Science news

• Endangered black rhino born at Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines

  17-10-2016 23:44
  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An endangered black rhino has given birth to an 80-pound female at Des Moines' Blank Park Zoo.
  
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• Arctic crossing planned for ‘Boaty’ sub

  17-10-2016 23:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UK’s favourite new yellow submarine, Boaty McBoatface, will likely take on the grand challenge of trying to cross the entire Arctic Ocean under the ice.
  
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• Planning cities is critical challenge in 21st century, United Nations says

  17-10-2016 22:51
  By Paola Totaro QUITO, Ecuador (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Urban planning has failed to keep up with mass urbanization around the world, placing cities at the epicentre of the 21st century's most pressing challenges, a top United Nations official said on Monday. The vulnerability of urban habitats, amid the accelerating pace of climate change and population growth, points to an unsustainable future if urgent action is not taken, Peter Thomson, president of the U.N General Assembly, said in Qu
  
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• Canadian researchers chart path of Rosetta's comet

  17-10-2016 22:10 via cbc.ca
  
  Now that the Rosetta space mission has come to an end, Canadian researchers are using the data gathered to chart the history of comet 67P — an ancient, icy space rock that contains clues about the origins of life on Earth.
  
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• Does weed help you sleep? Probably not

  17-10-2016 21:50
  Marijuana users may believe that frequent use helps them sleep, but that perception has been challenged by a new study. It found that daily marijuana users actually scored higher on the Insomnia Severity Index and on sleep-disturbance measures than those who did not use it daily.
  
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• Berries may give yellow woodpeckers a red dye job

  17-10-2016 21:34
  
  A diet of invasive honeysuckle berries may be behind stray red feathers in woodpeckers called yellow-shafted flickers.
  
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• Juno Jupiter Probe's Final Engine Burn Delayed by Glitch

  17-10-2016 21:21
  
  NASA's Juno Jupiter probe won't be settling into its final orbit around the giant planet this week after all. Juno was scheduled to fire its main engine for the final time during the probe's close Jupiter flyby on Wednesday (Oct. 19), in a maneuver that would reduce the time it takes the spacecraft to circle the gas giant from 53 Earth days down to 14 days. "Telemetry indicates that two helium check valves that play an important role in the firing of the spacecraft's main engine did not operate
  
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• Local fidelity key to ocean-wide recovery of humpback whales

  17-10-2016 21:13
  Humpback whales can migrate thousands of miles to reach feeding grounds each year, but a new study concludes that their fidelity to certain local habitats -- as passed on through the generations -- and the protection of these habitats are key to understanding the ultimate recovery of this endangered species.
  
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• Biocompatible fibers to use light to stimulate cells or sense signs of disease

  17-10-2016 21:12
  A biocompatible and highly stretchable optical fiber has now been created from hydrogel -- an elastic, rubbery material composed mostly of water. The fiber, which is as bendable as a rope of licorice, may one day be implanted in the body to deliver therapeutic pulses of light or light up at the first sign of disease.
  
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• Why tomatoes lose flavor in fridge: their genes chill out

  17-10-2016 21:09
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Why can tomatoes lose flavor in the fridge? A new study says it's because some of their genes are chilling out. And that discovery might help scientists solve the problem.
  
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• How animals sense the rate of temperature change

  17-10-2016 21:09
  A biologist has uncovered the molecular mechanism that regulates an animal’s ability to sense the rate of temperature change.
  
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• Fracking wastewater is mostly brines, not human-made fracking fluids

  17-10-2016 21:08
  Human-made chemical-laden fracking fluids make up less than 8 percent of wastewater being produced by fracked wells; more than 92% of it is naturally occurring brines, which carry their own risks but may have beneficial re-uses, say investigators.
  
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• 'Robomussels' used to monitor climate change

  17-10-2016 21:04
  Tiny robots have been helping researchers study how cli­mate change affects bio­di­ver­sity. These “robo­mus­sels” have the shape, size, and color of actual mus­sels, with minia­ture built-??in sen­sors that track tem­per­a­tures inside the mussel beds.
  
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• The healing potential of crab shells

  17-10-2016 20:30
  Combining a sugar derived from crab and shrimp shells with nanomaterials could lead to applications that enhance bone regeneration and wound healing, suggests researchers.
  
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• Orbital ATK Will Try to Launch Antares Rocket Tonight: Watch It Live

  17-10-2016 20:20
  
  The commercial spaceflight company Orbital ATK is once again counting down to the launch an Antares rocket from Virginia's Eastern Shore tonight (Oct. 17). The Antares rocket is slated to launch an unmanned Cygnus cargo ship toward the International Space Station (ISS) at 7:40 p.m. EDT (2340 GMT) from Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility here on Wallops Island. A launch attempt on Sunday was scrubbed due to a glitch in a ground-support cable, but the Antares rocket itself and its C
  
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• Humpback whale caught in shark nets

  17-10-2016 19:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Humpback whale calf got stuck in shark nets off the Gold Coast in Australia.
  
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• Exxon asks court to toss out New York state' climate change case

  17-10-2016 19:35 via cbc.ca
  
  Exxon Mobil Corp has asked a U.S. court to throw out a subpoena from New York state that would force the oil company to hand over decades of documents as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into whether it misled investors about climate change risks.
  
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• WikiLeaks says Julian Assange's internet link 'severed' by Ecuador

  17-10-2016 19:15 via cbc.ca
  
  WikiLeaks has blamed Ecuador for cutting off founder Julian Assange's internet access while he is holed up at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, and while his group is releasing thousands of emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman.
  
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• WikiLeaks says Julian Assange's internet link 'severed' by a state actor

  17-10-2016 19:15 via cbc.ca
  
  WikiLeaks says that founder Julian Assange's internet access has been cut by an unidentified state actor. Few other details were immediately available.
  
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• Extreme lightning events set records

  17-10-2016 19:00
  
  A lightning flash stretching 321 kilometers across and one that lasted 7.74 seconds have been named the most extreme events on record, thanks to a new rule change.
  
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• Deadly cat poop causes rift among animal defenders in Hawaii

  17-10-2016 18:53
  
  HONOLULU (AP) — Two wildlife issues have collided in Hawaii, pitting one group of animal defenders against another in an impassioned debate. The point of contention? Deadly cat poop and the feral felines that produce it.
  
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• Work begins on £200m Attenborough polar ship

  17-10-2016 18:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The construction of the UK's £200m polar research ship, the RRS Sir David Attenborough has formally begun at the Cammell Laird Shipyard in Birkenhead.
  
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• Rockstar Games announces Red Dead Redemption 2 for fall 2017 release

  17-10-2016 17:35 via cbc.ca
  
  After two days of teaser images, Grand Theft Auto makers Rockstar Games confirmed the sequel to their 2010 wild west game is in the works and set for a Fall 2017 release.
  
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• Germany tells Tesla to stop using term 'autopilot'

  17-10-2016 17:35 via cbc.ca
  
  ​German authorities are telling electric automaker Tesla to stop using the term "autopilot" for its driver assistance system, saying it is misleading.
  
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• Sony develops algorithm based AI music

  17-10-2016 17:17
  By Michaela Cabrera A future chart-topping song may soon come from an algorithm. Sony Computer Science Laboratory (CSL) in Paris is developing a system of algorithms which can create songs that cater to the user's taste, based on styles adapted from existing music. The starting point of the song creation is a database of sheet music of more than 13,000 existing songs, from which the user can choose any number of titles with a sound or feel they would like the new song to incorporate.  The a
  
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• China Launches Shenzhou-11 Astronauts to Tiangong-2 Space Lab

  17-10-2016 17:06
  
  China successfully launched its first human spaceflight mission in more than three years Oct. 16, placing into orbit a spacecraft carrying two astronauts that will dock with a new space laboratory module. A Long March 2F spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Oct. 16 (7:30 a.m. Beijing time Oct. 17) and placed the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft into orbit. The spacecraft separated from the rocket's upper stage and deployed its solar panels a little more
  
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• In a first, mouse eggs grown from skin cells

  17-10-2016 17:00
  
  Stem cells grown in ovary-mimicking conditions in a lab dish can make healthy mouse offspring, but technique still needs work.
  
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• Healthy Baby Mice Produced from Mouse Mom's Skin Cells

  17-10-2016 17:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Cells were matured in a lab dish, edging toward a process that may one day work in humans  
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Ingested Porcupine Quill Pokes Hole in Woman's Aorta

  17-10-2016 16:59
  
  She had gone to a different emergency room with the same symptoms a week earlier, but was sent home because the doctors there thought that she was having a panic attack, according to the case report, published in September in the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. On her second visit to the hospital, however, healthcare providers discovered that the woman had fluid in the sac around her heart.
  
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• Woman Puts E-Cig Liquid in Her Eye After Mistaking It for Eyedrops

  17-10-2016 16:58
  
  They noted in their letter that the e-cig liquid bottle contained no warnings about what should be done if someone got the liquid in their eye. Although the liquid that the woman used was only mildly acidic, the doctors wrote that these liquids can have a wide range of pH levels, from 4.7 (acidic) to 9.6 (alkaline).
  
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• Watch this mamma whale help rescuers free her calf from shark nets

  17-10-2016 16:58 via cbc.ca
  
  Rescuers teamed up with a humpback whale to free her four-metre calf, who became entangled in shark nets off Australia's Gold Coast.
  
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• Twins Conjoined at Head Now Separated: What Causes Rare Condition?

  17-10-2016 16:58
  
  The 13-month-old boys, Jadon and Anias McDonald, were born with a condition called craniopagus, which means they shared a portion of their skull and brain tissue. The surgery to separate the twins required a team of 40 experts, and finished at 2:15 a.m. today (Oct. 14), according to a statement from Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York, where the surgery was performed. "Well, we did it," Dr. James Goodrich, a pediatric neurosurgeon who led the surgery, told CNN.
  
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• Future of Health Care: Data Can Empower Patients, Obama Says

  17-10-2016 16:57
  
  To really improve health care for Americans in the future, people must be given more power over their own health data, President Barack Obama said Thursday (Oct. 13). Speaking at the White House Frontiers Conference, an event that focuses on how the U.S. can harness science and technology to improve lives, Obama discussed the importance of opening up health data systems. When people have more information, they feel empowered, and they "don't just feel like cogs in [a] system," Obama said.
  
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• 3 New Vaccines Against 'Black Death' Plague Bacteria Show Promise

  17-10-2016 16:56
  
  Plague is an age-old disease that can still be deadly today, but now researchers are developing new vaccines that could potentially protect against plague infection, early research in animals suggests. In a new study, researchers tested three vaccines that were designed to protect people against infection from the bacteria that cause plague, known as Yersinia pestis. To create the vaccines, the researchers modified several genes of the bacteria so that they couldn't cause disease, but would like
  
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• Rapid Fire: Ancient Blaze Leveled City in 3 Hours

  17-10-2016 16:52
  
  About 3,000 years ago, a fire destroyed the Near East city of Tel Megiddo, leaving ash and burned mud-brick buildings in its wake. The findings, based on scientists' own experiments with homemade mud bricks, not only help archaeologists understand the destruction of this ancient city in the Near East, but also serve as a window into how fires affected other settlements, researchers said. "Mud bricks are important to study, because they account for as much as 90 percent of standing architecture i
  
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• Alien Life May Munch on Galactic Cosmic Rays

  17-10-2016 16:52
  
  Extreme microbes that live in hostile places on Earth may feed off of cosmic rays that zip through space, according to a study of a bizarre bacterium thriving deep in a dark gold mine. "When you have radiation penetrating deep below the surface, where there might be water on Mars or [Jupiter's moon] Europa, then it could start chemical reactions that life could use," said study author Dimitra Atri, a research scientist at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science in Seattle. Organisms that live
  
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• Tiny 'Beardogs' Get New Place in Carnivore Family Tree

  17-10-2016 16:51
  
  Texas was home to some of the earliest members of this group, including two species of tiny beardog that have been reclassified with new scientific names. "We've known about these curious little critters for 30 years, but couldn't tell exactly what kind of carnivores they were," study researcher Susumu Tomiya, a postdoctoral scholar at the Field Museum in Chicago, said in a statement. Tomiya had just started working at the Field Museum when he noticed that a couple of small carnivore jaws in the
  
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• Oldest Known Avian 'Squawk Box' Helped Ancient Bird Quack

  17-10-2016 16:51
  
  More than 66 million years ago, a duck-size waterbird flew around the woods of ancient Antarctica, honking and calling to its mate with what is now the oldest discovered avian vocal organ on record, a new study finds. The findings also suggest that dinosaurs, for which no vocal organ has been found, likely didn't sing and tweet like birds do. The vocal organ, known as a syrinx, is tiny: about the width of a pencil and less than 0.3 inches (1 centimeter) tall.
  
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• Civil War Cannonballs Uncovered by Hurricane Have Been Detonated

  17-10-2016 16:51
  
  A pile of Civil War-era cannonballs was uncovered by Hurricane Matthew after it lashed South Carolina with strong waves and high winds over the weekend. A day after the hurricane blasted the state's coastline, on Sunday (Oct. 9), a resident walking along the east end of Folly Island — a coastal region about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Charleston that's known for its history of pirates and Civil War battles — spotted a pile of 16 corroded ordnances resting on the sand, said Foll
  
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• Donald Trump's Clean-Coal Response Misses Mark, Experts Say

  17-10-2016 16:50
  
  Could "clean coal" meet the energy needs of the United States for the next 1,000 years, as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Sunday (Oct. 9) during the second presidential debate? Scientists contacted by Live Science are dubious both about whether current U.S. supplies of this fossil fuel could last more than a century and whether the country will start implementing industrywide practices to meet the clean coal definition. As of now, there aren't any operational U.S. coal plan
  
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• Why Earthquake Prediction Remains on Shaky Ground

  17-10-2016 16:49
  
  October is Earthquake Preparedness Month, and people in quake-prone zones all over the world will be practicing their best "drop, cover and hold-on" moves as officials arrange events to remind people that the earth under their feet isn't so stable. In 1980, Congress created the National Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council (NEPEC), an advisory group that was supposed to evaluate the routine predictions scientists thought might soon be rolling in. "We have not been able to make observations o
  
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• T. Rex Probably Didn't Use Its Tiny Arms Much

  17-10-2016 16:48
  
  Sue the Tyrannosaurus rex — the most complete and best-preserved T. rex skeleton ever found — temporarily surrendered her arm to science. Tests on Sue's arms at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois showed few signs of stress, according to The Field Museum in Chicago, where this giant beast dominates the museum's main hall. T. rex's comically small front limbs have long stumped scientists.
  
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• Placebos work even if you know they're placebos, study shows

  17-10-2016 16:35
  
  On the face of it, this doesn’t seem to make much sense…
  
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• Kill the cats, save the seals? Why some conservationists want to euthanize Hawaii's feral felines

  17-10-2016 16:07 via cbc.ca
  
  Two wildlife issues have collided in Hawaii, pitting one group of animal defenders against another in an impassioned debate. The point of contention? Deadly cat poop and the feral felines that produce it.
  
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• B. Rex: Giant Armored Fish Was King Before Dinosaurs

  17-10-2016 15:43
  
  A team of scientists discovered the fossils of Bothriolepis rex, a new giant in the group Antiarchi — ancient fish with armored plates covering their head, shoulders and front fins. "Bothriolepis rex extends the range of known body sizes for the group Antiarchi," Jason Downs, a research associate at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, in Philadelphia, and an assistant professor at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, said in a statement.
  
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• Jumping Spiders 'Hear' Long-Range Audio with Their Hairy Legs

  17-10-2016 15:42
  Tiny jumping spiders, which depend primarily on their vision to catch prey and evade predators, were thought to be capable of sensing only the sounds produced nearby, the study authors wrote. "Hearing in spiders is really different from the way that our own ears work," study lead author Paul Shamble, a biologist who conducted jumping-spider research with colleagues at Cornell University but is now at Harvard University, told Live Science. "Instead of eardrums that respond to pressure, spiders ha
  
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• 5 Intriguing Uses for Artificial Intelligence (That Aren't Killer Robots)

  17-10-2016 15:41
  
  Rather than leading to the violent downfall of humankind, artificial intelligence is helping people around the world do their jobs, including doctors who diagnose sepsis in patients and scientists who track endangered animals in the wild, experts said Thursday (Oct. 13) at the White House Frontiers Conference in Pittsburgh. Famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking warned on several occasions that a fully developed AI could destroy the human race, and Hollywood sci-fi movies are rife with fierce robo
  
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• We're likely not alone in universe, says astronomer searching for extraterrestrials

  17-10-2016 15:32 via cbc.ca
  
  It’s a question that has inspired many men and women to stare up into the wild blue yonder, eyes wide and imaginations open. Are we alone?
  
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• CO2 to fish food, other ideas advance in $20M XPRIZE contest

  17-10-2016 15:14
  CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — With dreams of turning carbon dioxide into everything from concrete to fish food, teams from six countries have advanced beyond the first phase of a $20 million XPRIZE contest to find profitable uses for CO2 emitted by power plants.
  
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• Muddy vote result weakens Djukanovic's 25-year grip on Montenegro

  17-10-2016 15:08
  By Aleksandar Vasovic PODGORICA (Reuters) - Montenegro's Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic emerged weakened on Monday from an election he had cast as a choice between NATO membership or subjugation to Russia. Djukanovic, who has led the small Balkan state for a quarter of a century, faced an uphill task to assemble a coalition after a partial vote count suggested his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) would win 36 seats, five short of a majority in the 81-seat parliament. Opposition parties appea
  
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