Researchers Discover New Mechanism for Rapid Liver Regeneration to Restore Damaged Livers

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Researchers at the National Cancer Research Centre in Spain (CNIO) have discovered a mechanism that is triggered just minutes after acute liver damage occurs—and it could lead to treatments for those with severe liver problems.

The avenues for future treatments of liver damage include a diet enriched with the amino acid glutamate.

“Glutamate supplementation can promote liver regeneration and benefit patients in recovery following hepatectomy or awaiting a transplant,” wrote the authors in a paper published in ‘Nature’.

The liver is a vital organ, crucial to digestion, metabolism, and the elimination of toxins. It has a unique ability to regenerate, which allows it to replace liver cells damaged by the very toxins that these cells eliminate.

However, the liver stops regenerating in cases of diseases that involve chronic liver damage–such as cirrhosis—and such diseases are becoming increasingly prevalent, associated with poor dietary habits or alcohol consumption. So activating liver regeneration is key to treating the disease.

Learning to activate liver regeneration is therefore a priority today, to benefit patients with liver damage and also those who’ve had part of their liver cut out to remove a tumor.

The research has discovered in animal models this previously unknown mechanism of liver regeneration. It is a process that is triggered very quickly, just a few minutes after acute liver damage occurs, with the amino acid glutamate playing a key role.

“Our results describe a fundamental and universal mechanism that allows the liver to regenerate after acute damage,” explained Nabil Djouder, head of the CNIO Growth Factors, Nutrients and Cancer Group and senior author of the study.

A “complex and ingenious” perspective on liver regeneration

Liver regeneration was known to occur through the proliferation of liver cells, known as hepatocytes. However, the molecular mechanisms involved were not fully understood. This current discovery is very novel, as it describes communication between two different organs, the liver and bone marrow, involving the immune system, according to a CINO news release.

The results show that liver and bone marrow are interconnected by glutamate. After acute liver damage, liver cells, called hepatocytes, produce glutamate and send it into the bloodstream; through the blood, glutamate reaches the bone marrow, inside the bones, where it activates monocytes, a type of immune system cell. Monocytes then travel to the liver and along the way become macrophages – also immune cells. The presence of glutamate reprograms the metabolism of macrophages, and these consequently begin to secrete a growth factor that leads to an increase in hepatocyte production.

In other words, a rapid chain of events allows glutamate to trigger liver regeneration in just minutes, through changes in the macrophage metabolism. It is, says Djouder, “a new, complex and ingenious perspective on how the liver stimulates its own regeneration.”

The research also clarifies a previously unanswered question: how the various areas of the liver are coordinated during regeneration. In the liver, there are different types of hepatocytes, organized in different areas; the hepatocytes in each area perform specific metabolic functions. The study reveals that hepatocytes producing a protein known as glutamine synthetase, which regulates glutamate levels, play a key role in regeneration.

According to the CNIO group, when glutamine synthetase is inhibited, there is more glutamate in circulation, which accelerates liver regeneration. This is what happens when the liver suffers acute damage: glutamine synthase activity decreases, blood glutamate increases, and from there, the connection with the bone marrow is established, reprogramming macrophages and stimulating hepatocyte proliferation.
Possible therapeutic applications

The experiments have been carried out in mice, but the results have been tested with bioinformatics tools, using databases of mouse and human hepatocytes.

According to Djouder, “dietary glutamate supplementation may simply be recommended in the future after liver extirpation, and also to reduce liver damage caused by cirrhosis.”

The first author of the paper, CNIO researcher María del Mar Rigual also wants future research to explore using glutamate supplements in humans who have undergone liver resection for tumor removal. Researchers Discover New Mechanism for Rapid Liver Regeneration to Restore Damaged Livers
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Nasa's SOFIA finds water on sunlit surface of Moon

Nasa’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) – a telescope operating from an aircraft - has confirmed, for the first time, water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places, Nasa revealed today.
SOFIA, a joint project of Nasa and the German Aerospace Centre. has detected water molecules (H2O) in Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth, located in the Moon’s southern hemisphere, the US space agency said. While previous observations of the Moon’s surface had detected some form of hydrogen, Nasa said, they were unable to distinguish between water and its close chemical relative, hydroxyl (OH). 
Data from this location reveal water in concentrations of 100 to 412 parts per million – roughly equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle of water – trapped in a cubic meter of soil spread across the lunar surface. The results are published in the latest issue of Nature Astronomy.
“We had indications that H2O – the familiar water we know – might be present on the sunlit side of the Moon,” said Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Now we know it is there. This discovery challenges our understanding of the lunar surface and raises intriguing questions about resources relevant for deep space exploration.”
In comparison, the Sahara desert has 100 times the amount of water than what SOFIA detected in the lunar soil. Despite the small amounts, the discovery raises new questions about how water is created and how it persists on the harsh, airless lunar surface.
Since water is a precious resource in deep space and a key ingredient of life, Nasa is using its Artemis programme to study the presence of water on the Moon ahead of sending the first woman and next man to the lunar surface in 2024 with a view to establishing a sustainable human presence there by the end of the decade.
Under SOFIA’s results build on years of previous research examining the presence of water on the Moon. When the Apollo astronauts first returned from the Moon in 1969, it was thought to be completely dry. Orbital and impactor missions over the past 20 years, such as Nasa’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, confirmed ice in permanently shadowed craters around the Moon’s poles.
Meanwhile, several spacecraft, including the Cassini mission and Deep Impact comet mission, as well as the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Chandrayaan-1 mission, and Nasa’s ground-based Infrared Telescope Facility, looked broadly across the lunar surface and found evidence of hydration in sunnier regions. Yet those missions were unable to definitively distinguish the form in which it was present – either H2O or OH.
“Prior to the SOFIA observations, we knew there was some kind of hydration,” said Casey Honniball, the lead author who published the results from her graduate thesis work at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu. “But we didn’t know how much, if any, was actually water molecules – like we drink every day – or something more like drain cleaner.”
Scientists using Nasa’s telescope on an airplane, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, discovered water on a sunlit surface of the Moon for the first time. 
SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that allows astronomers to study the solar system and beyond in ways that are not possible with ground-based telescopes. Molecular water, H2O, was found in Clavius Crater, one of the largest craters visible from Earth in the Moon’s southern hemisphere. This discovery indicates that water may be distributed across the lunar surface, and not limited to cold, shadowed places.
SOFIA offered a new means of looking at the Moon. Flying at altitudes of up to 45,000 feet, this modified Boeing 747SP jetliner with a 106-inch diameter telescope reaches above 99 per cent of the water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere to get a clearer view of the infrared universe. Using its Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST), SOFIA was able to pick up the specific wavelength unique to water molecules, at 6.1 microns, and discovered a relatively surprising concentration in sunny Clavius Crater.
“Without a thick atmosphere, water on the sunlit lunar surface should just be lost to space,” said Honniball, who is now a postdoctoral fellow at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Yet somehow we’re seeing it. Something is generating the water, and something must be trapping it there.”
Several forces could be at play in the delivery or creation of this water. Micrometeorites raining down on the lunar surface, carrying small amounts of water, could deposit the water on the lunar surface upon impact. Another possibility is there could be a two-step process whereby the Sun’s solar wind delivers hydrogen to the lunar surface and causes a chemical reaction with oxygen-bearing minerals in the soil to create hydroxyl. Meanwhile, radiation from the bombardment of micrometeorites could be transforming that hydroxyl into water.
How the water then gets stored – making it possible to accumulate – also raises some intriguing questions. The water could be trapped into tiny beadlike structures in the soil that form out of the high heat created by micrometeorite impacts. Another possibility is that the water could be hidden between grains of lunar soil and sheltered from the sunlight – potentially making it a bit more accessible than water trapped in beadlike structures.
For a mission designed to look at distant, dim objects such as black holes, star clusters, and galaxies, SOFIA’s spotlight on Earth’s nearest and brightest neighbor was a departure from business as usual. The telescope operators typically use a guide camera to track stars, keeping the telescope locked steadily on its observing target. But the Moon is so close and bright that it fills the guide camera’s entire field of view. With no stars visible, it was unclear if the telescope could reliably track the Moon. To determine this, in August 2018, the operators decided to try a test observation.
“It was, in fact, the first time SOFIA has looked at the Moon, and we weren’t even completely sure if we would get reliable data, but questions about the Moon’s water compelled us to try,” said Naseem Rangwala, SOFIA’s project scientist at Nasa's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. “It’s incredible that this discovery came out of what was essentially a test, and now that we know we can do this, we’re planning more flights to do more observations.”
SOFIA’s follow-up flights will look for water in additional sunlit locations and during different lunar phases to learn more about how the water is produced, stored, and moved across the Moon. The data will add to the work of future Moon missions, such as Nasa’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER), to create the first water resource maps of the Moon for future human space exploration.
In the same issue of Nature Astronomy, scientists have published a paper using theoretical models and Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data, pointing out that water could be trapped in small shadows, where temperatures stay below freezing, across more of the Moon than currently expected. The results can be found here. 
“Water is a valuable resource, for both scientific purposes and for use by our explorers,” said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist for Nasa’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. “If we can use the resources at the Moon, then we can carry less water and more equipment to help enable new scientific discoveries.”SOFIA is a joint project of Nasa and the German Aerospace Center. Ames manages the SOFIA programme, science, and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, and the German SOFIA Institute at the University of Stuttgart. The aircraft is maintained and operated by Nasa’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703, in Palmdale, California. Source: https://www.domain-b.com/
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80 per cent COVID-19 patients in Spanish study had vitamin D deficiency


OCT 28, 2020 LONDON: A study of over 200 COVID-19 cases in a hospital in Spain found that about 80 per cent patients had vitamin D deficiency, scientists said on Wednesday. However, the study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, did not find any relationship between vitamin D concentrations or vitamin deficiency and the severity of the disease. The researchers found 80 per cent of 216 COVID-19 patients at the Hospital Universitario Marques de Valdecilla had vitamin D deficiency, and men had lower vitamin D levels than women. COVID-19 patients with lower vitamin D levels also had raised serum levels of inflammatory markers such as ferritin and D-dimer. "Vitamin D treatment should be recommended in COVID-19 patients with low levels of vitamin D circulating in the blood since this approach might have beneficial effects in both the musculoskeletal and the immune system," said Jose L. Hernandez, of the University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain. "One approach is to identify and treat vitamin D deficiency, especially in high-risk individuals such as the elderly, patients with comorbidities, and nursing home residents, who are the main target population for the COVID-19," said Hernendez. Vitamin D controls blood calcium concentration and impacts the immune system, the researchers said. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a variety of health concerns, although research is still underway into why the hormone impacts other systems of the body, they said. Many studies point to the beneficial effect of vitamin D on the immune system, especially regarding protection against infections. Copyright © Jammu Links News, Source: Jammu Links News
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India's human space flight may face slight delay: ISRO chief

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India's human space flight mission Gaganyaan will be "slightly delayed" owing to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic even as ISRO resumes rocket launch activities from the first week of November, space agency chief K. Sivan said on Monday.

Answering a query at the plenary session of the International Astronautical Congress 2020, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman said India's first human space flight was targeted in August 2022, but owing to Covid-19's impact on the operations, the there will be a slight slip in meeting the mission's target date.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2018, had said when the nation is celebrating 75th year of Independence in 2022, an Indian son or daughter will be flying into space under the Gaganyaan mission.

Sivan said that the Gaganyaan mission has advanced well and the country is taking the help of other space-faring nations like Russia for training the astronauts and some other critical aspects, France in the space medical area and is also approaching US space agency NASA.

On resuming rocket launches, he said some missions were delayed as officials were unable to travel to the rocket port from different cities.

Sivan said ISRO is planning to launch its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C49 (PSLV C49) during the first week of November.

The PSLV C49 rocket will fly with RISAT-2BR2 as the main passenger and about several other third party satellites for a fee.

According to Sivan, international cooperation is the hallmark of India's space activities.

The country has signed about 250 collaboration agreements with about 59 nations.

He said India's international collaborations are a mix-some for getting advanced technologies and some are for helping other space faring nations and pointed out training 60 persons from 23 nations in building nano-satellites  Source: https://southasiamonitor.org/
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Spain: Government expects solar to dominate by 2030 with up to 77 GW

Spain has currently an installed PV power of around 4.8 GW. Image: Solaria Energía
In a new report, the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Digital Agenda has predicted that solar will become the country’s largest electricity source by the end of the next decade. Cumulative installed PV power could even reach 77 GW by the end of 2030, according to the most bullish scenario drafted by the Spanish government.APRIL 3, 2018 EMILIANO BELLINI

Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Digital Agenda has published a new report, including new growth scenarios for the future of the Spanish energy market, which recognizes solar as the future cheapest source of power, and the dominance of PV above all other energy sources by 2030.

The first scenario, called the “distributed generation scenario” (DG), forecasts strong development of renewable energy distributed generation coupled with storage systems.

According to the most optimistic figures provided by the ministry, solar is expected to reach a power production capacity of 47.1 TWh by 2030, thus becoming the country’s leading power source, followed by wind (31.0 TWh), combined cycle plants (24.5 TWh), hydropower (23.0 TWh), cogeneration facilities (8.5 TWh), and nuclear power (7.1 TWh). Overall, storage is expected to account for 2.3 TWh of total demand.

Under this scenario, renewables would have a 70% share in Spain’s electricity mix, while solar PV technology would reach a cumulative installed power of around 77 GW, followed by wind with 47.5 GW.

A second, less ambitious scenario, called “sustainable transition scenario” (TS), also expects solar to become the largest and cheapest source of power by 2030, but with “only” 40 TWh of power production capacity, and no storage deployed. Under this scenario, however, renewables would still account for 67% of total power generation capacity, although part of the missing 7 TWh from solar would be partly replaced with 4 TWh of power generation from coal.

The country’s power demand is expected to increase from around 253 TWh currently, to 285 TWh (TS scenario) and 296 TWh (DG scenario), respectively. Costs of power generation, meanwhile, would range from €52/MWh in the TS scenario to €32.7/MWh in the DG scenario.

Commenting on the scenario with the highest penetration of solar and renewables, the Spanish government said that their increasing share would significantly reduce power generation costs, thus enabling savings of around €9.6 billion.

This would negatively impact the profitability of thermal back-up capacity, which will still be necessary in order to deal with fluctuations, while also making renewable energy project investment returns more problematic, the ministry said.

CO2 emissions, however, would be more than halved, and power exports to France would increase by around 236%, as a consequence of the price spread with the neighboring country, the report’s authors noted.

Spanish solar association, UNEF has welcomed the findings of the report, claiming that the Spanish government has finally acknowledged the high value of the PV technology.

“The forecast of a considerable increase in installed PV capacity by 2030, which would increase tenfold compared to current levels, is a key opportunity to allow citizens to have access to cheaper energy and to reach a more stable development model, in contrast to the dynamics of acceleration-braking-acceleration that has characterized the last years,” said association president, José Donoso.

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Artificial Telepathy: Prosumers, Cicerones and Mugges


Small electronic devices and social networking software are on the verge of creating a sort of artificial telepathy where images and ideas can be broadcast instantly to a group of people. 'If you get lost, my mobile will guide you' from the MUGGES project. TECNALIA Research & Innovation and Telefónica R+D have succeeded in taking one more step with social networks; with MUGGES, they have managed that any person with a mobile telephone in his or her hand is able to become a “cicerone”, a journalist or mobile reporter and, in fact, a provider of a huge amount of new services from their own terminal. The MUGGES project investigates the transformation of users of mobile telephones into prosumers, i.e. producers, providers and consumers of content from their own mobile telephone. The user generates and stores his or her own micro-services - known as mugglets - on their mobile telephone. This involves small applications that take advantage of the experience of the user and make use of the information of the context in real time, combining searching with social interaction. With MUGGES it is possible to share routes, follow the routes of others, visualise which routes are being followed when others are at the same point where the user is, comments by other users of the site, challenge other users on a specific route, create a service to share a car, to obtain a parking place, etc., become a mobile paparazzi present anywhere …. and a multitude of services more. In this way the user can obtain and provide information and content, share these services for their consumption or re-use (creation of new services from existing ones), thus making it possible to develop new business models. This new concept is opening up a pioneering path for a new generation of mobile services for the Internet of the Future, a priority line of research. One step forward in social networks: MUGGES stands out from the social networks in which one's own mobile phone is also enabled for social interaction in any place and at any time, without depending on an internet connection. Millions of potential providers, millions of journalists, a multitude of users informing about traffic, events, recommendations, etc. This is MUGGES, one step beyond social networks. The infrastructure and mobile devices are now sufficiently powerful to enable the development of new business models. The mobile terminal is evolving at great speed, even becoming a content server, so that a mobile user can constantly provide updated information, in real time and relevant for users. This trend will move to the mobile environment, much more suited to the way we carry out social interactions, anywhere and anytime. Mobile infrastructures and devices are now powerful enough to allow for new business models. The mobile terminal will evolve to become a server and therefore, a mobile user will provide constantly updated information, relevant to others users instantaneous interests and current context. 
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Virtual reality therapy could help people with depression

A new immersive virtual reality therapy could help people with depression to be less critical and more compassionate towards themselves, reducing depressive symptoms, finds a new study from University College London (UCL) and ICREA-University of Barcelona.
This new therapy, previously tested by healthy volunteers, was used by 15 depressed patients aged 23-61. Nine reported reduced depressive symptoms a month after the therapy, of whom four experienced a clinically significant drop in depression severity. The study is published in the British Journal of Psychiatry Open and was funded by the Medical Research Council. Patients in the study wore a virtual reality headset to see from the perspective of a life-size 'avatar' or virtual body. Seeing this virtual body in a mirror moving in the same way as their own body typically produces the illusion that this is their own body. This is called 'embodiment'. While embodied in an adult avatar, participants were trained to express compassion towards a distressed virtual child. As they talked to the child it appeared to gradually stop crying and respond positively to the compassion. After a few minutes, the patients were embodied in the virtual child and saw the adult avatar deliver their own compassionate words and gestures back to them.
This brief eight minute scenario was repeated three times at weekly intervals and patients were followed up a month later. "People who struggle with anxiety and depression can be excessively self-critical when things go wrong in their lives," explains study lead Professor Chris Brewin (UCL Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology). "In this study, by comforting the child and then hearing their own words back, patients are indirectly giving themselves compassion. The aim was to teach patients to be more compassionate towards themselves and less self-critical, and we saw promising results. A month after the study, several patients described how their experience had changed their response to real-life situations in which they would previously have been self-critical." The study offers a promising proof-of-concept, but as a small trial without a control group it cannot show whether the intervention is responsible for the clinical improvement in patients. "We now hope to develop the technique further to conduct a larger controlled trial, so that we can confidently determine any clinical benefit," says co-author Professor Mel Slater (ICREA-University of Barcelona and UCL Computer Science). "If a substantial benefit is seen, then this therapy could have huge potential. The recent marketing of low-cost home virtual reality systems means that methods such as this could potentially be part of every home and be used on a widespread basis."Source: http://www.futuretimeline.net/
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Two Stars Merging Into A Supermassive Star Seen By Astronomers

Credit: Javier Lorenzo (Universidad de Alicante)
A study of "MY Camelopardalis" binary system, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, shows that the most massive stars are made up by merging with other smaller stars, as predicted by theoretical models. Most of the stars in our galaxy have been formed in binary or multiple systems, some of which are "eclipsing", this is consists of two or more stars which, observed from Earth, undergo eclipses and mutual transits because of their orbital plane facing our planet. One such system is the eclipsing binary MY Camelopardalis (MY Cam). Artistic rendering of MY Cam system. The proportions between the components reflect the analysis results. The stars are deformed by its very fast rotation and the gravitational pull of the companion. The journal Astronomy & Astrophysics has published an article on MY Cam, one of the most massive star known, with the results of observations from the Calar Alto Observatory (Almería) signed by astronomers at the University of Alicante, the Astrobiology Centre of the Spanish National Research Council (CAB-CSIC) and the Canaries’ Astrophysics Institute (IAC), along with amateur astronomers. This article concludes that MY Cam is the most massive binary star observed and its components, two stars of spectral type O (blue, very hot and bright), 38 and 32 times the Sun's mass, are still on the main sequence and are very close to each other, with an orbital period of less than 1.2 days, in other words, the shortest orbital period in this type of stars. This indicates that the binary was virtually formed as it is now: the stars were almost in contact at the time they were formed. The expected development is the merger of both components into a single object over 60 solar masses before any of them have time to evolve significantly. Hence, these results demonstrate the viability of some theoretical models suggesting that most massive stars are formed by merging less massive stars. Massive binary systems: Stars which, like the Sun, move alone in the Galaxy by trailing only their planetary system are a minority. Most stars spend their lives tied by gravity to a companion star (forming what is called a binary system) or several (what was known as multiple system). As explained by Javier Lorenzo, from the University of Alicante and first author of article, in these systems all stars describe their orbits around a common centre of mass. In particular, the stars much more massive than the Sun contain an equivalent mass to many suns and tend to always appear in company. Recent studies suggest that these high-mass stars, that are much larger and hotter than the Sun, form part of systems with at least one other companion of comparable mass. A particularly striking example is the binary system known as MY Camelopardalis (MY Cam), in the constellation of the Giraffe. This object is the brightest star in the open cluster "Alicante 1", which was recently identified as a small stellar nursery by researchers at the University of Alicante. Although it has been known for over fifty years that MY Cam is a high-mass star, it was only ten years ago that it was recognised as an eclipsing binary, a system in which one star passes in front of the other every time they complete their orbit, leading to changes in the brightness of the system that we perceive from Earth. This property of eclipsing binaries allows us to know many of the characteristics of the component stars through a careful study of the light that comes from them and the simple application of Newton’s law of universal gravitation. For the study of MY Cam, professional astrophysicists obtained a large number of spectra of the system with FOCES spectrograph, which operated for many years in the 2.2 m telescope of Calar Alto Observatory. Using the Doppler Effect, these spectra allow us to measure the velocities with which the stars move in their orbits. Also, astrophysicists can determine the fundamental properties of stars, as their surface temperature and its size through a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of the spectra. To complete the work, they had the help of amateur astronomers who measured the changes in the amount of light coming from the system along the orbit, what astrophysicists call the light curve of the system. Analysis of these data has shown that MY Cam is a truly exceptional system. The light curve- as explained by Sergio Simon, IAC researcher and one of the authors of the article - shows that the orbital period of the system is only 1.2 days. Given the large size of the stars, they have to be extremely close to be able to do a full turn so quickly. The stars are moving at a speed of over one million km/h, but being so close, the tidal forces between them make them rotate about themselves with the same period, ie, each star turns on itself in just over a day, while the Sun, which is much smaller, turns on itself once every 26 days. Stars are like giant spinning tops and every point of the surface moves with a speed of over one million km/h. Each has a radius around 700 times bigger than the Earth’s, but turns on itself at about the same time. But also, the stars are extremely massive. Their masses are 38 and 32 times the Sun's mass. Such huge stars do not fit so easily into such a small orbit and the conclusion of the study is that they are actually in touch and the material of their outer layers is mixing, giving place to a common envelope (what is known as a contact binary). MY Cam is one of the most massive contact binaries known and by far the most massive whose components are so young they have not yet begun to evolve. As stated by Ignacio Negueruela, another author from the University of Alicante, this is the most interesting aspect of MY Cam since its foreseeable future confirms some of the current theories of formation of extremely massive stars. The properties of the two components of MY Cam suggest that they are extremely young stars formed in the past two million years. This extreme youth allows us to suspect that the system was formed essentially as it is now, although perhaps the two stars were not touching initially. As they get older, their natural evolution is to become larger. Given that they have no clearance between them, this process will lead to the merger of the two stars in a single object, a real star mastodon. The details of the merger process are not known, because it has never been seen before. Some theoretical models suggest that the merger process is extremely fast, releasing a huge amount of energy in a kind of explosion. Other studies favor a less violent process, but in any event spectacular. Anyway, many astrophysicists believe that the merger of the components of a close binary is probably the most effective way to generate extremely massive stars. MY Cam is the first example of a system that can lead to one of these objects. Contacts and sources: Asociación RUVID, Citation: J. Lorenzo, I. Negueruela, A.K.F. Val Baker (Universidad de Alicante), M. García (CAB-CSIC), S. Simón-Díaz (IAC), P. Pastor, M. Méndez Majuelos (amateurs). “MY Camelopardalis, a very massive merger progenitor”. Astronomy & Astrophysics. 2014. http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.5575, Source: ineffableisland.com
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Evidence Of Life On Mars?

Gale crater, Credit: NASA
In 2012 the Mars Science Laboratory landed in the fascinating Gale crater. The Gale crater is of such great interest because of the 5.5 km high mountain of layered materials in the middle. This material tells an intricate story of the history of Mars, perhaps spanning much of the existence of this mysterious planet. Once positioned, the Curiosity rover began field studies on its drive toward Aeolis Mons (also unofficially known as Mount Sharp), the central peak within the crater. Curiosity has travelled more than 9.4 km so far and during its trip up the mountain, Curiosity has begun taking samples of the mountain’s lower slopes. CheMin is one of ten instruments on or inside Curiosity, all designed to provide detailed information on the rocks, soils and atmosphere. [Bish et al. (2014).  1, 514-522; doi:10.1107/S2052252514021150] CheMin is actually a miniaturised X-ray diffraction/X-ray fluorescence
(XRD/XRF) IUCrJ, instrument, approximately the size of a shoebox, that uses transmission geometry with an energy-discriminating CCD detector to obtain unparalleled results in quite challenging conditions. Five samples have been analysed by CheMin so far, namely a soil sample, three samples drilled from mudstones and a sample drilled from a sandstone. Rietveld and full-pattern analysis of the XRD data have revealed a complex mineralogy, with contributions from parent igneous rocks, amorphous components and several minerals relating to aqueous alteration, for example clay minerals and hydrated sulphates. In addition to quantitative mineralogy, Rietveld refinements also provide unit-cell parameters for the major phases, which can be used to infer the chemical compositions of individual minerals and, by difference, the composition of the amorphous component. Coincidentally CheMin’s first XRD analysis on Mars coincided with the 100th anniversary of the discovery of XRD by von Laue. So far CheMin has returned excellent diffraction data comparable in many respects with data available on Earth. It has managed this even though several aspects of the instrument, particularly its small size limit the quality of the XRD data. These limitations could, however, be improved through modification of the
instrumentgeometry. One of the most significant issues limiting remote operation is the requirement for powder XRD of a finely powdered sample. CheMin largely surmounts this difficulty through the use of its unique sample vibration device. Data obtained so far has already provided new insights into processes on Mars, and the instrument promises to return data that will answer numerous questions and shed further light on the history of the Gale crater. Work is already progressing in developing an upgraded instrument with changes in the reflection geometry. Coupled with data-processing software interface advances, we may see future improvements to non-contact diffraction analysis of the surfaces of planetary bodies. A video of Professor David L. Bish presenting work from the Mars science mission can be viewed here. The lecture was part of a series of talks organised by the University of Liverpool as part of their Science & Society Lecture Series. Contacts and sources: Jonathan Agbenyega, International Union of Crystallography, Source: Ineffableisland
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Nissan's 100 percent electric commercial vehicle to hit road next year

By Dan McCue, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. will begin selling its 100 percent electric commercial vehicle, the "e-NV200," in Japan next year, with the intention of eventually offering it to prospective buyers worldwide. The e-NV200 is the Yokohama, Japan-based auto makter's second all-electric model available globally, following on the heels of its successful = Nissan LEAF. Production of the e-NV200 will begin at Nissan’s plant in Barcelona, Spain in mid-2014, the company said. In order to establish an effective model case that leverages the characteristics of e-NV200, Nissan is discussing specific strategies with Yokohama's city government. Under consideration are the use of e-NV200 by Yokohama city for its public services vehicles and the establishment of a vehicle monitor user program which would be available to all city residents. Nissan and the city are already collaborating on the "Yokohama Mobility Project Zero," which aims to create a working model of a functional city with a low carbon footprint. Activities so far have included the use of Nissan LEAF and the Nissan New Mobility CONCEPT, an ultra-compact electric vehicle. The parties may expand the project with the introduction of e-NV200. Measures to utilize the e-NV200 are evolving in Barcelona, Spain, which is involved in a mutually cooperative arrangement with Yokohama city in the formation and development of smart cities. Plans are being made to use the e-NV200 for smart transportation in Barcelona, such as for taxis. Along with this, preparations are in process to install a quick charger network and dedicated EV parking areas to support the taxis. For additional information: Nissan Motor Co., e-NV200 information, Source: Renewable Energy Magazine
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New Species Of Horse, 4.4 Million Years Old

Ardipithecus ramidus, commonly called Ardi.
Two teams of researchers, including a scientist from Case Western Reserve University, have announced the discovery of a new species of fossil horse from 4.4 million-year-old fossil-rich deposits in Ethiopia. About the size of a small zebra, Eurygnathohippus woldegabrieli—named for geologist Giday WoldeGabriel, who earned his PhD at Case Western Reserve in 1987—had three-toed hooves and grazed the grasslands and shrubby woods in the Afar Region, the scientists say. They report their findings in the November issue of Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The horse fills a gap in the evolutionary history of horses but is also important for documenting how old a fossil locality is and in reconstructing habitats of human forebears of the time, said Scott Simpson, professor of anatomy at Case Western Reserve's School of Medicine, and coauthor of the research. "This horse is one piece of a very complex puzzle that
Modern Zebra
has many, many pieces."The researchers found the first E. woldegabrieli teeth and bones in 2001, in the Gona area of the Afar Region. This fossil horse was among the diverse array of animals that lived in the same areas as the ancient human ancestor Ardipithecus ramidus, commonly called Ardi. "The fossil search team spreads out to survey for fossils in the now arid badlands of the Ethiopian desert.," Simpson said. "Among the many fossils we found are the two ends of the foreleg bone—the canon—brilliant white and well preserved in the red-tinted earth." A year later, they returned and found part of the connecting shaft, which was split lengthwise but provided the crucial full length of the bone. The long slender bone indicates this ancient species was an adept runner, similar to modern zebras, and analyses of their teeth indicated they relied heavily on eating grasses in the grassy woodland environment. The horse had longer legs than ancestral horses that lived and fed in forests about 6 million to 10 million years ago, Simpson said. The change helped the more recent horses cover long distances as they grazed and flee lions, sabre-tooth cats and hunting hyenas that would run down their prey. The other fossils they found included teeth, which are taller than their ancestors' and with crowns worn flatter—more signs the horses had adapted to a grazing life. Analyses of the isotopic composition of the enamel confirmed that E. woldegabrieli subsisted on grass. "Grasses are like sandpaper," Simpson said. "They wear the teeth down and leave a characteristic signature of pits and scratches on the teeth so we can reliably reconstruct their ancient diets." Horse expert Raymond L. Bernor, from the Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology at the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington D.C., led the fossil analysis. The bones, which remain at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, showed this was a significantly different animal than the horses more than 5 million years old, and those 3.5 million years old and younger. Members of the youngest group are taller and have longer noses, further adaptations to the open grasslands, the researchers say. Members of the two paleontological projects decided to name the species in honor of WoldeGabriel, a geologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. They want to recognize the high professional regard he's earned from peers and his many contributions in unraveling the geological complexities of the deposits in the Ethiopian Rift system where fossils of some of our oldest human ancestors have been found WoldeGabriel, who was not involved in the analysis of the fossil horse, is the project geologist for the Middle Awash project in Ethiopia. "Giday oversees the sedimentology, geochronology and volcanology and how the Middle Awash Valley in the Afar rift is changing shape," Simpson said. He praised WoldeGabriel as a top scientist who helps fellow researchers navigate the rugged region and government offices. "And he leads by example, in terms of working hard," Simpson continued. "He's not afraid of a very long walk in the heat, carrying a 5-pound hammer to collect samples." Simpson is the project paleontologist for the Gona Project led by Sileshi Semaw. Henry Gilbert, of the Department of Anthoropolgy at California State University, East Bay; Gina M. Semprebon, a Bay Path College biology professor; and Semaw, now a research associate at Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Spain; are co-authors of the study. The team continues to analyze fossil remains they collected at this and nearby sites. Contacts and sources: Kevin Mayhood Case Western Reserve University. Source: Article
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Rare Colorful Birds Around the World

The Guinea Turaco (Tauraco persa), also known as the Green Turaco, is a species of turaco, a group of near-passerines birds. It is found in forests of West and Central Africa, ranging from Senegal east to DR Congo and south to northern Angola. It lays two eggs in a tree platform nest. It formerly included the Livingstone's, Schalow's, Knysna, Black-billed and Fischer's Turacos as subspecies. persa buffoni is the only subspecies of the Guinea Turaco without a white line below the eye The Guinea Turaco, often inconspicuous in the treetops, is approximately 43 cm long, including a long tail. The plumage is largely green and the tail and wings are dark purplish, except for the crimson primary feathers that are very distinct in flight. In the westernmost subspecies buffoni, which sometimes is known as the Buffon's Turaco, there is a white line above and in front of the eye and a black line below the eye. In the nominate subspecies of the central part of its range and zenkeri of the southeastern part there also is a second white line below the black line. Unlike similar turacos with red bills, even adult Guinea Turacos lack a white rear edge to the crest. This species is a common in climax forest with plentiful tall trees. It feeds on fruit and blossoms. Source: Article
The Wilson's Bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus respublica, is a small, up to 21 cm long, passerine bird of the Paradisaeidae family. The male is a red and black bird-of-paradise, with a yellow mantle on its neck, light green mouth, rich blue feet and two curved violet tail feathers. The head is naked blue, with black double cross pattern on it. The female is a brownish bird with bare blue crown. In the field, the blue bare skin on the crown of the bird's head is so vivid that it is clearly visible by night; the deep scarlet back and velvet green breast are lush, the curlicue tail gleaming bright silver. An Indonesian endemic, the Wilson's Bird-of-paradise is distributed to the hill and lowland rainforests of Waigeo and Batanta Islands off West Papua. The diet consists mainly of fruits and small insects. The controversial scientific name of this species was given by Charles Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's nephew and a republican idealist, who described the bird from a badly damaged trade specimen purchased by British ornithologist Edward Wilson. In doing so, he beat John Cassin, who wanted to name the bird in honor of Wilson, by several months. Thirteen years later, in 1863, the German zoologist[term zoo studies] Heinrich Agathon Bernsteindiscovered the home grounds of the Wilson's Bird-of-paradise in Waigeo Island.  Due to ongoing habitat loss, limited range and exploitation, the Wilson's Bird-of-paradise is evaluated as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix II of CITES. The first footage of the Wilson's Bird-of-paradise ever to be filmed was recorded in 1996 by David Attenborough for the BBC documentary Attenborough in Paradise. He did so by dropping leaves on the forest floor, which irritated the bird into clearing them away. Source: Article
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The Red-bellied Pitta (Erythropitta erythrogaster) is a species of bird in the Pittidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Source: Article
The European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It breeds in southern Europe and in parts of north Africa and western Asia. It is strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa, India and Sri Lanka. This species occurs as a spring overshoot north of its range, with occasional breeding in northwest Europe. This is a bird which breeds in open country in warmer climates. Just as the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and hornets which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. Before eating its meal, a European Bee-eater removes the sting by repeatedly hitting the insect on a hard surface. It eats some 250 bees daily.[citation needed] Lizards and frogs are also taken.[citation needed] The most important prey item in their diet are Hymenoptera, mostly Apis mellifera; a study in Spain found that these comprise 69.4% to 82% of the European bee-eaters' diet Their impact on bee populations however is small; they eat less than 1% of the worker bees in the area in which they live. A study found that European bee-eaters "convert food to body weight more efficiently if they are fed a mixture of bees and dragonflies than if they eat only bees or only dragonfiles. Source: Article
The Fiery-throated Hummingbird (Panterpe insignis) is a medium-sized hummingbird which breeds only in the mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama. It is the only member of the genus Panterpe. This is a common to abundant bird of montane forest canopy above 1400 m, and also occurs in scrub at the woodland edges and clearings. This bird is 11 cm long and weighs 5.7 g. It has a straight black bill and dusky feet. The adult Fiery-throated Hummingbird has shiny green body plumage, a blue tail, and a white spot behind the eye. It often looks dark, but when the light catches it at the right angle, it shows a brilliant blue crown, yellow-bordered bright orange throat, and blue chest patch. The sexes are similar, but young birds have rufous fringes to the head plumage. The call is a high-pitched twittering. The female Fiery-throated Hummingbird is entirely responsible for nest building and incubation. She lays two white eggs in a bulky plant-fibre cup nest 2–4 m high at the end of a descending bamboo stem or on a rootlet under a bank. Incubation takes 15–19 days, and fledging another 20-26. Very little color from the side. The food of this species is nectar, taken from a variety of small flowers, including epiphytic Ericaceae and bromeliads. Like other hummingbirds it also takes small insects as an essential source of protein. Male Fiery-throated Hummingbird defend flowers and scrubs in their feeding territories, and are dominant over most other hummingbirds. They will, however, allow females to share their food resources. Source
The flamebacks or goldenbacks are large woodpeckers which are resident breeders in tropical southern Asia. They derive their English names from their golden or crimson backs. However, the two flameback genera Dinopium and Chrysocolaptes are not particularly close relatives. The former are close to the enigmatic Meiglyptes and possibly Hemicircus woodpeckers, and the recently-reclassified Rufous Woodpecker (Micropternus brachyurus). Chrysocolaptes on the other hand appears to be a rather close relative of Campephilus, the genus of the famous Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Source: Article
The Golden Pheasant or "Chinese Pheasant", (Chrysolophus pictus) is a gamebird of the order Galliformes (gallinaceous birds) and the family Phasianidae. It is native to forests in mountainous areas of western China, but feral populations have been established in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In England they may be found in East Anglia in the dense forest landscape of the Breckland. The adult male is 90–105 cm in length, its tail accounting for two-thirds of the total length. It is unmistakable with its golden crest and rump and bright red body. The deep orange "cape" can be spread in display, appearing as an alternating black and orange fan that covers all of the face except its bright yellow eye with a pinpoint black pupil. Males have a golden-yellow crest with a hint of red at the tip. The face, throat, chin, and the sides of neck are rusty tan. The wattles and orbital skin are both yellow in colour, and the ruff or cape is light orange. The upper back is green and the rest of the back and rump is golden-yellow. The tertiaries are blue whereas the scapulars are dark red. Other characteristics of the male plumage are the central tail feathers, black spotted with cinnamon, as well as the tip of the tail being a cinnamon buff. The upper tail coverts are the same colour as the central tail feathers. The male also has a scarlet breast, and scarlet and light chestnut flanks and underparts. Lower legs and feet are a dull yellow. The female (hen) is much less showy, with a duller mottled brown plumage similar to that of the female Common Pheasant. She is darker and more slender than the hen of that species, with a proportionately longer tail (half her 60–80 cm length). The female's breast and sides are barred buff and blackish brown, and the abdomen is plain buff. She has a buff face and throat. Some abnormal females may later in their lifetime get some male plumage. Lower legs and feet are a dull yellow. Both males and females have yellow legs and yellow bills. Despite the male's showy appearance, these hardy birds are very difficult to see in their natural habitat, which is dense, dark young conifer forests with sparse undergrowth. Consequently, little is known about their behaviour in the wild. They feed on the ground on grain, leaves and invertebrates, but they roost in trees at night. While they can fly, they prefer to run. If startled, they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed and with a distinctive wing sound. Although they can fly in short bursts, they are quite clumsy in flight and spend most of their time on the ground. Golden Pheasants lay 8-12 eggs at a time and will then incubate these for around 22–23 days. They tend to eat berries, grubs, seeds and other types of vegetation. The male has a metallic call in the breeding season. The Golden Pheasant is commonly found in zoos and aviaries, but often as impure specimens that have the similar Lady Amherst's Pheasant in their lineage. There are also different mutations of the Golden Pheasant known from birds in captivity, including the Dark-throated, Yellow, Cinnamon, Salmon, Peach, Splash, Mahogony and Silver. In aviculture, the wild type is referred to as "Red Golden" to differentiate it from these mutations. Source: Article1, Article2
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Scientists Announce Top 10 New Species

Credit: Composite: Jacob Sahertian
An amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge and the smallest vertebrate on Earth are just three of the newly discovered top 10 species selected by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. A global committee of taxonomists — scientists responsible for species exploration and classification — announced its list of top 10 species from 2012 today, May 23. The announcement, now in its sixth year, coincides with the anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus — the 18th century Swedish botanist responsible for the modern system of scientific names and classifications. The top 10 new species list was announced May 23 by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. The 2013 list includes an amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge, and the smallest vertebrate on Earth -- a tiny frog. It also includes a snail-eating false coral snake, flowering bushes, a green lacewing, a hangingfly fossil, a monkey with a blue-colored behind and human-like eyes, a tiny violet and a black staining fungus. Also slithering it way onto this year's top 10 is a snail-eating false coral snake, as well as flowering bushes from a disappearing forest in Madagascar, a green lacewing that was discovered through social media and hangingflies that perfectly mimicked ginkgo tree leaves 165 million years ago. Rounding out the list is a new monkey with a blue-colored behind and human-like eyes, a tiny violet and a black staining fungus that threatens rare Paleolithic cave paintings in France. "We have identified only about two million of an estimated 10 to 12 million living species and that does not count most of the microbial world," said Quentin Wheeler, founding director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at ASU and author of "What on Earth? 100 of our Planet's Most Amazing New Species" (NY, Plume, 2013). "For decades, we have averaged 18,000 species discoveries per year which seemed reasonable before the biodiversity crisis. Now, knowing that millions of species may not survive the 21st century, it is time to pick up the pace," Wheeler added. "We are calling for a NASA-like mission to discover 10 million species in the next 50 years. This would lead to discovering countless options for a more sustainable future while securing evidence of the origins of the biosphere," Wheeler said. Taxon experts pick top 10: Members of the international committee made their top 10 selection from more than 140 nominated species. To be considered, species must have been described in compliance with the appropriate code of nomenclature, whether botanical, zoological or microbiological, and have been officially named during 2012.  "Selecting the final list of new species from a wide representation of life forms such as bacteria, fungi, plants and animals, is difficult. It requires finding an equilibrium between certain criteria and the special insights revealed by selection committee members," said Antonio Valdecasas, a biologist and research zoologist with Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid, Spain. Valdecasas is the international selection committee chairman for the top 10 new species. "We look for organisms with unexpected features or size and those found in rare or difficult to reach habitats. We also look for organisms that are especially significant to humans — those that play a certain role in human habitat or that are considered a close relative," Valdecasas added. This year's top 10 come from Peru; NE Pacific Ocean, USA: California; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Panama; France; New Guinea; Madagascar; Ecuador; Malaysia; and China. Top 10 New Species, 2013, "I don't know whether to be more astounded by the species discovered each year, or the depths of our ignorance about biodiversity of which we are a part," shared Wheeler. "At the same time we search the heavens for other earthlike planets, we should make it a high priority to explore the biodiversity on the most earthlike planet of them all: Earth," he added. "With more than eight out of every 10 living species awaiting discovery, I am shocked by our ignorance of our very own planet and in awe at the diversity, beauty and complexity of the biosphere and its inhabitants."
Describing the discoveries
Lilliputian Violet 
Viola lilliputana 
Country: Peru
Tiny violet: Not only is the Lilliputian violet among the smallest violets in the world, it is also one of the most diminutive terrestrial dicots. Known only from a single locality in an Intermontane Plateau of the high Andes of Peru, Viola lilliputana lives in the dry puna grassland eco-region. Specimens were first collected in the 1960s, but the species was not described as a new until 2012. The entire above ground portion of the plant is barely 1 centimeter tall. Named, obviously, for the race of little people on the island of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Lyre Sponge 
Chondrocladia lyra 
Country: NE Pacific Ocean; USA: California
Carnivorous sponge: A spectacular, large, harp- or lyre-shaped carnivorous sponge discovered in deep water (averaging 3,399 meters) from the northeast Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. The harp-shaped structures or vanes number from two to six and each has more than 20 parallel vertical branches, often capped by an expanded, balloon-like, terminal ball. This unusual form maximizes the surface area of the sponge for contact and capture of planktonic prey.
Lesula Monkey 
Cercopithecus lomamiensis 
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Old World monkey: Discovered in the Lomami Basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the lesula is an Old World monkey well known to locals but newly known to science. This is only the second species of monkey discovered in Africa in the past 28 years. Scientists first saw the monkey as a captive juvenile in 2007. Researchers describe the shy lesula as having human-like eyes. More easily heard than seen, the monkeys perform a booming dawn chorus. Adult males have a large, bare patch of skin on the buttocks, testicles and perineum that is colored a brilliant blue. Although the forests where the monkeys live are remote, the species is hunted for bush meat and its status is vulnerable.
No to the Mine! Snake 
Sibon noalamina 
Country: Panama
Snail-eating snake: A beautiful new species of snail-eating snake has been discovered in the highland rainforests of western Panama. The snake is nocturnal and hunts soft-bodied prey including earthworms and amphibian eggs, in addition to snails and slugs. This harmless snake defends itself by mimicking the alternating dark and light rings of venomous coral snakes. The species is found in the Serranía de Tabasará mountain range where ore mining is degrading and diminishing its habitat. The species name is derived from the Spanish phrase "No a la mina" or "No to the mine."
A Smudge on Paleolithic Art 
Ochroconis anomala 
Country: France
Fungus: In 2001, black stains began to appear on the walls of Lascaux Cave in France. By 2007, the stains were so prevalent they became a major concern for the conservation of precious rock art at the site that dates back to the Upper Paleolithic. An outbreak of a white fungus, Fusarium solani, had been successfully treated when just a few months later, black staining fungi appeared. The genus primarily includes fungi that occur in the soil and are associated with the decomposition of plant matter. As far as scientists know, this fungus, one of two new species of the genus from Lascaux, is harmless. However, at least one species of the group, O. gallopava, causes disease in humans who have compromised immune systems.
World's Smallest Vertebrate 
Paedophryne amanuensis 
Country: New Guinea
Tiny frog: Living vertebrates — animals that have a backbone or spinal column — range in size from this tiny new species of frog, as small as 7 millimeters, to the blue whale, measuring 25.8 meters. The new frog was discovered near Amau village in Papua, New Guinea. It captures the title of 'smallest living vertebrate' from a tiny Southeast Asian cyprinid fish that claimed the record in 2006. The adult frog size, determined by averaging the lengths of both males and females, is only 7.7 millimeters. With few exceptions, this and other ultra-small frogs are associated with moist leaf litter in tropical wet forests — suggesting a unique ecological guild that could not exist under drier circumstances.
Endangered Forest 
Eugenia petrikensis 
Country: Madagascar
Endangered shrub: Eugenia is a large, worldwide genus of woody evergreen trees and shrubs of the myrtle family that is particularly diverse in South America, New Caledonia and Madagascar. The new species E. petrikensis is a shrub growing to two meters with emerald green, slightly glossy foliage and beautiful, dense clusters of small magenta flowers. It is one of seven new species described from the littoral forest of eastern Madagascar and is considered to be an endangered species. It is the latest evidence of the unique and numerous species found in this specialized, humid forest that grows on sandy substrate within kilometers of the shoreline. Once forming a continuous band 1,600 kilometers long, the littoral forest has been reduced to isolated, vestigial fragments under pressure from human populations.
Lightning Roaches? 
Lucihormetica luckae 
Country: Ecuador
Glow-in-the-dark cockroach: Luminescence among terrestrial animals is rather rare and best known among several groups of beetles — fireflies and certain click beetles in particular — as well as cave-inhabiting fungus gnats. Since the first discovery of a luminescent cockroach in 1999, more than a dozen species have (pardon the pun) "come to light." All are rare, and interestingly, so far found only in remote areas far from light pollution. The latest addition to this growing list is L. luckae that may be endangered or possibly already extinct. This cockroach is known from a single specimen collected 70 years ago from an area heavily impacted by the eruption of the Tungurahua volcano. The species may be most remarkable because the size and placement of its lamps suggest that it is using light to mimic toxic luminescent click beetles.
No Social Butterfly 
Semachrysa jade 
Country: Malaysia
Social media lacewing: In a trend-setting collision of science and social media, Hock Ping Guek photographed a beautiful green lacewing with dark markings at the base of its wings in a park near Kuala Lumpur and shared his photo on Flickr. Shaun Winterton, an entomologist with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, serendipitously saw the image and recognized the insect as unusual. When Guek was able to collect a specimen, it was sent to Stephen Brooks at London's Natural History Museum who confirmed its new species status. The three joined forces and prepared a description using Google Docs. In this triumph for citizen science, talents from around the globe collaborated by using new media in making the discovery. The lacewing is not named for its color — rather for Winterton's daughter, Jade.
Hanging Around in the Jurassic 
Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia 
Country: China
Hangingfly fossil: Living species of hangingflies can be found, as the name suggests, hanging beneath foliage where they capture other insects as food. They are a lineage of scorpionflies characterized by their skinny bodies, two pairs of narrow wings, and long threadlike legs. A new fossil species, Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia, has been found along with preserved leaves of a gingko-like tree, Yimaia capituliformis, in Middle Jurassic deposits in the Jiulongshan Formation in China's Inner Mongolia. The two look so similar that they are easily confused in the field and represent a rare example of an insect mimicking a gymnosperm 165 million years ago, before an explosive radiation of flowering plants. Why create a top 10 new species list? Arizona State University's International Institute for Species Exploration announces the top 10 new species list each year as part of its public awareness campaign to bring attention to biodiversity and the field of taxonomy. "Sustainable biodiversity means assuring the survival of as many and as diverse species as possible so that ecosystems are resilient to whatever stresses they face in the future. Scientists will need access to as much evidence of evolutionary history as possible," said the institute's Wheeler, who is also a professor in ASU's School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and in the School of Sustainability, as well as a senior sustainability scientist with the Global Institute of Sustainability. "All of our hopes and dreams for conservation hinge upon saving millions of species that we cannot recognize and know nothing about," Wheeler added. "No investment makes more sense than completing a simple inventory to the establish baseline data that tells us what kinds of plants and animals exist and where. Until we know what species already exist, it is folly to expect we will make the right decisions to assure the best possible outcome for the pending biodiversity crisis." Additionally, the announcement is made on or near May 23 to honor Linnaeus. Since he initiated the modern system for naming plants and animals, nearly two million species have been named, described and classified. Excluding unknown millions of microbes, scientists estimate there are between 10 and 12 million living species. IISE International Selection Committee: Antonio G. Valdecasas, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Spain, Committee Chair; Andrew Polaszek, Natural History Museum, England; Ellinor Michel, Natural History Museum, England; Marcelo Rodrigues de Carvalho, Universidade de São Paulo; Aharon Oren, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Mary Liz Jameson, Wichita State University, USA; Alan Paton, Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, England; James A. Macklin, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada; John S. Noyes, Natural History Museum, England; Zhi-Qiang Zhang, Landcare Research, New Zealand; and Gideon Smith, South African National Biodiversity Institute, South Africa.  Nominations for the 2014 list — for species described in 2013 — may be made online at http://species.asu.edu/species-nomination. Previous top 10 lists are available at: http://species.asu.edu. Contacts and sources: Sandra Leander Arizona State University, Source: Nano Patents And Innovations
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