just have the longest of any bat—it has the longest tongue in relation to its size of any known mammal.

The frog, meanwhile, is a new species of big-headed or robber frog (Oreobates sp. nov.). James Aparicio, one member of the expedition, describes it in a press release: “Robber frogs are small to medium-sized frogs distributed in the Andes and Amazon region and to date there are 23 known species. As soon as we saw these frogs’ distinctive orange inner thighs, it aroused our suspicions about a possible new species, especially because this habitat has never really been studied in detail before Identidad Madidi.”

Confirmation was needed

Despite their initial gut feeling, the team had to do some research for confirmation. “We have spent the last two months ruling out known species at the Bolivian Faunal Collection and also from published accounts, especially recently described species from southern Peru, but we are now confident that this will indeed be confirmed as a new species for science once genetic analyses are completed,” explained Mauricio Ocampo, another expedition member.

These discoveries are good news for the park. “The description of a new species of robber frog (Oreobates) for science is important news for the country as it confirms the extraordinary biodiversity of Madidi National Park and demonstrates the importance of scientific research in protected areas,” said Teresa Chávez, Director of the Bolivian Biodiversity and Protected Areas Directorate.

However, this bat and frog are not the only discoveries of the expedition; previously, three catfish, a lizard, and another frog have been added to the list of candidate new species. The expedition is still ongoing, with the most recent leg beginning on August 20th.

“This is just the beginning,” said Dr. Robert Wallace of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “We are incredibly proud of the team’s efforts across the first two study sites and while we are expecting more new species for science, as important is the astounding number of additional species confirmed for Madidi further establishing it as the world´s most biologically diverse park.”

—–

Image credit:  Mileniusz Spanowicz/WCS

Space

Confirmed: Cosmic neutrinos exist!

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Brian Galloway

Scientists at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctic have verified the existence of the tiny energetic particles known as cosmic neutrinos, which are believed to be produced by some of the most violent phenomena in the universe, including supernovae and black holes.

According to Gizmodo, Live Science and NBC News, researchers at an observatory located deep beneath the ice near the South Pole have spotted the ephemeral, nearly massless particles coming from the Milky Way and from locations beyond our galaxy. Researchers also shed new light on the origins of cosmic rays.

In a new study published Thursday in the journal Physical Review Letters, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory scientists reported that they found 21 high-energy muons in two years worth of data collected by thousands of sub-surface optical sensors. These particles are created when neutrinos collide with another object, providing evidence showing cosmic neutrinos can traverse space.

Next step is to confirm the neutrinos’ origins

IceCube project scientists previously found neutrinos from outside our galaxy two years ago, but in order to confirm the detection they had to make sure that the neutrinos were not originating from the sun or another source in the Milky Way. They did so by searching for neutrinos that had similar energies and were coming from multiple directions at the same speed.

This indicated that the neutrinos were independent of the Earth’s rotation and orbit around the sun, something that is only possible if their source was from outside the galaxy. They also had to filter out muons created when cosmic rays crashed into the planet’s atmosphere, which they did by pointing the observatory through the Earth towards the sky in the Northern Hemisphere.

Of the 35,000 neutrinos recorded between May 2010 and May 2012, less than two dozen of them had high enough energy levels to suggest that they came from cosmic sources, claims LiveScience. The next step is to determine exactly where these muons are coming from, Gizmodo added.

Furthermore, the authors found that the characteristics of the muon neutrinos are not a good fit with several existing models used to explain their origins. While this topic is not discussed at length in their study, they said that the data appears to show that they do not come from gamma-ray bursts or active galactic nuclei, though more research is needed to know for sure.

—–

Image credit: Ice Cube Collaboration

 

Space

Is a new asteroid threatening Earth?

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Brian Galloway

You can come out of the bomb shelters, now: recently-published media reports suggesting that a massive asteroid could collide with the Earth sometime next month are absolutely untrue, NASA officials confirmed earlier this week in a statement.

According to Gizmodo and Space.com, the rumors have been around for years but have recently been spreading like wildfire over the Internet. The reports claimed that a massive asteroid would hit the planet’s surface near Puerto Rico during the second half of September, leading to widespread havoc and destruction throughout North, Central, and South America.

While the claims have gone viral, Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said that there is “no scientific basis – not one shred of evidence – that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates.”

In fact, according to the US space agency’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program, there are no observations of any asteroids or comets capable of impacting Earth anytime in the foreseeable future, and less than a 0.01 percent chance of such an impact happening in the next 100 years.

Another in a long line of false doom-and-gloom reports

JPL’s Near-Earth Object office is an international group of astronomers and scientists who keep an eye on the sky using various telescopes, searching for objects which could potentially damage the planet. If any object was on a trajectory to crash down in the Caribbean, NASA said, Chodas and his colleagues would have already spotted it.

This is hardly the first rumor of asteroids on a collision course with our home planet, they noted. In 2011, the source of the hysteria centered on the so-called “doomsday” comet, which never posed a threat to Earth– it  broke up into a small debris stream in space.

In 2012, as part of supposed Mayan calendar prophecy claiming that the world would end with a massive asteroid impact, and earlier this year, rumors that asteroids 2004 BL86 and 2014 YB35 were on dangerous near-Earth trajectories proved untrue, and their respective January and March fly-bys occurred without incident, as Near-Earth Office scientists had predicted.

“Again, there is no existing evidence that an asteroid or any other celestial object is on a trajectory that will impact Earth. In fact, not a single one of the known objects has any credible chance of hitting our planet over the next century,” Chodas emphasized. So it’s officially safe to take off the tin-foil hat and come out of your underground bunkers, folks.

—–

Image credit: Thinkstock

Science

Humans are the world’s greatest predator

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Brian Galloway

In new research certain to be supported by fans of the late Cecil the Lion, scientists from the University of Victoria conclude that humans are a “unique superpredator” that kills other carnivores at a far higher rate than any other hunting creature.

The study, published Friday in the journal Science, looked at 2,125 interactions between predator and prey and found that not only do humans have a higher kill-rate than all other animals, they use methods that can have a drastic impact on the evolution and survival rate of other species.

According to the Los Angeles Times, mankind wipes out adult fish populations at 14.1 times the median rate of other marine predators, and killed top land-based predators at a rate 9.2 times that of other prominent carnivores. Lead investigator and conservation scientist Chris Darimont told the newspaper that his team was “surprised by the magnitude” of the differences they found.

Even more surprising was the discovery that humans killed the predators at a rate 3.7 times that at which they killed herbivores, and that the hunting techniques we use remove 20 percent of the planet’s large carnivores each year, Darimont added. Furthermore, he said, mankind is killing off these creatures faster than they can produce adult offspring and sustain population levels.

Tools, focus on adult prey make us “superpredators”

Humans also take a different approach to killing off these predators, BBC News explained. Most predators focus on taking down the juvenile members of the species, the British news outlet said, but mankind hunts primarily adult prey thanks to the extensive collection of tools they can use to take down larger creatures inexpensively and at relative low risk to themelves.

“Advanced killing technology mostly excuses humans from the formerly dangerous act of predation,” Darimont explained. “Hunters ‘capture’ mammals with bullets, and fishes with hooks and nets. They assume minimal risk compared with non-human predators, especially terrestrial carnivores, which are often injured while living what amounts to a dangerous lifestyle.”

The emphasis on taking down adult prey – or as the study authors refer to these creatures, “the reproductive capital of populations” – and the “competitive dominance” that human beings have over other creatures have made us “an unsustainable ‘superpredator,’ which… will continue to alter ecological and evolutionary processes globally” unless steps are taken, they wrote.

They told BBC News that the focus on adults instead of juveniles is not a sustainable long-term strategy, as a good percentage of the latter are doomed from the beginning due to factors such as predation, starvation, disease, and accidents. If adult animals are the capital, they said, then juveniles are the interest, and their deaths will have less of an impact on a species as a whole.

However, Darimont told the Times that countries should deemphasize trophy hunting altogether and focus instead on promoting ecotourism. As he explained, “You can make as much or more money from shooting large carnivores with cameras, not guns.”

—–

Image credit: Thinkstock

Science

Researchers mimick photosynthesis to produce hydrogen fuel

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Brian Galloway

A new technique developed by researchers at Michigan Technological University allows them to convert visible light more efficiently, essentially mimicking photosynthesis in order to produce hydrogen fuel in a more sustainable manner than ever before.
Yun Hang Hu, the Charles and Carroll McArthur professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Michigan Tech, and his PhD student Bing Han explained their technique in a recent edition of the Journal of Physical Chemistry. The key, they wrote in their new study, is to fully understand the interaction between the catalyst, visible light, and a sacrificial molecule.
Typically, artificial photosynthesis is less efficient because of the difficulties in converting visible light into other energy. However, Hu and Han believe that their method solves this issue and could make the sustainable production of hydrogen fuels more efficient than ever.
New technique increases efficiency, overall yield
As the researchers explain, in order to produce hydrogen molecules, scientists set out to split a water molecule by having it capture an excited electron. This is accomplished by bouncing solar energy off titanium dioxide (TiO2) to get the electron excited, then taking a second electron from methanol (CH3OH) and using it to keep the first from returning to its original position.
This is the sacrificial agency, and it prevents the photo-excited electron from upending the whole process by returning to its starting point in the valence band. These interactions deliver hydrogen (H2) molecules, and since UV light makes up only a fraction of solar energy, it is essential to use visible light. Using their new technique, Hu and Han were able to increase the efficiency and the overall yield of the process by up to two magnitudes greater than previous experiments.
Hu explained that it was “a two-part process” that used black titanium dioxide (with one percent platinum) as the catalyst. During their experiments, this catalyst attached to a substrate of silicon dioxide, and by using a “light-diffuse-reflected surface” for the silicon dioxide, they were able to make it trap light waves and increase absorption by 100 times previous levels.
One step closer to complete photosynthesis replication
However, using visible light in the absorption process shortens the band gap so that the electron has less distance to travel, but also reduces methanol’s oxidation reaction and making it harder for its electron to fill the gap in the valence band. To overcome this, they had to add a little heat to the process forcing them to change the process.
Instead of regular liquid water, they used steam. The steam was pushed into a chamber, where it collided with a disk of roughened silicon dioxide which the study authors explained was studded with black titanium dioxide-platinum catalyst. The electrons were excited by visible light, which allowed the hydrogen to be siphoned off. Their research also created a new light-heat hybrid type of process which brings researchers one step closer to mimicking photosynthesis.
—–
Image credit: Thinkstock
 

Health

Holocaust trauma was passed on to survivors’ children

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Brian Galloway

In what is being called the first evidence found in humans to support the theory of epigenetic inheritance, researchers from New York’s Mount Sinai hospital have found that the traumatic events experienced by Holocaust survivors were passed on to their children.

In the study, which was published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, Dr. Rachel Yehuda and her colleagues looked at 32 Jewish men and women who were either interned in a concentration camp during World War II, or who had witnessed or experienced torture from the Nazis.

They also looked at the DNA of 22 of their adult offspring, as well as demographically similar parents and offspring, and found genetic changes in the children of Holocaust survivors that they claim could only be attributed to their parents’ traumatic experiences during the war.

According to the UK newspaper The Guardian, the new study is the first example of epigentic inheritance (the idea that environmental factors can alter the genes of offspring) in humans, and is a clear sign that the life experiences of a person have an impact on future generations.

Epigenetic tags found in stress-related genes

In the study, Dr. Yehuda and her co-authors focused on measuring cytosine methylation within the gene encoding for FK506-binding-protein-5 (FKBP5) for the participants, and learned that Holocaust exposure and an effect on FKBP5 methylation that had been observed in both exposed parents and their offspring. It was higher than normal in survivors and lower in their offspring.

The results were compared with Jewish families who were not living in Europe during the war, and concluded that the DNA changes found in the children could only be attributed to Holocaust exposure in the parents. The authors called the results “the first demonstration of transmission of pre-conception parental trauma to child associated with epigenetic changes in both generations.”

The gene at the center of the study is one associated with the regulation of stress hormones and is known to be affected by trauma, The Guardian said. Dr. Yehuda explained to the newspaper that it “makes sense to look at this gene,” because if there is “a transmitted effect of trauma,” it would likely be found in “a stress-related gene that shapes the way we cope with our environment.”

Epigenetic tags were found on the same part of the gene in both Holocaust survivors and their offspring, but not in any members of the control group, and additional genetic analysis allowed the researchers to rule out any changes due to trauma experienced by the offspring themselves. The causes of this parent-to-child transmission are still not known, the authors noted.

—–

Image credit: Thinkstock

Science

Whales dying in Alaska, cause unknown

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Brian Galloway

Officials from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported earlier this week that dozens of dead whales have been found recently in Alaska, and that the cause of this so-called “unusual mortality event” is unknown.

According to Wired and Mashable, dozens of the deceased marine mammals have been washing ashore along the southwestern coast of Alaska. In fact, 30 whales (or nearly three times the historical average in that region) have died within the Gulf of Alaska since May.

In total, 11 fin whales, 14 humpbacks, one gray whale, and four unidentified cetacean (marine mammal) carcasses have been found, with no explanation yet discovered for the mass deaths. The NOAA, local, state, and federal agencies have launched a formal investigation into the deaths.

Biotoxins from algal blooms may be to blame

While the exact cause of the death remains unknown, scientists do have some theories. Agency officials claim that biotoxins from algal blooms in the western Gulf of Alaska might be the cause.

“We’re monitoring the presence of blooms and the biotoxins in prey and in seafood and keeping track of that as we look into this investigation,” NOAA Fisheries’ marine mammal health and stranding response coordinator Teri Rowles said during a conference call on Thursday, according to Mashable.

However, she noted that the organization was not yet ruling out any potential causes, including the theory that the problem might not be limited to the area around Alaska. Scientists in British Columbia have also found a half-dozen dead large whales in what may be a related incident.

NOAA officials calling on the public for help

A similar large-scale event took place between 1999 and 2001, Rowles said. That event followed the 1997-98 El Nino event and spanned from Mexico to Russia, she noted. More than 700 whales died during that event, and while the NOAA is also uncertain exactly what caused that event, the agency believes that it was environmentally driven.

The NOAA said that these types of mass deaths are difficult to investigate, as many of the corpses they find are either too decomposed to perform necropsies, too difficult for the people investigating the incidents to reach, or too far out to sea to obtain proper tissue samples.

Officials at the agency are asking the public to help with the investigating by contacting the Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network hotline if they encounter a dead or stranded marine creature. The NOAA emphasized that only trained exports are authorized to respond to creatures in distress, and that most people should not touch stranded or floating whales.

—–

Image credit: Thinkstock

Science

Mine owner tried to keep EPA out; threatened with fines

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Brian Galloway

The owner of the Colorado mine where the EPA unintentionally caused millions of gallons of toxic orange wastewater to spill into the Animas River said this week that he tried to prevent the agency from entering his property but relented after being threatened with fines.

According to CBS Denver and Washington Times reports, Gold King Mine owner Todd Hennis said that he initially tried to kept federal officials off his land, telling them that he was afraid that their activity would lead to additional pollution similar to what had happened at another mine he owned. The EPA responded by threatening him with a daily $35,000 fine, he claims.

“When you are a small guy and you’re having a $35,000 a day fine accrue against you, you have to run up the white flag,” he told the media, adding, “If we hadn’t done that we, wouldn’t be here today,” with “here” being more than three million gallons of wastewater pouring into the Animas River and contaminating waterways in both New Mexico and Utah.

Source of the polluted water disputed; investigations looming

A former owner of the mine, Steve Fearn, told CBS Denver that the EPA did not properly take care of the leak. He believes that they should have set up a drill above the leak, then drilled into the tunnel. Hennis added that the water currently gushing from his mine may actually be coming from another nearby mine, the Sunnyside – claims that mine’s owner denies.

The mine water, he explained, used to flow through a treatment facility that has since been shut down. Hennis told reporters that he believed the blowout would not have happened if the facility was still in use, as treatment plant would have processed the water and there wouldn’t be any backup. Furthermore, he believes there is more water trapped within the mountain.

Further tests could reveal the wastewater’s origin. In the meantime, the Interior Department and the EPA’s Office of Inspector General are investigating the circumstances leading up to the accident, and at least two Congressional committees are expected to hold hearings on the incident.

Internal EPA documents released on Friday appear to indicate that the agency was aware of the risk of a potential “blowout” capable of releasing “large volumes” of wastewater laced with toxic metals at the mine. Included among those documents was a June 2014 work order planning for a partial cleanup of the mine, which had been inaccessible since 1995, according to reports.

—–

Pictured is the Animus River before the toxic spill (Credit: Thinkstock)

Health

How necessary are genetically modified foods?

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

 
According to a prominent molecular biologist, genetically modified (GM) crops will be essential to the global food supply as the population grows and the changing climate makes it more difficult to grow unmodified grains, fruits, and vegetables in the years ahead.
In a paper published this week in the journal Agriculture & Food Security, Pennsylvania State University biology and life sciences professor Nina Fedoroff explained that the technology allowing scientists to modify crops would be critical to feed the world’s growing population.
Professor Fedoroff, who was also a former science and technology adviser to Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, explained that the human population was now seven times higher than it was two centuries ago, and the projected addition of up to three billion more means that food production needs to increase by 70 percent over the next 35 years to meet demand.
In her paper, she wrote that “current yield growth trends are simply insufficient” and that in order “to live sustainably within planetary constraints, we must grow more on the same amount of land using less water, energy and chemicals. The molecular genetic revolution of the late 20th century that powered the development of precise GM methods is the most critical technology for meeting these challenges.”
Changing public perceptions about GM crops
In addition, she said that the negative effects of climate change on the agriculture industry is expected to worsen, and that some currently usable land could ultimately be lost to salinization, urbanization, and/or desertification. Fresh water supplies are also at risk, Federoff said, which could threaten key crops that require a lot of H2O, including corn, wheat, soy, and rice.
Advances in modification technology have resulted in methods that can create drought-resistant crops, and use of GM methods have resulted in a 22 percent increase in crop years over the past two decades. Furthermore, GM crops require fewer pesticides, can increase profits for farmers, and can be engineered to add vitamins and nutrients. Still, Federoff recognizes that GM crops will be a tough sell to the many people who are staunchly against them.
“There are both skeptics and well-organized efforts to scare people into believing that GM foods are everything from poisonous to evil,” she told redOrbit via email. “Fears sell a lot better than facts and are very much more effective in influencing people’s beliefs. So how do we go about changing such negative perceptions and convictions? I think that the media play an extremely important role in changing perceptions. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen increasing numbers of journalists digging into the subject and writing sensible articles about GMOs.”
“That said, it’s very difficult to change belief systems once they are formed,” she added. “As a scientist, what I have to offer is my best analysis of what we’ve learned so far from experiments and experience. Science can’t ‘prove’ something safe. Many millions of dollars and much effort has gone into trying to figure out whether the modern GM techniques are hazardous. But they’re not.
“In fact, when scientists have looked closely as how much genetic disturbance is caused by the older techniques (including conventional plant breeding) and the new techniques, they find that the new techniques cause the least disturbance, so [they] have the smallest chance of causing unexpected side-effects.”
Fedoroff explained that she attempted to frame the food production and GMO issue in a global and historical context, as the majority of people today live in urban areas and are detached from the food-production processes, making them susceptible to misinformation. She compared the issue of GMO safety to the introduction of smallpox vaccines, which initially raised the ire of some who were concerned about government control, but ultimately helped eradicate the disease. The same types of debates are currently ongoing regarding modified food, she said.
Ability to protect plants from pests, diseases increasingly important
Historically, the agriculture industry has focused on increasing yields and protecting crops from disease and pests through chemical and biological means. As the population increased from one billion people to seven billion, the food supply kept up with demand by using more land to grow plants with synthetic fertilizers, mechanization, and by improving crop varieties.
“We’re pretty much out of land, so that avenue is closed in the future,” Fedoroff said. “In much of the world, we’ve maxed out in the use of fertilizers, so that avenue is closing down – but the population is still growing. Developed world agriculture is highly mechanized, though there’s still room for improvement. That brings us to improved crop varieties.”
“Yields increases through traditional breeding methods are leveling out,” she added. “Current projects say that the current rate of increase won’t keep up with population growth, and indeed, the climate is warming. Scientists are already beginning to see crop yields decreasing as a result of climate warming. The less predictable effects of climate change will be on the patterns of pests and disease pressures on agriculture.”
“This is where the ability to protect plants from pests and diseases biologically will become increasingly important and on a much shorter time scale than we’ve ever experienced,” the Penn State professor continued. “It would be a tragedy if we, as a society, turn our backs on the best (and safest) methods we’ve ever developed to create disease- and pest-resistant varieties, as well as varieties that do better under more extreme climate conditions.”
GMOs post ‘no significant health risks’ to people, animals
Fedoroff, who noted that she was one of the very first plant molecular biologists, told redOrbit that she has been involved with the development and implementation of modification techniques for more than 30 years, and that she had witnessed “extraordinary advances” in the field during that time.
She also emphasized that she was “confident that there are no unique hazards associated with using these techniques to make crop plants more able to resist diseases and pests, and making them hardier and more nutritious. I am also confident that the GM crops on the market today pose no significant human or animal health risks.”
Fedoroff added that there was “good evidence” that GM crops can benefit the environment and the economy, and that they are nationally beneficial as well. The crops can be altered to improve the nutritional content of crops such as rice, which will benefit those living in poorer nations and help them as the international community looks to improve their economies.
However, she also told redOrbit that GM crops are not “the only answer to feeding a growing population. As my article seeks to show, GM crops are just one of the tools in our toolkit if we are to keep up with the food needs of a growing population even as we seek to protect what’s left of our precious biodiversity and put agriculture on a more sustainable foundation.”
(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Space

Curiosity takes a killer selfie on Mars’ Mount Sharp

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

 

Using its robotic arm as a selfie stick, NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity was able to snap some epic low-angle pictures of itself at a site located in the foothills of Mount Sharp earlier this month.

According to BBC News and Space.com, Curiosity snapped the images using the camera at the end of its robotic arm on August 5 while at Marias Pass. NASA officials then took those pictures and stiched them together to create the rover’s latest selfie, which was released on Tuesday.

NASA attempts to take one of these mosaics at every location where Curiosity drills into the surface of the Red Planet, BBC News explained. However, this latest one was different than the others in that it was taken from a lower angle than previous pictures.

The newest photograph was taken at “Buckskin,” the seventh place where the rover has drilled into rock to collect samples for analysis since the start of its mission, BBC said. NASA hopes that analysis of the samples will reveal why the Pass is so “wet.”

Rover studying rocks, searching for water when not taking selfies

Compared with previous pictures, this latest Curiosity selfie shows more of its front and underside, and also shows a pair of grey patches located in front of the rover. One patch (the triangular shaped one) is where the samples were extracted from, while the other was where it dumped the powdered rock grain that was too large to be internally analyzed.

While at Marias Pass, the rover studied what is known as a “geological contact zone,” or an area where two different types of rock come together, using its Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument. The DAN instrument detected elevated hydrogen levels beneath the rover’s wheels, a sign that there may be a large quantity of water molecules bound to minerals there.

“The ground about one meter beneath the rover in this area holds three or four times as much water as the ground anywhere else Curiosity has driven during its three years on Mars,” DAN principal investigator Igor Mitrofanov explained, according to Space.com.

Activity at the site marked the first full drilling operations performed by the rover since its hammering percussive mechanism experienced a brief short circuit back in February, the website noted.

It finished up work at Marias Pass on August 12 and continued travelling up Mount Sharp. The goal is to travel through the lower regions of the mountain, analyzing rocks and finding changes in the rocks there that had taken place over time. Over the past week, Curiosity has driven a total of 433 feet (132 meters), bringing its total distance traveled to 6.9 miles (11.1 km).

(Image credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

Health

No longer just for memory: The hippocampus has a new function!

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Christopher Pilny

 

The hippocampus is known to be the long-term memory section of the brain, but scientists from the Ruhr-University Bochum believe they have found a separate, new function for it: conflict resolution.

Conflict resolution sounds like the job of hostage negotiator, but it’s a daily occurrence in human life. In this case, conflict resolution signifies when one is confronted with a conflict of which decision to make—like trying to decide if you can make a left turn in spotty traffic and not get hit by oncoming cars. Another (fun to test) example involves the Stroop Effect, which often is where a viewer is asked to say that the color of a word, instead of the word that is written. (Like “RED” written in green, where participants are looking to say green.)

Deciding fast in situations of conflict

In the experiment, the researchers tested conflict resolution with an auditory form of the Stroop test. Participants reacted to the words “high” and “low”—but these words were said variably in a high or low tone. The participants were tasked with stating what the tone of the word was, while ignoring what the word meant. And if the word and the tone didn’t correspond—like if “low” was said in a high-pitch voice—a conflict was generated, forcing the participants to make a decision on how to react.

As these conflicts unfolded, the scientists measured hippocampus activity via two methods. Some epilepsy patients have EEG electrodes implanted in their brains in order to plan surgeries; 9 of these patients allowed them to measure the brain activity in the hippocampus directly, co-author Nikolai Axmacher told redOrbit via email. In 27 non-epileptic patients, a functional MRI (fMRI) was used.

“Both methods revealed converging evidence that the hippocampus is recruited in a regionally specific manner during response conflict,” the authors wrote in their paper, which is featured in Current Biology. Or in other words: It seems that the hippocampus is not only for memory, but to help resolve conflicts.

“Our data show first of all a completely new function of the Hippocampus — processing of activity conflicts,” Carina Oehrn from the Department of Epileptology at the University Hospital of Bonn said in a press release. “However, in order to answer the question how that function interacts with memory processes, we will have to carry out additional tests.”

Dr. Axmacher speculated further on how memory could play a role in decision making: “Perhaps the memory system becomes particularly active if a conflict has been successfully resolved. Permanently unsolved conflicts can’t be used for learning helpful lessons for the future. According to our model, the brain works like a filter. It responds strongly to resolved conflicts, but not to unsolved conflicts or standard situations. However, we have to verify this hypothesis in additional studies.”

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Health

Indecisive people may want to blame their brains, according to decisive researchers

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Christopher Pilny

 

The road of life is full of flattened squirrels that couldn’t make a decision—and scientists from the University of Zurich think they know why those choices were such a struggle (for humans, anyway).

The team set out to explore why some people can never make up their minds, especially when it comes to food. Using a method known as transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), which allows scientists to stimulate the brain non-invasively, the researchers asked 86 participants to make decisions about food. These decisions were either about preferences (e.g. “I like cherries better than melons”) or were objective sensory-based decisions (“A melon is larger than a cherry”).

While these decisions were being made, the researchers used tACS to stimulate or disrupt signals between two areas indicated in subjective decision-making in primates: the medial–prefrontal and parietal cortices. Subjects did not realize they were being stimulated.

In the end, the research confirmed that decision-making doesn’t rely on one brain area telling you what to do, but on the communication between two separate areas, as the tACS was shown to affect decision-making abilities. However, decisions were not made more stable by intensifying the communication between the two regions; only disruptions bore fruit, as participants were made less likely to stick with their food preference decisions.

“We discovered that preference-based decisions were less stable if the information flow between the two brain regions was disrupted. Our test subjects were therefore more indecisive. For the purely sensory decisions, however, there was no such effect,” explained Professor Christian Ruff, a neuroeconomist from the University of Zurich, in a press release. “Consequently, the communication between the two brain regions is only relevant if we have to decide whether we like something and not when we make decisions based on objective facts.”

With this discovery, a new therapeutic technique may arise for those who suffer from a high degree of impulsiveness and indecisiveness in the aftermath of brain disorders. However, this is still years away.

The full paper can be found in Nature Communications.

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Science

Scientists: Hey, we created a new kind of glass

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

Scientists from the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin have unexpectedly created a new type of glass that could improve the efficiency of optical fibers, solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and other electronic devices.

The discovery, which is reported in the latest edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrates a degree of molecular order in a type of material believed to be completely amorphous and random, study co-author Juan de Pablo explained.

De Pablo, a theorist who performed computer simulations as part of a group led by Wisconsin professor Mark Ediger, told redOrbit via email that the new glass was “ultrastable, mechanically strong and had anisotropic optical properties.” In a statement, he and his colleagues said that the results were surprising, as randomness was believed to be a defining characteristic of glass.

They realized that they had come up with a new type of glass after attempting to explain unusual peaks in what they thought should have been featureless optical data. While attempting to correct perceived errors in calculations, they realized that they had found a new type of glass.

Temperature, creation method explain properties of new glass

Ediger, de Pablo, and their team members vaporized large organic molecules in a high vacuum, then slowly deposited them onto a substrate at precisely controlled temperatures in thin layers to create the glass. Once the sample was thick enough, they used a technique known as spectroscopic ellipsometry to analyze how light and laser radiation interacted with it.

They discovered peaks in the material, which typically only appear when said material possesses some type of distinct, organized molecular orientation, de Pablo said. They were initially unable to explain the origins of these peaks, or why their appearance seemed to rely on the temperatures at which the glass formed. Computer simulations revealed that a percentage of the molecules in the glass were aligning themselves in unison, but the study authors still did not know why.

What they ultimately discovered is that the answer was in the way the materials were created. In liquids such as glass, surface molecules act with other molecules in the air, sometimes packing together and lining up in a pattern different than the randomly arrayed ones found in most of the material. The vapor deposition process used by the researchers essentially places one layer on top of another, trapping molecules previously on the surface.

In order for this to happen, the researchers discovered that the glass needed to be grown in the relatively narrow temperature range where liquids change into solid-like glasses. By altering the temperature, they were able to fine-tune the degree of order, and once the deposition process ended, the material became relatively stable and resistant to hotter and/or colder conditions.

De Pablo told redOrbit that he and his colleagues “are now improving our ability to control stable glasses, and several interesting and unexpected findings are being examined in more detail before we publicize the results.”

(Image credit: University of Chicago)

Science

So…physicists have created an invisible, magnetic wormhole

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

Building on previous research on so-called invisibility cloaks, a team of researchers have made the magnetic equivalent of a wormhole, as they have developed a device capable of transporting a magnetic field from one point in space to another, various media outlets are reporting.

According to LiveScience and Physics World reports, study co-author Jordi Prat-Camps, a Ph. D. candidate in physics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain, and his colleagues developed technology that can transmit the magnetic field from one point in space to another through a path that is magnetically invisible using techniques comparable to wormholes.

While this method isn’t actually a wormhole as described in the theories of Albert Einstein, who found that the theory of relativity supported the potential existence of bridges that could be used to two different points in space-time, it serves the same function for a magnetic field and may be useful in magnetic resonance imaging technology, the researchers explained.

The magnetic wormhole, which is detailed in a Scientific Reports paper published on Thursday, is described by LiveScience as “a realization of a futuristic ‘invisibility cloak’ first proposed in 2007.” That device could hide electromagnetic waves from external view, but used methods that required impractical and difficult-to-use materials, Prat-Camps told the website.

Device could make MRI machines less claustrophobic

In contrast, the materials needed to make a magnetic wormhole are easier to use. They include superconductors capable of carrying high levels of current and which expel magnetic field lines from the interior. These lines are essentially bent or distorted, enabling it to behave differently from its surroundings – the first step towards conceiving magnetic field disturbances.

The device they created is nine centimeters in diameter and cloaks a magnetic field from a dipole source planed on one side, which makes it appear as if the field lines come from a monopole on the opposite side of the spherical instrument. As such, this makes it appear as though those lines take what Physics World refers to as “an invisible shortcut” through intervening space.

It is comprised of three layers, one of which transmits the field from one end to the other and the other two that obscure the existence of that magnetic field. The inner portion was made out of a ferromagnetic mu-metal that was highly magnetic and highly permeable. This was coated by two shells, one made from a high-temperature superconducting material called yttrium barium copper oxide that bended the field, and another that canceled out that bending.

The device makes magnetic field lines effectively invisible while in transit, and while the study authors are not sure that this could teach us anything about cosmological wormholes, they noted that it could be used to take pictures of a person’s body without needing to place them inside an MRI machine. Instead, the magnet used in this process could be placed far from the patient. For this to work, however, the shape of the device would need to be changed, the authors said.

—–

Feature Image: This is essentially how the wormhole would work. (Credit: Jordi Prat-Camps and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Health

Can cell phones stored in bras cause breast cancer?

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Emily Bills

 
In 2013, Dr. Oz featured Tiffany Frantz, a young women who believed she had developed breast cancer because she kept her cell phone in her bra. Many experts were unconvinced, but the notion persists today—like in Berkeley, California, where a recent law will soon require electronics stores to warn consumers of the danger of cell phones in bras.
To clear the air: There is no definitive proof for either side of the debate. Cell phones have only been popular for a relatively short amount of time, with the idea that they cause cancer even newer. Meanwhile, a truly effective study on cancer in humans would take decades to complete—as cancer often takes as long to be triggered. Simply put, we haven’t had enough time to really link the two.
What we do know, however, is that the number of new cases of brain cancer hasn’t changed much since the ’90s. If cell phone use was causing cancer, it would be realistic to reason that the amount of brain cancer would significantly increase—as the most common form of exposure is by putting the phone up against your head to call people. Yet, the overall data does not support this notion, according to a 2010 study.
In Tiffany Frantz’s particular case, the evidence given was the location of the tumor (near where she typically left her cell phone) and her young age at the time of her diagnosis (21). It is important to note that, given the size of a normal cell phone, any breast tumor would have a significant chance of developing near where it was placed, regardless of potentially dangerous waves it gives off. Moreover, breast cancer can and does happen in young women and men; in regards to female cases, about 1.8% happen in women between 20-34 years old. If the estimates for 2015 hold true, that means around 4000 young women will be diagnosed this year.
But what do the experts have to say?
According to the American Cancer Society, many scientists studying the power of cell phone radiation do not believe it is strong enough to do damage. Cell phones give off what is known as radiofrequency (RF) waves, a form of non-ionizing radiation. These waves don’t have the energy it takes to damage DNA in cells (which causes cancer). Strong RF waves can heat up body tissues, but cell phones aren’t powerful enough to do this, either.
The World Health Organization, citing the lack of verified negative effects of cell phones, has simply left cell phone exposure defined as a possible carcinogen. They are currently investigating the matter on their own, and plan to finish the study in 2016.
The CDC, likewise, is ambivalent, noting the current lack of evidence: “At this time we do not have the science to link health problems to cell phone use. Scientific studies are underway to determine whether cell phone use may cause health effects. It is also important to consider the benefits of cell phones. Their use can be valuable in an urgent or emergency situation – and even save lives.”
In sum, we cannot say for sure if cell phones may cause breast cancer for several reasons. First, the many short-term studies on the risk of cancer through cell phone use are contradictory in their findings. And second, long-term studies are needed to verify if a link exists—and, as the current short-term ones have shown us—the results need to be replicated many times over.
If you’re still worried about breast cancer from leaving your phone in your bra because of stories like the one on Dr. Oz, Dr. Ted Gansler of the American Cancer Society noted, “Reports of a few young women who developed breast cancer and who had carried a cell phone in their bra do not prove that the cancers were caused by the phones. These cases may all be a coincidence. But, it is possible that some may be a coincidence and some may be linked. Nobody knows, because no systematic studies have been done.”
(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Health

Imaging software could speed up breast cancer diagnosis

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

Using imaging software could significantly speed up breast cancer diagnosis. Without the need for tissue preparation by specialists, it cuts down on time as it maintains a 90 percent accuracy rate, according to new research published Thursday in the journal Breast Cancer Research.

The study, led by Jessica Dobbs and Rebecca Richards-Kortum of Rice University, used images of freshly-excised breast tissue specimens from 34 patients and analyzed the tissue using high-speed optical microscopy. They then used a decision tree model that included a total of 33 different parameters to classify if the tissue was benign or malignant.

Benign features were classified in tissue specimens belonging to 30 of the patients, while 22 of them were found to have malignant features, the authors said. Overall, their model achieved 81 percent sensitivity and 93 percent specificity, corresponding to an overall accuracy rating of 90 percent. Moreover, this new method did not require lengthy tissue preparation.

In a statement, Richards-Kortum explained that being able to evaluate fresh breast tissue at the point of care could drastically change the current practice of pathology, adding that she had developed a faster way to classify breast tissue as benign or malignant, hoping to improve management of the disease in countries lacking regular access to pathologists.

Currently, the breast cancer diagnosis process requires tissue to be obtained, prepared, and then assessed, and pathologists need to undergo a complex method to prepare these samples. After the preparation is complete, there is a lengthy diagnosis process that follows. The use of microscopy, however, eliminates this need for complex sample preparation and assessment.

Method promising, but not yet ready for clinical use

“We performed our analysis without tissue fixation, cutting and staining, and achieved comparable classification with current methods,” said Richards-Kortum. “This cuts out the tissue preparation process and allows for rapid diagnosis. It is also reliant on measurable criteria, which could reduce subjectivity in the evaluation of breast histology.”

However, before this method can be used clinically, the team acknowledges that there are some obstacles that need to be overcome. For instance, some criteria rely upon the user’s observations, which could potentially result in incorrect classification of breast tissue. In addition, the cost and high-maintenance requirements of optical microscopy limit its use in patient care.

“Our method is an improvement because it can be done rapidly, potentially at the point of care since it doesn’t require extensive tissue processing,” Richards-Kortum told redOrbit via email.

“One of the places that the technique we developed could be most useful is in low-resource settings that currently don’t have sufficient infrastructure or human resources to implement traditional diagnostic techniques.”

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Health

Will adding real pumpkin make Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes healthier?

Written By: Mari-Chris Savage, MS, RD, LD, ACE​​
Christopher Pilny

Starbucks has recently reported they will be amping up their infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte by adding real pumpkin this year.
This change comes only after criticism from concerned customers that the drink is made with artificial flavors. Starbucks is one of many food and drink companies trying to play to a slightly more health conscious and skeptical crowd.
However, is Starbucks pulling a fast one on the customer? Will adding pumpkin spice latte make the drink any healthier?
The secret sauce
The traditional pumpkin spice latte has been made with a key ingredient, an in-house pumpkin sauce. While nutritional facts of the sauce are strangely missing from the official Starbucks website, a listing of ingredients is available via their store front. Sugar is the first ingredient followed by condensed nonfat milk, high fructose corn syrup, annato (food coloring), natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, salt, and potassium sorbate. From a nutritional standpoint, the sauce would make a dietitian begin crying on the spot. Why?
1. When sugar is the first ingredient, you can just wait to hear your insulin spike and then watch as you have a sugar crash. Consume sugary substances daily and you increase your risk of insulin resistance or diabetes.
2. To make this sauce even sweeter, high fructose corn syrup is added. High fructose corn syrup is a factory food that is not absorbed in the stomach but in the blood stream. It is linked to liver damage.
3. The ingredient listing states “natural and artificial flavors”. What exactly is contained in these flavors, we may never know. However, a natural flavor can be ANYTHING found on earth and an artificial flavor can consist of any chemical compound that man can make.
4. Caramel color is becoming one the most recognized toxic food ingredients available. A recent mouse study found the coloring increased the risk of lung cancer and leukemia. In California, any food or drink that contains more than the regulated limit must place a warning stating “this product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer”.
But will the puree be healthier?
The new latte will reporting not use the pumpkin sauce as the flavoring agent. “Real” pumpkin puree will replace this toxic syrup. This is a huge step in the right direction. However, until we have a full listing of nutritional facts and ingredients from Starbucks, we may never make a true nutritional decision on the drink. The pumpkin puree will no doubt still contain high amounts of sugar. Whether other artificial preservatives and flavorings will be there, we passionately await the answer.
Instead of heading out to your neighborhood Starbucks, make your own clean pumpkin spice latte with all natural ingredients that can be trusted. Here is a great recipe:
In a saucepan mix ½ cup of UNSWEETENED, ALMOND MILK with 3 tablespoons of PUMPKIN PUREE. Cook for one minute over medium heat before removing from heat. Add ½ teaspoon of VANILLA (all natural), 1 teaspoon of PUMPKIN PIE SPICE, and 1-2 tablespoons of SUGAR (use STEVIA for a sugar free version). Using a hand mixer, blender, or milk frother, blend milk mixture until foamy. Add foamy mixture to a cup of freshly brewed COFFEE or 1 – 2 shots of ESPRESSO. Sprinkle with extra CINNAMON and PUMPKIN PIE SPICE.
Mari-Chris Savage is a licensed and registered dietitian with years of experience in nutritional consultation and corporate wellness. As a nutrition specialist, Mari-Chris has consulted individuals on improving their current health status and focusing on preventative methods for a lifetime. Mari-Chris also holds a certification in personal training to promote physical activity guidance and motivation. Her background spurs an extremely active lifestyle filled with running, hiking, barre, and yoga classes. For more from Mari-Chris, check out her website The Savage Standard.
—–
Feature Image: Thinkstock

Science

Will the pronoun ‘I’ become obsolete? A biological perspective

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

You are not just you, according to new research from biologists at Vanderbilt University. Rather, you are part of a “biomolecular network” of living organisms that includes all of the bacteria and other symbiotic microbes in your body combined to create a collective entity.

As such, the authors of the new PLOS Biology paper explain that microbiologists have developed a new term for these symbiotic systems (holobiont) and a second (hologenome) that describes the combined genetic material of all constituent organisms that comprise so-called individuals.

As Seth Bordenstein, associate professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt, explained recently in a statement, “It’s a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.” In the new paper, he and co-author Kevin Theis from the University of Michigan explore the basic concepts behind this concept and develop 10 principles that can be applied to the entire field of biology.

In this paradigm, humans, other animals, and plants are the hosts, and the microbes within their bodies have a significant impact on the holobiont’s development, the diseases it contracts, and the way that it behaves and socially interacts with its fellow holobionts. Both the holobiont and the hologenomes, they argue, are fundamental units of biological organization.

Expanding the rules of evolution to include host and symbiont

“One of the basic expectations from this conceptual framework,” Bordenstein said to redOrbit via email, “is that animal and plant experiments that do not account for what is happening at the microbiological level will be incomplete and, in some cases, will be misleading as well.”

For instance, by searching only for the genes in a nucleus that contribute to a disease, a new species, or a specific environmental adaptation, scientists “may well be missing the other half of the story – the contribution of the microbiome to those phenotypes as well,” he added.

As such, conducting experiments both in the presence of and in the absence of microbes should become a routine part of future studies, Bordenstein said via email. After all, he and Theis write in their study, natural selection and other evolutionary forces act on the hologenome, not just on the genome, and mutations in the microbiome that could affect the overall fitness of a holobiont are every bit as important as those that occur in the genome of the host.

This concept does not change the basic rules of evolution, the researchers said. Rather, this view upgrades the types of biological units that these rules may act upon, and provides holobionts with a way to respond to environmental challenges unavailable to individual organisms. They are able to change the composition of their bacterial communities, allowing microbial symbionts to make a toxin that can kill invading pathogens when the host itself is unable to do so.

“The development of these concepts are in their earliest phases,” Bordenstein explained. “[But] every subdiscipline is touched by the microbial world and we as a community are just starting to appreciate it. Just as animal and plant genetics has had a century long period of investigation, the next century may very well be defined by hologenomics in which genetics and microbiology offer a more accurate and cohesive vision of the macroscopic living world.”

(Image credit: Robert Brucker/Harvard)

Science

Marine mammals set up camp in Thames River once again

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

Marine mammals such as seals and porpoises are regularly being spotted in the River Thames, according to a new Zoological Society of London (ZSL) study based on nearly 2,800 reported public sightings over the past 10 years.

According to AFP and BBC News reports, the 2,732 total animal sightings over the last decade include 1,080 harbor seals, 333 grey seals, 823 unidentified seals, 49 whales, 444 porpoises and dolphins, and three otters spotted in both the Thames Estuary and further upstream.

The majority of the seals were found around London’s Canary Wharf, possibly because they are visible to people working in skyscrapers in the region. Seals were also spotted as far upstream as Teddington and Hampton Court Palace in southwest London, while dolphins and porpoises were spotted at Teddington Lock, as well as near Kew Gardens and Deptford.

“People are often surprised to hear that marine mammals are regularly spotted in central London,” ZSL’s European conservation projects manager, Joanna Barker, told AFP. “As a top predator, their presence is a good sign that the Thames is getting cleaner and supporting many fish species… [and] a great example of how urban environments are important for wildlife.”

Public can help out the ZSL by reporting sightings online

It was only 50 years ago that the Thames was so polluted that it was deemed to be too dirty for any biological life to survive there, according to BBC News. However, the new round of public sightings confirms that the river is again becoming clean and habitable, and animals are now willing to travel further into the British capital’s waterways.

“Many people looking into the Thames see a murky, dirty environment,” Barker explained. “But, actually, beneath the waves, it is full of life. We have a huge range of fish and invertebrates, and also top predators… The fact we get so many sightings in central London suggests the fish stocks are moving in to support these marine predators.”

The ZSL is asking the public to submit marine mammal sightings through their website, and the organization has also been conducting seal population surveys along the Thames Estuary. Over the past three years, they have used boats and planes to keep count of how many seals are living along the river. Barker said that this region was “really important.”

“It’s quite sheltered compared with the North Sea, and there is a whole different range of environments and habitats for the marine mammals to use,” she told BBC News. “So we think that London and the Thames Estuary is an important environment for these species, and we are keen to get more sightings year on year, and to build up a better picture of the places that marine mammals are using.”

(Image credit: ZSL)

Health

How our brain hides (and retrieves) horrifying memories

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

Our brains have a built-in mechanism for hiding traumatic and emotionally distressing memories in the recesses of our minds, and now a new study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researchers has shed new light on how this process works.

The paper, published earlier this week in the journal Nature Neuroscience, pulls back the curtain on a process known as state-dependent learning, which is believed to help us form memories that are inaccessible to normal consciousness, protecting us from events such as childhood abuse.

While this method protects us from the pain of recalling specific events, they can also lead to an array of different issues, including anxiety, depression, or PTSD. Though they are inaccessible in most situations, memories formed in a particular mood or state can be retrieved when the brain is returned to that state, as demonstrated by the researchers through mouse experiments.

In those experiments, Dr. Jelena Radulovic, professor of bipolar disease at the Feinberg School, and colleagues discovered the mechanism through which state-dependent learning renders these fear-related memories inaccessible to a person’s consciousness for the first time.

Amino acids responsible for this phenomenon

In a statement, Dr. Radulovic said that the findings “show there are multiple pathways to storage of fear-inducing memories, and we identified an important one for fear-related memories.” Their work “could eventually lead to new treatments for patients with psychiatric disorders for whom conscious access to their traumatic memories is needed if they are to recover.”

As the authors explained, it is hard for therapists to help these patients because those individuals themselves are unable to recall the traumatic events at the core of their symptoms. The best way to access these hidden memories is to return the brain to the same state of consciousness as when the memory was encoded, and the new research reveals exactly why this is the case.

A pair of amino acids, glutamate and GABA, are at the center of this phenomenon. The Feinberg School researchers explained that these substances are essentially the brain’s yin and yang. They direct the brain’s emotional tides and control if nerve cells are excited or inhibited. The system is balanced under normal conditions, but when a person becomes hyper-aroused and vigilant, there is a surge in glutamate, the chemical primarily responsible for storing memories.

When glutamate stores memories, they do so in a way that is easy to remember, while GABA blocks the action of this substance, calming us and helping us sleep. Benzodiazepine, a common tranquilizer, activates GABA receptors in our brains, including one set which encodes memories of fear-inducing events, storing them so that they are hidden from consciousness.

GABA receptors change how stressful events are encoded

As part of their new study, Dr. Radulovic’s team infused the hippocampus of mice with a drug known as gaboxadol, which stimulates extra-synaptic GABA receptors. The rodents were then placed in a box and given a brief, mild electrical shock. The next day, when the mice were put back in the same box, they moved about freely and showed no signs of fear.

These observations appeared to indicate that the mice didn’t recall the earlier shock that had taken place in that location. However, when the mice were put back on the drug and in the box, they appeared to be anticipating another shock. In short, once the mice were returned to the state in which they received the shock, they remembered the experience.

The findings reveal that when extra-synaptic GABA receptors were activated with the drug, they altered the way that the stressful event was encoded in the brains of the mice. When in the drug-induced state, their minds used completely different molecular pathways and neuronal circuits to store the memory than those utilized when they weren’t inebriated.

This system is regulated by a small microRNA, miR-33, and according to the authors, it may be the brain’s protective mechanism to deal with extremely stressful experiences. The results of this new study appears to indicate that some individuals will respond to traumatic stress by activating the extra-synaptic GABA system to store memories, thus making them essentially inaccessible.

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Technology

Google loses data after being struck by lightning

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

A series of lightning strikes near a Google data center in Belgium has resulted in the permanent loss of some information stored in the affected disks, various media outlets are reporting.

According to CNN and BBC News, a power grid located near the data center was hit four times during an electrical storm, causing a brief power outage. Automatic backup systems quickly restored power, and the majority of the data was recovered, but a miniscule fraction was reportedly permanently affected.

In an online incident report, Google said that the lightning strikes caused errors to occur on “a small proportion of Google Compute Engine persistent disks” in part of western Europe between Thursday, August 13 and Monday, August 17. Affected disks “sporadically returned I/O errors to their attached GCE instances, and also typically returned errors for management operations.”

They also said in “a very small fraction of cases,” or less than 0.000001 percent of the disk space in the region, there was “permanent” data loss. “Google takes availability very seriously, and the durability of storage is our highest priority. We apologize to all our customers who were affected by this exceptional incident,” the company said.

Taking steps to deal with similar issues in the future

Representatives at French startup Azendoo told CNN that the company’s services were down for 12 hours, and that while Google recovered a small portion of their data, they had to recover most of the information themselves from data that had been backed up in another data center.

Google said they had conducted an investigation of the problem and identified several issues with their hardware and software that contributed to the problem, and that they were currently in the process of improving these aspects of their services. The company also told BBC News that it was working to improve their response procedures to make future losses less likely.

“Google has an ongoing program of upgrading to storage hardware that is less susceptible to the power failure mode that triggered this incident,” the company explained in its report. “Since the incident began, Google engineers have conducted a wide-ranging review across all layers of the datacenter technology stack, from electrical distribution systems through computing hardware to the software controlling the GCE persistent disk layer.”

“Several opportunities have been identified to increase physical and procedural resilience,” the firm added. Among them are continued efforts to upgrade hardware to improve cache data retention during a power outage, developing techniques to increase data durability, and finding a way to improve their engineers’ response procedures when dealing with future outages.

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Science

Wild Sumatran rhinos now officially extinct in Malaysia

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Christopher Pilny

Several leading scientists and experts have declared that the wild Sumatran rhino is extinct in Malaysia—a fact they hope will catalyze conservation efforts to save the remaining few.

The University of Copenhagen—along with partners that include WWF, the International Rhino Foundation, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature—made the call. As of 2007, only two female Sumatran rhinos have been seen in Malaysia, despite intensive efforts to locate others.

These two were captured for breeding purposes—meaning wild Sumatran rhinos are now only found in Indonesia, and in numbers of 100 or fewer. Further, only nine of the rhinos exist in captivity, with just two females having reproduced in the past 15 years.

The numbers aren’t likely to spike any time soon, either. The authors fear that in the time it takes to develop the technology necessary to get the species to reproduce in captivity, the last few wild rhinos will have died. Sumatran rhinos—the smallest rhino species alive, and the closest living relative to wooly rhinos—are generally solitary creatures. With such low numbers, they are often too spread out to find each other.

Moreover, the species’ two horns are in high demand for medicinal uses in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and are considered valuable in the Middle East and North Africa, where they are often used as decorative knife handles. Unsurprisingly, poaching has had a significant impact on populations. The species is considered critically endangered.

Help!

Because of this, conservationists are calling for action. “The tiger in India was saved from extinction due to the direct intervention of Mrs. Gandhi, the then prime minister, who set up Project Tiger. A similar high level intervention by President Joko Widodo of Indonesia could help pull the Sumatran rhinos back from the brink,” said Christy Williams, co-author and coordinator of the WWF Asian and Rhino and Elephant Action Strategy, in a statement.

Widodo Ramono, co-author and Director of the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia (YABI), added, “Serious effort by the government of Indonesia should be put to strengthen rhino protection by creating Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ), intensive survey of the current known habitats, habitat management, captive breeding, and mobilizing national resources and support from related local governments and other stakeholders.”

The paper can found be online in Oryx.

Space

Astronauts capture rare image of a bright red sprite

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

Astronauts on the International Space Station released an image earlier this week that captures an orbital view of thunderstorms over southern Mexico and an unusual and short-lived phenomenon known as a big red sprite along the right edge of the picture.

According to Discovery News, the photo was taken on August 10 as recumbent Orion was rising over Earth’s limb, and it clearly shows a cluster of bright red and purple streamers rising above a white- and blue-colored flash of lightning and forming an object resembling a jellyfish.

Like lightning, sprites are bursts of electromagnetic discharge, Tech Insider explained, and they are basically sparks created above storm clouds in the upper atmosphere that follow the lightning beneath the cloud. This lightning charge creates an electrical field that, should it be able to grow large enough, generates a spark.

Sprites can extend upwards of 50 to 55 miles into the atmosphere, and appear to be at brightest between 40 to 45 miles above the Earth’s surface. They are red in color because the nitrogen in the higher parts of the atmosphere is excited by the burst of electricity, Tech Insider said.

Not the first time the ISS crew has photographed sprites

Sprites themselves are fairly common, although photographs such as this one are rather rare because these events are extremely short-lived, lasting only three to 10 milliseconds on average. They have been captured previously by the ISS crew, but rarely in such a high-quality image.

Despite that rare nature, however, Discovery News noted that the same storm resulted in not one but two photographs of sprite outbursts, both of which had been captured on camera as the space station was moving towards the southeast. The other one had actually been taken a few minutes earlier, but lacks the quality of the one taken later.

The exact mechanisms that create these phenomena are not yet known, and they could provide insight into the complex nature of the planet’s electrical environment, as well as how storms and weather interact with and influence that environment. Experts have suggested that searching for sprite activity on other planets may help find worlds capable of harboring life.

(Image credit: NASA)

 

Science

Researchers discover oldest human-like finger bone

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

A recently-discovered fossil is literally giving researchers a hand when determining the evolution of humans, as the remains are of a hand bone believed to have belonged to a previously unknown human relative that would have been far taller and larger than its contemporaries.

According to NBC News and LiveScience reports, the bone was discovered at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, and dating has determined that it is at least 1.84 million years old. The researchers that found the fossil believe it belonged to the adult left hand of one member of an unidentified group of hominin similar to Homo erectus, the first hominin known to keep created tools.

“The hand is one of the most important anatomical features that defines humans,” explained Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, a paleoanthropologist at Complutense University of Madrid and the lead author of a new Nature Communications paper detailing the human-like bone.

“Our hand evolved to allow us a variety of grips and enough gripping power to allow us the widest range of manipulation observed in any primate. It is this manipulation capability that interacted with our brains to develop our intelligence,” he added, noting that the bone is about 1.4 inches long, or roughly “the same size as the equivalent bone in our hand.”

Discovery may reveal when human-like hands first emerged

Domínguez-Rodrigo believes that the discovery could reveal new clues about when hands like those currently found on modern humans first emerged in the fossil record. They also said that it likely indicates that our ancient predecessors were much larger than previously believed.

Identified as Olduvai Hominin (OH) 86, the proximal digit “represents the earliest MHL [modern human-like] hand bone in the fossil record,” the authors wrote, adding that the differences in size and shape suggest “that a hominin with a more MHL postcranium co-existed with Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis.” The bones indicate that this species’ hands would have been dexterous enough to make and use complex tools, the research team explained.

Previous analysis of hominins appeared to inidcate that they were adapted to live in the trees, as their hands possessed curved finger bones suited for handing from branches, LiveScience noted. Modern humans are the only living higher primates with straight finger bones, and the new bone is not only straight, but contains other adaptations indicative of ground-based living.

While experts often suggest that the modern shape of the human hand evolved solely to use stone tools, recently discovered hominin fossil suggest that the story is more complicated than that. For example, the hand bones of some ancient hominin lineages can be closer to modern human hands than those of more recent lineages are, the website noted. The discovery of this fossil fill a gap in the record, helping explain when hominin hands started becoming specialized for manipulation.

—–

Feature Image: Researchers believe the fossil belonged to the adult left hand of one member of an unidentified group of hominin similar to Homo erectus, the first hominin known to keep created tools. (Credit: Jason Heaton)

Science

Shell given approval to drill off the coast of Alaska

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

Federal regulators in the US have given Royal Dutch Shell the final permit required for the petroleum company to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska’s northwestern coast for the first time in more than 20 years, raising the ire of environmentalists.

According to the Wall Street Journal and Associated Press (AP), the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced Monday that it was granting Shell permission to drill below the ocean floor after the company confirmed that it had purchased a piece of equipment, called a capping stack, designed to prevent a potential well blowout.

Previously, the agency had only allowed Shell to drill the upper sections of two wells in the Chukchi Sea because the capping stack was stuck onboard a vessel that needed to be repaired near Portland, Oregon. Since that equipment has now arrived, Shell will be able to drill into oil-bearing rocks located approximately 8,000 feet below the ocean floor.

“Activities conducted offshore Alaska are being held to the highest safety, environmental protection, and emergency response standards,” said Brian Salerno, director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. “We will continue to monitor their work around the clock to ensure the utmost safety and environmental stewardship.”

Environmentalists: fight is far from over

Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said it was possible that the company could complete a well by the end of the summer. The company has until the end of September to drill before ice accumulation makes it too difficult to drill, and would not go into detail about how much progress it had made so far, calling that information “proprietary” and “not something we would release.”

However, as the AP, Discovery News, and other media outlets pointed out, environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club oppose the awarding of the permits and the drilling as a whole, claiming that the industrial activity will harm native creatures such as polar bears, walrus, and whales that are already being threatened due to rising temperatures and sea ice loss.

Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said that granting the permit was “the wrong decision” and vowed that the fight was “far from over.” The people will continue to call on President Obama to protect the Arctic and our environment.”

Likewise, Greenpeace USA Executive Director Annie Leonard told Politico that it was “deeply hypocritical” of the Obama administration to approve the permit just days before the president was to embark on a tour of Alaska intended to highlight the growing issue of climate change.

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Health

What is melanoma?

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Emily Bills

 

While most people associate the word “melanoma” with moles and tanning, it’s actually not just a kind of skin cancer. Melanoma is most often found on the skin, yes, but it also can form in the eyes or in mucous membranes. So what’s the connecting thread here?

As it turns out, melanoma is a cancer of melanocytes—the cells that produce the pigment melanin (not to be confused with the sleep-inducing melatonin). Melanin is responsible for giving skin (including mucous membranes) and eyes their color, so if melanocytes mutate in any of these areas, that’s where you may develop cancer.

Mucus what?

Mucous membranes are body cavities that connect to the outside—such as the mouth, nose, windpipe, stomach, and female genital tract. These membranes often secrete mucus—which is why they’re referred to as mucous, meaning mucus-producing.

Mucosal melanoma is pretty rare; it makes up around 1% of all melanoma cases. Of this 1%, 50% begins in the membranes of the head and neck, 25% in the ano-rectal region, 20% in the female genital tract, and 5% in other mucous membranes.

However, this type of melanoma is not considered to be related to UV exposure—it actually has no identified risk factors, not even genetic inheritance. Similarly, it’s fairly hard to diagnose, as it’s often located in places where the sun don’t shine and can be confused for hemorrhoids.

Eyes

Ocular melanoma, while a rare type of melanoma, is the most common primary eye tumor in adults. Around 2,000 new diagnoses are made yearly, with risk factors including pale skin color, exposure to UV light, and several gene mutations (most often ones known as GNAQ and GNA11). If left untreated, ocular melanoma often spreads (metastasizes) to the liver. Wearing UV-protected sunglasses year-round is an easy way to lower your risk.

Skin

Cutaneous melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer—although with a five-year survival rate of 91.5%, it’s far from a death sentence. Cutaneous melanoma is found on the skin, which includes the palms of hands, the scalp, between toes, and underneath nails. Risk factors include being white, a history of burning, having many moles, family history, and of course UV ray exposure.

Like other cancers, melanoma is most deadly when it isn’t caught early, so preventative measures and frequent body-checks are key. A step-by-step guide for skin checks can be found here.

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Health

Woah: Scientists grow first nearly fully-formed human brain

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Emily Bills

 

Scientists from the Ohio State University claim that they have grown an almost fully-formed human brain in their lab, a colossal breakthrough for those researching diseases and disorders of the brain—if it’s true, that is.

According to a presentation at the Military Health System Research Symposium (which runs from August 17-20 this year), the diminutive brain resembles that of a five-week-old fetus, complete with a spinal cord, signaling circuitry, and even a retina—although it’s only the size of a pencil eraser.

Up until now, the closest scientists have come to lab-growing a human brain is with cerebral organoids. These organoids are tiny 3D lumps of brain tissue that have some, but not all, aspects of a human brain in the first trimester, and are grown using a human skin cell.

“We have grown the entire brain from the get-go,” said Rene Anand, who presented the research. Further, he went on to claim that their brain contains 99% of the complete brain’s cell types and genes.

The group also indicated that ethical concerns were non-existent. First, the brain wasn’t engineered from fetal stem cells, but, like the cerebral organoids, was grown from adult skin cells. Anand explained the skin cells were converted into pluripotent stem cells (which can become almost any other cell in the body), and then were directed into becoming brain and spinal cord cells.

Second, the brain isn’t conscious. “We don’t have any sensory stimuli entering the brain. This brain is not thinking in any way,” he said.

There’s always a caveat

Despite this enormous leap in technology, many scientists have expressed concerns over the findings. The full details of the process—which is patent pending—have not been released yet. This means no peer review has been conducted, and scientists have no means to vet the results.

Zameel Cader, a consultant neurologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, was excited yet wary. “When someone makes such an extraordinary claim as this, you have to be cautious until they are willing to reveal their data,” he told The Guardian.

However, it is suspected that the technique used is similar to that of Shinya Yamanaka, the first person to successfully reprogram mature cells into pluripotent stem cells. (He won the Nobel Prize for his work in 2012.)

And if the results are true, research into the brain could be revolutionized. Since this petri dish brain is made from a person’s skin cell, it contains all of their DNA—meaning it could be used to study their individual illnesses. “If you have an inherited disease, for example, you could give us a sample of skin cells, we could make a brain and then ask what’s going on,” said Anand.

Or, researchers could use this technique to see how different substances affect the growing brain. “We can look at the expression of every gene in the human genome at every step of the development process and see how they change with different toxins. Maybe then we’ll be able to say ‘holy cow, this one isn’t good for you.’”

Currently, the team is looking at using the brain for military research—like for examining PTSD or traumatic brain injury.

However, they acknowledged it could go far beyond this: “We’ve struggled for a long time trying to solve complex brain disease problems that cause tremendous pain and suffering. The power of this brain model bodes very well for human health because it gives us better and more relevant options to test and develop therapeutics other than rodents.”

(Image credit: Ohio State University)

Technology

Now you can sound just like Stephen Hawking…for free!

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

If you’ve ever wanted to sound like renowned theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and generally-recognized smartest-man-on-Earth Stephen Hawking, now’s your chance, as the company behind his voice software will now allow you to download the program for free.

One catch: it won’t actually make you any smarter, unfortunately. Sorry.

Nonetheless, Intel has decided to release the assistive context-aware toolkit (ACAT) used by Professor Hawking under a free software license, according to Wired. ACAT is a platform that makes computers more accessible to people with disabilities, and since the toolkit is now open-source, it means that anyone can (theoretically) build an interface just like the one used by the Cambridge researcher to communicate and issue commands to various applications.

As Intel noted on its website, ACAT was designed specifically to make it possible for people with motor neuron diseases and other disabilities to use word prediction, speech synthesis, and keyboard simulation to make it easier to communicate with the world. Using this software, a patient can edit, manage documents, access email, and surf the Web, they explained.

“After Intel deployed the system to Professor Hawking, we turned our attention to the larger community and continued to make ACAT more configurable to support a larger set of users with different conditions,” the company added. “Our hope is that, by open sourcing this configurable platform, developers will continue to expand on this system by adding new user interfaces, new sensing modalities, word prediction and many other features.”

Bad news for Mac users

There are, of course, a few catches (aren’t there always?). For one thing, ACAT was designed solely to work on PCs running Windows 7 or newer, and Wired said that there are currently no plans to release a Mac version of the toolkit. For those lucky PC users, however, the rest of the hardware requirements needed to run the system are “pretty easy to meet,” they added.

Developed in C# using Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5, ACAT uses visual cues in the user’s face to understand various commands, meaning a computer needs a webcam in order to use it. That might change, as Intel principal engineer Lama Nachman told Wired that they are exploring other input types, including proximity sensors and accelerometer-based ones.

However, the platform isn’t yet ready for the average computer user to download and play with, Nachman added. “The goal of open sourcing this,” the Intel exec told Wired, “is to enable developers to create solutions in the assistive space with ease, and have them leverage what we have invested years of effort in. Our vision is to enable any developer or researcher who can bring in value in sensing, UI, word prediction, context awareness, etc. to build on top of this, and not have to reinvent the wheel since it is a large effort to do this.”

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Space

Mars orbiter photographs part of solar system’s largest canyon

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

 
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has released a detailed 3D image depicting Ophir Chasma, a canyon on Mars believed to be part of the largest such chasm in the solar system.
Using the Mangalyaan orbiter’s Mars Color Camera instrument, the probe captured an image of a long, steep depression located in the Coprates Quadrangle on Mars, which the ISRO explained can be found at 4° south latitude and 72.5° west longitude on the Red Planet. The walls of Ophir Chasma have multiple layers, they added, and the floor contains large, layered mineral deposits.
The new image depicts the 197-mile (317km) long, 38.5-mile (62km) wide canyon in a resolution of 96 megapixels, the agency said. It was taken at an altitude of about 1,154 miles (1,857km) and comes on the heels of images snapped earlier this year by Mangalyaan that shows a stunning 3D view of Arsia Mons, a massive volcano on Mars with a 10-mile (16km) peak.
About India’s successful, low budget Mars orbiter
According to CNET and BBC News, the images were actually taken on July 19 and released in time to commemorate India’s Independence Day. Launched in November 2013 and costing only $74 million, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission marked the country’s first interplanetary mission, and the first time any nation successfully sent a probe to Mars on its first attempt.
Mangalyaan, which means “Mars-craft” in Sanskrit, had a budget just a fraction of similar missions to the Red Planet (the Maven mission, for instance, ran NASA $671 million). The ISRO probe reached orbit around Mars in September 2014, and since then, it has been studying the planet’s surface and atmosphere, while also using cameras and spectrometers to capture images.
In addition to collecting data from Mars, one of the mission’s primary objectives is to serve as a demonstration of India’s ability to research, design and deploy interplanetary space technology, according to CNET. The surface images sent back to Earth will also help the country’s scientists better understand the geological processes taking place on the Red Planet.
Other objectives of the mission include establishing deep space communication, navigation, mission planning, and management capabilities; incorporating a series of autonomous features to handle contingency situations, and investigating the morphology, mineralogy, surface features, and atmosphere using indigenous scientific instruments, the ISRO website said.
(Image credit: ISRO)

Science

Denver corpse flower finally blooms, reeks of rotting flesh

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

If you’re dying to see a unique species of plant that can take decades to bloom, then you’re in luck: the Denver Botanic Gardens confirmed Tuesday that the corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) housed there has finally started to officially blossom.

You’d probably better hurry, though. According to The Denver Post, while these unique and pungent-smelling plants can take upwards of 20 years to bloom for the first time and almost a decade to do so for a second time. Yet its massive bloom lasts less than 48 hours.

Members of the Botanic Gardens will be able to see (and smell) the flower Wednesday starting at 6am local time, while the general public will be admitted starting at 9am. Not only is this the first corpse flower to bloom at the facility, it is the first in the entire Rocky Mountain region, the paper noted. As such, visitors are being told to expect large crowds.

If you can’t make, though, check out the live stream, courtesy of KUSA:

So what’s so special about these corpse flowers?

Over the past 10 days or so, the Gardens have seen a record 30,000 visitors as people come to get an up-close peak at this unusual plant, The Washington Post said. It goes without saying that one of the main reasons why the corpse flower is so unusual is the rarity and short-lived nature of the blooms, but what else about this plant makes it stand out?

For one thing, the cluster of flowers on its stem (also known as its inflorescence) is very tall, and can reach heights of more than 10 feel, according to USA Today. Its leaf structure can reach sizes of 20 feet tall and 16 feet across, and each year the old leaf dies off and is replaced by a new one. Typically, they weigh approximately 110 pounds, with the largest topping 250 pounds.

The corpse flower is endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where it grows in rainforests located on limestone hills. It is a member of the same family as the call lily, and it has an unusual fragrance that is said to resemble rotting meat, spoiled eggs, or day-old roadkill, said the newspaper. This allows it to attract beetles and flesh flies, which pollinate the flower.

Corpse flowers are currently listed as a vulnerable species, and there are roughly 100 cultivated corpse flowers currently housed at botanical gardens around the world.

The official name of the plant is one of the most unique and hilarious in all of taxonomy, as USA Today noted. Amorphophallus titanum, roughly translated, means “misshapen, giant penis”.

—–

Feature Image: The Huntington/YouTube

Health

Brain-eating amoebae discovered in Louisiana water

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

Louisiana health officials have confirmed that the so-called “brain-eating amoeba” Naegleria fowleri has been found in a water sample obtained in the drinking water system of Terrebonne Parish, local media outlets reported earlier this week.

The amoeba was found in a water sample obtained from Terrebonne Consolidated Waterworks District No. 1, the Terrebonne Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness told WDSU in New Orleans on Tuesday. Officials added that they would begin a 60-day chlorine burn in order to eliminate the microbes still in the system.

This marks the third time that Naegleria fowleri has been found in Louisiana water this summer, according to NOLA.com. The latest positive test, which found at the last hydrant on Island Road in Pointe Aux Chenes (near Montegut) on August 5, follows discoveries at St. Bernard Parish in late July and Ascension Parish approximately one week beforehand.

Officials note that the brain-eating amoeba occurs naturally in freshwater and can make its way into a person’s home through water distribution systems. Water containing Naegleria fowleri is actually safe to drink, but experts caution to avoid getting any in their noses, as this could lead to amebic meningoencephalitis, an infection that can cause brain tissue to be destroyed.

What you need to know about Naegleria fowleri

On the surface, it might seem that three separate confirmations of this brain-eating amoeba in the same state is cause for concert, NOLA.com pointed out that it is also the side-effect of improved testing methods from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH). After the deaths of three people in the state since 2011, the agency enacted stricter testing methods.

Since they had been finding it more difficult to detect the amoeba using previous methods, DHH switched to a technique that involves 100 liters of water over the course of an hour, followed by a microscopic inspection of sediment trapped by the filter, the local news outlet explained. These methods were enacted after Louisiana health officials asked scientists in Australia how they were able to address a similar problem in that country.

Furthermore, DHH official (citing information from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) said that there are several steps that people can take to reduce the risk of Naegleria fowleri infection. For instance, they should make sure that water does not go up their noses when taking baths or showers, run water for five minutes to flush the pipe before bathing or showering, and make sure that children do not play with hoses or sprinklers unless supervised.

—–

Feature Image: Thinkstock

Science

UPDATE: Japan’s Sakurajima volcano experiences small eruption

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Christopher Pilny

UPDATE: Wednesday August 19th, 9:22AM CST

Japanese officials confirmed that a very small eruption occurred on the Sakurajima volcano this morning at 3:13AM JST, according to The Japan Times.

While residents of Kagoshima, the city below the volcano, have been warned that evacuation may be imminent, the most recent eruption is one of the smallest to occur over the past year. More than 1,000 eruptions have taken place since January.

Officials also witnessed a phenomenon called “volcanic glow”, in which the air above a volcano appears red due to the light from magma and lava rock beneath it.

ORIGINAL STORY: Monday August 17th, 2:25PM CST

Japan’s most active volcano, Sakurajima, may be headed to an eruption on a scale not seen in about 100 years—only potentially more deadly, as a nuclear power plant rests only 31 miles away.

On Saturday, increasing tectonic movements and rising magma for Sakurajima Volcano caused the Japan Meteorological Agency to raise the alert level from a 3 (“Do not approach the volcano”) to a 4 (“Prepare to evacuate”). Level 4 is the second highest level and the highest ever for the Sakurajima since their alert system was launched—indicating a major eruption might be imminent.

“The possibility for a large-scale eruption has become extremely high for Sakurajima,” the agency announced. “There is the danger that stones could rain down on areas near the mountain’s base, so we are warning residents of those areas to be ready to evacuate if needed.”

About 4,000 people live on the same island as the volcano; the 77 who are the most endangered were advised to evacuate on Saturday. Besides dangers associated with living on the island, a city two and a half miles away of about 600,000—Kagoshima, the capital of its prefecture—could be impacted as well, but most likely by ash. Most alarmingly, the Sendai nuclear power plant may need to be evacuated, as it could be struck by a tsunami caused by an eruption—a horrible mirror of the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011.

Remaining on alert

As of Monday, the volcano has seemed to have quieted down, but the agency has not lowered the warning level.

“We need to remain on alert because it is not known when magma will start to rise again and when a major eruption will occur as a result,” said Takeshi Koizumi, senior coordinator for volcanic disaster mitigation at the agency.

Those who live on the island were told Sunday night their evacuation may last a week or longer, and officials will continue their close monitoring of the volcano for at least two weeks.

The volcano can be watched live through a number of webcams, and the list can be found here through Wired.

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Technology

VIDEO: Oh, just a humanoid robot strolling through the forest

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

After poor Hitchbot’s cross-country journey came to an end when it was vandalized in Philadelphia, one might think that robotics companies would be hesitant to allow their valuable creations out into the world. Then again, not every robot is as imposing as Boston Dynamics’ Atlas.

Unlike the friendly, youthful-looking Canadian hitchhiker which failed to even leave the Eastern time zone let alone make it to California, Atlas’s Google-owned creators describe the bipedal bot as “strong and coordinated enough to climb using hands and feet,” mobile enough to “negotiate outdoor, rough terrain,” and capable of using its limbs to carry or manipulate objects.

Now, as the Washington Post reported, the beast has been unleashed. Atlas went for its first journey in the wild recently, walking through the woods like “a drunk Iron Man” or “the less-coordinated cousin of a Transformers character,” the newspaper said. Video of the journey, shown by Boston Dynamics at the Fab Lab 11 conference this month, has now gone viral.

The video was significant in that it marked the first time that the robotics firm had ever shared footage of one of its humanoid robot creations making an outdoor excursion, although there are apparently multiple videos of its quadrupeds running in the wild, according to the Post.

Bipedal robot said to be making ‘good progress’

At the conference, Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert explained that Atlas was sent on his excursion as a way to test its balance and ability to adapt to unpredictable environments. During the trip, he was tethered to a power source, the newspaper said, and its makers are hopeful that it eventually be able to perform military or disaster-relief tasks too dangerous for humans.

According to PC World and the Huffington Post, Raibert told those at the MIT conference that Atlas currently lacks the grace of the company’s four-legged robots, and that its gait is shuffling. However, he said that the development team was “making pretty good progress so it has mobility that’s sort of within shooting range” of human capability.

“I’m not saying it can do everything you can do, but you can imagine if we keep pushing we’ll get there,” he added. He also said that sending Atlas out into the woods was an important part of the robot’s progress. “We’re interested in getting this robot out in the world,” Raibert added. “All kinds of stuff happens out there. You can’t predict what it’s going to be like.”

—–

Feature Image: Boston Dynamics

Science

Could we harness volcanoes to cool the world?

Written By: Eric Hopton
Emily Bills

Until the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the surface layer of Earth’s oceans had been steadily cooling for 1,800 years. For a thousand of those years, between 801 and 1800 AD, that trend was probably driven by large and frequent volcanic eruptions. The cooling was sufficient to produce the “Little Ice Age” from the 16th to 18th centuries with lower than average temperatures on land.

Then came the Anthropocene, and man-made factors began to overwhelm the long term trend. Volcanic activity just wasn’t enough to counter human activity and subsequent global warming.

Could we tame volcanos to beat warming?

So how does volcanic activity cool the oceans? Could volcanos ever be “harnessed” to work against damaging climate change?

When volcanos erupt they inject debris and “aerosols” into the stratosphere, and as this material spreads rapidly around the planet, it reflects solar radiation to space. This produces a cooling effect which continues as long as the aerosols remain in the stratosphere. There is an immediate short term effect and a more significant long term cooling of the oceans.

Compared to the atmosphere, the oceans can absorb much more heat and trap it for longer periods of time. When volcanic eruptions cluster together in a relatively short period of time, the temperature changes can become prolonged.

“Volcanic eruptions have a short-term cooling effect on the atmosphere, but our results showed that when volcanic eruptions occurred more frequently, there was long-term ocean cooling,” said lead author Helen McGregor, an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow at the University of Wollongong in Australia.

“With this research, we now have new insight into the century-scale global sea-surface temperature variations that came before man-made greenhouse gas forcing.”

“Today, the Earth is warming about 20 times faster than it cooled during the past 1,800 years,” said Michael Evans, second author of the study.

If those massive explosions that occasionally ground aircraft and strand passengers around the world are so good at countering global warming, would it ever be feasible to trigger volcanic eruptions in an attempt to slow down the damage? The team behind the study don’t think so. In their FAQ response to this suggestion they reply: “This is well beyond our expertise, and not only likely to be unfeasible, but also unpredictable and uncontrollable.”

Data points to the effects of volcanos

The research combined 57 previously published marine surface temperature reconstructions. The team compiled the data within 200-year brackets to observe long-term trends, and then compared the findings to land-based reconstructions, which revealed similar cooling trends.

“No matter how we divided the data set, the cooling trend stands out as a robust signal,” said McGregor.

The researchers used climate models to investigate the cause of the cooling trend. They examined how sea-surface temperatures reacted to various “forcing” factors, such as changes in solar output, Earth’s orbit, land use, volcanic activity, and greenhouse gases. Only volcanic events resulted in a cooling trend that matched the team’s real-world observations.

“We are still learning how the oceans mediate climate variations,” said Evans. “Further work combining both observations and simulations of ocean climate will refine our understanding of the ocean’s role in climate change.”

These findings are part of an international study just published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

Health

Blind mice see again with vision gene therapy

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Emily Bills

 

Retinitis pigmentosa is the leading cause of blindness worldwide, but scientists from the University of Manchester have discovered how to cure mice with the disease by transforming cells that can’t sense light into those that can.

Retinitis pigmentosa, which affects around 1.5 million people worldwide, involves the breakdown and loss of the cells in the eye used to detect light and color—rods and cones. The rest of the cells necessary for vision are still intact, but the very first cells you need to see are gone, causing blindness.

Most research on the disease focuses on prevention or repairing the damaged cells, but this study took a unique approach—it skipped over the lost cells and went straight for the next ones in line. These cells are known as ganglion and bipolar cells, and are responsible for processing the signals given off by the “seeing” cells when they’re functional.

That is, until the researchers turned them into seeing cells themselves. Rods use a pigment known as rhodopsin to sense light, and by using viruses, they were able to insert the gene that produces rhodopsin into the non-seeing ganglion and bipolar cells. (This is a technique known as gene therapy.)

When this happened, the previously blind mice regained several aspects of vision. They could distinguish light from dark and flickering from steady light, and when shown a movie of a swooping owl, they ran away.

Limitations and human trials

“You could say they were trying to escape, but we don’t know for sure,” said Rob Lucas, co-leader of the team that developed and tested the treatment, to New Scientist. “What we can say is that they react to the owl in the same way as sighted mice, whereas the untreated mice didn’t do anything.”

Only sensitivity to light was restored (color vision requires different pigments than rhodopsin), and the restoration was somewhat limited: “The treated mice could discriminate black and white bars, but only ones that were 10 times thicker than what sighted mice could see,” said Lucas.

However, according to researcher Robin Ali of the University College London, this is the most effective use of a gene therapy in this disease to date. Further, the virus used to deliver the rhodopsin is already approved for use in humans; Lukas hopes human trials can begin in a few years.

The paper can be found in Current Biology.

(Image credit: zhouxuan12345678 / Flickr Creative Commons)

Technology

New glasses help the colorblind see pigments

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

Special glasses that were originally designed to protect doctors’ eyes from lasers and help them differentiate human tissue have now proven useful for another purpose – helping those suffering from colorblindness see things in a way that had never previously been possible.

The glasses are produced by a company called EnChroma Labs, and as Popular Science pointed out, they originally went on sale three years ago. Although they may look like normal sunglasses, they contain a filter that absorbs light where the spectra overlap the most, essentially forcing the frequencies of light detected by the cones of a person’s eye to be separated.

Those cones are receptors that allow a person to pick up red, blue, and green pigments, but in a colorblind individual, the cones pick up colors with spectra that overlap, making it difficult for them to differentiate between red and green. All other parts of the visual system, including the connections between the retina and the brain, are unaffected and function normally.

Wearing the glasses boosts the pigments and makes it possible for the colorblind to distinguish between them more clearly. The website emphasizes that the glasses do not cure colorblindness any more than regular glasses cure near or farsightedness, but they are helpful tools.

How surgical glasses became a hit among the colorblind

So how did glasses designed to protect the eyes of surgeons wind up being marketed primarily to the colorblind? According to the New York Times, inventor and avid Ultimate Frisbee player Don McPherson was at a tournament when he lent a pair of the glasses to a colorblind friend.

That friend said that he could make out the color of the orange cones used to mark the goals for the first time. That piqued McPherson’s interest, and while he said he did not know the first thing about the condition, he wanted to figure out why the glasses would such an effect. He applied for a grant from the National Institutes of Health in 2005 to study color vision and colorblindness.

In an attempt to create filters that could correct the condition, he worked alongside vision experts and a mathematician and computer scientist named Andrew Schmeder, the newspaper said. They were not the first to explore the concept of glasses that could improve pigment detection, and the $700 device was not initially very successful, due to the steep price and poor marketing.

However, they worked to reduce the costs while creating a similar product. They brought in a new manufacturer that made the process more cost-efficient and tweaked the filters so that the lenses could be used in prescription lenses. They relaunched in December at a new lower price range of $330 and $430, and started offering indoor, outdoor and children’s versions.

EnChroma Labs co-founder Tony Dykes told the Times that the company the glasses will not work for everyone, and that the company had a 30-day return policy in case they do not work for a specific person’s colorblindness. “It works in some cases and not others,” he explained. “It’s not a magical cure or a cheat.”

—–

Feature Image: Valspar Paint/YouTube

Health

What is multiple myeloma?

Written By: Susanna Pilny
Emily Bills

 

Multiple myeloma is the most common cancer of its kind and accounts for about 1.4% of all U.S. cancers. However, the rate of incidences have increased by around 1% every year 1975, so that number is bound to rise.

Myeloma first occurs in bone marrow, where many blood cells are produced, including red blood cells and plasma cells. Plasma cells are part of the immune system, which protects the body from infections and diseases, but if genes or the environment distort them, they switch purposes. Instead of protecting the body, they grow out of control into a cancerous tumor. Multiple myeloma is the name for when a person has multiple tumors of this kind; otherwise, it’s just called an isolated plasmacytoma.

Besides a normal biopsy—where some of the bone marrow tissue is removed to be checked for cancer—there are other indicators that one has developed multiple myeloma. For example, the cancer can keep other blood cells from being produced in the bone marrow, leading to anemia (lack of red blood cells), increased bleeding and bruising (low blood platelet levels), and increased infections (decreased white blood cells).

Causing other problems

Further, the cancer can cause bone problems, like fractures. Bones are constantly being built and broken down as the body needs, but in multiple myeloma, the breakdown of bone cells tends to increase. The balance of breakdown and buildup is now skewed to the breakdown side, meaning bones lose cells and become weaker.

Other problems include kidney damage and failure, monoclonal gammopathy (where abnormal proteins are found in the blood), breathing problems, hypercalcemia (a result of bone cells dissolving), and light chain amyloidosis (a buildup of protein deposits in various body tissues).

Depending on how the myeloma affects you, along with your age and other factors, treatment will vary. Treatment for this cancer is tricky, but can include chemotherapy, surgery, stem cell transplant, and drugs known as bisphosphonates. Five-year survival rates are around 47%, but like other cancers, earlier diagnoses greatly increase survival rates (in this case, to nearly 69%)—so if you are concerned, please talk to a doctor.

(Image credit: Faculty of Medicine NTNU/Flickr Commons)

Health

‘Smart capsule’ could target stomach and bowel problems

Written By: John Hopton
Emily Bills

New “smart capsules” could deliver medicines directly to the large intestine, bypassing the normal digestive process of being broken down before getting there, according to a report from Futurity.

This would be useful in treating conditions that require pinpointed targeting, including irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease.

“Usually, when you take medication it is absorbed in the stomach and small intestine before making it to the large intestine,” said Babak Ziaie, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University. “However, there are many medications that you would like to deliver specifically to the large intestine, and a smart capsule is an ideal targeted-delivery vehicle for this.”

Tech in the tract

The device would be powered by a capacitor, charged before use. A magnet on the patient’s waist would activate a switch, as it eventually approached it through the intestines, prompting a spring-loaded mechanism to open the capsule and deliver the medication.

Researchers working at Purdue University’s Birck Nanotechnology Center tested the capsule with a “fluidic model” that mimics the gastrointestinal tract. They also used an experiment that imitates the changing acidity and muscle contractions of the stomach and intestines as food passes through.

“It takes up to 12 hours to get to the large intestine, so we wanted to make sure the smart capsule can withstand conditions in the gastrointestinal tract,” Ziaie said.

Replacing poop transplants 

Another condition which could be better treated with the hi-tech device is a potentially life-threatening bacterial infection called Clostridium difficile, in which the body loses natural microorganisms needed to fight infection.

One current treatment for the illness involves transplanting feces from another person into a patient’s large intestine (ah yeah, that seems like a good idea …sorry, what?!), which apparently provides vital microbes.

However, Ziaie explained, it might be possible to convert the microbes into a powder through freeze-drying, and then deliver them with smart capsules – as a no doubt preferable alternative for all involved.

(Image credit: )

Space

Despite emissions, there’s no shortage of nitrogen on Pluto

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

Hundreds of tons of atmospheric nitrogen is escaping from Pluto every hour, but no matter how much leaks into space, the dwarf planet appears to have an endless supply of the gas, causing a team of researchers to figure out exactly where all of this nitrogen is coming from.

In a new study published this month in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Kelsi Singer and Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) investigated several different, potential sources that could be replenishing the nitrogen, including whether comets could be delivering enough gas to make up for what is lost, or if impactors were excavating subsurface nitrogen.

“More nitrogen has to come from somewhere to resupply both the nitrogen ice that is moving around Pluto’s surface in seasonal cycles and the nitrogen that is escaping off the top of the atmosphere as the result of heating by ultraviolet light from the sun,” Singer, a postdoctoral researcher at SwRI, said in a statement.

“We found that all of these effects, which are the major ones from cratering, do not seem to supply enough nitrogen to supply the escaping atmosphere over time,” she added. “While it’s possible that the escape rate was not as high in the past as it is now, we think geologic activity is helping out by bringing nitrogen up from Pluto’s interior.”

Recent geologic activity may be linked to nitrogen replenishment

According to Space.com, Pluto’s atmosphere has 10,000 times less surface pressure than Earth, and as a result, hundreds of tons of nitrogen are escaping the dwarf planet’s atmosphere per hour. Nonetheless, the atmosphere remains 98 percent nitrogen, meaning replacement gas had to come from somewhere. The new study suggests that it is coming from within.

Data obtained by the New Horizons spacecraft included new images of Pluto’s land forms suggesting that heat is rising beneath the surface, with dark matter troughs accumulating or bubbling up between flat segments of crust. According to the study authors, this phenomenon could be related to the nitrogen issue.

“Our pre-flyby prediction, made when we submitted the paper, is that it’s most likely that Pluto is actively resupplying nitrogen from its interior to its surface, possibly meaning the presence of ongoing geysers or cryovolcanism,” said Stern, principal investigator of New Horizons. “As data from New Horizons comes in, we will be very interested to see if this proves true.”

“We currently have only a tiny fraction of the data back from the New Horizons flyby, but the fact that there are young-looking areas on Pluto hints at relatively recent geologic activity,” Singer added in a NASA blog post. “Stay tuned as we get more data back… over the coming months, which will refine our estimates of Pluto’s atmospheric escape and provide more images of Pluto’s surface to assess the types and timing of geologic activity.”

(Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI)

Science

How dogs evolved with climate change

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

As temperatures in North American cooled and conditions became dryer over the past 40 million years, dogs slowly evolved from creatures that would ambush their prey to the modern wolf-like ones capable of tracking their prey for an entire day, a new study has found.

By studying fossils dating back to the beginnings of those changes, Brown University ecology and evolutionary biology professor Christine Janis and Borja Figueirido, a professor at Spain’s Universidad de Málaga, found evidence that these predatory creatures are sensitive to climate change.

The reason, they explained, is because it alters the hunting opportunities present in their habitats. In the case of canines, fossils indicate that they were originally small creatures that looked more like mongooses than modern dogs, and had forelimbs that were not yet fully adapted for running. Part of the reason for this was that dogs primarily called the forest their home.

As the climate cooled over time and the Rocky Mountains reached a growth threshold that caused the continental interior to become drier, those forests eventually faded away and gave rise to grasslands. In a study published this week in Nature Communication, the authors reported on their efforts to measure the impact this transition had on dogs and other carnivores.

Climate change ‘critical’ for evolutionary processes

Janis, Figueirido and their colleagues examined the elbows and teeth of 32 different species of canines ranging from around 40 million years ago to two million years ago. They found patterns proving that dogs were evolving from ambush predators to pursuit-pounce predators (like modern foxes) and ultimately to wolf-like predators at the same time climate change was occurring.

Figueirido told redOrbit that the shift from wooden habitats like forests to open plains, prairies, and savannahs “also entailed a change in the predatory behavior of carnivores.” The study, he continued, “confirms that their skeleton became increasingly modified towards the morphology of extant fast-running predators” in correlation with the spread of grasslands.

“It is highly interesting that not only mammalian herbivores were the groups affected by climatic change and its impact on vegetation and environments,” the professor said via email. “Our study also reveals that predators change their hunting habits in association with habitat opening related to climatic change. Therefore, long periods of profound climatic change are critical for the emergence of ecological innovations, and could alter the direction of lineage evolution.”

While Figueirido said that one study alone cannot predict what future changes could happen in response to the current climatic situation, and that doing so would be “a really difficult task.”

(Image credit: Mauricio Anton)

Science

Dino footprints show best friends strolling on the beach

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Emily Bills

 

A pair of dinosaur footprints uncovered at the Bückeberg Formation in Germany show that they were strolling along together along the beach in what researchers believe could be evidence of a social relationship between the two ancient creatures.

According to CBS News/Live Science reports, the tracks indicate that one of the dinosaurs was large while the other one was small. Based on the distribution of the footprints, the bigger of the two was travelling at a speed of about 3.9 mph (6.3 km/hour), while the smaller one walked at a pace of roughly 6.0 mph (9.7 km/h), occasionally picking up the pace to keep up.

Pernille Venø Troelsen, a biologist from the University of Southern Denmark who presented the findings as part of last month’s XIII Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists in Poland, also revealed that the dinosaurs appeared to skid in places, most likely because they were having difficulty maintaining their footing on the wet sand.

The footprints belonged to creatures that lived some 142 million years ago, and were excavated from the Bückeberg Formation between 2009 and 2011. Around 50 tracks were found, and while they had previously been subject to a variety of different geological surveys, Troelsen is believed to be the first biologist to conduct an in-depth analysis of the footprints.

More evidence that dinosaurs were social creatures?

Troelsen’s research revealed that the two animals measured about 1.6 meters and 1.1 meters tall at the hip respectively, and that they are likely carnivores from the species Megalosauripus. The little one apparently crossed its legs from time to time during the journey, possibly because it had lost its balance, was struggling with strong winds, or had found something to eat.

Alternatively, this pattern may indicate that it was trying to stay close to the larger one, in which case the footprints “may illustrate two social animals, perhaps a parent and a young,” Troelsen, a student at the university who earned a master’s degree in June, explained in a statement.

While this adds to an increasing number of studies suggesting that several species of dinosaurs were actually social creatures that may have hunted together and raised their offspring after they had been hatched, the author cautions that it cannot be determined with complete accuracy that the two sets of footprints were created at the same time.

“There may be many years apart, in which case it maybe reflects two animals randomly crossing each other’s tracks. We can also see that a duckbill dinosaur (Iguanodon) has crossed their tracks at one time or another, so there has been some traffic in the area,” said Troelsen, whose findings have yet to be published by a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

(Image credit: Pernille Venø Troelsen)

Science

Evidence of torture, massacre, mutilation found in neolithic mass grave

Written By: Chuck Bednar
Christopher Pilny

Twenty-six skeletons found in a mass grave in central Germany show signs of a brutal attack, including severe blows to the head and broken legs that could indicate that the victims had been tortured before being killed and having their bodies dumped into a burial pit.

The remains were found at Schöneck-Kilianstädten near Frankfurt back in 2006, and as BBC News, New Scientist and other media outlets reported Monday, the discovery is the latest entry in what appears to be a growing pattern of widespread violence occurring in the Early Neolithic period. Similar mass graves have been found elsewhere in Germany and in Austria.

“This is not the first massacre site that has been analyzed from this specific culture in the Early Neolithic of Central Europe. We have good evidence from two other sites, which basically show the same cranial injuries as we found in the ‘new’ skeletal material,” anthropologist Christian Meyer from the University of Mainz, lead author of new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), told redOrbit via email.

While the Kilianstädten site “has been known to the scientific community,” Meyer noted “in addition to the extensive lethal cranial injuries” and what appears to be injuries resulting from arrow wounds, that he and his colleagues found that “the long bones of the lower legs” of the victims “have almost systematically been smashed. This pattern is a new discovery here [and] could possibly signify torture, or mutilation of the bodies.”

neolithic mass grave

“Methodologically, we cannot differentiate between that, so we can only speculate what was going on. But the fractures have been made to ‘fresh’ bones, so both is actually possible,” the anthropologist added. “This site is now the third from the same archaeological culture which shows evidence for lethal collective violence… So we really start to see a pattern here, which of course allows us to develop more far-reaching and more robust conclusions.”

First mass burial site with pattern of shattered leg bones

The remains in this mass grave, which have been dated to between 5207 and 4849 BC, belonged to an agricultural culture known as the Linearbandkeramik (LBK). While evidence for individual instances of torture or murder during ancient times have previously been discovered, the authors explained to New Scientist that this marks the first time that an almost complete village had been put to death in a mass burial site with this pattern of shattered leg bones.

Half of the victims of the mass killing were children, while the other half were adults, none over the age of 40 (both of which were women). No teenagers were found, indicating that they could have fled or been captured, and because the LBK people left behind a rich archaeological record, the discovery of a pit filled with haphazardly-dumped bodies and with no valuable artifacts to be found anywhere strongly suggests that the victims were done in by a rival culture.

“The find becomes most significant when combined with previously discovered gravesites similar in nature to this more recent one,” Meyer told redOrbit. “While a single site may be a spectacular discovery, scientifically more important are the patterns emerging from the comparison of several sites.” While “the archaeological record is very patchy and incomplete,” he added, “if you have three sites at hand that give you similar results from the same later phase of this first farming culture in Central Europe… you really start to see this pattern emerging.”

As the study authors told BBC News, the bodies were surrounded by various waste objects, as well as arrowheads likely used as weapons in the attack. Nearly two-thirds of the shinbones had been broken as a result of blunt-force trauma, and the injuries indicate that there was likely some sort of conflict between different farming communities. The exact cause of that conflict remains unclear, Meyer said, though it may have been the result of there being too many people living in too small an area, or that climate change may have hampered agricultural production.

—–

Feature Image: This image shows a shin fracture. (Credit: PNAS/University of Basel)

Story Image: Severe injuries inflicted either shortly before or after death are shown. Cranial injury on a child between 3 to 5 years of age. (Credit: PNAS/University of Basel)