Science news

• Scientists surprised at Fort McMurray fire's long impact on rivers

  10-07-2020 20:01 via cbc.ca
  
  Four years after its flames guttered out, the record-breaking Fort McMurray wildfire continues to astound — this time with its lasting impact on an extensive river system.
  
  Read more

• Canadians can now opt out of Clearview AI facial recognition, with a catch

  10-07-2020 19:51 via cbc.ca
  
  Canadians may now request that they not appear in Clearview AI’s facial recognition search results, days after the controversial U.S.-based firm announced it was pulling out of this country. But anyone making the withdrawal request must submit an image of their own face.
  
  Read more

• Alberta carbon capture project hits another milestone ahead of schedule and below cost

  10-07-2020 19:30 via cbc.ca
  
  “Quest CCS is allowing us to produce lower carbon intensive products at our Scotford upgrader, and we really see that as a pathway to decarbonizing our industry and in support of the energy transition going forward,” said Sarah Kassam, a development and opportunity planner for the Quest project.
  
  Read more

• Global COVID-19 registry finds strokes associated with COVID-19 are more severe, have worse outcomes and higher mortality

  10-07-2020 19:15 via sciencedaily.com
  Patients with COVID-19 who have an acute ischemic stroke (AIS) experience more severe strokes, have worse functional outcomes and are more likely to die of stroke than AIS patients who do not have COVID-19. The wide range of complications associated with COVID-19 likely explain the worse outcomes.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• COVID-19 can be transmitted in the womb, reports pediatric infectious disease journal

  10-07-2020 19:15 via sciencedaily.com
  A baby girl in Texas -- born prematurely to a mother with COVID-19 -- is the strongest evidence to date that intrauterine (in the womb) transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can occur, according to a new report.
  
  Read more

• Changes in the immune system can promote healthy aging

  10-07-2020 18:18 via sciencedaily.com
  As we age, the immune system gradually becomes impaired. One aspect of this impairment is chronic inflammation in the elderly, which means that the immune system is constantly active and sends out inflammatory substances. Such chronic inflammation is associated with multiple age-related diseases including arthritis and Alzheimer's disease, and impaired immune responses to infection. One of the questions in ageing research is whether chronic inflammation is a cause of aging, or a consequence of t
  
  Read more

• Why lopinavir and hydroxychloroquine do not work on COVID-19

  10-07-2020 17:21 via sciencedaily.com
  Lopinavir is a drug against HIV, hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria and rheumatism. Until recently, both drugs were regarded as potential agents in the fight against the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Researchers have now discovered that the concentration of the two drugs in the lungs of Covid-19 patients is not sufficient to fight the virus.
  
  Read more

• Satellite data show severity of drought summers in 2018 and 2019

  10-07-2020 16:09 via sciencedaily.com
  Measurements by the GRACE-FO satellite mission show a decline in water storage in Central Europe by up to 94 percent compared with seasonal fluctuations. The changes are so serious that a recovery within one year is not to be expected. The water shortage in the years 2018 and 2019 is thus the largest in the entire GRACE and GRACE-FO measurement campaign of almost 20 years.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Children rarely transmit COVID-19, doctors write in new commentary

  10-07-2020 16:09 via sciencedaily.com
  A commentary published in the journal Pediatrics concludes that children infrequently transmit COVID-19 to each other or to adults and that many schools, provided they follow appropriate social distancing guidelines and take into account rates of transmission in their community, can and should reopen in the fall.
  
  Read more

• Brazil Amazon deforestation up in June, set for worst year in over a decade

  10-07-2020 16:03 via cbc.ca
  
  Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rose for the 14th consecutive month in June, preliminary government data on Friday showed, heaping further pressure on President Jair Bolsonaro who is under fire for worsening destruction of the rainforest on his watch.
  
  Read more

• Venice test brings up floodgates for first time

  10-07-2020 15:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The system of 78 mobile barriers has taken years to construct and its design goes back to the 1980s.
  
  Read more

• Cliffs of Fundy, Bonavista Peninsula named UNESCO Global Geoparks

  10-07-2020 13:02 via cbc.ca
  
  Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador sites were given international honours on Friday for their geohistorical significance.
  
  Read more

• Americans Increase LSD Use--and a Bleak Outlook for the World May Be to Blame

  10-07-2020 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Millennials and older adults lead the surge while Gen Z stays on the sidelines-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• Nasa Mars rover Perseverance is attached to rocket

  10-07-2020 12:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The US space agency's next rover is placed atop of the rocket that will send it to the Red Planet.
  
  Read more

• Bonavista Peninsula gets historic nod from UNESCO for 560M-year-old fossils

  10-07-2020 12:18 via cbc.ca
  
  Fossil finds on the Bonavista Peninsula were given an international designation Friday, when the Discovery Global Geopark was granted official UNESCO status.
  
  Read more

• Researchers working on virus-killing plastic packaging

  10-07-2020 12:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Researchers from Nova Scotia are teaming up with New Brunswick scientists to develop antiviral packaging that would prevent the spread of COVID-19. 
  
  Read more

• European bison to be introduced into Kent woodland

  10-07-2020 10:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The European mammals will restore a rich habitat for local wildlife, conservationists say.
  
  Read more

• This isn't the time to let environmental protection and monitoring slip

  10-07-2020 10:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Reliable datasets are needed to effectively model and predict what the environment's future will look like and help us adapt to it, writes Vince Palace.
  
  Read more

• Supreme Court to rule on constitutionality of genetic non-discrimination law

  10-07-2020 10:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Canada's highest court will issue a ruling today that could strike down a federal law preventing third parties, such as employers and insurance companies, from demanding genetic information from individuals.
  
  Read more

• Supreme Court of Canada upholds genetic non-discrimination law

  10-07-2020 10:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Canada's highest court has issued a ruling today upholding a federal law preventing third parties, such as employers and insurance companies, from demanding genetic information from individuals.
  
  Read more

• Follow the sun: How solar panels are evolving

  10-07-2020 10:00 via cbc.ca
  
  In this week's issue of our environment newsletter, we look at how solar panels have evolved and examine how bears have adapted to their close proximity to people.
  
  Read more

• Zhao and Cheng studying model-parallelism for large-scale deep learning

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (George Mason University) Liang Zhao, Assistant Professor, Information Sciences and Technology, and Yue Cheng, Associate Professor, Computer Science, Volgenau School of Engineering, are set to receive funding from the National Science Foundation for a project for which they have several goals.
  
  Read more

• Viral dark matter exposed: Metagenome database detects phage-derived antibacterial enzyme

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Osaka City University) In a pioneer study published in Cell Host & Microbe - Researchers at Osaka City University and The Institute for Medical Science, The University of Tokyo, reported intestinal bacterial and viral metagenome information from the fecal samples of 101 healthy Japanese individuals. This analysis, leveraging host bacteria-phage associations, detected phage-derived antibacterial enzymes that control pathobionts. As proof-of-concept, phage-derived endolysins are shown to regu
  
  Read more

• Understanding the love-hate relationship of halide perovskites with the sun

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Eindhoven University of Technology) Perovskiet solar cells are at the center of much recent solar research. The material is cheap and almost as efficient as silicon. However, perovskite cells have a love-hate-relationship with the sun. The light they need to generate electricity, also impairs the quality of the cells, limiting efficiency and stability over time. Research at the Eindhoven University of Technology and universities in China and the US now sheds new light on the causes of this degr
  
  Read more

• UC Riverside postdoc receives NIH Pathway to Independence grant

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (University of California - Riverside) Rebekah Charney, a postdoctoral researcher in the UC Riverside School of Medicine, has received a five-year "Pathway to Independence" grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health.
  
  Read more

• Tian to develop approaches to efficient distributed learning

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (George Mason University) Zhi Tian, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, will receive funding from the National Science Foundation for a project in which she will develop communication-efficient and robust approaches to distributed stochastic optimization for collaborative learning from private data in big data computing.
  
  Read more

• Theft law needs reform to reduce the risk of judgements which lack 'common sense'

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (University of Exeter) Theft law needs reform so the crime is based on consent not dishonesty - reducing the risk of judgements which lack 'common sense' -- a new study warns.
  
  Read more

• T-ray camera speed boosted a hundred times over

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (University of Warwick) Scientists are a step closer to developing a fast and cost effective camera that utilises terahertz radiation, potentially opening the opportunity for them to be used in non-invasive security and medical screening.
  
  Read more

• Study: Medicaid expansion meant better health for the most vulnerable low-income adults

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan) The most vulnerable residents of the nation's 10th most populous state say their health improved significantly after they enrolled in Michigan's expanded Medicaid program, a new study finds. Michiganders with extremely low incomes, those with multiple chronic health problems, and those who are Black, got the biggest health boosts year over year among enrollees in the safety-net health coverage program. But participants of almost all ages, backgrounds
  
  Read more

• Sobering reminder about liver disease

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Flinders University) Alcohol's popularity and its central place in socialising in Australia obscures the dangers of excessive drinking and possible liver disease, Flinders University experts warn. As Dry July awareness month highlights the various health risks, the Head of Hepatology and Liver Transplantation at Flinders Medical Centre Associate Professor Alan Wigg says alcohol misuse remains a major health challenge in Australia as seen by high in rates of life-threatening liver disease.
  
  Read more

• Scientists may have found one path to a longer life

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (University of Southern California) Mifepristone appears to extend lifespan in evolutionarily divergent species Drosophila and C. elegans in ways that suggest it may do so in humans, as well.
  
  Read more

• Robust high-performance data storage through magnetic anisotropy

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie) A technologically relevant material for HAMR data memories are thin films of iron-platinum nanograins. An international team led by the joint research group of Prof. Dr. Matias Bargheer at HZB and the University of Potsdam has now observed experimentally for the first time how a special spin-lattice interaction in these iron-platinum thin films cancels out the thermal expansion of the crystal lattice.
  
  Read more

• Research to advance development of next-generation satellite-terrestrial networks

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (University of Luxembourg) The Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) is supporting an extensive new research project to advance data networks, led by the University of Luxembourg's Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT) in collaboration with SES.
  
  Read more

• Polarization of Br2 molecule in vanadium oxide cluster cavity and new alkane bromination

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Kanazawa University) A hemispherical vanadium oxide cluster has a cavity that can accommodate a bromine molecule. It was found that a bromine molecule trapped in the cavity was polarized and that an alkane molecule like pentane, butane and propane could be brominated with the bromine molecule in the cavity with a selectivity differing from ordinary bromination. The present findings are expected to be useful for polarization of small molecules and design of highly functional catalysts.
  
  Read more

• Pandemic inspires framework for enhanced care in nursing homes

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing) As of May 2020, nursing home residents account for a staggering one-third of the more than 80,000 deaths due to COVID-19 in the U.S. This pandemic has resulted in unprecedented threats--like reduced access to resources needed to contain and eliminate the spread of the virus--to achieving and sustaining care quality even in the best nursing homes. Active engagement of nursing home leaders in developing solutions responsive to the unprecedented threat
  
  Read more

• New study warns of misinformation about opt-out organ donation

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (University of Nottingham) A new study has warned of the power of a type of behaviour dubbed the 'lone wolf' effect which could result in people 'opting out' of supporting organ donation.
  
  Read more

• New research uncovers COVID-19's impact on college student mental health and well-being

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Boston University) In college students, COVID-19 has increased depression rate and raised new barriers to mental healthcare.
  
  Read more

• New research shows that laser spectral linewidth is classical-physics phenomenon

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (University of Surrey) New ground-breaking research from the University of Surrey could change the way scientists understand and describe lasers - establishing a new relationship between classical and quantum physics.
  
  Read more

• New biomarker for dementia diagnosis

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Flinders University) Medical researchers in the UK and Australia have identified a new marker which could support the search for novel preventative and therapeutic treatments for dementia.In an innovative new study, coordinated by Flinders University and University of Aberdeen, the researchers investigated the role of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), a blood marker associated with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease in epidemiological studies, on temporal changes in cognition in an es
  
  Read more

• NASA tracks tropical storm fay's development and strongest side

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA used satellite data to create an animation of Fay's development and progression over the past few days, showing how the storm organized into a tropical storm. Additionally, NASA's Aqua satellite used infrared light to find the location of the strongest storms in Tropical Storm Fay occurring in the northeastern quadrant of the storm, mostly over the Atlantic Ocean.
  
  Read more

• NASA infrared data shows Cristina strengthening

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's Aqua satellite revealed better organization and colder cloud top temperatures in Tropical Storm Cristina, indications that the storm was strengthening.
  
  Read more

• Nano-radiomics unveils treatment effect on tumor microenvironment

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Baylor College of Medicine) Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital have developed a novel noninvasive approach called nano-radiomics that analyzes imaging data to assess changes in the tumor microenvironment that are not detected with conventional imaging methods.
  
  Read more

• Mom and baby share 'good bacteria' through breast milk

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (University of British Columbia) A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Manitoba has found that bacteria are shared and possibly transferred from a mother's milk to her infant's gut, and that breastfeeding directly at the breast best supports this process.
  
  Read more

• Microscopy technique reveals nanoscale detail of coatings as they dry

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Lehigh University) Thin film coatings do more than add color to walls. For example, they can be used as pharmaceutical devices. How these coatings dry can change their properties, which is especially important for films used in drug delivery. Lehigh University engineering researchers studying the in situ drying behavior of thin film coatings are visualizing particle interactions with groundbreaking precision. Their findings could impact the development of drug delivery technology.
  
  Read more

• Media tip sheet: Ecological forecasting

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Ecological Society of America) These presentations feature research that attempts to forecast ecosystems of the future. All will be presented at the Ecological Society of America's upcoming virtual annual meeting, August 3-6, 2020.
  
  Read more

• Liquid metal synthesis for better piezoelectrics: Atomically-thin tin-monosulfide

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies) An RMIT-UNSW collaboration applies liquid-metal synthesis to piezoelectrics, advancing future flexible, wearable electronics, and biosensors drawing their power from the body's movements.Piezoelectric materials such as atomically-thin tin-monosulfide (SnS) convert mechanical forces or movement into electrical energy. Along with their inherent flexibility, this makes them candidates for flexible nanogenerators in wearable el
  
  Read more

• Is what I see, what I imagine? Study finds neural overlap between vision and imagination

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Medical University of South Carolina) In Current Biology, Medical University of South Carolina researchers report the results of a study using artificial intelligence and human brain studies to compare brain areas involved in mental imagery and vision. Their findings suggest that mental imagery and vision are similar, but that low-level visual areas are activated in a less precise manner with mental imagery. This suggests that the brain is more tuned and sensitive to what it sees than what it i
  
  Read more

• Is gender equality achievable in the Russian family?

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Lobachevsky University) Distribution of rights and obligations in the family, opportunities and responsibilities in performing the main family functions is one of the most controversial, but at the same time one of the mostimportant issuesin the modern context.Scientists from the Department of General Sociology and Social Work of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Lobachevsky University have been engaged in research on parenthood and the distribution of parental functions for many years.
  
  Read more

• Invention: "Nanocage" tool untangles (molecular) spaghetti

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (University of Vermont) A team of scientists at the University of Vermont have invented a new tool--they call it a "nanocage"--that can catch and straighten out molecule-sized tangles of polymers --whether made of protein or plastic. This tool--that works a bit like pulling a wad of thread through a needle hole--opens a new way to create custom materials that have never been made before.
  
  Read more

• Discovery of a novel drug candidate to develop effective treatments for brain disorders

  10-07-2020 06:00 via eurekalert.org
  
  (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia - IIT) Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia discovered a novel chemical compound, which has the potential to became a new drug for the treatment of core symptoms of brain disorders like Down syndrome and autism. Results are obtained in preclinical models where the new compound ameliorated difficulties in cognitive tasks, social interactions and repetitive behaviors. Researchers aim to create a start-up company in order to further develop this compou
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!