Science news

• Electric eels can kill horses, new research confirms

  07-06-2016 23:48
  
  MIAMI (Reuters) - Experiments at Vanderbilt University have proven a 200-year-old observation that electric eels can leap out of water and shock animals to death, a claim originally made by 19th century biologist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt.
  
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• Canada goose and American bald eagle battle it out for the pride of their nations

  07-06-2016 23:35 via cbc.ca
  
  Photos from Vancouver Island show two symbolic birds facing off in an ultimate battle of national ornithological pride.
  
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• [Review] Sestrin regulation of TORC1: Is Sestrin a leucine sensor?

  07-06-2016 23:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Sestrin2 may not be a leucine sensor for mTORC1.
  
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• [Research Article] TNF-insulin crosstalk at the transcription factor GATA6 is revealed by a model that links signaling and transcriptomic data tensors

  07-06-2016 23:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Data-driven modeling identifies a mechanism for insulin to suppress proinflammatory signals.
  
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• [Research Article] Augmented noncanonical BMP type II receptor signaling mediates the synaptic abnormality of fragile X syndrome

  07-06-2016 23:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Blocking a BMP signaling pathway may ameliorate neurological defects in patients with fragile X syndrome
  
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• [Podcast] Science Signaling Podcast for 7 June 2016: Modeling Signal Integration

  07-06-2016 23:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A statistical modeling approach revealed a mechanism by which insulin signaling can suppress inflammatory signaling.
  
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• [Focus] BMP signaling turns up in fragile X syndrome: FMRP represses BMPR2

  07-06-2016 23:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Reducing bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling may reverse neuroanatomical defects in fragile X syndrome.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] New connections: Making discoveries in complex data sets

  07-06-2016 23:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Computational approaches reveal signaling mechanisms hidden in complex data sets.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Micromanaging puberty

  07-06-2016 23:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  An intricate microRNA-regulated network controls the onset of puberty in mice.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] LXR maintains cholesterol balance through a noncoding RNA

  07-06-2016 23:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A noncoding RNA induced by the liver X receptor binds the transcriptional cofactor RALY and inhibits the expression of genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis.
  
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• New baby warthogs get ready for Oakland Zoo debut

  07-06-2016 22:32
  
  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Zoo has welcomed two litters of baby warthogs and will soon put the seven piglets on display.
  
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• University of Calgary paid $20K ransom to cyberattackers to unlock computer systems

  07-06-2016 22:27 via cbc.ca
  
  The University of Calgary paid a demanded $20,000 after a "ransomware" cyberattack on its computer systems.
  
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• Ex-astronaut charged with murder in car wreck that killed 2

  07-06-2016 21:37
  
  BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Astronaut James Halsell Jr. seemed the very definition of someone with the right stuff. An Air Force Academy graduate and decorated test pilot, he commanded or piloted five space shuttle missions. NASA even turned to him for leadership as it was picking up the pieces after the Columbia disaster in 2003.
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg hack a cautionary tale about password security

  07-06-2016 21:32 via cbc.ca
  
  Even tech billionaires get hacked sometimes. Case in point — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter and Pinterest accounts were recently compromised. And according to CBC Radio technology columnist Dan Misener, it's a cautionary tale for all of us.
  
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• Even Mark Zuckerberg gets hacked, and it's a cautionary tale for us all

  07-06-2016 21:32 via cbc.ca
  
  Even tech billionaires get hacked sometimes. Case in point — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's Twitter and Pinterest accounts were recently compromised. And according to CBC Radio technology columnist Dan Misener, it's a cautionary tale for all of us.
  
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• Wolf euthanized in Banff National Park after 'extremely bold' behaviour

  07-06-2016 21:25 via cbc.ca
  
  Parks Canada officials have euthanized a wolf in Banff whose bold behaviour worried conservation experts, just a week after warning the public after a pack entered an occupied campsite in the Bow Valley, ignoring efforts to chase them away.
  
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• Astronauts float into world's 1st inflatable space habitat

  07-06-2016 21:14 via cbc.ca
  
  Space station astronauts opened the world's first inflatable space habitat Monday and floated inside.
  
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• Drivers rescued from submerged cars as downpours cause flash flooding

  07-06-2016 19:22
  
  The London Fire Brigade said it had also attended incidents thought to have been caused by lightning.
  
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• Humans are killing corals with more than just climate change

  07-06-2016 19:21 via cbc.ca
  
  A new study shows that bleaching linked to climate change isn't the only killer threatening coral reefs around the world. Human-caused pollution and overfishing also interfere with corals' ability to withstand heat waves.
  
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• Humans are killing coral reefs with more than just climate change

  07-06-2016 19:21 via cbc.ca
  
  A new study shows that bleaching linked to climate change isn't the only killer threatening coral reefs around the world. Human-caused pollution and overfishing also interfere with corals' ability to withstand heat waves.
  
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• Juno's Mission to Jupiter May Also Reveal Clues about Exoplanets

  07-06-2016 19:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  NASA’s interplanetary probe is cruising toward an encounter with our local gas giant this summer. As the data starts flowing in, we may also learn about Jupiter’s many cousins across the...
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Shaw hikes TV, internet and phone rates

  07-06-2016 18:53 via cbc.ca
  
  Shaw is raising its rates for residential TV, internet and phone plans later this summer but it is not yet publishing details.
  
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• Bleaching 'devastates' Chagos Marine Reserve

  07-06-2016 18:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Up to 85% of the corals in the Chagos Marine Reserve of the British Indian Ocean Territory are estimated to have been damaged or killed in the current global bleaching event.
  
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• Supreme Insect! Praying Mantis Named After Ruth Bader Ginsburg

  07-06-2016 17:44
  
  A new praying mantis has been identified, and like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it has a fondness for prominent neckwear. The new leaf-dwelling species was discovered in the wilds of Madagascar and named Ilomantis ginsburgae, after Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. "This species description of Ilomantis ginsburgae is novel since it relied heavily on the features of the female genitalia," lead author Sydney Brannoch, a Case Western Reserve University doctoral cand
  
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• Tiny Dancers: Meet 7 New Peacock Spider Species

  07-06-2016 17:40
  
  They're fuzzy. They're colorful. And they wave their legs in the air like they just don't care.
  
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• New research finds low risk of Zika virus at Olympics

  07-06-2016 17:35
  
  CHICAGO (Reuters) - New research attempting to calculate the risk of the Zika virus at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro may reassure organizers and many of the more than 500,000 athletes and fans expected to travel to the epicenter of the epidemic.
  
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• Former Astronaut Charged Over Fatal Crash

  07-06-2016 17:01
  
  A former NASA Shuttle astronaut has been charged with killing two girls in an apparent drink-driving crash. James Halsell Jr, 59, was arrested after the deadly crash on Monday in Alabama. Halsell was selected by NASA in 1990 and became an astronaut the following year, according to an online biography on NASA's website.
  
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• Astronauts get first look inside space station's new inflatable module

  07-06-2016 16:54
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station on Monday floated inside an experimental inflatable module that will test a less expensive and potentially safer option for housing crews during long stays in space, NASA said.
  
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• Eating Fat Doesn't Make You Fat, Study Finds

  07-06-2016 16:48
  It seems logical to think that eating a high-fat diet would tip the scale upward, but a new study suggests that might not be the case. Men and women in the study who followed a high-fat, Mediterranean diet that was rich in either olive oil or nuts lost more weight and reduced their waist circumference more than the people in the study who were simply instructed to reduce their fat intake, according to the study. The Mediterranean diet, rich in healthy fats and plant proteins, has been linked in
  
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• Muhammad Ali's Death: Can Head Injuries Cause Parkinson's?

  07-06-2016 16:47
  Boxing champion Muhammad Ali lived with Parkinson's disease for three decades before his death on Friday (June 3) at the age of 74, and many have wondered whether Ali's boxing career caused him to develop the neurological disorder. Although it's likely that frequent head injuries played a role in the boxer's Parkinson's disease, certain genes may have also increased his susceptibility to the disease, experts said. "[It's] likely his repeated head injuries contributed to his Parkinson's disease,"
  
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• Bacteria Are Everywhere, Even in Ovaries

  07-06-2016 16:46
  Women's fallopian tubes and ovaries were once thought to be free of bacteria, but a small new study finds that these microorganisms do live naturally in this part of the reproductive tract. What's more, the findings suggest that women with ovarian cancer may have different, more harmful bacteria in their fallopian tubes and ovaries, but much more research is needed to confirm this idea, the researchers said. In the study, the researchers analyzed tissue samples from 25 women who had been through
  
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• Gravity space mission passes big test

  07-06-2016 16:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Lisa Pathfinder mission, which was designed to demonstrate the technologies needed to detect gravitational waves in space, has been a stunning success, say officials.
  
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• 'Magic Islands' May Bubble to the Surface of Saturn's Moon Titan

  07-06-2016 15:08
  
  Bubbling seas may create the mysterious "magic islands" of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. New research has revealed that mixing the most common elements found on Titan produces nitrogen bubbles. It's possible the bubbles are forming in Titan's oceans, where scientists have observed strange features that appear and disappear from satellite images — the so-called magic islands of Titan — according to Michael Malaska, a planetary scientist at  of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
  
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• Beam Up! Seattle 'Star Trek' Exhibit Celebrates 50 Years of the Starship Enterprise

  07-06-2016 15:07
  
  The legacy of "Star Trek" continues to live long and prosper at Seattle's EMP Museum, where a new exhibit is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic science fiction franchise. This year, the long-running science fiction series celebrates 50 years since Capt. James T. Kirk and the rest of the USS Enterprise crew embarked on a five-year mission to explore the universe. "Its famous opening line — 'To boldly go where no one has gone before…' — encapsulates the heart of this
  
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• Bat Killings by Wind Energy Turbines Continue

  07-06-2016 14:25 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Industry plan to reduce deadly effects of blades may not be enough, some scientists say
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• How to Birth a Baby from a Donated Uterus

  07-06-2016 13:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  The Swedish surgeon behind this experimental procedure says techniques used by humans could be improved with robot assistance
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Yoga could improve the quality of sleep for cancer survivors

  07-06-2016 13:22
  
  “It is safe, drug-free and has no side-effects”, the study’s lead researcher Dr Anita Peoples said.
  
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• Space-based probe passes tests for gravitational wave detection

  07-06-2016 13:09
  
  The LISA Pathfinder mission has demonstrated that future observatories in space could detect gravitational waves.
  
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• Babies play on being cute so that adults look after them

  07-06-2016 13:01
  
  Babies are using their big eyes, chubby cheeks and bubbling laughter to their advantage apparently.
  
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• Spy satellites reveal early start to Antarctic ice shelf collapse

  07-06-2016 13:00
  
  Declassified spy satellite images reveal that Antarctica’s Larsen B ice shelf began destabilizing decades earlier than previously thought.
  
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• LISA Pathfinder Reports Record-Breaking Gravitational Wave Results

  07-06-2016 12:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  The successful technology demonstration paves the way for detecting mergers of supermassive black holes with future space-based observatories
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• South Korea courts isolated North's old friends in push for change

  07-06-2016 11:34
  By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's foreign minister will visit Moscow next week after touring Cuba, Uganda and Iran as part of a push to enlist North Korea's old allies to press for change in the isolated state, Seoul said on Tuesday. North Korea has come under growing diplomatic pressure since its January nuclear test and a space rocket launch in February, which led to a new U.N. Security Council resolution in March tightening sanctions against Pyongyang. "The minister's visit to Russi
  
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• Origin of mystery deep-sea mushroom revealed

  07-06-2016 10:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Australian scientists have used genetic material to pinpoint the origin of the deep-sea mushroom, an unusual gelatinous creature first dredged up near Tasmania in 1986.
  
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• Solar-powered airplane's flight to New York City postponed

  07-06-2016 07:34
  ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The latest leg of a solar-powered airplane's around-the-world journey has been postponed due to weather conditions.
  
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• You are not as anonymous as you think online

  07-06-2016 06:00
  
  (Frontiers) You may not be anonymous as you think you are online; reveals a new study published on Frontiers in ICT. Your browsing behavior can indicate your personality and provide a unique digital signature which can identify you, sometimes after just 30-minutes of browsing.
  
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• Yale researchers map 6,000 years of urban settlements

  07-06-2016 06:00
  
  (Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies ) A new Yale-led study provides the first spatially explicit dataset of the location and size of urban settlements worldwide over the past 6,000 years, offering clarity on long-term historical urbanization trends and patterns.
  
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• What happens when parents comment their daughter's weight?

  07-06-2016 06:00
  
  (Cornell Food & Brand Lab) The less you comment on your daughter's weight, the less likely she is to be dissatisfied with her weight as an adult, according to a new study from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.
  
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• What happens when parents comment on their daughter's weight?

  07-06-2016 06:00
  
  (Cornell Food & Brand Lab) The less you comment on your daughter's weight, the less likely she is to be dissatisfied with her weight as an adult, according to a new study from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.
  
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• US counties could gain $1 million in annual health benefits from a power plant carbon standard

  07-06-2016 06:00
  
  (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health) Nearly all US regions stand to gain economic benefits from power plant carbon standards that set moderately stringent emission targets and allow a high level of compliance flexibility, according to a new study by scientists from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Syracuse University, Resources for the Future, and the Harvard Forest, Harvard University as a project of the Science Policy Exchange.
  
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• Universe's first life might have been born on carbon planets

  07-06-2016 06:00
  
  (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) Our Earth consists of silicate rocks and an iron core with a thin veneer of water and life. But the first potentially habitable worlds to form might have been very different. New research suggests that planet formation in the early universe might have created carbon planets consisting of graphite, carbides, and diamond. Astronomers might find these diamond worlds by searching a rare class of stars.
  
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