XMM-Newton spacecraft: 10 years in space
PARIS, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says it is celebrating its XMM-Newton X-ray observatory's 10th year in space.
On Dec. 10, 1999, an Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying the 33-foot-long XMM-Newton satellite. Its highly elliptical orbit now reaches a third of the way to the moon, the ESA said, and there have been more than 2,200 research papers published based on the spacecraft's observations.
The spacecraft's name stands for X-ray Multi-mirror Mission-Newton.
"XMM-Newton has excelled at studying black holes or, more accurately, their environment," the space agency said. "By identifying X-rays given off by iron atoms, it has probed the way black holes twist the fabric of space-time around themselves. It has also revealed the way in which supermassive black holes grow and drive the evolution of the most massive galaxies in the universe, and it has traced the development of the largest structures in space: galaxy clusters."
Among other findings, the observatory has discovered Mars has a vastly larger atmosphere than previously thought and that comets traveling from the outer solar system produce X-rays.
Today, the ESA says XMM-Newton remains at the forefront of astronomy, supplying data to some 2,000 astronomers around the world.
"From our cosmic backyard to the further reaches of the universe, XMM-Newton has changed the way we think of space," the ESA said.
General Mills lowers sugar in kid's cereal
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- A U.S. food advocacy group is applauding the announcement Wednesday that General Mills is planning to reduce sugar in the cereals it advertises to children.
"General Mills, which has included whole grains, is taking another important step in the right direction by pledging to cut the sugar in the cereals it advertises to children," Margo G. Wootan, nutrition policy director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington said in a statement.
"As sugary cereal is one of the top products marketed to children, we hope the company swiftly implements these changes and that Kellogg, Post Foods and other competitors quickly follow General Mills' lead.
Jeff Harmening, president of General Mills' Big G cereal, said General Mills has been reducing sugar in cereals advertised to children, while increasing key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, and providing whole grain.
"We have reached and exceeded our original goals," Harmening said in a statement. "So today we are strengthening our goal -- by publicly committing to further reduce to single-digit levels of sugar per serving every cereal advertised to children under 12."
The initiative will extend globally to 130 countries, Harmening said.
General Mills' 2005 whole grain initiative has resulted in every Big G cereal providing at least 8 grams of whole grain per serving, with many cereals providing 16 grams of whole grain or more.
Scientists create instant nanobatteries
STANFORD, Calif., Dec. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have combined ordinary paper dipped into ink infused with carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires to create an instant battery.
Stanford University post doctoral students led by Assistant Professor Yi Cui said the paper batteries are ultra-lightweight and bendable.
"Society really needs a low-cost, high-performance energy storage device, such as batteries and simple supercapacitors," Cui said.
Capacitors are similar to batteries, holding an electric charge, but for a shorter period of time. However, capacitors can store and discharge electricity much more rapidly than a battery.
"These nanomaterials are special," Cui said. "They're a one-dimensional structure with very small diameters." He said the small diameter helps the nanomaterial ink stick strongly to the fibrous paper, making the battery and supercapacitor very durable.
Cui said the paper supercapacitor may last through 40,000 charge-discharge cycles -- at least an order of magnitude more than lithium batteries. The nanomaterials also make ideal conductors because they move electricity along much more efficiently than ordinary conductors, Cui said.
He also noted the flexibility of paper allows for many clever applications. "If I want to paint my wall with a conducting energy storage device," Cui said, "I can use a brush."
Cui, Bing Hu, Liangbing Hu, JangWook Choi and Yuan Yang report their work in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Cystic fibrosis cell function improved
LA JOLLA, Calif., Dec. 9 (UPI) -- U.S scientists say they have restored partial function to lung cells from cystic fibrosis patients, possibly opening the door to a new class of therapies.
However, medical researchers led by Scripps Research Institute scientists caution much work must be done before the therapy can be tested in humans.
"We are very excited by these results," said Scripps Professor William Balch. "Because we came at the problem of restoring cell function from a new perspective -- using biology to correct biology -- these findings have the potential to be game-changing."
The study, performed in collaboration with cystic fibrosis investigators across the United States and Canada, showed a compound called suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, known as SAHA, can restore about 28 percent of normal function to lung surface cells with the most common, but most severe, cystic fibrosis mutation, researchers said. SAHA is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for lymphoma.
"The results are very promising," said Balch. "We know that cystic fibrosis individuals with 15 to 30 percent of normal cellular function, as can occur with certain mutations, have milder cases of the disease and a more normal lifestyle than patients carrying a severe mutation. The added degree of function conveyed by SAHA or a compound like SAHA could make a tremendous difference to patients with acute disease."
The study appears in the early online edition of the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
