Science X Newsletter Wednesday, Jan 28

COMSOL Server Now Available to Run Simulation Apps:http://goo.gl/q18ysC

Check out the Release Highlights to learn more about COMSOL Multiphysics version 5.0, COMSOL Server, and the Application Builder.

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for January 28, 2015:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- 'NanoSuit': Researchers use nano-coating to allow for electron microscopy of living insects 
- Researchers find evolutionary reasons for homosexual behavior in beetles 
- Researchers find social lifestyle also helps mole rats live a long time 
- Researchers use sound to slow down, speed up, and block light 
- Missing link in metal physics explains Earth's magnetic field 
- Quantum computer as detector shows space is not squeezed 
- Some potentially habitable planets began as gaseous, Neptune-like worlds 
- Nanoscale mirrored cavities amplify, connect quantum memories
- 55,000-year-old skull links modern man in vicinity of Neanderthals 
- Everything you wanted to know about mitochondrial mutations but were afraid to ask 
- Spider electro-combs its sticky nano-filaments 
- The two faces of Mars 
- Spiky 'hedgehog particles' for safer paints, fewer VOC emissions 
- Large study uncovers molecular alterations in head and neck cancers 
- Epigenetic drug boosts chemotherapy's efficacy in some lung cancers 

Nanotechnology news

	'NanoSuit': Researchers use nano-coating to allow for electron microscopy of living insects (Phys.org)—A team of researchers with members from several institutions in Japan has found a way to allow for using scanning electron microscopes (ESM) on living insects—encase them in a nanosuit. In their paper published in Proceedings of The Royal Society B, the team describes the coating they used and how effective it was when used on a variety of insects.
	High-resolution patterns of quantum dots with e-jet printing A team of 17 materials science and engineering researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign and Erciyes University in Turkey have authored "High-Resolution Patterns of Quantum Dots are Formed by Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing for Light-Emitting Diodes." Their paper was published in Nano Letters, an ACS journal. They demonstrated the materials and operating conditions that allow for high-resolution printing of layers of quantum dots with precise control over thickness and submicron lateral resolution and capabilities, for use as active layers of QD light-emitting diodes. They wrote, "Patterning QDs with precise control of their thicknesses and nanoscale lateral dimensions represent two critical capabilities for advanced applications. The thickness can be controlled through a combination of printing parameters including the size of the nozzle, the stage speed, ink composition, and voltage bias."
	Demystifying nanocrystal solar cells ETH researchers have developed a comprehensive model to explain how electrons flow inside new types of solar cells made of tiny crystals. The model allows for a better understanding of such cells and may help to increase their efficiency.
	Holes in valence bands of nanodiamonds discovered Nanodiamonds are tiny crystals only a few nanometers in size. While they possess the crystalline structure of diamonds, their properties diverge considerably from those of their big brothers, because their surfaces play a dominant role in comparison to their extremely small volumes. Suspended in aqueous solutions, they could function as taxis for active substances in biomedical applications, for example, or be used as catalysts for splitting water.

Physics news

	Nanoscale mirrored cavities amplify, connect quantum memories The idea of computing systems based on controlling atomic spins just got a boost from new research performed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory. By constructing tiny "mirrors" to trap light around impurity atoms in diamond crystals, the team dramatically increased the efficiency with which photons transmit information about those atoms' electronic spin states, which can be used to store quantum information. Such spin-photon interfaces are thought to be essential for connecting distant quantum memories, which could open the door to quantum computers and long-distance cryptographic systems.
	Researchers use sound to slow down, speed up, and block light How do you make an optical fiber transmit light only one way? Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have experimentally demonstrated, for the first time, the phenomenon of Brillouin Scattering Induced Transparency (BSIT), which can be used to slow down, speed up, and block light in an optical waveguide. The BSIT phenomenon permits light to travel in the forward direction while light traveling in the backward direction is strongly absorbed. This non-reciprocal behavior is essential for building isolators and circulators that are indispensible tools in an optical designer's toolkit.
	Quantum computer as detector shows space is not squeezed Ever since Einstein proposed his special theory of relativity in 1905, physics and cosmology have been based on the assumption that space looks the same in all directions - that it's not squeezed in one direction relative to another.
	Missing link in metal physics explains Earth's magnetic field Earth's magnetic field is crucial for our existence, as it shields the life on our planet's surface from deadly cosmic rays. It is generated by turbulent motions of liquid iron in Earth's core. Iron is a metal, which means it can easily conduct a flow of electrons that makes up an electric current. New findings from a team including Carnegie's Ronald Cohen and Peng Zhang shows that a missing piece of the traditional theory explaining why metals become less conductive when they are heated was needed to complete the puzzle that explains this field-generating process. Their work is published in Nature.
	Experimental proof of an interferometric orbital angular momentum mode multiplexer/demultiplexer Researchers at PoliCom, Politecnico di Milano have presented the first experimental proof of an interferometric orbital angular momentum mode multiplexer/demultiplexer, exploiting a very compact configuration based on cylindrical lenses. 20-Gbit/s error-free transmission demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed energy-saving all-optical passive demultiplexing technique, which is very promising for increasing the capacity in short-range optical links for data communications, where the power consumption is a fundamental issue.
	Particle physicists discuss JUNO neutrino experiment The construction of the facilities for the JUNO neutrino experiment has been initiated with an official groundbreaking ceremony near the south Chinese city of Jiangmen. Involved in the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) will be more than fifty institutions from China, the US and Europe - with six from Germany alone. Starting in 2020, JUNO will begin to produce new information about the particle characteristics of the neutrino. "The aim of JUNO is to precisely measure the oscillations of neutrinos for the purpose of investigating one of the major issues in neutrino physics today - the sequence or hierarchy of neutrino masses," explains Prof. Michael Wurm of the Institute of Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). He is acting as one of the German JUNO partners and was at the site to watch the start of work on the underground lab.
Scientists in China and US chart latest discoveries of iron-based superconductors Superconductivity is a remarkable macroscopic quantum phenomenon, discovered just over a century ago. As temperature decreases to below a critical value, the electric resistance of a superconductor vanishes and the magnetic field is repelled. Superconductors have many applications, and can be used to transport electricity without loss of energy. Conventional superconductivity is explained by the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory, posited more than five decades ago. In a superconducting state, two electrons with opposite momenta attract each other to form a bound pair. The pairing mechanism in a conventional superconductor is due to couplings between electrons and phonons, which are a quantum version of lattice vibrations.
International research project leads to a breakthrough in terahertz spectroscopy Although terahertz spectroscopy has great potential, especially for environmental monitoring and security screening applications, it previously could not be used effectively to study nanocrystals or molecules at extremely low concentrations. An international team led by Professor Luca Razzari at the INRS Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre has found a solution to this problem by increasing the technique's sensitivity using metallic nanostructures, as explained in an article published in Nano Letters in January 2015.

Earth news

	Generators that relieve power grid worsen ozone pollution Cornell engineers have found that firing up diesel backup generators in non-emergency situations triggers rising atmospheric ozone concentrations due to additional nitrogen oxide emissions. They reported their findings Jan 23 in Environmental Science and Technology, a publication of the American Chemical Society.
	Smothered oceans: Extreme oxygen loss in oceans accompanied past global climate change Seafloor sediment cores reveal abrupt, extensive loss of oxygen in the ocean when ice sheets melted roughly 10,000-17,000 years ago,according to a study from the University of California, Davis. Thefindings provide insight into similar changes observed in the ocean today.
	Scientists use ocean waves to monitor offshore oil and gas fields A technology developed by Stanford scientists for passively probing the seafloor using weak seismic waves generated by the ocean could revolutionize offshore oil and natural gas extraction by providing real-time monitoring of the subsurface while lessening the impact on marine life.
	Erratic as normal: Arctic sea ice loss expected to be bumpy in the short term Arctic sea ice extent plunged precipitously from 2001 to 2007, then barely budged between 2007 and 2013. Even in a warming world, researchers should expect such unusual periods of no change—and rapid change—at the world's northern reaches, according to a new paper.
	Ocean acidification changes balance of biofouling communities A new study of marine organisms that make up the 'biofouling community' - tiny creatures that attach themselves to ships' hulls and rocks in the ocean around the world - shows how they adapt to changing ocean acidification. Reporting in the journal Global Change Biology, the authors examine how these communities may respond to future change.
	Satellite study identifies water bodies important for biodiversity conservation Using satellite images to study changing patterns of surface water is a powerful tool for identifying conservationally important "stepping stone" water bodies that could help aquatic species survive in a drying climate, a UNSW-led study shows.
	How tropical subsoil microbes could affect the carbon cycle It's no exaggeration to say the tropics drive our planet's carbon cycle – the constant transfer of carbon back and forth, on a global scale, between living things and the environment. Understanding the dynamics of the carbon cycle is increasingly important because more carbon in the atmosphere increases the warming greenhouse effect.
Nordic marine scientists push for way forward In a commentary released in Nature Climate Change, a group of 13 scientists argue that the Nordic countries are in a unique position to showcase how to handle the growing pressure on the oceans. However, this relies on a collective ability to regard change as connected.
	Nannofossils from El Hierro place the Canaries closer to Hawaii Pieces of sediment from the Cretaceous period encased in lava floated to the surface with the underwater eruption of El Hierro in 2011, bringing scientists valuable data on the islands' ocean floor. The analysis of the materials matches the origin of the Canary Islands archipelago to the model of how Hawaii was formed and confirms that the oldest islands are found to the east and the youngest to the west.
	NASA measured nor'easter's powerful winds from space When blizzard warnings were in effect in New England, NASA's ISS-RapidScat instrument provided forecasters with wind speed data on the nor'easter that had hurricane-force wind gusts.
	To prevent new environmental disasters, China needs national conservation horizon scanning Globe Conservation Horizon Scanning, which involves collaboration of the worldwide conservation community, focuses on identifying potential environmental problems across the planet that have not yet been noticed by society as a whole. This scanning of the environmental horizons has been conducted every year since 2010.
Refineries challenge EPA plan to cut emissions A rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency that aims to curb emissions from oil refineries and petrochemical manufacturers is causing tensions to flare between the agency and industry groups. The agency is reviewing a flood of public comments on the issue and is expected to finalize the rule by April 17, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.
	Paris mayor wants to ban polluting trucks, buses The mayor of Paris said she wants to ban polluting buses and trucks in the French capital from July to fight pollution in one of the world's most visited cities.
	NASA panorama of two Southern Indian Ocean tropical cyclones The MODIS instrument that flies aboard two NASA satellites captured images of Tropical Cyclone Diamondra and Tropical Cyclone Eunice in the South Indian Ocean, and two separate images were combined to make one panorama of the two storms.
	Sao Paulo warns of severe water rationing Authorities in Sao Paulo, Brazil's richest state and economic hub, have warned they are considering severe water rationing if the country's worst drought in 80 years continues.
GPM sees nor'easter dump snow on New England At 5:05 p.m. EST Monday, Jan. 26, 2015, the Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Core Observatory flew over the Nor'easter that dumped snow on New England. This satellite image shows the rate of rainfall, with low amounts in green and high in red, and snowfall, in blue to purple. The center of the storm, shown in 3-D, was offshore with far reaching bands of snowfall. More intense snow rates are shown in darker blue, which can be seen on the northern edge of the storm. Visible in the 3-D image of the center of the storm are the snowy tops of the clouds in blue and underneath where it melts into rain, the most intense rainfall shown in red, over the ocean. Over land, snow reaches the ground.
	FACT CHECK: Both sides in Keystone XL debate bend facts Supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Canada to the Gulf, say the privately funded, $8 billion project is a critically needed piece of infrastructure that will create thousands of jobs and make the U.S. dependent on oil from friends, rather than foes.

Astronomy & Space news

	Some potentially habitable planets began as gaseous, Neptune-like worlds Two phenomena known to inhibit the potential habitability of planets—tidal forces and vigorous stellar activity—might instead help chances for life on certain planets orbiting low-mass stars, University of Washington astronomers have found.
	VLT image: The mouth of the beast Like the gaping mouth of a gigantic celestial creature, the cometary globule CG4 glows menacingly in this new image from ESO's Very Large Telescope. Although it appears to be big and bright in this picture, this is actually a faint nebula, which makes it very hard for amateur astronomers to spot. The exact nature of CG4 remains a mystery.
	The two faces of Mars A moon-sized celestial object that crashed into the south pole: ETH researchers use a simulation to demonstrate why Mars consists of two notably different hemispheres.
	Gully patterns document Martian climate cycles Geologists from Brown University have found new evidence that glacier-like ice deposits advanced and retreated multiple times in the midlatitude regions of Mars in the relatively recent past.
	Will NASA's TESS spacecraft revolutionize exoplanet hunting? NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), planned to be launched in August 2017 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, is designed to discover thousands of exoplanets. Led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), TESS will focus on stars 30-100 times brighter than those surveyed by the Kepler telescope, thus, the newly discovered planets should be far easier to characterize with follow-up observations. NASA assumes that approximately 500,000 stars will be studied, including the 1,000 closest red dwarfs, across an area of sky 400 times larger than that covered by Kepler. The agency estimates that TESS will discover more than 3,000 transiting exoplanet candidates, including those which are Earth sized or larger. So is it a revolution in exoplanet hunting? David Charbonneau, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, whose research focuses on exopla! nets, thinks so. "I do think TESS will have a huge impact," he told astrowatch.net. "The main impact of TESS will be to find many planets similar to the ones Kepler has been finding, but around stars that are much closer and hence much easier to study."
	Image: A Hubble sweep of the dust filaments of NGC 4217 In this image the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope takes a close look at the spiral galaxy NGC 4217, located 60 million light-years away from Earth. The galaxy is seen almost perfectly edge on and is a perfect candidate for studying the nature of extraplanar dust structures—the patterns of gas and dust above and below the plane on the galaxy, seen here as brown wisps coming off NGC 4217.
	The electric eye of Cyclone Bansi Though this image may look like they come from a science fiction movie, it is in fact a photograph of tropical cyclone Bansi as seen at night by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS). The image was taken when the ISS was east of Madagascar.
	Europe to resume satnav launches in March: Arianespace Europe in March will resume satellite launches for its troubled Galileo navigation system, hoping to boost by at least six the number of orbiters this year, Arianespace and the European Commission said Wednesday.
	Image: Sounding rockets launch into an aurora The interaction of solar winds and Earth's atmosphere produces northern lights, or auroras, that dance across the night sky and mesmerize the casual observer. However, to scientists this interaction is more than a light display. It produces many questions about the role it plays in Earth's meteorological processes and the impact on the planet's atmosphere.
	Falcon heavy rocket launch and booster recovery featured in cool new SpaceX animation SpaceX released a cool new animation today, Jan. 27, showing an updated look at their Falcon Heavy rocket and plans for booster recovery. See below.
	NASA engineer advances new daytime star tracker Scientists who use high-altitude scientific balloons have high hopes for their instruments in the future. Although the floating behemoths that carry their instruments far into the stratosphere can stay aloft for days on end, data collection typically happens during the night when starlight can be detected. The instruments that operate during the day are limited in their field of view due to overbearing sunlight.
Scientists study surface composition of asteroid 2004 BL86 during close flyby of Earth Planetary Science Institute researchers Vishnu Reddy and Driss Takir studied the surface composition of near-Earth asteroid 2004 BL86 during its close flyby of Earth earlier this week.
	Ballooning offers platform for performing research in a space-like environment New discoveries are being made on an annual basis by researchers flying their instruments on a high-altitude balloon platform. Ease of access to ballooning, relatively low cost and the potential for quick turn-around response times create a large appeal for using this platform to perform novel science and to train new scientists. This appeal is reinforced by the availability of a range of balloon sizes to accommodate various payload types, multiple launch sites (for shorter and longer duration flights), and more sophisticated gondolas.
	A new instrument to study the extreme universe—the X-Ray polarimeter X-Calibur What are the high-energy processes in the Universe that occur in the immediate vicinity of a black hole? To study a question like this one cannot simply utilize a high-resolution telescope. Even with the best available telescopes, it is difficult or even impossible to directly resolve the regions of interest and the energies emitted from such objects extend to much higher energies, e.g. X-rays. The astrophysics research group at Washington University in St.Louis built an instrument that is capable to measure the polarization properties of X-rays. This instrument, once flown in space, can be used in a novel approach to study the most extreme objects in the Universe, such as black holes and neutron stars.

Technology news

	Swiss bank on safe haven label to become world's data vault Switzerland, facing an erosion of the banking secrecy laws that helped make it the world's banker, is now touting its reputation as a safe and stable haven to become a global data vault.
	Body motion energy harvester may power medical and consumer wearable devices A body motion energy harvester, with the flexibility and elasticity to be applied to high-flexion joints and suitable for integration with fabrics, is being developed by researchers at Sogang University in Korea. The design is aimed at providing power for medical and consumer wearable devices.
	Spotify to replace Sony streaming music service Swedish music streamer Spotify will provide the soundtrack for Sony devices, the companies said Wednesday, spelling the end to the streaming music service from the Japanese tech giant that invented the Walkman.
	Researchers produce two biofuels from a single algae A common algae commercially grown to make fish food holds promise as a source for both biodiesel and jet fuel, according to a new study published in the journal Energy & Fuels.
	Mental health monitoring through 'selfie' videos and social media tracking Researchers at the University of Rochester have developed an innovative approach to turn any computer or smartphone with a camera into a personal mental health monitoring device.
	Google's Waze app endangers police: LAPD chief Google's newly acquired Waze application poses a danger to police because of its ability to track their locations, the Los Angeles police chief said in a letter to the tech company's CEO.
	Alibaba spinoff likely to increase scrutiny on Yahoo CEO Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is losing a precious security blanket now that she is spinning off the Internet company's prized stake in China's Alibaba Group.
Nintendo's nine-month profit jumps on cheap yen Nintendo reported a nearly six-fold increase in profit for the first three quarters of the fiscal year Wednesday and raised its earnings forecast as a cheap yen masked weak sales.
	After setting iPhone record, what does Apple do next? Apple CEO Tim Cook says consumer demand for new iPhones has been "staggering" and "hard to comprehend." That helped the company report record-smashing earnings for its latest quarter and sent the stock climbing more than 7 percent on Wednesday.
	China criticizes Alibaba in report withheld until after IPO Chinese regulators accused e-commerce giant Alibaba of permitting sales of fake goods and hurting consumers in a report that was withheld until now to avoid disrupting the company's U.S. stock market debut.
SK Hynix Q4 profit doubles to record level South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix said Wednesday its profits more than doubled in the fourth quarter to a record high, thanks to the soaring popularity of new mobile devices such as Apple's iPhones.
The unique spatial firing patterns of the hippocampal place cells Bayesian integration is thought to be used by the brain for optimal decision-making based on information from different sources. Recent evidence indicates that the hippocampal place cells use this mechanism to integrate information at the level of a single cell as opposed to that at the network level as postulated earlier.
	Modular disability aids for world's poorest Brunel University London design engineering student Cara O'Sullivan's final year project aims to help developing countries make their own disability aids using modular components.
	The rise of an intelligence lobby threatens the rights of lawyers, journalists – and all of us A powerful intelligence lobby made up of former defence ministers, police chiefs and intelligence commissioners has emerged in British politics, determined to push for greater powers and resources for the police and intelligence agencies.
Bitcoin scams steal at least $11 million in virtual deposits from unsuspecting customers Fraudulent schemes have scammed at least $11 million in Bitcoin deposits from unsuspecting cyber customers over the past four years, according to new cyber security research from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
	Bike-to-work events offer chance to explore barriers to cycling Cities that host bike-to-work events as their sole effort to increase commuter travel by bicycle may be missing a larger—perhaps more valuable—opportunity, according to a study involving the University of Colorado Boulder and led by the University of Colorado Denver.
	Mobile apps take students into the laboratory Mobile apps have proved to be valuable educational tools, but laboratory instructors thus far have been limited to using mobile devices only for virtual laboratories with simulated experiments. Now, researchers at the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering have developed a series of mobile applications that allow students to remotely interact with real data and equipment in real laboratories.
CommScope buying some of TE Connectivity ops for about $3B CommScope is buying TE Connectivity's telecom, enterprise and wireless businesses for about $3 billion, which will help diversify its operations and broaden its geographic reach.
	Google: YouTube is so overloaded staff cannot filter content Internet giant Google said Wednesday that its video-sharing website YouTube is so inundated that staff cannot filter all terror related content, complicating the struggle to halt the publication of terrorist propaganda and hostage videos.
	Yahoo's new path murky after Alibaba split It's do-or-die time for Yahoo and Marissa Mayer.
	Scalextric is fun, but it doesn't make sense for the M1 It sounds like something from the pages of books from the 1960s looking to the future: electric cars powered by current drawn from electrified rails beneath the road. However possible such ideas seemed to be 50 years ago, they seem fairly fantastical now – and yet it's exactly this that's being trialed by Britain's Highways Agency.
	Facebook's status update: Profit, revenue beat expectations For the seventh quarter in a row Facebook beat profit and revenue forecasts, continuing to win more mobile advertising revenue as most users shift to using the site on smartphones and other portable devices.
	Chinese company limits US drone use after White House crash A Chinese drone maker which created the small quadcopter that recently crashed on White House grounds said Wednesday it is updating its drones to prohibit flight over the US capital.
	Halogen-free leaded multilayer ceramic capacitors for automotive and general-purpose applications TDK Corporation presents two new series of leaded MLCCs, which are halogen-free according to IEC 61249-2-21 and expand the company's lineup of products that offer minimal impact to the environment over the entire life cycle. The new components will be available in two specifications: the commercial-grade FG series and the automotive-grade FA series. Unlike conventional products, the new series do not use halogen as a flame retardant in the external resin coating, thus supporting the design of environmentally friendly applications. Mass production will be launched in April 2015.
	Custom tailoring robotic exoskeletons that fit to perfection It wasn't too long ago that the idea of a wearable robot that would lend its user increased mobility and strength seemed like the stuff of science fiction; indeed, films like Aliens and Iron Man, which featured characters wearing powered exoskeletons, incited the imaginations of many. Today, those exoskeletons actually exist and are available commercially, but they pose several problems. They take a long time to design and fabricate, for example, and the models, while costly to create, can be ill-fitting.
	Large-scale analytics system for predicting major societal events described in Big Data Journal EMBERS is a large-scale big data analytics system designed to use publically available data to predict population-level societal events such as civil unrest or disease outbreaks. The usefulness of this predictive artificial intelligence system over the past 2 years is reviewed in an article in Big Data.
	In the kitchen, there's an app for that! But do you care? A few years ago, former video game executive Kevin Yu was cooking for a girlfriend on Valentine's Day when he discovered he'd forgotten the mushrooms for the mushroom soup. But that was just the start. He'd also lost track of timing on the various dishes, and he was just generally making a mess of things.
Mobile provider TracFone to pay $40M in federal settlement The nation's largest prepaid mobile provider, TracFone Wireless, will pay $40 million to settle government claims that it misled millions of smartphone customers with promises of unlimited data service.
	War against IS group spreads to Twitter: expert The fight against Islamic State jihadists is taking place online as well on the battlefield, with 18,000 Twitter accounts linked to the group suspended in recent months, according to a US expert.
	Pacemakers with Internet connection, a not-so-distant goal The healthcare sector is not escaping from the revolution in information and communications technologies. Thanks to the latest advances in microelectronics and communications technologies, it is not difficult to imagine a future with medical sensors connected to the Internet. Thanks to the Ladon security protocol developed by the UPV/EHU researcher Jasone Astorga in the 12T research group, a little more progress has been made in the area of the remote monitoring of patients by means of implanted sensors.
To reassure electric car buyers, combine battery leasing with better charging, study says A proper choice of business model plays a critical role in electric vehicle industry where many consumers are subject to range and resale anxieties. In particular, a combination of owning or leasing electric batteries and improving charging technology can reassure such skeptics and help increase the electric vehicle adoption, according to a new study in the Articles in Advance section of Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (M&SOM), a publication of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).
	Moving big data faster, by orders of magnitude In today's high-productivity computing environments that process dizzying amounts of data each millisecond, a research project named for "a trillion events per day" may seem relatively ordinary.
	Huge YouTube bulk makes it tough to catch all terror videos Internet giant Google said Wednesday that the sheer volume of video on its YouTube website makes it tough to catch all terror related content, complicating the struggle to halt the spread of terrorist propaganda and hostage footage.
	Sheriffs expand concerns about Waze mobile traffic app A law enforcement campaign to compel Google Inc. to disable a feature in its popular Waze traffic app that lets drivers warn others about nearby police activity shifted Wednesday when a sheriffs' organization openly complained that the app not only puts officers' lives at risk, it also interferes with the ability to write speeding tickets.

Chemistry news

Spiky 'hedgehog particles' for safer paints, fewer VOC emissions A new process that can sprout microscopic spikes on nearly any type of particle may lead to more environmentally friendly paints and a variety of other innovations. Made by a team of University of Michigan engineers, the "hedgehog particles" are named for their bushy appearance under the microscope. Their development is detailed in a study published in the Jan. 29 issue of Nature.
	Damaged DNA may stall patrolling molecule to initiate repair Sites where DNA is damaged may cause a molecule that slides along the DNA strand to scan for damage to slow on its patrol, delaying it long enough to recognize and initiate repair. The finding suggests that the delay itself may be the key that allows the protein molecule to find its target, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
	Plant-based molecule may be key to cleanup of Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster A Virginia Tech professor is part of a team of scientists from Japan and the United States that may have discovered a way to remove radioactive cesium from the millions of gallons of contaminated water being held at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant following the 2011 disaster.
	Eyeglasses that turn into sunglasses—at your command Imagine eyeglasses that can go quickly from clear to shaded and back again when you want them to, rather than passively in response to changes in light. Scientists report a major step toward that goal, which could benefit pilots, security guards and others who need such control, in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
	Detecting chemical weapons with a color-changing film In today's world, in which the threat of terrorism looms, there is an urgent need for fast, reliable tools to detect the release of deadly chemical warfare agents (CWAs). In the journal ACS Macro Letters, scientists are reporting new progress toward thin-film materials that could rapidly change colors in the presence of CWAs—an advance that could help save lives and hold aggressors accountable.
Beer compound could help fend off Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases The health-promoting perks of wine have attracted the spotlight recently, leaving beer in the shadows. But scientists are discovering new ways in which the latter could be a more healthful beverage than once thought. They're now reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that a compound from hops could protect brain cells from damage—and potentially slow the development of disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
	Researchers develop genetic blueprint for organelles that give simple cells new functions A research team including Dr. Stefan Schiller, his assistants Dr. Matthias Huber and Dr. Andreas Schreiber, and further groups from Freiburg and Hungary has refuted a long-held assumption in biology: The scientists have shown that it is not only possible to extend the functions of organelles - organs of the cell - but also to form them from scratch with the help of genetic blueprints. The team published its findings in the journal Nature Materials.

Biology news

	Spider electro-combs its sticky nano-filaments A spider commonly found in garden centres in Britain is giving fresh insights into how to spin incredibly long and strong fibres just a few nanometres thick.
	Researchers find evolutionary reasons for homosexual behavior in beetles (Phys.org) —A small team of researchers with the University of Ulm's Institute of Experimental Ecology in Germany has found an evolutionary explanation for same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) in burying beetles. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the team describes how they tested what is known as Reeve's acceptance threshold theory in male beetles and found that the evolutionary cost of possibly rejecting females was overridden when there were few of them to choose from.
	Researchers find social lifestyle also helps mole rats live a long time (Phys.org)—A pair of researchers based at New York University has found a second explanation for the long lifespan of naked mole rats—their social networks. In their paper published in The Royal Society Proceedings B, Scott Williams and Milena Shattuck describe the statistical analysis they undertook in comparing the lifespan of various species of animals and comparing them against other factors such as size, environment and degree of social behavior and what they found in doing so.
	Picking up on the smell of evolution UA researchers have discovered some of the changes in genes, physiology and behavior that enable a species to drastically change its lifestyle in the course of evolution.
	Arthropod 'family tree' gets bigger through evolution studies Would you be just as comfortable nibbling on a cricket or cockroach as you would be eating a crab?
	Researchers identify protein capable of neutralizing antibiotic-resistant bacterial cells Antibiotic-resistant infections are on the rise, foiling efforts to reduce death rates in developing countries where uncontrolled use of antibiotics and poor sanitation run amok. The epidemic of "superbugs," bacteria resistant to antibiotics, knows no borders—presenting a clear and present danger around the globe.
	Cellular memory of stressful situations Stress is unhealthy. The cells use therefore a variety of mechanisms to deal with stress and avert its immediate threat. However, certain stressful situations leave marks that go beyond the immediate response; some even seem to be passed on to the next generation. One school of thought that has gained a lot of attention lately, hypothesizes that the epigenome, chemical modifications on the DNA and on proteins, carries information about external influences such as stress. However, when and how environmental cues trigger changes in the epigenome and thus influence our response has remained largely unknown.
	Blind beetles show extraordinary signs of sight University of Adelaide researchers have made a surprising discovery in the aquifers beneath the Western Australian desert, which challenges the traditional Darwinian view of evolution.
	Did genetic links to modern maladies provide ancient benefits? Psoriasis, a chronic skin condition, can cause rashes that itch and sting.
	Orangutans take the logging road A new discovery by a Simon Fraser University doctoral student in the School of Resource and Environmental Management, published in Oryx, demonstrates that orangutans may be even more adaptable than he first thought.
	Meet the parasitic worm that kills giant pandas Giant pandas aren't dying like they used to. In the early 1980s, starvation accounted for more than nine out of ten deaths. However, over the past three decades a parasitic gut worm has replaced that as the dominant killer.
	Every time a fig is born there is a wasp massacre "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" is a common refrain. But usually it is not followed by the words "because your neighbours may kill you". However, this is precisely the scenario faced by some female Brazilian fig wasps – and a recent report of their "mortal combat" provides an intriguing, if chilling, example of how natural selection shapes animal behaviour.
	Researchers capture, document first northern saw-whet owl in Arkansas Wildlife biologists at the University of Arkansas have captured and documented the first northern saw-whet owl in Arkansas.
	Into the dark: Two new encrusting anemones found in coral reef caves Research primarily conducted in Okinawa, Japan, by graduate student Yuka Irei and associate professor James Davis Reimer from the University of the Ryukyus, along with Dr. Frederic Sinniger from JAMSTEC, has found two new species of encrusting anemones, or colonial zoantharians, in unexpected locations. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.
	News from the depths: A new cave-dwelling flatworm species from the Brazilian savanna Recently, field research by the Brazilian zoologists Lívia Cordeiro and Rodrigo Borghezan, of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), recorded the first obligate cave-dwelling planarian of the suborder Continenticola (Platyhelminthes) in South America. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.
	Experts in crisis talks to save rare rhino from extinction Conservationists and scientists met in Kenya this week to come up with a last ditch plan to save the northern white rhinoceros from extinction.
	Chimps with higher-ranking moms do better in fights For chimpanzees, just like humans, teasing, taunting and bullying are familiar parts of playground politics. An analysis of 12 years of observations of playground fights between young chimpanzees in East Africa finds that chimps with higher-ranked moms are more likely to win.
	In Illinois, muskrats and minks harbor toxoplasmosis, a cat disease A new study of muskrats and minks in central Illinois indicates that toxoplasmosis, a disease spread by cats, is moving rapidly through the landscape and contaminating local waterways.
	Snails slither into spa scene in Thailand and around world The last time I encountered escargots they were served up by a French waiter, sizzling in garlic and herb butter. Now, one is slithering up the bridge of my nose while five others are being stuck onto other parts of my face by a Thai beautician, all secreting snail slime to hopefully smooth out some wrinkles and otherwise give me a younger-than-my-age look.
	Research projects contribute to shaping EU regulation to control invasive species A new regulation governing the control of invasive alien species became effective in all EU states on 1 January 2015. The European Union hopes that it will actively combat one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and thus the functioning of ecosystems. The new regulation has far-reaching implications for authorities as well as for trade in animals and plants. The legislation also incorporates the findings of the EU's DAISIE research project and thus the findings of scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).
	Scientists review early evolution of eukaryotic multicellularity The ascent of multi-celled life or multicellularity is a major evolutionary transition. Multicellularity evolved independently at least 25 times among eukaryotes, and complex multicellularity (characterized by intercellular communication and tissue differentiation controlled by regulatory gene networks) occurs in a handful of eukaryotic groups including animals.
Corn co-products from wet milling may be included in pig diets, study shows Many co-products from the corn processing industry may be used in diets fed to pigs. Much attention over the last 10 years has been on co-products produced from the biofuels industry, including distillers dried grains and high-protein distillers grains. However, the wet milling industry also produces many different co-products that may be used in pig diets.

Medicine & Health news

	Everything you wanted to know about mitochondrial mutations but were afraid to ask (Medical Xpress)—In a recent post we traced mechanisms of mitochondrial quality control in the nervous system back to their origins in the womb, and hinted that there would soon be more to come on this topic. Conveniently, a special issue of the journal Molecular Health Research came along and did some of the dirty work for us. In particular, several of the papers address an important question regarding mitochondrial mutations and heteroplasmy that many involved in the brave new business of three-parent embryos are likely afraid to ask. Now that we understand the importance of mitochondria to what we might broadly call "fertilization outcome", the question is do we really know enough about mitochondria to hand craft artisanal children from aged or otherwise reproductively questionable feedstock in the way many imagine?
	Psychopathic violent offenders' brains can't understand punishment Psychopathic violent offenders have abnormalities in the parts of the brain related to learning from punishment, according to an MRI study led by Sheilagh Hodgins and Nigel Blackwood. "One in five violent offenders is a psychopath. They have higher rates of recidivism and don't benefit from rehabilitation programmes. Our research reveals why this is and can hopefully improve childhood interventions to prevent violence and behavioural therapies to reduce recidivism," explained Professor Hodgins of the University of Montreal and Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal. "Psychopathic offenders are different from regular criminals in many ways. Regular criminals are hyper-responsive to threat, quick-tempered and aggressive, while psychopaths have a very low response to threats, are cold, and their aggressively is premeditated," added Dr. Nigel Blackwood, who is affiliated with King's College London. "Evidence is now accu! mulating to show that both types of offenders present abnormal, but distinctive, brain development from a young age."
	Dutch babies trump US peers in laughing, smiling, cuddling Dutch babies laugh, smile and like to cuddle more than their American counterparts.
	Vouchers and cyber-friends: new keys to good health? Have doctors, therapy and pills had their day in helping to wean people off addiction?
	Overweight video game avatars 'play' worse than thin ones, study says Women assigned an overweight avatar in a video tennis game didn't play as hard as those assigned a slim one—regardless of the player's actual size, according to a new study by the University of California, Davis.
	Oxytocin shows promise for improving social skills in autistic mice People with autism spectrum disorders have difficulty with social behavior and communication, which can make it challenging to form friendships, engage in routine conversations or pick up on the social cues that are second nature to most people. Similarly, mice with symptoms of autism show little interest in interacting or socializing with other mice.
	'Healthy' fat tissue could be key to reversing type 2 diabetes Preventing inflammation in obese fat tissue may hold the key to preventing or even reversing type 2 diabetes, new research has found.
	New method for identifying most aggressive childhood cancers A research group at Lund University in Sweden has found a new way to identify the most malignant tumours in children. The method involves studying genetic 'micro-variation', rather than the presence of individual mutations.
	Large study uncovers molecular alterations in head and neck cancers Investigators with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network have discovered genomic differences - with potentially important clinical implications - in head and neck cancers caused by infection with the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States, and the number of HPV-related head and neck cancers has been growing. Almost every sexually active person will acquire HPV at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
	Epigenetic drug boosts chemotherapy's efficacy in some lung cancers An existing drug may help some patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors have become resistant to chemotherapy, finds a study from Boston Children's Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). The findings, in human cancer cells and in mice, suggest a window of vulnerability in NSCLC, the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.1 The work was published online today by the journal Nature.
	Earlier menopause linked to everyday chemical exposures Women whose bodies have high levels of chemicals found in plastics, personal-care products, common household items and the environment experience menopause two to four years earlier than women with lower levels of these chemicals, according to a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
	Dieters making more connections in online weight-loss communities lose more weight, study finds If you want to lose pounds using an online weight management program, don't be a wallflower. A new Northwestern University study shows that online dieters with high social embeddedness—who logged in regularly, recorded their weigh-ins and 'friended' other members—lost more than 8 percent of their body weight in six months.
	Both weight loss and weight gain linked with increased fracture risk Both weight gain and weight loss in older (postmenopausal) women are associated with increased incidence of fracture, but at different anatomical sites, finds a study published in The BMJ this week.
Sugary drinks linked to earlier onset of menstrual periods Girls who frequently consume sugary drinks tend to start their menstrual periods earlier than girls who do not, according to new research published online today (Wednesday) in Human Reproduction, one of the world's leading reproductive medicine journals.