Science news

• Calling All Makers: NASA Announces Next Phase of 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

  04-10-2016 23:38
  
  NEW YORK — Put on your thinking caps! NASA has announced Phase 2 of its 3D-printed habitat challenge, focused on creating a living space for astronauts on the Red Planet.
  
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• Astronaut Mike Massimino's New Mission: Launching His Book 'Spaceman'

  04-10-2016 23:38
  
  Mike Massimino is launching on his third, or maybe his fourth, mission — sort of.
  
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• [Erratum] Erratum for the Research Article: "Targeting the kinase activities of ATR and ATM exhibits antitumoral activity in mouse models of MLL-rearranged AML" by I. Morgado-Palacin, A. Day, M. Murga, V. Lafarga, M. E. Anton, A. Tubbs, H.-T. Chen, A. Erg

  04-10-2016 23:26 via stke.sciencemag.org
  An author's last name is corrected and middle initial is inserted. A closing parenthesis in a sentence in the Abstract has also been added.
  
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• [Erratum] Erratum for the Research Article: "Peripheral motor neuropathy is associated with defective kinase regulation of the KCC3 cotransporter" by K. T. Kahle, B. Flores, D. Bharucha-Goebel, J. Zhang, S. Donkervoort, M. Hegde, G. Hussain, D. Duran, B.

  04-10-2016 23:26 via stke.sciencemag.org
  An author's name is corrected.
  
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• Hurricane Matthew: Where Is This Massive Storm Heading?

  04-10-2016 23:00
  
  Hurricane Matthew is battering Haiti with powerful winds and extreme rain today (Oct. 4), with forecasts indicating it could cross the country and hit eastern Cuba next, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). When Hurricane Matthew made landfall in southwestern Haiti this morning, it had wind speeds of 145 mph (233 km/h), making it a Category 4 hurricane, the NHC said in a public advisory. "We have it as a Category 4 hurricane for the next 48 hours, which means as it's going through t
  
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• Yahoo built program to search email for intelligence information: report

  04-10-2016 22:59 via cbc.ca
  
  Yahoo Inc. last year secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers' incoming emails for specific information provided by U.S. intelligence officials, according to people familiar with the matter.
  
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• Ben Stiller's Prostate Cancer: Do All Guys Need a PSA Test?

  04-10-2016 22:21
  
  Actor Ben Stiller is crediting a prostate cancer screening test for saving his life, revealing today that he was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer two years ago. In an interview today (Oct. 4) on The Howard Stern Show, Stiller revealed for the first time that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 48. The actor, who is now 50, said doctors detected the cancer because Stiller had undergone a prostate-specific antigen test, or PSA test, which looks for levels of the protein PSA in th
  
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• Bagel, pretzel show twists of Nobel Prize-winning work in physics

  04-10-2016 22:18
  
  STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Reuters) - Three British-born scientists won the 2016 Nobel Prize inPhysics on Tuesday for revealing unusual states of matter, leading to advances in electronics that could aid researchers trying to develop quantum computers.
  
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• [Research Article] The GAS6-AXL signaling network is a mesenchymal (Mes) molecular subtype-specific therapeutic target for ovarian cancer

  04-10-2016 22:15 via stke.sciencemag.org
  AXL inhibitorsmay prolong survival in a subset of patients with advanced ovarian cancer.
  
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• [Research Article] Superresolution imaging of the cytoplasmic phosphatase PTPN22 links integrin-mediated T cell adhesion with autoimmunity

  04-10-2016 22:15 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The tyrosine phosphatase PTPN22 redistributes from clusters to the leading edge in migrating T cells to inhibit integrin-mediated adhesion.
  
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• [Research Article] Quantitative phosphoproteomic analysis identifies the critical role of JNK1 in neuroinflammation induced by Japanese encephalitis virus

  04-10-2016 22:15 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Blocking JNK signaling halts neuroinflammation caused by infection with Japanese encephalitis virus.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Surviving the flood

  04-10-2016 22:15 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Plants use a MAPKKK-dependent pathway to control the permeability of roots to water.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Regulating the rate of mRNA degradation

  04-10-2016 22:15 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Histone acetyltransferases and deacetylases control mRNA stability.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Limiting damage but promoting resistance

  04-10-2016 22:15 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A transient response to chemotherapy in the vasculature promotes chemoresistance in lymphoma cells.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Arresting migrating neutrophils with ROS

  04-10-2016 22:15 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Oxidation of TRPM2 by ROS at sites of inflammation may limit tissue damage caused by neutrophils.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] A uniquely human susceptibility to bacterial infection

  04-10-2016 22:15 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A sialic acid that is abundant in human mucus enhances Streptococcus pneumoniae virulence.
  
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• XPRIZE launched new kind of space race, book recounts

  04-10-2016 21:53
  
  'How to Make a Spaceship' chronicles the XPRIZE challenge that helped ignite the private space industry.
  
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• Distracted by your smartphone? Lock it up, say DistractaGone developers

  04-10-2016 21:30 via cbc.ca
  
  Smartphones can be distracting. But a pair of designers in Amsterdam think they have the solution in DistractaGone. As CBC Radio technology columnist Dan Misener explains, it promises to help you "find focus fast."
  
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• Nobel laureate: 'Follow your dreams'

  04-10-2016 20:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Professor Duncane Haldane is one of three British-born scientists to win the Nobel Prize for Physics.
  
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• Like Fatty Foods? There's a Gene for That.

  04-10-2016 20:58
  
  In a new study, researchers in the United Kingdom found that people with a particular gene mutation have a much stronger preference for fatty foods than those without the mutation. These same people who preferred the fatty food also showed far less desire for sweet foods compared with other study participants, the researchers found. Although the mutation is rare, affecting less than 1 percent of the population, the findings suggest that all kinds of food preferences may be hard-wired into our br
  
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• Nobel awarded for using math of shapes to explain exotic matter

  04-10-2016 20:46
  
  The three scientists who won the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics predicted new materials using mathematics illustrated by bagels and pretzels.
  
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• Colombia government, rebels in crisis talks after 'No' to peace deal

  04-10-2016 20:46
  By Marc Frank and Helen Murphy HAVANA/BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government and Marxist guerrillas went back to the drawing board in Havana on Tuesday after a peace deal they painstakingly negotiated over four years was rejected in a shock referendum result. In a vote that confounded opinion polls and was a disaster for President Juan Manuel Santos, Colombians narrowly rebuffed the pact on Sunday as too lenient on the rebels. Lead negotiators Humberto de la Calle and Sergio Jaramillo were bac
  
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• [Focus] New twists in the AXL(e) of tumor progression

  04-10-2016 20:45 via stke.sciencemag.org
  AXL inhibitors may slow tumor progression in patients with a mesenchymal subtype of ovarian cancer (Antony et al., in 4 October 2016 issue).
  
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• New technology helps pinpoint sources of water contamination

  04-10-2016 20:15
  When the local water management agency closes your favorite beach due to unhealthy water quality, how reliable are the tests they base their decisions on? As it turns out, those tests, as well as the standards behind them, have not been updated in decades. Now scientists have developed a highly accurate, DNA-based method to detect and distinguish sources of microbial contamination in water.
  
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• String pulling bees provide insight into spread of culture

  04-10-2016 20:14
  Bumblebees can learn to pull strings for food and pass on the ability to a colony, according to new research.
  
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• Bagel illustrates Nobel-prize winning work in physics

  04-10-2016 20:06
  
  STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Reuters) - Three British-born scientists won the 2016 Nobel Prize inPhysics on Tuesday for revealing unusual states of matter, leading to advances in electronics and potentially helping work on future quantum computers.
  
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• 2-D boron may be best for flexible electronics

  04-10-2016 20:06
  Though they're touted as ideal for electronics, two-dimensional materials like graphene may be too flat and hard to stretch to serve in flexible, wearable devices. "Wavy" borophene might be better, according to scientists.
  
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• Brainy bees learn how to pull strings to get what they want

  04-10-2016 20:03
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists in Britain have managed to teach bumblebees to pull strings to get to food and then pass on what they have learned to others in their colony - showing a high level of intelligence despite their tiny brains.
  
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• Colombia government, rebels in crisis talks after peace deal rejected

  04-10-2016 19:58
  By Marc Frank and Helen Murphy HAVANA/BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government and Marxist guerrillas went back to the drawing board in Havana on Tuesday after a peace deal they painstakingly negotiated over four years was rejected in a shock referendum result. In a vote that confounded opinion polls and was a disaster for President Juan Manuel Santos, Colombians narrowly rebuffed the pact on Sunday as too lenient on the rebels. The government said the president's lead negotiators, Humberto de l
  
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• Earthquake risk: New fault discovered in earthquake-prone Southern California region

  04-10-2016 19:52
  A swarm of nearly 200 small earthquakes that shook Southern California residents in the Salton Sea area last week raised concerns they might trigger a larger earthquake on the southern San Andreas Fault. At the same time, scientists published their recent discovery of a potentially significant fault that lies along the eastern edge of the Salton Sea.
  
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• Curiosity Rover Snaps Amazing Selfie on Mars Mountain (Photo)

  04-10-2016 19:50
  
  NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has taken a gorgeous selfie that shows the rugged, mountainous landscape the six-wheeled robot will be exploring during its newly begun extended mission. The selfie is composed of about 60 images Curiosity took on Sept. 17 and Sept. 20 while it was drilling into Martian rock and performing other activities at a site dubbed Quela. Curiosity's work in the lower parts of this formation indicated that billions of years ago, the area hosted a system of lakes that lasted a
  
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• Family Drug and Alcohol Court's 'humane' approach keeps more families together

  04-10-2016 19:27
  Mothers reunited with their children after care proceedings in the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) are more likely to stay off drugs and alcohol for longer and their family life less likely to be disrupted when compared with cases heard in ordinary care proceedings, a study shows.
  
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• NASA Sees Powerful Hurricane Matthew from Space (Video)

  04-10-2016 19:22
  
  As Hurricane Matthew swirled over the Caribbean yesterday (Oct. 3), the International Space Station caught a glimpse of the massive storm. The space station flew over the Category 4 hurricane at 4:10 p.m. EDT as the storm made its way north through the Caribbean Sea. ISS astronauts then tweeted the video shortly afterward.
  
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• The British police targeting bird poachers in Cyprus

  04-10-2016 19:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The British authorities in Cyprus are doubling the number of officers targeting illegal songbird trapping on British military territory on the island.
  
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• UK police tackle Cyprus bird poachers

  04-10-2016 19:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK authorities in Cyprus are doubling the number of officers targeting illegal songbird trapping on British military territory.
  
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• Exercise releases hormone that helps shed, prevent fat

  04-10-2016 19:08
  If a workout feels like more pain than gain, here's some motivation: Exercise releases a hormone that helps the body shed fat and keeps it from forming.
  
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• Low lead levels in children negatively affect test scores

  04-10-2016 19:07
  Lead exposure among preschoolers can predict low reading scores in subsequent years, a new study using data from Rhode Island’s lead-abatement program and repeated blood lead level tests has found.
  
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• Ginger and Acupressure for Morning Sickness? Science Says Maybe

  04-10-2016 19:06
  
  For women with morning sickness, a range of remedies may be effective at alleviating mild to severe symptoms, but the evidence on how well they work is lacking, a new review from the United Kingdom finds. Up to 85 percent of women experience morning sickness during pregnancy, and the symptoms can affect their day-to-day lives, according to the review, published today (Oct. 4) in the journal JAMA. Of the 78 studies, 67 were randomized clinical trials, meaning that the people in the study were ran
  
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• Scientists find new path in brain to ease depression

  04-10-2016 19:03
  Scientists have discovered a new pathway in the brain that can be manipulated to alleviate depression. The pathway offers a promising new target for developing a drug that could be effective in individuals for whom other antidepressants have failed.
  
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• Ability to process speech declines with age

  04-10-2016 19:03
  Researchers have found clues to the causes of age-related hearing loss. The ability to track and understand speech in both quiet and noisy environments deteriorates due in part to speech processing declines in both the midbrain and cortex in older adults.
  
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• Generation Zika

  04-10-2016 19:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  It will be at least two years before doctors know how widespread virus-caused birth defects will be in the U.S.
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Soil microbes flourish with reduced tillage

  04-10-2016 18:58
  Microbes improve soil quality by cycling nutrients and breaking plant residues down into soil organic matter. In an effort to detect consistent patterns across a large geographical area, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 62 studies examining the effect of tillage on soil microbes. No-till systems had greater soil microbial biomass and enzymatic activity. Tilled systems that used a chisel plow were equivalent to no-till systems, in terms of microbial biomass.
  
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• Cannabis reduces creativity, but user generally not aware

  04-10-2016 18:58
  Regular users of cannabis are less aware of their own mistakes, and they are not good at creative thinking, concludes new research on the effects of cannabis.
  
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• Sex before sport doesn't negatively impact performance

  04-10-2016 18:10
  Over the course of the Rio Olympics, 450,000 condoms were distributed around the athlete's village. This may be surprising considering the common view that abstinence from sexual activity can boost athletic performance. These long-standing views have now been challenged by a recent analysis of current scientific evidence.
  
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• A breakthrough in the study of how things break, bend and deform

  04-10-2016 18:05
  Every material can bend and break. Through nearly a century's worth of research, scientists have had a pretty good understanding of how and why. But, according to new findings from materials science and engineering researchers, our understanding of how layered materials succumb to stresses and strains was lacking. The report suggests that, when compressed, layered materials -- everything from sedimentary rocks, to beyond-whisker-thin graphite -- will form a series of internal buckles, or ripples
  
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• Stimulating neurons could protect against brain damage

  04-10-2016 18:04
  A breakthrough in understanding how brain damage spreads – and how it could potentially be limited – has been made through a collaboration between neuroscientists and engineers.
  
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• Simulations show how to turn graphene's defects into assets

  04-10-2016 18:04
  Controlling defects in two-dimensional materials, such as graphene, may lead to improved membranes for water desalination, energy storage, sensing or advanced protective coatings.
  
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• Nobel committee member explains physics winners' complex work with a bun, a bagel and a pretzel

  04-10-2016 18:00
  
  He was describing the mathematical concept of topology.
  
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