Science news

• Robo-Touchdown! For Super Bowl 2017, NASA's Robonaut 2 Shows Off Ref Skills

  03-02-2017 22:54
  
  The robot, which is being tested on the International Space Station, used its hands and body to simulate the calls a football referee would make. A version of R2 launched to the International Space Station in 2011, where it is being tested for routine tasks such as flipping switches or cleaning filters. R2 may eventually be upgraded to allow it to work outside the space station.
  
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• NASA's Home for EPIC Photos of Earth from Space Just Got Better

  03-02-2017 22:54
  
  NASA has overhauled its archive of amazing Earth views from space. EPIC lives aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite, which orbits the sun about 1 million miles from Earth and studies the weather and climate systems of our planet. NASA's EPIC camera aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite offers spectacular views of Earth in natural color image (left) and an enhanced color image (right).
  
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• Boeing's new spacecraft to use more than 600 3D-printed parts

  03-02-2017 22:50 via cbc.ca
  
  Boeing has hired a small company to make about 600 3D-printed parts for its Starliner space taxis, meaning key components in the United States manned space program are being built with additive manufacturing.
  
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• Missing link for fighting viral pneumonia identified

  03-02-2017 22:43
  According to the Centers for Disease Control, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes about 60,000 hospitalizations of children aged 0 to four, and nearly 200,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths among adults 65 and older. However, there are virtually no vaccines or treatments for these infections. In a new study, researchers found evidence that the cytokine, Interleukin 27 (IL-27), may be the key to fighting and treating these infections.
  
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• Vegetation resilient to salvage logging after severe wildfire

  03-02-2017 22:41
  Nearly a decade after being logged, vegetation in forested areas severely burned by California's Cone Fire in 2002 was relatively similar to areas untouched by logging equipment. The findings of a new study shed light on how vegetation responds to severe wildfire and whether further disturbances from logging affect regrowth.
  
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• Study provides new evidence that exercise is not key to weight control

  03-02-2017 22:38
  Compelling new evidence has been gained that exercise may not be the key to controlling weight. Researchers who studied young adults from the United States and four other countries found that neither physical activity nor sedentary time were associated with weight gain.
  
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• Weed 101: Colorado agriculture agency shares pot know-how

  03-02-2017 22:16
  
  DENVER (AP) — North Carolina wants to know if marijuana could one day replace tobacco as a cash crop. Louisiana is wondering how pot holds up in high humidity. And Washington state has questions about water supplies for weed.
  
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• NASA's Latest Saturn Images Run Rings around Earlier Pix

  03-02-2017 22:10 via rss.sciam.com
  
  As Cassini maneuvers for its eventual suicide dive between the planet and its rings, new shots capture moonlets, density waves and other mysteries at the highest resolution yet
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• Astronomers find tail of stray black hole lurking in Milky Way

  03-02-2017 22:08 via cbc.ca
  
  Japanese researchers have found evidence suggesting there is a trail of a stray black hole hiding in our galaxy.
  
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• Colorado's pot lessons: Prepare for no help, a lot of smell

  03-02-2017 22:03
  
  DENVER (AP) — Don't delay. Don't expect help. And get used to the smell.
  
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• DNA points to millennia of stability in East Asian hunter-fisher population

  03-02-2017 21:44
  
  Ancient hunter-gatherers in East Asia are remarkably similar, genetically, to modern people living in the area. Unlike what happened in Western Europe, this region might not have seen waves of farmers take over.
  
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• Exclusive: Boeing's space taxis to use more than 600 3D-printed parts

  03-02-2017 21:17
  
  SEATTLE (Reuters) - Boeing Co has hired a small company to make about 600 3D-printed parts for its Starliner space taxis, meaning key components in the United States manned space program are being built with additive manufacturing.
  
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• 'We need to understand its potential and limitations': Call for guidelines as scientists make progress in mindreading research

  03-02-2017 21:16
  
  Now that science fiction has taken a closer step towards reality.
  
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• Study finds mutual reinforcement of phenotypic diversity and cooperation

  03-02-2017 21:16
  A new model exploring how evolutionary dynamics work in natural selection has found that phenotypic diversity, or an organism's observable traits, co-evolves with contingent cooperation when organisms with like traits work together to protect themselves from outsiders, according to a study. The study also finds that diversity helps prevent the collapse of cooperation.
  
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• Red 'color channel' may aid in screening for diabetic eye disease

  03-02-2017 21:16
  In photographs of the eye used to screen for diabetes-related eye disease, separating out the red color channel can help show some abnormalities -- especially in racial/ethnic minority patients, suggests a study.
  
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• Cancer drug could promote regeneration of heart tissue

  03-02-2017 21:16
  An anticancer agent in development promotes regeneration of damaged heart muscle -- an unexpected research finding that may help prevent congestive heart failure in the future.
  
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• Trump Supreme Court Nominee Would Put Agencies on Short Leash

  03-02-2017 21:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  On health and science issues, previous rulings by Neil Gorsuch skew conservative
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• Trump administration tightens Iran sanctions, Tehran hits back

  03-02-2017 20:42
  By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Friday imposed sanctions on 25 individuals and entities, ratcheting up pressure on Iran in what it said were just "initial steps" and said it would no longer turn a "blind eye" to Iran's hostile actions. "The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate Iran’s provocations that threaten our interests," National Security Advisor Michael Flynn said. "The days of turning a blind eye to Iran’s hostile and belligerent a
  
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• Scientists have made a fake tree that can generate electricity

  03-02-2017 20:23
  
  It could be the future of how we power our household appliances.
  
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• Why doctors may keep a patient awake for brain surgery

  03-02-2017 20:00
  An article gives a rare look at brain surgery with the patient alert and awake. It's not routine to keep patients awake, but in this case, a small section of the tumor was in the area of the brain for speech function.
  
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• Pinhead-sized sea creature was a bag with a mouth

  03-02-2017 20:00
  
  Dozens of tiny fossils discovered in 540-million-year-old limestone represent the earliest known deuterostomes, a diverse group of animals that includes humans and sea cucumbers.
  
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• Scientists offer lab space to colleagues stranded by U.S. ban

  03-02-2017 19:58 via cbc.ca
  
  Scientists and academics around the world are offering their labs and offices to colleagues affected by the U.S. travel ban, which temporary forbids entry to citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries.
  
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• Jekyll and Hyde cells: Their role in brain injury and disease revealed

  03-02-2017 19:55
  New research has shown how normally helpful brain cells can turn rogue and kill off other brain cells following injury or disease.
  
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• Search smarter not harder: Researchers present optimal strategy for foragers

  03-02-2017 19:51
  Researchers reveal an optimal strategy for foragers -- animals searching for berries in the woods or prospectors seeking oil in the desert. The statistical model builds on previous foraging theories by accounting for trajectory and resources consumed. The optimal foraging strategy? Search the current foraging ground for a time that equals the time it would take to pull up stakes and move to a new territory.
  
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• One more reason to focus on prenatal care -- Stronger muscles for newborn babies

  03-02-2017 19:51
  Malnutrition and stress negatively affect muscle stem cells in the fetus, and this could have life-long consequences, outlines a new report.
  
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• Atomic-scale view of bacterial proteins offers path to new tuberculosis drugs

  03-02-2017 19:51
  In studying a cousin of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, scientists have drawn a molecular map of the target for rifampicin, a common antibiotic. They are now using it in an effort to combat multi-resistant tuberculosis, for which existing treatments don't work.
  
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• CRISPR used in cows to help fight tuberculosis

  03-02-2017 19:00
  
  Chinese researchers used a CRISPR/Cas 9 gene editor to make cows more resistant to tuberculosis.
  
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• Angola's dos Santos calls end to 38 years in power

  03-02-2017 18:36
  By Herculano Coroado LUANDA (Reuters) - Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos confirmed on Friday he will not run in this year's presidential election, calling an end to 38 years as head of state, but he will retain control of the powerful ruling party. Dos Santos, aged 74, said in March last year he would not run in elections due in August but opponents remained suspicious given he had reneged on similar pledges during nearly four decades running Angola. The ruling People's Movement for the
  
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• Analysis finds gender bias in peer-reviewer picks

  03-02-2017 18:30
  
  The peer-review process aims to avoid bias, but it turns out there’s gender bias in who is picked to review the papers.
  
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• Texas votes to keep science lessons challenging evolution

  03-02-2017 18:27
  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Board of Education has moved closer to tweaking — but still preserving — high school science curriculum requirements that teachers and academics say cast doubt on the theory of evolution.
  
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• U.S. sends Navy destroyer to patrol off Yemen amid Iran tensions - officials

  03-02-2017 18:20
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has placed a Navy destroyer off the coast of Yemen to protect waterways from Houthi militia aligned with Iran, two U.S. officials said on Friday, amid heightened tension between Washington and Tehran. The USS Cole arrived in the vicinity of the Bab al-Mandab Strait off southwestern Yemen where it will carry out patrols including escorting vessels, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Earlier this week the armed Houthi movement attacked
  
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• Russian embassy in Damascus shelled twice, no one hurt - statement

  03-02-2017 18:20
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus was shelled on Thursday and Friday but no one was hurt, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement. It said one of the shells hit the space between an office and residential housing, and another exploded 20 metres away from the entrance. Russia will continue its "uncompromising fight with terrorists in Syria", the ministry said. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Dominic Evans)
  
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• Research team helps Boeing set up nondestructive evaluation laboratory

  03-02-2017 17:57
  Researchers recently worked with The Boeing Company to establish a new nondestructive evaluation laboratory that uses millimeter wave technology to improve the detection of potential flaws in coatings, surfaces and materials.
  
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• Research supports expanded use of cell free DNA prenatal testing

  03-02-2017 17:56
  Non-invasive cell free DNA prenatal testing can be effectively and appropriately offered to all pregnant women, regardless of maternal age or risk factors, through primary obstetrical care providers, researchers have demonstrated.
  
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• Efforts to restore imperiled Pando show promise says USU ecologist

  03-02-2017 17:56
  Quaking aspen across the American West are stressed by a combination of sources, including drought, hungry herbivores, fire suppression and development. Researchers report passive and active treatments, including fencing, burning, shrub removal and selective overstory cutting, show promise in restoring Utah's massive Pando clone at experimental scales.
  
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• Busy Alaska volcano: Seawater, magma figure in eruptions

  03-02-2017 17:53
  
  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska's remote Bogoslof Island is only 169 acres, a third the size of the average American farm. And its highest "peak" is just 490 feet, half as tall as the Eiffel Tower.
  
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• Zoologists say dead whale in Norway full of plastic bags

  03-02-2017 17:48
  
  COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegian zoologists have found about 30 plastic bags and other plastic waste in the stomach of a beaked whale that had beached on a southwestern Norway coast.
  
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• How x-rays in matter create genetoxic low-energy electrons

  03-02-2017 17:03
  Researchers have investigated what x-rays in matter really do and identified a new mechanism of producing low-energy free electrons. Since the low-energy electrons cause damage to the matter, the identified process might be important in understanding and designing radiation treatment of illnesses.
  
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• China to protect areas of high ecological importance identified by researchers

  03-02-2017 17:02
  Scientists have determined ecologically valuable areas within China. The country plans to protect these areas as part of an ecological initiative.
  
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• Protein chaperone takes its job seriously

  03-02-2017 17:01
  In a new study, researchers are learning more about how ribosome chaperones work, showing that one particular chaperone binds to its protein client in a very specific, tight manner, almost like a glove fitting a hand.
  
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• Nuclear Regulation: Safety is valued too low, research review shows

  03-02-2017 17:01
  The benchmark used by the Office for Nuclear Regulation for judging how much should be spent on nuclear safety has no basis in evidence and places insufficient value on human life, suggests a new paper. The review suggests it may need to be 10 times higher -- between £16 million and £22 million per life saved.
  
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• Myth busted: No link between gigantic asteroid break-up, rise in biodiversity

  03-02-2017 17:01
  Some 470 million years ago, during the middle part of the geological period known as the Ordovician, an asteroid collision took place somewhere between Mars and Jupiter. The collision caused an explosion that sent a cascade of meteorites towards Earth.
  
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• Great Barrier Reef building coral under threat from poisonous seaweed

  03-02-2017 17:01
  World-first research on the Great Barrier Reef has shown how 'weed-like' algae will kill vital coral because of increased carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.
  
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• Skin sodium content linked to heart problems in patients with kidney disease

  03-02-2017 16:34
  Elevated sodium content in the skin correlates closely with left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with chronic kidney disease, report researchers.
  
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• Clear communication can make doctor visits successful for children with autism

  03-02-2017 16:34
  Doctor visits can be a challenge for patients with autism, their families and health care providers. A new report offers several steps providers and families can take to make medical visits more successful. She says that all of them require good communication between the provider and parent before, during and after medical visits.
  
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• Brain plasticity: How adult-born neurons get wired-in

  03-02-2017 16:34
  Does the brain create additional synapses from the cortical neurons to the new granule cells, or do some cortical neurons transfer connections from mature granule cells to the new granule cells? Researchers have found that the connections are transferred, without adding to the number of synapses.
  
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• Monoclonal antibody given to preterm babies may reduce wheeze later

  03-02-2017 16:33
  Preterm babies given the monoclonal antibody palivizumab to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) also appear less likely to develop recurrent wheeze, at least until the age of six, according to new research.
  
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• Lasers: Key to unlocking memory

  03-02-2017 16:31
  Memory involves the successful flow of neurotransmitters from neuron to neuron. When memory breaks down, researchers know there must be a gap in this flow but currently don't know where to start in terms of bridging it. A new method uses near infrared light to shed light on memory loss conditions.
  
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• 'Fantastic mosaic' and home with underfloor heating among new evidence discovered from Leicester's Roman past

  03-02-2017 16:31
  Archaeologists are excavating site in the city center of Leicester, England. They have uncovered the largest Roman mosaic pavement found in Leicester in last 30 years, with a possible shrine at the center of the site. These findings provide a glimpse into Roman life in the north-east quarter of the town.
  
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• Researchers transmit 10 bit of information with a single photon

  03-02-2017 16:27
  Researchers have managed to transmit more than 10 bit of information with a single photon. They achieved this using an ingenious method for detecting individual photons. The knowledge gained from this study can be used to improve the security and speed of quantum communication.
  
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