Science news

• Fossils of utterly huge otter unearthed in China

  23-01-2017 23:44
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have unearthed fossils of an intriguingly large otter as big as a wolf that frolicked in rivers and lakes in a lush, warm and humid wetlands region in southwestern China about 6.2 million years ago.
  
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• White House takes friendlier approach to press after angry start

  23-01-2017 23:43
  After a combative first meeting with the press on Saturday, Donald Trump's Press Secretary seemed to be offering an olive branch. The briefing room was filling up three hours before Sean Spicer even took to the floor - and journalists from around the world jockeyed for a seat or some floor space. The Press Secretary took questions and answered them efficiently - taking more than one question from some reporters, and acknowledging when he did not know the answers.
  
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• Jet lag can adversely affect Major League Baseball players: study

  23-01-2017 23:10 via cbc.ca
  
  A new study has found the jet lag that goes with a grinding schedule of Major League Baseball games that takes players from coast to coast and back again can take its toll on performance.
  
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• A ban on screens in bedrooms may save kids’ sleep

  23-01-2017 22:35
  
  Screens are associated with worse sleep in kids, and not just because of their lights and noises.
  
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• Yoga, exercise fail to improve sleep in midlife women, study suggests

  23-01-2017 22:24
  Yoga and aerobic exercise interventions did not significantly reduce objectively measured sleep disturbances among midlife women who were experiencing hot flashes, suggests new research.
  
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• This man is revolutionizing our understanding of motor neuron diseases and dementias

  23-01-2017 22:23
  A new study is seen as confirming the relevance of this neurotoxic pathway, according to a new article. This paper also confirms TDP-43 inhibition as a viable therapeutic option for the treatment of neurologic disorders, including Alzheimer disease.
  
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• Potential way to reduce drug cravings: Vagus nerve stimulation therapy

  23-01-2017 22:23
  A new preclinical study shows that vagus nerve stimulation therapy might have the potential to help people overcome drug addiction by helping them learn new behaviors to replace those associated with seeking drugs.
  
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• Common cause of both neurological diseases such as dementia and motor neuron diseases

  23-01-2017 22:23
  Currently, most scientists do not see a link between ALS and Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), or other dementias. New research confirms the relevance of a certain neurotoxic pathway. The article also confirms TDP-43 inhibition as a viable therapeutic option for the treatment of neurologic disorders, including Alzheimer disease.
  
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• Long-term gains with early epilepsy surgery

  23-01-2017 22:22
  There are important, long-term gains from hastening the processes around surgical interventions against epilepsy -- before the disease has had too much negative impact on brain functions and patients' lives. These are some of the findings of a thesis for which more than 500 patients were studied and followed up.
  
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• From tiny phytoplankton to massive tuna

  23-01-2017 22:22
  Phytoplankton are the foundation of ocean life, providing the energy that supports nearly all marine species. Levels of phytoplankton in an ocean area may seem like a good predictor for the amount of fish that can be caught there, but a new study finds that this relationship is not so straightforward.
  
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• Satellite's 1st Views of Earth (and Moon) Are Jaw-Dropping

  23-01-2017 22:00
  
  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been using these satellites to study weather patterns for decades. NOAA's GOES-16 satellite created the composite images that make up this animation in January 2017. "This is such an exciting day for NOAA! One of our GOES-16 scientists compared this to seeing a newborn baby's first pictures — it's that exciting for us," Stephen Volz, director of NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, said in a statement.
  
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• Novel underlying mechanism involved in PTSD and other anxiety disorders described

  23-01-2017 21:14
  A novel mechanism has been identified for how stress-induced anxiety -- which can produce post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD -- affects circuit function in the hippocampus, the area of the brain where aversive memories are formed. These studies fill an important gap in knowledge between the molecular, circuit and behavioral effects of the brain-signaling molecule called neuropeptide Y, and could lead to new therapeutic targets for patients with anxiety disorders.
  
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• Lab charts the anatomy of three molecular channels

  23-01-2017 21:14
  By determining the three-dimensional structures of these molecules down to the level of atoms, the researchers have unlocked key details as to how they function in the body.
  
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• Bioinvasion is jeopardizing Mediterranean marine communities

  23-01-2017 21:13
  Non-indigenous species are harming indigenous species and habitats in the Mediterranean Sea, impairing potentially exploitable marine resources and raising concern about human health issues, according to a new study.
  
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• Baby dinosaurs took three to six months to hatch

  23-01-2017 21:10
  
  Growth lines on teeth indicate a surprisingly long incubation period.
  
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• Arctic melt ponds form when meltwater clogs ice pores

  23-01-2017 20:52
  A team of researchers, including a mathematician, has determined how Arctic melt ponds form, solving a paradoxical mystery of how a pool of water actually sits atop highly porous ice.
  
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• 80-million-year-old dinosaur collagen confirmed

  23-01-2017 20:52
  Utilizing the most rigorous testing methods to date, researchers have isolated additional collagen peptides from an 80-million-year-old Brachylophosaurus.
  
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• Venezuela's opposition revives push to end Maduro's rule

  23-01-2017 20:45
  By Diego Oré and Anggy Polanco CARACAS/SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (Reuters) - Offering prized bags of flour to police and hurling empty medicine boxes on the floor, Venezuelan opposition protesters launched a new push on Monday to force President Nicolas Maduro from power and end 18 years of socialist rule. Maduro's six-year term is due to end in early 2019.
  
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• Psychologists say they can inoculate people against fake news

  23-01-2017 20:15 via cbc.ca
  
  Researchers have found that there may be a way to vaccinate people against climate change misinformation. The key? Telling them lies.
  
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• Tumor-suppressing protein actually promotes cancer

  23-01-2017 19:37
  The protein PHLDB3, thought to be a potential tumor suppressor, actually allows cancer cells to thrive in pancreatic, prostate, colon, breast, lung, and other common cancers, researchers have found. The discovery could explain how cancer is able to overcome p53 -- a key tumor-suppressing protein.
  
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• Clinical trial testing new technique to treat life-threatening ventricular tachycardia

  23-01-2017 19:36
  A landmark clinical trial is evaluating a new procedure to treat a life-threatening heart rhythm disorder called ventricular tachycardia.
  
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• Astronomers find seven dwarf-galaxy groups, the building blocks of massive galaxies

  23-01-2017 19:36
  A team of astronomers has discovered seven distinct groups of dwarf galaxies with just the right starting conditions to eventually merge and form larger galaxies, including spiral galaxies like the Milky Way.
  
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• A gene's journey from covert to celebrated

  23-01-2017 18:56
  Unmasking a previously misunderstood gene, scientists discover an unlikely potential drug target for gastrointestinal cancers.
  
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• World still 'grossly underprepared' for infectious disease outbreaks

  23-01-2017 18:55
  The world remains 'grossly underprepared' for outbreaks of infectious disease, which are likely to become more frequent in the coming decades, warn a team of international experts.
  
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• New crab species shares name with two 'Harry Potter' characters and a hero researcher

  23-01-2017 18:55
  While not much is known about the animals living around coral reefs, ex-Marine turned researcher Harry Conley would often take to the island of Guam, and dig deep into the rubble to find fascinating critters as if by magic learnt at Hogwarts. Years after his discoveries and his death, a secret is revealed -- a new species and genus of crab, Harryplax severus.
  
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• Microscopic submarines for your stomach

  23-01-2017 18:55
  Tiny 'submarines' that speed independently through the stomach, use gastric acid for fuel (while rapidly neutralizing it), and release their cargo precisely at the desired pH: Though it may sound like science fiction, this is a new method for treating stomach diseases with acid-sensitive drugs. The technique is based on proton-driven micromotors with a pH-dependent polymer coating that can be loaded with drugs.
  
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• Medical assistance in dying will not increase health care costs in Canada

  23-01-2017 18:55
  Providing medical assistance in dying to people in Canada will not increase health care costs, and could reduce spending by between $34.7 and $138.8 million, according to a new research paper. The savings exceed the $1.5 million to $14.8 million in direct costs associated with implementing medical assistance in dying.
  
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• How do people choose what plants to use?

  23-01-2017 18:55
  There are about 400,000 species of plants in the world. Humans use approximately 10-15% of them to cover our basic needs, such as food, medicine and shelter, as well as other needs, such as recreation, art, and craft. But why and how have humans selected only a small fraction of all plants to utilize?
  
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• Engaging fathers in parenting intervention improves outcomes for both kids and fathers

  23-01-2017 18:55
  A parenting program where fathers engage with their children through reading was found to boost the fathers' parenting skills while also improving the preschoolers' school readiness and behavior, finds a new study.
  
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• A new index for the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

  23-01-2017 18:55
  Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has become a global epidemic. There is not only a great interest worldwide to understand the causes and consequences of fatty liver disease, but also to diagnose fatty liver disease at an early stage. Researchers have now generated a new index from clinical data which can predict the presence of fatty liver disease with high accuracy.
  
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• Landmarks, On and Off Earth, Honor Apollo 1 Astronauts 50 Years After Fire

  23-01-2017 18:40
  
  A football field used by the schools surrounding NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston will take on a new name later this week in commemoration of the Apollo astronauts who died in a fire on the launch pad 50 years ago. The field at Challenger Columbia Stadium in League City, Texas, will be known as "Apollo Field" for a period of one year beginning Thursday (Jan. 26), during which time the Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD), working with NASA, will remember the tragedy through events
  
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• 'Star Wars: Episode VIII' Title Revealed

  23-01-2017 18:20
  
  It's the second time the Jedi have been named in a "Star Wars" film title, but also the third time the title "The Last Jedi" has been used for a story. In 1981, Mike W. Barr and Walt Simonson created a standalone story titled "The Last Jedi" for Marvel's "Star Wars"ongoing comic book title. During this issue, Luke Skywalker found a Force-sensitive male Velmoc named Jedidiah that rebuffed an offer during the Old Republic to be trained as a Jedi Knight.
  
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• Later Gator! Video of Giant 'Humpback' Alligator Goes Viral

  23-01-2017 18:20
  
  A viral video of a massive, and monstrous alligator known unofficially as "Humpback" has just been posted on the Facebook page of a natural reserve in Florida. The giant alligator was caught trekking slowly across a trail at the Circle B Bar Reserve near Lakeland, Florida. Though a face-to-face with "Humpback" would be terrifying, he is not an unusually large creature for his kind.
  
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• How these fish got stuck in a wall of ice

  23-01-2017 18:20 via cbc.ca
  
  Kelly Preheim snapped this shot of a four-foot tall sheet of ice dotted with frozen fish while out birding in South Dakota. She explains to As It Happens guest host Helen Mann how they got there.
  
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• Early Meteorite Bits Reveal Clues About Solar System's Evolution

  23-01-2017 18:00
  
  Many meteorites found on Earth are remnants of one titanic solar-system collision that took place more than 460 million years ago. By sifting through the minuscule remnants of those ancient solar-system crashes, called micrometeorites, the researchers found that the most common types of meteorites today used to be quite rare — and the rarest ones used to be common. Understanding the makeup of asteroids provides insight into the history of solar-system collisions and the evolution of the as
  
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• Wolf-size extinct otter discovered: 6.24 million years old

  23-01-2017 17:52
  A large extinct otter, Siamogale melilutra, has been found in the Miocene Shuitangba site in northeastern Yunnan Province in China. The new prehistoric otter was the size of a modern wolf and is one of the largest otter species known to science.
  
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• New treatment recommendations for a high-risk pediatric leukemia

  23-01-2017 17:52
  Medical researchers have identified genetic alterations that can be used to guide treatment of pediatric acute megakaryoblastic leukemia, which has a dismal prognosis.
  
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• How B cell metabolism is controlled: GSK3 acts as a metabolic checkpoint regulator in B cells

  23-01-2017 17:52
  New research addresses the lack of knowledge about how B cell metabolism adapts to each of their various environments -- development in the bone marrow, proliferation and hypermutation in the lymph nodes and spleen and circulation in the blood. New findings show that the protein GSK3 acts as a metabolic sensor, or checkpoint, that promotes the survival of circulating B cells while limiting growth and proliferation of B cells in germinal centers.
  
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• Increasing energy efficiency of metal-air batteries

  23-01-2017 17:51
  Scientists have introduced a new way to increase energy efficiency of metal-air batteries.
  
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• How plant cells regulate growth shown for the first time

  23-01-2017 17:51
  Researchers have managed to show how the cells in a plant, a multicellular organism, determine their size and regulate their growth over time. The findings overturn previous theories in the field and are potentially significant for the future of agriculture and forestry -- as it reveals more about one of the factors which determine the size of plants and fruits.
  
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• Pendant Just Like Anne Frank's Discovered at Nazi Death Camp

  23-01-2017 17:50
  
  Archaeologists have discovered a German Jewish girl's pendant — nearly identical to the one that belonged to Anne Frank — in the ruins of a Nazi death camp in eastern Poland. The discovery has sent researchers looking for more information about the young girl who once owned the medallion and her possible links to the Frank family. The silver pendant was unearthed at the Sobibór extermination camp, where some 200,000 people were killed between 1942 and 1943.
  
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• Ketchup Bottle Physics: Scientist Unlocks Key to Splat-Free Sauce

  23-01-2017 17:47
  
  As such, the common method of tapping or whacking a ketchup bottle to encourage the sauce to come out is necessary, but what's the best way to keep the splatter at bay? The answer lies in understanding rheology, which is the study of these soft solids, said Anthony Stickland, a senior lecturer in the University of Melbourne's School of Engineering. There are three simple steps to getting ketchup out of the bottle without the mess, Stickland said in a statement.
  
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• Adorable Terror: Wolf-Size Otter Hunted in Ancient China

  23-01-2017 17:44
  
  A fearsome, wolf-size otter with a large head and a powerful jaw once swam around the shallow, swampy waters of ancient China, likely hunting for clams and other shellfish, a new study finds. At 110 lbs. (50 kilograms), the animal would have been about twice the size of the modern-day South American giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) and about four times the size of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), the researchers said. "This extinct otter is larger than all living otters," said study l
  
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• Adorable Terror: Wolf-Size Otter Hunted Ancient China

  23-01-2017 17:44
  A fearsome, wolf-size otter with a large head and a powerful jaw once swam around the shallow, swampy waters of ancient China, likely hunting for clams and other shellfish, a new study finds. At 110 lbs. (50 kilograms), the animal would have been about twice the size of the modern-day South American giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) and about four times the size of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), the researchers said. "This extinct otter is larger than all living otters," said study l
  
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• Researchers unearth fossils of giant otter in China

  23-01-2017 17:32 via cbc.ca
  
  Scientists have unearthed fossils of an intriguingly large otter as big as a wolf that frolicked in rivers and lakes in a lush, warm and humid wetlands region in southwestern China about 6.2 million years ago.
  
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• Scientists get best view yet of cancer-causing virus HPV

  23-01-2017 17:16
  New details of the structure of the human papillomavirus (HPV) may lead to better vaccines and HPV anti-viral medications, according to research.
  
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• Nutritional considerations for healthy aging, reduction in age-related chronic disease

  23-01-2017 17:16
  Improving dietary resilience and better integration of nutrition in the health care system can promote healthy aging and may significantly reduce the financial and societal burden of the “silver tsunami,” report authors of a new report.
  
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• The unintended consequences of centralized blood banking and what to do about it

  23-01-2017 17:15
  In the late 1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a policy requiring the establishment of centralized blood banking facilities in Sub-Saharan African countries. One researcher says that this policy is now having unintended negative consequences.
  
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• Immune defense without collateral damage

  23-01-2017 17:12
  Researchers have clarified the role of the enzyme MPO. In fighting infections, this enzyme, which gives pus its greenish color, produces a highly aggressive acid that can kill pathogens without damaging the surrounding tissue. The findings may provide new approaches for immunity strengthening therapies.
  
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• Identifying early markers of cardiac dysfunction in pregnancy

  23-01-2017 17:03
  Preeclampsia, which affects 3-8 percent of all pregnancies, is a disease specific to pregnancy that is characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine. Research studies have clearly shown that there is a link between a history of preeclampsia in a pregnancy and developing heart disease later in life. In fact, a history of preeclampsia is as much of a risk factor for heart disease as a lifetime of smoking cigarettes and the American Heart Association now screens women specifically f
  
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