Science news

• Glass bits, charcoal hint at 56-million-year-old space rock impact

  28-09-2016 23:31
  
  Glassy debris and the burnt remains of wildfires suggest that a large space rock hit Earth near the start of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum warming event around 56 million years ago.
  
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• The Maud rises: Famed ship resurrected after 85 years in Arctic grave

  28-09-2016 23:00 via cbc.ca
  
  After six years of work a team of Norwegians has succeeded in recovering the Maud — a ship that once belonged to famed Arctic explorer Roald Amundsen and sank more than 80 years ago — from its icy grave in Nunavut waters near Cambridge Bay.
  
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• Concern expands over Zika birth defects

  28-09-2016 22:39
  
  Infection with Zika virus in utero can trigger a spectrum of birth defects beyond microcephaly, and could potentially cause long-term health problems as well.
  
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• As a species, humans inherit murderous tendencies, says study

  28-09-2016 22:37 via cbc.ca
  
  Evolution and genetics seem to have baked a certain amount of murder into humans as a species, but civilization has tamed some of the savage beast in us, according to a new study.
  
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• Optical fiber transmits one terabit per second

  28-09-2016 21:49
  Researchers have achieved unprecedented transmission capacity and spectral efficiency in an optical communications field trial with a new modulation technique. The breakthrough research could extend the capability of optical networks to meet surging data traffic demands.
  
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• Warplanes knock out Aleppo hospitals as Russian-backed assault intensifies

  28-09-2016 21:41
  By Ellen Francis and Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russian or Syrian warplanes knocked two hospitals out of service in the besieged rebel sector of Aleppo on Wednesday and ground forces intensified an assault in a battle which the United Nations said had made the city worse than a slaughterhouse. Two patients died in one of the hospitals and other shelling killed six residents queuing for bread under a siege that has trapped 250,000 people with food running out. "The warplane flew over us and dir
  
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• Rest and well-being: World's largest survey

  28-09-2016 21:35
  Over two thirds (68 per cent) of the public would like more rest, according to the world's largest ever survey on the topic. The study also revealed that nearly a third (32 per cent) of respondents said they need more rest than the average person, while 10 per cent think they need less.
  
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• Empowering diabetes patients through technology

  28-09-2016 21:35
  Researchers have received a five-year, $4 million federal grant to study how mobile technology can assist African American and Hispanic patients in adhering to their diabetes treatment plans.
  
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• Alcohol shown to act in same way as rapid antidepressants

  28-09-2016 21:35
  Can having a few drinks help people with clinical depression feel better? Yes. At least in terms of biochemistry, say scientists.
  
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• News from the primordial world

  28-09-2016 21:33
  A new study offers a twist on a popular theory for how life on Earth began about four billion years ago. The study questions the "RNA world" hypothesis, a theory for how RNA molecules evolved to create proteins and DNA. Instead, the new research offers evidence for a world where RNA and DNA evolved simultaneously.
  
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• Key to manufacturing more efficient solar cells

  28-09-2016 21:11
  In a discovery that could have profound implications for future energy policy, scientists have demonstrated it is possible to manufacture solar cells that are far more efficient than existing silicon energy cells by using a new kind of material, a development that could help reduce fossil fuel consumption.
  
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• Dementia: Catching the memory thief

  28-09-2016 21:06
  It's over a hundred years since the first case of Alzheimer's disease was diagnosed. Since then we've learned a great deal about the protein 'tangles' and 'plaques' that cause the disease. How close are we to having effective treatments -- and could we even prevent dementia from occurring in the first place?
  
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• How baby's genes influence birth weight and later life disease

  28-09-2016 21:05
  Genetic differences have been found that help to explain why some babies are born bigger or smaller than others. It also reveals how genetic differences provide an important link between an individual's early growth and their chances of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes or heart disease in later life.
  
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• How the brain decides between effort and reward

  28-09-2016 21:02
  In a new study, researchers investigated what parts of the brain may be involved in deciding if something is worth the effort. The team found a relevant pattern of activity in three areas of the brain, the supplementary motor area (SMA), dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and putamen.
  
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• Want to go to Mars? Here's what it looks like there

  28-09-2016 20:55 via cbc.ca
  
  After SpaceX CEO Elon Musk updated the world on his ambitious plans to get humans to Mars within the next 10 years, here's a look at our best pictures to date of the Martian surface.
  
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• Early onset menopausal symptoms could predict heart disease

  28-09-2016 20:44
  Women who experience hot flashes and night sweats earlier in life are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) when compared to women with later onset menopausal symptoms, according to research. Up to 80 percent of women experience menopausal symptoms, particularly hot flashes and night sweats, at some point during the menopause transition.
  
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• If legalizing pot, consider health, not profits, analysis says

  28-09-2016 20:42
  A new analysis of marijuana legislation offers a framework for states that are considering legalizing the drug and want to protect public health, rather than corporate profits.
  
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• Ancient microbe fossils show earliest evidence of shell making

  28-09-2016 20:37
  
  Armor-plated, 809-million-year-old fossilized microbes discovered in Canada are the oldest known evidence of shell making.
  
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• Moderate alcohol use linked to heart chamber damage, atrial fibrillation in new study

  28-09-2016 20:34
  Researchers have found that even moderate alcohol consumption may change the structure of the heart in ways that increase the risk of atrial fibrillation.
  
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• Implicit bias may help explain high preschool expulsion rates for black children

  28-09-2016 20:31
  Preschool teachers and staff show signs of implicit bias in administering discipline, but the race of the teacher plays a big role in the outcome, according to new research. The results help explain why black students tend to be suspended at much higher rates than white students, the authors say.
  
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• New insight into eye diseases

  28-09-2016 20:30
  Many diseases that lead to blindness, such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, are caused by the death of certain cells in the human retina that lack the ability to regenerate. But in species such as zebrafish these cells, known as Muller glial cells (MGs), do serve as retinal stem cells that are capable of generating new cells. In a new study, a research team investigated whether the regenerative power of cells in zebrafish could be recreated in mammals, specifically mice.
  
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• Study may give new respect to our Milky Way neighborhood

  28-09-2016 20:28
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Our corner of the Milky Way galaxy may be a bigger deal than scientists thought.
  
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• Researchers identify treatment target for blinding diseases

  28-09-2016 20:19
  A common pathway involved in photoreceptor death has been identified in retinitis pigmentosa, advanced dry age-related macular degeneration and other retinal diseases, with early evidence of a possible halt to vision loss related to treatment of the pathway.
  
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• Identifying ecstasy's dangerous path

  28-09-2016 20:17
  In an important discovery in the battle against the United States’ growing drug epidemic, an economist has found the Carolinas could be a hotspot for the trafficking and production of the drug Ecstasy.
  
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• Acupuncture reduces hot flashes for half of women, study finds

  28-09-2016 20:17
  Hot flashes – the bane of existence for many women during menopause – can be reduced in frequency by almost half for about 50 percent of women over eight weeks of acupuncture treatment, according to scientists.
  
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• Study: As a species, humans inherit murderous tendencies

  28-09-2016 20:12
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Evolution and genetics seem to have baked a certain amount of murder into humans as a species, but civilization has tamed some of the savage beast in us, according to a new study.
  
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• Wireless, freely behaving rodent cage helps scientists collect more reliable data

  28-09-2016 20:10
  The EnerCage (Energized Cage) system is created for scientific experiments on awake, freely behaving small animals. It wirelessly powers electronic devices and sensors traditionally used during rodent research experiments, but without the use of interconnect wires or bulky batteries. Their goal is to create as natural an environment within the cage as possible for mice and rats in order for scientists to obtain consistent and reliable results.
  
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• Epigenetic clock predicts life expectancy

  28-09-2016 20:10
  Why do some people lead a perfectly healthy lifestyle yet still die young? A new international study suggests that the answer lies in our DNA.
  
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• Scientists fix fractures with 3D-printed synthetic bone

  28-09-2016 20:09
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists in the United States have successfully treated broken spines and skulls in animals using 3D-printed synthetic bone, opening the possibility of future personalized bone implants for humans to fix dental, spinal other bone injuries.
  
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• Paper offers insight on antidepressant-induced female sexual dysfunction

  28-09-2016 20:08
  One in six women in the U.S. takes antidepressants to improve her well-being, but what is she to do when the medication that is meant to help disrupts another area of her life?
  
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• Solution blooming for fracking spills?

  28-09-2016 20:05
  Wastewater from oil drilling and hydraulic fracturing – or fracking – is often laden with salts and can spill, contaminating soils. In a recent study, researchers tested a method that extracted a large percentage of the salt present in soils contaminated by brine spills.
  
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• Breastfeeding saves mothers' lives, too, study shows

  28-09-2016 20:05
  Breastfeeding is not only good for children, but also for their mothers, providing more health benefits and preventing more maternal diseases than previously known, new research shows.
  
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• Solar system sits within a major spiral arm of the Milky Way

  28-09-2016 20:00
  
  The solar system appears to live in one of the major spiral arms of the Milky Way, not in an offshoot as previously thought.
  
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• Traveling through the body with graphene

  28-09-2016 19:59
  Researchers have succeeded to place a layer of graphene on top of a stable fatty lipid monolayer, for the first time. Surrounded by a protective shell of lipids graphene could enter the body and function as a versatile sensor. The results are the first step towards such a shell, say authors of a new report.
  
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• Smoking fathers increase asthma-risk in future offspring

  28-09-2016 19:59
  Offspring with a father who smoked prior to conception had more than three times higher chance of early-onset asthma than children whose father had never smoked. Both a father's early smoking debut and a father's longer smoking duration before conception increased non-allergic early-onset asthma in offspring. This suggests that not only the mother's environment plays a key role in child health, but also the father's lifestyle, shows a new study including 24,000 children.
  
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• Randomized trial suggests eating bread made with ancient grains could benefit heart health

  28-09-2016 19:59
  Eating bread made with ancient grains could help lower cholesterol and blood glucose, a recent randomized trial suggests. Compared with modern grain varieties which are often heavily refined, ancient grains offer antioxidant and anti-inflammatory profiles. They also contain beneficial vitamins (B and E), minerals (eg, magnesium, iron, potassium), which protect against chronic diseases.
  
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• Brain's biological clock stimulates thirst before sleep

  28-09-2016 19:58
  The brain's biological clock stimulates thirst in the hours before sleep, according to a study. Scientists have known that rodents show a surge in water intake during the last two hours before sleep. The study now reveals that this behavior is not motivated by any physiological reason, such as dehydration. So if they don't need to drink water, why do they?
  
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• This coffee claims to give you an erection... but possibly a lot more too

  28-09-2016 18:45
  
  Would you try a Stiff Bull in the morning?
  
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• Toronto salmon swim upstream in annual race to breeding grounds

  28-09-2016 17:56 via cbc.ca
  
  Giant salmon are swimming through rivers, leaping over rapids and jumping over man-made weirs to head upstream so they can breed.
  
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• New case emerging for Culex mosquito as unexpected Zika spreader

  28-09-2016 17:49
  
  The much-debated proposal that a Culex mosquito could help spread Zika gets some international support.
  
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• This is Elon Musk's plan to colonise Mars and create a multi-planet civilisation

  28-09-2016 17:16
  
  “I really have no other purpose than to make life interplanetary.”
  
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• Digital censorship: Turkey's request for Twitter to block journalist part of growing trend

  28-09-2016 17:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Turkey's attempt to have Twitter block journalist Mahir Zeynalov is the latest example in a disturbing trend of governments getting social media companies to censor their critics, digital rights groups say.
  
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• New safeguards agreed for world's most trafficked mammal

  28-09-2016 16:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A little known species driven to the edge of extinction by poaching, has gained extra protection at the Cites meeting in South Africa.
  
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• Is global warming a threat to our key food sources? Scientists think so

  28-09-2016 16:25
  
  Researchers believe climate change is occurring thousands of times faster than the ability of the species to adapt.
  
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• Total trade ban for Gibraltar's monkeys agreed

  28-09-2016 16:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Europe's only non-human primate, the Barbary Macaque, has gained the highest level of protection at the Cites meeting in South Africa.
  
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• Study of North Atlantic Ocean reveals decline of leaded petrol emissions

  28-09-2016 16:16
  A new study of lead pollution in the North Atlantic provides strong evidence that leaded petrol emissions have declined over the past few decades. For the first time in around 40 years, scientists have detected lead from natural sources in samples from this ocean. In the intervening period, the proportion of lead in the ocean from humanmade sources, most importantly leaded petrol emissions, had been so high that it was not possible to detect any lead from natural sources.
  
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• Depression in pregnancy increases risk of mental health problems in children

  28-09-2016 16:11
  Depression in pregnancy increases the risk of behavioral and emotional problems in children, says a new review.
  
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• Preparations under way for Putin to visit Turkey in October - Kremlin

  28-09-2016 16:10
  The Kremlin said on Wednesday that preparations were under way for President Vladimir Putin to visit Turkey in October, a further sign that Moscow is keen to restore full political, trade and economic ties with Ankara. Relations between the two nations were plunged into crisis in November last year after NATO member state Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border. Russia responded by imposing economic sanctions on Turkey.
  
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• Islamic State loses control of last oil wells in Iraq - oil ministry

  28-09-2016 15:58
  Islamic State militants no longer control any oil wells in Iraq after being ousted by government forces last week from an area near Kirkuk, the oil ministry said on Wednesday. The ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim group were driven out of Shirqat on Thursday by U.S-backed Iraqi forces. Last month it lost the Qayyara oilfield, south of Mosul, to government forces thrusting northwards in an offensive to retake the largest city under IS control.
  
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• Mechanical behavior of tiny structures is affected by atomic defects

  28-09-2016 15:44
  Scientists have measured the mechanics of tiny crystalline ceramics. Materials are made of atoms, and if they are arranged periodically, they are called crystalline structures. If the size of these crystalline structures is 1,000 times smaller than a single human hair diameter, then they are called nano-structures such as nano-rods, nano-wires, nano-ribbons, nano-belts etc.
  
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