Are you planning to go to Mars? Then think again... for..the journey might damage your brain so much that when you reach Mars, you won't be able to enjoy your stay there. Why? Read on...

As NASA prepares for the first manned spaceflight to Mars, questions have surfaced concerning the potential for increased risks associated with exposure to the spectrum of highly energetic nuclei that comprise galactic cosmic rays. Animal models have revealed an unexpected sensitivity of mature neurons in the brain to charged particles found in space. Astronaut autonomy during long-term space travel is particularly critical as is the need to properly manage planned and unanticipated events, activities that could be compromised by accumulating particle traversals through the brain. Using mice subjected to space-relevant fluences of charged particles, researchers have shown that significant cortical- and hippocampal-based performance decrements 6 weeks after acute exposure. Animals manifesting cognitive decrements exhibited marked and persistent radiation-induced reductions in dendritic complexity and spine density along medial prefrontal cortical neurons known to mediate neurotransmission specifically interrogated by our behavioral tasks. Significant increases in postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95) revealed major radiation-induced alterations in synaptic integrity. Impaired behavioral performance of individual animals correlated significantly with reduced spine density and trended with increased synaptic puncta, thereby providing quantitative measures of risk for developing cognitive decrements. Our data indicate an unexpected and unique susceptibility of the central nervous system to space radiation exposure, and argue that the underlying radiation sensitivity of delicate neuronal structure may well predispose astronauts to unintended mission-critical performance decrements and/or longer-term neurocognitive sequelae.

If humans are similarly susceptible, astronauts on voyages to Mars could suffer permanent cognitive impairment that could hinder their abilities to recall information and to think on their feet. Faster transits, new anti-radiation drugs and better spacecraft shielding should help. But until those solutions are developed, sending brain-damaged humans to Mars would be a dim-witted thing to do.

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/4/e1400256

Cancer tricks the lymphatic system into spreading tumors...
Swollen lymph nodes are often the earliest sign of metastatic spread of cancer cells. Now cancer researchers and immunologists at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet have discovered how cancer cells can infiltrate the lymphatic system by 'disguising' themselves as immune cells (white blood cells). The researchers hope that this finding, which is published in the scientific journal Oncogene, will inform the development of new drugs.

The main reason why people die of cancer is that the cancer cells spread to form daughter tumours, or metastases, in vital organs, such as the lungs and liver. A route frequently used by cancer cells for dissemination is the lymphatic system. Upon entering lymphatic vessels, they migrate to nearby lymph nodes, which then swell up, and from there, to other organs via the blood. The details of how and why cancer cells use the lymphatic system for spread are, however, relatively unknown.

"It's not clear whether there are signals controlling this or whether it's just random," says principal investigator Jonas Fuxe, cancer researcher and Associate Professor at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics. "However, in recent years it has become evident that inflammation is a factor that can promote metastasis and that anti-inflammatory drugs may have a certain inhibitory effect on the spread of cancer."

The study is based on an interdisciplinary collaboration between cancer researchers and immunologists, which the researchers point out has has contributed to the new, exciting results. What they discovered was that an inflammatory factor known as TGF-beta (transforming growth factor-beta) can give cancer cells properties of immune cells by supplying the surface of the cancer cell with a receptor that normally only exists on the white blood cells that travel through the lymphatic system.

Equipped with this receptor, the cancer cells are able to recognise and migrate towards a gradient of a substance that is secreted from the lymphatic vessels and binds to the receptor. In this way, the cancer cells can effectively target lymphatic vessels and migrate on to lymph nodes, just like immune cells. According to the researchers, their results link inflammation and cancer in a novel way and make possible the development of new treatment models.

"With this discovery in our hands, we'd now like to try to find out which additional immune-cell properties cancer cells have and study how they affect the metastatic process," says Dr Fuxe. "The possibility of preventing or slowing down the spread of cancer cells via the lymphatic system is an attractive one, as it could reduce the risk of metastasis to other organs."
http://www.nature.com/onc/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/onc2015133a.html

You Call It “Self-Exuberance”; I Call It “Bragging”

Miscalibrated Predictions of Emotional Responses to Self-Promotion

People engage in self-promotional behavior because they want others to hold favorable images of them. Self-promotion, however, entails a trade-off between conveying one’s positive attributes and being seen as bragging. We propose that people get this trade-off wrong because they erroneously project their own feelings onto their interaction partners. As a consequence, people overestimate the extent to which recipients of their self-promotion will feel proud of and happy for them, and underestimate the extent to which recipients will feel annoyed . Because people tend to promote themselves excessively when trying to make a favorable impression on others, such efforts often backfire, causing targets of self-promotion to view self-promoters as less likeable and as braggarts .

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/05/07/0956797615573516.ab...

http://www.sciguru.org/newsitem/19053/bragging-backfires-study?utm_...

Prolonged daily light exposure increases body fat mass through attenuation of brown adipose tissue activity
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/05/06/1504239112
Brown fat is supposed to be the friendly kind of fat. But making the days longer with artificial light may turn brown fat into an enemy in the battle against obesity, a mouse study suggests.

Compared with mice experiencing normal light cycles, mice exposed to longer periods of light gained fat — not because they were eating more or moving less, but because their brown fat wasn't working efficiently. Brown fat in these mice converted fatty acids and glucose to heat more slowly than brown fat in mice experiencing normal days, researchers report May 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Finding a way to boost brown fat's activity may combat the negative effects of extended time spent in artificial light, the scientists suggest.

Fascinating news: People take the drugs, their body breaks them down into different metabolites that are excreted, and the microbes take these different parts of the drug and put them back together in sewage treatment and recycling plants!

Wastewater treatment plants not only struggle removing pharmaceuticals, it seems some drugs actually increase after treatment. When researchers tested wastewater before and after treatment at a Milwaukee-area (USA) treatment plant, they found that two drugs—the anti-epileptic carbamazepine and antibiotic ofloxacin—came out at higher concentrations than they went in. The study suggests the microbes that clean our water may also piece some pharmaceuticals back together. Carbamazepine and ofloxacin on average increased by 80 percent and 120 percent, respectively, during the treatment process. Such drugs, and their metabolites (formed as part of the natural biochemical process of degrading and eliminating the compounds), get into the wastewater by people taking them and excreting them. Flushing drugs accounts for some of the levels too. “Microbes seem to be making pharmaceuticals out of what used to be pharmaceuticals".

The researchers have a clue as to how this might happen: microbes.

After removing the solids from incoming wastewater, treatment plants use microbes—tiny single-celled organisms—to decompose organic matter that comes in the sewage. Their best guess is that people take the drugs, their body breaks them down into different metabolites that are excreted, and the microbes take these different parts of the drug and put them back together!

Canadian researchers found carbamazepine more than doubled its initial medicinal load after treatment at a Peterborough, Ontario, plant.

These pharmaceuticals will act on hormones in our bodies.

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2015/may/bacteria-m...

Restoring eyesight and healing brains: how hydrogels can boost the work of stem cells

Researchers show that engineered hydrogels not only help with stem cell transplantation, but actually speed healing in both the eye and brain. It's a discovery that, in early lab trials, has been shown to partially reverse blindness and help the brain recover from stroke. Using a gel-like biomaterial called a hydrogel, University of Toronto scientists and engineers have made a breakthrough in cell transplantation that keeps cells alive and helps them integrate better into tissue.
http://www.cell.com/stem-cell-reports/abstract/S2213-6711%2815%2900...

Future cameras may focus light by relying on flat lenses. Physicists are making major advancements with planar lenses that can scatter and bend rays of light, sans bulge.

The latest rendition, detailed online in February in the journal Science, has moved beyond proof of concept: it perfectly focuses red, green and blue light, which can be combined to yield multicolor images. The team has since crafted a larger prototype, and it “works exactly like the prediction,” Capasso says. Such lenses could reduce the bulk and cost of photography, microscopy and astronomy equipment. And they could one day be printed on flexible plastic for thin, bendable gadgets.

Rogue Antimatter Found in Thunderclouds

A detector fitted on an airplane picked up a signature spike in photons that does not fit any known source of antiparticles
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rogue-antimatter-found-in...

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Jahn-Teller-metal: Scientists discover new state of matter

Scientists at Tokohu University in Japan have discovered a new state of matter called the ‘Jahn-Teller-metal’ that resembles an insulator, superconductor, metal and magnet all rolled into one.

The team made the discovery by studying a superconductor made from carbon-60 molecules or “buckyballs”.

Researchers said the research could help develop new molecular materials that are superconductors at even higher temperatures.

The research provides important clues about how the interplay between the electronic structure of the molecules and their spacing within the lattice can strengthen interactions between electrons that cause superconductivity.

Superconductors are a large and diverse group of materials that offer zero resistance to electrical currents when cooled below a critical temperature (TC).

Superconducting lattices of fullerides - C60 plus three alkali-metal atoms - have been studied for more than two decades, and provide an interesting test bed.

This research, described in Science Advances, involves caesium fulleride (Cs3C60) in a face-centred-cubic lattice with a Cs3C60 molecule at each lattice site.

People against  synthetic turf...because it is toxic

Artificial turf fields, cushioned with recycled crushed tires and increasingly in demand for athletic complexes, are getting some serious pushback.

They are worried about alleged health risks in the ant-size rubber pieces that cushion the bright synthetic grass.

The pellets, made up of pulverized tire bits and used to cushion fields and anchor synthetic grass, may contain known carcinogens such as arsenic and benzene and other harmful substances like lead, according to a report by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Artificial turf advocates say there are multiple studies that show fields are safe, while critics argue that there are no conclusive tests to prove such claims and that waiting for definitive evidence of a health hazard leaves children unprotected.

Athletes who play on the fields are well acquainted with the black pellets – a spray of which is often kicked up by bouncing balls and running children, and gets into cleats and tracked into homes and mixed with laundry after practice. The authorities recommend “common sense” to minimize exposure to chemicals that may be in crumb rubber, including washing hands after playing, and taking shoes off before entering homes.

- http://necir.org/2015/05/10/toxic-turf/

If you hear some strange noises from the sky, don't worry! Here is why you hear them:

It is earth’s ‘background noise’ according to scientists!

The unsettling noises were heard recently from Europe to Canada, sounding like groans and powerful horns.

According to NASA, the Earth has ‘natural radio emissions’.

‘If humans had radio antennas instead of ears, we would hear a remarkable symphony of strange noises coming from our own planet. Scientists call them “tweeks,” “whistlers” and “sferics.”

‘They sound like background music from a flamboyant science fiction film, but this is not science fiction. Earth’s natural radio emissions are real and, although we’re mostly unaware of them, they are around us all the time.’

University of Saskatchewan physics professor Jean-Pierre St. Maurice said that it’s electromagnetic noise emitted from auroras and radiation belts.

'They sound like background music from a flamboyant science fiction film, but this is not science fiction. Earth's natural radio emissions are real and, although we're mostly unaware of them, they are around us all the time.’

For instance lightning can produce eerie-sounding radio emissions, Nasa added.

Earthquakes can also produce sub-audible sounds, according to seismologist Brian W Stump from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Developing the Critical Thinking Skills of Astrobiology Students through Creative and Scientific Inquiry
Scientific inquiry represents a multifaceted approach to explore and understand the natural world. Training students in the principles of scientific inquiry can help promote the scientific learning process as well as help students enhance their understanding of scientific research. Here, we report on the development and implementation of a learning module that introduces astrobiology students to the concepts of creative and scientific inquiry, as well as provide practical exercises to build critical thinking skills. The module contained three distinct components: (1) a creative inquiry activity designed to introduce concepts regarding the role of creativity in scientific inquiry; (2) guidelines to help astrobiology students formulate and self-assess questions regarding various scientific content and imagery; and (3) a practical exercise where students were allowed to watch a scientific presentation and practice their analytical skills. Pre- and post-course surveys were used to assess the students' perceptions regarding creative and scientific inquiry and whether this activity impacted their understanding of the scientific process. Survey results indicate that the exercise helped improve students' science skills by promoting awareness regarding the role of creativity in scientific inquiry and building their confidence in formulating and assessing scientific questions. Together, the module and survey results confirm the need to include such inquiry-based activities into the higher education classroom, thereby helping students hone their critical thinking and question asking skill set and facilitating their professional development in astrobiology. Key Words: Scientific inquiry—Critical thinking—Curriculum development—Astrobiology—Microbialites. Astrobiology 15, 89–99.
http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2014.1219

Microbes with potential to cleanse waterways

17 hours ago by Amal Naquiah

A seven-year scientific study has revealed that microbial communities in urban waterways has the potential to play an important role in cleansing Singapore's waterways and also act as raw water quality indicators.

The study found that canals designed to channel rainwater host microbial communities that could remove and neutralise organic pollutants in raw water. These organic pollutants are currently at trace levels in raw water – well below the United States-Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) drinking water standards – which is removed during water treatment processes.

Researchers from the NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI) and the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) have discovered that the untapped natural ability of microbial communities could be harnessed to treat raw water even before undergoing treatment.

This process is known as 'bioremediation', a treatment that uses naturally occurring organisms to break down organic pollutants.

The study, which was published in the scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology, was conducted around the Ulu Pandan catchment area in collaboration with the Singapore's national water agency, PUB.

-Environmental Science & Technology

Scientists want contracts to guarantee they won't be muzzled
Canada’s muzzled federal scientists claim they are now being barred from meeting with their union at work to discuss its bargaining proposals to restore “scientific integrity” in government, says the union.

Debi Daviau, president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, is leading scientists Tuesday in a string of outdoor protests at labs and science-based departments across the country largely because the union can no longer get inside to meet with their members as it once did.
Federal scientists were a thorn in the Conservatives’ side during the government’s downsizing, accusing them of using federal policies to muzzle them, change or suppress their findings and undermine their ability to do their jobs.
The policy would touch on a range of issues and existing policies, but the key proposal is the “right to speak.” The union wants a clause guaranteeing scientists the right to express their personal views while making clear they don’t speak for government.

The other big demand is professional development, allowing scientists to attend meetings, conferences and courses to maintain their professional standards.

They also want contract changes so half of the revenues generated by their inventions and other intellectual property will be plowed back into government research to shore up budgets hit by spending cuts and to attract top talent.

PIPSC argues the changes would ensure science is done in the public interest, information and data are shared, and that scientists can collaborate and be protected from political interference, coercion or pressure to alter data. The policy would touch on a range of issues and existing policies, but the key proposal is the “right to speak.”
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/scientists-want-contracts-to...

“Young Blood” Anti-Aging Mechanism Called into Question

A protein in the blood of young mice that seemed to rejuvenate older animals may do the opposite
http://www.nature.com/news/young-blood-anti-ageing-mechanism-called...

‘Plastic Rice’. 'Synthetic rice'. Have you heard these terms before? One more rice contaminant!
Several Indonesian regions are on alert after lab tests confirmed rice found in the West Java city of Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta, contained plastic compounds.

Lab results from state-controlled inspection firm Superintending Company of Indonesia, or Sucofindo, revealed that two rice samples collected from Mutiara Gading market in Bekasi contained contained benzyl butyl phthalate, 2-ethylhexyl phthalate and diisononyl phthalate, also known as plasticizer.

“The two samples of rice look the same; results of our tests show that both contain plastic compounds,” Adisam Z.N., Sucofindo’s laboratory examinations head, said in Jakarta on Thursday.

“Plasticizers are usually used in the production of cables and plastic pipes. In Europe, these substances have been banned for use in children’s toys, let alone as food substances,” he added.

Long-term consumption of the synthetic rice, dubbed “plastic rice” by local media, can cause abdominal pain and even cancer.

Fears of the so-called synthetic rice have spread across the country after a police raid at Mutiara Gading found evidence of it mixed with real grains of rice.
Synthetic rice had slightly different physical attributes compared to natural grains, such as sharper tips.

Rice traders in Jakarta have admitted to not knowing the difference before they were informed by authorities.
http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/authorities-alert-plasti...

Why ovarian cancer treatments fail ...

Ovarian cancer cells can lock into survival mode and avoid being destroyed by chemotherapy, an international study reports.

Professor Sean Grimmond, from The University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience, said ovarian cancer cells had at least four different ways to avoid being destroyed by platinum-based chemotherapy treatments.

"One way involves breaking and rearranging big groups of genes - the chromosomes," Professor Grimmond said.

"This is fundamentally different to other cancers where the disease is driven by smaller but more gradual changes to individual genes.

"It is essentially shattering big chunks of the cell's hard drive and moving them around, rather than just changing bits in the files."

The research used whole genome sequencing to analyse tumour DNA samples from 91 patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC).

The study's results are published recently in Nature.

A vaccine to lower blood pressure? Scientists have devised one for rats, at least.
Scientists jabbed hypertensive rats with three doses of the formulation. It's a DNA vaccine—containing DNA fragments from angiotensin II—a hormone that boosts blood pressure, as well as fragments from hepatitis B, to guarantee the immune system’s attention. Cells suck up the vaccine's DNA, and start pumping out the proteins the DNA codes for. When the host’s defenses gets a whiff of the proteins, it reacts. It really revs up against the hepatitis B fragments. And while it’s at it, it starts taking out some angiotensin II as well.

The result is a reduction in angiotensin II's usual blood pressure raising effects—similar to what blood pressure meds like Benicar do. Less angiotensin II means more relaxed blood vessels, and a drop in pressure. That effect lasted six months in the vaccinated rats, and lengthened their lifespan by eight weeks. Necropsies on the vaccinated rats revealed healthier heart tissue than normally found with high blood pressure, and no damage to their kidneys or livers. The results are in the journal Hypertension
"Long-Term Reduction of High Blood Pressure by Angiotensin II DNA Vaccine in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats"
http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/early/2015/05/26/HYPERTENSIONA...

Estimated glomerular filtration rate and albuminuria for prediction of cardiovascular outcomes: a collaborative meta-analysis of individual participant data
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587%2815...
Kidney function tests help in measuring over all health
If health care providers have data on kidney damage and kidney function - which they often do - they should be using those data to better understand a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease. Cholesterol levels and blood pressure tests are good indicators of cardiovascular risk, but they are not perfect. This study tells us we could do even better with information that often times we are already collecting.
The most common assessment of kidney function checks the blood for creatinine, a waste product of the muscles, and reflects how well the kidneys are filtering it out (called an estimated glomerular filtration rate, or eGFR). Another key test measures albuminuria, or how much of the protein albumin leaks out of the kidney and into the urine. Higher amounts indicate the presence of kidney damage. It is also a fairly common test, particularly in patients with diabetes, hypertension and kidney disease.
The researchers now  found that both eGFR levels and albuminuria independently improved prediction of cardiovascular disease in general and particularly heart failure and death from heart attack and stroke, but albuminuria was the stronger predictor. It outperformed cholesterol levels and systolic blood pressure - and even whether someone is a smoker - as a risk factor for heart failure and death from heart attack or stroke.
Poorly functioning kidneys can lead to a fluid overload that may result in heart failure. People with kidney disease tend to not receive certain medications that can reduce heart ailments, such as statins, likely because patients with kidney disease frequently are excluded from clinical trials performed to prove the efficacy of these medicines.

People with chronic kidney disease are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease as those with healthy kidneys and roughly half of them die from it before they reach kidney failure.

The link between typhoid bacterium and gallbladder cancer...

Controlling bacterial infections responsible for typhoid fever could dramatically reduce the risk of gallbladder cancer in India and Pakistan, according to a study published by Cell Press May 28th in Cell Host & Microbe. The findings establish for the first time the causal link between bacterial infection and gallbladder cancer, explaining why this type of cancer is rare in the West but common in India and Pakistan, where typhoid fever is endemic. Public policy changes inspired by this research could have an immediate impact on preventing a type of cancer that currently has a very poor prognosis.

S. typhi,   typhoid-causing bacterium is endemic in India and has been associated with gallbladder cancer in epidemiological studies. Moreover, proteins that Salmonella injects into host cells activate cancer-related signaling pathways called AKT and MAPK, which support not only bacterial infection and survival, but also the growth and proliferation of cancer cells.

To explore the role of S. typhi in cancer in the new study, the researchers compared tumor samples from Indian and Dutch patients with gallbladder cancer. While both groups showed signs of AKT and MAPK activation and an inactive, mutant TP53 cancer gene, only Indian patients showed strong evidence of S. typhi infection and over-activating mutations in a cancer gene called c-Myc. To mimic the features of the tumor samples from India, the researchers transplanted Salmonella-infected cells with mutations affecting TP53 and c-Myc activity into mice. These mice later developed tumors, demonstrating that Salmonella causes cancer in genetically at-risk hosts as a result of the collateral damage induced by its normal infection cycle.

Additional experiments suggested that Salmonella infection sets genetically predisposed host cells on the cancerous path by secreting proteins that increase AKT and MAPK activity, which remains elevated and perpetuates the cancer trajectory long after the bacteria have disappeared. These same two host signaling pathways are activated by bacterial pathogens implicated in cervical and lung cancer, suggesting that a direct contribution of bacteria to tumor formation could be more common than previously anticipated. "The findings also suggest that the use of antibiotic treatment to control these bacterial infections may come too late for individuals who have already developed cancer," the researchers say. "Instead, the main goal should be prevention through proper treatment with antibiotics, vaccination programs, or better sanitary conditions."

"If typhoid fever is controlled, gallbladder carcinoma in India and Pakistan could be prevented and become as rare as in the Western world."

Salmonella Manipulation of Host Signaling Pathways Provokes Cellular Transformation Associated with Gallbladder Carcinoma

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1931312815002061

Vials of bioterror bacteria have gone missing. Lab mice infected with deadly viruses have escaped, and wild rodents have been found making nests with research waste. Cattle infected in a university's vaccine experiments were repeatedly sent to slaughter and their meat sold for human consumption. Gear meant to protect lab workers from lethal viruses such as Ebola and bird flu has failed, repeatedly.

A USA TODAY Network investigation reveals that hundreds of lab mistakes, safety violations and near-miss incidents have occurred in biological laboratories coast to coast in recent years, putting scientists, their colleagues and sometimes even the public at risk.

Oversight of biological research labs is fragmented, often secretive and largely self-policing, the investigation found. And even when research facilities commit the most egregious safety or security breaches — as more than 100 labs have — federal regulators keep their names secret.

Of particular concern are mishaps occurring at institutions working with the world's most dangerous pathogens in biosafety level 3 and 4 labs — the two highest levels of containment that have proliferated since the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. Yet there is no publicly available list of these labs, and the scope of their research and safety records are largely unknown to most state health departments charged with responding to disease outbreaks. Even the federal government doesn't know where they all are, the Government Accountability Office has warned for years.
http://www.usatoday.com/longform/news/2015/05/28/biolabs-pathogens-...

How Bacteria Talk and how we can use this knowledge to control diseases

Global Warming Spawns Hybrid Species

Animals have been interbreeding for millennia. Even modern humans are the product of genetic exchange with Neanderthals some 60,000 years ago.

But the rate at which species interbreed is accelerating because of climate change, researchers say. As habitats and animal ranges change and bleed into one another, species that never before would have encountered one another are now mating.

Warmer temperatures have allowed grizzly bears and polar bears to venture to habitats they don’t usually occupy and mate to form a hybrid: the pizzly or grolar bear.

Similar trends have been observed between golden-winged warblers and blue-winged warblers.

This issue is horrendously complex because of our ability to change the environment.
s rainbow trout meet and interbreed with dwindling cutthroat trout populations, the survival of cutthroat trout is at risk. Instead, a hybrid species is taking its place.

It’s a major cause of species extinction—lots of species are now disappearing because they are being genetically swamped by other, commoner ones. In some cases, hybridization can lead to reduced genetic diversity in animals. Rather than growing a new branch on the [genetic] tree, you have two branches growing together. In the case of cutthroat-rainbow trout hybrids, the hybrids are less genetically fit, with offspring of the hybrids struggling to survive, a study led by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey found.

The rate at which humans are driving species to extinction is 1,000 times faster than the rate at which animals would go extinct naturally.
"ADAPTATION:
The grolar bear dilemma -- do warming-created hybrids hurt species? "
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060019399

Bacteria may cause type 2 diabetes

Why Asian Students Excel At Maths And Science What explains the stellar performance of Asian students, even when they study in the US?
Students from five nations and territories in Asia have topped the latest global school rankings in science and math conducted by the OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development). The top five are Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan (the last two tied in fourth place). The surprise is Vietnam, which follows in 12th place .
Only two other Asian countries are included in the rankings this year—Thailand (47th) and Indonesia (69th).
The rankings are based on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) taken by 15-year-olds around the world every three years. OECD suggests a correlation between quality basic education and economic development—the better educated a country’s people are, the faster the country develops economically.

http://www.asianscientist.com/2015/06/features/asian-students-excel...

What is Sleep? Flame Challenge 2015 Entry by Eric Galicia from Eric Galicia on Vimeo.

When nose acts like brain...

Hormone ‘Erases’ Male Smell for Female Mice

In a new study, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that state-specific odor “blindness” exists in female mice. Their research shows that female mice cannot sense the odor of male mice when they are in diestrus, the period of sexual inactivity during the reproductive cycle.

The researchers discovered that during this period, receptors in the female mouse’s nose actually block the signals from male odor molecules from ever reaching the brain. This lack of sensation directly affects mouse behavior.

“The nose was making decisions and acting like an extension of the brain.”

These findings, which point to new avenues for studying senses and behavior, were published June 4, 2015, in the journal Cell.

The new study started with an observation well-known in the field: While female mice are attracted to male mice during estrus—when they are receptive to breeding—female mice are indifferent to, and even aggressive toward, male mice during diestrus.

Researchers have long suspected that this change in behavior is related to hormonal changes in the brain during the reproductive cycle. Hormones produced in the ovaries during estrus and diestrus are known to activate specific neurons in the female brain. Stowers and her team aimed to study those neurons further. Before they investigated the brain, however, the researchers first wanted to rule out any activity in the nose that might be affecting the odor cues.

The researchers investigated a subset of neurons in a special organ in the nose called the vomeronasal organ (VNO), which detects male odors.

Using a technique called calcium imaging, the researchers discovered that these neurons don’t always detect male odors. The neurons have a “gating” mechanism and fail to activate in the presence of a hormone called progesterone, which is produced in the ovaries during diestrus. They found that progesterone acts through receptors on the surface of these sensory neurons, stopping them from transmitting the male odor smell to the brain.

Without these neurons activating, the female mouse can’t perceive male odors that promote behavior. This means ­the choice to perform behavior is being regulated in the nose itself, without thought from the brain.

What made the findings even stranger was the fact that no progesterone receptors had ever been detected in VNO neurons before. This prompted the researchers to dig further to figure out what was going on.

First, the researchers wanted to see if progesterone was disabling VNO function altogether.

To test this, the researchers checked the VNO response to predator cues—in this case, the scent of cat urine, which mice instinctually avoid. The researchers found that the subset of VNO neurons that usually respond to cat urine continued to respond normally, even in the presence of progesterone.

This showed that the ability female mice to smell in general was indeed still active during periods of diestrus.

Next, the researchers took a closer look at the signaling process. They discovered that when progesterone is detected by VNO neurons, it changes a signaling molecule that would normally relay the odor to the brain. Because only male odor-specific VNO neurons are susceptible to this change, they are the only ones that switch off in the presence of progesterone.

The reason for this male odor “blindness” is still unclear. Stowers said there is no evidence for the notion that male odors distract females from finding food or shelter. After all, female mice can smell male mice during estrus, and they still survive.

http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674%2815%2900555-3

In a new study from researchers in the University of Tel Aviv, a strategy is described for using phages to deliver a nuclease that targets antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria. Phages, which are viruses that infect bacteria, are the natural enemies of bacteria. This strategy renders these resistant bacteria susceptible to antibiotics and also prevents transfer of resistance from one strain to another. The study was led by Prof Udi Qimron and is published in the journal PNAS.

The spread of antibiotic resistance among pathogens is a worldwide public health crisis, prompting the World Health Organisation, at its annual assembly in Geneva last week, to approve an ambitious plan to slow it down. The research described in the PNAS paper is a promising step in the right direction. According to the study’s authors, applying their phage-based system to hospital surfaces and to the hands of medical personnel could help us to fight back against untreatable, often lethal bacterial infections. Prof Qimron explained: "Since there are only a few pathogens in hospitals that cause most of the antibiotic-resistance infections, we wish to specifically design appropriate sensitization treatments for each one of them. We will have to choose suitable combinations of DNA-delivering phages that would deliver the DNA into pathogens, and the suitable combination of 'killing' phages that could select the re-sensitized pathogens."

In this system, phages were programmed to deliver a programmable DNA nuclease, which is called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)–CRISPR-associated (Cas), into the genome of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This shot to the heart of the resistant bacteria resulted in reversal of the antibiotic resistance, rendering them sensitive to antibiotics, while protecting the bacteria that were already sensitive to antibiotics.

In essence this system is therefore selective for antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, thus applying the opposite selective pressure to antibiotics themselves. Prof Qimron explained: "Antibiotic-resistant pathogens constitute an increasing threat because antibiotics are designed to select resistant pathogens over sensitive ones. The injected DNA does two things: It eliminates the genes that cause resistance to antibiotics, and it confers protection against lethal phages. We managed to devise a way to restore antibiotic sensitivity to drug-resistant bacteria, and also prevent the transfer of genes that create that resistance among bacteria.” The CRISPR-Cas system also destroyed the lytic phages themselves. Prof Qimron said: "We believe that this strategy, in addition to disinfection, could significantly render infections once again treatable by antibiotics."
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/05/14/1500107112

Delirium is a type of sudden-onset brain dysfunction characterised by cognitive problems such as inattention and fluctuation in symptoms.
Reasons for development of delirium in the ICU patients include medications such as benzodiazepine and other sedatives. These are commonly given to patients to help them stay calm and sleep but can paradoxically cause disorientation and confusion in some patients.
the goal should be reduction or elimination of such medications, especially in more vulnerable patients such as the elderly and dementia patients, and to establish better night-time routines in hospitals such that patients are allowed to sleep with minimal interruptions. However, there are other causes of delirium, which might be more difficult to reduce. Illnesses such as severe pneumonia can cause secondary inflammation in the brain. It has also been suggested that changes in blood flow to the brain can result in delirium. The current study indicated that long-term risk of cognitive decline is increased by 20-30% in the patients who experience delirium in the ICU.
Development of delirium approximately doubles the risk of death in critically ill patients in hospital intensive care units, according to the results of a new study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). The systematic review and meta-analysis study was carried out by a team of researchers based in Brazil and the United States, led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers.
Outcome of delirium in critically ill patients: systematic review and meta-analysis
http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h2538

There's a lesser-known biometric,that might be a bit harder to counterfeit: brainwaves. "In the biometric textbook table of contents, often the brain biometrics were listed as ‘Esoteric Biometrics.
Each person has slightly different so-called "brainprints." Different enough that computers were able to uniquely identify the study volunteers by their brainwaves 94 percent of the time. That effect held up when the subjects were retested six months later. The results are in the journal Neurocomputing. [Blair C. Armstrong et al, Brainprint: Assessing the uniqueness, collectability, and permanence of a novel method for ERP biometrics]
Brainprint: Assessing the uniqueness, collectability, and permanence of a novel method for ERP biometrics
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925231215004725

Polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder predict creativity

http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.4040.html

Results imply creative people are 25% more likely to carry genes that raise risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

In a large study published on Monday, scientists in Iceland report that genetic factors that raise the risk of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are found more often in people in creative professions. Painters, musicians, writers and dancers were, on average, 25% more likely to carry the gene variants than professions the scientists judged to be less creative, among which were farmers, manual labourers and salespeople.

“To be creative, you have to think differently. And when we are different, we have a tendency to be labelled strange, crazy and even insane.”

The scientists drew on genetic and medical information from 86,000 Icelanders to find genetic variants that doubled the average risk of schizophrenia, and raised the risk of bipolar disorder by more than a third. When they looked at how common these variants were in members of national arts societies, they found a 17% increase compared with non-members. For 1% of the population, genetic factors, life experiences and other influences can culminate in problems, and a diagnosis of mental illness.

This study found only a weak link between the genetic variants for mental illness and creativity.

( Some scientists argue that this evidence is flimsy. Remember we cautioned you!)

 Albert Rothenberg, professor of psychiatry at Harvard University is not convinced. He believes that there is no good evidence for a link between mental illness and creativity. “It’s the romantic notion of the 19th century, that the artist is the struggler, aberrant from society, and wrestling with inner demons,” he said. “But take Van Gogh. He just happened to be mentally ill as well as creative. For me, the reverse is more interesting: creative people are generally not mentally ill, but they use thought processes that are of course creative and different.”

In 2014, Rothernberg published a book, “Flight of Wonder: an investigation of scientific creativity”, in which he interviewed 45 science Nobel laureates about their creative strategies. He found no evidence of mental illness in any of them. He suspects that studies which find links between creativity and mental illness might be picking up on something rather different.

“The problem is that the criteria for being creative is never anything very creative. Belonging to an artistic society, or working in art or literature, does not prove a person is creative. But the fact is that many people who have mental illness do try to work in jobs that have to do with art and literature, not because they are good at it, but because they’re attracted to it. And that can skew the data,” he said. “Nearly all mental hospitals use art therapy, and so when patients come out, many are attracted to artistic positions and artistic pursuits.”

The children of genetically-unrelated parents are more likely than those with similar genes to be taller and more intelligent according to the biggest study yet of human genetic diversity in an age when more people than ever are marrying people from different parts of the world.

Scientists found that height and general intelligence were two traits that appear to be increasing as a result of the mixing of DNA between genetically-diverse parents who on average share fewer genes than more closely related individuals.

However, the researchers also found that the increasing genetic diversity of the human population appeared to have little or no effect on a range of other medical traits, such as blood pressure, which could affect peoples’ health over their lifetimes.

Ever since Charles Darwin, scientists have argued over the effects of “inbreeding” between close relatives such as first cousins, but there have been few studies to look into the positive benefits of “outbreeding” between more distantly-related parents with widely different genetic backgrounds.

The latest research, published in the journal Nature, analysed more than 100 separate studies carried out around the world involving some 350,000 people living in both rural and urban environments.

Sex divide seen in mechanism that produces persistent pain

Research showing that male and female mice regulate pain sensitivity differently raises questions about gender balance in experimental design.

http://www.nature.com/news/sex-divide-seen-in-mechanism-that-produc...

POPs and Gut Microbiota: Dietary Exposure Alters Ratio of Bacterial Species
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been implicated in myriad human health problems, including cancer, neurologic, immunologic, and reproductive defects, among many other adverse health effects. New lines of research suggest that chronic dietary exposure to POPs may also contribute to obesity and type 2 diabetes. In this issue of EHP, researchers examine how one POP in particular—2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF)—affects the composition of the mouse gut microbiome. They report that TCDF exposure alters the gut microbiome in ways that may prove to contribute to obesity and other metabolic diseases.

TCDF binds the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), which activates a variety of biological responses. Recent studies indicate that keeping the gut in good working order is one of these functions.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/123-a187/

Researchers have developed a machine to simulate the effects of Earth’s gravity in space to alleviate the problems of space travel.

Astronauts who spend a long time in the micro-gravity environment of space can experience muscle deteoriation, bone loss and other harmful effects on their body.

But using a special type of centrifuge, researchers say these problems could be minimised - ensuring astronauts on a future mission to Mars, for example, arrive fit and healthy.

The technology was developed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

It works around the concept of a centrifuge - a spinning contraption that exerts a force on a human occupant through its rotation.

Rotating at a specific speed will ‘push’ the astronaut back, in effect mimicking the force they would feel from Earth’s gravity.

The research was published in the journal Acta Astronautica.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576515001344

Humans experience physiological deconditioning during space missions, primarily attributable to weightlessness. Some of these adverse consequences include bone loss, muscle atrophy, sensory-motor deconditioning, and cardiovascular alteration, which may lead to orthostatic intolerance when astronauts return to Earth. Artificial gravity could provide a comprehensive countermeasure capable of challenging all the physiological systems at once, particularly if combined with exercise, thereby maintaining overall health during extended exposure to weightlessness. A new Compact Radius Centrifuge (CRC) platform was designed and built on the existing Short Radius Centrifuge (SRC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The centrifuge has been constrained to a radius of 1.4 m, the upper radial limit for a centrifuge to fit within an International Space Station (ISS) module without extensive structural alterations. In addition, a cycle ergometer has been added for exercise during centrifugation. The CRC now includes sensors of foot forces, cardiovascular parameters, and leg muscle electromyography. An initial human experiment was conducted on 12 subjects to analyze the effects of different artificial gravity levels (0 g, 1 g, and 1.4 g, measured at the feet) and ergometer exercise intensities (25 W warm-up, 50 W moderate and 100 W vigorous) on the musculoskeletal function as well as motion sickness and comfort. Foot forces were measured during the centrifuge runs, and subjective comfort and motion sickness data were gathered after each session. Preliminary results indicate that ergometer exercise on a centrifuge may be effective in improving musculoskeletal function. The combination is well tolerated and motion sickness is minimal. The MIT CRC is a novel platform for future studies of exercise combined with artificial gravity. This combination may be effective as a countermeasure to space physiological deconditioning.

Bivalent separation into univalents precedes age-related meiosis I errors in oocytes

Defective chromosome separation in the egg cells of older women can cause miscarriage and congenital diseases according to scientists
researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan have used a novel imaging technique to pinpoint a significant event that leads to these types of age-related chromosomal errors. Published in Nature Communications, the study shows that as egg cells mature in older women, paired copies of matching chromosomes often separate from each other at the wrong time, leading to early division of chromosomes and their incorrect segregation into mature egg cells. Most cells have two copies of each chromosome—one from each parent. Immature egg cells also begin this way, but are transformed through a process called meiosis into mature egg cells that only have one copy of each chromosome. At the beginning of meiosis each chromosome copies itself and joins with its matching pair to form a group of four chromosomes that swap genetic material. These groups of four chromosomes—called bivalents—then split apart into single pairs, and the cell divides. One part continues as the egg cell and the other part degrades. In the second stage of meiosis, the single pairs of chromosomes—two sister chromatids joined in the middle—separate and the egg cell divides again in the same way, leaving a single mature egg cell with one copy of each chromosome.
They found that chromosomes were always distributed correctly in young egg cells, but that a little less than 10 percent of older cells suffered from segregation errors. Closer examination of the chromosome-tracking data showed that the dominant type of error was predivision of sister chromatids, and not movement of intact chromosome pairs to only one of the new cells. The tracking data also allowed researchers to go back in time and look at what was happening to chromosomes that eventually segregated incorrectly. They found that a large majority of them had been part of bivalents whose connection between paired chromosome copies had become hyperstretched and then snapped earlier in meiosis, leaving single pairs. The researchers then confirmed that the number of singly paired chromosomes—also called univalents—was higher in older mouse and even human egg cells, indicating that age-related segregation errors could be tracked back to increased numbers of prematurely separated chromosome pairs.
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150701/ncomms8550/full/ncomms8550...

DSM honors scientists around the world
Royal DSM, a science-based company active in nutrition, health and materials, recently launched a campaign to honor scientists around the world including one working to fight malaria.

In addition to paying tribute to the scientists, the Bright Science campaign is designed to encourage discussions about how important science is for society. The campaign emphasizes major societal needs via inspiring storytelling. A short documentary describing the perseverance and personal sacrifices of scientists around the world is the centerpiece of the campaign.

The documentary, titled Unsung Heroes of Science, shows how scientists in the future will use their discoveries to feed 9 billion people in 2050, create a bionic walking machine for disabled people, and transform methane gas into biodegradable plastics. One scientist, Bart Knols, leads a team that has created a plastic tube fitted with mosquito-killing gauze that can be built into roofs in Africa.

The general public, governments, customers, businesses, opinion leaders and others are invited to discuss their opinions about how science impacts social purpose at www.sciencecanchangetheworld.org
http://www.sciencecanchangetheworld.org/

Great work.Does anyone here work in the scientific journalism field?I think the creator of this grp does?

Science Journalism! Well that is one of the things I do! I am a freelancer though!

This is What Happens When Mosquitoes Bite:

When a mosquito bites you, it injects an anticoagulant into the skin to make the blood thinner and flow easier and longer to feast on enough of your blood.
In reaction, the skin releases histamine, causing an inflammatory reaction. The skin gets red and forms a bump. If left alone, the swelling and redness often goes away quickly. If scratched or rubbed or if the individual has an allergic reaction, the little bump can swell considerably or even become infected.
So don’t scratch the mosquito bite! Scratching the itch of the bug bite might provide temporary relief but it also causes more skin trauma and this can lead to hyperpigmentation. Scratching can also allow bacteria from your fingertips and under the fingernails to get into the small break in the skin caused by the bite and cause an infection.

How to deal with it:

When you get a mosquito bite, cleanse the area with a gentle soap or cleanser. Acu- Life Poison Ivy Soap, while for the relief of poison ivy, oak and sumac, actually relieves the itch from mosquito bites.

If the mosquito bite itching persists:

*try an anti-itch cream with hydrocortisone like Cortizone 10 Hydrocortisone Anti Itch cream
*try an antihistamine like Benadryl Itching Stopping Gel
*there are other anti-itch creams and gels like After Bite (which contains ammonium) and After Bite Outdoors (ammonium and baking soda and tea tree oil) that some sufferers have found provide relief
*calamine lotion has also been suggested for insect bites, but it’s debatable whether it really stops itching. Calamine lotion seems to help more with a rash or irritation caused by the mosquito bite. Women who are pregnant or nursing shouldn’t use calamine lotion. It’s also a good idea to ask your doctor if calamine will interact with any medicines you’re taking.

• Apply ice to reduce swelling.
• Aloe vera is an anti-inflammatory that can be used to soothe a bite and lessen the itching, as well as help heal the skin. You can dab the gel or juice on the bite.
• Mix baking soda and water until you make a paste and apply to bites. (You can also use baking soda toothpaste.)
• Make a paste of aspirin and water and apply to bites.
• Rub the affected area with an onion slice immediately after the bite to stop the itching. Onion is an anti-inflammatory. (If you rub it on after scratching the area, it will sting.)
• Take a colloidal oatmeal bath to sooth itching.
• Rub tea tree oilon the bite. Tea tree is an antiseptic and can kill bacteria and reduce allergic skin reactions.

World Population from Population Education on Vimeo.

A new kind of subatomic particle called the pentaquark has been detected for the first time, the European Organization for Nuclear Research said on 14th July, 2015.
The lab, known by its French acronym CERN, said the findings were made by a team of scientists working on the LHCb experiment, one of the four at its Large Hadron Collider.
The existence of pentaquarks was first proposed in the 1960s by American physicists Murray Gell-Mann and Georg Zweig. Gell-Mann, who received the Nobel Prize in 1969, coined the term "quark" to describe the building blocks that make up hadrons — subatomic particles such as the proton and the neutron.
Until recently, only hadrons with two or three quarks had been found. In recent years, physicists have seen evidence of hadrons made up of four quarks, called tetraquarks.
Studying pentaquarks may help scientists to better understand "how ordinary matter, the protons and neutrons from which we're all made, is constituted."