Science news

• This is what Hurricane Matthew looks like from space

  03-10-2016 23:54
  It’s beautiful and scary at the same time.
  
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• 'Indiana Jones' shark gains protection at Cites meeting

  03-10-2016 23:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Known for its long whip-like tail, the threatened Thresher shark is among a number of marine species given extra protection at the Cites meeting.
  
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• Can Marijuana Cause Deadly Drug Interactions?

  03-10-2016 23:36
  
  Chelsea Clinton recently suggested that marijuana might be deadly when taken with other drugs. Although marijuana can interact with other drugs, there do not appear to be any reports of deaths that directly resulted from taking marijuana in combination with other drugs. While speaking in Ohio on Sept. 24, Clinton was asked whether her mother, Hillary Clinton, supports changing the way marijuana is categorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration so that it would be easier for researchers to co
  
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• US bracing for Hurricane Matthew as heavy rains leave Jamaica and Haiti battered

  03-10-2016 23:20
  
  The governor of North Carolina declared a state of emergency for 66 counties.
  
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• Record-Breaking 2-Star System Spotted in Nearby Galaxy

  03-10-2016 23:00
  
  For the first time ever, scientists have seen a double-star system in another galaxy emitting gamma-rays, the most energetic form of light. The discovery was made by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Among all of these so-called gamma-ray binaries ever found, the new binary is the most luminous ever spotted, NASA officials said.
  
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• NASA Rocket Brings Home Cosmic X-Ray Answers — and a New Mystery

  03-10-2016 23:00
  
  NASA's DXL sounding rocket ventured through the sun's helium-focusing cone to investigate the origin of X-rays in space. A NASA sounding rocket zoomed above Earth's atmosphere, confirming one interstellar source for X-rays and one more local one — and discovering others whose origin remains a mystery. NASA's rocket, called the Diffuse X-ray emission (DXL) rocket, discovered that some of the X-rays that bombard Earth's atmosphere likely come from the "Local Hot Bubble," which is believed to
  
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• A Venus-Moon Pairing to Delight Skygazers Tonight

  03-10-2016 23:00
  
  This evening (Oct. 3) as darkness is falling, be sure to look low toward the west-southwest part of the sky for a beautiful celestial tableau: a lovely crescent moon and the brilliant planet Venus. The moon will appear to hover about 5 degrees above and to the right of Venus. In fact, if Venus were stationary and did not appear to move against the background of stars, then a Venus-moon encounter would occur every 27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes.
  
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• Extreme bird nests bring comforts and catastrophe

  03-10-2016 22:44
  
  Extreme bird nests of Southern Africa’s weaverbirds offer condo living in tough temperatures.
  
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• NASA satellite captures the sun's beautiful magnetic field

  03-10-2016 22:06 via cbc.ca
  
  NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has captured stunning images of magnetic fields on the sun.
  
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• Blue Origin Delays Rocket 'Escape Test' to Wednesday Due to Bad Weather

  03-10-2016 22:01
  
  Blue Origin has delayed the highly anticipated "in-flight escape test" of its New Shepard suborbital spaceflight system by one day to Wednesday (Oct. 5), citing bad weather at its West Texas test site. "Weather no-go for tomorrow’s New Shepard ‪#InFlightEscape test. Webcast now Wednesday 10:45 am ET [1425 GMT]," Blue Origin announced today (Oct. 3) via its Twitter account, @blueorigin.
  
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• Meet Kirobo Mini, the robot baby Toyota says will make people less lonely

  03-10-2016 21:44 via cbc.ca
  
  The new robot from Japanese automaker Toyota can't do much but chatter in a high-pitched voice. But general manager in charge of the Kirobo Mini project says its value is emotional.
  
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• How the royal visit might boost West Coast's phallic clam

  03-10-2016 21:32 via cbc.ca
  
  On their latest visit to Canada, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge gave a boost to a handful of causes. As CBC Radio food columnist Khalil Akhtar found, the royal visit also highlighted the issue of sustainable seafood consumption — thanks to a meal featuring a strange clam.
  
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• Scientists: Endangered frog rebounding in Yosemite park

  03-10-2016 21:10
  FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A native California frog once on the brink of extinction is making an encouraging comeback in Yosemite National Park, raising hopes for amphibians like it worldwide that are dying off at an alarming rate, researchers said Monday.
  
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• Manila has not spoken to U.S. about ending military exercises: State Department

  03-10-2016 21:08
  The United States has not been contacted by Philippines defence authorities about President Rodrigo Duterte's comments on ending joint military exercises, the U.S. State Department said on Monday, noting it expected Manila to live up to its commitments. "We've not been officially contacted by the Philippine defence department authorities regarding President Duterte's statement," State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters. "I'd also note that we'll live up to our commitments an
  
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• Deciphering cell’s recycling machinery earns Nobel

  03-10-2016 20:45
  
  The 2016 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi for his work on autophagy, a process that cells use to break down old parts for future use.
  
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• FDA to Parents: Don't Give Your Kids Homeopathic Teething Tablets

  03-10-2016 20:20
  
  Some tablets and gels aimed at helping to soothe babies' teething pains may be dangerous for infants and toddlers, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in a statement Sept. 30. The FDA is investigating reports of seizures in infants and children who were given homeopathic teething products, which may contain "natural" compounds but are not regulated as drugs by the FDA. In addition, the FDA said in the statement that "consumers should seek medical care immediately if their child expe
  
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• Japanese scientist wins Nobel for study of cell recycling

  03-10-2016 20:12
  Like a busy city, a cell works better if it can dispose of and recycle its garbage. Now a Japanese scientist has won the Nobel Prize in medicine for showing how that happens. The research may pay off in ...
  
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• It's World Space Week This Week! Here's How to Celebrate

  03-10-2016 20:08
  
  World Space Week — an international celebration of space and its impact on our lives — starts tomorrow (Oct. 4), and chances are good there's an event near you.
  
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• VR, 4K and smart-home technology: What to expect from Google's tech event

  03-10-2016 19:48 via cbc.ca
  
  Google will most likely unveil its latest slate of gadgets on Tuesday, and already there are rumblings of what to expect from the tech giant. New phones are likely on the table, as well as devices that make use of 4K, virtual reality and voice recognition technology.
  
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• Rescuers plans to use acoustic pingers to save stranded dolphins in New Brunswick

  03-10-2016 19:20 via cbc.ca
  
  Animal rescue crews are hoping to use "acoustic pingers" to herd six stranded dolphins out of a shallow waterway in northern New Brunswick, and back into open ocean.
  
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• Thousands of Poles protest against planned abortion ban

  03-10-2016 18:43
  The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has put forward the proposal - from a group called Ordo Iuris - for debate in parliament. Critics of the new rules say PiS may back them for fear of angering the church in staunchly Roman Catholic Poland. Poland's already restrictive laws only allow abortion in the case of rape, incest, a threat to a pregnant woman's health, or when the baby is likely to be permanently handicapped.
  
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• Even in a bunker under a mountain, Syrian hospital knocked out by strikes

  03-10-2016 18:36
  By Ellen Francis BEIRUT (Reuters) - Even entombing the hospital under solid rock tunnelled beneath a mountain was not enough to protect it from bombs dropped by Syria's government or its Russian allies, medical staff say. Opposition groups built the "central cave hospital" north of Hama to withstand bombardment, tunnelling into a mountain in northwestern Syria for more than a year to bury it below 17 metres of rock. To some degree it worked: when Russian or Syrian government warplanes bombed it
  
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• Big Viking families nurtured murder

  03-10-2016 18:33
  
  Vikings in Iceland got a murderous boost from having large extended families.
  
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• Danish park designed to promote tolerance in community wins architectural award

  03-10-2016 18:29
  By Noah Browning AL AIN, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) - An urban park in Denmark to promote tolerance between immigrants and local residents and a mosque in a flood-prone area of Bangladesh were among winners of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture on Monday. This year's six winners also included a children's library in Beijing and a pedestrian bridge in Tehran. Islamic-themed sculptures and skateboard ramps are a feature of the urban park and Muslim women bring their children there to play on
  
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• Stunned Latin America exhorts Colombia to keep seeking peace

  03-10-2016 18:16
  By Alexandra Ulmer and Mitra Taj CARACAS/LIMA (Reuters) - Latin America bemoaned Colombian voters' rejection of a peace deal with Marxist insurgents but regional leaders urged Bogota to keep pursing efforts to end the longest-running conflict in the Americas. Havana hosted four years of peace negotiations while Chile, Cuba, and Venezuela acted as guarantor and observer countries. Nations from leftist-run Venezuela to centre-right Peru lamented the outcome of Sunday's referendum, the "No" camp wo
  
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• Deep-Diving Robots Zap, Kill Invasive Lionfish

  03-10-2016 17:44
  
  The robotics company iRobot, known for creating the autonomous and endearing Roomba vacuums, is taking steps to make a clean sweep of lionfish in the coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, with a robot designed to target and dispatch the invasive fish. The effort is meant to help curb the fast-growing populations of these voracious predators, which are recognized by environmental officials as a serious threat to marine ecosystems in the western Atlantic. 3D renders of the robot show a remotely co
  
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• Paris climate accord to go into force - but faces test of enforcement

  03-10-2016 17:40
  By Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - A global agreement on climate change is set to win enough ratifications by signatory nations this week to go into force in November, heralding a harder phase of turning promises into cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The 2015 Paris Agreement, outlining a shift from fossil fuels this century, says efforts to oversee compliance will be "non-adversarial and non-punitive", raising questions about how to ensure governments pull their weight. The European Parliament i
  
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• Justin Trudeau gives provinces until 2018 to adopt carbon price plan

  03-10-2016 17:34 via cbc.ca
  
  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has given provinces until 2018 to adopt a carbon pricing scheme, or the federal government will step in and impose a price. Trudeau said the government will set an initial "floor" price of $10 a tonne, rising to $50 a tonne by 2022.
  
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• Japanese scientist wins Nobel medicine prize for work on 'self-eating' cell mechanism

  03-10-2016 17:10
  
  STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Reuters) - Japan's Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel prize for medicine for ground-breaking experiments with yeast which exposed a key mechanism in the body's defenses where cells degrade and recycle their components.
  
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• International wildlife conference calls for an end to legal ivory markets

  03-10-2016 17:04 via cbc.ca
  
  Delegates at an international wildlife conference in South Africa have approved a number of measures to crack down on the ivory trade, but have stopped short of reclassifying all elephants under the most highly protected category of endangered animals.
  
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• Efforts to boost elephant protection fails at Cites

  03-10-2016 16:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Attempts to give the maximum level of international protection to all African elephants have foundered at a key species conference in Johannesburg.
  
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• Colombian government, rebels hope to revive peace deal after vote

  03-10-2016 15:55
  By Helen Murphy and Julia Symmes Cobb BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government and Marxist FARC guerrillas scrambled on Monday to revive a plan to end their 52-year war after voters rejected the hard-negotiated deal as too lenient on the rebels in a shock result that plunged the nation into uncertainty. Putting on a brave face after a major political defeat, President Juan Manuel Santos offered hope to those who backed his four-year peace negotiation with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colomb
  
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• Robo Rocker: How Artificial Intelligence Wrote Beatles-Esque Pop Song

  03-10-2016 15:25
  
  When researchers recently unveiled the first pop song composed by an artificial intelligence (AI) system, some creative types may have been nervous about the idea of robots taking over their jobs. François Pachet, the project's lead researcher, told Live Science that the song wasn't created by an AI entirely from scratch, so composers can breathe easy — at least for now. The team also put together a second track, called "Mr. Shadow," designed to incorporate the styles of Irving Berl
  
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• Foldable Bike Helmet Offers Recyclable Protection

  03-10-2016 15:24
  
  However, a novel design could make an affordable, collapsible, biodegradable helmet available from a curbside vending machine. The EcoHelmet, designed by Isis Shiffer, is made entirely of cardboard, folds up accordion-style to about the size of a banana and is compact enough to fit in a laptop bag. On Sept. 29, the James Dyson Foundation selected the EcoHelmet — along with 19 other designs — for the Dyson Engineers Shortlist.
  
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• Facebook launches Messenger Lite for Android users with slow connections, old phones

  03-10-2016 15:16 via cbc.ca
  
  Facebook is launching a "lite" version of it Messenger chat app. It is aimed at emerging markets, where many people use older phones that don't have enough room to store or ability to run the full-featured application due to slower internet speeds or other issues.
  
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• Cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi wins Nobel prize in medicine

  03-10-2016 15:10
  
  He gained the prestigious award for his role in the advancement of autophagy.
  
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• Rarest nucleus reluctant to decay

  03-10-2016 15:00
  
  Tantalum-180m has a half-life more than a million times the age of the universe.
  
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• Polish women in black shut down government offices in protest at draft abortion ban

  03-10-2016 14:40
  By Marcin Goclowski and Marcin Goettig WARSAW (Reuters) - Thousands of women in black went on strike across Poland on Monday, closing down restaurants, government offices and university classes, and blocking access to the ruling party headquarters in Warsaw to protest against plans for a total ban on abortion. Legislation proposed by an independent group would forbid any termination, tightening Poland's already restrictive rules that allow abortion only in the case of rape, incest or a threat to
  
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• Nobel Prize for Japanese who unraveled cell recycling system

  03-10-2016 14:33
  
  STOCKHOLM (AP) — Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries on how cells break down and recycle content, a garbage disposal system that scientists hope to harness in the fight against cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases.
  
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• Phone, internet services back up after Telesat satellite issue in Northern Canada

  03-10-2016 14:25 via cbc.ca
  
  Phone and internet services have been restored in all satellite-served northern communities after problems with a Telesat satellite disrupted communications in a wide swath of northern Quebec and Nunavut on Sunday afternoon.
  
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• Northwestel phone, internet services back up after Telesat satellite issue in Northern Canada

  03-10-2016 14:25 via cbc.ca
  
  Northwestel's phone and internet services in all satellite-served northern communities are back on after problems with a Telesat satellite disrupted communications in a wide swath of northern Quebec and Nunavut on Sunday.
  
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• What It's Like to Work in Space, Using Bulky EVA Gloves

  03-10-2016 14:00
  
  Tightening a lug nut on the tire of your car in the driveway seems like an easy enough task, but imagine trying to do it while wearing incredibly bulky gloves and working in the vacuum of space. That is what a day's work entails for astronauts working outside the International Space Station. I had the opportunity to experience a simulation of what it is like for astronauts working in space.
  
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• Exclusive - U.S. helped clinch Iraq oil deal to keep Mosul battle on track

  03-10-2016 13:50
  By Stephen Kalin and Dmitry Zhdannikov BAGHDAD/LONDON (Reuters) - - Shuttle diplomacy by the United States' envoy to the anti-Islamic State coalition brokered an oil deal between Iraq and its Kurdish region vital to a climactic battle with the jihadists, diplomats, officials and oil men say.      The oil revenue-sharing deal sealed in August was critical to getting the central and regional governments to coordinate planning for a push on the Islamic State stronghold Mosu
  
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• Medicine Nobel Recognizes "Self-Eating" Cell Research

  03-10-2016 13:47 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan receives the 2016 Nobel Prize for pioneering work on autophagy 
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Medicine Nobel for cell recycling work

  03-10-2016 13:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The 2016 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine goes to Yoshinori Ohsumi for discoveries about the secrets of how cells can remain healthy by recycling waste.
  
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• Shark Fight: Scientists Complain about Rival Great White Tagging

  03-10-2016 13:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A popular conservation organization’s methods may change shark behavior and population estimates, researchers say
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Japan's Ohsumi wins Nobel for studies of cell 'self-eating'

  03-10-2016 12:55
  
  STOCKHOLM (AP) — Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded this year's Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries on how cells break down and recycle parts of themselves in an internal garbage disposal process.
  
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• Japanese scientist wins Nobel for revealing secrets of cellular recycling

  03-10-2016 12:46
  
  Discovering how cells act as mini recycling plants wins the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi.
  
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• Japanese scientist wins 2016 Nobel Prize in Medicine

  03-10-2016 11:49 via cbc.ca
  
  Yoshinori Ohsumi wins the 2016 Nobel Prize for Medicine or physiology for his discovery of mechanisms for degrading and recycling cellular components.
  
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• Eczema sufferers given new hope after study shows key to unlocking natural defence system

  03-10-2016 11:12
  
  Researchers hope the breakthrough will help prevent or create new treatments for atopic eczema, which affects about one in five children and one in 20 adults in the UK.
  
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