Science news

• Global carbon emissions fell in 2015, despite economic growth

  08-12-2015 23:45
  
  Society’s carbon footprint fell slightly in 2015, largely due to decrease coal consumption in China, researchers report.
  
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• Japanese princess fetes 40 years of volunteers in Honduras

  08-12-2015 23:08
  
  Japan's Princess Mako and Honduran First Lady Ana Garcia de Hernandez on Tuesday celebrated four decades of Japanese volunteers visiting Honduras to help develop medicine, art, science and other activities.
  
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• Busy eyes can make ears go temporarily deaf

  08-12-2015 23:03
  
  When challenged with a tough visual task, people are less likely to perceive a tone, suggesting that perceptual overload can jump between senses.
  
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• Giant animals light up Vatican for environment show

  08-12-2015 23:00
  
  Images of clouds, lions and butterflies -- alternating with polluted air and parched farmland -- were projected on the famous facade of St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Tuesday night as global leaders try to thrash out a historic climate deal in Paris.
  
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• Water bears’ genetic borrowing questioned

  08-12-2015 21:55
  
  A new analysis of tardigrade DNA suggests that water bears don’t swap many genes with other organisms after all.
  
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• Ministers tackle flashpoints in race for climate deal

  08-12-2015 21:46
  
  Ministers from across the planet scrambled on Tuesday to overcome dealbreakers to a historic global pact to fight climate change, showing a rare glimmer of optimism as the deadline approaches.
  
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• See the U.S. Navy test its newest high-tech destroyer at sea

  08-12-2015 21:14 via cbc.ca
  
  The largest destroyer built for the U.S. Navy headed out for sea trials on this week.
  
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• Apple smart battery case 'so ugly it's almost sarcastic'

  08-12-2015 21:10 via cbc.ca
  
  Apple has released a battery case that will boost the battery life of your iPhone 6 — if you're too not embarrassed about your iPhone being seen wearing it.
  
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• Saint West? Kim & Kanye Choose Baby Name That Fits Trend

  08-12-2015 20:29
  
  Though Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West may be trendsetters, in one way, they are swimming with the current. "Kimye," as the couple is often called, have named their newborn son Saint West, who joins older sister North West in the high-profile Kardashian-West clan. "Though some may be scratching their heads at their [Kim and Kanye's] name choice, the name could take off because it actually reflects a growing trend in society," said Laura Wattenberg, the founder of the baby-name website ba
  
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• Why France may consider a ban on public Wi-Fi during emergencies

  08-12-2015 20:13 via cbc.ca
  
  French officials are considering shutting down shared Wi-Fi during states of emergency. CBC Radio technology columnist Dan Misener explains why.
  
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• Digital democracy: Canadians can now sway public policy through e-petitions

  08-12-2015 20:08 via cbc.ca
  
  Canadians can now help sway public policy with a quick click at the computer. The parliamentary petition process has gone digital, allowing people with special interests to sign their support electronically.
  
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• For male peacock spiders, the best dancers get the girl

  08-12-2015 19:51
  
  Male peacock spiders dance to attract the ladies. And those that perform the best get the girl, a new study finds.
  
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• Mexico to spend $23 billion to cut greenhouse gases

  08-12-2015 19:27
  
  Mexico's government said on Tuesday it will invest $23 billion at refineries to slash greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline by 90 percent and cut several tonnes produced by four facilities.
  
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• Think Beijing's air pollution is bad? These 10 cities are worse

  08-12-2015 18:53 via cbc.ca
  
  Beijing doesn't even crack the top 20 for cities with the worst air pollution, according to the World Health Organization.
  
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• 'Dark Universe': Probing the Greatest Mysteries of the Cosmos (Q&A)

  08-12-2015 18:48
  
  Michael Sainato is a freelance writer with credits including the Miami Herald, The Huffington Post and The Hill. Mordecai-Mark Mac Low: Antimatter is like matter , except it has the opposite charge, so an antiproton is a negatively charged proton as opposed to the protons in our own atoms that are positively charged.
  
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• Why It's Time to Map the Microbiome (Kavli Roundtable)

  08-12-2015 18:47
  
  Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights
  
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• Friends for Life: How Good Bugs Keep You Healthy (Op-Ed)

  08-12-2015 18:46
  
  Body by Darwin: How Evolution Shapes Our Health and Transforms Medicine Not A Chimp: The Hunt For The Genes That Make Us Human
  
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• TB community borrowing a page from HIV/AIDS

  08-12-2015 18:30
  
  The “Lung Meeting” in South Africa heralds a new era in advocacy
  
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• Japanese spacecraft finally arrives at Venus — 5 years late

  08-12-2015 18:16 via cbc.ca
  
  A Japanese spacecraft has finally made it to Venus after circling the sun for five years on an unscheduled detour.
  
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• Climate talks contend with both villains, heroes as deadline looms

  08-12-2015 17:43 via cbc.ca
  
  The most effective obstacles to a strong Paris climate agreement are the countries like Saudi Arabia that aren’t standing on the sidelines, but instead are working at every level to block efforts at finding common ground, Nahlah Ayed writes.
  
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• Meet a Hibernating Primate: Vietnam's Slow Loris

  08-12-2015 17:22
  
  Hibernation is well-documented in a number of animal species, and is common across the mammal family tree. Until recently, the only primates known to hibernate were Madagascar lemurs. Researchers conducted the first-ever study of hibernation in pygmy slow lorises (Nycticebus pygmaeus), working with six adult animals at Vietnam's Endangered Primate Rescue Center.
  
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• Laser-Armed Cameras Can 'See' Around Corners

  08-12-2015 17:21
  
  With the help of lasers, cameras can track moving objects hidden around corners, scientists say. Laser scanners are now regularly used to capture 3D images of items. This measurement reveals how far the light pulses have traveled, which can be used to recreate what the objects look like in three dimensions.
  
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• COP21: Catherine McKenna endorses goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees C

  08-12-2015 17:11 via cbc.ca
  
  The federal government hasn't yet delivered a plan for reducing the country's overall emissions of greenhouse gases, but the Liberals are already supporting a more ambitious climate agenda at the Paris conference.
  
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• Airport expansion: Inside the Grow Heathrow protest camp blocking a third runway

  08-12-2015 17:05
  
  Environmental campaigners have built a self-sufficient squat camp called Grow Heathrow in the village of Sipson, on land designated for the third runway. Maeve Morgan, a 24-year old student, who has been living at the camp for the past 15 months, said: "Grow Heathrow, as well as opposing the third runway also shows alternative ways of living. The decision on whether to build a third runway at Heathrow had been expected this week, but it has been delayed yet again.
  
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• Kerry says aiming for New York Syria meeting on Dec 18

  08-12-2015 16:43
  
  By Lesley Wroughton PARIS (Reuters) - Countries involved in the Syrian peace process are set to meet in New York on Dec. 18 but the talks may hinge on efforts to unite Syrian opposition groups in the coming days, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday. Russia, the United States, European and Middle Eastern countries agreed last month on a two-year timeline leading to Syrian national elections, but left many questions unresolved, most notably the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Ass
  
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• Childhood Allergies Could Signal Heart Disease Risk

  08-12-2015 16:14
  
  Researchers found that kids with such allergies had higher rates of being overweight or obese — risk factors for heart disease — than children who don't have these allergic conditions. The investigators also found that children and teens with asthma or hay fever were twice as likely to have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, which are also risk factors for heart disease, according to the study, published today (Dec. 8) in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.
  
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• Delhi outlines traffic ban plan to curb pollution

  08-12-2015 16:13
  
  Delhi Tuesday outlined its plans to restrict the number of vehicles on its roads at the beginning of January, as the world's most polluted capital attempts to clean up its toxic air.
  
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• Marijuana Extract May Help Treat Epilepsy, Small Study Suggests

  08-12-2015 16:10
  
  A medicine derived from marijuana may help treat children with severe epilepsy, new studies suggest. In one of the new studies, researchers administered the medicine to 261 people with severe epilepsy for three months. The study included children as young as 4 months and adults as old as 41, but most of the patients in the study were children, whose average age was 11.
  
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• Virtual Reality for All, Finally [Video]

  08-12-2015 16:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Will the new generation of headsets hitting the consumer electronics market deliver enhanced virtual-reality experiences at more affordable prices?
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Women in Combat: Physical Differences May Mean Uphill Battle

  08-12-2015 15:16
  The Pentagon announced last week that it would open up all positions in the military to women — including combat positions. But in one way, the sex difference is stark: Men are physically stronger than women, on average.
  
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• Death by Flatfish: Whales Suffocate After Soles Clog Blowholes

  08-12-2015 15:05
  
  Two long-finned pilot whales died along the Dutch coast last winter after flatfish got stuck in the whales' blowholes and suffocated the giant mammals, a new study finds. Blowhole suffocation due to fish is rare, and the researchers called it a "lose-lose situation," because both the whale and the flatfish, which were common sole (Solea solea), died during the event. It just went wrong," said study lead researcher Lonneke IJsseldijk, a biologist and a faculty member of veterinary medicine at Utr
  
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• Thunder-Thighed Dinosaurs Arose Quickly from Predecessors

  08-12-2015 15:02
  
  Dinosaurs took less than 5 million years to evolve from their reptile predecessors, the early dinosauromorphs, a new study finds. The finding revamps the time line between the dinosaurs and early dinosauromorphs. Until now, researchers thought that it took at least 10 million to 15 million years for the early dinosauromorphs to evolve into dinosaurs.
  
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• Super Spiral Galaxies Amaze Astronomers

  08-12-2015 15:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A new breed of giants raises questions about how the biggest galaxies arise
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Global CO2 emissions expected to dip this year

  08-12-2015 14:45 via cbc.ca
  
  Global carbon dioxide emissions may be dropping ever so slightly this year, spurred by a dramatic plunge in Chinese pollution, according to a surprising new study released Monday.
  
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• Ministers tackle flashpoints on climate deal

  08-12-2015 14:33
  
  Ministers tasked with securing a historic climate-saving pact in Paris sought Tuesday to settle the most volatile flashpoints, such as mustering hundreds of billions of dollars to help the developing world.
  
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• #HackAHairDryer: How to get more women in tech and science without condescending us

  08-12-2015 14:30
  
  I was the 12-year-old girl who stayed inside at recess to dissect frogs in the biology lab. In high school, I was one of only two girls on the maths team – sticking with it in spite of the bullying teacher in charge, who professed "girls can't hold a candle to the boys in math". The other girl earned a degree in applied mathematics. I went to medical school.
  
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• Sun Could Unleash Devastating 'Superflare'

  08-12-2015 13:58
  
  The sun is capable of firing off an incredibly powerful superflare that could wreak havoc on Earth's technology-dependent society, a new study suggests. This result "supports the hypothesis that the sun is able to produce a potentially devastating superflare," study co-author Anne-Marie Broomhall, from the University of Warwick in England, said in a statement. The research team analyzed a superflare emitted by the binary star KIC9655129, which lies about 1,500 light-years from Earth, using NASA'
  
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• Pluto Probe Snaps Record-Breaking Photos of Frigid, Faraway Object

  08-12-2015 13:58
  
  NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has captured the closest images of a small object in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune's orbit, mission team members say. New Horizons, which performed history's first flyby of Pluto this past July, took four photos of a 90-mile-wide (150 kilometers) Kuiper Belt object called 1994 JR1 on Nov. 2, from a distance of 170 million miles (280 million km). You can watch a 1994 JR1 as seen by New Horizons here.
  
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• In Alien Solar Systems, Twin Planets Could Share Life

  08-12-2015 13:58
  
  In the past 25 years, astronomers have confirmed the existence of more than 1,900 exoplanets, or alien planets around other stars. Past research suggested that billions of exoplanets are potentially habitable in the Milky Way — that is, they lie in the habitable zones of their parent stars, where temperatures are right for liquid water to exist, and thus life as it is known on Earth. Two exoplanets that astronomers recently discovered around the star Kepler-36 are so close together they co
  
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• Alien-Hunting SETI Telescopes Boogie in Spectacular 'Dishdance' Video

  08-12-2015 13:58
  
  A stunning new time-lapse video shows off the tireless movement of radio astronomy facilities used to search for aliens across the universe. Telescope dishes swivel and clouds and stars rush by in the video, which is called "Dishdance" and was produced in part to help document the effects of light pollution. The video focuses on SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and facilities either currently or previously used by that organization.
  
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• Paris Climate Talks Headed Toward Global Deal, But Is It Enough?

  08-12-2015 13:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Unprecedented commitments to cut carbon emissions may still fall short
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Disease-resistant pigs latest win for gene editing technology

  08-12-2015 13:18
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - A British animal genetics firm, working with U.S. scientists, has bred the world's first pigs resistant to a common viral disease, using the hot new technology of gene editing.
  
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• Meaty snacks bring out the dark side of street dogs

  08-12-2015 13:15
  Moms fight pups over scraps of meat
  
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• Beijing's smog holiday: Pollution red alert forces some out of city

  08-12-2015 13:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Some residents take a smog holiday away from Beijing as the Chinese capital launches restrictions under its first red alert for pollution, closing schools, suspending factories and keeping half the vehicles off the streets.
  
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• Beijing's 'red alert' air forces some to take smog holidays

  08-12-2015 13:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Some residents take a smog holiday away from Beijing as the Chinese capital launches restrictions under its first red alert for pollution, closing schools, suspending factories and keeping half the vehicles off the streets.
  
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• Memorial University to cancel thousands of journal subscriptions

  08-12-2015 12:31 via cbc.ca
  
  In the face of tight budgets and spiralling costs, Memorial University’s library will be cancelling its subscription to thousands of academic journals in January — something faculty members say could seriously damage the university’s credibility.
  
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• Overhaul in the works for aging U.S. Antarctic station

  08-12-2015 12:15
  
  Plans are moving forward to redevelop McMurdo
  
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• Japanese spacecraft reaches Venus — five years late

  08-12-2015 12:00
  
  The Japanese Space Agency’s Akatsuki spacecraft succeeded at a second attempt at orbiting Venus, five years after an engine failure prevented its intended mission.
  
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• Those fireballs 'bright as the full moon' in Nova Scotia skies weren't meteors

  08-12-2015 11:30 via cbc.ca
  
  If you happened to be looking up at southern skies in Nova Scotia on Sunday night, you may have seen two fireballs resembling meteors — but they weren't.
  
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• ‘Hey, lay off my carcass!’ Grizzlies chase polar bears away from important food source

  08-12-2015 11:30
  
  Behavior may further endanger polar bears
  
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