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Our genes makes us early risers or stay up late says new study

Ben Lewis
Cosmos Magazine
Tue, 29 Jan 2019 18:14 UTC
Late Nighter
© ISTOCK/VIKTORCAPMy genes made me do it. Staying up late isn't always a matter of choice, research suggests.
If you've ever wondered why some people are up at the crack of dawn while others prefer to sleep late, the answer can be found in your genes.

And it also influences your risk of schizophrenia and depression, say the authors of a new study published in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers led by Mike Weedon from the University of Exeter in the UK studied the genomes of almost 700,000 people in the UK and US, finding a link between being an early riser and certain genes.

The results also highlighted a central role for the retina in the eye in helping the body to keep time.

Using the databases of US genetic testing company 23andMe and the UK BioBank study, the researchers compared differences in genes with the results of self-reported sleeping habits, which were double checked by having 85,000 people in the UK wear activity trackers.

In total, the results increase the number of areas of the genome known to influence whether someone is an early riser from 24 to 351.
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Fireball 4

Lunar craters reveal rate of asteroid impacts tripled 290 million years ago

Javier Barbuzano
Sky & Telescope
Wed, 23 Jan 2019 14:17 UTC
lunar craters moon
© NASA / LRO / USGS / University of TorontoA team of scientists used NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data to study the Moon's craters, scaled by size and color-coded by age (blue indicates those younger than 290 million years), to understand the impact history of the Earth. Young craters dominate the lunar surface .
Researchers have estimated the ages of craters on the lunar surface, finding that the rate of large impacts nearly tripled 290 million years ago - an increase that might be ongoing.

We know that the solar system can be a chaotic place, where things crash into each other every now and then. The proof stares at us every night: The pockmarked surface of the Moon has been littered by hundreds of thousands of craters, created in asteroid impacts of all sizes.

Earth must also have been bombarded; however, our planet's active geology, including weather and plate tectonics, is extremely efficient in removing the marks left behind by ancient impacts. Only 190 impact craters are known in Earth's surface, and only one of them is more than 2 billion years old. But the Moon is expected to receive the same amount of impacts as Earth, and since the mechanisms that erode craters on Earth are not present there, the craters are preserved indefinitely. A group of researchers has now found a new way to estimate the ages of lunar craters, offering insights on the impact history of the Moon and Earth.

Comment: Sobering research.

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Butterfly

How to tell when neo-Darwinian scientists are exaggerating

Michael Behe
The Stream
Wed, 23 Jan 2019 19:02 UTC
Red admiral butterfly
Red admiral butterfly
How much can the public trust confident claims by scientists? Especially about morally or politically or philosophically charged topics? Alas, not so much, as the New York Times Magazine reminds us once again in a recent article, "How Beauty Is Making Scientists Rethink Evolution." The subtitle asks, "The extravagant splendor of the animal kingdom can't be explained by natural selection alone - so how did it come to be?"

Butterfly Wings

Great question. But wait a second - haven't we all been told that Darwin's natural selection has already been shown to explain pretty much everything? Forget about pretty flowers or cute puppies. Whole scholarly books have been written claiming that Darwin's theory explains mind, law, literature, music, and more. Yet if the theory can explain much more complicated topics that involve even abstract thinking, why does it have trouble with simpler topics that don't? If it accounts for, say, the Magna Carta, why does it struggle with the colors of butterfly wings?

Still a Mystery

The author writes that some scientists think it's not natural selection that accounts for beauty. Rather it's sexual selection that does the trick. But there's a big ugly fly in that ointment. The existence of sex itself has stumped Darwinists for 150 years! It's still a mystery.

Comment: See also:

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Biohazard

Chickens in Scotland modified to produce human proteins in eggs

Nick Carne
Cosmos Magazine
Mon, 28 Jan 2019 17:51 UTC
Chickens
© ISTOCK/LEONSBOAre these drug providers of the future?
Scottish researchers have genetically modified chickens to produce human proteins in their eggs, which, they say, could offer a cost-effective way to produce certain types of drugs.

During their study, which is reported in the journal BMC Biotechnology, they found that the drugs workd at least as well as the same proteins produced using existing methods.

"We are not yet producing medicines for people, but this study shows that chickens are commercially viable for producing proteins suitable for drug discovery studies and other applications in biotechnology," says Helen Sang, from the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute.

Eggs are already used for growing viruses that are used as vaccines, such as the flu jab. Sang and colleagues say their approach is different because the therapeutic proteins are encoded in the chicken's DNA and produced as part of the egg white.

Large quantities of the proteins can be recovered from each egg using a simple purification system, they say, and there are no adverse effects on the chickens themselves, which lay eggs as normal.
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Beaker

Genes linked to antibiotic-resistant superbugs found in Arctic soil samples

Fiona Harvey
The Guardian
Mon, 28 Jan 2019 17:09 UTC
Arctic circle
© Gwladys Fouche/ReutersThe genes were found in the soil of Svalbard, in the Arctic circle. They may have been carried there by birds or humans.
Genes associated with antibiotic-resistant superbugs have been discovered in the high Arctic, one of the most remote places on earth, showing the rapid spread and global nature of the resistance problem.

The genes were first identified in a hospital patient in India in 2007-8, then in surface waters in Delhi in 2010, probably carried there by sewage, and are now confirmed in soil samples from Svalbard in the Arctic circle, in a paper in the journal Environment International. They may have been carried by migrating birds or human visitors, but human impact on the area is minimal.

While the genes, called blaNDM-1, have been identified in soil on the Norwegian archipelago, the presence of superbugs has not. The genes can confer on bacteria resistance to carbapenems, which are antibiotics of last resort for the treatment of human diseases.

Antibiotic resistance threatens a global "apocalypse", England's chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, has warned, and last week the health secretary, Matt Hancock, called it a bigger threat than climate change or warfare. Common operations could become life-threatening and rapidly spreading and evolving diseases could overcome our last medical defences, reversing nearly a century of remarkable progress in human health.

Comment: See also: Antibiotic Resistance Existed Before Man Created the First Drug?

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Beer

Now your groceries see you, too: Smart displays set to track customer movements for data collection

Sidney Fussell
The Atlantic
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 00:01 UTC
cokes on the shelf
© Scott Olson / Getty
Walgreens is exploring new tech that turns your purchases, your movements, even your gaze, into data.

Walgreens is piloting a new line of "smart coolers" - fridges equipped with cameras that scan shoppers' faces and make inferences on their age and gender. On January 14, the company announced its first trial at a store in Chicago in January, and plans to equip stores in New York and San Francisco with the tech.

Demographic information is key to retail shopping. Retailers want to know what people are buying, segmenting shoppers by gender, age, and income (to name a few characteristics) and then targeting them precisely. To that end, these smart coolers are a marvel.

Comment: The age of privacy is truly dead. Despite the fact that these 'smart displays' aren't identifying their customers (for now), it's increasingly apparent that it's no longer possible to walk outside of one's house without being on camera (if indeed you're not being watched in your house, too).

See also:

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Brain

Graphene-based sensors can hear your brain 'whisper'


Russia Insider
Mon, 28 Jan 2019 10:47 UTC
Graphene based sensor
© ICFO/Ernesto VidalGraphene-based sensors could will enhance our understanding of the brain.
The body of knowledge about the human brain is keeps growing, but many questions remain unanswered. Researchers have been using electrode arrays to record the brain's electrical activity for decades, mapping activity in different brain regions to understand what it looks like when everything is working, and what is happening when it is not. Until now, however, these arrays have only been able to detect activity over a certain frequency threshold. A new technology developed by the Graphene Flagship overcomes this technical limitation, unlocking the wealth of information found below 0.1 Hz, while paving the way for future brain-computer interfaces.

The new device was developed thanks to a collaboration between three Graphene Flagship Partners (IMB-CNM, ICN2 and ICFO) and adapted for brain recordings together with biomedical experts at IDIBAPS. This new technology moves away from electrodes and uses an innovative transistor-based architecture that amplifies the brain's signals in situ before transmitting them to a receiver. The use of graphene to build this new architecture means the resulting implant can support many more recording sites than a standard electrode array. It is slim and flexible enough to be used over large areas of the cortex without being rejected or interfering with normal brain function. The result is an unprecedented mapping of the low frequency brain activity known to carry crucial information about different events, such as the onset and progression of epileptic seizures and strokes.
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Water

Microplastic contamination detected in U.S. groudwater aquifers

Karen Graham
Digital Journal
Sun, 27 Jan 2019 17:37 UTC
A new study is the first to report microplastics in fractured limestone aquifers - a groundwater source that accounts for 25 percent of the global drinking water supply.
Plastic
© JOSEPH EID, AFPEight million tonnes of plastic is spilled into the oceans each year, according to a study in the Science journal.
A study completed in the spring of 2018 in Illinois and published January 23, 2019, in the journal Groundwater, is the first time that microplastics have been detected in groundwater aquifers.

The study was conducted in collaboration with scientists at the Illinois State Geological Survey, Illinois State Water Survey, Loyola University Chicago, and ISTC on two aquifer systems in Illinois. Not only were microplastics identified, but researchers found a variety of medicines and household contaminants.

"Plastic in the environment breaks down into microscopic particles that can end up in the guts and gills of marine life, exposing the animals to chemicals in the plastic," said John Scott, a researcher at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center and study co-author.

"As the plastics break down, they act like sponges that soak up contaminants and microbes and can ultimately work their way into our food supply."
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Dig

Scientists concerned about microplastic contamination on farmlands

Jon Daley
abc.net.au
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 18:20 UTC
microplastics
© Supplied: Mark BrowneMicroplastics are particles smaller than five millimetres.
Focus on the impacts of microplastics has almost entirely been on the world's oceans, but researchers say an even bigger problem could be hiding under our feet.

Microplastics are particles smaller than five millimetres. About 800,000 to 2.5 million tonnes of these tiny pieces of plastic are estimated to end up in oceans each year, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

However, not much is known about the damage these particles cause to landscapes as they make their way to the sea.

Comment: The underestimated threat of land-based microplastic pollution

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Info

Groundbreaking research: AI just discovered a new human species


RT
Sat, 26 Jan 2019 17:21 UTC
Nneanderthal family
© Reuters / Nikola SolicAn exhibit shows the life of a neanderthal family in a cave.
It appears even archaeologists aren't safe from the 21st century takeover, after an artificially intelligent algorithm traced a previously unknown human species using DNA from present-day Asian people.

The groundbreaking research, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, suggests the existence of a now-extinct mystery hominid interbred species of Neanderthals and Denisovans, and cross bred with 'Out of Africa' modern humans in Asia.

The discovery was made by an AI algorithm developed by researchers at several European institutions using DNA from modern-day people with Asian ancestry.

The breakthrough marks the first time deep learning has been used to better understand human evolution, and could add archaeologists to the growing list of soon-to-be defunct professions.
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