Science news

• Welcome Ajabu! Dallas Zoo unveils male baby elephant

  12-10-2016 23:59
  
  DALLAS (AP) — Visitors to the Dallas Zoo can now observe a baby elephant whose mother gave birth this spring after being rescued from the African nation of Swaziland.
  
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• Hot and spicy pain signals get blocked in naked mole-rats

  12-10-2016 23:23
  
  Naked mole-rats have a protein that interrupts pain signal.
  
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• Social media sites block startup Geofeedia over its ties to police tracking

  12-10-2016 23:02 via cbc.ca
  
  The American Civil Liberties Union is sounding the alarm on how police monitor social media, particularly during protests, and the Canadian chapter has similar concerns.
  
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• Missile again fired at U.S. Navy from Houthi territory in Yemen

  12-10-2016 22:53
  By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy destroyer was targeted on Wednesday in a failed missile attack from territory in Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, the second such incident in four days, the U.S. military said. The USS Mason fired defensive salvos in response to at least one missile which did not hit the ship or caused any damage as it operated north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Pentagon said. Indications are that the second salvo brought down a
  
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• Ocean archaea more vulnerable to deep-sea viruses than bacteria

  12-10-2016 22:35
  
  Deep-sea viruses kill archaea disproportionately more often than bacteria, a killing spree with important impacts on the global carbon cycle.
  
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• Pentagon says will respond, in time, to missile attacks on ship

  12-10-2016 22:23
  The Pentagon said it would respond "at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner" after a new, attempted missile attack on a U.S. Navy destroyer off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday, the second such incident in four days. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the USS Mason detected at least one missile launched from Houthi-controlled territory near Al Hudaydah, Yemen. "The ship employed defensive countermeasures, and the missile did not reach USS Mason," Cook said in a statement.
  
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• Genome engineering paves way for sickle cell cure

  12-10-2016 22:02
  A team of physicians and laboratory scientists has taken a key step toward a cure for sickle cell disease, using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to fix the mutated gene responsible for the disease in stem cells from the blood of affected patients.
  
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• Birds’ honks filled Late Cretaceous air

  12-10-2016 21:53
  
  Oldest avian voice box fossil yet discovered belonged to a ducklike bird that lived during the age of the dinosaurs.
  
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• Why did T. Rex have such small arms?

  12-10-2016 21:48
  SUE the Dinosaur’s forearm came to the Advanced Photon Source for its most detailed scan ever, which could shed light on why the large dinosaur had such small arms.
  
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• Nasa satellite captures eye of Hurricane Nicole as it heads towards Bermuda

  12-10-2016 21:35
  
  The Category 2 storm is expected to strike the island on Thursday.
  
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• Novel imaging technique with potential for medical diagnostics

  12-10-2016 20:48
  A unique new imaging method, called "polarized nuclear imaging" - combining powerful aspects of both magnetic resonance imaging and gamma-ray imaging and developed by two physicists in the University of Virginia's departments of Physics and Radiology -- has potential for new types of high-resolution medical diagnostics as well as industrial and physics research applications.
  
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• U.S. Navy destroyer again targeted by missiles from Yemen - U.S. officials

  12-10-2016 20:20
  By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy destroyer was targeted on Wednesday in a failed missile attack from territory in Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, the second such incident in the past four days, U.S. officials told Reuters. The USS Mason, which was accompanied by the USS Ponce - an amphibious transport dock - fired defensive salvos in response to the missiles, neither of which hit the ship or caused any damage as it operated north of the Bab al-Man
  
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• A group of scientists wants you to become a citizen of Asgardia - the 'first nation in outer space'

  12-10-2016 20:17
  
  The project aims to kick off with the launch of a satellite next year.
  
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• Impact! New Moon Craters Are Appearing Faster Than Thought

  12-10-2016 20:16
  
  New craters are forming on the surface of the moon more frequently than scientists had predicted, a new study has found. The discovery raises concerns about future moon missions, which may face an increased risk of being hit by falling space rocks. The moon is dotted with a vast number of craters, some billions of years old.
  
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• World's First "Cybathlon" Pits High-Tech Prosthetics against One Another

  12-10-2016 20:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  From robotic arms to brain–computer interfaces, the unique event featured some of today’s most cutting-edge assistive devices
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• World's First "Cybathlon" Pits High-Tech Prosthetics Against Each Other

  12-10-2016 20:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  From robotic arms to brain-computer interfaces, the unique event featured some of today’s most cutting-edge assistive devices
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Sustainable fisheries require capable fishers

  12-10-2016 20:09
  Full participation of thousands of small tuna fishers in fishery improvement  projects require specific capabilities, like firm and collective capabilities for organizing and marketing their fish. Fishers who don’t have these capabilities are less likely to participate in projects to improve sustainability, researchers demonstrate.
  
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• Wayward space balloon drifts across international border

  12-10-2016 19:51 via cbc.ca
  
  The astronomy club at Michigan State University expected the balloon to land in Metro Detroit, about an hour’s drive east of campus. Instead, their balloon drifted north into Canada and ended up in Bobcaygeon, the small community located north of Peterborough, Ont.
  
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• Oldest known squawk box suggests dinosaurs likely did not sing

  12-10-2016 19:42
  The oldest known vocal organ of a bird has been found in an Antarctic fossil of a relative of ducks and geese that lived more than 66 million years ago during the age of dinosaurs.
  
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• Vitamins A and C help erase cell memory

  12-10-2016 19:28
  Vitamins A and C aren't just good for your health, they affect your DNA too. Researchers have discovered how vitamins A and C act to modify the epigenetic 'memory' held by cells; insight which is significant for regenerative medicine and our ability to reprogram cells from one identity to another.
  
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• Salty snow could affect air pollution in the Arctic

  12-10-2016 19:26
  In pictures, the Arctic appears pristine and timeless with its barren lands and icy landscape. In reality, the area is rapidly changing. Scientists are working to understand the chemistry behind these changes to better predict what could happen to the region in the future. One team reports that sea salt could play a larger role in the formation of local atmospheric pollutants than previously thought.
  
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• Cannabis excess linked to bone disease, fractures

  12-10-2016 19:26
  People who regularly smoke large amounts of cannabis have reduced bone density and are more prone to fractures, research has found. The study also found that heavy cannabis users have a lower body weight and a reduced body mass index (BMI), which could contribute to thinning of their bones.
  
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• Climate change may help Ethiopia, increase the country's access to water

  12-10-2016 19:21
  Despite the many disastrous impacts of climate change, there are some regions of the globe that might benefit from hotter temperatures. A team of researchers have predicted that water availability in the Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia may increase in coming decades due to global climate change. It could also lead to increased crop production, spur massive hydroelectric power projects, and foster irrigation development in the region.
  
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• Amazon launches streaming music service, but not in Canada

  12-10-2016 19:21 via cbc.ca
  
  Amazon has launched a streaming music service, but similar to its streaming video services it's not available in Canada yet.
  
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• Visual cortex plays role in plasticity of eye movement reflex

  12-10-2016 19:20
  The visual cortex – a region of the brain known to process sensory information – plays a key role in promoting the plasticity of innate, spontaneous eye movements, according to a study.
  
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• New model for understanding myeloma

  12-10-2016 19:20
  To develop new approaches to cancer prevention, scientists have attempted to grow tumor cells from precursor states in animal models.
  
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• Hypothyroidism symptoms linger despite medication use, normal blood tests

  12-10-2016 19:20
  New research gives hypothyroidism patients—who often feel dismissed and forgotten—evidence that their persistent symptoms are not just in their heads.
  
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• Scientists discover the key to how birds developed singing ability

  12-10-2016 19:12
  
  Instead of the lilting notes of a Blackbird, it seems the earliest syrinx was more capable of producing honking noises.
  
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• Hurricane Nicole Delays Private Rocket Launch to No Earlier Than Sunday

  12-10-2016 19:02
  
  A cargo-supply mission scheduled to blast off to the International Space Station from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia this Friday will happen no sooner than Sunday (Oct. 16) as Hurricane Nicole marches straight toward the rocket's tracking site in Bermuda. NASA and Orbital ATK, a private spaceflight company contracted by NASA to fly unmanned resupply missions to the space station, currently have until Oct. 19 to try and launch Antares, and are working to extend the window, NASA spokes
  
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• Fossil sheds light on evolution of birdsong

  12-10-2016 19:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have reconstructed the "voicebox" of an extinct bird that lived at the time of the dinosaurs - and they say it honked or quacked like a duck.
  
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• Virus stole poison genes from black widow spider

  12-10-2016 18:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  In a very unusual case of genetic theft, a virus has been caught with a gene that codes for the poison of black widow spiders.
  
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• Iraqi cleric Sadr calls for protest against Maliki's comeback

  12-10-2016 18:49
  Powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday called for a demonstration against a Iraqi court ruling that returns his bitter rival, ex-prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, to a vice-presidential position. The ruling announced on Monday by Iraq's supreme court is "an attempt to bring back corruption", Sadr said in a statement on his website. Maliki took one of three ceremonial vice-presidencies two years ago, after he failed as prime minister to stop Islamic State fighters from sweeping across
  
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• Stressed out coatings

  12-10-2016 18:21
  Currently used coating materials are very brittle, with a toughness only a little more than that of window glass. Also, previous research has shown that it is very difficult to break crystals that are extremely small. A fine-grained microstructure could toughen protective coatings, report researchers.
  
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• Tatooine worlds orbiting two suns often survive violent escapades of aging stars

  12-10-2016 18:12
  Planets that revolve around two suns may surprisingly survive the violent late stages of the stars' lives, according to new research. The finding is surprising because planets orbiting close to a single sun, like Mercury and Venus in our solar system, would be destroyed when the aging star swells into a red giant.
  
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• New analysis sheds light on Zika virus evolution, spread

  12-10-2016 18:10
  Researchers have modeled the evolutionary development and diversity of the Zika virus to better understand how infection spreads between populations and how the virus reacts with the immune system. Such an understanding is essential if an effective vaccine is to be developed.
  
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• Hurricane Sandy-Level Floods Likely to Hit NYC More Often

  12-10-2016 17:42
  
  Disastrous floods like those seen during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which killed 159 people in the United States, destroyed neighborhoods in New York and caused an estimated $50 billion in damages, may hit New York City 17 times more often in the next century, a new study finds.
  
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• Experience the Thrill of an Everest Expedition in New Virtual Reality Film

  12-10-2016 17:42
  
  Armchair adventurers, rejoice! A new virtual-reality documentary series will let you join a team of mountaineers as they tackle a perilous climb up Mount Everest. The VR series, called "Capturing Everest," will chronicle the journey of four climbers — including Garrett Madison, who summited Everest six times, and Brent Bishop, who summited Everest three times — as they attempt to ascend the giant peak. Set to debut in early 2017, the documentary was shot over the span of two months,
  
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• Painted lady butterflies’ migration may take them across the Sahara

  12-10-2016 17:32
  
  The migratory patterns of painted lady butterflies are largely unknown. Now scientists have found evidence that some may migrate across the Sahara.
  
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• 2 deaths lead to recall of St. Jude heart devices

  12-10-2016 17:06 via cbc.ca
  
  St. Jude Medical Inc said it would recall some of its 400,000 implanted heart devices due to risk of premature battery depletion and associated loss of defibrillation therapy.
  
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• Flemish altarpiece masterwork part-restored to former glory

  12-10-2016 16:44
  By Robert-Jan Bartunek GHENT, Belgium (Reuters) - Scientists and art historians in Belgium on Wednesday finished the first restoration stage of one of the most important pieces of early Renaissance art: the Van Eyck brothers' altarpiece in Ghent. "This is not about Belgium or the Low Countries, this is world heritage," said Sven Gatz, minister of culture for Belgium's Flanders region. It was not always clear which strokes were made by Hubert Van Eyck, which by his younger and better-known brothe
  
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• 'The Last Steps' Documentary Short Offers New Look at Apollo 17 Moon Landing

  12-10-2016 16:40
  
  "The Last Steps," which premiered on Saturday (Oct. 8) at the Hamptons International Film Festival in East Hampton, New York, chronicles the journey of Apollo 17, the United States' sixth and last moon landing in December 1972. "The theme of our mission is that this isn't the end," says Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan in a rarely-seen pre-flight interview that is playing as "The Last Steps" begins. "We've just begin [sic] to crawl with the Apollo program as mankind.
  
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• Temporary extinction reprieve for some frogs

  12-10-2016 16:27
  Australian scientists have good news for frog conservation: there may be longer than expected time to intervene before climate change causes extinction of some species.
  
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• Regeneration of spinal nerve cells boosted

  12-10-2016 16:27
  Researchers successfully boosted the regeneration of mature nerve cells in the spinal cords of adult mammals -- an achievement that could one day translate into improved therapies for patients with spinal cord injuries.
  
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• Moms and dads of kids with food allergies think they're allergic too

  12-10-2016 16:26
  Only 28 percent of parents of kids with food allergies tested positive to the foods to which they reported being allergic, new research shows.
  
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• From unknown to beardog: Findings rescue fossils from 'trashbin' genus

  12-10-2016 16:26
  A new study identifies two fossils previously thought to be generic carnivorans (a large, diverse order of mammals) as some of the earliest known members of the beardog family. These fossils are from animals estimated to be no larger than about five pounds, roughly the size of a Chihuahua and much smaller than formidable descendants that would later evolve.
  
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• Common nerve protein elevated in aggressive neuroblastomas

  12-10-2016 16:26
  A protein produced by nerve cells appears to be elevated in the blood of those with an aggressive form of neuroblastoma. The finding could potentially lead to a prognostic test for the disease or be used to monitor its progress.
  
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• Government report says cannabis does have medicinal qualities

  12-10-2016 16:03
  
  Will this result in cannabis being downgraded from a Schedule 1 drug?
  
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• Competition heats up to build Canada's first Arctic fibre line, as Inuit want in

  12-10-2016 16:02 via cbc.ca
  
  High-speed fibre-optic internet could finally be coming to Nunavut, with two groups now competing to run subsea cables through the Arctic archipelago.
  
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• Mission to Mars: Here Are All of the Red Planet Plans in the Works

  12-10-2016 16:00
  
  President Barack Obama announced Tuesday (Oct. 11) that NASA will send astronauts to Mars before the end of the 2030s, reaffirming a directive he gave the space agency back in 2010. NASA is taking a multistep approach to its ultimate goal of putting boots on Mars. During this time, NASA and its ISS partners have been learning more and more about how to support astronauts on space missions.
  
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• Teachers could be making students’ anxiety worse

  12-10-2016 15:59
  The anxiety that comes with feeling like an outsider in the classroom can hinder students’ learning and, ironically, teachers could be making it worse, according to a new study by a Michigan State University researcher.
  
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