Science news

• How a blind man plays mainstream video games and the future of accessibility in games

  23-03-2017 22:52 via cbc.ca
  
  Nintendo's Switch console came out earlier this month and now the party game 1-2 Switch is gaining a lot of attention for being accessible to blind and visually impaired gamers. Toronto blind gamer Steve Saylor is raising awareness that blind gamers can play mainstream games, too.
  
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• If you're a hungry black hole, try snacking on a star

  23-03-2017 21:42 via cbc.ca
  
  About 290 million years ago, a sun-like star got a little wobbly and ended up tumbling into the centre of a supermassive black hole. Now a team from MIT have detected that rare and fascinating event.
  
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• Deadly New Zealand quake hopscotched across faults

  23-03-2017 19:38
  
  The Nov. 14, 2016, earthquake in New Zealand was much larger than thought possible at the time, prompting a rethink of hazard assessments.
  
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• Random mutations play large role in cancer, study finds

  23-03-2017 19:00
  
  Mistakes made while copying DNA account for more mutations in cancer cells than environment or inheritance do.
  
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• Dengue fever spreads in a neighborly way

  23-03-2017 19:00
  
  Individual strains of dengue spread locally, and new infections cluster near the home of the first person affected.
  
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• SSL sues rival Orbital ATK over theft of trade secrets: lawsuit

  23-03-2017 17:44
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Space Systems/Loral is suing rival Orbital ATK over an alleged theft of proprietary data and business plans for an in-space satellite servicing technology, according to a complaint filed on Thursday.
  
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• Arctic sea ice hits record wintertime low

  23-03-2017 17:31
  
  Warm temperatures and heat waves reduced sea ice extent in the Arctic to its smallest maximum extent ever seen.
  
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• It’s time to redefine what qualifies as a planet, scientists propose

  23-03-2017 14:00
  
  Astronomers can have their definition of a planet, but some planetary scientists plan to stick to the long-held meaning of the word.
  
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• Google's YouTube losing major advertisers upset with videos

  23-03-2017 13:23 via cbc.ca
  
  ​AT&T, Verizon and several other major advertisers are suspending their marketing campaigns on Google's YouTube site after discovering their brands have been appearing alongside videos promoting terrorism and other unsavoury subjects.
  
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• In 1967, LSD was briefly labeled a breaker of chromosomes

  23-03-2017 12:00
  
  Claims that the hallucinogenic drug damaged DNA were quickly rejected. But questions remain about how LSD works.
  
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• Dinosaur crater's clue to origin of life

  23-03-2017 08:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The crater made by the asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs reveals clues to the origins of life on Earth.
  
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• Scientists use graphene to power 'electronic skin' that can feel

  23-03-2017 07:04
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have found a way to power an experimental kind of electronic skin using solar energy in a further step towards the development of prosthetic limbs or robots with a sense of touch.
  
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• WPI, BSEE, and the US Coast Guard successfully test a novel oil spill cleanup technology

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) Tests of a novel technology that can accelerate the combustion of crude oil floating on water demonstrated its potential to become an effective tool for minimizing the environmental impact of oil spills. The Flame Refluxer, developed by fire protection engineering researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute with funding from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, could make it possible to burn off spilled oil quickly while producing relatively lo
  
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• When people prepare for conflict, dominant leaders take the stage

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Aarhus University) One popular theory holds that dominant leaders are supported by those who fear new situations and threats. However, new research from Aarhus BSS shows that support for dominant leaders is not born of fear, but of a wish to handle the country's problems by aggressive means. The research was recently published in the journal Political Psychology.
  
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• UVA finds ANOTHER immune system link science said didn't exist

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Virginia Health System) The University of Virginia School of Medicine has again shown that a part of the body thought to be disconnected from the immune system actually interacts with it, and that discovery helps explain cases of male infertility, certain autoimmune diseases and even the failure of cancer vaccines.
  
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• UNSW scientists unveil a giant leap for anti-aging

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of New South Wales) UNSW researchers have made a discovery that could lead to a revolutionary drug that actually reverses ageing, improves DNA repair and could even help NASA get its astronauts to Mars.
  
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• Three ERC Advanced Grants to Stockholm University

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Stockholm University) Frank Wilczek, professor at the Department of Physics and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Johan Rockström, Professor of Environmental Science and Director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre and David Strömberg at the Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES). These three professors at Stockholm University will receive prestigious ERC Advanced Grants.
  
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• Study: Pharmacies should proactively offer naloxone to all patients who meet evidence-based criteria

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Boston University Medical Center) Pharmacies should proactively offer naloxone, a drug that blocks or reverses the effects of overdose, to patients taking opioid medications through universal opt-out strategies in an effort to get the life-saving drug into the hands of more people who need it, according to a new study out of Boston Medical Center (BMC).
  
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• Study compares hospice care in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and patient homes

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Indiana University) A new study from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute has found only minimal differences in the intensity of hospice services provided in nursing homes as compared to hospice services provided to patients in assisted living facilities or their homes. However the mix of services did vary by site type.
  
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• SLU scientists take aim at diabetes and obesity with exercise in a pill

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Saint Louis University) With a series of new grants, Saint Louis University researchers will develop the potential of two nuclear receptors that control muscle metabolism.
  
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• Sleep deprivation impairs ability to interpret facial expressions

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Arizona) When you're tired, your ability to interpret subtle expressions of happiness and sadness can begin to deteriorate, researchers found. However, the ability to read more primitive survival-based emotions, like anger and fear, remains intact.
  
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• Rice U. refines filters for greener natural gas

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Rice University) Rice University scientists map out the best materials for either carbon dioxide capture or balancing carbon capture with methane selectivity.
  
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• Researchers propose new diagnostic model for psychiatric disorders

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Notre Dame) A consortium of 50 psychologists and psychiatrists, including Notre Dame professors Lee Anna Clark and David Watson, has outlined a new diagnostic model for mental illness.
  
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• Research consortium develops evidence-based diagnostic model for mental illness

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University at Buffalo) Researchers haves has developed a new, evidence-based alternative to the mental health field's long-established diagnostic tools for the classification, treatment, and research of mental disorders. The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) addresses what the authors say are limitations to the reliability and validity of traditional models.
  
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• Republicans less likely to be critical about Obamacare when thinking of their own medical needs

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Exeter) US Republican voters are less likely to be critical about the performance of the controversial 'Obamacare' health reforms when they are reminded about their own medical needs, new research shows.
  
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• Protecting web users' privacy

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) MIT researchers have developed a new system that uses function secret sharing to disguise database queries during web-service transactions. The system could prevent price gouging and unwanted user profiling.
  
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• Predatory lizard enters Brazil clandestinely

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) Anolis porcatus, a species native to Cuba, has been identified in several areas near the Port of Santos on the São Paulo coast, in Brazil. Its introduction into this area may threaten the survival of local lizard populations. A DNA study suggests these lizards could have come from Florida, where they're also exotic, rather than directly from Cuba.
  
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• Poor oral health and food scarcity major contributors to malnutrition in older adults

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of North Carolina Health Care) A new study by UNC School of Medicine researchers suggests that food scarcity and poor oral health are major risk factors for malnutrition that leads an older adult -- already at high risk of functional decline, decreased quality of life, and increased mortality -- to land in the emergency department.
  
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• Plenaries at American Chemical Society meeting focus on energy, materials, partnerships

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (American Chemical Society) Scientists, in four plenary talks, will explore a variety of subjects related to the 'Advanced Materials, Technologies, Systems & Processes' theme of the 253rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. The meeting will take place April 2 to 6 in San Francisco.
  
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• Penn Program in Environmental Humanities' event explores the idea of an 'Ecotopian Toolkit'

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Pennsylvania) Prompted in part by the 500th anniversary of Thomas More's Utopia, the 'Ecotopian Toolkit conference at the University of Pennsylvania will celebrate how utopian imaginaries from across disciplines can address environmental challenges.
  
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• Parallel computation provides deeper insight into brain function

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University) New computational software developed by OIST researchers is hundreds of times faster than conventional tools, opening up new opportunities to understand how individual neurons and networks of neurons function.
  
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• Overcoming workplace barriers to breastfeeding -- review and recommendations in The Nurse Practitioner

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Wolters Kluwer Health) For mothers of new infants, going back to work may pose a number of obstacles to continued breastfeeding. Workplace policies affecting the ability to breastfeed -- and the role of nurse practitioners (NPs) in helping to overcome those obstacles -- are the topic of a special article in The Nurse Practitioner, published by Wolters Kluwer.
  
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• OFC concludes featuring the evolution of silicon photonics, 5G networking and the Internet of Things

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (The Optical Society) OFC, the world's leading conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking professionals, concludes with 663 exhibiting companies, over 1,100 peer-reviewed papers and 14,500 attendees.
  
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• New Stanford study calls for US solar policy reform

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Stanford University) Stanford researchers suggest reforming US solar policies and encourage closer collaboration between the United States and China on solar energy in a new report.
  
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• New portal to unveil the dark sector of the universe

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Institute for Basic Science) IBS scientists theorize a new portal to peek into the dark world.
  
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• NASA sees formation of Tropical Cyclone Caleb near Cocos Island

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Shortly after Tropical Cyclone Caleb formed east of Cocos Island, NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite and NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead gathering visible and infrared data on the twelfth tropical cyclone of the Southern Indian Ocean season.
  
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• NASA Participates in the NOAA GOES-16 Field Campaign

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NOAA's GOES-16 satellite is ready to embark on another major milestone-- The GOES-16 Field Campaign. During a three month long event, a combination of NOAA and NASA planes, sensors and satellites will fine-tune GOES-16's brand new instruments.
  
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• NASA examines Peru's deadly rainfall

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM constellation of satellites provide data on precipitation rates and totals. Recently the GPM core observatory measured the heavy rainfall that caused extensive flooding and loss of life in Peru.
  
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• Most remaining smokers in US have low socioeconomic status

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus) After decades of declining US smoking rates overall, most remaining smokers have low income, no college education, no health insurance or a disability. About 15 percent of US adults -- more than 36 million -- continue to smoke cigarettes. Half to three-fourths of them have one or more low-socioeconomic disadvantages, and the lowest socioeconomic categories have the highest smoking rates. The study concludes that continuing tobacco use is now conce
  
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• Milky Way-like galaxies in early universe embedded in 'super halos'

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) Using ALMA, astronomers have directly observed a pair of Milky Way-like galaxies seen when the universe was only eight percent of its current age. These progenitors of today's giant spiral galaxies are surrounded by 'super halos' of hydrogen gas that extend many tens-of-thousands of light-years beyond their dusty, star-filled disks.
  
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• Limiting protein reduces post-heart attack injury in mice

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Missouri-Columbia) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 735,000 Americans experience a heart attack each year. Opening a blocked coronary artery to restore blood flow to the heart prevents sudden cardiac death. However, doing so also triggers cardiac damage through oxidative stress and inflammation, which eventually can lead to heart failure. Researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine have identified a protein that can be tar
  
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• Less is more: New moms need workout programs that are less structured, more flexible

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Kansas State University) Often running on empty, new moms may need a bit more flexibility and support to ease back into exercise after giving birth, according to a Kansas State University researcher.Emily Mailey, assistant professor in kinesiology, said when a mom has survived the first several weeks of having a new baby and is ready to start adding exercise -- and all of its benefits -- back into her life, a more flexible approach works better than a specific regimen.
  
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• Keck School of Medicine of USC receives grant for esophageal cancer research

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Southern California - Health Sciences) The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) has been awarded a grant from the DeGregorio Family Foundation and Price Family Foundation to support research aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of how gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) increases the risk of developing esophageal cancer.
  
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• Inactive teens develop lazy bones, study finds

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of British Columbia) Inactive teens have weaker bones than those who are physically active, according to a new study.
  
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• In a sample of blood, researchers probe for cancer clues

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of California - Berkeley) One day, patients may be able to monitor their body's response to cancer therapy just by having their blood drawn. A new study, led by bioengineers at UC Berkeley, has taken an important step in that direction by measuring a panel of cancer proteins in rare, individual tumor cells that float in the blood.
  
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• Hubble detects supermassive black hole kicked out of galactic core

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (ESA/Hubble Information Centre) An international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered a supermassive black hole that has been propelled out of the centre of the distant galaxy 3C186. The black hole was most likely ejected by the power of gravitational waves. This is the first time that astronomers found a supermassive black hole at such a large distance from its host galaxy center.
  
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• Gravitational wave kicks monster black hole out of galactic core

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Astronomers have uncovered a supermassive black hole that has been propelled out of the center of a distant galaxy by what could be the awesome power of gravitational waves.
  
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• Freestanding emergency departments in Texas deliver costly care, 'sticker shock'

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (Rice University) The rapid growth of freestanding emergency departments in Texas has been accompanied by an equal increase in use at relatively high prices that lead to sizable out-of-pocket costs to patients, according to new research by experts at Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.
  
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• Exercising 2.5 hours per week associated with slower declines in Parkinson's disease patients

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (IOS Press) Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive condition that often results in mobility impairments and can lead to decreased health-related quality of life (HRQL) and death. There is evidence that physical activity can delay decline in PD patients. In a study in the Journal of Parkinson's disease, researchers determined that that people who exercised regularly had significantly slower declines in HRQL and mobility over a two-year period.
  
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• Dark tourism has grown around myth of prison tree

  23-03-2017 05:00
  
  (University of Adelaide) New research involving the University of Adelaide is helping to expose a myth about a significant Australian 'prison tree,' which researchers say has become a popular tourism attraction for the wrong reasons.
  
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