Science news

• SpaceX aims to resume launches in November, president says

  13-09-2016 23:44
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - SpaceX is aiming to resume flights in November following a launch pad fire that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and an Israeli communications satellite it was due to lift into orbit, the company’s president said on Tuesday.
  
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• Russian group Fancy Bears condemned over world doping agency hack

  13-09-2016 23:39
  A Russian cyber espionage group has been condemned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for hacking into its database and stealing information about US Olympic stars. WADA says the group, calling itself Fancy Bear, illegally gained access to confidential medical data, which they then leaked. Among the sports stars whose details were posted online were tennis players Serena and Venus Williams and top gymnast Simone Biles.
  
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• Would NASA's Journey to Mars Exist Without 'Star Trek'?

  13-09-2016 23:37
  
  NEW YORK —  In the fictional universe of "Star Trek," space crews set out on voyages seeking strange new worlds and unknown life, to boldly go where no man has gone before. "The most fundamental parallel between NASA and 'Star Trek' is the charter to explore and expand human knowledge beyond what we know now and to try to study, understand and communicate what the rest of the galaxy is like," Dave Lavery, NASA's program executive for solar system exploration, told Space.com.
  
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• Astronaut Scott Kelly's Year in Space to be Developed as Movie

  13-09-2016 23:37
  
  Sony Pictures on Monday (Sept. 12) secured the rights for a feature film based on "Endurance: My Year in Space and Our Journey to Mars," former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly's memoirs. Kelly spent 340 days on the International Space Station from March 2015 to March 2016 on his fourth, and final, record-setting spaceflight. Amy Pascal, former chair of Sony's motion pictures group, will co-produce the film under her Pascal Pictures banner with Rachel O'Connor.
  
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• Investigation: Unique Utah Zika case remains medical mystery

  13-09-2016 22:42
  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — After months of investigation, health officials still aren't sure how a Utah man caught the Zika virus after caring for his infected father in a transmission unlike others seen before, according to a new report released Tuesday.
  
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• Feds: Plan addresses impact of ocean noise on marine mammals

  13-09-2016 22:12
  PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The federal government says a new strategy to address the issue of noise in the ocean will better protect the safety of marine mammals.
  
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• Good vibrations: touch-based communication may be the future of wearable tech

  13-09-2016 21:06 via cbc.ca
  
  Most of us are spending more and more of our lives staring at screens. But one tech startup is bucking that trend, with a new wearable device called Moment. Instead of a screen, it communicates through your sense of touch.
  
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• [Research Resource] Chemical proteomic map of dimethyl fumarate-sensitive cysteines in primary human T cells

  13-09-2016 21:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Chemical proteomics analysis suggests the mechanism of action of a drug used to treat autoimmune diseases.
  
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• [Research Article] Targeting the kinase activities of ATR and ATM exhibits antitumoral activity in mouse models of MLL-rearranged AML

  13-09-2016 21:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Chemotherapy-resistant acute myeloid leukemia may respond to inhibition of ATR or ATM.
  
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• [Podcast] Science Signaling Podcast for 13 September 2016: DMF and the immune system

  13-09-2016 21:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Covalent modification of a kinase by the immunosuppressive drug DMF inhibits T cell activation.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] New connections: New hope for AML patients

  13-09-2016 21:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  New mechanistic insights into the development and therapeutic resistance of acute myeloid leukemia should help identify patients most likely to benefit from treatment.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] More roles for mitochondria in the immune response

  13-09-2016 21:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Macrophages remodel complexes in the electron transport chain of mitochondria to mediate appropriate immune responses to bacteria.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Long noncoding RNA tells myeloid cells how long to live

  13-09-2016 21:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A long noncoding RNA poises a proapoptotic gene for expression in myeloid cells.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Hypoxia limits IgG-producing B cells

  13-09-2016 21:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Naturally occurring variations in oxygen availability in germinal centers regulate antibody class switching in B cells.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] How bacteria induce animal metamorphosis

  13-09-2016 21:00 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Structurally complex bacterial signals and MAPK signaling in tubeworms are involved in interspecies control of metamorphosis.
  
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• Kauai’s native forest birds are headed toward extinction

  13-09-2016 21:00
  
  Kauai’s honeycreepers are losing their last refuges from mosquito-borne diseases that are spreading due to climate change. Some could become extinct within a decade.
  
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• Japanese Volcano Sakurajima Due for Major Eruption

  13-09-2016 20:53
  A Japanese volcano that last erupted in 1914 could be set to blow in the next few decades, new research suggests. The pool of liquid magma swelling beneath Sakurajima volcano is growing every year — a sign of a growing threat. "This big reservoir is growing, and it's growing at quite a fast rate," said study co-author James Hickey, a geophysical volcanologist at the University of Exeter's Camborne School of Mines in England.
  
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• Underwater video shows remains of HMS Terror

  13-09-2016 19:36 via cbc.ca
  
  Ship was lost in 1845 in a Nunavut bay
  
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• Could microwaves rid rail lines of leaves?

  13-09-2016 19:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A UK company has come up with a new technique to remove leaf residue from railway lines. The new microwave technology is being trialled.
  
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• This device can read the pages of a book without opening it

  13-09-2016 19:22
  
  Leave it to the great minds at MIT and Georgia Tech to figure out a way to read the pages of a book without actually opening it.
  
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• Protections rejected for American pika, other species

  13-09-2016 18:54
  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal officials have rejected a petition to give greater protections to the rabbit-like American pika, which researchers say is vanishing from mountainous areas of the West due to climate change.
  
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• Trees and the Wood Wide Web

  13-09-2016 18:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Forester Peter Wohlleben thinks trees talk to each other through their roots and fungal networks.
  
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• How trees use the Wood Wide Web.

  13-09-2016 18:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Forester Peter Wohlleben thinks trees talk to each other through their roots and fungal networks.
  
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• See where Clinton and Trump stand on science

  13-09-2016 18:25
  
  Science News looks at where presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump stand on seven key science issues, from genetic engineering to space exploration.
  
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• UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Canada threatened most often by oil, gas and mining

  13-09-2016 18:02 via cbc.ca
  
  Mining and oil and gas extraction account for nearly a third of threats to UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Canada over the last 30 years, according to the international organization.
  
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• Bees don't slack on the job, even when they are ill

  13-09-2016 17:34
  
  Scientists think the insects are ‘hardwired’ to search, no matter how they feel.
  
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• Skin cells might one day be fused with sperm to create babies

  13-09-2016 17:02
  
  The incredible result comes from working with mice.
  
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• Zika Can Cause Birth Defects in Monkeys Too

  13-09-2016 16:42
  Some monkeys can contract Zika virus in the womb and show signs of brain damage similar to those seen in human babies, according to a new study. The findings mark the first time that a monkey has shown signs of "congenital Zika syndrome" — the range of health problems linked with Zika virus infection in the womb. The results suggest that researchers may be able to develop a model of Zika virus infection in monkeys that could help with the development of vaccines or other approaches that wo
  
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• Hillary Clinton's Health: Can Pneumonia Really Occur in Summer?

  13-09-2016 16:39
  But while the illness may evoke images of cold weather, experts told Live Science that a late summer case of pneumonia is nothing surprising. Pneumonia, which is characterized by inflammation in the lungs, can be caused by bacteria, a virus or a combination of both, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease specialist and a senior associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Center for Health Security. Adalja has not treated Clinton.
  
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• Sugar Industry Tried to Bias Heart Research, Study Says

  13-09-2016 16:38
  The sugar industry may have attempted to bias heart disease research in self-serving ways, downplaying studies that implicated sugar consumption in heart disease, and instead placing the blame on fats, a new study said. In the study, researchers looked at correspondence that happened between the leaders of a sugar trade organization and heart disease researchers. The study focused on the circumstances surrounding the publication of a 1967 review article about the influences of dietary sugar and
  
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• Changing Face of Science: The Psychology of Face Transplants

  13-09-2016 16:38
  It's a harrowing experience just a few dozen people have endured: losing their faces to horrific injuries and then, against all odds, receiving new ones, through face transplant surgeries. The first of these patients, Isabelle Dinoire, has died, her doctors confirmed this week. Dinoire lost her life in April to cancer, perhaps related to the anti-rejection drugs that transplant recipients must take to prevent their immune systems from attacking their new tissue, news outlets reported.
  
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• Zika Pesticide Controversy: Is 'Naled' Dangerous to Human Health?

  13-09-2016 16:35
  
  To fight mosquitoes that may be carrying the Zika virus, officials in Miami-Dade County are now using aerial spraying, and this is stirring local controversy about the safety of the chemicals that are used in those sprays. The debate is over a pesticide called naled, which has been registered for use by the Environmental Protection Agency since 1959. The insecticide has been banned in Europe since 2012, however, which has made some locals nervous.
  
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• How Brangelina's Baby Bump Changed Image of Unwed Pregnant Stars

  13-09-2016 16:14
  People magazine has drastically changed the way it covers unwed pregnant celebrity couples, and it's largely because of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's relationship, new research finds. In the 1970s and 1980s, celebrities who got pregnant out of wedlock were often married before the child's birth, said study researcher Hanna Grol-Prokopczyk, an assistant professor of sociology at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. When People announced pregnancy news, it would also include a
  
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• Summer berries can't replace seal blubber for polar bears, say researchers

  13-09-2016 16:00 via cbc.ca
  
  The food polar bears consume when they're living off the ice doesn't give them much more energy than if they were eating nothing at all. A new study disputes the contention that the bears could adapt to a shorter ice season by eating more land-based calories.
  
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• Disputed Maya Codex Is Authentic, Scholars Say

  13-09-2016 15:51
  
  The authenticity of the Grolier Codex has been disputed for the last four decades. A group of researchers who revisited the rare Maya text now argue that there's no way it could be a forgery. If the 800-year-old Grolier Codex is indeed authentic, it would be the oldest known paper manuscript from the Americas, and one of just four Maya codices that are known today.
  
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• Floating farm could grow food on empty cargo ships

  13-09-2016 15:49
  
  London - About 90 percent of the world's goods are carried by sea, with more than 70 percent in shipping containers carrying everything from TVs to sportswear from Asia to the rest of the world. But the global imbalance in trade means most of these containers are empty on the return journey.
  
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• Lightning Nearly 3 Times as Deadly as Tornadoes This Year

  13-09-2016 15:48
  Death by lightning strike may seem rare, but lightning has killed nearly three times as many people this year as tornadoes have, the National Weather Service (NWS) reports. As of today (Sept. 12), 35 people have died from lightning strikes in the United States this year, the NWS said. In contrast, 12 people have died from tornadoes in 2016, the NWS reported.
  
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• It's official - today is the hottest September day since 1949

  13-09-2016 15:30
  
  But not everyone’s enjoying the rays.
  
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• Samsung's temporary Galaxy Note 7 fix: Only charge batteries to 60 per cent

  13-09-2016 14:41 via cbc.ca
  
  Samsung plans to issue a software update for its recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphones that will prevent them from overheating by limiting battery recharges to 60 per cent.
  
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• Samsung's temporary Galaxy Note 7 fix: Only charge batteries to 60%

  13-09-2016 14:41 via cbc.ca
  
  Samsung plans to issue a software update for its recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphones that will prevent them from overheating by limiting battery recharges to 60 per cent.
  
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• Can someone's walk really indicate how aggressive they are?

  13-09-2016 14:15
  
  A standard personality test called the “big five” was used to assess personality traits.
  
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• China says interests outweigh differences with Vietnam

  13-09-2016 13:40
  Common interests between China and Vietnam far outweigh differences, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Vietnam's prime minister on Tuesday, calling for their dispute in the South China Sea to be resolved through talks. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, where about $5 trillion worth of seaborne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims in the sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.
  
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• Gravitational pull 'has role in quakes'

  13-09-2016 13:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The gravitational forces responsible for high tides may also play a role in triggering major earthquakes, a study suggests.
  
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• Yacht sails through low-ice Arctic sea routes

  13-09-2016 13:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A project led by adventurer David Hempleman-Adams that aimed to sail the Arctic’s North East and North West passages in a single season has completed its quest.
  
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• Stormy Protostars Can Give Birth to Multi-Star Systems

  13-09-2016 13:09
  
  Interstellar gas and dust get in the way, plus it can take around 100,000 years for a star to form. Two models that describe the births of multiple-star systems rely on numerical simulations rather than observational evidence. One is turbulent fragmentation, which says that some type of turbulence within the core of a newly forming star causes multiple clumps of dense gas to separate at the center.
  
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• Hubble Telescope Captures Jaw-Dropping Beauty of Nearby Galaxy

  13-09-2016 13:09
  
  The LMC is one of the smaller satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way, and it's among a collection of galaxies known as the local group. This dazzling new Hubble image peers into a stellar nursery known as N159, which measures more than 150 light-years across and houses many hot, newborn stars. Within this stellar nursery lies a butterfly-shaped cosmic cloud known as the Papillon Nebula.
  
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• Inventor of Hepatitis C Cure Wins a Major Prize--and Turns to the Next Battle   

  13-09-2016 13:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Lasker Award winner Michael Sofia created a pill to fight an incurable virus. Now he is setting his sights on another
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• 206 of Cambodia's rare royal turtles released at new center

  13-09-2016 12:44
  PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — More than 200 of Cambodia's nearly extinct royal turtles were released Tuesday in muddy waters at a new breeding and conservation center that was built in hopes of keeping the national reptile from disappearing. 
  
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• What Do the Presidential Candidates Know About Science?

  13-09-2016 12:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Clinton, Trump and Stein answer 20 top questions about Science, Engineering, Technology, Health & Environmental Issues
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Shark numbers dwindle in Atlantic Canadian waters

  13-09-2016 11:30 via cbc.ca
  
  Fisheries and Oceans Canada researchers are concerned about the decline in the shark population in Atlantic Canadian waters, pointing to climate change and over-fishing as culprits.
  
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