Nanotechnology news
 | Researchers make magnetic graphene
Graphene, a one-atom thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, has many desirable properties. Magnetism alas is not one of them. Magnetism can be induced in graphene by doping it with magnetic impurities, but this doping tends to disrupt graphene's electronic properties.
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Electronic circuits with reconfigurable pathways closer to reality
Multitasking circuits capable of reconfiguring themselves in real time and switching functions as the need arises—this is the promising application stemming from a discovery made at EPFL and published in Nature Nanotechnology. Other potential uses: miniaturizing our electronic devices and developing resilient circuits.
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 | Researchers use oxides to flip graphene conductivity
Graphene, a one-atom thick lattice of carbon atoms, is often touted as a revolutionary material that will take the place of silicon at the heart of electronics. The unmatched speed at which it can move electrons, plus its essentially two-dimensional form factor, make it an attractive alternative, but several hurdles to its adoption remain.
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 | Nanoshuttle wear and tear: It's the mileage, not the age
As nanomachine design rapidly advances, researchers are moving from wondering if the nanomachine works to how long it will work. This is an especially important question as there are so many potential applications, for instance, for medical uses, including drug delivery, early diagnosis, disease monitoring, instrumentation, and surgery. In a new study led by Henry Hess, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering, researchers observed a molecular shuttle powered by kinesin motor proteins and found it to degrade when operating, marking the first time, they say, that degradation has been studied in detail in an active, autonomous nanomachine.
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 | Visualizing interacting electrons in a molecule
Scientists at Aalto University and the University of Zurich have succeeded in directly imaging how electrons interact within a single molecule.
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 | Engineering self-assembling amyloid fibers
Nature has many examples of self-assembly, and bioengineers are interested in copying or manipulating these systems to create useful new materials or devices. Amyloid proteins, for example, can self-assemble into the tangled plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease—but similar proteins can also form very useful materials, such as spider silk, or biofilms around living cells. Researchers at UC Davis and Rice University have now come up with methods to manipulate natural proteins so that they self-assemble into amyloid fibrils.
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 | Promising use of nanodiamonds to kill chemoresistant cancer stem cells more effectively
A study led by the National University of Singapore (NUS) found that attaching chemotherapy drug Epirubicin to nanodiamonds effectively eliminates chemoresistant cancer stem cells. The findings were first published online in ACS Nano, the official journal of the American Chemical Society, in December 2014.
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 | Nano scale research could yield better ways to identify and track malignant cells
As a young physicist in the former Soviet Union, Igor Sokolov studied the biggest of the big—the entire universe. Now, as a professor of mechanical engineering at Tufts, he's focused on the tiny, the nano. By zooming in—way, way in—Sokolov and his colleagues study everything from bacteria to beetles down to the nanoscale level. Now he's turned a fresh eye on one of medicine's oldest problems: cancer.
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Physics news
 | Entanglement on a chip: Breakthrough promises secure communications and faster computers
Unlike Bilbo's magic ring, which entangles human hearts, engineers have created a new micro-ring that entangles individual particles of light, an important first step in a whole host of new technologies.
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 | Physicist suggests new experiments could make or break axion as dark matter theory
(Phys.org)—Leslie Rosenberg, a physicist with the University of Washington has published a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, describing the current state of research that involves investigating the possibility that axions are what make up dark matter. He also offers some perspective on the work suggesting that at least one project is likely to lead to either proving or disproving that axions are dark matter.
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 | Engineering discovery brings invisibility closer to reality
Since the beginning of recorded time, humans have used materials found in nature to improve their lot. Since the turn of this century, scientists have studied metamaterials, artificial materials engineered to bend electromagnetic, acoustic and other types of waves in ways not possible in nature.
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 | Structure control unlocks magnetization and polarization simultaneously
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have controlled the structure of a material to simultaneously generate both magnetisation and electrical polarisation, an advance which has potential applications in information storage and processing.
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Hybrid memory device for superconducting computing
A team of NIST scientists has devised and demonstrated a novel nanoscale memory technology for superconducting computing that could hasten the advent of an urgently awaited, low-energy alternative to power-hungry conventional data centers and supercomputers.
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 | Prototype for first traceable PET-MR phantom
As cancer diagnostic tools, a new class of imagers – which combines positron-emission tomography (PET) with magnetic resonance imaging (MR or MRI) – has shown promise in the few years since these hybrid machines have been commercially available. But to thoroughly assess PET-MR scanners' clinical performance, researchers will need to calibrate the machines in a way that is traceable to a national standard.
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 | New portable vacuum standard
A novel Portable Vacuum Standard (PVS) has been added to the roster of NIST's Standard Reference Instruments (SRI). It is now available for purchase as part of NIST's ongoing commitment to disseminate measurement standards and thereby reduce the need for the expensive and time-consuming process of transporting customer instruments to NIST for calibration.
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Earth news
 | Global warming doubles risk of extreme La Nina event, study shows
The risk of extreme La Niña events in the Pacific Ocean could double due to global warming, new research has shown.
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 | Warm ocean melting East Antarctica's largest glacier
The largest glacier in East Antarctica, containing ice equivalent to a six-metre (20-foot) rise in global sea levels, is melting due to warm ocean water, Australian scientists said on Monday.
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 | Climate models disagree on why temperature 'wiggles' occur
A new Duke University-led study finds that most climate models likely underestimate the degree of decade-to-decade variability occurring in mean surface temperatures as Earth's atmosphere warms. The models also provide inconsistent explanations of why this variability occurs in the first place.
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 | Winters in Siberian permafrost regions have warmed since millenia
For the first time, researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute have successfully decoded climate data from old permafrost ground ice and reconstructed the development of winter temperatures in Russia's Lena River Delta. Their conclusions: over the past 7,000 years, winter temperatures in the Siberian permafrost regions have gradually risen. The study will be published today on Nature Geoscience's website.
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 | Australia orders waste dumping ban on Great Barrier Reef
Australia has ordered a ban on dumping dredge waste on most of the Great Barrier Reef, the environment minister said Saturday, as part of a push to stop the UN declaring the site in danger.
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 | UN moves toward major treaty for ocean biodiversity
UN member states agreed Saturday to begin negotiations on a treaty to protect marine biodiversity in ocean areas extending beyond territorial waters, in a move heralded by environmental organizations.
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 | British lawmakers demand freeze on fracking
A committee of British lawmakers demanded a national moratorium on fracking due to environmental concerns on Monday, ahead of a crucial vote intended to boost the shale gas industry.
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 | Ocean could hold the key to predicting recurring extreme winters
Research at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) may help to predict extreme winters across Europe by identifying the set of environmental conditions that are associated with pairs of severe winters across consecutive years.
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 | 2014 confirmed as one of the warmest years on record globally
Provisional full-year global mean temperature figures show 2014 was one of the warmest years in a record dating back to 1850.
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 | Study finds how weathermen get their forecasts wrong
The night before the Israel Defense Forces' 1976 mission rescuing over 200 hostages from hijackers in Entebbe, Uganda, Tel Aviv University's Prof. Pinhas Alpert, then head of an Israel Air Force base forecasting unit, provided intelligence that was critical to the success of the operation—the weather conditions commandos were likely to encounter en route and on the ground. Had his information been incorrect, the mission might have ended quite differently.
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 | Satellite witnesses developing US nor'easter
National Weather Service forecasters have been tracking a low pressure area that moved from the Midwest into the Atlantic Ocean today, and is expected to become a strong nor'easter that will bring blizzard conditions to the northeastern U.S. The path of the system was captured in a NASA movie of NOAA's GOES-East satellite imagery.
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 | Regulators order pipeline upgrades after Montana oil spill
Federal regulators on Friday ordered a pipeline company to make major upgrades to a line that spilled almost 40,000 gallons of oil into Montana's Yellowstone River and fouled a local water supply.
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 | Major storm threatens Northeast with up to 2 feet of snow
Cities across the Northeast mobilized snowplows and airlines canceled thousands of flights Monday as a potentially historic storm pushed its way up the Philadelphia-to-Boston corridor with what forecasters said could be up to 2 feet of snow.
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Montana oil spill estimate lowered to 30,000 gallons
Authorities have lowered their estimate of how much oil spilled from a broken pipeline beneath the Yellowstone River in eastern Montana, briefly contaminating the water supply of a city downstream.
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Astronomy & Space news
 | Cosmic puzzle settled: Comets give us shooting stars
Suspicions that shooting stars come from comet dust, transformed into fiery streaks as they hit Earth's atmosphere, have been bolstered by Europe's Rosetta space mission, scientists reported Monday.
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 | Gigantic ring system around J1407b much larger, heavier than Saturn's
Astronomers at the Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands, and the University of Rochester, USA, have discovered that the ring system that they see eclipse the very young Sun-like star J1407 is of enormous proportions, much larger and heavier than the ring system of Saturn. The ring system - the first of its kind to be found outside our solar system - was discovered in 2012 by a team led by Rochester's Eric Mamajek.
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 | Elon Musk's SpaceX drops lawsuit against Air Force
A spacecraft company run by billionaire Elon Musk has dropped a lawsuit alleging the U.S. Air Force improperly awarded a contract to launch military satellites to a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
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 | NASA craft set to beam home close-ups of Pluto
Nine years after leaving Earth, the New Horizons spacecraft is at last drawing close to Pluto and on Sunday was expected to start shooting photographs of the dwarf planet.
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 | A recoiling, supermassive black hole
When galaxies collide, the central supermassive black holes that reside at their cores will end up orbiting one another in a binary pair, at least according to current simulations. Einstein's general theory of relativity predicts that masses in a binary system should radiate gravitational waves, analogous to the way that accelerating electrical charges radiate electromagnetic waves but very much weaker.
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 | Helicopter could be 'scout' for Mars rovers
Getting around on Mars is tricky business. Each NASA rover has delivered a wealth of information about the history and composition of the Red Planet, but a rover's vision is limited by the view of onboard cameras, and images from spacecraft orbiting Mars are the only other clues to where to drive it. To have a better sense of where to go and what's worth studying on Mars, it could be useful to have a low-flying scout.
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 | Swarm of microprobes to head for Jupiter
A swarm of tiny probes each with a different sensor could be fired into the clouds of Jupiter and grab data as they fall before burning up in the gas giant planet's atmosphere. The probes would last an estimated 15 minutes according to planetary scientists writing in the International Journal Space Science and Engineering. Transmitting 20 megabits of data over fifteen minutes would be sufficient to allows scientists to get a picture of a large part of the atmosphere of the planet.
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 | Boeing, SpaceX will beat Russia on price for astronaut rides (Update 2)
NASA expects to save millions of dollars sending astronauts to the International Space Station, once its commercial crew program starts flying in a couple of years.
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 | Black hole chokes on a swallowed star
A five-year analysis of an event captured by a tiny telescope at McDonald Observatory and followed up by telescopes on the ground and in space has led astronomers to believe they witnessed a giant black hole tear apart a star. The work is published this month in The Astrophysical Journal.
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 | Huge asteroid 2004 BL86 to fly by Earth
Asteroid 2004 BL86, slated to swoosh by Earth on Jan. 26, is the largest known body to pass near our home planet until 2027. But there's no need to panic as the astronomers estimate that the 500 meters-wide space rock will pass by Earth at a safe distance of about three LD (lunar distances) - that's 1.2 million km from us. "We can indeed safely say that there is no chance - in the next 100 years - that this object will hit [Earth]," Detlef Koschny, head of the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Segment in the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) programme office at ESA, told astrowatch.net. The upcoming fly-by will also be a great opportunity for scientists and amateur astronomers to observe the rocky visitor from outer space allowing them to gather valuable scientific data and to obtain detailed images.
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 | Spacecraft Integral manoeuvres for the future
Since 2002, ESA's Integral spacecraft has been observing some of the most violent events in the Universe, including gamma-ray bursts and black holes. While it still has years of life ahead, its fuel will certainly run out one day.
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 | Mysteries in Nili Fossae
These new images from the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA's Mars Express show Nili Fossae, one of the most enticing regions on Mars. This 'graben system' lies northeast of the volcanic region of Syrtis Major on the northwestern edge of the large Isidis impact basin – and intriguing hints of methane have been seen here.
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 | NASA marching towards milestone test firing of space launch system booster
The first solid rocket booster qualification motor for NASA's mammoth new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is aimed and ready to fire in a major ground test after NASA and ATK finished its installation at a test stand in Utah, and confirms that the pace of SLS development is gaining momentum.
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 | CATS experiment installed on the exterior of the International Space Station
"Robotic controllers let the CATS out of the bag!" So says NASA spokesman Dan Huot in a cool new NASA timelapse video showing in detail how CATS crawled around the space stations gangly exterior and clawed its way into its new home – topped off with a breathtaking view of our home planet that will deliver science benefits to us down below.
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 | There's a crack forming on Rosetta's 67P: Is it breaking up?
Not all comets break up as they vent and age, but for Rosetta's comet 67P, the Rubber Duckie comet, a crack in the neck raises concerns. Some comets may just fizzle and uniformly expel their volatiles throughout their surfaces. They may become like puffballs, shrink some but remain intact.
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 | Image: Jupiter's cratered moon, Callisto
The speckled object depicted here is Callisto, Jupiter's second largest moon. This image was taken in May 2001 by NASA's Galileo spacecraft, which studied Jupiter and its moons from 1995 until 2003.
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 | NOAA's DSCOVR going to a 'far out' orbit
Many satellites that monitor the Earth orbit relatively close to the planet, while some satellites that monitor the sun orbit our star. DSCOVR will keep an eye on both, with a focus on the sun. To cover both the Earth and sun, it will have an unusual orbit in a place called L1.
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Technology news
 | Microsoft HoloLens goggles captivate with holograms
Microsoft's HoloLens goggles have hit a sweet spot between Google Glass and virtual reality headgear, immersing users in a mesmerizing world of augmented reality holograms.
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 | Standalone wireless info display device an easy fit
A Latvian team has come up with a good-looking WiFi display device, connecting to the Internet using WiFi, which runs on a high-capacity built-in battery and tracks what's important to you. This is a standalone notifier from the Draugiem Group, a team of engineers, software developers and designers. The company is a Latvian business focused on home automation, GPS tracking and telemetry. Draugiem Group consists of 14 companies and over 100 employees. Services include SMS marketing solutions, telemetry and GPS devices, web applications, and television platform with social media integration. Displio is customizable and standalone. You are presented with a collection of widgets and you choose which information matters most—stocks, dentist appointments, tracking shipments, e-mail, Twitter, traffic conditions, for example. A built in speaker gets your attention when important notifications arrive.
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 | Smart scarf carries multimodal language to convey emotions
A rise in wearables reflects an interest by designers and engineers to tread in self-help, fitness territory—smart watches to measure heart rates, medallions strapped to chests, biometric shirts. Now research from a University of Maryland researcher and Microsoft Research team has come up with a wearable concept that could aid in interpreting emotions. They are exploring the potential of wearable "affective technology" that may help people reflect on their own emotional state, modify their affect, and interpret the emotional states of others. The form factor is a scarf, and it is designed to respond to signals gathered from sensors via Bluetooth. People with impairments, for instance, may not receive important visual or verbal cues of others' emotions. The researchers identified six actuations to provide a multimodal language for conveying emotion – heat, cooling, music, weights, vibration, and lighting. The device can react ! to various emotions. They focused on basic emotions: stressed, sad, calm, happy, and excited.
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 | How can we protect our information in the era of cloud computing?
Private information would be much more secure if individuals moved away from cloud-based storage towards peer-to-peer systems, where data is stored in a variety of ways and across a variety of sites, argues a University of Cambridge researcher.
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 | Weighing gas with sound and microwaves
NIST scientists have developed a novel method to rapidly and accurately calibrate gas flow meters, such as those used to measure natural gas flowing in pipelines, by applying a fundamental physical principle: When a sound wave travels through a gas containing temperature gradients, the sound wave's average speed is determined by the average temperature of the gas.
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 | IBM "flatly denies" report of mass layoffs
Calling it "ridiculous" and "baseless," IBM on Monday dismissed a report that said the technology giant plans to lay off 1 in 4 of its workers, or 100,000 people.
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 | Davos elites warned about catastrophic cyberattacks
Attacks on power plants, telecommunications and financial systems, even turning all of Los Angeles' traffic lights green: Davos elites were warned Saturday of the terrifying possibilities of modern cyber terrorism.
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Viacom CEO's 2014 pay rises 19 percent to $44.3 million
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman's pay climbed 19 percent to $44.3 million last year while the TV-and-film company's stock slumped and its earnings remained flat.
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 | Fueled by oil, agriculture sector welcomes low diesel prices
The recent plunge in fuel prices has been a welcome relief across the agricultural sector, helping ease the pain of low grain prices for growers and boosting profits for cattle ranchers.
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Technology improves avalanche gear for backcountry skiers
As outdoor recreation companies increasingly cater to skiers and snowboarders who like to venture beyond the groomed slopes at ski resorts and tackle backcountry terrain, they've put a special emphasis on gear and equipment to keep people safe in case of avalanches.
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Home cheap home: Vietnam architect's quest for low-cost housing
Vo Van Duong's bamboo and coconut leaf house looks much like others deep in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. But unlike them, his seemingly simple abode is designed to withstand typhoons, flooding and earthquakes—and at a cost of less than $4,000 could herald a new wave of cheap, sustainable housing.
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 | Navy wants to increase use of sonar-emitting buoys
The U.S. Navy is seeking permits to expand sonar and other training exercises off the Pacific Coast, a proposal raising concerns from animal advocates who say that more sonar-emitting buoys would harm whales and other creatures that live in the water.
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 | Five ways unmanned drones could affect the American food supply
Herding cattle. Counting fish. Taking an animal's temperature. Applying pesticides.
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 | China's online population nears 650 million
The number of Internet users in China has risen to nearly 650 million, authorities said over the weekend, as the world's largest online population continues to rise.
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 | Malaysia Air site hacked, some customer data appears online
Hackers defaced the website of Malaysia Airlines on Monday and threatened to dump stolen information online after posting a glimpse of customer data obtained in the attack.
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 | Law enforcement wants popular police-tracking app disabled
Law enforcement is concerned that the popular Waze mobile traffic app by Google Inc., which provides real-time road conditions, can also be used to hunt and harm police.
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NFL, YouTube partner to post official clips to video site
America's most popular pro sports league and YouTube announced a partnership Monday between two of the most powerful brands in the marketplace, creating an official NFL channel on the video website.
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 | Facebook unveils 'lite' app for emerging markets
Facebook said Monday it is testing a lightweight version of its mobile app for mobile phones with poor-quality Internet connections in emerging markets.
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Motorola unveils three smart phones for return to China
Motorola unveiled three smartphone models on Monday for its return to China following a two-year absence from the most populous mobile phone market.
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Review: Good price, limited functions with online Sling TV
Satellite TV provider Dish Network made a splash this month when it unveiled an online alternative with fewer channels and a lower price tag than its regular service. The Sling TV option is aimed at people who have dropped their cable or satellite packages or never had either.
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 | Improvements in transistors will make flexible plastic computers a reality
Researchers at Japan's National Institute for Materials Science revealed that improvements should soon be expected in the manufacture of transistors that can be used, for example, to make flexible, paper-thin computer screens.
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 | Cuban youth build secret computer network despite Wi-Fi ban
Cut off from the Internet, young Cubans have quietly linked thousands of computers into a hidden network that stretches miles across Havana, letting them chat with friends, play games and download hit movies in a mini-replica of the online world that most can't access.
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 | Undersea pipes "shoulder" anchoring duties
Research off the north-west coast shows undersea pipelines tend to bury themselves in the seabed quicker than expected after they are deployed, resulting in potential cost savings for the petroleum industry.
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 | Drug delivery drones shouldn't surprise us – smugglers have used everything else
It will come as no surprise to anyone that drugs are big business, so when a drone crashed in a car park of a US border town weighed down with several kilos of narcotics, it was just another example of smugglers taking advantage of the latest in technology.
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 | Secure monitoring subsystem proves effective in thwarting cyber attacks on drones
Engineering researchers from the University of Virginia and the Georgia Institute of Technology have successfully flight-tested scenarios that could threaten drones, including ground-based cyber-attacks.
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 | New step towards future production of solar fuels
One way of storing solar energy is to transform the energy directly into a fuel. Researchers at Uppsala University have shown a reaction which makes the process of creating fuel from solar energy more efficient and less energy demanding.
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 | Converting olive mash into cash
An experimental system to create heat and power with waste from olive oil processing is up-and-running in Spain. Carina Lagergren, a researcher from Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology, says the system shows a promising way forward for reducing environmental damage and converting organic waste to energy.
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 | Practicing nursing care in a virtual world
Oculus Rift, a gaming headset, can help teach nurses how to communicate better, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have found.
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 | Catch the northern lights with your mobile
Updates on the best opportunities to spot the Northern Lights in the UK are now available on a mobile phone app developed in association with scientists at Lancaster University.
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 | New programming language for fast simulations
Norwegian researchers have developed an entirely new language for faster programming and simulations.
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 | How we can each fight cybercrime with smarter habits
Hackers gain access to computers and networks by exploiting the weaknesses in our cyber behaviors. Many attacks use simple phishing schemes – the hacker sends an email that appears to come from a trusted source, encouraging the recipient to click a seemingly innocuous hyperlink or attachment. Clicking will launch malware and open backdoors that can be used for nefarious actions: accessing a company's network or serving as a virtual zombie for launching attacks on other computers and servers.
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 | China takes over lead from Europe in 2013 photovoltaic installations
A booming photovoltaic market in Asia has propelled China to a global leader in photovoltaic energy installations in 2013, according to the latest edition of the JRC's PV Status Report. The EU has retained its domination in cumulative installed capacity - its total of 80.7 GW represents a 57 % share of the world's 140 GW of solar photovoltaic electricity generation capacity at the end of 2013. However, this is down from a 70% share in 2012, reflecting Europe's stagnating market.
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Coinbase opens first US regulated bitcoin exchange
Bitcoin wallet operator Coinbase announced Monday it opened the first regulated US exchange for the alternative currency.
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 | WikiLeaks accuses Google of handing over emails to US
Whistleblowing site WikiLeaks on Monday accused Google of handing over the emails and electronic data of its senior staff to the US authorities without providing notification until almost three years later.
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 | Microsoft profit dips as revenue rises
Microsoft on Monday reported that its quarterly profit dipped as revenue increased with help from sales of Surface tablets, Xbox One consoles and cloud services.
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Turkish court orders Facebook pages blocked
Turkey's state-run news agency says a court has ordered authorities to block access in the country to Facebook pages that "insult" the Prophet Muhammad, in the latest move to censor the Internet.
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Algorithm reveals the electricity consumption of individual appliances
Opportunities to save energy become apparent once you can determine energy consumption of single appliances without extra measurement effort. A newly developed algorithm provides assistance on the path to greater energy awareness.
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 | Man takes responsibility for drone over White House
A small drone flying low to the ground crashed onto the White House grounds before dawn Monday, triggering a major emergency response and raising fresh questions about security at the presidential mansion. A man later came forward to say he was responsible and didn't mean to fly it over the complex.
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Uber caps surge pricing during winter storm
Want a ride home from car service Uber during the major snowstorm descending on the Northeast on Monday? Expect to pay more than the usual fare.
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 | Border Protection lends a hand for Super Bowl security
Black Hawk helicopters and truck-sized X-ray machines that are typically deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border have been brought to the Super Bowl venue to assist with the security effort.
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Chemistry news
 | How ionic: Scaffolding is in charge of calcium carbonate crystals
Nature packs away carbon in chalk, shells and rocks made by marine organisms that crystallize calcium carbonate. Now, research suggests that the soft, organic scaffolds in which such crystals form guide crystallization by soaking up the calcium like an "ion sponge," according to new work in Nature Materials. Understanding the process better may help researchers develop advanced materials for energy and environmental uses, such as for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
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 | Cell imaging gets colorful
The detection and imaging of protein-protein interactions in live cells just got a lot more colourful, thanks to a new technology developed by University of Alberta chemist Dr. Robert E. Campbell and his team.
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 | New strategy to combat 'undruggable' cancer molecule
Three of the four most fatal cancers are caused by a protein known as Ras; either because it mutates or simply because it ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ras has proven an elusive target for scientist trying to cure the deadly diseases. Now a group from the Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen have discovered an unknown way for RAS to find its proper place in the cell. Their discovery may lead to completely novel approaches to curing cancer.
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 | Chemists find a way to unboil eggs
UC Irvine and Australian chemists have figured out how to unboil egg whites – an innovation that could dramatically reduce costs for cancer treatments, food production and other segments of the $160 billion global biotechnology industry, according to findings published today in the journal ChemBioChem.
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 | 3-D enzyme model provides new tool for anti-inflammatory drug development
Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) enzymes are known to play a role in many inflammatory diseases, including asthma, arthritis and atherosclerosis. It then stands to reason that PLA2 inhibitors could represent a new class of anti-inflammatory medication. To better understand PLA2 enzymes and help drive therapeutic drug development, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine developed 3D computer models that show exactly how two PLA2 enzymes extract their substrates from cellular membranes. The new tool is described in a paper published online the week of Jan. 26 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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 | Programmed synthesis towards multi-substituted benzene derivatives
Chemists at the Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University and the JST-ERATO Project have developed a new method to accomplish the programmed synthesis of benzene derivatives with five or six different functional groups that enables access to novel functional organic materials that could not have been reached before.
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 | Chromium-centered cycloparaphenylene rings for making functionalized nanocarbons
A team of chemists at Nagoya University has synthesized novel transition metal-complexed cycloparaphenylenes (CPPs) that enable selective monofunctionalization of CPPs for the first time, opening doors to the construction of unprecedented nanocarbons.
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Biology news
 | Ribose-seq identifies and locates ribonucleotides in genomic DNA
Ribonucleotides, units of RNA, can become embedded in genomic DNA during processes such as DNA replication and repair, affecting the stability of the genome by contributing to DNA fragility and mutability. Scientists have known about the presence of ribonucleotides in DNA, but until now had not been able to determine exactly what they are and where they are located in the DNA sequences.
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 | Researchers image and measure tubulin transport in cilia
Defective cilia can lead to a host of diseases and conditions in the human body—from rare, inherited bone malformations to blindness, male infertility, kidney disease and obesity. Scientists knew that somehow these tiny cell organelles become deformed and cause these diseases because of a problem related to their assembly, which requires the translocation of vast quantities of the vital cell protein tubulin. What they didn't know was how tubulin and another cell organelle known as flagella fit into the process.
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Researchers identify new mechanism to aid cells under stress
A team of biologists from NYU and Harvard has identified new details in a cellular mechanism that serves as a defense against stress. The findings potentially offer insights into tumor progression and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's—the cell's inability to respond to stress is a major cause of these diseases.
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Genetic safety switches could help curb potential bioterror risks
The potential threat of bioterrorism using man-made biological organisms could be reduced, thanks to a new method developed by scientists.
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 | Ivory mafia: how criminal gangs are killing Africa's elephants
Shortly before 11 am on the last Saturday in May, a heavily laden white Mitsubishi truck pulled into the Fuji Motors East Africa car dealership in an industrial neighbourhood on the northern edge of Mombasa.
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 | Millions of GMO insects could be set loose in Florida Keys (Update)
Millions of genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in the Florida Keys if British researchers win approval to use the bugs against two extremely painful viral diseases.
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 | Obama recommends extended wilderness zone in Alaska
US President Barack Obama said Sunday he would recommend a large swath of Alaska be designated as wilderness, the highest level of federal protection, in a move likely to anger oil proponents.
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 | Cells take sole responsibility for Merkel cell maintenance
Researchers have identified a population of "progenitor" cells in the skin that are solely responsible for the generation and maintenance of touch-sensing Merkel cells. The study appears in The Journal of Cell Biology.
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Scientists shed further new light on biomass breakdown
Scientists at the University of York are part of a research team which has found that a recently discovered family of enzymes can degrade resistant forms of starch.
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Researchers find unusually elastic protein
Scientists at Heidelberg University have discovered an unusually elastic protein in one of the most ancient groups of animals, the over 600-million-year-old cnidarians. The protein is a part of the "weapons system" that the cnidarians use: a kind of harpoon launched from their body at extremely high speed. The discovery of the hitherto unknown protein in the freshwater polyp Hydra suggests that the molecular mechanism of elasticity could have originated in the cnidarians and evolved to discharge a deadly weapon. Due to the similarity of the protein's amino acid sequence to spidroin of spider silk, the researchers from the Centre for Organismal Studies dubbed the elastic protein cnidoin. The results of the research were published in the journal BMC Biology.
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 | A tendency to follow the herd rather than whistleblow may be part of our evolutionary past
Whistleblowing performs a public service that is celebrated in the media, condoned by the public, and increasingly protected by the government. So why are we so reluctant to do it? Recent research we published in the Journal of Theoretical Biology suggests the opposing tendency to complicity may have roots in our evolutionary past.
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 | Heavier sheep a refuge for drench-susceptible worms
Leaving heavier Merino ewes untreated for worms while treating their skinnier counterparts may help combat drench-resistant worms, research suggests.
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 | Research shows loss of pollinators increases risk of malnutrition and disease
A new study shows that more than half the people in some developing countries could become newly at risk for malnutrition if crop-pollinating animals—like bees—continue to decline.
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Study finds rabies booster defends pets with out-of-date vaccination against the disease
A new study by Kansas State University veterinary diagnosticians finds that pets with out-of-date rabies vaccinations are very unlikely to develop the fatal disease if given a rabies booster immediately after exposure to the virus.
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 | Sagebrush ecosystem recovery hobbled by loss of soil complexity at development sites
In big sagebrush country, re-establishing the ecosystem's namesake shrub may jump-start the recovery process more successfully after oil and gas development than sowing grass-dominated reclamation seed mixes typically used to quickly re-vegetate bare soil on well pads, report two Colorado scientists in the January 2015 issue of Ecological Applications, released today.
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 | Ophthalmologist performs surgery to help save young cheetah's eye
Dr. Léart Petrick, a Windhoek eye specialist with a practise focused on serving humans, recently travelled to Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) to perform an operation on a different kind of patient. Khayjay, a four-and-a-half-year-old cheetah that has lived at CCF since he was three weeks of age, successfully underwent a 45-minute surgery to address a chronic, debilitating eye problem.
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The elephant poaching business in numbers
From the pittance paid to local poachers to a multi-billion dollar industry, here are some of the key numbers related to Africa's endangered elephants:
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 | Uganda seizes massive ivory and pangolin haul
Ugandan wildlife officers have seized a huge haul of elephant ivory and pangolin scales, representing the deaths of hundreds of endangered animals, police said Sunday.
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 | Soundness exams, genetic testing improve herd performance
The value of a herd bull is determined not just by his genetic merit, but also by the number of calves he may or may not sire, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist.
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Medicine & Health news
 | Live long and prosper? Decoupling lifespan and healthspan in aging research
(Medical Xpress)—A long-standing assumption in aging research, and therefore in resulting antiaging interventions, is that modifying genetic and environmental factors to extend lifespan also increases healthspan – the length of time an organism is in optimal health. As it turns out, however, that assumption has escaped scientific scrutiny due largely to its apparent validity. Recently, scientists at University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) examined this assumption, and thereby the life-/healthspan relationship, by investigating multiple lifespan-modulating signaling pathways – mechanisms in which ligands (ions or molecules) bind to receptors, resulting in altered cellular responses – in the wild type and four long-lived mutants (insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1, dietary restriction, protein translation, and mitochondrial signaling) of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, a species studied for over two decades! in aging research. They found that all long-lived mutants spent a higher percentage of their extended lifespan in a frail, rather than healthy, state. The scientists therefore conclude that aging research must include additional factors beyond lifespan alone.
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 | Brain circuit that regulates thirst identified
Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have identified a circuit in the brains of mice that regulates thirst. When a subset of cells in the circuit is switched on, mice immediately begin drinking water, even if they are fully hydrated. A second set of cells suppresses the urge to drink.
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 | Video shows blind mother seeing baby for first time
A video that went viral this week showed a legally blind mother in Canada getting to look at her newborn child for the first time thanks to vision-enhancing glasses.
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 | Brazil finds coffee protein with morphine effect
Brazilian scientists have discovered a protein in coffee that has effects similar to pain reliever morphine, researchers at the state University of Brasilia (UnB) and state-owned Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation Embrapa said Saturday.
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 | Medical pot only OK for sick kids failed by other drugs: MDs
With virtually no hard proof that medical marijuana benefits sick children, and evidence that it may harm developing brains, the drug should only be used for severely ill kids who have no other treatment option, the nation's most influential pediatricians group says in a new policy.
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 | Flexible work schedules improve health, sleep
Giving employees more control over their work schedules may help curb sleep deficiency, according to health researchers.
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 | Stress during pregnancy can affect fetal development
Stress hormones in the mother can affect foetal development, according to a study published today in The Journal of Physiology.
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 | Team creates device to alleviate dry eye
A search for medical needs in eye clinics led Stanford Biodesign fellows to develop an implantable neurostimulator that painlessly increases natural tear production.
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 | Researchers say they resolved century-old argument about brain
What started a few years ago as a brain-imaging study turned into a scientific mystery that eventually ended in the basement of the Lane Medical Library, within the pages of a book first published in 1881 and last checked out in 1912.
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 | Research shows infants are able to remember more than originally thought
If you were verbally given a list of random items at the grocery store to purchase, could you remember everything without writing it down?
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 | Higher dementia risk linked to more use of common drugs
A large study links a significantly increased risk for developing dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, to taking commonly used medications with anticholinergic effects at higher doses or for a longer time. Many older people take these medications, which include nonprescription diphenhydramine (Benadryl). JAMA Internal Medicine published the report, called "Cumulative Use of Strong Anticholinergic Medications and Incident Dementia."
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 | Largest-ever autism genome study finds most siblings have different autism-risk genes
The largest-ever autism genome study, funded by Autism Speaks, reveals that the disorder's genetic underpinnings are even more complex than previously thought: Most siblings who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have different autism-linked genes.
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 | How your friends might help you avoid flu
A study of social networks has yielded clues about how best to improve vaccination rates for influenza.
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 | How cancer turns good cells to the dark side
Cancer uses a little-understood element of cell signaling to hijack the communication process and spread, according to Rice University researchers.
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 | Support cells in the brain offer a new strategy to boost memory
A study by scientists from the Gladstone Institutes shows that decreasing the number of A2A adenosine receptors in a particular type of brain cells called astrocytes improved memory in healthy mice. What's more, reducing receptor levels also prevented memory impairments in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.
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 | Study reveals how a cancer-causing virus blocks human immune response
Scientists at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of California at San Francisco have revealed how a type of cancer-causing virus outwits the human body's immune response. The discovery might help explain why some cancer therapies fail to treat certain cancers and might lead to more effective treatments.
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 | Antiangiogenesis drugs could make major improvement in tuberculosis treatment
Use of the same antiangiogenesis drugs that have improved treatment of some cancers could also help surmount persistent difficulties in treating tuberculosis (TB). In their PNAS Early Edition report, investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) show that blood vessels supplying pulmonary granulomas - dense masses of immune cells that surround pockets of the TB bacteria in the lungs of infected patients - have the same sort of structural and functional abnormalities seen in solid tumors and that treatment with the antiangiogenesis drug bevacizumab (Avastin) significantly improved delivery of a small-molecule drug surrogate within granulomas in an animal model.
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