Heavens | Page 599 | Science Codex

Text message reminders may encourage sunscreen use

Daily text-message reminders appear to increase sunscreen use over a six-week period, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Skin cancer accounts for one in three cancer cases worldwide and more than 1 million new cases are diagnosed in the United States each year, according to background information in the article. "Many of these cases could be prevented if the population took consistent measures to avoid direct sunlight by wearing protective clothing and applying sunscreen," according to the study.

HIV vaccine failure probably caused by virus used, says new research

The recent failure of an HIV vaccine was probably caused by the immune system reacting to the virus 'shell' used to transmit the therapy around the body, according to research published today (16 November 2009) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The trial, called 'STEP', was halted in September 2007 because preliminary results suggested that people who had been given the vaccine were more likely to be infected with HIV than people who had been given a placebo.

Immune system of healthy adults may be better prepared than expected to fight 2009 H1N1 influenza

WHAT:A new study shows that molecular similarities exist between the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus and other strains of seasonal H1N1 virus that have been circulating in the population since 1988. These results suggest that healthy adults may have a level of protective immune memory that can blunt the severity of infection caused by the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.

NASA's Terra satellite spots Tropical Cyclone Anja, the first of the southern season

NASA's Terra satellite captured a stunning image of Anja, the first tropical cyclone of the southern Hemisphere cyclone season. When Anja formed on Saturday, November 14, in the Southern Indian Ocean, about 330 miles south-southwest of Diego Garcia it was designated Tropical Cyclone 01S ("S" for south). By Sunday, November 15, 01S had strengthened into a tropical storm and was named Anja.

Close-up movie shows hidden details in the birth of super-suns

"Source I is the richest source of masers in the Galaxy, that we know of," said Lynn Matthews, lead author of the new work, who is now a researcher at the MIT Haystack Observatory. "Without the masers, we couldn't track the gas motions in such detail so close to this massive star, and would be relatively blind to its formation."

"In astronomy, it's rare to see changes over the course of a human lifetime. With this new movie, we can see changes over just a few months as gas clumps swarm around this young protostar," added Smithsonian astronomer and co-author Ciriaco Goddi.

Goddard team develops new carriers for space station

GREENBELT, Md. -- In a partnership that exemplifies One NASA, engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. teamed up with engineers at NASA's Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers to design, build, and test five new ExPRESS Logistics Carriers, or ELCs, which will be delivered to the International Space Station. "ExPRESS" stands for Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station.

Cyclone Phyan raining on Tibet after breaking a record in India

Cyclone Phyan broke a 43 year record when it made landfall north of the city of Mumbai, India during the evening hours on November 11. NASA's Aqua satellite captured Phyan's landfall with one instrument, and a day later, another of Aqua's instruments show the storm's remnants raining Tibet as Phyan continues to dissipate.

Rosetta bound for outer Solar System after final Earth swingby

Science close to Earth

Some of Rosetta's instruments have been on since early November, performing imaging, magnetospheric, and atmospheric observations, as well as looking for water on the Moon. The first round of images and data recorded just before and during the swingby will be downloaded later today.

Former Ida a huge rainmaker, causing flooding in the Mid-Atlantic

The coastal low, formerly known as Ida, is currently quasi-stationary off the North Carolina coast, adding more rain on top of what it has already brought. The low is creating serious flooding from northeast North Carolina to coastal Virginia.

A retired employee of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility provided photographs of flooded roadways in Accomack County, Virginia, and reported trees down and other damages this afternoon.

Shire reports analysis examining emotional lability in children with ADHD taking Vyvanse

PHILADELPHIA – November 12, 2009 – Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced findings from a post hoc analysis examining emotional lability from Phase 3 study data with Vyvanse®. In this study, Vyvanse demonstrated significant improvement in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms as measured by the ADHD Rating Scale IV (ADHD-RS IV) and Connors' Parent Rating Scale-Revised Short (CPRS-RS) in children with ADHD aged 6 to 12 years.

Quarter of a million children in England at risk of skin cancer from sunbeds

An estimated quarter of a million 11-17 year olds in England are being put at increased risk of developing malignant melanoma by using sunbeds, warn researchers in a letter to this week's BMJ.

Catherine Thomson from Cancer Research UK and Professor Chris Twelves from Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine & St James's University Hospital in Leeds, say that sunbeds raise serious issues, and they call for urgent legislation to stop children in England using sunbeds, as is already in place in Scotland and proposed for Wales.

Nanotech in space: Rensselaer experiment to weather the trials of orbit

Troy, N.Y. – Novel nanomaterials developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are scheduled to blast off into orbit on November 16 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis.

The project, funded by the U.S. Air Force Multi University Research Initiative (MURI), seeks to test the performance of the new nanocomposites in orbit. Space Shuttle Atlantis will carry the samples to the International Space Station (ISS). The materials will then be mounted to the station's outer hull in a Passive Experiment Carrier (PEC), and exposed to the rigors of space.

Earth-sized bodies with oxygen rich atmospheres found--but they aren't planets

Astrophysicists at the University of Warwick and Kiel University have discovered two earth sized bodies with oxygen rich atmospheres – however there is a bit of a disappointing snag for anyone looking for a potential home for alien life, or even a future home for ourselves, as they are not planets but are actually two unusual white dwarf stars.

Study finds many people with hemianopia have difficulty detecting pedestrians while driving, advocates for individual testing

Boston, MA— Schepens Eye Research Institute scientists have found that--when tested in a driving simulator--patients with hemianopia (blindness in one half of the visual field in both eyes) have significantly more difficulty detecting pedestrians (on their blind side) than normally sighted people. These results, published in the November 2009 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, fly in the face of some recent on-road studies that have found most people with hemianopia safe to drive.

ESA spacecraft may help unravel cosmic mystery

When Europe's comet chaser Rosetta swings by Earth tomorrow for a critical gravity assist, tracking data will be collected to precisely measure the satellite's change in orbital energy. The results could help unravel a cosmic mystery that has stumped scientists for two decades.