Science news

• Obama names Utah, Nevada monuments despite opposition

  28-12-2016 23:15
  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — President Barack Obama designated two national monuments Wednesday at sites in Utah and Nevada that have become key flashpoints over use of public land in the U.S. West, marking the administration's latest move to protect environmentally sensitive areas in its final days.
  
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• Novel diet therapy helps children with crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis reach remission

  28-12-2016 23:11
  Pediatric patients with active Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis can reach remission with diet alone.
  
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• Low levels of manganese in welding fumes cause neurological problems

  28-12-2016 23:11
  Welders exposed to airborne manganese at estimated levels well under federal safety standards develop neurological problems, according to a new study. Current safety standards may not adequately protect welders from the dangers of the job.
  
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• In parting shot at Israel, Kerry warns Middle East peace in jeopardy

  28-12-2016 22:57
  By Lesley Wroughton and Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday said Israel's building of settlements on occupied land was jeopardizing Middle East peace, voicing unusually frank frustration with America's longtime ally weeks before he is due to leave office. In a swiftly issued statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Kerry of bias. In a 70-minute speech, Kerry said Israel "will never have true peace" with the Arab world if it d
  
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• Fenofibrate may reduce heart disease risk in some patients with type 2 diabetes

  28-12-2016 21:59
  A new study shows that the drug fenofibrate might reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes who have high levels of triglycerides and low levels of 'good' cholesterol, despite being treated with statins.
  
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• Toothless dinosaur find could provide clues into evolution of bird beaks

  28-12-2016 21:53 via cbc.ca
  
  Researchers have discovered a species of dinosaur permanently lost its teeth in adolescence, the first fossil find of its kind.
  
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• State, regional differences in melanoma rates 2003 vs 2013

  28-12-2016 20:44
  A new research letter compares melanoma death and incidence by states and in four geographic regions. Melanoma death and incidence rates vary among states, partly because of demographic differences.
  
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• Rate of death, heart attack after noncardiac surgery decreases, although risk of stroke increases

  28-12-2016 20:44
  Medical researchers have examined national trends in perioperative cardiovascular outcomes and mortality after major noncardiac surgery.
  
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• New treatment for glioblastoma multiforme

  28-12-2016 20:44
  Medical researchers have developed a new pharmacological agent to treat glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the deadliest brain cancer.
  
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• Genetic complexity of cancer cells within the same tumor

  28-12-2016 20:44
  A new study dramatically illustrates the complexity of cancer by identifying more than 2,000 genetic mutations in tissue samples of esophageal tumors. The findings reveal that even different areas of individual tumors have various genetic patterns.
  
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• Evidence on movement of potato famine pathogen

  28-12-2016 20:44
  New research delves into the movement and evolution of the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s, which set down roots in the United States before attacking Europe.
  
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• Economics of forest biomass raise hurdles for rural development

  28-12-2016 20:44
  The use of residual forest biomass for rural development faces significant economic hurdles that make it unlikely to be a source of jobs in the near future, according to an analysis by economists.
  
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• Cycling in bed is safe for ICU patients, study suggests

  28-12-2016 20:44
  Researchers have demonstrated that physiotherapists can safely start in-bed cycling sessions with critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients early on in their ICU stay.
  
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• Kerry says settlements endanger peace, Israel hits back

  28-12-2016 19:42
  By Lesley Wroughton and Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Wednesday that Israel's building of settlements was endangering Middle East peace, expressing unusually frank frustration with the long-time American ally. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shot back at Kerry and accused him of showing bias against the Jewish state. In a 70-minute speech just weeks before the Obama administration hands over to President-elect Donald Trump, Kerry sa
  
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• Two-state solution to Middle East conflict in serious jeopardy - Kerry

  28-12-2016 18:54
  By Lesley Wroughton and Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Wednesday that the future of a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict was in jeopardy, saying the United States could not stay silent as violence and Israeli settlement building risked undermining peace. In a speech just weeks before the Obama administration hands over power to President-elect Donald Trump, Kerry said Israel "will never have true peace" with the Arab world if it do
  
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• Masses of dead sea creatures being tested after washing ashore in Nova Scotia

  28-12-2016 18:15 via cbc.ca
  
  Officers with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are out surveying beaches today in Nova Scotia's Digby and Annapolis counties, hoping to find answers to why thousands of dead sea creatures have been washing ashore.
  
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• Fort McMurray, El Nino top Canada's top weather stories for 2016

  28-12-2016 17:51 via cbc.ca
  
  Environment Canada released its top 10 weather stories for 2016 and the year was a wild one, mostly due to El Nino.
  
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• While painful, surge pricing is still a good deal

  28-12-2016 16:26
  New research shows price hikes in ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft during peak use times, such as New Year’s Eve, can actually benefit both drivers and consumers.
  
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• A Promising Spot for Life on Mars

  28-12-2016 14:11
  
  As NASA's Mars rover Curiosity makes its way up the central peak of Gale Crater, it has been gathering evidence from ancient lake beds and long ago groundwater environments that are promising for life. Scientists in charge of the mission gave an update of their findings Dec. 13 at the American Geophysical Union's annual fall meeting in San Francisco, saying the landing site at Gale Crater had exceeded their expectations. "We see all of the properties in place that we really like to associate wit
  
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• Where to Land on Mars: NASA Makes Progress in Quest for 2020 Rover Site

  28-12-2016 14:10
  
  While it's always difficult to choose just one best landing site on Mars, NASA officials say they have made progress on picking a location for the Mars 2020 rover. In August 2015, NASA reduced the next Red Planet rover's landing zone from an initial list of 54 locations to eight high-priority sites, said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, in a statement from the agency. Another workshop will take place in February, and as with other Mars landing site workshops.
  
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• New Method Could Aid Search for Life on Alien Worlds

  28-12-2016 14:10
  
  Although relatively little is known about this newly discovered planet, which was dubbed Proxima b, evidence suggests it's possible that it has the right conditions to support life. But now, at least two different groups of astronomers are investigating a method for doing atmospheric studies of Proxima b — and other, possibly habitable planets like it — using ground-based telescopes that are scheduled to come online in the 2020s, significantly cutting down on the wait time. Earl
  
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• European Probe Snaps Color Photos of Martian Moon Phobos

  28-12-2016 14:10
  
  The Trace Gas Orbiter, or TGO, is part of the European ExoMars exploration program and arrived in orbit around Mars on Oct. 19. The orbiter snapped the new views of Phobos during its second orbit Mars. TGO captured the images used to make the composite view seen here while the probe was about 4,784 miles (7,700 kilometers) from Phobos.
  
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• 2 Newborn Planets May Be Forming Around a Distant Young Star

  28-12-2016 14:10
  
  Located roughly 400 light-years from Earth, the young star, known as HD 163296, is approximately 5 million years old and about twice the mass of our sun. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, astronomers examined the distribution of both the dust and the carbon monoxide gas components of the protoplanetary disk surrounding HD 163296. The gas and dust of the protoplanetary disk surrounding a young star named HD 163296, in which two new planets are forming.
  
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• Weird Clouds Linger on Saturn's Moon Titan

  28-12-2016 13:55
  
  NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew over Titan on June 7 and July 25 and captured strikingly different photos of the moon's high northern latitude using the probe's Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) and Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). Only the VIMS (the bottom, color image) was able to peer through the moon's hazy atmosphere to capture an infrared view of the elusive clouds. The different views captured by Cassini's two onboard imaging cameras raise the question of why clouds would be
  
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• OSCE victim of cyber attack

  28-12-2016 13:31
  The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has been the target of a cyber attack, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The French newspaper Le Monde said a Russian hacker group was behind the attack, but the OSCE, a security and human rights watchdog, said it did not have the capability to investigate the report. An unnamed Western intelligence source quoted by Le Monde attributed the hacking to the Russian cyber espionage group known as APT28.
  
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• Black bobcat snared in N.B., only 12th ever recorded in North America

  28-12-2016 13:23 via cbc.ca
  
  A New Brunswick trapper snared a black, melanistic, bobcat on Christmas Day.
  
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• People woke up to frost and fog in England and it has made for some incredible images

  28-12-2016 13:03
  
  Winter is beautiful.
  
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• All the events Tim Peake gatecrashed from space in 2016

  28-12-2016 13:01
  
  Remember when he set a new record for becoming the fastest marathon runner in orbit?
  
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• Tibetan Plateau Discovery Shows Humans May Be Tougher than We Thought

  28-12-2016 13:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Converging genetic and archaeological evidence hints that early migrants clung to the frigid, oxygen-starved “roof of the world” through the worst the climate could throw at them
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Slow internet means DVDs still reign in rural N.S.

  28-12-2016 12:00 via cbc.ca
  
  DVDs may be a thing of the past for many people, but not at rural Nova Scotia libraries where they are in high demand.
  
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• Slow internet means DVDs still reign at libraries in rural N.S.

  28-12-2016 12:00 via cbc.ca
  
  DVDs may be a thing of the past for many people, but not at rural Nova Scotia libraries where they are in high demand.
  
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• DVDs are not dead — they're just hiding at your local library

  28-12-2016 12:00 via cbc.ca
  
  DVDs may be a thing of the past for many people, but not at rural Nova Scotia libraries where they are in high demand.
  
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• Urgent action called for as cheetah numbers plummet worldwide

  28-12-2016 11:35
  The fastest land animal is currently classed as “vulnerable”.
  
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• No sunlight, no soil, no problem: Vertical farms take growing indoors

  28-12-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  A New Jersey company is building the world's largest vertical farm inside an old steel mill, where it says it can grow millions of pounds of plants indoors, without the use of sunlight or soil. It's part of a trend to use tech to bring produce to dense urban areas.
  
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• CRTC reviews, rulings in 2017 that could affect your phone, TV and Internet bills

  28-12-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Canadians pay some of the highest prices in the world for their cellphone, internet and TV services, but those bills could change depending on how Canada's broadcast regulator handles some major issues it's expected to decide on next year.
  
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• Three centuries of excellence: The story of a world-famous chemistry department

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (World Scientific) Chemistry is the most fundamental of the sciences, and is now one of the most popular choices for university entry. Many of the key discoveries in the field were made in the chemistry department at IC, and together with anecdotes of the famous men and women who studied or taught there we try to highlight their work, in a scientific and historical context.
  
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• This week from AGU: Random temperature fluctuations may have made Earth habitable

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (American Geophysical Union) This Week from AGU: Random temperature fluctuations may have made Earth habitable.
  
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• Secrets of human protein interactions unveiled by massive sequencing and coevolution

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO)) Cells operate like an incredibly well-synchronized orchestra of interactions among proteins. Understanding this network is essential to determine the molecular mechanisms responsible for a multitude of diseases. In fact, it has been observed that protein interacting regions are preferentially mutated in tumors. A new study demonstrates that it is possible to understand a significant number of interactions among human proteins from th
  
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• Predicting and preventing violence against criminal justice officials

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News) A "triage tool" that can help law enforcement more accurately assess threats of violence and predict attacks against police, judges, and other criminal justice officials can lead to better preventive measures. The violence risk factors and risk management strategies that form the basis for an effective approach to minimizing such targeted attacks are described in the article "Threat to Criminal Justice Officials: If It Is Predictable, It Is Preve
  
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• NTU to develop traffic management solutions so drones can fly safely in Singapore

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (Nanyang Technological University) Researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) are studying ways to allow hundreds of UAVs to fly efficiently and safely at any one time.
  
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• NASA Maps Typhoon Nock-ten's lifetime rainfall as storm fades

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA has added up the large amounts of rainfall generated throughout the life of the once Super-typhoon Nock-ten from its birth to its entrance into the South China Sea on Dec. 27.
  
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• Miniscule amounts of impurities in vacuum greatly affecting OLED lifetime

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (Kyushu University, OPERA) Reproducibility is a necessity for science but has often eluded researchers studying the lifetime of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Recent research from Japan sheds new light on why: impurities present in the vacuum chamber during fabrication but in amounts so small that they are easily overlooked.
  
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• 'Latest spoke in the wheel' drives brain-mapping advances, reports Neurophotonics journal

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (SPIE--International Society for Optics and Photonics) A special section on 'Super-resolution Microscopy of Neural Structure and Function' in the current issue of the journal Neurophotonics presents ground-breaking new research and comprehensive review papers on a techniques enabling vital insights in understanding the brain. The journal is published by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.
  
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• Forthcoming comprehensive reference guide on deep tissue imaging techniques

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (The City University of New York) A forthcoming reference book for new deep tissue imaging techniques, to be published Jan. 31, 2017 by Pan Stanford, provides a comprehensive guide for researchers and students of multiple disciplines.
  
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• Divide and conquer pattern searching

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST)) A new data mining strategy by KAUST offers unprecedented pattern search speed could lead to new insights from massive data.
  
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• A material that could revolutionize photonic and opto-electronic devices

  28-12-2016 06:00
  
  (World Scientific) The importance of graphene can hardly be overstated. Comprising thirteen chapters written by world-renowned researchers in this field, Optical Properties of Graphene reviews the unique properties of graphene that hold great promise to revolutionize many photonic and opto-electronic devices. The book covers a wide range of optical aspects of graphene, ranging from fundamental quantum mechanical properties to opto-electronic device applications of graphene.
  
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• Bumblebee numbers hit by 'unsettled decade'

  28-12-2016 05:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Warm winters and bad summers have hit the insect population, but seen other wildlife flourish, says the National Trust
  
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