Science X Newsletter Monday, Feb 9

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- No Big Bang? Quantum equation predicts universe has no beginning 
- Electricity from biomass with carbon capture could make western US carbon-negative 
- Model of 'virtual bumps' could lead to feeling a keyboard on your touchscreen 
- Bionic leaf: Researchers use bacteria to convert solar energy into liquid fuel 
- F-bombs notwithstanding, all languages skew toward happiness 
- On quantum scales, there are many second laws of thermodynamics 
- Electrochromic polymers create broad color palette for sunglasses, windows 
- Team finds earliest evidence of large-scale human-produced air pollution in South America 
- Best of Last Week – new look at Schrodinger's cat, a large floating wind turbine and why red wine might help memory 
- Amber fossil links earliest grasses, dinosaurs and fungus used to produce LSD 
- Earth's surprise inside: Geologists unlock mysteries of the planet's inner core 
- Corning plans to light Phire on display covers 
- Google offers mail payment service in the UK 
- Hotel robots in Japan will perform a range of tasks 
- Cat shelter findings: Less stress with box access 

Nanotechnology news

	Nano-antioxidants prove their potential Injectable nanoparticles that could protect an injured person from further damage due to oxidative stress have proven to be astoundingly effective in tests to study their mechanism.
	Nanovectors combine cancer imaging and therapy Researchers at Imperial College London and the Laboratoire de chimie de la matière condensée de Paris (CNRS/Collège de France/UPMC) have designed and developed hybrid gold-silica nanoparticles, which are turning out to be genuine therapeutic "Swiss Army knives". Tested in mice and on cultured human cells, they make it possible to combine two forms of tumor treatment and three imaging techniques. They notably have a greater drug loading and delivery capacity than carriers currently on the market, which opens interesting perspectives for cancer research. The results were published in PNAS on February 4, 2015.
	Breakthrough may lead to industrial production of graphene devices With properties that promise faster computers, better sensors and much more, graphene has been dubbed the 'miracle material'. But progress in producing it on an industrial scale without compromising its properties has proved elusive. University of Groningen scientists may now have made a breakthrough. Their results will be published in the journal Nano Letters.
	Buckyballs offer environmental benefits Treated buckyballs not only remove valuable but potentially toxic metal particles from water and other liquids, but also reserve them for future use, according to scientists at Rice University.
	Scientist develops disposable devices to identify allergies Gabriel Caballero Robledo from the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (CINVESTAV)at Monterrey, Mexico, is working on the design of a small medical device capable of detecting allergies or diseases quickly and at a low cost.

Physics news

	No Big Bang? Quantum equation predicts universe has no beginning (Phys.org) —The universe may have existed forever, according to a new model that applies quantum correction terms to complement Einstein's theory of general relativity. The model may also account for dark matter and dark energy, resolving multiple problems at once.
	On quantum scales, there are many second laws of thermodynamics New research from UCL and the Universities of Gdansk, Singapore, and Delft has uncovered additional second laws of thermodynamics which complement the ordinary second law of thermodynamics, one of the most fundamental laws of nature. These new second laws are generally not noticeable except on very small scales, at which point, they become increasingly important.
	A centimeter of time: Cryogenic clocks pave the way to new measurements We all like to know our watches keep the time well, but Hidetoshi Katori, of RIKEN's Quantum Metrology Laboratory and the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Engineering, is taking precision to an entirely new dimension. In work published in Nature Photonics, Katori's group demonstrated two cryogenically cooled optical lattice clocks that can be synchronized to a tremendous one part in 2.0 x 10-18—meaning that they would only go out of synch by a second in 16 billion years. This is nearly 1,000 times more precise than the current international timekeeping standard cesium atomic clock.
	New study confirms the presence of dark matter in the inner part of the Milky Way The Universe is pervaded by a mysterious form of matter, dubbed dark matter, about five times more abundant than the ordinary matter—made of atoms—we are familiar with. Its existence in galaxies was robustly established in the 1970s. Scientists now obtained for the first time a direct observational proof of the presence of dark matter in the innermost part of our Galaxy, the Milky Way.
	New design tool for metamaterials: Study shows how to predict nonlinear optical properties Metamaterials - artificial nanostructures engineered with electromagnetic properties not found in nature - offer tantalizing future prospects such as high resolution optical microscopes and superfast optical computers. To realize the vast potential of metamaterials, however, scientists will need to hone their understanding of the fundamental physics behind them. This will require accurately predicting nonlinear optical properties - meaning that interaction with light changes a material's properties, for example, light emerges from the material with a different frequency than when it entered. Help has arrived.
	Hindsight and foresight together more accurately 'predict' quantum system's state than foresight alone We are so used to murder mysteries that we don't even notice how mystery authors play with time. Typically the murder occurs well before the midpoint of the book, but there is an information blackout at that point and the reader learns what happened then only on the last page.
	How to study high-speed flows Joanna Austin (MS '98, PhD '03) does not just go with the flow. She picks it apart and analyzes it. One of the newest faculty members in Caltech's Division of Engineering and Applied Science is a gas dynamicist, Austin studies the mechanics involved in compressible flows, those where gases reach such high speeds that the density of a fluid element changes drastically. These flows come into play in problems ranging from the logistics of a spacecraft's entry into a planet's atmosphere to the hows and whys of volcanic eruptions.
	Space-time theory may reconcile black hole conundrum We've come a long way in 13.8 billion years; but despite our impressively extensive understanding of the Universe, there are still a few strings left untied. For one, there is the oft-cited disconnect between general relativity, the physics of the very large, and quantum mechanics, the physics of the very small. Then there is problematic fate of a particle's intrinsic information after it falls into a black hole. Now, a new interpretation of fundamental physics attempts to solve both of these conundrums by making a daring claim: at certain scales, space and time simply do not exist.

Earth news

	Earth's surprise inside: Geologists unlock mysteries of the planet's inner core Seismic waves are helping scientists to plumb the world's deepest mystery: the planet's inner core.
	Team finds earliest evidence of large-scale human-produced air pollution in South America In the 16th century, during its conquest of South America, the Spanish Empire forced countless Incas to work extracting silver from the mountaintop mines of Potosí, in what is now Bolivia—then the largest source of silver in the world. The Inca already knew how to refine silver, but in 1572 the Spanish introduced a new technology that boosted production many times over and sent thick clouds of lead dust rising over the Andes for the first time in history.
	Electricity from biomass with carbon capture could make western US carbon-negative Generating electricity from biomass, such as urban waste and sustainably-sourced forest and crop residues, is one strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, because it is carbon-neutral: it produces as much carbon as the plants suck out of the atmosphere.
	Re-creating a tornado in 3-D provides a more effective way to study storms When The Weather Channel meteorologist Jim Cantore stepped into an EF-5 tornado re-created in 3-D in a four-story immersive installation at Virginia Tech, his perspective was that of someone 7,000 feet tall. Beneath him was the landscape of Moore, Oklahoma. Around him was the storm that killed 24 people in May 2013.
	Researchers find that users do not get rid of their old technology when buying new and use more power (Phys.org)—A trio of researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology has found that despite dramatically reduced power requirements for new electronic gadgets, the average American home consumes more power than ever—because consumers keep using the old-school technology devices, along with the new, adding to the total number of devices used. In their paper published in Environmental Science and Technology, Erinn Ryen, Callie Babbitt and Eric Williams describe how they looked at gadgets in the average American home as an ecosystem made up of electronic virtual organisms and what they found in doing so.
	Understanding the copper heart of volcanoes The link between volcanism and the formation of copper ore has been discovered by researchers from the University of Bristol, UK. Their findings, published today in Nature Geoscience, could have far-reaching implications for the search for new copper deposits.
	Reduced rainfall in the northern tropics linked to industrial emissions, research suggests Scientists have produced a rainfall record strongly suggesting that man-made industrial emissions have contributed to less rainfall in the northern tropics.
Climate change efforts backfire in Brazil's steel industry New research shows that climate change mitigation efforts in Brazil's steel industry have failed. Instead of reducing greenhouse gas pollution, scientists discovered that programs under an international climate treaty led to an overall doubling of carbon dioxide emissions in the industry.
	Floods created home of Europe's biggest waterfall, study shows A massive canyon that is home to Europe's most powerful waterfall was created in a matter of days by extreme flooding, new research reveals.
	Study finds Midwest flooding more frequent The U.S. Midwest and surrounding states have endured increasingly more frequent flood episodes over the past half-century, according to a study from the University of Iowa.
	Choking in car fumes, Madrid locals curse pollution Locals call it the "beret": a grey layer of exhaust fumes that blots out Madrid's blue skies on still days. For asthma sufferer Conxi Grau, it feels more like a tight scarf.
	Australia's Barrier Reef 'risks becoming dumping ground': WWF Australia's Great Barrier Reef could be "severely damaged" if the government does not completely ban the dumping of dredge waste in the World Heritage-listed waters, a report commissioned by conservation group WWF said Monday.
	Loss of posidonia reduces CO2 storage areas and could contribute to gas emissions The loss of underwater posidonia meadows poses two problems: these areas can no longer capture and store atmospheric CO2, and, moreover, they can become a source of this gas by eroding and freeing the carbon stored in the meadow during decades or even centuries.
	Communicating a hurricane's real risks A hurricane is heading toward the coast. Weather forecasters predict strong winds, massive waves and intense rainfall. But what does that mean for you? Will your neighborhood be flooded? Should you evacuate?
Tiny organisms could change the face of coastal science New scientific research published in the journal Nature Communications, led by researchers at Bangor University in collaboration with scientists from the National Oceanography Centre Liverpool and the Universities of St. Andrews, Hull, Leeds and Plymouth, has discovered that 'sticky' sugars produced by micro-organisms have a remarkably large effect on the movement of sand and mud in aquatic environments.
	World thunderstorm 'map' key to assessing climate change The Doomsday Clock, which measures the likelihood of global catastrophe, last week ticked a minute closer to "midnight"—- the apocalypse. The symbolic clock was set to 11:57 by a board of atomic scientists featuring 17 Nobel Laureates, who warned that the planet, beset by climate change and nuclear proliferation, faced extraordinary and undeniable threats to its continued existence.
	Researchers find new evidence of warming A study of three remote lakes in Ecuador led by Queen's University researchers has revealed the vulnerability of tropical high mountain lakes to global climate change - the first study of its kind to show this. The data explains how the lakes are changing due to the water warming as the result of climate change.
	GPM satellite catches Fundi's fadeout The final warning was issued on Tropical cyclone Fundi on Sunday, Feb 8 as NASA-JAXA's GPM satellite captured its waning rainfall.
	Satellite eyes New England winter storm breaking records Another large snowstorm affecting New England was dropping more snow on the region and breaking records on February 9, as NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured an image of the clouds associated with the storm system.
Paris to ban the most polluting diesel vehicles by 2020 Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has presented a plan to ban most diesel vehicles from the city by 2020 in order to lower air pollution.
	3Qs: New approach to understanding climate change Climate change continues to be a major topic of discussion—and often, fierce debate—on both the national and global stage. Brian Helmuth, a professor of environmental science and public policy at Northeastern's Marine Science Center, and a team of international researchers published a review in Climate Change Responses last month in which they call for a new approach to understanding and predicting the impact of climate change.
	Negotiators knuckle down to trim draft climate pact UN negotiations resume in Geneva on Sunday to streamline the bloated draft for a climate pact that nations, still at odds over key elements, must sign in Paris in December.
	Schwarzenegger calls for more effort to fight climate change (AP)—Former California governor and Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger is calling for more to be done to combat climate change, saying it is "the issue of our time."
New remediation guidelines for petroleum contamination New industry advice that will place Australia at the global cutting edge in the clean-up of petroleum-based contaminants in groundwater was today released by the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE).
	Study reveals scale of water crisis in areas of Pakistan Currently, one in nine people across the world lack access to safe water, and an estimated 842 000 people die every year from a water-related disease. It's not just about health and hygiene – all aspects of social and economic development – referred to as the food–energy–health–environment 'nexus' – depend on water. And demand is set to soar in the future as a combination of growing populations, increasing demands for resources associated with improved standards of living, and other forces drive pressure on water resources. Climate change is also creating new uncertainties with regard to freshwater supplies and to the main water use sectors such as agriculture and energy.
	Suomi NPP gets an infrared look at Typhoon Higos Typhoon Higos was on a strengthening trend when NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead and captured infrared data on the storm, showing powerful thunderstorms circling its center.
	Swimming reptiles make their mark in the Early Triassic Vertebrate tracks provide valuable information about animal behavior and environments. Swim tracks are a unique type of vertebrate track because they are produced underwater by buoyant trackmakers, and specific factors are required for their production and subsequent preservation. Early Triassic deposits contain the highest number of fossil swim track occurrences worldwide compared to other epochs, and this number becomes even greater when epoch duration and rock outcrop area are taken into account.
	Guidance to report on land use, land-use change and forestry emissions A recent JRC report finds that EU Member States will face some challenges in meeting the new reporting and accounting requirements for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals from the land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector, both under the Kyoto Protocol and under recent EU legislation.
	Growing support for rationing in drought-hit Brazil A majority of Brazilians support water and energy rationing, as the country faces its worst drought in decades, an opinion poll showed Monday.

Astronomy & Space news

	SpaceX calls off launch of space weather satellite (Update) SpaceX called off Sunday's planned launch of a deep-space observatory—and a revolutionary rocket-landing attempt—after a critical radar-tracking system failed.
	Planets orbiting red dwarfs may stay wet enough for life Small, cold stars known as red dwarfs are the most common type of star in the Universe, and the sheer number of planets that may exist around them potentially make them valuable places to hunt for signs of extraterrestrial life.
	Stellar partnership doomed to end in catastrophe Astronomers using ESO facilities in combination with telescopes in the Canary Islands have identified two surprisingly massive stars at the heart of the planetary nebula Henize 2-428. As they orbit each other the two stars are expected to slowly get closer and closer, and when they merge, about 700 million years from now, they will contain enough material to ignite a vast supernova explosion.The team of astronomers, led by Miguel Santander-García (Observatorio Astronómico Nacional, Alcalá de Henares, Spain; Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (CSIC), Madrid, Spain), has discovered a close pair of white dwarf stars—tiny, extremely dense stellar remnants—that have a total mass of about 1.8 times that of the Sun. This is the most massive such pair yet found and when these two stars merge in the future they will create a runaway thermonuclear explosion leading to a Type Ia supernova.
	SpaceX poised to launch resurrected space weather satellite A $340 million sun-observing spacecraft that was initially dreamed up by former US vice president Al Gore is finally poised to launch Sunday after being kept in storage by NASA for years.
	Let's send a private mission to Europa, expert says Jupiter's icy moon Europa puzzles astrobiologists and sparks the imagination of extraterrestrial life seekers. It is believed that the moon has a subsurface ocean of liquid water, where life could possibly be similar to microbial life forms on Earth. The likely presence of liquid water has ignited persisting calls to send a probe there. Currently NASA and ESA plan their own missions to the potentially habitable moon. Europa Clipper mission has just got approved for $30 million in the 2016 NASA budget and ESA's Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) is scheduled for launch in 2022. But an astrobiology expert, Christopher Impey of the University of Arizona, thinks that the private sector could also take part in the race to Europa. "I think the private sector could step in. If Google or Amazon wanted to fund a more ambition mission and 'brand' what would potentially be the first detection of life beyond Earth, it would be an enormous coup! ," Impey toldastrowatch.net. He is the author of popular books about astrobiology: 'The Living Cosmos: Our Search for Life in the Universe', 'Talking About Life: Conversations on Astrobiology', and 'Frontiers of Astrobiology'.
Moon phase and libration, from the other side A number of people who've seen the annual lunar phase and libration videos have asked what the other side of the Moon looks like, the side that can't be seen from the Earth. This video answers that question.
	Image: Hubble's little sombrero Galaxies can take many shapes and be oriented any way relative to us in the sky. This can make it hard to figure out their actual morphology, as a galaxy can look very different from different viewpoints. A special case is when we are lucky enough to observe a spiral galaxy directly from its edge, providing us with a spectacular view like the one seen in this picture of the week.
Video: The strange way fluids slosh on the International Space Station The next time you pour yourself a glass of water, pause before you drink it. First, swirl the clear liquid around the glass. Gently slosh it back and forth. Tap the glass on the tabletop, and watch the patterns that form on the surface.
	How big is the biggest star we have ever found? The universe is such a big place that it is easy to get baffled by the measurements that astronomers make. The size of UY Scuti, possibly one of the largest stars we have observed to date, is certainly baffling.
	The Moon was a first step, Mars will test our capabilities, but Europa is the prize The icy moon Europa is perhaps the most tantalising destination in our solar system. Scientists have been trying for years to kickstart a mission to Jupiter's most enigmatic moon, with very Earth-like concerns over costs keeping missions grounded until now.
	Why meteors light up the night sky Meteors have been seen since people first looked at the night sky. They are comprised of small pieces of debris, typically no larger than a grain of dust or sand, which continually crash into the Earth's atmosphere.
	Soviet cosmonauts carried a bear-killing shotgun into space Anything can happen during a launch or landing of a crewed spacecraft, and just in case the crew would end up stranded in a remote area of the world, astronauts and cosmonauts undergo survival training and carry survival kits. The kits contain items such as food rations, water, extra clothing, items for making a shelter and other miscellaneous survival gear.
	How do we study the Sun? A quick think about optical astronomy would have you imagine that most of it takes place at night. Isn't that when the stars and galaxies come out to play? Well, that assumption makes at least one glaring error: Earth happens to be close to a star that is worthy of study. It's called the Sun, and it only appears during the day.
	Mars is the next step for humanity – we must take it Elon Musk has built a US$12 billion company in an endeavour to pave the way to Mars for humanity. He insists that Mars is a "long-term insurance policy" for "the light of consciousness" in the face of climate change, extinction events, and our recklessness with technology.
	SpaceX launch of observatory, landing test off until Tuesday A deep-space observatory has to wait yet another day before flying.
	Sun's activity in 18th century was similar to that now Counting sunspots over time helps in knowing the activity of our star but the two indices used by scientists disagree on dates prior to 1885. Now an international team of researchers has tried to standardise the historical results and has discovered that, contrary to what one may think, the solar activity of our times is very similar to that of other times, such as the Enlightenment.
After 45 years, souvenirs from Apollo 11 come to light More than 40 years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, a cloth satchel full of souvenirs brought back by Neil Armstrong has come to light.

Technology news

	Google offers mail payment service in the UK (Phys.org) —You already are accustomed to attaching lots of items in your emails. Pictures. Portfolios. Contracts. Resumes. White papers. For those in the UK there's something else as well. You can not only send a friend a picture of the cabin to be rented on your next holiday but your share of the rent.
	Corning plans to light Phire on display covers (Phys.org) —Scratches on the smartphone display cover and phone drops on the pavement are two dreaded events that put a damper on any pleasure that comes from owning a sleek, feature-rich phone. The word "Gorilla" was a successful choice of a name that bolsters the perception of glass standing up to damages.
	Hotel robots in Japan will perform a range of tasks This summer, you could be walking into a theme-park hotel to find the greeter is not a person but a robot. Once you stop rubbing your eyes, you will see that a robot appears, to carry your bags to your room. Once you get used to this hotel, you will probably not be very surprised to find the cloakroom attendant is a robot as well as the cleaner.
	Change of Internet regulator must happen before US 2016 polls, CEO says Plans to transfer control of Internet overseer ICANN from US hands to a globally representative body could be jeopardised unless a deal is reached before the 2016 US elections, the group's chief warned Monday.
	Path-finder computes search strategy to find Waldo London-born Where's Waldo? creator Martin Handford started out as a commercial illustrator with a specialty in drawing crowd scenes. By now we know how that talent supported his success and fame. His first book, Where's Waldo?, was published in 1987.
	Ubuntu to reach milestone with launch of phone via BQ It's on its way: the first Ubuntu-based smartphone is to go on sale soon for a little over $190 in a flash sale across Europe; there will be a series of online flash sales over the coming weeks. This will be offered as the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition.
	Report: Automakers fail to fully protect against hacking Automakers are cramming cars with wireless technology, but they have failed to adequately protect those features against the real possibility that hackers could take control of vehicles or steal personal data, a member of the U.S. Senate is asserting.
	Japan-inspired 'water-house' slashes energy needs As UN climate negotiators gather in Geneva this week, one Japan-inspired Hungarian inventor believes he has found a revolutionary and inexpensive way to construct buildings that could slash humanity's energy needs.
	Study shows value of combining solar thermal energy with biomass gasification to produce natural gas substitute Even at historically low natural gas prices, bioenergy may not be out of the running—it just may need a little help from the sun. A new study from researchers at the University of Minnesota examining the financial viability of solar-heated biomass gasification technologies that produce a natural gas substitute product concludes that combining these renewable resources can make economic sense.
	How did that dent happen? Smart car panels answer back We've heard much about technology's presence in the car market, adding an increasingly electronic infrastructure rich with sensors. German supplier Hella has turned to the outer shell of the car; they have come up with smart body panels that can tell when someone damages your car. Vehicles are to get this sense of touch, said reports, with Hella's Intelligent Damage Detection System. It can detect whenever a car's body panel sustains damages, from scratches and dents to worse events.
	Anthem: Hackers tried to breach system as early as Dec. 10 (AP)—The hackers who stole millions of health insurance records from Anthem Inc. commandeered the credentials of five different employees while seeking to penetrate the company's computer network—and they may have been inside the system since December.
One year on, Nadella shifting focus at Microsoft With one year under his belt, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has made strides in changing the focus of the technology giant that some feared was turning into a dinosaur.
Consumer security an emerging issue in new computerized cars (AP)—Today's cars can come with many high-tech features that interact wirelessly with the electronic systems. Tiny, built-in computers control increasing numbers of vehicle functions, making keeping track of what they control or how well protected that data is difficult.
Smartphone app tracks students' class attendance automatically Do you want to know how often your college student attends class? Missouri University of Science and Technology has an app for that.
An Internet of Things reality check Connecting different kinds of devices, not just computers and communications devices, to the Internet could lead to new ways of working with a wide range of machinery, sensors, domestic and other appliances. Writing in the International Journal of Innovation and Learning, suggest that we are on the verge of a another technological revolution but practicalities and legal obstacles may stymie the development of the so-called Internet of Things if they are not addressed quickly.
	HAPTIX starts work to provide prosthetic hands with sense of touch Despite recent advances in technology for upper-limb prostheses, artificial arms and hands are still unable to provide users with sensory feedback, such as the "feel" of things being touched or awareness of limb position and movement. Without this feedback, even the most advanced prosthetic limbs remain numb to users, a factor that impairs the limbs' effectiveness and their wearers' willingness to use them. In a step toward overcoming these challenges, DARPA has awarded prime contracts for Phase 1of its Hand Proprioception and Touch Interfaces (HAPTIX) program.
	Alleged Bitcoin scam leaves millions missing Investors in a Hong Kong-based Bitcoin trading company fear they have fallen victim to a scam after it closed down, a lawmaker said Monday, adding losses could total HK$3 billion ($387 million).
	Is your doctor's office the most dangerous place for data? (Update) Everyone worries about stolen credit cards or hacked bank accounts, but just visiting the doctor may put you at greater risk for identity fraud.
	Netflix brings its on-demand TV to Cuba Streaming US television giant Netflix said Monday it was now offering service to Cuba with "a curated selection of popular movies and TV shows."
	Google buys smartphone photo handling app Odysee Google on Monday said that it has bought smartphone photo backup and sharing platform Odysee to beef up picture-handling capabilities at its online social network.
	Twitter says government data queries rising Twitter said Monday it saw a 40 percent jump in government request for user data in late 2014, with sharp rises coming from both Turkey and Russia.
	Dish's online TV debuts, targets cord-cutters, cord-nevers Dish Network's online television service, Sling TV, debuted Monday as a way to entice people who have dropped their cable or satellite TV service or never had one.
Qualcomm pays $975 mn to settle China antitrust probe US mobile chip titan Qualcomm on Monday said it will pay nearly a billion dollars as part of a deal to end a long-running antitrust probe in China.
	Bracelet that monitors real-time health signs for the elderly The trend of wearable devices (smart accessories) like bracelets, sunglasses and watches, is rarely focused on the elderly population. However, Mexican Francisco Lopez-Lira Fennel, who lives in Spain, wants these devices to be used by older adults benefiting them with the first smart watch that remotely monitors real-time health status.
At a glance: Four steps that help guard against identity theft The average person can take several basic steps to guard against identity theft both inside and outside the health care world. Here's a sample of what experts advise:

Chemistry news

	Electrochromic polymers create broad color palette for sunglasses, windows Artists, print designers and interior decorators have long had access to a broad palette of paint and ink colors for their work. Now, researchers have created a broad color palette of electrochromic polymers, materials that can be used for sunglasses, window tinting and other applications that rely on electrical current to produce color changes.
	Bionic leaf: Researchers use bacteria to convert solar energy into liquid fuel Harvesting sunlight is a trick plants mastered more than a billion years ago, using solar energy to feed themselves from the air and water around them in the process we know as photosynthesis.
	Long-term storage of digital information in DNA is possible It is evident from samples from mammoths, bears, and other fossils: sequenceable DNA can last up to several hundred thousand years. But one does not necessarily need fossil bones as capsules of silica glass spheres can do the same job, as Robert N. Grass and colleagues from the ETH Zurich demonstrate in their Communication in Angewandte Chemie.
	Study shows benefits of silicon carbide for sensors in harsh environments The use of silicon carbide as a semiconductor for mechanical and electrical sensor devices is showing promise for improved operations and safety in harsh working environments, according to new research from Griffith University.
	TLR9: Two rings to bind them? University of Tokyo researchers have elucidated how Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) binds to pathogen DNA, activating the innate immune system. This discovery is vital for the design of new antiviral, antibacterial, allergy and other drugs targeting TLR9.
	Light-activated genes might be precisely controlled and targeted Duke University researchers have devised a method to activate genes in any specific location or pattern in a lab dish with the flip of a light switch by crossing a bacterium's viral defense system with a flower's response to sunlight.
	3-D printing with custom molecules creates low-cost mechanical sensor Imagine printing out molecules that can respond to their surroundings. A research project at the University of Washington merges custom chemistry and 3-D printing. Scientists created a bone-shaped plastic tab that turns purple under stretching, offering an easy way to record the force on an object.
	Drug detectives: A new screening method may be able to identify toxic drugs earlier in development A good drug is hard to design: to garner FDA approval and reach consumers, it must not only effectively treat a medical condition, but it must also do so without having side effects that outweigh its benefits.
	Molecular gastronomy: Better cooking through biophysics Anyone who's ever been to France knows it's a country that celebrates its food and takes enormous pride in not only the taste, but also the appearance and the overall "joie de vivre" involved. So it should come as no surprise that scientific disciplines like biophysics are being embraced for their ability to reveal the underlying physical and chemical processes that occur during food preparation and consumption.
	New method to understand steel fracturing Researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) have visualized step-by-step and on a microscopic level how certain steels fracture when extreme loads are applied to them. This could help to improve these materials, which are used in the automobile industry.

Biology news

	Cat shelter findings: Less stress with box access Out of all those cat videos that keep your eyes glued to the screen far longer than you would care to acknowledge, you may have seen some showing little and big cats trying their best to snuggle into big and too-little cardboard boxes. What makes them so content about being in a box? Scientists have spent much time looking for answers. "Will a hiding box provide stress reduction for shelter cats?" That is one such exploration, published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, the journal of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE).
	Mosquitoes ramp up immune defenses after sucking blood, vet researcher finds If you were about to enter a crowded subway during flu season, packed with people sneezing and coughing, wouldn't it be helpful if your immune system recognized the potentially risky situation and bolstered its defenses upon stepping into the train?
	Fish pee helps keep coastal ecosystems healthy, thriving Life in the Caribbean islands is an idyllic bliss. You can picture it, right? The sparkling clear water. The pristine coral reefs. The perfect amount of fish pee …
	Genetic code cracked for worldwide dog and human parasite For the first time, scientists have sequenced the genetic code of Toxocara canis, a roundworm that causes disease in humans and animals, which paves the way for new drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tests.
	Running faster equals disaster Trading maximum speed for manoeuvrability may be essential to surviving a run-in with a predator, a new study shows.
	'Stressed' young bees could be the cause of colony collapse Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a major threat to bee colonies around the world and affects their ability to perform vital human food crop pollination. It has been a cause of urgent concern for scientists and farmers around the world for at least a decade but a specific cause for the phenomenon has yet to be conclusively identified.
	Coral snake venom reveals a unique route to lethality For more than a decade, a vial of rare snake venom refused to give up its secret formula for lethality; its toxins had no effect on the proteins that most venoms target. Finally, an international team of researchers figured out its recipe: a toxin that permanently activates a crucial type of nerve cell protein, preventing the cells from resetting and causing deadly seizures in prey. The details will be published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of Feb. 9.
Study: Cats, foxes behind Australia's alarming extinctions Australia has always been unique, from its geographical isolation at the bottom of the Earth to its infamous bevy of venomous creatures. Now, scientists have uncovered another unique—and disturbing—facet of Australian life: the country's mammals are going extinct at an alarmingly high rate, due in large part to a couple of critters with voracious appetites.
Bacteria's hidden traffic control Not unlike an urban restaurant, the success of a bacterial cell depends on three things: localization, localization and localization. But the complete set of controls by which bacteria control the movement of proteins and other essential biological materials globally within the confines of their membrane walls has been something of a mystery. Now, researchers at the University of Washington have parsed out the localization mechanisms that E. coli use to sort through and organize their subcellular components.
	Scientists develop higher yielding sorghum plants When it comes to versatile crop plants, sorghum might be considered "the little engine that could."
	Baited video cameras help detect deep sea fish Using baited longlines in conjunction with baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVs) has improved the way in which deep water fish stocks are monitored for conservation purposes.
	Fighting powdery mildew on grapes UC Davis researchers have uncovered important genetic clues about the pathogen that causes grape powdery mildew, among the most destructive vineyard pests throughout California and the world.
	Frozen semen from lions can produce embryos Scientists from Berlin successfully produced embryos from African lions via assisted reproduction. What is genuinely new is the fact that they used immature eggs that were retrieved from African lionesses. After artificial maturation these eggs were injected with lions' sperm, previously stored in a cryobank. To surprise of the scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) the development of the lion embryos was retarded in comparison to similar embryos from domestic cats.
Friendly fungi: How they could help barley growers feed the world without chemicals Botanists from Trinity College Dublin have made a breakthrough discovery that could save barley farmers sleepless nights and millions of Euro each year: naturally occurring plant-friendly fungi prevent crop-ravishing diseases from spreading, and also aid plant survival in testing environmental conditions.
	Government to spend $3.2 million to help monarch butterfly The federal government on Monday pledged $3.2 million to help save the monarch butterfly, the iconic orange-and-black butterfly that can migrate thousands of miles between the U.S. and Mexico each year. In recent years, the species has experienced a 90 percent decline in population, with the lowest recorded population occurring in 2013-2014.
	Award-winning research on cell metabolism A better understanding of the way metabolism works may in the long run mean make it easier to find new medicines for diseases such as diabetes. By combining different methods taken from physics, the researcher Anna-Karin Gustavsson has been able to study metabolism in individual cells.
	JIPM offers rice growers a new resource against the rice water weevil The rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus, is the most harmful insect pest of rice in the United States, causing yield losses of up to 25%. Adults inflict damage by consuming leaf tissue, and the larvae feed on the roots of rice plants. A native of the southeastern U.S., the rice water weevil invaded Japan in 1976, Korea in 1980, China in 1988, and Italy in 2004.
	Boris the polar bear has three teeth pulled at Washington zoo Boris the 29-year-old polar bear is eating only soft foods for a while after having surgery to remove three broken or decayed teeth at a Washington state zoo.

Medicine & Health news

	F-bombs notwithstanding, all languages skew toward happiness In 1969, two psychologists at the University of Illinois proposed what they called the Pollyanna Hypothesis—the idea that there is a universal human tendency to use positive words more frequently than negative ones. "Put even more simply," they wrote, "humans tend to look on (and talk about) the bright side of life." It was a speculation that has provoked debate ever since.
	Model of 'virtual bumps' could lead to feeling a keyboard on your touchscreen What if the touchscreen of your smartphone or tablet could touch you back? What if touch was as integrated into our ubiquitous technology as sight and sound?
	Twists, turns, eventually lead to promising Ebola vaccine It took 16 years of twists and turns. Over and over, Dr. Nancy Sullivan thought she was close to an Ebola vaccine, only to see the next experiment fail.
	Study yields insight into generating antibodies that target different strains of HIV Through an investigation of a fundamental process that guides the maturation of immune cells, researchers have revealed new insights into possible ways to vaccinate people to generate potent antibodies of the type that are predicted to offer protection against diverse strains of the highly mutable HIV.
	Researchers determine existence of 'fat' flavour There is conclusive evidence that there is a fat taste, according to Deakin University sensory science researchers.
	New insights into the function of transporters in the brain implicated in stroke and neurodegenerative disease Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College and Cornell University have gained new insights into the function of biological machines that scoop up glutamate, the most common neurotransmitter in the brain, from the nerve synapse. Their findings may offer investigators new strategies to develop more effective treatments for stroke, traumatic injury and neurodegenerative diseases.
	What autism can teach us about brain cancer Applying lessons learned from autism to brain cancer, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have discovered why elevated levels of the protein NHE9 add to the lethality of the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma. Their discovery suggests that drugs designed to target NHE9 could help to successfully fight the deadly disease.
Mechanistic finding may help deal with side effects of lifespan-extending drug rapamycin Rapamycin, an FDA-approved drug, extends lifespan in mice up to 30%, making it of major interest to researchers intent on slowing the aging process in humans in order to extend healthspan, the healthy years of life. But long term use of rapamycin, approved for use in several disease indications, has side effects - raising questions about its use to prevent the chronic diseases of aging. In a study, now published online in Aging Cell, researchers at the Buck Institute have discovered new insights into how rapamycin inhibits the nutrient signaling pathway mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin) - a finding that could provide a way to avoid or eliminate side effects of the drug.
	HPV vaccination not linked to riskier sex Receiving the human papillomavirus vaccine does not increase rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in adolescent females. The vaccine, which can prevent cervical cancer in women, has had a low uptake, partly because of concerns about how it will affect adolescent sexual activity.
	Computer model of blood development could speed up search for new leukaemia drugs The first comprehensive computer model to simulate the development of blood cells could help in the development of new treatments for leukaemia and lymphoma, say researchers at the University of Cambridge and Microsoft Research.
	Study shows why some targeted cancer drugs lose effectiveness A protein called YAP, which drives the growth of organs during development and regulates their size in adulthood, plays a key role in the emergence of resistance to targeted cancer therapies, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco researchers.
	New opportunity to treat drug-resistant leukemia discovered A study led by researchers at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM and Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki and the Helsinki University Central Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center, in close collaboration with researchers at Pfizer, has identified a previously unrecognized action of Pfizer's axitinib as a potent inhibitor of the dominant mutation that confers drug resistance to all well tolerated treatments in patients with certain types of leukemia. The findings of this international joint effort were published online today, 9 February, 2015, in the journal Nature.
	Pick a card, any card: Researchers show how magicians sway decision-making Magicians have astonished audiences for centuries by subtly, yet powerfully, influencing their decisions. But there has been little systematic study of the psychological factors that make magic tricks work.
	Novel 'smart' insulin automatically adjusts blood sugar in diabetic mouse model For patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D), the burden of constantly monitoring their blood sugar and judging when and how much insulin to self-inject, is bad enough. Even worse, a miscalculation or lapse in regimen can cause blood sugar levels to rise too high (hyperglycemia), potentially leading to heart disease, blindness and other long-term complications, or to plummet too low (hypoglycemia), which in the worst cases can result in coma or even death.
	Researchers trace origins of colorectal cancer tumor cells For the first time, Ke