Science news

• Turnout low as Congo votes on extending presidential term

  25-10-2015 22:40
  
  By Philon Bondenga BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Turnout in a referendum in Congo on Sunday was reduced to a trickle in the capital after the opposition asked voters to boycott the poll on whether the president can legally stand for a third consecutive term in an election due next year. President Denis Sassou Nguesso, 71, is the latest long-serving African president to try to prolong his grip on power by changing the constitution. Several other such efforts have provoked violence, and four died in Con
  
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• Think you're handy around the house? Not in the future, you're not

  25-10-2015 21:35 via cbc.ca
  
  I guess there is such a thing as "too smart."
  
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• Uploading Bautista bat flip GIFs could get you sued under TPP, copyright activists warn

  25-10-2015 19:32 via cbc.ca
  
  Copyright activists say Canadians could face lawsuits, fines or worse for ripping the latest Justin Bieber CD or uploading an animated GIF of Jose Bautista's bat-flip under a new trade deal, and they're calling on the newly elected Justin Trudeau to act.
  
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• Fracking, landslide blamed for contamination of Northern B.C. creek

  25-10-2015 19:01 via cbc.ca
  
  A landslide contaminating drinking water for a town in northeastern British Columbia, by filling a creek with dangerous heavy metals is sparking renewed fear around fracking.
  
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• Local elections cancelled in key Ukraine city, parties trade accusations of foul play

  25-10-2015 18:28
  
  Local elections in Ukraine's port city of Mariupol were called off on Sunday, prompting the ruling party of President Petro Poroshenko and the pro-Russian Opposition Party to blame each other for alleged irregularities in the vote. Mariupol, a city of around 500,000, lies on the coast between the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia from Ukraine last year, and separatist-held eastern territory, where a ceasefire between the pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces has largely held since September
  
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• Crews to begin hunt for leak near sunken barge in Lake Erie

  25-10-2015 17:08
  
  TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The Coast Guard says contractors will search for the source of what appears to be a petroleum leak coming from a sunken barge found recently in Lake Erie near the U.S.-Canadian border.
  
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• Congo Republic votes to decide on third term for president

  25-10-2015 15:13
  
  By Philon Bondenga BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - Congo Republic voted on Sunday in a referendum to determine whether 71-year-old President Denis Sassou Nguesso can legally stand for a third consecutive term in next year's election. Sassou Nguesso is the latest long-serving African president to pursue legal action to prolong his grip on power. Several other such bids have provoked violence, and four died in Congo last week when security forces opened fire on protesters.
  
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• Yemen government forces make gains in southwest city Taiz, locals say

  25-10-2015 13:57
  
  Yemeni forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi made gains on Sunday in the southwestern city of Taiz after days of battles with Houthi fighters, a local official and residents said. The Hadi supporters, who have been backed by air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition since March, made particular progress around the presidential palace, the locals said. Medical sources said 13 Houthi fighters were killed in the fighting in Yemen's third largest city.
  
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• Philippines cancels flights, alerts hospitals over haze

  25-10-2015 13:04
  
  The Philippines cancelled flights and put hospitals on alert on Sunday, as its southern and central islands were covered by thickening haze from Indonesian forest fires.
  
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• Quantum interpretations feel the heat

  25-10-2015 13:00
  Landauer’s principle shows a way to test competing interpretations about quantum physics.
  
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• Voting starts slowly in Congo Republic referendum

  25-10-2015 11:24
  
  Voting started slowly in a referendum in Congo Republic to determine whether 71-year-old President Denis Sassou Nguesso can legally stand for a third consecutive term in next year's election. Several other such bids have provoked violence, and four died in Congo last week when security forces opened fire on protesters. In some places, the only voters were members of the security forces.
  
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• Halifax professor hopes Trudeau will 'unmuzzle' scientists

  25-10-2015 11:08 via cbc.ca
  
  The "brain drain" of Canadian scientists may be hard to reverse, says Tom Duck, a physics and atmospheric science professor at Halifax's Dalhousie University.
  
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• Singapore urges ASEAN to act on haze

  25-10-2015 10:33
  
  Singapore on Sunday urged fellow ASEAN members to take "firm and decisive action" against the lethal haze still spreading across the region ahead of a group summit in Malaysia next month.
  
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• Why Canadians are spending more on wireless and internet services

  25-10-2015 10:00 via cbc.ca
  
  A new report by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission says the average Canadian household spent $203 per month on communication services in 2014. That's up $12 per month - or 6.2 per cent - from 2013. Spending on wireless and internet services was up even more.
  
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• New model for hepatitis B helps identify potential new therapeutic approach

  25-10-2015 05:00
  
  (Hiroshima University) A promising new avenue for treating hepatitis B has been reported by researchers at Hiroshima University who have developed a new animal model of the disease.
  
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• Dartmouth study illustrates how game design can reduce stereotypes and social biases

  25-10-2015 05:00
  
  (Dartmouth College) The potential negative impact of games receives a lot of media coverage, yet research conducted at Dartmouth just published by Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, illustrates how games can have a positive impact in our society. The researchers use a new approach in game design-- 'embedded game design'-- to demonstrate how games can change players' biases, reduce social stereotypes and prejudice, and engender a more complex view of diversity.
  
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• A fluorescent dye that survives in live cell STED imaging

  25-10-2015 05:00
  
  (Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University) A new photostable fluorescent dye for super resolution microscopy could serve as a powerful tool to visualize biological events and structural details in living cells at real-time for prolonged recording periods.In a new study, a team of scientists at ITbM, Nagoya University has developed a new fluorescent dye, 'C-Naphox,' with enhanced photostability to enable continuous live cell imaging by STED microscopy, which opens doors
  
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• General Anesthesia Causes No Cognitive Deficit in Infants

  25-10-2015 00:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Brief exposure to anesthetizing chemicals does not cause future neurological problems large study finds 
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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