Science news

• Alien contact? Don't jump the gun: Bob McDonald

  28-10-2016 23:41 via cbc.ca
  
  According to two Quebec astronomers, unusual signals coming from 234 sun-like stars suggest that alien civilizations could be reaching out. If true, this would have a profound effect on our understanding of our place in the universe. But here's why we can't rush to that conclusion.
  
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• Scientist: Breach dams to save orcas off Washington state

  28-10-2016 23:40
  
  SEATTLE (AP) — Researchers who track the endangered population of orcas that frequent Washington state waters say three whales are believed dead or missing since summer.
  
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• SpaceX closer to understanding rocket explosion at pad

  28-10-2016 23:09
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX is closer to understanding last month's rocket explosion at its launch pad.
  
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• 'Golden' Expedition: 50th Commander Takes Charge of Space Station

  28-10-2016 22:56
  
  For the 50th time its nearly 16-year history, the International Space Station has a new commander. NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough became the space station's 50th commander on Friday (Oct. 28) during a brief change of command ceremony. Kimbrough took over control from Anatoli Ivanishin, the outgoing commander of Expedition 49 and a cosmonaut with Russia's federal space agency, Roscosmos.
  
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• A tiny machine: Infinitesimal computing device

  28-10-2016 22:20
  Electrical and computer engineers have developed a design for a functional nanoscale computing device. The concept involves a dense, three-dimensional circuit operating on an unconventional type of logic that could, theoretically, be packed into a block no bigger than 50 nanometers on any side.
  
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• Treadmill running with heavier shoes tied to slower race times

  28-10-2016 22:18
  It makes sense that running with heavier shoes on will cause you to exert more energy than running with lighter shoes. That was proven several decades ago. But does using more energy while running with heavier shoes translate into slower running times? That's also a yes, say researchers who designed a clever study to show that running times slow when running shoe weight is increased, even if only by a few ounces.
  
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• New research on bats hunting in noise

  28-10-2016 21:56
  Noise pollution, according to a new study, has been linked to lower survival and reproduction because it masks environmental cues and makes it hard for animals to hear moving prey or approaching predators.
  
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• Helping dam north of Grand Canyon balance environment, hydropower needs

  28-10-2016 21:56
  Researchers have helped develop a plan for the operation of Glen Canyon Dam in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, upstream of Grand Canyon National Park. The plan, known as the Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan, and documented in a final environmental impact statement, recommends a strategy that would balance hydropower with the protection of environmental, cultural and recreational resources in the area.
  
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• Frankenstein predicted key concept of modern biology: study

  28-10-2016 21:09 via cbc.ca
  Mary Shelley's Frankenstein foreshadowed a key concept in evolutionary biology formally defined by scientists a century after the man-made monster shambled across the pages of the 19th century novel, an academic study published on Friday found.
  
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• Did Microsoft out-Apple Apple? Surface computers take aim at Macbook domain

  28-10-2016 21:07 via cbc.ca
  
  Is Microsoft the cool kid of computers again? Tech watchers proclaim the company is 'more innovative' than Apple after recent product launches.
  
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• Pop-culture news helped destigmatize out-of-wedlock childbirth

  28-10-2016 20:21
  Celebrity news reports over the past four decades appear to have contributed to the changing makeup of the traditional American family by helping to destigmatize out-of-wedlock childbirths in the United States, according to a study.
  
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• Colorado River's dead clams tell tales of carbon emission

  28-10-2016 20:21
  Scientists have begun to account for the topsy-turvy carbon cycle of the Colorado River delta – once a massive green estuary of grassland, marshes and cottonwood, now desiccated dead land.
  
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• NASA spots 'pumpkin' stars and the 'ghostly' heart of a supernova

  28-10-2016 20:17 via cbc.ca
  
  Just in time for Halloween, NASA has released detailed images of some of its spookier recent space discoveries — including a patch pumpkin-shaped stars and the still-beating heart of a supernova.
  
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• Early birds could achieve liftoff

  28-10-2016 19:43
  
  Early birds and other flying dinosaurs had the strong legs and wing speed needed to launch into the air directly from the ground, researchers argue.
  
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• New technique reveals powerful, 'patchy' approach to nanoparticle synthesis

  28-10-2016 19:42
  Patches of chain-like molecules placed across nanoscale particles can radically transform the optical, electronic, and magnetic properties of particle-based materials. Now, scientists have used cutting-edge electron tomography techniques—a process of 3D reconstructive imaging—to pinpoint the structure and composition of the polymer nano-patches.
  
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• Dead Star's Corpse Twirls in Eerie Cosmic Graveyard

  28-10-2016 19:18
  
  The star that became the Crab Nebula went supernova centuries ago, from Earth's perspective — in 1054, it burned so brightly that skywatchers could see it shining during the day for more than three weeks, according to records from the time, and its fires were visible to the naked eye at night for two years. The excess gas stretches outward from the dead star's location, 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Taurus, and it conceals a powerful heart: a neutron star with the sun's mass
  
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• Weeks after recalling bars, Soylent halts production of powder mix

  28-10-2016 18:55 via cbc.ca
  
  Weeks after recalling meal replacement bars that made some customers severely stomach sick, Soylent has now halted production of its powder drink mix over similar reports.
  
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• High-frequency spinal cord stimulation provides better results in chronic back, leg pain

  28-10-2016 18:53
  For patients with severe, chronic back and leg pain, a new high-frequency spinal cord stimulation (SCS) technique provides superior clinical outcomes, compared to conventional low-frequency SCS, reports a clinical trial.
  
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• 'Frankenstein' predicted concept key to modern biology: study

  28-10-2016 18:18
  
  BOSTON (Reuters) - Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" foreshadowed a key concept in evolutionary biology formally defined by scientists a century after the man-made monster shambled across the pages of the 19th century novel, an academic study published on Friday found.
  
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• Jesus' Tomb Opened for First Time in Centuries

  28-10-2016 18:08
  
  The original rock where Jesus Christ is traditionally believed to have been buried in Jerusalem has been exposed to the light of day for the first time in centuries. According to an exclusive report by National Geographic, a partner in the project at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the original rock surface has been covered with marble slabs since at least 1555, and possibly longer. During a conservation project to shore up the shrine surrounding the tomb, a team from the National Technical Un
  
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• Turbulent solution to a growing problem

  28-10-2016 17:54
  Plasma turbulence, the wildly fluctuating pattern of particle motion, is a concern for fusion energy devices because it allows heat to escape the plasma. However, an even more serious concern is posed by naturally growing magnetic islands that tear the magnetic fabric of the plasma. In a recent experiment, researchers suggest that plasma turbulence can prevent filamentary structures called magnetic islands from growing so large that they cool off the 100 million degree plasma.
  
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• With cancer genome sequencing, be your own control

  28-10-2016 17:53
  When a researcher found more than 1,000 genetic translocations in her mouse model of B cell lymphoma, she assumed her lab had made a mistake. To rule out experimental technique as the cause of the way-more-than-expected genomic alterations, the lab sequenced three different types of cells from "wildtype" mice - effectively the kind that might move into your garage in bad weather. Like the lymphoma cells before them, the cells from wildtype mice also had over a 1,000 translocations.
  
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• Antibody breaks leukemia's hold, providing new therapeutic approach

  28-10-2016 17:51
  Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an aggressive cancer known for drug resistance and relapse. In an effort to uncover new treatment strategies, researchers have discovered that a cell surface molecule known as CD98 promotes AML.
  
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• Underfed worms program their babies to cope with famine

  28-10-2016 17:40
  Going hungry at an early age can cause lifelong health problems. But the extent of malnutrition's damage depends on mom's diet too -- at least in worms. A new study of the tiny nematode worm C. elegans finds that young worms that don't get anything to eat in the first few days of life are buffered from early starvation's worst effects if their mothers had also been underfed.
  
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• Early Pacific seafarers likely latched onto El Nino, other climate patterns

  28-10-2016 17:38
  Researchers employed computer simulations and climatic data to help them explore the travels that led to the settlement of islands in Remote Oceania.
  
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• Conundrum of missing iron in oxygen minimum zones solved

  28-10-2016 17:36
  Iron is an essential nutrient for biological productivity in the oceans. However, dissolved iron quickly combines with oxygen and is then no longer usable by organisms. For a long time it has been a conundrum why even in low oxygen zones of the Tropics the dissolved iron concentrations are relatively low. An international research has now discovered that in anoxic seawater, iron is removed through reaction with nitrate instead of oxygen.
  
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• New biochar model scrubs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

  28-10-2016 17:35
  An economically viable model to scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere has been developed to thwart runaway, point-of-no-return global warming. The researchers propose using a “bioenergy-biochar system” that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in an environmental pinch, until other removal methods become economically feasible and in regions where other methods are impractical.
  
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• Iceland's Pirate Party trailing in early national election results

  28-10-2016 17:34 via cbc.ca
  
  The centre-right Independence Party is gaining the biggest vote share in early results from Iceland's national election, with the radical Pirate Party still hoping to become the second-largest group in parliament
  
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• Iceland is poised to elect a party of hackers and internet-freedom activists

  28-10-2016 17:34 via cbc.ca
  
  The past few years have been stormy for Iceland, a country threatened by volcanoes and brought low by bankers. Now, Icelanders are thinking of putting their trust in pirates.
  
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• Iceland could elect party of hackers and internet-freedom activists

  28-10-2016 17:34 via cbc.ca
  
  The past few years have been stormy for Iceland, a country threatened by volcanoes and brought low by bankers. Now, Icelanders are thinking of putting their trust in pirates.
  
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• What's the best way to match the implant to the breast?

  28-10-2016 17:21
  How should plastic surgeons choose the best implant type and size for women undergoing breast augmentation surgery? Implant size selection systems based on breast tissue measurements may provide better outcomes, suggests a research.
  
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• New surfaces repel water in oil as well as oil in water

  28-10-2016 17:17
  New surface materials that are extremely difficult to wet both by water and oil have now been developed by scientists. Because they don't need isolating air to stay trapped between the droplet and rough surface to prevent wetting, these surface materials work even when wet by another liquid. Researchers' novel dual superlyophobic surfaces repel water even when covered by oil and oil when covered by water. So far, this has been regarded as contradictory to each other and not expected to be presen
  
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• Want to See the 2017 Solar Eclipse? Better Book Your Hotel Room Now

  28-10-2016 16:55
  
  Along the totality path (where the sun will be completely blotted out by the moon), which averages about 70 miles (110 kilometers) in width, some hotels have been booked out for months — even years. Western Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and western Nebraska have odds ranging from 65 to 85 percent for a sky ranging from clear to scattered clouds. At the American Meteorological Society's 44th Conference on Broadcast Meteorology (held in Austin, Texas, last June), Kelly Beatty, a senior editor at Sk
  
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• Spacecraft sends back last bit of data from 2015 Pluto flyby

  28-10-2016 16:46
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A spacecraft has sent back the last bit of data from its 2015 flyby of Pluto.
  
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• 'Star Trek' Actor Simon Pegg Talks Space Tech with Astronaut in Orbit

  28-10-2016 16:45
  
  Paramount Movies uploaded the full, 25-minute video to YouTube this week as part of the company's promotion for the movie "Star Trek Beyond," which is available now on Digital HD and will be released on Ultra HD 4K and Blu-ray on Nov. 1. "Your special effects guys get it right," Rubins said when recalling scenes of spacecraft orbiting planets in "Star Trek Beyond." She said she watched the movie this summer on an iPad in the International Space Station's cupola, whose seven windows offer a full
  
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• Our Galactic Arm May Have a Longer Reach Than We Thought

  28-10-2016 16:35
  
  New research reveals that the sun's branch of the Milky Way may be several times longer than previously measured, which would make it a significant contender in the structure of the galaxy. Spiral galaxies like the Milky Way contain several massive structures known as arms, which unwind from the galaxy's center. The sun's neighborhood is called the Orion Arm, though scientists often refer to it as the Local Arm.
  
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• Robo Beer Run: Self-Driving Truck Delivers Budweiser

  28-10-2016 16:18
  
  Well, rather than begging your designated driver to go on a beer run, you may be able to call on a self-driving truck to keep the fridge stocked. A self-driving truck, developed by the Uber-owned startup Otto, recently made the first autonomous commercial delivery by driving 120 miles (200 kilometers) across Colorado to deliver 2,000 cases of Budweiser beer. On Oct. 20, the truck departed the Anheuser-Busch facility in Loveland, Colorado, and drove itself on Interstate 25 through Denver —
  
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• How to make a fish face, and other photo contest winners

  28-10-2016 16:15
  
  The tiny face of a 4-day-old zebrafish embryo snags the top spot in microscopy photography contest.
  
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• Venezuelan opposition strike patchy amid government threats

  28-10-2016 16:00
  By Brian Ellsworth and Anggy Polanco CARACAS/SAN CRISTOBAL (Reuters) - Venezuela's streets were quieter than usual on Friday, but a strike called by the opposition drew patchy participation after the socialist government threatened to seize businesses that closed. "The strike is a good pressure tactic ... but if I don't work, I don't eat," said insurance agent Adolfo Diaz, 38, trying to reach work despite fewer buses in the western city of San Cristobal where sentiment is strong against Presiden
  
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• 'This is history': International agreement creates vast Antarctic marine reserve

  28-10-2016 15:54 via cbc.ca
  
  The countries that decide the fate of Antarctica's waters reached an historic agreement on Friday to create the world's largest marine protected area in the ocean next to the frozen continent.
  
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• Placebo sweet spot for pain relief identified in brain

  28-10-2016 15:01
  Scientists have identified for the first time the region in the brain responsible for the "placebo effect" in pain relief, when a fake treatment actually results in substantial reduction of pain, according to new research. Pinpointing the sweet spot of the pain killing placebo effect could result in the design of more personalized medicine for the 100 million Americans with chronic pain.
  
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• Novel approach in primary care setting may help identify patients with COPD

  28-10-2016 15:01
  With five simple questions and an inexpensive peak expiratory flow (PEF) meter, primary care clinicians may be able to diagnose many more patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, according to new research. Follow-up studies will help establish if earlier identification and treatment of people with COPD improves quality of life and health outcomes.
  
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• Exploring the evolution of spider venom to improve human health

  28-10-2016 15:01
  More than 46,000 species of spiders creepy crawl across the globe. Each one produces a venom composed of an average of 500 distinct toxins, putting the conservative estimate of unique venom compounds at more than 22 million. Researchers are studying these toxins to increase our understanding of the evolution of spider venom and contribute to the development of new medicines, anti-venoms and research tools.
  
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• Neurobiology: Supporting the damaged brain

  28-10-2016 15:00
  Embryonic nerve cells can functionally integrate into local neural networks when transplanted into damaged areas of the visual cortex of adult mice, say researchers.
  
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• When fat cells change their color

  28-10-2016 14:59
  In mammals, three types of adipose tissues exist. White adipocytes are mainly located in the abdominal and subcutaneous areas of the body and highly adapted to store excess energy. Conversely, beige and brown adipocytes are highly energy-expending by generating heat. The epigenetic enzyme Lsd1 plays an important role in maintaining brown fat tissue, report scientists.
  
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• New discovery in understanding chemotherapy resistance could prevent cancer cells fighting back

  28-10-2016 14:59
  Scientists have discovered the key to preventing resistance to common chemotherapy used to treat breast and colon cancer, offering hope to an improvement to cancer care.
  
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• Screws that fit the body's notches

  28-10-2016 14:58
  Complex bone fractures are often set with titanium or steel screws and plates. However, if these remain in the body for some time, they can cause health problems. A new bioceramic screw nail has the capacity of replacing the currently used metal components. It can be easily introduced into bone and does not have to be removed.
  
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• Robots help position interventional needles

  28-10-2016 14:58
  Finding the ideal position for interventional needles – as used in biopsies, for instance – is a difficult and time-consuming process. This can now be performed automatically, using a robotic arm to place a needle guide for the doctor at the optimal insertion point. With robotic assistance, doctors need five minutes to position the needle, as opposed to 30 minutes with conventional techniques.
  
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• New research paves way for anti-cancer treatment

  28-10-2016 14:58
  A new lab technique has been created that may aid the development and success rate of an important anti-cancer treatment, report scientists.
  
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• Breakthrough in harvesting energy from automotive shock absorbers

  28-10-2016 14:58
  Boosting the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles by “harvesting” the energy generated by their shock absorbers and feeding it back into batteries or electrical systems such as air conditioning has become a major goal in automotive engineering. Now, a researcher has made a breakthrough by designing a new system and constructing a prototype that is ready for real-world testing.
  
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