Saturn Is Closest to Earth on Sunday: See It Live Online

The best view of Saturn available to Earth dwellers in six years should be on Sunday (April 28), with the planet reaching its opposition point, when Earth lies directly between it and the sun.

You can watch the celestial show live online via the Slooh Space Camera, which will be broadcasting a feed from its telescopes in Spain's Canary Islands. You can?watch the Saturn webcast live on SPACE.com?beginning at 9:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday (0130 GMT Monday).

The giant planet should put on a spectacular show, with its famous icy rings tilted at a perfect angle for viewing. During Saturn's close approach to Earth, the planet will be exceptionally bright, reaching about the same brightness as famous stars such as Betelgeuse. The ringed giant should be visible all night long on April 27 and 28, and its shadow will fall so that neither the east nor west side of the rings is darkened.

"Saturn is widely regarded as the most beautiful planet in the known universe," Bob Berman, contributing editor and monthly columnist for Astronomy magazine, said in a statement. "And this is the day that it is largest and hence potentially clearest not just for all of 2013, but for the past half dozen years, thanks to the greatly improved viewing tilt of its famous rings. The famous inky-black gap separating its broad white 'B' ring from its narrower 'A' ring, called the Cassini Division, should be striking."

Berman will appear as a commentator on the Slooh webcast, along with Slooh engineer Paul Cox, who will be controlling the Slooh telescopes robotically from the United Kingdom, and other experts.

Saturn's position will also give skywatchers a chance to view a mysterious storm brewing on the planet. [Stunning Photos of Saturn's Weird Vortex Storms]

"Surrounding the Saturn north pole, which is now angled toward us better than has been seen for the past two decades, lies a bizarre hexagon, each of whose six sides is larger than our entire planet Earth," Berman said. "The origin of this long-lived feature is utterly mysterious, and although its location at the very 'top' of Saturn makes it impossible to see from Earth through any telescope including Hubble, thanks to the sideways viewpoint we always have, it has given Saturn's north pole a new notoriety. No doubt, some viewers will 'tune in' to gaze at Saturn close-up and in true color on this day of its closest approach, merely because of that baffling feature."

To view the planet with your naked eye or through a telescope, stargazers in North America should look halfway up the southern sky around midnight. Saturn will shine to the left of the bright blue star Spica in the constellation Virgo.

You can also follow the Slooh webcast live via the?Slooh Space Camera website.

Editor's Note:?If you snap an amazing photo of Saturn and its rings and would like to share it with SPACE.com for a story or image gallery, please send comments and images to managing editor Tariq Malik at?spacephotos@space.com.

Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter and Google+. Follow us?@Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.

Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/saturn-closest-earth-sunday-see-live-online-124011909.html

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Magnetic Field Art Will Make You Miss Your Old CRT Display

Remember how awesome it was to hold up a magnet to an old CRT display, and then watch it degauss in a colorful, rainbow seizure? Well you probably don't have any CRTs on hand anymore, but German artist Carsten Nicolai has an installation that makes use of those same magnetic deformations, and it's still fun to watch. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/1kLcWxiZo9M/these-magnetic-pendulums-turn-screen-distortion-into-art

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Roundworm quells obesity and related metabolic disorders

Friday, April 26, 2013

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, have shown in a mouse model that infection with nematodes (also known as roundworms) can not only combat obesity but ameliorate related metabolic disorders. Their research is published ahead of print online in the journal Infection and Immunity.

Gastrointestinal nematodes infect approximately 2 billion people worldwide, and some researchers believe up until the 20th century almost everyone had worms. In developed countries there is a decreasing incidence of nematode infection but a rising prevalence of certain types of autoimmunity, suggesting a relationship between the two. Nematode infection has been purported to have therapeutic effects and currently clinical trials are underway to examine worms as a treatment for diseases associated with the relevant cytokines, including inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, and allergies.

In the study researchers tested the effect of nematode infection on mice fed a high-fat diet. Infected mice of normal girth gained 15 percent less weight than those that were not infected. Mice that were already obese when infected lost roughly 13 percent of their body weight within 10 days. Infection also drastically lowered fasting blood glucose, a risk factor for diabetes, and reduced fatty liver disease, decreasing liver fat by ~25 percent, and the weight of the liver by 30 percent.

The levels of insulin and leptin also dropped, "indicating that the mice restored their sensitivities to both hormones," says corresponding author Aiping Zhao of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. Leptin moderates appetite. As with too much insulin, too high a level of leptin results in insensitivity, thus contributing to obesity and metabolic syndrome, Zhao explains.

The mechanism of the moderation of these hormones "was associated with a parasite-induced reduction in glucose absorption in the intestine, reduced liver triglycerides, and an increase in the population of cells called "alternatively activated macrophages," which regulate glucose metabolism and inflammation," says coauthor Joe Urban of the United States Department of Agriculture. Some of these changes involved "a protein called interleukin-13 and related intracellular signaling mechanisms," he says. "This suggests that there are immune related shifts in metabolism that can alter expression of obesity and related metabolic syndrome."

The incidence of obesity has been climbing dramatically, worldwide. It is a key risk factor for many metabolic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Recent studies indicate that it is accompanied by chronic low-grade inflammation in adipose tissues, causing the release of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines that contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.

Parasitic nematode infection induces a marked elevation in host immune Th2-cells and related type 2 cytokines which, besides combating the infection, also have potent anti-inflammatory activity, according to the report.

###

Z. Yang, V. Grinchuk, A. Smith, B. qin, J.A. Bohl, R. Sun, L. Notari, Z. Zhang, H. Sesaki, J.F. Urban, Jr., T. Shea-Donohue, A. Zhao, 2013. Parasitic nematode-induced modulation of body weight and associated metabolic dysfunction in mouse models of obesity. Infect. Immun. Published ahead of print 18 March 2013, doi:10.1128/IAI.00053-13.

American Society for Microbiology: http://www.asm.org

Thanks to American Society for Microbiology for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127965/Roundworm_quells_obesity_and_related_metabolic_disorders

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Climate change inspires a new literary genre: cli-fi

Cli-fi, or 'climate fiction,' describes a dystopian present, as opposed to a dystopian future. And don't call it 'science fiction.' Cli-fi is literary fiction.

By Husna Haq,?Correspondent / April 26, 2013

'Odds Against Tomorrow,' a novel by Nathaniel Rich, is an example of the emerging 'cli-fi' genre.

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Climate change has been cited as the cause behind a raft of recent phenomena, from increasing turbulence on planes to rising rates of malaria, dengue, and even domestic abuse.

And now it?s hit the publishing world.

The next hot trend in books, it turns out isn?t Fifty Shades-esque erotica ? it?s climate change.

That?s according to a fascinating report by NPR, ?Has Climate Change Created a New Literary Genre??

?Over the past decade, more and more writers have begun to set their novels and short stories in worlds, not unlike our own, where the Earth's systems are noticeably off-kilter,? reports Angela Evancie for NPR. ?The genre has come to be called climate fiction ? 'cli-fi,' for short.?

Among the titles in this emerging literary genre is ?Odds Against Tomorrow,? by Nathaniel Rich, a novel about a futurist who calculates worst-case scenarios for corporations, including the very scenario that landed on the book?s cover: the Manhattan skyline, half-submerged in water. (We should note, the book, and cover, were created before Hurricane Sandy.)?

Other books include Michael Crichton?s 2004 novel, ?State of Fear,? about ecoterrorists; Ian McEwan?s ?Solar,? about impending environmental disaster; and Barbara Kingsolver?s ?Flight Behavior,? about a world turned upside down by climate change.

There are two key points to emphasize in this trend. Cli-fi describes a dystopian present, as opposed to a dystopian future, and it isn?t non-fiction or even science fiction: cli-fi is about literary fiction.

As interesting as this new development is, we shouldn?t be too surprised. After all, whether it?s the Industrial Revolution, the Cold War, or the tech bubble, cultural and environmental milestones have historically shaped the world we ? and by extension, the characters we read about ? live in.?

In this case, literature might actually prove to be a surprise secret weapon of sorts, helping scientists convey the issue to disinterested ? or dubious ? audiences.

That?s because ?when novelists tackle climate change in their writing, they reach people in a way that scientists can't,? says NPR.

"You know, scientists and other people are trying to get their message across about various aspects of the climate change issue," Judith Curry, professor and chair of Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, tells NPR. "And it seems like fiction is an untapped way of doing this ? a way of smuggling some serious topics into the consciousness" of readers who may not be following the science.

We?re fascinated by this emerging genre and if one cli-fi writer is on the mark, we?ll be seeing a lot more of it in coming years.

Predicted Daniel Kramb, the cli-fi novelist behind ?From Here,? the 2012 novel about climate change activists, ?I think when [people] look back at this 21st century ... they will definitely see climate change as one of the major themes in literature, if not the major theme.?

Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/SwCeZYqCCm0/Climate-change-inspires-a-new-literary-genre-cli-fi

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Dot Earth Blog: Sustaining Cities on a Crowding Planet

11:48 a.m. | Updated |
A useful discussion of urban futures with a focus on energy and resilience to environmental hazards is under way today at The New York Times, including panels of mayors, a chat between me and the actor Jeremy Irons over his involvement in the documentary ?Trashed? and much more.

.
[11:26 a.m. | Update | My "trash talk" with Jeremy Irons took place and I'll post the standalone video here when it's generated. Irons, who is the on-camera guide and narrator of "Trashed," stood by his opposition to incineration when I noted successes with this technology in Europe and Asia. I also noted New York City's polluting truck exports of trash to distant landfills.

His main point was that sustained incineration sustains a comfort level with big waste streams, and he's right. He picked up a water bottle and noted that the energy that went into making it is 26 times the energy produced by burning it.]

You can track and join the Twitter conversation here.

Source: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/sustaining-cities-on-a-crowding-planet/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Babies are conscious? Science confirms what moms know.

Babies are aware of what's going on, not just reflexively reacting to it, scientists concluded after a series of experiments on babies as young as 5 months.

By Stephanie Pappas,?Live Science / April 18, 2013

A contestant in the 2000 American Baby Derby heads towards the finish line. Crawling babies raced to see who was fastest. According to the promoters, The Boston Baby Faire, a two-day event with more than 200 exhibitors of every type of baby product, is the largest baby exposition in the United States.

John Nordell / The Christian Science Monitor

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Infants have a conscious experience of the world at as early as 5 months of age, new research finds.

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New parents may raise an eyebrow at the idea that their baby might not be a conscious being, but scientists have, until now, not been able to clearly show that infants react with awareness rather than reflexively. Even in adults, much of the brain's processing of the world occurs without conscious awareness, said Sid Kouider, a neuroscientist at the Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et Psycholinguistique in Paris and the Technical University of Denmark. ?

One odd phenomenon, "blindsight," occurs in people with damage to part of their visual cortex. Although they cannot consciously see, they're able to "guess" the location of a visual stimulus or even catch objects tossed at them. Blindsight reveals that even unconscious processing in the brain can result in seemingly goal-directed behavior.

So when babies look toward a face or grasp an object, they, too, might be doing so without a conscious experience of what they're seeing.

"Infants might be responding in a kind of automatic manner," Kouider told LiveScience. Unfortunately, since babies don't talk, scientists can't test consciousness by asking infants what they experience.

Baby brain patterns

So Kouider and his colleagues turned to brain activity for a peak into babies' awareness. When adults are shown a subliminal image, their brains show a spike in electrical activity in sensory regions ? even though they may not consciously register that they've seen such a brief image.

When the image does consciously register, however, the brain shows a second leap in activity, typically about 300 milliseconds after the presentation of the image. This pattern reveals visual consciousness, Kouider said, which means that not only does the brain respond to the image, but also the owner of that brain perceives that response and has a conscious experience of the image.

The researchers wanted to know whether babies would show this same brain pattern. They recruited 30 5-month-olds, 29 12-month-olds and 21 15-month-olds and fitted the babies with electrode caps that measure the brain's electrical activity through the scalp.

Next, the babies sat on their mother or father's lap while watching a screen with a patterned image. For a fraction of a second (ranging from as quick as 17 milliseconds up to 300 milliseconds), the researchers flashed a photo of a face on the screen.

Experiencing awareness

The scientists then analyzed the babies' brain activity to search for the two-phase pattern that would indicate consciousness. They found it: Babies did indeed show a secondary spike in neural activity, just like adults.

But there was one important difference between the babies' neural patterns and those seen in adults, Kouider said. In 5-month-olds, it took 1.3 seconds for the second flurry of brain activity to show up. In adults, the timing is closer to three-tenths of a second, or 0.3 seconds.

"It's about four times slower, actually, in the younger infants," Kouider said.?

Older babies show snappier processing, though still not as quick as adults, the researchers found. In 12- to 15-month-olds, the second phase is stronger than in 5-month-olds and occurs around eight-tenths to nine-tenths of a second.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/In93FUJa3Zc/Babies-are-conscious-Science-confirms-what-moms-know

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The Wanted's New Single 'Walks Like Rihanna' Sounds Like 'Pure Pop'

U.K. boy band release 30-second tease of new track as Nathan Sykes continues vocal surgery recovery.
By Jocelyn Vena

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706388/the-wanted-walks-like-rihanna-teaser.jhtml

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