New research has found out that electromagnetic fields might help prevent the spreading of some breast cancers to other parts of the body. Low intensity electromagnetic fields impeded the mobility of specific breast cancer cells “by preventing the formation of long, thin extensions at the edge of a migrating cancer cell”.

The research was done on cells in a lab, and the concept hasn’t yet been tested in animals or humans. The study was published today in the journal Communications Biology.

“A cancer cell has a tendency to do the most destructive thing imaginable,” said Jonathan Song, lead author of the study. Song is an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at The Ohio State University and a member of the molecular biology and cancer genetics program at Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center.

That ability to not only proliferate locally but spread throughout the body is what makes cancer so devastating — and what prompted the research team to examine individual cancer cells to understand what makes them so harmful, Song said.

“One very destructive thing these cells do is migrate to distant areas of the body,” he said. “And what we learned here is that it seems by treating them with a certain class of electric field we are altering their potential to spread somehow.”

The research team, which included engineers and cancer biologists, found that cancer cells appeared to sense both the presence of the electromagnetic fields, and also the direction from which the fields were coming.

More details of the study over Ohio State News.

(Image Credit: Dr. Lance Liotta Laboratory/ Wikimedia Commons)

At the center of certain galaxies are objects with intense brightness that they outshine the rest of their respective galaxies by four orders of magnitude. Over the past several decades, our understanding of these active galactic nuclei has progressed much. However, debates centered on the identity of some of these objects emerged recently.

Recently, a group of researchers have resolved some questions and have found exciting findings about these cosmic phenomena. Their results can be seen in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Quasars, the most powerful active galactic nuclei, shine like lighthouses from their home galaxies. These beams are powered by supermassive black holes millions to billions of times the mass of the sun. “The [radius of this] black hole is 1/10,000th of the distance just to our nearest star, and yet it can produce the power of 10,000 entire galaxies,” said coauthor Robert Antonucci, a physics professor at UC Santa Barbara.

The gas around these black holes spins so fast that the color of the light it emits is stretched out. The material approaching us appears bluer, while receding gas appears redder. This stretches the normally sharp spikes in the light spectra into broad peaks.

The radiation from these systems also energizes distant gas clouds, which are less dense. Because these clouds rotate more slowly, the peaks in their light emission stay sharp. And because they are less dense, the atoms have enough time to make slower transitions between energy states without interference from neighboring atoms, so scientists see additional spikes that are due to heat rather than radiation.

A dim quasar is called a Seyfert galaxy, and the debate stems from the distinction between the two types of Seyfert galaxies. Type I galaxies produce both of these spectra, but the light from type II galaxies is missing the broad peaks. Before they knew about the black holes at the center, scientists had thought the two were different entities, and were puzzled over what could be powering them.

Know more details of this study over at The Current.

(Image Credit: NASA)

We all have an aesthetic sense. We can identify which paintings are beautiful, and which paintings are not. We can also tell good music apart from bad music. But what about math? Can an abstract idea be considered beautiful? According to a study in Cognition, the answer is yes, and you don’t need to be a mathematician to judge the beauty of an idea.

Coauthored by a Yale mathematician and a University of Bath psychologist, the study shows that average Americans can assess mathematical arguments for beauty just as they can pieces of art or music. The beauty they discerned about the math was not one-dimensional either: Using nine criteria for beauty — such as elegance, intricacy, universality, etc. — 300 individuals had better-than-chance agreement about the specific ways that four different proofs were beautiful.

This inquiry into the aesthetics of mathematics began when study co-author and Yale assistant professor of mathematics Stefan Steinerberger likened a proof he was teaching to a “really good Schubert sonata.”

“As it turns out, the Yale students who do math also do a statistically impressive amount of music,” said Steinerberger. “Three or four students came up to me afterwards and asked, ‘What did you mean by this?’ And I realized I had no idea what I meant, but it just sounded sort of right. So, I emailed the psych department.”

Find out what happened next over at Yale News.

(Image Credit: InspiredImages/ Pixabay)

Sydney’s sewerage system are increasingly being clogged by plastic toys, nappies, and tons of wet wipes, leaving workers frustrated as they are faced with months of cleaning up the mess. According to Sydney Water, around six dry tonnes of wipes are removed from the Malabar Wastewater Treatment Plant daily.

The wipes are particularly bad for sewerage systems as they join together and mix with cooled cooking oils and other greases to form "fatbergs" - a congealed giant mass of non-biodegradable matter which clogs pipes.

"It is extremely hard to remove because it is manually intense labour," Sydney Water's process control officer Luke Justice said.

"You can try and break the stuff off the line but it is physically hard in your hands.

"Each time you go in you see tonnes and tonnes of wet wipes, oils and fatty material blocking a sewer and cleaning it out is a massive undertaking."

[...]

The waste expert said while Sydney's problem is not as bad as Britain, about 500 tonnes of wet wipes have to be removed from the city's sewer network a year, and the problem is getting worse due to an increase in the use of wipes. The utility claims 75 per cent of blockages are caused by the cleaning product.

"I think people are starting to become more aware but they don’t understand the scale of the problem that we are beginning to see," Mr Justice said.

More details of this news over at The Sydney Morning Herald.

What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: South West Water via AP)

Rangsit University was ready to showcase its pot farm and medical marijuana research center to the press on Friday three months after receiving authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to cultivate weed. This is one of the few places in Southeast Asia where cannabis can legally grow.

Seven stations responsible for different stages of research – ranging from cultivation, extraction, to medicine production – were presented. A prototype plantation spanning a 32sqm rooftop was perhaps the most intriguing station. After all, it’s one of just four places in Thailand where cannabis can be legally grown.

Here, several weed strains are being tested for optimal growing conditions, with approximately 70 plants being grown both inside the greenhouse – where they are nurtured using a “root spa” watering system – and outside in pots with organic fertilizers.

Researchers hope to use the carefully cultivated plants to develop a medical-grade strain optimal for the extraction of beneficial cannabis chemical compounds.

More details and more photos over at Khaosod English.

(Image Credit: Khaosod English)

2 eggs for Rs 1700 at the @FourSeasons Mumbai. @RahulBose1 Bhai Aandolan karein? pic.twitter.com/hKCh0WwGcy

— Kartik Dhar (@KartikDhar) August 10, 2019

Actor Rahul Bose’s banana controversy resulted in a Rs 25,000 (around $352) fine on JW Marriott hotel by the Excise and Taxation Department of Chandigarh. The hotel apparently charged him Rs 442 (around $6.22) for two bananas. If you think that was unreasonably high, there’s a hotel that’s much worse.

Two boiled eggs at Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai, India has cost Twitter user Kartik Dhar Rs 1,700 (around $23.93).

Twitter user Kartik Dhar has posted a bill with the caption: “2 eggs for Rs 1700 at the @FourSeasons Mumbai.

He tagged Rahul Bose with the caption saying, “Bhai Aandolan Karein (Shall we protest)?”

Are these boiled eggs made of gold? What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: Kartik Dhar/ Twitter)

With summer in full swing, man must be creative to ease himself from the scorching heat outdoors. Fortunately, there is ice cream that he can enjoy amidst the heat. Check out this ice cream that looks soft serve but not soft serve.

Outside of this particular shop is a picture of said ice cream, showing its cold, creamy point reaching up to the sky as if it were pointing up to heaven itself. It looked at once difficult to eat and delicious, both eccentric and beautiful, so we were excited to go in and try it. But in actual fact, we had no idea what we were signing up to eat.

The home of this breathtaking ice cream is a small shop called Shiroichi, which is just a 10-minute walk from Shibuya Station in Tokyo. Their menu full of heaven-reaching ice creams of all flavors shocked us out of our summer languish and made us ready for something cold and sweet.

[...]

As we gazed upon its artful exterior, we suddenly began to feel a strange sense of mystery. While looking at the pictures, our first thoughts had been, “It looks like it’ll topple over any minute!” and, “It looks difficult to eat!”. But holding it in our hands, we were surprised to find that it was oddly stable. It felt less like ice cream and more like a solid object.

Now pressed with a desire to know the secret of this mysteriously sword-like swirl of soft-serve ice cream, we determined that the only way to understand it was to eat it. And so, without a second thought, we opened our mouth to take a bite…and understood immediately how it could be so stiff.

If it’s not soft serve ice cream, what is it then? Find out on SoraNews24.

(Image Credit: SoraNews24)

On August 11, 2014, the iconic comedian Robin Williams died by suicide at age 63. He was the alien Mork in the television series Mork & Mindy. He was also Mrs. Doubtfire in the film of the same name. He was Alan Parrish in the film Jumanji. For the kids in the 90s, he was The Genie in the film Aladdin. Aside from the iconic characters that he gave life to in his acting, he also gave life and happiness to the people around the world through his wit and humor. Truly, he was a legend.

Head over at Dothan Eagle to see his photos from the decades.

What do you remember about Robin Williams?

(Image Credit: AP Photo)

There is a worrying dating trend that you need to know about. Aside from actually cheating on you, experts at a dating website called Eharmony state that your partner can now also micro-cheat on you. But what is micro-cheating?

The dating website defines 'micro-cheating' as "a term which encompasses smaller, albeit questionable acts" from a partner, such as liking the social media posts of someone else you're attracted to or sliding into their DMs.

Unsurprisingly, according to eharmony's research, it's tech-savvy millennials that feel most strongly about their partner doing these things.

Dating expert Rachael Lloyd explained how micro-cheating can really damage a relationship.

She said: "Advances in technology and the multitude of available platforms means that people often feel there is endless choice. This choice can sometimes lead people to make toxic decisions.

"It might start with a bit of flirting online, and build towards full-blown emotional affairs in the digital environment. The fallout from these situations can be as devastating as a physical affair."

What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: sasint/ Pixabay)

Scientists have warned that the levels of toxic mercury in seafood, like cod and tuna, could increase due to climate change. Around 80% or four-fifths of the mercury put into the atmosphere from natural or artificial causes, ends up in the ocean. It is then converted by tiny organisms into methylmercury, a very poisonous form of mercury.

As small creatures are eaten by larger ones, mercury becomes more concentrated up the food chain. 

As the seas warm, fish like cod are using more energy to swim which requires more calories – so they are eating more and storing up more of the toxin.

Methylmercury can affect brain functions in humans. Children may be especially at risk from exposure to fish-derived mercury while their brains and nervous systems are developing in the womb.

While regulation to curb emissions of mercury are leading to decreases in the concentrations of the toxin in fish, rising ocean temperatures due to climate change are predicted to push it up again.

More details of this study over at Independent.

(Image Credit: 27707/ Pixabay)

After a punishing week at her demanding marketing job, Galen Warden lay down in a hot bath. As usual, her neck and shoulders were in knots, so she thought that she would be relaxed, as she would usually be, in the hot bath she prepared. However, that did not seem to be the case this time.

When she sat up about 30 seconds later, Warden recalled, “it felt like my entire scalp was on fire.” Her face, neck and shoulders were unaffected, but her scalp felt as though it had been doused with acid.

It would take nearly three months before the cause of Warden’s unusual symptom, which was repeatedly attributed to a tension headache, was revealed. During that time, the emergence of other symptoms failed to prompt the specialist treating her to reconsider her initial diagnosis.

If anything, the new problems seemed to harden the doctor’s conviction that Warden’s problem was stress-related.

Apparently, her doctor was clearly wrong, as it was not tension headache. It was something more serious.

Find out what the disease is on The Washington Post.

(Image Credit: Cameron Cottrill for The Washington Post)

The Organizers of the 27th DefCom Conference turned hackers loose on election technology inside a special event called Voting Village.

“This is the Accuvote TSX. It’s used in 18 different states, 8 of which are swing states,” explains hacker Rachel Tobac, pointing to a voting machine. “I’m gonna show you how in under 2 minutes, you can use this machine to disrupt an election,” she continues.

“How sophisticated does one have to be to do what you just did?”, asked the reporter.

“I learned it in 15 minutes last year,” she replied.

That would be really messed up if it happens in the next elections. Thankfully, the hackers say that the system can be improved and made to be more secure.

More details of the report on Today.

(Image Credit: pixelcreatures/ Pixabay)

Samantha Guilfoyle, a 42-year-old woman from Pembrokeshire received a phone call from Covea, her car insurance company, last May. The insurance company told her that a claim had been made against her from a hit and run in Birmingham a few days earlier.

At first the case was closed after evidence submitted to LV= - the other driver’s insurance company - included a photo of the driver shortly after the collision - but it was reopened again when the other driver submitted a personal injury claim.

The claim was being made against Samantha's silver-blue Peugeot 206 convertible, despite it being off the road.

The single mum, who’d only been driving for a year, was also stopped from renewing a policy on the family’s second car, a Volkswagon Golf, in her name with another insurer while there was a claim being made against her.

The self-employed accountant blasted insurers LV= and Covea for “months of harassment” despite having evidence that she was nowhere near the collision site.

What are your thoughts on this one?

(Image Credit: Samantha Guilfoyle)

The Great Red Spot of Jupiter is one of the most well-known features of our Solar System. Earlier this year, amateur astronomers began noticing something peculiar about the Spot: it looked to be distorted.

By April, it seemed to be shedding red flakes. In May, that flaking grew so extreme that the spot looked as though it might disintegrate.

The amateur community, a tight-knit group that regularly communicates and shares photos over social media, was charged with excitement and anxiety. It had never seen anything like this before, and members worried what it might mean. On a warm Australian night in early May, the longtime amateur and software engineer Anthony Wesley was floored when his telescope captured an image of a bright streamer curling away from the spot. That, he thought, is not something you see every day.

Humans have been observing the Great Red Spot since the invention of the telescope in the 1600s, and at its peak, the storm was three times wider than the Earth. Since the late 19th century, though, it has been shrinking, slowly but steadily. In 2012, amateur astronomers noticed that its diminution had accelerated. And in May, when they saw it flaking, they feared that it might be on the verge of extinction.

What is really happening on the Great Red Spot? Find out on The Atlantic.

(Image Credit: NASA)

Canadian Colin Dowler might not be alive today if it weren't for a small pocket knife with a two-inch blade

https://t.co/X2I75BYW5D

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 8, 2019

Colin Dowler, a 45-year-old Canadian man, was biking through a path in Power River, British Columbia, which is about 185 miles north of Vancouver, on the 30th of July when he encountered a large male grizzly bear.

“I wasn’t really sure what to do about the situation,” Dowler said. “I largely stood there, and let the grizzly keep walking up towards me.”

When the bear was too close for comfort, Dowler tried to nudge him away with a hiking pole, BBC reported. A brief tug-of-war ensued before Dowler threw his bike at the animal, the report said.

The bear then grabbed Dowler by the stomach and dragged him to a ditch about 50 feet away. Dowler said he tried to play dead as the animal bit into his arm, foot, and thigh.

“It sounded like it was grating my bones up,” Dowler recalled. That’s when Dowler pulled out his pocketknife and stabbed the bear in the neck.

“It let go of me immediately. I wasn’t really sure if it was dying faster than I was," Dowler said.

Dowler said he made a tourniquet out of his shirtsleeve, recovered his bike, and rode nearly five miles to a logging camp before collapsing. Five men were at the camp and administered first aid.

Dowler was immediately sent to a Vancouver hospital. Fortunately, his injuries were not life-threatening.

(Image Credit: @BBCWorld/ Twitter)