Science News Feeds

• Saturn probe to acquire Earth image
  The Cassini probe in orbit around Saturn is going to picture the ringed planet in a special photo that also includes a distant Earth.
  
• Applause is a 'social contagion'
  The quality of a performance does not drive the amount of applause an audience gives, a study suggests.
  
• 'Hoff' crab's oceanic 'road trip'
  A hairy crab named after US actor David Hasselhoff hitched a ride on an ocean "super-highway" to colonise deep sea vents in the Atlantic.
  

• Evolution of an outbreak: Complications from contaminated steroid injections
  Magnetic resonance imaging at the site of injection of a contaminated lot of a steroid drug to treat symptoms such as back pain resulted in earlier identification of patients with probable or confirmed fungal spinal or paraspinal infection, allowing early initiation of medical and surgical treatment.
  
• A battery made of wood?
  A sliver of wood coated with tin could make a tiny, long-lasting, efficient and environmentally friendly battery, say scientists.
  
• Drug shows surprising efficacy as treatment for chronic leukemia, mantle cell...
  Clinical studies suggest that the novel, targeted agent ibrutinib shows real potential is a safe, effective, treatment for adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and for patients with mantle cell lymphoma.
  
• Mindfulness can increase wellbeing and reduce stress in school children
  Mindfulness -- a mental training that develops sustained attention that can change the ways people think, act and feel -- could reduce symptoms of stress and depression and promote wellbeing among school children, according to a new study.
  
• Scientists identify emotions based on brain activity
  For the first time, scientists have identified which emotion a person is experiencing based on brain activity. The study combines functional magnetic resonance imaging and machine learning to measure brain signals to accurately read emotions in individuals. The findings illustrate how the brain categorizes feelings, giving researchers the first reliable process to analyze emotions. Until now, research on emotions has been long stymied by the lack of reliable methods to evaluate them.
  
• New details about H7N9 influenza infections that suddenly appeared in China
  Researchers have revealed new information about the latest strain of type A influenza, known as H7N9.
  
• Scientists date prehistoric bacterial invasion still present in today's plant...
  How long ago did bacteria invade the one-celled ancestors of plants and animals to become energy-producing mitochondria and photosynthesizing chloroplasts? Researchers developed a statistical way to analyze the variation in genes common to mitochondria, chloroplasts and the eukaryotic nucleus to more precisely date these events. They found that the cyanobacterial invasion of plants took place millions of years more recently than thought.
  
• Metamorphosis of moon's water ice explained
  Using data gathered by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, scientists believe they have solved a mystery from one of the solar system's coldest regions -- a permanently shadowed crater on the moon. They have explained how energetic particles penetrating lunar soil can create molecular hydrogen from water ice. The finding provides insight into how radiation can change the chemistry of water ice throughout the solar system.
  
• A shot in the arm for old antibiotics
  Slipping bacteria some silver could give old antibiotics new life, scientists report. This could pave the way for new therapies for drug-resistant and recurrent infections.
  
• Less is more: Novel cellulose structure requires fewer enzymes to process bio...
  Improved methods for breaking down cellulose nanofibers are central to cost-effective biofuel production and the subject of new research. Scientists are investigating the unique properties of crystalline cellulose nanofibers to develop novel chemical pretreatments and designer enzymes for biofuel production from cellulosic -- or non-food -- plant-derived biomass.
  

• Academics Earn Street Cred With TED Talks But No Points From Peers, Research ...
  

  Summary:

  TED Talks provides academics with increased popular exposure but does nothing to boost citations of their work by peers.

  
  
• Context Is Crucial When It Comes To Mutations In Genetic Evolution
  

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  Researchers have found that whether a given mutation is good or bad is often determined by other mutations associated with it.

  
  
• Study Shows Predators Affect The Carbon Cycle
  

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  A previously unmeasured influence on the environment may offer a new way of looking at biodiversity management and carbon storage for climate change.

  
  
• Bariatric Surgery Restores Nerve Cells Altered By Diet
  

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  Understanding how a gastric bypass changes the properties of nerve cells that help regulate the digestive system could lead to treatments that produce the same results without surgery.

  
  
• Researchers Design Variant Of Main Painkiller Receptor
  

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  An interdisciplinary team of researchers has developed a variant of the mu opioid receptor that has several advantages when it comes to experimentation.

  
  
• Study Finds The Sweet Spot -- And The Screw-Ups -- That Make Or Break Environ...
  

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  Researchers have found that there is a sweet spot – a group size at which sustainability programs are most effective.

  
  
• Unique Macromolecule Grabs Large Anions
  

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  Chemists have created a symmetrical, five-sided macrocycle that is easy to synthesize and has characteristics that may help expand the molecular tool box available to researchers.

  
  
• Dangerous Strains Of E. Coli May Linger Longer In Water Than Benign Counterpa...
  

  Summary:

  The research may help explain why water quality tests don’t always accurately capture health risks for swimmers.

  
  
• Moving Iron In Antarctica
  

  Summary:

  Study indicates that diatoms stuff more iron into their silica shells than they actually need, resulting in less iron to go around and less stimulated productivity than expected when iron is added during fertilization experiments.

  
  
• Nanoparticle Opens The Door To Clean-Energy Alternatives
  

  Summary:

  Researchers find that an important chemical reaction that generates hydrogen from water is triggered by a nanoparticle composed of nickel and phosphorus.