Science news

• Trio wins Nobel chemistry prize for 'world's smallest machines'

  05-10-2016 23:54
  
  STOCKHOLM/LONDON (Reuters) - A trio of European scientists has won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for developing molecular machines that could one day be injected to fight cancer or used to make new types of materials and energy storage devices.
  
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• Become a 'Vacationaut'! New Ad Campaign Launches to Boost Space Tourism

  05-10-2016 23:44
  
  A new advertising campaign seeks to turn Florida's vacationers into "Vacationauts" by encouraging people to incorporate rocket launches and other space adventures into their trips. Space Florida, a state-run space development agency, has teamed up with Paradise Advertising to launch the world's first publicly funded space advertising campaign. The agency is using multimedia to inspire people in Florida to add some space to their fun in the sun.
  
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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

  05-10-2016 23:38 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.

  05-10-2016 23:38 via stke.sciencemag.org
  An author's name is corrected.
  
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• US Southwest faces threat of megadroughts with rising temps

  05-10-2016 23:36
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Already dealing with parched conditions, the U.S. Southwest faces the threat of megadroughts this century as temperatures rise, says a new study that found the risk is reduced if heat-trapping gases are curbed.
  
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• Hurricane Matthew Swirls Toward US in New Satellite Photos

  05-10-2016 23:23
  
  New satellite photos show huge Hurricane Matthew churning its way through the Caribbean toward the Florida coast.
  
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• Feds weigh mineral mining ban on 10M acres to protect bird

  05-10-2016 23:22
  
  BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The federal government is using a new assessment of mineral resources on 10 million acres in six Western states to decide whether to ban potential mining on the land to protect an imperiled bird.
  
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• Are E-Cig Injuries Exploding Upward?

  05-10-2016 23:00
  
  Injuries from exploding e-cigarettes appear to be on the rise, according to a new analysis from a Seattle hospital. Over a nine-month period from October 2015 to June 2016, health care workers at the University of Washington Medical Center treated 15 patients for injuries from exploding e-cigarettes. For comparison, from 2009 to 2014, there were a total of 25 reports of injuries in the U.S. from these devices, the authors wrote in a letter published today (Oct. 5) in the New England Journal of M
  
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• Gurgling lava splashes up Hawaii volcano walls in rare video

  05-10-2016 22:40
  
  HONOLULU (AP) — As the high-definition camera pans across the surface of an active Hawaii volcano's viscous summit lava lake, a large bubble of volcanic gas grows and bursts, dramatically spewing molten rock into the air and sending a massive ripple of lava outward across the crater.
  
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• Eel migration study tells 'romantic' tale

  05-10-2016 22:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists are a step closer to solving the mystery of one of the great animal migrations - the journey of eels to the Sargasso Sea.
  
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• Ripe old age: humans may already have reached maximum lifespan

  05-10-2016 21:51
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When she turned 120 years old in 1995, plucky Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment was asked what type of future she expected.
  
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• Molecules for making nanomachines snare chemistry Nobel

  05-10-2016 21:47
  
  Nanochemists win Nobel prize for devising molecular machines
  
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• Uterus Transplants Fail Again: Why Are They So Difficult?

  05-10-2016 21:32
  
  Out of four uterus transplants that were recently performed at a U.S. hospital, three were not successful, doctors announced today. What makes uterus transplants so challenging, and why might they fail? In mid-September, doctors at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas performed four uterus transplants on women who were born without the organ, according to a statement from the university today (Oct. 5).
  
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• How long can people live? New study suggests there's a limit

  05-10-2016 21:25
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Just how long can people live?
  
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• Blue Origin rocket unexpectedly lands itself intact during safety test

  05-10-2016 21:13 via cbc.ca
  
  Engineers expected the rocket would crash during the test of safety systems, but it landed itself intact after the crew capsule parachuted to the desert floor.
  
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• The heady promise of tiny machines

  05-10-2016 21:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What are the potential uses for molecular machines, which have won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
  
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• 'Swallow the surgeon'

  05-10-2016 21:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What are the potential uses for molecular machines, which have won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
  
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• MPs vote 207 to 81 to back Paris climate change agreement in House tonight

  05-10-2016 20:34 via cbc.ca
  
  MPs have voted 207 to 81 to endorse the Paris agreement on climate change tonight, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined a national carbon price plan Monday that will begin in 2018.
  
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• MPs vote 207 to 81 to back Paris climate change agreement

  05-10-2016 20:34 via cbc.ca
  
  MPs have voted 207 to 81 to endorse the Paris agreement on climate change tonight, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined a national carbon price plan Monday that will begin in 2018.
  
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• At least 2 dead as building collapses in Bengaluru

  05-10-2016 20:19
  By Aby Jose Koilparambil BENGALURU, India (Reuters) - At least two people were killed and several more were trapped after an incomplete five-storey building collapsed in India's technology hub of Bengaluru on Wednesday, officials said. The residential building, which had been under construction for several months, was located in the city's Bellandur neighbourhood, home to upscale apartment blocks, hostels and offices of technology companies. Rescue officials at the scene said a security guard wo
  
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• How Quantum Computing Could Change Cybersecurity Forever [Video]

  05-10-2016 20:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Quantum scientist Michele Mosca will discuss security in the coming quantum age during a live Webcast tonight at 7 P.M.
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Eels may not take most direct route in epic ocean-crossing spawning runs

  05-10-2016 20:08
  
  European eels’ epic ocean migrations to spawn may include more peculiar routes and timing than thought.
  
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• Q&A: Polluted water pours into sinkhole at fertilizer plant

  05-10-2016 20:00
  
  GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane Matthew's heavy rains are predicted to soak much of Florida, and that could complicate efforts to manage the pollution flowing into a sinkhole that opened up beneath a fertilizer plant's massive pile of toxic waste.
  
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• Sometimes failure is the springboard to success

  05-10-2016 19:31
  Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses scientific discoveries that resulted from failures large and small.
  
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• A metallic odyssey, what's causing sunspots and more reader feedback

  05-10-2016 19:30
  Metallic hydrogen, sunspot formation, salty desalination leftovers and more in reader feedback.
  
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• Limit to human life may be 115 (ish)

  05-10-2016 19:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Our life spans appear to be limited to about 115 years, according to US scientists.
  
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• Humans May Have Reached Maximum Life Span

  05-10-2016 19:00
  
  The oldest known person was Jeanne Calment, a French woman who died in 1997 at age 122. However, the new findings don't mean that researchers know for sure that humans will never live longer than 122 years, said Steven Austad, a professor of biology and aging at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who was not involved in the study. In the new study, the researchers looked at the Human Mortality Database, an international database with detailed mortality data that's maintained by researchers
  
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• Extra! Extra! 'Daily Minor Planet' Offers Asteroid Alerts

  05-10-2016 18:53
  
  A new service called the Daily Minor Planet informs the public about cosmic debris and the risks associated with asteroids zooming near Earth. Scientists from the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and volunteers from the Oracle Corporation created the service. "Most people don't realize how common asteroid flybys are," Matt Holman, director of the Minor Planet Center and astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said in a statement announ
  
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• Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Space Capsule Aces Dramatic In-Flight Escape Test

  05-10-2016 18:30
  
  Blue Origin just took another big step toward flying people to space. The private spaceflight company, which is run by billionaire Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, conducted a critical "in-flight escape test" of its crew-carrying New Shepard system today (Oct. 5) — and everything appears to have worked just as expected. Blue Origin is developing the duo to fly people and scientific experiments to and from suborbital space.
  
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• Bezos space capsule practises abort

  05-10-2016 18:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has furthered his ambition to launch people into space by practising a critical safety manoeuvre on his New Shepard vehicle.
  
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• Obama says U.S. government prepared to respond to Hurricane Matthew

  05-10-2016 18:06
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday said the U.S. government has teams and supplies positioned to respond to Hurricane Matthew as the storm barrels toward Florida and other southeastern states. "I want to emphasize to the public - this is a serious storm," Obama said after a briefing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "It has been building strength on its way to Florida." He urged Americans to comply with any evacuation orders. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Ay
  
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• Samsung phone catches fire on Southwest plane, reports suggest

  05-10-2016 17:41 via cbc.ca
  
  A Southwest Airlines flight from Louisville bound for Baltimore was grounded on the tarmac in Kentucky on Wednesday morning after a passenger's Samsung smartphone reportedly caught fire and filled the cabin with smoke.
  
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• Samsung phone catches fire on Southwest plane

  05-10-2016 17:41 via cbc.ca
  
  A Southwest Airlines flight in Louisville, Ky., bound for Baltimore has been grounded on the tarmac after a passenger's Samsung smartphone caught fire and filled the cabin with smoke.
  
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• Three scientists, including a Scottish-born knight, share Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on nano-machines

  05-10-2016 17:13
  
  The trio were given the award for helping pioneer molecular devices.
  
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• Animal hybrids may hold clues to Neandertal-human interbreeding

  05-10-2016 17:00
  
  The physical effects of interbreeding among animals may offer clues to Neandertals’ genetic mark on humans.
  
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• 'Dustbuster' Telescope Uncovers Hidden Stars

  05-10-2016 16:32
  
  Interstellar dust that blocks astronomers' view of space is no match for the European Southern Observatory's "dustbuster" telescope, which just revealed this dazzling view of several stars that have hidden in the cosmic dust until now. The Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA), located at ESO's Cerro Paranal Observatory in Chile, took this new image of this cloud of gas and dust, called Messier 78 (M78), which resides 1,600 light-years from Earth. Astronomers call M78 a ref
  
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• Fitness trackers probably don't make you healthier, say scientists

  05-10-2016 16:17
  
  Researchers say they found “no evidence that the device promoted weight loss or improved blood pressure or cardiorespiratory fitness”.
  
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• Roman Bullets Tell Story of 1,800-Year-Old Attack on Scottish Fort

  05-10-2016 14:31
  
  A bloody assault by Roman legions on a hill fort in Scotland around 1,800 years ago is being pieced together using the remains of Roman missile weapons that were used in the attack. The excavations at Burnswark Hill, in the Dumfries region of southwest Scotland, have unearthed the largest cache of Roman lead sling bullets yet discovered — part of the huge arsenal of missile ammunition used by the attacking legions to subdue the native defenders of the hilltop fort. So many sling bullets an
  
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• Device Can Read Emotions By Bouncing Wireless Signals Off Your Body

  05-10-2016 14:30
  
  Emotions can be tricky enough for humans to read, let alone machines, but a new system can predict people's feelings with 87 percent accuracy by bouncing wireless signals off them, researchers say. The setup, dubbed EQ-Radio, analyzes the signal reflected off a subject's body to monitor both breathing and heartbeat. Using a device smaller than a Wi-Fi router, researchers at MIT were able to monitor a person's breathing and heartbeat wirelessly.
  
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• West Coast orca 'Class of 2015' a sign of hope for endangered species

  05-10-2016 14:00 via cbc.ca
  
  One year after a "baby boom" of endangered southern resident orca whales on the West Coast gave conservationists and whale watchers hope for the population's future, the Pacific Whale Watch Association says eight of 10 of those calves are doing great.
  
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