Non-invasive first trimester blood test reliably detects Down’s Syndrome - Science Blog

New research has found that routine screening using a non-invasive test that analyzes fetal DNA in a pregnant woman’s blood can accurately detect Down’s syndrome and other genetic fetal abnormalities in the first trimester. Published early online in Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the results suggest that the test is superior to currently available screening strategies and could reshape standards in prenatal testing.

Current screening for Down’s syndrome, or trisomy 21, and other trisomy conditions includes a combined test done between the 11th and 13th weeks of pregnancy, which involves an ultrasound screen and a hormonal analysis of the pregnant woman’s blood. Only chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis can definitely detect or rule out fetal genetic abnormalities, but these are invasive to the pregnancy and carry a risk of miscarriage.

Several studies have shown that non-invasive prenatal diagnosis for trisomy syndromes using fetal cell free (cf) DNA from a pregnant woman’s blood is highly sensitive and specific, making it a potentially reliable alternative that can be done earlier in pregnancy.

An Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology study by Kypros Nicolaides, MD, of the Harris Birthright Research Centre for Fetal Medicine at King’s College London in England, and his colleagues is the first to prospectively demonstrate the feasibility of routine screening for trisomies 21, 18, and 13 by cfDNA testing. Testing done in 1005 pregnancies at 10 weeks had a lower false positive rate and higher sensitivity for fetal trisomy than the combined test done at 12 weeks. Both cfDNA and combined testing detected all trisomies, but the estimated false-positive rates were 0.1% and 3.4%, respectively.

“This study has shown that the main advantage of cfDNA testing, compared with the combined test, is the substantial reduction in false positive rate. Another major advantage of cfDNA testing is the reporting of results as very high or very low risk, which makes it easier for parents to decide in favor of or against invasive testing,” the authors wrote.

A second Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology study by the group, which included pregnancies undergoing screening at three UK hospitals between March 2006 and May 2012, found that effective first-trimester screening for Down’s syndrome could be achieved by cfDNA testing contingent on the results of the combined test done at 11 to 13 weeks. The strategy detected 98% of cases, and invasive testing was needed for confirmation in less than 0.5% of cases.

“Screening for trisomy 21 by cfDNA testing contingent on the results of an expanded combined test would retain the advantages of the current method of screening, but with a simultaneous major increase in detection rate and decrease in the rate of invasive testing,” the authors concluded.

Read more at http://scienceblog.com/63688/non-invasive-first-trimester-blood-test-reliably-detects-downs-syndrome/#sue6Xv2gvV3dsH3H.99 

The ACN Morning Report Friday March 15, 2013

Good Morning! Today is Friday March 15th, 2013. Here are today's top and most interesting headlines from ACN: 

HIV Cure Progress -- VW Shares The Wealth -- The Growing Consensus On Banks -- Nuclear Power: The Future Lies In The Past -- Bill Gates: 'Capitalism Means..." -- "47%" Bartender Speaks Out -- Cable News' Coverage Of Cuts To Poor? -- Higgs Boson Discovered -- Scientists Grow New Teeth -- Samsung's Runaway Train -- A Subway To Carry Nukes? -- Chavez's Role In New Pope -- "Spring Is Coming" Obama, Netanyahu And The Red Line -- The Carnival Dream?

MORE HIVE IS CURED: FIRST A BABY, NOW 14 ADULTS

(Image: Bruce Forster/Getty)

Two weeks after the revelation that a baby has been "cured" of HIV, reports suggest that a similar treatment can cure some adults too. Early treatment seems crucial, but does not guarantee success.

Asier Sáez-Cirión of the Pasteur Institute's unit for regulation of retroviral infections in Paris analysed 70 people with HIV who had been treated with antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) between 35 days and 10 weeks after infection – much sooner than people are normally treated.

VW SHARES MORE THAN $1.1 BILLION IN PROFITS WITH WORKERS

Reuters

Volkswagen is coughing up a massive NZ$1.1 billion in bonuses to workers after a record year.

The company sold 9.3 million vehicles, up nearly 12 per cent, in boosting revenues by more than 20 per cent to NZ$305 billion during 2012.

That pushed its pre-tax profit to an asonishing NZ$40 billion. Net profits came in at NZ$10.1 billion.

VW's success, however, doesn't just go to shareholders with the company's German workforce sharing some of the record profits.

VW says it will pay German workers a bonus of around €7200 or a little over NZ$11,000 at the current exchange rates. The bonus is being given to around 100,000 employees in Germany.

''The Volkswagen team has done an excellent job in 2012, and this team effort pays off for everyone.''

BIG BANKS HAVE A BIG PROBLEM

The largest banks in the United States face a serious political problem. There has been an outbreak of clear thinking among officials and politicians who increasingly agree that too-big-to-fail is not a good arrangement for the financial sector.

Six banks face the prospect of meaningful constraints on their size: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. They are fighting back with lobbying dollars in the usual fashion – but in the last electoral cycle they went heavily for Mitt Romney (not elected) and against Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown for the Senate (both elected), so this element of their strategy is hardly prospering

THE FUTURE OF NUCLEAR POWER RUNS ON THE WASTE OF OUR NUCLEAR PAST

Image Credit: Justin Randall

America alone produces about 2,000 metric tons of nuclear waste annually and our best solution for disposing of it: bury it deep in the Earth. However, a pair of MIT scientists believe they've found not only a better way of eliminating nuclear waste but recycling the deadly detritus into enough clean electricity to power the entire world until 2083. Win, meet win.

BILL GATES: CAPITALISM MEANS MORE BALDNESS RESEARCH GETS MORE FUNDING THAN MALARIA

Capitalism means that there is much more research into male baldness than there is into diseases such as malaria, which mostly affect poor people, said Bill Gates, speaking at the Royal Academy of Engineering's Global Grand Challenges Summit.

"Our priorities are tilted by marketplace imperatives," he said. "The malaria vaccine in humanist terms is the biggest need. But it gets virtually no funding. But if you are working on male baldness or other things you get an order of magnitude more research funding because of the voice in the marketplace than something like malaria."

WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL BARTENDER GOES PUBLIC

"You shouldn't have to be able to afford $50,000 to hear what a candidate actually thinks." -Scott Prouty, the bartender who secretly taped Mitt Romney's "47%" remarks, on why he felt obligated to come forward.

The most influential bartender in history came forward Wednesday night to reveal himself as Scott Prouty, the source behind Mitt Romney’s infamous “47%” video. His answer to why he felt obligated to publish the video was one of the best of the interview.

CABLE NEWS COVERS CUTS TO WHITE HOUSE TOURS, IGNORES CUTS TO PROGRAMS FOR THE POOR

Thanks to Congressional gridlock, automatic budget cuts took effect 14 days ago, threatening 700,000 jobs and gutting fundsfor vital programs in housing assistance, early childhood education, disaster relief, and national security. Secret Service staffing was also impacted, prompting the cancellation of White House tours last week. Republicans immediately attacked the decision as a political move designed to turn the public against the sequester and 14 Republican senators signed a letter demanding information.

The media has also latched on to preserve the White House tours, while largely ignoring other much more devastating sequester cuts. As Ari Melber of The Nation pointed out on Wednesday, there are 12,000 news stories concerning White House tours and less than 1,000 about the sequester’s impact on housing assistance programs, which disproportionately affect low-income Americans.

EVIDENCE THAT PARTICLE DISCOVERED AT CERN IS HIGGS BOSON

Geneva, 14 March 2013. At the Moriond Conference today, the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) presented preliminary new results that further elucidate the particle discovered last year. Having analysed two and a half times more data than was available for the discovery announcement in July, they find that the new particle is looking more and more like a Higgs boson, the particle linked to the mechanism that gives mass to elementary particles. It remains an open question, however, whether this is the Higgs boson of the Standard Model of particle physics, or possibly the lightest of several bosons predicted in some theories that go beyond the Standard Model. Finding the answer to this question will take time.

Whether or not it is a Higgs boson is demonstrated by how it interacts with other particles, and its quantum properties. For example, a Higgs boson is postulated to have no spin, and in the Standard Model its parity – a measure of how its mirror image behaves – should be positive. CMS and ATLAS have compared a number of options for the spin-parity of this particle, and these all prefer no spin and positive parity. This, coupled with the measured interactions of the new particle with other particles, strongly indicates that it is a Higgs boson.

TESTING OUT NEW TEETH

Cells taken from adult human gums can be combined with cells from the molars of fetal mice to form teeth with viable roots, according to research published this week in the Journal of Dental Research. The method remains a long way from clinical use, but the findings represent a step toward the goal of growing bioengineered replacements for lost teeth.

Teeth develop when embryonic epithelial cells in the mouth combine with mesenchymal cells derived from the neural crest. Previous studies have shown that these cells can be combined in the lab to formal normal teeth, but the challenge was to find non-embryonic source of the cells that could be used in the clinic.

SAMSUNG HAS AN UNSTOPPABLE HIT IN S4

No, it's not too early to declare the Galaxy S4 a roaring success.

So what if the latest flagship smartphone from Samsung Electronics won't be out for another month (at least)? Or that Samsung hasn't yet released any pricing information? Or that all of its key features had already been leaked in advance? Or that it's not even that different from theGalaxy S3?

The fact is, Samsung will sell boatloads of this phone, and the foundation for its success was laid down awhile ago.

As I explained earlier, Samsung has been relentless when it came to marketing the Galaxy S franchise and building out its brand, which broke out with the Galaxy S2 and truly hit mainstream awareness with the Galaxy S3.

THAT'S NO TRAIN! AIRFORCE EYES SUBWAY FOR NUCLEAR MISSILES

The Air Force wants to upgrade its aging nuclear missiles and the hundreds of underground silos that hold them. One idea it’s exploring: the construction of a sprawling network of underground subway tunnels to shuttle the missiles around like a mobile doomsday train. As one does.

As first reported by Inside Defense, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center will award several study contracts next month worth up to $3 million each to research the idea. A broad agency announcementfrom the Air Force describes the hair-raising concept, intended to keep the weapons secure through 2075, as a system of tunnels where nuclear missiles are shuttled around on rails or some undefined “trackless” system.

The advantage of the world’s deadliest subway: During an atomic holocaust, mobile missiles are harder for an adversary to target than a static silo. Missiles could be positioned at launch holes placed at “regular intervals” along the length of the tunnels.

DID VENEZUELA'S CHAVEZ NUDGE CHRIST IN PICK OF SOUTH AMERICAN POPE

(Reuters) - Late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez's influence may have stretched into the afterlife and had a hand in Christ's decision to opt for a Latin American Pope, acting President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday.

"We know that our commander ascended to the heights and is face-to-face with Christ," Maduro said at a Caracas book fair. "Something influenced the choice of a South American pope, someone new arrived at Christ's side and said to him: 'Well, it seems to us South America's time has come.'"

Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday, the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years.

OBAMA WON'T TRIP OVER NETANYAHU'S IRAN "RED LINE"

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama visits Israel next week at the onset of spring - the "red line" previously drawn by his host, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to trigger an attack on Iran's nuclear sites.

But an Israeli-Iranian war, Washington's nightmare as it tries to scale back defense commitments abroad and avoid a draining Gulf oil crisis, does not appear trip-wire imminent.

Officials and analysts say Iran has warded off the Israeli threat by calibrating its mid-level uranium enrichment so that it does not accrue enough fuel for a potential first bomb - the threshold Netanyahu warned about in a United Nations speech in September.

CARNIVAL CRUISE HAS PROBLEMS....AGAIN

(CNN) -- Another Carnival cruise ship is having problems. This time the Carnival Legend is having technical difficulties that are affecting its sailing speed, the travel company said Thursday.

The Legend is on the last leg of a seven-day Caribbean cruise that departed Tampa on Sunday, March 10, according to a statement from the cruise company.

The news comes after the Carnival Dream became a nightmare for some passengers Wednesday when power went off, some toilets stopped working and no one was allowed to get off the vessel -- despite the fact that the ship was docked at Philipsburg, St. Maarten, in the eastern Caribbean.

Opinion: Why Is The Pope Checking Out So Soon?

There has been much speculation around Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation. For a week now, rumors have swirled on the internet that the Pope is retiring within the Vatican City to avoid arrest in some kind of lawsuit. Then, Thursday, the Italian daily newspaper La Repubblica reported that the Pope decided to resign Dec. 17, the day he received the findings of a probe into the “Vatileaks” affair, including allegations of a network of gay priests and the blackmailers they’d attracted.

Meanwhile, it was disclosed that Pope Benedict has undergone heart surgery, providing a reasonable explanation for leaving any job – except the one of being God’s chosen representative on Earth.

Reuters

The Pope cited his “incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me” in “today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes.” This was the same week the producers of Maker’s Mark announced they were lowering the alcohol content of their bourbon: Here was the leader of the Catholic church bemoaning his inability to adapt to a changing world. Has everyone forgotten their brand? Since when did the Catholic church agonize over its inability to respond to change? Not responding to change is what the church does best.

But then, on the heels of the Pope’s announcement another story broke, almost as though he’d sought to get in front of it – a story I like to believe is more likely to explain his hasty retirement: A team of Japanese scientists has announced the discovery of a sea slug that has a disposable penis.

Sea slugs are hermaphrodites. As human knowledge grows, God’s occasional whimsicality with sex organs is something the church has had to confront. An animal with both sets raises questions for a church so particular about gender roles. And given that Pope Benedict XVI’s predecessor, John Paul II, took the position that animals have souls, the soul of a sea slug in a body possessed of two sets of sex organs might have been a worry to the pontiff.

Sea slugs mate with both sets of sex organs, concurrently. I imagine (reminding you that sin lies not in the desire, but only in acting upon that desire) that double-sex must be a pretty tempting proposition, one that could lead many a sea slug astray. Twice. And at the same time. Sea-slug Craigslist postings must be novella length. Questions abound: Does the involvement of four sex organs automatically make the most mundane Monday-night, post-“let’s-see-what’s-on-Netflix” sea-slug encounter an orgy?

I’m guessing that the church would sanction that, provided the sea slugs really concentrated on what went where, with no funny stuff – but remember, sea slugs live underwater, and are at the mercy of the currents. Two pious sea slugs could be lining up their organs just fine, by the book, and then suddenly a large tuna, say, could swim over them. The poor little things could get flipped around in the act of procreation and suddenly they’d be having a big, gay, tuna-induced orgy. One wave and the purest of sea-slug couples attempting to form a blessed union might inadvertently find him/herself and him/herself in an aquatic version of Satyricon.

I’d like to believe that while these things weighed heavily on him, like other popes before him, the Pope grappled with their theological implications, as was his lot, until news came of a sea slug that, post-coitus, drags his/her penis alongside him/herself for 20 minutes before casually discarding it and then growing anoth er one within 24 hours – and that proved too much. Consider the moral issues a detachable penis raises: If one of God’s creatures uses a different penis every time he has sex, is he a virgin each time? Would any sea slug drawn into the service of the Lord have to stop being a priest for the 24 hours she didn’t have a penis?

All of this would be enough to throw any pontiff into spiritual crisis, but, what’s more, the sea-slug penis in question appears to be covered with tiny spines that scrape out any competing sperm inside the vagina-like organ of his/her partner as he himself attempts fertilization. Thus, he disposes of his rival’s seed when he ditches his used penis. We’re confronted with a removable penis that is also an effective, though selective, form of birth control. What Pope wouldn’t feel overwhelmed?

Word has it that Benedict will issue a decree speeding up the process of appointing his replacement. While the pontiff is fatigued, he recognizes that there must be guidance – during this, the age of the disposable penis.

The Morning Report -- Wednesday February 13, 2013

Obama Lays Out Vision -- Pope To Appear -- Dorner Manhunt Results In Standoff -- Senate Panel Approves Hagel -- Shooting Suspects Come Clean -- Senate Reauthorizes VAWA -- Asteroid To Miss Earth

OBAMA URGES ACTION ON EXPANSIVE AGENDA

Getty Images

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama outlined an ambitious agenda in his State of the Union address Tuesday that included raising the minimum wage, increasing spending on infrastructure, attacking climate change and passing gun-control legislation.

Mr. Obama repeated his earlier calls for reducing the budget deficit through a mix of tax increases and spending cuts. He also said he would support "modest reforms" in programs including Medicare, as long as wealthy Americans contribute as well. And he said he would reduce troop levels in Afghanistan by half over the next year, an acceleration of the U.S. departure and an effort to wind down America's longest war.

POPE TO APPEAR FOR FIRST TIME SINCE BOMBSHELL ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESIGNATION

Getty Images

VATICAN CITY –  Pope Benedict XVI is making his first public appearance since his bombshell announcement of his resignation, presiding over his weekly general audience and Ash Wednesday services.

Thousands of people are expected to fill the Vatican audience hall on Wednesday morning for the audience, which will be his second to last public audience before stepping down Feb. 28.

EX-LAPD OFFICER BELIEVED TO BE DEAD

KABC-TV PHOTO

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) — The manhunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a killing spree converged Tuesday on a mountain cabin where authorities believe he barricaded himself inside, engaged in a shootout that killed a deputy and then never emerged as the home went up in flames.

A single gunshot was heard from within, and a law enforcement official told The Associated Press Tuesday evening that officials had found a charred body. Later, San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said that the remains had been found inside the burned-out cabin.

SENATE PANEL APPROVES HAGEL NOMINATION

WASHINGTON — After a combative two-hour debate, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel as defense secretary Tuesday, sending it to the full Senate.

But the 14-11 vote, which broke down along partisan lines, was just the beginning of a process this week that seemed certain to further expose a deep rift between Republicans and Democrats over President Barack Obama's foreign policy prerogatives.

At times, the hearing slipped into an accusatory and bitter back-and-forth, with Republicans such as Ted Cruz of Texas going as far as to suggest that Hagel had accepted money from enemy nations such as North Korea, while Democrats like Bill Nelson of Florida said Republicans had undermined the integrity of both Hagel and the committee.

CHICAGO SUSPECTS IN MURDER CONFESS TO SLAYING TEEN

Chicago Police Department

The two men charged in the January shooting death of Chicago teenager Hadiya Pendleton were gang members who were looking for revenge when they opened fire on the 15-year-old and a group of her friends in a South Side park, according to a statement one of them has given to Chicago police.

Michael Ward, 18 and Kenneth Williams, 20 were both charged with first degree murder Monday in the Jan. 29 homicide, which took the life of the honors student who had just days before performed as a majorette in the presidential inauguration parade with her school. Additional charges include attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. At a Tuesday hearing, both were ordered held without bail.

SENATE VOTES TO REAUTHORIZE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

Associated Press

The Senate has agreed to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, showing bipartisan support for a measure that would revamp domestic violence programs and extend the law’s protections to gays and lesbians and women on tribal reservations.

The 78-to-22 vote puts pressure on the GOP-held House to also act to renew the 19-year-old measure, which Congress has twice reauthorized but which lapsed in 2011 amid partisan disputes over key provisions.

ASTEROID TO MISS EARTH BY "15 MINUTES"

This coming Friday, Feb. 15, asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass within 17,200 miles—or 15 minutes—of Earth, according to scientist Bill Nye.

While the asteroid, which Nye said is comparable in size to the one responsible for the 1908 Tunguska event, is expected to pass harmlessly by, Nye said it is a very close shave relatively speaking.

"This one will miss us by about 15 minutes," Nye explained. "Fifteen minutes difference and that's it."

If it were not for those 15 minutes, life for millions of people could end.

"If such a meteor were to hit Atlanta or New York City or Boston, that would be it for those municipalities," Nye said.

As much as 1,200 square miles would be destroyed, Nye added.

According to Nye, there are approximately 100,000 "Earth-crossing" asteroids and, for the first time in human history, the possibility exists that something could be done should one threaten Earth.

"It is something that we as humans all over the world ought to get involved in," he said.

Old drug may point the way to new treatments for diabetes and obesity

ANN ARBOR—Researchers at the University of Michigan's Life Sciences Institute have found that amlexanox, an off-patent drug currently prescribed for the treatment of asthma and other uses, also reverses obesity, diabetes and fatty liver in mice.

The findings from the lab of Alan Saltiel, the Mary Sue Coleman director of the Life Sciences Institute, are scheduled to be published online Feb. 10 in the journal Nature Medicine.

"One of the reasons that diets are so ineffective in producing weight loss for some people is that their bodies adjust to the reduced calories by also reducing their metabolism, so that they are 'defending' their body weight," Saltiel said. "Amlexanox seems to tweak the metabolic response to excessive calorie storage in mice."

Different formulations of amlexanox are currently prescribed to treat asthma in Japan and canker sores in the United States. Saltiel is teaming up with clinical-trial specialists at U-M to test whether amlexanox will be useful for treating obesity and diabetes in humans. He is also working with medicinal chemists at U-M to develop a new compound based on the drug that optimizes its formula.

The study appears to confirm and extend the notion that the genes IKKE and TBK1 play a crucial role for maintaining metabolic balance, a discovery published by the Saltiel lab in 2009 in the journal Cell.

Alan Saltiel, director of the University of Michigan's Life Sciences Institute. Image credit: Scott Soderberg, Michigan Photography."Amlexanox appears to work in mice by inhibiting two genes—IKKE and TBK1—that we think together act as a sort of brake on metabolism," Saltiel said. "By releasing the brake, amlexanox seems to free the metabolic system to burn more, and possibly store less, energy."

Using high-throughput chemical screening at LSI's Center for Chemical Genomics to search for compounds that inhibit IKKE and TBK1, the researchers hit upon an approved off-patent drug: amlexanox. They then demonstrated that amlexanox had profound beneficial effects in both genetic and dietary-induced obese mice. The chemical lowered the weight of obese mice and reversed related metabolic problems such as diabetes and fatty liver.

"These studies tell us that, at least in mice, the IKKE/TBK1 pathway plays an important role in defending body weight by increasing storage and decreasing burning of calories, and that by inhibiting that pathway with a compound, we can increase metabolism and induce weight loss, reverse diabetes and reduce fatty liver," Saltiel said.

The drug has been on the market in Japan for more than 25 years.

However, the researchers don't yet know if humans respond with the same pathway, or if the discovery of amlexanox's effectiveness in mice can lead to a compound that is safe and effective for treating obesity and diabetes in humans.

"We will be working hard on that," Saltiel said.

Saltiel's search for a drug targeting the IKKE/TBK1 pathway was supported by the Life Science Institute's Innovation Partnership, which provides philanthropic funding and business mentorship to help move promising research toward commercialization.

The research was also supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center, the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, and the Nathan Shock Center in the Basic Biology of Aging.

Additional authors were Shannon M. Reilly, Shian-Huey Chiang, Stuart J. Decker, Louise Chang, Martha J. Larsen, John R. Rubin, Nicole M. White and Irit Hochberg from the Life Sciences Institute; Maeran Uhm and Jonathan Mowers from the Life Sciences Institute and Departments of Internal Medicine and Molecular and Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan; Michael Downes, Ruth Yu and Ronald M. Evans from the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences; Christopher Liddle from the Storr Liver Unit, Westmead Millennium Institute and University of Sydney, Australia; and Dayoung Oh, Pingping Li, and Jerrold M. Olefsky from the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego.

Saltiel is the Mary Sue Coleman director of the Life Sciences Institute, where his laboratory is located and all his research is conducted. He is also the John Jacob Abel Collegiate Professor in the Life Sciences and a professor of internal medicine and molecular and integrative physiology at University of Michigan Medical School.

NASA Curiosity Rover Collects First Martian Bedrock Sample

NASA

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Curiosity rover has, for the first time, used a drill carried at the end of its robotic arm to bore into a flat, veiny rock on Mars and collect a sample from its interior. This is the first time any robot has drilled into a rock to collect a sample on Mars.

The fresh hole, about 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) wide and 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) deep in a patch of fine-grained sedimentary bedrock, can be seen in images and other data Curiosity beamed to Earth Saturday. The rock is believed to hold evidence about long-gone wet environments. In pursuit of that evidence, the rover will use its laboratory instruments to analyze rock powder collected by the drill.

"The most advanced planetary robot ever designed is now a fully operating analytical laboratory on Mars," said John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator for the agency's Science Mission Directorate. "This is the biggest milestone accomplishment for the Curiosity team since the sky-crane landing last August, another proud day for America."

For the next several days, ground controllers will command the rover's arm to carry out a series of steps to process the sample, ultimately delivering portions to the instruments inside.

"We commanded the first full-depth drilling, and we believe we have collected sufficient material from the rock to meet our objectives of hardware cleaning and sample drop-off," said Avi Okon, drill cognizant engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Rock powder generated during drilling travels up flutes on the bit. The bit assembly has chambers to hold the powder until it can be transferred to the sample-handling mechanisms of the rover's Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) device.

Before the rock powder is analyzed, some will be used to scour traces of material that may have been deposited onto the hardware while the rover was still on Earth, despite thorough cleaning before launch.

"We'll take the powder we acquired and swish it around to scrub the internal surfaces of the drill bit assembly," said JPL's Scott McCloskey, drill systems engineer. "Then we'll use the arm to transfer the powder out of the drill into the scoop, which will be our first chance to see the acquired sample."

"Building a tool to interact forcefully with unpredictable rocks on Mars required an ambitious development and testing program," said JPL's Louise Jandura, chief engineer for Curiosity's sample system. "To get to the point of making this hole in a rock on Mars, we made eight drills and bored more than 1,200 holes in 20 types of rock on Earth."

Inside the sample-handling device, the powder will be vibrated once or twice over a sieve that screens out any particles larger than six-thousandths of an inch (150 microns) across. Small portions of the sieved sample will fall through ports on the rover deck into the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument and the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument. These instruments then will begin the much-anticipated detailed analysis.

The rock Curiosity drilled is called "John Klein" in memory of a Mars Science Laboratory deputy project manager who died in 2011. Drilling for a sample is the last new activity for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project, which is using the car-size Curiosity rover to investigate whether an area within Mars' Gale Crater has ever offered an environment favorable for life.

JPL manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For images and more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

You can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity andhttp://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

Life On Mars? Maybe. Robots On Mars? Yep.

From the Huffington Post: There's another weird thing on Mars, and Nasa really doesn't know what it is this time.

You may remember the $2.5 billion Curiosity rover currently drilling rocks on the Red Planet already found strange shiny things and what was labelled a 'Martian Flower'.

But if anything, this is even weirder.

An image posted by Nasa on 30 January and taken with the right Mastcam on Curiosity shows what appears to be a 0.5cm metal spoke protruding out of a rock.

The strange sight - which looks a bit like a robotic arm - was noticed by imaging editor Elisabetta Bonora from Italy.

Whatever it is looks shiny, casts a shadow on the rock below and looks different to the rock it emerges from.

Universe Today speculates that it might be a different type of rock more resistant to erosion. Gizmodo instead wonders aloud whether it's evidence of an alien death ship.

What do you think? Are you convinced this is proof of intelligent life on Mars, or just another boring thing in the dirt? (Which, by the way, isn't red.)

Livestock falling ill in fracking regions, raising concerns about food

In the midst of the US domestic energy boom, livestock on farms near oil-and-gas drilling operations nationwide have been quietly falling sick and dying. Elizabeth Royte reports

While scientists have yet to isolate cause and effect, many suspect chemicals used in drilling and hydrofracking (or “fracking”) operations are poisoning animals through the air, water, or soil.

Last year, Michelle Bamberger, an Ithaca, New York, veterinarian, and Robert Oswald, a professor of molecular medicine at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, published the first and only peer-reviewed report to suggest a link between fracking and illness in food animals.

The authors compiled 24 case studies of farmers in six shale-gas states whose livestock experienced neurological, reproductive, and acute gastrointestinal problems after being exposed—either accidentally or incidentally—to fracking chemicals in the water or air. The article, published in New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, describes how scores of animals died over the course of several years.

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1784382/livestock_falling_ill_in_fracking_regions_raising_concerns_about_food.html

The Morning Report -- Sunday February 3 2013

Italian Doctor Has Heart Attack...Mid Surgery -- Fee's For Using Less Gas? -- New Iran/United States Talks -- North Korea Issues Guidelines -- Ex Navy Seal, Author Fatally Shot -- HS Coach Shoots Armed Attackers

DOCTOR IN MID SURGERY HEART SCARE

An Italian surgeon is recovering after completing a brain operation despite suffering an angina attack during the procedure, media reports say.

Claudio Vitale, 59, insisted on finishing the surgery in Naples before undergoing his own procedure to clear an artery, Ansa news agency said.

Mr Vitale refused to abandon the operation to remove a tumour, even though he needed emergency treatment.

HYBRID CAR OWNERS CONTEST FEES

WTOP

RICHMOND, Va. - Hybrid and electric car owners circled the Virginia Capitol to protest a $100 yearly fee that would be placed on their vehicles if Gov. Bob McDonnell's transportation plan passes.

On Thursday, a Senate committee reviewed the $3.1 billion transportation package that would eliminate the state's gas tax and impose the $100 fee.

McDonnell called the fee on alternative fuel vehicles a substitute for losses in the federal gas tax when he appeared on WTOP's "Ask the Governor" show this week.

"It's meant to compensate for the federal gas tax that those vehicles do not pay," he said.

IRAN POSITIVE BUT NONCOMMITTAL ON TALKS WITH US

MUNICH (AP) — Iran's foreign minister is welcoming the United States' willingness to hold direct talks with Tehran in the standoff over its nuclear program but isn't committing to accepting the offer.

Vice President Joe Biden told a security conference Saturday the U.S. is prepared to talk directly with Iran but insisted Tehran must show it is serious.

Iran's Ali Akbar Salehi told the same conference Sunday that Iran views recent U.S. statements "with positive consideration."

NORTH KOREA'S KIM ISSUES 'IMPORTANT' GUIDELINES ON HOW TO BOLSTER THE ARMY AND PROTECT SOVEREIGNTY 

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SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued “important” guidelines on how to bolster the army and protect the nation’s sovereignty at a high-level ruling Workers’ Party meeting, state media said Sunday, an indication that Pyongyang may be ready to conduct an atomic test anytime.

North Korea said last month that it would conduct its third nuclear test to protest international sanctions toughened over its long-range rocket launch in December. The U.S., South Korea and other countries have urged the North to scrap its nuclear test plans or face grave consequences.

EX-SEAL/AUTHOR FATALLY SHOT ON GUN RANGE

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GLEN ROSE, Texas (AP) — Former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle was fatally shot along with another man Saturday on a Texas gun range, a sheriff told local newspapers.

Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant said Kyle, 38, and a second man were found dead at Rough Creek Lodge's shooting range west of Glen Rose, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Stephenville Empire-Tribune. Glen Rose is about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

Bryant did not immediately return phone calls to The Associated Press seeking comment late Saturday and early Sunday. A woman who answered the phone at the lodge where the shooting occurred declined comment and referred calls to the sheriff's office.

ARMED DETROIT HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL COACH SHOOTS ATTACKERS

The 70-year-old girls' basketball coach of a Detroit high school shot two teenage attackers who tried to rob him as he was escorting two players to their cars, police said.

The coach was allegedly approached by two men who brandished a gun at him as he was walking two players to their cars near Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School Friday night, ABC's Detroit affiliate WXYZ-TV reported.

One of the attackers died from the shooting, while the other was rushed to the hospital, WXYZ reported.The coach, who police said has a concealed pistol license and is reportedly a reserve police officer, then pulled out his gun and shot at his attackers.

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