Science & TechnologyS


Fireball 4

Close Approach of Asteroid 2012 DA14

Asteroid 2012 DA14 was discovered by J75 OAM Observatory, La Sagra on images taken on February 23.03, 2012 with a 0.45-m f/2.8 reflector + CCD.
2012 DA14 has an estimated size of 40 m - 90 m (based on the object's absolute magnitude H=24.09) and it will have a close approach with Earth at about 0.09 LD (Lunar Distances = ~384,000 kilometers) or 0.0002 AU (1 AU = ~150 million kilometers) at 1925 UT on 2013 Feb. 15.

2012 DA14 will pass only ~ 27,700 km (17,200 mi) above the Earth's surface, that is only 0.09 lunar distances or 5.4 Earth radii from the center of the Earth. So close that it will pass inside the ring of geosynchronous weather and communications satellites (located about 35,800 kilometers (22,200 miles) above the equator, but still well above the vast majority of satellites, including the International Space Station). Due to the extremely close approach, this object will be a very strong radar target at Goldstone where observations are scheduled on 2013 Feb. 16, 18, 19, and 20. Radar images should provide constraints on the size, shape, and rotation state of the object.

Asteroid 2012 DA14
© NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office
This asteroid will reach the peak magnitude ~7.4 on February 15 around 1940 UT and it will be brighter than 9th magnitude for approximately 3 hours (18h00-21h30 UTC). At the moment of the close approach 2012 DA14 will move at ~ 2800"/min (slightly less that 1 degree per minute). The animated gif here made by Geert Barentsen indicate (green areas) parts of the world where the asteroid will be above (and the Sun below) the horizon.

Health

Appendix may not be useless after all

Appendix
© iStockphoto/Thinkstock; (Inset) Ingram Publishing/ThinkstockShriveled up? The wormlike appendix is traditionally seen as a portion of the gut that withered when apes began eating fruit.
The appendix may not be useless after all. The worm-shaped structure found near the junction of the small and large intestines evolved 32 times among mammals, according to a new study. The finding adds weight to the idea that the appendix helps protect our beneficial gut bacteria when a serious infection strikes.

Charles Darwin was one of the first scientists to theorize on the function of the appendix, which in his day had been identified only in humans and other great apes. He hypothesized that the distant ancestors of these animals survived on a diet of leaves, and so they required a large cecum, a portion of the gut that houses bacteria that can break down stubborn plant tissue. Later, he speculated, these ancestors shifted to a largely fruit-based diet that was easier to digest. A large cecum was no longer necessary, and it began to shrink; today our cecum is tiny. Darwin thought the appendix, which juts off of the cecum, is one of its former folds that shriveled up as the cecum shrank. Consequently, he thought it carried no function.

But some scientists have challenged the idea that the appendix serves no purpose. It's been clear for about a century that the structure contains a particular type of tissue belonging to the lymphatic system. This system carries the white blood cells that help fight infections. Within the last decade, research has shown that this lymphatic tissue encourages the growth of some kinds of beneficial gut bacteria. What's more, careful anatomical study of other mammals has revealed that species as diverse as beavers, koalas, and porcupines also have a structure jutting off of their guts in exactly the same place as our appendix - in other words, the feature is much more common among mammals than once thought.

Heart

Brain scans may predict romantic relationship stability

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Left: Brain of a volunteer whose relationship lasted. Right: Brain of a volunteer who later split from their partner. Red shows heightened activity and blue shows the brain is deactivated
Brain scans could reveal whether new couples have found long-lasting love, researchers have revealed.

Scientists noticed patterns in the brain activity of volunteers who had recently fallen in love and found they could predict whether the couples would be together three years later.

The findings showed even if volunteers believed they were in passionately love when their brains were scanned, by examining their neuron activity scientists could detect whether those feelings were strong enough for the relationship to last.

Volunteers were shown photographs of their partner and were asked to think of memories of them while their brains were scanned.

Where volunteers' brains showed more activity in the caudate tail area - which reacts emotionally to visual beauty - but less in the medial orbitofrontal cortex - the area linked to criticism and judgement - their relationships tended to last.

Heart

Experts: Research fails to address environmental factors in breast cancer causes

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© Shutterstock
An interagency panel tasked with studying how the U.S. spends money in the study and prevention of breast cancer said on Tuesday that more money should be spent to study environmental causes of the disease as well as how women can prevent it. According to the New York Times, the group has concluded that funds devoted to breast cancer are being spent inefficiently and without much coordination between agencies tackling the disease.

The committee, made up of one-third scientists, one-third government officials and one-third members of advocacy groups, was empaneled in accordance with 2008′s Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act. It presented its findings in the report, "Breast Cancer and the Environment - Prioritizing Prevention," emphasized environmental factors, which included behaviors like diet, alcohol intake and exercise; exposure to chemicals like pesticides, industrial compounds and the dyes and fragrances in makeup, clothing and food; as well as drugs, radiation exposure and factors tied to social status and socioeconomic conditions.

The study noted that scientists have long known that a combination of genetic and environmental factors cause cancer. The question is what environmental factors are driving U.S. cancer rates. Why, for example, do women who move to the U.S. from Japan develop breast cancer at the same rate as American women? Their genetics are the same, so environmental causes would appear to bear the blame.

Blackbox

Researchers find gene that boosts digestibility of sorghum grain to make it a famine-beater

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© AFP Photo
Agricultural researchers on Tuesday said they had found a gene that boosts the digestibility of sorghum, transforming a humble grain into a potential famine-beater.

Sorghum (Latin name Sorghum bicolor) is a tough tropical cereal grown in dry regions of Africa, India and the southern United States.

The plant is drought-tolerant but ranks far lower than corn, wheat and rice as a food because the human digestive system cannot absorb many of its calories.

It is often grown as animal feed, and interest in it as a biofuel has also surged recently.

But, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications, sorghum's future may change.

Attention

Tunguska-sized asteroid '2012 DA14' will miss Earth by just 15 minutes on Friday

As the world watches for a giant asteroid to give Earth a close shave on Feb. 15, famed science educator Bill Nye suggests now is the time to get involved in asteroid-hunting.

Nye, who heads up the Planetary Society, told CNN on Saturday that the asteroid -- dubbed 2012 DA14 -- is just one of about 100,000 asteroids whose orbits may bring them our way. But as he says in the video above, "get nervous, but not about this one."

"This one will miss us by about 15 minutes --15 minutes difference and that's it," Nye told CNN. "So it's something that we humans all over the world ought to get involved in, this asteroid-hunting. We're the first generation of people that could do something about it. It's exciting science, but it also, I hope, gives everybody a little pause for thought."


Star

Mysterious infant star that behaves like strobe light found

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© Unknown
Washington: Two of NASA's great observatories, the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes, have teamed up to uncover strobe-like flashes in a suspected binary protostar.

Every 25.34 days, the object, designated LRLL 54361, unleashes a burst of light. Although a similar phenomenon has been observed in two other young stellar objects, this is the most powerful such beacon seen to date.

The heart of the fireworks is hidden behind a dense disk and envelope of dust.

Astronomers propose the light flashes are caused by periodic interactions between two newly formed stars that are binary, or gravitationally bound to each other. LRLL 54361 offers insights into the early stages of star formation when lots of gas and dust is being rapidly accreted, or pulled together, to form a new binary star.

Astronomers theorize the flashes are caused by material suddenly being dumped onto the growing stars, known as protostars.

A blast of radiation is unleashed each time the stars get close to each other in their orbits. This phenomenon, called pulsed accretion, has been seen in later stages of star birth, but never in such a young system or with such intensity and regularity.

Wolf

Dogs 'see things from a human point of view' - at least when it comes to stealing food

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© Press AssociationDr Juliane Kaminski of the University of Portsmouth's Department of Psychology with her dog
Pet dogs may understand a human's point of view, according to new research which suggests they are more likely to steal food when they think that nobody can see them.

When a human forbids a dog from taking food, the animal is four times more likely to disobey them in a dark room than a lit room - suggesting they take into account what the human can or cannot see - according to research published in the journal Animal Cognition by Dr Juliane Kaminski from the University of Portsmouth.

Dr Kaminski said: "That's incredible because it implies dogs understand the human can't see them, meaning they might understand the human perspective."

She said that although many dog owners think that their pets are clever and understand humans, this had not yet previously been tested by science.

Dr Kaminski said: "Humans constantly attribute certain qualities and emotions to other living things. We know that our own dog is clever or sensitive, but that's us thinking, not them.

Robot

Artificial intelligence system diagnoses illnesses better than doctors

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© Shutterstock
An artificial intelligence system developed by researchers at Indiana University can diagnose illnesses and prescribe courses of treatment significantly better than a human doctor, the university said Monday.

Using a computerized decision making processes similar to IBM's wiz computer "Watson" that won the game show "Jeopardy," researchers plugged in big medical data sources and tasked it to simulate treatment outcomes for 500 patients, most of whom suffered from clinical depression and at least one other chronic condition, like high blood pressure or diabetes.

Using data from actual patient-doctor treatment sessions, computer science assistant professor Kris Hauser and Ph.D. student Casey C. Bennett compared real-life outcomes to simulated treatment regiments and found their computer was nearly 42 percent better at diagnosing illnesses and prescribing effective treatments than human doctors.

Family

Albatross astonishes scientists by producing chick at age of 62

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© Pete Leary/The Washington PostWisdom the Laysan albatross, aged 62, and her partner, believed to be younger, at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific ocean.
She is described as awesome. And wonderful. And maybe a little weird. She is the world's oldest-known living wild bird at age 62, and she gave birth to a healthy chick that hatched on 3 February. It's pretty amazing that Wisdom, named by scientists who stuck a tag on her ankle years ago, has lived this long. The average Laysan albatross dies at less than half her age.

Scientists thought that, like other birds, albatross females became infertile late in life and carried on without producing chicks. But Wisdom, who hatched the chick at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Ocean, defies comparison. Her feat could prompt scientists to abandon some early theories about the birds.

Wisdom has raised chicks five times since 2006, and as many as 35 in her lifetime. Just as astonishing, she has likely flown up to 4.8m km since she was first tagged at the Midway Atoll at the end of the Hawaiian Island chain in 1956, according to scientists who have tracked her at the US Geological Survey. That's "four to six trips from the Earth to the moon and back again with plenty of miles to spare," the USGS said in an enthusiastic announcement last week.