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 Green Papers or the 2014 Daily Kos Elections Calendar. Tonight's edition features the research and outreach stories from Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, and North Carolina.
This week's featured story comes from Space.com and Science at NASA.
ScienceCasts: A Summer of Super Moons
The summer of 2014 will be bathed in moonlight as three perigee "supermoons" occur in consecutive months: July, August, September.
Supermoon Saturday: Supersized Full Moon Rises This Weekend
By Kelly Dickerson, Staff Writer
Get ready for a supersized moon. One of the biggest full moons of the year — a so-called "supermoon" — will light up the night sky on Saturday (July 12), but is only the first in a lunar triple-play this summer.
During this weekend's supermoon, the July full moon will appear about 30 percent brighter and 14 percent closer than a typical full moon. Last year, the full moon of June made headlines with its super luminosity. In 2014, skywatchers will see three supermoons this summer, one each during the back-to-back full moons in July, August and September.
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
Spotlight on Green News & Views: GMO food labeling, polar vortex may bring relief this time around
by Meteor Blades
Science Disorder Spectrum
by DocDawg
This week in science: dust in the cosmic wind
By DarkSyde
Slideshows/Videos
Space.com: Australian Fireball Caused by Russian Space Junk (Video)
By Mike Wall, Senior Writer
The fireball that lit up skies over Australia Thursday night (July 10) was actually part of a Russian rocket falling back to Earth, according to media reports.
Observers throughout southeastern Australia reported seeing a bright meteor streaking through the skies at about 9:45 p.m. local time on Thursday. Based on the timing and trajectory of the object, experts have concluded that the dazzling fireball captured on video was caused by a piece of a Russian rocket that launched Tuesday (July 8).
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
NASA: Aquarius maps soil moisture on This Week @NASA
Data from NASA's Aquarius instrument has helped researchers create worldwide maps of soil moisture, showing how the wetness of the land fluctuates with the seasons and weather phenomena. Soil moisture, the water contained within soil particles, is an important player in Earth's water cycle. When it launched in June 2011, the primary science objective of the Aquarius mission was to study the salt content of ocean surface waters. But investigators have since developed a method to retrieve soil moisture data from the instrument's microwave radiometer. Also, SLS Core Preliminary Design Review, JWST update and Dry ice gullies on Mars.
JPL/NASA: NEOWISE Spies Comet Pan-STARRS Against Galaxy Backdrop
NASA's NEOWISE mission captured a series of infrared images of comet C/2012 K1 -- also referred to as comet Pan-STARRS -- as it swept across our skies in May 2014. This animation shows the progression of the comet across a field of stars -- and a more distant spiral galaxy, called NGC 3726, which appears as a blue oval.
Discovery News: Did Aliens Create Saturn's Hexagon?
A vast hexagon is located at Saturn's north pole, and for years, it has sparked a number of conspiracy theories! Was it created by aliens, or is there a more realistic answer to this mystery? Dr. Ian O'Neill joins DNews this week to discuss a possible theory as to what created this hexagon.
JPL/NASA: LDSD Test Vehicle Returns
First video of NASA's saucer-shaped test vehicle, the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) after it was recovered from the ocean and returned to Port Allen, Kauai, on June 29, 2014. The LDSD vehicle had completed its first test flight from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai one day earlier.
JPL/NASA: What's Up for July 2014
Spot Pluto and see the Milky Way and planets all month long.
Hubble Space Telescope: Tonight's Sky: July 2014
Backyard stargazers get a monthly guide to the northern hemisphere's skywatching events with "Tonight's Sky." In July, the annual Delta Aquarid meteor shower streaks through the night.
Discovery News: What Happened To The Flags On The Moon?
Over the course of 6 Apollo missions, several American flags were placed on the moon! Are they still there? Trace explains what has happened to these flags over the years, and discusses how one of them might not even be there anymore!
Discovery News: Were Scientists Wrong About The Big Bang?
Back in March, scientists announced the discovery of gravitational waves and evidence for the Big Bang! What are gravitational waves, and is their evidence real? Dr. Ian O'Neill joins DNews to break down this complex concept.
Discovery News: Can A Moon Be Older Than Its Planet?
It was announced last week that Saturn's moon Titan might actually be older than Saturn itself! Why do scientists think this? Dr. Ian O'Neill from Discovery News joins DNews to discuss what makes this finding so astounding!
Astronomy/Space
Space.com: Did Huge Impact Shape Planet Mercury?
By Jesse Emspak, Space.com Contributor
The mysterious makeup of the solar system's innermost planet may be due to a massive "hit and run" collision billions of years ago, a new study reports.
A colossal but glancing smashup with a roughly Earth-size planet could have stripped away much of proto-Mercury's rocky mantle, explaining why the tiny, sun-scorched world has such a huge iron core today, researchers say.
Space.com: Curiosity Rover on Mars Leaves Landing 'Safe Zone'
By Mike Wall, Senior Writer
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has entered a new realm on the Red Planet.
The 1-ton Curiosity rover has now cruised out of its landing ellipse, the area — about 4 miles wide by 12 miles long (7 by 20 kilometers) — regarded as safe ground for its August 2012 touchdown within Mars' huge Gale Crater, NASA officials said.
Indeed, a photo taken by the space agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on June 27 shows Curiosity right on this boundary, which encloses a region of relatively flat and smooth terrain.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Georgia Tech: Small, but plentiful: how the faintest galaxies illuminated the early universe
Posted July 7, 2014 | Atlanta, GA
Light from tiny galaxies over 13 billion years ago played a larger role than previously thought in creating the conditions in the universe as we know it today, a new study has found. Ultraviolet (UV) light from stars in these faint dwarf galaxies helped strip interstellar hydrogen of electrons in a process called reionization.
Climate/Environment
Reuters via Yahoo! News: Amazon rainforest grew after climate change 2,000 years ago: study
By Alister Doyle
OSLO (Reuters) - Swathes of the Amazon may have been grassland until a natural shift to a wetter climate about 2,000 years ago let the rainforests form, according to a study that challenges common belief that the world’s biggest tropical forest is far older.
The arrival of European diseases after Columbus crossed the Atlantic in 1492 may also have hastened the growth of forests by killing indigenous people farming the region, the scientists wrote in the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Kansas State University: Drought and poor wheat harvest in Kansas has effects on national economy, says climatologist
July 10, 2014
MANHATTAN — The Kansas wheat harvest may be one of the worst on record — and the loss doesn't just hurt Kansas, according to a Kansas State University expert.
"The rains came too late to benefit the wheat production, so we may have our lowest wheat harvest on record," said Mary Knapp, service climatologist in the university's agronomy department.
That isn't just disappointing for Kansas farmers, but could affect other food availability and the overall economy. Drought conditions lead to poor pasture conditions and hay production, which then impacts the number of cattle ranchers can graze, Knapp said.
Biodiversity
North Carolina State University: Science and Cookies: Researchers Tap Into Citizen Science To Shed Light on Ant Diversity
July 7, 2014
Scientists from North Carolina State University and the University of Florida have combined cookies, citizen science and robust research methods to track the diversity of ant species across the United States, and are now collaborating with international partners to get a global perspective on how ants are moving and surviving in the modern world.
“We think our School of Ants project serves as a good model for how citizen science can be used to collect more data, more quickly, from more places than a research team could do otherwise,” says Dr. Andrea Lucky, a researcher at the University of Florida who started work on the School of Ants while a postdoctoral researcher at NC State and now heads the project. Lucky is co-lead author of a paper describing the work and its early findings. “And our protocols help ensure that the data we are collecting are high quality.”
The School of Ants project was developed at NC State to help researchers get a handle on the diversity of ant species across the United States, with a particular focus on Chicago, Raleigh and New York City. In short, to discover which ant species are living where.
University of Alabama at Birmingham: Does this trunk make me look fat? Overweight zoo elephants no laughing matter
By Bob Shepard
July 11, 2014
African elephants in captivity are getting fat. While the thought of a pudgy pachyderm might produce a chuckle, it is a situation with potentially serious consequences for the species.
“Obesity affects about 40 percent of African elephants in captivity,” said Daniella Chusyd, M.A., a doctoral student in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Nutrition Sciences. “Much as we see in humans, excess fat in elephants contributes to the development of heart disease, arthritis, a shorter lifespan and infertility.”
Infertility is the aspect that may be most troubling to Chusyd and colleagues. Nearly half of zoo African female elephants exhibit abnormal ovarian cycles, which is strongly correlated with a high body mass index, said Chusyd. According to a 2011 report by scientists at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, zoos in the United States need to average about six births each year to maintain a stable elephant population. But the current average is only around three births a year.
Biotechnology/Health
LiveScience: Earliest Case of Down Syndrome Discovered in Medieval Cemetery
By Joseph Castro, Live Science Contributor
The earliest probable case of Down syndrome in the archaeological record comes from a 5- to 7-year-old child who lived in medieval France some 1,500 years ago, new research shows.
The child, who is also the youngest example of the condition in the archaeological record, likely was not stigmatized in life, given that the body was treated in a similar way to others buried at the site, researchers say.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Alabama at Birmingham: Identifying patients with military service can improve health outcomes
By Tyler Greer
July 10, 2014
UAB Medicine has partnered with Joining Forces, a government initiative that supports members of the military and their families by promoting various employment, education and wellness initiatives, in an effort to better identify and treat patients who serve or have served in the military.
Cheri Plasters, a University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing graduate and nurse in transplant and general surgical services in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, will implement the “Have you ever served in the military?” campaign at UAB. UAB Hospital providers will obtain a military health history if a patient affirms he or she is current or former military personnel.
Obtaining the military health history is vital, Plasters says, because it will enable clinicians to consider unique exposures and concerns of the veteran. The data will provide more effective specific educational materials and resources for veterans and bridge the opportunities to collaborate between UAB Medicine and the Birmingham VA Medical Center, but caregivers will find out their patient’s service history only if they remember to ask.
“Every day we treat patients and have no idea if they have served our country,” Plasters said. “I saw the need and wanted to do something, especially since the challenge relates to UAB Medicine’s core values.”
University of Georgia: UGA researchers use nanoparticles to enhance chemotherapy
July 7, 2014
Athens, Ga. - University of Georgia researchers have developed a new formulation of cisplatin, a common chemotherapy drug, that significantly increases the drug's ability to target and destroy cancerous cells.
Cisplatin may be used to treat a variety of cancers, but it is most commonly prescribed for cancer of the bladder, ovaries, cervix, testicles and lung. It is an effective drug, but many cancerous cells develop resistance to the treatment.
Shanta Dhar, assistant professor of chemistry in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and Rakesh Pathak, a postdoctoral researcher in Dhar's lab, constructed a modified version of cisplatin called Platin-M, which is designed to overcome this resistance by attacking mitochondria within cancerous cells. They published their findings recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Kansas State University: Kansas State University scientist leading research on Chikungunya virus
July 9, 2014
MANHATTAN — Cases of chikungunya continue to rise, with more than 100 people from the United States infected with the mosquito-borne virus that they contracted while out of the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kansas State University's Stephen Higgs, one of the world's leading researchers of the virus and director of the university's Biosecurity Research Institute, says precautions should be taken to avoid a chikungunya outbreak in the U.S.
Higgs has been studying chikungunya for almost 10 years, and he and his collaborators have published 30 works on the virus. They also produced an infectious clone of the disease that is widely used by other researchers, and they are assisting with efforts to develop a vaccine for chikungunya.
North Carolina State University: When Faced With Some Sugars, Bacteria Can Be Picky Eaters
July 8, 2014
Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Minnesota have found for the first time that genetically identical strains of bacteria can respond very differently to the presence of sugars and other organic molecules in the environment, with some individual bacteria devouring the sugars and others ignoring it.
“This highlights the complexity of bacterial behaviors and their response to environmental conditions, and how much we still need to learn,” says Dr. Chase Beisel, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State and senior author of a paper describing the work. “This is one additional piece of the puzzle that could help us understand the behaviors of bacterial pathogens or the population dynamics of the micro-organisms that live in our guts.”
The researchers grew a non-pathogenic strain of E. coli in liquid culture, with each culture rich in a different type of sugar. Bacteria produce different protein pumps and enzymes that are dedicated to taking in and breaking down specific types of sugar, but only when the relevant sugar is present.
Psychology/Behavior
The Scientist: Magic Mushroom Dreams
A psychedelic compound in hallucinogenic mushrooms triggers brain activity characteristic of dream states.
By Jef Akst
Psilocybin, the psychedelic component of certain mushroom species that continues to be investigated for its use in treating anxiety and depression, elicits brain activity characteristic of someone who is dreaming, according to a study published today (July 3) in Human Brain Mapping.
“People often describe taking psilocybin as producing a dreamlike state and our findings have, for the first time, provided a physical representation for the experience in the brain,” Robin Carhart-Harris, a neuropsychopharmacology postdoc at Imperial College London, said in a press release.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Archeology/Anthropology
LiveScience: Remains of Long-Lost Temple Discovered in Iraq
by Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor
Life-size human statues and column bases from a long-lost temple dedicated to a supreme god have been discovered in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.
The discoveries date back over 2,500 years to the Iron Age, a time period when several groups — such as the Urartians, Assyrians and Scythians — vied for supremacy over what is now northern Iraq.
LiveScience: Were Ancient Child Skulls Gifts to the Lake Gods?
By Tia Ghose, Staff Writer
Children's skulls found at the edges of Bronze Age settlements may have been a gruesome gift for the local lake gods.
The children's skulls were discovered encircling the perimeter of ancient villages around lakes in Switzerland and Germany. Some had suffered ax blows and other head traumas.
Cyprus Mail: Before the gas, there was copper
Former head of the Antiquities Department Vassos Karageorghis describes what it was like the last time Cyprus had an important natural resource to trade. It was around 3,500 years ago and the resource was copper
AFTER ABOUT six thousand years of relative isolation Cyprus started exploiting her rich copper mines at the beginning of the second millennium BC.
Copper not only changed the lifestyle of the Cypriots, who started making more effective tools, weapons, and other utensils with this new material, but thanks to technologies introduced from neighbouring countries they were able to make an alloy of copper and zinc, which resulted in a much harder alloy, bronze. Numerous such examples have been found in tombs throughout the island.
YLE (Finland): Forestry officials unearth stone spearheads in northern Lapland
Archaeologists in Finland are celebrating the discovery of a number of artefacts in Lapland, northern Finland. A series of surveys by the forestry watchdog Metsähallitus has unearthed hundreds of hunting pits, several prehistoric habitations, pottery shards and a stone spearhead.
Culture 24 (UK): Archaeologists hit the jackpot first time with Roman bath find at Segedunum Roman Fort
By Ben Miller
The mystery of a bath house buried beneath a former Roman fort has been solved in a jackpot-striking dig
Organisers behind the WallQuest project have spent years knowing that a Roman bath, containing a steamroom, cold and tepid rooms and a gym on the outside of the walls of Segedunum Roman Fort, was somewhere near the grounds of a demolished pub.
Extensive detective work by volunteers persuaded Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums to dig a hole at the old boozer.
“We dug some trial trenches at the end of May and we were pretty sure from what we found there that we were on the site,” says Nick Hodgson, the Project Manager.
Culture 24 (UK): Archaeologists say coins found in Derbyshire cave could be buried savings of Roman tribe
By Ben Miller
A member of the public looking in a Derbyshire cave has led experts to the first ever discovery of Late Iron Age and Republic Roman Coins buried together in Britain, described by archaeologists as akin to a modern savings account held in a sacred space known only by well-off tribespeople.
A powerful member of the Corieltavi – who ruled the East Midlands during the 1st century, demonstrating prolific coin-making capabilities – is thought to have left his money within Reynard’s Kitchen Cave, where four initial coins grew to an impressive hoard during a full excavation by the National Trust.
LiveScience: Ancient Synagogue Mosaic Depicts Bloody Jewish Legend
By Kelly Dickerson, Staff Writer
A gruesome and bloody battle scene once decorated the floors of a 5th century synagogue in a Jewish village in northern Israel.
The mosaic is divided into three horizontal panels and measures about 10 feet (3 meters) by 6.5 feet (2 meters). The lowest section shows a dying soldier carrying a shield, and a bull stuck by several spears, with blood oozing out of the wounds. The gory scene found glittering on the synagogue's tiles surprised the dig team.
Times Live (South Africa): Archaeologists find Thor's hammer
Dominic Skelton
In Norse mythology, Thor’s hammer Mjolnir helped protect Asgard and is thought to have been one of the most powerful weapons in the gods’ arsenal.
Scandinavian archaeologists have found a 1000 year old amulet with engraved runes in Kobelev, on the Danish island of Lolland, reported the Daily Mail.
The latest discovery is unusual as it is the only ‘torshammere’ amulet found with an inscription that says “This is a hammer.” The object is cast in bronze and has traces of gold and silver plating.
TamilNet (Sri Lanka?): Terracotta artefacts of folk culture found in Mullaiththeevu
[TamilNet, Friday, 11 July 2014, 23:51 GMT]
A large number of terracotta images and other artefacts in sherds were found at an agricultural land in Chinna-Poovarasang-ku’lam in the Mullaiththeevu district of the country of Eezham Tamils this week. The villagers handed over the artefacts found in the private land to occupying Sri Lanka’s ‘Government Agent’ in Vavuniyaa, who in turn deposited them at the local museum in Vavuniyaa. However, occupying Sri Lanka’s military intelligence was after everyone involved in the discovery as well as the site, sources in the district told TamilNet. Meanwhile, some Tamil inscriptions have recently been found at Padaviya in the Anuradhapura district, but their contents and the present whereabouts of the stone slabs are now unknown, academic sources said.
Polish Press Agency: Polish archaeologists discovered medieval bath in Albania
Polish archaeologists discovered a fourteenth-century bath in northwestern Albania. This is the oldest object of this type studied so far in Albania - told PAP Prof. Piotr Dyczek of the Antiquity of Southeastern Europe Research Centre of the University of Warsaw.
The greatest discovery this year was Turkish bath - hammam, with central heating system. Buildings of this type became common in the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth century. "Our object seems to be a hundred years older - believes Prof. Dyczek. - We know very few early hammams. This makes our discovery even more interesting, because it allows to see how the old Roman idea of hypocaust, which is a system of heating the floors and walls of buildings with hot air, was adapted by the Turks".
The Florida Times-Union: Archaeologists mount search for lost French fleet of 1565
Hunt expected to wrap up in August
By Matt Soergel
ST. AUGUSTINE | A team of archaeologists unveiled plans Thursday for an oceangoing expedition to find the lost French fleet of Jean Ribault, which sank 449 years ago in a history-changing hurricane off Florida’s Atlantic coast.
And they have a pretty good idea where to look.
Period French artifacts found in the early 1970s on a remote beach at Canaveral National Seashore provide proof that Ribault’s shipwrecked men were there — likely not too far from their ruined ships, which they scavenged for materials.
National Geographic News: Cursed Warship Revealed With Treasure Onboard
Researchers and divers have started studying the secrets the Mars, the pride of Sweden's 16th-century navy, has held for 450 years.
By Jane J. Lee
National Geographic
Published July 7, 2014
It was the largest and fiercest warship in the world, named the Mars for the Roman god of war, but it went up in a ball of flames in a brutal naval battle in 1564, consigning 800 to 900 Swedish and German sailors and a fortune in gold and silver coins to the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
Now, a few years after the ship's discovery, researchers have concluded that the one-of-a-kind ship is also the best preserved ship of its kind, representing the first generation of Europe's big, three-masted warships.
The Telegram (Canada): 17th century crucifix unearthed in Ferryland
Archaeologists at the Colony of Avalon site in Ferryland have unearthed an artifact that they say dates to the time of George Calvert’s dream of religious freedom in British North America.
The Colony of Avalon Foundation said in a news release the rare finding is a small copper crucifix, 2.8 cm in width, broken at the top but showing a simple representation of Christ on the front and the Virgin Mary and Christ Child on the back.
Hunterdon County Democrat via NJ.com: Descendant helps in historical 'dig' at Vought House in Clinton Township
Terry Wright | Hunterdon County Democrat
CLINTON TWP. – One of the participants in the archaeology “dig” taking place at the historic Christopher Vought House here is Chris Vought, a direct descendant of the original owner.
Vought, of Great Barrington, Mass., came down to join a professor, students and members of the general public in the project. He said he’s had interest in his family for many years.
Chris Matthews, an anthropology professor at Montclair State University, is leading the search for remnants of what is buried on the property. He’s an historical archaeologist and his group has set up six one-meter-square plots they’re excavating by hand, and then sifting the soil for pieces of pottery and other items which can help tell the site’s history.
Discovery News: 200-Year-Old Bottle of Seltzer Found in Shipwreck
by Rossella Lorenzi
Jul 10, 2014 01:17 PM ET
Polish archaeologists have recovered one of the world’s oldest intact bottles of mineral water from a shipwreck lying on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
Still corked, the perfectly preserved stoneware bottle was produced between 1806 and 1830 by Selters, one of the oldest mineral waters in Europe.
The 12-inch bottle was found during archaeological work on a shipwreck lying at a depth of about 40 feet in the Gdan'sk Bay not far from the Polish coast.
The Hartford Courant via CTNow.com: Middletown Dig Aims to Discover Details of Historic Beman Triangle
By ANERI PATTANI apattani@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
MIDDLETOWN - Behind a series of seemingly ordinary houses, six volunteers crouched in knee-deep holes with small shovels in an attempt to uncover the past.
The volunteers are part of an archaeological dig coordinated by Wesleyan University and the Cross Street A.M.E. Zion Church. The dig focuses on 5 acres of land known as the Beman Triangle, a historically significant African American community, enclosed by Vine Street, Cross Street and Knowles Avenue.
Seacoastonline.com: Archaeology team unearths mikveh at Strawbery Banke site
By Jeanné McCartin
features@seacoastonline.com
July 09, 2014 2:00 AM
Strawbery Banke Museum unearthed yet another piece of history over the past two weeks, under the direction of Alix Martin, museum archaeologist.
Martin and her team painstakingly uncovered a century-old mikveh on a museum plot, once the sight of the Pecunies house, which was demolished in the 1960s.
...
A mikveh is a ritual immersion bath used in the Jewish culture since ancient times, Director of Marketing Communications Stephanie Seaward says.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Paleontology/Evolution
The Daily Mail (UK): 100,000-year-old human skull found in China with 'unique' ear provides further evidence that interbreeding wiped out Neanderthals
Skull from Northern China was found with a trait that was thought unique
The inner-ear formation was believed to be solely from Neanderthals
100,000 year-old skull was first found 35 years ago but was re-examined
It lends further theory to the 'extinction by interbreeding' theory and suggests history of human evolution is 'messier' than thought
It also raises more questions about where Neanderthals lived, as previously they were thought to live almost entirely in Europe
By Jonathan O'Callaghan
Re-examination of a 100,000-year-old human skull found 35 years ago in Northern China suggests they were closer than thought in physiology to Neanderthals.
A study has revealed the surprising presence of an inner-ear formation long thought to occur only in Neanderthals.
And it lends further credence to the theory that Neanderthals were wiped out through interbreeding with other humans.
University of Michigan via PhysOrg: Two CT-scanned Siberian mammoth calves yield trove of insights
Jim Erickson
Jul 09, 2014
CT scans of two newborn woolly mammoths recovered from the Siberian Arctic are revealing previously inaccessible details about the early development of prehistoric pachyderms. In addition, the X-ray images show that both creatures died from suffocation after inhaling mud.
Lyuba and Khroma, who died at ages 1 and 2 months, respectively, are the most complete and best-preserved baby mammoth specimens ever found. Lyuba's full-body CT scan, which used an industrial scanner at a Ford testing facility in Michigan, was the first of its kind for any mammoth.
"This is the first time anyone's been able to do a comparative study of the skeletal development of two baby mammoths of known age," said University of Michigan paleontologist Daniel Fisher.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Geology
Scientific American: The Largest Extinction in Earth’s History May Have Been Caused by Microbes
A new theory proposes methane-spurting single-celled organisms were behind the Permian extinctions
By Carrie Arnold
Jun 17, 2014
At the end of the Permian period, about 252 million years ago, animals started dying at ferocious rates. In just 20,000 years 90 percent of all species on the planet had gone extinct. What triggered this die-off? Researchers have been trying to figure that out for decades.
Because the scale of the extinctions was so large, paleobiologists and geochemists started looking for an equally massive disaster as the root cause. Some proposed that an asteroid struck Earth, similar to what ended the reign of the dinosaurs. More recently, they have focused on volcanoes in what is now modern-day Siberia that were highly active at the time. They spewed out large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, an event documented in the chemical signatures of rocks from Xiakou, China. Scientists think that the surge in these gases warmed the planet and made its oceans more acidic, which, together, ultimately snuffed out most life.
In those same rocks, though, Dan Rothman, a geochemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, saw a discrepancy with the volcano story. The chemical signatures indicated that the concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane kept rising over time. If the gases were the result of volcanic eruptions, one would expect that their levels would rise and then fall back down again. To Rothman and his colleagues, the pattern looked more like a biological factor—not unlike the exponential growth of microbes.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
LiveScience: Earth's Magnetic Field Is Weakening 10 Times Faster Now
by Kelly Dickerson
July 08, 2014 11:29am ET
Earth's magnetic field, which protects the planet from huge blasts of deadly solar radiation, has been weakening over the past six months, according to data collected by a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite array called Swarm.
The biggest weak spots in the magnetic field — which extends 370,000 miles (600,000 kilometers) above the planet's surface — have sprung up over the Western Hemisphere, while the field has strengthened over areas like the southern Indian Ocean, according to the magnetometers onboard the Swarm satellites — three separate satellites floating in tandem.
The scientists who conducted the study are still unsure why the magnetic field is weakening, but one likely reason is that Earth's magnetic poles are getting ready to flip, said Rune Floberghagen, the ESA's Swarm mission manager. In fact, the data suggest magnetic north is moving toward Siberia.
Energy
University of Michigan: Fuel economy: Small drop, but still near all-time high
July 7, 2014
ANN ARBOR—Despite a slight dip in June, fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the U.S. exceeded 25 mpg for the fifth straight month, say researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
Average fuel economy (window-sticker values) of cars, light trucks, vans and SUVs purchased last month was 25.5 mpg, down from a record-high 25.6 mpg in May. Vehicle fuel economy is now up 5.4 mpg from October 2007, the first full month of monitoring by UMTRI researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle.
Physics
LiveScience: 'Revolutionary' Physics: Do Sterile Neutrinos Lurk in the Universe?
By Tia Ghose, Staff Writer
July 01, 2014 12:10pm ET
A completely new subatomic particle — one so reclusive and strange that it passes undetected through ordinary matter — could be lurking in the universe.
If so, a detector set to turn on later this year could find the first convincing evidence for the particle, called a sterile neutrino. The new experiment, whose 30-ton detector was recently lowered into place at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, will look for traces of this elusive particle transforming into another type of neutrino.
Unlike the Higgs boson, the particle thought to explain why other particles have mass and which most physicists predicted should exist for decades, sterile neutrinos would be in the realm of completely unknown physics that only some physicists believe exist, said Bonnie Fleming, the experiment's spokeswoman and a physicist at Yale University. "It would be completely revolutionary," Fleming said.
Chemistry
University of Georgia: New UGA research challenges fundamental precept of organic chemistry
July 10, 2014
Athens, Ga. - A family of millions of known chemical compounds called "aromatics" or "arenes" and their products, including a great number of medicines, plastics and synthetic fibers, are characterized by their regular arrangement of ring atoms instead of alternating single and double bonds. A new study published by researchers in the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of chemistry posits a different fundamental mechanism for the way these compounds react to replace atoms.
The study, "Arenium ions are not obligatory intermediates in electrophilic aromatic substitution," was published June 27 in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Benzene, the "aromatic" prototype, was discovered by Michael Faraday in 1825 as a colorless flammable constituent of the then-used illuminating oil. Along with other aromatics such as naphthalene, or mothballs, it also is found in crude oil.
Science Crime Scenes
Ekathimerini (Greece): Over 10,600 artifacts looted in WWII returned to Greece
Tuesday Jul 8, 2014
More than 10,600 artifacts dating from Neolithic times that were removed illegally by Nazi archaeologists during World War II have been returned to Greece from the German Pfahlbaumuseum, the state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA) reported on Tuesday.
The items were officially handed back to Greece during a low-key ceremony attended by Greek and German officials in Athens, including Culture Minister Constantinos Tasoulas, German Ambassador to Athens Wolfgang Dold and Pfahlbaumuseum Director Gunter Schoebel.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Science, Space, Health, Environment, and Energy Policy
Change.org: Save Mount Latmos
Petition von EKODOSD EKOSI.STEMI. KORUMA VE DOGA SEVENLER DERNEGI
Türkiye Kusadas
The Besparmak Daglari, known as “Latmos” in antiquity, is one of the most fascinating and archaeologically richest regions in western Turkey. As early as prehistoric times the Latmos was already revered as a sacred mountain in Anatolia. Upon its peak the Old Anatolian weather god together with a local mountain deity were worshipped. The mountain peak was the centre of weather and fertility rituals. Despite socio-cultural changes that transformed religious concepts, the cultic tradition there continued into Ottoman times.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Science Education
The Borneo Post (Malaysia): Highlighting Santubong’s natural heritage
THE Malaysian Nature Society Kuching Branch (MNSKB) will hold its signature nature event — the Santubong Nature Festival — for the second time in November. It is hosted by the Permai Rainforest Resort and supported by the Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) and the Sarawak Museum Department.
Open to the public, the festival will run from Nov 8-9.
Kuching North Datuk Bandar Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai officiated at the festival’s soft launching at Taman Budaya (Reservoir Park) last month.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Science Writing and Reporting
LiveScience: Watson and Crick Took All the Glory, but There’s a Forgotten Hero of the Double Helix
By Kersten Hall, University of Leeds
This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
In the world of sport, we remember a winner. Not many people have heard of Pierre Rolland, who finished eighth in the 2012 Tour de France. But everyone knows Bradley Wiggins, who won it. The history of science is often also described in similar terms – as a tale of winners and losers racing to the finish line. Nowhere is this truer than in the story of the discovery of the structure of DNA.
When James Watson’s book, The Double Helix, was published in 1968, it depicted science as a frantic and often ruthless race in which the winner took all. In Watson’s account, it was he and his Cambridge colleague Francis Crick who were first to cross the finish line, with their competitors Rosalind Franklin at Kings College London and Linus Pauling at California Institute of Technology trailing behind.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Science is Cool
Mediaite: Internet Users Think Steven Spielberg Killed Dinosaur, Accuse Him of Animal Cruelty
by Tina Nguyen
1:37 pm, July 11th, 2014
It started with this post of Steven Spielberg on the set of Jurassic Park, a fictional movie in which a scientist brings extinct dinosaurs back to life.
With the recent explosion in stories about people accused of animal cruelty by posing with dead animals, internet funny person Jay Branscomb posted it on Facebook with the following joke caption: “Disgraceful photo of recreational hunter happily posing next to a triceratops he just slaughtered. Please share so the world can name and shame this despicable man.”
But put a man next to a dead animal, and you will have enough dumb commenters for a lifetime.
The Guardian: 2,500-year-old erotic graffiti found in unlikely setting on Aegean island
Racy inscriptions and phalluses carved into Astypalaia's rocky peninsula shed light on very private lives of ancient Greece
Helena Smith in Athens
The Guardian
Wild, windswept, rocky and remote, Astypalaia is not an obvious place for the unearthing of some of the world's earliest erotic graffiti.
Certainly, Dr Andreas Vlachopoulos, a specialist in prehistoric archaeology, didn't think so when he began fieldwork on the Aegean island four years ago. Until he chanced upon a couple of racy inscriptions and large phalluses carved into Astypalaia's rocky peninsula at Vathy. The inscriptions, both dating to the fifth and sixth centuries BC, were "so monumental in scale" – and so tantalisingly clear – he was left in no doubt of the motivation behind the artworks.
LiveScience: Nikola Tesla's Once-Neglected NY Lab Gets a New Life
By Megan Gannon, News Editor
SHOREHAM, N.Y. — Nikola Tesla's final workshop, and the site of perhaps his boldest project, was nearly lost to history.
Now, after a two-decade-long effort to acquire the neglected lab here on the North Shore of Long Island, a private group is getting closer to turning the site into a Tesla museum — and a place of pilgrimage for the eccentric inventor's adoring fans.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Georgia Tech: Your next opponent in Angry Birds could be a robot
Georgia Tech team pairs humanoid with popular game to help kids with rehabilitation
Posted July 10, 2014 | Atlanta, GA
With the help of a smart tablet and Angry Birds, children can now do something typically reserved for engineers and computer scientists: program a robot to learn new skills. The Georgia Institute of Technology project is designed to serve as a rehabilitation tool and to help kids with disabilities.