Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew, consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, side pocket, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, Bentliberal, Oke, jlms qkw, Interceptor7, and ScottyUrb, guest editor annetteboardman, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, health, energy, and the environment.
Between now and the weekend before Christmas, Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday will highlight the research stories from the public universities in each of the states having elections for federal or state office this year plus stories from all research universities in major cities having municipal elections as listed in the 2013 Daily Kos Elections Calendar. Tonight's edition features the research and outreach stories from the city of San Diego and the states of Alabama and Georgia.
This week's featured story comes from The Washington Post and Accuweather.
Washington Post: Winter Solstice 2013: Shortest day of the year, but sunset already creeping later
By Justin Grieser
December 20 at 10:52 am
Winter may just be getting started, but those looking forward to a bit more daylight have not much longer to wait. This Saturday is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, marking our shortest daylight period and longest night of the year.
At 12:11 p.m. EST on December 21, the sun appears directly overhead along the Tropic of Capricorn, at 23.5 degrees south latitude. With the Earth’s north pole at its maximum tilt from the sun, locations north of the equator see the sun follow its lowest and shortest arc across the southern sky. For the next six months, the days again grow longer as the sun spends more time above the horizon.
Accuweather has more on how this happens in
Winter Solstice - The Day of Least Light.
For more on the science of the day, click on the link in the headline of the Washington Post article; that has lots of fun facts!
More stories after the jump.
Recent Science Diaries and Stories
Green diary rescue: Cleaning up radwaste, designing from nature, Fukushima health fallout?
by Meteor Blades
If the Earth left a Sound, what would it sound like?
by jamess
"Ida": The Most Complete Known Fossil Primate
by Lenny Flank
The Daily Bucket - Hello! Glad to finally meet you.
by bwren
This week in science: Let it snow!
by DarkSyde
Insects
by Desert Scientist
Slideshows/Videos
KPBS: More San Diego Groups Add To Debate Over Proposed Plastic Bag Ban
A local group representing grocery, convenience and liquor stores is speaking out against the plastic bag ban being considered by San Diego City Council.
Also see
More San Diego Groups Add To Debate Over Proposed Plastic Bag Ban.
KPBS: San Diego Lawmaker Wants State Community Colleges To Award 4-Year Degrees
California's community college system is considering a proposal to offer four-year degrees. And one San Diego lawmaker is getting ready to introduce legislation that would make it happen.
Also see the story under Science Education.
KPBS: Restoring A Natural Connection In Chula Vista
Efforts to revive the natural habitat of the Otay River Watershed are moving forward in San Diego County. The area in southern Chula Vista has been devastated by fire and other human activity.
Also see the related article under Climate/Environment.
KPBS: Sea Star Wasting Syndrome Killing Thousands of Starfish
Sea stars along the West Coast are experiencing an unprecedented die-off. The mysterious disease has not yet reached San Diego, but some researchers say-- that's inevitable.
KPBS: What You Need To Know About The Upcoming ACA Deadline
We speak with Covered California Spokeswoman Lizelda Lopez and Gary Rotto, director of health policy at the Council for Community Clinics San Diego about what you need to know as the Dec. 23 Affordable Care Act deadline approaches.
Scripps Oceanographic Institute/UCSD: 4-D Model of Strain Across the North American-Pacific Plate Boundary
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have blended both geological and geodesical data in a stress accumulation map spanning the entire San Andreas Fault system in California. Read the full news release here: Scripps Scientists Create New Map of San Andreas Fault System.
Also see the accompanying story under Geology.
University of Alabama at Birmingham: Committee releases new guideline for management of high blood pressure
A new guideline developed by evidence gathered from randomized clinical trials for the management of high blood pressure contains nine recommendations and a treatment algorithm to help doctors treat patients with hypertension.
For the text, see
Committee releases new guideline for management of high blood pressure.
University of Alabama at Birmingham: How will the ACA impact small employers?
UAB's Michael Morrisey discusses the how the Affordable Care Act impacts the small group exchange and what this means for small employers.
NASA: NASA Begins Series of Spacewalks to Fix Coolant Pump on ISS
Expedition 38 astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins ventured outside the space station on Dec. 21, for the first in a series of spacewalks to remove and replace a faulty coolant pump module. The pump is associated with one of the station's two external cooling loops, which circulate ammonia outside the station to keep both internal and external equipment cool.
The previously planned mission of Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft has been moved to no earlier than mid-January. The postponement will allow ample time for the station crew to focus on repairing the pump module, which stopped working properly on Dec. 11.
NASA: 2013 What Happened This Year @NASA
In 2013, NASA helped transform access to low Earth orbit ... even as one of our venerable spacecraft reached the boundaries of the solar system ... and we moved ahead on technologies -- that will help us carry out an ambitious asteroid mission we announced ... and, eventually, move on to Mars.
Here's a quick trip back through 2013 for those and some of the other big things that happened This Year at NASA.
Science at NASA: ScienceCasts: Electric-Blue Clouds Appear Over Antarctica
A vast bank of electric-blue clouds has appeared over Antarctica, signaling the start of the season for southern hemisphere noctilucent clouds.
JPL/NASA: The Deep Space Network: 50 years of Interplanetary WiFi
On Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2013, NASA's Deep Space Network, the world's largest and most powerful communications system for spacecraft, turns 50.
Georgia Tech: Observatory Catches Neutrinos in a South Pole Block of Ice
Scientists like Ignacio Taboada, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics, are using a one cubic kilometer block of ice at the South Pole to help unravel one of the great scientific mysteries of our time.
Also see the related story under Astronomy.
Astronomy/Space
Georgia Tech: Observatory Catches Neutrinos in a South Pole Block of Ice
Scientists are using a one cubic kilometer block of ice at the South Pole to help unravel one of the great scientific mysteries of our time.
Posted December 17, 2013 | Atlanta, GA
The block is part of IceCube, an observatory built in one of the most inhospitable parts of the world to study neutrinos zipping through the Earth from outer space. These subatomic particles normally pass through the Earth as easily as light passes through a pane of glass.But a few of them crash into the ultra-clear ice of IceCube. When they do, they produce secondary particles that can create a faint bluish light called Cherenkov radiation.
Scientists like Ignacio Taboada, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Physics, are using information from that glow to learn more about these neutrinos – including, perhaps, where in the universe they came from. Using data collected between May 2010 and May 2012, IceCube has measured 28 neutrinos that likely originated outside our solar system, the first time such very-high-energy cosmic neutrinos have been observed.
As the IceCube Neutrino Observatory celebrates the third anniversary of the end of construction on Dec. 18th, it is receiving the “Breakthrough of the Year” award from the British journal Physics World for observing these cosmic visitors.
Climate/Environment
KPBS: Restoring A Natural Connection In Chula Vista
By Erik Anderson
Monday, December 16, 2013
CHULA VISTA — A San Diego County habitat restoration project is aiming a doing more than just reviving a wildlife area that's been robbed of its natural beauty. Plants and animals are getting the immediate attention, but there's hope for even more.
A California environmental group is investing three years and nearly $2 million to revive the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve east of Chula Vista. The river habitat lost most of it native plants during the 2003 Harris Fire. This is part of a larger effort to restore 300 acres of the Otay River watershed.
Biodiversity
Jackson Hole News and Guide: Cats eat elk in winter, deer during summer
Feedgrounds could change seasonal lion predation dynamics, study suggests.
By Mike Koshmrl | Posted 4 days ago
Jackson Hole’s ungulates migrate but its mountain lions do not.
As a result local cats shift diets from season to season, according to a new Teton Cougar Project study.
This seasonality of Jackson Hole cats’ diets is singular among researched populations in the United States, Cougar Project biologist and author Mark Elbroch said.
“This particular system is radically different than other parts of the country,” he said. “This is the first mountain lion project I’ve worked on — and I’ve been on five or six — where we’ve seen a radical shift in diet from winter to summer.”
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
KPBS: San Diego Avocado Growers Brace For New Invasive Beetle
By Susan Murphy
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
A tiny Asian insect has arrived in San Diego County with the potential to cause widespread destruction to hundreds of species of trees, including oaks and avocados.
The exotic beetle, called a polyphagous shot hole borer, was first detected in Los Angeles County in 2011. Since then, it has attacked 117 host trees in Southern California by spreading a fungus that blocks the tree's transport of water and nutrients, according to the Center for Invasive Species Research.
Now the beetle has turned up in a residential backyard in El Cajon. Farm Bureau Exeutive Director Eric Larson said avocado growers are concerned and bracing for an invasion.
Biotechnology/Health
University of California, Santa Barbara via Science Daily: Ancient Cranial Surgery: Practice of Drilling Holes in the Cranium That Dates Back Thousands of Years
Dec. 19, 2013 — Cranial surgery is tricky business, even under 21st-century conditions (think aseptic environment, specialized surgical instruments and copious amounts of pain medication both during and afterward).
However, evidence shows that healers in Peru practiced trepanation -- a surgical procedure that involves removing a section of the cranial vault using a hand drill or a scraping tool -- more than 1,000 years ago to treat a variety of ailments, from head injuries to heartsickness. And they did so without the benefit of the aforementioned medical advances.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
KPBS: Can Meditation Make Your Heart Healthier?
By Megan Burke, Maureen Cavanaugh
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Many mainstream heart specialists advise their coronary patients to make changes in both their lifestyles and diets.
One of those recommendations may be taking up the practice of meditation. But unlike a pill or a surgical intervention, doctors can't actually explain the mechanics of how mediation helps to lower blood pressure or regulate one's heart beat.
A recent study conducted in San Diego is aimed at finding clinical evidence about what goes on in the body during meditation. It's a collaboration between Scripps Translational Science Institute and The Chopra Center for Wellbeing.
UCSD: How Cells Remodel After UV Radiation
Researchers map cell's complex genetic interactions to fix damaged DNA
By Scott LaFee
December 19, 2013
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in The Netherlands and United Kingdom, have produced the first map detailing the network of genetic interactions underlying the cellular response to ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
The researchers say their study establishes a new method and resource for exploring in greater detail how cells are damaged by UV radiation and how they repair themselves. UV damage is one route to malignancy, especially in skin cancer, and understanding the underlying repair pathways will better help scientists to understand what goes wrong in such cancers.
The findings will be published in the December 26, 2013 issue of Cell Reports.
UCSD: Total Smoking Bans Work Best
With no place to puff, smokers are more likely to cut back or quit, researchers say
By Scott LaFee
December 18, 2013
Completely banning tobacco use inside the home – or more broadly in the whole city – measurably boosts the odds of smokers either cutting back or quitting entirely, report University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers in the current online issue of Preventive Medicine.
“When there’s a total smoking ban in the home, we found that smokers are more likely to reduce tobacco consumption and attempt to quit than when they’re allowed to smoke in some parts of the house,” said Wael K. Al-Delaimy, MD, PhD, professor and chief of the Division of Global Health in the UC San Diego Department of Family and Preventive Medicine.
“The same held true when smokers report a total smoking ban in their city or town. Having both home and city bans on smoking appears to be even more effective.”
SDSU: The Future of Medicine in the Palm of Your Hand
In the running for a $10 million prize, SDSU's X-Team debuts a prototype of a futuristic diagnostic device.
By Michael Price
Friday, December 20, 2013
Let’s say you’re feeling a little … off. Disjointed and a bit dizzy. Seeing a doctor would be best, but in many parts of the country and the world, remoteness, the cost of healthcare, and limited availability of physicians can make seeking professional medical help impractical.
What if you could turn to the device in your nightstand and, within a few minutes, receive a quality diagnosis that will help you make potentially lifesaving medical decisions?
That’s the goal of San Diego State University’s X-Team as they compete for the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE.
University of Alabama: UA Matters: How to Lose Weight in a Healthy Way
Dec 16, 2013
Losing weight tends to be a popular New Year’s resolution or goal. But there is definitely a right way and a wrong way to go about achieving that goal. The University of Alabama’s Sheena Quizon Gregg shares a few tips on how shake loose those extra pounds in a healthy way.
University of Alabama at Birmingham: Newly identified immune receptor may activate B cells in autoimmunity
By Greg Williams
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
A newly identified immune protein influences each person’s response to vaccines and risk for autoimmune diseases like lupus and multiple sclerosis, according to a study published today by researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The protein, called a receptor and part of signaling pathways, also provides a new target for personalized therapies for patients with autoimmune diseases.
The research team found that people with a genetic variant present in approximately 15 percent of the world population can express an additional immune system receptor on their B cells, the cells that make antibodies. This additional receptor, called an Fc receptor, binds the antibodies made by B cells and plays a key role in regulating their production. Part of the immune system, antibodies can recognize invaders like bacteria and remove them from the body. In individuals with autoimmune diseases, however, they can also attack the body’s own cells, causing disease.
To maintain stable numbers in the body, B cells have evolved to include Fc receptors that “sense” when antibody production has gone far enough. For more than 20 years, researchers believed that B cells expressed only a form of Fc receptor that can shut down antibody production when triggered. This new work shows that individuals with the genetic variant can also express an activating Fc receptor.
Psychology/Behavior
Columbia University: Professor Probes Mental Disorders in the Ancient World
The examination of mental disorders would seem to be the almost exclusive domain of psychiatrists and psychologists, not humanities scholars. Yet William V. Harris, the William R. Shepherd Professor of History, has spent his time in recent years studying his chosen field—the history of ancient Greece and Rome—through the lens of mental illness.
Harris, director of the Columbia Center for the Ancient Mediterranean, has explored subjects in ancient times ranging from war and imperialism to literacy and economic history. More recently, he began to focus on emotional states, in books such as Restraining Rage: the Ideology of Anger Control in Classical Antiquity in 2002, and Dreams and Experience in Classical Antiquity in 2009. “I’ve always been interested in psychiatry and psychology, which I see as a quite natural interest for historian,” he said.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
UCSD: UC San Diego Launches Unprecedented Down Syndrome Study
By Debra Kain
December 16, 2013
To many, Down syndrome (DS) is a childhood condition. But improved health care means that individuals with DS now routinely reach age 50 or 60 years of age, sometimes beyond. However, if they live long enough, people with Down syndrome are almost certain to develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Risk estimates vary, but the National Down Syndrome Society says that nearly 25 percent of individuals with DS over the age of 35 show signs of Alzheimer’s-type dementia, a percentage that dramatically increases with age. Almost all develop dementia by the age of 60.
“The more we learn about Down syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease, the more we realize these conditions – one seen at birth, the other quite late in life – are two sides of the same coin,” said William C. Mobley, MD, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “Autopsies of DS and AD brains reveal virtually identical pathologies – the same telltale amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.”
Archeology/Anthropology
N.Y. Times: Neanderthals and the Dead
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Published: December 16, 2013
Early in the 20th century, two brothers discovered a nearly complete Neanderthal skeleton in a pit inside a cave at La Chapelle-aux-Saints, in southwestern France. The discovery raised the possibility that these evolutionary relatives of ours intentionally buried their dead — at least 50,000 years ago, before the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe.
These and at least 40 subsequent discoveries, a few as far from Europe as Israel and Iraq, appeared to suggest that Neanderthals, long thought of as brutish cave dwellers, actually had complex funeral practices. Yet a significant number of researchers have since objected that the burials were misinterpreted, and might not represent any advance in cognitive and symbolic behavior.
Past Horizons: Archaeologists return to controversial Vero site in Florida
Article created on Saturday, December 14, 2013
Excavation of one of the most important Ice Age sites in North America – the Old Vero Man site in Vero Beach, Florida, is expected to begin in January 2014, thanks to a new collaboration between the Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute (MAI) at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pa., and the Old Vero Ice Age Sites Committee (OVIASC).
Scientists believe the site, famous for the discovery of Vero Man in 1915, contains significant fossils and artefacts, including human remains at least 13,000 years old, according to MAI director James Adovasio.
Salisbury Journal (UK): 6,000-year-old vegetation found
A SINK hole discovered by archaeologists in Damerham may hold vital information about the plant species thriving there 6,000 years ago.
An archaeology team led by a Kingston University academic has been working on the Neolithic site for six years.
Four areas of the temple complex were excavated during the summer, and in the largest of the openings, which was about 40 metres long, careful extractions revealed a layer of uncharacteristic orange sand and clay.
Thahn Nien News (Vietnam): 6,000-year-old tombs unearthed in northeast Vietnam
Tombs built 6,000 years have just been excavated in Bac Kan Province in the Northeast region, reported newspaper The Thao & Van Hoa (Sports & Culture) this week.
Six tombs have been dug up at the province’s Na Mo Cave in Huong Ne Commune, Ngan Son District, 180 kilometers north of Hanoi.
Local archaeologists used the absolute dating method on snail shells found inside the tomb to determine that the relics dated back more than 6,000 years ago.
LiveScience: Ancient Spider Rock Art Sparks Archaeological Mystery
By Owen Jarus, LiveScience
Archaeologists have discovered a panel containing the only known example of spider rock art in Egypt and, it appears, the entire Old World.
The rock panel, now in two pieces, was found on the west wall of a shallow sandstone wadi, or valley, in the Kharga Oasis, located in Egypt's western desert about 108 miles (175 kilometers) west of Luxor. Facing east, and illuminated by the morning sun, the panel is a "very unusual" find, said Egyptologist Salima Ikram, a professor at the American University in Cairo who co-directs the North Kharga Oasis Survey Project.
The Independent (UK): Before Stonehenge - did this man lord it over Wiltshire's sacred landscape?
Archaeologists have just completed the most detailed study ever carried out of the life story of a prehistoric Briton.
What they have discovered sheds remarkable new light on the people who, some 5500 years ago, were building the great ritual monuments of what would become the sacred landscape of Stonehenge.
A leading forensic specialist has also used that prehistoric Briton's skull to produce the most life-like, and arguably the most accurate, reconstruction of a specific individual's face from British prehistory.
Indiana University: Virtual archaeologist at IU turns clock back millennia to uncover secrets of ancient Rome
NASA data, simulations used to connect Egyptian obelisk, Augustus' 'Altar of Peace'
Dec. 19, 2013
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University archaeo-informaticist has used virtual simulations to flip the calendar back thousands of years and show for the first time the historical significance of the unique alignment of the sun with two monuments tied to the founder of the Roman Empire.
For nearly a half-century, scholars had associated the relationship between the Ara Pacis, the “Altar of Peace” dedicated in 9 BC to then-emperor Augustus, and the Obelisk of Montecitorio -- a 71-foot-high granite obelisk Augustus brought to Rome from Egypt -- with Augustus’ Sept. 23 birthday.
N.Y. Times: Chasing 5th-Century Clues From a Woman’s Tombstone
By JAMES BARRON
They figured out her first name, but not her father’s. They know where and when she died, but not her age or the cause of death. They could not tell whether she was married.
This is a detective story, but not the ripped-from-the-headlines kind. The woman died more than 1,600 years ago, in what is now Jordan. The detectives are a few students at Yeshiva University in Upper Manhattan and a professor who is sometimes called the Jewish Robert Langdon, referring to the fictional Harvard professor of iconology in the Dan Brown books and the movie “The Da Vinci Code.”
BBC: Storms could reveal new archaeological sites in Scotland
The recent storms that hit the Scottish coastline could reveal important new archaeological sites, according to Fife scientists.
St Andrews University archaeologists are appealing to the public to help find sites that have been uncovered by the storms.
They also hoping people contact them to record local sites that have been damaged by the recent bad weather.
Scotland has been badly damaged by wind and rain over the last two weeks.
Business Recorder (Pakistan): Metro works in Greek city unearth 'Byzantine Pompeii'
CHRISTINE PIROVOLAKIS
December 15, 2013
Extensive construction work on a new underground transit system in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki has unearthed a wealth of archaeological finds, leading some to hail the area as a Byzantine Pompeii - a reference to the ancient Roman city destroyed by an eruption in 79 AD. Started in 2006, the project is currently four years behind schedule, with frustrated citizens struggling with clogged traffic as they await the opening of the new metro line through the heart of the city.
Instead of engineers, however, residents in the city of Byzantine origin have been watching archaeologists spend years slowly shifting through excavations. "For many residents like myself, who work downtown, the metro will be a saviour - it will cut-down dramatically on traffic since tens of thousands of cars are trying to move in a city with only three major avenues," says Dimitris Mouzouris, a receptionist at City Hotel.
LiveScience: Inscriptions Everywhere! Magical Medieval Crypt Holds 7 Male Mummies
By Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor
A 900-year-old medieval crypt, containing seven naturally mummified bodies and walls covered with inscriptions, has been excavated in a monastery at Old Dongola, the capital of a lost medieval kingdom that flourished in the Nile Valley.
Old Dongola is located in modern-day Sudan, and 900 years ago, it was the capital of Makuria, a Christian kingdom that lived in peace with its Islamic neighbor to the north.
VeitnamNet: Art & Entertainment Highlights December 13
Thang Long citadel needs excavations
The Thang Long royal citadel relics require further excavations, which may take one to two more centuries, according to Prof Tong Trung Tin, director of Viet Nam Archaeology Institute.
Kinh Thien Palace is a main building in the central sector of the Thang Long imperial citadel, which is located in present downtown Ha Noi. It sits in the centre of the complex, facing Doan Mon (south gate) and Flag Tower.
The palace, which was built in 1428, was believed to be the most important building, hosting many royal ceremonies. It is also in this palace where royal audiences were opened to discuss national issues.
Stuff (NZ): Wrecked ship could rewrite history
IAN STEWARD
Scientists are arguing for the archaeological excavation of a shipwreck buried in the Kaipara Harbour after a discovery that could rewrite New Zealand's early European settlement.
Carbon dating of the vessel, completed last week, puts its construction after Abel Tasman but before James Cook.
The accepted history is Dutch explorer Tasman was the first European to reach New Zealand in 1642 and there was no-one else until Captain Cook's voyage in 1769.
Montgomery Advertiser: Amateur archaeologist in Wetumpka finds possible Native American burial site
Written by Scott Johnson
Dec. 16,
An amateur archaeologist was testing a new metal detector in Wetumpka on Sunday when he made a discovery that he likely will not soon forget.
Ray Camp was on private property not far from Wind Creek Wetumpka Casino trying out his new XP Deus metal detector when he stumbled upon what could turn out to be a Native American burial site.
Past Horizons: Rare Tlingit war helmet uncovered in museum store
Article created on Thursday, December 19, 2013
Stored on a shelf for over hundred years, a rare anthropological treasure was recently discovered in the Springfield Science Museum’s permanent collections. Museum Director David Stier, who has worked in museums collections for almost 30 years, describes the discovery as nothing less than “the find of a lifetime.”
The mystery began to unfold when Museum staff began to select objects from the over 200,000 items in the Museum’s collections for a new display titled “People of the Northwest Coast.” Dr. Ellen Savulis, the Science Museum’s Curator of Anthropology, was intrigued by one of the items described in collections records as simply an “Aleutian hat.” The object was relatively large, ornately carved, and made from a single piece of dense wood. Although Dr. Savulis’ main area of expertise is Northeastern United States archaeology, she had the foresight to question whether hats made by the Unangax, the inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands, were typically made from such dense wood. Upon further investigation, Dr. Savulis found that the only type of wooden hat made in the treeless Aleutians is the hunting hat or visor, made from a thin plank of driftwood bent into a lopsided cone. None of this information matched the object she had in front of her.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Paleontology/Evolution
BBC: Ancient hand bone dates origins of human dexterity
By Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online
The discovery of an ancient bone at a burial site in Kenya puts the origin of human hand dexterity more than half a million years earlier than previously thought.
In all ways, the bone - a well-preserved metacarpal that connects to the middle finger - resembles that of modern man, PNAS journal reports.
It is the earliest fossilised evidence of when humans developed a strong enough grip to start using tools.
Apes lack the same anatomical features.
The 1.42 million-year-old metacarpal from an ancient hominin displays a styloid process, a distinctively human morphological feature associated with enhanced hand function.
The Scientist: The Mating Habits of Early Hominins
A newly sequenced Neanderthal genome provides insight into the sex lives of human ancestors.
By Ruth Williams
A high-quality genome sequence obtained from a female Neanderthal toe bone reveals that the individual’s parents were close relatives and that such inbreeding was prevalent among her recent ancestors, according to a paper published today (December 18) in Nature. But the sequence also reveals that interbreeding occurred between Neanderthals and other hominin groups, including early modern humans.
“Did humans evolve like a constantly branching tree? A lot of people think so,” said Milford Wolpoff, a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan, who was not involved in the study. “But there’s also been this thread of thought, by some people like me, that humans evolved more like a network, where there are different populations and they split and sometimes they come back together and they mate.” The new toe bone sequence data, he said, is “really important because it’s giving us good evidence that there’s been constant interbreeding between different human groups all through prehistory.”
Popular Archaeology: Cat Domestication in China 5,300 Years Ago
Signs of a mutually dependent relationship in an ancient Chinese village.
Mon, Dec 16, 2013
A study conducted by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has produced the first direct evidence for the processes of cat domestication.
Led by Yaowu Hu, he and his colleagues analyzed eight bones from at least two wild cats excavated from the site of the ancient Chinese village of Quanhucun, using radiocarbon dating and isotopic analyses of carbon and nitrogen traces in the bones of the cats. The analysis showed that the cats were preying on animals that lived on farmed millet -- probably rodents. Archaeological evidence indicated that the village farmers had problems with rodents in the grain stores. In essence, the cats and the villagers had developed a kind of symbiotic relationship.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Geology
Scripps Oceanographic Institute/UCSD: Scripps Scientists Create New Map of San Andreas Fault System
Fusion of data measured from ground and space provides fresh view of fault slip rates across California
Dec 09, 2013
One of the key factors in preparing for the “Big One,” the next massive earthquake in California, is estimating “slip rate,” the speed at which one side of the San Andreas Fault is moving past the other. Geologists formulate these estimations by digging trenches at key locations to study slip rates through time. Geodesists, scientists who measure the size and shape of the planet, capitalize on advances in GPS technology and satellite radar interferometry to make their own estimates of slip rate, which often differ from the geologists perspective.
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have now brought both worlds together in a blended map for the first time spanning the entire San Andreas Fault system in California.
“To prepare for the next big earthquake we need to estimate the amount of elastic energy that has accumulated along each fault segment. This map provides part of that estimate,” said David Sandwell, a geophysics professor at Scripps.
Energy
SDSU: Imperial Valley Campus Emerging as Green Energy Leader
In a sun-drenched county, SDSU promotes sustainability research and technology.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
A $15-million solar field under construction at SDSU’s Imperial Valley Campus is on target to be the largest university-based solar installation in California and one of the largest in the United States.
The project is one of dozens underway throughout Imperial County. Nearly 20,000 acres of mostly agricultural land is being developed with solar fields. Many are already operating.
The SDSU-IV facility will produce 6 megawatts of energy, enough to meet the daily needs of 6,000 homes. Its designation as a “community solar” field means the energy may be sold directly to local businesses at a slight premium, allowing them to “go green” without making a major up-front capital investment in solar technology.
Physics
Scientific American: Ancient Roman Metal Used for Physics Experiments Ignites Science Feud
Physicists prefer Roman-era lead ingots to recently mined metal for shielding particle experiments, but archaeologists want them preserved
By Clara Moskowitz
Archaeologists and physicists are at loggerheads over ancient Roman lead—a substance highly prized by both camps for sharply diverging reasons. Very old lead is pure, dense and much less radioactive than the newly mined metal, so it is ideal for shielding sensitive experiments that hunt for dark matter and other rare particles. But it is also has historical significance, and many archaeologists object to melting down 2,000-year-old Roman ingots that are powerful windows on ancient history.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Chemistry
Georgia Tech: Graphene-Based Nano-Antennas May Enable Networks of Tiny Machines
Posted December 11, 2013 | Atlanta, GA
Networks of nanometer-scale machines offer exciting potential applications in medicine, industry, environmental protection and defense, but until now there’s been one very small problem: the limited capability of nanoscale antennas fabricated from traditional metallic components.
With antennas made from conventional materials like copper, communication between low-power nanomachines would be virtually impossible. But by taking advantage of the unique electronic properties of the material known as graphene, researchers now believe they’re on track to connect devices powered by small amounts of scavenged energy.
Based on a honeycomb network of carbon atoms, graphene could generate a type of electronic surface wave that would allow antennas just one micron long and 10 to 100 nanometers wide to do the work of much larger antennas. While operating graphene nano-antennas have yet to be demonstrated, the researchers say their modeling and simulations show that nano-networks using the new approach are feasible with the alternative material.
Science Crime Scenes
KPBS: Proposed CA Law Would Turn Stolen Smartphones Into Bricks
By David Wagner
Friday, December 20, 2013
Proposed legislation in California would require smartphone manufacturers to include a "kill switch" in their devices. The feature would make stolen phones unusable, and San Diego police say that could help curb the ongoing problem of smartphone theft.
Some thieves hold up their victims. Others prey on inattentive smartphone owners. Lieutenant Kevin Mayer said San Diego police saw smartphone thefts jump recently, with the debut of new devices.
KPBS: How To Prosecute A Revenge Porn Profiteer?
By David Wagner
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Making money by exposing the private, nude images of strangers may be sleazy, but is it illegal?
That's the question facing Kevin Bollaert, a San Diego man who ran what's called a revenge porn website. He was arrested last week and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. In the court papers filed against him, the 27-year-old is quoted as saying, "I know a lot of people are getting screwed over like on the site. Like their lives are getting ruined."
But legal scholars say the charges he's facing may not fit the crime. And California's new law against revenge porn doesn't even apply in his case, which demonstrates just how tricky it is to outlaw bad behavior online.
KPBS: Water Rates At Root Of San Diego’s Case Against Metropolitan Water District
By Deb Welsh
Originally published December 17, 2013 at 1:13 p.m., updated December 18, 2013 at 12:10 p.m.
The latest development in a long-standing feud between the San Diego County Water Authority and the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is playing out in a San Francisco court beginning Tuesday.
The San Diego County Water Authority argues the Metropolitan Water District is overcharging for water transported from the Imperial irrigation District. MWD argues if it changed the price structure for delivering the water through its pipe lines, it would impact other water agencies in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernadino unfairly.
KPBS Morning Edition anchor Deb Welsh spoke with the County Water Authority's assistant general manager Dennis Cushman about why CWA is investing in expensive alternative sources of water, such as desalination, that would not rely on importing water through MWD pipelines.
Science, Space, Health, Environment, and Energy Policy
KPBS: Medical Marijuana Regulation To Be Reviewed By San Diego City Council
By City News Service
Friday, December 20, 2013
A draft ordinance to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego is slated to go before the City Council in February, according to Interim Mayor Todd Gloria.
Public vetting of the proposed restrictions was recently completed, according to Gloria.
"Essentially, what I think it is is a reasonable balance between the communities and the need for safe access," Gloria said Thursday at his weekly media briefing. "This will result in a handful of collectives in the community that are operating under very strict guidelines that they don't currently necessarily have to follow."
KPBS: Covered California Officials Admit They Need To Do More To Attract Latinos
By Kenny Goldberg
Originally published December 19, 2013 at 6 a.m., updated December 19, 2013 at 3:31 p.m.
In California, people who primarily speak Spanish make up 29 percent of the population.
But so far, that group makes up only 5 percent of those who’ve signed up for health insurance through Covered California. Officials say statewide in October and November, fewer than 4,500 primarily Spanish-speakers enrolled in a plan.
California is not the only state facing this issue. Kevin Counihan directs Connecticut’s exchange, called Health Access CT. He said Latino enrollment in his state is also low.
KPBS: San Clemente Doesn’t Want San Onofre’s Nuclear Waste Sticking Around
By David Wagner
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Without a national repository for nuclear waste, plants scattered throughout the country will have to keep waste on site for decades, possibly even centuries. Elected officials in San Clemente are expressing concern about how long waste will be stored in their own backyard.
With San Onofre Nuclear Generating System just a few miles down the coast, nuclear waste sits close to home. The San Clemente City Council voted Tuesday to take a stronger stance on waste storage at the plant, which was permanently shut down earlier this year.
City News Service via KPBS: San Diego Moving Toward Zero-Waste Policy
By City News Service
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
The San Diego City Council directed its staff Monday to come up with a plan for reducing the amount of waste that goes into landfills and to eventually stop it altogether.
The Miramar Landfill is running out of space, and the state is requiring municipalities to reduce its landfill-bound waste by 75 percent by 2020.
In San Diego last year, about 68 percent of the city's waste stream was diverted through recycling and other means. That figure that has been virtually unchanged over three years, according to city documents.
"We have to come up with alternatives," City Councilman Scott Sherman said. "We just do."
Science Education
KPBS: San Diego Lawmaker Wants State Community Colleges To Award 4-Year Degrees
By Marissa Cabrera, Maureen Cavanaugh, Peggy Pico
Originally published December 18, 2013 at 11:32 a.m., updated December 18, 2013 at 5:09 p.m.
Just this week, San Diego State University announced the number of applicants for next term is at an all-time high.
There has also been a record-breaking number of applications to University of California schools across the state.
As the demand for four-year degrees continues to surge, the state's community colleges want to get in on the act.
KPBS: Report: San Diego County Report reveals strong farm-to-school food movement
By KPBS News
Monday, December 16, 2013
A flourishing farm-to-school movement is taking root in San Diego County, according to a report released Monday by Community Health Improvement Partners.
The report, which surveyed San Diego County school districts on procurement and programming practices, found that 18 districts purchase local, regional or California-grown products and 11 districts purchase directly from a grower.
Science Writing and Reporting
Honolulu Civil Beat: Chad Blair: Ancient Hawaii, Cradle of Civilization?
By Chad Blair
12/16/2013
One does not normally think of ancient Hawaii when thinking about the early societies of Egypt and China, Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica, the Indus Valley and the Incas.
But a new scholarly work argues that pre-contact Hawaii — in particular, the society that developed in the 17th and 18th centuries on the Big Island — should join the recognized list of "cradles of civilization," primary states from which "all modern nation states ultimately derive."
That's the thesis of The Ancient Hawaiian State: Origins of a Political Society, published this year by Oxford University Press
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.
Science is Cool
BBC: Cat headstone sells for £200,000
A stone carving that was used as a cat's headstone has sold for £200,000 at auction - five times its estimate.
The medieval limestone relief of St Peter was discovered at a quarry by a stonemason Johnny Beeston, from Dowlish Wake, Somerset.
He took it home and used it as a grave marker when stray tabby cat Winkle died. But when he himself passed away the stone was examined by a historian.
Biblical Archaeology: Lawrence of Arabia as Archaeologist
Read Stephen E. Tabachnick's full article on the archaeological life of T.E. Lawrence as it was published in Biblical Archaeology Review
Stephen E. Tabachnick • 12/18/2013
Most people picture T.E. Lawrence as the dashing leader dressed in white and gold Arab robes portrayed by Peter O’Toole in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. While the real Lawrence was not exactly like the character in the David Lean film—he never deliberately burned his finger with a match or said he enjoyed killing people, for instance—he was, nevertheless, one of the most colorful figures to emerge from World War I.
Hat/Tip to annetteboardman for these stories.