Deep-CEE: The AI deep learning tool helping astronomers explore deep space

Galaxy clusters are some of the most massive structures in the cosmos, but despite being millions of lightyears across, they can still be hard to spot. Researchers at Lancaster University have turned to artificial intelligence for assistance, developing "Deep-CEE" (Deep Learning for Galaxy Cluster Extraction and Evaluation), a novel deep learning technique to speed up the process of finding them. Matthew Chan, a Ph.D. student at Lancaster University, is presenting this work at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy meeting on 4 July at 3:45pm in the Machine Learning in Astrophysics session.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/deep-cee-the-ai-deep-learning-tool-helping-astronomers-explore-deep-space

Collision course: Amateur astronomers play a part in efforts to keep space safe

Heavy traffic is commonplace on Earth but now congestion is becoming an increasing problem in space. With over 22,000 artificial satellites in orbit it is essential to keep track of their positions in order to avoid unexpected collisions. Amateur astronomers from the Basingstoke Astronomical Society have been helping the Ministry of Defence explore what is possible using high-end consumer equipment to track objects in space.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/collision-course-amateur-astronomers-play-a-part-in-efforts-to-keep-space-safe

Substantial increase in body weight since 1960s due to interplay between genes and environment

People with a genetic predisposition to obesity are not only at greater risk of excess weight, their genes interact with an increasingly "obesogenic" environment, resulting in higher body mass index (BMI) in recent decades, finds a study from Norway published by The BMJ today.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/substantial-increase-in-body-weight-since-1960s-due-to-interplay-between-genes-and-environment

Researchers ID cause and potential treatment for deadly inherited arrhythmia

Leading a global network of 28 healthcare institutes, researchers at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Wexner Medical Center and Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute have discovered key genetic and molecular connections that explain the beginning of an inherited, life-threatening form of heart disease and point toward a way to treat it. Their research just published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/researchers-id-cause-and-potential-treatment-for-deadly-inherited-arrhythmia

Validating medical information on social media

Medical information and healthcare advice abound on the internet, both genuine, science-based information as well as spurious and fake. Research published in the International Journal of Web Engineering and Technology, looks to using a crowd-sourcing approach to the validation of medication information on one particular niche of the internet – the well-known microblogging platform known as Twitter.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/validating-medical-information-on-social-media

A simple text could make the difference between life and death

A Ph.D. researcher from the University of South Australia is testing whether smartphone text messages can encourage cancer patients to take their oral medication and improve their chances of survival.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/a-simple-text-could-make-the-difference-between-life-and-death

Graphenes now go monolayer and single crystalline

IBS-CMCM scientists have reported a truly single layer (i.e., adlayer-free) large area graphene film on large area copper foils. They refined the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth method by eliminating all carbon impurities inside the copper foils on which graphene is grown. This uniform, "perfect" single layer, single crystal graphene is expected to find use as an ultrathin support material for high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging, and in optical devices. Also as an appropriate graphene to achieve extremely uniform functionalization which leads to many other applications, particularly for sensors of various types.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/graphenes-now-go-monolayer-and-single-crystalline

Infants 10 to 16 months old prefer those who yield in conflicts, study finds

Social status matters, even to infants between 10 and 16 months old, according to a new study by two University of California, Irvine cognitive scientists. Published online in Current Biology, the research found that in staged confrontations between two puppets, babies preferred the one who deferred.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/infants-10-to-16-months-old-prefer-those-who-yield-in-conflicts-study-finds

Code in Chinese surveillance app analysed

Computer security researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), in collaboration with the association of investigative journalists from NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), have analysed the Chinese surveillance app that travellers must install on their phones when crossing the border from Kyrgyzstan to China. The researchers report that the app scans the phone for approximately 73,000 specific files. Moreover, it compiles a report for border officials, including, for example, the most recent phone activities, contacts, SMS and social media accounts. The researchers have published their findings online. In the media, the investigation results were reported on 2 July 2019.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/code-in-chinese-surveillance-app-analysed

Resilient people have lessons to offer, and researchers are listening

What is resilience? And why can trauma and stress leave one person reeling, while someone else may coast through the same troubles with just a shrug and a smile?

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/resilient-people-have-lessons-to-offer-and-researchers-are-listening

Image: 400-hectare wildfire is largest ever in German state

On 30 June, a wildfire broke out at a military training site in Lübtheen, in northern Germany.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/image-400-hectare-wildfire-is-largest-ever-in-german-state

Winter monsoons became stronger during geomagnetic reversal

New evidence suggests that high-energy particles from space known as galactic cosmic rays affect the Earth's climate by increasing cloud cover, causing an "umbrella effect."

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/winter-monsoons-became-stronger-during-geomagnetic-reversal

New study analyzes land tenure in Ghana

In August 2018, the local government of Accra, Ghana, in West Africa, appropriated 1,800 homes for demolition to make way for, among others, tomato retailers. Officials had already begun plotting the land for its new use when residents of the largely poor neighborhood erupted in protest, to no avail.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/new-study-analyzes-land-tenure-in-ghana

Being certain about uncertainty

Non-scientists—legislators, judges and juries—are often called upon to reach scientific conclusions.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/being-certain-about-uncertainty

Every dog has its day, but it's not the Fourth of July

The Fourth of July can be a miserable day for dogs. The fireworks make scaredy-cats out of many canines.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/every-dog-has-its-day-but-its-not-the-fourth-of-july

NASA's ECOSTRESS maps European heat wave from space

Europe's massive heat wave is on its way out—and it's leaving a slew of broken temperature records in its wake. Many countries were gripped by temperatures above 104 Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) between June 26 and June 30. According to the World Meteorological Organization, June 2019 is now the hottest month on record for the continent as a whole.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/nasas-ecostress-maps-european-heat-wave-from-space

Scientists scramble to build payload for 2021 moon landing

Scavenging spare parts and grabbing off-the-shelf hardware, University of California, Berkeley, space scientists are in a sprint to build scientific instruments that will land on the moon in a mere two years.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/scientists-scramble-to-build-payload-for-2021-moon-landing

The 'freak wave' myth

As a nation "girt by sea," Australians live with the joy and risks of the ocean.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/the-freak-wave-myth

How big data can help you choose better health insurance

There are plenty of easy consumer choices. Paper clips: easy. Dish sponges: easy. Those products sit at one end of the spectrum. At the other end, impossibly distant, is health insurance.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/how-big-data-can-help-you-choose-better-health-insurance

Artificial gravity breaks free from science fiction

Artificial gravity has long been the stuff of science fiction. Picture the wheel-shaped ships from films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Martian, imaginary craft that generate their own gravity by spinning around in space.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/artificial-gravity-breaks-free-from-science-fiction

A new, more user-friendly language for programming supercomputers

Decades ago, computers were costly, complex and rare.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/a-new-more-user-friendly-language-for-programming-supercomputers

Abnormal binding of proteins impedes creation of crystalline enamel structure, which can lead to bad teeth

Scientists have shown how a tiny flaw in a protein results in damaged enamel that is prone to decay, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/abnormal-binding-of-proteins-impedes-creation-of-crystalline-enamel-structure-which-can-lead-to-bad-teeth

Moral science confirms people behave better when they think they're being watched

If there exists one moral code that can be shared and agreed by almost all cultures and religions, then it must be the concept of "never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself." This has come to be known as "the golden rule".

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/moral-science-confirms-people-behave-better-when-they-think-theyre-being-watched

Discovery of rare lava lake on remote sub-Antarctic island

A team of scientists has discovered a rare lava lake on a remote and inaccessible sub-Antarctic island. There are around 1500 land-based volcanoes on Earth, but despite the popular perception of steaming bubbling lava pools in their craters this volcano in the South Sandwich Islands is only the 8th to be identified worldwide to have a persistent lava lake.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/discovery-of-rare-lava-lake-on-remote-sub-antarctic-island

Neutral evolution shapes lifespan and aging

Different African killifish species vary extensively in their lifespans—from just a few months to several years. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne investigated how different lifespans have evolved in nature and discovered a fundamental mechanism by which detrimental mutations accumulate in the genome causing fish to age fast and become short-lived. In humans, mutations accumulate mainly in the genes that are active in old age.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/neutral-evolution-shapes-lifespan-and-aging

How might Medicare for All reshape health care in the U.S.?

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll indicates that support for a single-payer health system is increasing among American consumers, but many people are confused about how a program like "Medicare for All" would actually affect them. University of Illinois professor emeritus of community health Thomas W. O"Rourke, an expert on health policy analysis, spoke with News Bureau research editor Sharita Forrest.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/how-might-medicare-for-all-reshape-health-care-in-the-u-s