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.
With the general election concluded, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday will highlight the research stories from the public universities in cities and states with runoff elections and unresolved contests. Vermont has an unresolved race for Governor and Austin, Texas, has a runoff election for Mayor on December 16th. Also, between now and the first NCAA Division 1-A College Football Championship decided by playoff, OND will feature the research stories from universities with teams in post-season play. This week, stories will come from schools involved in bowl games held on December 20th.
This week's featured story comes from Jessica Contrera of The Washington Post and Victoria Jaggard of Smithsonian Magazine.
On 12/13/14 one last chance to indulge in sequential date frenzy — this century, anyway
It’s the very last sequential day of the century. We are already out of triple dates, the 11/11/11s and 12/12/12s, and Saturday we run out of 1/2/03s and 4/5/06s.
There is no 13/14/15! And there won’t be anything like it until the year 2101!
...
Journalists have been reporting on these special dates — calling wedding planners and casinos and numerologists and “scientists” — and maybe exaggerating the details of the situation a bit, but we’ll get to that — for 14 years.
So to celebrate this century’s last hurrah, this final quirk of the calendar, let us compile all the essential ingredients for the ultimate 12/13/14 sequential date story.
After 12/13/14, What Are the Next Fun Dates for Math Lovers?
[N]umberphiles need not despair. Counting from one to 365 is just the simplest form of a mathematical tool called an integer sequence, says Neil J. A. Sloane, a visiting scientist at Rutgers University and founder of the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, or OEIS. "Our days are numbered," Sloane quips. So what other types of sequences can we look forward to celebrating this century?
Primes (11/13/17) and Mersenne Primes (07/13/17) [sic--the next Mersenne Prime date should be 3/7/31, not 07/13/17--NV.]
...
Fibonacci Numbers (08/13/21)
...
Recamán's Sequence (07/13/20 and 08/25/43)
There's also Pi Day next year, 3/14/15.
Stories originally included in 12-13-14, the last sequential day of the century on Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
WATCH THIS SPACE!
Spotlight on green news & views: Lima climate conference, prices pinch indebted shale oil drillers
by Meteor Blades
Greenpeace Deserves Universal Worldwide Condemnation for Vandalism of Ancient Indigenous GeoArt Icon
by LakeSuperior
This week in science: our precious essence
by DarkSyde
Slideshows/Videos
British Museum: The Meroe Head of Augustus: statue decapitation as political propaganda
David Francis, Interpretation Officer, British Museum
In his Twelve Caesars, the Roman historian Suetonius describes how the emperor Augustus’ eyes ‘shone with a sort of divine radiance’ and that it gave him profound pleasure ‘if anyone at whom he glanced keenly dropped his head as though dazzled by looking into the sun.’
The Meroe Head, the only bronze portrait of Augustus to have survived with its original inlaid eyes, perfectly captures the enigmatic gaze of the Roman emperor. Depending on how the light falls, the expression of the head can vary from haughty disdain to melancholic introspection. The whites of the eyes are further emphasised by the dark green sheen of the emperor’s skin and hair. This is a result of the oxidation process that has covered the original bronze surface with a deep marine green patina. This otherworldly quality is fitting for a man who was deified as a god upon his death.
NOAA: NOAA, partners reveal first images of historic San Francisco shipwreck, SS City of Rio de Janeiro
NOAA and its partners today released three-dimensional sonar maps and images of an immigrant steamship lost more than 100 years ago in what many consider the worst maritime disaster in San Francisco history.
On Feb. 22, 1901, in a dense morning fog, the SS City of Rio de Janeiro struck jagged rocks near the present site of the Golden Gate Bridge and sank almost immediately, killing 128 of the 210 passengers and crew aboard the ship.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Academic Technologies: Skatepark Mathematics Extravaganza with Dr. Bill Robertson
During the week of November 17-21, 2014, a series of live demonstrations and field-based activities were lead by Dr. Bill Robertson (AKA Dr. Skateboard) and a team of professional and top amateur BMX riders and skateboarders who performed at local high schools in the Socorro Independent School District (SISD) involved in the UTEP GEAR UP program.
See the related story under Science is Cool.
Discovery News: Which Power Source Is Most Efficient?
Australian researchers just unveiled the most efficient solar panels ever. How efficient are they, and what is the most efficient source of energy?
Discovery News: Bad Gifts Could Ruin Your Relationship!
It’s always terrible when you receive a bad gift, but did you know that giving your partner a bad gift could seriously damage your relationship?
NASA: Orion is back on This Week @NASA
The hugely successful first flight test on Dec. 5 of NASA’s Orion spacecraft took it farther than any spacecraft designed for astronauts has been in more than 40 years. The two-orbit, 4.5 hour trip into space was designed to test many of Orion’s systems critical to crew safety – with data collected by more than 1,200 onboard sensors. The capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles southwest of San Diego and was recovered by a team of NASA, U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin personnel aboard the USS Anchorage. Final destination for NASA’s new deep space capsule is Kennedy Space Center in Florida – where its first journey to space began – so engineers there can evaluate the data. Orion will open the space between Earth and Mars for exploration by astronauts and testing of the capabilities and technologies needed for future human missions to Mars. Also, Curiosity’s Mount Sharp findings, New Horizons’ wake-up call and Enabling unique aircraft design!
NASA: President Obama Recognizes Orion Chief Engineer Julie Kramer White
President Obama recognizes Orion Chief Engineer Julie Kramer White during remarks at the conference for senior leaders of the Senior Executive Service.
Science at NASA: ScienceCasts: Embers from a Rock Comet: The 2014 Geminid Meteor Shower
Earth is passing through a stream of debris from "rock comet" 3200 Phaethon, source of the annual Geminid meteor shower. Forecasters expect as many as 120 meteors per hour when the shower peaks on Dec. 13-14.
JPL/NASA: Curiosity Rover Report: The Making of Mount Sharp (Dec. 8, 2014)
Layers of intrigue: See how a Martian mountain inside of a crater came to be.
Discovery News: Alien Life Could Be More Common Than We Thought
After years of searching, we have yet to find alien life. Are we looking for life in the wrong places?
Astronomy/Space
Space.com: Rosetta Spacecraft's Comet Water Discovery: What It Means for Earth
by Miriam Kramer, Space.com Staff Writer
December 12, 2014 12:00pm ET
Where did Earth's water come from? Comets? Asteroids?
New data from the Rosetta spacecraft exploring Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets — once thought responsible for seeding Earth with water — might not have delivered most of the planet's water after all. The new finding is giving scientists a more nuanced view of the solar system and its plethora of cosmic bodies.
An instrument called ROSINA on the European Space Agency's Rosetta has found that the molecular makeup of the water on Comet 67P/C-G is very different from the water found in Earth's oceans. This deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio throws a hitch into the theory that comets from Comet 67P/C-G's region of space brought water to the Earth not long after the solar system formed, Kathrin Altwegg, principal investigator for ROSINA, said.
Space.com: Giant Crater on Mars Was Once a Vast Lake, Curiosity Rover Shows
by Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer
December 08, 2014 03:31pm ET
A giant crater on Mars may have been able to support microbial life for millions of years in the ancient past because it was once a huge lake of water, new results from NASA's Curiosity rover suggest.
Curiosity found evidence for the crater lake on Mars in the 96-mile-wide (154 kilometers) Gale Crater, which the rover has been exploring since its August 2012 touchdown. Today, Gale Crater is a dry, stark landscape, but in the ancient past, runoff from the crater rim created a lake in which deposited sediments gradually built up Mount Sharp, a mountain that rises about 3.4 miles (5.5 km) high from the crater's center, mission scientists added.
"This lake was large enough it could have lasted millions of years — sufficient time for life to get started and thrive, sufficient time for lake sediments to build up and form Mount Sharp," Michael Meyer, Mars Exploration Program lead scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said during a press conference today (Dec. 8).
Space.com: NASA's New Horizons Spacecraft Wakes Up for Pluto Encounter in 2015
by Calla Cofield, Space.com Staff Writer
December 07, 2014 09:12am ET
LAUREL, Md. — Pluto, get ready for your close-up: A NASA spacecraft has roused itself from the final slumber of its nine-year trek to the edge of the solar system, setting the stage for the first close encounter with Pluto next year.
The New Horizons spacecraft, currently located 2.9 billion miles (4.6 billion kilometers) from Earth, had been in hibernation since August — with most of its systems turned off to reduce wear. But late Saturday (Dec. 6), mission scientists received a confirmation signal from New Horizons at the probe's Mission Operations Center here at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The probe is now wide awake for its 2015 flyby of Pluto.
At the time of its wakeup call, New Horizons was just over 162 million miles (261 million km) from Pluto. About 20 people gathered in a conference room here at APL to await the signal from New Horizons.
Climate/Environment
Newswise: Carbon Soot Particles, Dust Blamed for Discoloring India’s Taj Mahal
Released: 9-Dec-2014 7:00 PM EST
Newswise — The Taj Mahal’s iconic marble dome and soaring minarets require regular cleaning to maintain their dazzling appearance, and scientists now know why. Researchers from the United States and India are pointing the finger at airborne carbon particles and dust for giving the gleaming white landmark a brownish cast.
Knowing the culprits in the discoloration is just the first step in cleaning up the Taj Mahal. Scientists now must determine where the particles are coming from to develop strategies for controlling them.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Texas: New Study Measures Methane Emissions from Natural Gas Production and Offers Insights into Two Large Sources
Researchers find a small percentage of wells accounts for the majority of emissions.
December 9, 2014
AUSTIN, Texas — A team of researchers from the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin and environmental testing firm URS reports that a small subset of natural gas wells are responsible for the majority of methane emissions from two major sources — liquid unloadings and pneumatic controller equipment — at natural gas production sites.
With natural gas production in the United States expected to continue to increase during the next few decades, there is a need for a better understanding of methane emissions during natural gas production. The study team believes this research, published Dec. 9 in Environmental Science & Technology, will help to provide a clearer picture of methane emissions from natural gas production sites.
The UT Austin-led field study closely examined two major sources of methane emissions — liquid unloadings and pneumatic controller equipment — at well pad sites across the United States. Researchers found that 19 percent of the pneumatic devices accounted for 95 percent of the emissions from pneumatic devices, and 20 percent of the wells with unloading emissions that vent to the atmosphere accounted for 65 percent to 83 percent of those emissions.
Colorado State University: CSU review: Environmental impact and toxicity of biocides used in fracking still largely unknown
by Kortny Rolston
December 10, 2014
A Colorado State University-led research team has completed the most comprehensive review to date of the environmental fate and toxicity of the biocides most commonly used in hydraulic fracturing fluids.
Researchers analyzed more than 200 research papers, studies, and other literature to critically evaluate the current knowledge on how thesnatural gas welle chemicals may enter the environment, whether they are likely to degrade or persist, and if they or their degradation products may pose a risk to human health and the environment. The team also pinpointed various areas in which more research is urgently needed and identified the pros and cons of potential biocide alternatives.
The critical review article, “Biocides in Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids: A Critical Review of Their Usage, Mobility, Degradation, and Toxicity,” was recently published in the prestigious journal Environmental Science & Technology.
The Utah Statesman via Utah State University: Hold Your Breath: Efforts to Improve Air Quality Still in Early Stages
By Mariah Noble in The Utah Statesman Thursday, December 4, 2014
December 11, 2014
Air quality in Cache Valley was recorded in recent years as some of the worst in the nation, and the season for that bad air has once again arrived.
With winter in the valley comes inversion, a condition where air close to the ground is cooler than the air above it. In this specific region, inversions are a problem because that cool air, along with emissions generated in the valley, is locked in by warmer air above and the surrounding mountains on all sides. The trapping of pollutants creates a visible haze recognized by locals.
“Really we’re talking about a handful of days in the winter,” said Amy Christensen, deputy director of communications for the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, “and really what we’re talking about is that haze.”
Biodiversity
Colorado State University: Happy feat: World’s oldest penguin visits veterinary hospital
by Rachel Griess
December 11, 2014
The world’s oldest African penguin, a Pueblo Zoo resident named Tess, dove effortlessly into her pool on Tuesday and swam for the first time since Colorado State University veterinarians used specialized radiation to treat an aggressive form of skin cancer on the penguin’s face.
Making her dip more meaningful, Tess represents an endangered species expected to vanish from the wild within two decades.
“Some people would ask, ‘Why are you putting all of these resources into an individual animal?’ But, if this individual animal can tell a story that helps globally with the African penguin, then it’s all worth it,” said Dr. Matthew Johnston, a CSU veterinarian in Avian, Exotic and Zoological Medicine at the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
At 40 years old, Tess is the oldest known African penguin, the matriarch of a dying species and a beloved member of the penguin exhibit at the Pueblo Zoo in southern Colorado. For the veterinarians who treated Tess for skin cancer in early December, she is a beacon on a planet with a dwindling variety of creatures.
Biotechnology/Health
University of Vermont: Sprague Study Shows Supplemental Breast Cancer Screening for Women with Dense Breasts Not Beneficial
Findings Could Impact Pending Breast Density Notification Legislation
By Sarah Lyn Cobleigh Keblin
December 8, 2014
A new study released in the Annals of Internal Medicine and led by Brian Sprague, Ph.D., at the University of Vermont Cancer Center concludes that supplemental ultrasound screening for women with dense breasts would substantially increase costs with little improvement in overall outcomes. The research provides needed evidence on the benefits and harms of breast cancer screening options for women with dense breasts, and informs the discussion of national legislation that would mandate the disclosure of breast density information to women.
This collaborative study, funded by the National Cancer Institute, was conducted by Sprague and colleagues within the national Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium and the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modelling Network, which provided advanced public health modeling for the project. The study estimates that for every 10,000 women between the ages of 50-74 with dense breasts who receive ultrasound screening exams after a normal mammogram, about four breast cancer deaths would be prevented, but an extra 3,500 biopsies would be performed in women who did not have breast cancer.
Mammographically-dense breasts – those that show more glandular and connective tissue versus fat in a mammogram image – are recognized as a risk factor for developing breast cancer and can also hamper an accurate reading of a mammogram. Recent research by Sprague and colleagues, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that there is a high prevalence of women in the U.S. with mammographically-dense breast tissue, with more than 40 percent of women between the ages of 40 and 74 affected.
Colorado State University: Program targets huffing, substance abuse in middle schools
by Kortney Rolston
December 8, 2014
Colorado State University researchers are developing a program aimed at reducing the number of Native American middle school students experimenting with huffing, marijuana or alcohol.
CSU’s Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research has received a $2 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to implement the “Be Under Your Own Influence” program at seven rural middle schools near American Indian reservations and evaluate its effectiveness.
The project targets Native American students because statistics show they are at a higher risk of using drugs, alcohol and huffing (inhaling volatile chemicals found in household products to get high), said Linda Stanley, a research scientist with the Tri-Ethnic Center.
One in four students has tried huffing by eighth grade, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. That number jumps to 1 in 3 for Native American students.
University of Utah: Ebola Virus May Replicate in an Exotic Way
Study Indicates Target for Future Drugs for Measles, Ebola, RSV
Dec. 11, 2014 – University of Utah researchers ran biochemical analysis and computer simulations of a livestock virus to discover a likely and exotic mechanism to explain the replication of related viruses such as Ebola, measles and rabies. The mechanism may be a possible target for new treatments within a decade.
“This is fundamental science. It creates new targets for potential antiviral drugs in the next five to 10 years, but unfortunately would not have an impact on the current Ebola epidemic” in West Africa, says Saveez Saffarian, senior author of a new study published today by the Public Library of Science journal PLOS Computational Biology.
Saffarian, a virologist and assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and his colleagues studied a horse, cattle and pig virus named VSV – vesicular stomatitis virus – which is a member of family called NNS RNA viruses. That family also includes closely related viruses responsible for Ebola, measles, rabies and the common, childhood respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. The genetic blueprint in these viruses is an RNA strand that is covered by protein like beads on a necklace.
Psychology/Behavior
Bowling Green State University: A sacred union
New research examines spiritual dimensions of marriage
by David Yonke
December 8, 2014
Each year, millions of U.S. couples walk down aisles in churches, temples and mosques to get married. Many only occasionally, if ever, again set foot together inside a place of worship. Does that mean their marriage is devoid of spirituality? Not according to studies showing most people view their marriage as a sacred union. But, does what couples say about the spiritual nature of their marriage predict how they actually act toward one another?
A recent study by researchers at Bowling Green State University sheds light on this question and on two spiritual dimensions of marriage that predict better behavior in marriage. The study was led by Dr. Annette Mahoney, a professor of psychology and member of BGSU’s Spirituality and Psychology Research Team. It was funded by a $1.2 million grant from the Templeton Foundation, which later gave an additional $100,000 grant to the project.
First, couples rated the depth of their “spiritual intimacy”— how often they reveal their spiritual beliefs, questions and doubts to their spouse, and listen supportively to their spouse’s spiritual disclosures without judgment. What spouses said about their spiritual intimacy predicted how well both husbands and wives treated each other when researchers evaluated videotapes of couples discussing their top three conflicts. Couples with higher spirituality intimacy managed their conflicts in a more kind and collaborative way. It didn’t matter whether the spouses were blue-collar employees with high school educations or wealthy professionals with advanced college degrees – the results were the same. The more spiritual intimacy the couples said they shared, the higher the positivity and the lower the negativity couples exhibited when discussing high-conflict topics.
Colorado State University: Q&A: Professor talks about the “Ecology of Religious Beliefs”
by Kortny Rolston
December 11, 2014
What factors shape the religious beliefs of different groups of people? A team of international researchers – which included CSU Professor Michael Gavin- recently set out to answer that question.
The team created a comprehensive model that analyzes the dMichael Gavinegree to which historical, cultural, social, political, and environmental factors influence religious beliefs – specifically a group’s inclination to believe in a moralizing god or gods. The model is able to predict with more than 90 percent accuracy whether or not different societies adhere to a religion with moralizing gods.
The results were detailed recently in a paper entitled “Ecology of Religious Beliefs” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and have garnered headlines around the world.
Archeology/Anthropology
Science Magazine: Israeli cave offers clues about when humans mastered fire
By Nala Rogers
Mastering fire was one of the most important developments in human prehistory. But it’s also one of the hardest to pin down, with different lines of evidence pointing to different timelines. A new study of artifacts from a cave in Israel suggests that our ancestors began regularly using fire about 350,000 years ago—far enough back to have shaped our culture and behavior but too recent to explain our big brains or our expansion into cold climates.
Flinders University (Australia): Underwater excavation reveals lost Levantine village
A 7,500-year-old underwater water well that has been partially excavated from a site on Israel’s Mediterranean coast near Haifa will give important insights into the Neolithic society that once lived there.
Flinders University maritime archaeologist Jonathan Benjamin was part of the team that excavated and recorded the site in October under the leadership of Dr Ehud Galili, a world-renowned expert in submerged prehistory and a senior maritime archaeologist at the Israel Antiques Authority and the University of Haifa.
Science Nordic (Denmark and Norway): Danish Bronze Age glass beads traced to Egypt
Analyses of glass beads found in Denmark give us new knowledge of Bronze Age trade routes.
By: Jeanette Varberg, Aarhus University, Flemming Kaul, National Museum of Denmark, Bernard Gratuze, Université dOrléans
An international collaboration between Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus, the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, and Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux (IRAMAT) at Orléans, France, has resulted in a sensational discovery about the trade routes between Denmark and the ancient civilisations in Egypt and Mesopotamia in the Bronze Age 3,400 years ago. The discovery also gives us new knowledge about the sun cult in the Nordic Bronze Age.
Archeologists Jeanette Varberg from Moesgaard Museum and Flemming Kaul from the National Museum, and Bernard Gratuze, director of IRAMAT, analysed the composition of some blue glass beads found on buried Bronze Age women in Denmark.
The analyses revealed that the glass originate from the same glass workshops in Egypt that supplied the glass that the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun took with him to his grave in 1323 BC.
Al-Ahram (Egypt): Recent Luxor discoveries include tomb inside Ramesseum
Tomb of royal wife and several bronze statuettes discovered by French archaeologists
Nevine El-Aref
Two important discoveries in Luxor by French archaeological missions were announced by the Egyptian antiquities ministry on Friday.
The first was at the Ramesseum temple on Luxor’s west bank, where the tomb of a divine royal wife called Karomama was accidently discovered within the walls of temple.
Asahi Shimbun (Japan): Discovery in Nara Prefecture suggests building linked to imperial family 13 centuries ago
By KAZUTO TSUKAMOTO/ Staff Writer
KASHIHARA, Nara Prefecture--Foundation holes for buildings have been found in the ruins of the nation's first full-fledged capital here, suggesting the area may have been home to a structure used by the imperial family more than 1,300 years ago.
The Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties announced Dec. 11 that 13 holes for foundation stones were found in the central area of the former site of Fujiwara-kyo, the nation's capital between 694 and 710.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Paleontology/Evolution
University of Sheffield (UK): New insights into the origins of agriculture could help shape the future of food
•Expanding population is putting increasing demands on food production
•Study could lead to new crops becoming our staple foods in the future
Agricultural decisions made by our ancestors more than 10,000 years ago could hold the key to food security in the future, according to new research by the University of Sheffield.
Scientists, looking at why the first arable farmers chose to domesticate some cereal crops and not others, studied those that originated in the Fertile Crescent, an arc of land in western Asia from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.
They grew wild versions of what are now staple foods like wheat and barley along with other grasses from the region to identify the traits that make some plants suitable for agriculture, including how much edible seed the grasses produced and their architecture.
University of York (UK): Scientists reveal parchment’s hidden stories
Millions of documents stored in archives could provide scientists with the key to tracing the development of agriculture in the British Isles over the last 700 years, according to new research
But the crucial information the documents hold is not contained in their texts but the parchment on which it is written.
Researchers in Dublin and York used the latest scientific techniques to extract ancient DNA and protein from tiny samples of parchment from documents from the late 17th and late 18th centuries. The resulting information enabled them to establish the species type of animals from which the parchment was made.
It therefore gives scientists a potentially unrivalled resource to analyse the development of livestock husbandry across the centuries.
Horse Talk (NZ): Complex leopard spotting not always the height of fashion
Researchers have used DNA analysis to discover that there have been wide variations in the prevalence of complex leopard spotting in horses over the millennia, including since the start of domestication.
East Anglian Daily Times (UK): Mystery horse skeleton found at Newmarket’s King Charles II Palace stables ‘could be’ racehorse legend Doctor Syntax or of royal stock
Matt Reason
An expert believes contractors may have unearthed a legendary racehorse during excavations for a major new tourist attraction in Newmarket.
The skeleton was found at the Palace House stables and there are theories the remains could belong to the legendary Doctor Syntax, which won more than 36 races in the 19th Century - or may even be of royal racing stock.
The horse was discovered during excavations for the new National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art, at King Charles II Palace stables.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Texas: Computer Scientists at UT Austin Crack Code for Redrawing Bird Family Tree
December 11, 2014
AUSTIN, Texas — A new computational technique developed at The University of Texas at Austin has enabled an international consortium to produce an avian tree of life that points to the origins of various bird species. A graduate student at the university is a leading author on papers describing the new technique and sharing the consortium’s findings about bird evolution in the journal Science.
The results of the four-year effort — which relied in part on supercomputers at the university's Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) — shed light on the timing of a "big bang" in bird evolution, rearrange evolutionary relationships between some bird species and provide new insights on the origins of song pattern recognition in birds, as well as a host of other avian traits.
To build the new bird tree of life, researchers first sequenced the complete genomes of 48 living bird species. With about 14,000 genomic regions per species, the size of the data sets and the complexity of analyzing them required a new computing method, which was led by computer scientists Tandy Warnow, an adjunct professor at The University of Texas at Austin and professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Siavash Mirarab, a graduate student at The University of Texas at Austin.
University of Utah: Human DNA Shows Traces of 40 Million-Year Battle For Survival Between Primate and Pathogen
Study Highlights Importance of Nutritional Immunity in Fighting Infectious Disease
December 11, 2014
(SALT LAKE CITY) – Examination of DNA from 21 primate species – from squirrel monkeys to humans – exposes an evolutionary war against infectious bacteria over iron that circulates in the bloodstream. Supported by experimental evidence, these findings, published in Science on Dec. 12, demonstrate the vital importance of an underappreciated defense mechanism, nutritional immunity.
“We’ve known about nutritional immunity for 40 years,” says Matthew Barber, Ph.D., first author and postdoctoral fellow in human genetics at the University of Utah. “What this study shows us is that over the last 40 million years of primate evolution, this battle for iron between bacteria and primates has been a determining factor in our survival as a species.” The study models an approach for uncovering reservoirs of genetic resistance to bacterial infections, knowledge that could be used to confront antibiotic resistance and emerging diseases.
Following infection, the familiar sneezing, runny nose, and inflammation are all part of the immune system’s attempts to rid the body of hostile invaders. Lesser known is a separate defense against invasive microbes, called nutritional immunity, that quietly takes place under our skin. This defense mechanism starves infectious bacteria by hiding circulating iron, an essential nutrient it needs for survival. The protein that transports iron in the blood, transferrin, tucks the trace metal safely out of reach.
Clever as it sounds, the ploy is not enough to keep invaders at bay.
Geology
University of Texas at El Paso: UTEP Geology Research May Help Predict Future Dust Bowls
By Nadia M. Whitehead
December 12, 2014
El Paso is no stranger to dust storms. Every now and then, grains of sand and howling winds take over the border city.
In the riveting new movie Interstellar, dust storms on a far worse scale have taken over Earth and disrupted the planet’s food supply. Actor Matthew McConaughey plays a former NASA astronaut who is forced to venture out of the solar system to find a new human home.
While an apocalyptic scenario like this may be hundreds of years away, if not impossible, researchers are expressing a growing concern about climate change and its potential effects on dust storms.
University of Texas at El Paso geologist Thomas Gill, Ph.D., frequently asks himself and his students, “Are we on the road to a new Dust Bowl?”
Energy
Discovery News: Recycled E-Waste Brightens Dark Nights
by Peter Fairley, IEEE Spectrum
Dec 9, 2014 09:25 AM ET
Bangalore-based IBM Research India has a bright idea for keeping discarded lithium laptop batteries out of landfills: repurposing their cells as energy supplies for the powerless.
The idea, presented at this weekend's fifth annual Symposium on Computing for Development (DEV 2014) in San Jose, has passed a small proof-of-principle test run with Bangalore's working poor.
The IBM researchers used disused lithium batteries to create a new device they dubbed the UrJar — a multilingual monicker pairing the Hindi word urja for "energy" with the word "jar."
Discovery News: Spray Your Roof with Solar Power
by Tracy Staedter
Dec 8, 2014 01:18 PM ET
Rooftop solar panels are big and chunky, and some homeowners associations frown upon or even reject installations completely.
Researchers from Toronto University have come up with a new way to spray solar cells onto thin, flexible surfaces, which could then be installed on rooftops. Thin panels on a roof would hardly be noticeable.
“My dream is that one day you’ll have two technicians with Ghostbusters backpacks come to your house and spray your roof,” electrical and computer engineer Illan Kramer said in a press release.
Physics
Colorado State University: Engineering professor, students win award for journal article
by Kortny Rolston
December 5, 2014
A paper written by Colorado State University researchers has been unanimously selected by the American Physical Society as the top Physics of Fluid article by young investigators in 2013.
Karan Venayagamoorthy, a CSU professor of civil and environmental engineering, and two of his graduate students, Benjamin Mater and Simon SchaadKaran-Frenkiel award, recently received the Francois Frenkiel Award the society’s Division of Fluid Dynamics for their paper: “Relevance of Thorpe length scale in stably stratified turbulence.”
The paper was selected “For new and significant insights into scaling laws for stratified turbulence with potentially broad impact in the area of environmental flows,” according to the citation for the award. The winning paper is selected by an independent committee consisting of leading experts in fluid mechanics.
Chemistry
Argonne National Laboratory via Science Daily: Earth's most abundant mineral finally has a name
An ancient meteorite and high-energy X-rays have helped scientists conclude a half century of effort to find, identify and characterize a mineral that makes up 38 percent of the Earth.
December 12, 2014
An ancient meteorite and high-energy X-rays have helped scientists conclude a half century of effort to find, identify and characterize a mineral that makes up 38 percent of the Earth.
And in doing so, a team of scientists led by Oliver Tschauner, a mineralogist at the University of Las Vegas, clarified the definition of the Earth's most abundant mineral -- a high-density form of magnesium iron silicate, now called Bridgmanite -- and defined estimated constraint ranges for its formation. Their research was performed at the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility located at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory.
The mineral was named after 1964 Nobel laureate and pioneer of high-pressure research Percy Bridgman. The naming does more than fix a vexing gap in scientific lingo; it also will aid our understanding of the deep Earth.
Science Crime Scenes
Sudan Daily Vision: Sudan National Museum Hit by Half Million Dollar Tree Theft
One of the more strange thefts in the history of the Sudan National Museum took place when sandalwood tree worth more than half a million US dollars was stolen from the museum’s garden last weekend.
The thief used an electric saw to cut the tree into pieces before carrying it out through a nearby gate. The wood from the tree, Indian sandalwood, is estimated to be worth as much as 4 million Sudanese pounds (700,000 US dollars).
Israeli Antiquities Authority: In a Dramatic Operation on the Cliffs of the Judean Desert: Antiquities Robbers Caught Red-Handed Trying to Plunder (December 2014)
Today (Sunday) an indictment was submitted against the robbers who were apprehended by Israel Antiquities Authority inspectors, with the assistance of the Arad police.
This is the first time in 30 years that antiquities robbers have been caught on the desert cliffs.
The Cairo Post (Egypt): Airport seizes would-be smuggler with 48 antique coins
CAIRO: Authorities at Cairo International Airport arrested a man attempting to smuggle a set of 48 antique coins date from several periods of Egypt’s history, according to the Antiquities Ministry’s Facebook page Monday.
io9: This Greenpeace Stunt May Have Irreparably Damaged Peru's Nazca Site
George Dvorsky
The Peruvian government is planning to file criminal charges against Greenpeace activists who may have permanently scarred the Nazca Lines World Heritage Site during a publicity stunt.
As The Guardian reports, the Nazca lines "are huge figures depicting living creatures, stylized plants and imaginary figures scratched on the surface of the ground between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago." The figures, which can only be seen from the air, are believed to have had ritual functions related to astronomy.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Science, Space, Health, Environment, and Energy Policy
University of Vermont: Congressional Quagmire?
by John Reidel
December 9, 2014
When the 114th United States Congress starts on Jan. 3 it will mark the first time since the Republican Revolution of 1994 that the Grand Old Party held majorities in both the House and Senate under a Democratic president. The recent takeover of the Senate by Republicans, who now hold a 54-46 advantage, made that possible, and puts President Barack Obama in the same position as Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush -- the last three two-term presidents who spent their final two years in office with the opposing party controlling Congress. Aside from a few bills of moderate significance getting passed, not much else happened legislatively duirng their final years.
What can Americans expect this time around? We asked a presidential expert and two Congressional scholars what they anticipate from President Obama and the potential for Congress to pass any meaningful legislation.
U.S. Air Force Academy: AF realigns missions to enhance nuclear support; Academy has role in transformation, say officials
12/11/2014 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- In response to a directive from the secretary of the Air Force and chief of staff of the Air Force, the 377th Air Base Wing in Albuquerque, N.M., will realign under Air Force Global Strike Command, and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center will reorganize, combining the AFNWC commander and Air Force program executive officer for strategic systems positions into a single major general position.
The realignment of the 377th ABW and reorganization of the AFNWC under Air Force Materiel Command are designed to enhance support to the nuclear mission. The transition will phase in gradually and is scheduled to be complete in fall 2015.
"The nuclear mission is the Air Force's top priority," said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James. "The U.S. Air Force provides the U.S. president and our nation ready and reliable nuclear forces. Maintaining the credibility of our nuclear deterrent requires a long-term, visible commitment to sustainment, and modernization."
University of Nevada at Reno: University professor appointed to scholarship board by President Obama
University of Nevada, Reno Professor Emma Sepulveda to serve on Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board
By: Natalie Savidge
12/5/2014
Emma Sepúlveda Pulvirenti has even more to be thankful for this holiday season. President Barack Obama has announced four individuals appointed to administration posts, including Sepúlveda, the University of Nevada, Reno Foundation Professor in Foreign Language and Literature and director of the Latino Research Center.
In the White House announcement, President Obama said, "I am pleased to announce that these experienced and committed individuals have decided to serve our country. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead."
Sepúlveda has been appointed to the 12-member J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, which selects students, scholars, teachers and others from the United States and abroad to participate in Fulbright exchanges, an international educational exchange program for grantees to study, teach or conduct research.
University of Utah: Despite National Trend, Salt Lake Valley Residents Prefer Single-Family Neighborhoods
U study examines preferences between smart growth and suburban sprawl in Salt Lake region
Dec. 11, 2014 – As smart growth becomes a popular urban housing trend in the U.S., a new study from the University of Utah found that Salt Lake valley residents want smarter growth but still cling to the American Dream of a single family house in the suburbs. The study was published Dec. 8 by the journal Housing Policy Debate.
Smart growth combines proximity to work, shopping and public transit with complete streets, a mix of housing and shared parking. In the study, researchers from the U and New York University measured residents’ attitudes toward these different aspects of urban planning and found that they are supportive of some but not others.
“A fifth of Wasatch Front residents want to live downtown or in city neighborhoods, which represents large niche markets for urban living,” said Reid Ewing, co-author of the study and professor of city and metropolitan planning at the U. “However, a much higher proportion – a third – want to live in redesigned suburbs, places where you can live, work, shop and play.”
Science Education
University of Vermont: Sen. Sanders, UVM Host First Youth Climate Summit
December 10, 2014
Sen. Bernie Sanders and the University of Vermont joined forces last week to host the first Vermont Youth Climate Summit. The summit, which sprawled over the entire fourth floor of the Davis Center, provided an opportunity for more than 150 Vermont high school students and dozens of teachers from 26 high schools around the state to learn more how Vermont's climate is likely to change and to create climate action plans for their high schools designed to reduce their carbon footprint. Each high school sent between five and seven students.
"Global warming is the planetary crisis of our time," Sanders, who serves on the Senate energy and environment committees, told the students. "If we don't solve this crisis, Earth will become a terribly inhospitable place for you, your children and your grandchildren. You need to continue making your voices heard. You are stepping up and leading the way."
University of Vermont: Art, Anthro Team Up to Teach Students Museum Work Skills
By Amanda Kenyon White
December 10, 2014
On a Sunday in November, half a dozen students, guided by an expert in the field of costume installation, are at work in the basement of the Fleming Museum. Their task sounds simple: put clothes on a dress form, make a hat look as it would if someone were wearing it. But how do you accomplish this when the clothing size doesn’t match the size of the mannequin? And most importantly, without permanently altering or damaging what could be an invaluable piece of the collection? This is a slice of the work of museum staff, and this semester two classes of UVM students learned all about the job as they collaborated on the creation of an exhibit, to debut in fall 2015 at the Fleming.
The museum has long worked with classes to curate exhibitions, but this semester’s effort had a twist. For the first time, two classes from different UVM departments collaborated in tandem with the Fleming on the project.
The interdisciplinary effort, led by Professors Jennifer Dickinson, anthropology, and Kelley Helmstutler Di Dio, art history, in partnership with Fleming staff, was this fall’s recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences’ competitive grant program, Enhancing Excellence through Interdisciplinary Experiential Engagement (EEIEE). The program, begun in 2012, seeks to increase the range of UVM classes that expose students to multiple disciplines in an integrated fashion and include “real-world” learning experiences in the process.
Colorado State University: Cultivating future entrepreneurs in engineering education
December 10, 2014
Faculty at universities around the country carry out billions of dollars’ worth of research projects each year. But what happens when funding for a particular project runs out?
Russ Korte, an associate professor in the School of Education at Colorado State University, is working to infuse a spirit of entrepreneurship into researchers’ innovations specifically related to engineering education through a project called I-Corps-L (Innovation Corps for Learning). The project is funded by the National Science Foundation, and is designed to help researchers get their ideas out to a broader audience. This effort is a national project involving researchers from a variety of universities around the country.
I-Corps-L provides practical application and real-world training in entrepreneurial skills modeled after the Lean LaunchPad courses developed by Steve Blank at Stanford University.
“Funders spend millions, or billions, in supporting research, but once the project is over, it tends to disappear. It doesn’t become widely disseminated or adopted,” Korte said. “The whole idea is to foster scalability and sustainability of these innovations that have been funded. What we’re doing is adapting a business course that came out of the start-up culture of Silicon Valley for helping new ventures get off the ground. Innovators and entrepreneurs take their idea and develop it into a marketable business.”
Colorado State University: The Muse: A tale of two crises
By Alan Rudolf
December 7, 2014
We are in the midst of two public health crises with very similar underlying foundational issues. What I clearly see is we have lost the ability to scale our public health system to meet large scale public health crises.
Alan Rudolph at Colorado State UniversityAs the Ebola crisis in Africa spilled over into cases in the U.S. it became clear that our public health system was not adequately prepared to respond. This was manifest in many aspects of the fundamental elements required to mount an effective response, including containment facilities; hard policies on quarantine; adequate training and practices for health care responders; effective diagnostic and medical countermeasures including vaccines and therapeutics; and effective communication procedures. Improvement across all of these elements would alleviate the concerns of the worried well and provide a platform for accurate mass media coverage. For a contagion with a high mortality rate such as Ebola, this is an acute public health crisis for which we have no effective response.
Of most concern was the realization that if the virus had not been contained in the U.S., we would not be prepared to adequately serve those who may have been exposed or become sick, or to effectively manage the large amount of medical waste and biohazardous biomass generated by the sick and dying. And this does not even begin to address the potential health-care worker absenteeism that would further strain the system in the face of such an increased threat of contagion.
While Congress debates a multibillion-dollar investment in response to the Ebola outbreak, it is clear that one of the areas that will be front and center is the expansion of our ability to scale public health response. One focus of such investments will be the enhancement of containment facilities in hospitals across the U.S. Even with increasing attention to antimicrobial resistance in hospitals with rising threats from MRSA, and the concomitant increase in requisite containment infrastructure, our public health architecture will struggle to respond to large-scale outbreaks and the potential of thousands if not millions of sick people in need of critical care.
University of Louisiana at Lafayette: Autonomous robots carry team to state victory
December 9, 2014
A youth robotics team coached at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is headed to a national competition after its performance in a statewide contest Saturday.
Team Phoenix, composed of six Acadiana students ages 9 to 14, earned the Champion Award in the Louisiana Championship Tournament held in New Orleans. FIRST LEGO League conducted the contest; 60 teams competed.
Team Phoenix is one of only two Louisiana teams that will advance to national invitationals.
Science Writing and Reporting
Utah State University: USU's Joseph Tainter Lends Voice to 'Global Chorus’ on Earth’s Future
December 11, 2014
If you need some inspiration, along with frank advice, for the coming year, take a look at Global Chorus. The newly published book is a collection of 365 quotes from some of the world’s top minds – including Maya Angelou, Stephen Hawking and Utah State University professor Joseph Tainter.
“I feel like crawling under a rug when I see my name placed with such genuine luminaries,” says Tainter, faculty member in USU’s Department of Environment and Society. “I’m touched the book’s editor, Todd E. MacLean, invited me to participate.”
A free-lance writer based on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, MacLean came up with the idea for the book project – described as “365 voices on the future of the planet” – some four years ago.
Science is Cool
The Herald (UK): Tiny coffin and doll left in library
Brian Donnelly
A MYSTERIOUS "gift" of a tiny coffin containing a doll was left on the shelves of a library in the Scottish capital.
The item and a card with an inscription were left at the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection at Central Library in the city by an anonymous donor some time during the week.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
U.S. Air Force Academy: Former Academy director of faculty research receives Harold Brown Award
by Master Sgt. Lesley Waters
Air Force Public Affairs Agency, Operating Location - P
12/12/2014 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James presented Dr. Donald Erbschloe, the Air Mobility Command chief scientist, with the 2014 Harold Brown Award during a ceremony at the Pentagon, Dec. 9.
The Harold Brown Award, established in December of 1968 as a tribute to Dr. Harold Brown, the eighth secretary of the Air Force and 14th secretary of defense, is the highest award given by the Air Force to a scientist or engineer who applies scientific research to solve a problem critical to the needs of the Air Force.
"Each year we do this to recognize significant achievement in research and development by a single person who has demonstrated promise and substantial improvement in the operational effectiveness of the Air Force," James said. "Don really epitomizes the spirit of this award. He has translated research and development into increased operational capability."
During her remarks, James highlighted four of Erbschloe's accomplishments.
University of South Alabama: Dr. Lesley Gregoricka’s Vampire Research Attracts National Attention
by Alice Jackson
December 9, 2014
Dr. Lesley Gregoricka, assistant professor of anthropology, is receiving national media attention with groundbreaking research into why residents of a Polish village during the 17th and 18th centuries targeted others as vampires.
In a research article published recently by the Public Library of Science in PLOS ONE, Gregoricka described how she and collaborators from the Slavia Project have investigated the excavated remains of six supposed vampires from a graveyard in northwestern Poland. Each was buried with either a sickle laid across their necks or stones placed beneath their jaws.
“We wanted to know what had caused villagers to inter these individuals as potential vampires,” said Gregoricka.
Based on earlier research of written records, the collaborators had hypothesized that outsiders were labeled as vampires by local villagers.
University of Texas at El Paso: Math Extravaganza Accelerates Study and Retention of Science
By Daniel Perez
December 12, 2014
Most high school sophomores participating in November’s “Skatepark Mathematics Extravaganza” thought parts of their campuses were turned into X Games-style skate parks, but to UTEP’s Bill Robertson, those skate parks were outdoor research labs.
Robertson, Ph.D., associate provost for academic technologies and an award-winning skateboarder, has promoted math and science among middle school students for years through his Action Science series of books, DVDs, demonstrations and classroom-based activities. He believes it will be easier for students to learn and retain information if they enjoy the academic process and understand science’s role in their lives.
The University of Texas at El Paso associate professor of teacher education has collected anecdotal evidence over time from teachers to support his theory, but he wanted to legitimize it scientifically. He developed Skatepark Mathematics to collect the necessary data to study his premise, while enhancing the education of high school sophomores and the professional development of their teachers.
