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 editor annetteboardman, 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 weekend before Christmas, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday will highlight the research stories from the public universities in each of the states having elections for federal or state office this year plus stories from all research universities in major cities having municipal elections as listed in the 2013 Daily Kos Elections Calendar. Tonight's edition features the research and outreach stories from Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, and the city of San Diego.
This week's featured story comes from NASA and Space.com.
MAVEN is on the way on This Week @NASA
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a 10-month journey to Mars. MAVEN will take critical measurements of the Martian upper atmosphere to investigate how loss of the atmosphere to space impacted the history of water on the planet's surface. Also, Happy anniversary, ISS!, Asteroid Ideas, LADEE in science orbit, Orion progress, Rocket autopilot test, Commercial crew, and more!
United Launch Alliance Atlas V Rocket Successfully Launches MAVEN Mission on Journey to the Red Planet
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 1:28 p.m. EST, Nov. 18, 2013. MAVEN will examine specific processes on Mars that led to the loss of much of its atmosphere.
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
Book Review: The Secret Language of Color
by zen sparky
The 250th!!! Green Diary Rescue: Climate conference in Warsaw, fracking lobby, Ikea goes renewable
by Meteor Blades
Bullfighting and Evolution
by speedboat
I include all science diaries on this list, even the bad ones.
This week in science: A Thanksgiving visitor comes in from the cold
by DarkSyde
Slideshows/Videos
Discovery News: Hunger Games: How Reality TV Desensitizes Us
The Hunger Games series explores a society where reality television has pushed the limits on the human condition. How far is this from our own society? Laci explores the effects of "reality" on television.
University of California, San Diego: 2013 Roger Revelle Medalist, Walter Munk
Referred to as the "greatest living oceanographer," Walter Munk is widely recognized for his groundbreaking investigations of wave propagation, tides, currents, circulation and other aspects of the ocean and Earth. The 95-year-old scientist and alumnus is still active at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His accomplishments have been recognized by prestigious organizations around the world, from the Kyoto Prize to the Crafoord Prize.
If that's too long for you, here's the musical version:
Founders' Dinner 2013 - Tribute song to Walter Munk.
KPBS: San Diego Researchers Discuss Bringing Back Extinct Animals
The fiction of Jurassic Park might be on the verge of reality. Scientists are talking about the possibility of bringing back extinct species.
KPBS: Scripps Research Study Finds Drug Effective In Curbing Cravings For Alcohol
There are an estimated 18 million problem drinkers in the United States. Frequent heavy drinking takes a major toll on one's health and wellbeing. KPBS Health Reporter Kenny Goldberg says there are different opinions on the best way to break dependence on alcohol. But new research indicates a drug long used to treat seizures can be an effective tool.
KPBS: Second Opinion: What Does Obamacare Mean For My Paycheck?
Jeff Schoellerman, a San Diego neuroscientist, is curious if the Affordable Care Act will eventually have an effect on what we pay toward Medicare and disability out of our paychecks.
KPBS: Jeffrey Clemens On Obamacare and Payroll Taxes
Jeffrey Clemens, a UC San Diego economist, discusses how the Affordable Care Act might effect what we pay in taxes for Medicare and disability.
University of Alabama, Birmingham: Michael Morrisey talks Medicare and the ACA
University of Alabama, Birmingham: A ticket to ride: UAB program opens doors to drivers who are sight-impaired
To Dustin Jones, the bioptic driving program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham provides one very important benefit: freedom.
Also see the related story under Health.
University of Alabama, Birmingham: Florence Nightingale exhibit honors founder of modern day nursing
Florence Nightingale left countless gifts to her profession, including a collection of 50 letters and more preserved in the UAB Historical Collections. Copies of these are on permanent exhibit in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing.
Also see the related story under Science is Cool.
Auburn University: Southeastern Raptor Center kicks off auction of gameday eagle jesses and lures Nov. 22
Auburn University's Southeastern Raptor Center will begin a live online auction of one-of-a-kind jesses and lures handcrafted especially for the Auburn eagle's gameday flight to support the center's mission of rehabilitation, education and conservation.
Also see the story under Science is Cool.
University of Wisconsin: Forward Motion - The Sweet Science of Making Candy
Want to learn the science behind making candy? There's only one place in the nation to do so, UW-Madison. Take a look at how these students gain experience that makes them not only smart, but marketable.
University of Wisconsin: The IceCube Project
Four scientists speak with University of Wisconsin-Madison University Communications about finding cosmic subatomic particles, named neutrinos and what is it like to work with one of the largest science collaborations in the world.
Also see the related story from the University of Alabama under Astronomy.
Space.com: Thanksgiving in Space: Astronauts Share Their Cosmic Menu | Video
On the ISS, NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins send down their best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving and their crewmates show off the station's galley where they will be preparing and enjoying a Thanksgiving meal.
Astronomy/Space
University of Alabama: UA Scientists among IceCube Collaborators Pushing Neutrinos to Astronomy’s Forefront
Nov 21, 2013
MADISON, Wisc. — The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, a particle detector buried in the Antarctic ice, is a demonstration of the power of the human passion for discovery, where scientific ingenuity meets technological innovation. Today, nearly 25 years after the pioneering idea of detecting neutrinos in ice, the IceCube Collaboration, including University of Alabama researchers, announces the observation of 28 very high-energy particle events that constitute the first solid evidence for astrophysical neutrinos from cosmic accelerators.
“We believe we are seeing, for the first time, extremely high-energy neutrinos from a source outside of our solar system,” said Dr. Dawn Williams, an associate professor of physics at The University of Alabama, who serves as the project’s calibration coordinator.
“It is gratifying to finally see what we have been looking for,” said Dr. Francis Halzen, principal investigator of IceCube and the Hilldale and Gregory Breit Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This is the dawn of a new age of astronomy.”
Climate/Environment
University of Alabama, Birmingham: Researchers seek better heat wave definition to avert deaths, preterm-births
By Greg Williams
Friday, November 22, 2013
How much hotter it is than normal for an area better predicts the deaths and pre-term births linked to heat waves than just how hot it is, according to a study published today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
The new study identified which of 15 published heat wave definitions were most closely associated with non-accidental deaths and pre-term births found in Alabama vital records, along with what those definitions had in common. Non-accidental deaths were measured because they tend to result from a combination of disease, aging and heat, as opposed to those more closely linked to social factors, like car crashes and suicides. Preterm births have been linked to heat as well, with one theory holding that heat and dehydration trigger contractions.
“Heat alerts are issued based on weather forecasts and provide a warning to the public that it may soon get hot enough to be dangerous,” said Julia Gohlke, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences within the UAB School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and corresponding study author. “It makes sense then that alerts based on a heat wave definition that better predicts adverse health outcomes would better protect the public.”
University of Wisconsin: Connection Found Between Nitrogen Levels in Water and Toxic Algae Production
Lake Mendota in Madison Prone to Blue-Green Algae Outbreaks Every June
By Marie Zhuikov
November 19, 2013
Scientists have long known that phosphorus fuels growth of algae in lakes and streams. Wisconsin Sea Grant researchers have found that nitrogen levels are a factor in whether or not these algae – specifically, blue-green algae –produce toxins. The findings, published in PLOS ONE have parts of the scientific community buzzing.
“Under certain circumstances, it’s the nitrogen levels that fuel the production of toxins in blue-green algae,” said Katherine McMahon, a professor with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Phosphorus is important, but you need to have that critical component of nitrogen stress to trigger toxin production.”
The study, conducted on Lake Mendota in 2010-2011, involved multiple measurements each week during the summer for the presence of blue-green algae along with nitrogen and phosphorus levels. The first year of testing, researchers noticed a distinct change in the blue-green algae population. “There was a massive bloom of nontoxic blue-green algae in the lake in late June,” said Lucas Beversdorf, who was McMahon’s Ph.D. student at the time. “The algae used up all the nitrogen in the water, and then the bloom disappeared. After that, we started to see the production of toxic blue-green algae.”
University of Wisconsin: New technology could help food crops thrive in crowded fields
Nov. 19, 2013
With the global population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, the world's farmers are going to need to produce a lot more food — but without using much more farmland, as the vast majority of the world's arable land is already being used for agriculture.
One possible solution is to try to grow crops more densely in the field, thereby increasing yield per acre. But it's not as easy as just spacing seeds more closely together at planting time.
Packed too tight, for instance, corn plants will grow tall and spindly as they try to outcompete neighboring plants for access to sunlight — a phenomenon known as shade avoidance.
"The problem with shade avoidance when it comes to food crops is that the plants are spending all this time and energy making stems so they can grow tall, instead of making food that we eat," explains UW-Madison plant geneticist Richard Vierstra, who is developing a work-around.
Biodiversity
Auburn University: Auburn University researchers make deep sea creature discovery and set sail for Antarctica
November 20, 2013
AUBURN UNIVERSITY – Auburn University professor Kenneth Halanych and his colleagues have made a new scientific discovery: acorn worms found in deep waters surrounding Antarctica secrete a tube around their bodies. The discovery of an acorn worm with the ability to make tubes is significant as the only other worms of this type known to make tubes lived more than 500 million years ago near the dawn of animal life on earth.
The group’s discovery comes on the heels of the first of two Antarctic research cruises. Last January, a team of scientists from the College of Sciences and Mathematics’ William P. and Ruth W. Molette Environmental and Climate Change Studies Laboratory spent six weeks on a research cruise exploring the genetic diversity of marine organisms found in the waters surrounding Earth’s southernmost continent.
The team will set sail on a second cruise from Nov. 21 to Dec. 20, and once again will explore the biodiversity of the Antarctic seas, searching for evolutionary relationships between species.
Biotechnology/Health
University of California, San Diego: Stuck on Flu
How a sugar-rich mucus barrier traps the virus – and it gets free to infect
By Scott LaFee
November 22, 2013
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown for the first time how influenza A viruses snip through a protective mucus net to both infect respiratory cells and later cut their way out to infect other cells.
The findings, published online today in Virology Journal by principal investigator Pascal Gagneux, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and colleagues, could point the way to new drugs or therapies that more effectively inhibit viral activity, and perhaps prevent some flu infections altogether.
University of Alabama, Birmingham: Cancer patients at increased risk for severe flu complications
By Nicole Wyatt
Friday, November 22, 2013
It is often noted that very young people and the elderly are most at-risk for experiencing flu-related complications, and one expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham says people with weakened immune systems due to diseases like cancer are also at an increased risk of severe complications from the virus.
flu_cancer_s“The flu shot is recommended annually for cancer patients, as it is the most effective way to prevent influenza and its complications,” said Mollie deShazo, M.D., associate professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology and medical director of UAB Inpatient Oncology. “The flu vaccine significantly lowers the risk of acquiring the flu; it is not 100 percent effective, but it is the best tool we have.”
Flu activity in the United States is low, even after increasing slightly in recent weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, more activity is expected, and people who have not had a flu vaccine this year are advised to do so.
“It takes up to two weeks to build immunity after a flu shot, but you can benefit even if you get the vaccine after the flu has arrived in your community,” deShazo said.
The Daily Iowan: UIHC developing new vaccine
BY MEGAN SANCHEZ
NOVEMBER 21, 2013
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics has taken on the duty of finding a vaccine to prevent a deadly disease that recently broke out in China.
H7N9 is a new form of influenza found throughout China’s poultry. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 135 cases were found, and 44 people died this past spring.
In October, four more cases emerged. Officials say the disease has not escaped China, but the UIHC is one of eight U.S. institutions working to develop a preventative vaccine.
“This strain of influenza in China lead to about a 30 percent mortality rate, which is very high for any infectious disease,” said Patricia Winokur, the principal investigator on the project. “We’ve had very little spread from person-to-person at this time, but what we know is that influenza viruses can swap from genes very easily. It may be acquiring new genes to spread from person-to person and if that happens, we know that it would spread quickly.”
San Diego State University: Hashtag Health
SDSU geography professor Ming-Hsiang Tsou's method of using Twitter to track the spread of influenza is producing results.
By Michael Price
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
As the United States enters the sniffly, sneezy heart of flu season, a social media–monitoring program led by a San Diego State University researcher could clue in physicians and health officials to when and where severe outbreaks are occurring in real time.
SDSU geography professor Ming-Hsiang Tsou, who leads the project, follows disease-related keywords that pop up on Twitter in order to identify locations where outbreaks of influenza are occurring, sometimes weeks before traditional methods can detect them. Last month, the first results from the project were published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. Tsou’s technique might allow officials to more quickly and efficiently direct resources to outbreak zones and better contain the spread of the disease.
“There is the potential to use social media to really improve the way we monitor the flu and other public health concerns,” Tsou said.
University of Alabama: UA Matters: Dealing with Stress During the Holidays
Nov 18, 2013
The holidays can be a busy, and stressful, time of year. Whether it’s coping with house guests, trying to finish holiday shopping or planning a large holiday meal, everyone should take some time to decompress. The University of Alabama’s Dr. Harriet Myers offers a few suggestions on how to do just that.
University of California, San Diego: Brain Surgeons Go with the Flow
Water-Based Imaging Technique Maps Brain Neurons Prior to Surgery
By Jackie Carr
November 21, 2013
Neurosurgeons at UC San Diego Health System are using a new approach to visualize the brain’s delicate anatomy prior to surgery. The novel technique allows neurosurgeons to see the brain’s nerve connections thus preserving and protecting critical functions such as vision, speech and memory. No needles, dyes or chemicals are needed to create the radiology scan. The main imaging ingredient? Water.
“The brain can be mapped by tracking the movement of its water molecules,” said Clark Chen, MD, PhD, neurosurgeon and vice-chairman of neurosurgery at UC San Diego Health System. “Water molecules in brain nerves move in an oriented manner. However, outside the nerves, the molecules move randomly. Neurosurgeons at UC San Diego can use these distinct properties to locate important connections and to guide where surgery should occur or not.”
The technique, called tractography or diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), has been used for investigational and diagnostic purposes to better understand the effect of stroke and neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. UC San Diego Health System neurosurgeons are among the first in the nation to apply this technology to guide brain tumor surgery.
University of California, San Diego: New Models Predict Where E. coli Strains Will Thrive
By Daniel Kane
November 19, 2013
Bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego have used the genomic sequences of 55 E. coli strains to reconstruct the metabolic repertoire for each strain. Surprisingly, these reconstructions do an excellent job of predicting the kind of environment where each strain will thrive, the researchers found.
Their analysis, published in the Nov. 18, 2013 early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could prove useful in developing ways to control deadly E. coli infections and to learn more about how certain strains of the bacteria become virulent.
And when “nasty new versions” of E. coli appear, the metabolic models may someday help researchers quickly identify and characterize these new strains, said Bernhard Palsson, professor of bioengineering at UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and a corresponding author on the paper.
University of Alabama, Birmingham: A ticket to ride: UAB program opens doors to drivers who are sight-impaired
By Bob Shepard
Friday, November 22, 2013
To Dustin Jones, the bioptic driving program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham provides one very important benefit: freedom. Jones, a 24-year-old recent UAB graduate who works in information technology, is a typical young professional.
But he has a congenital eye disease called optic atrophy, which had prevented him from getting a driver’s license at age 16.
“My job is in Hoover,” Jones said. “Without a driver’s license, I would have to live within walking distance or use public transportation. I would be limited in my economic and social opportunities and not really part of the community as I am today.”
University of Alabama, Birmingham: Stroke mortality is down, but the reason remains a mystery
By Nicole Wyatt
Thursday, November 21, 2013
A national group of leading scientists, including one University of Alabama at Birmingham expert, says that for more than 100 years fewer people have been dying of stroke, yet it is still unclear why this decline remains constant.
stroke_mortality_sThe American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have published a scientific statement, Factors Influencing the Decline in Stroke Mortality, which has also been affirmed by the American Academy of Neurology as an educational tool for neurologists. The statement is published in the AHA journal Stroke.
Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability and was previously recognized as the third leading cause of death in the United States, according to the National Stroke Association. However, stroke has now fallen to the fourth leading cause of death due to decreases in people dying from it. This has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to acknowledge the decline, and a similar decline in heart disease, as one of the 10 great achievements in public health of the 20th century.
DefenseTech: Bio Patch Shows Promise for Regenerating, Growing Bone
by Bryant Jordan
November 21, 2013
Researchers at the University of Iowa have developed a bio patch that helps to regenerate and grow damaged bone, possibly meaning a new way of treating wounds.
The patch is a collagen “scaffold” seeded with synthetically created plasmids – self-replicating DNA molecules – for producing bone. Researchers reported that the bio patch led to significant bone regeneration and growth in animal lab testing.
Aliasger Salem, a professor of pharmaceutical science and director of the school’s College of Pharmacy, said the technology could be applied to a range of injuries, including arm and leg fractures and craniofacial damage.
With further development, the bio patch could mean improved treatment and healing for severely injured troops and veterans.
Iowa State University: Iowa State researchers look for game-changing solution to devastating disease caused by parasitic worms
Posted Nov 22, 2013 12:00 pm
AMES, Iowa – The worms can live inside your body for years, decades even. And it’s not the worms themselves that will eventually make you sick. Rather, it’s the thousands of eggs they lay.
Schistosomes, small parasitic flatworms that have infected hundreds of millions of people in developing nations, cause chronic illness that damages organs and impairs development in children.
The effects of the disease can last decades, leading Mostafa Zamanian, a postdoctoral scholar in the Iowa State University Department of Biomedical Sciences, to describe the illness as a “slow killer.” Zamanian said the perception of the disease as slow acting is part of the reason the international community has sometimes regarded schistosomes with less urgency than they deserve.
But Zamanian is working with a group of ISU researchers to change that.
University of Mississippi: New Collaboration Expanding Research in World-Renowned Heart Studies
Project builds upon NIH-funded Framingham and Jackson heart studies, targets "personalized medicine’
November 18, 2013
JACKSON, Miss. – A new collaborative research relationship between the American Heart Association, the University of Mississippi and Boston University, representing a bold vision for cardiovascular population science, was announced yesterday at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in Dallas.
The collaboration has a vision of greatly expanding important population studies by adding more research subjects, more diverse subjects, more genetic analysis and deeper new approaches to gathering information in an effort to find more “personalized” treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease. This project would help to build a “biobank” that researchers could easily access through a larger national network of population studies, including the landmark Framingham and Jackson heart studies.
“We will be transferring that success into 21st century genomics developments and network medicine,” said Joseph Loscalzo, M.D., Ph.D., chairman of the American Heart Association’s Science Oversight Group for this collaboration.
Psychology/Behavior
University of Iowa: Protein variants alter Alzheimer's progression
Introducing protective variant into brain appears to halt, even reverse progression in mouse models
By: UI Health Care Marketing and Communications
2013.11.20 | 01:03 PM
Inheriting different versions of a protein called apolipoprotein E (APOE) significantly alter a person's risk of developing the sporadic, late-onset form of Alzheimer's disease. One version of the gene, APOE4, is the strongest genetic risk factor for developing this type of Alzheimer's disease. Whereas inheriting the APOE2 version of the gene appears to decrease the risk. But exactly how these variants alter risk has been controversial among researchers.
Now an animal study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators in collaboration with researchers at the University of Iowa shows that even low levels of the Alzheimer's-associated APOE4 protein can increase the number and density of amyloid beta (A-beta) brain plaques. The presence of APOE4 also leads to increased plaque-associated damage of brain cells and greater amounts of toxic soluble A-beta within the brain in mouse models of the disease. Conversely, introducing APOE2 into the brains of mice with established plaques actually reduced A-beta deposition, retention, and neurotoxicity, suggesting the potential for gene-therapy-based treatment.
"Using a technique developed by our collaborators at the University of Iowa, we were able to get long-term expression of these human gene variants in the fluid that bathes the entire brain," says Dr. Bradley Hyman, of the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) and senior author of the report in the Nov. 20 issue of Science Translational Medicine. "Our results suggest that strategies aimed at decreasing levels of APOE4, the harmful form of the protein, and increasing concentrations of protective variant APOE2 could be helpful to patients."
University of Iowa: Study finds gene network associated with alcoholism
39 biologically related genes identified with the condition
By: Jennifer Brown
2013.11.21 | 11:58 AM
There is good evidence from studies of families and twins that genetics plays an important role in the development of alcoholism. However, hundreds of genes likely are involved in this complex disorder, with each variant contributing only a very small effect. Thus, identifying individual risk genes is difficult.
Using a new approach that combines genome-wide association studies ( GWAS) with information about which human proteins interact with one another, researchers from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and Yale University Medical School have identified a group of 39 genes that together are strongly associated with alcoholism.
"The discovery of these genes may open a new window into the biological mechanisms underlying this alcoholism disorder," says Shizhong Han, UI assistant professor of psychiatry and corresponding author of the study, published Nov. 21 in the American Journal of Human Genetics. "Eventually, it's our hope that the findings might help to develop drugs to treat or prevent this disorder."
University of Wisconsin: Rare disease yields clues about broader brain pathology
by David Tenenbaum
Nov. 20, 2013
Alexander disease is a devastating brain disease that almost nobody has heard of — unless someone in the family is afflicted with it. Alexander disease strikes young or old, and in children destroys white matter in the front of the brain. Many patients, especially those with early onset, have significant intellectual disabilities.
Regardless of the age when it begins, Alexander disease is always fatal. It typically results from mutations in a gene known as GFAP (glial fibrillary acidic protein), leading to the formation of fibrous clumps of protein inside brain cells called astrocytes.
Classically, astrocytes and other glial cells were considered "helpers" that nourish and protect the neurons that do the actual communication. But in recent years, it's become clear that glial cells are much more than passive bystanders, and may be active culprits in many neurological diseases.
Now, in a report in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at UW-Madison show that Alexander disease also affects neurons, and in a way that impacts several measures of learning and memory.
University of Wisconsin: Speaker to share how distrust contributes to poverty
Nov. 19, 2013
Many of the issues associated with poverty in the United States are obvious, such as unemployment, single-parent families and declining wages for less-educated workers. But Temple University sociologist Judith Levine uncovered another, less obvious issue that contributes to poverty: distrust.
...
Addressing the issue of mistrust may provide another key to helping poor families improve their economic situation. When Levine started interviewing low-income mothers in the mid-1990s, she was interested in their struggles with raising children in poverty and how they made ends meet, not in how the fathers of their kids were unfaithful or caseworkers misrepresented benefits.
But by the time she had completed two rounds of interviews, Levine was convinced that the women's struggles with poverty could not be adequately understood without considering the role of distrust in their lives.
University of California, San Diego: Understanding Information: How We Get It, How We Use It, How to Benefit from It
By Tiffany Fox
November 20, 2013
For most computer users, information is only valuable when it serves a context-specific purpose, such as providing the GPS coordinates for a new restaurant or a list of search results for a query on airline flights to Fiji.
But for University of California, San Diego electrical and computer engineering professor Tara Javidi, understanding how people acquire and use information in various engineering applications is just as valuable. Her most recent grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) — a $1 million collaborative research award to Javidi, Andrea Goldsmith of Stanford University and Bruno Sinopoli at Carnegie Mellon University — will fund the development of a new theoretical framework for understanding how to best control information flow in large cyber-physical systems such as datacenters or smart energy grids.
The grant is the fourth NSF grant in a series of research projects Javidi has been awarded in the past 18 months, all dealing with questions of information acquisition in four contexts: cognitive networking, enhanced spectrum access, computer vision and social networking.
The main thrust of all four projects is to combine tools from control theory, information theory and statistics to jointly optimize data collection, analysis and processing.
Archeology/Anthropology/Paleontology/Evolution
N.Y. Times: 24,000-Year-Old Body Shows Kinship to Europeans and American Indians
By NICHOLAS WADE
The genome of a young boy buried at Mal’ta near Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia some 24,000 years ago has turned out to hold two surprises for anthropologists.
The first is that the boy’s DNA matches that of Western Europeans, showing that during the last Ice Age people from Europe had reached farther east across Eurasia than previously supposed. Though none of the Mal’ta boy’s skin or hair survives, his genes suggest he would have had brown hair, brown eyes and freckled skin.
Popular Archaeology: Archaeologists Uncover One of Civilization's Oldest Wine Cellars
While excavating within the palace ruins of Tel Kabri, a 75-acre ancient Canaanite city site in northern Israel that dates back to 1700 BCE, a joint American-Israeli team came across a three-foot-long jar. They later christened it "Bessie." The single find by itself was nothing remarkable. But they kept digging.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of Iowa: The big male nose
New study explains why men's noses are bigger than women's
By: Richard C. Lewis
2013.11.18 | 11:26 AM
Human noses come in all shapes and sizes. But one feature seems to hold true: Men’s noses are bigger than women’s.
A new study from the University of Iowa concludes that men’s noses are about 10 percent larger than female noses, on average, in populations of European descent. The size difference, the researchers believe, comes from the sexes’ different builds and energy demands: Males in general have more lean muscle mass, which requires more oxygen for muscle tissue growth and maintenance. Larger noses mean more oxygen can be breathed in and transported in the blood to supply the muscle.
The researchers also note that males and females begin to show differences in nose size at around age 11, generally, when puberty starts. Physiologically speaking, males begin to grow more lean muscle mass from that time, while females grow more fat mass. Prior research has shown that, during puberty, approximately 95 percent of body weight gain in males comes from fat-free mass, compared to 85 percent in females.
University of Iowa: History below ground
A UI grad student is part of an exclusive caving team unearthing ancient human remains
By: Amy Mattson
2013.11.18 | 11:32 AM
UI graduate student Lindsay Eaves joined an international team of researchers this month to excavate early human fossil remains in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site (COHWHS), just north of Johannesburg, South Africa.
The remains were discovered in Rising Star Cave, nestled in a chamber located almost 100 feet below ground. According to Eaves, the group intends to retrieve the fossils for further study and analysis before the find can be jeopardized by the rainy season or other unnamed factors.
Currently completing her doctoral dissertation in the UI Department of Anthropology, Eaves was selected for the expedition based upon her highly technical skills and small stature. At 118 pounds and 5’5 she is the second largest member of the six-person excavation team.
She and her all-female cohort are part of a rare group of paleoanthropologists around the globe possessing the critical combination of expertise and low body mass that expedition director, National Geographic Explorer in Residence and University of the Witwatersrand professor Lee Berger needed.
Energy
University of California, San Diego: Scripps Oceanography Researchers Engineer Breakthrough for Biofuel Production
Prospects for economic and sustainable fuel alternative enhanced with discovery
By Mario Aguilera
November 20, 2013
Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have developed a method for greatly enhancing biofuel production in tiny marine algae.
As reported in this week’s online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Scripps graduate student Emily Trentacoste led the development of a method to genetically engineer a key growth component in biofuel production.
In the quest to loosen humanity’s dependence on traditional fossil fuel consumption, and with it rising concentrations of carbon dioxide and their damaging impacts on the environment, finding economically viable fuels from biological sources has been elusive.
A significant roadblock in algal biofuel research surrounds the production of lipid oils, the fat molecules that store energy that can be produced for fuel. A catch-22 has stymied economically efficient biofuel production because algae mainly produce the desired lipid oils when they are starved for nutrients. Yet if they are limited in nutrients, they don’t grow well. With a robust diet algae grow well, but they produce carbohydrates instead of the desired lipids for fuel.
In a significant leap forward that clears the lipid production hurdle, Trentacoste and her colleagues used a data set of genetic expression (called “transcriptomics” in laboratories) to target a specific enzyme inside a group of microscopic algae known as diatoms (Thalassiosira pseudonana). By metabolically engineering a “knock-down” of fat-reducing enzymes called lipases, the researchers were able to increase lipids without compromising growth. The genetically altered strains they developed, the researchers say, could be produced broadly in other species.
Physics
Mississippi State University: Teaching methods study wins campus graduate research challenge
November 22, 2013
STARKVILLE, Miss.--A Mississippi State physics and astronomy instructor will represent the university in regional Three Minute Thesis competition.
Joshua B. "Josh" Winter of Starkville recently was named grand champion of the university graduate school's 3MT challenge. In the next phase, he faces winners from other Southeastern Conference institutions.
Held on university and college campuses throughout the nation, 3MT events require graduate students to explain in three minutes or less their thesis research both to an audience and a panel of judges.
Winter, a two-time MSU graduate currently pursuing an educational specialist degree in curriculum and instruction, won with a presentation that explored teaching methods and effects in an introductory physics classroom.
Chemistry
University of Tennessee: Professor Receives Gates Foundation Award to Reinvent Condom, Improve Global Health
November 20, 2013
Condoms have the power to make the world healthier by preventing disease and unplanned pregnancies, yet they are vastly underutilized.
This year, Bill and Melinda Gates and their foundation issued a challenge to develop the next generation of condoms. Called Grand Challenges in Global Health, the initiative aims to foster scientific and technological innovation to solve key health problems in the developing world.
Jimmy Mays, a chemistry professor at UT, responded to the challenge with a design that will encourage condom use in developing countries. He has received $100,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for research and development of a prototype.
Mississippi State University: MSU Chemical engineering students receive honors
November 20, 2013
STARKVILLE, Miss.--For the 13th consecutive year, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers awarded Mississippi State University a 2013 Outstanding Student Chapter Award.
The recognition is based on the group's exceptional enthusiasm, quality, professionalism and service. Only 16, about 8 percent, of the nearly 200 national and international chapters were selected for the honor.
This semester, 73 percent of MSU chemical engineering majors are AIChE members. During the 2012-13 year, which the national institute evaluated, 301 students participated in AIChE activities.
Science Crime Scenes
University of Alabama, Birmingham: Stay safe this holiday season
By Bob Shepard
Thursday, November 21, 2013
‘Tis the season to be safe. As the holidays approach, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Police offer safety tips for shopping or traveling that can help keep your celebrations merry.
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“Stores and malls are busy this time of year, and so are the bad guys,” said Tonya Webb, UAB Police crime prevention specialist. “Go with a friend, stay in well-lit areas, have a plan and stick to it.”
University of Alabama: UA Study: Holiday Driving Dangerous, More So Just Before Christmas
Nov 19, 2013
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The days just before Christmas, as people rush to buy presents and travel to holiday destinations, can be more dangerous on roadways than the days surrounding Thanksgiving and New Year’s, according to a recent study of traffic data by The University of Alabama Center for Advanced Public Safety.
Analyzing the past 10 years of Alabama crash data during six-day periods surrounding Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, UA researchers found heavy traffic surrounding all three major holidays can increase the chances for automobile accidents. However, in 2012, the six-day period that includes Christmas had 18 percent more auto accidents than the Thanksgiving period and 27 percent more than the days around New Year’s Day, according to the center, known as CAPS.
“The shopping days before Christmas are perilous,” said Dr. David Brown, a professor of computer science at UA and a research associate with CAPS.
University of Iowa: Steering the conversation
New program helps parents talk to their teens about safe driving
By: Debra Venzke
2013.11.22 | 06:34 AM
Learning to drive is usually an exciting milestone for teens, but for parents it may be more worrisome than wonderful. National statistics show motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers and that crash rates for teens are highest during the first six months of driving.
And while parents want to help their children to learn to drive safely, many dread the tension (and eye-rolling) that often punctuate driving lessons.
As part of a study to help encourage safe teen driving in Iowa, researchers with the University of Iowa College of Public Health's Injury Prevention Research Center (IPRC) in collaboration with Blank Children’s Hospital conducted a “deep dive” into what was known about teen driving.
University of Mississippi: Civil Engineering Professors’ Research Vital to Infrastructure
Researchers aim to answer critical questions about transportation, structural safety
By Edwin Smith
November 19, 2013
OXFORD, Miss. – Natural disasters, industrial accidents and possible terrorist attacks pose threats to infrastructures everywhere, so University of Mississippi civil engineering professors are studying ways to detect hazardous conditions, protect transportation systems and save lives in the process.
Professor Waheed Uddin and associate professor Elizabeth Ervin are among several UM faculty members awarded National Center for Intermodal Transportation for Economic Competitiveness grants for transportation infrastructure research projects. Uddin, director of the university’s Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Technology and associate director of NCITEC, received more than $12 million in research funding, including $6.9 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to the NCITEC consortium.
Ervin’s funding is among $1.2 million awarded by NCITEC to the UM subcontract. Funding sources also include the Mississippi Department of Transportation and National Academy of Sciences-administered grants funded by the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Agency for International Development.
Iowa State University: Iowa State engineers use keyboard, mouse and mobile device ‘fingerprints’ to protect data
Posted Nov 18, 2013 4:30 pm
AMES, Iowa – We’ve all typed in a password to access a computer network. But how secure is that? Passwords can be hacked or hijacked to get at sensitive personal, corporate or even national security data.
That reality has Iowa State engineers looking for methods beyond passwords to verify computer users and protect data. They started by tracking individual typing patterns; now they’re working to identify and track individual patterns for using a mobile device or a computer mouse.
Morris Chang, an Iowa State University associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, says the patterns are unique to individuals.
“These pauses between words, searches for unusual characters and spellings of unfamiliar words, all have to do with our past experiences, our learning experiences,” he said. “And so we call them ‘cognitive fingerprints’ which manifest themselves in typing rhythms.”
Science, Space, Health, Environment, and Energy Policy
University of California, San Diego: Blacks Have Less Access to Cancer Specialists, Treatment
UC San Diego Study Suggests Racial Inequality Leads to Higher Mortality
By Yadira Galindo
November 19, 2013
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say metastatic colorectal cancer patients of African-American descent are less likely to be seen by cancer specialists or receive cancer treatments. This difference in treatment explains a large part of the 15 percent higher mortality experienced by African-American patients than non-Hispanic white patients.
The study, published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, noted there was no difference in risk of death when black patients received the same treatments, such as chemotherapy and surgery, as non-Hispanic white patients.
“Other studies have looked at racial disparities in treatment and still others have focused on racial differences in survival rates of cancer patients, but our research attempted to go further by demonstrating the impact of race-based inequalities in cancer treatment on survival rates of black colorectal cancer patients,” said James D. Murphy, MD, MS, assistant professor and chief of the Radiation Oncology Gastrointestinal Tumor Service at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.
Iowa City Press-Citizen: UIHC doctors thinking more about business of health care
Studies show common lab tests are ordered less when doctors know how much they cost
Written by Sara Agnew
Nov. 20, 2013
Faced with the rising cost of health care, doctors at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics decided to examine the cost of something they do every day: order lab tests.
What they discovered was that when doctors know the cost of a lab test, they ordered fewer.
They also learned that tightening the ordering process and forcing resident physicians to consult with faculty physicians and pathologists before ordering some high-priced tests could not only save money but also improve patient care.
Science Education
San Diego State University: SDSU Instructor Honored by White House as ‘Champion of Change’
Elizabeth Perez-Halperin received a White House Champion of Change award.
By Steve Dolan
Friday, November 22, 2013
Elizabeth Perez-Halperin, an assistant instructor in the online Professional Certificate in Green Energy Management program through San Diego State University’s College of Extended Studies, was recently honored at a White House Champion of Change event as a Veteran Advancing Clean Energy and Climate Security.
“When I was at the White House, I mentioned teaching at San Diego State. I think that was important to say. One of the things we are pushing is education,” said Perez-Halperin, founder/CEO at GC Green, a general contracting firm providing veteran-based workforce and construction solutions for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
Perez-Halperin, a member of the North Folk Mono Indian tribe, said she began by speaking in her native language when she addressed the White House audience.
“Part of what I said in my native language is that everything is connected,” she said. “In my journey, I’m finding that everything is coming together full circle.”
Science is Cool
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
University of California, San Diego: Imagination Gets a Boost with $1 Million Gift
ViaSat named Founding Partner of Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination in recognition of donation
By Judy Piercey
November 21, 2013
The University of California, San Diego is home to the first and only Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination, honoring the vision of “2001: A Space Odyssey” author Arthur C. Clarke. Today, the campus is announcing a $1 million gift from San Diego-based satellite and digital communications innovator ViaSat Inc. (VSAT) that will continue Clarke’s greatest legacy: imagination. In recognition of this charitable donation, ViaSat has been named Founding Partner of the Clarke Center.
“ViaSat’s co-founders include UC San Diego alumni, and they understand the importance of imagination in seeking new frontiers,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “The company’s generous gift will help the Clarke Center honor the late author and innovator through cultural, scientific and medical transformations. These occur when imagination is more effectively incorporated into research and our daily lives.”
Britain’s Sir Arthur C. Clarke, celebrated for his multi-disciplinary legacy in science and engineering, is also considered one of the most inspiring and engaging science fiction writers of all time for such classics as “Childhood’s End,” “Rendezvous with Rama” as well as “2001: A Space Odyssey.” His visionary books and papers have fueled the imaginations and avocations of young and old for more than six decades.
University of Alabama, Birmingham: UAB dean’s paper highlights Nightingale’s leadership for global health and nursing
By Tyler Greer
Friday, November 22, 2013
The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing is home to a one-of-its-kind, interactive exhibit of 50 famous Florence Nightingale letters. School of Nursing Dean Doreen C. Harper, Ph.D., analyzed the components of these letters, which highlight Nightingale’s visionary leadership for global health and nursing within the historical context of Great Britain’s colonization of India.
The result of this analysis was the paper “Leadership Lessons in Global Nursing and Health from the Nightingale Letter Collection at the University of Alabama at Birmingham,” recently published in the Journal of Holistic Medicine. The descriptive study used a narrative analysis to examine selected letters that Nightingale wrote to or about Dr. Thomas Gillham Hewlett, a physician and health officer in Bombay, India.
“Florence Nightingale is indisputably the founder of modern nursing,” Harper said. “Nightingale also was a prominent force in the creation of global health care and global nursing. To this day, these letters offer countless leadership lessons relevant to the future of nursing and health care. It was a joy to study these letters and try to increase understanding of her visionary leadership for global nursing and health.”
Auburn University: Southeastern Raptor Center kicks off auction of gameday eagle jesses and lures Nov. 22
November 22, 2013
AUBURN UNIVERSITY – Auburn University’s Southeastern Raptor Center will begin a live online auction of one-of-a-kind jesses and lures handcrafted especially for the Auburn eagle’s gameday flight to support the center’s mission of rehabilitation, education and conservation.
Fans will be able to place bids at the auction site, www.getluredin.com, beginning Friday, Nov. 22, for jesses and the lure to be used on the eagle during the Nov. 30 pregame flight for the Auburn-Alabama game, set for a nationally televised audience on CBS. Fans can go to the website and bid from 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 22, until 11 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 4.
Following the close of that auction, jesses and lures from other 2013 home games will be auctioned on the same site.
Auburn University: Auburn-engineered football training device has roots in tornado cleanup efforts
November 20, 2013
AUBURN UNIVERSITY – Auburn University mechanical engineering students in Professor David Dyer’s comprehensive design class take good ideas and help turn them into sleek, customer-ready products. Interestingly, the good ideas can be generated at the most unusual times.
One idea, now a finished product called the SledHammer, originated when a high school football coach helped his neighbors remove debris from their yards after the April 2011 tornadoes ripped across Alabama. Vaughn Maceina, now a strength coach and teacher at Auburn Junior High School, was living and coaching in the north Alabama town of Guntersville.
“Fortunately, our community did not have any fatalities, so we were mainly dealing with property damage,” Maceina said. “I was helping cut fallen trees and then rolling the logs out of the way, when I realized this rolling motion was excellent for building strength in the arms and legs, really the whole body.
Mississippi State University: Wanted: Your lyrics that ‘fix a hole in the ozone’
November 22, 2013
Have you ever wanted to write a song and participate in a music video?
Undergraduate students at Mississippi State University are invited to compete in the Earth Sustainability Lyrics Contest, which is part of this year’s Maroon Edition common reading experience.
Original lyrics will be judged on scientific credibility, and attention to rhyme and meter. Perfect rhyme will receive a higher grade than imperfect rhyme, and the number of syllables per line should fit with standard time signatures (3/4, 4/4, or 6/8). End of line and internal rhymes are allowed.
A panel of musicians and songwriters will determine the winners, and Bill Cooke, interim head of the Department of Geosciences and talented musician, will set the lyrics to music. The winner will appear in the music video developed and posted on YouTube.
University of Tennessee: UT Recycles 111,487 Pounds of Material in 2013 Game Day Recycling Challenge
November 20, 2013
UT fans recycled their way to second place in the Southeastern Conference in the Game Day Recycling Challenge, a friendly recycling competition among US colleges and universities.
From franks to french fries and water bottles to beverage cans, college game days produce a large and valuable volume of recyclable material. UT Recycling took on the challenge to increase recycling and composting at football games, to shrink its environmental footprint, and to broaden sustainability efforts.
UT Recycling ranked first place in the SEC in organics recycling (composting) and second place in other categories such as waste minimization, per capita recycling, and greenhouse gas reduction. From the first five home games, UT recycled 111,487 pounds of material.
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Schools measured and reported their results along with game attendance for ranking in five categories. The winners:
Waste Minimization Champion – Central Connecticut State University
Diversion Rate Champion – Ohio State University
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Champion – Franklin College
Recycling Champion – Franklin College
Organics Reduction Champion – University of Akron
