Science news

• Cancer Research Aided by NASA's Space Exploration

  20-09-2016 22:33
  
  Scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) use complex machine learning algorithms to identify similarities among galaxies that may otherwise be overlooked, NASA officials said in a statement. However, analyzing a biopsy specimen for biomarkers is not the only way in which JPL's complex machine learning algorithms can be used in the medical field.
  
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• NASA's CORAL Mission Turns Its Eyes to Australia's Great Barrier Reef

  20-09-2016 22:32
  
  The agency's aptly titled CORAL mission (short for COral Reef Airborne Laboratory) will study four major coral-reef systems using data gathered by an instrument mounted in the belly of an airplane. The CORAL team set up camp in Australia earlier this month, and after some bad-weather days, the first science flights over the Great Barrier Reef took place Sept. 9, a NASA representative told Space.com.
  
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• First Space Shuttle Astronauts mark STS-1, STS-2 35th Anniversaries

  20-09-2016 22:32
  
  NASA's first space shuttle launch, 35 years ago, demonstrated that a winged orbiter could lift off like a rocket and land like an airplane, able to fly again. For the two astronauts who flew on that second mission — the world's first launch of a "used" orbital spacecraft — that maiden mission, crewed by John Young and Bob Crippen, also cleared a large hurdle for the space shuttle flights that followed, beginning with their own. "It was a great confidence builder that Crip and John fl
  
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• Experiment to See the Dawn of Galaxies Gets Big Funding Boost

  20-09-2016 22:32
  
  What did the universe look like as the very first stars and galaxies blazed into existence? The Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), also known as the "Cosmic Dawn" telescope, will use radio waves to study the hydrogen atoms that filled the universe around the time that the first stars began to form. The Nation Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) announced last week that the National Science Foundation approved $9.5 million in funding to expand HERA.
  
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• Cosmic 'Echoes' Reveal Stars Devoured by Black Holes

  20-09-2016 22:32
  
  Monster black holes can be millions of times more massive than the sun. The two new studies examine how surrounding dust absorbs and re-emits the light from those flares, like a cosmic echo, according to a statement from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
  
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• Peru's Kuczynski voices concern at U.N. about Venezuela crisis

  20-09-2016 22:27
  By Hugh Bronstein UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Peru's president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that his government is concerned about what he called the critical economic and social situation in Venezuela, citing shortfalls of food and medicine. It was the latest in a series of diplomatic blows to Venezuela, a member of OPEC that is suffering through a major economic crisis with food supplies depleted and triple-digit inflation. "It is unavoidable that I
  
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• Activity trackers fall short in weight-loss trial

  20-09-2016 21:57
  
  In a two-year study, wearable activity monitors didn’t help young adults lose more weight.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Feast and famine, sickness and health

  20-09-2016 21:17 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Glucose metabolism differentially affects tissue responses to inflammation in viral and bacterial disease.
  
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• [Research Article] The apo-structure of the leucine sensor Sestrin2 is still elusive

  20-09-2016 21:17 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The unliganded Sestrin2 structure awaits discovery.
  
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• [Research Article] Saltational evolution of the heterotrimeric G protein signaling mechanisms in the plant kingdom

  20-09-2016 21:17 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Rapid diversification of the XLG family of Gα proteins may have enabled plants to adapt to the variable land environment.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Reversible acetylation in brassinosteroid signaling

  20-09-2016 21:17 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Deacetylation of the kinase BIN2 by HDA6 promotes brassinosteroid signaling in plants.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] HDAC inhibitors in solid tumors and blood cancers

  20-09-2016 21:17 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Strategies using HDAC inhibitors-and overcoming resistance to them-may improve clinical outcome for some cancer patients.
  
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• [Editorial Guide] Unveiling the molecular details of plant signaling

  20-09-2016 21:17 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Signaling research that leads to the molecular understanding of plant physiology is necessary to feed the world.
  
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• Peru's Kuczynski voices concern about Venezuela food, medicine shortages

  20-09-2016 21:17
  Peru's president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that his government is concerned about what he called the critical economic and social situation in Venezuela, citing shortfalls of food and medicine. Venezuela, a member of OPEC, is suffering through a major economic crisis that has depleted food supplies and led to triple-digit inflation. "It is unavoidable that I mention our concern for the very critical political, economic and social situation that our
  
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• Big telcos must provide small ISPs access to their fibre networks, says CRTC

  20-09-2016 20:42 via cbc.ca
  
  The national telecom regulator has officially implemented new rules that industry watchers predict will lead to cheaper Internet rates.
  
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• The sun isn’t the only light source behind that summer tan

  20-09-2016 20:30
  
  About 99.999% of the light that creates a suntan comes from the sun; the rest comes from the Big Bang and galaxies throughout the universe.
  
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• Earth smashes yet another heat record; 16th month in a row

  20-09-2016 19:58
  Another month, another global heat record smashed. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says August's temperature of 61.74 degrees (16.52 Celsius) was the 16th month in a row that Earth ...
  
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• Driverless highway from Vancouver to Seattle proposed

  20-09-2016 19:30 via cbc.ca
  
  Vancouver and Seattle should be connected by a driverless highway, according to some high-tech entrepreneurs.
  
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• New technology promises to wirelessly read human emotion

  20-09-2016 19:12 via cbc.ca
  
  How are you feeling right now? Soon, your Wi-Fi router may be able to tell. Computer scientists have developed a new technique to measure human emotions wirelessly. CBC Radio technology columnist Dan Misener explains how.
  
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• Bangkok: Monitor lizards overrun Lumpini Park

  20-09-2016 18:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A park in Bangkok has been overrun by monitor lizards.
  
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• Einstein's 'spooky action' a reality as scientists achieve quantum teleportation

  20-09-2016 18:31
  
  Unlike the Star Trek teleporter, quantum teleportation can’t transfer physical matter from one place to another.
  
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• Meet Earth's indestructible micro-beast

  20-09-2016 18:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Meet the planet's hardiest animal - the tardigrade - that has just revealed a genetic secret that could help protect human cells.
  
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• Primordial continental crust re‑created in lab

  20-09-2016 18:10
  
  Compressing rocks from an ocean plateau at high temperatures and pressures re-creates the formation of Earth’s first continental crust.
  
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• Survival secret of 'earth's hardiest animal' revealed

  20-09-2016 18:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A gene from an almost indestructible microscopic creature could provide "radiation shield" for human cells, scientists find.
  
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• Radioactive water leaks into Florida aquifer thanks to giant sinkhole

  20-09-2016 17:45 via cbc.ca
  
  Attorney with Earthjustice, Bradley Marshall, says the waste water is pouring into an aquifer that is "the drinking water source for most people in Florida."
  
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• Bouncing deer spotted by walker on beach in Poole

  20-09-2016 17:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A deer has been filmed bouncing along a beach in Poole Harbour.
  
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• Invasive Asian Hornet spotted in Britain for first time, experts confirm

  20-09-2016 17:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An invasive hornet that kills honey bees is spotted in Britain for the first time, experts confirm.
  
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• Dinosaur's Dark Coloring Helped It Hide in the Shadowy Forest

  20-09-2016 17:22
  
  The 120-million-year-old dinosaur, a Triceratops relative known as Psittacosaurus, had a dark-colored backside and a light underside, along with a splash of spots and stripes on its body, including its back legs, the researchers said. Creatures with countershading can use their coloring as camouflage when they're in a shadowy area, such as a forest. Given the Psittacosaurus's coloring, it's likely that the beast lived in an area with "diffuse illumination" such as a forest, the researchers wrote
  
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• Wireless signals can detect your feelings with new device

  20-09-2016 17:21 via cbc.ca
  
  A new device developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology can detect a person's emotions using wireless signals reflecting off a person's body to measure human behaviour
  
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• Could Massive White Cliffs Be Forming Beneath Antarctica's Ocean?

  20-09-2016 17:20
  
  The White Cliffs of Dover, the steep, chalky cliffs that fringe England's southeastern coastline, formed about 100 million years ago thanks to a "Goldilocks" set of ocean conditions, new research suggests. What's more, a massive new set of cliffs could be forming right now in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica as tiny algae shed their calcium-laden shells. "While we don't have the great cliffs of the Southern Ocean, there is solid evidence that the calcite is making it to the seafloor," William
  
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• How Astrophysicist Neil Tyson Got His Kid to Test the Tooth Fairy

  20-09-2016 17:17
  It's A-OK to captivate your child with the story of the tooth fairy, right? Nope, not if it entails telling a big, fat whopper, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson told "The Late Late Show with James Corden" early Thursday morning (Sept. 15). "We're not going to lie to them," Tyson said to Corden.
  
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• Rare Sea Life Found in Mysterious Underwater 'Mountains'

  20-09-2016 17:16
  
  Scientists recently traveled thousands of miles below the ocean's surface to explore underwater mountain ranges of cone-shaped dormant and active volcanoes with peaks rising 9,843 feet (3,000 meters) above the seafloor off the coast of Hawaii. Living along these seamounts, Conservation International researchers spied enough quirky and unusual marine life to fill a Dr. Seuss book. Their findings provide a window into some of the most mysterious spots in the ocean: Tens of thousands of seamounts e
  
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• 'Fault in Our Stars' Couple: Why Cystic Fibrosis Shortens Lives

  20-09-2016 16:55
  Dalton Prager, a young man who received national attention because both he and his wife had cystic fibrosis, died this weekend of the disease at age 25. Because they both had cystic fibrosis, they were warned against ever meeting in person, since two people with the condition can spread bacteria to each other, which can result in life-threatening infections. But the pair met anyway, and had a five-year marriage before Dalton's death on Saturday (Sept. 17), CNN said.
  
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• Depression During Pregnancy Linked to Gestational Diabetes

  20-09-2016 16:54
  Women in the study who reported feeling depressed early in pregnancy were more likely to develop gestational diabetes later in pregnancy compared with those who did not report depression early in pregnancy, according to the study, from researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The findings suggest that "depression and gestational diabetes may occur together," Stefanie Hinkle, a population health researcher at the NICHD and the lead author of the study,
  
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• Addiction's Not Adorable: Babies Less Cute to Opioid Users

  20-09-2016 16:54
  In the study, people with an opioid dependence who viewed images of cute babies didn't show any activity in the part of the brain linked to reward. However, when the same individuals were given medications to block the effects of opioids and then asked to repeat the experiment, the individuals' reward centers lit up, according to the study, presented today (Sept. 19) at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress in Vienna, Austria. People's perceptions of cuteness may have effects
  
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• Want to Quit Drinking? Abstinence Works Best

  20-09-2016 16:53
  Some people with alcohol dependence may want to try to learn to control their drinking, with the help of a treatment program, rather than give it up entirely. An estimated 15.7 million Americans ages 12 and up had an alcohol use disorder in 2015, according to a recent federal report. People are considered to have an alcohol use disorder if, for example, they have a difficult time controlling drinking, continue to drink even when it causes problems, develop a tolerance to alcohol or experience wi
  
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• 'Super Sleepers' May Actually Be Sleep Deprived

  20-09-2016 16:50
  However, the new results show that these people's real-life functioning may actually be affected by the shortage of sleep even though they report feeling just fine, said study co-author Paula Williams, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Utah. Originally published on Live Science.
  
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• Head transplants could be possible by next year

  20-09-2016 16:35
  
  Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero claims to have made a breakthrough.
  
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• Google's next smartphone expected at Oct. 4 event

  20-09-2016 16:20 via cbc.ca
  
  Google announced that it will be holding an event Oct. 4 in San Francisco, where it's widely expected to announce its new smartphones.
  
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• Russia says Syrian aid convoy caught fire, was not shot up

  20-09-2016 16:07
  The Russian Defence Ministry on Tuesday rejected assertions that an aid convoy near Aleppo had been shelled or struck from the air the previous day, saying it had caught fire instead. The United Nations suspended all aid shipments into Syria on Tuesday after what it said was a deadly attack on the convoy carrying humanitarian supplies, as a week-old U.S.-Russian sponsored ceasefire collapsed in renewed violence. Russia challenged that version of events.
  
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• New Electric Bus Can Travel 350 Miles on Single Charge

  20-09-2016 15:21
  
  Set for release next year from the startup Proterra, the Catalyst E2 Series electric vehicle debuted last week at the American Public Transit Association (APTA) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. Proterra named the new bus for its unprecedented battery, which can store up to 660 kWh. With a nominal range of 194 to 350 miles (310 to 560 km), Proterra claims that the Catalyst E2 series is capable of fulfilling a full day's mileage on one charge for nearly every U.S. mass transit route.
  
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• 'Wild Sex' Author Dishes on Weird World of Animal Mating

  20-09-2016 15:18
  
  Dating and mating in the animal kingdom aren't just complicated — they can be fraught with violence and danger. The prospect of exploring mating positions in frogs, porcupines' use of sex toys or hermaphroditic sea slugs' penis spines might seem daunting to some, but not so for biologist and writer Carin Bondar. From finding a mate, to procreating, to dealing with the successful outcome of mating — offspring — "Wild Sex" investigates the often-harsh realities of sexual beh
  
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• 'Smart Textile' Turns Body Movements Into Power Source

  20-09-2016 15:14
  
  A fabric designed to power wearable devices by harvesting energy from both sunlight and body movements can be produced on a standard industrial weaving machine, according to a new study. Scientists in China and the United States have demonstrated how a glove-size piece of the "smart textile" could continuously power an electronic watch or charge a mobile phone using ambient sunlight and gentle body movements. The fabric is based on low-cost, lightweight polymer fibers coated with metals and semi
  
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• Should you keep your cat on a lead?

  20-09-2016 15:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Dr Peter Marra explains why pet cats should not be allowed to roam free.
  
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• Japan official calls for scrapping of troubled Monju reactor

  20-09-2016 15:07 via cbc.ca
  
  The head of the Japanese ruling party's policy council said Tuesday that the government should consider scrapping the problem-plagued Monju plutonium-breeder reactor.
  
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• ‘The Long, Long Life of Trees’ takes readers on a walk in the woods

  20-09-2016 15:00
  
  The Long, Long Life of Trees explores the scientific, historical and cultural significance of apple, birch, elm and 14 other kinds of trees.
  
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• Stress Training for Cops' Brains Could Reduce Suspect Shootings

  20-09-2016 14:45 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Police shot Terence Crutcher, an unarmed man, and police academies often do not prepare officers to make the right call
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Bills would defend consumers' right to leave bad reviews

  20-09-2016 14:43 via cbc.ca
  
  Legislation in U.S. Congress would ensure that customers who want to post negative reviews on websites like Yelp or TripAdvisor can do so without legal repercussions.
  
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• Despite flaws, paperless voting machines remain widespread in U.S.

  20-09-2016 14:42
  By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One in four registered voters in the United States live in areas that will use electronic voting machines that do not produce a paper backup in the November presidential election despite concerns that they are vulnerable to tampering and malfunctions, according to a Reuters analysis. In 2012, 27 percent lived in jurisdictions that used paperless systems.  "Clearly we still have a long way to go to ensure that all Americans have access to a form of vot
  
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• Technical problems delay launch of crew to space station: agencies

  20-09-2016 14:38
  
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Technical problems have prompted Russia's space agency to postpone the launch of its next manned Soyuz spaceship to the International Space Station (ISS) which was scheduled for Sept. 23, Russian news agencies reported on Tuesday.
  
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