Fisherman's find: rare, 12-foot-long creature

Giant Oarfish was last seen 130 years ago off Swedish coast

STOCKHOLM - First he thought it was a piece of plastic floating near the shoreline. When he got closer, 73-year-old Kurt Ove Eriksson realized the 12-foot serpent-like object was a rare creature from the depths of the ocean.

Marine biologists later determined Eriksson had found a Giant Oarfish — the world's largest bony fish — last seen in Swedish waters about 130 years ago.

"It was very long and shiny," Eriksson told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "It also had whiskers, even though it looked like they had been broken off. And a strange light-pink dorsal fin."

A retired engineer and avid fisherman, Eriksson made the unusual discovery Saturday on his way to his boathouse in Bovallstrand, on Sweden's west coast.

"I've been fishing around here since 1957 and I've never seen anything like it," he said. "But I've seen enough fish to know that it was a deep-water fish."

Eriksson handed over the dead fish to The House of the Sea, an aquarium in the nearby town of Lysekil, where marine expert Roger Jansson said it's being kept pending a decision on what to do with it.

Jansson said the Giant Oarfish can grow up to 36 feet, and is believed to live in deep waters. He said the last recorded discovery in Sweden was in 1879.

Sightings of the fish are believed to have inspired tales of sea serpents.

 

Whoa! Eating tomatoes helps prevent sunburn?

Prevention magazine identifies myths and facts about skin care, treatments

With such an abundance of health-related information and oft-repeated advice out there, which tidbits are mere myths and which are actual facts? Here, Prevention magazine provides clarity about common questions related to skin and skin care.

Myth or fact? The way your skin ages is largely determined by your genetics.
MYTH. A recent study that analyzed identical twins found that your lifestyle significantly trumps your DNA when it comes to facial aging. Experts estimate that daily habits account for up to 80 percent of the changes in appearance that occur over time. The good news is that with a few precautions, like wearing an SPF 30 sunscreen every day, you can look vibrant and youthful no matter how many candles are on your birthday cake.

Myth or fact? High stress levels can cause your skin to age more quickly.
FACT. Emotional upheavals can make your skin look five years older than your chronological age. Constant anxiety increases the stress hormone cortisol, which causes inflammation that breaks down collagen. It also triggers a chain of responses that can lead to facial redness and acne flare-ups. Try to exercise and meditate a little every day, which have been shown to lower stress-hormone levels. To quell inflammation, eat antioxidant-rich foods such as berries, oranges and asparagus. 

Myth or fact? All babies are born without freckles.
FACT. Babies, of course, can be born with birthmarks and "beauty marks," but it's true that upon entering the world they have no freckles, which the skin produces (using excess pigment) in response to sun exposure. As babies get out in the sun, those with fair complexions and light eyes will be especially prone to developing freckles (and will have a higher likelihood of skin cancer and melanoma later in life). Those freckles on the redheaded kid's cheeks aren't cute — they're sun damage! And freckles probably also indicate damage to the DNA in your skin cells. Children and adults alike should have their freckles monitored regularly by a dermatologist and vigilantly use sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher.

Myth or fact? The most important time to wash your face is when you first wake up in the morning.
MYTH. The most important time to wash your face is before you head to bed. Dirt, bacteria and makeup left on overnight can irritate skin, clog pores and trigger breakouts. Remove this top layer of grime with a gentle face wash (skin should feel pleasantly tight for 10 to 15 minutes post-cleansing), which also allows anti-agers to penetrate deeper for better results. Because oil production dips with hormonal changes in your 40s, cleansing twice daily can dry out your complexion and make wrinkles look more pronounced. To refresh skin in the morning, splash with lukewarm water.

Myth or fact? Drink more water if you have dry skin.
MYTH. Unless you're severely dehydrated, the amount of water you consume has no effect on how dry your skin is. Overhydrating may even take a toll on skin by flushing electrolytes out of your bloodstream. Aim to meet the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies recommendation to consume 91 ounces of fluid a day (around 11 cups). Remember, choosing food (like fruits and veggies) with a high water content helps you meet your quota. 

Myth or fact? Your ears are still growing.
FACT. Your outer ears are. Starting at birth, the ears are, proportionally, the body's largest feature, with a Spock-like prominence. They grow rapidly until about age 10, then slow to the languid pace of about 0.22 millimeter per year, according to a study by Britain's Royal College of General Practitioners. Other studies show that the earlobe itself also lengthens throughout life (men have longer lobes than women). However, the size of the ear canal, which is formed by bone and cartilage, does not increase into old age.

Myth or fact? Eating tomatoes can help prevent sunburn.
FACT. This is true, thanks to tomatoes' high lycopene content. Volunteers in one study who consumed 5 tablespoons of tomato paste daily for three months had 25 percent more protection against sunburn. Even better, skin had more collagen, which prevents sagging. German scientists also report that higher skin levels of this antioxidant correlate to fewer fine lines and furrows. Toss some on top of some romaine lettuce for the perfect skin-health salad: six leaves of romaine lettuce provide more than 100 percent of your daily value of vitamin A, which revitalizes skin by increasing cell turnover.

Myth or fact? When it comes to beauty products, expensive brands work better than mass-market products.
MYTH. Mass lines make more money, so they can afford more research and development. Among the best: Unilever (which does Dove and Ponds), L'Oréal (Vichy and La Roche-Posay), and Johnson & Johnson (maker of Neutrogena and Aveeno, which has its own research institute). A recent study found that 80 percent of women who followed a skin care regimen with mass-market products showed fewer wrinkles and healthier skin than when they used pricier lines.

 

Poorer heavy kids may suffer more heart woes

Study suggests children in affluent areas may be fat, but not unhealthy

Overweight children from lower- and middle-income neighborhoods may fall short of their thinner peers in one measure of cardiovascular fitness — but the same may not be true of those from more affluent areas, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that among 480 children and teenagers who underwent treadmill exercise tests, those with a high body mass index tended to have a slower heart rate recovery after their workout — but only if they were from lower- or middle-income neighborhoods.

Extra pounds did not generally seem to affect heart rate recovery among kids from the highest-income areas, the study found.

Heart rate recovery refers to the amount of time it takes a person's heart rate to return to its resting rate after a bout of exercise. It is one measure of cardiovascular fitness.

It's not certain why a high BMI would affect kids' heart rate recovery differently based on income, but there are a couple potential explanations, according to lead researcher Dr. Tajinder P. Singh, of Children's Hospital Boston.

One has to do with how BMI is calculated, he told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

BMI is a measure of weight in relation to height, but it does not differentiate between weight from body fat and weight from muscle. It's possible, Singh said, that children and teens from more advantaged families were more likely than their peers to have a high BMI because of muscle mass.

Another potential explanation, Singh speculated, is that kids from affluent neighborhoods have healthier lifestyles — better diets, more opportunities for exercise — so that even if they are overweight, they may be in good health.

Whatever the reasons for the findings, Singh said they suggest that lower- to middle-income children stand to gain the most from losing excess weight.

The findings, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, are based on the records of 480 children who underwent exercise testing at Children's Hospital Boston because of symptoms such as breathlessness and heart palpitations during physical activity. The tests were done to rule out heart disease, and all of the children had normal results.

Singh's team divided the children into three groups based on the socioeconomics of their neighborhoods. In the most affluent neighborhoods, the median household income was just over $100,000, and two-thirds of residents older than 25 had a college degree. In the least advantaged neighborhoods, the median income was $40,000, and 19 percent of residents older than 25 had a college degree.

Of all 480 children and teens, 70 percent had a normal BMI while the rest had a high BMI — with 17 percent falling into the "overweight" BMI category and 13 percent into the obese category.

Heart rate recovery was measured one minute after the children completed their exercise tests. Overall, Singh's team found that in the lower- and middle-income groups, overweight kids were slower to return to their pre-exercise heart rate than their normal-BMI counterparts.

On the other hand, normal-weight kids had similar heart rate recovery results regardless of socioeconomics.

One implication of the findings, Singh said, is that "children who have normal weight are likely to have good cardiovascular health irrespective of their socioeconomic position."

Another, he added, is that while weight loss is important for all kids who are overweight or obese, it may be "most immediately beneficial" for those from lower- to middle-income families.

Studies in adults have linked slower heart rate recovery to a higher risk of heart disease. But there are no studies on whether slower recovery in children predicts an increased risk of heart problems later in life.

 

Lasers scan future possibilities

Lasers have already had a profound impact on our daily lives but the potential of the technology has only just been tapped, scientists believe.

Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the first demonstration of a ruby laser at the Hughes Research Labs in the US.

The light beams have since found myriad uses, from scanning shop prices to trying to sense the ripples in space-time made by colliding black holes.

Researchers say the coming decades will see even more remarkable progress.

"The laser gave a capability over previous light sources that was just so immense that you simply can't digest and exhaust all that in the matter of a few decades," said David Hanna, emeritus professor at the Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, UK.

People have to use their imagination about what amazing and crazy things can be done with all that capability," he told BBC News.

There is debate over which key technological step made the laser possible, but Theodore Maiman's success in stimulating a ruby rod to produce an intense narrow beam of light by shining a flash lamp on it was an undoubted landmark.

There had been a race to demonstrate "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation" (Laser), and Maiman beat everyone to it on 16 May, 1960.

At the time, the technology was said to be the classic "solution looking for a problem", but its ability to direct a powerful stream of energy from one location to another soon opened up a world of possibilities.

Anyone who scans a tin of beans at the checkout is using a laser. Anyone who listens to music on a CD is using a laser to read data stored on a disc. Anyone who sends an e-mail is reliant on the lasers that drive the world's fibre optic communications networks. Anyone who gets into a car is sitting in a box that owes its construction to lasers.

"There is a phenomenal amount of laser processing on a car; you wouldn't believe how much - laser cutting, marking, measurement, drilling, hardening, laser brazing, laser deposition, and laser welding," explained Tim Holt, the chief executive of the Institute of Photonics, University of Strathclyde.

"Modern cars today would not be possible without lasers."

THEODORE MAIMAN'S LASER (1) A powerful lamp is wrapped around a ruby rod, depositing energy in the form of undirected light of many colours, or wavelengths (2) Atoms in the rod absorb and store energy from the light (3) Reflecting mirrors then allow a small amount of light to bounce back and forth in the rod, collecting some of the atoms' stored energy on each pass (4) Some of the light escapes through one of the mirrors; it is a directed, intense beam of synchronised light waves of a specific colour

The worldwide market in lasers is worth some $5-7bn annually. Most of that value is in lasers sold to manufacturing outlets for use in material processing, but the two other key markets are lasers for use in communications systems and in data storage.

But as much as lasers have infiltrated our everyday world, there is still much more they could do, scientists believe.

There is hope lasers could provide us with a near-limitless supply of clean power.

Laser cutters deliver a lot of energy to a very specific spot

In the US, the National Ignition Facility will soon train 192 giant laser beams on a tiny pellet of hydrogen fuel in an attempt to fuse the element to make helium, and so release a colossal amount of energy - much like the Sun does at its core.

In Europe, researchers want to take this approach forward in a project known as HiPER that would be the prototype power station of the future.

"It's possible to use lasers to crush and heat material to temperatures that are 10 times hotter than at the centre of the Sun," says Dr Kate Lancaster from the UK's Central Laser Facility in Didcot.

"A standard laser pointer is about a milliwatt; we'll be approaching a petawatt - 10 million million times more powerful than a standard lightbulb.

"Fusion would be immensely efficient but it's extremely hard to do. Ever since Maiman demonstrated his laser, however, people have realised that this technique should be possible."

In astronomy, lasers are already used to sharpen the images of the world's very best telescopes. By projecting a "reference star" on the sky, scientists can work out how to correct their observations for the distortions introduced by atmospheric turbulence.

Fibre lasers allow far more data to be transferred much faster

But lasers are also pioneering a completely new form of astronomy, one that attempts to probe the Universe without the need to detect light. These laser interferometers would measure the disturbances in the very fabric of space-time generated every time massive stars imploded.

Such gravitational waves are extremely weak, however, and only lasers have the precision to measure their passing. If the technique works, it should be possible to see remnant gravitational radiation from the very moment of creation itself.

And in medicine, too, the possibilities seem boundless. Lasers can be used to manipulate atoms and molecules, "to unfold proteins and tickle DNA", says Dr Lancaster.

"Lasers can accelerate particles to high energy and we can use that to treat cancer," she adds.

"At the moment, with the way we treat cancer with radiation, photons travel into the body and they deposit energy in healthy tissue as well as at the cancer site.

"Whereas when protons and ions travel into the body, they will deposit most of their energy only at the very end of their range. So we can use lasers to tune protons to deposit their energy just within the tumour site."

The world's biggest telescopes use lasers to sharpen their images

As lasers have got ever more powerful, their pulse rate has also pushed new boundaries.

We already have lasers that trace time at the femtosecond level - a thousandth of a millionth of a millionth of a second. Researchers now are also working on attosecond lasers, which count time in divisions of a millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a second.

Working at these scales, it is possible to see how matter works, to record for example the moment chemical reactions occur.

"On the femtosecond timescale, the atoms in a molecule will vibrate. So that is the relevant timescale for taking a detailed look at what is going on - as it happens - in a molecule," Professor Hanna told BBC News.

Divide that tiny time by 10 - a reduction of an "order of magnitude", as it is known - three times over, and science can now speak of what happens in attoseconds. This, Professor Hanna explained, is the timescale of processes inside the very atoms that make up molecules.

"Every time we pick up an extra order of magnitude - and there are many more to be got - we need to go back to the drawing board and think 'what on Earth do we do with that?'."