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 2014 Daily Kos Elections Calendar. Tonight's edition features the research and outreach stories from the cities of New Orleans and San Diego and the states of Alabama, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
This week's featured stories come from Space.com.
Super Bowl In Space - Orbiting Astronaut Talks Big Game | Video
NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio talks to Space.com's @MiriKramer about the Super Bowl, Olympics and more on Jan. 31st, 2014.
Super Bowl in Space: How Astronauts Celebrate the Big Game in Orbit
By Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer
February 01, 2014 08:23am ET
Super Bowl Sunday is an exciting day for football fans all over the United States, but NASA astronauts in space are also looking forward to the big game.
While astronauts on the International Space Station may not be able to throw a Super Bowl watch party like Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks fans on Earth, that doesn't mean they aren't interested in the biggest professional football game of the season. NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio won't be able to watch the Super Bowl live on Sunday (Feb. 2), but he's still planning on participating in the football festivities, and he doesn't want to hear any game-ruining spoilers...
"Hopefully Houston will uplink a version of it [the Super Bowl] the next day or within a few days and we'll get to watch it," Mastracchio told Space.com during a live interview today (Jan. 31). "We just have to be careful that no one tells us the score before we do that."
Super Bowl Space Tech: NASA Makes the Big Game Possible
by Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor
January 31, 2014 10:01am ET
NASA and the Super Bowl may not be two things you'd normally put in the same sentence together, but Sunday's big game wouldn't be the same without innovative spinoff technologies from space exploration.
From helmets to headsets to the communications satellites that allows fans to watch around the world, NASA's legacy can be found throughout the Super Bowl Sunday experience. So when the Seattle Seahawks face off against Denver's Broncos, the teams will have NASA to thank for some of their basic tech needs.
Here's a look at some of the NASA's space technology spinoffs (and some pop culture, too) that have found their way into Super Bowl:
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
WATCH THIS SPACE!
Green diary rescue: Climate enclaves for the rich, WV spill, NSA spied on Copenhagen talks
by Meteor Blades
Astronomy Stuff
by Timbuk3
The Movie HER-Virtual and Real Worlds Collide - Dangers That Lie Ahead For All Of Us
by medicalquack
History of Life: Photo Diary from Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
by Lenny Flank
An Open letter to Bill Nye
by Frank Paine
I need to talk to a scientist
by DAISHI
I list all the science diaries, even the bad ones.
That snow was fake! Fake I tell you! Gummit Conspiracy!
by Treats
This week in science: First they came for the blame
by DarkSyde
Slideshows/Videos
KPBS: Tijuana's Need For Internet Speed
By some measures, Mexico might have some of the fastest Internet in Latin America. But for Tijuana's ambitious tech entrepreneurs and aspiring professional gamers, it's still painfully slow.
Also read the accompanying article under Policy.
KPBS: Mountain Community In San Diego Finds Abundance Of Water Underground
As some cities and counties across drought-stricken California scramble to find other water sources, a mountain community in San Diego County is relishing in an abundance of supply.
Also see the accompanying article under Environment.
KPBS: Environmental Group Challenges San Diego County Water Authority's Master Plan Update
The San Diego County Water Authority went through a months-long process to update its master plan for supplying water to the county through 2035, but a group says the master plan's environmental impact study is flawed.
Also read the accompanying article under Policy.
NASA: Astronaut Class in DC on This Week @NASA
NASA's newest astronaut class was in Washington, DC recently, discussing the future of human exploration and STEM education at the annual White House State of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math address hosted by Presidential Science Advisor John Holdren. The astronaut candidates shared advice and insight with some students at that event and with more students at a Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum event that included a live conversation with the International Space Station crew. Also, Russian spacewalk, SLS sound test, LADEE mission extended, GPM briefing, and Day of Remembrance.
NASA: ScienceCasts: The Coolest Spot in the Universe
NASA researchers plan to create the coldest spot in the known Universe--inside the International Space Station. The device, known as the Cold Atom Lab, could discover new forms of matter and novel quantum phenomena.
Hubble Space Telescope: Tonight's Sky: February 2014
Backyard stargazers get a monthly guide to the northern hemisphere's skywatching events with "Tonight's Sky." In February, Orion is your guide to a number of fascinating objects.
KPBS: Explaining Stephen Hawking's New Theory On Black Holes
Why Stephen Hawking's new theory on black holes is important to everyday people and how the scientific community is reacting to these new ideas.
Also see the accompanying article under Astronomy.
Astronomy/Space
KPBS: Explaining Stephen Hawking’s New Theory On Black Holes
By Megan Burke, Peggy Pico
Friday, January 31, 2014
Stephen Hawking, a pioneer in our modern understanding of black-holes, revised his theory on what happens when a star explodes and collapses on itself in a provocative paper published last week.
Jerry Orosz, an associate professor of astronomy at San Diego State University, explains how Hawking's new theory, if true, changes what we know about black holes.
"A black hole is a region of space where the density of matter is so high that nothing escapes, not even light and so the gravitational pull is just too strong for anything to get out," Orosz said.
He said lately physicists have been trying to merge the theory of quantum mechanics with the theory of general relativity.
Space.com: The North Star Polaris Is Getting Brighter
by Nola Taylor Redd, SPACE.com Contributor
January 28, 2014 06:41am ET
The North Star has remained an eternal reassurance for northern travelers over the centuries. But recent and historical research reveals that the ever-constant star is actually changing.
After dimming for the last few decades, the North Star is beginning to shine brightly again. And over the last two centuries, the brightening has become rather dramatic.
"It was unexpected to find," Scott Engle of Villanova University in Pennsylvania told SPACE.com. Engle investigated the fluctuations of the star over the course of several years, combing through historical records and even turning the gaze of the famed Hubble Space Telescope onto the star.
Space.com: First-Ever Weather Map of Failed Star Reveals Patchy Alien Clouds
by Miriam Kramer, Staff Writer
January 29, 2014 01:01pm ET
Scientists have created the first weather map of a space oddity known as a brown dwarf, revealing a rare glimpse at alien weather patterns on the failed, wannabe star.
The map shows the weather on the surface of WISE J104915.57-531906.1B (called Luhman 16B for short), the nearest brown dwarf to Earth at 6.5 light-years away. Scientists mapped the light and dark features of the failed star's surface, according to officials with the European Southern Observatory, whose Very Large Telescope in Chile contributed to the new science. You can take video tour of the brown dwarf and its weather map on SPACE.com.
Brown dwarfs are called failed stars because they are larger than gas giant planets like Jupiter, yet still too small to produce nuclear fusion like a true star. Scientists have only found a few hundred of the odd objects, with the first confirmed 20 years ago, ESO officials said.
Space.com: NASA Sees Comet That Will Buzz Mars This Year (Photo)
By Mike Wall, Senior Writer
January 30, 2014 01:10pm ET
NASA is keeping a keen and cautious eye on a comet that will have a close encounter with Mars in October, coming much closer to the Red Planet than the moon is to Earth.
Comet Siding Spring will approach within 86,000 miles (138,000 kilometers) of Mars on Oct. 19, potentially putting on a good show for NASA's Red Planet spacecraft. But the dust shed by the comet as it barrels toward the sun may also endanger the agency's Mars orbiters, so officials are already mapping out possible risk-mitigation plans.
"Our plans for using spacecraft at Mars to observe Comet Siding Spring will be coordinated with plans for how the orbiters will duck and cover, if we need to do that," Rich Zurek, Mars Exploration Program chief scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement.
Space.com: Asteroid Belt Reveals Drama of Early Solar System Evolution
By Mike Wall, Senior Writer
January 29, 2014 01:01pm ET
A better understanding of the asteroid belt has revealed just how dynamic the solar system was in its early days, a new study reports.
Over the past decade, astronomers have come to realize that the asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter are incredibly diverse in size and composition. This diversity dashes earlier notions that the space rocks all formed where they now sit, instead implying that they were scattered here and there by migrating planets in the first billion years of solar-system history.
"In modern dynamical models, the giant planets are thought to have migrated over substantial distances, shaking up the asteroids — which formed throughout the solar system — like flakes in a snow globe, and transporting some of them to their current locations in the asteroid belt," Francesca DeMeo and Benoit Carry, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Paris Observatory, respectively, write in a study published online today (Jan. 29) in the journal Nature. "The main asteroid belt thus samples the conditions across the entire solar system."
Space.com: On Mars, NASA's Curiosity Rover Seeks Smoother Road to Reduce Wheel Damage
By Mike Wall, Senior Writer
January 30, 2014 02:30pm ET
NASA engineers are looking for ways to reduce the wear and tear on the Mars rover Curiosity's wheels, which have accumulated an increasing number of dings and punctures over the last few months.
Curiosity's handlers are driving the 1-ton rover more cautiously now and are checking the condition of its wheels frequently, NASA officials said. The rover team is also considering sending Curiosity over a 3-foot-tall (1 meter) sand dune soon to access a potentially smoother, less rocky route to its ultimate science destination, the foothills of the towering Mount Sharp.
"The decision hasn't been made yet, but it is prudent to go check," Curiosity project manager Jim Erickson, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement.
Climate/Environment
Examiner.com: January 2013 snowiest month in Detroit history
Yet another Detroit weather record fell this morning.
First, last year was the wettest in Michigan history. Then, Detroit broke its for January snowfall. Now, this month is not only the snowiest January in the Motor City's history, but its snowiest month ever recorded.
As of 7:00 A.M., the National Weather Service office in White Lake measured 39.1 inches of snow falling at Metro Airport. Not only is that 9.5 inches more than the previous record for the month of 29.6 inches set in 1978, but more than half an inch greater than the previous maximum for the most snowfall in a month of 38.4 inches, set 106 years ago in February 1908.
University of San Diego: Muno: Permaculture Farming is Better Food for Life
January 8, 2014
When Kevin Muno wanted to be the best baseball player he possibly could be during championship seasons at the University of San Diego, it wasn’t enough to simply hit, throw and catch a ball. The Torero outfielder (2007-11) knew proper nutrition was essential.
“As an athlete, I was looking to fuel my performance with some of the best nutrition possible,” Muno recalled. “Coach (Rich) Hill did a great job of instilling in us that it wasn’t just about working out, but the nutrition you put into your body made a big impact on how you played on the field.”
He researched different diets, worked with USD’s strength and conditioning staff and learned about the Paleo movement. Muno was educated on grass-fed beef, vegetables, perennial food sources and highly nutritious foods. But what he also gained through this research was a career path for his post-baseball life — farming.
“While I was learning about where the food was coming from, I began to realize that a lot of our food comes from farms very detrimental to our environment,” Muno said. “That’s what led me to farming. This way, I’m combining my passion for nutrition and my longtime love of nature and the outdoors. It just felt right.”
KPBS: Snow Brings Relief To California Ski Resorts But Snow Survey Dismal
By California Capitol Network and Amy Quinton / Capital Public Radio Network
Friday, January 31, 2014
Snow finally has fallen on the Sierra Nevada Mountains, bringing some relief to ski resorts, but it’s not enough to put a dent in California’s drought.
The second snow survey of the winter has found water content statewide at just 12 percent of average for this time of year. To put it in perspective, statewide records go back to 1960. The lowest water measurement ever was 21 percent in 1991. Donner Ski Ranch hasn’t been able to open its trails yet. But general manager Lincoln Kauffman says he remains hopeful.
KPBS: Mountain Community In San Diego Finds Abundance Of Water Underground
By Susan Murphy
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Water supplies are a growing concern across drought-stricken California -- especially as the second snow survey out this week from the Sierra Nevada, where San Diego gets a third of its supply, is expected to be even more dismal than the first.
But as some cities and counties are scrambling to find other water sources, a mountain community in San Diego County is relishing in an abundant supply.
"Pine Valley is blessed with an unbelievable supply of water," said Flip Boerman, manager of Pine Valley Mutual Water Company, which supplies water to nearly all of the town's businesses and 1,500 residents.
KPBS: Drought Impacts Air Quality Across California
San Diego County’s overall air quality remains in ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ levels
By Susan Murphy
Monday, January 27, 2014
Warm and dry weather is being blamed for worsening air pollution in some areas of California, but overall air quality in San Diego County remains in the good to moderate range, according to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (APCD).
A storm-blocking high pressure dome that has hovered over the state the past 37 days has caused a buildup of pollution particles in regions like Los Angeles County and the Central Valley, posing a health risk.
“Without the winds and things that come with the storm to blow it away and move it out, we get what we call stagnation periods, said Bill Brick, senior meteorologist with San Diego County Air Pollution Control District.
“And we get a strong inversion setup that keeps the pollutants down at low levels.”
Penn State: New center to explore solutions for nutrient pollution
January 31, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A multi-pronged, systems approach to solving water pollution caused by nutrients in the environment is the focus of a new center housed in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
With a $2.2 million Science to Achieve Results grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, researchers will launch the Center for Integrated Multi-scale Nutrient Pollution Solutions. The center is one of four new National Centers for Innovative and Sustainable Water Research announced by EPA on Jan. 30.
The Penn State-led center -- known by its short title, the Center for Nutrient Solutions -- will encompass seven teams that will combine existing research efforts with new studies and programs to tackle the vexing problem of nutrient pollution and its effects on watersheds, particularly the Chesapeake Bay basin.
Biodiversity
ABC News via Yahoo! News: 'Zombie' Bees Surface in the Northeast
By BEN GITTLESON | ABC News
Thu, Jan 30, 2014 11:32 AM EST
Mutant "zombie bees" that act like the ghoulish creatures of horror films have surfaced in the Northeast after first appearing on the West Coast, a bee expert told ABC News on Wednesday.
An amateur beekeeper in Burlington, Vt., last summer found honeybees infested with parasites that cause the insects to act erratically and eventually kill them. It was the first spotting of zombie bees east of South Dakota, according to John Hafernik, a professor of biology at San Francisco State University whose team in October verified the infestation.
"They fly around in a disoriented way, get attracted to light, and then fall down and wander around in a way that's sort of reminiscent of zombies in the movies," Hafernik said. "Sometimes we've taken to calling [it], when they leave their hives, 'the flight of the living dead.'"
Hat/Tip to enhydra lutris for this story.
University of Georgia: UGA experts available to comment on monarch butterfly decline
January 31, 2014
Athens, Ga. - A new report from the World Wildlife Fund has documented the drop in monarch butterfly numbers. The University of Georgia has experts on monarch butterflies available to comment on the trend:
Penn State: Common crop pesticides kill honeybee larvae in the hive
By Sara LaJeunesse
January 27, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Four pesticides commonly used on crops to kill insects and fungi also kill honeybee larvae within their hives, according to Penn State and University of Florida researchers. The team also found that N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) -- an inert, or inactive, chemical commonly used as a pesticide additive -- is highly toxic to honeybee larvae.
"We found that four of the pesticides most commonly found in beehives kill bee larvae," said Jim Frazier, professor of entomology, Penn State. "We also found that the negative effects of these pesticides are sometimes greater when the pesticides occur in combinations within the hive. Since pesticide safety is judged almost entirely on adult honeybee sensitivity to individual pesticides and also does not consider mixtures of pesticides, the risk assessment process that the Environmental Protection Agency uses should be changed."
According to Frazier, the team's previous research demonstrated that forager bees bring back to the hive an average of six different pesticides on the pollen they collect. Nurse bees use this pollen to make beebread, which they then feed to honeybee larvae.
Biotechnology/Health
Xavier University of New Orleans: Xavier College of Pharmacy Awarded Drug Patent
New Orleans LA - Xavier University of Louisiana announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a U. S. Patent for a new drug formulation which promises to improve methods for treating pain and heroin addiction.
Patent No. 8,628,701B2 – “An improved method of microencapsulation” – is for a new, long acting buprenorphine formulation developed in the Xavier College of Pharmacy that allows for a reduction in the frequency of dosing. Buprenorphine is a pain killer which is also effective against opioid addiction.
“The new patented buprenorphine formulation will not only reduce the frequency of dosing from daily to once in three or six months because of the compositions and preparation method, it will also reduce the potential for abuse,” said Dr. Tarun Mandal, the lead inventor of the subcutaneous or intramuscular injection formulation and the head of the group which will initiate the safety and efficacy study soon.
UCSD: How DNA Damage Affects Golgi - The Cell's Shipping Department
By Debra Kain
January 30, 2014
In studying the impact of DNA damage on the Golgi, a research team from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research have discovered a novel pathway activated by DNA damage, with important consequences for the body's cellular response to chemotherapy.
Standard cancer treatments, including many chemotherapy drugs and radiation therapy, act on cells by causing DNA damage. In many cancer cells, DNA damage turns on signaling pathways that lead to cell death - the basis of the use of these treatments for cancer.
A better understanding of the signaling pathways that are activated in cells in response to DNA damage, and the influence they exert to determine the fate of the cell to live or die, ultimately could lead to more effective use of these DNA damaging agents to treat cancer.
Penn State: Automated system could efficiently identify high-risk osteoporosis patients
By Matthew Solovey
January 28, 2014
HERSHEY, Pa. -- An automated system that identifies high-risk osteoporosis patients being treated for fractures and can generate letters encouraging follow-up is an effective way to promote osteoporosis intervention and prevent future fractures, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.
The researchers identified patients at least 50 years old with fractures who were seeking medical help at the emergency department of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. They then analyzed treatment codes to find fractures that seemed to be from bone fragility -- a broken bone caused by a fall from standing height or less. In all, 103 patients were identified.
To do this, researchers received data monthly from the hospital's finance department, which was used to autopopulate a spreadsheet created specifically to screen for osteoporosis. This database was then screened further to remove patients whose injuries were not consistent with fragility fractures. Letters were then computer-generated and mailed to the final list.
Penn State: Critical protein discovered for healthy cell growth in mammals
January 27, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, a. -- A team of researchers from Penn State University and the University of California has discovered a protein that is required for the growth of tiny, but critical, hair-like structures called cilia on cell surfaces. The discovery has important implications for human health because lack of cilia can lead to serious diseases such as polycystic kidney disease, blindness and neurological disorders.
"If we want to better understand and treat diseases related to cilium development, we need to identify important regulators of cilium growth and learn how those regulators function," said co-author Aimin Liu, associate professor of biology at Penn State. "This work gives us significant insight into one of the earliest steps in cilium formation."
The researchers describe their findings in a paper that will be published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week of Jan 27. In addition to Liu, authors include Penn State cellular biologists Xuan Ye, Huiqing Zeng and Gang Ning, as well as Jeremy F. Reiter, a biophysicist at the University of California - San Francisco.
Psychology/Behavior
UCSD: Scientists Discover New Genetic Forms of Neurodegeneration
By Scott LaFee
January 30, 2014
In a study published in the January 31, 2014 issue of Science, an international team led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report doubling the number of known causes for the neurodegenerative disorder known as hereditary spastic paraplegia. HSP is characterized by progressive stiffness and contraction of the lower limbs and is associated with epilepsy, cognitive impairment, blindness and other neurological features.
Over several years, working with scientific colleagues in parts of the world with relatively high rates of consanguinity or common ancestry, UC San Diego researchers recruited a cohort of more than 50 families displaying autosomal recessive HSP – the largest such cohort assembled to date. The scientists analyzed roughly 100 patients from this cohort using a technique called whole exome sequencing, which focuses on mapping key portions of the genome. They identified a genetic mutation in almost 75 percent of the cases, half of which were in genes never before linked with human disease.
“After uncovering so many novel genetic bases of HSP, we were in the unique position to investigate how these causes link together. We were able to generate an ‘HSP-ome,’ a map that included all of the new and previously described causes,” said senior author Joseph G. Gleeson, MD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, professor in the UC San Diego departments of Neurosciences and Pediatrics and at Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego, a research affiliate of UC San Diego.
UCSD: H.M.’s Brain Yields New Evidence
3D model of famous amnesiac's brain helps illuminate human memory
By Scott LaFee
January 28, 2014
During his lifetime, Henry G. Molaison (H.M.) was the best-known and possibly the most-studied patient of modern neuroscience. Now, thanks to the postmortem study of his brain, based on histological sectioning and digital three-dimensional construction led by Jacopo Annese, PhD, at the University of California, San Diego, scientists around the globe will finally have insight into the neurological basis of the case that defined modern studies of human memory.
The microscopic anatomical model of the whole brain and detailed 3D measurements of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) region are described in a paper to be published online in Nature Communications on January 28.
H.M. was an epileptic patient whose severe and almost total amnesia was the unexpected result of a bilateral surgical ablation of the MTL, including the hippocampus, in 1953. Until his death in 2008, the purity and severity of H.M.’s memory impairment, along with his willingness to participate in continual testing, made his case uniquely influential.
University of Georgia: Impulsive personality linked to food addiction
January 24, 2014
Athens, Ga. - The same kinds of impulsive behavior that lead some people to abuse alcohol and other drugs may also be an important contributor to an unhealthy relationship with food, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
In a paper published recently in the journal Appetite, researchers found that people with impulsive personalities were more likely to report higher levels of food addiction—a compulsive pattern of eating that is similar to drug addiction—and this in turn was associated with obesity.
"The notion of food addiction is a very new one, and one that has generated a lot of interest," said James MacKillop, the study's principal investigator and associate professor of psychology in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "My lab generally studies alcohol, nicotine and other forms of drug addiction, but we think it's possible to think about impulsivity, food addiction and obesity using some of the same techniques."
University of Texas: New Assessment Could Reduce Learning Disorder Misdiagnoses Among Bilingual Children
Jan. 29, 2014
AUSTIN, Texas — As a San Francisco-based speech-language consultant in the mid-1980s, Elizabeth Peña noticed a discouraging trend. At one elementary school, speech-language pathologists had diagnosed every English-Spanish bilingual kindergartner with a language learning disability.
Doubting that every child had a learning disability, Peña — now a communication sciences and disorders professor at The University of Texas at Austin Moody College of Communication — made it her mission to reduce learning disorder misdiagnoses among English-Spanish bilingual children.
Peña and other researchers have introduced the Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment (BESA), which will help speech-language pathologists differentiate limited exposure to English from underlying language impairments among children ages 4 to 6 years, 11 months.
Archeology/Anthropology
LiveScience: Ruins of Bustling Port Unearthed at Egypt's Giza Pyramids
By Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor
January 28, 2014 01:05pm
TORONTO — The remains of a bustling port and barracks for sailors or military troops have been discovered near the Giza Pyramids. They were in use while the pyramids were being built about 4,500 years ago.
The archaeologists have been excavating a city near the Giza Pyramids that dates mainly to the reign of the pharaoh Menkaure, who built the last pyramid at Giza. Also near the pyramids they have been excavating a town, located close to a monument dedicated to Queen Khentkawes, possibly a daughter of Menkaure. The barracks are located at the city, while a newly discovered basin, that may be part of a harbor, is located by the Khentkawes town.
Apalachicola Times: Archaeologist unearths history of local mounds
By LOIS SWOBODA
Published: Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at 12:41 PM.
After 20 years of research, University of South Florida archaeologist Dr. Nancy White has published a report on the history of the Pierce Mounds, on the western edge of Apalachicola , that shows the area was inhabited for more than 2000 years prior to the arrival of European explorers.
NPR: Archaeologists unearth what may be oldest Roman temple
Sylvia Poggioli | NPR | January 29th, 2014
Archaeologists excavating a site in central Rome say they've uncovered what may be oldest known temple from Roman antiquity.
Along the way, they've also discovered how much the early Romans intervened to shape their urban environment.
And the dig has been particularly challenging because the temple lies below the water table.
Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata/ANSA (Italy): Pagan temple remains unearthed under Milan Cathedral
Presented alongside Mediolanum Forum finds
29 January, 16:17
(ANSA) - Milan, January 29 - The remains of a pagan temple believed to have been devoted to the goddess Minerva have been found under the Milan Cathedral.
The announcement was made Wednesday during the presentation of other archaeological finds, the remains of the ancient Mediolanum Forum discovered recently under the basement of the building housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana and the Biblioteca Ambrosiana.
Sci-News: New Research Sheds Some Light on History of Ancient Cambodian City Mahendraparvata
by Sci-News.com
Jan 31, 2014
A new study published in the journal PLoS ONE has uncovered about 400 years of intensive land use around the ancient city of Mahendraparvata, Cambodia.
Mahendraparvata was founded by King Jayavarman II – the ruler of the Khmer Kingdom – in 802 CE.
Discovered in 2013, the city is located on the plateau Phnom Kulen, around 40 km north of the famous Angkor Wat complex.
The State: Columbia’s Camp Asylum
By DAWN HINSHAW
Archaeologists exploring the site of a Civil War-era prison camp in Columbia have uncovered three pits they say Union soldiers dug as crude shelter against the winter of 1864-65.
One of the earthen pits on the grounds of the S.C. State Hospital held secret a half-dozen artifacts, too, left behind by a prisoner of war and then covered over by those who ran the prison known as Camp Asylum.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Paleontology/Evolution
Science: What Killed the Great Beasts of North America?
January 2014 5:45
Until about 11,000 years ago, mammoths, giant beavers, and other massive mammals roamed North America. Many researchers have blamed their demise on incoming Paleoindians, the first Americans, who allegedly hunted them to extinction. But a new study fingers climate and environmental changes instead. The findings could have implications for conservation strategies, including controversial proposals for “rewilding” lions and elephants into North America.
The idea that humans wiped out North America’s giant mammals, or megafauna, is known as the “overkill hypothesis.” First proposed by geoscientist Paul Martin more than 40 years ago, it was inspired in part by advances in radiocarbon dating, which seemed to indicate an overlap between the arrival of the first humans in North America and the demise of the great mammals. But over the years, a number of archaeologists have challenged the idea on several grounds. For example, some researchers have argued that out of 36 animals that went extinct, only two—the mammoth and the mastodon—show clear signs of having been hunted, such as cuts on their bones made by stone tools. Others have pointed to correlations between the timing of the extinctions and dramatic fluctuations in temperatures as the last ice age came to a halting close.
Nature (UK): Modern human genomes reveal our inner Neanderthal
Cross-breeding boosted Homo sapiens' ability to cope with cool climates, but the hybrids may have had trouble breeding.
Ewen Callaway
Sex with Neanderthals had its ups and its downs. Cross-breeding may have given modern humans genes useful for coping with climates colder than Africa's, but the hybrid offspring probably suffered from significant fertility problems.
Those conclusions come from two papers published today in Science and Nature, which identify the slices of the genome that contemporary humans inherited from Neanderthals, the stocky hunter-gatherers that went extinct around 30,000 years ago.
Science: How Farming Reshaped Our Genomes
26 January 2014 1:00
Before farming began to spread across Europe some 8500 years ago, the continent’s occupants were hunter-gatherers. They were unable to digest starch and milk, according to a new ancient DNA study of a nearly 8000-year-old human skeleton from Spain. But these original occupants did already possess immune defenses against some of the diseases that would later become the scourge of civilization, and they apparently had dark skin. The findings are helping researchers understand what genetic and biological changes humans went through as they made the transition from hunting and gathering to farming.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
LiveScience via Yahoo! News: Whale of a Tale: Rare Marine Fossil Found at School
By Stephanie Pappas, Senior Writer
January 30, 2014 8:47 AM
A whale fossil that's been sitting on the grounds of a Southern California school for perhaps 80 years may be a previously unknown species.
The fossil, a skull embedded in a boulder, is set to go to The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles for cleaning and analysis. However, museum paleontologist Howell Thomas believes the skull belongs to a new species of extinct sperm whale.
"It's a pretty remarkably complete skull," said Martin Byhower, a 7th-grade science teacher who first noticed the skull and alerted Thomas.
Hat/Tip to enhydra lutris for this story.
Geology
Penn State: Risk modeling for bridges simulates multihazard scenarios
Aim is to minimize losses when earthquake follows flood.
By David Pacchioli
January 28, 2014
Flood and earthquake. Either one of these natural hazards, if severe enough, can topple a highway bridge. Accordingly, bridges are designed and built to withstand both types of trauma. But what happens when nature brings two blows at once?
Such an concurrence may be rare, but it isn't unheard of. In January 2009, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck the state of Washington less than three weeks after a major flood event.
Flood-induced scour, the erosion of soil and rock around a bridge's foundation, is one of the common causes of degraded health of a bridge and may lead to bridge failure, says Swagata Banerjee, assistant professor of civil engineering at Penn State. But even where it doesn't cause collapse, scour results in weakness. "The foundation is exposed, and the bridge becomes flexible, and it may not carry as much load," Banerjee says. Then, if an earthquake should come along, the potential for damage is magnified.
Energy
KPBS: 3,000 San Diego Streetlamps Getting LED Upgrade
By City News Service
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
The city of San Diego and General Electric announced Tuesday that a program to replace 3,000 streetlamps around the downtown area with energy-efficient LED lighting is underway.
The new lights are expected to shine brighter while saving the city $254,000 annually in utility costs.
A digital system will provide status updates on the condition of the lights, and allow the Environmental Services Department to adjust the brightness of individual lamps.
Georgia Tech: Applying Lessons Learned from One of the Biggest Blackouts in History
Posted January 31, 2014 | Atlanta, GA
On a warm afternoon in August 2003, in rural Ohio, a high-voltage power line brushed against some untrimmed tree limbs. The action tripped a relay that immediately shut off the power it was carrying. As system operators worked to understand what was happening, three more lines sagged into trees and were shut down. Joining power lines were forced to shoulder the extra burden until they, too, failed.
What ensued that day was a cascade of failures throughout the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. In all, 50 million customers lost power for up to two days. For many, this blackout served as a wake-up call to the fragility of the electric energy grid.
More than 10 years later, our electric power system continues to be challenged. In the United States, 149 power outages affecting at least 50,000 customers occurred between 2000 and 2004, a number which grew to 349 between 2005 and 2009. In 2012, the prolonged power outages in New York and New Jersey caused by Hurricane Sandy once again demonstrated the system’s vulnerability.
Physics
University of Alabama Birmingham: Interdisciplinary UAB researchers collaborate to establish new imaging method
By Jim Bakken
January 28, 2014
An interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham recently established a research method that has expanded the institution’s already robust capacity for discovery, addressing a need that will aid in critical initiatives addressing a variety of diseases including cancer, chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases and age-related degenerative diseases.
The matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry, or MALDI-IMS, method is a powerful tool for investigating the distribution of molecules within biological systems through the direct analysis of thin tissue sections.
Biomedical research is typically aimed at answering the fundamental questions of how, when, where and why important biological processes occur in the body and determining their relevance to human disease.
University of Texas: UT Austin Engineers Build First Nonreciprocal Acoustic Circulator: A One-Way Sound Device
Jan. 30, 2014
AUSTIN, Texas — A team of researchers at The University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering has built the first-ever circulator for sound. The team’s experiments successfully prove that the fundamental symmetry with which acoustic waves travel through air between two points in space (“if you can hear, you can also be heard”) can be broken by a compact and simple device.
“Using the proposed concept, we were able to create one-way communication for sound traveling through air,” said Andrea Alù, who led the project and is an associate professor and David & Doris Lybarger Endowed Faculty Fellow in the Cockrell School’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Imagine being able to listen without having to worry about being heard in return.”
This successful experiment is described in “Sound Isolation and Giant Linear Nonreciprocity in a Compact Acoustic Circulator,” which will be featured on the cover of Science in the Jan. 31 issue.
Chemistry
Smart Planet: For a better concrete, mix sand with bacteria and urea
By Janet Fang on January 29, 2014, 11:55 PM PST
Concrete is the second most consumed substance on Earth, after water. It’s primary ingredient, cement, accounts for about 5 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. From bricks made with leftover brewery grains to concrete modeled after ancient Roman breakwaters, researchers have been looking hard for less energy-intensive alternatives.
And now urea. For his thesis project at University of Edinburgh, Peter Trimble wanted to see if it was possible to grow our building material instead of using intensive heat, Wired reports. “I thought, Is there an equivalent material that’s more environmentally friendly but structurally comparable out there?” he says. Turns out, all you need is some sand, bacteria, calcium chloride and a decent amount of urea.
Trimble’s design replaces the energy intensive methods with the low energy biological processes of “microbial manufacture.” He calls the method Dupe, and he's created a little stool capable of holding all his weight.
Hat/Tip to enhydra lutris for this story.
Tulane University: Tulane team invents new instrument to study complex molecules
January 30, 2014
Tulane University chemistry professor Igor Rubtsov and a team of graduate students can lay claim to inventing an important new scientific instrument — the world’s first fully automated dual-frequency, two-dimensional infrared spectrometer.
Known as 2DIR for short, the instrument boasts vast research and commercial uses. It gives scientists a powerful new method to study DNA and other complex molecules by measuring distances and angles between molecular substructures, thus unraveling three-dimensional molecular structures while tracking changes at an ultra-fast time scale.
No such instrument is currently available on the market and the spectrometer developed at Tulane will be used as a prototype for commercialization. The superior sensitivity and ease of operation of the instrument make the 2DIR method accessible for researchers in various areas of science.
Science Crime Scenes
LiveScience: Ancient Roman Infanticide Didn't Spare Either Sex, DNA Suggests
By Stephanie Pappas, Senior Writer
January 24, 2014
A new look at a cache of baby bones discovered in Britain is altering assumptions about why ancient Romans committed infanticide.
Infant girls were apparently not killed more often than baby boys, researchers report in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Reuters via Chicago Tribune: Remains of 55 bodies found near former Florida reform school
Bill Cotterell
6:57 a.m. CST, January 29, 2014
TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) - Excavations at a makeshift graveyard near a now-closed reform school in the Florida Panhandle have yielded remains of 55 bodies, almost twice the number official records say are there, the University of South Florida announced on Tuesday.
"This is precisely why excavation was necessary," said USF professor Erin Kimmerle, head of the research project. "The only way to truly establish the facts about the deaths and burials at the school is to follow scientific processes."
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Science, Space, Health, Environment, and Energy Policy
Agence France Presse: Pakistani cultural festival 'threatens ancient ruins'
(AFP) – 2 days ago
Karachi — A festival to commemorate Pakistan's cultural heritage spearheaded by the scion of the Bhutto family could put the ruins of one of the world's ancient civilisations at risk, experts warned Thursday.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the heir to slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has launched a campaign to conserve the heritage of his home province of Sindh with a two-week festival due to begin on February 1.
The Daily Telegraph (UK): Historic Roman terraces face threat from the building of Israel's separation barrier
Israel's highest court is to decide whether the separation barrier should pass through a "unique" agricultural site that conservationists say represents a precious slice of cultural heritage
By Robert Tait, Battir
2:37PM GMT 28 Jan 2014
Its fertile red soil and contour-hugging terraces are largely unchanged since King Herod ruled, and the methods used to irrigate and farm it are little different, either.
But now the fate of a 2,000-year-old site whose system of agriculture dates from when the Romans ruled the Holy Land is under threat - from Israel’s controversial separation barrier.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
KPBS: California Leaders Working On Urgency Bill To Combat Drought
By Ben Adler / Capital Public Radio
Friday, January 31, 2014
California Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders are preparing an urgency measure that would authorize more than half a billion dollars in short-term anti-drought actions. They met Thursday at the state Capitol to discuss the legislation.
According to Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's office, the $588 million proposal would fund shovel-ready water projects, clear away some regulations and help water agencies use existing supplies more efficiently. More specifically, it would increase the use of clean recycled water, encourage conservation programs and expand the use of captured storm-water.
KPBS: Environmental Group Challenges San Diego County Water Authority’s Master Plan Update
By Megan Burke, Maureen Cavanaugh, Peggy Pico
Originally published January 29, 2014 at 11:30 a.m., updated January 30, 2014 at 1:11 p.m.
How will San Diego County manage its water needs through 2035? That's what the updated San Diego County Water Authority master plan outlines.
The water authority says the 2013 Master Plan is a comprehensive evaluation of infrastructure requirements needed to to keeping supplying water to its member agencies.
KPBS: Plastic Bag Ban Gets Support Of California Lawmakers
By Erik Anderson
Friday, January 31, 2014
SAN DIEGO — Three key lawmakers are converging in Ventura California today to unveil a compromise bill to ban single-use plastic bags. California lawmakers widely are expected to approve a measure that has been defeated narrowly twice before.
The legislation brings together the idea's biggest backer, state Sen. Alex Padilla, and the ban's two most outspoken legislative opponents, Sens. Kevin de Leon and Ricardo Lara.
The lawmakers agreed to support a prohibition of single-use plastic bags in 2015. The bill would require consumers to pay 10 cents a bag if they come to a store without one. It also includes money to retrain any workers displaced because of the ban.
KPBS: Bill Would Establish Strict Rules For Drone Use In California
By Marianne Russ / Capital Public Radio
Thursday, January 30, 2014
The California Assembly has approved legislation that would restrict the way government agencies can use drones.
Supporters of the bill say it would establish some of the nation's strictest standards. Those would include a requirement for law enforcement agencies to get warrants except in certain emergencies.
KPBS: San Diego Will Play A Role In California’s New Stem Cell Genomics Center
By David Wagner
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Since the passage of Proposition 71 in 2004, California taxpayers have been pumping billions into stem cell research. Now, a new statewide effort will attempt to marry advancements on stem cells with cutting-edge genetics research.
KPBS: Tijuana’s Need For Internet Speed
By David Wagner
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
By some measures, Mexico might have some of the fastest Internet speeds in Latin America. But for Tijuana's ambitious tech entrepreneurs and aspiring professional gamers, it's still painfully slow. They know much faster connections lie just across the border, and feel like Mexico's telecom giants are holding them back.
I spent some time with Gustavo Leyva to find out more about this digital divide. In the super popular online video game League of Legends, he's known as 'h4ckerv2.' And when I say he's known, I mean he's known. His Facebook page has close to 12,000 likes.
Playing as Tryndamere, the Barbarian King, Leyva has competed throughout Mexico, Chile and even Germany. And he's cleaned up nicely, too. He says he made around $7,000 playing League of Legends in the second half of 2013.
KPBS: Veterans’ Service Dogs To Get Free Veterinary Care
By Beth Ford Roth
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Veterans with service canines can now get free pet health insurance for their dogs through a Veterans Affairs Department program. The insurance will cover virtually all medical costs for the dogs.
The Military Times reports the VA has contracted with pet health insurance company Trupanion to cover the veterans' cost for preventative care, emergency care, and medications.
To qualify, the dogs must be certified by the VA as service dogs. Dogs owned by the VA that provide assistance to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are also eligible for the program.
KPBS: Survey Reveals Disturbing Trends In Employer-Provided Health Benefits
By Kenny Goldberg
Monday, January 27, 2014
The survey shows 61 percent of California employers offered health benefits last year. That’s compared with 73 percent in 2008.
The California HealthCare Foundation conducted the survey. The Foundation’s Maribeth Shannon said it will interesting to see what happens next year.
Science Education
The Press Democrat: Ancient artifacts
By CHUCK BINGA
TOWNS CORRESPONDENT
Saturday, February 1st, 20
The cream-colored trio of interconnected two-story metal buildings sits in a remote, woodsy corner of the Sonoma State University campus in Rohnert Park, near Petaluma Hill Road. Apart from the “Anthro Studies” sign on one outside wall, building No. 29 resembles a maintenance building for rusting tractors and lawn mowers.
In fact, No. 29 houses a treasure trove of millions of collected artifacts from archaeological sites, mostly in northern and central California. SSU staff members and students work there to organize, study, label and store the items with a level of precision that would make an accountant proud.
The Archaeological Collections Facility, as it is called, was founded in 1967 and is overseen by professor Adrian Praetzellis and a staff of professionals and students dedicated to preserving the state’s history.
Brainerd Dispatch: Help needed in archaeological project
Posted: January 31, 2014 - 10:21pm
Fred Sutherland, a PhD candidate in Industrial Heritage and Archaeology at Michigan Technological University, is researching the history of the Cuyuna Range for his Ph.D. dissertation.
Earlier this month, Sutherland presented a summary of findings from a survey of nearly 900 historic buildings and sites along the Cuyuna Range. Sutherland had to inventory the locations to identify potential sites for archaeological fieldwork. His architectural inventory is a model for public research advocated by Michigan Tech faculty, according to Tim Scarlett, associate professor of social sciences and head of Tech’s Industrial Heritage and Archaeology program.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of San Diego: Getting to Know Your Professors: Tara Ceranic
January 15, 2014
Tara Ceranic is an assistant professor of Social and Legal Research at the University of San Diego’s School of Business Administration. She teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses and writes on topics such as business ethics, moral behavior and sustainability. She’s the faculty advisor for the undergraduate and MBA Net Impact student chapters and has been recognized as a “faculty champion” by the USD Changemaker Hub. Inside USD asked Ceranic about teaching, technology and privacy, her research on the Ultimate Fighting Championships and more.
Topics such as climate change, immigration, and business ethics, even at the highest levels of government, spark debate and often just temporary solutions. How do you reinforce belief in what you’re teaching to students?
I always talk about ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) as long-term solutions. I feel like so much of what is implemented today (in business and government) focuses on getting that immediate impact/”bang for your buck” and that isn’t always the best way to handle problems. In my classes I talk about ethics and CSR as things that pay dividends in the long run. If a company has a focus on ethics and CSR, then they can retain and attract employees — especially millennials — and save money because everyone is more on the same page in terms of ethical behavior. They also attract customers and improve their reputation. It’s a win, win, win. Good ethics is good business!
Science Writing and Reporting
Newcastle University (UK) via Science Daily: Raining cats and dogs: The challenges of running for political office in the past
Modern politicians may feel they have it tough -- but they should thank their lucky stars they weren't standing for election in the Westminster constituency in 1741. On that occasion, angry voters pelted the candidates and the tellers with dead cats and dogs, dirt, stones and sticks.
It's a striking image, which fits with a Hogarthian view of the eighteenth century. Yet experts from Newcastle University argue that such rumbustious episodes were very far from the whole story. They are putting the full history of London's elections under the spotlight to present a new view.
Their arguments and evidence are freely available in a new website, http://www.londonelectoralhistory.com, which is accompanied by their new book Elections in Metropolitan London 1700-1850.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for this story.
Science is Cool
The Guardian (UK): Babylonian tablet shows how Noah's ark could have been constructed
British Museum expert says 3,700-year-old instructions describe how to build round boat – but he does not believe ark existed
Maev Kennedy
theguardian.com
Noah's ark was never built, still less crash landed on Mount Ararat, a British Museum expert has declared – despite holding in his hand 3,700-year-old instructions on exactly how to construct one.
"I am 107% convinced the ark never existed," Irving Finkel said. His discoveries, since a member of the public brought a battered clay tablet with 60 lines of neat cuneiform text to Finkel – one of the few people in the world who could read them – are outlined in a new book, The Ark Before Noah.
NBC News: Babylonian tale of round ark draws ire from some Christian circles
Alan Boyle, Science Editor NBC News
A recently deciphered 4,000-year-old clay tablet from ancient Mesopotamia is putting a new spin on the biblical tale of the flood and Noah's Ark — and that's causing consternation among some Christian fundamentalists.
The Book of Genesis includes detailed specifications for the giant boat on which all kinds of animals were placed, two by two, to shelter from 40 days and 40 nights of rain. The wooden ark was to measure about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 30 feet high (300 by 50 by 30 cubits, or 137 by 23 by 13 meters).
Greek Reporter: New Poems of Greek Poetess Sappho Recovered
By Konstantinos Menzel on January 28, 2014
Today, only few poems by the ancient Greek poetess Sappho have survived, but thanks to new findings, two new works have been recovered, giving experts hope to find even more.
These previously unknown poems by the great poetess of the 7th century B.C. came to light when the owner of an ancient papyrus consulted Oxford classicist world-renowned papyrologist Dr. Dirk Obbink about the Greek writings on the tattered scrap.
Despite Sappho’s fame in antiquity and huge literary output, only one complete poem survives until today, along with substantial portions of four others. One of those four was only recovered in 2004, also from a scrap of papyrus.
Asahi Shimbun (Japan): Mirrors may have worked magic in ancient Japanese rituals
By TSUYOSHI SATO/ Staff Writer
January 30, 2014
KYOTO--Rulers of ancient Japan may have used a “magic mirror” to conjure up images of mountain wizards and divine beasts for sun-worshipping rituals.
The Kyoto National Museum said Jan. 29 patterns engraved on the back of a type of bronze mirror associated with ancient queen Himiko are projected on a wall when sunlight reflects off the front.
Ryu Murakami, head of the museum’s curatorial board, said the discovery could provide valuable clues in studying how bronze mirrors were used in ancient Japan.
The Local (Germany): Charlemagne's bones are (probably) real
German scientists have announced after almost 26 years of research that the bones interred for centuries at Aachen Cathedral are likely to be those of Charlemagne.
Researchers confirmed on Wednesday evening - 1,200 years to the day since Charlemagne died - that the 94 bones and bone fragments taken from the supposed resting place of the King of the Franks and founder of what was to become the Holy Roman Empire came from a tall, thin, older man.
The team first opened the sarcophagus of the first emperor in western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire in secret in 1988 and presented their results for the first time on Wednesday.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Georgia Tech: How Politics Divide Facebook Friendships
Study suggests ways social media site could bridge political divide
Posted January 29, 2014 | Atlanta, GA
Those who say one should never talk about politics in mixed company have never logged on to Facebook. These days a typical newsfeed is peppered with links, opinions and jabs about the latest political topics.
A new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that politics are the great divider. People who think the majority of their friends have differing opinions than their own engage less on Facebook. For those who choose to stay logged in and politically active, the research found that most tend to stick in their own circles, ignore those on the other side and become more polarized.
At the same time, the study suggests a few design changes that could allow the social media platform to bridge political differences. By displaying shared interests between friends during their prickly conversations, Facebook could help diffuse possible arguments and alleviate tension. The research also notes that increasing exposure and engagement to weak ties could make people more resilient in the face of political disagreement.