Science news

• Why Fewer Americans Say They Want to Lose Weight

  23-11-2016 23:23
  
  The reason for the findings is not clear, but Gallup also found that Americans' perception of their ideal weight is changing. Americans surveyed in the 1990s said that their ideal weight was 153 lbs., on average. "The benchmark for their ideal weight continues to be set higher," Gallup said.
  
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• Australia's Bizarre Outbreak: What Is 'Thunderstorm Asthma'?

  23-11-2016 23:22
  
  Hundreds of people in Melbourne, Australia, experienced breathing problems during a recent storm, in what's being called an outbreak of "thunderstorm asthma." But what's behind this rare phenomenon? On Monday (Nov. 21) evening, the ambulance service in Melbourne, called Ambulance Victoria, received more than 1,800 calls during the storm, which is about six times more than usual, according to the BBC. About 200 calls were for cases of asthma, and 600 calls were for people with breathing difficult
  
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• Are Colds and Flu Worse in Women Than in Men?

  23-11-2016 23:20
  
  The women in the study were more likely than the men in the study to report severe fatigue and muscle aches when they had a cold or the flu, according to the findings, presented in New Orleans last month at IDWeek 2016, a meeting of several organizations focused on infectious diseases. In addition, women's severe symptoms lasted longer than men's, according to the study participants' self-reports, the researchers found. In the study, the researchers compared self-reported cold and flu symptoms i
  
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• Closer Look Punches Holes in Swing-State Election Hacking Report

  23-11-2016 23:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Experts tone down a news story about the Clinton campaign being urged to challenge results due to possible cyber attack
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Will the jaguar survive? Conservation groups have a plan

  23-11-2016 23:05
  A new plan has been developed to help guide multi-institutional efforts in conserving the jaguar (Panthera onca) in the Amazon basin.
  
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• Generation X at greater risk of stroke than baby boomers

  23-11-2016 23:05
  Older baby boomers—those born between 1945 and 1954—are the “stroke-healthiest generation,” according to a new study that found the lowest incidence of ischemic stroke in this age group within the past 20 years. In contrast, the rate of stroke more than doubled in Generation X, people born between 1965 and 1974, during the same time period.
  
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• New skin patch tests sweat to monitor your health

  23-11-2016 22:51 via cbc.ca
  
  Breaking a sweat? Researchers are creating a skin patch that can test those droplets while people exercise and beam results to their smartphones, possibly a new way to track health and fitness.
  
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• Crustacean revelation: coconut crab's claw is stunningly strong

  23-11-2016 21:54
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It may not be wise to get into a scrap with a coconut crab. Its claw is a mighty weapon.
  
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• Students have trouble judging the credibility of information online, researchers find

  23-11-2016 20:52
  Education scholars say youth are duped by sponsored content and don't always recognize political bias of social messages.
  
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• What messages do female birds' markings send?

  23-11-2016 20:39
  Both male and female birds use traits like plumage brightness to size each other up, but a new study on Northern Cardinals shows that the meanings of female birds’ markings may vary from one place to another, even within the same species.
  
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• Huge reduction in African dust plume impacted climate 11,000 years ago

  23-11-2016 20:36
  Scientists have discovered a huge reduction in an African dust plume that led to more Saharan monsoons 11,000 years ago, suggests a new report.
  
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• Researchers put mouse embryos in suspended animation

  23-11-2016 20:34
  Researchers have found a way to pause the development of early mouse embryos for up to a month in the lab, a finding with potential implications for assisted reproduction, regenerative medicine, aging and even cancer, the authors say.
  
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• World of viruses uncovered

  23-11-2016 20:33
  A pioneering study of invertebrates has discovered 1,445 viruses, including several new families, revealing people have only scratched the surface of the world of viruses.
  
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• Starch now created from yeast

  23-11-2016 20:32
  Starch is only produced by plants and algae. Now, it can also be produced by yeast - or, at any rate, by the yeasts in labs, report scientists. The researchers have succeeded in implanting yeast with the machinery that plants use to create this stored form of glucose.
  
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• Navigation system failure cited in crash of European Mars lander

  23-11-2016 20:31
  
  (Reuters) - Europe's Schiaparelli Mars lander crashed last month after a sensor failure caused it to cast away its parachute and turn off braking thrusters more than two miles (3.7 km) above the surface of the planet, as if it had already landed, a report released on Wednesday said.
  
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• Scientists create first intermetallic double salt with platinum

  23-11-2016 20:26
  Scientists report that they have created the first intermetallic double salt with platinum. Cesium platinide hydride, or 4Cs2Pt?CsH, forms a translucent ruby red crystal and can exist only in an inert environment similar to conditions that exist in outer space. It’s a new member of a rare family of compounds in which a metal forms a truly negatively charged ion.
  
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• Colorful clones: Researchers track development, behavior of individual blood stem cells

  23-11-2016 20:25
  Researchers have used a colorful, cell-labeling technique to track the development of the blood system and trace the lineage of adult blood cells traveling through the vast networks of veins, arteries, and capillaries back to their parent stem cell in the marrow. Their findings contribute to the understanding of blood development as well as blood diseases.
  
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• Sweat it out! Skin patch aims to test sweat for health

  23-11-2016 20:24
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Breaking a sweat? Researchers are creating a skin patch that can test those droplets while people exercise and beam results to their smartphones, possibly a new way to track health and fitness.
  
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• Soft, microfluidic 'lab on the skin' developed for sweat analysis

  23-11-2016 20:23
  A research team has developed a first-of-its-kind soft, flexible microfluidic device that easily adheres to the skin and measures the wearer's sweat to show how his or her body is responding to exercise.
  
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• Link between surgery and Guillain-Barré syndrome discovered

  23-11-2016 20:20
  Having surgery may be linked to developing Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) for people with cancer or autoimmune disorders, new research suggests. The study showed that 15 percent of those who developed the syndrome had a surgical procedure within two months prior to developing the disease.
  
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• Going beyond genetics yields clues to challenging childhood brain cancer

  23-11-2016 20:19
  Changes in the epigenetics suggest a prognostic marker for childhood ependymomas and similarities with DIPG tumors, report scientists.
  
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• Coconut crab claws pinch with the strongest force of any crustacean

  23-11-2016 20:15
  The claws of coconut crabs have the strongest pinching force of any crustacean, according to a new study.
  
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• Major finding identifies nitrogen as key driver for gut health

  23-11-2016 20:14
  Scientists are one step closer to understanding the link between different diet strategies and gut health, with new research presenting the first general principles for how diet impacts the microbiota.
  
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• Thinning, retreat of West Antarctic Glacier began in 1940s

  23-11-2016 20:02
  The present thinning and retreat of Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is part of a climatically forced trend that was triggered in the 1940s, new research by an international team shows.
  
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• Just add water: New discovery in plant-disease mechanism

  23-11-2016 20:02
  Too much rain, coupled with prolonged high levels of humidity, can result in more plant disease, new research indicates.
  
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• Cancer signaling pathway could illuminate new avenue to therapy

  23-11-2016 20:02
  Researchers have better defined a pro-growth signaling pathway common to many cancers that, when blocked, kills cancer cells but leaves healthy cells comparatively unharmed. The study could establish new avenues of therapeutic treatments for many types of solid tumors.  
  
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• Ice deposit on Mars holds as much water as Lake Superior, researchers say

  23-11-2016 19:52 via cbc.ca
  
  An ice deposit with as much frozen water as the volume of Lake Superior has been found hiding below the surface of Mars in a region astronauts may some day call home.
  
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• Egyptian archaeologists uncover Pharaonic village, tombs

  23-11-2016 19:15
  CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian archeologists have discovered a Pharaonic village and cemetery once used by officials tasked with building royal tombs.
  
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• European Mars Lander Crash Caused by 1-Second Glitch: ESA

  23-11-2016 19:11
  
  The European Space Agency (ESA) on Nov. 23 said its Schiaparelli lander’s crash landing on Mars on Oct. 19 followed an unexplained saturation of its inertial measurement unit (IMU), which delivered bad data to the lander’s computer and forced a premature release of its parachute. Instead of being on the ground, Schiaparelli was still 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers) above the Mars surface. It crashed, but not before delivering what ESA officials say is a wealth of data on entry into the Ma
  
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• Huge glacier retreat triggered in 1940s

  23-11-2016 19:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The melting Antarctic glacier that now contributes more to sea-level rise than any other ice stream on the planet began its big decline in the 1940s.
  
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• Air pollution 'causes 467,000 premature deaths a year in Europe'

  23-11-2016 19:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Toxic air is causing almost half a million premature deaths in Europe every year, a new report says.
  
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• Medicare beneficiaries face high out-of-pocket costs for cancer treatment

  23-11-2016 18:44
  Beneficiaries of Medicare who develop cancer and don’t have supplemental health insurance incur out-of-pocket expenditures for their treatments averaging one-quarter of their income with some paying as high as 63 percent, according to results of a survey-based study.
  
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• Low-dose chemotherapy regimens could prevent tumor recurrence in types of breast cancer, pancreatic cancer

  23-11-2016 18:44
  Conventional, high-dose chemotherapy treatments can cause the fibroblast cells surrounding tumors to secrete proteins that promote the tumors’ recurrence in more aggressive forms, researchers have discovered. Frequent, low-dose chemotherapy regimens avoid this effect and may therefore be more effective at treating certain types of breast and pancreatic cancer, according to a new study.
  
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• Hurricane risk to northeast USA coast increasing, research warns

  23-11-2016 18:44
  The Northeastern coast of the USA could be struck by more frequent and more powerful hurricanes in the future due to shifting weather patterns, according to new research.
  
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• Stuttering related to brain circuits that control speech production

  23-11-2016 18:42
  Researchers have conducted the first study of its kind, using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to look at brain regions in both adults and children who stutter.
  
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• Gut's microbial community shown to influence host gene expression

  23-11-2016 18:42
  New research is helping to tease out the mechanics of how the gut microbiome communicates with the cells of its host to switch genes on and off. The upshot of the study, another indictment of the so-called Western diet (high in saturated fats, sugar and red meat), reveals how the metabolites produced by the bacteria in the stomach chemically communicate with cells, including cells far beyond the colon, to dictate gene expression and health in its host.
  
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• Scientists discover neuron-producing stem cells in the membranes covering the brain

  23-11-2016 18:41
  Unexpected cells have been found in the protective membranes that enclose the brain, the so called meninges. These 'neural progenitors' -- or stem cells that differentiate into different kinds of neurons -- are produced during embryonic development. These findings show that the neural progenitors found in the meninges produce new neurons after birth -- highlighting the importance of meningeal tissue as well as these cells' potential in the development of new therapies for brain damage or neurode
  
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• Scientists develop vaccine against fatal prescription opioid overdose

  23-11-2016 18:41
  Scientists have developed a vaccine that blocks the pain-numbing effects of the opioid drugs oxycodone (oxy) and hydrocodone (hydro) in animal models. The vaccine also appears to decrease the risk of fatal opioid overdose, a growing cause of death in the United States.
  
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• Honour for software writer on Apollo moon mission

  23-11-2016 18:32 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Barack Obama awards medal to Margaret Hamilton to recognise role in sending humankind into space.
  
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• Dogs form memories of experiences

  23-11-2016 18:00
  
  New experiments suggest that dogs have some version of episodic memory, allowing them to recall specific experiences.
  
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• First-Ever Madagascar Dolphin Fossil Discovered

  23-11-2016 17:46
  
  A single fossilized backbone is the first evidence on record that dolphins once swam around the waters of ancient Madagascar, scientists say. The fossil backbone, or vertebra, dates to between 5 million and 9 million years ago during the late Miocene epoch, and belongs to a previously unknown and still unnamed species of dolphin, the researchers said. "This exciting discovery marks the first fossil cetacean [a group including dolphins, whales and porpoises] from Madagascar," said study lead rese
  
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• 2 Dome-Headed Dinosaurs the Size of German Shepherds Discovered

  23-11-2016 17:36
  
  The discovery of a pair of fossilized skulls from dome-headed dinosaurs is shedding light on how these bizarre creatures called pachycephalosaurs evolved, researchers say. The location of these skulls — in the southern Mountain states — indicates that pachycephalosaurids may have diversified in the south before they moved north and gave rise to the pachycephalosaur known as Stegoceras, said study lead researcher David Evans, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evo
  
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• Aging Bonobos Become Farsighted, Just Like Humans

  23-11-2016 17:32
  
  Bonobos have a decidedly low-tech solution to farsightedness, scientists have found. Researchers noted that when older bonobos groomed their neighbors, they sat back and extended their arms farther than younger bonobos did — and they stretched their arms even more over time. Scientists had previously observed this behavior in wild bonobos, though no one had investigated it closely enough to interpret it, according to study co-author Heungjin Ryu, a researcher at the Primate Research instit
  
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• The Real Reason for Viking Raids: Shortage of Eligible Women?

  23-11-2016 17:31
  
  For all their infamous raiding and plundering, the Vikings who attacked from Scandinavia might have been just a bunch of lonely-hearted bachelors, new research suggests. During the Viking Age, which archaeological discoveries and written texts suggested lasted from about A.D. 750 to 1050, shipborne crews from Scandinavia went "viking" — that is, they started raiding. Previous research suggested a wide range of potential triggers for the Viking Age.
  
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• This video of a rare 360-degree rainbow will take you to a happy place

  23-11-2016 17:19
  So pretty.
  
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• Russia's Putin chastises officials who moonlight as academics

  23-11-2016 16:45
  By Denis Dyomkin MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin warned senior officials on Wednesday he may fire them if they are found to be moonlighting as academics, which would mean they were not devoting all of their time to their main job. The warning, delivered in theatrical fashion at a televised meeting with leading scientists and officials, appeared to be part of a drive by Putin to show ordinary Russians, suffering in an economic slowdown, that he won't stand for corrupt or lazy
  
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• China leads the world once again in patent applications

  23-11-2016 16:35 via cbc.ca
  
  China continued to set the pace for patent applications last year, filing a record one million that nearly all focused on its giant home market, the U.N.'s intellectual property agency said Wednesday.
  
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• Why Do So Many Big Earthquakes Strike Japan?

  23-11-2016 16:26
  
  A magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck yesterday off the coast of Fukushima, Japan, likely along the same fault that ruptured in 2011, unleashing a massive 9.0-magnitude temblor that triggered deadly tsunamis and caused widespread destruction. Over the course of its history, Japan has seen its share of shaking, but what makes this part of the world so susceptible to big earthquakes? The answer has to do with Japan's location.
  
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• Schiaparelli: Esa gives update on Mars crash investigation

  23-11-2016 15:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The European Space Agency's preliminary report into the Schiaparelli crash on Mars confirms the probe became confused about its altitude.
  
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• Young activists sue U.S. government over climate change policy

  23-11-2016 15:49 via cbc.ca
  
  Eight children are asking a Seattle judge to find Washington state in contempt for failing to adequately protect them and future generations from the harmful effects of climate change, part of a nationwide effort by young people to try to force action on global warming.
  
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