Science news

• Hundreds of toads hop free, offering hope for at-risk animal

  01-06-2016 23:16
  
  CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The release of more than 900 Wyoming toads in a valley Wednesday could lay the groundwork for helping the critically endangered species and other amphibians resist a devastating fungus, researchers say.
  
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• Necropsy completed on whale found on bow of cruise ship

  01-06-2016 23:08
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A necropsy has been completed on a 50-foot fin whale discovered Sunday on the bow of a cruise ship entering an Alaska port.
  
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• Facebook Live — from Space! Astronauts Chat with Mark Zuckerberg

  01-06-2016 23:03
  
  Three space station astronauts chatted live today (June 1) with Facebook's founder about experiments and fun in space, the things that training can't prepare you for, and the true astronaut ice cream. The live-streamed video marked the first use of Facebook Live in space, and the discussion among Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, NASA astronauts Jeff Williams and Tim Kopra, and British astronaut Tim Peake garnered hundreds of thousands of views as it was happening and 2.6 million views as of pre
  
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• Scientists: Vibrant US marine reserve now a coral graveyard

  01-06-2016 23:02
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists found most of the coral is dead in what had been one of the world's most lush and isolated tropical marine reserve.
  
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• Emissions detected from space reveal big polluters

  01-06-2016 22:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Polluters can no longer hide their emissions of sulfur dioxide by failing to report them — Canadian researchers have found a way to detect that kind of pollution using satellites.
  
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• Saturn at Opposition: See the Ringed Planet at Its Best This Friday

  01-06-2016 21:20
  
  At present, Saturn is located in the constellation Ophiuchus, the zodiac constellation that astrologers generally overlook. Unfortunately, these aren't visible to the naked eye, nor when viewing with binoculars. You need a telescope  magnifying at least 25 times to see that Saturn is oval-shaped rather than circular, and a magnification of at least 100 times to see the rings in detail. Unlike Jupiter's four large moons and many small ones, Saturn's moons are more varied in si
  
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• How Mistakes Help Science [Video]

  01-06-2016 21:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Astrophysicist Mario Livio will discuss how famous thinkers’ blunders have played a vital role in research during a live Webcast tonight at 7 P.M.
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• Mark Zuckerberg used Facebook Live to speak to the International Space Station and they discussed ice cream

  01-06-2016 20:23
  
  Social media live-streaming has reached outer space.
  
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• Jumping gene turned peppered moths the color of soot

  01-06-2016 20:20
  
  A single gene is behind some of the most famous examples of natural selection.
  
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• Weird Shapes on Pluto Hint at Icy 'Face-Lift' Over Time

  01-06-2016 19:43
  
  Strange geometric shapes miles wide seen on Pluto's icy surface likely formed because of a churning sheet of frozen nitrogen more than a half-mile thick, two new studies find. The findings reinforce the idea that Pluto is not cold and dead but surprisingly geologically active, the researchers say. The findings could shed light on how other icy dwarf planets far beyond Pluto in the solar system might behave, the researchers added.
  
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• Has Aristotle's Tomb Been Found? Archaeologists Doubt Claims

  01-06-2016 19:34
  
  An archaeologist thinks he has found the tomb of Aristotle at Stagira, an ancient city where the Greek philosopher lived for much of his life. But several other archaeologists say there is hardly enough evidence to link the tomb to Aristotle, and there's probably no way to confirm it either way. Konstantinos Sismanidis, the archaeologist who discovered the tomb in question, has told media outlets that he cannot be certain that the structure is Aristotle's tomb.
  
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• Spinning Comets Can Tear Themselves Apart, Only to Be Reborn

  01-06-2016 19:30
  
  Comets may often experience repeated cycles of destruction and reformation, spinning fast enough to break up but then reforming as their separate pieces slowly coalesce over time, a new study finds. This finding could help explain the odd shapes of many comets imaged so far, researchers say. Comets are clumps of ice and rock that generate long tails as their orbits bring them near the sun.
  
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• Amazon's Jeff Bezos: 'Golden era' of technology is coming

  01-06-2016 18:44 via cbc.ca
  
  'We're on the edge of the golden era,' Amazon founder Jeff Bezos says when it comes to technology as he offered a glimpse of his vision of the future during an interview Tuesday at the Code Conference in Southern California.
  
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• Science fairs offer top students a grand stage

  01-06-2016 18:15
  Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses the value of science communication for students.
  
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• Readers share climate change concerns

  01-06-2016 18:00
  Readers respond to the April 16, 2016, issue of Science News with thoughts on climate change, prairie dogs and more.
  
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• King Tut's dagger blade made from meteorite, study confirms

  01-06-2016 17:38 via cbc.ca
  
  A famous dagger found in the wrapping of Egyptian King Tutankhamun's mummy was made with iron from a meteorite, a new study confirms.
  
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• Butterfly-inspired nanostructures can sort light

  01-06-2016 17:30
  
  Scientists re-created a nanostructure found on butterflies that can separate out circularly polarized light, a characteristic that may be useful for telecommunications.
  
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• Watch Mark Zuckerberg Call Astronauts in Space Today Via Facebook Live

  01-06-2016 17:15
  
  The founder and CEO of the world's largest social network will call the space station at 12:55 p.m. EDT (1655 GMT) to speak with NASA astronauts Tim Kopra and Jeff Williams, and British astronaut Tim Peake of the European Space Agency. NASA will stream the cosmic conversation on its Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/nasa.
  
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• Does a Newborn's Helplessness Hold the Key to Human Smarts?

  01-06-2016 17:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Researchers say child care demands created a need for higher IQs—a hotly disputed view 
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• Turkish Cypriot leader expects reunification talks to resume soon

  01-06-2016 16:57
  Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said on Wednesday he expected Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades to soon propose a return to United Nations-brokered peace negotiations after he skipped talks to reunite the long-divided island last week. The two men have raised hopes of a breakthrough this year on the issue of reuniting Cyprus, a European Union member state but divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots since Turkey invaded in 1974. Anastasiades visited Istanbul last week to attend the U.
  
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• Distracted Driving May Play a Bigger Role in Teen Crashes Than Thought

  01-06-2016 16:51
  And more than half of these crashes involve some form of distracted driving, according to a new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Nearly 11 percent of the crashes involved the driver looking at or attending to something in the car, the study found.
  
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• New Report Doesn't Prove Cellphones Cause Cancer

  01-06-2016 16:50
  Part of a new report from a U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) study on the potential association between cellphone use and cancer has renewed attention to this uncertain relationship. In the study, released last week, researchers at the NTP, part of the National Institutes of Health, found that long-term exposure to high levels of this type of radiation might be linked with a small increase in the risk of brain cancer in male rats. "The implications of this for the safety of mobile phone us
  
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• Women with Migraines More Prone to Heart Disease

  01-06-2016 16:49
  Women who suffer from migraines may be more likely than other women to develop heart problems, a new study suggests. Researchers found that women who have migraines were at greater risk of having a heart attack and angina (chest pain), and of needing to undergo heart-related procedures such as coronary artery bypass grafting, compared with women who did not get the severe headaches, according to the findings published online today (May 31) in the journal The BMJ. Migraines in women were not only
  
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• Kids with Puzzling Stomachaches Might Benefit from Probiotics

  01-06-2016 16:47
  Children whose tummies hurt for no clear reason could benefit from taking probiotics, a new review study found. The researchers looked at ways to treat so-called functional abdominal pain, or stomach pain that doesn't have a clear cause. The condition is a "big problem," in children, said study co-author Dr. Morris Gordon, a senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire's School of Medicine in the United Kingdom.
  
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• 2,000-year-old handwritten documents found in London mud

  01-06-2016 16:47
  
  Archaeologists announced Wednesday they have discovered hundreds of writing tablets from Roman London — including the oldest handwritten document ever found in Britain — in a trove that provides insight into the city’s earliest history as a busy commercial town. Researchers from Museum of London Archaeology uncovered more than 400 wooden tablets during excavations in London’s financial district for the new headquarters of media and data company Bloomberg. The Romans found
  
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• Gotthard tunnel: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel opens in Switzerland

  01-06-2016 16:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The world's longest and deepest rail tunnel is officially opened in Switzerland, after almost two decades of construction work.
  
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• Lost your phone? Googling yourself? Google offers new help

  01-06-2016 16:30 via cbc.ca
  
  Soon, all you'll need to do is Google yourself if you're wondering how deeply Google has been digging into your digital life. The company says it's also adding a new 'Find my phone' feature.
  
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• Merkel to skip disputed German vote on Armenia killings

  01-06-2016 16:18
  By Paul Carrel BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel has public commitments that mean she will miss a disputed vote in Germany's parliament on Thursday on a resolution that labels the killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide, a spokeswoman said. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said earlier on Wednesday the resolution, which German lawmakers are expected to approve, was "ridiculous" and would damage relations between the two countries. Armenian President
  
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• Periscope tries crowd-sourcing to moderate live comments

  01-06-2016 15:48 via cbc.ca
  
  Twitter's live video streaming app Periscope has introduced crowd-sourced comment moderation as a way of dealing with harassment on the platform.
  
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• Toxic splash? Russian rocket stage to come down in Canada's Arctic waters

  01-06-2016 15:13 via cbc.ca
  
  An international aviation authority has issued a notice warning that debris from a Russian rocket launch is slated to fall Saturday into Baffin Bay. Environmentalists are outraged.
  
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• Africa Starts Its Own Disease Control Agency

  01-06-2016 15:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  The continent begins a new operation to control outbreaks like Ebola, but experts worry it is already under-staffed and under-funded 
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• US bionic engineer Hugh Herr wins prestigious Spanish prize

  01-06-2016 14:15
  MADRID (AP) — American bionic limb specialist Hugh Herr won Spain's Princess of Asturias 2016 scientific research prize Wednesday in recognition of his work to improve mobility for people with disabilities.
  
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• Supersponge the Size of a Minivan Found Near Hawaii

  01-06-2016 14:12
  
  An unusual sponge was making waves in waters near the Hawaiian Islands — though it doesn't wear square pants and is far too big to live in a pineapple under the sea. Identified as measuring approximately 12 feet (3.5 meters) in length and 7 feet (2.1 m) in height, the minivan-size creature was discovered at a depth of 7,000 feet (2,134 m) during dives by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system, which was deployed from the ship Okeanos Explorer by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin
  
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• Wow! Amazing SpaceX Video Gives a Rocket's-Eye View of Landing at Sea

  01-06-2016 13:36
  
  An amazing new video lets viewers ride along with the SpaceX rocket that landed on a ship at sea last week. The time-lapse rocket-landing video, which crams an entire descent and landing into just 30 seconds, shows the first stage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster re-orient itself in space shortly after launching the Thaicom 8 communications satellite on May 27. It was the third consecutive successful ocean landing for SpaceX.
  
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• Lawmakers Propose Coin to Honor Christa McAuliffe, Fallen Teacher in Space

  01-06-2016 13:36
  
  A new one-dollar U.S. coin would honor the memory of "Teacher in Space" Christa McAuliffe while carrying on her mission of inspiring "a new generation of dreamers and innovators," according to legislation recently introduced in Congress. The "Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Coin Act of 2016," co-authored by Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), would require the U.S. Treasury to mint a coin in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger tragedy and in ho
  
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• Lasers Could Blast Astronauts to Mars, Protect Earth from Asteroids

  01-06-2016 13:36
  
  The same laser system being developed to blast tiny spacecraft between the stars could also launch human missions to Mars, protect Earth from dangerous asteroids and help get rid of space junk, project leaders say. Last month, famed physicist Stephen Hawking and other researchers announced Breakthrough Starshot, a $100 million project that aims to build prototype light-propelled "wafersats" that could reach the nearby Alpha Centauri star system just 20 years after launch. The basic idea beh
  
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• Astronomy Festival Kicks Off in Utah, Far From City Lights

  01-06-2016 13:36
  
  The 16th annual Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival kicks off this week in southern Utah, and Space.com will be in attendance. The festival, which runs from June 1 to 4, includes stargazing (of course), with telescopes provided by the Salt Lake Astronomical Society. Bryce Canyon National Park is located about 275 miles (440 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City and 260 miles (420 km) northeast of Las Vegas, just north of the Arizona border.
  
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• The world's longest train tunnel opens under Swiss Alps

  01-06-2016 13:33 via cbc.ca
  
  Swiss engineers have completed a gargantuan task: burrowing the world's longest railway tunnel under the Swiss Alps to ease trade and congestion in European trade and travel.
  
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• U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thinks Farmers Can Help Solve Global Warming

  01-06-2016 13:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  You just have to ask them the right way, Tom Vilsack says in an interview 
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Scientists dig up proteins from the past

  01-06-2016 13:00
  
  To learn how today’s proteins evolved, scientists are reconstructing ancient molecules.
  
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• 40 dead tiger cubs found in Thai temple freezer

  01-06-2016 12:46 via cbc.ca
  
  WARNING: This story contains disturbing details. Forty dead tiger cubs were found Wednesday in a freezer at a Buddhist temple that operated as an admission-charging zoo, a national parks official said.
  
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• U.S. weather has gotten more pleasant, but will soon worsen

  01-06-2016 12:00
  
  Warmer winters have made U.S. weather more pleasant since 1974 thanks to climate change, but that will soon change.
  
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• Armenia to German lawmakers: don't bow to Erdogan in genocide vote

  01-06-2016 10:46
  Armenia's president has urged German lawmakers not to be cowed by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's warnings of damage to Berlin-Ankara relations and to go ahead with a motion declaring a 1915 mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces genocide. The opposition Greens have pushed the resolution onto the agenda at a time when Chancellor Angela Merkel, driving force behind an EU-Turkey deal cutting the number of illegal migrants entering Europe, can ill afford frictions with Erdogan. German lawma
  
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• Workplace well-being linked to senior leadership support, new survey finds

  01-06-2016 06:00
  
  (American Psychological Association) Despite the prevalence of workplace wellness efforts, only one-third of American workers say they regularly participate in the health promotion programs provided by their employer, according to a new survey by the American Psychological Association.
  
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• Wood components to boost the quality of food products

  01-06-2016 06:00
  
  (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland) Xylan, fibrillated cellulose and lignin are wood-derived polymers that could be used for improving the texture and reducing the energy content of food products.
  
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• Women find men more masculine when wearing deodorant

  01-06-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Stirling) New research by the University of Stirling has found that men who are perceived low in masculinity can significantly increase this by applying deodorant, but that this is not the case for men who already have high levels of masculinity.
  
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• Wildfire on warming planet requires adaptive capacity at local, national, int'l scales

  01-06-2016 06:00
  
  (Southern Methodist University) Industrialized nations that view wildfire as the enemy can learn from cultures that have lived compatibly with wildfire -- in some cases for centuries or millennia, says fire anthropologist Christopher Roos, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, lead author on a new report by an international team of scientists who study fire. Climate change will likely make landscapes more prone to fire, so the magnitude of wildfire challenges we'll face will demand greater coll
  
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• Wildfire on warming planet requires adaptive capacity at local, national, international scales

  01-06-2016 06:00
  
  (Southern Methodist University) Industrialized nations that view wildfire as the enemy can learn from cultures that have lived compatibly with wildfire -- in some cases for centuries or millennia, says fire anthropologist Christopher Roos, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, lead author on a new report by an international team of scientists who study fire. Climate change will likely make landscapes more prone to fire, so the magnitude of wildfire challenges we'll face will demand greater coll
  
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• UTA civil engineer creates phone app to gather public input on flash flooding conditions

  01-06-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Texas at Arlington) A University of Texas at Arlington associate professor of civil engineering has launched a new Android cell phone app called iSeeFlood to encourage the public to file timely reports when they see flooding of varying severity on the streets, in and around their houses, and in streams and creeks. Such flash floods can be dangerous to pedestrians and motorists alike.
  
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• Ultra-sensitive, vibration-tolerant gas sensor makes field applications more practical

  01-06-2016 06:00
  
  (The Optical Society) Research team from Adelphi University, Garden City, New York, USA, has now developed a new device that can detect ultra-low concentrations of gases like nitrogen dioxide accurately and nearly instantaneously.
  
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