Science news

• India's smog-shrouded capital pulls cars off roads

  31-12-2015 23:13
  
  More than a million private cars were banned from New Delhi's roads on Friday, as authorities began trialling drastic new measures to cut smog in the world's most polluted capital.
  
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• Gene-editing technique heals mice with muscular dystrophy

  31-12-2015 23:02
  
  Researchers have succeeded for the first time in reversing a degenerative illness in mice, using a revolutionary gene-editing technique that one day may help cure similar diseases in humans.
  
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• Four elements earn permanent seats on the periodic table

  31-12-2015 22:58
  
  The four newest elements on the periodic table gain official recognition and will be getting new names soon.
  
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• California condor that helped save species returns to wild

  31-12-2015 22:40
  
  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Banking into the wind and then gliding out of sight, a male California condor flew back into the wild after a captive breeding program that helped save North America's largest species of land bird.
  
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• Suspect Science: The Top 5 Retracted Papers of 2015

  31-12-2015 21:56
  The scientific method is a painstaking process of observing nature, asking questions, formulating testable hypotheses, conducting experiments and collecting data … and then sometimes just making stuff up when reality doesn't match your expectations. Or maybe it just seems that way when you're reading through the retraction notices that scientific journals are posting with greater and greater frequency. There has been a 10-fold increase in the percentage of scientific papers retracted beca
  
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• Want to Lose Weight? Fewer Americans Say Yes

  31-12-2015 21:53
  In a recent Gallup poll, 49 percent of Americans said they would like to lose weight — the first time in at least 25 years that less than half of Americans reported wanting to lose weight, according to the poll. In fact, the rising percentages of people who are overweight and obese may partly explain why so many Americans consider themselves to be at a normal weight, said Dr. Holly Lofton, the director of the Medical Weight Management Program at New York University Langone Medical Center.
  
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• Ants’ size and profession controlled by chemical tags on DNA

  31-12-2015 20:00
  
  Epigenetic marks determine whether female Florida carpenter ants are soldiers or foragers.
  
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• Ukraine to probe suspected Russian cyber attack on grid

  31-12-2015 18:28
  By Pavel Polityuk KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine will investigate a suspected cyber attack on its power grid, the energy ministry said on Thursday, an incident the country's secret service has blamed on Russia. A power company in western Ukraine, Prykarpattyaoblenergo, said on Dec. 23 that a swath of the area it serves had been left without energy, including the regional capital Ivano-Frankivsk, due to "interference" in the work of the system. Ukraine's SBU state security service blamed Russia, which
  
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• Hundreds of flights grounded as snow blankets Istanbul

  31-12-2015 18:14
  
  Hundreds of flights were cancelled on Thursday from Istanbul's two main airports after the city was hit by a picturesque but troublesome snowfall on the last day of the year.
  
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• Europe's winter warmth puts nature in tailspin

  31-12-2015 16:57
  
  The daffodils are out in London, plum trees are blossoming in Milan and asparagus tips are pushing through the soil in eastern France.
  
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• Istanbul blanketed in snow and flights disrupted

  31-12-2015 16:56
  
  Hundreds of flights were cancelled on Thursday from Istanbul's two main airports after the city was hit by a picturesque but troublesome snowfall on the last day of the year.
  
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• Incredible New Photos Reveal Pluto's Pits and Other Terrain

  31-12-2015 16:42
  
  Pluto's complex geology just got a little less mysterious thanks to two incredible new photos from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft. The probe flew by Pluto on July 14, taking detailed photos and measurements of the dwarf planet as it passed and transmitting them back to Earth. The first new photo, released by NASA last week, spans a region 50 miles (80 kilometers) wide and combines two of the sharpest images yet from New Horizons into a breathtaking, colorized close-up of the dwarf planet's terra
  
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• The Moon, Planets and Pluto to Feature on New US Postage Stamps in 2016

  31-12-2015 16:41
  
  The moon, the planets and Pluto will appear on United States postage stamps in 2016, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has revealed. The USPS unveiled the designs for three separate stamp setshighlighting Earth's natural satellite, the eight planets in our solar system and the distant dwarf planet that was the focus of a historic spacecraft flyby in July 2015.
  
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• 'Stargazer Lottie' Declared 'First Doll in Space' After Launch to Station

  31-12-2015 16:41
  
  "Stargazer Lottie," a doll made by Irish toy company Arklu in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), is now on board the International Space Station. "We are proud to announce that Lottie is now the first doll in space!" Arklu stated on its Facebook page. Inspired by a real six-year-old girl's passion for astronomy and space exploration, Stargazer Lottie forgoes the silver spacesuit that Mattel's Barbie first wore in 1965 in favor of a blue velvet bomber jacket, cerise-colored
  
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• Warmest December in UK since records began: weather office

  31-12-2015 16:36
  Britain has experienced its warmest December since records began in 1910, smashing the previous high set in 1934, the national weather service announced Thursday.
  
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• Syrian army launches assault against rebels near border with Israel

  31-12-2015 16:01
  By Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army and allied militias launched an offensive in the Golan Heights on Thursday, in what rebels said was part of a major assault to regain ground in southern Syria the government had lost over the last three years. Rebels said the attacks began at dawn, when the army stormed the village of Samdaniya al Gharbiya, near the border with Israel. The army said the village was captured, but rebels in the area said heavy fighting continued.
  
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• Weird weather brings warm welcome to 2016

  31-12-2015 15:32
  
  With temperatures above freezing at the North Pole, deadly tornadoes in Texas, extreme heat in Australia and floods in Britain and Missouri, the world is beset by extreme weather events as it welcomes 2016.
  
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• Weather blamed for mixed bag of a bird count at Point Pelee

  31-12-2015 15:29 via cbc.ca
  
  Despite a record-number of more than 10,000 goldeneye ducks spotted during the annual Point Pelee bird count, the results are considered mixed this year.
  
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• Ukraine to investigate suspected computer attack on energy grid

  31-12-2015 15:27
  Ukraine will investigate a suspected computer malware attack on its energy grid, the energy ministry said on Thursday, an incident the country's secret service has blamed on Russia. A power company in western Ukraine, Prykarpattyaoblenergo, said on Dec. 23 that a swath of the area it serves had been left without energy, including the regional capital Ivano-Frankivsk, due to "interference" in the work of the system. The Ukrainian Security Service SBU later blamed Russia, which has not so far comm
  
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• Crimea loses quarter of power after pylon in Ukraine blown up

  31-12-2015 15:14
  By Jason Bush and Pavel Polityuk MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Crimea has lost at least one quarter of its power after Ukraine halted supplies, officials in the contested peninsula said on Thursday, a situation Ukrainian police blamed on unidentified saboteurs blowing up an electricity pylon. Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in March last year, has suffered repeated power cuts since the annexation, underlining its reliance on Ukraine for electricity and fuelling a downwards spiral in relations
  
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• Weather anomaly pushing North Pole temperatures above 0 C

  31-12-2015 14:47 via cbc.ca
  
  A weather anomaly sweeping across the world could cause temperatures at the North Pole to reach nearly 4 C this week. A storm system hitting Greenland and Iceland, which already battered the southern United States, is to blame.
  
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• Weather anomaly pushes North Pole temperatures above 0 C this week

  31-12-2015 14:47 via cbc.ca
  
  A weather anomaly sweeping across the world could cause temperatures at the North Pole to reach nearly 4 C this week. A storm system hitting Greenland and Iceland, that already battered the southern United States, is to blame.
  
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• Disney's New Robot Scales Walls…Like Spidey

  31-12-2015 14:27
  
  A new four-wheeled bot named VertiGo looks like a remote-controlled car that a kid might build. Researchers at Disney Research Zurich worked together with mechanical engineering students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) to design and build the gravity-defying bot. The robot's front wheels are steerable — like the front wheels of an automobile — which lets the person who controls the bot change its direction as it zooms around.
  
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• James Bond Villain Gets 'A' for Evil, But 'F' for Brain Surgery

  31-12-2015 14:24
  
  The latest James Bond villain in the new movie "Spectre" may get an "A" for his evil schemes, but he failed spectacularly at neuroanatomy, according to a new report. Blofeld restrains the British spy with a head clamp before revealing his evil plan: The villain plans to use a robotic drill to torture 007 and drill into his brain, erasing Bond's memories of people's faces. But Blofeld's anatomical measurements were way off, according to Dr. Michael Cusimano, a neurosurgeon at St. Michael's Hospit
  
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• 5 Facts to Know About the California Methane Leak

  31-12-2015 14:24
  
  A methane leak in Southern California has forced thousands of people from their homes. Although the gas first began spewing from a leaky underground well in October, the gas company only recently identified the source of the leak. Here are five things to know about the Southern California methane leak.
  
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• Mild, wet December sets weather records

  31-12-2015 13:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Long-standing weather records have been smashed by a stormy, yet warm December, the Met Office's early figures suggest.
  
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• Japan team to name element 113 in Asian first

  31-12-2015 12:56
  
  A Japanese research team has been granted the right to name new element 113, the first on the periodic table to be named by Asian scientists, the team's institute said Thursday.
  
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• China processing graft case against security boss's ex-mistress - paper

  31-12-2015 12:02
  Chinese judicial authorities are processing a corruption case against a one-time mistress of the country's disgraced top security boss, a state-run Beijing newspaper reported on Thursday. Citing anonymous sources, the paper said Li Xiaomei reaped more than 30 million yuan (3.1 million pounds) by illicitly obtaining and reselling distribution rights for natural gas. Jiang Jiemin, once the top regulator of state-owned assets and a close acolyte of former security tsar Zhou Yongkang, aided Li in ob
  
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• Special report: Ebola's thin harvest

  31-12-2015 12:00
  
  The flurry of research conducted during the West African Ebola epidemic has produced disappointingly few results, a Science special report shows.
  
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• Crimea loses quarter of power after Ukraine halts supplies

  31-12-2015 11:34
  MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) - Crimea has lost at least one quarter of its power after Ukraine switched off supplies, citing a downed electricity pylon, an official in the contested peninsula said on Thursday. Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in March last year, has suffered repeated power cuts since the annexation, underlining its reliance on Ukraine for electricity and fuelling a downwards spiral in relations between Moscow and Kiev. A spokesman for Ukrainian electricity company Ukrenergo sai
  
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• Don't miss your only chance to see Comet Catalina

  31-12-2015 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  A green comet with two tails is passing through our skies, and looking for it may be a great way to ring in the New Year.
  
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• Japanese research institute earns right to name element 113

  31-12-2015 09:40
  TOKYO (AP) — A world scientific body says Japanese scientists have met the criteria for naming a new element, the synthetic highly radioactive element 113.
  
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• Everybody Freeze! The Science of the Polar Bear Club

  31-12-2015 08:17
  The event is organized by the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, a group of dedicated open-water swimmers who brave the numbing ocean every Sunday from November through April. An estimated 2,000 swimmers participated in 2014, with around 6,000 to 7,000 spectators looking on, said Dennis Thomas, the club's president and a member for three decades. Thomas described preparation requirements for the dip as "rigorous" — participants must be able to put on a bathing suit.
  
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• Indonesia to appeal rejection of $565 mn haze lawsuit

  31-12-2015 08:04
  
  The Indonesian government will appeal a court's rejection of a $565 million lawsuit against a pulp and paper company accused of failing to prevent fires that blanketed Southeast Asia in toxic haze, an official said Thursday.
  
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• Vaccine priority survey

  31-12-2015 08:00
  
  Science’s polling of vaccine expert reveals the shots that should be made as soon as possible.
  
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• CRISPR helps heal mice with muscular dystrophy

  31-12-2015 08:00
  
  Three labs use genome editing technique to restore key muscle protein
  
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• Bipolar drug turns foraging ants into scouts

  31-12-2015 08:00
  
  DNA modifications can have dramatic impacts on ant society
  
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• Are you inheriting more than genes from your father?

  31-12-2015 08:00
  
  Mouse study suggests that RNA strands carried by sperm transfer metabolic traits to offspring
  
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• VIDEO: Extinction warning for Africa's rhinos

  31-12-2015 07:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Africa's rhino population could face extinction within 10 years, animal welfare experts warn.
  
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• Japan zoo recovers missing red panda after frantic search

  31-12-2015 06:35
  
  A Japanese zoo scrambled all of its staff Thursday to track down a missing red panda, a zoo spokesman said, finally recovering her in a nearby area.
  
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• The billion dollar game of strategy: The effect of farmers' decisions on pest control

  31-12-2015 06:00
  
  (PLOS) Researchers say that the actions of individual farmers should be considered when studying and modeling strategies of pest control.
  
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• Scientists 're-engineer' behavior in ants by turning on genes in the brain

  31-12-2015 06:00
  
  (New York University) Starvation or an attack by enemies turn on genes in carpenter ants that change their behavior in ways that help their colony survive, according to a study co-authored by NYU Langone researchers and published in the Jan. 1, 2016, edition of the journal Science. With related molecular pathways present in humans, the study may provide insights into mechanisms behind behavioral disorders.
  
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• NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Ula's eye and rainfall

  31-12-2015 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Tropical Cyclone Ula formed on Dec. 30 and continued tracking south of Pago Pago as NASA observed rainfall rates and saw an eye form the next day. Warnings were in effect in Fiji as Ula approaches.
  
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• Melting, coating, and all-solid-state lithium batteries

  31-12-2015 06:00
  
  (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology(UNIST)) The joint research team of Prof. Yoon Seok Jung and Prof. Seng M. Oh discovered a new way to develop all-solid-state lithium batteries without a risk of conflagration or explosion. It is the method of melting the solid electrolyte and coating that melted electrolyte around the electrodes. This research outcome was introduced on Advanced Materials on Dec. 22, 2015.
  
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• Late-season Central Pacific tropical depression forms

  31-12-2015 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Tropical Depression 9C formed in the Central Pacific, 30 days after the official end to the Central Pacific Hurricane Season. An image from NOAA's GOES-West satellite revealed the late-season tropical depression was still struggling to organize.
  
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• Human-machine superintelligence can solve the world's most dire problems

  31-12-2015 06:00
  
  (Human Computation Institute) At the heart of crowdsourcing, citizen science, and collective intelligence is human computation -- the science that aims to combine the unique strengths of humans and computers to create new capabilities.In a Jan. 1 perspective article in the journal Science, researchers from Human Computation Institute and Cornell University describe the state of the art, and how can such methods be advanced to address pressing and complex societal issues.
  
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• CRISPR treats genetic disorder in adult mammal

  31-12-2015 06:00
  
  (Duke University) Researchers at Duke University have used CRISPR to treat an adult mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This marks the first time that CRISPR has successfully treated a genetic disease inside a fully developed living mammal with a strategy that has the potential to be translated to human therapy.
  
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• Bigelow Laboratory scientist part of Gulf of Mexico oil spill follow-up research

  31-12-2015 06:00
  
  (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences) Dr. Christoph Aeppli from Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences was awarded a grant to investigate the long-term effects of petroleum released during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Aeppli teamed with Ryan Rodgers of Florida State University and Chris Reddy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to determine how the chemical composition of oil has been altered in the environment and how marine organisms may be affected by these
  
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• Freak heatwave pushes temperatures at North Pole above freezing

  31-12-2015 03:52
  
  Temperatures at the North Pole rose above freezing point Wednesday, 20 degrees Celsius above the mid-winter norm and the latest abnormality in a season of extreme weather events.
  
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• Unearthing Roman 'nerve centre' in Spain

  31-12-2015 03:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Unearthing a Roman 'nerve centre' in Spain
  
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