Thursday, 6 June 2019

Lab technology provides clarity amid Hawaiian water contamination concerns

One of the first things that comes to mind when you think of Hawaii are warm, tropical beaches with inviting, clear water. In fact, favorable beach water quality is the lifeblood for Hawaii's $18 billion annual tourist industry, the largest single contributor to the state's economy. So, it comes as no surprise that Hawaii water officials continuously monitor for sources of contamination that could threaten their main attraction.

* This article was originally published here

Heartburn drugs again tied to fatal risks

(HealthDay)—People who use common heartburn drugs for months to years may face heightened risks of dying from heart disease, kidney failure or stomach cancer, a new study suggests.

* This article was originally published here

Earthquake, flood, hurricane: Google Maps adds tools to help you navigate a crisis

Google is adding tools to Google Maps and search to help you survive a natural disaster.

* This article was originally published here

Name an exoplanet

In recent years, astronomers have discovered thousands of planets and planetary systems orbiting around nearby stars. Some are small and rocky like the Earth, whilst others are gas giants like Jupiter. It is now believed that most stars in the Universe could have planets orbiting them and that some of them may have physical characteristics that resemble those of the Earth. The sheer number of stars in the Universe, each potentially with orbiting planets, along with the ubiquity of pre-biotic compounds, suggests that extraterrestrial life may be likely.

* This article was originally published here

Study shows how the nervous system can transmit information across multiple generations

Nematodes, worms found in virtually all environmental habitats, are among the most studied model organisms. They reproduce quickly and their genome contains nearly the same number of genes as the human genome.

* This article was originally published here

Just a phage? How bacteria's predators can shape the gut microbiome

The gut microbiome is a complex, interconnected ecosystem of species. And, like any ecosystem, some organisms are predators and some are prey. A new study led by investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Wyss Institute investigates the impact of bacteriophage, viruses that infect and kill bacteria. They find that phage can have a profound impact on the dynamics of the gut microbiome, not only affecting certain species directly but also having a cascading effect on others. Phage may also be impacting their human host by modulating metabolites, including chemical substances found in the brain. The team, which includes first author Bryan Hsu, Ph.D., and co-corresponding senior author Pamela Silver, Ph.D., at the Wyss Institute, and Lynn Bry, MD, Ph.D., at the Brigham and director of the Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center, has published its results in Cell Host & Microbe.

* This article was originally published here

Using a simulation framework to study spine behaviors of quadruped robots

Researchers at the Robert Bosch center for cyber physical systems in Bangalore, India, have recently proposed a simulation framework to systematically study the effects of spinal joint actuation on the locomotion performance of quadruped robots. In their study, outlined in a paper pre-published on arXiv, they used this framework to investigate the spine behaviors of a quadruped robot called Stoch 2 and their effects on its bounding performance.

* This article was originally published here

Under the surface: Understanding the (ultra-small) structure of silicon nanocrystals

New research provides insight into the structure of silicon nanocrystals, a substance that promises to provide efficient lithium ion batteries that power your phone to medical imaging on the nanoscale.

* This article was originally published here

Translation of genes more complex than expected

Researchers from Marvin Tanenbaum's group at the Hubrecht Institute have shown that translation of the genetic information stored in our DNA is much more complex than previously thought. This discovery was made by developing a type of advanced microscopy that directly visualizes the translation of the genetic code in a living cell. Their study is published in the scientific journal Cell on June 6th.

* This article was originally published here

The universal beauty of the mountains can be seen in graphs

Mountains have character. The continuous gentle, wavy hills and wide valleys of the Carpathians, Appalachians or lower parts of the Alps contrast strongly with the soaring peaks, ragged ridges and deep ravines of the high Tatra mountains and Pyrenees, which are, in turn, different from the inaccessible, snow-covered Himalayan or Andean giants, along whose slopes flow long tongues of glaciers instead of water. Beneath this great diversity, however, lies a surprisingly similar structure.

* This article was originally published here

Google cloud gaming service to launch in 14 countries this year

Google on Thursday released new details about its video game streaming service Stadia, which will be available in 14 countries starting in November.

* This article was originally published here

Evolving neural networks with a linear growth in their behavior complexity

Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are designed to replicate the behavior and evolution of biological organisms while solving computing problems. In recent years, many researchers have developed EAs and used them to tackle a variety of optimization tasks.

* This article was originally published here

Driverless cars: once they're on the road, human drivers should be banned

Self-driving cars could revolutionise people's lives. By the end of the next decade, or perhaps even sooner, they could radically transform public spaces and liberate us from the many problems of mass car ownership. They'll also be much better behaved than human drivers.

* This article was originally published here

Higher estrogen levels linked to more severe disease in scleroderma

Estrogen is the quintessentially female hormone.

* This article was originally published here

First-of-its-kind platform aims to rapidly advance prosthetics

A new open-source, artificially intelligent prosthetic leg designed by researchers at the University of Michigan and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab is now available to the scientific community.

* This article was originally published here

China grants 5G licences for commercial use

China on Thursday granted 5G commercial licences to four domestic companies, taking a big step in its bid to be a global leader in next generation wireless networks amid fierce rivalry from the United States.

* This article was originally published here

W3C and WHATWG agreement: Single version of HTML, DOM specifications

Having two separate HTML specifications? What's up with that? Stephen Shankland's account of the two in CNET: "for nearly a decade, two separate groups have been issuing separate documents to define Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, the standard that tells you how to make a web page."

* This article was originally published here