Science news

• Ellen Stofan, NASA's Chief Scientist, Departs Space Agency

  29-12-2016 22:11
  
  NASA's chief scientist is leaving the agency after more than three years on the job, as NASA refreshes the leadership of its science programs. Ellen Stofan left NASA this month after serving as chief scientist since August 2013. Agency spokesman Dwayne Brown was not immediately able to provide an exact departure date, or plans to select a new chief scientist.
  
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• Russia Plans Early February Progress Return to Flight

  29-12-2016 21:57
  
  Russia has tentatively scheduled the next Progress launch for early February, pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation. The Progress MS-04 spacecraft was lost during a Dec. 1 launch to the International Space Station when the spacecraft prematurely separated from the Soyuz rocket's upper stage. Two Chinese remote sensing satellites launched Tuesday night are in the wrong orbit. Tracking data from the U.S. Air Force show that the two SuperView satellites launched on a Long M
  
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• NASA's Biggest Space Feats of 2016

  29-12-2016 21:53
  
  It's been a busy year for NASA, which has been pushing frontiers in robotic space exploration, human missions, scientific research and more. NASA's Juno spacecraft successfully reached Jupiter on July 4. Construction of the James Webb Space Telescope was completed in November, putting the largest-ever space telescope right on track for its launch date in 2018.
  
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• Russian parliament official: US expulsion of diplomats is act of "political corpses"

  29-12-2016 21:17
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian parliamentary official said Washington's decision on Thursday to expel 35 Russian diplomats represented "the death throes of political corpses". Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the international affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, was quoted by the RIA news agency. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
  
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• China's New Earth-Observation Satellites in Unexpected Orbits: Report

  29-12-2016 21:06
  
  Citing tracking data from the U.S. military, Spaceflight Now reports that China's two new SuperView 1 satellites (also known as Gaojing 1) are flying in lower-than-expected orbits. The satellites launched into space at 11:23 a.m. Beijing time Wednesday (0323 GMT or 10:23 p.m. EST on Tuesday) from China's Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center and are currently in an "egg-shaped" orbit that ranges between 133 miles and 325 miles (214-524 kilometers) above Earth, Spaceflight Now reports. The satellites w
  
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• Scientists develop novel assay to decode functional elements of genome

  29-12-2016 20:19
  Scientists introduce method to identify regulatory sequences in RNA by analyzing their regulatory function in a massive parallel reporter assay during embryogenesis. The method is called RESA (RNA Element Selection Assay).
  
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• Jawing away: Bahama pupfish study identifies candidate genes driving food-niches

  29-12-2016 20:19
  Scientists have studied three closely related pupfish species peacefully co-existing because each, through subtle jaw size differences, has rapidly carved out its own food niche within the last 10,000 years. They have matched DNA changes with differences in jaw size to uncover candidate genes responsible, along with evidence supporting the role of large-effect alleles in crossing larger fitness valleys. More large-effect alleles were required to evolve large jaws than small jaws.
  
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• How much money is spent on health care for kids, where does it go?

  29-12-2016 20:19
  Health care spending on children grew 56 percent between 1996 and 2013, with the most money spent in 2013 on inpatient well-newborn care, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and well-dental care, according to a new article.
  
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• Antibiotic resistance just became more complex

  29-12-2016 20:19
  Bacteria that are susceptible to antibiotics can survive when enough resistant cells around them are expressing an antibiotic-deactivating factor. This new take on how the microbial context can compromise antibiotic therapy was just published by a team of microbiologists.
  
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• Your microbiota's previous dining experiences may make new diets less effective

  29-12-2016 20:18
  Your microbiota may not be on your side as you try improving your diet this New Year's. In a new study, researchers explore why mice that switch from an unrestricted American diet to a healthy, calorie-restricted, plant-based diet don't have an immediate response to their new program. They found that certain human gut bacteria need to be lost for a diet plan to be successful.
  
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• Varmint hunters' ammo selection influences lead exposure in avian scavengers

  29-12-2016 20:18
  Varmint hunters' choice of ammunition plays a role in the amount of lead that scavengers such as golden eagles could ingest, a new study shows, and offers a way to minimize the lead exposure to wildlife.
  
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• The rhythm that makes memories permanent

  29-12-2016 20:18
  Every time we learn something new, the memory does not only need to be acquired, it also needs to be stabilized in a process called memory consolidation. Brain waves are considered to play an important role in this process, but the underlying mechanism that dictates their shape and rhythm was still unknown. A study now shows that one of the brain waves important for consolidating memory is dominated by synaptic inhibition.
  
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• Scientists engineer gene pathway to grow brain organoids with surface folding

  29-12-2016 20:18
  Researchers provide insight into a specific gene pathway that appears to regulate the growth, structure, and organization of the human cortex. They also demonstrate that 3-D human cerebral organoids can be effective in modeling the molecular, cellular, and anatomical processes of human brain development. And they suggest a new path for identifying the cells affected by Zika virus.
  
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• Gut microorganisms affect our physiology

  29-12-2016 20:18
  Researchers have found evidence that could shed new light on the complex community of trillions of microorganisms living in all our guts, and how they interact with our bodies.
  
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• Ancient Chaco Canyon population likely relied on imported food

  29-12-2016 20:18
  The ancient inhabitants of New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, the zenith of Pueblo culture in the Southwest a thousand years ago, likely had to import corn to feed the multitudes residing there, says a new study.
  
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• Round or 'shaped' breast implants? Even plastic surgeons can't tell the difference

  29-12-2016 20:17
  Looking at before-and-after photos, plastic surgeons and nurses can't tell whether breast augmentation surgery was done using conventional round implants or newer anatomically shaped implants, reports a new study.
  
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• New way to defeat therapy-resistant prostate cancer

  29-12-2016 20:17
  A new study sheds light on a signaling circuit in cells that drives therapy resistance in prostate cancer. The researchers found that targeting the components of this circuit suppresses advanced prostate cancer development.
  
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• Drug discovery approach predicts health impact of endocrine-disrupting chemicals

  29-12-2016 19:18
   Breast cancer researchers from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have developed a novel approach for identifying how chemicals in the environment—called environmental estrogens—can produce infertility, abnormal reproductive development, including “precocious puberty,” and promote breast cancer.
  
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• Amazon looks to use airships as floating distribution hubs

  29-12-2016 18:39 via cbc.ca
  
  A two-year-old application by Amazon.com Inc. indicates the company sought a patent to use airships to store products and serve as a base for delivery-drones.
  
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• Northern Lights' Festive Show Captured in Stunning NASA Image

  29-12-2016 18:06
  
  The northern lights put on a festive show over northern Canada just before Christmas, and a NASA satellite captured a stunning infrared image of the spectacular display. The night after the winter solstice, NASA's Suomi NPP spacecraft recorded the northern lights, or aurora borealis, across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories in Canada on the night of Dec. 22. From 512 miles (824 kilometers) above the Earth, the satellite's Visible Infrared Imagi
  
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• Playing the Space Trump Card: Relaunching a National Space Council

  29-12-2016 18:00
  
  As the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump kicks into high gear, the future of the country's civil and military activities in space is on the table. Late in the 2016 presidential race, the Trump campaign aired the idea of relaunching the National Space Council (NSC) to oversee U.S. space policy. When NASA was formed, the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 mandated an aeronautics and space advisory group as a mechanism to help guide America's space agenda.
  
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• Novel hardware-based modeling approach for multi-robot tasks

  29-12-2016 17:56
  Technological revolution means robots no longer are the song of the future. The Governor of the Bank of England predicts today that up to half of British workforce face redundancy in the imminent 'second machine age'. No wonder, the research of multi-robot systems generates serious buzz both for promising (albeit at times scary) results and for their application prospects in the real world.
  
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• No excuses: Real reason you’re late may vary with age

  29-12-2016 17:56
  A song is just a song, but as time goes by, something as random as a song's length could be the difference in whether you miss an important deadline or arrive late for an appointment, suggests time-management research.
  
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• Not enough information to link dead whale to other dead sea creatures, expert says

  29-12-2016 17:55 via cbc.ca
  
  An expert on marine mammals says there's not enough information to link the death of a humpback whale to those of thousands of others of sea creatures which washed up near Digby, N.S., over the last few weeks.
  
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• Dead whale can't be linked to other dead sea creatures, expert says

  29-12-2016 17:55 via cbc.ca
  
  An expert on marine mammals says there's not enough information to link the death of a humpback whale to those of thousands of others of sea creatures which washed up near Digby, N.S., over the last few weeks.
  
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• New nutritional strategy gives a boost to tiny premature babies

  29-12-2016 17:54
  On New Year's Day this coming Sunday, we will once again be waiting to see the first baby is born safe and sound to be our "New Year's Baby 2017". It could even be a premature baby. The tiniest premature babies – weighing less than 1 kg at birth – often fail to gain very much weight during their long stay in hospital and this impacts upon their subsequent growth. Now, however, a retrospective data analysis has shown that "more aggressive" nutrition, especially including more protein,
  
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• Nitrogen doped bimodal cellular structure activated carbon produced

  29-12-2016 17:35
  Phenol-urea-formaldehyde (PUF) organic foam were used as precusors for the new monolithic nitrogen-containing microporous cellular activated carbons production. Carbonization and CO2 activation were used to prepare this novel monolithic nitrogen-containing activated carbon foam with both interconnected macroporous and micro/meso- porosity structures from the developed PUF organic foam.
  
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• High performance Cu(OH)2 supercapacitor electrodes fabricated

  29-12-2016 17:35
  Applying electric field in the ammonium based solution has been used for the fabrication of different forms of copper hydroxide nanostructures. The supercapacitance performance of synthesized nanostructures has been investigated and high specific capacitance of 178 F/g at scan rate of 20 mVs-1 was obtained. The fast, simple and low cost electric field enhanced synthesis method proposed here can be used for fabrication of high performance Cu(OH)2 nanostructured supercapacitance electrodes.
  
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• Experts call for expansion of molecular imaging in precision cancer care

  29-12-2016 17:35
  New molecular imaging technologies can make it easier to diagnose, monitor, and treat cancers while potentially saving patients from undergoing therapies that are likely to be ineffective and playing a role in minimizing side effects.
  
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• Can paint strokes help identify Alzheimer's?

  29-12-2016 17:35
  A new study shows that it may be possible to detect neurodegenerative disorders in artists before they are diagnosed.
  
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• Aromatase inhibitors for breast cancer: Advantages over tamoxifen in early-stage disease

  29-12-2016 17:35
  Patients survive longer, recurrences occur later, and certain side effects occur less often. Overall, the evidence for late-stage disease is much poorer.
  
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• Quarter of a million tons of food could be saved a year with better logistics

  29-12-2016 17:34
  Each year, around 88 million tons of food is discarded in the EU. This is something that researchers wants to do something about. They are now giving companies in the food supply chain specific tools that can reduce both food waste and the environmental impact of food transport.
  
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• Possible treatment targets found for pre-malignant bone marrow disorders

  29-12-2016 17:34
  Medical researchers report on a new mechanism that controls blood cell function and several possible molecular targets for treating myelodysplasia syndromes (MDS) -- a group of pre-malignant disorders in which bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells. MDS can lead to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a fast-spreading blood cancer that can be deadly if not treated promptly. The authors report that overexpression of a protein called TRAF6 in hematopoietic (blood) cells drives the onset
  
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• Omega-3 supplements can prevent childhood asthma

  29-12-2016 17:34
  Taking certain omega-3 fatty acid supplements during pregnancy can reduce the risk of childhood asthma by almost one third, according to a new study.
  
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• Most doctors ignore one of the most potent ways to improve health

  29-12-2016 17:34
  Leveraging existing relationships with friends and family may be a more effective way to improve patients' health and encourage new healthy habits and behaviors than increasing interactions with physicians or other clinicians. In a new perspective article, behavioral economists suggest a five-step ladder to effectively engineering social engagements that promote health and to test their acceptability and effectiveness.
  
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• Iron deficiency anemia associated with hearing loss

  29-12-2016 17:34
  Medical researchers examined the association between sensorineural hearing loss and conductive hearing loss and iron deficiency anemia in adults ages 21 to 90 years in the United States.
  
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• Biomarker tests in breast cancer: Decision on chemotherapy remains difficult

  29-12-2016 17:34
  Omitting chemotherapy can lead to more cases of distant metastasis and deaths. It cannot yet be judged whether this risk outweighs the chemotherapy-related burden.
  
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• Armenia, Azerbaijan accuse each other of starting fight that killed three

  29-12-2016 16:40
  YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) - Three Armenian servicemen were killed in border clashes with Azeri soldiers, Armenia's defence ministry spokesman said on Thursday, with each sides accusing the other of encroaching on their territory. Artsrun Hovannisyan said in a statement that Azeri soldiers had tried to cross into Armenia, while Azerbaijan's defence ministry said Armenian forces tried to cross the border.
  
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• Earth Scientists Are Freaking Out. NASA Urges Calm.

  29-12-2016 16:24
  
  At a time when NASA earth scientists are concerned their research may be scuttled by the incoming Trump administration, the space agency's top science official is preaching pragmatism and unity. The names of the two key Trump administration figures who will have the most significant impact on NASA's future — the new NASA administrator and the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy — have not been announced. To put that in scientific terms, all the ru
  
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• Madrid to lift some car restrictions as smog eases

  29-12-2016 15:23 via cbc.ca
  
  Madrid's town hall says smog levels have dropped enough to allow the city to end unprecedented restrictions it had announced on vehicle circulation.
  
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• Is that a UFO? Mysterious flickering light spotted in the sky

  29-12-2016 14:14
  What exactly is this unidentified flying object?
  
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• NASA Photographer Sees International Space Station Cross the Sun

  29-12-2016 13:49
  
  Talk about being in the right place at the right time! NASA photographer Joel Kowsky captured this composite view of the International Space Station — the largest manmade structure in space — as it crossed in front of the sun earlier this month. 
  
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• Did famous artists leave clues about brain diseases in their paintings?

  29-12-2016 13:47
  
  Scientists hope their research might help diagnose the early stages of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
  
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• Wildest Alien Planet Discoveries of 2016

  29-12-2016 13:45
  
  What's more, it orbits within the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, which means this planet could have a surface temperature that would allow for the presence of liquid water. This undiscovered planet is believed to be about 10 times more massive than Earth and have an average temperature of minus 374.8 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 226 degrees Celsius).
  
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• Did a Supernova Give Birth to Our Solar System?

  29-12-2016 13:45
  
  The explosive death of a star — that may have been up to a dozen times the sun's mass — might have triggered the formation of the solar system, a new study finds. The sun as well as the rest of the solar system was born from a cloud of gas and dust about 4.6 billion years ago. By searching for telltale patterns that have been left in matter from the dawn of the solar system, Yong-Zhong Qian, co-author of the new study and an astrophysicist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapoli
  
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• China's Lofty Space Ambitions Include 2018 Landing on Moon's Far Side

  29-12-2016 13:45
  
  China's Information Office of the State Council on Tuesday (Dec. 27) released an expansive white paper on that country's space activities in 2016. The document also projected a look at China's space agenda over the coming years, a plan that includes a lunar sample-return mission and the first soft-landing on the far side of the moon in 2018. In an associated press conference marking the release of the white paper, vice administrator of the China National Space Administration, Wu Yanhua
  
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• NASA Photo Reveals Saturn's Moon Pandora Like Never Before

  29-12-2016 13:44
  
  NASA's Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn has captured the best photo yet of the planet's small, cratered moon Pandora. Cassini took the new Pandora photo earlier this month from a distance of about about 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers), the spacecraft's closest-ever pass of the small moon. "This image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft is one of the highest-resolution views ever taken of Saturn's moon Pandora," NASA officials wrote in an image description.
  
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• NASA's Curiosity Rover Spots Purple Rocks on Mars

  29-12-2016 13:30
  
  Mars may appear red when viewed from Earth, but NASA's Curiosity rover has captured an up-close photo of the planet's mountainous landscape, with purple-colored rocks littered across the foreground. This remarkable new photo was captured near the base of Mars' Mount Sharp. The image's three frames were taken by Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam)on Nov. 10.
  
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• How a Machine Learns Prejudice

  29-12-2016 13:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Artificial intelligence picks up bias from human creators—not from hard, cold logic
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• U.S. Senator McCain says has 'concerns' about Tillerson nomination

  29-12-2016 13:07
  U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, will have to explain his relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin at his confirmation hearing, senior Republican senator John McCain said on Thursday. McCain, who is chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, also called President Putin "a thug and a murderer". Speaking on a tour of the Baltic states, where there is widespread concern that Moscow wants to reassert its power across the region, McCa
  
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