Knowledge Update

​London, Dec 3 (IANS) Using radio telescopes in Australia and the US, an international team of scientists has discovered that the biggest galaxies in the universe develop in cosmic clouds of cold gas.

Until now scientists believed that these "supergalaxies" formed from smaller galaxies that grow closer and closer together until they merge, due to gravitational attraction.

"In the local universe, we see galaxies merging and we expected to observe that the formation of supergalaxies took place in the same way, in the early (now distant) universe," said first author Bjorn Emonts, researcher at Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA) in Madrid. 

To investigate this, telescopes were pointed towards an embryonic galaxy cluster 10 thousand million light years away, in whose interior the giant Spiderweb galaxy is forming, and the scientists discovered a cloud of very cold gas where the galaxies were merging.

This enormous cloud, with some 100 thousand million times the mass of the Sun, is mainly composed of molecular hydrogen, the basic material from which the stars and the galaxies are formed.

Previous studies had discovered the mysterious appearance of thousands of millions of young stars throughout the Spiderweb, and for this reason it is now thought that this supergalaxy condensed directly from the cold gas cloud.

Instead of observing the hydrogen directly, the researchers traced carbon monoxide, which is much easier to detect.

"It is surprising how cold this gas is, at some 200 degrees below zero Celsius," said the study's second author Matthew Lehnert, a researcher at the Astrophysics Institute of Paris.

For the study, the researchers combined the interferometers VLA (Very Large Array) in New Mexico (US) and the ATCA (Australia Telescope Compact Array) in Australia.

"Using sensitive observations of carbon monoxide, we show that the Spiderweb galaxy -- a massive galaxy in a distant protocluster -- is forming from a large reservoir of molecular gas," said the study published in the journal Science.

New York, Dec 2 (IANS) In a step aimed at preventing future outbreak of diseases such as dengue, Zika and chikungunya, researchers in Brazil have developed a test that analyses clinical samples from patients to diagnose infection by 416 viruses found in the world's tropical regions.

The tool can be used by reference laboratories to assist epidemiological surveillance by detecting pathogens with the potential to cause epidemics in humans.

"The number of patients with suspected dengue, Zika or chikungunya infection will increase when summer arrives," said lead author of the study Victor Hugo Aquino, Professor at University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirao Preto.

"Conventional methods are frequently unable to confirm diagnosis of these diseases, so we don't know which viruses are circulating," Aquino noted.

If a tool like this had been available when Zika began circulating in Brazil, it might have been possible to restrict its spread to the initial outbreak location, he said.

"We took a long time to realise an epidemic was under way because no one was thinking of Zika at the time," he said.

In addition to the pathogens, the platform detects others that as yet have been identified only sporadically but could become epidemics.

Examples include Mayaro, an alphavirus related to chikungunya that is transmitted by wild mosquitoes such as Haemagogus janthinomys, and Oropouche, which to date has caused epidemics confined to riverine communities in the Amazon region and is transmitted mainly by midges of the species Culicoides paraensis.

"There are several other viruses that haven't yet caused problems in humans but may do so one day," Aquino said. 

"They're evolving all the time, and with the degradation of natural environments infectious agents once confined to natural niches could spread farther afield," Aquino pointed out.

Although the platform is designed above all to detect pathogens transmitted by arthropods such as mosquitoes and ticks, it can also diagnose infectious agents transmitted by small mammals, like hantavirus, said the study published in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

​New York, Dec 2 (IANS) Dramatic climate cycles on early Mars, triggered by buildup of greenhouse gases, may be the key to understanding how liquid water left its mark on the planet's surface, a study says.

Using climate models, the researchers showed warming periods -- caused when greenhouse gases reached a certain tipping point -- lasted millions of years on Mars, melting the glaciers that covered the surface of the planet, thereby creating liquid water.

Scientists have long debated how deep canyons and extensive valley networks -- like the kinds carved by running water over millions of years on Earth -- could form on Mars some 3.8 billion years ago, a time many believe the planet was frozen.

Previous studies suggested asteroid impacts might have warmed the planet, creating steam atmospheres that led to rain. But those warm periods would have much shorter durations and struggle to produce enough water, the researchers said.

"We think Mars had to be warm for millions to tens of millions of years, and the impact hypothesis can keep it warm for thousands of years," said study co-author Jim Kasting, Professor at Pennsylvania State University in the US. 

"In terms of water, we need millions of meters of rainfall, and they (previous studies) can get hundreds of meters," Kasting said.

The new study suggest a glacier-covered early Mars could have experienced long warm periods, lasting up to 10 million years at a time, caused by a thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

The team, which published its findings in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, found the warming cycles would have lasted long enough, and produced enough water, to create the features.

"With the cycling hypothesis, you get these long periods of warmth that give you sufficient time to form all the different Martian valley networks," Natasha Batalha, graduate student at Pennsylvania State University, explained.

​Moscow, Dec 2 (IANS) Scientists at the Far Eastern Federal University have invented a new method of producing nuclear fuel using electric current, said the university on Friday.

Main advantages of the new technology are low cost, quick manufacturing process, and improvement of product quality, Xinhua news agency reported.

Fuel can be produced even from uranium dioxide powder, which is not suitable for common technology, it said.

"The key idea of our method is heating with electric current. It flows through a mould that already has some powder on it. In such conditions, uranium oxide fuel experiences the powerful pulsed discharge and mechanical pressure simultaneously," said Ivan Tananaev, head of the department of nuclear technologies at the school of natural sciences.

Washington, Nov 30 (IANS) In the successful first relay test of a NASA radio aboard Europe's new Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), data from NASA rovers Opportunity and Curiosity reached Earth last week, the US space agency said on Wednesday.

The transmissions from the two active NASA rovers on Mars received by one of the twin Electra radios on the orbiter, mark a strengthening of the international telecommunications network supporting Mars exploration, NASA said.

The orbiter's main radio for communications with Earth subsequently relayed onward to Earth the data received by Electra.

"The arrival of ESA's Trace Gas Orbiter at Mars, with its NASA-provided Electra relay payload on board, represents a significant step forward in our Mars relay capabilities," said Chad Edwards from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. 

The European Space Agency's (ESA's) ExoMars/Trace Gas Orbiter reached Mars on October 19, 2016. 

"We now have a truly international Mars relay network that will greatly increase the amount of data that future Mars landers and rovers can return from the surface of the Red Planet," Edwards said.

NASA is on an ambitious journey to Mars that will include sending humans to the Red Planet. Current and future robotic spacecraft are leading the way and will prepare an infrastructure in advance for human missions. 

The JPL-designed Electra radios include special features for relaying data from a rover or stationary lander to an orbiter passing overhead. 

Relay of information from Mars-surface craft to Mars orbiters, then from the Mars orbiters to Earth, enables receiving much more data from the surface missions than would be possible with a direct-to-Earth radio link from the rovers or landers, NASA said.

​Wellington, Nov 30 (IANS) New Zealand scientists have unlocked the mystery of why so many cancer patients die of blood clots while undergoing chemotherapy in a study.

Chemotherapy stimulates release of tiny bubbles from the surface of cancer cells, causing the potentially fatal clots, said the study by University of Otago researchers that came out on Wednesday, Xinhua news reported.

Most deaths from cancer were caused by uncontrolled growth of tumour in vital organs, but the second most common way that cancer kills is by triggering blood clotting resulting in thrombosis.

The clots cause blockage of major blood vessels, preventing oxygen and nutrients to vital organs.

Despite being life-prolonging, chemotherapy is thus associated with a six-to-seven fold increase in the risk of thrombosis in cancer patients.

The link between cancer and thrombosis was noted over 100 years ago, but the reasons for the association had been elusive, Associate Professor Alex McLellan said in a statement.

McLellan's team discovered cancer cells treated with chemotherapy releasing lipid-rich bubbles from their membranes that activated coagulation (clotting) processes.

"We now have insight into how these bubbles from dying cancer cells may cause thrombosis during chemotherapy," McLellan said.

The research had showed that certain solid cancers were more active in promoting blood coagulation, as compared to lymphomas.

"A general pattern is that cancers such as pancreatic, lung and brain cancers carry the largest risk of thrombotic events," he said.

The study opened the possibility of developing inhibitors to the major coagulation pathway identified in cancer cells.

​Singapore, Nov 30 (IANS) The next time you try to tell a lie or simpler versions of truth to your kids, be careful.

A new study has suggested that children as young as two and a half years old can understand others' "false beliefs". This suggests that they can also recognise when people are lying, cheating, or pretending.

Using a methodology known as the 'false belief task', an international team of researchers tested the abilities of more than 140 toddlers aged two and a half, to understand when other people have different thoughts from them.

False beliefs are misconceptions that result from incorrect reasoning, and the researchers suspected it may be too advanced for children to understand, or there may be too much information for them to deal with at once.

However, the findings showed that the cognitive abilities of two-and-half-year olds more advanced than previously thought.

"Our findings suggest that children may be able to spot when parents are doing this (telling lie) from as early as two and a half years old. Parents of young children and early childhood educators should be aware that children's early cognitive abilities may be more advanced than previously thought," said Setoh Pei Pei, Assistant Professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore.

For the study, the researchers used a modified story of 'Emma' and her apple in which the apple was taken away to an undisclosed location. The kids were then shown two object pictures and asked additional location questions. After this, they are asked where Emma will look for her apple.

The results suggest that young children are aware that others may hold different beliefs from them, but were not able to demonstrate this understanding due to information-processing overload. 

"The ability to answer questions about persons with false beliefs is present very early in development, contrary to what was traditionally thought," said Renee Baillargeon, Professor at the University of Illinois in the US. 

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

London, Nov 30 (IANS) Most of the tweets about plastic surgery are about celebrities while only a few of those are posted by credentialed plastic surgeons that offer evidence-based information, a study has revealed.

"Twitter provides a great opportunity to engage with and educate patients and the public about plastic surgery, but all too often, the conversation is dominated by celebrity gossip and marketing by practitioners who are not Board-certified plastic surgeons," said lead researcher Olivier Alexandre Branford from The Royal Marsden Hospital, London.

The researchers analysed 2,900 tweets -- including the words "plastic surgery" -- and found that only six per cent of tweets about plastic surgery were actually made by plastic surgeons while 70 per cent were posted by the public.

While the researchers believe that Twitter "may be the best-suited platform to fulfil the role of public education and engagement," the study reveals that a high percentage -- 37 per cent -- of tweets with hashtag "PlasticSurgery" by plastic surgeons were self-promotional.

It also noted that only five per cent of tweets included the "PlasticSurgery" hashtag.

The report, published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, found that 50 per cent of the tweets were about celebrity plastic surgery while 44 per cent were about aesthetic surgery. 

Only a few posts provided information about the basic science of plastic surgery, patient safety issues or topics related to reconstructive surgery.

The researchers suggested plastic surgeons to reclaim plastic surgery from the tabloid press, celebrity gossip and cosmetic quackery in the interests of public safety and quality outcomes.

New York, Nov 30 (IANS) If you want your kids to become successful later in life, better avoid pressuring them over grades, suggests new research.

Parents should not obsess over grades and extracurricular activities for young schoolchildren, especially if such ambitions come at the expense of social skills and kindness, as doing so can work against helping kids become well adjusted and successful in life, the study said.

"When parents emphasise children's achievement much more than their compassion and decency during the formative years, they are sowing the seeds of stress and poorer well-being, seen as early as sixth grade," said study co-author Suniya Luthar, Professor at Arizona State University in the US.

"In order to foster well-being and academic success during the critical years surrounding early adolescence, our findings suggest that parents should accentuate kindness and respect for others at least as much as (or more than) stellar academic performance and extracurricular accolades," Luthar noted.

The study focused on perceptions of parents' values among 506 sixth grade students from an affluent community. 

Kids were asked to rank the top three of six things their parents valued for them. 

Three values were about personal successes such as good grades and a successful later career, and the other three were about kindness and decency towards others.

The researchers examined underlying patterns on scores based on children's perceptions of their parents' achievement emphasis (relative to children's kindness to others). 

These patterns on perceived achievement emphasis were compared against the children's school performance and actions as measured by grade point average and in-class behaviour.

Results showed that mothers and fathers perceived emphasis on achievement versus interpersonal kindness played a key role in the child's personal adjustment and academic performance, as did perceptions of parents' criticism.

The best outcomes were among children who perceived their mothers and fathers as each valuing kindness toward others as much as, or more than, achievements, Luthar said.

Much poorer outcomes were seen among children who perceived either mothers or fathers valuing their achievements more highly than they valued being kind to others. 

The findings, published online in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, demonstrate the value of being socially oriented, Luthar said. 

"It is beneficial for kids to be strongly connected with their social networks, whereas focusing too much on external validations (such as grades, extra-curricular honours) for their sense of self-worth can lead to greater insecurity, anxiety and overall distress," she added.

Washington, Dec 1 (IANS) NASA's Cassini spacecraft began a "ring-grazing" mission to study Saturn's rings and moons, media reports said.

According to NASA, the "thrilling" ride marked the first phase of a "dramatic endgame" for the 19-year-old spacecraft and over the next five months, Cassini will circle high over and under the poles of Saturn every seven days for a total of 20 times, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We're calling this phase of the mission Cassini's Ring-Grazing Orbits, because we'll be skimming past the outer edge of the rings," Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Linda Spilker said in a statement.

"In addition, we have two instruments that can sample particles and gases as we cross the ring-plane, so in a sense Cassini is also 'grazing' on the rings."

During the first two orbits, the spacecraft will pass directly through an extremely faint ring produced by tiny meteors striking Saturn's two small moons Janus and Epimetheus.

Then, ring crossings in March and April will send the spacecraft through the dusty outer reaches of the F ring, which marks the outer boundary of the planet's main ring system.

Cassini's ring-grazing orbits also offer "unprecedented opportunities to observe the menagerie of small moons", including best-ever looks at the moons Pandora, Atlas, Pan and Daphnis, said NASA.

However, these orbits are merely a prelude to the spacecraft's "Grand Finale phase" that will begin in April 2017, when Cassini is scheduled to fly through the 2,350 km gap between Saturn and its rings.

Finally, the long-lived spacecraft will make a mission-ending plunge into the planet's atmosphere on September 15, 2017.

Launched in 1997, Cassini has been touring the Saturn system since arriving there in 2004. 

During its journey, Cassini has made numerous dramatic discoveries, including a global ocean within Enceladus and liquid methane seas on Titan. But the mission is drawing near its end because the spacecraft is running low on fuel.