Friday 28 June 2019

S.Africa halts Cape Town octopus fishing after 2 whales die

South Africa on Friday halted octopus fishing off Cape Town after two whales died when they became entangled in lines attached to octopus traps, the government said.

* This article was originally published here

Less than 40 percent of all U.S. adults have ever had HIV testing

(HealthDay)—The percentage of U.S. adults undergoing HIV testing nationwide is less than 40 percent, according to a study published online June 27 in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

* This article was originally published here

How we closed in on the location of a fast radio burst in a galaxy far, far away

Astronomers have spent the past dozen years hunting for fast radio bursts (FRBs) – flashes of radio waves that come from outer space and last just milliseconds. And after a dozen years of work we still don't know exactly what causes them, only that it must be something very powerful, as they've clearly travelled a long way (billions of light-years).

* This article was originally published here

Smart materials provide real-time insight into wearers' emotions

Smart wearable technology that changes colour, heats up, squeezes or vibrates as your emotions are heightened has the potential to help people with affective disorders better control their feelings.

* This article was originally published here

My health: consumers empowered by sharing medical 'selfies'

Taking medical 'selfies' and sharing them with a doctor empowers and reassures healthcare consumers, and can improve doctor-patient relationships, a two-part study led by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia has found.

* This article was originally published here

Optimal quantum computation linked to gravity

Information and gravity may seem like completely different things, but one thing they have in common is that they can both be described in the framework of geometry. Building on this connection, a new paper suggests that the rules for optimal quantum computation are set by gravity.

* This article was originally published here

Report: Hackers using telecoms like 'global spy system'

An ambitious group of suspected state-backed hackers has been burrowing into telecommunications companies in order to spy on high-profile targets across the world, a U.S. cybersecurity firm said in a report published Tuesday .

* This article was originally published here

Polymer-coated gold nanospheres do not impair the innate immune function of human B lymphocytes

Over the past 20 years, the use of nanoparticles in medicine has steadily increased. However, their safety and effect on the human immune system remains an important concern. By testing a variety of gold nanoparticles, researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and collaborators are providing first evidence of their impact upon human B lymphocytes—the immune cells responsible for antibody production. The use of these nanoparticles is expected to improve the efficacy of pharmaceutical products while limiting potential adverse effects.

* This article was originally published here

Enhancing the vertical mobility of six-legged robot RHex using microspines

A team of researchers at Carnagie Mellon University has recently proposed a method to improve the vertical mobility of a renowned hexapod robot. Their approach, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, entails the addition of microspines to RHex, an existing cockroach-inspired robotic platform designed to navigate unstructured environments at relatively high speed.

* This article was originally published here

Mini 'magic' MRI scanner could diagnose footballer knee injuries more accurately

Researchers at Imperial College London have developed a prototype mini MRI scanner that fits around a patient's leg.

* This article was originally published here

Society pays heavy price for failure to diagnose and treat conduct disorder

Much greater awareness, improved diagnosis and enhanced treatment are all required in order to reduce the burden on society of the severe behavioural condition conduct disorder, according to a new expert review led by the University of Bath (UK).

* This article was originally published here

BMW puts traffic light recognition to the test

The BMW Group is investing in the future of self-driving vehicles. Getting people to adopt self-driving cars will require lots of attention to how these cars can behave safely not just on highways but in urban settings.

* This article was originally published here

Functional hair follicles grown from stem cells

Scientists from Sanford Burnham Prebys have created natural-looking hair that grows through the skin using human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), a major scientific achievement that could revolutionize the hair growth industry. The findings were presented today at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and received a Merit Award. A newly formed company, Stemson Therapeutics, has licensed the technology.

* This article was originally published here

New AI tool captures top players' strategies in RNA video game

A new artificial-intelligence tool captures strategies used by top players of an internet-based videogame to design new RNA molecules. Rohan Koodli and colleagues at the Eterna massive open laboratory present the tool, called EternaBrain, in PLOS Computational Biology. Eterna is directed by the lab of Prof. Rhiju Das at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California.

* This article was originally published here

Deciphering how the brain encodes color and shape

There are hundreds of thousands of distinct colors and shapes that a person can distinguish visually, but how does the brain process all of this information? Scientists previously believed that the visual system initially encodes shape and color with different sets of neurons and then combines them much later. But a new study from Salk researchers, published in Science on June 27, 2019, shows that there are neurons that respond selectively to particular combinations of color and shape.

* This article was originally published here

A Trojan horse? Immune cells ferry deadly fungus from mouse lung into the blood

A report today in PLOS Pathogens shows how inhaled fungal spores exit the lung and trigger a fatal infection in mice.

* This article was originally published here