NASA Limits Contact With Russia, Except for Space Station

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NASA said Wednesday that it's suspending most of its contacts with Russian officials due to U.S.-Russian frictions over Ukraine and Crimea.

The suspension does not affect operations on the International Space Station, in which the United States and Russia are the main partners. It does, however, affect travel to Russia as well as communication and meetings with Russian space officials.

The decision to suspend most contacts was the subject of discussion throughout the day, and confirmed in a NASA statement issued late Wednesday:

"Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, NASA is suspending the majority of its ongoing engagements with the Russian Federation. NASA and Roscosmos will, however, continue to work together to maintain safe and continuous operation of the International Space Station.

"NASA is laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space. This has been a top priority of the Obama administration's for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches and the jobs they support back to the United States next year. With the reduced level of funding approved by Congress, we're now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017.

"The choice here is between fully funding the plan to bring space launches back to America or continuing to send millions of dollars to the Russians. It's that simple. The Obama administration chooses to invest in America and we are hopeful that Congress will do the same."

Relations between Washington and Moscow have worsened in the wake of Crimea's secession from Ukraine and its annexation by Russia. However, U.S.-Russian cooperation is essential on the space station, which has been supported by 15 nations throughout its 13 years of operation.

The station is currently commanded by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, with three Russians and two Americans filling out the crew.

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Due to the 2011 retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet, Russian spaceships provide the only means to transport astronauts to and from the station. However, the station also relies on a U.S.-controlled set of solar arrays for electrical power, as well as U.S. and Russian communication links.

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NASA Limits Contact With Russia, Except for Space Station

Leaked NASA Memo Says Agency Is Giving Russia the Cold Shoulder

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The gossip among spaceheads on sites like The Verge and NasaWatch (which is not an official NASA site) is that NASA has suspended all contacts with Russian Government representativesunless the activity has been specifically excepted, in the phrasing of a supposedly leaked memo. The biggest of those exceptions would be anything related to the operation of the International Space Station, in which both countries have skinliterallyin the form of astronauts.

The alleged memo is unusually frank in its phrasing, blaming the chill on Russias ongoing violation of Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. Fox News, Huffington Post, CBS News and others are confirming the report, but AP has said nothing and NASA is so far mum.

A NASA representative at the Johnson Space Center emailing with TIME had no knowledge of the supposed memo and seemed amused by it, given that agency officials met with their Russian counterparts just this morning. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has been making the point that Russias unreliability makes it all the more imperative for NASA funding to get a bump so the U.S. can free itself of the need to hitch rides aboard Soyuz spacecraftat $70 million per seatjust to reach the Space Station.

Its unlike NASA to play cute with leaks, letting this memo slip, say, just to put some heat on Congress for more money and on Moscow for better behavior. Russia does like those steep air fares we pay them and doesnt need to be reminded of that. The memoif it existsmay be the result of someone inside NASA overstepping, but a formal statement is still pending as of late Monday afternoon.

Update 8:10 p.m. ET: NASA indeed suspended some activities with Russian officials. NASAs full statement:

Given Russias ongoing violation of Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, NASA is suspending the majority of its ongoing engagements with the Russian Federation. NASA and Roscosmos will, however, continue to work together to maintain safe and continuous operation of the International Space Station. NASA is laser focused on a plan to return human spaceflight launches to American soil, and end our reliance on Russia to get into space. This has been a top priority of the Obama Administrations for the past five years, and had our plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human spaceflight launches and the jobs they support back to the United States next year. With the reduced level of funding approved by Congress, were now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017. The choice here is between fully funding the plan to bring space launches back to America or continuing to send millions of dollars to the Russians. Its that simple. The Obama Administration chooses to invest in America and we are hopeful that Congress will do the same.

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Leaked NASA Memo Says Agency Is Giving Russia the Cold Shoulder

Silver Nanoparticles May Harm Humans and Wildlife

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Microscopic bits of silver, known as nanoparticles, now appear as an anti-microbial ingredient in a wide variety of consumer products.

However, a growing body of evidence tarnishes silver nanoparticles' reputation. Studies published this year documented unhealthy reactions in human intestinal cells and aquatic algae after exposure to silver nanoparticles, reported Inside Science.

Photos: How Nanotech Can Make a Better You

Manufacturers now use silver nanoparticles in everything from skin creams to little black dresses to food containers. Commercial aliases for the nanoparticles include colloidal silver and nanosilver.

In 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed registration of a pesticide containing silver nanoparticles. Consumers may benefit from the silver specks ability to inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungus and other microorganisms, including disease-causing Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, according to numerous studies.

However, silver nanoparticles might harm more than microorganisms. Inside Science pointed to two recent studies that suggested nanosilver can be harmful.

Nanoparticle Safety Still Unknown

In a study from January, algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) reacted negatively to nanosilver. The algaes rates of photosynthesis and levels of ATP, an energy storage and transport molecule, plummeted after exposure. The algae then mounted a defensive response to cleanse itself of the nanosilver and fight damage caused by the particles. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published the results.

Silver nanoparticles' tiny size allows them to enter parts of living things bodies that other molecules cant reach. The other study mentioned by Inside Science and published in February by ACS Nano, found that human intestinal cells reacted negatively to silver nanoparticles of different sizes.

Smaller particles (20 nanometers) could enter cells and directly damaged the internal workings, while larger particles (100 nanometers) acted indirectly by influencing protein production and enzyme activity.

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Silver Nanoparticles May Harm Humans and Wildlife

Nanotechnology and the Concrete World: Small Science for a Big Future – Video

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Nanotechnology and the Concrete World: Small Science for a Big Future
Dr. Florence Sanchez, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Vanderbilt University (www.cee.vanderbilt.edu) speciali...

By: Vanderbilt University

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Nanotechnology and the Concrete World: Small Science for a Big Future - Video

College athletes take labor cause to Capitol Hill

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WASHINGTON Members of a group trying to unionize college athletes sought out potential congressional allies Wednesday as they braced for an appeal of a ruling that said full scholarship athletes at Northwestern University are employees who have the right to form a union.

Former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter, the face of a movement to give college athletes the right to unionize, and Ramogi Huma, the founder and president of the National College Players Association, had meetings scheduled with lawmakers over a two-day period.

The goal is to make athletes have a seat at the table. Health and safety of athletes is the concern, especially to reduce the risk of brain trauma, Huma said outside the Capitol before heading to a meeting with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

Among the others they expected to meet with were Rep. George Miller of California, the top Democrat on the House Education and Labor Committee; Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., whose district includes Northwestern; Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; and Rep. Tony Crdenas, D-Calif.

They intended to make clear one of their chief concerns, providing for athletes medical needs. Huma said the group also was concerned that the NCAA would lobby Congress to prohibit unionizing by college athletes.

We want to make sure they have an opportunity to hear from us directly, Huma said.

Stacey Osburn, director of public and media relations for the NCAA, said in a statement that Humas concern was unwarranted. A Northwestern official has said that the students were not employees and that unionization and collective bargaining were not the appropriate methods to address their concerns.

The law is fairly clear and consistent with Northwesterns position, so the NCAA has made no contacts with anyone in Congress attempting to ban the unionization of student-athletes, Osburn said.

Colter, however, called the decision a strong ruling and predicted it will be hard to overturn.

Last weeks ruling by a regional National Labor Relations Board director in Chicago said Northwestern football players on full scholarships are employees of the university and have the right to form a union and bargain collectively.

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College athletes take labor cause to Capitol Hill

Fruitfly Study: Epilepsy Drug Target Implications for Sleep Disruption in Brain Disorders

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Newswise PHILADELPHIA A new study in a mutant fruitfly called sleepless (sss) confirmed that the enzyme GABA transaminase, which is the target of some epilepsy drugs, contributes to sleep loss. The findings, published online in Molecular Psychiatry, were led by Amita Sehgal, PhD, head of the Chronobiology Program at the University of Pennsylvanias Perelman School of Medicine. The findings shed light on mechanisms that may be shared between sleep disruption and some neurological disorders. A better understanding of this connection could enable treatments that target both types of symptoms and perhaps provide better therapeutic efficacy.

Epilepsy is essentially an increase-in-firing disorder of the brain and maybe a decrease in activity of the neurotransmitter GABA, too, says Sehgal, who is also a professor of Neuroscience and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). This connects our work to drugs that inhibit GABA transaminase. Changes in GABA transaminase activity are implicated in epilepsy and some other psychiatric disorders, which may account for some of the associated sleep problems.

The team looked at the proteomics of the sss mutant brain a large-scale study of the structure and function of related proteins -- and found that GABA transaminase is increased in the sss brain compared to controls. This enzyme breaks down GABA, so GABA is decreased in the sss brain. Because GABA promotes sleep, there is a decrease in sleep in the sss mutant fly, as the name implies.

The relationship between the SSS protein and GABA is not fully understood. The SSS protein controls neural activity, and its absence results in increased neural firing, which likely uses up a lot of energy, says Sehgal. GABA transaminase works in the mitochondria, the energy-production organelle in the glial cells of the brain, which provide fuel for neurons. The large energy demand created by the increased neural firing in sss brains probably alters mitochondrial metabolism, including GABA transaminase function in glia.

In the sss mutant fly, there is a stream of connections that leads to its signature loss of sleep: The sss mutant has increased neuron firing caused by downregulation of a potassium channel protein called Shaker. Recently, the Sehgal lab showed that SSS also affects activity of acetylcholine receptors. Both of these actions may directly cause an inability to sleep. In addition, increased energy demands on glia, which increase GABA transaminase and decrease GABA, may further contribute to sleep loss. On the other hand, if GABA is increased, then sleep is increased, as in flies that lack GABA transaminase.

Coauthors are Wen-Feng Chen, Sarah Maguire, Mallory Sowcik, Wenyu Luo, all from Penn and Kyunghee Koh from Thomas Jefferson University. The study was funded by HHMI.

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Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

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Fruitfly Study: Epilepsy Drug Target Implications for Sleep Disruption in Brain Disorders

Brainiac Says We'll All Be Part of the 'Brain-Net' Someday

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Physicist Michio Kaku isn't afraid of scientific frontiers, whether it's the super-subatomic world of string theory or the mind-bogglingly big world of the accelerating universe. In books and on TV, he's delved into the physics of the impossible and the physics of the future.

Kaku's latest focus is a real stretch: It's the scientific frontier that sits between your temples. In his latest book, "The Future of the Mind," Kaku surveys the burgeoning field of neuroscience. You might think the subject is out of a string theorist's usual comfort zone, but his breezy, science-fictiony style wins the day. "The Future of the Mind" has been on The New York Times' best-seller list for the past month.

In preparation for our talk-show gig on "Virtually Speaking Science," Kaku fielded some questions about the far-out future of the mind. Here's an edited transcript of the Q&A:

Alan Boyle: The first thing a person might ask is, 'What's a string theorist doing writing about neuroscience?'

Michio Kaku: "Well, ever since I was a child, I've been fascinated by the brain, by the mind. When I was a child, I used to do experiments on telepathy and telekinesis and recording memories. Eventually, I concluded that all of that was bunk. However, now I'm a physicist, and using physics, we can now probe the brain in detail that was unimaginable just a few years ago.

"We've learned more about the brain over the past decade than in all the rest of human history, and it's from physics that we have all the instruments with which we can trace blood flow in the brain, and actually see thoughts ricocheting like a ping-pong ball.

"Telepathy ... telekinesis ... recording memories, uploading memories ... even photographing a dream: All of that is now possible because of advanced physics."

Q: One of the concepts that you put forward in the book is the idea of a 'brain-net,' which will connect people directly, brain to brain. How do you envision that working, and when might we see the beginnings of the brain-net?

A: "The Internet will eventually be replaced by a brain-net, in which we can experience emotions, memories and sensations. Of course, teenagers are going to go crazy on Facebook they'll share the memory of their first kiss, their first date, the senior prom. All those emotions and hormones will be pumping away, on Facebook!

"The first steps in this direction were taken just last year. For the first time in history, a memory was recorded. It was recorded in a mouse. Next, we'll do it for primates. The short-term goal is to create a 'brain pacemaker' for Alzheimer's patients, so they can push a button and they'll know who they are and where they live. And beyond that well, maybe we'll be able to upload a vacation that we never had."

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Brainiac Says We'll All Be Part of the 'Brain-Net' Someday