Science news

• Facebook's giant internet-beaming solar drone takes off

  21-07-2016 23:58 via cbc.ca
  
  Facebook says it has successfully run the first test flight for its solar-powered, pilotless airplane that it plans to use to beam wireless internet to remote parts of the world.
  
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• Ditties for dorks: Physics institute compiles 'ultimate science playlist'

  21-07-2016 23:29 via cbc.ca
  
  For those who say artists have a hard time with science, the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics has published a summer soundtrack of science-savvy pop songs, from a ditty about the elements to an ode about pi.
  
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• Exclusive - Possible early North Korean nuclear site found: report

  21-07-2016 23:24
  By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. policy institute said it may have located a secret facility used by North Korea in the early stages of building its programme to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons, which if confirmed would be critical to the success of any future nuclear deal, according to a report seen by Reuters on Thursday. The report by the Institute for Science and International Security said there has always been doubt about whether North Korea has disclosed all of its nucl
  
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• Historical records miss a fifth of global warming: NASA

  21-07-2016 22:42
  A new NASA-led study finds that almost one-fifth of the global warming that has occurred in the past 150 years has been missed by historical records due to quirks in how global temperatures were recorded. The study explains why projections of future climate based solely on historical records estimate lower rates of warming than predictions from climate models.
  
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• Midwest mugginess linked to crops working up a 'corn sweat'

  21-07-2016 22:01
  CHICAGO (AP) — The Midwest's first dangerous bout of heat and humidity this summer is partly to blame on the moisture piped out of the ground and into the atmosphere by the increasing acreage of corn crops reaching peak maturity, meteorologists and atmospheric researchers say.
  
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• U.S. lags in road safety

  21-07-2016 22:00
  
  The U.S. tops the list of 19 high-income countries for deaths from motor vehicle crashes.
  
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• [Working Life] Alternatives within academia

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Nathan L. Vanderford
  
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• [This Week in Science] Using antimicrobials with care

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Julia Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink
  
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• [This Week in Science] Steps to ultracold gas expansion

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Jelena Stajic
  
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• [This Week in Science] Stacking up the filler material

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Marc S. Lavine
  
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• [This Week in Science] Show me a sign of sweetness to come

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Sacha Vignieri
  
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• [This Week in Science] Seeing synapses misfiring

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Megan Frisk
  
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• [This Week in Science] Olive quick decline syndrome

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Julia Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink
  
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• [This Week in Science] Next steps toward curing HIV-1

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Kristen L. Mueller
  
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• [This Week in Science] Lightweight shapeshifting alloys

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Brent Grocholski
  
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• [This Week in Science] Imaging electromagnetic waveforms

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Ian S. Osborne
  
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• [This Week in Science] Human-microbiota coevolution

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Caroline Ash
  
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• [This Week in Science] How to link and separate memories

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Peter Stern
  
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• [This Week in Science] Groundwater flow drives partitioning

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Nicholas S. Wigginton
  
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• [This Week in Science] Eliminating paternal mitochondria

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Beverly A. Purnell
  
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• [This Week in Science] Designed to assemble

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Valda Vinson
  
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• [This Week in Science] Cyclin suppresses antitumor immunity

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Kristen L. Mueller
  
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• [This Week in Science] Building a computing system in bacteria

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: L. Bryan Ray
  
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• [This Week in Science] Blocking ROCK2 to prevent autoimmunity

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: John F. Foley
  
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• [Technical Response] Response to Comment on “A histone acetylation switch regulates H2A.Z deposition by the SWR-C remodeling enzyme”

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Wang et al. report a failure to reproduce our biochemical observation that the INO80C and SWR1C/SWR1/SWR-C chromatin remodeling enzymes catalyze replacement of nucleosomal H2A.Z with H2A when the substrate contains H3-K56Q. They point to technical problems with our dimer exchange assay. In response, we have recapitulated our findings using a mobility shift assay that was developed and employed by Wang and colleagues.
  Authors: Shinya Watanabe, Craig L. Peterson
  
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• [Technical Comment] Comment on “A histone acetylation switch regulates H2A.Z deposition by the SWR-C remodeling enzyme”

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Watanabe et al. (Reports, 12 April 2013, p. 195) study the yeast SWR1/SWR-C complex responsible for depositing the histone variant H2A.Z by replacing nucleosomal H2A with H2A.Z. They report that reversal of H2A.Z replacement is mediated by SWR1 and related INO80 on an H2A.Z nucleosome carrying H3K56Q. Using multiple assays and reaction conditions, we find no evidence of such reversal of H2A.Z exchange.
  Authors: Feng Wang, Anand Ranjan, Debbie Wei, Carl Wu
  
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• [Review] Latency reversal and viral clearance to cure HIV-1

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Research toward a cure for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection has joined prevention and treatment efforts in the global public health agenda. A major approach to HIV eradication envisions antiretroviral suppression, paired with targeted therapies to enforce the expression of viral antigen from quiescent HIV-1 genomes, and immunotherapies to clear latent infection. These strategies are targeted to lead to viral eradication—a cure for AIDS. Paired testing of latency reversal a
  
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• [Research Article] Synthetic recombinase-based state machines in living cells

  21-07-2016 21:19
  State machines underlie the sophisticated functionality behind human-made and natural computing systems that perform order-dependent information processing. We developed a recombinase-based framework for building state machines in living cells by leveraging chemically controlled DNA excision and inversion operations to encode states in DNA sequences. This strategy enables convenient readout of states (by sequencing and/or polymerase chain reaction) as well as complex regulation of gene expressio
  
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• [Report] Reciprocal signaling in honeyguide-human mutualism

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Greater honeyguides (Indicator indicator) lead human honey-hunters to wild bees’ nests, in a rare example of a mutualistic foraging partnership between humans and free-living wild animals. We show experimentally that a specialized vocal sound made by Mozambican honey-hunters seeking bees’ nests elicits elevated cooperative behavior from honeyguides. The production of this sound increased the probability of being guided by a honeyguide from about 33 to 66% and the overall probability of thus
  
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• [Report] Observation of the Efimovian expansion in scale-invariant Fermi gases

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Scale invariance plays an important role in unitary Fermi gases. Discrete scaling symmetry manifests itself in quantum few-body systems such as the Efimov effect. Here, we report on the theoretical prediction and experimental observation of a distinct type of expansion dynamics for scale-invariant quantum gases. When the frequency of the harmonic trap holding the gas decreases continuously as the inverse of time t, the expansion of the cloud size exhibits a sequence of plateaus. The locations of
  
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• [Report] Mitochondrial endonuclease G mediates breakdown of paternal mitochondria upon fertilization

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Mitochondria are inherited maternally in most animals, but the mechanisms of selective paternal mitochondrial elimination (PME) are unknown. While examining fertilization in Caenorhabditis elegans, we observed that paternal mitochondria rapidly lose their inner membrane integrity. CPS-6, a mitochondrial endonuclease G, serves as a paternal mitochondrial factor that is critical for PME. We found that CPS-6 relocates from the intermembrane space of paternal mitochondria to the matrix after fertili
  
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• [Report] Layered and scrolled nanocomposites with aligned semi-infinite graphene inclusions at the platelet limit

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Two-dimensional (2D) materials can uniquely span the physical dimensions of a surrounding composite matrix in the limit of maximum reinforcement. However, the alignment and assembly of continuous 2D components at high volume fraction remain challenging. We use a stacking and folding method to generate aligned graphene/polycarbonate composites with as many as 320 parallel layers spanning 0.032 to 0.11 millimeters in thickness that significantly increases the effective elastic modulus and strength
  
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• [Report] Electron microscopy of electromagnetic waveforms

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Rapidly changing electromagnetic fields are the basis of almost any photonic or electronic device operation. We report how electron microscopy can measure collective carrier motion and fields with subcycle and subwavelength resolution. A collimated beam of femtosecond electron pulses passes through a metamaterial resonator that is previously excited with a single-cycle electromagnetic pulse. If the probing electrons are shorter in duration than half a field cycle, then time-frozen Lorentz forces
  
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• [Report] Cospeciation of gut microbiota with hominids

  21-07-2016 21:19
  The evolutionary origins of the bacterial lineages that populate the human gut are unknown. Here we show that multiple lineages of the predominant bacterial taxa in the gut arose via cospeciation with humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas over the past 15 million years. Analyses of strain-level bacterial diversity within hominid gut microbiomes revealed that clades of Bacteroidaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae have been maintained exclusively within host lineages across hundreds of thousands of
  
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• [Report] Connections between groundwater flow and transpiration partitioning

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Understanding freshwater fluxes at continental scales will help us better predict hydrologic response and manage our terrestrial water resources. The partitioning of evapotranspiration into bare soil evaporation and plant transpiration remains a key uncertainty in the terrestrial water balance. We used integrated hydrologic simulations that couple vegetation and land-energy processes with surface and subsurface hydrology to study transpiration partitioning at the continental scale. Both latent h
  
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• [Report] Competition between engrams influences fear memory formation and recall

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Collections of cells called engrams are thought to represent memories. Although there has been progress in identifying and manipulating single engrams, little is known about how multiple engrams interact to influence memory. In lateral amygdala (LA), neurons with increased excitability during training outcompete their neighbors for allocation to an engram. We examined whether competition based on neuronal excitability also governs the interaction between engrams. Mice received two distinct fear
  
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• [Report] Cdk5 disruption attenuates tumor PD-L1 expression and promotes antitumor immunity

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Cancers often evade immune surveillance by adopting peripheral tissue– tolerance mechanisms, such as the expression of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), the inhibition of which results in potent antitumor immunity. Here, we show that cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5), a serine-threonine kinase that is highly active in postmitotic neurons and in many cancers, allows medulloblastoma (MB) to evade immune elimination. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ)–induced PD-L1 up-regulation on MB requires Cdk5, a
  
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• [Report] Accurate design of megadalton-scale two-component icosahedral protein complexes

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Nature provides many examples of self- and co-assembling protein-based molecular machines, including icosahedral protein cages that serve as scaffolds, enzymes, and compartments for essential biochemical reactions and icosahedral virus capsids, which encapsidate and protect viral genomes and mediate entry into host cells. Inspired by these natural materials, we report the computational design and experimental characterization of co-assembling, two-component, 120-subunit icosahedral protein nanos
  
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• [Report] A lightweight shape-memory magnesium alloy

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Shape-memory alloys (SMAs), which display shape recovery upon heating, as well as superelasticity, offer many technological advantages in various applications. Those distinctive behaviors have been observed in many polycrystalline alloy systems such as nickel titantium (TiNi)–, copper-, iron-, nickel-, cobalt-, and Ti-based alloys but not in lightweight alloys such as magnesium (Mg) and aluminum alloys. Here we present a Mg SMA showing superelasticity of 4.4% at –150°C and shape recovery up
  
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• [Policy Forum] Countering the Zika epidemic in Latin America

  21-07-2016 21:19
  As evidence grew for a causal link between Zika infection and microcephaly and other serious congenital anomalies (1), the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Latin American Zika epidemic a public health emergency of international concern in February 2016 (2). The speed of spread [see the figure, top, and the supplementary materials (SM)] has made effective public health responses challenging. Immediate responses have included vector control (3) and advice to delay pregnancy in a few co
  
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• [Perspective] Is triclosan harming your microbiome?

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Antibacterial soaps were originally used only in hospitals, but since the 1990s, their use has expanded into households. Antimicrobial chemicals are now found in many soaps, wipes, hand gels, cutting boards, detergents, cosmetics, and toothpastes, as well as toys and plastics. One of the most common antibacterials, triclosan [5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenol], is found in ∼75% of antibacterial soaps (1). In 2008, it was detected in ∼75% of urine samples in the United States (2). There
  
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• [Perspective] Hominid superorganisms

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Mutualistic symbiotic relationships are those in which both species benefit; for example, the vivid colors of coral reefs come from symbiotic algae that provide their living coral hosts with nutrients and oxygen through photosynthesis in exchange for protection. A similar mutualistic relationship exists between gut-dwelling bacteria and their animal hosts (1). It remains unclear, however, to what degree symbiosis has shaped host-microbial interactions and coevolution. On page 380 of this issue,
  
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• [Perspective] Demystifying the demise of paternal mitochondrial DNA

  21-07-2016 21:19
  The vast majority of genes in sexually reproducing eukaryotes can recombine during the production of gametes. This reshuffling generates new genotypes that may provide selective advantages. However, reshuffling does not occur among the few genes in the genomes of cytoplasmic organelles (chloroplasts and mitochondria). Instead, these organelles are almost always transmitted through maternal inheritance (1). Why is this phenomenon widespread and how is it achieved? On page 394 of this issue, Zhou
  
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• [Perspective] Can Apulia's olive trees be saved?

  21-07-2016 21:19
  On 21 October 2013, the Italian phytosanitary service notified the European Commission (EC) that the plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa had been detected in olive trees near Gallipoli, a tourist destination in Italy's southern region of Apulia (1). This xylem-limited bacterium is spread by insect vectors and causes disease in crops such as grapevines, citrus, coffee, and almond; various ornamentals; and trees such as oaks, elms, and sycamores. Because of the risks of X. fastidiosa being introduce
  
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• [Letter] Misrepresenting A. Fisher v. U. Texas—Response

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Sylvester James Gates
  
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• [Letter] Misrepresenting A. Fisher v. U. Texas

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Stuart H. Hurlbert
  
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• [Letter] Minorities and bias: The big picture

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Lisa Aponte-Soto
  
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• [Letter] 324 million minorities

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Author: Sonsoles de Lacalle
  
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• [In Depth] Wild bird comes when honey hunters call for help

  21-07-2016 21:19
  Of all relationships between wild animals and people, few are more heartwarming than that of African honey hunters and a robin-sized bird called the greater honeyguide. Flitting and calling, the bird leads the way to a bee's nest and feasts on the wax after the honey hunters have raided it. Researchers have discovered that this mutualistic relationship is even tighter than it seemed, with the bird recognizing and responding to specific calls from its human partners. In the new work, the research
  
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• [In Depth] Vaginal microbiome affects HIV risk

  21-07-2016 21:19
  South African teen girls and young women have astonishingly high rates of HIV infection, and researchers for years have suspected that there might be biological factors making them unusually susceptible to infection. New studies presented at the International AIDS Conference being held in Durban, South Africa—located in KwaZulu-Natal province, the hardest hit region in the country—suggest a possible culprit, Prevotella bivia, a bacterium found in the vagina that causes inflammation. The clos
  
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