Science news

• Sweden fires board of institution handing out medicine Nobel after scandal

  05-09-2016 22:34
  The Swedish government has dismissed the board of the Karolinska Institute after an investigation showed it was negligent when hiring surgeon Paolo Macchiarini and letting him operate on patients. The hiring of Italian surgeon Macchiarini had already led to the resignation of the secretary of the Nobel Committee at the Institute as well as the then chancellor in February and to the Institute chairman last week. Macchiarini was fired in March when Karolinska said he had supplied false information
  
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• Syrian army presses Aleppo campaign as rebels retrench

  05-09-2016 21:14
  AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army and its allies, backed by Russian air power, are keeping up a heavy bombardment of insurgent positions in and around Aleppo, rebels said on Monday, pressing to complete their recapture of the city's strategic southern gateway. After re-imposing a siege on rebel-held eastern Aleppo with an advance in the city's southwest on Sunday, the army and its allies now aim to block the insurgents from bringing in reinforcements, a Syrian military source said. The ci
  
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• Future climate change field test doesn't make Earth greener

  05-09-2016 21:06
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the course of a 17-year experiment on more than 1 million plants, scientists put future global warming to a real world test — growing California flowers and grasslands with extra heat, carbon dioxide and nitrogen to mimic a not-so-distant, hotter future.
  
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• Giant panda is no longer endangered, experts say

  05-09-2016 21:01 via cbc.ca
  
  A leading international group has taken the giant panda off its endangered list thanks to decades of conservation efforts, but China's government discounted the move on Monday, saying it did not view the status of the country's beloved symbol as any less serious.
  
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• Philae Found: Lost Comet Probe Turns Up In New Images

  05-09-2016 20:35
  
  A probe that lost contact with Earth after landing on a comet billions of miles away has been spotted in new pictures. The European Space Agency (ESA) says its Rosetta orbiter has captured an image of the Philae lander wedged in a "dark crack" on the surface - more than a year since it last made contact. The spacecraft made history in November 2014 after touching down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko while it was travelling at 135,000kmph (83,885mph).
  
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• Philae Lander's Grave on Comet Found at Last After Nearly 2-Year Search

  05-09-2016 19:55
  
  The final resting place of the European comet lander Philae is a mystery no more. After nearly two years of searching, the lander's shadowy grave on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has been found in images from its mothership Rosetta. The European Space Agency's Philae lander touched down on Comet 67P (as scientists call it) in Nov. 12, 2014, but its final location was uncertain due to the probe's rough, bouncy landing.  News of Philae's discovery comes just weeks before Rosetta &mdas
  
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• Planet smash-up 'brought carbon to Earth'

  05-09-2016 19:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Much of Earth's life-giving carbon could have been delivered in an asteroid collision about 4.4 billion years ago, a theory suggests.
  
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• Weapons-grade nuclear waste shipments to U.S. prompt outcry

  05-09-2016 19:25 via cbc.ca
  
  A highly secretive plan to ship weapons-grade nuclear waste from a federal lab northwest of Ottawa to the United States is drawing ire in some of the southern Ontario communities along the potential route.
  
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• Rosetta's missing Philae probe found in dark crack on comet

  05-09-2016 18:23
  
  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - High-resolution cameras on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft have found space probe Philae, which landed on a comet nearly two years ago only to lose power because its solar-driven batteries were in the shade.
  
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• Rosetta spacecraft finds lost Philae lander in dark crack on comet

  05-09-2016 18:10 via cbc.ca
  
  The Philae lander, the first spacecraft to land on a comet, has been spotted in a dark crack on the side of a comet.
  
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• Airlifting ice from the alps

  05-09-2016 18:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ice taken from a retreating Alpine glacier is moved into a freezer at the start of a mission to store it permanently in Antarctica.
  
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• Endangered glaciers: Alpine ice begins Antarctic voyage

  05-09-2016 18:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ice taken from a retreating Alpine glacier is moved into a freezer at the start of a mission to store it permanently in Antarctica.
  
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• Europe's Rosetta probe finds lost Philae lander on comet

  05-09-2016 17:44
  
  BERLIN (AP) — Europe's Rosetta space probe has located its lost Philae lander, wedged in a "dark crack" on a comet, the European Space Agency said Monday.
  
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• Study: Typhoons that slam Asia getting much stronger

  05-09-2016 17:10
  
  Typhoons that slam into land in the northwestern Pacific — especially the biggest tropical cyclones of the bunch — have gotten considerably stronger since the 1970s, a new study concludes. Overall, landfalling ...
  
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• Dwarf lemurs don’t agree on sleep

  05-09-2016 16:00
  
  Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs’ surprising hibernation-sleep doesn’t show up in ground-hibernating relatives.
  
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• Philae: Lost comet lander is found

  05-09-2016 15:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Europe's comet lander Philae, last seen in November 2014, has been identified in new pictures from the Rosetta probe.
  
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• Freddie Mercury: Asteroid named after late Queen star to mark 70th birthday

  05-09-2016 15:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Freddie Mercury is honoured with an asteroid named after him to mark what would have been his 70th birthday.
  
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• Skye's Storr Lochs Monster fossil unveiled in Edinburgh

  05-09-2016 13:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The fossilised skeleton of a 170 million-year-old Jurassic predator discovered on the Isle of Skye is unveiled in Edinburgh.
  
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• Cognitive scientist puts profanity in its place

  05-09-2016 13:00
  
  Swearing provides unappreciated insights into human thought and language, a cognitive scientist argues in the new book What the F.
  
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• Mary Rose: How the dead were digitised

  05-09-2016 12:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Human skulls and other artefacts found aboard the Tudor shipwreck, the Mary Rose, are being exhibited online for the first time.
  
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• Bonobos rival chimps at the art of cracking oil palm nuts

  05-09-2016 12:00
  
  Bonobos demonstrate their overlooked nut-cracking skills in an African sanctuary.
  
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• Drone films white southern right whale calf off Australia

  05-09-2016 11:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Researchers have captured images of an extremely rare white southern right whale calf off swimming with its mother off the coast of Western Australia.
  
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• Good news folks! The giant panda is no longer endangered, according to conservation experts

  05-09-2016 08:51
  
  The animal is now classified as a “vulnerable” instead of “endangered” species.
  
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• Antibiotic-resistant E.coli 'found in quarter of supermarket chicken products'

  05-09-2016 08:42
  
  Scientists found 24% of chicken tested positive for ESBL E.coli.
  
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• 'Magic bullet' antibody drug may offer new hope to asthma patients

  05-09-2016 08:15
  
  Benralizumab injections could be used for severe cases.
  
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• Eastern gorillas are now one step away from extinction

  05-09-2016 07:52
  
  The number of eastern gorillas has plummeted in the past 20 years by more than 70%.
  
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• Young people exposed to vaping ads less likely to think occasional smoking bad for health

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Cambridge) Exposure to advertisements for e-cigarettes may decrease the perceived health risks of occasional tobacco smoking, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge, prompting concern that this may lead more young people to experiment with smoking.
  
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• Study: Earth's carbon points to planetary smashup

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (Rice University) Research by Rice University Earth scientists suggests that virtually all of Earth's life-giving carbon could have come from a collision about 4.4 billion years ago between Earth and an embryonic planet similar to Mercury.
  
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• Scientists discover what extraordinary compounds may be hidden inside Neptune and Uranus

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) Scientists from MIPT's Computational Materials Discovery Lab have discovered that the depths of Uranus, Neptune and their satellites may contain extraordinary compounds, such as Carbonic and Orthocarbonic acids (the latter also known as Hitler's acid).It is no accident researchers have chosen these planets as a subject for their research. These gas giants consist mainly of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, which are the three cornerstones of orga
  
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• Scientists discover what extraordinary compounds may be hidden inside Jupiter and Neptune

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) Scientists from MIPT's Computational Materials Discovery Lab have discovered that the depths of Uranus, Neptune and their satellites may contain extraordinary compounds, such as Carbonic and Orthocarbonic acids (the latter also known as Hitler's acid).It is no accident researchers have chosen these planets as a subject for their research. These gas giants consist mainly of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, which are the three cornerstones of orga
  
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• Proposal for first validating antibody specificity strategies to publish in Nature Methods

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (GCI Health - Atlanta) The International Working Group on Antibody Validation (IWGAV), an independent group of international scientists with diverse research interests in the field of protein biology, today announced the publication of initial strategies developed to address a critical unmet need for antibody specificity, functionality and reproducibility in the online issue of Nature Methods.
  
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• New study suggests women do ask for pay rises but don't get them

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Warwick) New research from the Cass Business School, the University of Warwick and the University of Wisconsin shows that women ask for wage rises just as often as men, but men are 25 percent more likely to get a raise when they ask.
  
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• Multi-million pound research project to examine the resilience of the UK pig industry

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Lincoln) More than £2 million has been awarded to scientists at the University of Lincoln, UK, to lead the most comprehensive study of the British pig industry ever conducted.
  
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• Heavy burden of EHRs could contribute to physician burnout

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (American College of Physicians) For every hour physicians provide direct clinical face time to patients, nearly two additional hours is spent on electronic health records (EHRs) and other clerical work within the clinic day.
  
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• Harvard conference Sept. 10: Emerging technologies and global development

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (Terry Collins Assoc) This conference aims to examine emerging technologies that could address global grand challenges, review their disruptive characteristics, identify potential sources of social concern, and outline business models and public policies on how to address those concerns. The conference builds on the findings of the newly published book, Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies (Oxford University Press, 2016).
  
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• Harvard conference: Emerging technologies and global development

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (Terry Collins Assoc) This conference aims to examine emerging technologies that could address global grand challenges, review their disruptive characteristics, identify potential sources of social concern, and outline business models and public policies on how to address those concerns. The conference builds on the findings of the newly published book, Innovation and Its Enemies: Why People Resist New Technologies (Oxford University Press, 2016).
  
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• Good microcirculation indicates increased lifespan

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (sphingotec GmbH) In the CIAO (Cilento Intitiative on Aging Outcome) pilot study, on some of the oldest people of the world, researchers discovered that the perfusion of organs and muscles of the centenarians was as efficient as that in people who were 30 years younger. The CIAO study results suggest that low blood levels of the peptide hormone Adrenomedullin are an indicator for good microcirculation and longevity.
  
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• Gamblers more prone to violent behavior

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Lincoln) Men who gamble are more likely to act violently towards others, with the most addicted gamblers the most prone to serious violence. A new study published in the journal Addiction found that gambling in any capacity -- pathological, problem, or so-called casual gambling -- related to significantly increased risk of violence, including domestic abuse.
  
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• From DNA to disease, study describes rare, new brain disorder

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (Brown University) In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of scientists shows how mutations in the gene GPT2 lead to a rare developmental and potentially degenerative brain disease.
  
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• First gravitational waves form after 10 million years

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Zurich) If two galaxies collide, the merging of their central black holes triggers gravitational waves, which ripple throughout space. An international research team involving the University of Zurich has now calculated that this occurs around 10 million years after the two galaxies merge -- much faster than previously assumed.
  
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• Device rapidly measures growth of single cells simultaneously

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) A new technique invented at MIT can precisely measure the growth of many individual cells simultaneously. The advance holds promise for fast drug tests, offers new insights into growth variation across single cells within larger populations, and helps track the dynamic growth of cells to changing environmental conditions.
  
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• Deaths from ovarian cancer decline worldwide due to oral contraceptive use

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (European Society for Medical Oncology) Deaths from ovarian cancer fell worldwide between 2002 and 2012 and are predicted to continue to decline in the USA, European Union and, though to a smaller degree, in Japan by 2020, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology. The main reason is the use of oral contraceptives and the long-term protection against ovarian cancer that they provide.
  
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• Butterflies: Agonistic display or courtship behavior?

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (Springer) A study shows that contests of butterflies occur only as erroneous courtships between sexually active males that are unable to distinguish the sex of the other butterflies. These findings by Tsuyoshi Takeuchi from Osaka Prefecture University in Japan were highlighted in a review article in the Journal of Ethology, the official journal of the Japan Ethological Society, published by Springer.
  
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• A gene defect as a potential gateway for targeted prostate cancer therapy

  05-09-2016 06:00
  
  (EMBO) The loss of CHD1, one of the most frequently mutated genes in prostate tumors, sensitizes human prostate cancer cells to different drugs, including PARP inhibitors. This suggests CHD1 as a potential biomarker for targeted prostate cancer therapy. These are the results of a study published today in EMBO reports.
  
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• Baby sea otter to arrive at Vancouver Aquarium after found stranded in Washington

  05-09-2016 05:21 via cbc.ca
  
  Rialto, the baby sea otter, has been recovering at the Seattle Aquarium after being found stranded on a Washington beach, but will make his way to Vancouver later this month.
  
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• Pressure grows on UK to ratify Paris climate change deal

  05-09-2016 04:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Pressure is growing on the UK government to ratify the Paris climate change deal immediately.
  
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• Mary Rose shipwreck skulls go online in 3D

  05-09-2016 03:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  For the first time, skulls and other artefacts from the 1545 wreck of the Mary Rose warship are being exhibited online, as part of a project testing the limits of digital archaeology.
  
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• Fracking fight

  05-09-2016 01:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Grace Livingstone talks to members of Mapuche indigenous communities living near a fracking site in Argentina about their concerns for their health and their environment.
  
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