Tuesday 30 July 2019

A voracious Cambrian predator, Cambroraster, is a new species from the Burgess Shale

Palaeontologists at the Royal Ontario Museum and University of Toronto have uncovered fossils of a large new predatory species in half-a-billion-year-old rocks from Kootenay National Park in the Canadian Rockies. This new species has rake-like claws and a pineapple-slice-shaped mouth at the front of an enormous head, and it sheds light on the diversity of the earliest relatives of insects, crabs, spiders, and their kin. The findings were announced July 31, 2019, in a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/a-voracious-cambrian-predator-cambroraster-is-a-new-species-from-the-burgess-shale

UK tick-borne Lyme disease cases may be three times higher than previous estimates

New cases of tick-borne Lyme disease in the UK may be three times higher than previous estimates suggest, and might top 8000 in 2019, based on these figures, concludes research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/uk-tick-borne-lyme-disease-cases-may-be-three-times-higher-than-previous-estimates

House move during early pregnancy linked to heightened premature birth risk

Moving house during the first three months of pregnancy is linked to a heightened risk of premature birth and low birthweight as well as a slightly higher risk of a smaller than expected size baby, finds US research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/house-move-during-early-pregnancy-linked-to-heightened-premature-birth-risk

New material could make it easier to remove colon polyps

More than 15 million colonoscopies are performed in the United States every year, and in at least 20 percent of those, gastroenterologists end up removing precancerous growths from the colon. Eliminating these early-stage lesions, known as polyps, is the best way to prevent colon cancer from developing.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/new-material-could-make-it-easier-to-remove-colon-polyps

Link between music and speech rhythm in brain could provide language insight

Neuroscientist Dr. Domenica Bueti often plays an altered version of the classic aria La donna è mobile when she gives talks about the importance of time perception. Her friend's piano rendition of Giuseppe Verdi's composition uses the same notes but is played at different speeds. Rarely does anyone ever identify the tune.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/link-between-music-and-speech-rhythm-in-brain-could-provide-language-insight

Less-invasive procedures to restore leg blood flow as good at avoiding amputation as open surgery

Less-invasive procedures to open severely-clogged leg arteries were as good at helping people survive and avoid amputation as more invasive open surgeries, according to a study reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/less-invasive-procedures-to-restore-leg-blood-flow-as-good-at-avoiding-amputation-as-open-surgery

Siberia forest fires spark potential 'disaster' for Arctic

Gigantic forest fires have regularly raged through the vast expanses of Russia's Siberia, but the magnitude of this year's blazes has reached an exceptional level with fears of a long-term impact on the environment.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/siberia-forest-fires-spark-potential-disaster-for-arctic

Indonesia returns containers of waste to France, Hong Kong

Indonesia has returned seven shipping containers of illegally imported waste to France and Hong Kong, an official said Tuesday, marking the latest move by a Southeast Asian nation to send back rubbish to their wealthy places of origin.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/indonesia-returns-containers-of-waste-to-france-hong-kong

European price war squeezes Lufthansa hard in Q2

European airline giant Lufthansa on Tuesday reported tumbling net profits in the first quarter, saying higher operating costs and a European short-haul price war ate into the bottom line.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/european-price-war-squeezes-lufthansa-hard-in-q2

Uber cuts marketing staff to reduce costs

Uber on Monday confirmed it is cutting 400 jobs from its marketing team of more than 1,200 workers to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/uber-cuts-marketing-staff-to-reduce-costs

A third of Guam reefs killed by rising ocean temperatures

Researchers have found that a third of Guam's coral reefs died due to rising ocean temperatures.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/a-third-of-guam-reefs-killed-by-rising-ocean-temperatures

Bayer says now targeted in 18,400 glyphosate cases in US

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer said Tuesday it is now targeted in some 18,400 US legal cases over glyphosate, a key herbicide ingredient that plaintiffs say caused grave illnesses like cancer.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/bayer-says-now-targeted-in-18-400-glyphosate-cases-in-us

Plastic junk spawns desert island disaster in Pacific

Floating plastic garbage has swamped a remote Pacific island once regarded as an environmental jewel and scientists say little can be done to save it while a throwaway culture persists.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/plastic-junk-spawns-desert-island-disaster-in-pacific

Capital One target of massive data breach

A hacker gained access to personal information from more than 100 million Capital One credit applications, the bank said Monday as federal authorities arrested a suspect in the case .

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/capital-one-target-of-massive-data-breach

Candida auris is a new drug-resistant fungus emerging globally

Early identification of Candida auris, a potentially deadly fungus that causes bloodstream and intra-abdominal infections, is the key to controlling its spread. Its emergence has highlighted gaps in fungal identification capacity in the U.S. and around the world, and physicians should be on alert for risk factors. A commentary is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/candida-auris-is-a-new-drug-resistant-fungus-emerging-globally