Science news

• Sleep tight: genome secrets could help beat the bedbug's bite

  02-02-2016 23:13
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - They emerge from their hiding places at night, driven to slake their thirst for human blood. Vampires? No. Bedbugs!
  
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• Curiosity Rover on Mars Snaps Epic Selfie with Sand Dunes (Photo)

  02-02-2016 22:48
  
  NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has snapped a selfie featuring sunshine and lots of sand, but it's no vacation pic. The car-size Curiosity rover was hard at work investigating Namib Dune — part of a larger complex of shifting dark Martian sand called Bagnold Dunes — when it captured the photo on Jan. 19. Curiosity has been studying Bagnold Dunes for about two months now, helping mission scientists better understand how the wind creates and shapes dune fields on Mars.
  
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• First Case of U.S. Transmission in Ongoing Zika Outbreak Announced in Texas

  02-02-2016 22:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Dallas County health officials say the patient acquired the virus via sexual contact
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• New project offers antidote for online harassment

  02-02-2016 22:10 via cbc.ca
  
  The internet can be a mean, nasty place. For some, going online means bullying, harassment and abuse. But as CBC Radio technology columnist Dan Misener explains, a new project called HeartMob wants to put an end to that.
  
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• NASA Picks Tiny Satellites to Ride on Giant Rocket's 1st Flight

  02-02-2016 21:51
  
  NASA has unveiled the lineup of 13 small satellites that will hitchhike on the first deep-space test flight of its new megarocket, a list that includes satellites destined to probe the moon, investigate deep space radiation and even fly out to examine an asteroid. While the microsatellites, called cubesats, have been deployed into orbits close to Earth before, and launched from the International Space Station, the low-cost research units have never before ventured this far away to do research, N
  
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• Turning Plants into Drug Factories

  02-02-2016 21:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Researchers are developing GM plants that can be used as pharmaceutical biofactories to produce inexpensive, ingestible medicines
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• [Research Article] The adhesion GPCR BAI1 mediates macrophage ROS production and microbicidal activity against Gram-negative bacteria

  02-02-2016 20:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A macrophage adhesion receptor that mediates internalization of Gram-negative bacteria also stimulates the machinery that kills them.
  
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• [Research Article] Context-specific flow through the MEK/ERK module produces cell- and ligand-specific patterns of ERK single and double phosphorylation

  02-02-2016 20:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  ERK phosphorylated on a single residue of the activation motif may be a sign of dysregulated proliferation.
  
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• [Research Article] ABL kinases promote breast cancer osteolytic metastasis by modulating tumor-bone interactions through TAZ and STAT5 signaling

  02-02-2016 20:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  ABL kinase inhibitors could prevent breast cancer cells from breaking down bone to promote metastasis.
  
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• [Podcast] Science Signaling Podcast for 2 February 2016: Engulf and Kill

  02-02-2016 20:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  In macrophages, an adhesion receptor both mediates phagocytosis of bacteria and triggers the generation of reactive oxygen species to kill them.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Toxic TRPA1 activity degrades myelin

  02-02-2016 20:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Proton-mediated activation of TRPA1 channels in oligodendrocytes during ischemia damages myelin.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Suicidal sacrificial bacteria

  02-02-2016 20:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A quorum-sensing factor induces autolysis in Pseudomonas to promote biofilm formation.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Releasing aldolase from the cytoskeleton

  02-02-2016 20:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) had an AKT- and mTOR-independent role in promoting metabolism.
  
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• Genes show why bedbugs are tough suckers to kill

  02-02-2016 20:53
  
  Bedbugs, the notorious bloodthirsty critters which tormented the residents of New York City some years ago, have become genetically wired to resist pesticides, experts said Tuesday.
  
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• Now cows can choose when they want to be milked - by a robot

  02-02-2016 20:48 via cbc.ca
  
  Wearable technology might still be a tough sell for humans. But farmers are embracing wearable devices for animals that help monitor livestock and allow robots to help care for them.
  
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• Night owl or early bird? It's in your genes: study

  02-02-2016 20:22
  
  Whether you are a night owl or an early bird, don't bother fighting the impulse because it's probably in your genes, a study suggested Tuesday.
  
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• U.S. urges U.N. to act firmly against North Korea for satellite plans

  02-02-2016 20:09
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The international community must respond swiftly to North Korea's plans to launch a satellite within coming the days and impose new sanctions against Pyongyang, the State Department said on Tuesday. "The U.N. Security Council has a role to play by holding it (Pyongyang) accountable by imposing a tough, comprehensive and credible package of new sanctions and by ensuring vigorous enforcement of the resolutions already adopted," spokesman John Kirby told reporters. ...
  
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• Scientists map bedbug genome, follow pest through NYC subway

  02-02-2016 19:50
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists have mapped the genome of the bedbug, then used it to follow an army of the nefarious pests through the New York subway system.
  
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• N. Korea confirms imminent satellite launch

  02-02-2016 19:44
  
  North Korea confirmed Tuesday it was planning an imminent space rocket launch -- a move the US immediately condemned as "another egregious violation" of UN resolutions following Pyongyang's nuclear test last month.
  
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• Windows 10 may automatically download to your PC this week

  02-02-2016 19:32 via cbc.ca
  
  If you haven't already downloaded Windows 10, your computer may do it for you automatically as soon as this week.
  
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• Bedbug genome spills secrets of violence, weird sex

  02-02-2016 19:30
  
  Maps of bedbugs’ genetic material reveal clues to their success.
  
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• Bedbug genetic code cracked

  02-02-2016 19:30
  
  Maps of bedbugs’ genetic material reveal clues to their success.
  
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• Any North Korea satellite launch irresponsible, provocative - White House

  02-02-2016 19:28
  The White House said on Tuesday any satellite launch by North Korea would be viewed by the international community as another destabilising provocation by that country. "I feel confident in telling you that the international community would regard a step like that by the North Koreans as just another irresponsible provocation and a clear violation of their international obligations," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a news briefing. North Korea notified United Nations agencies on Tuesd
  
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• Purpose of zebra stripes remains a mystery

  02-02-2016 19:16
  
  Zebra stripes don’t help the animals disappear in the vision of predators, a new study finds.
  
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• As the World Tackles Climate Change, is Meat Off the Table? (Op-Ed)

  02-02-2016 18:56
  Alexandra Clark is a sustainable-food campaigner at Humane Society International. Prior to joining HSI, Clark worked for the vice president of the European Parliament and was responsible for a number of high-profile parliamentary initiatives on sustainable food systems. There is extensive research showing the outsize impacts of animal agriculture on the environment.
  
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• 'Climate Snow Job'? Scientists Respond to Attack on Evidence (Op-Ed)

  02-02-2016 18:55
  
  Emmanuel Vincent holds a Ph.D. in climate science and is the founder of Climate Feedback (@ClimateFdbk), a global network of scientists who provide readers, authors and editors with feedback about the accuracy of climate change media articles. Daniel Nethery is editor of Climate Feedback. An opinion piece published Jan. 24 in The Wall Street Journal presented false and misleading statements as if they were fact.
  
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• Want to Make a Volcano Explode? Just Add Heat

  02-02-2016 18:53
  Volcanoes erupt explosively when gas-charged magma reaches Earth's surface. The formation and growth of gas bubbles are complex processes that fascinate nearly every volcanologist. There are volcanologists who peer inside tiny crystals to measure minuscule amounts of dissolved gas, and there are volcanologists who use spectroscopy — specifically studies of how minerals absorb ultraviolet light — to measure the copious gases billowing from a vent.
  
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• The Stars Within Us: Why Everything in You is Stellar

  02-02-2016 18:46
  
  Paul Sutter is a visiting scholar at The Ohio State University's Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP). Sutter is also host of the podcasts "Ask a Spaceman" and "RealSpace," and the YouTube series "Space in Your Face." Sutter contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
  
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• Egypt, Russia may start building nuclear power plant in 2018 - Interfax

  02-02-2016 17:39
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Egypt may start construction of its first nuclear power plant with Russia's assistance in 2018, Interfax news agency quoted Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov as saying on Tuesday. The plant would be built at Dabaa in the north of Egypt and was expected to be completed by 2022. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Susan Thomas)
  
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• DNA may determine if you’re an early bird or night owl

  02-02-2016 17:36
  
  Morning people are more likely to have certain variations in their DNA, but less likely to have insomnia or sleep apnea.
  
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• Slow food: study says prehistoric people feasted on turtles

  02-02-2016 17:35
  
  Discoveries in an Israeli cave dating back 200,000 years show that early humans ate turtles alongside plants and large game animals, the Tel Aviv university said on Tuesday.
  
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• Scientists Try to Grow Peruvian Potatoes on "Mars"

  02-02-2016 17:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A South American experiment seeks to find if potatoes could be grown on Mars as a food source for future astronauts. They also hope the data will help them better understand how this staple may be...
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• North Korea tells U.N. agencies it plans satellite launch

  02-02-2016 17:27
  By Ju-min Park and Tony Munroe SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea notified U.N. agencies on Tuesday that it plans to launch a satellite later this month, which could advance the isolated country's development of long-range missile technology. Pyongyang conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 in defiance of United Nations sanctions, and last launched a long-range rocket in December 2012, sending an object it described as a communications satellite into orbit. North Korea is under U.N. sanctions fo
  
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• Like humans, ravens can imagine being watched: study

  02-02-2016 17:21
  
  Ravens can imagine being spied upon by a hidden competitor, showing a capacity for abstraction once thought to be exclusively human, according to a study released Tuesday.
  
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• Here's what a hot appetizer looked like 400,000 years ago

  02-02-2016 16:58 via cbc.ca
  
  What would cavemen and cavewomen have eaten as a side dish or appetizer 400,000 years ago? Archeologists in Israel have found that prehistoric cuisine was more sophisticated than you might expect.
  
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• North Korea plans satellite launch this month

  02-02-2016 16:52 via cbc.ca
  
  Less than a month after its purported H-bomb test, North Korea announced it is planning a rocket launch as soon as next week.
  
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• Grenade attack kills one as Burundi violence continues

  02-02-2016 16:48
  At least one person was killed in a grenade attack on a bar in Burundi on Monday night, witnesses said, in more violence since the African Union backed away from sending in peacekeepers without the government's consent. "One (person) was killed instantly," said Jean de Dieu, who was near the scene of attack. Police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye confirmed two grenades were detonated and eight people were wounded.
  
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• US Military’s F-35 Fighter Jets to Make British Debut in July

  02-02-2016 16:23
  
  The U.S. military's next-generation F-35 fighter jets will make their long-awaited overseas debut this summer at two air shows in the United Kingdom, Air Force officials recently announced. The 56th Fighter Wing, stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona, will showcase F-35A Lightning IIs at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Gloucestershire and the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire, both in July. The summer events will be the first time the F-35s cross the Atlantic Ocean for t
  
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• What's That Word? Marijuana May Affect Verbal Memory

  02-02-2016 16:19
  Years of smoking pot may have an effect on a person's verbal memory, which is the ability to remember certain words, a new study finds. For every five years of marijuana use, researchers found that, on average, one out of two people remembered one word fewer from a list of 15 words, according to the study. Long-term use was not, however, significantly associated with decreases in other measures of cognitive function, such as processing speed or executive function, the researchers wrote in the st
  
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• Microcephaly Linked to Zika Virus Is a 'Public Health Emergency,' Officials Say

  02-02-2016 16:18
  
  The recent, dramatic increase in babies in Brazil born with microcephaly — underdeveloped skulls and brains — that has been linked with the Zika virus constitutes "a public health emergency of international concern," Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, said today. Clusters of microcephaly and other neurological complications that are possibly linked to the virus make up "an extraordinary event and a public health threat to other parts of the world,"
  
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• Major Tim Peake leads global school lesson from space

  02-02-2016 16:04
  Schoolchildren have made contact with outer space during a live question-and-answer link up with British astronaut Tim Peake.
  
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• Google reveals how much it paid man who briefly owned Google.com

  02-02-2016 15:59 via cbc.ca
  
  Google has revealed how much it gave a Massachusetts graduate student who pointed out a glitch that allowed him to briefly "own" the world's most heavily trafficked website.
  
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• North Norea notifies IMO of planned satellite launch

  02-02-2016 15:55
  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has notified the International Maritime Organization of plans to launch a satellite between Feb. 8 and Feb. 25, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported late on Tuesday. North Korea is believed to be making preparations for a test launch of a long-range rocket, U.S. officials have said, after activity at its test site was observed by satellite. (Reporting by Tony Munroe; Editing by Dominic Evans)
  
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