Science news

• NASA spacecraft nearing Jupiter, a 'planet on steroids,' for July 4 orbit

  16-06-2016 23:56 via cbc.ca
  
  A NASA spacecraft is bound for a Fourth of July encounter with Jupiter in the latest quest to study how the largest planet in the solar system formed and evolved.
  
  Read more

• NASA Saturn V Moon Rocket Stage Moving to Mississippi

  16-06-2016 23:50
  More than four decades after its mission to the moon was canceled, NASA's last-assembled Saturn V rocket stage has been launched on a journey to become a roadside attraction. People will be able to see it as they enter Mississippi from Louisiana," said John Wilson, executive director of the Infinity Science Center in Pearlington, Mississippi. Built to be the "business end" for the tallest, heaviest and most powerful booster ever launched, the massive Saturn V S-IC first stage was the last of its
  
  Read more

• NASA's Juno Probe in Home Stretch of Journey to Jupiter

  16-06-2016 23:49
  
  A NASA spacecraft's five-year trek to Jupiter is nearly over. The $1.1 billion Juno probe, which launched in August 2011 on a mission to investigate Jupiter's structure, composition and formation history, is scheduled to begin orbiting the gas giant on July 4.
  
  Read more

• Tree planting at 'an all time low'

  16-06-2016 22:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Official figures released today by the Forestry Commission show that the government is falling far short of its own tree-planting targets
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Canada's eastern boreal forest could thrive with climate change, study suggests

  16-06-2016 22:34 via cbc.ca
  
  Here's some good news for the animals that live in Eastern Canada's boreal forest and the forestry industry that operates there — the trees that dominate the boreal forest can do just fine in the warmer, drier temperatures expected with global climate change.
  
  Read more

• NASA spacecraft barreling toward Jupiter for July 4 meetup

  16-06-2016 22:12
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — A NASA spacecraft is bound for a Fourth of July encounter with Jupiter in the latest quest to study how the largest planet in the solar system formed and evolved.
  
  Read more

• Ukraine furious over remarks on Russia by U.N. chief Ban

  16-06-2016 21:32
  By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Kiev government is outraged by remarks made by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about the crucial role Russia can play in ending conflicts, and no longer believes he has any moral authority, Ukraine's U.N. envoy said on Thursday. Ban's prepared speech for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum said Russia "has a critical role to play ... in addressing other pressing global issues, from ending the conflicts in Ukraine and Sy
  
  Read more

• Sun-powered phone charger gives migrants in Greece free electricity

  16-06-2016 21:15
  A team of students from Edinburgh University is hoping to change that, having designed a mobile phone charging station powered only by the sun -- something Greece has plenty of. The idea was borne out of a visit last summer of one of the founders, 20-year-old Alexandros Angelopoulos, to the island of Samos, one of the entry points into Europe for nearly a million people fleeing wars and poverty in the Middle East and beyond. "People started asking for my phone to call family and to use the inter
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• How Pro-ISIS Groups Adapt Like Online Organisms

  16-06-2016 21:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A new model calls for monitoring social media terror sympathizers as evolving groups, not individuals
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• That ‘Dory’ for sale may have been poisoned with cyanide

  16-06-2016 21:00
  
  Preliminary results from a new study show that over half of aquarium fish sold in the United States may have been caught with cyanide.
  
  Read more

• Primordial Galaxy Has Farthest Oxygen Ever Detected in the Universe

  16-06-2016 20:54
  
  Astronomers have discovered signs of oxygen in one of the universe's first galaxies, which was born shortly after the cosmic "Dark Ages" that existed before the universe had stars, a new study finds. The discovery — which centers on the truly ancient galaxy SXDF-NB1006-2, located about 13.1 billion light-years from Earth — could help solve the mystery of how much the first stars helped to clear the murky fog that once filled the universe, the researchers said. Previous research sugge
  
  Read more

• Hackers steal millions of user records from Toronto-based VerticalScope, online forum host

  16-06-2016 20:53 via cbc.ca
  
  VerticalScope, a Toronto-based company that operates hundreds of websites and online forums, was the victim of a hack earlier this year, in which millions of user records were stolen.
  
  Read more

• [Working Life] Show us the money

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Andy Tay
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Why stress makes epilepsy worse

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Wei Wong
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Tracking stem cell fate in time and space

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Beverly A. Purnell
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] The when, where, and how of translation

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Beverly A. Purnell
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Tackling the advance of online threats

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Barbara R. Jasny
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Star light, star bright?

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Philippa J. Benson
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Stable molecular switches

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Phil Szuromi
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Soils to the rescue

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Julia Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Saving face

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Megan Frisk
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Punishment doesn't work in cocaine addicts

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Peter Stern
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] PCB threats continue despite ban

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Julia Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Organic solar cells tuned by blending

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Jake Yeston
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Innate immune crosstalk in T cells

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Kristen L. Mueller
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Coding abstract concepts in the brain

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Peter Stern
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] Chiral molecule discovered in space

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Keith T. Smith
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] China's national ecosystem assessment

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Andrew M. Sugden
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] A future for boreal forests

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: Andrew M. Sugden
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] A fluorescent sensor for NAD+ in living cells

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: L. Bryan Ray
  
  Read more

• [This Week in Science] A dietary supplement protects aging muscle

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Author: L. Bryan Ray
  
  Read more

• [Technical Response] Response to Comment on “Sensitivity of seafloor bathymetry to climate-driven fluctuations in mid-ocean ridge magma supply”

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Huybers et al. present new bathymetric spectra from an intermediate-spreading ridge as evidence for a primary contribution of sea level cycles to the morphology of the seafloor. Although we acknowledge the possibility that sea level–modulated magmatic constructions may be superimposed on a first-order tectonic fabric, we emphasize the difficulty of deciphering these different contributions in the frequency domain alone.
  Authors: J.-A. Olive, M. D. Behn, G. Ito, W. R. Buck, J. Escartín, S. How
  
  Read more

• [Technical Comment] Comment on “Sensitivity of seafloor bathymetry to climate-driven fluctuations in mid-ocean ridge magma supply”

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Olive et al. (Reports, 16 October 2015, p. 310) argue that ~10% fluctuations in melt supply do not produce appreciable changes in ocean ridge bathymetry on time scales less than 100,000 years and thus cannot reflect sea level forcing. Spectral analysis of bathymetry in a region they highlight as being fault controlled, however, shows strong evidence for a signal from sea level variation.
  Authors: Peter Huybers, Charles Langmuir, Richard F. Katz, David Ferguson, Cristian Proistosescu, Suzanne Car
  
  Read more

• [Special Issue Review] Translational control by 5′-untranslated regions of eukaryotic mRNAs

  16-06-2016 20:44
  The eukaryotic 5′ untranslated region (UTR) is critical for ribosome recruitment to the messenger RNA (mRNA) and start codon choice and plays a major role in the control of translation efficiency and shaping the cellular proteome. The ribosomal initiation complex is assembled on the mRNA via a cap-dependent or cap-independent mechanism. We describe various mechanisms controlling ribosome scanning and initiation codon selection by 5′ upstream open reading frames, translation initiation factor
  
  Read more

• [Special Issue Review] Messenger RNA modifications: Form, distribution, and function

  16-06-2016 20:44
  RNA contains more than 100 distinct modifications that promote the functions of stable noncoding RNAs in translation and splicing. Recent technical advances have revealed widespread and sparse modification of messenger RNAs with N6-methyladenosine (m6A), 5-methylcytosine (m5C), and pseudouridine (Ψ). Here we discuss the rapidly evolving understanding of the location, regulation, and function of these dynamic mRNA marks, collectively termed the epitranscriptome. We highlight differences among mo
  
  Read more

• [Special Issue Review] From the RNA world to the clinic

  16-06-2016 20:44
  The study of RNA has continually emphasized the structural and functional versatility of RNA molecules. This versatility has inspired translational and clinical researchers to explore the utility of RNA-based therapeutic agents for a wide variety of medical applications. Several RNA therapeutics, with diverse modes of action, are being evaluated in large late-stage clinical trials, and many more are in early clinical development. Hundreds of patients are enrolled in large trials testing messenge
  
  Read more

• [Research Article] Translation dynamics of single mRNAs in live cells and neurons

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Translation is the fundamental biological process converting mRNA information into proteins. Single-molecule imaging in live cells has illuminated the dynamics of RNA transcription; however, it is not yet applicable to translation. Here, we report single-molecule imaging of nascent peptides (SINAPS) to assess translation in live cells. The approach provides direct readout of initiation, elongation, and location of translation. We show that mRNAs coding for endoplasmic reticulum (ER) proteins are
  
  Read more

• [Research Article] T helper 1 immunity requires complement-driven NLRP3 inflammasome activity in CD4+ T cells

  16-06-2016 20:44
  The NLRP3 inflammasome controls interleukin-1β maturation in antigen-presenting cells, but a direct role for NLRP3 in human adaptive immune cells has not been described. We found that the NLRP3 inflammasome assembles in human CD4+ T cells and initiates caspase-1–dependent interleukin-1β secretion, thereby promoting interferon-γ production and T helper 1 (TH1) differentiation in an autocrine fashion. NLRP3 assembly requires intracellular C5 activation and stimulation of C5a receptor 1 (C5aR1
  
  Read more

• [Research Article] Real-time quantification of single RNA translation dynamics in living cells

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Although messenger RNA (mRNA) translation is a fundamental biological process, it has never been imaged in real time in vivo with single-molecule precision. To achieve this, we developed nascent chain tracking (NCT), a technique that uses multi-epitope tags and antibody-based fluorescent probes to quantify protein synthesis dynamics at the single-mRNA level. NCT reveals an elongation rate of ~10 amino acids per second, with initiation occurring stochastically every ~30 seconds. Polysomes contain
  
  Read more

• [Research Article] NAD+ repletion improves mitochondrial and stem cell function and enhances life span in mice

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Adult stem cells (SCs) are essential for tissue maintenance and regeneration yet are susceptible to senescence during aging. We demonstrate the importance of the amount of the oxidized form of cellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and its effect on mitochondrial activity as a pivotal switch to modulate muscle SC (MuSC) senescence. Treatment with the NAD+ precursor nicotinamide riboside (NR) induced the mitochondrial unfolded protein response and synthesis of prohibitin proteins, and
  
  Read more

• [Report] Spatiotemporal coordination of stem cell commitment during epidermal homeostasis

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Adult tissues replace lost cells via pools of stem cells. However, the mechanisms of cell self-renewal, commitment, and functional integration into the tissue remain unsolved. Using imaging techniques in live mice, we captured the lifetime of individual cells in the ear and paw epidermis. Our data suggest that epidermal stem cells have equal potential to either divide or directly differentiate. Tracking stem cells over multiple generations reveals that cell behavior is not coordinated between ge
  
  Read more

• [Report] Organizing conceptual knowledge in humans with a gridlike code

  16-06-2016 20:44
  It has been hypothesized that the brain organizes concepts into a mental map, allowing conceptual relationships to be navigated in a manner similar to that of space. Grid cells use a hexagonally symmetric code to organize spatial representations and are the likely source of a precise hexagonal symmetry in the functional magnetic resonance imaging signal. Humans navigating conceptual two-dimensional knowledge showed the same hexagonal signal in a set of brain regions markedly similar to those act
  
  Read more

• [Report] Northeastern North America as a potential refugium for boreal forests in a warming climate

  16-06-2016 20:44
  High precipitation in boreal northeastern North America could help forests withstand the expected temperature-driven increase in evaporative demand, but definitive evidence is lacking. Using a network of tree-ring collections from 16,450 stands across 583,000 km2 of boreal forests in Québec, Canada, we observe a latitudinal shift in the correlation of black spruce growth with temperature and reduced precipitation, from negative south of 49°N to largely positive to the north of that latitude. O
  
  Read more

• [Report] New online ecology of adversarial aggregates: ISIS and beyond

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Support for an extremist entity such as Islamic State (ISIS) somehow manages to survive globally online despite considerable external pressure and may ultimately inspire acts by individuals having no history of extremism, membership in a terrorist faction, or direct links to leadership. Examining longitudinal records of online activity, we uncovered an ecology evolving on a daily time scale that drives online support, and we provide a mathematical theory that describes it. The ecology features s
  
  Read more

• [Report] Improvements in ecosystem services from investments in natural capital

  16-06-2016 20:44
  In response to ecosystem degradation from rapid economic development, China began investing heavily in protecting and restoring natural capital starting in 2000. We report on China’s first national ecosystem assessment (2000–2010), designed to quantify and help manage change in ecosystem services, including food production, carbon sequestration, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, water retention, flood mitigation, and provision of habitat for biodiversity. Overall, ecosystem services impr
  
  Read more

• [Report] Discovery of the interstellar chiral molecule propylene oxide (CH3CHCH2O)

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Life on Earth relies on chiral molecules—that is, species not superimposable on their mirror images. This manifests itself in the selection of a single molecular handedness, or homochirality, across the biosphere. We present the astronomical detection of a chiral molecule, propylene oxide (CH3CHCH2O), in absorption toward the Galactic center. Propylene oxide is detected in the gas phase in a cold, extended molecular shell around the embedded, massive protostellar clusters in the Sagittarius B2
  
  Read more

• [Report] Covalently bonded single-molecule junctions with stable and reversible photoswitched conductivity

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Through molecular engineering, single diarylethenes were covalently sandwiched between graphene electrodes to form stable molecular conduction junctions. Our experimental and theoretical studies of these junctions consistently show and interpret reversible conductance photoswitching at room temperature and stochastic switching between different conductive states at low temperature at a single-molecule level. We demonstrate a fully reversible, two-mode, single-molecule electrical switch with unpr
  
  Read more

• [Report] Carrots and sticks fail to change behavior in cocaine addiction

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Cocaine addiction is a major public health problem that is particularly difficult to treat. Without medically proven pharmacological treatments, interventions to change the maladaptive behavior of addicted individuals mainly rely on psychosocial approaches. Here we report on impairments in cocaine-addicted patients to act purposefully toward a given goal and on the influence of extended training on their behavior. When patients were rewarded for their behavior, prolonged training improved their
  
  Read more

• [Report] Biosensor reveals multiple sources for mitochondrial NAD+

  16-06-2016 20:44
  Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is an essential substrate for sirtuins and poly(adenosine diphosphate–ribose) polymerases (PARPs), which are NAD+-consuming enzymes localized in the nucleus, cytosol, and mitochondria. Fluctuations in NAD+ concentrations within these subcellular compartments are thought to regulate the activity of NAD+-consuming enzymes; however, the challenge in measuring compartmentalized NAD+ in cells has precluded direct evidence for this type of regulation. We desc
  
  Read more

• [Report] Band structure engineering in organic semiconductors

  16-06-2016 20:44
  A key breakthrough in modern electronics was the introduction of band structure engineering, the design of almost arbitrary electronic potential structures by alloying different semiconductors to continuously tune the band gap and band-edge energies. Implementation of this approach in organic semiconductors has been hindered by strong localization of the electronic states in these materials. We show that the influence of so far largely ignored long-range Coulomb interactions provides a workaroun
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!