Science news

• Report finds more infections from dirty scopes at hospitals

  13-01-2016 23:56
  SEATTLE (AP) — At least 250 people, mostly in the U.S., were sickened with life-threatening "superbug" infections linked to contaminated medical scopes in the past three years — more than previously estimated by federal regulators, according to a new Senate committee report released Wednesday.
  
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• Watch the Moon Blot Out Bright Star Aldebaran Tuesday

  13-01-2016 23:55
  
  As the moon orbits Earth, the satellite regularly passes in front of stars, causing events known as lunar occultations. Most of the stars involved are faint and require a telescope to see, but there are a few really bright stars in the moon's path, including Regulus, Spica, Antares and Aldebaran, whose occultation can be observed with the unaided eye. One such occultation occurs on Tuesday (Jan. 19), when the moon passes in front of the red-giant star Aldebaran.
  
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• Police sweeps of cellphone data in 'tower dumps' face charter challenge

  13-01-2016 23:52 via cbc.ca
  
  Police powers to seize call records from tens of thousands of cellphone subscribers at once could be reined in with a court decision coming Thursday. Lawyers for Rogers and Telus argue broad 'tower dump' orders violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
  
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• Grizzly killing report: Yellowstone hikers taking risks

  13-01-2016 23:20
  
  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The killing of a Montana man by a Yellowstone National Park grizzly bear highlights the need for hikers in the region to travel in groups, carry Mace-like bear spray and take other precautions against attacks, investigators said Wednesday.
  
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• Counterfeiters perplexed by Canada's plastic money

  13-01-2016 23:16 via cbc.ca
  
  Canada's plastic money is stumping counterfeiters. The RCMP estimate the number of fake bills passed in 2015 dropped by 74 per cent. As CBC News learned on an exclusive tour of the force's National Anti-Counterfeiting Bureau, even the best attempts to make fakes are falling short.
  
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• Ancient tools show mysterious humans occupied Indonesian island

  13-01-2016 22:49
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The diminutive prehistoric human species dubbed the "Hobbit" that inhabited the isle of Flores apparently had company on other Indonesian islands long before our species, Homo sapiens, arrived on the scene.
  
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• Carbon emissions 'postpone ice age'

  13-01-2016 22:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The next ice age may have been delayed by more than 50,000 years because of the greenhouse gases put in the atmosphere by humans, scientists in Germany say.
  
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• Fossil shows monstrous marine crocodile was a fearsome bone crusher

  13-01-2016 22:39 via cbc.ca
  
  Scientists have discovered what may be the largest marine crocodile that ever lived, a monstrous predator as long as a bus that crunched up and ate sea turtles with blunt, bullet-shaped teeth.
  
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• Ancient saltwater crocodile may have been largest that ever lived

  13-01-2016 22:39 via cbc.ca
  
  Scientists have discovered what may be the largest marine crocodile that ever lived, a monstrous predator as long as a bus that crunched up and ate sea turtles with blunt, bullet-shaped teeth.
  
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• Global warming expected to postpone next ice age

  13-01-2016 22:35 via cbc.ca
  
  Global warming is likely to disrupt a natural cycle of ice ages and contribute to delaying the onset of the next big freeze until about 100,000 years from now, scientists say.
  
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• Global warming could stave off next ice age for 100,000 years

  13-01-2016 22:35 via cbc.ca
  
  Global warming is likely to disrupt a natural cycle of ice ages and contribute to delaying the onset of the next big freeze until about 100,000 years from now, scientists say.
  
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• Stone-age tools found, but who wielded them?

  13-01-2016 21:15
  
  Scientists have discovered stone-age tools at least 118,000-years-old on an Indonesian island but no trace of the early humans that made them, according to a study released Wednesday.
  
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• Insights into sexes’ differing responses to stress

  13-01-2016 21:15
  Chronic stress takes its toll on everyone. One of our reporters follows a line of research suggesting that stress hits women harder (or at least differently) than men.
  
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• Scientist Applies To Alter Human Embryos

  13-01-2016 21:11
  A UK scientist could be given permission to alter the DNA of human embryos, using gene editing technology. Dr Kathy Niakan has asked the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to allow her to turn genes on and off in day-old embryos, to discover which genes control their development. The HFEA will make its decision on Thursday.
  
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• Readers ponder mysterious origins of oxygen on comets and Earth

  13-01-2016 21:00
  Readers pondered the origins of oxygen within a comet and during Earth's history.
  
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• Volkswagen chief meets US regulators

  13-01-2016 20:59
  Volkswagen chief executive Matthias Mueller met with the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency in Washington on Wednesday as the company seeks to resolve its pollution cheating woes.
  
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• Scientists discover canyon under Antarctic ice that may be bigger than the Grand

  13-01-2016 20:03 via cbc.ca
  
  Scientists believe the canyon they have discovered under the ice in Antarctica may be bigger than the Grand Canyon.
  
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• Signs of food allergies may be present at birth

  13-01-2016 20:00
  
  Overactive immune cells may prime babies for food allergies.
  
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• Drug candidate fails to improve symptoms of fragile X syndrome

  13-01-2016 20:00
  
  A drug designed to treat fragile X syndrome has proven ineffective in clinical trials.
  
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• Exposed Water Ice on Comet Reveals Clues About Its Evolution

  13-01-2016 19:44
  
  A European spacecraft has spotted water ice on the surface of a comet, shedding new light on the formation and evolution of the icy object. The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft detected relatively large grains of water ice in two different places on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which the probe has been orbiting since August 2014. These big grains may have formed after heat from the sun sublimated (or vaporized) buried water ice, which then recondensed and was redepos
  
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• How autonomous cars will allow for distracted driving

  13-01-2016 19:07 via cbc.ca
  
  With increased expectations from motorists to have the world at their fingertips while driving, designers say they're turning to autonomous driving technology to protect against distracted driving crashes.
  
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• Ancient stone tools raise tantalizing questions over who colonized Sulawesi

  13-01-2016 19:00
  
  Hominids reached an island not far from hobbits’ home by around 200,000 years ago.
  
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• Royal Canadian Mint sells off Mintchip digital payment technology

  13-01-2016 18:59 via cbc.ca
  
  The Royal Canadian Mint is ending its experiment with digital payments, selling off its MintChip platform to Toronto-based financial startup nanoPay.
  
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• Automakers' green push lifts use of hemp, citrus peel

  13-01-2016 18:54
  
  Survey the latest at the Detroit Auto Show and you will find fibers from water bottles in car seats, hemp in the dashboards and citrus peel in the tires.
  
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• Does our Microbiome Control Us or Do We Control It?

  13-01-2016 18:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A new analysis reveals how mice—and perhaps humans—manipulate the bugs in their GI tracts
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Awesome SpaceX Video Recounts Epic Rocket Landing

  13-01-2016 17:27
  
  Last month, the private spaceflight company SpaceX achieved an amazing feat: launching a rocket into space, and then landing it back on Earth in a history-making moment. Not only that, SpaceX stuck the rocket landing at night, and did it live online to boot. Just look at the faces of these SpaceXers as they celebrate the Dec. 21 landing of a Falcon 9 rocket booster at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
  
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• Sainsbury's Could Shut Up To 200 Argos Stores

  13-01-2016 17:20
  
  Sainsbury's could shut as many as 200 Argos stores as part of a possible takeover of the company's owner Home Retail Group. The plan would see outlets closed and relocated as concessions occupying under-used space within big Sainsbury's supermarkets. Details of the potential shake-up emerged as Sainsbury's set out its case for a potential £1bn-plus move for Home Retail Group, which also owns DIY chain Homebase.
  
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• Five sperm whales stranded on Dutch beach have died

  13-01-2016 16:50
  
  Five sperm whales which became stranded on a Dutch beach have died, officials said Wednesday.
  
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• Scientist makes case to edit embryos

  13-01-2016 16:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A scientist is making her case to be the first in the UK to be allowed to genetically modify human embryos.
  
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• Huge Antarctic icebergs may slow global warming, study suggests

  13-01-2016 16:31 via cbc.ca
  
  The biggest icebergs breaking off Antarctica unexpectedly help to slow global warming as they melt away into the chill Southern Ocean, scientists say.
  
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• President Obama Cites Space Race in Final State of the Union Address

  13-01-2016 16:20
  
  President Barack Obama evoked the space race of the 1960s as a model for the future of the United States in his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening (Jan. 12).
  
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• ESports revenues will surpass $500M in 2016, Deloitte predicts

  13-01-2016 15:12 via cbc.ca
  
  This is the year professional video gaming revenues will surpass half a billion dollars worldwide, predicts Deloitte's annual technology trend forecast for 2016.
  
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• Iceman has the world's oldest tattoos

  13-01-2016 15:00
  
  A more than 5,000-year-old European mummy gets his tattoos confirmed as world’s oldest.
  
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• Hong Kong to ban ivory trade: leader

  13-01-2016 14:48
  
  Hong Kong will ban the import and export of ivory, the city's leader announced Wednesday, in a "historic" move hailed by animal welfare activists.
  
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• Buccaneer Bones: Possible Pirate Skeleton Found Under Scotland Schoolyard

  13-01-2016 14:11
  
  Dead men tell no tales, but scientists can still learn much about them from their bones. Archaeologists recently determined that a skeleton found buried on a primary school's property in Edinburgh, Scotland, dates back to the 16th century and likely was that of a criminal. When human remains unexpectedly turned up during excavation work for the Victoria Primary School's expansion, archaeologists were soon putting together the pieces — quite literally, as the skull was broken during its dis
  
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• Prize-Winning Photos Capture Magical World of Underwater Creatures

  13-01-2016 14:06
  
  Shimmering against a background of deepest black, an image of a rarely seen larval cusk-eel captured by photographer Jeff Milisen earned the top prize in the Underwater Photography Guide's 2015 Ocean Art Contest.
  
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• Will You Win Powerball? A Vending Machine Death Is More Likely

  13-01-2016 14:05
  The winner of this Wednesday's Powerball drawing is poised to collect a staggering $1.3 billion (before taxes). But with the discouraging odds of 1 in 292.2 million, it's extremely unlikely that you'll find yourself with the winning ticket. In fact, you're more likely to die from a vending-machine-related accident than to draw the lucky number. (The odds of dying from a vending-machine-related accident are 1 in 112 million, according to
  
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• These Spidery 'Veins' On Mars Are Just Plain Weird (Photo)

  13-01-2016 13:53
  Nobody knows yet whether or not Mars has ever hosted life, but the Red Planet itself looks strangely alive in a newly released NASA photo. Slender, branching troughs snake across a pinkish, pitted swathe of the southern hemisphere of Mars in the image, creating an impression (at least to this observer) of blood vessels forking through flesh. The photo was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on Feb. 4 2009, but th
  
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• Best-Ever Map of High-Energy Sky Unveiled (Video)

  13-01-2016 13:53
  
  Scientists used more than six years' worth of data collected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to construct an incredibly detailed map of gamma-ray light, which can be more than a trillion times more energetic than visible light. This map reveals hundreds of sources of such light throughout the universe, from dead stars colliding within the Milky Way to distant galaxies that sport jets from supermassive black holes, mission team members said. "An exciting aspect of this catalog is that w
  
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• Giant Saturn Dwarfs Tiny Moon Tethys in Jaw-dropping NASA Photo

  13-01-2016 13:52
  
  An amazing new photo serves as a reminder of just how big Saturn is.
  
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• Ocean search for Malaysian airliner finds 2nd shipwreck

  13-01-2016 13:51
  
  CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The undersea search for the Malaysian airliner that vanished almost two years ago has found a second 19th century shipwreck deep in the Indian Ocean off the west Australian coast, officials said Wednesday.
  
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• 'Gigantic chasm under Antarctic ice'

  13-01-2016 13:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A vast, previously unrecognised canyon system could be hidden under the Antarctic ice sheet, say scientists.
  
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• Robot Wars returns with 'raft of technological advances'

  13-01-2016 13:23
  The ultimate battle of men and machines is to return after BBC Two announced a reboot of Robot Wars with "more robots, battles and science than ever before".
  
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• Corus Entertainment is buying Shaw Media in $2.65B deal

  13-01-2016 13:20 via cbc.ca
  
  Toronto-based Corus Entertainment is buying Shaw Media from Shaw Communications in a $2.65-billion deal.
  
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• Corus buys Shaw Media in $2.65B deal that puts Shaw's focus on wireless and cable

  13-01-2016 13:20 via cbc.ca
  
  Toronto-based Corus Entertainment is buying Shaw Media from Shaw Communications in a $2.65-billion deal that shakes up the media landscape in Canada.
  
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• Capturing the wonders of hummingbird flight

  13-01-2016 12:00
  
  Recent computer simulations reveal how hummingbirds manipulate the air around them to aid in flight.
  
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• Norway firm quits $1.5bn Nepal hydropower project

  13-01-2016 11:51
  
  Norwegian company Statkraft has said it is dropping plans to build a $1.5 billion hydropower plant in Nepal, citing bureaucratic hurdles and political instability in the troubled Himalayan nation.
  
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• Nissan shuts websites after 'anti-whaling' cyberattack

  13-01-2016 11:08
  Carmaker Nissan on Wednesday shut down its global websites after a cyberattack that may have been motivated by anger over Japan's controversial whale and dolphin hunts.
  
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• Using unregulated websites to buy U.S. Powerball lottery tickets could be a gamble

  13-01-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Canadians are using any means necessary to get their hands on U.S. Powerball lottery tickets and a chance at the $1.5 billion US jackpot, including online brokers such as TheLotter.com, but such services are unregulated and some authorities warn that using them is a gamble you might not want to take.
  
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• Buying U.S. Powerball lottery tickets on unregulated websites could be a gamble

  13-01-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Canadians are using any means necessary to get their hands on U.S. Powerball lottery tickets and a chance at the $1.5 billion US jackpot, including online brokers such as TheLotter.com, but such services are unregulated and some authorities warn that using them is a gamble you might not want to take.
  
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