Science news

• Mystery 'hobbits' not humans like us: study

  15-02-2016 23:59
  
  Diminutive humans that died out on an Indonesian island some 15,000 years ago were not Homo sapiens but a different species, according to a study published Monday that dives into a fierce anthropological debate.
  
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• Antarctica study: Iceberg nearly erases penguin population

  15-02-2016 23:57
  
  SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Scientists say an estimated 150,000 Adelie penguins have been wiped out on Antarctica's Cape Denison in the five years since a giant iceberg blocked their main access to food.
  
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• Ban handheld lasers, says pilots association president

  15-02-2016 23:40 via cbc.ca
  
  The head of the Air Canada Pilots Association wants Ottawa to put handheld lasers on its list of prohibited weapons, which would allow police and border agencies to seize devices that are increasingly being used to target crew while in the air, Capt. Ian Smith says.
  
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• Climate change researchers in Nova Scotia call for renewed funding

  15-02-2016 21:48 via cbc.ca
  
  A team of researchers at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography is questioning the future of its research now that funding for its climate change program is set to run out in a matter of weeks.
  
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• Extinct plant discovered in amber

  15-02-2016 20:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Biologists describe a new species of extinct plant, based on two fossil flowers that were trapped in chunks of amber for at least 15 million years.
  
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• Is There Really A War on Science?

  15-02-2016 19:11 via rss.sciam.com
  
  People who oppose vaccines, GMOs and climate change evidence may be more anxious than antagonistic
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Despite threats, thousands join anti-polio drive in Pakistan, a last bastion of the disease

  15-02-2016 18:51
  KARACHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - More than 100,000 health workers fanned out across Pakistan on Monday, stepping up a drive to eliminate the polio virus this year from one of its last bastions, despite continuing militant threats to vaccination teams. Pakistan accounts for more than 70 percent of the world's cases of polio, a virus that can cause lifelong paralysis and is now endemic in only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan. "We have intensified our efforts," said Asher Ali, a project manage
  
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• Solar tower poised to energize market

  15-02-2016 18:16
  
  In a vast expanse of open desert in southern Israel a 787-foot tower (240 meters) is taking shape that its builders hope will help make solar energy much more cost effective.
  
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• Turkmenistan drafts new constitution extending presidential term

  15-02-2016 18:03
  A commission led by Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has drafted a new constitution which extends the presidential term to seven years from five and removes the upper age limit on candidates for presidency. The move solidifies Berdymukhamedov's already sweeping powers at a time when the gas-rich Central Asian nation is suffering from a sharp drop in export revenues. Turkmenistan's rubber stamp parliament may pass the new constitution, published by main state newspaper Neutral Turkmen
  
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• Russia reports first case of person infected with Zika virus

  15-02-2016 17:28
  MOSCOW/GENEVA (Reuters) - Russia has registered its first case of a person infected with the Zika virus after a tourist contracted the disease in the Dominican Republic, Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said on Monday. "The first infection with Zika has been recorded. This is a 36-year old Russian woman who was in the Dominican Republic and came back to the Russian Federation in February," Skvortsova told reporters at a UN briefing on Russia's Ebola vaccine.
  
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• Should your family unplug from smartphones?

  15-02-2016 17:17 via cbc.ca
  
  A program called Family Day Unplugged is trying to convince people in Alberta to unplug from their smartphones and other devices and instead spend time focused on their family. Should your family unplug from smartphones?
  
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• CBC Forum: Should your family unplug from smartphones?

  15-02-2016 17:17 via cbc.ca
  
  A program called Family Day Unplugged is trying to convince people in Alberta to unplug from their smartphones and other devices and instead spend time focused on their family. Should your family unplug from smartphones?
  
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• Deadly beauty: Amber-entombed flower may have been toxic

  15-02-2016 17:10
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Do not let its beauty fool you. A newly identified and exquisitely preserved flower found entombed in amber – fossilized tree sap – may have packed quite a punch.
  
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• Shark Attacks at a Record High in 2015

  15-02-2016 17:06
  
  Last year was the worst year on record for unprovoked shark attacks, with the predatory fish biting 98 people, according to a new analysis by the International Shark Attack File. The next highest year for shark attacks was 2000, in which 88 people faced unprovoked bites by sharks.
  
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• Trilobites Were Stone-Cold Killers

  15-02-2016 17:05
  
  Trilobites were savvy killers who hunted down their prey and used their many legs to wrestle them into submission, newly discovered fossils suggest. A statistical analysis of these burrows and their intersections shows that they cross one another more than expected, a sign that the trilobites were deliberately hunting down their wormy prey. In a subset of those cases, the trilobites seemed to sidle up to the burrows in parallel, perhaps so they could latch onto the worms lengthwise with their ro
  
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• Sci-Fi Authors' Website Offers Free Gifts for Readers

  15-02-2016 14:34
  
  Several science fiction authors have opened up a new online platform intended to help them connect directly with readers — and it's currently offering a free e-book upon sign-up and the chance to win 40 signed novels.
  
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• 'Ready Jet Go!' New PBS KIDS Show Brings Space Science Down to Earth

  15-02-2016 14:33
  
  VENICE, Calif. — PBS KIDS and PBS SoCal touted their new animated series, "Ready Jet Go!," with a first-look screening, live musical performances and a conversation about STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education here at Google's Venice office last month. 
  
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• Family Day Unplugged: Advocates aim for tech-free holiday

  15-02-2016 14:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Social media has people more connected than ever before. But studies warn our state of constant technology consumption can have the negative impact of making us more distant. This Family Day, one program in Alberta is trying to change that.
  
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• Cheaper, greener, route to bioplastic

  15-02-2016 13:19
  
  Polylactic acid (PLA) plastic is an increasingly common, environmentally friendly, alternative to conventional petrochemical-based mass plastics. But it's a costly process.
  
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• Lead’s damage can last a lifetime, or longer

  15-02-2016 13:00
  
  Scientists have known for decades that lead is toxic to the brain, but the mark lead exposure leaves on children may actually stretch into adulthood, and perhaps even future generations.
  
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• Ripples came too late for gravity bet

  15-02-2016 11:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two physicists who placed a long-odds bet that gravitational waves would be detected by 2010 say the discovery is "worth much more" than the £2,500 they missed out on.
  
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• More than 50 killed in Angola yellow fever outbreak - government

  15-02-2016 10:17
  Fifty-one people have now died in a yellow fever outbreak in Angola, less than two months after it started spreading in the capital, the national director of health said. Health experts say the outbreak has been exacerbated by a breakdown in sanitation services and rubbish collection in Luanda and other cities, leading to an increase in the mosquitoes that carry the disease. City authorities have slashed their budget for rubbish collection to cope with a budget crisis, leaving piles of waste bui
  
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• China urges United States, North Korea to hold direct talks

  15-02-2016 09:58
  China's foreign ministry on Monday urged the United States and North Korea to sit down with each other face-to-face and resolve their problems, as tension continues to climb on the Korean peninsula after North Korea's latest rocket test. While China was angered by the launch, it has also expressed concern at plans by Washington and Seoul to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defence system, saying it would impact upon China's own security. "The focus of the nuclear issue on the peninsula is between
  
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• Calls in South Korea for nuclear weapons as parliamentary poll looms

  15-02-2016 09:54
  By Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - A senior figure in South Korea's conservative ruling party said on Monday his country should have nuclear weapons, as concern over how to respond to rising tensions with North Korea loomed as an election issue ahead of parliamentary polls in April. Opposition liberals have blamed President Park Geun-hye for lacking a clear strategy to deal with the North, which recently launched a long-range rocket and last month tested its fourth nuclear device. Won Yoo-chul, fl
  
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• Unbear-lievable: doubts over Myanmar 'red panda' find

  15-02-2016 09:19
  
  Doubts were cast Monday over a poignant tale of a rescued panda donated to a Mandalay zoo, after an expert said a photo in Myanmar's state media showed a creature that more closely resembled a black bear.
  
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• North Korean leader pushes for more satellite launches

  15-02-2016 08:24
  
  North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has promised to put more satellites in space, even as the international community prepares to punish his regime over a long-range rocket launch just last week.
  
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• Sea Shepherd struggling to find Japan whaling fleet

  15-02-2016 08:20
  
  Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd admitted on Monday it was struggling to find Japanese whaling vessels in the vast Southern Ocean and urged the Australian government to help.
  
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• Space tourism projects at a glance

  15-02-2016 07:48
  
  Virgin Galactic later this month in Mojave, California, is preparing to roll out its new SpaceShipTwo, a vehicle the company hopes will one day take tourists to the edge of space. It comes roughly 15½ months since an earlier incarnation was destroyed in a test flight, killing one of the pilots. Despite the setback, the dream of sending tourists to the edge of space and beyond is still alive. Space tourism companies are employing designs including winged vehicles, vertical rockets with cap
  
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• Things to know about the space tourism industry

  15-02-2016 07:39
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Space tourism projects leaped off the drawing board when a $10 million prize was offered as an incentive for private development of manned rockets, but it took years to make a winner. Many more years have passed since, but the only space tourists have been a few wealthy people who paid millions of dollars for trips aboard Russian rockets to the International Space Station. Things to know about space tourism:
  
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• Ivory trafficking in Africa controlled by a powerful few

  15-02-2016 07:38
  
  Ivory trafficking in Africa, which threatens the survival of elephants, is highly concentrated in a few geographic hotspots and controlled by a powerful few, say scientists who use DNA analysis to track the illegal wildlife trade.
  
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• DNA rice breakthrough raises 'green revolution' hopes

  15-02-2016 06:03
  
  Rice-growing techniques learned through thousands of years of trial and error are about to be turbocharged with DNA technology in a breakthrough hailed by scientists as a potential second "green revolution".
  
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• X-raying of fossil beetles

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) ) The layman considers fossil beetles just stones. Even experts were able to describe the shape of the millimeter-sized fossils only. Using the ANKA-synchrotron-radiation-source of KIT, 30 million year' old beetles have now been examined. The inner anatomy was imaged in such detail that the family tree could be analyzed. The results are published in the journal eLife. Hence, latest imaging methods can provide access to the enormous store of knowled
  
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• What do the world's leading shark researchers think of shark conservation policy?

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Miami) University of Miami Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy researchers investigated the conservation policy preferences of shark scientists, and their personal histories of conservation advocacy and their opinions about the environmental non-profit community. This global survey of over 100 scientists and natural resource managers is the first to assess the collective expertise of the world's largest professional shark research societies. The survey results are publis
  
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• Vulnerability to depression linked to noradrenaline

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (McGill University) The team of Bruno Giros, a researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and professor of psychiatry at McGill University, reports the first-ever connection between noradrenergic neurons and vulnerability to depression. Published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, this breakthrough paves the way for new depression treatments that target the adrenergic system.
  
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• Virtual reality therapy could help people with depression

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (University College London) An immersive virtual reality therapy could help people with depression to be less critical and more compassionate towards themselves, reducing depressive symptoms, finds a new study from UCL (University College London) and ICREA-University of Barcelona.The therapy, previously tested by healthy volunteers, was used by 15 depression patients aged 23-61. Nine reported reduced depressive symptoms a month after the therapy, of whom four experienced a clinically significant
  
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• Tiny red crystals dramatically increase biogas production

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (University of New South Wales) UNSW Australia-led researchers have discovered a way to produce a tenfold increase in the amount of methane gas emitted by naturally occurring microbes living in coal seams and on food waste. The innovation could benefit the environment by extending the lifespan of coal seam gas wells, as well as improving the economics of using woody crops and left-over food as commercial sources of biogas.
  
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• The science of jet noise

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Texas at Austin, Texas Advanced Computing Center) Daniel Bodony, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), is looking into the science surrounding the aeroacoustics of jet engines and researching how to make them quieter.
  
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• The mystery about the Chelyabinsk superbolide continues three years later Español

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology) On Feb. 15, 2013, the approach of asteroid (367943) Duende to our planet was being closely monitored by both the public and the scientific community worldwide when suddenly a superbolide entered the atmosphere above the region of Chelyabinsk in Russia. Three years and hundreds of published scientific studies later, we are still looking for the origin of such unexpected visitor.
  
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• Sweet discovery in leafy greens holds key to gut health

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute) A critical discovery about how bacteria feed on an unusual sugar molecule found in leafy green vegetables could hold the key to explaining how 'good' bacteria protect our gut and promote health.The finding suggests that leafy greens are essential for feeding good gut bacteria, limiting the ability of bad bacteria to colonize the gut by shutting them out of the prime 'real estate.'
  
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• Solar cells help purify water in remote areas

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (Lund University) Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a water purification plant that provides clean water far beyond the reach of the electrical grid -- thanks to solar cells. With the help of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus, these small and portable solar cell stations have now been placed across rural Bangladesh.
  
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• Scientists prove feasibility of 'printing' replacement tissue

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center) Using a sophisticated, custom-designed 3-D printer, regenerative medicine scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have proved that it is feasible to print living tissue structures to replace injured or diseased tissue in patients.
  
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• Raising a child has a bigger effect on the immune system than gastroenteritis

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (Babraham Institute) Raising a child together has a greater effect on your immune system than the seasonal 'flu vaccine or travellers' gastroenteritis, a study by researchers at VIB and KU Leuven in Belgium and the Babraham Institute in the UK has found.
  
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• Project to estimate the size of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community in England

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Plymouth) Public Health England (PHE) has commissioned a health service research team from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry (PUPSMD) to model the size of the LGB population in England.
  
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• Penn engineers use network science to predict how ligaments fail

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Pennsylvania) Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science are using network science to gain new insights into 'subfailure' ligament injuries, which can lead to pain and dysfunction despite the lack of obvious physical evidence.
  
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• Observing brain diseases in real time

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) An innovative tool allows researchers to observe protein aggregation throughout the life of a worm. The development of these aggregates, which play a role in the onset of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, can now be monitored automatically and in real time. This breakthrough was made possible by isolating worms in tiny microfluidic chambers developed at EPFL.
  
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• New technique for turning sunlight into hydrogen

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology(UNIST)) A new photoelectrode boosts the ability of solar water-splitting to produce hydrogen.
  
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• New study highlights effectiveness of a herpesvirus CMV-based vaccine against Ebola

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Plymouth) As the latest in a series of studies, researchers have shown the ability of a vaccine vector based on a common herpesvirus called cytomegalovirus (CMV) expressing Ebola virus glycoprotein (GP), to provide protection against Ebola virus in the experimental rhesus macaque, non-human primate (NHP) model.Demonstration of protection in the NHP model is regarded as a critical step before translation of Ebola virus vaccines into humans and other great apes.
  
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• Mind-controlled prosthetic arm moves individual 'fingers'

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (Johns Hopkins Medicine) Physicians and biomedical engineers from Johns Hopkins report what they believe is the first successful effort to wiggle fingers individually and independently of each other using a mind-controlled artificial 'arm' to control the movement.
  
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• Manager supported wellness

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (Cornell Food & Brand Lab) From helping new employees get settled in a job to setting deadlines and job expectations, it goes without saying that managers have a huge influence on employee behavior. A new Cornell Food and Brand Lab study finds that manager leadership may be the key to employee health programs and goals!
  
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• Light used to measure the 'big stretch' in spider silk proteins

  15-02-2016 06:00
  
  (Johns Hopkins Medicine) While working to improve a tool that measures the pushes and pulls sensed by proteins in living cells, biophysicists at Johns Hopkins say they've discovered onereason spiders' silk is so elastic: Pieces of the silk's protein threads act like supersprings, stretching to five times their initial length. The investigators say the tool will shed light on many biological events, including the shifting forces between cells during cancer metastasis.
  
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