Science news

• Strong alcohol policies can help prevent suicide

  12-09-2016 23:39
  Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in the United States in 2013. There is clear evidence that intoxication and chronic, heavy drinking are often associated with suicide. While alcohol policies are known to be effective in reducing excessive drinking, this review undertakes a critical look at the literature on the relationship between alcohol policies and suicide.
  
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• Initiative to restore one million corals launches in the caribbean and florida keys

  12-09-2016 23:39
  Research organizations are working on a coral conservation initiative that will enable coral restoration at unprecedented scales throughout the Caribbean and the Florida Keys.
  
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• Scientists discover antibodies that target holes in HIV's defenses

  12-09-2016 23:38
  A new study shows that 'holes' in HIV's defensive sugar shield could be important in designing an HIV vaccine.
  
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• Explaining why the universe can be 'transparent': Universe's reionization is based on a galaxy's dust content

  12-09-2016 23:38
  Scientists can explain why the universe has enough energy to become transparent. The study marks the first quantitative study of how the gas content within galaxies scales with the amount of interstellar dust.
  
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• Russia's Norilsk Nickel admits 'red river' responsibility

  12-09-2016 23:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Russian metals giant Norilsk Nickel admits one of its industrial plants is responsible for turning an Arctic river blood-red.
  
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• This man and his solar-powered tuk tuk have finally landed in the UK after an incredible 6,200 mile trip from India

  12-09-2016 22:32
  
  It’s been quite the journey.
  
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• Crash! Early Collision Could Explain How Earth Kept its Carbon

  12-09-2016 22:18
  
  The early Earth could have been hit by a Mercury-like planet embryo deep in its past, letting the planet keep hold of the carbon necessary for life, a new study suggests. The Experimental Petrology Rice Team — who study the origin, composition and structure of rocks at Rice University in Texas — re-created conditions inside Earth in the lab to help solve a long-standing mystery: how carbon-based life could have developed on Earth when early carbon would have boiled away or sunk to th
  
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• Suicide attempt a stronger predictor of completed suicide than previously thought

  12-09-2016 22:12
  While a prior history of suicide attempt is one of the strongest predictors of completed suicide, a new study finds it is more lethal than previously known.
  
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• Study results advance 'transposon theory of aging'

  12-09-2016 22:10
  Substantial new evidence that health becomes endangered when aging cells lose control of rogue elements of DNA called transposons has been provided by recent research.
  
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• Stress negatively affects chances of conception, science shows

  12-09-2016 22:10
  Women who reported feeling more stressed during their ovulatory window were approximately 40-percent less likely to conceive during that month than other less stressful months, research shows.
  
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• Could quality of sleep have to do with sex differences?

  12-09-2016 22:10
  You may have noticed that women are more prone to sleep disturbances than men. They are, for instance, up to twice as likely to suffer from insomnia than men. Could there be a link between the body clock that regulates sleep and being a female or a male? Yes, according to a new study.
  
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• Breakthrough in genetic modification of grains

  12-09-2016 22:10
  Genetic modification of plants might be controversial in commercial applications, but it is undeniably useful for research purposes. Despite years of effort, it has been remarkably difficult to develop efficient methods for transformation of grain crops. New work reports on a method to genetically modify maize and other grains.
  
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• EPA puzzled by mercury amount at Vegas middle school

  12-09-2016 22:09
  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Investigators say they're puzzled by the significant amount of mercury found at a Las Vegas middle school, days after a few dribbles of the neurotoxin was first discovered and forced more than a thousand students into a quarantine that lasted overnight.
  
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• Brazil ratifies Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gases

  12-09-2016 21:46
  RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Brazilian government on Monday ratified its participation in the Paris Agreement on climate change, a significant step by Latin America's largest emitter of greenhouse gases that could spur other countries to move forward.
  
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• Whirling disease confirmed in Bow River, CFIA says

  12-09-2016 21:22 via cbc.ca
  
  Whirling disease, discovered for the first time in Canada in late August, has now spread to the Bow River, Canadian officials confirmed Monday.
  
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• Deadly whirling disease found in Bow River fish, officials say

  12-09-2016 21:22 via cbc.ca
  
  Whirling disease, discovered for the first time in Canada in late August, has now spread to the Bow River, Canadian officials confirmed Monday.
  
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• A plane is going to fly over the Atlantic to try and make our weather forecasts better

  12-09-2016 21:20
  
  Because science.
  
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• Could we be in store for the hottest September day in 50 years?

  12-09-2016 21:18
  
  It sure looks that way.
  
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• Chemists offer enhanced 3D look inside batteries

  12-09-2016 21:17
  A team of chemists has developed a method to yield highly detailed, three-dimensional images of the insides of batteries. The technique, based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), offers an enhanced approach to monitor the condition of these power sources in real time.
  
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• Placenta plays pivotal 'umpire' role to influence pregnancy outcomes

  12-09-2016 21:16
  The amount of nutrients transported to the fetus by the placenta adjusts according to both the fetal drive for growth, and the mother’s physical ability to provide, new research suggests.
  
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• Genetic causes of small head size share common mechanism

  12-09-2016 21:16
  Microcephaly is a rare disorder that stunts brain development in utero, resulting in babies with abnormally small heads. The Zika virus is one environmental cause of this devastating condition, but genetic defects can cause microcephaly, too. A new study examining three genetic causes of microcephaly in mice suggests one common mechanism through which the disorder could arise. The results could enhance understanding of microcephaly and other neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism.
  
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• Evidence of 'hidden hearing loss' in college-age human subjects

  12-09-2016 21:16
  Researchers have, for the first time, linked symptoms of difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments with evidence of cochlear synaptopathy, a condition known as 'hidden hearing loss,' in college-age human subjects with normal hearing sensitivity.
  
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• Moon rocks may have misled asteroid bombardment dating

  12-09-2016 21:00
  
  Discrepancies in moon rock dating muddy Late Heavy Bombardment debate.
  
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• Mars rover views spectacular layered rock formations

  12-09-2016 20:51
  The layered geologic past of Mars is revealed in stunning detail in new color images returned by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which is currently exploring the "Murray Buttes" region of lower Mount Sharp. The new images arguably rival photos taken in U.S. National Parks.
  
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• Solar tuk-tuk arrives in UK after road trip from India

  12-09-2016 20:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An engineer arrives in the UK in his solar-powered tuk-tuk seven months after setting off from India on a 6,200 mile (9,978 km) journey.
  
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• Global food security aided by combining different methods

  12-09-2016 20:30
  Researchers are closer to helping producers better meet global food demand, now that they've combined simulation and statistical methods to help them predict how temperature affects wheat crops worldwide.
  
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• Low statin use in people with diabetes despite cardioprotective effects, guidelines

  12-09-2016 20:28
  Nearly 2 out of 5 people with diabetes who could benefit from statin therapy to lower their risk of future heart attack, stroke and related death were not prescribed one, according to new research. The analysis also showed wide variation in statin use across cardiology practices included in the study.
  
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• All in the timing: Mapping auditory brain cells for maximum hearing precision

  12-09-2016 20:19
  The specific synaptic and post-synaptic characteristics that allow auditory neurons to compute with temporal precision have now been revealed by scientists, ultimately revealing the optimal arrangement of both input and electrical properties needed for neurons to process their 'preferred' frequency with maximum precision.
  
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• Should gay candidates come out of the (political) closet? Study says yes

  12-09-2016 20:16
  A political science researcher finds that the sexual orientation of LGBT candidates no longer poses an impediment to being elected to public office -- and, in some cases, may actually help them win.
  
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• First estimates of judicial costs of crime, from homicide to theft

  12-09-2016 20:16
  When considering the costs of crime, most discussion focuses on the price of incarceration of criminals and the cost faced by victims of criminal activity. A new study focuses on the cost of individual crimes on the judicial system, aiming to provide taxpayers a broader picture of the financial impact of major crimes and potential savings from crime reduction measures.
  
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• Financial aid is not the answer to college affordability, research finds

  12-09-2016 20:16
  Why are some students, especially those who are first generation college students or from low-income households, not applying for or consistently receiving financial aid? According to new research, the aid system must be redesigned to earn the trust of students and their families and to help them believe that it can make college affordable.
  
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• Exercise app reduces incontinence

  12-09-2016 20:16
  Urinary leakage whilst coughing and jumping is common in women. Using a self-administered treatment via a mobile app for three months reduced symptoms, led to fewer leakages and improved quality of life.
  
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• A look inside volcanic flows

  12-09-2016 20:16
  When it comes to volcanoes, two separate transport areas have been well-studied in new research: a non-turbulent underflow and a fully turbulent, ash cloud region at the top of the flow. But volcanic flows apparently have a previously unrecognized third zone where the currents meet.
  
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• How beardedness affects women's attraction to men

  12-09-2016 20:15
  New research suggests that women tend to find beardedness attractive when judging long-term relationships, perhaps as a signal of formidability among males and the potential to provide direct benefits, such as enhanced fertility and survival, to females.
  
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• Eastern forests use up nitrogen in soil during earlier, greener springs

  12-09-2016 20:15
  A warming climate is causing earlier springs and later autumns in eastern forests of the United States, lengthening the growing season for trees and potentially changing how forests function. Scientists have found that in years with early springs, trees use more nitrogen to grow than is naturally provided in soil, which could impact tree growth rates and the amount of carbon dioxide forests take out of the atmosphere.
  
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• Chemists make strides to simplify drug design and synthesis

  12-09-2016 20:15
  Synthetic chemists discover a one-step solution to make nitrogen-laden molecular precursors for the preparation of drugs, agrochemicals and other bioactive molecules.
  
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• Trees recognize roe deer by saliva

  12-09-2016 19:27
  Trees are able to distinguish whether one of their buds or shoots has been randomly torn off or has been eaten by a roe deer. In the case of roe deer browsing, they activate corresponding defense mechanisms.
  
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• Study finds STEM workers more likely to find jobs in denser STEM labor markets

  12-09-2016 19:27
  In one of the first attempts to understand the geography of STEM degree-job matching, a new study finds that matching is much more likely in dense rather than in large STEM labor markets.
  
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• Ancient mythological statues unearthed in Jordan

  12-09-2016 19:27
  Researchers have unearthed more clues about the ancient Nabatean city of Petra in Jordan.
  
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• Protein-like structures from the primordial soup

  12-09-2016 19:25
  Experiments have shown that it is remarkably easy for protein-like, two-dimensional structures -- amyloids -- to form from basic building blocks. This discovery supports the researchers' hypothesis that primal life could have evolved from amyloids such as these.
  
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• Next-generation medical treatments and industrial applications such as removing pesticides from waterways

  12-09-2016 19:25
  An international study will help underpin the development of next-generation medical treatments and industrial applications such as removing pesticides from waterways.
  
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• Between a rock and a hard place: Biologists unearth sandstone-excavating bees

  12-09-2016 19:25
  Scientists describe the uncommon xeric bees that expend great effort to carve their nests in sandstone. Researchers discovered the bees nesting in sandstone nearly 40 years ago at two sites in Utah's San Rafael Desert, collected samples of the nests and reared the inhabitants to emergence. But this work was stored away and largely untouched until researchers examined the samples a few years ago and discovered five new nesting sites ranging from Ancestral Puebloan sandstone cliff dwellings at Col
  
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• Alzheimer's beginnings prove to be a sticky situation

  12-09-2016 19:25
  Laser technology has revealed a common trait of Alzheimer's disease -- a sticky situation that could lead to new targets for medicinal treatments. The neurodegenerative disease affects an estimated 5 million Americans, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer's or a form of dementia, it claims more lives than breast and prostate cancers combined, and its incidence is rising.
  
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• Author Q&A: Margot Lee Shetterly Reveals NASA's 'Hidden Figures'

  12-09-2016 18:47
  
  More than a half century after the first NASA astronauts launched into space, one might think that there are no sweeping narratives left untold about the early years of the U.S. space program. But there was at least one history remaining to be written: that of the women, and in particular the African-American women, who worked as the "human computers" at NASA's original research laboratory and provided the calculations necessary for sending American spacecraft and astronauts into space and to th
  
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• Sir John Franklin's long-lost ship HMS Terror found

  12-09-2016 18:46 via cbc.ca
  
  The HMS Terror, one of Sir John Franklin's two ships lost in the doomed 1845 Franklin Expedition, has been found in a Nunavut bay.
  
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• Sir John Franklin's long-lost HMS Terror found

  12-09-2016 18:46 via cbc.ca
  
  HMS Terror, one of Sir John Franklin's two ships lost in the doomed 1845 Franklin Expedition, has been found in Nunavut's Terror Bay, over 90 kilometres south of where the ship was believed to have been abandoned.
  
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• Sir John Franklin's long-lost HMS Terror believed found

  12-09-2016 18:46 via cbc.ca
  
  An object believed to be HMS Terror, one of Sir John Franklin's two ships lost in the doomed 1845 Franklin Expedition, has been found in Nunavut's Terror Bay, over 90 kilometres south of where the ship was believed to have been abandoned.
  
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• Blue Origin Announces Big 'New Glenn' Rocket for Satellite & Crew Launches

  12-09-2016 18:45
  
  Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos announced this morning (Sept. 12) a massive new reusable rocket family in development for his private spaceflight company Blue Origin. The rocket, called New Glenn, will be used to launch satellites and people into space, according to Bezos. In a newsletter from Blue Origin, Bezos unveiled an artist's concept of two- and three-stage versions of the New Glenn rocket.
  
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• Weight loss drug's effect on the brain revealed in study

  12-09-2016 18:28
  A weight-loss drug dampened the response to food cues in regions of the brain associated with attention and emotion, leading to decreases in caloric intake, weight and body mass index (BMI), a team has reported. In the first study of the drug lorcaserin in the human brain, the research revealed the mechanism underlying the drug’s efficacy and provides insight into which individuals may benefit most from the medication.
  
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• New technology puts solar power to work all night long

  12-09-2016 18:28
  Current thermal energy storage systems for solar power plants rely on materials of low energy density and thermal conductivity, requiring more material at greater cost to meet storage requirements. To combat this challenge, researchers designed an inexpensive thermal energy storage system that will be significantly smaller with over 20 times better thermal performance than current systems.
  
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