Science news

• Space Station Crew Returns to Earth Tonight: How to Watch Live

  06-09-2016 23:51
  
  After spending six months (172 days) in space, three space station crew members are preparing to return to Earth today (Sept. 6) — and you can watch their departure, descent and landing live here on Space.com.
  
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• Tiny 'fitbits' to keep tabs on the body from within

  06-09-2016 23:26
  
  BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) - Scientists are developing dust-sized wireless sensors implanted inside the body to track neural activity in real-time, offering a potential new way to monitor or treat a range of conditions including epilepsy and control next-generation prosthetics.
  
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• NASA asteroid probe may find clues to origins of life on Earth

  06-09-2016 23:25
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A U.S. space probe was cleared for launch on Thursday to collect and return samples from an asteroid in hopes of learning more about the origins of life on Earth and perhaps elsewhere in the solar system, NASA said on Tuesday.
  
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• Feds take most humpback whales off endangered species list

  06-09-2016 22:55
  HONOLULU (AP) — Federal authorities are taking most humpback whales off the endangered species list.
  
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• Electric fans might may make seniors hotter in extreme heat

  06-09-2016 21:52
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — True or false: Electric fans are a cheap and effective way to stay cool during extreme heat waves. A tiny new experiment in older adults suggests the answer may not be as simple as it seems.
  
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• Spacecom CEO wants 'several safe flights' before using SpaceX again

  06-09-2016 21:32
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - The chief executive of Israeli satellite operator Space Communication Ltd said on Tuesday he wants to see "several safe flights" from SpaceX before using Elon Musk's space firm again to launch one of his company's satellites.
  
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• U.S. says 'words matter' after Obama, Duterte meeting cancelled

  06-09-2016 21:26
  (Note: paragraph 2 contains language that may offend some readers) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's planned meeting with his Philippine counterpart was cancelled because the tone of the Philippine leader's rhetoric raised questions about the chances for a productive talks, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday. ...
  
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• [Research Article] MuSK is a BMP co-receptor that shapes BMP responses and calcium signaling in muscle cells

  06-09-2016 21:25 via stke.sciencemag.org
  In addition to organizing the neuromuscular junction, the receptor tyrosine kinase MuSK is also a co-receptor for BMPs in developing muscle.
  
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• [Research Article] Familial Alzheimer's disease-associated presenilin 1 mutants promote γ-secretase cleavage of STIM1 to impair store-operated Ca2+ entry

  06-09-2016 21:25 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Excess cleavage of STIM1 may underlie calcium homeostasis defects that contribute to memory loss in Alzheimer's disease.
  
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• [Research Article] AML suppresses hematopoiesis by releasing exosomes that contain microRNAs targeting c-MYB

  06-09-2016 21:25 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Exosomes shed from acute myeloid leukemia cells suppress the expression of a hematopoietic transcription factor in the bone marrow.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Longer life through cysteine sulfenylation

  06-09-2016 21:25 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Cysteine sulfenylation of the kinase and RNase IRE-1 induced by reactive oxygen species prolongs lifespan of worms.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Good for allergies, bad for lung metastasis

  06-09-2016 21:25 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A family of oxygen sensors prevents T cells in the lungs from reacting to innocuous foreign antigens and infiltrating cancer cells.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Forgotten but not lost

  06-09-2016 21:25 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The ability to recall events from only about age 4 is the result of an NMDAR subunit switch-mediated maturation of the hippocampus.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Drugging RAS indirectly

  06-09-2016 21:25 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Small molecules that target KSR inhibit oncogenic Ras signaling.
  
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• No more tangled wires? Apple may say goodbye to headphone jack with new iPhone

  06-09-2016 21:24 via cbc.ca
  
  When Apple shows off its latest iPhone tomorrow, it will answer a question it hasn't had to address in years: "What's it putting in the box?" (Besides the iPhone itself, that is.)
  
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• Can Apple's new iPhone make listening easy without a headphone jack?

  06-09-2016 21:24 via cbc.ca
  
  When Apple shows off its latest iPhone tomorrow, it will answer a question it hasn't had to address in years: "What's it putting in the box?" (Besides the iPhone itself, that is.)
  
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• Arctic Ocean shipping routes 'to open for months'

  06-09-2016 21:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Shipping routes across the Arctic are going to open up significantly this century even with a best-case reduction in CO2 emissions, a new study suggests.
  
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• Nano-lipid particles from edible ginger could improve drug delivery for colon cancer, study finds

  06-09-2016 20:57
  Edible ginger-derived nano-lipids created from a specific population of ginger nanoparticles show promise for effectively targeting and delivering chemotherapeutic drugs used to treat colon cancer, according to a study.
  
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• Beat the stock market by satisfying customers

  06-09-2016 20:57
  Satisfy your customers and win in the stock market, says a new study by a team of researchers who found positive stock returns on customer satisfaction far out-distance competitive market measures that have been in play for more than half a century.
  
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• A tail of gene expression

  06-09-2016 20:57
  Messenger molecules that convey instructions from DNA to protein factories for protein synthesis require special molecular tails for their stability and function. Now, scientists have found that many messenger molecules in the flatworm Schmidtea mediterranea have alternate forms that vary in the lengths and positions of their tails.
  
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• Flowers critical link to bacteria transmission in wild bees

  06-09-2016 20:56
  Flowers are a hot spot of transmission of bacteria that end up in the microbiome of wild bees, new research has found. The work shows for the first time that multiple flower and wild bee species share several of the same types of bacteria. Bees therefore obtain both food and bacteria from flowers. These bacteria may play important roles in bee health.
  
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• Effect of summer melt on Greenland ice sheet

  06-09-2016 20:56
  Operation IceBridge, NASA's airborne survey of polar ice, is flying in Greenland for the second time this year, to observe the impact of the summer melt season on the ice sheet.
  
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• Project investigates malnutrition in children, liver impairments

  06-09-2016 20:55
  A gene, PEX2, has been identified as an essential requirement for the loss of peroxisomes in cells cultured without enough nutrients. The study's findings contribute to a project on novel treatment strategies for severely malnourished children.
  
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• Extending primary care hours is linked to fewer emergency department visits

  06-09-2016 20:55
  Keeping primary care practices open for more hours on nights and weekends was linked to a reduction in patient-initiated emergency department visits for minor problems, according to a new study.
  
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• There's no such thing as a male or female brain, neuroscientist claims

  06-09-2016 20:41
  
  Gina Rippon on why she believes gender shouldn’t be the focus of studies into the human brain.
  
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• University of Saskatchewan receives $77M for water research in Canada

  06-09-2016 19:41 via cbc.ca
  
  The federal government is giving the University of Saskatchewan more than $77 million dollars to study water issues across the country.
  
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• Structure of mammalian protein complex of respiratory chain solved at atomic level

  06-09-2016 19:16
  The mitochondrial Complex I plays a central role in cellular respiration and energy metabolism. The ~1 Megadalton L-shaped protein complex is the largest protein assembly of the respiratory chain and now the largest asymmetric membrane protein assembly solved to date.
  
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• Rumor patterns on social media during emergencies

  06-09-2016 19:16
  Chat and social media apps like WhatsApp and Facebook have drastically sped up the pace of rumor proliferation during emergencies. This research was conducted in real-time to identify the rumors that had spread on WhatsApp in Israel, but mainly to trace their source and the people disseminating them.
  
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• Early study shows malaria vaccine efficacy may improve by changing dosing schedule

  06-09-2016 19:16
  Researchers recently published results of a phase II study which demonstrated that by changing the dosing regimen, the efficacy of malaria vaccine candidate, RTS,S/AS01, was improved to approximately 87 percent, compared with 63 percent using the current standard regimen.
  
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• TB can persist in lungs despite treatment, researchers find

  06-09-2016 19:14
  It has been known that the microbe that causes TB, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, can persist in the lungs even after patient tissue samples test negative for the bacteria. In new research, scientists have found through the use of positron emission tomography/computerized tomography scanning that TB lesions can remain in the lungs long after treatment with antibiotics has been completed.
  
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• Study demonstrates seasonality of bird migration in response to environmental cues

  06-09-2016 19:14
  For the first time, a study shows that remote sensing data from weather surveillance radar and on-the-ground data from the eBird citizen science database both yield robust indices of migration timing, also known as migration phenology. These indices can now be used to address the critical gap in our knowledge regarding the cues that migrants use for fine tuning their migration timing in response to climate.
  
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• Similarities found between how ancient and modern fish survived youth

  06-09-2016 19:14
  The discovery of a group of young, prehistoric fish fossils provides some insights into the way the extinct creatures survived their youth -- and how fish today might be similar to them.
  
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• Over-the-counter head lice treatments are likely to fail

  06-09-2016 19:14
  A recent review on head lice treatments available in the United States described a marked decline in the effectiveness of permethrin/synergized pyrethrins (collectively pyrethroids), likely due to resistance arising from widespread and indiscriminate use over 30 years.
  
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• Human spatial memory is made up of numerous individual maps

  06-09-2016 19:14
  Spatial memory is something we use and need in our everyday lives. Time for morning coffee? We head straight to the kitchen and know where to find the coffee machine and cups. To do this, we require a mental image of our home and its contents. If we didn't have this information stored in our memory, we would have to search through the entire house every time we needed something. Exactly how this mental processing works is not clear. Do we use one big mental map of all of the objects we have in o
  
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• Flycatcher genome sheds light on causes of mutations

  06-09-2016 19:14
  A research team has determined the complete genetic code of 11 members of a flycatcher pedigree. Doing this, they have for the first time been able to estimate the rate of new mutations in birds. When they combined the new results with mutation rate estimates from other organisms, a clear pattern emerged: The more common a species is, the lower its mutation rate.
  
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• Screening for suicidal thoughts, behaviors declines with patient age

  06-09-2016 19:13
  Documented screening for self-harm, suicide ideation, or suicide attempts declined with age, from approximately 81 percent in younger age groups to a low of 68 percent among those aged greater than or equal to 85 years, shows a recent analysis of patient charts from eight different emergency departments.
  
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• Post-mortem assessment guidelines for vascular cognitive impairment

  06-09-2016 19:13
  The first validated set of pathological criteria for assessing the likelihood that cognitive impairment was caused by vascular disease has been outlined by new research.
  
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• Farming adaptations needed to combat climate change to impact crop yields in 2050

  06-09-2016 19:13
  As the globe continues to spin toward a future with higher temperatures, crop yields will likely decrease if farmers do not adapt to new management or technology practices. Establishing new strategies is particularly difficult for sorghum farmers in West Africa where seed varieties and fertilizer are scarce, while drought and unpredictable rainfall are prevalent. Using more heat-resistant sorghum varieties may yield the most benefits, research shows.
  
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• Wearable integrated thermocells based on gel electrolytes use body heat as power source

  06-09-2016 19:11
  Electronics integrated into textiles are gaining in popularity: Systems like smartphone displays in a sleeve or sensors to detect physical performance in athletic wear have already been produced. The main problem with these systems tends to be the lack of a comfortable, equally wearable source of power. Scientists are now aiming to obtain the necessary energy from body heat. They have now introduced a flexible, wearable thermocell based on two different gel electrolytes.
  
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• Nanotubes morphed into tougher carbon for spacecraft, satellites

  06-09-2016 19:11
  Researchers turn nanotubes into nanodiamonds and other forms of carbon by smashing them into a target at hypervelocity. The results will help in the design of light, strong materials for aerospace applications.
  
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• Zika virus may persist in eyes: Disease may spread from infected eyes

  06-09-2016 19:09
  Zika virus is capable of infecting the eye, according to a new study. The study, in mice, helps explain why some people with Zika virus develop eye disease, and suggests that contact with infected eyes may play a role in spreading the disease.
  
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• Cesarean delivery may lead to increased risk of obesity among offspring

  06-09-2016 19:09
  Individuals born by cesarean delivery were 15 percent more likely to become obese as children than individuals born by vaginal birth -- and the increased risk may persist through adulthood, according to a large new study.
  
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• Intervention addresses pediatric patient families' social needs

  06-09-2016 19:07
  An intervention that paired caregivers with a navigator to help address the social needs of families of pediatric patients was associated with decreased needs reported by the families and improved overall child health status, according to an article.
  
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