Science news

• Watch a Spectacular 'Supermoon' Rise Over Russia's Soyuz Spacecraft (Video)

  16-11-2016 23:52
  
  November's full moon was the closest and brightest "supermoon" since 1948. NASA captured a stunning video of the giant, glowing moon as it rose over the Soyuz spacecraft, which will carry three crewmembers to the International Space Station Thursday (Nov. 17).
  
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• Space Age: Astronaut Peggy Whitson Talks Aging & Spaceflight | Exclusive Video

  16-11-2016 23:52
  
  NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson — who will become the first woman to command the International Space Station twice — shares her experience as an older space traveler in a new YouTube video for the AARP provided exclusively to Space.com. Whitson will launch back to the space station on Thursday (Nov. 17) on Expedition 50, along with crewmates Oleg Novitskiy (Roscosmos) and Thomas Pesquet (European Space Agency). AARP is running a campaign called #DisruptAging, in concert with a new book
  
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• NASA, Russia Set Flights for Trimmed-Down Space Station Crew

  16-11-2016 23:52
  
  With Thursday's (Nov. 17) launch of three new crewmembers, the International Space Station (ISS) will be returned to full staffing — but not for long. Beginning with the next Soyuz launch, in March 2017, Russia is cutting one cosmonaut post from the station crew and doesn't plan to restore the job until a new module is launched, in 2018. Cosmonauts typically comprise half the station's six-member crew, but "right now, we don't need it," Sergei Krikalev, a former cosmonaut who now oversees
  
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• Which of these 5 feathered finalists will become Canada's official bird?

  16-11-2016 23:45 via cbc.ca
  
  If everything goes according to plan, Canada will get a national bird for its 150th birthday. But will it be the majestic snowy owl, the ubiquitous black-capped chickadee, the eponymous Canada goose, the friendly whiskey jack or the populist common loon?
  
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• The whisky jack may soon become Canada's national bird

  16-11-2016 23:45 via cbc.ca
  
  Meet the whisky jack, Canada's soon-to-be national bird, if the Royal Canadian Geographical Society has anything to say about it.
  
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• Pluto may have huge ocean under icy surface, NASA evidence shows

  16-11-2016 23:03
  Pluto may have a huge hidden ocean under its frozen surface, scientists have found. The findings are based on observations by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which made an unprecedented flyby of the dwarf planet and its moons in 2015. Massachusetts Institute of Technology planetary scientist and project researcher Richard Binzel said Pluto was not a prime candidate, due to its ocean being covered by so much ice.
  
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• Pluto may hold underground ocean

  16-11-2016 21:59 via cbc.ca
  
  Scientists said Wednesday that Pluto may have rolled over on its axis eons ago, the result of tidal forces with jumbo moon Charon. The extra weight of an underground sea is the most likely explanation.
  
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• Pluto's frozen heart may hide underground ocean

  16-11-2016 21:18
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Evidence is mounting for an ocean at Pluto, buried beneath its frozen heart.
  
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• Meet the astronaut who is on the verge of becoming the oldest woman in space

  16-11-2016 21:16
  
  Peggy Whitson, 56, is set to go on her third space station mission.
  
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• Pluto 'has slushy ocean' below surface

  16-11-2016 20:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Pluto may harbour a slushy water ocean beneath its most prominent surface feature, known as the "heart".
  
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• Scientists look to Hawaii in the search for life on Mars

  16-11-2016 20:23 via cbc.ca
  
  Researchers are exploring the slopes of a Hawaiian volcano in an effort to better understand where to look for life on the red planet.
  
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• Seawater's DNA secrets to life in the deep

  16-11-2016 20:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sampling DNA from seawater may be one way to check up on ocean life, according to research.
  
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• Underground ocean found on Pluto, likely slushy with ice

  16-11-2016 19:59
  By Irene Klotz HOUSTON (Reuters) - Scientists have found evidence that tiny, distant Pluto harbours a hidden ocean beneath the frozen surface of its heart-shaped central plain containing as much water as all of Earth's seas. The finding, reported on Wednesday in two research papers published in the journal Nature, adds Pluto to a growing list of worlds in the solar system beyond Earth believed to have underground oceans, some of which potentially could be habitats for life. Pluto's ocean, which
  
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• Despite Alzheimer’s plaques, some seniors remain mentally sharp

  16-11-2016 19:24
  
  Plaques and tangles riddle the brains of some very old and very healthy people.
  
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• Facebook promises more transparency for advertisers

  16-11-2016 19:17 via cbc.ca
  
  The social network is pledging to work with advertising industry groups on providing more insight into how it measures certain types of advertising data.
  
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• Infants' brains attuned to baby talk and nursery rhymes

  16-11-2016 19:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New research indicates that for brain connections to be properly formed in babies' brains, they need to feel safe, secure and loved.
  
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• Pluto's Wandering Heart Hints at Subsurface Ocean

  16-11-2016 19:01
  
  Pluto's famous heart-shaped feature caused the dwarf planet to roll over the eons, and this reorientation probably wouldn't have been possible without a subsurface ocean, new research suggests. The left lobe of Pluto's "heart" is a 600-mile-wide (1,000 kilometers) plain called Sputnik Planitia (formerly known as Sputnik Planum), which astronomers think is an enormous impact crater. This basin has been filling with nitrogen ice over the years and now contains huge amounts of the stuff.
  
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• Pluto's Icy Heart May Hide an Ocean

  16-11-2016 19:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  New studies suggest the dwarf planet’s spin is tilted askew, perhaps by the presence of a subsurface sea
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Online game about lost sea hero helps scientists studying dementia

  16-11-2016 18:48
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - An online game following the journey of an elderly former sea explorer who has lost his memories has helped scientists lead a vast international dementia study and given important preliminary results about human orientation skills.
  
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• Dementia research game Sea Hero Quest has broken scientific records

  16-11-2016 18:48
  
  Data gathered from the game is helping scientists better understand spatial navigation, a key indicator of dementia.
  
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• NASA astronaut on verge of becoming oldest woman in space

  16-11-2016 18:35
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is on the verge of becoming the oldest woman in space, adding to her long list of barrier-breaking records.
  
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• Protein linked to Parkinson’s travels from gut to brain

  16-11-2016 18:30
  
  Parkinson’s protein can travel from gut to brain, mouse study suggests.
  
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• [Research Article] RasGRP1 promotes amphetamine-induced motor behavior through a Rhes interaction network ("Rhesactome") in the striatum

  16-11-2016 18:13 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Protein interaction networks of the GTPase Rhes regulatemotor control in the striatum.
  
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• [Research Article] A unique type of GSK-3 inhibitor brings new opportunities to the clinic

  16-11-2016 18:13 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A substrate peptide that the kinase GSK-3 converts into its own inhibitor improves symptoms and cognitive function in an Alzheimer's disease model.
  
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• [Podcast] Science Signaling Podcast for 15 November 2016: A new type of kinase inhibitor

  16-11-2016 18:13 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A peptide that inhibits the kinase GSK-3 improves symptoms in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (Licht-Murava et al., in 15 November 2016 issue).
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Inhibiting the insulin receptor with galectin3

  16-11-2016 18:13 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Obesity-associated insulin resistance may be caused by a lectin released by macrophages that blocks insulin receptor signaling.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Auxin signaling without Aux/IAAs

  16-11-2016 18:13 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Auxin regulates the interaction of the transcription factor ETTIN (also known as ARF3) with other developmentally important transcription factors.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] A tRNA synthetase protects MAVS

  16-11-2016 18:13 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A tRNA synthetase enhances the immune response to RNA viruses by protecting the antiviral signaling protein MAVS from degradation.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] A ribosomal strategy for magnesium deficiency

  16-11-2016 18:13 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Under low magnesium stress, bacteria suppress ribosome synthesis.
  
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• [Editorial Guide] Focus Issue: New horizons for treating neurological disease

  16-11-2016 18:13 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Kinases and protein interaction networks offer new strategies and experimental targets to treat neurological disease.
  
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• Climate change may prevent volcanoes from cooling the planet

  16-11-2016 17:42
  New research shows that climate change may impede the cooling effect of volcanic eruptions. Previous research has shown that as the planet warms, the lower layers of the atmosphere will expand, making it much harder for the gasses to reach the stratosphere.
  
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• Iraq Kurds won't 'retreat from areas retaken from Islamic State' - Barzani

  16-11-2016 17:31
  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Kurdish Peshmerga forces "will not retreat from areas retaken" from Islamic State militants in Iraq, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani said on Wednesday, according to local Rudaw TV station. Peshmerga fighters are taking part in the war on Islamic State, backing the Iraqi government forces battling the ultra hardline Sunni group in their last major city stronghold Mosul. The U.S.-led coalition is also providing air and ground support. ...
  
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• Downside of yo-yo dieting is rise in heart disease risk

  16-11-2016 17:30
  
  Yo-yo dieting hurts the heart, even if you’re not overweight.
  
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• Readers respond to the SN 10, and awards for Science News

  16-11-2016 17:07
  The human side of science, cool cloth and more in reader feedback.
  
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• Averages can conceal how people and science learn

  16-11-2016 17:06
  Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses getting the whole scientific story.
  
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• Great valley found on Mercury

  16-11-2016 16:40
  Scientists have discovered a new large valley on Mercury that may be the first evidence of buckling of the planet's outer silicate shell in response to global contraction. The researchers discovered the valley using a new high-resolution topographic map of part of Mercury's southern hemisphere created by stereo images from NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft.
  
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• Deepwater Horizon oil shows up in sparrows

  16-11-2016 16:35
  Scientists have identified the first evidence of Deepwater Horizon oil in a land animal - the Seaside Sparrow. The scientists analyzed the diet and feathers of sparrows collected more than a year after the oil spill. The birds that were captured in habitats that were exposed to the oil had a different chemical signature in their tissues than the birds that were found in areas of the marsh that were not exposed to the oil.
  
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• Atlas of the developing mouse heart created

  16-11-2016 16:35
  Exactly how heart cells follow their genetic programming to create an intricate, life-sustaining pump remains something of a mystery. A new study, however, is beginning to shed some light on this issue.
  
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• What can Pokémon Go teach the world of conservation?

  16-11-2016 16:31
  Launched in July this year, Pokémon Go has become a global phenomenon, reaching 500 million downloads within two months of release. The augmented reality game, designed for mobile devices, allows users to capture, battle and train virtual creatures called Pokémon that appear on screen as if part of the real-world environment. But can the game's enormous success deliver any lessons to the fields of natural history and conservation?
  
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• Marijuana could help treat drug addiction, mental health, study suggests

  16-11-2016 16:28
  Using marijuana could help some alcoholics and people addicted to opioids kick their habits, a new study suggests. The research also found some evidence that medical cannabis may help with symptoms of depression, PTSD and social anxiety. However, the review concluded that cannabis use might not be recommended for conditions such as bipolar disorder and psychosis.
  
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• Environment minister says global movement to combat climate change 'an irresistible force'

  16-11-2016 16:26 via cbc.ca
  
  The momentum behind the movement for global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions is "irresistible" despite the recent election of Donald Trump, Canada's environment minister said Tuesday.
  
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• Kerry: 'Overwhelming majority' back US climate action

  16-11-2016 16:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The US secretary of state John Kerry says that the overwhelming majority of US citizens support the US taking action on climate change.
  
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• You need to see this supermoon timelapse over the Baikonur Cosmodrome

  16-11-2016 15:37
  
  If you didn’t get a good view, watch this!
  
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• Congressional Panel That Writes Checks for Science Will Get New Chief

  16-11-2016 15:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A moderate Republican and science advocate is slated to run the House Appropriations Committee
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Congressional Panel That Writes Checks for Science Will Get a New Chief

  16-11-2016 15:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A moderate Republican and science advocate is slated to run the House Appropriations Committee
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Geographic Variability in Zika-Related Birth Defects Baffles Scientists

  16-11-2016 15:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Theories about disease patterns abound, but evidence and explanations are scarce
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• AP Interview: UN chief Ban says Trump is changing, slowly

  16-11-2016 14:38
  MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he's observed a change in Donald Trump's rhetoric following the election and that he and the U.S. president-elect have agreed to meet face-to-face.
  
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• Surprising number of meteoroids hit moon’s surface

  16-11-2016 14:00
  
  A new analysis of lunar images reveals over 200 news craters and about 47,000 undiscovered “splotches” on the moon.
  
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• How to Watch the 2016 Leonid Meteor Shower Live Online Tonight

  16-11-2016 13:02
  
  You can watch the famous November Leonid meteor shower  rain down live, regardless of your area's viewing conditions, thanks to the Slooh Community Observatory's online webcast tonight (Nov. 16), which will also feature a discussion of the shower's history and mythology. Slooh will start the show at 8 p.m. EST (1 a.m. GMT), and you can view the broadcast here on Space.com. The webcast will show live meteor feeds from Slooh's observatory at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands
  
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• Final Frontier Fashion: New 'Star Trek' Line Energizes ThinkGeek

  16-11-2016 13:00
  
  A new set of "Star Trek" fashions debuted today (Nov. 15) on nerd gear website ThinkGeek, courtesy of a collaboration with "fangirl" fashion company Her Universe. There's even a faux fur coat reminiscent of tribbles, the pesky animals that multiplied exponentially in one classic "Star Trek" episode. All products — including skirts, dresses and jackets — are licensed by CBS Consumer Products.
  
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