Science news

• Halifax scientists concerned over tuna-riding photos

  18-11-2015 23:39 via cbc.ca
  
  Photos of a woman riding a bluefin tuna that were posted to the Instagram account of a competitive angler are concerning, say marine scientists in Halifax.
  
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• Astronomers see planet still growing in its stellar womb

  18-11-2015 23:24
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Astronomers have taken the first images of a planet still in formation, a discovery expected to shed light on how giant planets manage to beef up early in their lives, research published on Wednesday showed.
  
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• Childhood Cancer Risk Hides in Families

  18-11-2015 23:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Genome study finds mutations passed on from parents are linked to at least one in 12 cancers in kids
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• Britain signals closure of dirty coal power plants

  18-11-2015 22:41
  
  Britain will shut polluting coal-fired power plants by 2025, its government said Wednesday ahead of key UN climate change talks in Paris.
  
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• Getting creative to cut methane from cows

  18-11-2015 22:36
  
  Changing feed, giving vaccines and selective breeding may enable scientists to help beef and dairy cattle shake their title as one of society's worst methane producers.
  
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• Curiosity Rover Headed to Dark Sand Dunes on Mars

  18-11-2015 21:57
  
  NASA's Curiosity rover will soon get history's first up-close look at Martian sand dunes. Curiosity is headed toward the dark Bagnold Dunes, which lie in the northwestern foothills of the towering Mount Sharp, and should begin investigating the sandy feature in the next few days, NASA officials said. Curiosity will study one dune that's as wide as a football field and as tall as a two-story building, NASA officials said.
  
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• France bans massive marches planned during Paris climate talks

  18-11-2015 21:10
  
  France will not allow planned marches to go ahead on Nov. 29 and Dec. 12 during international climate talks in Paris because of security concerns, the government said on Wednesday. "In order to avoid additional risks, the government has decided not to authorise climate marches planned in public places in Paris and other French cities on Nov. 29 and Dec. 12," the statement said. Environmental activists have hoped the marches would attract perhaps 200,000 people to put pressure on governments to c
  
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• The World's Biggest Volcano Is a Magnetic Mix-Up

  18-11-2015 20:50 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Five weeks of mapping at sea suggests two possible origins for the underwater Tamu Massif
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• Lab-grown vocal cord tissue may offer transplant solution

  18-11-2015 20:39
  
  US researchers have grown vocal cord tissue in a lab, an advance that could one day help restore the voices of millions who suffer from cancer or other diseases, a study said Wednesday.
  
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• Big ice melt scenarios 'not plausible'

  18-11-2015 20:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists say the contribution of a melting Antarctica to sea level rise this century will be significant and challenging, but that some nightmare scenarios are just not realistic.
  
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• Yellowstone park proposes killing 1,000 bison this winter

  18-11-2015 20:24
  
  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Yellowstone National Park proposes to kill roughly 1,000 wild bison this winter — mostly calves and females — as officials seek to reduce the animals' annual migration into Montana.
  
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• Antarctic melt may add less to oceans' rise than predicted

  18-11-2015 20:20
  
  Melting Antarctic ice will contribute to soaring sea levels, but new estimates show the threat may be less serious than once thought, researchers said Wednesday.
  
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• October 2015 smashes global heat record by 'incredible amount'

  18-11-2015 20:19 via cbc.ca
  
  This October blew away previous records to become the hottest ever recorded, giving a boost to predictions that this year will be 'an all-time record-breaker' when it comes to the global temperature.
  
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• Cub remains of extinct cave lions shown in Russia

  18-11-2015 20:10
  
  MOSCOW (AP) — Thousands of years after their brief lives ended in the frozen reaches of Siberia, the remarkably well-preserved carcasses of two cave lion cubs have been shown to the public.
  
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• Engineered vocal cords show promise in animal tests

  18-11-2015 20:00
  
  Lab-grown vocal cord tissue could lead the way to better treatments for people with vocal problems
  
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• Glimpse of baby planet shows what to expect when a star is expecting

  18-11-2015 19:36
  
  A baby planet is still growing in the disk of gas that encircles a young star.
  
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• Ruff sex: Scientists identify genetic sequence of a bird with four genders

  18-11-2015 19:32 via cbc.ca
  
  Biologists have discovered the group of genes responsible for ruffs, a type of sandpiper, having four different genders, including a male that looks like a female and tricks females into mating.
  
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• 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Will Likely Be a Real (Star)Killer!

  18-11-2015 19:28
  
  To paraphrase a beloved Jedi, that's no moon — but it's one step closer: the upcoming "Star Wars" movie promises a weaponized enemy base carved from an ice planet.
  
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• Deke Slayton to Fly, Again: Orbital ATK Names 2nd Ship for Astronaut

  18-11-2015 19:28
  
  Deke Slayton waited 16 years to fly in space after he was selected as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts in 1959. Grounded for more than a decade as the result of a heart condition, when Slayton finally did fly, he was the "world's oldest space rookie," a distinction the then-President of the United States, Gerald Ford, highlighted when he asked the 51-year-old pilot if he had any recommendations for those who would like to follow in his footsteps. Forty years later, Slayton's advice,
  
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• The vagus is the nerve to know

  18-11-2015 19:27
  The nervous system's meandering superhighway has the potential to lead researchers treatments for myriad health conditions.
  
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• Formation of Alien Worlds Photographed for 1st Time

  18-11-2015 19:23
  
  For the first time ever, astronomers have directly observed planets in the process of being born.
  
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• Bright minds, antineutrinos and more reader feedback

  18-11-2015 19:23
  In the November 28, 2015, issue of Science News, readers discussed humanizing science, frog mating calls, antineurtrinos and Martian dust storms.
  
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• Birth of Planets! Formation of Alien Worlds Photographed for 1st Time

  18-11-2015 19:23
  
  "It's exciting, because it's the first time that we've been able to image forming planets directly," study lead author Stephanie Sallum, a graduate student at the University of Arizona, told Space.com. Such circumstellar disks commonly surround newborn stars, providing the raw materials from which planets form. To learn more, Sallum and her colleagues zeroed in on the LkCA 15 system using the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), an observatory in southeastern Arizona that boasts two 27-foot-wide (8.
  
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• Crops may suffer when bees are exposed to neonic pesticides

  18-11-2015 19:08 via cbc.ca
  
  Bumblebees exposed to common neonicotinoid pesticides may do a poorer job of pollinating crops such as apples, leading to poorer-quality fruit, a new Canadian-led study suggests.
  
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• Bumblebee exposure to neonic pesticides can lead to poorer crops

  18-11-2015 19:08 via cbc.ca
  
  Bumblebees exposed to common neonicotinoid pesticides may do a poorer job of pollinating crops such as apples, leading to poorer-quality fruit, a new Canadian-led study suggests.
  
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• Bad apples? Bees on neonics lead to poorer-quality fruit

  18-11-2015 19:08 via cbc.ca
  
  Bumblebees exposed to common neonicotinoid pesticides may do a poorer job of pollinating crops such as apples, leading to poorer-quality fruit, a new Canadian-led study suggests.
  
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• Culture shapes sense of fairness

  18-11-2015 19:05
  
  Culture shapes kids’ sense of fairness, especially when they get the short end of the stick.
  
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• US, Cuba sign first environmental accord since thaw

  18-11-2015 18:22
  
  HAVANA (AP) — The United States and Cuba signed an agreement Wednesday to join forces and protect the vast array of fish and corals both countries separated by just 90 miles (140 kilometers) of water share in common, the first environmental accord since announcing plans to renew diplomatic relations.
  
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• Anonymous vs. ISIS: The way to fight ISIS online

  18-11-2015 18:17 via cbc.ca
  
  The hacktivist group Anonymous has declared war on ISIS after the Paris attacks. And, they're already claiming some early success - thousands of Twitter accounts shut down. McMaster University cyber security expert Ken Owen explains what Anonymous can do to ISIS.
  
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• Anonymous vs. ISIS: How to fight ISIS online

  18-11-2015 18:17 via cbc.ca
  
  The hacktivist group Anonymous has declared war on ISIS after the Paris attacks. And, they're already claiming some early success - thousands of Twitter accounts shut down. McMaster University cyber security expert Ken Owen explains what Anonymous can do to ISIS.
  
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• Absurdly hot October as Earth sets 8th heat record this year

  18-11-2015 18:11
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Even in a record-breaking hot year for Earth, October stood out as absurdly warm.
  
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• Rich powers cut export aid for coal plants

  18-11-2015 17:50
  Advanced economies including the United States, Japan and European Union have agreed for the first time to restrict state aid for exports of large, inefficient coal-fired power stations, the OECD announced Wednesday.
  
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• Greenland's icy homage to UN climate change conference

  18-11-2015 17:49
  
  A mass of ice harvested from Greenland is on its way to Paris where it will be installed on the Place de la Republique to mark the UN Climate Change Conference, organisers said Wednesday.
  
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• Syrian foreign minister to visit Russia next week for talks - RIA

  18-11-2015 17:38
  
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria's foreign minister Walid al-Moualem will visit Russia next week for talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about his country's crisis and the struggle against terrorism, the RIA news agency reported on Wednesday. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
  
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• Giant fossil wasp discovered in B.C.

  18-11-2015 17:37 via cbc.ca
  
  A B.C. paleontologist literally splits his pants after cracking open a rock in the province's southern Interior and finding a beautifully preserved giant fossil wasp - a new species.
  
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• Russia says conducted 'mass strike' on Islamic State targets in Syria

  18-11-2015 17:32
  
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian air force on Wednesday conducted a 'mass strike' against Islamic State targets across Syria using long-range bombers and cruise missiles, Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency. He said targets in Syria's Raqqa, Idlib, and Deir al-Zor provinces had been struck. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
  
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• New global heat records set for October and year-to-date

  18-11-2015 17:30
  
  Last month was the hottest October in modern history and the first 10 months of the year have also been record warm, US government scientists on Wednesday.
  
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• The Clean-Energy Revolution Gathers Speed

  18-11-2015 17:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Less polluting energy sources are proliferating in the U.S. If other nations join in, the results could have global impact.
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• ‘UFO’ Captured In Photo Of Earth Taken From The ISS

  18-11-2015 16:53
  
  Is the truth out there? Conspiracy theorists believe that it just might be, after an astronaut on the ISS tweeted this picture - with what appears to be a UFO hanging ominously in the top right hand corner.
  
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• Poland begs to differ on coal

  18-11-2015 16:28
  Poland said on Wednesday it remains attached to coal as its prime energy source, in stark contrast to its EU partners who want to phase out the fossil fuel.
  
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• 1,700-Year-Old Mosaic Once Decorated Luxurious Villa Courtyard

  18-11-2015 16:20
  
  A hungry lion taking down its prey and colorful fish leaping from the sea — these two nature-inspired scenes make up part of a large tile mosaic that was recently uncovered in Israel. The mosaic served as a courtyard floor in a wealthy household some 1,700 years ago, archaeologists say. The ancient artwork was unearthed last year by archaeologists from the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) who were preparing the site of a new visitors center in the municipality of Lod, a city located abo
  
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• Mysterious Glow at Milky Way's Center Could Be Dark Matter or Hidden Pulsars

  18-11-2015 16:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Astronomers get closer to an explanation for the unexpected abundance of gamma rays at the core of our galaxy
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Baby's New Leukemia Treatment Could Help Others with Cancer

  18-11-2015 15:36
  
  A gene-editing technology that made headlines recently for successfully treating a baby with leukemia may one day be used to treat other types of cancers, experts say. Layla Richard was just 14 weeks old when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where she was treated. Then, they edited the cells' genes, which gave the cells the ability to attack the cancer, and injected the cells into Layla.
  
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• Weird Mucus Parasites Are Actually Jellyfish

  18-11-2015 15:34
  
  Microscopic parasites only a few cells large are essentially greatly degenerated jellyfish, a finding that could expand the definition of the animal kingdom, researchers say. "When people think of an animal, they think of a macroscopic, multicellular, complex organism, and now they'll have to expand their definition of an animal to include very simple microscopic organisms," study co-author Paulyn Cartwright, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Kansas,told Live Science. Investigators
  
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• Truffles aren’t laced with radioactive cesium

  18-11-2015 15:00
  
  Fallout from the Chernobyl disaster hasn’t made truffles dangerously radioactive, scientists find.
  
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• Carbon taxes could hit oilpatch hardest

  18-11-2015 15:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Certain sectors of Canada's economy are at risk of losing their competitive edge if provinces miscalculate their adoption of carbon taxes.
  
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• Animal rights group targets NIH director’s home

  18-11-2015 15:00
  
  PETA shares personal information about Francis Collins and another NIH researcher with their neighbors
  
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• Emoji Snags 'Word of the Year' (Here’s Why That Makes Sense)

  18-11-2015 13:32
  
  It's official: Oxford Dictionaries word of the year isn't a word at all, it's "face-with-tears-of-joy," the most globally used emoji in 2015. The smiley face with oversized tears made up a whopping 20 percent of all emojis used in the United Kingdom and 17 percent of those used in the United States, according to the Oxford Dictionaries blog. "Emojis are no longer the preserve of texting teens — instead, they have been embraced as a nuanced form of expression, and one which can cross l
  
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• Where Will the 1st Astronauts on Mars Land?

  18-11-2015 13:26
  
  The ideal Red Planet crewed site should be of high scientific value — allowing pioneers to search for signs of Mars life and investigate other intriguing questions — and also possess enough resources to help sustain expeditionary crews, scientists and engineers said. They came to these and other conclusions at the First Landing Site/Exploration Zone Workshop for Human Missions to the Surface of Mars, which was held here Oct. 27 though Oct. 30 at the Lunar and Planetary Institute.
  
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• 'Stretch Marks' on Phobos Show Martian Moon Is Falling Apart

  18-11-2015 13:26
  
  Long, thin "stretch marks" on the surface of Phobos are early signs that the Martian moon is falling apart, new research suggests. Phobos is a tiny moon that is closer to Mars than any other moon in the solar system is to its planet. "We think that Phobos has already started to fail, and the first sign of this failure is the production of these grooves," Terry Hurford, a research assistant at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, who led the study, said in a statement.
  
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