Science news

• Public, doctors alike confused about food allergies

  30-11-2016 23:19
  
  Gaps in understanding food allergies cause confusion and make it difficult to prevent, diagnose and treat them.
  
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• UK's first 'three-parent babies' could be conceived next year with controversial treatment

  30-11-2016 22:32
  
  The first women could undergo mitochondrial replacement therapy as early as March or April next year.
  
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• Gravitational-Wave Detector Resumes Hunt for Space-Time Ripples

  30-11-2016 22:12
  
  The experiment that made the first direct detection of gravitational waves is once again hunting for these space-time ripples. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) stopped collecting data in January for a scheduled period of upgrades to its two detectors, located in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana. The LIGO collaboration announced the first direct detection of gravitational waves in February 2016 and announced a second detection in June.
  
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• "Three-Parent Baby" Procedure Faces New Hurdle

  30-11-2016 22:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Mitochondrial disease can somehow creep back in, even if a mother’s mitochondria are virtually eliminated in an attempt to block inherited illnesses
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• "3-Parent Baby" Procedure Faces New Hurdle

  30-11-2016 22:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Mitochondrial disease can somehow creep back in, even if a mother’s mitochondria are virtually eliminated in an attempt to block inherited illnesses
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Pluto's heart of ice might be a sinkhole

  30-11-2016 21:34 via cbc.ca
  
  Computer models show that Pluto's heart-shaped region may be a natural sinkhole.
  
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• After new regulations, Oklahoma's shakes calm down a bit

  30-11-2016 20:53
  
  The rate of earthquakes in Oklahoma has dropped dramatically since late May, when the state limited wastewater injections into energy wells, an Associated Press statistical analysis shows. And a new scientific ...
  
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• Icy basin in Pluto's heart may be natural sinkhole

  30-11-2016 20:52
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The deep icy basin in Pluto's heart-shaped region may be a natural sinkhole.
  
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• Wastewater cap could dunk Oklahoma quake risk

  30-11-2016 20:36
  
  Regulation limiting the injection of wastewater into underground wells could return Oklahoma’s earthquake risk to historical background levels within a few years.
  
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• European Space Agency releases first images from ExoMars spacecraft

  30-11-2016 20:32 via cbc.ca
  
  The European Space Agency (ESA) has released detailed high-resolution images from its ExoMars spacecraft, which has been in orbit around the red planet since mid-October.
  
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• Readers ponder hominid hookups and more

  30-11-2016 20:30
  Neandertal evolution, quantum internet and more in reader feedback.
  
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• Scientific success depends on finding light in darkness

  30-11-2016 20:17
  Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses using cleverness and persistence to uncover scientific truths.
  
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• Buff upper arms let Lucy climb trees

  30-11-2016 20:00
  
  Australopithecus afarensis’ heavily built arms supported tree climbing, scans of Lucy’s fossils suggest.
  
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• Names for four new elements get seal of approval

  30-11-2016 19:35
  
  The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has approved the proposed names for the four elements added to the periodic table in December 2015.
  
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• Private plan to send Moon rover to Apollo 17 site

  30-11-2016 19:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A proposed private space mission is planning to visit Apollo 17's landing site on the Moon.
  
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• Curbing immigration spells 'disaster' for science

  30-11-2016 19:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The President of the UK's Royal Society warns that onerous restrictions on immigration of scientists would spell "disaster" for the UK economy
  
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• Earth warming to climate tipping point, warns study

  30-11-2016 19:20 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A warming world will release vast amounts of soil carbon into the atmosphere, which in turn risks triggering dangerous climate change, scientists warn.
  
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• Pluto's Heavy Heart Shaped Dwarf Planet's Landscape

  30-11-2016 19:16
  
  Pluto's famous heart may not have been born in violence after all.
  
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• Mitochondria variants battle for cell supremacy

  30-11-2016 19:00
  
  Some mitochondria are more competitive than others, which could complicate treatments for mitochondrial diseases.
  
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• Ice gave Pluto a heavy heart

  30-11-2016 19:00
  
  Sputnik Planitia, the left half of Pluto’s heart-shaped region, might have been carved out by the weight of thick layers of ice built up billions of years ago.
  
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• Antarctic ice shelf breaking apart from inside out

  30-11-2016 17:46 via cbc.ca
  
  Pine Island Glacier, at the outer edge of West Antarctica, is the fastest melting glacier in the region. In 2015, a 583 square kilometre piece of it broke off. Now researchers are beginning to understand how this is happening.
  
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• Gatlinburg Burning: How a Tennessee Wildfire Spread So Fast

  30-11-2016 17:43
  
  Great Smoky Mountain National Park is closed, and thousands of residents in the nearby towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, have fled their homes after a wildfire from the park turned into a rapidly spreading inferno last night (Nov. 28). At least 14,000 people have evacuated from the two resort towns, and hundreds of structures have been damaged or destroyed, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Most of East Tennessee has been in exceptional or severe drought all
  
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• Beyond play: Sociologist explores how toys fuel stereotypes

  30-11-2016 17:40
  Encouraging children to enjoy a wide variety of toys allows them to develop fully, according to one expert.
  
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• Massachusetts woman says DNA tests confirm mountain lion

  30-11-2016 17:37
  PETERSHAM, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman whose horse was injured in June says DNA testing has confirmed that a mountain lion visited her property.
  
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• NASA spacecraft embarks on ring-skimming mission at Saturn

  30-11-2016 17:35
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Consider it a cosmic carousel with countless rings up for grabs.
  
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• China's Big Year in Space Sparks Excitement and Speculation

  30-11-2016 17:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  The Chinese space agency launched a new space lab, sent up its longest crewed mission ever and tested out powerful new rockets
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Moon-Race Team Reserves Rocket to Land Rovers Near Apollo 17 Site

  30-11-2016 17:00
  
  A Berlin-based group of rocket scientists and engineers are aiming to land a pair of privately funded Audi-branded robotic rovers on the moon and drive them to inspect NASA's Apollo 17 lunar roving vehicle, marking 45 years since humans last drove on another world. PTScientists (Part Time Scientists), one of 16 teams still in the running for the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE, has been developing its Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module (ALINA) lunar lander and Audi lunar quattro rovers sin
  
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• Benefits of daily aspirin outweigh risk to stomach

  30-11-2016 16:40
  Stomach bleeds caused by aspirin are considerably less serious than the spontaneous bleeds that can occur in people not taking the drug, concludes a new study.
  
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• As skinny cable rules take effect, consumers wait for better options

  30-11-2016 16:31 via cbc.ca
  
  The CRTC and consumer advocacy group OpenMedia say they're keeping a close eye on the country's TV providers as the final phase of new 'skinny' cable packages rules are implemented on Thursday.
  
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• As Venezuela talks stutter, detained Maduro foes languish

  30-11-2016 16:19
  By Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - When he received a call saying he had won a mobile phone, Gilberto Sojo, a low-income bank messenger and opposition activist, rushed off happily to collect it. Minutes after reaching the shop, three men turned up and bundled Sojo, then 49, and his wife into a waiting car where he was handcuffed and driven to the headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service, according to his family and supporters. "They placed explosive materials on his motorbike - and
  
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• Calf Bones Bolster Evidence Plymouth Settlement Was Pilgrims' First

  30-11-2016 15:34
  
  Nearly 400 years after the first Thanksgiving, researchers have uncovered evidence of the Pilgrims' original 1620 settlement in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Archaeologists discovereda calf's remains and 17th-century artifacts at an archaeological site on Burial Hill in Plymouth — thought to be the location of the first Pilgrim settlement. The bones of the calf, dubbed Constance, were found buried in a deep pit and offered the first clear evidence that the dig site was the original settlement,
  
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• Antarctic Ice Shelf Could Collapse Within 100 Years, Study Finds

  30-11-2016 15:34
  
  A massive iceberg splintered off one of West Antarctica's largest glaciers last year, and now, scientists have discovered the "troubling" reason why, they said. In 2015, an iceberg measuring almost 225 square miles (580 square kilometers) broke off from the Pine Island Glacier, which forms part of the ice shelf that bounds the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Recently, while reviewing satellite images taken before the giant iceberg broke off, researchers found evidence of a rift at the very base of the
  
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• Nesting Doll Pyramid: Ancient Mayan Structure Found Inside Chichen Itza

  30-11-2016 15:33
  
  What do a Russian nesting doll and a Mayan pyramid have in common? Archaeologists have confirmed that the iconic Pyramid of El Castillo in eastern Mexico is actually a pyramid within a pyramid within a pyramid. In the 1930s, the first hidden pyramid was revealed within the Kukulkan tomb at Chichén Itzá in Mexico, which researchers estimate was built between about A.D. 850 and A.D. 900.
  
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• Sweat Detectors? Tiny Sensors Use Perspiration to Track Health

  30-11-2016 15:32
  
  A new study finds that a tiny adhesive sensor can read what's going on in your body based on your sweat, and relay information about your well-being wirelessly to a smartphone. Perspiration is a rich chemical full of molecules ranging from simple electrically charged ions to more complex proteins that can shed light on what is happening inside the human body. Doctors can use sweat to diagnose certain diseases, uncover drug use and reveal insight into athletic performance.
  
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• Privileged Pigs Are More Optimistic

  30-11-2016 15:32
  
  If you're anything like pigs, your outlook on life may depend on your personality and mood, according to a new study. Previous research revealed that humans' "cognitive biases" — deviations in judgment that form people's individual characteristics and personalities — are affected by mood and behavior. In a new study, scientists demonstrated for the first time that a combination of mood and personality can have a significant impact on a pig's outlook.
  
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• EU energy use to fall by 30% under new efficiency plans for 2030

  30-11-2016 15:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  New proposals from the European Commission see binding targets for energy efficiency as key method of curbing carbon.
  
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• At long last, stroke patients can be monitored at home, using a sensor suit

  30-11-2016 14:50
  It may soon be possible to accurately monitor and analyze how stroke patients move during everyday life. This involves the use of a new suit fitted with 41 sensors, plus the infrastructure needed to transmit, store and process all of the data collected. This technology and information will make it possible to improve the rehabilitation process and cut healthcare costs.
  
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• Throwing new light on printed organic solar cells

  30-11-2016 14:30
  Scientists are able to improve the efficiency of solar cells more than threefold, outlines a new report. The solar cells are a flexible, lightweight and environmentally-friendly and have the capacity to be printed in different colours and shapes. They are a contrast to their inorganic competitors as they also convert efficiently indirect sunlight, making them ideal material to power devices on the move, such as for the Internet of Things
  
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• Tail hairs reveal dietary choices of three horse species in the Gobi Desert

  30-11-2016 14:30
  Przewalski’s horse, a species of wild horse that has been successfully reintroduced to the Gobi Desert, shares its pasture grounds with wild asses and free-roaming domestic horses. A scarce supply of food could lead to food competition among the different species, especially if they make the same dietary choices. A team led by researchers therefore chemically analyzed the tail hairs of the animals to determine the seasonal dietary habits of the three species.
  
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• Speed warning system saves lives and reduces emissions

  30-11-2016 14:30
  Universal adoption of the ISA speed warning system in Norway could reduce both the average speed of vehicles and their emissions, concludes a recent report. Lower speeds also lead to fewer fatalities and serious injuries on the roads.
  
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• Sedentary lifestyle may impair academic performance in boys

  30-11-2016 14:30
  A sedentary lifestyle is linked to poorer reading skills in the first three school years in 6-8 year old boys, according to a new study. The study investigated the longitudinal associations of physical activity and sedentary time with reading and arithmetic skills in 153 children aged 6-8 years old in Grades 1-3 of the primary school.
  
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• Platypus venom paves way to possible diabetes treatment

  30-11-2016 14:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Australian researchers say platypus venom could pave the way for new type 2 diabetes treatments.
  
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• New sensor: What goes on inside snow avalanches

  30-11-2016 14:30
  A new radar sensor grants insights into the processes inside snow avalanches. The measuring system has been installed at a test slope in the Swiss canton Valais, where the Swiss Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research intends to use it to perform measurements in winter 2016/17.
  
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• Eye surgery of the future: Gentle, efficient, out-patient surgery

  30-11-2016 14:30
  The eye surgery of the future will be performed on an out-patient basis, and will be gentle and efficient, say experts.
  
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• Cuba's Biodiversity Emerges from the Shadows

  30-11-2016 14:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  The softening of the U.S. Embargo against Cuba is offering a closer look at flora and fauna found nowhere else  
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Young cancer survivors have twice the risk of suicide

  30-11-2016 14:28
  Survivors of cancer diagnosed before the age of 25 had a more than two-fold increased risk of suicide compared to their non-cancer peers, a new report suggests.
  
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• Walking a tight line to study the properties of soft materials

  30-11-2016 14:28
  Tiny "walking" proteins could be used to investigate the mechanical deformations in soft materials, according to researchers.
  
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• Synchronized swimming: How startled fish shoals effectively evade danger

  30-11-2016 14:28
  As panic spreads, an entire shoal (collective) of fish responds to an incoming threat in a matter of seconds, seemingly as a single body, to change course and evade a threatening predator. Within those few seconds, the panic-infused information – more technically known as the startle response – spreads through the collective, warning fish within the group that would otherwise have no way to detect such a threat. The ways in which this information spreads and the role played by positi
  
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• Study suggests prescribing of baclofen for alcohol dependence 'should be reconsidered'

  30-11-2016 14:28
  The drug baclofen has received high visibility as a possible breakthrough treatment for alcohol dependence. Now a new randomized controlled trial found no evidence for the usefulness of high-dose baclofen in treating alcoholism when added to psychosocial treatments.
  
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• Online epidemic tracking tool embraces open data and collective intelligence to understand outbreaks

  30-11-2016 14:28
  Researchers have developed Microreact, a free, real-time epidemic visualisation and tracking platform that has been used to monitor outbreaks of Ebola, Zika and antibiotic-resistant microbes. The team has collaborated with the Microbiology Society to allow any researcher around the world to share their latest information about disease outbreaks.
  
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