Globalization: Diseases Spreading From Humans To Animals, Study Finds

Staphylococcus aureus.
(Credit: Agricultural Research Service / United States Department of Agriculture)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Oct. 28, 2009) — Globalisation and industrialisation are causing diseases to spread from humans to animals, a study has shown.

Researchers from The Roslin Institute of the University of Edinburgh have shown that a strain of bacteria has jumped from humans to chickens.

It is believed to be the first clear evidence of bacterial pathogens crossing over from humans to animals and then spreading since animals were first domesticated some 10,000 years ago.

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Why Halloween Terrifies Some Kids

About one out of every 100 kids suffers from phobia of costumed characters. Typically, the fear is rooted in a sense that some harm or danger is going to come from this thing they do not understand. Image credit: stockxpert

From Live Science:

The pitter-patter of little feet running from door to door this Halloween, dressed to the nines in their creepiest costumes sounds, like good old-fashioned fun.

But for some kids, the ghosts, goblins and witches are more terrifying than many adults realize. While mild fear of some costumed character, say Santa Claus, is normal for kids, extreme fears that keep children from going trick-or-treating or to a party at Chuck E. Cheese's, where the man-size mouse could give them a fright, are called phobias.

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Fastest Supercomputer in the World Models Dark Matter, HIV Family Tree Simultaneously

Los Alamos' Road Runner Super Computer Meep meep. courtesy of the Department of Energy

From Popular Science:

Petaflop power in action.

In November of last year, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory switched on Roadrunner, the world's fastest computer. IBM and the Department of Energy built the machine to model nuclear explosions, but two new studies, both released today, are proof that the computer's massive power has been at least as devoted to peaceful science as to simulating thermonuclear weapons.

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Detecting Life-Friendly Moons

The astronaut Buzz Aldrin inhabiting the moon on July 20, 1969,
during the Apollo 11 mission. Credit: NASA

From Astrobiology Magazine:

Forty years ago, the Apollo astronauts traipsed across our Moon, making it "inhabited" for the first time – albeit for only two and half hours. A bona-fide habitable moon has never been found, but astronomers are considering how we might find one around distant stars.

"I think exomoons are just as interesting as exoplanets," says David Kipping of University College London.

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Astronomical Artifact: Most Distant Object Yet Detected Carries Clues From Early Universe

A false-color image from the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii shows the afterglow of GRB 090423 [circled], the most distant astronomical event yet observed. Gemini Observatory/NSF/AURA, D. Fox and A. Cucchiara (Penn State University) and E. Berger (Harvard University)

From Scientific American:

A stellar explosion spotted in April took place 13 billion years ago.

A violent explosion picked up by a NASA satellite earlier this year is the oldest object ever seen by astronomers, its light having been emitted some 13 billion years ago. At that time the universe was roughly 5 percent of its present age and the big bang was a fairly recent occurrence, having taken place just 600 million years earlier.

NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Burst spacecraft spotted the flash signaling a massive stellar explosion on April 23. The explosion was officially designated GRB 090423, after its type (a gamma-ray burst) and date of detection; the space agency quickly announced it as the new record holder for cosmic distance. Now, two papers in the October 29 Nature present detailed analyses of the burst and afterglow, confirming the initial distance assessments and providing a few clues as to conditions in the early universe.

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High-Energy Batteries Coming To Market

Photo: Battery unpacked: This graphic illustrates the multilayered structure of a ReVolt rechargeable zinc-air battery. From top to bottom: the battery cover, which lets in air; a porous air electrode; the interface between electrodes; the zinc electrode; the casing. Credit: ReVolt

From Technology Review:

Rechargeable zinc-air batteries can store three times the energy of a lithium-ion battery.

A Swiss company says it has developed rechargeable zinc-air batteries that can store three times the energy of lithium ion batteries, by volume, while costing only half as much. ReVolt, of Staefa, Switzerland, plans to sell small "button cell" batteries for hearing aids starting next year and to incorporate its technology into ever larger batteries, introducing cell-phone and electric bicycle batteries in the next few years. It is also starting to develop large-format batteries for electric vehicles.

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Swine Flu: Eight Myths That Could Endanger Your Life

(Image: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty)

From New Scientist:

The second wave of the swine flu pandemic is now under way in the northern hemisphere. Case numbers are climbing fast and in some places vaccination has begun.

So what's the big deal? The virus hasn't evolved into the monster that some feared and most cases are mild. Were all those pandemic warnings just scare-mongering?

Perhaps, but the Butcher family of Southampton, UK, wouldn't say so. In August, their daughter Madelynne, 18, became sick and short of breath after returning from a holiday. Two weeks later, she died in hospital.

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Cosmic Rays Speed Up Tree Growth

The researchers studied the growth of Sitka spruce forests in Scotland.
Credit: iStockphoto

From Cosmos:

SYDNEY: Cosmic rays, which constantly strike the Earth and are regulated by the solar wind, may influence how fast trees grow, according to British research.

The study, published in the journal New Phytologist looked at the factors that influence the growth of Sitka spruce trees (Picea sitchensis) felled in the Forest of Ae in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.

Trees grow faster during summer when there is increased solar radiation. But other factors, such as cloud cover and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, can also influence tree growth.

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Daylight Savings Time 2009: When And Why We Fall Back

From National Geographic:

When is the big daylight saving time (often called daylight savings time) switchover in autumn 2009?

Why do we fall back in the first place? (Hint: A lot of 18th-century train passengers, among others, suffered for your extra hour of sleep this weekend.)

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Rooting for NASA's Ares I Rockets: Analysis

From Popular Mechanics:

A week of spaceflight tests, large and small, reminds us why NASA’s much maligned launch vehicle is important. If it fails, we lose the moon.

This week, all eyes were on NASA as it conducted the first flight of the Ares I, the first launch vehicle the agency designed since the Space Shuttle. October also witnessed progress in other space launches, some of which are seen as possible replacements for the towering NASA rocket. But a comparison of the milestones met in the last two weeks shows why NASA’s Constellation program remains important, and is exceedingly difficult to replace.

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The Ares Lift-Off: Learning From Space Shuttle Mistakes

From Time Magazine:

With the future of the space agency up in the air, NASA can certainly use the good P.R. that will flow from Wednesday's picture perfect test launch of its Ares I-X prototype rocket which is being designed to replace the aging Space Shuttle and ignite a new era in human space exploration. Mission managers took quick advantage of changing weather conditions to blast the rocket through a small hole in upper level clouds passing briefly over Launch Pad 39B.

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Junk DNA Mechanism That Prevents Two Species From Reproducing Discovered

When two populations of a species become geographically isolated from each other, their genes diverge from one another over time. Eventually, when a male from one group mates with a female from the other group, the offspring will die or be born sterile, as a cross between a horse (left) and a donkey (right) produce a sterile mule. At this point, they have become two distinct species. (Credit: iStockphoto)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Oct. 27, 2009) — Cornell researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism in fruit flies that prevents two closely related species from reproducing, a finding that offers clues to how species evolve.

When two populations of a species become geographically isolated from each other, their genes diverge from one another over time.

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Volcanic Eruptions Caused Ancient Warming And Cooling

Photo courtesy of US Geological Survey; Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, August 10, 2002

From Live Science:

Volcanic eruptions were responsible for a deadly ice age 450 million years ago, as well as — in an ironic twist — a period of global warming that preceded it, a new study finds.

The finding underscores the importance of carbon in Earth's climate today, said study researcher Matthew Saltzman of Ohio State University.

The ancient ice age featured glaciers that covered the South Pole on top of the supercontinent of Gondwana (which would eventually break apart to form the present-day continents of the southern hemisphere). Two-thirds of all species perished in the frigid climate.

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In Germany, A Better Vaccine For Politicians?

Andreas Rentz / Getty

From Time Magazine:

Critics are calling it a two-tier health system — one for the politically well connected, another for the hoi polloi. As Germany launched its mass-vaccination program against the H1N1 flu virus on Monday, the government found itself fending off accusations of favoritism because it was offering one vaccine believed to have fewer side effects to civil servants, politicians and soldiers, and another, potentially riskier vaccine to everyone else. The government had hoped that Germans would rush to health clinics to receive vaccinations against the rapidly spreading disease, but now rising anger over the different drugs may cause many people to shy away.

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Liftoff For NASA's Ares I-X

Ares Test 1

From Popular Science:

Ares I-X roared off its launch pad at 11:30 EST at Cape Canaveral. This marks success for NASA's second launch attempt to get the Ares I-X rocket off the ground after weather delayed the launch on Tuesday.

Update 9:58 EST: NASA now aims for launch around 11 EST. Surveillance aircraft report that weather should be "acceptable" at that time, and NASA pegs the chance of weather interference at just 20 percent.

Update 10:43 EST: Engineering teams are all reporting a "go" for launch, and the launch director reports no constraints to launch. Countdown is set to pick up at 10:56 EST.

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Grandmothers: Good For Girls, Bad For Boys

From The Independent:

The importance of grandmothers in the lives of their grandchildren is underlined in a study published today.

But the research showed that it was only granddaughters who were likely to do better with their paternal grandmothers involved in their early lives. In contrast, the presence of paternal grandmothers had a detrimental effect on the survival of their grandsons.

The discovery supports the idea that grandmothers have played an important role in human evolution and could explain why human females – alone among the animal kingdom – live well beyond their reproductive age.

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How Maths Makes The World Go Round

Maths makes it: genetic breeding yields a better class of carrot

From The Telegraph:

Whether you’re searching for oil, the lost chord or a better kind of carrot, mathematics is the key, says Ian Stewart.

Like many amateur guitarists, I’d always wondered how to play the opening chord of A Hard Day’s Night. Over the years, I spent hours trying to reconstruct it, but there was something very odd about it: no matter how hard I tried, I could never get it quite right.

In the end, the key to the mystery turned out not to be music, but mathematics. Five years ago fellow Beatles fan and mathematician Jason Brown of Dalhousie University analysed the chord using a method called Fourier analysis, which splits sounds into their basic components. It turns out that the Beatles used a piano as well as their guitars.

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Why It Pays To Have A Younger, Smarter Wife

Beyonce Knowles, 28, has had a better education than her husband Jay-Z, 39,
as he did not gain a high school diploma

From The Daily Mail:

Forget impressing her with candlelit dinners, romantic weekends away and endless compliments.

The secret to a happy marriage is as simple as choosing a wife who is smarter than you and at least five years younger.

Scientists have developed a distinctly unromantic formula to predict how compatible a couple are, based on their ages, education and relationship history.

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Industrial Robot Hones Virtual Autopsies

Getting under the skin, virtually (Image: University of Bern)

From New Scientist:

THE small industrial robot that dominates the room is in many ways much like any other. A robotic arm smoothly wields grippers and probes - always accurate and never tired. But rather than working on cars or computers, this robot is processing human corpses.

A team of forensic pathologists at the University of Bern in Switzerland reckon it could make autopsies more accurate and also less distressing for families.

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Climate Pap Shows Human Impacts

From The BBC:

A map designed to show the predicted effects of a 4C rise in global average temperature has been unveiled by the UK government.

It shows a selection of the impacts of climate change on human activity.

These include extreme temperatures, drought, effects on water availability, agricultural productivity, the risk of forest fire and sea level rise.

The map is based on peer-reviewed science from the Met Office's Hadley Centre and other scientific groups.

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