Science news

• [Report] Direct observation of individual hydrogen atoms at trapping sites in a ferritic steel

  16-03-2017 23:38
  The design of atomic-scale microstructural traps to limit the diffusion of hydrogen is one key strategy in the development of hydrogen-embrittlement–resistant materials. In the case of bearing steels, an effective trapping mechanism may be the incorporation of finely dispersed V-Mo-Nb carbides in a ferrite matrix. First, we charged a ferritic steel with deuterium by means of electrolytic loading to achieve a high hydrogen concentration. We then immobilized it in the microstructure with a cryog
  
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• White House budget plan would slash science

  16-03-2017 22:52
  
  President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2018 includes some big cuts for science.
  
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• South By Southwest panel looks for strategies to fight toxic online comments

  16-03-2017 22:45 via cbc.ca
  
  There may be design solutions that create a healthier commenting culture. Ramona Pringle brings you some of the strategies that were discussed at the South By Southwest panel called Playing Nice: Redesigning Online Commenting.
  
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• Breathe easy: nose shape was influenced by local climate

  16-03-2017 20:44
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The human nose, in all its glorious forms, is one of our most distinctive characteristics, whether big, little, broad, narrow or somewhere in between. Scientists are now sniffing out some of the factors that drove the evolution of the human proboscis.
  
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• Making sense of music through math

  16-03-2017 20:42 via cbc.ca
  
  An existing technique has been used in a new way to measure vibrato to help musicians, producers and the public alike understand how the it controls the expression in music, and in us.
  
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• Remnants of Earth’s original crust preserve time before plate tectonics

  16-03-2017 19:00
  
  Canadian rocks containing bits from 4.2 billion years ago suggest that full-fledged plate tectonics had a late start.
  
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• Why is a Czech zoo sawing the horns off all its rhinos?

  16-03-2017 17:05 via cbc.ca
  
  After poachers killed a rhino at a French zoo, a zoo in the Czech Republic plans to remove its rhinos' horns in a bid to protect the creatures.
  
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• How one enslaving wasp eats through another

  16-03-2017 17:00
  
  A wasp that forces oaks to grow a gall gets tricked into digging an escape tunnel for its killers.
  
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• Record 202,000 Canadians cut the cord last year and ditched television service

  16-03-2017 16:52 via cbc.ca
  
  Canada's major publicly-traded TV service providers lost a record number of subscribers in 2016, according to new research. But those companies are still standing their ground in a world where a cable, IPTV, or satellite subscription is no longer the only way to watch video.
  
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• Superfluid helium behaves like black holes

  16-03-2017 16:13
  
  Simulations of superfluid helium show it follows the same unusual entropy rule that black holes do.
  
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• Alleged Canadian Yahoo hacker Karim Baratov has Friday court date

  16-03-2017 15:32 via cbc.ca
  
  Karim Baratov is being held in custody — it is not clear where, or by whom — and is set to appear via video link Friday in a Hamilton court. The U.S. is seeking to extradite Baratov on charges that include computer fraud and identity theft.
  
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• Only way to save coral reefs is to stop global warming, scientists say

  16-03-2017 15:21 via cbc.ca
  
  Reducing pollution and curbing overfishing won't prevent the severe bleaching that is killing coral at catastrophic rates, according to a study of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. In the end, researchers say, the only way to save the world's coral from heat-induced bleaching is with a war on global warming.
  
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• New rules for flying recreational drones in Canada revealed

  16-03-2017 14:54 via cbc.ca
  
  Recreational drone users in Canada face new restrictions on where and when they can fly their remote-controlled devices, under new rules being announced today by Transportation Minister Marc Garneau.
  
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• How one Yukon fossil helped solve an ancient mystery

  16-03-2017 13:30 via cbc.ca
  
  A bison fossil, found more than a decade ago near Old Crow, helped researchers answer a key question - when did the animals first arrive to 'take over' North America?
  
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• Miniature lab begins science experiments in outer space

  16-03-2017 13:09
  
  HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - Orbiting the earth at more than 500 kilometers (300 miles), a tiny satellite with a laboratory shrunk to the size of a tissue box is helping scientists carry out experiments that take gravity out of the equation.
  
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• U.S. Salamanders Threatened by Deadly Fungus

  16-03-2017 12:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  The pathogen with a near 100 percent mortality rate could wipe out amphibian species already decimated by habitat loss
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Voracious spiders eat as much as 800 million tonnes of prey a year

  16-03-2017 10:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Spiders get a bad rap. Seen as terrifying pests by many, these eight-legged creatures may be underappreciated: a new study has estimated just how much spiders consume annually and how essential they are to our environment.
  
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• Youth financial literacy program receives financial boost

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture) The SunTrust Foundation has approved a $75,000 grant to grow University of Tennessee Extension's 'On My Own' financial literacy program. UT Extension's Family and Consumer Sciences Department, a part of the UT Institute of Agriculture, has been dedicated to supplementing financial literacy in Tennessee's schools for more than a decade. Its simulation-based program currently reaches more than 30,000 middle school and high school-age children in a
  
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• Whole body vibration has same health benefits as treadmill walking in a model of obesity and diabete

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University) A daily dose of whole body vibration -- like time on a treadmill -- reduces body fat and insulin resistance and improves muscle and bone strength in a mouse model of morbid obesity and diabetes, researchers report.
  
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• When our world turns 'upside-down,' serotonin helps us deal with it

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown) It has been called the 'happiness molecule' due to its antidepressant effects in drugs such as Prozac. But serotonin may in fact have a more indirect role in mood regulation: making us more adaptable to changes in our life circumstances.
  
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• Water conservation messaging effectiveness during California's ongoing drought

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Chapman University) Chapman University has published the results of a state-wide study on the communication campaigns California has been employing to address its ongoing drought. The study looked at current message strategies aimed to reduce residential water use in California.
  
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• UC researchers use gold coating to control luminescence of nanowires

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Cincinnati) In electronics, the race for smaller is huge. Physicists at the University of Cincinnati are working to harness the power of nanowires, microscopic wires that have the potential to improve solar cells or revolutionize fiber optics.
  
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• Treating cocaine addiction by reducing our appetite for drugs?

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Elsevier) The hypocretin/orexin (HCRT) system of the brain is best known for promoting wakefulness and appetite. A new paper in Biological Psychiatry suggests that blocking hypocretin signaling via the HCRT-1 receptor (HCRT-R1) might also reduce the appetite for cocaine. The study, led by first author Dr. Brooke Schmeichel in George Koob's laboratory at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, Baltimore, Md., suggests that blocking hypocretin signaling may provide a ne
  
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• Three Harvard experts explain how economics can shape precision medicines

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Harvard Business School) Many public and private efforts focus on research in precision medicine. Scientific initiatives alone, however, will not deliver such medicines without strong incentives.
  
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• The repulsion trick: A self-solving puzzle for organic molecules

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Forschungszentrum Juelich) Jülich researchers have succeeded in controlling the growth of organic molecules using a special trick. Due to their opposing forces, molecules that repel each other always keep a certain distance from their neighbors. Therefore, they mix easily with a second, mutually attracting type of molecule that acts as a sort of 'glue.' Tailored surface structures can thus be put together like pieces in a puzzle -- in a seemingly self-solving manner.
  
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• The Graphene 2017 Conference connects Barcelona with the international graphene-based industry

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences) This prestigious Conference to be held at the Barcelona International Convention Centre (March 28-31) aims to bring together academia and industry to integrate new graphene technologies into practical applications.More than 250 speakers will summarize the latest graphene-based achievements, including the Nobel Prize laureates Andre Geim and Albert Fert.ICFO and ICN2 are the local organizers of this event gathering in Barcelona around 1000 graphene expert
  
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• Symphonizing the science: NASA twins study team begins integrating results

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (NASA/Johnson Space Center) NASA Twins Study researchers are eager to integrate their results and create a symphony of science. Preliminary findings were discussed during the Human Research Program Investigators' Workshop in January, and now enthusiasm abounds as the integration process begins.
  
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• Study: Challenges veterans face when transitioning from the battlefield to the classroom

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of California - Riverside) A research team investigating the mental health burden and treatment-seeking behaviors of student veterans attending rural community colleges in the southern United States has found that this population has difficulty integrating into the campus community and needs support to help it succeed.
  
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• Smoking cessation programs benefit patients prior to joint replacements

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine) Smokers who needed a hip or knee replacement experienced better surgical outcomes and fewer adverse events including hospital readmissions, surgical site infections and blood clots if they were enrolled in a smoking cessation program prior to surgery, according to preliminary new research.
  
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• Review confirms link between drug use and poor dental health

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Society for the Study of Addiction) A new review published online today in the scientific journal Addiction has found that dental patients with substance use disorders have more tooth decay and periodontal disease than the general population, but are less likely to receive dental care. With drug use increasing by approximately three million new users each year, this is a problem that won't disappear anytime soon.
  
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• 'Responsible Shale Energy Extraction' Conference as part of Earth Day Texas 2017

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Texas at Arlington) The University of Texas at Arlington is organizing the inaugural 'Responsible Shale Energy Extraction' Conference on April 21-22 at Fair Park in Dallas as part of Earth Day Texas, the world's largest annual forum for sharing the latest initiatives, discoveries, research, innovations, policies, and corporate practices that are reshaping our world.
  
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• Racial disparities persist in treatment and survival of early stage lung cancer

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (American Society for Radiation Oncology) Analysis of the largest American cancer database indicates that racial disparities persist in the treatment and outcomes of patients diagnosed with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
  
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• Preventing lead spread

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Washington University in St. Louis) While lead pipes were banned decades ago, they still supply millions of American households with water each day. A team of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new way to track where dangerous lead particles might be transported in the drinking water supply during a common abatement procedure.
  
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• Precision medicine platform now open for collaborative discovery about cardiovascular diseases

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (American Heart Association) The AHA Institute for Precision Cardiovascular MedicineTM is calling on all cardiovascular and stroke dataset owners and stewards to share their data as the first step in acquiring all the pieces needed to treat and prevent heart failure, stroke, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation and other cardiovascular diseases.
  
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• Poll shows majority of floridians want to keep or expand Obamacare

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Florida Atlantic University) A majority of Floridians would like to expand the Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as Obamacare) or keep the law as is, while nearly three-quarters of them are concerned that people would lose their health insurance if the law is repealed, according to a statewide survey by the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative (FAU BEPI).
  
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• PETA science group promotes animal-free science at society of toxicology conference

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) The PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. is presenting two posters on animal-free methods for testing inhalation toxicity at the 56th annual Society of Toxicology (SOT) meeting March 12 to 16, 2017, in Baltimore, Maryland. This meeting is the largest international conference of its kind, drawing approximately 7,000 scientists from more than 50 countries each year.
  
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• Orthopedic surgeon David A. Spiegel, M.D., honored for 20 years of humanitarian work

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) David A. Spiegel, M.D., is the recipient of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' 2017 Humanitarian Award. Dr. Spiegel is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania.
  
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• Novel nozzle saves crystals

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY) Thanks to an innovative nozzle, scientists can now analyse more types of proteins while using fewer of the hard-to-get protein crystals. The nozzle can reduce protein consumption eightfold in serial X-ray crystallography experiments, as the team of inventors, headed by DESY scientist Saša Bajt from the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science (CFEL), writes in the journal Scientific Reports. The researchers used their novel nozzle to reveal hitherto uns
  
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• Not like the other black girls

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Springer) The presumed sisterhood between young black women in the United States doesn't exist between the different classes. Young middle-class black women feel 'different' or even isolated. This also applies to women who grow up in biracial families or are adopted by a white family. Their connection to the white community alienates them even further from other black women, reports Colleen Butler-Sweet of the Sacred Heart University, in a study published in Springer's journal Gender Issues.
  
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• NJIT alumnus is named one of the country's 'new faces of civil engineering'

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (New Jersey Institute of Technology) Muhammad Elgammal, P.E., PMP, a 27-year-old associate civil engineer at The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will be honored tonight at an American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gala in Arlington, Va. as one of the organization's 10 'New Faces of Civil Engineering' for 2017.
  
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• New plant research solves a colorful mystery

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (John Innes Centre) Research led by scientists at the John Innes Centre has solved a long-standing mystery by deducing how and why strange yet colorful structures called 'anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions' occur in some plants.
  
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• New center to address antimicrobial drug development challenge

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Liverpool) A state-of-the-art research center to help accelerate the development of new antibiotics is set to be established by the University of Liverpool.
  
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• NASA's GPM analyzed rainfall in ex-Tropical Cyclone 11S

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Ex-tropical cyclone 11S was still generating some heavy rainfall, despite losing its tropical status and becoming a sub-tropical storm when the GPM core satellite passed overhead.The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed over the remnant low pressure area and analyzed the rain the system was generating.
  
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• Nanocages for gold particles: What is happening inside?

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Tokyo Institute of Technology) Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology have used high-resolution crystallography to uncover the mechanism behind protein-assisted synthesis of gold nanoparticles, providing a platform for designing nanomaterials tailored for biomedical application.
  
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• Medicaid expansion linked to increased prescribing of buprenorphine for opioid use disorder treatment

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Wolters Kluwer Health) States where Medicaid coverage was expanded under the Affordable Care Act have had a significant increase in prescribing of buprenorphine -- a medication that plays an important role in addressing the opioid epidemic, reports a study in the April issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
  
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• Link between Vitamin D treatment and autism prevention

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Queensland) Giving vitamin D supplements to mice during pregnancy prevents autism traits in their offspring, University of Queensland researchers have discovered. The discovery provides further evidence of the crucial role vitamin D plays in brain development, said lead researcher Professor Darryl Eyles, from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute.
  
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• Latest research on children's issues to be featured at biennial meeting

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Society for Research in Child Development) The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) will hold its Biennial Meeting in Austin at the Austin Convention Center from April 6-8, 2017. This meeting brings together thousands of leading US and international experts to present and learn about the latest interdisciplinary research in child development. Attendance is free to all members of the media.
  
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• Kappa Delta awards honor innovative orthopaedic research

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons) The Kappa Delta Sorority and the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation today presented four awards to scientists conducting outstanding musculoskeletal disease or injury research with the goal of advancing patient treatment and care.
  
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• Internists deeply concerned by administration's fiscal year 2018 'skinny' budget proposal

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (American College of Physicians) ACP today said it is deeply concerned about the fiscal year 2018 budget outline or 'skinny' budget released this morning by the Trump administration because it proposes deep cuts to medical and health services research, primary care training programs, and many other essential health-care programs and research.
  
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• Fellowships will enhance reporters' aging coverage

  16-03-2017 05:00
  
  (The Gerontological Society of America) The Journalists in Aging Fellows Program -- run jointly by The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and New America Media (NAM) since its launch in 2010 -- has received renewed grant support to welcome its eighth cohort of fellows. The 2017 funders include AARP, The Silver Century Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, The Retirement Research Foundation, and The John A. Hartford Foundation.
  
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