Science news

• Brazil to boost Internet speed through Europe - Telebras CEO

  18-09-2015 22:58
  
  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil will boost its Internet communications to reduce dependence on U.S. hubs and be able to host global data centers for heavy users like YouTube and Netflix Inc, Jorge Bittar, head of state-run telecoms company Telebras, said in an interview. At present, all submarine fiber-optic cables connect Brazil to the Internet through the United States.
  
  Read more

• Chinese sperm bank asks men to trade their samples for an iPhone 6S

  18-09-2015 21:17 via cbc.ca
  
  Donate sperm, get a new iPhone? It's better than selling vital organs for the cash to buy one, according to a Chinese hospital's marketing campaign.
  
  Read more

• Agency investigates deaths of 25 walrus on Alaska coast

  18-09-2015 21:01
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal agency is investigating the deaths of 25 walrus found on a northwest Alaska beach.
  
  Read more

• New Listeria Outbreak Tied to Soft Cheeses

  18-09-2015 20:57
  
  Two dozen people in nine states have been sickened with the serious foodborne illness listeriosis, likely from eating soft cheeses that were contaminated with bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All of the patients were infected with one of five rare strains of the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, the CDC said. Of these, 21 people needed to be hospitalized, and one person died, the CDC said.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Apollo Lunar Module Lands in Smithsonian 'Milestones of Flight' Gallery

  18-09-2015 20:49
  
  An Apollo Lunar Module, the vehicle that ferried astronauts to and from the surface of the moon, was moved into the National Air and Space Museum's "Boeing Milestones of Flight" Hall this week in preparation for its conservation, modification and display debuting with the hall's re-opening in July 2016. "The Lunar Module [LM] will act as a striking welcome to visitors as they enter the museum and [will] represent the 'milestone' of America's first moon landing in July 1969," Smithsonian off
  
  Read more

• You Have Goat to Be Kidding: Spot Capricornus, the Sea Goat

  18-09-2015 20:48
  
  An unusual star pattern denoting an exceedingly unusual beast will be visible in the night sky this week — the sea goat. Welcome to the "watery" region of the sky where all the star patterns are rather dim. Here, we find a number of constellations with a direct connection to water: A man carrying water and sloshing it all over the place, and below him are the Southern Fish and the Crane — a bird dependent on wetlands.
  
  Read more

• VW intentionally violates clean air standards, U.S. EPA says

  18-09-2015 20:48 via cbc.ca
  
  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday ordered Volkswagen to fix nearly 500,000 VW and Audi diesel cars that the agency said are intentionally violating clean air laws by using software that evades EPA emissions standards.
  
  Read more

• The Crescent and the Ring: Moon Meets Saturn Tonight!

  18-09-2015 20:48
  
  If the weather is clear in your area this evening, you'll have an opportunity to see two of the most popular objects to view through a telescope: the moon and Saturn. About an hour after sunset, roughly one-quarter of the way up in the southwest sky will be a crescent moon, just over one-quarter (27 percent) illuminated by the sun. And if you look about 1.5 degrees to the lower left of the moon, you'll see a bright "star" shining with a steady, yellow-white glow.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Shortcut math predicts tsunami height quickly

  18-09-2015 20:21
  
  The September 16 earthquake that rattled Chile proved an unexpected test for new numerical calculations that could provide quicker forecasts of incoming tsunamis.
  
  Read more

• US zoo pandas get $4.5 million gift

  18-09-2015 20:09
  
  An American benefactor has donated $4.5 million for the giant panda conservation program at the US National Zoo, where twin cubs were born last month.
  
  Read more

• We need a 'fuel gauge' for marine fish levels: Bob McDonald

  18-09-2015 19:54 via cbc.ca
  
  A report released this week says the number of fish in the oceans has halved since 1970, in a plunge to the 'brink of collapse' caused by over-fishing and other threats.
  
  Read more

• Bald ibis chicks shipped to Spain

  18-09-2015 19:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Four captive-bred chicks are sent from Chester to Jerez in Spain, where they will be released as part of an effort to reintroduce the Northern bald ibis.
  
  Read more

• Raw chicken, ingenuity make a time-reversal mirror

  18-09-2015 19:30
  
  A new phase-conjugation mirror sends light waves back where they came from, allowing physicists to reconstruct images even if the original light was severely scrambled.
  
  Read more

• Tanzania stops Malawi burning ivory

  18-09-2015 19:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Tanzania obtains a court order preventing Malawi from burning 2.6 tonnes of ivory, saying it needs to use the tusks as evidence for the prosecution of suspected poachers.
  
  Read more

• Study finds benefits from lowering blood pressure, but questions remain

  18-09-2015 19:00
  
  Preliminary results from NIH clinical trial suggest that lower blood pressure is better, but scientists have not yet published the data and open questions remain.
  
  Read more

• 6 Canadian women's soccer players removed from FIFA 16 video game

  18-09-2015 18:58 via cbc.ca
  
  Six players from Canada's national women's soccer team will be removed from the new FIFA 16 video game days ahead of its general release, following a dispute with the NCAA.
  
  Read more

• US accuses Volkswagen of cheating on pollution controls

  18-09-2015 18:49
  
  US regulators charged Volkswagen on Friday with manufacturing vehicles designed to evade government pollution controls and said the German auto giant should fix nearly 500,000 cars with the defect.
  
  Read more

• Dramatic Pluto images reveal foggy weather, frosty glaciers

  18-09-2015 18:41 via cbc.ca
  
  New backlit views of Pluto sent home by the New Horizons spacecraft reveal closeups of an Arctic-like landscape against a dramatic, layered sky.
  
  Read more

• A parting shot of coffee

  18-09-2015 18:10
  Science News biomedical writer Nathan Seppa gives some final thoughts on coffee, saunas and skepticism as he retires from the magazine after 18 years.
  
  Read more

• Venezuela says fighter jet crashes after entry of 'illicit' plane

  18-09-2015 18:03
  
  A Venezuelan fighter jet crashed near the Colombian border after an "illicit aircraft" likely linked to drug trafficking entered its airspace, the government said on Friday. "An illicit aircraft entered via the northwestern region on its course to the south towards the border with Colombia, an area where mafias linked to narcotrafficking want to use our territory as a distribution platform for drugs produced in the neighbouring country," Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said in a statement earl
  
  Read more

• EU agrees Paris climate talks stance

  18-09-2015 18:03
  
  The EU on Friday unveiled its stance on the upcoming climate negotiations in Paris, recommitting to its own greenhouse gas cuts for 2030 and urging the world to reduce emissions to zero by the end of the century.
  
  Read more

• Coffee reveals itself as an unlikely elixir

  18-09-2015 18:02
  
  Coffee is earning a reputation as a health tonic, reducing risk for a long list of ailments and even lowering death rates.
  
  Read more

• Texas clock boy and 5 other hard-luck stories that had happy endings thanks to social media

  18-09-2015 18:01 via cbc.ca
  
  Support for tech whiz Ahmed Mohamed, who became known as Texas clock boy, poured in this week via Twitter following his arrest and release after the school thought he had concocted a homemade bomb. Here are five other stories that turned from bad to good through social media:
  
  Read more

• Squid houses bacteria to keep its eggs safe

  18-09-2015 17:45
  
  Squid’s microbial guests pay their way with egg protection
  
  Read more

• Hidden secrets of great artworks revealed by nuclear technology

  18-09-2015 17:33 via cbc.ca
  
  A researcher at McMaster University in Hamilton is using nuclear technology to show what the eye cannot see in great artworks.
  
  Read more

• Spacing Out Vaccines? No Evidence Supports Candidates' Ideas

  18-09-2015 16:34
  
  There is no evidence that supports spacing out childhood vaccines — which two Republican candidates for president suggested in last night's presidential debate — instead of following the recommended schedule, experts say. "I am totally in favor of vaccines, but I want smaller doses over a longer period of time," Donald Trump, one of the candidates for president, said at the debate. Candidate and retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson responded by saying, "We have extremely well-do
  
  Read more

• EU ministers unite on climate mandate ahead of Paris summit

  18-09-2015 16:31
  
  By Barbara Lewis BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU ministers on Friday finalised what they said was a tough negotiating position for U.N. climate talks later this year after overcoming objections from coal-reliant Poland. Poland's elections next month complicated the debate as the right-wing Law and Justice party has been campaigning on a promise to resist EU environment law and protect the coal industry. "It is a compromise ... but it will lead the way to an ambitious, robust, dynamic climate agreement,"
  
  Read more

• Eating Healthy Foods May Lower Depression Risk

  18-09-2015 16:31
  
  Following a diet rich in produce and low in processed meats — even if you don't do it perfectly — may be helpful in preventing depression, according to a large new study. To lower the risk of depression, "People can eat everything, but everything in moderation," as long as they try to eat lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts and fish, and avoid fast food and processed meats, said study author Almudena Sanchez-Villegas of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. At the start of the s
  
  Read more

• Fish Jaw in the Eye: Beachgoer Leaves with Odd Malady

  18-09-2015 16:29
  
  The 52-year-old man went swimming at a beach on the Red Sea, an inlet of the Indian Ocean that sits between Africa and Asia. Later, the man developed a swollen and droopy eyelid that didn't go away even a month later, according to the report. Dr. Wolf A. Lagrèze, of the Department of Ophthalmology at Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg in Germany, who treated the patient, said he was "absolutely" surprised to find these foreign structures in the man's eye.
  
  Read more

• UK scientists seek permission to edit the genes of human embryos

  18-09-2015 16:28
  LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - British scientists have applied for permission to edit the genes of human embryos in a series of experiments aimed at finding out more about the earliest stages of human development.
  
  Read more

• EU to push in Paris for 50% emissions cut by 2050

  18-09-2015 16:27
  
  The EU on Friday unveiled its stance on the upcoming climate negotiations in Paris, recommitting to its own greenhouse gas cuts for 2030 and urging the world to reduce them to zero by the end of the century.
  
  Read more

• Common Brain Tumor More Likely in Obese People

  18-09-2015 16:27
  
  Being obese may raise your risk of developing a type of brain tumor called a meningioma by more than 50 percent, according to a new study. The scientists said their study, a meta-analysis of 13 previous studies that included more than 6,000 people with brain tumors, does not prove that obesity causes brain tumors. Overweight patients were 21 percent more likely to develop a meningioma tumor compared with normal-weight individuals, but obese patients were 54 percent more likely to develop one, re
  
  Read more

• 2015 Ig Nobel Prizes: From Egg-y Science to Penis Bee Stings

  18-09-2015 16:27
  
  These are just two of the (real) scientific findings celebrated tonight (Sept. 17) at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, an annual event held here at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre. This year, 10 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded to scientists from all over the world, many of whom traveled to Cambridge to accept the prizes in person. Also present this evening were several Nobel Prize laureates, who helped hand out the awards and participated in a very silly opera.
  
  Read more

• Paralyzed Man Can 'Feel' Again with Brain-Connected Prosthetic Hand

  18-09-2015 16:05
  
  A prosthetic hand that is connected directly to the brain successfully enabled a paralyzed man to "feel" again, according to researchers at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The 28-year-old male, who suffered a spinal cord injury and has been paralyzed for more than a decade, was able to control a robotic hand with his brain and reported being able to sense physical sensations. DARPA researchers attached electrodes to the man's sensory cortex — the area of the brain re
  
  Read more

• It's a Monster! Apes Remember Scary Movie Scenes

  18-09-2015 15:58
  
  Many scientists have tried to piece together how memories work in animals, especially chimpanzees and other apes. In a new study, scientists from Kyoto University in Japan wanted to examine whether a group of chimpanzees and bonobos (a close chimp relative) could not only remember past events, but also anticipate what would happen next. "We really wanted to make [the apes] remember a novel event," said study co-author Fumihiro Kano, a comparative psychologist at Kyoto University.
  
  Read more

• Lotus wins breathing space in HMRC insolvency proceedings

  18-09-2015 15:36
  
  Lotus has won a seven-day breathing space in insolvency proceedings brought against it by the taxman.
  
  Read more

• How to Study 1 Million Patients' Medical Charts

  18-09-2015 15:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A rough draft has been released for an effort to offer better health care tailored to each individual in the era of whole-genome analysis
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• An IQ test for animals?

  18-09-2015 15:00
  
  Robins show their smarts by performing a battery of tests to get worms
  
  Read more

• Apple iOS 9 update blamed for crashing iPhones, iPads

  18-09-2015 14:24 via cbc.ca
  
  A significant number of Apple Inc customers are reporting their mobile devices have crashed after attempting to upload the new iOS 9 operating system, the latest in a line of launch glitches for the tech giant.
  
  Read more

• UK scientists apply to modify embryos

  18-09-2015 14:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UK researchers want to use a controversial new genetic technique on human embryos.
  
  Read more

• Supermoon Lunar Eclipse: How Science Explains the Epic Night Sky Event

  18-09-2015 14:10
  
  This month's highly anticipated "supermoon eclipse" may be a magical treat for skywatchers, but there's nothing supernatural about the event. On Sept. 27, skywatchers throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, western Asia and the eastern Pacific Ocean region will witness a total eclipse that happens to occur when the moon looks abnormally large and bright in Earth's sky. It will be the first supermoon eclipse since 1982, and the last until 2033.
  
  Read more

• Future Mars Explorers Could Live in Habitats That Build Themselves

  18-09-2015 14:10
  
  That's the vision of the Self-deployable Habitat for Extreme Environments (SHEE) project, which is developing domiciles that could be useful both here on Earth and on alien worlds such as Mars. SHEE is the product of a research idea initiated by architect Ondrej Doule, who detailed the concept Aug. 31 here at a session on space habitats at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' (AIAA) Space 2015 meeting. Over the past few years, a consortium of five European countries has been w
  
  Read more

• Watch a Striking Sunspot Cluster Split Apart in This NASA Video

  18-09-2015 14:09
  
  In a new video, an enormous cluster of sunspots rotates across the sun's face before gradually separating into several distinct groups, which also fired off a bunch of solar flares. It formed the only significant spots on the sun during that time, and they were imaged by NASA's orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory.
  
  Read more

• This Summer's Arctic Sea Ice Is 4th Lowest on Record

  18-09-2015 13:49
  
  This year's minimum sea-ice extent in the Arctic was the fourth lowest since satellite observations began, NASA announced yesterday (Sept. 15). "This year is the fourth lowest, and yet we haven't seen any major weather event or persistent weather pattern in the Arctic this summer that helped push the extent lower as often happens," Walt Meier, a sea-ice scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a statement. Arctic sea ice has been in decline since at least the 1970s due to climate
  
  Read more

• Panda Protections Save Other Species, Too

  18-09-2015 13:45
  
  Thanks, pandas! Conservation areas set aside to protect China's national treasure also help to save many of China's other one-of-a-kind species, new research reveals. But the laserlike focus on pandas has left some gaps in protections for other animals, according to the new study. "Loving pandas is the right thing to do," but China should be savvy in adding new panda protections in order to save as many species as possible, said study researcher Binbin Li, a doctoral student at Duke University's
  
  Read more

• EU targets 40% cut in emissions by 2030

  18-09-2015 13:18
  
  EU ministers on Friday formally agreed the bloc's negotiating mandate for the upcoming climate talks in Paris, including a 40-percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 over 1990 levels.
  
  Read more

• 'Professor Popsicle' running for Tories heats up debate over Harper's science cuts

  18-09-2015 13:00 via cbc.ca
  
  The union that represents most of the scientists in Canada doubts a Winnipeg Conservative, who is also a cold water scientist, can warm relations between the party and the science community.
  
  Read more

• Venezuela fighter jet crashes near Colombia border

  18-09-2015 11:17
  
  A Venezuelan fighter jet with two people on board crashed near the Colombian border late on Thursday evening after an "illicit aircraft" believed to be Colombian was found violating airspace, according to the Venezuelan government. The crash comes amid growing tension between the South American neighbours after Venezuela closed major border crossings in recent weeks in what it said was a crackdown on crime. "Our air force will continue to fight relentlessly ... to guarantee our sovereignty and i
  
  Read more

• Sometimes, it’s better not to fight the frog-killing fungus

  18-09-2015 11:15
  
  Vigorous immune response shown to backfire in some infected amphibians
  
  Read more

• Blockchain technology behind Bitcoin could be a game-changer, proponents say

  18-09-2015 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  The technology that makes bitcoin work, according to proponents, is an effectively unhackable system that could introduce trust and transparency to any online transaction.
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!