Science news

• To search for an advanced civilization, take a U-turn to star clusters

  07-01-2016 23:47
  
  Globular star clusters might be safe, stable homes for long-lived advanced civilizations.
  
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• End 'business as usual' with North Korea, U.S. tells China

  07-01-2016 23:45
  By Lesley Wroughton and Ju-min Park WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States called on China on Thursday to end "business as usual" with its ally North Korea after Pyongyang defied world powers by announcing it had tested a hydrogen bomb. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he made clear in a phone call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China's approach to North Korea has not succeeded. "China had a particular approach that it wanted to make, that we agreed and respected to gi
  
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• All the winter's a weird weather stage; Here are the players

  07-01-2016 23:33
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Get ready for weather whiplash as powerful climatic forces elbow each other for starring roles in a weird winter show.
  
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• French oceanographer Cousteau's iconic ship to sail again

  07-01-2016 23:25
  
  Celebrated French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau's iconic ship the Calypso -- out of commission after an accident 20 years ago -- will sail again in a few months, its owners said Thursday.
  
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• Discarded goldfish are taking over Hamilton's harbour

  07-01-2016 23:21 via cbc.ca
  
  Have you ever dumped your goldfish in Hamilton Harbour? Here's the bad news: it's been breeding.
  
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• Nearby Black Holes Spied Gobbling Gas in Andromeda Galaxy (Photo)

  07-01-2016 23:20
  
  A NASA observatory has zoomed in on the Andromeda galaxy with X-ray vision, revealing 40 black holes and neutron stars gobbling down gas from a stellar companion and releasing torrents of X-rays. Scientists used NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, to make the new discoveries in Andromeda — a nearby spiral galaxy, like Earth's own Milky Way galaxy, located 2.5 million light-years away.
  
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• First 'Twins' of Mysterious Erupting Star Found

  07-01-2016 23:20
  
  A strange star that threw off huge amounts of gas and dust in a mammoth eruption more than 150 years ago isn't such an anomaly anymore. Astronomers have found five objects beyond the Milky Way galaxy that resemble Eta Carinae, a binary system composed of two enormous stars that lie 7,500 light-years from Earth. The larger of these two stars blasted out about 10 times the mass of the sun during a mysterious eruption in the 1840s, and the expelled gas and dust still cloak Eta Carinae like a veil.
  
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• New dietary guidelines emphasize big picture

  07-01-2016 23:13
  
  Americans’ new guidelines for healthy eating focus on subtle shifts to dietary habits.
  
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• Dinosaur Tracks Reveal Odd Mating Dance

  07-01-2016 23:13
  
  An analysis of the newfound marks suggests they are the first known evidence of a type of mating display behavior known as "scraping," common in modern ground-nesting birds. Paleontologists found scores of these "scrapes," areas in the rock that were shallowly scarred by multiple scratch marks. Martin Lockley, co-author of the study and emeritus professor of geology at the University of Colorado, Denver, told Live Science that these scrape marks were unlike anything the scientists had seen befor
  
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• Ötzi the Iceman May Have Suffered Stomach Bug

  07-01-2016 23:07
  
  The famous Ötzi, a man murdered about 5,300 years ago in the Italian Alps, had what's now considered the world's oldest known case of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that can cause ulcers and gastric cancer, a new study finds. It's unclear whether the ancient iceman did, in fact, have ulcers or gastric cancer because his stomach tissue didn't survive. Today, about half of the world's human population has H. pylori in their gut, but only one in 10 people develop a condition from the bacteri
  
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• Bacteria found in Iceman Otzi's gut reveal human migration story

  07-01-2016 22:19 via cbc.ca
  
  Microbes from the gut of the “Iceman,” murdered 5,300 years ago and preserved in the ice of the Alps, offer new insights into the history of human migrations in Europe.
  
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• US says manatee should lose endangered species status

  07-01-2016 22:12
  
  The West Indian manatee, or sea cow, should no longer be considered an endangered species because its population has rebounded, particularly in Florida, US officials said Thursday.
  
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• Human imprint has thrust Earth into new geological epoch : study

  07-01-2016 21:54
  
  OSLO (Reuters) - The indelible imprint left by human beings on Earth has become so clear that it justifies naming a new geological epoch after mankind, experts said on Thursday.
  
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• Kerry urges China to end 'business as usual' with North Korea

  07-01-2016 21:36
  By Lesley Wroughton and Ju-min Park WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States called on China on Thursday to end "business as usual" with its ally North Korea after Pyongyang defied world powers by announcing it had tested a hydrogen bomb. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he made clear in a phone call with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China's approach to North Korea had failed. "China had a particular approach that it wanted to make, that we agreed and respected to give them
  
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• Smart showerhead aims to save precious water

  07-01-2016 21:16
  
  French engineer Gabriel Della-Monica was at the gala Consumer Electronics Show with a smart showerhead created to stop precious water from going down the drain.
  
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• Waterless toilet uses nanotechnology to treat waste, banish smells

  07-01-2016 20:47
  
  LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A toilet that does not need water, a sewage system or external power but instead uses nanotechnology to treat human waste, produce clean water and keep smells at bay is being developed by a British university.
  
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• A new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, has begun, scientists say

  07-01-2016 20:44 via cbc.ca
  
  We're living through one of the most extraordinary events in Earth's history — the start of a new geological epoch caused by humans, an international group of scientists says.
  
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• Congolese boy attacked by chimps getting rare face surgery in New York

  07-01-2016 20:39
  By Barbara Goldberg STONY BROOK, N.Y. (Reuters) - An 8-year-old boy whose lips were torn off during an attack by chimpanzees as he played near a river in his native Democratic Republic of Congo will undergo a rare double-lip reconstruction at a New York hospital next week. Doctors at Stony Brook Children's Hospital on Long Island will perform the first of several surgeries on Dunia Sibomana on Monday. The goal will be to restore functioning lips that will improve his speech and stop constant dro
  
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• New rules will clear up your cable TV bill, CRTC says

  07-01-2016 20:25 via cbc.ca
  
  Cable and satellite television providers have to change their bills to make them easier for customers to understand, Canada's broadcast regulator says.
  
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• Humans Leave a Telltale Residue on Earth

  07-01-2016 20:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Scientists find a layer of plastics, radiation and soot embedded in the planet's surface, defining a new Anthropocene epoch
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• The Iceman tells a new tale: Infection with ulcer-causing bacteria

  07-01-2016 20:05
  
  Ötzi the Iceman was infected with a virulent strain of H. pylori. A new study is the first to piece together an ancient genome of these bacteria.
  
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• Phytoplankton flunk photosynthesis efficiency test

  07-01-2016 20:00
  
  Nutrient-poor ocean waters make phytoplankton photosynthesis inefficient
  
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• December in US was warmest, wettest on record

  07-01-2016 19:49
  
  Wet weather and scorching temperatures propelled the United States into record books for the hottest December in modern history and the second warmest year since the late 1800s, US government scientists said Thursday.
  
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• This black hole is an extreme recycler

  07-01-2016 19:29
  
  A cosmic pump powered by a supermassive black hole is recycling gas through a galaxy.
  
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• Neanderthal genes 'boosted our immunity'

  07-01-2016 19:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  We may owe our ability to fight disease to our extinct relatives - the Neanderthals and Denisovans.
  
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• German inventor seeks volunteers to test sperm 'light switch'

  07-01-2016 18:46 via cbc.ca
  
  He claims the device can turn the flow of sperm on and off with the flick of a switch, providing an new option for men who don't want to have vasectomies.
  
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• Do fitness trackers really change our behaviour?

  07-01-2016 18:40 via cbc.ca
  
  Everything we do is recorded and measured by our devices. That data then becomes a resource for self-improvement.
  
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• Saber-toothed salmon teeth more like tusks than fangs

  07-01-2016 18:37
  
  Saber-toothed salmon teeth may not have been positioned like fangs at all.
  
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• Cumbrian farmer watched sheep flock drown

  07-01-2016 18:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Farmers in Cumbria have been hard hit by the floods, including one who watched his flock drown.
  
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• Japan hopes to staff up to host the International Linear Collider

  07-01-2016 18:15
  
  New plan would dramatically expand the available science and engineering workforce so Japan can handle its share of the $10 billion project
  
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• World's 1st passenger drone coming to skies near you

  07-01-2016 18:02 via cbc.ca
  
  A Chinese drone maker has unveiled what it says is the world's first autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) — a drone capable of carrying a human passenger.
  
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• Gene tweak led to humans’ big toe

  07-01-2016 18:00
  
  For lack of gene regulator, the human big toe appeared.
  
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• Feature: Will antibodies finally put an end to migraines?

  07-01-2016 18:00
  
  Targeting a peptide that may be the long-sought headache trigger, four firms are racing to develop the first truly effective migraine treatment
  
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• December in US was hottest in modern times

  07-01-2016 17:38
  
  The United States just experienced the hottest December in modern times, and 2015 as a whole was the second warmest on record, US government scientists said Thursday.
  
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• Wild December pushes US weather in 2015 to near records

  07-01-2016 17:31
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — December's wild El Nino pushed 2015 in the United States to near-record levels for heat, moisture and downright extreme conditions, federal weather officials said Thursday.
  
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• Dinosaur courtship in the Cretaceous revealed

  07-01-2016 17:16
  
  Dinosaurs engaged in showy displays to attract mates 100 million years ago by clawing huge troughs in the ground with their feet, according to a study released Thursday.
  
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• Why experts doubt North Korea has the H-bomb

  07-01-2016 17:00 via cbc.ca
  
  While A-bombs and H-bombs both use an initial explosion to set off a much bigger blast, developing the latter is much more complex, leading to doubts about the North Korean claim they tested an H-bomb.
  
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• Ebola Fight: Survivors' Blood Doesn’t Help, But Malaria Drug Might

  07-01-2016 17:00
  Since the latest Ebola outbreak began, researchers have renewed their search for an effective way to fight the deadly virus. Now, a new study finds that giving Ebola patients a drug that is currently used to treat malaria may lower their risk of dying from the virus by almost one-third. Meanwhile, a separate study finds that treating Ebola patients with blood plasma taken from Ebola survivors does not lower their risk of death.
  
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• Missing Zzzs: Sleep Problems Common for Single Parents, Women

  07-01-2016 16:59
  Single parents get less sleep and have more sleep-related problems than adults in households with two parents and adults living without children, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests. "These results are not surprising," said Dr. Stuart Quan, a sleep medicine specialist and researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who was not involved in the research for this report.
  
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• Not Your Grandma's Thermometer: 3 New Ways to Take Your Temperature

  07-01-2016 16:58
  The simple task of taking your temperature is getting a new high-tech twist: Three companies recently announced "smart thermometers" that offer alternative ways to check this vital sign and send the data to a mobile device. It provides a temperature reading that corrects for ambient temperature and skin heat loss, according to Withings, the company that makes the gadget. Thermo transmits the temperature data by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to an app on a user's smartphone.
  
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• Twins Study Offers Clues to Genetic Risk of Cancer

  07-01-2016 16:57
  A large, new study of identical and fraternal twins in Nordic countries finds that when one twin is diagnosed with any type of cancer, there is a higher than average risk that the other twin will also develop cancer. This risk of developing cancer was an estimated 14 percent higher in identical twins if one twin had cancer, and 5 percent higher in fraternal twins if one twin had cancer — compared to the average cancer risk of all the people in the study.
  
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• Smart TVs probably weren't the smartest idea

  07-01-2016 16:56 via cbc.ca
  
  In a way, putting brains in a device that most people replace only every five to seven years isn't the brightest idea.
  
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• Heaviest air strikes yet rock Yemeni capital Sanaa - residents

  07-01-2016 16:54
  By Mohammed Ghobari CAIRO (Reuters) - Dozens of air strikes hit the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Thursday, in what residents described as the heaviest aerial attacks yet in nine months of war, days after a Saudi-led coalition trying to restore a Saudi-backed government ended a fragile ceasefire. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Muslim allies has been fighting the Shi'ite Houthi movement, which controls the capital. While Riyadh sees the Houthis as a proxy for bitter regional rival Iran t
  
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• Africa takes fresh look at GMO crops as drought blights continent

  07-01-2016 16:42
  
  HARARE (Reuters) - A scorching drought in Southern Africa that led to widespread crop failure could nudge African nations to finally embrace genetically modified (GM) crops to improve harvests and reduce grain imports.
  
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• Droughts from climate change will hit developed countries harder, study predicts

  07-01-2016 16:40 via cbc.ca
  
  New research suggests farms in developed countries may be more vulnerable to longer, deeper droughts predicted to occur as a result of climate change.
  
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• Mystery space balls land in Vietnam, hitting house and garden

  07-01-2016 16:07 via cbc.ca
  
  The Vietnamese military has released preliminary findings of an investigation into three mysterious metal balls that fell from the sky this weekend, Vietnamese media report.
  
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• Astronomers find debris from earliest stars

  07-01-2016 15:45
  
  Light from a quasar helps find the primordial stars
  
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• Dinosaurs may have danced like birds to woo mates

  07-01-2016 15:30
  
  Fossilized foot scrapes suggest courtship rituals
  
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• In the groove: Scrape marks in ground linked to dinosaurs

  07-01-2016 15:13
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists say they've discovered evidence of a frenzied mating ritual by dinosaurs: long grooves in the ground etched by the pawing of clawed feet.
  
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• Ottawa awards new International Space Station monitoring-system contract

  07-01-2016 15:03 via cbc.ca
  
  Navdeep Bains, federal minister responsible for innovation, science and economic development, was at the Canadian Space Agency in St-Hubert, Que., this morning to announce a $1.7-million contract for an advanced visioning system for the International Space Station.
  
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