Science news

• Antidepressants: Treatment for bad marriages?

  07-07-2016 23:23
  Psychiatrists nearly always responded with prescriptions for antidepressants when clients complained of bad marriages, according to a new study spanning 20 years at an American medical center. The assumption that people struggling with their marriages or other domestic issues are suffering from depression is not supported by the way depression is defined medically.
  
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• Two groundbreaking studies reflect new paradigm in breast cancer research

  07-07-2016 23:20
  In a new paradigm of breast cancer research, physicians are fast-tracking promising new experimental drugs for further study, while immediately dropping drugs that don't work.
  
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• Frogs that can take the heat expected to fare better in a changing world

  07-07-2016 23:19
  Amphibians that tolerate higher temperatures are likely to fare better in a world affected by climate change, disease and habitat loss, according to two recent studies.
  
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• Chewed plants help detect viruses in wild mountain gorillas, monkeys

  07-07-2016 23:19
  Chewed bark, leaves and fruit discarded by mountain gorillas provide a simple way to test the endangered apes for viruses without disturbing them, according to scientists studying mountain gorillas and golden monkeys in East-Central Africa.
  
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• Athletes may have white matter brain changes six months after a concussion

  07-07-2016 23:19
  New research finds white matter changes in the brains of athletes six months after a concussion, report investigators. The study involved 17 high school and college football players who experienced a sports-related concussion.
  
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• Water Clouds Found Outside the Solar System — a First

  07-07-2016 22:55
  
  For the first time ever, astronomers have found strong evidence of water clouds on a body outside the solar system. New observations of a frigid object called WISE 0855, which lies 7.2 light-years from Earth, suggest that the "failed star" has clouds of water, or water ice, in its atmosphere, the researchers said. "We would expect an object that cold to have water clouds, and this is the best evidence that it does," study lead author Andrew Skemer, an assistant professor of astronomy and astroph
  
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• Super Typhoon Nepartak Spied from Space (Photos)

  07-07-2016 22:55
  
  New satellite photos show the size and power of Super Typhoon Nepartak, which is churning toward landfall in Taiwan later today (July 8).
  
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• Shooting heard in tense South Sudan's capital Juba - residents

  07-07-2016 22:51
  Sporadic gunfire was heard in South Sudan's capital Juba late Thursday evening and military vehicles were blocking some roads, residents and a Reuters witness said. Africa's youngest nation was devastated by a war that broke out in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir sacked his vice president, Riek Machar. "I heard a sound of gunshots and people were running everywhere," Juba resident Ramdan Kazimiro told Reuters.
  
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• Japan party backs use of medical marijuana, gets mixed reaction

  07-07-2016 22:08
  By Kiyoshi Takenaka TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan prides itself on having a low tolerance for guns and drugs, but a tiny political party has become the first to adopt an election plank of scrapping a research ban on medical use of marijuana. Japan outlaws owning and growing marijuana, besides the ban on clinical research, despite a trend in advanced countries, such as Canada and the United States, to free up medical use. "Faced with this sharp gap between Japan and the rest of the world, the public ar
  
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• Astronomers spy giant planet, three stars in odd celestial ballet

  07-07-2016 21:56
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Astronomers have discovered a planet unlike any other ever found, one that loops widely around one star that is locked in a gravitational embrace with two others in a triple-star system, creating a curious celestial ballet.
  
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• Venezuela state workers claim supporting Maduro recall costs them their jobs

  07-07-2016 21:22
  By Diego Oré and Daniel Kai CARACAS (Reuters) - When Venezuelan customs worker Jose Antonio Arriaga signed a petition seeking a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro, he suspected it could cost him his job. Hundreds of public employees say they have been sacked in recent days for signing in favour of the recall against Maduro, according to interviews, a list tallied by a human rights organisation and local media reports. "Once I got to the office, a person from human resource
  
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• Some major scoliosis surgeries can be avoided, look-back study suggests

  07-07-2016 21:11
  In a look-back study of medical records, researchers concluded that a major operation to fuse the spines of children with a rare form of severe, early-onset scoliosis can be eliminated in many cases.
  
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• Sensing trouble: New way to detect hidden damage in bridges, roads

  07-07-2016 21:11
  Engineers have documented a new approach for monitoring the structural health of roads, bridges and other structures. The method applies a noninvasive medical imaging technique to a carbon nanotube-based sensor.
  
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• Mystery solved? Biologists find a unique version of a filament-forming protein in human cells that insects lack

  07-07-2016 21:11
  Biologists have found a unique version of a filament-forming protein in human cells that insects lack. Providing structural support and protection against such conditions as blistering, cataracts and dementia, intermediate filament proteins (IFs) reside in every cell in the human body.
  
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• Mitochondria are exploited in cancer for tumor cell motility, metastatic competence

  07-07-2016 21:11
  Scientists have identified a specific network of proteins present in mitochondria of tumor cells that is essential for maintaining a clean function of mitochondria, enabling not only the proliferation of tumor cells but also their ability to move and invade distant organs. By understanding the players involved, the scientists were able to turn off individual subunits within the network, which greatly reduced the ability of cancer cells to grow and spread, suggesting an attractive new therapeutic
  
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• Marine heatwave triggers dramatic ecosystem transition

  07-07-2016 21:11
  Rapid warming off the western coast of Australia has transformed large stretches of kelp forests into tropical and subtropical marine ecosystems, a new study reports.
  
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• The debut of a robotic stingray, powered by light-activated rat cells

  07-07-2016 21:10
  Researchers have created a robotic mimic of a stingray that's powered and guided by light-sensitive rat heart cells. The work exhibits a new method for building bio-inspired robots by means of tissue engineering.
  
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• Surprising planet with three suns discovered

  07-07-2016 21:10
  A team of astronomers have used the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope to image the first planet ever found in a wide orbit inside a triple-star system. The orbit of such a planet had been expected to be unstable, probably resulting in the planet being quickly ejected from the system. But somehow this one survives. This unexpected observation suggests that such systems may actually be more common than previously thought.
  
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• Missing link in epigenetics could explain conundrum of disease inheritance

  07-07-2016 21:10
  The process by which a mother's diet during pregnancy can permanently affect her offspring's attributes, such as weight, could be strongly influenced by genetic variation in an unexpected part of the genome, according to research. The discovery could shed light on why many human genetic studies have previously not been able to fully explain how certain diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity, are inherited.
  
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• Catalyst efficiency improved for clean industries

  07-07-2016 21:10
  Researchers have developed a way to use less platinum in chemical reactions commonly used in the clean energy, green chemicals, and automotive industries, according to a new article.
  
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• Rapid TB test accuracy in West Africa compromised by mycobacterium diversity

  07-07-2016 21:09
  A study now suggests that in West Africa tests to identify Mtbc in culture miss a substantial fraction of cases, with dire consequences for the patients and for TB control efforts.
  
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• [Working Life] The questions that opened doors

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Carlos A. Aguilar-Trigueros
  
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• [This Week in Science] Swim into the light

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Phil Szuromi
  
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• [This Week in Science] Sparking greater blood loss

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Wei Wong
  
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• [This Week in Science] Separating one organic from another

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Authors: Phil Szuromi, Marc S. Lavine
  
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• [This Week in Science] Resolving a network of hubs

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Barbara R. Jasny
  
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• [This Week in Science] Olefins enlisted to attack ketones

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Jake Yeston
  
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• [This Week in Science] No turning back?

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Sacha Vignieri
  
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• [This Week in Science] Location, location, S-acylation

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Pamela J. Hines
  
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• [This Week in Science] In situ vaccine production and delivery

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Philip Yeagle
  
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• [This Week in Science] Hot single-atom catalysts

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Phil Szuromi
  
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• [This Week in Science] Going with the flow

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Stella M. Hurtley
  
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• [This Week in Science] Env's transmembrane domain revealed

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Kristen L. Mueller
  
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• [This Week in Science] Engineering T cells to treat autoimmunity

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Kristen L. Mueller
  
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• [This Week in Science] Dividing asymmetrically to fix muscle

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Beverly A. Purnell
  
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• [This Week in Science] Cartilage claims a permanent home

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Author: Megan Frisk
  
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• [Technical Response] Response to Comment on “Long-term climate forcing by atmospheric oxygen concentrations”

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Goldblatt argues that a decrease in pressure broadening of absorption lines in an atmosphere with low oxygen leads to an increase in outgoing longwave radiation and atmospheric cooling. We demonstrate that cloud and water vapor feedbacks in a global climate model compensate for these decreases and lead to atmospheric warming.
  Authors: Christopher J. Poulsen, Clay Tabor, Joseph White
  
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• [Technical Comment] Comment on “Long-term climate forcing by atmospheric oxygen concentrations”

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Poulsen et al. (Reports, 12 June 2015, p. 1238) argued that lower atmospheric oxygen levels during the Phanerozoic would have given a warmer climate. However, radiative and atmospheric structure changes under lower pressure both cause cooling, making their result unusual in that a hierarchy of models gives opposing results. Scrutiny of how radiative and cloud processes were represented, and a mechanistic explanation of the results, are required.
  Author: Colin Goldblatt
  
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• [Research Article] Asymmetric division of clonal muscle stem cells coordinates muscle regeneration in vivo

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Skeletal muscle is an example of a tissue that deploys a self-renewing stem cell, the satellite cell, to effect regeneration. Recent in vitro studies have highlighted a role for asymmetric divisions in renewing rare “immortal” stem cells and generating a clonal population of differentiation-competent myoblasts. However, this model currently lacks in vivo validation. We define a zebrafish muscle stem cell population analogous to the mammalian satellite cell and image the entire process of mus
  
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• [Report] Thermally stable single-atom platinum-on-ceria catalysts via atom trapping

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Catalysts based on single atoms of scarce precious metals can lead to more efficient use through enhanced reactivity and selectivity. However, single atoms on catalyst supports can be mobile and aggregate into nanoparticles when heated at elevated temperatures. High temperatures are detrimental to catalyst performance unless these mobile atoms can be trapped. We used ceria powders having similar surface areas but different exposed surface facets. When mixed with a platinum/aluminum oxide catalys
  
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• [Report] Tail use improves performance on soft substrates in models of early vertebrate land locomotors

  07-07-2016 20:50
  In the evolutionary transition from an aquatic to a terrestrial environment, early tetrapods faced the challenges of terrestrial locomotion on flowable substrates, such as sand and mud of variable stiffness and incline. The morphology and range of motion of appendages can be revealed in fossils; however, biological and robophysical studies of modern taxa have shown that movement on such substrates can be sensitive to small changes in appendage use. Using a biological model (the mudskipper), a ph
  
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• [Report] Structural basis for membrane anchoring of HIV-1 envelope spike

  07-07-2016 20:50
  HIV-1 envelope spike (Env) is a type I membrane protein that mediates viral entry. We used nuclear magnetic resonance to determine an atomic structure of the transmembrane (TM) domain of HIV-1 Env reconstituted in bicelles that mimic a lipid bilayer. The TM forms a well-ordered trimer that protects a conserved membrane-embedded arginine. An amino-terminal coiled-coil and a carboxyl-terminal hydrophilic core stabilize the trimer. Individual mutations of conserved residues did not disrupt the TM t
  
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• [Report] S-Acylation of the cellulose synthase complex is essential for its plasma membrane localization

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Plant cellulose microfibrils are synthesized by a process that propels the cellulose synthase complex (CSC) through the plane of the plasma membrane. How interactions between membranes and the CSC are regulated is currently unknown. Here, we demonstrate that all catalytic subunits of the CSC, known as cellulose synthase A (CESA) proteins, are S-acylated. Analysis of Arabidopsis CESA7 reveals four cysteines in variable region 2 (VR2) and two cysteines at the carboxy terminus (CT) as S-acylation s
  
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• [Report] Reengineering chimeric antigen receptor T cells for targeted therapy of autoimmune disease

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Ideally, therapy for autoimmune diseases should eliminate pathogenic autoimmune cells while sparing protective immunity, but feasible strategies for such an approach have been elusive. Here, we show that in the antibody-mediated autoimmune disease pemphigus vulgaris (PV), autoantigen-based chimeric immunoreceptors can direct T cells to kill autoreactive B lymphocytes through the specificity of the B cell receptor (BCR). We engineered human T cells to express a chimeric autoantibody receptor (CAA
  
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• [Report] Pore chemistry and size control in hybrid porous materials for acetylene capture from ethylene

  07-07-2016 20:50
  The trade-off between physical adsorption capacity and selectivity of porous materials is a major barrier for efficient gas separation and purification through physisorption. We report control over pore chemistry and size in metal coordination networks with hexafluorosilicate and organic linkers for the purpose of preferential binding and orderly assembly of acetylene molecules through cooperative host-guest and/or guest-guest interactions. The specific binding sites for acetylene are validated
  
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• [Report] Phototactic guidance of a tissue-engineered soft-robotic ray

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Inspired by the relatively simple morphological blueprint provided by batoid fish such as stingrays and skates, we created a biohybrid system that enables an artificial animal—a tissue-engineered ray—to swim and phototactically follow a light cue. By patterning dissociated rat cardiomyocytes on an elastomeric body enclosing a microfabricated gold skeleton, we replicated fish morphology at 110 scale and captured basic fin deflection patterns of batoid fish. Optogenetics allows for phototactic
  
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• [Report] Higher-order organization of complex networks

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Networks are a fundamental tool for understanding and modeling complex systems in physics, biology, neuroscience, engineering, and social science. Many networks are known to exhibit rich, lower-order connectivity patterns that can be captured at the level of individual nodes and edges. However, higher-order organization of complex networks—at the level of small network subgraphs—remains largely unknown. Here, we develop a generalized framework for clustering networks on the basis of higher-o
  
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• [Report] Copper-catalyzed asymmetric addition of olefin-derived nucleophiles to ketones

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Enantioenriched alcohols found in an array of bioactive natural products and pharmaceutical agents are often synthesized by asymmetric nucleophilic addition to carbonyls. However, this approach generally shows limited functional-group compatibility, requiring the use of preformed organometallic reagents in conjunction with a stoichiometric or substoichiometric amount of chiral controller to deliver optically active alcohols. Herein we report a copper-catalyzed strategy for the stereoselective nu
  
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• [Report] Climate-driven regime shift of a temperate marine ecosystem

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Ecosystem reconfigurations arising from climate-driven changes in species distributions are expected to have profound ecological, social, and economic implications. Here we reveal a rapid climate-driven regime shift of Australian temperate reef communities, which lost their defining kelp forests and became dominated by persistent seaweed turfs. After decades of ocean warming, extreme marine heat waves forced a 100-kilometer range contraction of extensive kelp forests and saw temperate species re
  
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• [Report] Cilia-based flow network in the brain ventricles

  07-07-2016 20:50
  Cerebrospinal fluid conveys many physiologically important signaling factors through the ventricular cavities of the brain. We investigated the transport of cerebrospinal fluid in the third ventricle of the mouse brain and discovered a highly organized pattern of cilia modules, which collectively give rise to a network of fluid flows that allows for precise transport within this ventricle. We also discovered a cilia-based switch that reliably and periodically alters the flow pattern so as to cre
  
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