Science news

• NASA spacecraft to fly through icy spray of Saturn moon

  26-10-2015 23:52
  
  An unmanned NASA spacecraft is about to make its deepest dive ever into the icy spray emanating from the underwater ocean on Saturn's moon, Enceladus.
  
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• Mycologist says our close relatives break the bounds of biology

  26-10-2015 23:17
  The mushroom nicknamed "death cap” made headlines this summer when it poisoned Syrian refugees fleeing through Eastern Europe. But it was cooperation, not toxicity, that attracted one researcher to Amanita phalloides.
  
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• Targeting invasive cells not dividing cells to halt cancer, study suggests

  26-10-2015 23:16
  Most cancer drugs are designed to target dividing cells, but a new study suggests that targeting invasive cells may be a new strategy to treat metastatic cancer.
  
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• Newly discovered tumor-suppressor gene affects melanoma survival

  26-10-2015 23:09
  Scientists have found a tumor suppressor gene, RASA2, that drives a particularly deadly form of melanoma as well as regulates a key protein, RAS, that is a major oncogene. The discovery is “highly likely to have direct clinical relevance,” say researchers.
  
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• Persian Gulf could experience deadly heat

  26-10-2015 22:41
  Climate change could bring deadly heat waves to Persian Gulf, say researchers. Their detailed climate simulation shows a threshold of survivability could be crossed without mitigation measures.
  
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• Natural protein cage developed for improved cancer drug delivery

  26-10-2015 22:41
  A unique, tiny protein cage has been created by scientists to deliver nasty chemotherapy chemicals directly to cancer cells. Direct delivery could improve treatment and lessen what can be horrendous side effects from toxic drugs.
  
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• Cassini preps to shower in Enceladus’ ocean

  26-10-2015 22:35
  
  The Cassini spacecraft is gearing up for one last plunge through the water geysers on Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn.
  
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• Cougar treed by wild dogs west of Calgary caught on camera

  26-10-2015 22:34 via cbc.ca
  
  Viv Klingbeil is used to observing wildlife through motion-activated cameras placed strategically around her cabin west of Calgary, but one of the wildest scenes she has witnessed came up during an afternoon walk with her husband, when they encountered a cougar that had been treed by a pack of wild dogs.
  
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• Young women more likely to die in hospital after STEMI

  26-10-2015 22:25
  Young women with ST-elevation myocardial infarction were less likely to receive life-saving angioplasty and stenting to restore blood flow to blocked arteries than men and also had longer hospital stays and higher rates of in-hospital mortality, according to a study.
  
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• Researchers study differences in ischemic stroke in marijuana users

  26-10-2015 22:25
  Strokes in young adults who use marijuana are more likely to be caused by stenosis, narrowing of the arteries, in the skull than strokes in non-users, new research shows. Previous studies found an association between marijuana use and stroke, but the new study is the first to explore differences in stroke in marijuana users and non-users, an approach that can help identify possible mechanisms for stroke in users.
  
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• Physicists uncover novel phase of matter

  26-10-2015 22:25
  A team of physicists has discovered an unusual form of matter -- not a conventional metal, insulator, or magnet, for example, but something entirely different. This phase, characterized by an unusual ordering of electrons, could hold the solution to a long-standing mystery in condensed matter physics having to do with high-temperature superconductivity.
  
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• Young women less likely to be informed of heart disease risk by providers

  26-10-2015 22:21
  Even when young women had a similar or greater risk for heart disease than young men, they were 11 percent less likely to report that healthcare providers told them they were at-risk for heart disease prior to a heart attack, according to a new study.
  
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• Rare warrior tomb filled with Bronze Age wealth and weapons discovered

  26-10-2015 22:21
  Archaeologists have discovered a Bronze Age warrior's tomb in southwestern Greece filled with more than 1,400 objects: jewels, weapons and armor, as well as bronze, silver and gold vessels.
  
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• Climate change threatens survival of common lizards

  26-10-2015 22:21
  While there is no doubt that climate change is affecting many organisms, some species might be more sensitive than others. Reptiles, whose body temperature depends directly on environmental temperature, may be particularly vulnerable. Scientists have now shown experimentally that lizards cope very poorly with the climate predicted for the year 2100.
  
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• Study of inner ear development hints at way to restore hearing and balance

  26-10-2015 22:20
  These genes, or others in the same pathway, could be promising targets for efforts to treat hearing loss or balance problems by regenerating hair cells, the researchers suggest.
  
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• Declines in whales, fish, seabirds and large animals disrupt Earth's nutrient cycle

  26-10-2015 22:20
  In the past, whales, giant land mammals, and other animals played a vital role in keeping the planet fertile by transporting nutrients via their feces. However, massive declines and extinctions of many of these animals has deeply damaged this planetary nutrient recycling system, threatening fisheries and ecosystems on land, a team of scientists reports.
  
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• Sheet music for creating the artificial sense of touch

  26-10-2015 22:18
  A new study led by neuroscientists brings us one step closer to building prosthetic limbs for humans that re-create a sense of touch through a direct interface with the brain.
  
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• 'Love hormone' helps produce 'bliss molecules' to boost pleasure of social interactions

  26-10-2015 22:18
  The hormone oxytocin, which has been associated with interpersonal bonding, may enhance the pleasure of social interactions by stimulating production of marijuana-like neurotransmitters in the brain, according to a new study. The research provides the first link between oxytocin -- dubbed the 'love hormone' -- and anandamide, which has been called the 'bliss molecule' for its role in activating cannabinoid receptors in brain cells to heighten motivation and happiness.
  
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• Loss of large land mammals could change landscapes forever

  26-10-2015 22:17
  Paleontologists have looked at the environmental changes that occurred in North and South America after large megafauna went extinct over the past 15,000 years, and found long-lasting impacts. Particularly in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, the loss of mammoths and mastodons affected forests and grasslands and changed the small mammal populations. Similar lasting changes could result from the extinction of large land animals today, in particular African elephants.
  
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• Elephants boost tree losses in South Africa's largest savanna reserve

  26-10-2015 22:17
  Protected areas, such as nature reserves and national parks, play a crucial role in sheltering wildlife, such as African elephants, from hunting and habitat destruction. But it's important that conservation managers understand how the vegetation in these natural protected zones is affected by the population growth spurred by this animal safeguarding. New remote sensing research shows that elephants are one of the leading causes of fallen trees in South Africa's Kruger National Park.
  
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• Ancient babies boost Bering land bridge layover

  26-10-2015 22:17
  Scientists deciphered maternal genetic material from two babies buried together in Alaska 11,500 years ago. They found the infants had different mothers and were the northernmost known kin to two lineages of Native Americans found farther south throughout North and South America. The study supports the theory that Native Americans descended from people who migrated from Asia to Bering land bridge, then spent up to 10,000 years there before moving into the Americas beginning at least 15,000 years
  
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• Large, violent animal packs shaped the ecosystems of the Pleistocene epoch

  26-10-2015 22:14
  Intense, violent attacks by large packs of some of the world's biggest carnivores -- including extinct lions much larger than those of today, and sabertooth cats -- limited the population sizes of mammoths, mastodons and other species, and prevented widespread habitat destruction in the Pleistocene Epoch.
  
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• Common chemical makeup at largest cosmic scales

  26-10-2015 22:14
  A new survey of hot, X-ray-emitting gas in the Virgo galaxy cluster shows that the elements needed to make stars, planets and people were evenly distributed across millions of light-years early in cosmic history, more than 10 billion years ago.
  
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• Ancient permafrost quickly transforms to carbon dioxide upon thaw

  26-10-2015 22:14
  Researchers have quantified how rapidly ancient permafrost decomposes upon thawing and how much carbon dioxide is produced in the process.
  
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• Extinction of Pleistocene herbivores induced major vegetation and landscape changes

  26-10-2015 22:13
  The extinction of large herbivores such as mammoths could explain massive prehistoric changes in vegetation and landscape structure. But it has wider implications, explaining more frequent fires in modern-day ecosystems for instance.
  
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• Eating meat officially raises cancer risk

  26-10-2015 22:12
  
  Eating processed meats like bacon, ham and sausage causes cancer, says the World Health Organization.
  
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• Happy #Arachtober! Spiders Take Over the Web for Halloween

  26-10-2015 21:44
  
  Photographers and researchers from around the world are teaming up to share spectacular (and sometimes skin-crawling) photos of one of Halloween's most popular mascots: spiders. But even if they're not your favorite animals, spiders do capture the spirit of the season, and these eight-legged beauties happen to be very cooperative models, according to the folks who started Arachtober, the group devoted to sharing spider-themed photos on social media. Arachtober started in 2007 as a friendly excha
  
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• Tiny Pluto Moon Kerberos Unveiled (Photos)

  26-10-2015 21:32
  
  Pluto's tiny satellite Kerberos has gotten its first close-up. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has beamed home photos of Kerberos captured during the probe's historic flyby of Pluto on July 14. The newly received images show that Kerberos is smaller and much brighter than researchers had expected.
  
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• Pooped out: absence of big mammals foils ecosystem fertilization

  26-10-2015 21:21
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - You can call it the fertilization cessation, and scientists say it has had a disruptive effect on ecosystems around the world.
  
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• Loss of big animals and their poo has transformed Earth: study

  26-10-2015 20:46
  
  The loss of big animals to overhunting and human-driven pollution has meant a drastic drop in the amount of poo, which is critical to nourishing the Earth, researchers said Monday.
  
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• Law to reduce use of bee-killing pesticides upheld in court

  26-10-2015 20:43 via cbc.ca
  
  An Ontario Superior Court has upheld a provincial regulation to dramatically reduce the number of acres planted with corn and soybean seeds coated with a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, which are toxic to bees.
  
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• Ancient warrior's tomb and huge treasure hoard found in Greece

  26-10-2015 20:34
  
  US archaeologists in Greece have uncovered the skeleton of an ancient warrior that has lain undisturbed for more than 3,500 years along with a huge hoard of treasure, the Greek culture ministry announced Monday.
  
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• France slams EU delay in tougher auto pollution tests

  26-10-2015 20:18
  
  France sharply criticised on Monday the years it has taken the EU to implement auto pollution tests that are to replace the easily riggable lab tests exposed by the Volkswagen diesel car scandal.
  
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• Persian Gulf: too hot for humans by 2100?

  26-10-2015 20:12
  
  Global warming could create peaks of humid heat in the Persian Gulf beyond human tolerance by century's end, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.
  
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• An intolerable unimaginable heat forecast for Persian Gulf

  26-10-2015 19:48
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — If carbon dioxide emissions continue at their current pace, by the end of century parts of the Persian Gulf will sometimes be just too hot for the human body to tolerate, a new study says.
  
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• European lizards may 'disappear' in warming world: study

  26-10-2015 19:41
  
  Lizards may disappear from parts of Europe over the next century, as global warming disrupts their life cycle and breeding habits, researchers said Monday.
  
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• Exxon Knew about Climate Change Almost 40 Years Ago

  26-10-2015 19:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A new investigation shows the oil company understood the science before it became a public issue and spent millions to promote misinformation
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Surgery proving option for more pancreatic cancer patients, expert says

  26-10-2015 19:03
  Pancreatic cancer has long proved the least survivable of the most common forms of cancer, in part because it tends to spread before symptoms appear. Surgery has offered the longest remissions, but for many people with advanced cancer, an operation wasn’t an option. Now, thanks to improvements in chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, even this most recalcitrant of cancers is starting to budge, says a gastrointestinal surgeon.
  
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• In the French suburbs, Big Brother is watching you

  26-10-2015 19:03
  Video surveillance, police presence and walls that stop people from socializing in the streets. In France this is reality for the residents of suburbs that are upgraded. New research shows that the people who have been tasked to improve these suburbs see them through their own filter of suspicion.
  
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• Entanglement at heart of ‘two-for-one’ fission in next-generation solar cells

  26-10-2015 19:03
  An international team of scientists have observed how a mysterious quantum phenomenon in organic molecules takes place in real time, which could aid in the development of highly efficient solar cells.
  
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• Light mimics hotel with limitless vacancies

  26-10-2015 19:00
  
  By mimicking a mathematician’s method for creating vacancies in a hotel with an infinite number of rooms, physicists may have found a way of increasing the amount of data that can be carried via light.
  
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• Nearly 300 bears killed in controversial Florida hunt

  26-10-2015 18:41
  
  Hunters in Florida over the weekend killed some 300 black bears as part of a controversial program allowing sportsmen to track and kill the animals, wildlife officials said Monday.
  
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• New genetic discovery advances understanding of prostate cancer

  26-10-2015 18:23
  A new and important genetic discovery, which sheds light on how prostate cancers develop and spread, has been made by an international research team. Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting men.
  
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• Mechanism discovered that could lead to better ovarian cancer treatment

  26-10-2015 18:23
  Resistance to chemotherapy is a major problem for those suffering from ovarian cancer -- a problem that prevents a cure from a disease dubbed the 'silent killer.' Now researchers are giving patients new hope with recent findings that help pinpoint the mechanisms causing chemoresistance.
  
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• Scientists uncover signal for when a pregnant woman is about to go into labor

  26-10-2015 18:21
  A cellular signal in the amniotic fluid around the fetus has been found to build up when a pregnant woman is about to go into labor, say scientists. The researchers used amniotic fluid samples from 50 women in labor and 51 women at the end of their pregnancy but not in yet in labor. They also acquired demographic information from patient interviews and medical information from their medical records.
  
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• Molecular motor grows cell's microtubules

  26-10-2015 18:21
  Motor proteins that pause at the ends of microtubules and produce pushing forces can also stimulate their growth, according to researchers. The proteins' function could be a critical component in understanding cell division and nerve branching and growth.
  
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• How ants and ketchup are alike: Both solid-like and liquid-like

  26-10-2015 18:21
  Collections of ants have a remarkable ability to change shapes and tasks based on the demands of their environment. When floodwaters hit, they self-assemble and form rafts to stay alive. They can also use their bodies to build bridges and span gaps. What are the properties of these ant aggregations that allow for this wide range of abilities? New research says it's because the insects are actually liquid-like and solid-like simultaneously.
  
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• Check your Facebook privacy settings: Your old posts might be public

  26-10-2015 18:19 via cbc.ca
  
  Facebook is taking on Google and Twitter in an effort to dominate the entire web world — and, like it or not, you're going to help them do it. We spoke with CBC technology columnist Jesse Hirsh about Facebook's latest update.
  
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• Chameleon double vision is a highly coordinated effort

  26-10-2015 18:10
  Chameleons have many abilities, the most famed of which is their talent to camouflage themselves by changing color. Another capability was, until now, believed to be the complete independent movement of their eyes, allowing them to view two totally separate pictures of the world. This assumption was prevalent due to the Old World lizard's lack of cortex, resulting in very sparse intersection between the left and right sides of their brain.
  
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• Cuppa coffee from Northern Ireland?

  26-10-2015 17:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Take a coffee plant and some volcanic soil, keep indoors for a while and despite the cold, you could have Northern Ireland-grown coffee.
  
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