Neat News - Neat things do happen

In an attempt to develop drugs which are effective against antibiotic resistant bacteria, more than 300 variations of an existing antibiotic have been created from scratch.

The boolean Pythagorean Triples problem is to answer the question whether it is possible to colour the natural numbers by two colours so that never all three numbers in a triple (a,b,c) with a² + b² = c² have the same colour. The problem has now been solved with the help of computers in a proof that originally was two hundred terabytes big, the largest proof ever generated. The Nature article states that its size corresponds roughly to all the digitized text held by the US Library of Congress.

The European Extremely Large Telescope to built until 2024 in Chile will be the largest ever built optical telescope with a diameter of the primary mirror of nearly 40 metres. It will be used also to observe planets outside our solar system.

Dr Henry Heimlich - the inventor of the Heimlich manoeuvre by which many people have been saved from choking since 1974 - is now 96 years old. For the first time he used now the manouvre himself in an emergency, namely to save an 87 year old woman's life.

The development of cells in a multicellular system can now be traced by genome editing via progressivly introducing and accumulating mutations. This way it is possible to trace the history of every cell in the organism.

Stone rings have been found in the Bruniquel Cave in South-West France. They are an estimated 175,000 years old and supposed to be made by Neanderthals, an early sign of their skills.

The extinction of dinosaurs is thought to be due to a big asteroid that hit the earth some 66 million years ago. In a drilling now rocks have been found about 1300 metres below the sea in the Gulf of Mexico which are consistent with this theory.

A big insurer, Axa, has decided to withdraw investments in the tobacco industry. The shares and bonds are worth around € 1.7 billion.

250 million years ago there was a mass extinction. Fossils now newly classified show how life in the oceans recovered by rapid evolution.

Scientists have managed to clone the zika virus. This is considered as a first step in the development of a vaccination against the virus which can seriously harm unborn babies.

At the German Aerospace Center (DLR) different techniques are investigated how to use solar energy after the sun sets. Traditional batteries do not have enough cost effecient capacity. One approach is to store the energy in thermal form, e.g., in form of molten salt.

In a new study it has been found out that taking immediately some aspirin after a minor stroke is more effective in preventing a major stroke than previously thought.

Brain scans reveal which parts of the brain are active in solving particular tasks. This has led to a better understanding how the brain solves the problem of finding good routes in an underground network by breaking down the task into a hierarchy of subtasks.

Scientists have found in some fossils that bigger life forms of a size in the range of centimetres are older than expected. The fossils are more than one and a half billion years old.

It may be possible to extract a substance from magic mushrooms that can be used in the treatment of depression that is untreatable at the moment. The study is very small and further research is needed.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is optimistic that by a recent vaccination programme, polio can be eradicated in Pakistan, which is together with Afghanistan one of the few countries where there are still cases of polio, bringing the global end of polio a step closer.

Nutritionist Monica Reinagel discusses whether raw white button mushrooms are safe to eat. They contain some toxin - that is destroyed by cooking - in low concentration which may cause cancer. The conclusion is that the concentration is quite low and that the mushrooms also contain good chemicals so that on balance eating them raw is not a problem.

Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is very difficult to treat and the therapy used to take up to two years. With a new drug regime it is aimed to be reduced to a period of nine months. This may mean a higher success rate, lower cost, and reduced side effects.

The Rapid Eye Movement phase (REM phase) is important for the generation of new memories in mice (and other animals). This has been found out by disrupting the REM phase.

Another 100 Earth-sized planets have been discovered recently by the Kepler telescope of NASA. Nine of these planets may have conditions which allow life on them.

Archaeologists have classified a piece of basalt from north-western Australia as the oldest known axe with handle.

According to a report by Royal Botanical Gardens Kew more than 390,000 plants species are known, 2000 new ones were discovered in 2015.

The preservation of wildlife is one of Greenpeace's goals. They have collected some pictures and films from the BBC about British wildlife.

Conservationists ask tourists to report supicious items by a newly developed app in order to curb illegal wildlife trade.

Different forms of bacteria, viruses, and fungi live on human skin. However, except for special circumstances, they are harmless and their numbers are stable over time. The research may lead to a better understanding what happens when the equilibrium is list.

At a time when there is the risk that bacteria become resistant against antibiotics, scientists look into traditional antimicrobial substances such as tea, honey, hops, and sponges in order to understand them better and also to develop new weapons against bacteria.

A robot has autonomously stiched together a pig's bowel. This is a significant step towards automated surgery.

A new satellite is to be built and in operation from 2021 to monitor the Earth's forests from space and use a special radar to measure their biomass.

Cancer is caused by genetic mutations and for breast cancer these mutations have now been analyzed and almost fully understood. This gives hopes for the development of new targeted drugs.

A new drug has been developed which is promising in animal experiments for certain aggressive forms of prostate cancer for which traditional drugs did not work.

Underdevelopment may lead to instability and conflict and vice versa. In order to build and sustain global peace economic development to help the world's poorest can be effective.