Innova University

Planets don’t get bigger than this

Planets can be no bigger than about 10 times the mass of Jupiter, a new paper concludes.

Of course, that’s pretty massive. Jupiter carries almost 318 times the mass of Earth, making the most massive planets possible the equivalent of nearly 3,200 Earths.

Original study: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aa961c/meta

Tiny details in photos identify your unique phone

Researchers have discovered how to identify smartphones by examining just one photo taken by the device.

The advancement opens the possibility of using smartphones—instead of FaceID or other biometrics—as a form of identification to deter cybercrime.

Original study (pdf file):http://www.buffalo.edu/content/dam/www/news/photos/2017/12/ndss18-paper99.pdf

‘Harmless’ fungicides may actually hurt bumblebees

Commonly thought to have no impact on insects, fungicides—particularly chlorothalonil, a general-use fungicide often found in bumblebee and honeybee hives—may negatively affect bee health, researchers report.

Source: http://mediarelations.cornell.edu/2017/11/15/tumbling-bumblebee-populations-linked-to-fungicides/

Fluorescent dye finds ‘lost’ ocean microplastics

The smallest microplastics in the oceans— many as small as 20 micrometers or the width of a human hair—go largely undetected. A new inexpensive method that uses a fluorescent dye could offer a way to distinguish them from other natural materials.

‘Lost’ 99% of ocean microplastics to be identified with dye? The smallest microplastics in our oceans – which go largely undetected and are potentially harmful – could be more effectively identified using an innovative and inexpensive new method, developed by researchers at the University of Warwick.

This molecule makes teen brains mature

A single molecule called laminin alpha 5 is crucial to the maturing of teenagers’ brains, new research suggests.

For a decade, the team behind the research had sought answers to a fundamental question: How does the brain, marked by frantic growth of synaptic connections between cells, grow up and mature?

Learn more:

‘Maturity’ molecule helps adolescent brain grow up New research identifies the crucial signal in the taming of the adolescent mind as fragments of a family of proteins called laminins.

Research News
Anyone can track you with $1,000 of online ads

For around $1,000, anyone can buy online ads that could allow them to track which apps you use, where you spend money, and your location, new research suggests.

Source: http://www.washington.edu/news/2017/10/18/for-1000-anyone-can-purchase-online-ads-to-track-your-location-and-app-use/

Research News:
Nope, an alien megastructure isn’t dimming Tabby’s Star

NASA’s Kepler space telescope has even observed dimming by the object—formally known as KIC 8462852—of up to 20 percent over a matter of days. Further, the star has had much subtler but longer-term enigmatic dimming trends, with one continuing today. None of this behavior is standard for normal stars slightly more massive than the sun.

Learn more: https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/sorry-no-alien-megastructure-around-mysterious-star

Sorry, No Alien Megastructure Around Mysterious Star One of the most mysterious stellar objects may be revealing some of its secrets at last. With its unusual dips in brightness, Boyajian's Star, also called Tabby's Star, has attracted attention from professional and amateur astronomers and invited speculation as to whether it could be surrounded by a...

These very tired birds collide with hurricanes

Stronger and more frequent hurricanes may pose a new threat to the sooty tern, a migratory seabird found throughout the Caribbean and Mid-Atlantic.

Study: https://nicholas.duke.edu/about/news/migratory-seabird-deaths-linked-hurricanes

RESEARCH NEWS:
Electromagnets act like a scalpel to improve memory

Brain stimulation can be used like a scalpel, rather than like a hammer, to cause a specific improvement in precise memory, a new study shows.

Precise memory, rather than general memory, is critical for knowing details such as the specific color, shape, and location of a building you are looking for, rather than simply knowing the part of town it’s in. This type of memory is crucial for normal functioning, and it is often lost in people with serious memory disorders.

Learn more: https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2017/01/brain-stimulation-used-like-a-scalpel-to-improve-memory/

How bacteria in undercooked chicken can cause paralysis

A common bacterium found in improperly cooked chicken can cause Guillain-Barré Syndrome, or GBS, the world’s leading cause of acute neuromuscular paralysis in humans.

The findings, reported in the Journal of Autoimmunity, not only demonstrates how this food-borne bacterium, known as Campylobacter jejuni, triggers GBS, but offers new information for a cure.

If chicken isn’t cooked to the proper minimum internal temperature, bacteria can still exist.

Study: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0896841116301421

RESEARCH NEWS: Lead in teeth locates where prehistoric people were born

Scientists are extracting lead from tooth enamel to pinpoint birth and death locations of ancient people.

They’re using the information to track the movement of prehistoric Maya and potentially solve mysteries surrounding the civilization’s origins and eventual demise.

Original Study: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0164871

Can bacteria in yogurt calm your anxiety?

There’s new evidence that suggests a common probiotic found in supplements and yogurt could lower anxiety.

In a series of studies published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers tested how stressed-out zebrafish behaved after doses of Lactobacillus plantarum.

Ready the study: http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2016/1121-common-probiotics-can-reduce-stress-levels-lessen-anxiety/