Science news

• Subtype of triple negative breast cancer responds better to chemotherapy

  13-12-2016 23:52
  Researchers have identified a new subtype of triple negative breast cancer that shows significantly improved response to chemotherapy. Patients with the newly defined subtype — BRCA-deficient triple negative breast cancer — had significantly higher survival rates with chemotherapy.
  
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• Unexpected activity of two enzymes helps explain why liver cancer drugs fail

  13-12-2016 23:49
  Researchers have discovered that lack of two types of enzymes can lead to liver disease and cancer in mice. In human liver tumors, they found that deficiencies in these two enzymes, Shp2 and Pten, are associated with poor prognosis. The study provides a new understanding of liver cancer development, new therapeutic approach and new mouse model for studying the disease.
  
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• [Research Resource] Mitotic phosphotyrosine network analysis reveals that tyrosine phosphorylation regulates Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1)

  13-12-2016 23:31 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Tyrosine phosphorylation regulates a serine/threonine kinase that controls progression through mitosis.
  
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• [Research Article] Essential roles of AMPA receptor GluA1 phosphorylation and presynaptic HCN channels in fast-acting antidepressant responses of ketamine

  13-12-2016 23:31 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Ketamine alters presynaptic channels in the hippocampus to mediate fast-acting antidepressant action.
  
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• [Research Article] Chemoattractant concentration-dependent tuning of ERK signaling dynamics in migrating neutrophils

  13-12-2016 23:31 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The interplay between the kinases ERK and p38 controls neutrophil migration along a chemoattractant gradient.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Wnt couples the cell cycle to the circadian cycle

  13-12-2016 23:31 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Wnt-releasing Paneth cells synchronize the division of intestinal stem cells and progenitor cells with the daily circadian cycle.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Triggering neurodegeneration from the gut

  13-12-2016 23:31 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Metabolites released from gut microbiota promote α-synuclein aggregation and motor deficits in Parkinson's disease.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Rapidly inhibiting ethylene signaling with light

  13-12-2016 23:31 via stke.sciencemag.org
  A photoreceptor directly induces degradation of an ethylene-responsive transcription factor when seedlings are exposed to light.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] MicroRNAs that interfere with interferons

  13-12-2016 23:31 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Hepatitis C virus induces host expression of microRNAs that disrupt antiviral signaling.
  
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• [Editors' Choice] Hunger signals suppress risk perception

  13-12-2016 23:31 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Hunger suppresses a GPCR-mediated positive feedback loop between aversive sensory and sensorimotor neurons in worms, encouraging greater risk-taking for reward.
  
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• NASA troubleshooting drill problem on Mars Curiosity rover

  13-12-2016 23:15
  
  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Engineers are troubleshooting a snag on NASA's Curiosity that's preventing the rover from moving its robotic arm and driving to another spot on Mars, the space agency said Tuesday.
  
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• Fossil microbes show how some life bounced back after dino-killing impact

  13-12-2016 23:07
  
  Pioneering microbes colonized the waters above the Chicxulub crater within hundreds of years following the impact, new research shows.
  
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• Trump offers interior secretary job to Congressman Ryan Zinke - Politico

  13-12-2016 22:59
  (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has offered the job of interior secretary to first-term Republican Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing two transition officials and someone familiar with the offer. Zinke, a former Navy Seal commander, has yet to accept and has given no indication as to which way he is leaning, Politico said. Earlier on Tuesday, Politico reported that Trump was considering Zinke along with fellow U.S. Representatives Raul Labrad
  
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• It matters who you know: Referral networks in the labor market

  13-12-2016 22:45
  Half of all workers say they found their current job through a friend or social acquaintance, but “job-referral networks” may help perpetuate inequality, according to new research.
  
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• Agent of mischief

  13-12-2016 22:45
  Rhabdoid tumors are among the most recalcitrant childhood cancers, and scientists have long sought ways to understand what drives their resilience and makes them impervious to treatment. Now researchers have uncovered a molecular chain of events that interferes with a key mechanism that regulates cell behavior and controls tumor formation.
  
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• Ancient Space Dust Washes Up in Rooftop Gutters

  13-12-2016 22:34
  
  Through dogged determination, Jon Larsen has become driven to find space particles, which date back to when our sun was a baby, in the urban sediment that collects in the guttering of building rooftops. In 2011, Larsen reached out to Matthew Genge, of Imperial College London, with his plan to find dust particles in this seemingly unlikely place. "It was an amateur scientist, a chap called Jon Larsen who's actually quite a well-known jazz musician in Norway, who got interested in this and started
  
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• Cell biologists learn how Zika kills brain cells, devise schemes to stop it

  13-12-2016 22:17
  
  Cell biologists are learning more about how the Zika virus disrupts brain cells to cause microcephaly. Meanwhile, several strategies to combat the virus show preliminary promise.
  
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• Researchers identify biochemical mechanism behind a rare, painful genetic disease

  13-12-2016 22:11
  A team of researchers has uncovered a possible biochemical mechanism behind a rare, painful genetic disorder called ACDC disease, which causes calcium buildup in the arteries. The finding could lead to the first effective treatment for the potentially debilitating condition and might provide insight into other vascular diseases, including atherosclerosis, the researchers say.
  
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• Scientists unravel mechanism fueling growth of aggressive Rhabdoid tumors

  13-12-2016 22:10
  Rhabdoid tumors are among the most recalcitrant childhood cancers, and scientists have long sought ways to understand what drives their resilience and makes them impervious to treatment. Now researchers have uncovered a molecular chain of events that interferes with a key mechanism that regulates cell behavior and controls tumor formation.
  
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• Google's self-driving car project gets a new name: Waymo

  13-12-2016 21:48 via cbc.ca
  
  The self-driving car project that Google started seven years ago has grown into a company called Waymo, signaling its confidence that it will be able to bring robot-controlled vehicles to the masses within the next few years.
  
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• [Research Article] Increased activity of TNAP compensates for reduced adenosine production and promotes ectopic calcification in the genetic disease ACDC

  13-12-2016 21:42 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells reveal treatment strategies for a rare genetic form of arterial calcification.
  
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• Arctic experiences a year of wild extremes as warming goes into overdrive

  13-12-2016 21:11 via cbc.ca
  
  Warming at the top of the world has gone into overdrive, happening twice as fast as the rest of the globe, and extending unnatural heating into fall and winter, according to a new report from the U.S.
  
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• What Doomed Franklin's Polar Expedition? Thumbnail Holds Clue

  13-12-2016 20:52
  
  For 170 years, scientists, historians and amateur sleuths alike have been trying to figure out what led to the demise of the Franklin Expedition, one of the deadliest disasters in polar exploration, which left all 129 crew members dead in the Canadian Arctic. Researchers were able to reconstruct some information about the health and diet of one of Sir John Franklin's men in the weeks before his death, based on chemicals stored in his fingernail. On behalf of the British Royal Navy, Franklin set
  
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• 'Smart boulders' record huge underwater avalanche

  13-12-2016 20:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have had a remarkable close-up encounter with a gigantic underwater avalanche off the coast of California.
  
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• Mars rock-ingredient stew seen as plus for habitability

  13-12-2016 20:37
  NASA's Curiosity rover is climbing a layered Martian mountain and finding evidence of how ancient lakes and wet underground environments changed, billions of years ago, creating more diverse chemical environments that affected their favorability for microbial life.
  
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• Caterpillar robot uses squishy, 3-D printed legs to inch and crawl

  13-12-2016 20:23
  
  Squishy, 3-D printed legs help a caterpillar robot switch between inching and crawling, and offer sensory info about the world.
  
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• Curiosity Finds Mars May Be Covered in Organic Materials

  13-12-2016 20:14
  
  New analysis from NASA's Mars Curiosity rover shows that the red planet is likely flush with organics. "I am convinced that organics are all over Mars," said Jennifer Eigenbrode, a biogeochemist and geologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. What that means is something we'll have to talk about," Eigenbrode said last week during a National Academy of Sciences workshop about the search for life beyond Earth.
  
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• [Erratum]Erratum for the Research Article: "A computationally identified compound antagonizes excess FGF-23 signaling in renal tubules and a mouse model of hypophosphatemia" by Z. Xiao, D. Riccardi, H. A. Velazquez, A. L. Chin, C. R. Yates, J. D. Carrick,

  13-12-2016 20:01 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The author affiliations now appear in the correct order.
  
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• You can now get beer brewed based on your own DNA

  13-12-2016 19:52
  
  Your saliva swab will tell you what kind of beer you want to drink.
  
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• Arctic's year of crazy extremes as warming hits overdrive

  13-12-2016 19:39
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A new report says warming at the top of the world has gone into overdrive, happening twice as fast as the rest of the globe and extending unnatural heating into fall and winter.
  
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• Last Supermoon of 2016 Rises Tonight: What to Expect

  13-12-2016 19:30
  
  A supermoon occurs when the moon is full and at its closest point to Earth in its 27-day orbit. December’s full moon follows November's full Beaver Moon and October’s full Hunter’s Moon — both of which are also supermoons. In fact, November’s full moon was the closest to Earth since 1948, and the full moon won't come that close again until Nov. 25, 2034.
  
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• Researchers find bacterial protein that boosts insulin-producing cells in zebrafish

  13-12-2016 19:06
  A newly discovered bacterial protein produced in the zebrafish gut triggers insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas to multiply during early larval development, say researchers. The research potentially has human health implications. The findings, which could someday lead to new diabetes treatments, highlight the important role of resident microbes in development of the pancreas,
  
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• New technique switches key biomolecules on and off

  13-12-2016 19:06
  A new technique that will allow scientists to determine the effects of turning on and off a set of molecules involved in almost every cellular pathway, determine their downstream effects, and uncover new drug targets has been developed by researchers.
  
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• Kelp beats the heat

  13-12-2016 19:05
  Using long-term ecological data, marine scientists evaluate the sentinel status of giant kelp during a recent marine heat wave.
  
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• Eat and be eaten: Invasive scavengers in Hawaii alter island nutrient cycle

  13-12-2016 19:05
  Invasive species on Hawaii Island may be especially successful invaders because they are formidable scavengers of carcasses of other animals and after death, a nutrient resource for other invasive scavengers, say investigators.
  
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• Breakup of supercontinent Pangea cooled mantle and thinned crust

  13-12-2016 19:05
  The oceanic crust produced by the Earth today is significantly thinner than crust made 170 million years ago during the time of the supercontinent Pangea, according to researchers. The thinning is related to the cooling of Earth's interior prompted by the splitting of the supercontinent. The findings give a more nuanced view of the mantle temperature that influences tectonics on Earth.
  
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• Review: ROGUE ONE, Maybe the Best 'Star Wars Story' Ever – NO Spoilers

  13-12-2016 19:00
  
  In just the opening minutes of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," director Gareth Edwards accomplishes the amazing and perhaps pragmatically necessary. In a whirlwind tour of several brand-new planets in a galaxy far, far away, he both unmistakably expands upon what may be the most familiar cinematic setting in movie history, and at the same time makes it plain this is not the old comfortable shoe version of "Star Wars" universe its legions of fans might expect, or even want. Initially embracing on
  
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• Age-Old Problem: River in Jordan Polluted by Copper 7,000 Years Ago

  13-12-2016 18:59
  
  The first river polluted by humanity may have been discovered in Jordan, contaminated by copper about 7,000 years ago, a new study finds. Scientists examined a now-dry riverbed in the Wadi Faynan region of southern Jordan. Archaeologist Russell Adams at the University of Waterloo in Canada and his colleagues have been studying the area for more than 25 years to learn more about a critical turning point in history — the origins of metallurgy, when humans began moving from making tools out o
  
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• Therapy response in brain tumor cells is linked to disease prognosis

  13-12-2016 18:51
  The brain tumor form glioblastoma is difficult to treat and has very poor prognosis. In a new study, scientists show that a type of stem cell in the tumor is present in different states, with different response to drugs and radiation. The results may open an avenue towards development of new treatment strategies designed to reverse therapy resistant cell states to more sensitive states.
  
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• What your Facebook likes say about you

  13-12-2016 18:40 via cbc.ca
  
  New research from the University of Miami suggests that our liking patterns on social media can reveal a lot about our personalities.
  
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• Trump picks former Texas Governor Perry as energy secretary

  13-12-2016 18:36
  By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump has chosen former Texas Governor Rick Perry to head the U.S. Department of Energy, a source close to the president-elect said, putting him in charge of an agency he proposed eliminating during his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. The choice of Perry adds to the list of oil-drilling advocates sceptical about climate change who Trump has picked for senior positions in his Cabinet, worrying environmentalists but cheering an in
  
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• World's Oldest Wild Breeding Bird Is Expecting Her 41st Chick

  13-12-2016 18:20
  
  Rather, most lay an egg one year and then take a break the next, instead investing their time and energy into molting their feathers, said researchers at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and Battle of Midway National Memorial, located about 1,400 miles (2,250 kilometers) northwest of Hawaii.
  
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• Santa's Reindeer Feel the Heat as Numbers Shrink Worldwide

  13-12-2016 18:20
  
  Reindeer populations in northern Russia are falling, according to a new study. The new findings dovetail with other research showing that reindeer populations are falling in other parts of the Arctic as well. Polar bear populations could decline by about one-third over the next 30 or 40 years based on sea ice estimates, another study found.
  
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• Rise of reusable rockets signals a new age of spaceflight

  13-12-2016 17:58
  
  Successful landings by SpaceX and Blue Origin raise the prospect of cheaper and more efficient spaceflight.
  
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• Tests on three-year-olds can 'predict future criminals'

  13-12-2016 17:56
  
  The at-risk group accounted for most crimes.
  
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• Women with more social connections have higher breast cancer survival, study shows

  13-12-2016 17:50
  In a large study of women with invasive breast cancer, socially integrated women -- those with the most social ties, such as spouses, community ties, friendships and family members -- were shown to have significantly lower breast cancer death rates and disease recurrence than socially isolated women.
  
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• Study provides first exoplanet weather report on gas giant

  13-12-2016 17:40 via cbc.ca
  
  A new study has found that HAT-P-7b has clouds made up of the same mineral that produces sapphires and rubies.
  
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• Spy satellites reveal Himalayan melt

  13-12-2016 17:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have used images taken by Cold War spy satellites to reveal the dramatic environmental changes occurring in the Himalayas.
  
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