Science news

• Swat team: scientists track humongous number of flying bugs

  23-12-2016 22:16 via cbc.ca
  
  Counting the number of bugs whizzing high overhead annually may seem all but impossible, but researchers in Britain have completed the most comprehensive tally ever conducted.
  
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• Despite mixed reception, Super Mario Run likely to be 'hugely profitable' for Nintendo

  23-12-2016 20:56 via cbc.ca
  
  Super Mario Run has received a mixed reception from smartphone users, investors and hardcore gamers — but it could all be part of the plan, as far as Nintendo is concerned.
  
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• New Mexico nuclear waste site could restart operations in January

  23-12-2016 20:39
  The United States' only permanent nuclear waste disposal site got the go-ahead on Friday to resume operations nearly three years after a radiation leak shut down the New Mexico facility. The U.S. Department of Energy said in a statement that disposal of nuclear waste at the site near Carlsbad could begin again as early as next month, following two safety reviews and corrective actions. The announcement came one day after New Mexico state officials said they had given their approval for operation
  
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• Santa Claus breaks the laws of physics: Bob McDonald

  23-12-2016 20:31 via cbc.ca
  
  But maybe we should just enjoy the season for what it is?
  
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• Arctic temperatures soar to 30 C above normal

  23-12-2016 19:25 via cbc.ca
  
  'Southerners think it's just about whether we're going to have a white Christmas and skinny polar bears,' a climatologist says about the Arctic being the warmest place on Earth. 'But for northern people, it's a life or death situation.' He predicts the situation in the Arctic will eventually have consequences across Canada.
  
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• Alberta bee lab working to keep Canadian hives buzzing

  23-12-2016 18:15 via cbc.ca
  
  The National Bee Diagnostic Centre in Beaverlodge, Alta., is working to keep our country's precious pollinators healthy by testing for colony-killing parasites, pathogens and diseases.
  
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• Baby starfish whip up whirlpools to snag a meal

  23-12-2016 18:00
  
  Starfish larvae use hairlike cilia to stir up water whorls and suck prey in close.
  
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• Jujube genome study sheds light on fruit tree's domestication

  23-12-2016 17:59
  Researchers have sequenced the genome of the dry jujube. They identified the genomic region that underlies the sugar and acid content of the fruits -- a key factor in jujube domestication -- as well as genes involved in fruit texture and breeding compatibility. The genome will serve as a resource for jujube breeding efforts.
  
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• Genetic cause identified for previously unrecognized developmental disorder

  23-12-2016 17:59
  An international team of scientists has identified variants of the gene EBF3 causing a developmental disorder with features in common with autism. Identification of these gene variants leads to a better understanding of these complex conditions and opens the possibility of diagnosing other previously undiagnosed patients with similar clinical disorders
  
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• Genes Nardilysin, OGDHL linked to human neurological conditions

  23-12-2016 17:59
  The gene, OGDHL, a key protein required for normal function of the mitochondria -- the energy-producing factory of the cell -- and its chaperone, nardilysin (NRD1) are linked to progressive loss of neurological function in humans, an international team of scientists has discovered.
  
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• Burning more fat, less glucose could lead to diabetes, mouse models indicate

  23-12-2016 17:59
  Making muscles burn more fat and less glucose can increase exercise endurance, but could simultaneously cause diabetes, says a team of scientists.
  
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• Research aids discovery of genetic immune disorder

  23-12-2016 17:58
  Investigators have identified a genetic immune disorder characterized by increased susceptibility and poor immune control of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and, in some cases, an EBV-associated cancer called Hodgkin's lymphoma. The researchers studied two unrelated sets of siblings with similar immune problems and determined their symptoms were likely caused by a lack of CD70, a protein found on the surface of several types of immune cells.
  
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• Protein that activates immune response harms body's ability to fight HIV

  23-12-2016 17:58
  Temporarily blocking a type of protein, called type I interferon, can restore immune function and speed up viral suppression during treatment with anti-viral drugs for people with chronic infection of the virus that causes AIDS, findings from a study in animals appear to demonstrate.
  
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• New tag revolutionizes whale research, and makes them partners in science

  23-12-2016 17:58
  A sophisticated new type of 'tag' on whales that can record data every second for hours, days and weeks at a time provides a view of whale behavior, biology and travels never before possible, scientists reported today in a new study. The data are also making whales partners in the study of climate change.
  
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• Champagne owes its taste to the finely tuned quality of its bubbles

  23-12-2016 17:58
  Ever wondered how the fate of champagne bubbles from their birth to their death with a pop enhances our perception of aromas? These concerns, which are relevant to champagne producers, are the focus of a scientists, helping champagne producers become aware of the neuro-physico-chemical mechanisms responsible for aroma release and flavor perception.
  
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• Hard-wired: The brain's circuitry for political belief

  23-12-2016 17:57
  When people's political beliefs are challenged, their brains become active in areas that govern personal identity and emotional responses to threats, neuroscientists have found.
  
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• Genomic sequencing illuminates recent Shigella outbreaks in California

  23-12-2016 17:57
  In a study that could have significant impact on how disease outbreaks are managed, researchers have sequenced and analyzed genomes from Shigella sonnei (S. sonnei) bacteria associated with major shigellosis outbreaks in California in 2014 and 2015.
  
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• Capsule for severe bleeding disorder moves closer to reality

  23-12-2016 17:22
  Researchers are working to develop a pill to treat this serious inherited bleeding disorder. Oral delivery of the treatment--clotting factor IX--would allow individuals with type B hemophilia to swallow a pill rather than be subjected to several weekly injections of factor IX to control potentially fatal bleeding episodes.
  
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• Superfoods from algae cultivated thanks to an electric power station

  23-12-2016 17:21
  “Algae for a Healthy World” is born, a consortium to produce biocompounds with food applications from microalgae. Researchers have met to formalize the commencement of the project, whose aim encompasses the development of the necessary biotechnological tools to improve and to optimize the production of biomass of marine origin.
  
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• Light opens, closes windows in membranes

  23-12-2016 17:21
  Researchers have developed novel membranes, whose selectivity can be switched dynamically with the help of light. For this purpose, azobenzene molecules were integrated into membranes made of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Depending on the irradiation wavelength, these azobenzene units in the MOFs adopt a stretched or angular form. In this way, it is possible to dynamically adjust the permeability of the membrane and the separation factor of gases or liquids.
  
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• First movie of energy transfer in photosynthesis solves decades-old debate

  23-12-2016 17:21
  Using ultrafast imaging of moving energy in photosynthesis, scientists have determined the speed of crucial processes for the first time. This should help scientists understand how nature has perfected the process of photosynthesis, and how this might be copied to produce fuels by artificial photosynthesis.
  
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• These 2016 stories could be really big — if they're true

  23-12-2016 16:00
  
  These findings would have rocked the scientific world, if only the evidence were more convincing.
  
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• What Was the Star of Bethlehem? Astronomy Meets Religion in Slooh Webcast

  23-12-2016 15:46
  
  Learn about all the theories in a free webcast today (Dec. 23) by the online Slooh Community Observatory. During the show, experts in both religion and astronomy will discuss what the famous Star of Bethlehem might have been: Was it an actual star, a comet, a planet or something else? You can also watch the Star of Bethlehem show here at Space.com, courtesy of Slooh.
  
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• UK car shapes up for solar challenge

  23-12-2016 15:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A British team is in the final stages of designing its car for next year's World Solar Challenge in the Australian desert.
  
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• Family of bears likely killed from eating poisonous plant

  23-12-2016 14:07
  WEST WYOMING, Pa. (AP) — Game commission officials say a poisonous ornamental shrub likely killed a black bear and her three cubs found dead on a church parking lot in northeastern Pennsylvania.
  
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• World’s largest reindeer population may fall victim to climate change

  23-12-2016 14:00
  
  Climate change and wolves are driving down the reindeer population in Russia’s Taimyr population.
  
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• 'Mars Ice Home': Team Chips Away at Off-Earth House's Design

  23-12-2016 13:50
  
  "Ice Home is more than just a habitat, since what we really need is a new home on Mars," said Ice Home principal investigator Kevin Kempton, of NASA's Langley Research Center. Ice Home is a deployable Mars habitat concept based on an inflatable structure that makes use of water ice on the Red Planet. An added biological bonus, according to Ice Home advocates, is that water ice serves as shielding from galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), which have been flagged as potentially dangerous to human health o
  
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• 'Star Wars' Science: Is the Force Contagious?

  23-12-2016 13:44
  
  In the "Star Wars" universe, a mystical power known as the Forcedrives the battles between Jedi knights and their dark counterparts, the Sith. Ahead of the release of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," a group of real-world scientists got together over the summer to discuss the science of this mystical power. The panel of scientists, who gathered at the Dragon Con convention in Atlanta this past September, raised an intriguing possibility: that the ability to manipulate the Force could travel from
  
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• Check Out NASA's Asteroid-Catching Robot Arms (Photo)

  23-12-2016 13:43
  
  NASA to launch the robotic portion of its Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) in 2021. The collected sample will be used in a demonstration of enhanced gravity tractor  asteroid deflection. Recently at the Robotic Operation's Center of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, a robotic capture module system prototype used a mock asteroid boulder to test its capabilities.
  
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• Hidden Figures highlights three black women who were vital to the U.S. space program

  23-12-2016 12:00
  
  "Hidden Figures" tells the untold story of the "human computers" who were essential to the launch of the U.S. space program.
  
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• 5 things that happen to your body when you overeat during Christmas

  23-12-2016 08:47
  
  Feel tired after your Brussels sprouts, turkey and cranberry sauce? Here’s why…
  
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• Why chess masters win

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (Bielefeld University) What is the secret of successful chess players? Cognitive scientists at the Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University investigate this question in the project 'Ceege' by recording players' eye movements and facial expressions. They cooperate with colleagues from Inria Grenoble Rhones-Aples, a research institute in France.
  
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• Visualizing gene expression with MRI

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (California Institute of Technology) A cellular gatekeeper for water molecules finds new use in magnetic resonance imaging.
  
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• The incorrigibles

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Southern California) When people's political beliefs are challenged, their brains become active in areas that govern personal identity and emotional responses to threats, neuroscientists at the University of Southern California found.
  
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• Stability challenge in perovskite solar cell technology

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University) New research reveals intrinsic instability issues of iodine-containing perovskite solar cells.
  
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• NJIT's 'lead tank' motors to a medal at the Chem-E-Car Championship

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (New Jersey Institute of Technology) The 'Lead Tank,' a 25-pound driverless car with an intimidating name and an intricate timing mechanism, made NJIT history by medaling for the first time in the championship round of the Chem-E-Car Competition, held in San Francisco in November.
  
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• NASA tracking a stronger Tropical Storm Nock-Ten

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Nock-ten as it continued to move west toward the Philippines where it is locally called 'Nina.'
  
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• NASA sees wind shear's effects on Tropical Cyclone Yvette

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Tropical Storm Yvette was being battered by vertical wind shear when NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over the Southern Indian Ocean.
  
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• Dr. Chiaravalloti of Kessler Foundation receives $600,000 grant to study cognition and SCI

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (Kessler Foundation) Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD, of Kessler Foundation is the principal investigator of a Field-Initiated Program award from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). The nearly $600,000 grant will fund her three-year project, entitled'Treating Cognitive Deficits in Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI):A Randomized Clinical Trial' which seeks to improve the everyday functioning and quality of life for people with SCI.
  
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• Clemson study focuses on improving facemasks to help reduce football brain injuries

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (Clemson University) A team of Clemson University researchers and an Upstate businessman believe they can help make football a little safer by creating a facemask that can help reduce the severity of head injuries by increasing overall helmet protection.
  
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• Biophysical Society announces winners of 2017 Inclusion and Diversity Travel Awards

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (Biophysical Society) The Biophysical Society has announced the winner of itsCommittee for Inclusion and Diversity (CID) Travel Awards to attend the Biophysical Society's 61st Annual Meeting at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, Feb. 11-15, 2017. The awardsare intended to encourage participation at the Biophysical Society Annual Meeting by students and postdoctoral fellows underrepresented in the biomedical sciences currently studying biophysics. Recipients will be
  
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• A wolverine inspired material

  23-12-2016 06:00
  
  (University of California - Riverside) Scientists, including several from the University of California, Riverside, have developed a transparent, self-healing, highly stretchable conductive material that can be electrically activated to power artificial muscles and could be used to improve batteries, electronic devices, and robots.
  
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• Some young dinosaurs shed teeth, say experts

  23-12-2016 04:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Some dinosaurs shed their teeth as they grew up, according to fossil evidence.
  
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• Scientists identify a new approach to recycle greenhouse gas

  23-12-2016 01:16
  Using a novel approach involving a key enzyme that helps regulate global nitrogen, molecular biologists have discovered an effective way to convert carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide that can be adapted for commercial applications like biofuel synthesis.
  
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• Smoking while pregnant may compromise children’s kidney function

  23-12-2016 01:15
  Compared with those born from nonsmoking mothers, young children whose mothers smoked while pregnant were 1.24-times more likely to show signs of kidney damage, research shows.
  
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• Prior kidney damage may pose risks for pregnant women and their babies

  23-12-2016 01:15
  Women with a history of recovered acute kidney injury had an increased rate of preeclampsia and delivered infants earlier than women with a history of normal kidney function, new research concludes.
  
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• Linking human genome sequences to health data will change clinical medicine, says expert

  23-12-2016 01:15
  The value of intersecting the sequencing of individuals' exomes (all expressed genes) or full genomes to find rare genetic variants -- on a large scale -- with their detailed electronic health record (EHR) information may have big benefits for medicine, reports a new article.
  
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• False killer whale’s encounter with longline

  23-12-2016 01:15
  A team of researchers and fishermen used video and audio recordings to observe false killer whales removing fish from a longline fishing hook, a behavior known as depredation.
  
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• Protein monitors lung volume, regulates breathing

  23-12-2016 01:13
  A new study might help shed light on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in human babies, which is thought to be associated with dysfunctional airway sensory neurons.
  
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• Heart-related deaths spike at Christmas

  23-12-2016 01:13
  Heart-related deaths spike during Christmas, but the effect may have nothing to do with the cold winter season, according to new research.
  
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