Science news

• Developing countries bear brunt of nitrogen pollution: study

  25-01-2016 23:42
  
  The production of goods for consumers in rich nations leaves a deep footprint in the form of potentially-dangerous nitrogen pollution in developing countries, a study said Monday.
  
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• Violent turbulence: A look at what causes shakes mid-flight

  25-01-2016 23:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Turbulence is a common occurrence during air travel. While it can be frightening or nauseating for some travellers, it's usually as routine as the in-flight movie.
  
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• Uber, Amazon among companies entering food delivery market

  25-01-2016 22:56 via cbc.ca
  
  The ride-sharing service Uber has already disrupted the traditional model of transportation services. And with UberEats, the company becomes one of many looking to do the same to the world of food delivery.
  
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• Up close and personal with an underwater mystery: the whale shark

  25-01-2016 22:44 via cbc.ca
  
  CBC Alberta's wildlife columnist Brian Keating spent the past week swimming alongside these huge creatures in the Sea of Cortez.
  
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• Exclusive - South Sudan needs arms embargo; leaders killing civilians - U.N. panel

  25-01-2016 22:20
  By Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council should place an arms embargo on South Sudan, while the oil-rich country's President Salva Kiir and a rebel leader qualify to be sanctioned over atrocities committed in a two-year civil war, U.N. sanctions monitors said in an annual report. The confidential report by a U.N. panel that monitors the conflict in South Sudan for the Security Council stated that Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar ar
  
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• South Africa puts year-long ban on leopard hunting

  25-01-2016 22:07
  South Africa has imposed a year-long ban on leopard hunting in 2016 in a decision hailed Monday by conservation activists.
  
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• Over-hunting threatens Amazonian forest carbon stocks

  25-01-2016 21:57
  Over-hunting large mammals in tropical forests could make climate change worse. Tropical forests worldwide store more than 460 billion tonnes of carbon. Researchers studied the impact of over-hunting on carbon storage across the Amazon -- the largest forest on Earth. They found that impact could be huge: a projected 313 billion kilograms of carbon not being absorbed. The economic value of such a loss in global carbon markets could cost US$13.7 trillion.
  
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• ExxonMobil sees lower 'carbon intensity' in 2040

  25-01-2016 21:52
  
  Global energy demand will rise by 25 percent through 2040, but greater use of low-carbon fuels will cut carbon emission relative to economic activity, said an ExxonMobil forecast released Monday.
  
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• Black Death bubonic plague strain kept killing Europeans for centuries

  25-01-2016 21:42 via cbc.ca
  
  The Black Death strain of bubonic plague that killed 50 million people in Europe during the 14th century didn't disappear after the pandemic ended. It kept on killing Europeans, on a smaller scale, for centuries after the end of the original pandemic, two new studies show.
  
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• Xbox bill refunded after teen racked up $8K in charges to dad's dismay

  25-01-2016 21:39 via cbc.ca
  
  A Pembroke, Ont., dad is "very pleased" that Xbox's parent company has refunded more than $8,000 in in-game purchases that his son racked up on his credit card before Christmas.
  
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• 'Artisanal spam' fashions emails in a new kind of cyberattack

  25-01-2016 21:06 via cbc.ca
  
  So-called "artisanal spam" targets smaller groups of victims with painstakingly crafted messages, with the aim of breaking through spam-filtering algorithms and tricking users into giving away their digital credentials.
  
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• Online reading behavior predicts stock movements

  25-01-2016 20:00
  
  People's current web surfing patterns predict future stock movements. The discovery could help authorities to stabilize financial markets.
  
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• 'Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes' Recounts Shuttle Tragedy 30 Years Later

  25-01-2016 19:56
  
  On the evening of Jan. 28, 1986, 30 years ago this week, then-Vice President George H.W. Bush and astronaut and Senator John Glenn met with NASA's space shuttle launch team, who hours earlier had lost Challenger and its seven-member crew to a then-still-unknown cause just 73 seconds into flight. Speaking to the controllers from inside the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Bush offered his respects on what he described as "one of the toughest, if not the toughest day"
  
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• New Documentary About Challenger Disaster Airs Tonight

  25-01-2016 19:04
  
  A new documentary about the space shuttle Challenger accident airs tonight (Jan. 25), three days before the 30th anniversary of the tragic event.
  
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• Quantum histories get all tangled up

  25-01-2016 19:00
  
  Multiple versions of history may be quantum entangled just like particles, a new experiment suggests.
  
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• Most commonly used TB test fails to accurately diagnose pregnant HIV+ women

  25-01-2016 19:00
  The most commonly used test for tuberculosis fails to accurately diagnose TB in up to 50 percent of pregnant women who are HIV+, new research has found. The research is believed to be the first study to compare the accuracy of two TB tests – the Quantiferon Gold In Tube® blood test and the more commonly used TST or tuberculin skin test—in this population.
  
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• Gene often lost in childhood cancer crucial in cells' life or death decision

  25-01-2016 19:00
  A gene that is often lost in childhood cancer plays an important role in the decision between life and death of certain cells, according to a new study. Researchers have discovered the process by which that gene, KIF1B-?, kills cells and thereby suppresses tumor development.
  
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• Snake-hunting Secretary Birds use force of five times their body weight to stamp on, kill their prey

  25-01-2016 18:58
  Snake-hunting Secretary Birds use the force of five times their body weight to stamp on and kill their prey. Researchers have discovered that Secretary Birds can kick with 195 Newtons, which is equivalent to five times their own body weight, when they attack and kill their prey. And the contact time between the bird's feet and the snake is delivered extremely quickly -- on average just 15 milliseconds.
  
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• Smartphones may decrease sedentary time, increase activity, study finds

  25-01-2016 18:56
  Using smartphone reminders to prompt people to get moving may help reduce sedentary behavior, report investigators. Evidence has linked sedentary time to increased risk of breast, colorectal, ovarian, endometrial, and prostate cancers as well as weight gain, higher BMI, and obesity. Nevertheless, adults in the U.S. spend an average of about 8 waking hours per day being sedentary.
  
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• Global report reveals dire state of fisheries, worsening air pollution

  25-01-2016 18:56
  According to the 2016 Environmental Performance Index, which provides a diagnostic tool for policymakers to evaluate and improve environmental performance, the world's nations have expanded access to water and sanitation while creating more protected areas than ever before. However, countries have failed to reverse degradation of air quality and decline in fisheries.
  
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• Shallow earthquakes, deeper tremors along southern San Andreas fault compared by researchers

  25-01-2016 18:55
  Seismologists working along California's San Andreas Fault near Cholame and Parkfield now have a better idea of how and where friction changes along the fault to produce both shallow earthquakes and the deeper earth tremors called low-frequency earthquakes.
  
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• Mom's in control, even before you're born

  25-01-2016 18:55
  Researchers have uncovered previously unappreciated means by which epigenetic information contained in the egg influences the development of the placenta during pregnancy. The research, which was performed in mice, indicates that a mother's health, even before conception, may influence the health of her fetus, and opens questions on how a mother's age may influence placental development.
  
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• Did ear sensory cell stereocilia evolve from gut microvilli?

  25-01-2016 18:54
  Evolution likes to borrow. It can take an already-successful biological structure and alter it until it serves a new function. Two independent groups studying the proteins that organize gut microvilli now suspect that this may have been the case in the development of inner ear hair cell stereocilia. While functionally very different, the protein complexes that organize microvilli and stereocilia have striking parallels.
  
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• U.S. rules would force oil industry to control methane leaks in line with Alberta rules

  25-01-2016 18:35 via cbc.ca
  
  A proposal by the Obama administration to overhaul rules for methane and gas emissions for oil wells would create U.S. rules equivalent to the Alberta government’s latest proposals on emissions reductions.
  
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• VIDEO: 'Ninja eagle' kicks like a mule

  25-01-2016 18:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UK researchers measure the power in the strike of the secretary bird, which hunts by kicking.
  
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• Sperm Whales beached in Skegness: Horrifying photos of the mammals washed up on the shore

  25-01-2016 17:59
  Three dead sperm whales have washed up on a beach at Skegness on England's Lincolnshire coast, with sources confirming that all three mammals were dead before the reached the shore. This comes just days after another sperm whale was found on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk, with all four whales believed to be from the same pod, although the whereabouts of the remaining members are unknown. Environmentalists, as well as members of the public, have been writing on the deceased whales in graffiti, with
  
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• Potential therapeutic targets identified for multiple sclerosis

  25-01-2016 17:52
  Treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other inflammatory diseases may benefit by new findings from a study that identified potential therapeutic targets for a devastating disease striking some 2.3 million people worldwide.
  
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• Pressure building on global water supply

  25-01-2016 17:42
  A new study projects that global demand for water could more than double by 2050, increasing pressure on already scarce water resources. Water efficiency and water saving measures could stabilize demand.
  
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• Link between food advertising, child food consumption

  25-01-2016 17:42
  Unhealthy food advertising does increase food intake in children, new research confirms. The analysis showed that unhealthy food advertising exposure significantly increased food consumption in children, but not adults. Television and Internet advertising were equally impactful.
  
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• Hacking the programs of cancer stem cells

  25-01-2016 17:42
  A molecule that interrupts biochemical signals essential for the survival of a certain type of cancer stem cell has been discovered by researchers.
  
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• What factors influence timing of start of dialysis?

  25-01-2016 17:41
  A new study used electronic medical records from the Department of Veterans Affairs to examine factors that influence the timing of the initiation of dialysis.
  
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• Sugar's siren song deciphered

  25-01-2016 17:41
  Sugar's sweetness and calorie content combine to give it lethal power to destroy diets, many scientists have assumed. However, a new study suggests that the brain responds to taste and calorie counts in fundamentally different ways. And only one of these responses explains why most New Years' resolutions have already disappeared under a deluge of Boston Crème Pies.
  
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• Researchers discover ten new lupus genes in Asian population study

  25-01-2016 17:41
  10 new genes associated with the autoimmune disease lupus have been identified by researchers. One gene in particular, known as GTF2I, showed a high likelihood of being involved in the development of lupus, say scientists.
  
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• Mailed nicotine patches with no behavioral support associated with cessation

  25-01-2016 17:41
  Mailing free nicotine patches to smokers without providing behavioral support was associated with higher rates of tobacco cessation than not offering the patches, according to an article.
  
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• Large variability in abundance of viruses that infect ocean microorganisms

  25-01-2016 17:41
  Marine microorganisms play a critical role in capturing atmospheric carbon, but a new study finds much less certainty than previously believed about the populations of the viruses that infect these important organisms.
  
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• In Gulf Of Mexico, microbes thrive above natural oil seeps

  25-01-2016 17:41
  In the water above natural oil seeps in the Gulf of Mexico, where oil and gas bubbles rise almost a mile to break at the surface, scientists have discovered something unusual: phytoplankton, tiny microbes at the base of the marine food chain, are thriving.
  
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• Global, national burden of diseases, injuries among children and adolescents

  25-01-2016 17:41
  A new report examines global and national trends in the fatal and nonfatal burden of diseases and injuries among children and adolescents in 188 countries based on results from the Global Burden of Disease 2013 study.
  
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• Discovery reveals how protective immune cells protect themselves

  25-01-2016 17:41
  The finding of how immune-system regulatory T cells maintain their integrity during their critical role in modulating the immune system could lead to new immune therapies for cancer.
  
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• Spider Shows Off His Big Paddle to Woo Mates

  25-01-2016 17:32
  
  Males of the human variety may spend hours at the gym bulking up to attract the ladies, but that's nothing compared to the efforts of a new spider species from Australia. This little brown spider sports a massive, paddlelike appendage on its legs that it flashes at females to woo mates, new research has revealed. The paddle seems to be a way of separating the fertile females from those that have no interest in mating, said Jürgen Otto, the biologist who discovered the oddball spider.
  
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• Migrating Storks Can't Resist a Garbage Dump Feast

  25-01-2016 17:30
  Garbage dumps may be such attractive pit stops for some storks that they shorten their migration routes to pay a visit, a new study suggests. A few years ago, Andrea Flack, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, was tracking the path of white storks from Germany, trying to get close enough to the birds to download flight data from the GPS trackers attached to their backs. Flack eventually found herself standing in an open garbage dump in Morocco, staring at her re
  
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• US Military Wants Smaller and More Stable Atomic Clocks

  25-01-2016 17:29
  The U.S. military wants you … to design a better atomic clock. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the branch of the U.S. Department of Defense tasked with developing new technologies for the military, recently announced a new program called Atomic Clocks with Enhanced Stability (ACES). Atomic clocks are used to keep track of time in places where a tiny fraction of a second makes a huge difference.
  
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• Monkeys with human gene show signs of autism

  25-01-2016 17:00
  
  Genetically altered monkeys may help scientists understand autism.
  
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• Converted milk proteins clean pollution, strike gold

  25-01-2016 17:00
  
  A new membrane uses sticky amyloid proteins to trap contaminants in water.
  
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• Sexy Signal? Frill and Horns May Have Helped Dinosaur Communicate

  25-01-2016 16:49
  The fancy frill and cheek horns that adorned the head of a triceratops relative may have helped the dinosaur communicate, possibly acting as a social or sexy signal, a new study suggests.
  
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• Oslo trash incinerator starts experiment to slow climate change

  25-01-2016 16:32
  
  OSLO (Reuters) - Oslo's main waste incinerator began the world's first experiment to capture carbon dioxide from the fumes of burning rubbish on Monday, hoping to develop technology to enlist the world's trash in slowing global warming.
  
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• 2/3 of Young Adults Would Make the Wrong Decision About Stroke Symptoms

  25-01-2016 16:24
  Most adults younger than 45 would make the wrong choice if they were experiencing the symptoms of a stroke: They'd wait to go to the hospital. A new study finds that only about 33 percent of people younger than 35 said they would be "very likely" to go to the hospital if they experienced numbness, weakness or difficulty speaking, all of which can be symptoms of stroke. The findings are alarming for physicians, because the first 3 hours after a stroke are known as the "golden window." In other wo
  
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• Apple's 'Night Shift' Mode: How Smartphones Disrupt Sleep

  25-01-2016 16:23
  
  Apple's forthcoming iOS update promises to incorporate a feature called Night Shift that could help people sleep better. There is a growing body of research showing that exposure to bright blue light can disrupt people's sleep patterns, and this is exactly the kind of light produced by modern LCD displays such as those on smartphones and tablets. But Apple is hoping to help users preserve their beauty sleep.
  
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• Man Gets 20-Foot Tapeworm from Eating Raw Meat

  25-01-2016 16:22
  A man in China who enjoyed eating raw beef became infected with a parasite — a 20-foot-long tapeworm —that came from including this food in his diet, a new case report reveals. The parasite had attached to the 38-year-old man's small intestine and had likely been inside him for at least two years before doctors diagnosed the infection as beef tapeworm of the species Taenia saginata, according to the case report, published online today (Jan. 20) in The New England Journal of Medicine.
  
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• Beyond Gaming: 10 Other Fascinating Uses for Virtual-Reality Tech

  25-01-2016 16:22
  
  Gamers and gadget hounds can now get their hands on the hotly anticipated Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset: The Facebook-owned company announced the commercial release of its virtual-reality device last week at CES in Las Vegas. At a whopping $600, the Oculus Rift may seem expensive for a gaming device, but the technology has come a long way since the company first launched its Kickstarter campaign in 2012. Here are 10 ways virtual-reality technology is being used beyond gaming.
  
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• Long-Term Opioid Use Linked to Depression

  25-01-2016 16:17
  People who take prescription opioids, which are used for treating pain, for longer than a month may have an increased risk of developing depression, according to a new study. Pain itself can also lead to depression, but in the study, the link between depression and opioid use held even when the researchers accounted for the potential contribution of pain to depression, according to the study. Therefore, if people who are taking opioids for pain notice they have been feeling depressed, both they
  
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