Science news

• Gray whale puts on show at Southern California beach

  31-03-2016 23:50
  
  REDONDO BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A Pacific gray whale put on a show at Southern California's Redondo Beach, popping its huge head out of the waves and rolling around in the surf.
  
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• Alien Earth May Be Forming Around Nearby Star (Photos)

  31-03-2016 23:40
  
  Scientists may have just snapped baby photos of an alien Earth. The planet-forming disk around a nearby sunlike star called TW Hydrae sports a gap at about the same distance from the star as Earth lies from the sun, new images captured by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile reveal. "Previous studies with optical and radio telescopes confirm that this star hosts a prominent disk with features that strongly suggest planets are beginning to coalesce," study lead author
  
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• [Report] Mouse oocytes differentiate through organelle enrichment from sister cyst germ cells

  31-03-2016 22:29
  Oocytes differentiate in diverse species by receiving organelles and cytoplasm from sister germ cells while joined in germline cysts or syncytia. Mouse primordial germ cells form germline cysts, but the role of cysts in oogenesis is unknown. We find that mouse germ cells receive organelles from neighboring cyst cells and build a Balbiani body to become oocytes, whereas nurselike germ cells die. Organelle movement, Balbiani body formation, and oocyte fate determination are selectively blocked by
  
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• Bat-killing disease found in Washington state, first in West

  31-03-2016 22:15
  SEATTLE (AP) — A fungal disease that has killed millions of bats nationwide has spread to Washington state, the first time white-nose syndrome has turned up in the western United States, federal wildlife officials said Thursday.
  
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• Gabon parliament speaker resigns in new blow to president

  31-03-2016 21:35
  Gabon's long-serving parliament speaker stepped down abruptly on Thursday in the latest sign of eroding support within the ruling party for President Ali Bongo before elections in the Central African oil producer later this year. The resignation of Guy Nzouba Ndama, who has headed the National Assembly for nearly two decades, brought to the surface an increasingly strained relationship between Bongo and a legislature dominated by his Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG). "I believe that the current r
  
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• Ancient glass sponge reef discovered off B.C. coast

  31-03-2016 21:23 via cbc.ca
  
  Crews conducting an assessment of a proposed underwater LNG gas pipeline route off B.C.'s north coast have discovered a previously unknown glass sponge reef that's among the largest in the world.
  
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• Arctic sea ice hits new record low for 2015-2016

  31-03-2016 21:08 via cbc.ca
  
  Dramatic loss blamed on climate change
  
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• 'Hobbits' went extinct earlier than thought

  31-03-2016 21:04 via cbc.ca
  
  A 'hobbit' species of small human relatives disappeared much earlier than thought, about 50,000 years ago, a new study shows.
  
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• U.S. study may point the way on how to beat the Zika virus

  31-03-2016 20:25
  By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - A molecular map of Zika has revealed important structural differences on a key protein of the virus that may explain why the pathogen attacks nerve cells while other viruses in the same family do not, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. Variations in proteins on the outer shell, or "envelope," of the virus may explain how Zika enters human cells and suggests new ways to fight the virus with drugs or a vaccines, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S.
  
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• New Clues Show Out-of-Control Synapse Pruning May Underlie Alzheimer's

  31-03-2016 20:20 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A study in mice shows that the normal process by which the brain prunes excess synapses during development may be hijacked early on in the progression of Alzheimer’s and other...
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• US and China to sign climate treaty

  31-03-2016 20:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The world's two largest carbon emitters have issued a joint statement confirming that both countries will sign the Paris Climate Agreement next month.
  
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• Science community looks for ways to stop fake papers

  31-03-2016 20:05 via cbc.ca
  
  The start of April brings, of course, April Fools' Day — and the scientific community isn't above getting in on pranks and practical jokes. But as CBC Radio science columnist Torah Kachur explains, those pranks can sometimes be harmless fun — or can present a real problem for the scientific community.
  
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• Fridge-sized contraption makes drugs on demand

  31-03-2016 20:05
  
  A new drug-making system rapidly produces a variety of medications on demand.
  
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• Scientists might have found a weakness in the Zika virus

  31-03-2016 20:02
  
  Understanding the way the virus is made could suggest targets for drug treatments or vaccines.
  
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• Zika structure mapped for first time

  31-03-2016 20:00
  
  The newly solved structure of Zika offers scientists clues on how to combat the virus.
  
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• Odd white dwarf found with mostly oxygen atmosphere

  31-03-2016 20:00
  
  A white dwarf that has been stripped of its hydrogen and helium provides a rare peek inside the core of a dead massive star.
  
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• Nerve cell links severed in early stages of Alzheimer’s

  31-03-2016 20:00
  
  Nerve cell connections may be trimmed too much in early stages of Alzheimer’s.
  
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• A laser cloaking device could help to hide us from aliens...

  31-03-2016 19:17
  
  And nope, this is no April Fools stunt.
  
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• Russia Launches Robotic Supply Ship Toward Space Station

  31-03-2016 19:09
  
  The Progress 63P spaceship is the third vehicle to launch to the space station in the past three weeks, and the second cargo craft to launch there in nine days. The ship's cargo includes 1,940 lbs. (880 kilograms) of propellant, 110 lbs. (50 kg) of oxygen, 926 lbs. (420 kg) of water and 3,161 lbs. (1,434 kg) of dry cargo, NASA officials said.
  
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• Is your internet as fast as advertised? CRTC reveals study results

  31-03-2016 18:59 via cbc.ca
  
  Are Canadian broadband internet packages as fast as advertised? The CRTC reveals the results of a nation-wide study that aims to answer that question.
  
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• Green was this ancient snake's signature color

  31-03-2016 18:56
  
  Scientists have reconstructed the skin coloration of a fossilized snake that’s about 10 million years old.
  
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• 'Laser Cloak' Could Hide Earth from Evil Aliens

  31-03-2016 18:40
  
  A simple laser beam could disrupt aliens' observations of Earth, making it look like there's nobody home on the third rock from the sun, a new study suggests. David Kipping, an astronomer at Columbia University in New York, said he first considered this idea when he heard about the strangely dimming star that was detected recently by NASA's Kepler space telescope. He and Columbia graduate student Alex Teachey concluded that it would be surprisingly easy to wipe out Earth's signal, distort it to
  
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• Lasers could 'cloak Earth from aliens'

  31-03-2016 18:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  We should shine lasers into space if we want to hide our presence from alien civilisations, two US-based astronomers suggest.
  
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• Expedition Unknown: Saving Marine Mammals Is a Daunting Task (Op-Ed)

  31-03-2016 18:04
  
  Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
  
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• Marijuana Addiction Linked to Genetics

  31-03-2016 16:44
  People with certain genetic markers may be at higher risk for marijuana dependence, a new study suggests. Researchers found a link between three genetic markers and symptoms of marijuana dependence, a condition in which people can't stop using the drug even though it interferes with many aspects of their lives, such as their relationships or their jobs. What's more, the study showed some overlap between the genetic risk factors for marijuana dependence and the genetic risk factors for depression
  
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• 'Abortion Pill' Gets New Label: 5 Things to Know About Mifepristone

  31-03-2016 16:44
  The Food and Drug Administration has approved changes to the label for mifepristone, also known as "the abortion pill," the agency said this week. The new label says that the drug (sold under the brand name Mifeprex) can be taken later in pregnancy and at a lower dose than what was recommended on the old label. "These laws compelled health care providers to use an outdated, inferior and less effective regimen," Planned Parenthood said in a statement, weighing in on the FDA's new rule.
  
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• Zika Misperceptions: Many in US Unaware of Key Facts

  31-03-2016 16:43
  Many people in the U.S. are not aware of key facts about the Zika virus, according to the results of a new poll. Researchers found that, for example, in households that included a woman who was either pregnant or considering getting pregnant in the next year, 1 in 4 people were not aware of the link between the Zika virus during pregnancy and microcephaly, a birth defect that causes an abnormally small brain and head. "We have a key window before the mosquito season gears up in communities withi
  
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• Hepatitis C Deaths Rising in US

  31-03-2016 16:43
  The number of deaths from hepatitis C in the U.S. is on the rise, and the increase is hitting particularly hard among middle-age people, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports. The study found that the number of deaths in the U.S. from hepatitis C rose from 11,051 in 2003 to 19,368 in 2013. The hepatitis C virus infects the liver cells and can lead to serious liver problems, including cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) or liver cancer.
  
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• Russia Is Launching a New Space Station Supply Ship Today: Watch Live

  31-03-2016 16:40
  
  The unmanned Progress 63P spacecraft — crammed with 3 tons (2.7 metric tons)of supplies for the station's crew — is scheduled to launch on a Soyuz rocket at 12:23 p.m. EDT (1623 GMT) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where it will be late evening local time at liftoff. You can watch the Progress cargo ship launch live via Space.com beginning at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT), courtesy of NASA TV. Unlike most of the recent Progress delivery missions to the space station, Progress 63P wi
  
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• Could this megacopter carry people?

  31-03-2016 16:10
  
  Students who have a remote-controlled multicopter drone that set a Guinness World Record for the heaviest payload ever lifted by such a vehicle say they hope to get permission to fly a person in its structure.
  
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• Melting Antarctic could make sea levels soar, study suggests

  31-03-2016 15:27 via cbc.ca
  
  Warmer air, less frigid water and gravity may combine to make parts of Antarctica's western ice sheet melt far faster than scientists had thought, raising sea levels much more than expected by the end of the century, according to a new study.
  
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• U.S. FDA's approval of AquaBounty's GMO salmon as food challenged

  31-03-2016 15:26 via cbc.ca
  
  A group of environmental, consumer, and commercial and recreational fishing organizations have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approving AquaBounty Technologies's genetically modified salmon as food.
  
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• Bunz, Canadian Facebook swap group, draws fans, investors

  31-03-2016 15:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Ever heard of Bunz? If you're a not a millennial, probably not. It started out as a private Facebook group for swapping something you don't need for something you might want. and has grown to more than 40,000 members. It even has its own app and recently acquired an angel investor. Who says the sharing economy isn't working?
  
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• Hydrogen-fuelled cars back on the horizon as technology improves, costs drop

  31-03-2016 14:23 via cbc.ca
  
  Hyundai now has a hydrogen-fuelled vehicle available in Canada, and Toyota wants to introduce theirs here too, while Canadian fuel cell developers are busy putting their product in everything from trains to buses and forklifts.
  
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• How Often Do Asteroids Hit Jupiter?

  31-03-2016 14:22
  
  The St. Patrick's Day impact was nothing special for poor, pummeled Jupiter. "Since Jupiter is more than 310 times more massive than Earth, Jupiter gets hit thousands of times more often, and impacts are dozens of time[s] more energetic than [on] our small and safe planet Earth," astronomer Ricardo Hueso Alonso, of the University of the Basque Country in Spain, wrote in a blog post Tuesday (March 30).
  
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• The Fungus Among Us Could Make Medicine in Space

  31-03-2016 14:07
  When most people think of the dangers astronauts face while living on the International Space Station, extreme events like meteor showers or oxygen leaks often come to mind. The goal is to develop new medicines for use both on the orbiting space station and the pale blue dot below.
  
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• New Alien Planet Boasts Rare Triple Suns

  31-03-2016 14:07
  
  In addition to providing an example of a solar system very different from Earth's, the strange arrangement may help provide insight into how gas giants that lie close to their parent star — known as "hot Jupiters" — evolve. Jason Eastman, a research associate at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, is the lead author of a study that used the two robotic telescopes that make up the Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT), located in Arizona and South Africa respective
  
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• Green and Purple Aurora Colors Alaskan Skies (Photo)

  31-03-2016 14:06
  
  Astrophotographer John Chumack took this image from a mountain location about 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of Fairbanks, Alaska, on March 19, 2015, while leading his annual aurora tour and workshop. The particles are drawn to Earth's polar regions by the planet's magnetic field, resulting in aurora borealis, or northern lights, and its southern counterpart, the aurora australis, or southern lights.
  
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• Headless Bard? Shakespeare's Skull Pilfered by Grave Robbers

  31-03-2016 13:43
  
  William Shakespeare — arguably the greatest playwright of all time — is missing his head, scientists have discovered. Archaeologists recently scanned the famed writer's grave with ground-penetrating radar. Instead, Shakespeare's body is wrapped in cloth and buried inside a shallow grave less than 3 feet (1 meter) deep, the researchers said.
  
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• 305-Million-Year-Old 'Almost Spider' Unlocks Arachnid History

  31-03-2016 13:33
  The arachnid, locked in iron carbonate for 305 million years, reveals the stepwise evolution of arachnids into spiders. "It's not quite a spider, but it's very close to being one," said study researcher Russell Garwood, a paleontologist at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. Arachnids are an ancient group with murky origins, Garwood told Live Science.
  
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• U.N. envoy says Cambodia tensions near 'dangerous' tipping point

  31-03-2016 13:32
  A U.N. human rights envoy on Thursday urged Cambodia to ensure judicial fairness and prevent threats and violence as political tension moves the country closer to a "dangerous tipping point". Rhona Smith, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, said political rivalry had led to violence against opposition party members and disproportionate use of judicial mechanisms as attention turns towards a 2018 election. "All laws must be applied equally ... to all political parties and their m
  
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• Did Hobbits Live Alongside Modern Humans?

  31-03-2016 13:30
  
  The extinct human lineage nicknamed "the hobbit" for its miniature body may have vanished soon before or soon after modern humans arrived on the hobbits' island home, rather than living alongside modern humans for thousands of years as was previously thought, researchers say. By using new techniques to date hobbit skeletons and the sediment where they were buried, researchers determined that the "hobbit" species, Homo floresiensis, likely vanished earlier than prior estimates had suggested. "Hom
  
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• Environment still tied to MS risk

  31-03-2016 13:00
  
  50 years ago, scientists reported a possible connection between the environment and multiple sclerosis risk.
  
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• Chinese AI team plans to challenge Google's AlphaGo: state media

  31-03-2016 12:50
  
  BEIJING (Reuters) - A team from China plans to challenge Google's AlphaGo, the artificial intelligence (AI) program that beat a world-class player in the ancient board game Go, the state-owned Shanghai Securities News reported on Thursday.
  
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• Scientists are developing new software that can predict when you'll die

  31-03-2016 11:30
  
  The University of East Anglia want to develop software using healthcare data to estimate mortality rates.
  
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• Tesla's Model 3 launch 'Just Phase 1,' Elon Musk says

  31-03-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Tesla is set to unveil its latest vehicle today, a $35,000 electric car aimed at mass market consumers who've never owned a luxury or electric vehicle — and likely thought they never would.
  
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• Tesla's Model 3 aims to take luxury electric car to the mass market

  31-03-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Tesla is set to unveil its latest vehicle Thursday, a $35,000 electric car aimed at mass market consumers who've never owned a luxury or electric vehicle — and likely thought they never would.
  
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• VIDEO: How do you bring up a baby gorilla?

  31-03-2016 06:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Zookeeper Lynsey Bugg, who has been caring for a baby gorilla until she can be reunited with her mother, has been talking about how she looks after her.
  
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• White dwarf star exhibits an unusual atmosphere of oxygen

  31-03-2016 06:00
  
  (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Researchers have discovered a white dwarf star with an atmosphere dominated by oxygen, a type of white dwarf that has been theorized to exist but not identified to date.
  
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• What's holding black entrepreneurs back?

  31-03-2016 06:00
  
  (Michigan State University) It's not laziness or lack of initiative that's keeping African-Americans from starting their own businesses, but instead a centuries-old racial disadvantage that's not experienced by other minority groups, a Michigan State University scholar argues in a new paper.
  
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