Tuesday 30 July 2019

A voracious Cambrian predator, Cambroraster, is a new species from the Burgess Shale

Palaeontologists at the Royal Ontario Museum and University of Toronto have uncovered fossils of a large new predatory species in half-a-billion-year-old rocks from Kootenay National Park in the Canadian Rockies. This new species has rake-like claws and a pineapple-slice-shaped mouth at the front of an enormous head, and it sheds light on the diversity of the earliest relatives of insects, crabs, spiders, and their kin. The findings were announced July 31, 2019, in a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/a-voracious-cambrian-predator-cambroraster-is-a-new-species-from-the-burgess-shale

New material could make it easier to remove colon polyps

More than 15 million colonoscopies are performed in the United States every year, and in at least 20 percent of those, gastroenterologists end up removing precancerous growths from the colon. Eliminating these early-stage lesions, known as polyps, is the best way to prevent colon cancer from developing.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/new-material-could-make-it-easier-to-remove-colon-polyps

Link between music and speech rhythm in brain could provide language insight

Neuroscientist Dr. Domenica Bueti often plays an altered version of the classic aria La donna è mobile when she gives talks about the importance of time perception. Her friend's piano rendition of Giuseppe Verdi's composition uses the same notes but is played at different speeds. Rarely does anyone ever identify the tune.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/link-between-music-and-speech-rhythm-in-brain-could-provide-language-insight

Less-invasive procedures to restore leg blood flow as good at avoiding amputation as open surgery

Less-invasive procedures to open severely-clogged leg arteries were as good at helping people survive and avoid amputation as more invasive open surgeries, according to a study reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/less-invasive-procedures-to-restore-leg-blood-flow-as-good-at-avoiding-amputation-as-open-surgery

Siberia forest fires spark potential 'disaster' for Arctic

Gigantic forest fires have regularly raged through the vast expanses of Russia's Siberia, but the magnitude of this year's blazes has reached an exceptional level with fears of a long-term impact on the environment.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/siberia-forest-fires-spark-potential-disaster-for-arctic

Indonesia returns containers of waste to France, Hong Kong

Indonesia has returned seven shipping containers of illegally imported waste to France and Hong Kong, an official said Tuesday, marking the latest move by a Southeast Asian nation to send back rubbish to their wealthy places of origin.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/indonesia-returns-containers-of-waste-to-france-hong-kong

European price war squeezes Lufthansa hard in Q2

European airline giant Lufthansa on Tuesday reported tumbling net profits in the first quarter, saying higher operating costs and a European short-haul price war ate into the bottom line.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/european-price-war-squeezes-lufthansa-hard-in-q2

Uber cuts marketing staff to reduce costs

Uber on Monday confirmed it is cutting 400 jobs from its marketing team of more than 1,200 workers to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/uber-cuts-marketing-staff-to-reduce-costs

A third of Guam reefs killed by rising ocean temperatures

Researchers have found that a third of Guam's coral reefs died due to rising ocean temperatures.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/a-third-of-guam-reefs-killed-by-rising-ocean-temperatures

Bayer says now targeted in 18,400 glyphosate cases in US

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer said Tuesday it is now targeted in some 18,400 US legal cases over glyphosate, a key herbicide ingredient that plaintiffs say caused grave illnesses like cancer.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/bayer-says-now-targeted-in-18-400-glyphosate-cases-in-us

Plastic junk spawns desert island disaster in Pacific

Floating plastic garbage has swamped a remote Pacific island once regarded as an environmental jewel and scientists say little can be done to save it while a throwaway culture persists.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/plastic-junk-spawns-desert-island-disaster-in-pacific

Capital One target of massive data breach

A hacker gained access to personal information from more than 100 million Capital One credit applications, the bank said Monday as federal authorities arrested a suspect in the case .

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/capital-one-target-of-massive-data-breach

Candida auris is a new drug-resistant fungus emerging globally

Early identification of Candida auris, a potentially deadly fungus that causes bloodstream and intra-abdominal infections, is the key to controlling its spread. Its emergence has highlighted gaps in fungal identification capacity in the U.S. and around the world, and physicians should be on alert for risk factors. A commentary is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/candida-auris-is-a-new-drug-resistant-fungus-emerging-globally

Globally, more than 11 million years of healthy life lost due to childhood cancer in 2017

While the number of new cancer cases in children and adolescents (aged 0-19 years) is relatively low at around 416,500 globally in 2017, treatment-related ill-health and disability and fatal cancer are estimated to cause around 11.5 million years of healthy life lost globally every year, according to the first Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) to assess childhood and adolescent cancer burden in 195 countries in 2017, published in The Lancet Oncology journal.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/globally-more-than-11-million-years-of-healthy-life-lost-due-to-childhood-cancer-in-2017

Study shows power of refocusing student stress in middle school transition

A new study by education researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows that proactively addressing students' anxieties with clear and cost-effective messaging early in the school year can lead to a lasting record of higher grades, better attendance, and fewer behavioral problems for sixth graders embarking on their stressful first year of middle school.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/study-shows-power-of-refocusing-student-stress-in-middle-school-transition

'Tickle' therapy could help slow ageing

'Tickling' the ear with a small electrical current appears to rebalance the autonomic nervous system for over-55s, potentially slowing down one of the effects of ageing, according to new research.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/tickle-therapy-could-help-slow-ageing

To get customers to buy more in the future, help them buy a gift

Researchers from the University of Paderborn and University of Rostock, both in Germany, published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines how the purchase of a gift may promote future brand loyalty with the gifted brand.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/to-get-customers-to-buy-more-in-the-future-help-them-buy-a-gift

Birthweight, height together provide insight into future heart health

It's the proportionately of a newborn—a measure that includes both birthweight and length—that may best tell doctors whether a child is born with an increased risk for heart problems later in life, investigators report.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/birthweight-height-together-provide-insight-into-future-heart-health

NASA tracks wildfires from above to aid firefighters below

Every evening from late spring to early fall, two planes lift off from airports in the western United States and fly through the sunset, each headed for an active wildfire, and then another, and another. From 10,000 feet above ground, the pilots can spot the glow of a fire, and occasionally the smoke enters the cabin, burning the eyes and throat.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/nasa-tracks-wildfires-from-above-to-aid-firefighters-below

Individuals with obesity get more satisfaction from their food

The propensity to overeat may, in part, be a function of the satisfaction derived from eating. A new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, published by Elsevier, found no significant difference in taste perceptions between participants of normal weight and those who were overweight. However, participants with obesity had initial taste perceptions that were greater than participants who were not obese, which declined at a more gradual rate than participants who were not obese. This quantification of satisfaction from food may help explain why some people eat more than others.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/individuals-with-obesity-get-more-satisfaction-from-their-food

Support needed for foster carers of LGBTQ young people

More support is needed for fosters carers looking after LGBTQ young people, according to new research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/support-needed-for-foster-carers-of-lgbtq-young-people

Cardiac device complications vary widely among hospitals

The chances of patients experiencing complications after having a cardiac device implanted vary according to where they have the procedure.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/cardiac-device-complications-vary-widely-among-hospitals

'Digital twins'—An aid to tailor medication to individual patients

Advanced computer models of diseases can be used to improve diagnosis and treatment. The goal is to develop the models to "digital twins" of individual patients. Those twins may help to computationally identify and try the best medication, before actually treating a patient. The models are the result of an international study, published in the open access journal Genome Medicine.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/digital-twins-an-aid-to-tailor-medication-to-individual-patients

Scientists reproduce the dynamics behind astrophysical shocks

High-energy shock waves driven by solar flares and coronal mass ejections of plasma from the sun erupt throughout the solar system, unleashing magnetic space storms that can damage satellites, disrupt cell phone service and blackout power grids on Earth. Also driving high-energy waves is the solar wind—plasma that constantly flows from the sun and buffets the Earth's protective magnetic field.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/scientists-reproduce-the-dynamics-behind-astrophysical-shocks