Any person who's feeling a little under the weather knows that some of the best medicine is sympathy. And where better to find tons of sympathy than from your social media group. Type in "#feelingsick" to Twitter to see what I mean.
Even if no one responded to your sympathy fishing, don't worry, Adam Sadilek and his colleagues at the University of Rochester in New York have been paying attention. Using 4.4 million tweets with GPS location from over 630,000 users in New York City, Sadilek and his team were able to predict when an individual would get sick with the flu and tweet about it up to eight days in advance of their first symptoms. Researchers found they could predict said results with 90 percent accuracy. |  |
In an evolutionary flash, one sea star species divides into two
Two sea stars evolved into independent species in extraordinarily little time, a genetic study indicates.
By examining differences in the genetic codes of two closely related "cushion stars," researchers concluded ancestors of the two species stopped interbreeding as little as 6,000 years ago. This qualifies as "one of the fastest known marine speciation events," write the authors, referring to the creation of new species. |  |
New Chemical Allows Blind Mice to See
Three blind mice. Or, for experimental robustness, a few dozen more. In either case, scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, recently accomplished something seemingly impossible: By injecting a tiny amount of a specially-formulated chemical into their eyes, they temporarily restored the mice’s ability to see.
Electronic retinal implants and genetic modifications to help blind people see have been the subject of experiments for several years. But this new chemical, described in a paper published yesterday in the journal Neuron, opens up an entirely novel, flexible approach to restoring vision. |  |
Indonesian zoo moves orangutan to stop her smoking
Indonesian zookeepers have moved an orangutan out of visitors' sight so she'll no longer smoke lit cigarettes people regularly throw into her cage.
Taru Jurug Zoo spokesman Daniek Hendarto said Thursday that Tori and her male companion, Didik, were moved Wednesday to a small island within the zoo. There are four endangered orangutans at the zoo in the Central Java town of Solo. |  |
40 Years of Massive City Growth as Seen From Space
Cities across the globe have seen unprecedented growth in recent decades. While revisiting a city after a period of time can reveal some surprising changes, the true extent of the expansion of some urban centers can only be truly appreciated from above. Way above.
The Landsat satellite program is the longest continuous archive of images of Earth from space in existence. Run by the USGS and NASA since Landsat 1 launched on July 23, 1972, this record of the surface of our planet reveals invaluable insight for scientists and the public alike. A record like this is particularly useful for studying change and understanding the human impact on the landscape.
The Landsat satellite program is the longest continuous archive of images of Earth from space in existence. Run by the USGS and NASA since Landsat 1 launched on July 23, 1972, this record of the surface of our planet reveals invaluable insight for scientists and the public alike. A record like this is particularly useful for studying change and understanding the human impact on the landscape.
Strange Underwater Tower Off California
While mapping the seafloor off San Diego, researchers found something odd: a seafloor mound about the height of a two-story building and the size of a city block.
Further investigation found evidence the formation was caused by methane leaking out of the seafloor, which would make it the first so-called "methane seep" in San Diego County, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego announced yesterday (July 25). The Scripps researchers took samples from 3,400 feet (1,036 meters) below the surface and bought up strange worms and clams that likely live off symbiotic bacteria that break down the clear, flammable gas. |  |
The Top Five Human Evolution Discoveries from England
The London Olympics are a great excuse to talk about England’s hominid history. Current evidence suggests that hominids reached Great Britain by at least 800,000 years ago, when the island was connected to mainland Europe. Since then, as many as four different hominid species have lived there. Coming and going in response to climate change, hominids probably fled England during extreme cold times when glacial ice covered the area. Sometime between 450,000 and 200,000 years ago, catastrophic flooding of a glacial lake eroded the land bridge connecting Great Britain and Europe and changed the drainage patterns of the region’s rivers. As a consequence, during warm periods when polar ice sheets melted and sea levels rose, the land bridge was transformed into a channel. This barrier probably explains why hominids are absent from the fossil record 180,000 to 60,000 years ago. It wasn’t until 12,000 years ago that the ancestors of modern Brits finally arrived on the island and stayed for good.
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Genetic Data and Fossil Evidence Tell Differing Tales of Human Origins
After decades of digging, paleoanthropologists looking for fossilized human bones have established a reasonably clear picture: Modern humans arose in Africa some 200,000 years ago and all archaic species of humans then disappeared, surviving only outside Africa, as did the Neanderthals in Europe. Geneticists studying DNA now say that, to the contrary, a previously unknown archaic species of human, a cousin of the Neanderthals, may have lingered in Africa until perhaps 25,000 years ago, coexisting with the modern humans and on occasion interbreeding with them.
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Uncanny Valley Watch: Robot Baby Evolves
A Japanese robot evolves from skeletal Terminator baby to full-fleshed android in our latest installment of "Uncanny Valley Watch." Which one is scarier?
Japanese researchers at Osaka University's Asada Lab have built the "Affetto" robot in their attempt to make the most realistic baby robot ever, according to robot blog Plastic Pals. Their efforts land easily within the realm of the so-called uncanny valley — the sensation described by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in the case of objects that resemble incomplete humans based on behavior or appearance. |  |
Ancestor of All Life on Earth?
A newly drawn-up evolutionary tree suggests a group of bacteria may be the last common ancestor for all life on Earth.
Researchers established the tree by scouring gene banks to compare shared proteins across the kingdoms of life, and they identified Actinobacteria, the group that has given rise to most human antibiotics, as the base. William Duax, a physical chemist at SUNY Buffalo, and his team analyzed genetic sequences, looking for copies of proteins found in ribosomes. |  |
500-Million-Year-Old 'Mistake' Led to Humans
Over 500 million years ago a spineless creature on the ocean floor experienced two successive doublings in the amount of its DNA, a "mistake" that eventually triggered the evolution of humans and many other animals, says a new study.
The good news is that these ancient DNA doublings boosted cellular communication systems, so that our body cells are now better at integrating information than even the smartest smartphones. The bad part is that communication breakdowns, traced back to the very same genome duplications of the Cambrian Period, can cause diabetes, cancer and neurological disorders. |  |
Two more men with HIV now virus-free. Is this a cure?
Two men unlucky enough to get both HIV and cancer have been seemingly cleared of the virus, raising hope that science may yet find a way to cure for the infection that causes AIDS, 30 years into the epidemic.
The researchers are cautious in declaring the two men cured, but more than two years after receiving bone marrow transplants, HIV can't be detected anywhere in their bodies. These two new cases are reminiscent of the so-called "Berlin patient," the only person known to have been cured of infection from the human immunodeficiency virus.
The researchers are cautious in declaring the two men cured, but more than two years after receiving bone marrow transplants, HIV can't be detected anywhere in their bodies. These two new cases are reminiscent of the so-called "Berlin patient," the only person known to have been cured of infection from the human immunodeficiency virus.
New Mars rover has a human approach
In a matter of days, a geologist unlike any on Earth will venture into alien territory. It has six legs and one arm. Instead of feet, it rides around on metal wheels as thin as cardboard. Its brain is in its belly, where it also digests and analyzes the remains of Martian rocks. It eats plutonium for breakfast.
Despite its resemblance to a one-armed, 1-ton praying mantis, Curiosity is the most advanced machine ever sent to another planet. If all goes according to plan, the rover will touch down on Mars on Aug. 5 and begin rolling along the surface a few days later. |  |
Most massive stars live as vampires in close stellar pairs
A surprising number of massive stars in our Milky Way galaxy are part of close stellar duos, a new study finds, but most of these companion stars have turbulent relationships — with one "vampire star" sucking gas from the other, or the two stars violently merging to form a single star.
Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile studied massive O-type stars, which are very hot and incredibly bright. These stars, which have surface temperatures of more than 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit (30,000 degrees Celsius) live short, violent lives, but they play key roles in the evolution of galaxies. |  |
Kepler telescope spots alien solar system that looks strangely like our own
Astronomers have discovered an alien solar system whose planets are arranged much like those in our own solar system, a find that suggests most planetary systems start out looking the same, scientists say.
Researchers studying the star system Kepler-30, which is 10,000 light-years from Earth, found that its three known worlds all orbit in the same plane, lined up with the rotation of the star — just like the planets in our own solar system do. The result supports the leading theory of planet formation, which posits that planets take shape from a disk of dust and gas that spins around newborn stars. |  |
Skydiver Leaps from 18 Miles Up in 'Space Jump' Practice
A daredevil leapt from a balloon more than 18 miles above the Earth today (July 25), moving one step closer to a so-called "space jump" that would set the record for the world's highest skydive.
Austrian adventurer Felix Baumgartner stepped out of his custom-built capsule at an altitude of 96,640 feet (29,456 meters) above southeastern New Mexico, officials with Red Bull Stratos — the name of Baumgartner's mission — announced today. In today's jump, Baumgartner experienced freefall for three minutes and 48 seconds, reaching a top speed of 536 mph (863 kph), project officials said. Baumgartner then opened his parachute and glided to Earth safely about 10 minutes and 30 seconds after stepping into the void. |  |
Storms Threaten Ozone Layer Over U.S., Study Says
Strong summer thunderstorms that pump water high into the upper atmosphere pose a threat to the protective ozone layer over the United States, researchers said on Thursday, drawing one of the first links between climate change and ozone loss over populated areas.
In a study published online by the journal Science, Harvard University scientists reported that some storms send water vapor miles into the stratosphere — which is normally drier than a desert — and showed how such events could rapidly set off ozone-destroying reactions with chemicals that remain in the atmosphere from CFCs, refrigerant gases that are now banned.
In a study published online by the journal Science, Harvard University scientists reported that some storms send water vapor miles into the stratosphere — which is normally drier than a desert — and showed how such events could rapidly set off ozone-destroying reactions with chemicals that remain in the atmosphere from CFCs, refrigerant gases that are now banned.
Protected tropical forests' biodiversity 'declining'
Despite having protected status, the biodiversity in a large number of tropical forests is still continuing to decline, a study has suggested.
The authors said the findings should cause concern because the areas have been seen as a final refuge for a number of threatened species. Habitat disruption, hunting and timber exploitation have been seen as signs of future decline, they added. The findings have been published online by the science journal Nature. |  |