Science news

• Smoggy Christmas eve in Italy prompts emergency measures

  24-12-2015 22:51
  Italy's two largest cities, Rome and Milan, adopted emergency measures on Thursday to lower air pollution levels during the Christmas season. Officials in Rome had already banned the most polluting, older type of vehicles from circulating in a large part of the city. To encourage use of public transport in Rome, a single ticket would be valid for the entire day instead of for a single journey while the partial ban is in effect, officials said.
  
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• Smog shuts schools in Bosnia's Sarajevo

  24-12-2015 22:15
  
  Air pollution forced Bosnian authorities to shut schools in the capital Sarajevo on Thursday, while smog levels also spiked in other parts of the Balkan country due to a lack of rainfall, local officials said.
  
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• APNewsBreak: EPA wants toxic Nevada mine on Superfund list

  24-12-2015 21:01
  
  RENO, Nev. (AP) — Fifteen years after U.S. regulators started assessing damage and health risks at an abandoned Nevada copper mine, the Environmental Protection Agency is moving to designate the contaminated land a Superfund site, a step the state could still oppose.
  
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• New tablets for kids combine online safety with performance

  24-12-2015 20:52 via cbc.ca
  
  Companies that make children's tablets are targeting older kids with premium products that look and perform less like toys and more like the ones adults use. Here's a look at some of the options available.
  
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• Dr. Alfred Gilman, Nobel Prize-winning cell researcher, dies

  24-12-2015 20:22
  
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Dr. Alfred Gilman, who won a Nobel Prize for his breakthrough research into the inner workings of cells and later left Texas' much-ballyhooed $3 billion cancer-fighting initiative, citing a lack of oversight that led to a scandal, has died. He was 74.
  
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• Record temperatures mean it'll be a green Christmas for many Canadians

  24-12-2015 20:13 via cbc.ca
  
  Many Canadians wishing for a white Christmas are going to be out of luck. Whether you're in Ottawa or Halifax, the weather is positively balmy.
  
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• TV streaming hit the mainstream in 2015

  24-12-2015 19:03 via cbc.ca
  
  With services like CraveTV and Shomi gaining traction and Netflix continuing to be a juggernaut, 2015 has been the year when 'streaming went from being the domain of the early adopter to something that was largely the option of pretty much everyone else.'
  
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• Gilman, 1994 Nobel Prize-winning scientist in Texas, dies

  24-12-2015 17:24
  DALLAS (AP) — Dr. Alfred Gilman, a 1994 Nobel Prize-winning scientist and former dean of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, has died after a lengthy illness. He was 74.
  
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• More Chinese cities issue their 1st red alerts for heavy smog

  24-12-2015 17:03 via cbc.ca
  
  More Chinese cities are issuing their first red alerts for pollution in response to forecasts of heavy smog, after the capital, Beijing, issued two this month following criticism for not releasing them earlier.
  
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• Choirs offer fast 'ice-breaker effect' to foster social bonds

  24-12-2015 17:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Singing together acts as a quick icebreaker, researchers and choir members say.
  
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• US Twin Birthrate Hits All-Time High

  24-12-2015 16:16
  The country's twin birthrate hit 33.9 twins per 1,000 births in 2014, up from 33.7 twins per 1,000 births in 2013, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The "twinning rate" has nearly doubled since 1980, when the rate was 18.9 twins per 1,000 births, the researchers wrote in their report, published today (Dec. 23) by the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. However, the birthrates of triplets and higher-order births declined in 2014, from 119.5 per
  
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• Stem Cells May Save Northern White Rhinos

  24-12-2015 16:15
  
  At a meeting in Vienna from Dec. 3 to Dec. 6, researchers developed a plan to use stem cells to create fertilized rhino embryos, which will be carried by surrogate southern white rhino females. This past year has been a sad one for northern white rhinos, a rapidly disappearing subspecies destroyed by habitat loss and poaching. An infection claimed Nola, a 41-year-old female at the San Diego Zoo, in November.
  
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• Confident Eyewitnesses Considered Credible

  24-12-2015 16:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Eyewitness identification can give us valuable information—but only if done right
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• For a White Christmas This Year, Try Alaska

  24-12-2015 15:40 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A North Atlantic climate phenomenon will keep December 25 warm and snow-free in most of the country, other than in Anchorage and a few spots out West
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• International Space Station to make low pass over Christmas rooftops

  24-12-2015 15:02
  Flying low over the rooftops, it could easily be mistaken for Santa's sleigh.
  
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• Hyatt warns of malware on its payment-processing system

  24-12-2015 14:42 via cbc.ca
  
  Hyatt Hotels Corp. says it found malicious software on the computer system that processes customer payments, raising the possibility that hackers may have obtained credit card numbers or other sensitive information.
  
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• Inmarsat's big boost to UK space

  24-12-2015 14:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Inmarsat, the British satellite telecommunications company, has awarded the contract to build its next-generation constellation to Airbus.
  
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• Rare Christmas Full Moon a Cosmic Gift for the Holidays: What to Expect

  24-12-2015 13:55
  
  If you live anywhere east of the Mississippi River this year, you likely will not have snow on the ground on Christmas morning, but you will have a full moon. A full moon coinciding with Christmas does not happen often — usually, once every 19 years. The online Slooh Community Observatory will host a free webcast of the Christmas full moon on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) at 7 p.m. EST (0000 GMT).  You can go to Slooh.com to join and watch the broadcast, and also see Slooh's library of
  
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• Vultures in a flap over turbulence

  24-12-2015 13:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Vultures have developed the ability to tap into turbulent air as a way of gaining altitude according to a new study.
  
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• Puff adders appear ‘invisible’ to noses

  24-12-2015 13:00
  
  The snakey scent of puff adders proves difficult for even sensitive animal noses to detect.
  
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• Delhiites urged to accept controversial car ban plan

  24-12-2015 11:56
  
  Delhi's firebrand Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called on residents of India's capital Thursday to cooperate with his ambitious plans to clean up the toxic air of the world's most polluted city.
  
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• Ten Chinese cities issue pollution red alert: state media

  24-12-2015 11:12
  
  More than 100 million people in China have been warned to stay indoors after at least 10 Chinese cities issued red alerts for smog, state media reported Thursday.
  
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• Norad Tracks Santa: How the Cold War has helped shape the magic of Christmas for 60 years

  24-12-2015 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Norad Tracks Santa marks its 60th anniversary this year, as the North American Aerospace Defence Command deploys some of its ultra-sensitive military technology so children can follow the jolly old elf's Christmas Eve flight from the North Pole.
  
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• E-books sales plateau while print books hold place in readers' hearts

  24-12-2015 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  When e-books were first introduced more than a decade ago it appeared that print was in danger, but that so called death of the physical book hasn’t happened.
  
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• E-book sales plateau while print books hold place in readers' hearts

  24-12-2015 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  When e-books were first introduced more than a decade ago it appeared that print was in danger, but that so-called death of the physical book hasn’t happened.
  
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• Asteroid makes Christmas Eve flyby

  24-12-2015 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Astronauts may one day ride an asteroid that's sailing past the Earth this Christmas Eve.
  
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• Restoring the 'forests of the sea'

  24-12-2015 10:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Researchers are encouraging people to buy 'underwater Christmas trees' to help fund the restoration of seaweed that suddenly disappeared in the 1980s.
  
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• Iraq seeks to reopen oil pipeline through Saudi Arabia - paper

  24-12-2015 10:10
  Iraq is seeking to reopen its crude oil export pipeline through Saudi Arabia, shut in 1990, state newspaper Assababah reported citing an unidentified Iraqi official. "The Iraqi oil ministry started taking steps to revive the Iraq-Saudi Arabia export pipeline, as part of a plan to diversify its export outlets," said the Baghdad-based daily.An Iraqi oil ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report.Saudi Arabia shut the pipeline in 1990, after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The pipeline used to
  
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• Some of our favorite holiday-themed science stories

  24-12-2015 09:00
  
  A bit of science to mix with your festivities
  
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• More Chinese cities issue red alerts for heavy smog

  24-12-2015 06:43
  BEIJING (AP) — More Chinese cities are issuing their first red alerts for pollution in response to forecasts of heavy smog, after the capital, Beijing, issued two this month following criticism for not releasing them earlier.
  
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• New research: Devastating Washington landslide no outlier

  24-12-2015 06:30
  SEATTLE (AP) — Last year's devastating landslide in Oso was no outlier, according to a new study from the University of Washington.
  
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• Study identifies liver-generated hormone that regulates 'sweet tooth'

  24-12-2015 06:00
  
  (University of Iowa) A new University of Iowa-led study has identified a hormone that appears to be involved in sugar cravings and consumption. The research could improve diet and help patients who are diabetic or obese. Findings are published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
  
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• Infrared encoding of images with metasurfaces

  24-12-2015 06:00
  
  (American Institute of Physics) Researchers at MINAO, a joint lab between The French Aerospace Lab in Palaiseau and the Laboratoire de Photonique et de Nanostructures in Marcoussis, have recently demonstrated metamaterial resonators that allow emission in the infrared to be tuned through the geometry of the resonator.
  
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• Choreographing the dance of electrons

  24-12-2015 06:00
  
  (National University of Singapore) Scientists at the National University of Singapore have demonstrated a new way of controlling electrons by confining them in a device made out of atomically thin materials, and applying external electric and magnetic fields.
  
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• Colombia hoping to 'repopulate the skies' with condors

  24-12-2015 05:49
  
  A pair of Chilean condors have been brought to a zoo in Medellin as part of an effort to reintroduce the majestic birds in Colombia, where they have become all but extinct.
  
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• Efficacy of major chlamydia drug confirmed

  24-12-2015 04:18
  In one of the most tightly controlled trials ever conducted of drugs used to treat sexually transmitted infections, researchers have confirmed that azithromycin remains effective in the treatment of urogenital chlamydia.
  
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• Physicists devise gene therapy platform for macular degeneration patients

  24-12-2015 04:16
  A new platform has been developed by physicists that uses ultrafast near-infrared lasers to deliver gene therapy to damaged areas of the retina to enable vision restoration in patients with photo-degenerative diseases.
  
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• Guarding against immune responses limiting efficacy of antibody-based approaches to HIV

  24-12-2015 04:16
  Immunogeneticists specializing in immunoglobulin GM genes monitored for immune responses that could limit the effectiveness of the broadly neutralizing antibody VRC01 in HIV-infected individuals in a phase 1 trial.
  
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• Ecologist finds another cause of antibiotic resistance

  24-12-2015 04:16
  One researcher is concerned that there's more to the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria than the misuse of common medications. A senior research ecologist, this scientist believes environmental contaminants may be partly to blame for the rise in bacterial resistance, and he tested this hypothesis in streams on the US Department of Energy's Savannah River Site.
  
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• Marijuana derivative reduces seizures in people with treatment-resistant epilepsy

  24-12-2015 04:15
  Cannabidiol (CBD), a medical marijuana derivative, was effective in reducing seizure frequency and well-tolerated and safe for most children and young adults enrolled in a year-long study, researchers report. These latest findings provide the first estimates of safety, tolerability and efficacy of prescription CBD in children and adults with severe, highly treatment-resistant epilepsy.
  
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• Exceptionally strong and lightweight new metal

  24-12-2015 04:15
  A team led by researchers has created a super-strong yet light structural metal with extremely high specific strength and modulus, or stiffness-to-weight ratio. To create the super-strong but lightweight metal, the team found a new way to disperse and stabilize nanoparticles in molten metals.
  
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• Arms race between Ebola virus and bats, waged for millions of years

  24-12-2015 04:15
  Ebola virus and bats have been waging a molecular battle for survival that may have started 25 million years ago, according to a new study. The findings shed light on the biological factors that determine which bat species may harbor the virus between outbreaks in humans and how bats may transmit the virus to people.
  
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• Toronto Zoo's twin panda cubs hang with mom Er Shun in new video

  24-12-2015 03:28 via cbc.ca
  
  New footage released by the Toronto Zoo shows the 10-week-old baby twin panda cubs spending some quality time with their mom, Er Shun.
  
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• Christmas Day's rare full moon: How to take a great picture

  24-12-2015 03:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Dec. 25 brings with it something we haven’t seen in almost four decades — a full moon on Christmas. Find out what ISO to use if you're snapping photos and other photography tips.
  
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• VIDEO: The secrets revealed by coastal erosion

  24-12-2015 00:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Archaeologist Tom Dawson, explains how the public can help to log sites at risk of coastal erosion.
  
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• VIDEO: The greatest toy you can't buy?

  24-12-2015 00:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  BBC News catches up with engineers at the University of Cambridge who have developed a prototype game, using remote-controlled airships.
  
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