Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew, consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, side pocket, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, Bentliberal, Oke, jlms qkw, Interceptor7, and ScottyUrb, guest editors annetteboardman and Doctor RJ, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, health, energy, and the environment.
Between now and the end of the primary season, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday will highlight the research stories from the public universities in each of the states having primary or special elections for federal or state office this year plus stories from all research universities in major cities having municipal elections as listed in the 2013 Daily Kos Elections Calendar. Tonight's edition features the research and outreach stories from the City of San Diego and the states of Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Virginia.
This week's featured story comes from The Weather Channel.
Winter Storm Ion: Rockies, Midwest, Great Lakes, Mid-South Snow Followed by Brutal Cold
By Chris Dolce
Published: Jan 4, 2014, 10:46 PM EST
Winter Storm Ion is spreading a swath of snow from the Rockies to portions of the Midwest, Great Lakes and Mid-South this weekend. Following closely behind Ion will be a blast of brutally cold air in the Midwest.
Ion's upper-level energy, which brought snow to the Rockies through the Central Plains and into the Great Lakes on Saturday, will pivot eastward into the nation's midsection through early Sunday. As a result, low pressure will begin to develop over the Southern Plains and then head towards the eastern Great Lakes by Sunday night.
This will lead to the development of widespread accumulating snow from Missouri to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and southern Lower Michigan through Sunday morning. The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings for portions of these states.
The snow will be heavy at times and will be accompanied by increasing winds, which will lead to low visibility and very poor travel conditions Sunday.
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
Green diary rescue: Low-end temperature estimates less likely, nuked sailors, fracking hearings
by Meteor Blades
Climate Science Libel Suit against NRO and AEI Moves Glacially
by LeftOfYou
Update on Fukushima Radionuclides in the North Pacific and Off the West Coast of North America
by MarineChemist
Creationists say the Darnest Things
by jamess
Why I Hate Quantum Mechanics
by disinterested spectator
This week in science: Let the games begin!
by DarkSyde
Slideshows/Videos
My able assistant annetteboardman couldn't provide stories. Instead, she requested that I include at least one story about the current flu season in tonight's report. There is a flu videos here and a story at the top of the health section.
WXYZ: Flu bug hitting Michigan hard
KPBS: Second Opinion: What We Learned About Health Care — And Our Readers — in 2013
By Megan Burks
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
For six months, I left my comfort zone covering people (specifically, those in City Heights) to sift through insurance jargon, decipher tax laws and get a hold of the people whom you couldn’t reach on the phone.
Second Opinion answered questions about the Affordable Care Act from 24 San Diegans. The requirements to participate were simple: You had to have a question about Obamacare and you had to be willing to ask it on camera (the answers appeared on the web and on KPBS radio and television).
That last requirement significantly whittled down our pool of questions. It turns out, a lot of people aren't into sharing the details of their finances and health with millions of people.
KPBS: Task Force Recommends New Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force said lung cancer screening for many chain-smokers and former smokers should be done with a CT scan instead of an X-ray.
KPBS: New Blood Test Could Diagnose Depression
Doctors use blood tests to check patients for a wide variety of diseases, including HIV, cancer, and diabetes. A San Diego-based company has developed what it calls the first reliable blood test for depression. KPBS Health Reporter Kenny Goldberg tells us the test is being marketed as a tool to help doctors diagnose this widespread disorder.
Discovery News: It's The Best Time In History To Be Alive and Here's Why
It's easy to watch the news and get down on our global state of affairs. But the world has made some great strides in improving life for everyone on this planet. Anthony, Laci, and Trace explain why right now is actually the best time in history to be alive.
Discovery News: 5 Habits to Drop in 2014
The New Year is upon us, and that means it's New Year Resolution time! Guest host Cristen Conger ... goes down a list of five habits you might think are good for you, but should actually consider dropping in 2014.
Discovery News: Asimov's Predictions From The 60s Are Spot On
In 1964, Isaac Asimov made a number of predictions about what life would be like in 2014. And prepare yourself, because some of these predictions were startlingly accurate. Trace runs down Asimov's list.
Discovery News: 2014: A New Year in Space
There's a lot coming in space exploration in 2014! Trace tells you about the top 3 space missions he's looking forward to in the new year.
NASA Television: Happy New Year 2014
The Year in Review.
Science at NASA: ScienceCasts: Starting Fire in Water
Astronauts on the ISS are experimenting with a form of water that has a strange property: it can help start fire. This fundamental physics investigation could have down-to-Earth benefits such as clean-burning municipal waste disposal and improved saltwater purification.
JPL/NASA: What's Up for January 2014
Jupiter at opposition. Venus at conjunction. A Juno mission update. And the Quadrantid meteor shower.
Hubble Space Telescope: Tonight's Sky: January 2014
Backyard stargazers get a monthly guide to the northern hemisphere's skywatching events with "Tonight's Sky." In January, Jupiter blazes through the night, and Mars rises after midnight.
Astronomy/Space
Space.com: First Asteroid Discovery of 2014 Likely Hit Earth
by Mike Wall, Senior Writer
January 03, 2014 03:18pm ET
Astronomers have spotted the first new asteroid of 2014 — a car-size space rock that apparently slammed harmlessly into Earth's atmosphere just after the New Year began.
Scientists with the Catalina Sky Survey in Tucson, Ariz., discovered the asteroid, known as 2014 AA, early Wednesday (Jan. 1), NASA officials said. Orbit projections suggest that the space rock likely entered Earth's atmosphere sometime between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning (Jan. 2).
"The most likely impact location of the object was just off the coast of West Africa at about 6 p.m. PST (9 p.m. EST) Jan. 1," NASA officials wrote in a press release Thursday.
Space.com: 10 Years on Mars: NASA Rover Mission Celebrates 10th Martian Birthday
By Mike Wall, Senior Writer
January 03, 2014 04:02pm ET
Ten years ago today, NASA dropped the first of two rovers onto the surface of Mars, kicking off a wildly successful mission that continues to beam home data about the Red Planet and its wetter, warmer past.
NASA's Spirit rover touched down on the night of Jan. 3, 2004 (Jan. 4 GMT), followed three weeks later by its twin, Opportunity. The two robots were originally supposed to explore Mars for 90 days, searching their disparate landing sites for signs of past water activity on the Red Planet.
Both rovers found plenty of such evidence and just kept chugging along, far outlasting their warranties. Spirit got stuck in a sand trap in 2010 and was declared dead a year later, but Opportunity continues to operate today and shows no signs of slowing down.
Space.com: Moon Dust Mystery Solved With Apollo Mission Data
By Megan Gannon, News Editor
January 03, 2014 08:00am ET
A revisited trove of data from NASA's Apollo missions more than 40 years ago is helping scientists answer a lingering lunar question: How fast does moon dust build up?
The answer: It would take 1,000 years for a layer of moon dust about a millimeter (0.04 inches) thick to accumulate, the researchers found. That rate may seem slow by the standards of Earth but it's 10 times faster than scientists had believed before, and it means moon dust could pose big problems for astronauts and equipment alike.
"You wouldn't see it; it's very thin indeed," Brian O'Brien, a physicist at the University of Western Australia, said in a statement. "But, as the Apollo astronauts learned, you can have a devil of a time overcoming even a small amount of dust."
Climate/Environment
LiveScience: Australia Roasts Before Announcement of Hottest Year
By Andrea Thompson, Planet Earth Editor
January 02, 2014 05:29pm ET
While folks in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast are seeing the first major snowstorm of the winter, those who dwell Down Under are broiling.
Parts of Australia have suffered under an intense heat wave over the holidays, and before the weather pattern breaks, temperatures today were expected to reach nearly 50 degrees Celsius (more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit), The Guardian reports. Temperatures in many inland towns in particular have reached above 40 C (100 F) for several days. The culprit is a high-pressure system sitting over the country.
The heat wave has prompted fire officials in the state of South Australia to rate fire conditions as "catastrophic," with total fire bans in place for the northern parts of the state. The heat wave has meant the summer has started out much like it did last year, hot and very dry. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology is expected to announce on Friday (Jan. 3) that 2013 was the hottest year on record for the country.
KPBS: New mobile app shows San Diego beach conditions and water quality
By City News Service
Friday, January 3, 2014
The county of San Diego and environmental group Wildcoast are scheduled Friday to unveil a water quality map that shows local beach conditions on mobile devices.
The app will allow residents and tourists to check water quality at 80 beaches and waterways. It will be available for smartphones, iPads and tablets.
KPBS: Ski Resorts Race To Produce Artificial Snow During California Dry Spell
By Susan Murphy
Monday, December 30, 2013
December usually delivers Southern California a few good soaking winter storms, but a persistent ridge of high pressure has kept the region warm and dry.
The summer-like conditions are expected to linger for at least the next 10 days, said Joe Dandrea, meteorologist with the National Weather Service San Diego.
"Usually these ridges, once they get entrenched, they can be six to eight weeks sometimes," Dandrea said. "And I think we’ve reached that limit, so it would be time for this to break down and allow a different weather regime to kind of take over.
Washington Post: Population gains at near-historic lows
By Carol Morello
Published: December 30
The population of the United States is growing more slowly than it has since the Great Depression in what demographers say is a reflection of the recession’s lingering effects on people’s behavior.
New population estimates released Monday by the Census Bureau show the nation added about 2.2 million residents in 2013. On New Year’s Day, the census projected, the U.S. population will surpass 317 million people, a one-year increase of 0.7 percent.
The last time the nation grew at a slower pace was in the heart of the Great Depression, from 1932 to 1937, according to an analysis by demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution.
Also read
Census: North Dakota, South and West adding population fastest for maps of population growth by percentage and absolute number for every state.
Biodiversity
LiveScience: Mystery of Bizarre Amazon Web Formations Unraveled
By Tia Ghose, Staff Writer
January 03, 2014 03:13pm ET
About six months ago, a graduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology first spotted a mysterious web unlike anything scientists had seen before: Each one of the weird webs was a tiny sphere surrounded by a circular fence less than an inch (2 centimeters) in diameter.
The student, Troy Alexander, found the mysterious formation underneath a tarp at the Tambopata Research Center in Peru and had no idea what it was, so he posted photos of the webs on Reddit. Despite consulting with several experts — who made several wild guesses, from moths to slide molds — no one knew what built the structure, or for what purpose.
"I've had some experts write me and say they don't have an expert opinion on it because it is so bizarre," said Rice University ecology graduate student Phil Torres, who uncovered the web's maker and worked with Alexander.
LiveScience: Bald Eagles in Utah Died of West Nile
By Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer
January 03, 2014 01:20pm ET
Wildlife experts in Utah have found the culprit behind an unusual string of bald eagle deaths: West Nile virus.
Laboratory tests confirmed that the virus was responsible for the deaths of 27 bald eagles in the state in recent weeks, according to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR).
The rash of deaths was at first mysterious: The bald eagles appeared to be dying of some type of disease, instead of blunt injuries, which are the usual cause of death of bald eagles in the state, according to the Washington Post.
Biotechnology/Health
KPBS: Flu season in San Diego County higher than last year, says health department
By City News Service
Thursday, January 2, 2014
The flu rate in San Diego County is up about 150 percent compared to last year, and infections might be peaking early, the county Health and Human Services Agency reported Thursday.
Since July 1, 357 flu cases have been reported to the HHSA, compared to 216 during the same period last year.
More than 150 cases were diagnosed last week, double the number of the prior week.
"While influenza can be unpredictable, our analysis of local data indicates influenza activity is rising faster and may peak sooner than it did last year," said Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer.
KPBS: Scripps Study Shows Wireless Heart Monitor Better Than Traditional
By City News Service
Friday, January 3, 2014
A wireless patch attached to the chest does a better job at detecting abnormal heart rhythms than the wired device used by physicians for the past 60 years, according to a study published Thursday by the Scripps Translational Science Institute in La Jolla.
In the study, 146 patients referred to Scripps Green Hospital for potential heart conditions were fitted with the traditional device, called the Holter monitor, and a new Zio Patch.
...
According to the STSI study, the Holter monitor discovered 61 arrhythmia events, while the Zio Patch detected 96. The researchers credited the patch's superior performance primarily to prolonged monitoring.
UCSD: The Mouse That ROR’ed
ROR1 oncogene combines with another to accelerate, worsen blood cancer
By Scott LaFee
January 02, 2014
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that an oncogene dubbed ROR1, found on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells but not normal adult tissues, acts as an accelerant when combined with another oncogene, resulting in a faster-developing, more aggressive form of CLL in mice.
The findings, published in the Dec. 30, 2013 Online Early Edition of PNAS, suggest ROR1 could be an important therapeutic target for patients with CLL, the most common form of blood cancer. Prevalence of CLL in the United States is high: 1 in 20 people over the age of 40 could have apparently pre-cancerous CLL-like cells in their blood. These people may develop actual CLL at a rate of about 1 percent per year. More than 15,000 new cases of CLL are diagnosed each year in the United States. Roughly 4,400 patients with CLL die annually.
UCSD: Biologists Discover Solution to Problem Limiting Development of Human Stem Cell Therapies
By Kim McDonald
January 02, 2014
Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered an effective strategy that could prevent the human immune system from rejecting the grafts derived from human embryonic stem cells, a major problem now limiting the development of human stem cell therapies. Their discovery may also provide scientists with a better understanding of how tumors evade the human immune system when they spread throughout the body.
The achievement, published in a paper in this week’s early online edition of the journal Cell Stem Cell by a collaboration that included scientists from China, was enabled by the development of “humanized” laboratory mice that contained a functional human immune system capable of mounting a vigorous immune rejection of foreign cells derived from human embryonic stem cells.
Because human embryonic stem cells are different from our own body’s cells, or “allogenic,” a normally functioning human immune system will attack these foreign cells. One way to reduce the body’s “allogenic immune response” is to suppress the immune system with immunosuppressant drugs.
SDSU: An Apple a Day
San Diego health advocates team up to create healthy eating incentives for low-income families.
By Alyson Faucett
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
It is no secret that a healthy diet and living a healthy lifestyle go hand in hand; but making quality foods available to everyone is an ever-progressing mission. For San Diegans using government assisted nutritional aid, the Fresh Fund program made it possible to purchase fruits and vegetables at local farmers markets.
A team at the Institute for Public Health at San Diego State University in partnership with San Diego County Health and Human Services worked to execute and evaluate the program.
...
Federal funding from the Center for Disease Control’s Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative kick-started Fresh Fund as well as similar programs across the United States. Starting in June 2010, people using government assisted nutritional aid could use their credits to purchase produce at five San Diego farmers markets. For every dollar spent, participants would receive up to $20 in matched incentives.
Georgia Tech: Imaging Technology Could Unlock Mysteries of a Childhood Disease
Posted December 30, 2013 | Atlanta, GA
By the time they’re two, most children have had respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and suffered symptoms no worse than a bad cold. But for some children, especially premature babies and those with underlying health conditions, RSV can lead to pneumonia and bronchitis – which can require hospitalization and have long-term consequences.
A new technique for studying the structure of the RSV virion and the activity of RSV in living cells could help researchers unlock the secrets of the virus, including how it enters cells, how it replicates, how many genomes it inserts into its hosts – and perhaps why certain lung cells escape the infection relatively unscathed. That could provide scientists information they need to develop new antiviral drugs and perhaps even a vaccine to prevent severe RSV infections.
“We want to develop tools that would allow us to get at how the virus really works,” said Philip Santangelo, an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. “We really need to be able to follow the infection in a single living cell without affecting how the virus infects its hosts, and this technology should allow us to do that.”
University of Iowa: Protein links liver cancer with obesity, alcoholism, and hepatitis
Protein once thought to protect against cancer
By: Jennifer Brown
2013.12.30 | 07:00 AM
Obesity, alcoholism, and chronic hepatitis all increase the risk of getting liver cancer, which is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Obesity in particular is driving a significant increase in liver cancer in the United States. These three health problems also increase cellular stress in the liver, but until now it has not been clear if there is a direct biological link between cellular stress and the development of liver cancer.
In a new study, University of Iowa researchers have identified an unexpected molecular link between liver cancer, cellular stress, and these health problems that increase the risk of developing this cancer.
The study, published Dec. 19 in the journal PLOS Genetics, shows that a protein called CHOP, which had previously been thought to generally protect against cancer, actually promotes liver cancer in mice and may do the same in humans.
University of Massachussetts Medical School: UMMS develops new technology to study stem cells
Novel method holds potential for guiding stem cell differentiation
By Jim Fessenden
December 30, 2013
Scientists at UMass Medical School have developed a new technology for manipulating gene expression in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC). Published in the journal Development, the breakthrough will allow researchers to dissect the underlying mechanisms of human stem cell differentiation and may lead to new avenues for directing development of cell types.
“The ability to control stem cell differentiation holds enormous potential for researchers studying patient-specific disease models and could advance development of new therapeutics for autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes,” said Rene Maehr, PhD, assistant professor of molecular medicine and lead author of the study.
Using a natural defense system found in bacteria called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, or CRISPR for short, researchers have shown it’s possible to adapt this programmable system to deliver transcription effectors that positively or negatively regulate gene expression to specific target genes in human pluripotent stem cells without altering the underlying genome.
Virginia Tech: New England Journal of Medicine study: Virginia Tech researchers find novice teen drivers easily fall into distraction, accidents
BLACKSBURG, Va., Jan. 2, 2014 – Teens may begin their driving habits with great caution, but as months behind the wheel pass, they begin to multi-task at higher frequency rates – dialing cell phones, eating, and talking to passengers, etc. – and therefore greatly raise their risk of crashes and/or near-crash incidents.
These findings from a study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development appear in the Jan. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
“Novice drivers are more likely to engage in high-risk secondary tasks more frequently over time as they became more comfortable with driving,” said Charlie Klauer, group leader for teen risk and injury prevention at the transportation institute’s Center for Vulnerable Road User Safety and first author of the article. “The increasingly high rates of secondary task engagement among newly licensed novice drivers in our study are worrisome as this appears to be an important contributing factor to crashes or near-crashes.”
Psychology/Behavior
University of Virginia: Going Mental: Architecture Professor Researches Everyday Travel and the Cognitive Map
Robert Hull
January 3, 2014
Do you have a special way of getting to work or to a favorite restaurant? If so, then your cognitive map is doing its job.
These routes are mental maps stored in the brain, and new research shows that what people store in their cognitive map often depends on their mode of travel.
Andrew Mondschein, who joined the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Architecture in September as an assistant professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, led a team that found “cognitively active” travelers, those driving a car or walking, have more accurate mental maps than “cognitively passive” travelers, such as car or bus passengers. The findings were published in the latest issue of ACCESS, which reports on research funded by the University of California Transportation Center.
In his article, “Going Mental: Everyday Travel and the Cognitive Map,” Mondschein and his team show that cognitively active people have a greater awareness of where things like shopping centers, parks and potential employers are located in their cities and towns.
LiveScience: Pointer Dogs: Pups Poop Along North-South Magnetic Lines
By Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor
January 03, 2014 04:12pm ET
Dog owners have observed some odd behaviors among their pets — sniffing butts, eating garbage, giving unconditional love — but one habit has probably escaped their attention: Dogs apparently prefer to poop while aligned with the north-south axis of the Earth's magnetic field.
That's the surprising conclusion of an exhaustive study, conducted by German and Czech researchers, who spent two years watching 70 dogs while they defecated and urinated thousands of times. The scientists then compared the dogs' behavior and orientation with the geomagnetic conditions prevailing at the time.
The researchers found that the dogs preferred to poop when their bodies were aligned in a north-south direction, as determined by the geomagnetic field. (True north, which is determined by the position of the poles, is slightly different from magnetic north.)
Archeology/Anthropology
LiveScience: King Tut's Mummified Erect Penis May Point to Ancient Religious Struggle
By Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor
January 02, 2014 10:03pm ET
Egypt's King Tutankhamun was embalmed in an unusual way, including having his penis mummified at a 90-degree angle, in an effort to combat a religious revolution unleashed by his father, a new study suggests.
The pharaoh was buried in Egypt's Valley of the Kings without a heart (or a replacement artifact known as a heart scarab); his penis was mummified erect; and his mummy and coffins were covered in a thick layer of black liquid that appear to have resulted in the boy-king catching fire.
These anomalies have received both scholarly and media attention in recent years, and a new paper in the journal Études et Travaux by Egyptologist Salima Ikram, a professor at the American University in Cairo, proposes a reason why they, and other Tutankhamun burial anomalies, exist.
LiveScience: Elite of Ancient Pompeii Dined on Sea Urchin, Giraffe
By Tia Ghose, Staff Writer
January 03, 2014 02:15pm ET
The commoners of the ancient city of Pompeii may have eaten a varied diet, with the wealthier even dining on giraffe, new research suggests.
Remains of food scraps found in the drains of Pompeii, Italy, a Roman city wiped out by a volcano, revealed that the middle- and lower-class residents dined on cheap but healthy foods, while slightly wealthier citizens dined on delicacies.
The new findings belie the common belief that the Roman elite dined on exotic delicacies while poor Romans starved on birdseed.
LiveScience: Lost 'Biblical Blue' Dye Possibly Found in Ancient Fabric
By Megan Gannon, News Editor
January 01, 2014 12:06pm ET
Three scraps of fabric found in Israeli caves had been dyed indigo, purple and crimson — the hues of the rich and regal during the Roman era — using sea snail ink some 2,000 years ago, a new analysis shows.
The textiles had been found in the Wadi Murabba'at caves, which are just south of Qumran, an ancient settlement near the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were uncovered. One of the fabrics revealed a blue color that may have been created by a a technique similar to that of tekhelet, a "Biblical blue" found in religious materials inlcuding in a tzitzit (a knotted tassel worn by observant Jews).
"The importance of this fabric is extremely significant as there are practically no parallels for it in the archaeological record," Israel Antiquities Authority officials say in a statement, referring to the blue color.
Paleontology/Evolution
University of Georgia: International team completes sequence of ancient plant, discovers origin of flowers
Writer: April Reese Sorrow
December 19, 2013
Athens, Ga. - The newly sequenced genome of the Amborella trichopoda plant addresses Darwin's "abominable mystery"-the question of why flowers suddenly proliferated on Earth millions of years ago. The genome sequence sheds new light on the origin of flowering plants.
A paper by the Amborella Genome Sequencing Project, published Dec. 20 in the journal Science, includes a full description of the analyses performed by the project as well as the implications for future research on flowering plants.
Jim Leebens-Mack, University of Georgia associate professor of plant biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, co-led a team of scientists at UGA, Penn State University, the University at Buffalo, the University of Florida and the University of California-Riverside to decipher the Amborella genome. The team is uncovering evidence for the evolutionary processes that paved the way for the diversity of the more than 300,000 flowering plant species on Earth today.
Geology
LiveScience: Bizarre Earthquake Lights Tied to Rifts in Earth
By Tia Ghose, Staff Writer | January 03, 2014 02:51pm ET
Mysterious flashes of electricity known as earthquake lights are more likely to happen near rifts, where pieces of the Earth are pulling away from each other, new research suggests.
The quick buildup of stress at these nearly vertical faults may cause electrical current to flow to the surface and cause the eerie light shows, the researchers find.
The conclusions, published today (Jan. 2) in the current issue of the journal Seismological Research Letters, were drawn from analyzing 65 documented cases of earthquake lights over the last 400 years.
Energy
Energy Trend Insider: The Top 5 Energy Stories of 2013
by Robert Rapier
December 30, 2013
In the previous two article[s], I presented my choices for articles that almost made my Top 10 Energy Stories of 2013, as well as the bottom half of my Top 10 Energy Stories for 2013.
Here are my choices for the top half of my Top 10 energy related stories of 2013. The rankings are mostly in no particular order, although for me there was one clear story at the top of the list.
Physics
LiveScience: Quirky Quarks: 'Charming' Particle Mixes with Bizarre Cousin
By Jesse Emspak, LiveScience Contributor
January 02, 2014 07:51am ET, Updated Friday, Jan. 3, at 1:20 p.m. ET.
An experiment that offers a peek inside the behavior of subatomic particles called quarks could help answer questions about why the universe is made of matter, and might even be evidence of new, previously unseen particles.
At the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Illinois, an international team of scientists published the first observation of a charm quark (quarks come in several "flavors") decaying into its antiparticle, a phenomenon called "mixing," first predicted in 1974.
"There was some evidence back in 2007 that this was happening," said Paul Karchin, professor of physics at Wayne State University, and a co-author of the study detailed Dec. 18 in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Chemistry
University of Virginia: U.Va. Engineering Professor Puts New Materials to Extreme Tests
January 1, 2014
Pass Elizabeth Opila’s laboratory in the evening, and you can see her equipment glow. That’s because Opila, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Virginia, is interested in the response of materials to hot and reactive conditions. And when Opila says hot, she means it. She and her students are heating materials to as high as 2,000 degrees Celsius.
“Regardless of the material, our approach is similar,” she said. “We try to understand what happens to a material as it gets hot, predict how long it will survive and determine how we can make it better.”
Quite naturally, this area of research interests jet engine manufacturers. They would like to replace many of the metal components of engines with the latest ceramic matrix composites, or CMCs, which can withstand higher temperatures.
“There could be a huge payoff for adopting CMCs,” Opila said. “Engines with CMCs would be much lighter, run hotter and be significantly more efficient.”
Science Crime Scenes
Al Jazeera America: The heat on 'green' activism
by The Stream Team
January 2, 2014
Could protesting for a ‘green planet’ land you in jail? The recent arrest of anti-fracking protesters in Oklahoma on terrorism-related charges has some activists pointing to corporate influence in law enforcement. However, some argue legal measures are needed to counter protest activity that is disruptive and costly. So, when does environmental activism cross the line?
I provided Al Jazeera America with the tip to talk to the author of "Green is the New Red."
KPBS: Snapchat Security Breach Affects Millions Of Users
By David Wagner
Thursday, January 2, 2014
The private messaging app Snapchat just got much less private for millions of users. Security researchers were able to expose basic identifying information on 4.6 million users, connecting their usernames with phone numbers.
Snapchat was alerted first to this security flaw in August. Then last week, the Los Angeles company received an anonymous warning about a major impending security breach if they didn't fix flaws in their code.
But in a blog post, Snapchat initially downplayed the idea of hackers building a massive database linking usernames and phone numbers. On Tuesday, that database was published online by anonymous hackers calling themselves Gibson Security.
Science, Space, Health, Environment, and Energy Policy
University of Massachusetts Medical School: UMMS primary care physician explains ACA changes in 2014
Affordable Care Act bringing extensive coverage for preventive services
December 31, 2013
Beginning on New Year’s Day, the Affordable Care Act will provide extensive insurance coverage for preventive health services. As a result, patients may find themselves receiving additional screenings and care at their primary care visits, with no additional cost.
Under the ACA, preventive services which must be covered include, among others:
· adult and childhood immunizations;
· screening for cancers, cardiovascular conditions, depression, diabetes, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections;
· early childhood screening for autism spectrum disorders;
· counseling for dietary issues, tobacco cessation, and domestic violence;
· osteoporosis screening, contraception, and comprehensive breastfeeding support and counseling for women, including coverage for breast pumps; and
· abdominal aortic aneurysm screening for men of specified ages who have ever smoked.
KPBS: Millions In California Remain Uninsured Despite Obamacare
By Kenny Goldberg
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Officials say more than 1 million people have picked a health plan on the federal website, and some 400,000 Californians have enrolled through the state’s Covered California exchange.
Even though many California residents are eligible for subsidized health insurance, the California HealthCare Foundation predicts over the next two years, millions of Californians will remain uninsured.
KPBS: Covered California Finally Releases Spanish-Language Enrollment Form
By Kenny Goldberg
Friday, January 3, 2014
Enrollment in Covered California has skyrocketed the last few months, except among people whose primary language is Spanish.
Spanish-speakers make up 29 percent of California’s population. But exchange officials said so far, that group makes up only 5 percent of those who’ve signed up for a plan.
KPBS: San Diego State University Joins College Bans On Smoking
By Kenny Goldberg
Thursday, January 2, 2014
SDSU’s policy includes a ban of electronic cigarettes. [Former assistant U.S. surgeon general and current professor in SDSU’s graduate school of public health Thomas] Novotny thinks that’s a smart move.
"There is now increasing evidence that the nicotine vapors that are produced do affect people who are exposed to them in a secondhand way, just like secondhand smoke is," he said. "They don’t have the health complications that cigarettes have, but they certainly have the addictive potential."
SDSU officials said police will not issue tickets to violators of the smoking ban. Officials believe education and peer pressure will carry the day.
KPBS: New California Law Requires Doctor’s Note For Vaccine Exemptions… But There’s An Out
By Claire Trageser
Thursday, January 2, 2014
A new state law went into effect Jan. 1 making it a little harder for California students to skip required vaccinations. The law says parents can now only claim a personal belief exemption from vaccines if they have a signed form from their doctor.
But there's still an easy way out for parents who don't want their kids to get shots.
California law requires students be vaccinated against diseases like polio, measles and whooping cough before they can attend school. But parents have been able to skip these requirements by signing a personal belief exemption, which says immunization is contrary to their way of thinking.
Science Education
SDSU: Informath Combines Art, Science
A prestigious grant will allow an SDSU program to explore innovative ways to teach math.
By Clarissa Slagle
Friday, January 3, 2014
The National Science Foundation has awarded San Diego State University’s Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education and the Balboa Park Learning Institute a four-year, $1.5 million grant that will start an initiative called the InforMath Collaborative.
The program will bring together university researchers and staff from multiple Balboa Park museums to design and implement new programs that connect visitors with mathematics in creative ways.
“We want to show people that math can be fun and integrated everywhere,” said Molly Kelton, co-director of the collaborative and CRMSE researcher. “Most people don’t think of math as creative and we want to dispel that stereotype.”
University of Virginia: Training Session Turns Real: U.Va. Medical Student Saves Man’s Life
January 2, 2014
For years, retirees Jim and Louise Malloy have enacted a wide range of physical maladies in their role as “standardized” patients at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Standardized patients help to prepare medical students for their future interactions with patients in hospitals and clinics.
For Jim, his role recently proved life-saving.
In March, Jim was assigned to play a patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, a condition in which a small section of the lower aorta begins to balloon. Common in men between ages 65 and 75, such aneurysms can easily go undetected and can be fatal if they burst.
While the training session was meant to be pretend, student Ryan Jones of Danville reported that he both heard and felt the symptoms of an actual aneurysm. That information led the physician overseeing the session to suggest to Jim that he schedule an appointment with a cardiologist.
Science Writing and Reporting
SDSU: @FearlesslyFitt
Jessie Arnold and Andrea Nunez-Smith are experts in nutrition, fitness and Instagram.
By Alyson Faucett
Saturday, January 4, 2014
San Diego State University students Jessie Arnold and Andrea Nunez-Smith are floor-mates, best friends and fitness gurus who are taking their passion for nutrition and fitness into the realm of social media. On their joint Instagram account, FearlesslyFitt, the dynamic duo posts workout plans, meal ideas, and “fitspiration” aimed toward college students trying to stay healthy while living in residence halls.
...
The idea for the Instagram account surfaced on a trolley ride to the mall. Arnold and Nunez-Smith realized that they had much more in common than their residence hall address. Both are nutrition majors with high hopes and goals for their future careers and athletic achievements. The two wanted to find a way to help college students achieve their fitness goals, from running a half marathon to avoiding the dreaded “freshman 15.”
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Nunez-Smith’s passion for wellness surfaced a few years ago when she found out she was allergic to a few very common foods. She began researching the effect different foods can have on the body and got involved with training for triathlons. She is now a nationally ranked triathlete and is training for an international competition in August.
Science is Cool
io9: These are the science stories to watch for in 2014
by George Dvorsky
January 2, 2014
With the holiday season now officially over, it's time to look ahead and see what's in store for the coming year. Here are io9's most anticipated scientific and technological developments of 2014!
LiveScience: 10 Coolest Archaeology Discoveries of 2013
By Tia Ghose, Staff Writer
December 31, 2013 09:52am ET
Archaeologists dig through the faint traces of the past to learn more about human history. And 2013 was a big year for new archaeology finds.
From royal tombs to the mysterious vanished inhabitants of Europe, here are some of the strangest and most exciting archaeology finds of the year.
LiveScience: 5 Huge, Efficient Wins for the Environment in 2013 (Op-Ed)
Peter Lehner, Executive Director, Natural Resources Defense Council
January 03, 2014 07:08pm ET
Last year, Americans started implementing a lot of smart, efficient solutions to cut waste. And it was time — we waste an awful lot of resources in this country, including 40 percent of our food and more than half our energy. By continuing to push for efficiency, we will save billions of dollars, protect our valuable resources and create a more sustainable planet. Here are five major ways we cut waste and helped protect the environment in 2013.
The Conversation via LiveScience: Watches, Glasses and Super-Tablets: Tech Predictions for 2014 (Op-Ed)
By Barry Avery, Kingston University
January 02, 2014 05:29pm ET
With Microsoft losing its controversial CEO, Apple launching new iPads and iPhones and the rise of wearable devices all making headlines, it’s been another huge year for technology. That’s before you look at the gobbling up of Nokia, Amazon’s embrace of drones and the ongoing NSA affair.
So what were the hits of 2013, and what will this year hold?
Business News Daily via LiveScience: 6 Ways Retail Will Change in 2014
Sara Angeles, BusinessNewsDaily Contributor
December 31, 2013 01:01pm ET
2013 was a monumental year in retail. From mobile technologies changing the way consumers shop to new ways of accepting and processing payments, these trends are just the beginning. Whether you run a brick-and-mortar establishment or an e-commerce website, 2014 has plenty more in store.
Some of the changes retailers saw in 2013 included more robust and flexible mobile credit card processing solutions that enabled businesses to take payments anytime, anywhere; mobile payments that let consumers shop conveniently from smartphones and tablets; and advanced digital wallets aimed at replacing cash and credit cards for online and in-store purchases. Some of the biggest game changers were Square, PayPal and Google, with BitCoin also claiming a stake on retailer and industry radars. Some proposed increasing the use of direct-carrier billing for in-store purchases, while others have taken to app development to disrupt the retail space.
Next year, retailers should expect these trends to play even more significant roles by enabling mobile commerce (m-commerce) and e-commerce to take businesses and consumer expectations to the next level. Not only will there be strong consumer demand that will make m-commerce the norm for retailers, but small businesses will have an even greater opportunity to work with and expand toward global markets via e-commerce.
LiveScience: Champagne Toasts: How Climate Affects the Quality of Bubbly
by Laura Poppick, Staff Writer
December 31, 2013 05:12pm ET
As partiers around the world cheer to the New Year this evening, many will enjoy a crisp burst of fizz to the nose before gulping down a tart glass of bubbly.
Though not likely on the forefront of their brains, these drinkers have climatological factors to thank for the tastiness of their drink.
The quality of sparkling wine — including France's famed champagne, Spain's cava, or Italy's prosecco — depends on numerous factors ranging from soil type to bottling practices. But climate and weather patterns are amongst the most influential of these factors, driving the difference between a sub-par and high-class bottle of bubbly.