Science news

• Venezuela delays state elections to 2017

  18-10-2016 23:43
  Elections for Venezuela's state governorships will be held in 2017 rather than December as previously expected, the election board said on Tuesday, giving the unpopular socialist government a short breathing space before going to the polls. Critics say authorities have delayed the state elections - and are also seeking to derail an opposition push for a referendum to recall President Nicolas Maduro - because they are scared of letting Venezuelans have their say. Maduro, who replaced the popular
  
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• ExoMars mission set to arrive at Red Planet on October 19

  18-10-2016 23:30
  
  The European ExoMars mission is about to arrive at the Red Planet, dropping a lander on the surface and putting a spacecraft into orbit.
  
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• Watch a Space Crew Launch & a European Probe Land on Mars Wednesday

  18-10-2016 23:22
  
  A new, space-station-bound crew will lift off early Wednesday morning (Oct. 19), and Europe's Schiaparelli landing capsule will touch down on the surface of Mars later that day — and you can watch both events live online, courtesy of NASA and the European Space Agency. First, at 4:05 a.m. EDT (0805 GMT), NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will launch on a two-day journey to the International Space Station from the Baikonur C
  
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• Obama disputes Trump on rigged election, tells him to 'stop whining'

  18-10-2016 23:21
  By Ayesha Rascoe and Emily Stephenson WASHINGTON/COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama lacerated Donald Trump on Tuesday over his repeated assertions that the Nov. 8 election is rigged against him, telling the Republican presidential candidate to "stop whining and go try to make his case to get votes." With opinion polls showing him falling further back in recent days against his White House rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump has intensified his allegations, althoug
  
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• [Research Resource] Coupling an EML4-ALK-centric interactome with RNA interference identifies sensitizers to ALK inhibitors

  18-10-2016 23:18 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A network built around the kinase ALK reveals potential targets to enhance ALK inhibitor efficacy in some lung cancer patients.
  
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• [Research Article] A cyclic di-GMP-binding adaptor protein interacts with a chemotaxis methyltransferase to control flagellar motor switching

  18-10-2016 23:18 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Binding of a bacterial second messenger to an adaptor protein directs the movement of a human pathogenic bacterium.
  
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• [Podcast] Science Signaling Podcast for 18 October 2016: ALK combination therapies for lung cancer

  18-10-2016 23:18 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Network analysis reveals potential targets for treating lung cancers driven by ALK fusion proteins (Zhang et al., in 18 October 2016 issue).
  
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• [Perspective] Leveraging unique structural characteristics of WNK kinases to achieve therapeutic inhibition

  18-10-2016 23:18 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Exploiting unique characteristics of the WNK-SPAK pathway may yield useful antihypertensive medications.
  
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• [Focus] A PilZ domain protein for chemotaxis adds another layer to c-di-GMP-mediated regulation of flagellar motility

  18-10-2016 23:18 via stke.sciencemag.org
  10.1126/scisignal.aaf7584 (same issue)
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Vitamin D-mediated cancer therapy needs p62

  18-10-2016 23:18 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The autophagy-associated adaptor protein p62 is involved in vitamin D-mediated regulation of gene expression.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Signaling when to fill up

  18-10-2016 23:18 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Enzymatic reduction by ERdj5 activates Ca2+-ATPase activity to replenish endoplasmic reticular calcium stores.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Preventing white fat from wasting away

  18-10-2016 23:18 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Cachexia-inducing tumors trigger white adipose tissue wasting by decreasing the abundance of AMPK.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] A short loop at the heart of a long RNA

  18-10-2016 23:18 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A specific structural motif in a long noncoding RNA mediates the interaction with a transcription factor to drive cardiac cell differentiation.
  
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• Seeing Red: Pluto Probe's Next Target Has a Bloody Hue

  18-10-2016 23:10
  
  The tiny, faraway object that NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will fly by in 2019 is even redder than Pluto, new observations by the Hubble Space Telescope suggest. The New Horizons team used Hubble to study 11 objects in the Kuiper Belt, the realm of frigid bodies beyond Neptune's orbit whose most famous resident is Pluto. One of those 11 is 2014 MU69, which New Horizons will zoom past on Jan. 1, 2019.
  
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• Lava may be flowing from Venus volcano

  18-10-2016 22:54
  
  Lava flows might explain a hot spot seen in data from Venus Express spacecraft.
  
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• Indie Sci-Fi Gets Its Own Online Channel: Recursor.TV

  18-10-2016 22:24
  
  The sci-fi platform (which you can find at www.recursor.tv/) features curated content from independent filmmakers, and includes subgenres such as military science fiction, artificial life, augmented reality, time travel and space operas. "This is a golden era for hard science fiction, and we're thrilled to be premiering the first video platform devoted to the genre," Kavounas, CEO of Recursor, said in a statement announcing the video platform’s launch.
  
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• Dusty Avalanches Probably Cause Comet Outbursts

  18-10-2016 22:12
  
  Comet outbursts are likely caused by landslides rather than pressure-based eruptions from the icy bodies' interiors, a new study suggests. Outbursts of cometary dust — such as those observed at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by Europe's Rosetta spacecraft — produce plumes that look like those generated by geyser eruptions on Earth. "There is no internal heat source on comets to power geyser-like eruptions," study lead author Jordan Steckloff, an associate research scientis
  
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• Could Obama's Threat of Retaliation against Russia Lead to Cyber War?

  18-10-2016 22:05 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Online attacks are unpredictable and hard to control, leading to worries that White House cyber rattling could quickly escalate
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• 'Ask the Astronaut': Tom Jones' Q&A Book Offers Modern Spaceflight Primer

  18-10-2016 21:46
  
  Tom Jones has written an astronaut's primer for a new generation. In "Ask the Astronaut: A Galaxy of Astonishing Answers to Your Questions on Spaceflight" (Smithsonian, 2016), former astronaut Tom Jones taps into his own history as a space shuttle crew member while building upon two earlier Q&A books written by astronauts who preceded him into space. "I always enjoyed [the late] Bill Pogue's book, 'How Do You Go to the Bathroom in Space?' and Mike Mullane's book, 'Do Your Ears Pop in Space?'
  
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• NASA images show unprecedented ultraviolet view of Mars

  18-10-2016 21:43 via cbc.ca
  
  New pictures of the Marian atmosphere show us the Red Planet like we've never seen it before.
  
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• Two dozen ELN rebels surrender ahead of Colombia peace talks

  18-10-2016 21:42
  Two dozen fighters from the leftist ELN rebels have surrendered voluntarily to the Colombian navy, the military said on Tuesday, in a sign the group may be losing strength as it prepares to begin peace talks with the government. The National Liberation Army, or ELN, rebels will start negotiations with the government of President Juan Manuel Santos on Oct. 27 in a bid to end more than 52 years of war. The rebels from the Cimarron Resistance Front in north-western Choco province handed over their
  
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• What tweets say about our health

  18-10-2016 21:40 via cbc.ca
  
  Density of fast food restaurants by neighbourhood did predict how many mentions of fast food people in the neighbourhood made.
  
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• Eyes on the sky: Drones take flight with advertising banners

  18-10-2016 21:33 via cbc.ca
  
  It's a bird, it's a plane! No, it's just Uber's latest advertising gimmick. CBC Radio technology columnist Dan Misener takes a look at the emerging phenomenon of "drone-vertising."
  
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• Could anti-inflammatory drugs help treat depression? Scientists think so

  18-10-2016 21:27
  
  Researchers found interesting side effects when assessed the new drugs.
  
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• Astronaut describes career detour to US health director

  18-10-2016 21:04
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Kate Rubins applied to be an astronaut while she was procrastinating about writing a grant application to the National Institutes of Health.
  
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• Obama shoots down Trump claims of rigged election, telling him 'stop whining'

  18-10-2016 21:02
  By Ayesha Rascoe and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama lacerated Donald Trump on Tuesday over his repeated assertions that the Nov. 8 election is rigged against him, telling the Republican presidential candidate to "stop whining and go try to make his case to get votes." With opinion polls showing him falling further back in recent days against his White House rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump has intensified his allegations, although numerous studies have sho
  
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• Comet 67P cracking under pressure

  18-10-2016 21:00
  
  Cracks developing on comet 67P are signs of stress building in the neck of the comet that could lead to its two ends snapping apart.
  
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• Pushing the boundaries of magnet design

  18-10-2016 20:28
  For physicists, loss of magnetization in permanent magnets can be a real concern. In response, scientists created the strongest available magnet -- one offering ten times more magnetic energy than previous versions -- in 1983. These magnets are a combination of materials including rare-earth metal and so-called transition metals, and are accordingly referred to as RE-TM-B magnets.
  
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• Gorgeous Mars 'Nightglow' Spotted by NASA Orbiter (Photos, Video)

  18-10-2016 20:26
  
  The first detailed look at Martian "nightglow" has been revealed, thanks to the work of NASA's newest Red Planet orbiter. The space agency's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) probe took global pictures of the Red Planet in ultraviolet (UV) light, revealing how winds flow at high altitudes. This ultraviolet image near Mars’ South Pole was taken by MAVEN on July 10 2016 and shows the atmosphere and surface during southern spring.
  
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• Trump? Clinton? Many young Americans prefer giant meteor, poll finds

  18-10-2016 20:23
  By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Young Americans are so dissatisfied with their choices in this presidential election that nearly one in four told an opinion poll they would rather have a giant meteor destroy the Earth than see Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the White House. The tongue-in-cheek question was intended to gauge young Americans' level of unhappiness about their choices in the Nov. 8 election, said Joshua Dyck, co-director of UMass Lowell’s Center for Public Opinion, whic
  
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• Left at the 1st Neuron: Project Will Map Every Human Cell

  18-10-2016 20:22
  
  A new international initiative is creating an atlas that will chart every single cell in the human body, encompassing all of the tissues within Homo sapiens, scientists announced last week at a meeting in London. The revolutionary project, called the Human Cell Atlas, will help biologists and doctors understand, diagnose and treat diseases with the help of high-resolution images of healthy and atypical cells from every structure in the body. The initiative was formally announced at an internatio
  
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• A new player in appetite control

  18-10-2016 20:15
  Brain cells called glial cells play a critical role in controlling appetite and feeding behavior, neuroscientists have discovered. In a study of mice, the researchers found that activating these cells stimulates overeating, and that when the cells are suppressed, appetite is also suppressed. The findings could offer scientists a new target for developing drugs against obesity and other appetite-related disorders, the researchers say.
  
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• Impact of the Fukushima accident on marine life, five years later

  18-10-2016 20:13
  Five years ago, the largest single release of human-made radioactive discharge to the marine environment resulted from an accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. Approximately 80 percent of the fallout happened over the Pacific Ocean. A new study explores the environmental consequences in the marine environment of the accident. It outlines the status of current research about the impact of the fallout on plant and animal life and what remains to be done as the radioactivi
  
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• Hard of hearing? It's not your ears, it's your brain

  18-10-2016 20:11
  The reason you may have to say something twice when talking to older family members at Thanksgiving dinner may not be because of their hearing. Researchers have determined that something is going on in the brains of typical older adults that causes them to struggle to follow speech amidst background noise, even when their hearing would be considered normal on a clinical assessment.
  
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• Portable smartphone laboratory detects cancer at once

  18-10-2016 20:05
  Researchers have developed a low-cost, portable laboratory on a smartphone that can analyze several samples at once to catch a cancer biomarker, producing lab quality results.
  
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• ‘Three-parent babies’ explained

  18-10-2016 20:00
  
  Several in vitro techniques can produce babies with three biological parents.
  
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• Study examines work status, productivity after bariatric surgery

  18-10-2016 19:31
  A new study assessed working status and change in productivity in the first 3 years following bariatric surgery for severe obesity.
  
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• Mystery species hidden in cave art appears to be unknown bison-cattle hybrid

  18-10-2016 19:31
  Ancient DNA research has revealed that Ice Age cave artists recorded a previously unknown hybrid species of bison and cattle in great detail on cave walls more than 15,000 years ago.
  
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• Typing while Skyping could compromise privacy

  18-10-2016 19:26
  If you type on your desktop or laptop computer's keyboard while participating in a Skype call, you could be vulnerable to electronic eavesdropping, according to researchers.
  
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• Minimally invasive alternative to corneal transplantation may improve outcomes in people with a degenerative eye disease

  18-10-2016 19:26
  An innovative procedure may improve outcomes in people with a degenerative eye disease, suggest five-year results from a new study. Transplantation of one layer of the cornea may help people with keratoconus avoid or delay full corneal transplantation and other potentially risky procedures, according to the researchers. They say the technique may enable those with advanced keratoconus to tolerate extended contact lenses wear, which is traditionally a challenge for people with the condition.
  
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• Migraine sufferers have more nitrate-reducing microbes in their mouths

  18-10-2016 19:26
  The mouths of migraine sufferers harbor significantly more microbes with the ability to modify nitrates than people who do not get migraine headaches, new research has found.
  
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• Age of first chief's ancient tomb reveals Pacific Islanders invented new kind of society

  18-10-2016 19:26
  New uranium series analysis of chief's tomb suggests island's monumental structures are earliest evidence of a chiefdom in the Pacific -- yielding new keys to how societies emerge and evolve.
  
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• New satellite image database maps the dynamics of human presence on Earth

  18-10-2016 19:24
  Built-up areas on the Earth have increased by 2.5 times since 1975. And yet, today 7.3 billion people live and work in only 7.6% of the global land mass. Nine out of the ten most populated urban centres are in Asia, while five out of the ten largest urban centres are in the United States. These are some of the numbers calculated by a new global database which tracks human presence on Earth.
  
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• Microbial life on Mars: The possibility must be considered

  18-10-2016 19:24
  The existence of microbial life on Mars remains highly controversial, but recent evidence of water, complex organic molecules, and methane in the Martian environment, combined with findings from the 1976 Viking mission, have led to the conclusion that existing life on Mars is a possibility that must be considered.
  
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• Obama to Trump: No evidence U.S. election rigged; 'Stop whining'

  18-10-2016 19:15
  By Ayesha Rascoe and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday scolded Donald Trump over his repeated claims that the upcoming Nov. 8 election was "rigged" against him, telling the Republican presidential candidate to "stop whining." At a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden following meetings with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Obama was asked about Trump's claims that U.S. cities are rife with voter fraud and that there were efforts to "r
  
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• Earth's 16-month record heat streak ends but warming remains

  18-10-2016 19:06
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Earth's 16-month sizzling streak of record high temperatures is finally over, according to one group of federal meteorologists.
  
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• KATRIN experiment readies for quest to find neutrino’s mass

  18-10-2016 19:03
  
  The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino experiment, or KATRIN, has begun taking test data in its effort to measure the mass of neutrinos.
  
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• 'Stop whining' about U.S. elections being rigged, Obama tells Trump

  18-10-2016 18:39
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama urged Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to "stop whining" about the Nov. 8 election being rigged, saying no serious person could suggest U.S. elections could be manipulated because of their decentralized nature. "I have never seen in my lifetime, or in modern political history, any presidential candidate trying to discredit the elections and the election process before votes have even taken place. It's unprecedented," the Democratic p
  
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• Cool: Earth's 16-month record heat streak finally ends

  18-10-2016 18:13
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal meteorologists say Earth's 16-month streak of record high temperatures is finally over.
  
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• Uranus might have two hidden dark moons

  18-10-2016 18:04
  
  The tiny moonlets have potentially been missed by astronomers for years.
  
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