Science news

• Life thrived on young Earth: scientists discover 3.7-billion-year-old fossils

  31-08-2016 23:24
  A team of Australian researchers has uncovered the world's oldest fossils in a remote area of Greenland, capturing the earliest history of the planet and demonstrating that life on Earth emerged rapidly in the planet's early years. The team discovered 3.7-billion-year-old stromatolite fossils in the world's oldest sedimentary rocks, in the Isua Greenstone Belt along the edge of Greenland's icecap.
  
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• 3.7-Billion-Year-Old Rock May Hold Earth's Oldest Fossils

  31-08-2016 23:24
  
  Tiny ripples of sediment on ancient seafloor, captured inside a 3.7-billion-year-old rock in Greenland, may be the oldest fossils of living organisms ever found on Earth, according to a new study. The research, led by Allen Nutman, head of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Wollongong in Australia, described the discovery of what look like tiny waves, 0.4 to 1.5 inches (1 to 4 centimeters) high, frozen in a cross section of the surface of an outcrop of rock in th
  
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• APNewsBreak: US set to destroy big chemical weapon stockpile

  31-08-2016 23:01
  DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Army plans to start operating a $4.5 billion plant next week that will destroy the nation's largest remaining stockpile of mustard agent, complying with an international treaty that bans chemical weapons, officials said Wednesday.
  
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• Newer epilepsy drugs taken while pregnant not linked to lower IQs in children

  31-08-2016 22:29
  Two newer epilepsy drugs may not harm the thinking skills or IQs of school-aged children whose mothers took them while pregnant -- but an older drug is linked to cognitive problems in children, especially if their mothers took high doses -- according to new research.
  
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• 'Alien' Signal Had Earthly Cause, Russian Scientists Say

  31-08-2016 22:28
  
  Sorry, ET fans: The mysterious signal detected by a Russian radio telescope last year probably had an Earthly cause. This past weekend, reports emerged that, in May 2015, a team of astronomers using Russia's huge RATAN-600 telescope had spotted an intriguing radio signal coming from the vicinity of the star HD 164595, which lies about 94 light-years from Earth. The signal was consistent with something an alien civilization might produce, astronomers said — but they stressed that there was
  
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• Canadians flock to vote on national bird

  31-08-2016 22:25 via cbc.ca
  
  If you can't name Canada's national bird, there's a good reason — the country doesn't have one. So Canadian Geographic magazine launched a national bird contest aimed at picking a bird who could represent the True North.
  
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• Gabon's President Bongo re-elected, parliament set on fire

  31-08-2016 22:20
  By Gerauds Wilfried Obangome LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Demonstrators in Gabon clashed with police and set part of the parliament building on fire on Wednesday amid anger among opposition supporters over President Ali Bongo's re-election in polls that his main rival, Jean Ping, claimed to have won. Opposition members of the Central African oil producer's electoral commission rejected Saturday's first-past-the-post election result, which would see the Bongo family's nearly half-century in power exten
  
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• Africa's elephants are being wiped out, census shows

  31-08-2016 22:04 via cbc.ca
  
  The number of savanna elephants in Africa is rapidly declining and the animals are in danger of being wiped out as international and domestic ivory trades drive poaching across the continent, according to a study released Wednesday.
  
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• Pluto Probe Spots Distant Dwarf Planet Quaoar (Photos)

  31-08-2016 21:23
  
  NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has photographed a distant dwarf planet cruising through the dark depths of the outer solar system. New Horizons captured images of the mysterious, 690-mile-wide (1,110 kilometers) Quaoar at four different times on July 13 and July 14 — exactly one year after the probe's historic July 14, 2015, flyby of Pluto. New Horizons was 1.3 billion miles (2.1 billion km) from Quaoar when it took the photos with its Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) cam
  
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• Alzheimer's Drug Shows Promise in Small Trial

  31-08-2016 20:45 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Patients who received the antibody therapy had reduced levels of amyloid protein in their brains after one year
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Researchers identify genetic marker for heart failure

  31-08-2016 20:32
  A team of scientists has identified powerful predictors of congestive heart failure, a major cause of hospitalization and death in the United States. A mutated gene, SLCO1B1, was found to be associated with high levels of blood fatty acid, which is a strong predictor for the development of future heart failure and the mutation itself has a direct effect on heart failure risk.
  
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• Signaling cascade that drives fatty tumors

  31-08-2016 20:30
  A common cell signaling pathway that controls differentiation of stem cells may also control the formation of tumor cells in fat, according to a new study.
  
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• Scientists find earliest fossil evidence of life on Earth

  31-08-2016 20:30 via cbc.ca
  
  The earliest fossil evidence of life on Earth has been found in rocks 3.7 billion years old in Greenland.
  
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• Out of sync: How genetic variation can disrupt the heart's rhythm

  31-08-2016 20:30
  New research shows how deficits in a specific pathway of genes can lead to the development of atrial fibrillation, a common irregular heartbeat, which poses a significant health risk.
  
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• Want to hit your target? Good luck, short stuff

  31-08-2016 20:29
  Tall quarterbacks might have more going for them than a clear view over the offensive line. New research shows that tall people are better than shorter people at correctly identifying the location of targets in their middle-distance vision -- between three and 20 meters away. (In football, that would be about three to 22 yards away.)
  
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• Lunar cycle affects timing of birth in cows

  31-08-2016 20:29
  A popular belief that there is a higher number of births around the full moon has been shown to be true for dairy cows, report investigators. Analysis showed that the birth rate was statistically higher during the near full and full moon. Furthermore, the number of deliveries was higher for cows that had previously given birth.
  
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• ICU patients lose helpful gut bacteria within days of hospital admission

  31-08-2016 20:29
  The microbiome of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at a hospital differs dramatically from that of healthy patients, according to a new study. Researchers analyzing microbial taxa in ICU patients' guts, mouth and skin reported finding dysbiosis, or a bacterial imbalance, that worsened during a patient's stay in the hospital. Compared to healthy people, ICU patients had depleted populations of commensal, health-promoting microbes and higher counts of bacterial taxa with pathogen
  
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• Accumulation of a product of cell metabolism found to be linked with kidney tumor growth

  31-08-2016 20:29
  Researchers have shown that when the metabolite fumarate accumulates in a hereditary form of renal cancer it leads to an epigenetic reprogramming that drives cancer. The tumor growth mechanism seen here could be similar in other cancers, such as lung and bowel cancer, where the enzyme that breaks down fumarate is not present or not fully functional.
  
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• Forensic DNA analysis checks the origin of cultured cells

  31-08-2016 20:28
  Cell lines are cultured cells that are commonly used in medical research. New results show that such cells are not always what they are assumed to be. Using genetic analyses, the researchers showed that a commonly used cell line that was established almost 50 years ago does not originate from the patient it is claimed to stem from.
  
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• 3 for 1: Space Station Eyes Hurricanes Lester, Madeline and Gaston

  31-08-2016 20:07
  
  Cameras mounted on the outside of the International Space Station captured amazing views of three powerful hurricanes as they whisked across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on Aug. 30. 
  
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• Here's why a tiny pterosaur fossil is causing a flap among scientists

  31-08-2016 20:02
  
  The rare reptile has a wingspan of only 1.5 metres (4.9ft) – it would have been dwarfed by its larger cousins.
  
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• Galaxy Cluster 11.1 Billion Light-Years from Earth Is Most Distant Ever Seen

  31-08-2016 19:59
  
  NASA has just discovered a group of galaxies far, far away — so far, in fact, that it set a new record for the most distant ever discovered. The cluster of galaxies, named CL J1001+0220 (or CL J1001 for short), resides a whopping 11.1 billion light-years from Earth. Astronomers found the distant cluster of galaxies using a combination of observations from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and several other space telescopes.
  
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• Scientists find 3.7 billion-year-old fossil, oldest yet

  31-08-2016 19:49
  
  Scientists have found what they think is the oldest fossil on Earth, a remnant of life from 3.7 billion years ago when Earth's skies were orange and its oceans green.
  
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• Stem cell agency spinal cord injury clinical trial passes safety hurdles

  31-08-2016 19:37
  A clinical trial using stem cells to treat people with recent spinal cord injuries has cleared two key safety hurdles, and been given approval to expand the therapy to a larger group of patients with a much higher dose of cells.
  
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• Brain perceives taste with all senses, scientific evidence reveals

  31-08-2016 19:37
  The phrase "it looks so good you can almost taste it" may actually be scientifically proven based on the findings of a new study that explored how the brain processes stimuli predicting taste.
  
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• Weight loss following bariatric surgery sustained long-term

  31-08-2016 19:35
  Obese patients who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) lost much more weight than those who did not and were able to sustain most of this weight loss 10 years after surgery, according to a study.
  
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• New key in fighting Kennedy's disease

  31-08-2016 19:35
  If a disease affects motoneurons, cells that control voluntary muscle activity, researchers should focus their efforts on motoneurons to find potential treatments, right? Not always, say scientists.
  
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• Antibody reduces harmful brain amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's patients

  31-08-2016 19:35
  Aducanumab, a new antibody has been shown to trigger a meaningful reduction of harmful beta-amyloid plaques in patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. These protein deposits in the brain are a classic sign of Alzheimer's disease and contribute to the progressive degeneration of brain cells. The researchers furthermore demonstrated in an early stage clinical study that, after one year of treatment with Aducanumab, cognitive decline could be significantly slowed in antibody-treated patients
  
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• Massive loss of African savannah elephants

  31-08-2016 19:34
  The results of the first-ever pan-African survey of savanna elephants using standardized data collection and validation methods, has now been announced. The report confirms substantial declines in elephant numbers over just the last decade. The researchers report that the current rate of species decline is 8 percent per year, primarily due to poaching.
  
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• High-speed 'electron camera' films atomic nuclei in vibrating molecules

  31-08-2016 19:34
  An ultrafast 'electron camera' has made the first direct snapshots of atomic nuclei in molecules that are vibrating within millionths of a billionth of a second after being hit by a laser pulse. The method, called ultrafast electron diffraction, could help scientists better understand the role of nuclear motions in light-driven processes that naturally occur on extremely fast timescales.
  
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• Connection between chronic pain, anxiety disorders found by researchers

  31-08-2016 19:34
  New study results provide insight into a long-observed, but little-understood connection between chronic pain and anxiety and offer a potential target for treatment. Researchers found that increased expression of PACAP -- a peptide neurotransmitter the body releases in response to stress -- is also increased in response to neuropathic pain and contributes to these symptoms.
  
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• First test of oral rabies vaccine brings hope to the world's rarest canid

  31-08-2016 19:31
  A new study reports on field trials of the oral vaccine SAG2 in Ethiopian wolves, Africa's most threatened carnivore and the world's rarest canid. The trials are the first ever conducted in wild populations of an endangered carnivore.
  
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• Feeling heavy, light, or about right? Your genes may be to blame

  31-08-2016 19:31
  Do you feel overweight, about right, or too skinny? Your answer to that question may be tied to genes you inherited from your parents, especially if you are a female, according to a new study.
  
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• Total Solar Eclipse Can Make You Shiver (a Bit)

  31-08-2016 19:27
  
  A solar eclipse in March 2015 produced a slight but noticeable drop in temperature in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, a new paper shows — and the team's getting ready to observe another eclipse tomorrow. A thermometer hanging from a camera tripod recording the eclipse observed the temperature drop 15 degrees Fahrenheit, from 8 F to -7 F (-13 to -22 degrees Celsius). Automatic temperature and pressure sensors showed only slight effects, however.
  
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• Apple's European tax fight could spur congressional action: U.S. treasury head

  31-08-2016 19:23 via cbc.ca
  
  U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Wednesday criticized a European ruling that Apple owes more than $14.5 billion US in back taxes. But he said the decision may spur Congress to finally address the stalled effort to reform America's corporate tax structure.
  
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• Drug trial raises fresh hopes in hunt for Alzheimer's treatment

  31-08-2016 19:19
  
  The breakthrough could make a difference to the estimated 850,000 people in the UK suffering from some form of dementia.
  
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• Lightning crashes: Watch out for the flash before the bolt

  31-08-2016 19:17 via cbc.ca
  
  The flash: Not a comic book super hero, but a rare glimpse at a lightning phenomenon called a ground streamer.
  
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• Rosetta Spacecraft Scoops Up Surprise Speck of Fluffy Comet Dust

  31-08-2016 19:15
  
  Europe's Rosetta spacecraft has analyzed pristine samples of dust from the comet it orbits, characterizing five tantalizing dust grains whose structure offers surprising insight into the formation of comets and objects in the early solar system. The new work reports the eagerly-awaited first results from MIDAS (Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System), Rosetta's atomic force microscope. The instrument analyzed dust around Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko that was collected from November 201
  
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• Oldest fossils found in Greenland, from time Earth was like Mars

  31-08-2016 19:09
  
  OSLO (Reuters) - The earliest fossil evidence of life on Earth has been found in rocks 3.7 billion years old in Greenland, raising chances of life on Mars aeons ago when both planets were similarly desolate, scientists said on Wednesday.
  
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• Rare whale's recovery hurt by entanglements, scientists say

  31-08-2016 19:01
  PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Scientists say the ability of an endangered whale species to recover is jeopardized by increasing rates of entanglement in fishing gear and a resultant drop in birth rates.
  
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• Alzheimer's drug study gives 'tantalising' results

  31-08-2016 19:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A drug that destroys the characteristic protein plaques that build up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's is showing "tantalising" promise, scientists say.
  
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• Wavy Greenland rock features 'are oldest fossils'

  31-08-2016 19:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Some of the world’s earliest life forms may have been captured in squiggles found in ancient rocks from Greenland.
  
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• New Alzheimer’s drug shows promise in small trial

  31-08-2016 19:00
  
  A much-anticipated Alzheimer’s drug shows promise in a new trial, but experts temper hope with caution.
  
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• Greenland may be home to Earth’s oldest fossils

  31-08-2016 19:00
  
  Dating to 3.7 billion years ago, mounds of sediment called stromatolites found in Greenland may be the oldest fossilized evidence of life on Earth.
  
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• Gabon's President Bongo re-elected, opposition rejects result

  31-08-2016 18:36
  By Gerauds Wilfried Obangome LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Gabon's Ali Bongo has been re-elected as President, according to official results released on Wednesday, setting the stage for a potentially violent post-election showdown after his rival Jean Ping had already claimed victory. Opposition members of the Central African oil producer's electoral commission rejected Saturday's first-past-the-post election result, which could extend nearly 50 years of Bongo family rule. Bongo won 49.80 percent of vo
  
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• Africa's elephants rapidly declining as poaching thrives

  31-08-2016 18:35
  
  HONOLULU (AP) — The number of savanna elephants in Africa is rapidly declining and the animals are in danger of being wiped out as international and domestic ivory trades drive poaching across the continent, according to a study released Wednesday.
  
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• Study: Ohio's abortion pill law led to worse health outcomes

  31-08-2016 18:00
  COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A study suggests Ohio's restrictions on the so-called abortion pill led to a higher rate of side effects, more doctor visits and additional medical treatment for patients.
  
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• See a 'Ring of Fire' Annular Solar Eclipse Thursday Via Slooh Webcast

  31-08-2016 17:34
  
  A spectacular "ring of fire" solar eclipsewill darken skies over Africa early Thursday morning (Sept. 1), and people anywhere in the world can watch the event live during a free webcast by the Slooh Community Observatory. The show will feature live telescope shots from Slooh's flagship observatory in the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa, as well as views from South Africa, Tanzania, Madagascar and tiny Réunion Island. You can also watch the solar eclipse webcast on Space.c
  
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• Tanzania's opposition suspends pro-democracy demonstrations

  31-08-2016 17:31
  By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania's main opposition party has suspended protests scheduled for Thursday, to give time for negotiations with the government that has called its planned demonstrations illegal. President John Magufuli said in July he would crack down on troublemakers "without mercy" after the opposition CHADEMA party called for nationwide demonstrations on Sep. 1. CHADEMA said it was heeding calls from religious leaders to postpone its "day of defiance" for
  
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• World’s first ciliary stroke motion microrobots

  31-08-2016 17:10
  Scientists have developed microrobots with high propulsion efficiency in highly-viscous fluid environments, applying propulsion techniques that mimic the ciliary stroke motion of paramecia.
  
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