Science Snaps: fixing a cellular ‘antenna’

This entry is part 19 of 19 in the series Science Snaps

Cells are controlled by the relay of thousands of different messages.

These messages flow from outside the cell to inside (and vice versa), causing the cell to grow, divide, or in some cases die.

These processes go wrong in cancer cells. Some messages become hyped up, while other restraint signals are ignored.

This is an embryo at a slightly earlier stage to the picture above, but instead of being cut in the middle, the outside is shown. Courtesy of Dr Fiona Bangs

One way cancer cells can ignore these signals is to get rid of the machinery that recognises them. And finger-like structures called primary cilia are part of this machinery.

Cilia are found on the surface of almost all cells. But they’re missing from most cancer cells.

They act like antennae, receiving messages from the world around them. Relaying these signals puts the brakes on processes that cancer cells need to grow. So it makes sense that these antennae are often missing in tumours.

“If cancer cells lose their cilia then they become deaf to restrictive signals, which could allow them to grow when they shouldn’t,” says Dr Fiona Bangs, a Cancer Research UK-funded scientist at the University of Oxford who captured the images in this post. “How cilia formation is regulated in cancer is only just beginning to be understood.”

Pointing the finger

The images shown here were made by Bangs when she was investigating cilia at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

They show mouse embryos that are 1-2 weeks old, and help track how cilia formation is controlled as the embryos develop. Studying how complex cellular messages work in early development can give clues about how and why these processes go wrong in cancer.

The images were made using fluorescent tags that stick to molecules in different parts of the embryo and show up on a microscope.

This makes cells that go on to form the embryo look blue, surrounded by cells that go on to form the placenta and non-embryonic tissues glowing green.

They also added a fluorescent tag to a molecule only found in primary cilia, making them look red. With this they’re able to see the cilia reaching out from cells like fingers to sense what’s going on around them.

Here, the red cilia extend out into the centre of the neural tube. This later becomes the brain and spinal cord. Courtesy of Dr Fiona Bangs

Bangs was surprised by what she saw when she first captured this image.

Cilia had been thought to be present on pretty much all cells. But here, they were only seen on the blue embryonic cells, and they were missing on all the green non-embryonic cells.

And this wasn’t because the green cells lacked the components needed to make cilia. So it was unclear why the cilia weren’t there.

The answer came when another member of the lab found that a gene called Aurora kinase A (AurkA) was being produced at high levels inside the non-embryonic cells.

AurkA plays a part in the process that disassembles cilia. And Bangs thought that if these signals were switched on it might be responsible for the ‘missing’ cilia.

To test this she blocked the signals by switching off AurkA with a drug. Cilia began appearing on the surface of some of the non-embryonic cells, showing for the first time that these signals – called the cilium disassembly pathway – stop cilia from forming in non-embryonic cells.

So what does this mean for cancer?

It’s still early days for what’s known about how cilia are controlled. But similar to in non-embryonic cells, AurkA is also produced at high levels in a number of cancers, including pancreatic, breast and liver tumours. Bangs’ work suggests that it might be involved in cancer cells losing cilia as well.

“I’m now looking at whether turning on the cilium disassembly pathway when cells become cancerous can account for their cilia loss,” she says. And the next step is to test if cancer cells losing their cilia plays a role in their uncontrolled growth.

Bangs hopes that she’ll be able to use this knowledge to switch cilia formation back on in cancer cells in the lab.

And if this works, those fixed antennae could offer a way to make cancer cells listen to restraint signals once more.

Michael

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog http://ift.tt/2lCGQjg

This entry is part 19 of 19 in the series Science Snaps

Cells are controlled by the relay of thousands of different messages.

These messages flow from outside the cell to inside (and vice versa), causing the cell to grow, divide, or in some cases die.

These processes go wrong in cancer cells. Some messages become hyped up, while other restraint signals are ignored.

This is an embryo at a slightly earlier stage to the picture above, but instead of being cut in the middle, the outside is shown. Courtesy of Dr Fiona Bangs

One way cancer cells can ignore these signals is to get rid of the machinery that recognises them. And finger-like structures called primary cilia are part of this machinery.

Cilia are found on the surface of almost all cells. But they’re missing from most cancer cells.

They act like antennae, receiving messages from the world around them. Relaying these signals puts the brakes on processes that cancer cells need to grow. So it makes sense that these antennae are often missing in tumours.

“If cancer cells lose their cilia then they become deaf to restrictive signals, which could allow them to grow when they shouldn’t,” says Dr Fiona Bangs, a Cancer Research UK-funded scientist at the University of Oxford who captured the images in this post. “How cilia formation is regulated in cancer is only just beginning to be understood.”

Pointing the finger

The images shown here were made by Bangs when she was investigating cilia at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

They show mouse embryos that are 1-2 weeks old, and help track how cilia formation is controlled as the embryos develop. Studying how complex cellular messages work in early development can give clues about how and why these processes go wrong in cancer.

The images were made using fluorescent tags that stick to molecules in different parts of the embryo and show up on a microscope.

This makes cells that go on to form the embryo look blue, surrounded by cells that go on to form the placenta and non-embryonic tissues glowing green.

They also added a fluorescent tag to a molecule only found in primary cilia, making them look red. With this they’re able to see the cilia reaching out from cells like fingers to sense what’s going on around them.

Here, the red cilia extend out into the centre of the neural tube. This later becomes the brain and spinal cord. Courtesy of Dr Fiona Bangs

Bangs was surprised by what she saw when she first captured this image.

Cilia had been thought to be present on pretty much all cells. But here, they were only seen on the blue embryonic cells, and they were missing on all the green non-embryonic cells.

And this wasn’t because the green cells lacked the components needed to make cilia. So it was unclear why the cilia weren’t there.

The answer came when another member of the lab found that a gene called Aurora kinase A (AurkA) was being produced at high levels inside the non-embryonic cells.

AurkA plays a part in the process that disassembles cilia. And Bangs thought that if these signals were switched on it might be responsible for the ‘missing’ cilia.

To test this she blocked the signals by switching off AurkA with a drug. Cilia began appearing on the surface of some of the non-embryonic cells, showing for the first time that these signals – called the cilium disassembly pathway – stop cilia from forming in non-embryonic cells.

So what does this mean for cancer?

It’s still early days for what’s known about how cilia are controlled. But similar to in non-embryonic cells, AurkA is also produced at high levels in a number of cancers, including pancreatic, breast and liver tumours. Bangs’ work suggests that it might be involved in cancer cells losing cilia as well.

“I’m now looking at whether turning on the cilium disassembly pathway when cells become cancerous can account for their cilia loss,” she says. And the next step is to test if cancer cells losing their cilia plays a role in their uncontrolled growth.

Bangs hopes that she’ll be able to use this knowledge to switch cilia formation back on in cancer cells in the lab.

And if this works, those fixed antennae could offer a way to make cancer cells listen to restraint signals once more.

Michael

from Cancer Research UK – Science blog http://ift.tt/2lCGQjg

Venus’ retrograde starts March 2

Tonight – March 2, 2017 – look westward at dusk to spot the brilliant planet Venus beneath the waxing crescent moon. Venus, the sky’s most brilliant planet, also starts its retrograde or westward movement in front of the stars of the zodiac on this date. And so a transition begins, which will end only after Venus has left the western evening sky and appears in the east before sunrise.

Venus’ retrograde or westward motion in front of the stars will end on April 13. Roughly midway through this retrograde – on March 25 – Venus will swing to what astronomers call inferior conjunction. On that day, Venus will be passing more or less between the Earth and sun in its smaller, faster orbit. At the same time, this inferior planet will be transitioning from the evening to morning sky.

So watch for Venus tonight shortly after sunset. Then, as dusk turns into darkness, look for the red planet Mars in between the waxing crescent moon and Venus. Be sure to look for Venus and Mars soon after sunset, before they follow the sun beneath the horizon by early-to-mid evening. These recommended almanacs can give you setting times for Venus and Mars in your sky.

Bird’s-eye view of Earth’s and Venus’ orbits

Earth and Venus orbit the sun counterclockwise as seen from earthly north. Venus reaches greatest elongation – its greatest apparent distance from the sun in our evening or morning sky – about 72 days before and after inferior conjunction.

Day by day now, Venus is dropping toward the setting sun. Unless you are a very careful observer, it’ll disappear from your evening sky sometime around the March 20 equinox. However, these next several weeks present an opportune time for observing a waning crescent Venus through the telescope. Believe it or not, a twilight sky is much better than a nighttime sky for getting a crisp, sharp view of Venus’s changing phases. Aim your telescope at Venus as soon as you see it after sunset. You might even be able to tell with binoculars that Venus is something other than completely round.

As Venus has approached Earth in its smaller orbit around the sun, its phase has waned (shrunk) yet its disk size has increase. That is, its day side has turned increasingly away from us, while the distance between us and Venus has become smaller. Click here to find out Venus’s present phase and disk size (or its phase and disk size for any chosen date).

Because Venus will pass 8^o north of the moon at this particular inferior conjunction, residents at northerly latitudes will have a chance to see Venus in both the evening and morning sky for a few to several days, starting around March 20, 2017.

Bottom line: Look westward on the evening of March 2, 2017 to spot Venus beneath the waxing crescent moon. Venus’ retrograde motion also begins on this date. Watch this world’s rapid descent toward the setting sun over the next few weeks.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2lR43AO

Tonight – March 2, 2017 – look westward at dusk to spot the brilliant planet Venus beneath the waxing crescent moon. Venus, the sky’s most brilliant planet, also starts its retrograde or westward movement in front of the stars of the zodiac on this date. And so a transition begins, which will end only after Venus has left the western evening sky and appears in the east before sunrise.

Venus’ retrograde or westward motion in front of the stars will end on April 13. Roughly midway through this retrograde – on March 25 – Venus will swing to what astronomers call inferior conjunction. On that day, Venus will be passing more or less between the Earth and sun in its smaller, faster orbit. At the same time, this inferior planet will be transitioning from the evening to morning sky.

So watch for Venus tonight shortly after sunset. Then, as dusk turns into darkness, look for the red planet Mars in between the waxing crescent moon and Venus. Be sure to look for Venus and Mars soon after sunset, before they follow the sun beneath the horizon by early-to-mid evening. These recommended almanacs can give you setting times for Venus and Mars in your sky.

Bird’s-eye view of Earth’s and Venus’ orbits

Earth and Venus orbit the sun counterclockwise as seen from earthly north. Venus reaches greatest elongation – its greatest apparent distance from the sun in our evening or morning sky – about 72 days before and after inferior conjunction.

Day by day now, Venus is dropping toward the setting sun. Unless you are a very careful observer, it’ll disappear from your evening sky sometime around the March 20 equinox. However, these next several weeks present an opportune time for observing a waning crescent Venus through the telescope. Believe it or not, a twilight sky is much better than a nighttime sky for getting a crisp, sharp view of Venus’s changing phases. Aim your telescope at Venus as soon as you see it after sunset. You might even be able to tell with binoculars that Venus is something other than completely round.

As Venus has approached Earth in its smaller orbit around the sun, its phase has waned (shrunk) yet its disk size has increase. That is, its day side has turned increasingly away from us, while the distance between us and Venus has become smaller. Click here to find out Venus’s present phase and disk size (or its phase and disk size for any chosen date).

Because Venus will pass 8^o north of the moon at this particular inferior conjunction, residents at northerly latitudes will have a chance to see Venus in both the evening and morning sky for a few to several days, starting around March 20, 2017.

Bottom line: Look westward on the evening of March 2, 2017 to spot Venus beneath the waxing crescent moon. Venus’ retrograde motion also begins on this date. Watch this world’s rapid descent toward the setting sun over the next few weeks.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2lR43AO

Researchers identify thousands of fracking spills, highlight why data is critical to prevention [The Pump Handle]

In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a report finding 457 fracking-related spills in eight states between 2006 and 2012. Last month, a new study tallied more than 6,600 fracking spills in just four states between 2005 and 2014. But, as usual, the numbers only tell part of the story.

Not every spill counted in that new number represents a spill of potentially harmful materials or even a spill that made contact with the environment. In fact, the study’s goal wasn’t to tally an absolute number of fracking spills. Instead, researchers set out to collect available spill data and then drill down (no pun intended) into the details to unearth common patterns and characteristics. And it’s those commonalities that can reveal the larger story of how to prevent such spills — which often contain health-harming chemicals — from happening in the first place.

“When you look across spills, what are the risk factors, in what stage of a well’s life are you most likely to see a spill, are we more likely to see a spill from a well that’s already experienced one, are there changes in the law or in enforcement that drive more spills,” asked study co-author Kate Konschnik, founding director of the Harvard Law School’s Environmental Policy Initiative. “We wanted to see what the larger story told us about risk.”

The study, which was published in February in Environmental Science & Technology, comes from a working group convened by the Science for Nature and People Partnership and is part of a larger line of research trying to assess the risks that unconventional oil and gas (UOG) production, commonly referred to as fracking, pose to water resources. For instance, Konschnik and her colleagues published a different study in December that assessed the environmental risk of UOG spills by determining their distances from nearby streams. In the more recent study, Konschnik told me that there were two overriding goals: to look for trends in spill data and to tease out what kinds of spill data may be most useful in making UOG development safer.

To conduct the study, Konschnik and colleagues analyzed spill data from 2005 to 2014 at more than 31,400 UOG wells in Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota and Pennsylvania. They included spill data related to the full UOG production cycle, including storage and transportation, rather than focusing only on the fracturing stage. The study only included UOG production wells, not fracking disposal wells, which are used to store the often chemical-laden wastewater that comes back up to the surface during drilling. Researchers tried to include 11 other states in the study, but the data was either incomplete or too difficult to access.

Overall, researchers found 6,648 spills across the four states during the nine-year study period. That number exceeds the EPA findings by so much because the study included the entire fracking life cycle, whereas EPA only examined spills explicitly related to the fracturing stage. (“UOG is growing in scale and intensity…and a fairer examination of risk is to look at releases throughout (a well’s) entire life,” Konschnik told me.) North Dakota reported the most spills and the highest overall spill rate at about 12 percent. Pennsylvania reported 1,293 spills (4.3 percent), New Mexico had 426 (3.1 percent) and Colorado had 476 (1.1 percent). Across the four states, wells that experienced multiple spills contributed to a larger proportion of spills, indicating that prior spills may be an indicator of future spills.

Researchers also examined yearly spill rates, finding that fluctuations were “likely” shaped by changes in state reporting requirements, “demonstrating how state policies directly impact efforts to identify and accurately assess UOG risk, their causes and potential mitigating remedies.” For example, when North Dakota switched reporting requirements from verbal to written, spill rates increased by up to 4 percent. And in Pennsylvania, annual spill rates increased as more inspectors were hired, the study found. Across all four states, the greatest spill risk occurred during the first three years of a well’s existence.

Spill volumes ranged from 1 gallon to up to 991,000 gallons. In addition to 46 freshwater spills, the total volume of spills associated with fracking chemicals, solutions and flowback ranged from more than 99,000 gallons in Pennsylvania to more than 203,000 gallons in Colorado. The most common pathways for spills, according to the study, were storage tanks and pits as well as flowlines. Spills related to transportation were also prevalent across the four states, with most associated with loading and unloading. As for what caused the spills, only Colorado and New Mexico explicitly asked for such information during reporting. In examining the available causal data, researchers found that human error and equipment failures were the most common culprits.

One of the study’s biggest takeaways was the importance of data reporting as well as the challenge of varying reporting requirements. For example, in Colorado, reporting requirements are triggered for any fracking spill of 42 gallons or more that escapes secondary containment. While in New Mexico, reports are required for spills greater than 25 barrels or if an operator thinks a spill might endanger water quality or public health. Study co-authors Konschnik, Lauren Patterson, Hannah Wiseman, Joseph Fargione, Kelly Maloney, Joseph Kiesecker, Jean-Philippe Nicot, Sharon Baruch-Mordo, Sally Entrekin, Anne Trainor and James Saiers write:

Further improving reporting requirements and processes for reporting will facilitate states’ and companies’ efforts to identify risks for certain types of spills and take action to mitigate some of the identified risk factors. To the extent that this information is publicly available and searchable, operators can use it to remove or mitigate risk factors to improve environmental performance and avoid higher insurance premiums.

Assembling these data electronically within a centralized database would allow state regulators and other stakeholders to identify trends, including the most common spill pathways and causes, as well as identify the wells or operators associated with unusually high spill rates. Making this information publicly available and providing it in an easy, usable format would allow operators, insurance companies, and citizen monitoring groups 
to assess the largest and most prevalent risks and respond accordingly. This paper illustrates the benefits of having 
available and accessible data.

Konschnik said that “without question,” the study reveals that many spills are likely preventable. For example, she said enhanced training or simple reminder signage could help prevent the human errors underscoring a significant portion of spills identified in the study. Other interventions are even simpler. For instance, she said the study’s data indicated that wildlife caused some of the spills, which could mean operators simply need to fence off areas to reduce spill risks.

As for the health hazards of such spills, this study doesn’t address that question. But Konschnik did say that current data — and, of course, more robust datasets — could help pinponit areas where public health monitoring is needed.

“Our data can be used as an indicator of where more research can be done,” she said. “If we had more robust data that was publicly available, you could dig much deeper…this is one piece of the puzzle in which a more granular view of spills data married with some community health assessment data and monitoring data could help determine whether or when there are risks to exposure.”

For residents living in fracking regions, finding spill data on one’s own can be quite difficult, Konschnik said. As such, she and her colleagues created an interactive website anyone can use to learn more about fracking spills and their causes — check it out here.

“UOG really is the wave of the future — that’s where we’ll see growth,” Konschnik told me. “And so these spills might be more representative of what we’ll see in the future.”

For a full copy of the study, visit Environmental Science & Technology.

Kim Krisberg is a freelance public health writer living in Austin, Texas, and has been writing about public health for 15 years.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/2lVOMyK

In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a report finding 457 fracking-related spills in eight states between 2006 and 2012. Last month, a new study tallied more than 6,600 fracking spills in just four states between 2005 and 2014. But, as usual, the numbers only tell part of the story.

Not every spill counted in that new number represents a spill of potentially harmful materials or even a spill that made contact with the environment. In fact, the study’s goal wasn’t to tally an absolute number of fracking spills. Instead, researchers set out to collect available spill data and then drill down (no pun intended) into the details to unearth common patterns and characteristics. And it’s those commonalities that can reveal the larger story of how to prevent such spills — which often contain health-harming chemicals — from happening in the first place.

“When you look across spills, what are the risk factors, in what stage of a well’s life are you most likely to see a spill, are we more likely to see a spill from a well that’s already experienced one, are there changes in the law or in enforcement that drive more spills,” asked study co-author Kate Konschnik, founding director of the Harvard Law School’s Environmental Policy Initiative. “We wanted to see what the larger story told us about risk.”

The study, which was published in February in Environmental Science & Technology, comes from a working group convened by the Science for Nature and People Partnership and is part of a larger line of research trying to assess the risks that unconventional oil and gas (UOG) production, commonly referred to as fracking, pose to water resources. For instance, Konschnik and her colleagues published a different study in December that assessed the environmental risk of UOG spills by determining their distances from nearby streams. In the more recent study, Konschnik told me that there were two overriding goals: to look for trends in spill data and to tease out what kinds of spill data may be most useful in making UOG development safer.

To conduct the study, Konschnik and colleagues analyzed spill data from 2005 to 2014 at more than 31,400 UOG wells in Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota and Pennsylvania. They included spill data related to the full UOG production cycle, including storage and transportation, rather than focusing only on the fracturing stage. The study only included UOG production wells, not fracking disposal wells, which are used to store the often chemical-laden wastewater that comes back up to the surface during drilling. Researchers tried to include 11 other states in the study, but the data was either incomplete or too difficult to access.

Overall, researchers found 6,648 spills across the four states during the nine-year study period. That number exceeds the EPA findings by so much because the study included the entire fracking life cycle, whereas EPA only examined spills explicitly related to the fracturing stage. (“UOG is growing in scale and intensity…and a fairer examination of risk is to look at releases throughout (a well’s) entire life,” Konschnik told me.) North Dakota reported the most spills and the highest overall spill rate at about 12 percent. Pennsylvania reported 1,293 spills (4.3 percent), New Mexico had 426 (3.1 percent) and Colorado had 476 (1.1 percent). Across the four states, wells that experienced multiple spills contributed to a larger proportion of spills, indicating that prior spills may be an indicator of future spills.

Researchers also examined yearly spill rates, finding that fluctuations were “likely” shaped by changes in state reporting requirements, “demonstrating how state policies directly impact efforts to identify and accurately assess UOG risk, their causes and potential mitigating remedies.” For example, when North Dakota switched reporting requirements from verbal to written, spill rates increased by up to 4 percent. And in Pennsylvania, annual spill rates increased as more inspectors were hired, the study found. Across all four states, the greatest spill risk occurred during the first three years of a well’s existence.

Spill volumes ranged from 1 gallon to up to 991,000 gallons. In addition to 46 freshwater spills, the total volume of spills associated with fracking chemicals, solutions and flowback ranged from more than 99,000 gallons in Pennsylvania to more than 203,000 gallons in Colorado. The most common pathways for spills, according to the study, were storage tanks and pits as well as flowlines. Spills related to transportation were also prevalent across the four states, with most associated with loading and unloading. As for what caused the spills, only Colorado and New Mexico explicitly asked for such information during reporting. In examining the available causal data, researchers found that human error and equipment failures were the most common culprits.

One of the study’s biggest takeaways was the importance of data reporting as well as the challenge of varying reporting requirements. For example, in Colorado, reporting requirements are triggered for any fracking spill of 42 gallons or more that escapes secondary containment. While in New Mexico, reports are required for spills greater than 25 barrels or if an operator thinks a spill might endanger water quality or public health. Study co-authors Konschnik, Lauren Patterson, Hannah Wiseman, Joseph Fargione, Kelly Maloney, Joseph Kiesecker, Jean-Philippe Nicot, Sharon Baruch-Mordo, Sally Entrekin, Anne Trainor and James Saiers write:

Further improving reporting requirements and processes for reporting will facilitate states’ and companies’ efforts to identify risks for certain types of spills and take action to mitigate some of the identified risk factors. To the extent that this information is publicly available and searchable, operators can use it to remove or mitigate risk factors to improve environmental performance and avoid higher insurance premiums.

Assembling these data electronically within a centralized database would allow state regulators and other stakeholders to identify trends, including the most common spill pathways and causes, as well as identify the wells or operators associated with unusually high spill rates. Making this information publicly available and providing it in an easy, usable format would allow operators, insurance companies, and citizen monitoring groups 
to assess the largest and most prevalent risks and respond accordingly. This paper illustrates the benefits of having 
available and accessible data.

Konschnik said that “without question,” the study reveals that many spills are likely preventable. For example, she said enhanced training or simple reminder signage could help prevent the human errors underscoring a significant portion of spills identified in the study. Other interventions are even simpler. For instance, she said the study’s data indicated that wildlife caused some of the spills, which could mean operators simply need to fence off areas to reduce spill risks.

As for the health hazards of such spills, this study doesn’t address that question. But Konschnik did say that current data — and, of course, more robust datasets — could help pinponit areas where public health monitoring is needed.

“Our data can be used as an indicator of where more research can be done,” she said. “If we had more robust data that was publicly available, you could dig much deeper…this is one piece of the puzzle in which a more granular view of spills data married with some community health assessment data and monitoring data could help determine whether or when there are risks to exposure.”

For residents living in fracking regions, finding spill data on one’s own can be quite difficult, Konschnik said. As such, she and her colleagues created an interactive website anyone can use to learn more about fracking spills and their causes — check it out here.

“UOG really is the wave of the future — that’s where we’ll see growth,” Konschnik told me. “And so these spills might be more representative of what we’ll see in the future.”

For a full copy of the study, visit Environmental Science & Technology.

Kim Krisberg is a freelance public health writer living in Austin, Texas, and has been writing about public health for 15 years.

from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/2lVOMyK

World’s oldest microfossils in Canada

Haematite tubes from the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt hydrothermal vent deposits – a place known for its ancient rocks – in Quebec, Canada. Photo by Matthew Dodd, via UCL.

Scientists announced on March 1, 2017 that they’ve identified the remains of 3,770-million-year-old microorganisms, now the oldest known microfossils on Earth. The discovery is in the form of tiny filaments and tubes – formed by bacteria – that lived on iron. They were found encased in quartz layers in what scientists call the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt, on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, in Quebec, Canada. This region was already known to contain some of Earth’s oldest rocks.

The scientists say this part of Canada likely once formed part of an iron-rich deep-sea hydrothermal vent system, which provided a habitat for some of Earth’s first life forms, between 3,770 and 4,300 million years ago.

Their work is published March 1 in the peer-reviewed journal Nature. First author is Matthew Dodd, a PhD student at UCL Earth Sciences and the London Centre for Nanotechnology. He said in a statement:

Our discovery supports the idea that life emerged from hot, seafloor vents shortly after planet Earth formed.

Layer-deflecting bright red concretion of haematitic chert (an iron-rich and silica-rich rock), which contains tubular and filamentous microfossils from the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt, Québec, Canada. Photo by Dominic Papineau, via UCL.

Prior to this discovery, the oldest microfossils were reportedly found in Western Australia and dated at 3,460 million years. But not all scientists agreed the earlier discovery was indicative of life; instead, some believed it was related to non-biological artifacts in the rocks.

That’s why the UCL-led team made it a priority to determine whether the remains from Canada had biological origins. They ultimately accomplished this by identifying structures in the mineralized fossils associated with putrefaction, an end-of-life process.

Matthew Dodd concluded by saying:

These discoveries demonstrate life developed on Earth at a time when Mars and Earth had liquid water at their surfaces, posing exciting questions for extra-terrestrial life. Therefore, we expect to find evidence for past life on Mars 4,000 million years ago, or if not, Earth may have been a special exception.

Bottom line: An international team of scientists announced on March 1, 2017 that it has identified the remains of 3,770-million-year-old microorganisms, now the oldest known microfossils on Earth, in Quebec, Canada.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2lXr1F3

Haematite tubes from the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt hydrothermal vent deposits – a place known for its ancient rocks – in Quebec, Canada. Photo by Matthew Dodd, via UCL.

Scientists announced on March 1, 2017 that they’ve identified the remains of 3,770-million-year-old microorganisms, now the oldest known microfossils on Earth. The discovery is in the form of tiny filaments and tubes – formed by bacteria – that lived on iron. They were found encased in quartz layers in what scientists call the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt, on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay, in Quebec, Canada. This region was already known to contain some of Earth’s oldest rocks.

The scientists say this part of Canada likely once formed part of an iron-rich deep-sea hydrothermal vent system, which provided a habitat for some of Earth’s first life forms, between 3,770 and 4,300 million years ago.

Their work is published March 1 in the peer-reviewed journal Nature. First author is Matthew Dodd, a PhD student at UCL Earth Sciences and the London Centre for Nanotechnology. He said in a statement:

Our discovery supports the idea that life emerged from hot, seafloor vents shortly after planet Earth formed.

Layer-deflecting bright red concretion of haematitic chert (an iron-rich and silica-rich rock), which contains tubular and filamentous microfossils from the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt, Québec, Canada. Photo by Dominic Papineau, via UCL.

Prior to this discovery, the oldest microfossils were reportedly found in Western Australia and dated at 3,460 million years. But not all scientists agreed the earlier discovery was indicative of life; instead, some believed it was related to non-biological artifacts in the rocks.

That’s why the UCL-led team made it a priority to determine whether the remains from Canada had biological origins. They ultimately accomplished this by identifying structures in the mineralized fossils associated with putrefaction, an end-of-life process.

Matthew Dodd concluded by saying:

These discoveries demonstrate life developed on Earth at a time when Mars and Earth had liquid water at their surfaces, posing exciting questions for extra-terrestrial life. Therefore, we expect to find evidence for past life on Mars 4,000 million years ago, or if not, Earth may have been a special exception.

Bottom line: An international team of scientists announced on March 1, 2017 that it has identified the remains of 3,770-million-year-old microorganisms, now the oldest known microfossils on Earth, in Quebec, Canada.

from EarthSky http://ift.tt/2lXr1F3

Star of the week: Pollux

Golden Pollux. You almost never see an image of this star in the sky without its fellow star, Castor. But we chose this image because it shows Pollux’ yellowish color. This image is from a post on ScienceBlogs about seeing red in star colors.

Pollux, otherwise known as Beta Geminorum, is the 17th brightest star in the sky, prominent in evening skies from late fall through spring each year. It is ideally placed for viewing in March, when you’ll find this star highest in the sky during the evening hours as seen from around the globe. Follow the links below to learn more about the star Pollux in the constellation Gemini.

How to see the star Pollux.

Pollux science.

History and mythology of Pollux.

The Geminid meteors, which happen every year in December, radiate from near stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini.

How to see the star Pollux. As seen from latitudes like those in the U.S., Pollux and its nearby companion, Castor, pass high overhead. There are no bright stars immediately around them, which makes them stand out and easy to identify. They are noticeable for being bright and close together, and so are often referred to as twin stars.

However, there are plenty of bright stars in this general area of the sky. A line drawn from Regulus in Leo to Capella in Auriga passes near Pollux and Castor. Similarly, a line drawn from Rigel through Betelgeuse in Orion, and extending perhaps three times the distance between them also passes near Gemini’s twins.

Pollux is a yellowish color, while Castor is white with perhaps a tinge of pale blue. One other way to distinguish which is which is to notice that Pollux is slightly brighter than Castor.

Pollux is opposite the sun (opposition) on about January 15. This means that it is rising as the sun sets, and reaches its highest point at about local midnight. This situation is called a “midnight culmination,” and marks the time when the star crosses the meridian, an imaginary line drawn from due north, through the zenith overhead, down to the horizon due south, at midnight. Traditionally the night of midnight culmination is considered the best time for observation because it is the time when the star is in the sky all night long. However, you can easily see Pollux in the evening as early as early each year as mid-October, when it rises in the northeastern sky before midnight (daylight savings time).

From central Alaska, northern Canada and parts of Scandinavia northward, Pollux is circumpolar.

You can see the comparative size of the star Pollux and our sun in this image, as well as some other stars.

Pollux science. Pollux is classified as a “K0IIIb” star. The K0 means that it is somewhat cooler than then sun, with a surface color that is a light yellowish orange. (Keep in mind that the color a star appears depends significantly on the sensitivity of the observer’s eyes, and that color is difficult to discern with most point sources.) The “III” is a “luminosity” class designator, indicating basically how much energy it is putting out, which is largely dependent on size. A type-III star is considered a “normal” giant or just a giant. Finally, the “b” indicates that Pollux is slightly below the average luminosity for this class.

A relatively close 34 light-years away, Pollux is about 31 times as bright as our sun in visible light, but Pollux also pumps out a good bit of energy in non-visible infrared radiation. With all forms of radiation counted, Pollux is about 46 times more energetic than our sun. According to Dr. James Kaler, Pollux is just under 10 times the diameter of the sun, making it a little less than 8 million miles across, and not quite twice the solar mass.

Although Castor, its fellow star as seen on Earth’s sky dome, is only a couple dozen light years from it, Pollux has no true gravitational companion star that we know of.

However, a large planet, at least 2.3 times the mass of Jupiter, was confirmed in 2006 to be orbiting Pollux. This planet, Pollux b, is not likely to harbor intelligent life, but at 34 light-years distance, it is one of the nearest of the 760 extrasolar planets discovered. Pollux b is orbiting Pollux with a period of about 590 days.

Pollux and Castor in Johann Bayer's star atlas Uranometria Omnium Asterismorum, first published in 1603. It was the first atlas to cover the entire celestial sphere. In it, Bayer gave Pollux the label Beta in Gemini, even though today we see Pollux as brighter than Castor, the Alpha star.

Castor and Pollux, the Gemini twins of Greek mythology

History and mythology of Pollux The Greek letter Beta is normally reserved for the second-brightest star in a constellation. But, as with Rigel in Orion, Pollux wears the designation Beta in its constellation, even though it noticeably outshines Castor, which is Gemini’s Alpha star. Being so close together in the sky, Castor and Pollux are easy to compare. If you look, you’ll agree. Pollux is brighter.

It is possible that one or both stars have altered in brightness since German astronomer Johann Bayer assigned the designation about 300 years ago. Another explanation is that Bayer sometimes labeled the stars in their order of rising. Here Castor rises slightly before Pollux, and hence Castor, the dimmer star, received the Alpha label. This explanation also fits for Betelgeuse and Rigel in Orion, as viewed from the latitude of Germany, because the Alpha star, Betelgeuse, rises slightly before the truly brighter star, Rigel. However, there is a geographical dependency here. From some locations south of the Equator, both Rigel and Pollux rise first.

The name Pollux is of Greek origin and apparently refers to a boxer. The original Greek word seems at odds with this idea, however, as it apparently means “very sweet,” which may allude to the legendary warm and fraternal relationship between the two brothers.

In Greek mythology, Pollux was one of two brothers who figured prominently among Jason’s argonauts. By most accounts, they were sons of Leda, Queen of Sparta, but Castor had a mortal father and hence was mortal himself. Pollux was the son of Zeus and immortal. Pollux also had a famous sister, Helen of Troy.

There are many variants to the story of Castor and Pollux, but, by most accounts, Castor was killed in battle and Pollux could not bear to live without him and begged Zeus to let him die, too. Zeus could not grant the gift quite as asked, since Pollux was a god’s son and therefore immortal. But Zeus decreed that Pollux would spend every other day in Olympus with the gods, and the rest of the time in the underworld with his brother. To honor Pollux’ devotion, Zeus placed their constellation in the sky as a remembrance.

Pollux and Castor are also sometimes identified with Apollo and Hercules or with the founders of Rome, the brothers Romulus and Remus.

While in many cultures they were the twins, India they were the Horsemen, and in Phoenicia they were the two gazelles or two kid-goats. It is said that in China they were associated with Yin and Yang, the contrasts and complements of life. In all of these cases, they represent two of something – and you will see why if you gaze upon these two stars in the sky, which are bright and close to each other.

Pollux’s position is RA: 7h 45m 20s, dec: +28° 01′ 35″.

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Golden Pollux. You almost never see an image of this star in the sky without its fellow star, Castor. But we chose this image because it shows Pollux’ yellowish color. This image is from a post on ScienceBlogs about seeing red in star colors.

Pollux, otherwise known as Beta Geminorum, is the 17th brightest star in the sky, prominent in evening skies from late fall through spring each year. It is ideally placed for viewing in March, when you’ll find this star highest in the sky during the evening hours as seen from around the globe. Follow the links below to learn more about the star Pollux in the constellation Gemini.

How to see the star Pollux.

Pollux science.

History and mythology of Pollux.

The Geminid meteors, which happen every year in December, radiate from near stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini.

How to see the star Pollux. As seen from latitudes like those in the U.S., Pollux and its nearby companion, Castor, pass high overhead. There are no bright stars immediately around them, which makes them stand out and easy to identify. They are noticeable for being bright and close together, and so are often referred to as twin stars.

However, there are plenty of bright stars in this general area of the sky. A line drawn from Regulus in Leo to Capella in Auriga passes near Pollux and Castor. Similarly, a line drawn from Rigel through Betelgeuse in Orion, and extending perhaps three times the distance between them also passes near Gemini’s twins.

Pollux is a yellowish color, while Castor is white with perhaps a tinge of pale blue. One other way to distinguish which is which is to notice that Pollux is slightly brighter than Castor.

Pollux is opposite the sun (opposition) on about January 15. This means that it is rising as the sun sets, and reaches its highest point at about local midnight. This situation is called a “midnight culmination,” and marks the time when the star crosses the meridian, an imaginary line drawn from due north, through the zenith overhead, down to the horizon due south, at midnight. Traditionally the night of midnight culmination is considered the best time for observation because it is the time when the star is in the sky all night long. However, you can easily see Pollux in the evening as early as early each year as mid-October, when it rises in the northeastern sky before midnight (daylight savings time).

From central Alaska, northern Canada and parts of Scandinavia northward, Pollux is circumpolar.

You can see the comparative size of the star Pollux and our sun in this image, as well as some other stars.

Pollux science. Pollux is classified as a “K0IIIb” star. The K0 means that it is somewhat cooler than then sun, with a surface color that is a light yellowish orange. (Keep in mind that the color a star appears depends significantly on the sensitivity of the observer’s eyes, and that color is difficult to discern with most point sources.) The “III” is a “luminosity” class designator, indicating basically how much energy it is putting out, which is largely dependent on size. A type-III star is considered a “normal” giant or just a giant. Finally, the “b” indicates that Pollux is slightly below the average luminosity for this class.

A relatively close 34 light-years away, Pollux is about 31 times as bright as our sun in visible light, but Pollux also pumps out a good bit of energy in non-visible infrared radiation. With all forms of radiation counted, Pollux is about 46 times more energetic than our sun. According to Dr. James Kaler, Pollux is just under 10 times the diameter of the sun, making it a little less than 8 million miles across, and not quite twice the solar mass.

Although Castor, its fellow star as seen on Earth’s sky dome, is only a couple dozen light years from it, Pollux has no true gravitational companion star that we know of.

However, a large planet, at least 2.3 times the mass of Jupiter, was confirmed in 2006 to be orbiting Pollux. This planet, Pollux b, is not likely to harbor intelligent life, but at 34 light-years distance, it is one of the nearest of the 760 extrasolar planets discovered. Pollux b is orbiting Pollux with a period of about 590 days.

Pollux and Castor in Johann Bayer's star atlas Uranometria Omnium Asterismorum, first published in 1603. It was the first atlas to cover the entire celestial sphere. In it, Bayer gave Pollux the label Beta in Gemini, even though today we see Pollux as brighter than Castor, the Alpha star.

Castor and Pollux, the Gemini twins of Greek mythology

History and mythology of Pollux The Greek letter Beta is normally reserved for the second-brightest star in a constellation. But, as with Rigel in Orion, Pollux wears the designation Beta in its constellation, even though it noticeably outshines Castor, which is Gemini’s Alpha star. Being so close together in the sky, Castor and Pollux are easy to compare. If you look, you’ll agree. Pollux is brighter.

It is possible that one or both stars have altered in brightness since German astronomer Johann Bayer assigned the designation about 300 years ago. Another explanation is that Bayer sometimes labeled the stars in their order of rising. Here Castor rises slightly before Pollux, and hence Castor, the dimmer star, received the Alpha label. This explanation also fits for Betelgeuse and Rigel in Orion, as viewed from the latitude of Germany, because the Alpha star, Betelgeuse, rises slightly before the truly brighter star, Rigel. However, there is a geographical dependency here. From some locations south of the Equator, both Rigel and Pollux rise first.

The name Pollux is of Greek origin and apparently refers to a boxer. The original Greek word seems at odds with this idea, however, as it apparently means “very sweet,” which may allude to the legendary warm and fraternal relationship between the two brothers.

In Greek mythology, Pollux was one of two brothers who figured prominently among Jason’s argonauts. By most accounts, they were sons of Leda, Queen of Sparta, but Castor had a mortal father and hence was mortal himself. Pollux was the son of Zeus and immortal. Pollux also had a famous sister, Helen of Troy.

There are many variants to the story of Castor and Pollux, but, by most accounts, Castor was killed in battle and Pollux could not bear to live without him and begged Zeus to let him die, too. Zeus could not grant the gift quite as asked, since Pollux was a god’s son and therefore immortal. But Zeus decreed that Pollux would spend every other day in Olympus with the gods, and the rest of the time in the underworld with his brother. To honor Pollux’ devotion, Zeus placed their constellation in the sky as a remembrance.

Pollux and Castor are also sometimes identified with Apollo and Hercules or with the founders of Rome, the brothers Romulus and Remus.

While in many cultures they were the twins, India they were the Horsemen, and in Phoenicia they were the two gazelles or two kid-goats. It is said that in China they were associated with Yin and Yang, the contrasts and complements of life. In all of these cases, they represent two of something – and you will see why if you gaze upon these two stars in the sky, which are bright and close to each other.

Pollux’s position is RA: 7h 45m 20s, dec: +28° 01′ 35″.

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Technology Helps Military Prepare for Chemical & Radiological Threats

By Yolanda R. Arrington
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

Military teams trained to detect, identify and stop various threats are helping local responders keep the country safe. The Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Response Team, or CBRN, are specialized teams trained to sniff out potential chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attacks. CBRN teams are strategically positioned all over the U.S. and its territories.

Defense TV got a closer look at how CBRN teams train by tagging along with the 24th Civil Support team in the New York City area. The exercise simulated real world scenarios involving an unknown chemical agent.

New York National Guard’s 24th Civil Support Team trains on how to enter areas where potential threats are present. (Screenshot: Defense TV)

The New York National Guard’s 24th Civil Support Team trains on how to enter buildings where potential threats –like nerve agents– may be. Then, they identify any hazards that may exist by decontaminating the area, setting up a command post for communications, and ultimately, the team enters the hot zone.

Watch the latest episode of Defense TV to learn more about how the CBRN team works.

RELATED LINKS: New Devices May Soon Help Soldiers Nose Out Chemicals
Biosurveillance Measures Bulking Up
Taking On The Threat of WMDs

Follow the Department of Defense on Facebook and Twitter!

———

Disclaimer: The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense of this website or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, the Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DOD website.

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By Yolanda R. Arrington
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

Military teams trained to detect, identify and stop various threats are helping local responders keep the country safe. The Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Response Team, or CBRN, are specialized teams trained to sniff out potential chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attacks. CBRN teams are strategically positioned all over the U.S. and its territories.

Defense TV got a closer look at how CBRN teams train by tagging along with the 24th Civil Support team in the New York City area. The exercise simulated real world scenarios involving an unknown chemical agent.

New York National Guard’s 24th Civil Support Team trains on how to enter areas where potential threats are present. (Screenshot: Defense TV)

The New York National Guard’s 24th Civil Support Team trains on how to enter buildings where potential threats –like nerve agents– may be. Then, they identify any hazards that may exist by decontaminating the area, setting up a command post for communications, and ultimately, the team enters the hot zone.

Watch the latest episode of Defense TV to learn more about how the CBRN team works.

RELATED LINKS: New Devices May Soon Help Soldiers Nose Out Chemicals
Biosurveillance Measures Bulking Up
Taking On The Threat of WMDs

Follow the Department of Defense on Facebook and Twitter!

———

Disclaimer: The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense of this website or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sites, the Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this DOD website.

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Curiosity rover spies Mars dust devils

NASA released this video on February 27, 2017 and wrote:

On recent summer afternoons on Mars, navigation cameras aboard NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover observed several whirlwinds carrying Martian dust across Gale Crater. Dust devils result from sunshine warming the ground, prompting convective rising of air. All the dust devils were seen in a southward direction from the rover. Timing is accelerated and contrast has been modified to make frame-to-frame changes easier to see.

There’s a whole slew of awesome photos and gifs to explore, plus more info, at NASA/JPL’s website.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/TAMU

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NASA released this video on February 27, 2017 and wrote:

On recent summer afternoons on Mars, navigation cameras aboard NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover observed several whirlwinds carrying Martian dust across Gale Crater. Dust devils result from sunshine warming the ground, prompting convective rising of air. All the dust devils were seen in a southward direction from the rover. Timing is accelerated and contrast has been modified to make frame-to-frame changes easier to see.

There’s a whole slew of awesome photos and gifs to explore, plus more info, at NASA/JPL’s website.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/TAMU

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