Western storm heads eastward (weather.com)

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Biodesign Institute takes part in $14.4M NIH chemical defense grant

   The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University has been awarded one of six research projects as part of a $14.4 million National Institutes of Health effort to develop improved antidotes for civilian populations vulnerable to chemical agent poisoning by a terrorist attack. Tsafrir Mor, a researcher at ASU's Biodesign Institute and assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences, will be the lead investigator of the five-year, $2.67 million ASU portion of the award.
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New genes point to diabetes risk (Reuters)

   Reuters - Researchers said on Sunday they had homed in on five areas of DNA that could account for 70 percent of the genetic risk for type-2 diabetes.
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Grape expectations for healthier wine

   A new technique that uses ozone to preserve grapes could help prevent allergies and boost healthy compounds at the same time. The same technique could be used in the wine-making process to produce healthier wines without the added sulphites that can cause asthma and other conditions in some people. Treating grapes with ozone helps to prevent decay during storage, and has the added benefit of increasing levels of antioxidants four-fold.
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Gasoline prices rise to $2.22/gallon: survey (Reuters)

   

Reuters - The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States rose slightly over the past three weeks and could push higher because much of a rise in crude oil has not been passed on to consumers, an industry analyst said on Sunday.

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Quake rattles India's Andaman islands (AFP)

   

AFP - A strong 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck off India's Andaman islands, triggering panic on some islands of a repeat of the 2004 tsunami, officials and witnesses said.

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6 explorers die in Canary Islands tunnel (AP)

   

AP - A group of 30 scientists and nature lovers got lost in a maze of narrow underground tunnels in Spain's Canary Islands, and six of them died after apparently suffocating, officials said Sunday.

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India's great river is awash in filth (AP)

   

AP - Among believers, the river has many names: The Pure. Destroyer of Sin. Light Amid the Darkness of Ignorance. But mostly they call it "Ganga Ma" — Mother Ganges — and they worship it with a blinding intensity.

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Europe fights to save its fish stocks (AP)

   

AP - The catch of the day brings up a squirming pandemonium of creatures from the deep: sea bream and red snapper, miniature lobsters, an electric ray packing 150 volts, a baby octopus watching with one unblinking eye.

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Mystery ailment strikes honeybees (AP)

   

AP - A mysterious illness is killing tens of thousands of honeybee colonies across the country, threatening honey production, the livelihood of beekeepers and possibly crops that need bees for pollination.

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Warming threatens double-trouble in Peru (AP)

   

AP - Peru's "White Mountain Range" may soon have to change its name.

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China to measure the Great Wall

   Researchers plan first detailed survey of the Great Wall of China to establish just how long the ancient barricade is.
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Climos Chief Science Officer to Speak at NJIT About Greenhouse Gases

   Margaret Leinen, PhD, chief science officer and vice president of Climos, will discuss at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) next week the buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gases over just two centuries.
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A developing winter storm (weather.com)

   weather.com -
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Columbia scientists determine 3-dimensional structure of cell's 'fuel gauge'

   Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have uncovered the complex structure of a protein that serves as a central energy gauge for cells, providing crucial details about the molecule necessary for developing useful new therapies for diabetes and possibly obesity. A paper published online today in the journal Science details this structure, helping to explain one of the cell's most basic and critical processes.
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Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, is a 'cosmic graffiti artist,' astronomers discover

   Astronomers from the University of Virginia and other institutions have found that Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn, is a "cosmic graffiti artist," pelting the surfaces of at least 11 other moons of Saturn with ice particles sprayed from its spewing surface geysers. This ice sandblasts the other moons, creating a reflective surface that makes them among the brightest bodies in the solar system.
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Folate and B12 may influence cognition in seniors

   Folate may protect cognition in seniors, but only with adequate levels of vitamin B12. In an epidemiological study, low B-vitamin status was associated with anemia and cognitive impairment. Low vitamin B12 status was especially linked to these conditions if seniors also had high folate in the blood.
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Cluster -- new insights into the electric circuits of polar lights

   Giant electrical circuits power the magical open-air light show of the auroras, forming arcs in high-latitude regions like Scandinavia. New results obtained thanks to ESA's Cluster satellites provide a new insight into the source of the difference between the two types of electrical circuits currently known to be associated to the auroral arcs.
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Supernovae -- cosmic lighthouses

   Astrophysicists explain the differences in the brightness of supernova explosions.
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Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists discover new gene that prevents multiple types of cancer

   A decades-old cancer mystery has been solved by researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). "We not only found a critical tumor suppressor gene, but have revealed a master switch for a tumor suppressive network that means more targeted and effective cancer therapy in the future," said CSHL Associate Professor Alea Mills, Ph.D. The study, headed by Mills, was published in the February issue of Cell.
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Shedding new light on proteorhodopsin

   New light has been shed on proteorhodopsin, the light-sensitive protein found in many marine bacteria. Researchers at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley have demonstrated that when the ability to respire oxygen is impaired, bacterium equipped with proteorhodopsin will switch to solar power to carry out vital life processes.
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Oil companies discuss energy challenges (AP)

   

AP - With dwindling oil supplies, pollution concerns and the ever-present threat of gas prices soaring again, talk of new and better ways to fuel our cars, heat and cool our homes, and power our factories has never been greater. What's more, the conversation is emanating increasingly from a source that's been surprisingly quiet until recently — the oil companies themselves.

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