Science news

• Climate change helping B.C. forests recover from pine beetle says study

  11-04-2016 23:49 via cbc.ca
  
  The warming climate that helped trigger B.C.'s mountain pine beetle outbreak might also be helping the province's forests recover, according to a new study.
  
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• Some people are resistant to genetic disease

  11-04-2016 23:32
  
  People who should have genetic diseases but don’t may point to new treatments.
  
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• North Pole is headed east and humans are the cause

  11-04-2016 23:28 via cbc.ca
  
  The North Pole suddenly changed direction and started drifting east around the year 2000. Now scientists have uncovered the reason — and found that humans are to blame.
  
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• E.T. Beware! SyFy's Alien-Stalking 'Hunters' Premieres Tonight

  11-04-2016 23:28
  
  A secret government group fights infiltrating aliens in Syfy Channel's gritty, gory new show "Hunters," which premieres tonight (April 11) at 10 p.m. EDT.
  
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• Parents pen the most heart-warming thank you letter to donor after their two-year-old son has life-saving surgery

  11-04-2016 23:09
  
  Elliott Livingstone is recovering in intensive care after a life-saving heart transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
  
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• Biden urges 'unified, federal and democratic Iraq' to Abadi, Barzani

  11-04-2016 23:07
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden made separate calls on Monday to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Kurdish regional President Massoud Barzani to underscore the need for cooperation amid the country's political crisis, the White House said. "The vice president conveyed continued U.S. support for a unified, federal, and democratic Iraq, and encouraged close cooperation between the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government as they take steps to strengthen
  
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• THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL STOP SCREAMING IN ALL CAPS

  11-04-2016 23:02
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED ITS FORECASTS IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. But in the age of social media that's considered yelling, so next month federal meteorologists are lowering their voices and their letters — except in dire emergencies.
  
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• Stephen Hawking to Unveil New Space Exploration Project Tuesday

  11-04-2016 22:11
  
  Stephen Hawking will announce a mysterious new space exploration initiative Tuesday, and there's plenty of reason to think it will be a pretty big deal. There's the famed astrophysicist's involvement, for starters, as well as the project's name — "Starshot." Furthermore, Hawking will make the announcement with billionaire entrepreneur and investor Yuri Milner, who is also bankrolling a 10-year, $100 million search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) initiative called Breakthrough List
  
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• Icy 'Spider' Spotted on Pluto in NASA Image (Video)

  11-04-2016 22:09
  
  Well, it turns out that an icy "spider" has been found on Pluto. Pictures taken by from the New Horizons spacecraft, which whizzed by the dwarf planet last summer, show a series of long fractures in Pluto's surface, all extending from a single, central point. "The pattern these fractures form is like nothing else we've seen in the outer solar system, and shows once again that anywhere we look on Pluto, we see something different," Oliver White, a member of the New Horizons geology team from NASA
  
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• A Multicolored Starscape: Using Mobile Astronomy Apps to Explore the Stars

  11-04-2016 22:09
  
  Pleasant spring evenings are fine times to get outside, look up and enjoy the night sky. The prominent constellations of winter — Orion, Taurus and Auriga — linger in the west for a few hours after dark. Over in the eastern sky, the summer star party favorites of Boötes, Hercules, Vega and Cygnus are visible for late-evening and night-owl stargazers. ...
  
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• Breakthrough improves chances tissue grafts will survive and thrive

  11-04-2016 21:54
  Matching the structure of engineered blood vessels to the structure of the host tissues at the site of implantation greatly improves the chances that grafted tissues will survive and thrive, an international team of researchers has determined.
  
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• U.S. 'very concerned' over Syrian violence before peace talks

  11-04-2016 21:53
  The United States is "very, very concerned" about an increase in Syrian violence just ahead of planned peace talks in Geneva this week, a State Department spokesman said on Monday, blaming Syrian government forces for the escalation in fighting. "We are very, very concerned about the recent increase in violence and that includes actions that are in contravention of the cessation of hostilities," spokesman Mark Toner told a news briefing. Kerry wanted to make sure that in the next days leading up
  
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• Researchers discover new type of 'pili' used by bacteria to cling to hosts

  11-04-2016 21:52
  Many bacteria interact with their environment through hair-like structures known as pili, which attach to and help mediate infection of host organisms, among other things. Now a research team has discovered that certain bacteria prevalent in the human gut and mouth assemble their pili in a previously unknown way – information that could potentially open up new ways of fighting infection.
  
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• Mechanics of biofilms: Sacrifice of the few for the benefit of the many

  11-04-2016 21:52
  Suicide allows bacteria found in opportunistic infections to create an antibiotic tolerant biofilm, according to a team of researchers. In new work, the scientists found that a molecule secreted by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes a breakdown in the respiratory chain, killing some of the population and triggering the creation of a biofilm among survivors, and thus conferring increased tolerance to antibiotics.
  
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• It's not me, it really is you

  11-04-2016 21:52
  Attractive and smart but unlucky in love? New research suggests you might not have luck to blame but rather your own negative traits.
  
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• Imagery an effective way to enhance memory, reduce false memories, study finds

  11-04-2016 21:52
  Using imagery is an effective way to improve memory and decrease certain types of false memories, according to researchers.
  
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• Last NASA Space Shuttle External Tank Set for LA to L.A. Sea Voyage

  11-04-2016 21:48
  
  A last-of-its-kind, very large artifact from NASA's space shuttle program is set to leave New Orleans this week on an almost 40-day ocean voyage to Los Angeles via the Panama Canal. The remaining external tank built to fuel a space shuttle's launch into Earth orbit was rolled down a one-mile-long (1.6 km) road and onto a barge on Sunday (April 10), two days ahead of its scheduled departure from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana. "It is a bittersweet day, [but] at the same time we lik
  
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• Malaria: New route of access to the heart of the parasite

  11-04-2016 21:30
  Scientists have just identified an Achilles heel in the parasite that causes malaria, by showing that its optimum development is dependent on its ability to expropriate RNA molecules in infected cells – a host-pathogen interaction that had never previously been observed. Although the precise function of this deviation remains mysterious, these findings open new perspectives for the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents within the parasite.
  
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• Brain on LSD revealed: First scans show how the drug affects the brain

  11-04-2016 21:30
  For the first time, researchers have visualized the effects of LSD on the human brain. In a series of experiments, scientists have gained a glimpse into how the psychedelic compound affects brain activity. The team administered LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide) to 20 healthy volunteers in a specialist research centre and used various leading-edge and complementary brain scanning techniques to visualize how LSD alters the way the brain works.
  
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• New way to smell a rat means end for rodents

  11-04-2016 21:28
  Scientists have developed a new way to exterminate rats by identifying and synthetically replicating the male brown rat's sex pheromone. The chemical is a powerful attractant for luring female brown rats into traps.
  
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• Dysfunctional endosomes are early sign of neurodegeneration

  11-04-2016 21:28
  Abnormalities in a protein that helps transport and sort materials inside cells are linked to axonal dysfunction and degeneration of neurons in Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome, report investigators.
  
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• New material that may speed computing discovered

  11-04-2016 21:26
  Physicists have discovered a topological metal, PtSn4 (platinum and tin), with a unique electronic structure that may someday lead to energy efficient computers with increased processor speeds and data storage.
  
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• Clean energy generated using bacteria-powered solar panel

  11-04-2016 21:26
  For the first time ever, researchers have connected nine biological-solar (bio-solar) cells into a bio-solar panel. Then they continuously produced electricity from the panel and generated the most wattage of any existing small-scale bio-solar cells - 5.59 microwatts.
  
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• 6 things we learned from the world's first study examining LSD's effect on the human brain

  11-04-2016 21:11
  
  This study provides the first glimpses as to what happens to the brain to produce LSD’s psychedelic effects.
  
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• Toy dog Sam goes missing after space mission

  11-04-2016 20:52 via cbc.ca
  
  Schoolchildren from the Morecambe Bay Community Primary School in Lancashire England, are searching for a toy dog name Sam that they launched into space last Tuesday.
  
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• Kepler Planet-Hunting Spacecraft Bounces Back After Glitch

  11-04-2016 20:48
  
  NASA's Kepler spacecraft, the most prolific exoplanet hunter of all time, has bounced back from a mysterious glitch and may be able to resume operations soon. "Once data is on the ground, the team will thoroughly assess all onboard systems to ensure the spacecraft is healthy enough to return to science mode and begin the K2 mission's microlensing observing campaign, called Campaign 9," Kepler mission manager Charlie Sobeck, of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, said i
  
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• U.N. says food situation in Iraq's Falluja extremely worrying

  11-04-2016 20:23
  The food situation for 60,000 civilians trapped in the besieged Iraqi city of Falluja is extremely worrying and likely to deteriorate unless aid gets into the city, the U.N. World Food Programme said on Monday. "For the third consecutive month, respondents from Hay Alwahda sub-district reported that shops and markets had exhausted all food supplies including wheat, sugar, rice, vegetable oil and lentils," the report said.
  
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• Planets stripped bare by host stars

  11-04-2016 20:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Astronomers have defined a class of planet that have had their atmospheres stripped away by their host stars.
  
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• Social thinking in the infant brain revealed

  11-04-2016 19:48
  An innovative collaboration between neuroscientists and developmental psychologists that investigated how infants' brains process other people's action provides the first evidence that directly links neural responses from the motor system to overt social behavior in infants.
  
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• Radiation improves survival in older patients with soft tissue sarcomas

  11-04-2016 19:48
  Radiation therapy following surgery benefits older patients more than their younger counterparts, researchers report, a surprising finding that could change the way some patients are treated for soft tissue sarcomas (STS).
  
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• More than three percent of men on active surveillance for prostate cancer may have metastases

  11-04-2016 19:46
  Radical treatment such as surgery and radiation for localized prostate cancer may cause significant side effects. Active surveillance is increasingly accepted as an option for treating patients with clinically insignificant disease to maintain their quality of life. Despite close monitoring, however, metastatic disease develops in a small number of men on active surveillance. About three percent of patients on surveillance had metastasis by a median of seven years after diagnosis.
  
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• Maryland's 2011 alcohol sales tax reduced alcohol sales, study suggests

  11-04-2016 19:45
  Maryland's 2011 increase in the alcohol sales tax appears to have led to fewer purchases of beer, wine and liquor in the state, suggesting reduced alcohol use, new research indicates.
  
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• Kidney stone patients hospitalized on the weekend may get delayed treatment

  11-04-2016 19:45
  Patients with severe cases of kidney stones are 26 percent less likely to receive timely treatment when they're admitted to the hospital on the weekend, according to a new report. The study is the first to show that a risk factor called the 'weekend effect' affects kidney stone treatment and outcomes.
  
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• Inequality linked to large, growing gap in lifespans

  11-04-2016 19:45
  Poverty in the United States is often associated with deprivation, in areas including housing, employment, and education. Now a study has shown, in unprecedented geographic detail, another stark reality: Poor people live shorter lives, too.
  
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• Building Immunity: Team recreates a T-cell receptor signaling pathway

  11-04-2016 19:45
  By successfully re-creating a T-cell receptor signaling pathway independent of the cell itself, scientists have gained novel insights into how protein signaling works in a complex cellular process.
  
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• Whites receive more state funding for autism services than other racial/ethnic groups

  11-04-2016 19:43
  Whites with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in California receive more state funding than Hispanics, African Americans, Asians and others, new research has found.
  
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• Solving a genetic mystery in type 1 diabetes

  11-04-2016 19:43
  In type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the body's own insulin-producing cells. Scientists understand reasonably well how this autoimmune attack progresses, but they don't understand what triggers the attack or how to stop it. New research may provide a clue.
  
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• Researchers find key to zinc rich plants to combat malnutrition

  11-04-2016 19:43
  The diet in many developing countries is lacking zinc, but researchers have just solved the riddle of how to get more zinc into crop seeds. However, don't expect the zinc rich grain and rice to be on your supermarket isle right away, say researchers. There is still a long way from the lab to the field, they warn.
  
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• Novel mechanism of crizotinib resistance in a ROS1+ NSCLC patient

  11-04-2016 19:43
  Molecular analysis of a tumor biopsy from a proto-oncogene 1 receptor tyrosine kinase positive (ROS1+) patient with acquired crizotinib resistance revealed a novel mutation in the v-kit Hardy Zuckerman 4 feline sarcoma viral oncogene homolog receptor tyrosine kinase (KIT) that can potentially be targeted by KIT inhibitors.
  
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• Macrophages surrounding lymph nodes block the progression of melanoma, other cancers

  11-04-2016 19:43
  A type of immune cell that appears to block the progress of melanoma and other cancers in animal models has been identified by researchers.
  
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• Fertilizer's legacy: Taking a toll on land and water

  11-04-2016 19:43
  For the first time, an international group of scientists has come up with a way to estimate on a large scale how phosphorus flows through an environment over many decades. By doing so, researchers are gaining a better understanding of how and where phosphorus accumulates.
  
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• Analysis of nearly 600,000 genomes for resilience project

  11-04-2016 19:43
  Custom-built targeted sequencing panel proves essential in hunt for people naturally resistant to severe disease.
  
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• Hepatitis B and C could be eliminated as public health problems in US

  11-04-2016 19:40
  It is possible to end the transmission of hepatitis B and C and prevent further sickness and deaths from the diseases, but time, considerable resources, and attention to various barriers will be required, says a new report.
  
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• Common brain cell shapes the nervous system in unexpected ways

  11-04-2016 19:40
  Glial cells nourish, protect, and support neurons, but their role is far from passive. A new study shows how they can change the shape of nerve endings and distinguish between the different types of neurons they encase.
  
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• New public repository of patient-derived cancer models aims to improve drug testing

  11-04-2016 19:39
  Testing experimental cancer drugs in mouse models with patient-derived tumors could reduce the high failure rate of drugs in early clinical trials, according to a new report.
  
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• Mapping the routes to drug resistance in cancer

  11-04-2016 19:39
  When a targeted therapy blocks a pathway that enables tumors to grow, the cells usually manage to get around that obstacle. The result is drug resistance. Researchers have now found a way to map those alternate routes by studying individual cancer cells, suggesting approaches for developing more effective combination therapies.
  
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• Can more fiber restore microbiome diversity?

  11-04-2016 19:39
  Scientists are pushing to restore human health in Western countries by changing our diet to restore the microbial species lost over the evolution of Western diet. Researchers advocate for strategically increasing dietary fiber intake as one path forward in regaining microbial biodiversity.
  
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• Reprieve for NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft

  11-04-2016 19:17
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — To astronomers' relief, NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has won another reprieve.
  
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• Astronomers discover mysterious alignment of black holes

  11-04-2016 19:00
  Deep radio imaging has revealed that supermassive black holes in a region of the distant universe are all spinning out radio jets in the same direction -- most likely a result of primordial mass fluctuations in the early universe.
  
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• SpaceX's Dragon Soars As Its Rocket Lands: An Epic Spaceflight in Photos

  11-04-2016 18:56
  
  From the launch into orbit to the trip back to Earth, the views of SpaceX's historic Falcon 9 rocket landing at sea on Friday (April 8) are spectacular, to say the least. First there was SpaceX's live video feed of the Falcon 9's drone-ship landing on the Atlantic Ocean after the booster successfully launched a Dragon cargo ship into orbit. Then came official launch photos from SpaceX and NASA.
  
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