Today on New Scientist: 28 November 2012

Out-of-proportion black hole is a rare cosmic fossil

A fairly small galaxy is host to a strangely enormous black hole, which could be a remnant of a quasar from the dawn of time

Flowing lithium atoms form accidental transistor

A transistor that controls the flow of atoms, rather than electrons, could be used as a model to probe the mysterious electrical property of superconductivity

Europe in 2050: a survivor's guide to climate change

A new report gives a clear picture of how global warming is affecting Europe - so how must countries adapt to survive?

Arctic permafrost is melting faster than predicted

A UN report and NASA research highlight greenhouse gases from melting permafrost, which they say could warm Earth's climate faster than we thought

Cassini spots superstorm at Saturn's north pole

The end of Saturn's 15-year winter reveals a huge hurricane-like vortex at the centre of the mysterious hexagon that tops the ringed planet

Infinity in the real world: Does space go on forever?

Watch an animation that tries to pin down the size of the universe, the largest thing that exists

Endangered primates caught in Congolese conflict

As the UN warns of a growing humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the advance of the M23 rebels also puts the region's gorillas and chimps at risk

Hive minds: Honeybee intelligence creates a buzz

Bees do remarkable things with a brain the size of a pinhead, raising some intriguing questions about the nature of intelligence for David Robson

Humans head for moon's orbit - and beyond

A NASA mission might focus on the dark side, while a private mission may attempt something even more novel

Europe has right stuff to take NASA back to moon

ESA's redesigned cargo drone will give NASA's Orion spacecraft air, power and manoeuvrability on two new trips to the moon

DNA imaged with electron microscope for the first time

The famous twists of DNA's double helix have been seen with the aid of an electron microscope and a silicon bed of nails

Holiday gifts: Books to give by

CultureLab picks the best books to delight the scientifically curious this holiday season

How do you solve a problem like North Korea?

Forging scientific links may be one of the best ways to help bring rogue states back into the international fold

What truly exists? Structure as a route to the real

Some say we should accept that entities such as atomic particles really do exist. Others bitterly disagree. There is a way out, says Eric Scerri

Gas explosion in Springfield points to ageing pipes

Gas company officials attributed natural gas explosion on 23 November to human error, but the pipeline's corrosion made it susceptible to puncture

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New feature on cigarettes to show legality

SINGAPORE: From March next year, all cigarettes sold in Singapore must have a new marking to show that they are not contraband or smuggled goods.

Besides the letters "SDPC", which stand for Singapore Duty-Paid Cigarette, there will be a series of vertical bars around the cigarette stick.

Cigarettes with the extra feature can be sold from December 1. From March 1, cigarettes without the new marking will be considered duty-unpaid and illegal.

This is to give manufacturers and retailers time to phase in the revised mark.

Singapore Customs said on Thursday that the new feature will make it easier to tell the difference between duty-paid cigarettes and contraband cigarettes, when it conducts checks to curb the selling, buying and possession of contraband cigarettes.

Those who bring in cigarettes from overseas for their own consumption have to declare them at the Customs Red Channel, as well as pay the duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST).

They should also keep the receipt as proof of payment.

- CNA/xq

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PeopleBrowsr wins temporary injunction against Twitter

PeopleBrowsr, the social media analytics service behind Kred, has won a temporary restraining order against Twitter that allows it continued access to the microblogging site's firehose of data.

PeopleBrowsr sued Twitter in San Francisco Superior Court today, alleging that Twitter was restricting its access to the tweets and data that is key to providing real-time statistical analysis sought by its clients. The court scheduled a hearing to discuss the injunction for January 8, 2013.

PeopleBrowsr said in its complaint (see below) that it had paid Twitter $1 million a year for the past four years for access to the firehose. The company said Twitter told it in 2011 that it intended to restrict firehose access to "a limited number of 'Twitter-driven' partnerships that it can closely control."

The complaint goes on to say that Twitter informed PeopleBrowsr in May that it should plan to transition off the full firehose and suggested that it seek access through resellers Gnip or DataSift. The two companies entered mediation, during which Twitter informed PeopleBrowsr that it would terminate access if no agreement was reached by November 30.

PeopleBrowsr said the purpose of the lawsuit was to maintain an open ecosystem for its unique data.

"We relied on Twitter's promise of openness when we invested millions of dollars and thousands of hours of development time," PeopleBrowsr CEO Jodee Rich said in a blog post. "Long term supply is essential as this industry matures. We made this application to ensure full unrestricted access to the Firehose for our Enterprise and Government clients."

A statement from Twitter said the lawsuit was "without merit" and that the company planned to "vigorously defend against it."

In its court response (see bottom filing), Twitter dismissed the lawsuit and suggested PeopleBrowsr required basic business education.

This is Contracts 101. Although PeopleBrowsr attempts to dress its case up as some sort of grand antitrust or interference case, it is not. The operative facts could not be simpler, or more dispositive. PeopleBrowsr and Twitter negotiated, at arm's length, an integrated contract with a one year term, after which either party could terminate at will after giving 30 days' notice. Twitter has exercised that contractual right. PeopleBrowsr attempts to ignore the plain language of the contract by imagining completely different contract, arguing that 'Twitter contracted to provide an open ecosystem.' ... Nonsense.

PB v Tw Complaint TRO 28 Nov 2012

2012-1.11.28 Opposition to Application for TRO

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Caterpillar Fungus Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties

In the Tibetan mountains, a fungus attaches itself to a moth larva burrowed in the soil. It infects and slowly consumes its host from within, taking over its brain and making the young caterpillar move to a position from which the fungus can grow and spore again.

Sounds like something out of science fiction, right? But for ailing Chinese consumers and nomadic Tibetan harvesters, the parasite called cordyceps means hope—and big money. Chinese markets sell the "golden worm," or "Tibetan mushroom"—thought to cure ailments from cancer to asthma to erectile dysfunction—for up to $50,000 (U.S.) per pound. Patients, following traditional medicinal practices, brew the fungal-infected caterpillar in tea or chew it raw.

Now the folk medicine is getting scientific backing. A new study published in the journal RNA finds that cordycepin, a chemical derived from the caterpillar fungus, has anti-inflammatory properties.

"Inflammation is normally a beneficial response to a wound or infection, but in diseases like asthma it happens too fast and to too high of an extent," said study co-author Cornelia H. de Moor of the University of Nottingham. "When cordycepin is present, it inhibits that response strongly."

And it does so in a way not previously seen: at the mRNA stage, where it inhibits polyadenylation. That means it stops swelling at the genetic cellular level—a novel anti-inflammatory approach that could lead to new drugs for cancer, asthma, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular-disease patients who don't respond well to current medications.

From Worm to Pill

But such new drugs may be a long way off. The science of parasitic fungi is still in its early stages, and no medicine currently available utilizes cordycepin as an anti-inflammatory. The only way a patient could gain its benefits would by consuming wild-harvested mushrooms.

De Moor cautions against this practice. "I can't recommend taking wild-harvested medications," she says. "Each sample could have a completely different dose, and there are mushrooms where [taking] a single bite will kill you."

Today 96 percent of the world's caterpillar-fungus harvest comes from the high Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayan range. Fungi from this region are of the subspecies Ophiocordyceps sinensis, locally known as yartsa gunbu ("summer grass, winter worm"). While highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine, these fungi have relatively low levels of cordycepin. What's more, they grow only at elevations of 10,000 to 16,500 feet and cannot be farmed. All of which makes yartsa gunbu costly for Chinese consumers: A single fungal-infected caterpillar can fetch $30.

Brave New Worm

Luckily for researchers, and for potential consumers, another rare species of caterpillar fungus, Cordyceps militaris, is capable of being farmed—and even cultivated to yield much higher levels of cordycepin.

De Moor says that's not likely to discourage Tibetan harvesters, many of whom make a year's salary in just weeks by finding and selling yartsa gunbu. Scientific proof of cordycepin's efficacy will only increase demand for the fungus, which could prove dangerous. "With cultivation we have a level of quality control that's missing in the wild," says de Moor.

"There is definitely some truth somewhere in certain herbal medicinal traditions, if you look hard enough," says de Moor. "But ancient healers probably wouldn't notice a 10 percent mortality rate resulting from herbal remedies. In the scientific world, that's completely unacceptable." If you want to be safe, she adds, "wait for the medicine."

Ancient Chinese medical traditions—which also use ground tiger bones as a cure for insomnia, elephant ivory for religious icons, and rhinoceros horns to dispel fevers—are controversial but popular. Such remedies remain in demand regardless of scientific advancement—and endangered animals continue to be killed in order to meet that demand. While pills using cordycepin from farmed fungus might someday replace yartsa gunbu harvesting, tigers, elephants, and rhinos are disappearing much quicker than worms.

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Powerball Numbers Drawn for Nearly $580M Jackpot

5-23-16-22-29-Powerball 6: Those are the winning numbers for an estimated $579 million Powerball jackpot -- the biggest in history.

After a feverish day that saw hopeful players buying tickets at the rate of 131,000 every minute, lottery officials in Orlando, Fla., drew the winning sequence shortly after 11 p.m.

The results likely will be announced sometime after 2 a.m. Thursday morning.

Identifying the winner, however, could take days -- if there is a winner.

A prior drawing last Saturday night produced no winner. That fact, plus the doubling in price of a Powerball ticket, accounted for the unprecedented richness of the pot.

"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman at the game's headquarters in Iowa. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."

That proved true. The total, she said, began taking "huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." It then jumped another $50 million.

The biggest Powerball pot on record until now -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers.

In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

As the latest pot swelled, lottery officials said they began getting phone calls from all around the world.

"When it gets this big," said Neubauer, "we get inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."

The answer she has to give them, she said, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."

About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one.

Asked if there's anything a player can do to improve his or her odds of winning, Neubauer said there isn't -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.

Lottery officials put the odds of winning the $579 Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you'd have been 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.

Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provided additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he said; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.

Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi noted that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.

"But let's suppose," he said, "that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born."

The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning.

Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi said he usually plays the lottery.

When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets," he said. "It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."

So, did he buy two tickets this time?

"I couldn't," he told ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.

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Gas explosion in Springfield points to ageing pipes

Human error and corroded pipes were a catastrophic combination on 23 November when a natural gas explosion in Springfield, Massachusetts, injured 21 people and damaged more than 40 buildings.

Gas company officials attributed the incident to an employee puncturing a high-pressure pipeline with a metal probe while looking for a leak. However, the steel pipeline was highly corroded, making it susceptible to damage, according to Mark McDonald, president of the New England Gas Workers Association. "You would have to be Superman to go through steel pipe in good condition," he says.

Ageing natural gas pipelines in the US are increasingly coming under scrutiny. A recent study found 3356 leaks from pipelines under Boston alone. Twenty-five thousand leaks have been reported throughout Massachusetts, some of which have been leaking continuously for more than 20 years, McDonald says. "Enough is enough," he says. "We have to fix the leaks and maintain the gas lines."

The leaks raise safety concerns, and have implications for global warming. Methane is thought to be more than 20 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over a 100 year period.

Incidents involving natural gas pipelines in the US cause an average of $133 million in property damage each year according to data collected by the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Even accounting for inflation, annual damages are several times higher today than they were 20 years ago.

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Kim Jong-Un 2012's "Sexiest Man Alive"?

BEIJING: The Chinese Communist Party's official mouthpiece on Wednesday deleted a story that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un had been named 2012's "Sexiest Man Alive", after it fell for a spoof by US website The Onion.

The People's Daily had run the US satirical site's gushing quotes about the "Pyongyang-bred heartthrob" in both Chinese and English as world news, along with a 55-image gallery opening with Kim astride a horse and gazing into the distance.

But after gleeful Internet users pointed out the error, the English version's web address returned a "page not found" message late Wednesday morning.

A link to the story remained on the website's Korean news pages but there was no content.

The printed edition of the People's Daily did not carry the online report, which made no mention of satire.

It quoted The Onion as saying: "With his devastatingly handsome, round face, his boyish charm, and his strong, sturdy frame, this Pyongyang-bred heartthrob is every woman's dream come true.

"Blessed with an air of power that masks an unmistakable cute, cuddly side, Kim made this newspaper's editorial board swoon with his impeccable fashion sense, chic short hairstyle, and, of course, that famous smile."

The People's Daily article was in line with a series of reports carried by state media backing Beijing and its allies.

During the Communist Party's 18th congress this month, Xinhua news agency published a steady stream of stories quoting "world leaders" as praising the meeting.

Many congratulations were from politicians in countries such as Samoa, Guyana, Congo or Montenegro. Obscure groups such as the "Fund of Peace of Republic of Kazakhstan" were also quoted as following Xi Jinping's elevation to party general secretary.

The People's Daily also ran a series of articles citing foreigners lauding the party's showcase event, including one headlined "Reporters highly praise Press Center of the 18th National Congress".

The newspaper's website has previously published other picture slide-shows on Kim, usually depicting the North Korean leader in a heroic pose, on horses or with army generals.

China is North Korea's sole major ally and provides the bulk of its food and fuel imports.

The People's Daily could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

- AFP/ck

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Hackers steal and publish e-mails from U.N. nuclear agency

Hackers have made their way into one of the servers of the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency, according to Reuters. The agency confirmed that the hackers stole information and published it online.

"The IAEA deeply regrets this publication of information stolen from an old server that was shut down some time ago," agency spokesperson Gill Tudor told Reuters. "The IAEA's technical and security teams are continuing to analyze the situation and do everything possible to help ensure that no further information is vulnerable."

A group that calls itself "Parastoo" claimed responsibility and posted the information online in a Pastebin document, which features a list of more than 100 e-mail addresses. According to Parastoo, the e-mails belong to people who "help" IAEA and should sign a petition "demanding an open IAEA investigation into activities at Dimona."

The IAEA confirmed that the e-mail addresses belonged to experts working with the agency, which is an international organization charged with ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world. It also works on advancing the use of nuclear energy as an alternative means of fuel.

There are only five countries in the world permitted to have nuclear weapons, and Parastoo claims that Israel -- which is not allowed to amass such weapons -- is building them at its Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona.

This security breach comes on the heels of Anonymous' massive hacking campaign against Israel in protest of attacks against Gaza. Anonymous dubbed its campaign OpIsrael and attempted to take more than 600 Israeli Web sites offline or deface them. The group also released a list of thousands of individuals who supposedly donated to a pro-Israel organization.

Parastoo does not claim to be associated with Anonymous. It has threatened, however, to publish the whereabouts and personal and professional details of all the people on its email list.

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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

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Study Finds Most Pork Contaminated

Nov 27, 2012 6:24pm

A sample of raw pork products from supermarkets around the United States found that yersinia enterocolitica, a lesser-known food-borne pathogen, was present in 69 percent of the products tested, according to a study released today by Consumer Reports.

The  bacteria  infects more than 100,000 Americans a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but  for every case that is confirmed with a laboratory test, about 120 more cases escape diagnosis. Symptoms can include fever, cramps and bloody diarrhea.

For its sample, Consumer Reports included the same pork products millions of Americans buy every day at their supermarkets. The study included 148 pork chops and 50 ground pork samples from around the United States.

In the samples tested, 69 percent tested positive for yersinia and 11 percent for enterococcus, which can indicate fecal contamination that can lead to urinary-tract infections. Salmonella and listeria, the more well-known bacterium, registered at 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

“The results were concerning,”  Urvashi Rangan, one of the authors of the report, told ABCNews.com. “It’s hard to say that there was no problem.  It shows that there needs to be better hygiene at animal plants. Yersinia wasn’t even being monitored for.”

In a written statement, the Pork Producer’s Council questioned the methods used by Consumer Reports, saying the number of samples tested, 198, did  ”not provide a nationally informative estimate of the true prevalence of the cited bacteria on meat.”

Despite the findings, Rangan said  it’s good to know that the bacteria can be killed by cooking the pork properly and by being vigilant about cross-contamination.

Pork cuts should be cooked to 145 degrees, while ground pork needs to reach a temperature of 160 degrees to kill the bacteria.

“Anything that touches raw meat should go into the dishwasher before touching anything else,” Rangan said. ”Juices from raw meat that touch the counter should be washed with hot soapy water.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture  said the findings “affirm that companies are meeting the established guidelines for protecting the public’s health.

“USDA will remain vigilant against emerging and evolving threats to the safety of America’s supply of meat, poultry and processed egg products, and we will continue to work with the industry to ensure companies are following food safety procedures in addition to looking for new ways to strengthen the protection of public health,” the department said in a statement.

ABC News’ Dr. Anita Chu contributed reporting. 

SHOWS: Good Morning America World News

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