Science news

• Math-anxious brains tackle simple problems differently

  27-03-2017 23:33
  
  An fMRI study found more variable brain activity in people who get nervous about math problems.
  
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• Research finds patients face rising costs for epipen allergy drug

  27-03-2017 23:29
  Commercially insured patients who use the life-saving epinephrine autoinjector known as ‘EpiPen’ have experienced skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs since 2007, according to research.
  
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• Food for Thought: Do We Owe Our Large Primate Brains to a Passion for Fruit?

  27-03-2017 22:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A new study suggests our outsize brains may have arisen from scouring for and eating kumquats and kiwis
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• Palace remains in Mexico point to ancient rise of centralized power

  27-03-2017 21:10
  
  An ancient royal structure gets new life in southern Mexico.
  
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• 'Unprecedented' dinosaur tracks found in Australia's Jurassic Park

  27-03-2017 20:53 via cbc.ca
  
  Scientists have found 21 different types of dinosaur tracks in an area rich with dinosaur findings.
  
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• Listen to 'the most annoying sound ever' — made to warn drivers of head-on collisions

  27-03-2017 18:14 via cbc.ca
  
  Virginia researchers have designed a grating, painful, high-pitched alarm that just might save your life one day.
  
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• Samsung to sell refurbished Galaxy Note 7s after battery fire recall

  27-03-2017 18:02 via cbc.ca
  
  Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said on Monday it plans to sell refurbished versions of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphones that were pulled from markets due to fire-prone batteries.
  
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• Uber resumes self-driving cars after accident in Arizona

  27-03-2017 17:52 via cbc.ca
  
  Ride-hailing company Uber has resumed its self-driving car pilot program after an incident in Tempe, Ariz., in which one of its vehicles was rolled on to its side after a collision that wasn't its fault.
  
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• Galactica stellaris: Astronomers Build a Family Tree for the Milky Way's Stars

  27-03-2017 14:00 via rss.sciam.com
  Methods borrowed from biology are revealing previously hidden details about our galaxy’s history of star formation
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• Galactica stellaris: Astronomers Build a Family Tree for the Milky Way's Stars

  27-03-2017 14:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Methods borrowed from biology are revealing previously hidden details about our galaxy’s history of star formation
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Opening a Window into the Minds of Language-Impaired Children

  27-03-2017 13:00 via rss.sciam.com
  Researchers are using eye-tracking technology to learn more about children afflicted with specific language impairment
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• Millions of atoms entangled in record-breaking quantum tests

  27-03-2017 13:00
  
  Scientists make advance in the quest to take quantum effects to larger scales.
  
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• With health insurance at risk, community health centers face cut-backs

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health) Repeal of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, combined with a failure to renew critical funding streams, would result in catastrophic funding losses for community health centers-forcing these safety net providers to cut back on services, lay off staff or shut down clinical sites, according to a report published today. The report represents the first analysis of the potential effects on medically underserved communitie
  
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• Transport of molecular motors into cilia

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Aarhus University) Molecular motors produce the force that powers the beat of sperm cell tails to generate movement toward the egg cell for fertilization. New research now shows how the molecular motors that power the movement of sperm cells are recognized and specifically transported into the tail region of the cell. This knowledge can pave the way for a better understanding of disease causing mutations causing sterility.
  
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• Transgenic plants against malaria

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics ) Scientists have discovered a gene that allows to double the production of artemisinin in the Artemisia annua plant.The artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is the standard treatment for malaria worldwide, endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO).The paper, published in The Plant Journal, represents an important step towards reducing artemisinin production costs.
  
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• The skin cancer screening paradigm: Reviewing current guidelines for detecting melanoma

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Future Science Group) A new perspective piece brings together the opinions of over 50 leading experts in the skin cancer field to assess controversies in current melanoma screening guidelines, as well as provide their own data-derived recommendations.
  
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• The future for people in the Arctic discussed at large international conference

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Umea University) Temperatures are rising, and life on earth changes. The fastest change takes place in the North, in the Arctic. That is a fact. But what societal challenges await? Is this a new hotbed for emerging diseases and conflicts? On June 8-12, 2017, world-leading researchers will gather in the hundreds at Umeå University in Sweden at the 9th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences, ICASS IX, to discuss the future for people and societies in the North.
  
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• The electric sands of Titan

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Georgia Institute of Technology) Experiments suggest the particles that cover the surface of Saturn's moon, Titan, are 'electrically charged.' When the wind blows hard enough, Titan's non-silicate granules get kicked up and start to hop in a motion. As they collide, they become frictionally charged, like a balloon rubbing against your hair, and clump together in a way not observed for sand dune grains on Earth -- they become resistant to further motion.
  
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• Stars born in winds from supermassive black holes

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (ESO) Observations using ESO's Very Large Telescope have revealed stars forming within powerful outflows of material blasted out from supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies. These are the first confirmed observations of stars forming in this kind of extreme environment. The discovery has many consequences for understanding galaxy properties and evolution. The results are published in the journal Nature.
  
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• 'Say it fast, fluent and flawless'

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Umea University) A new doctoral dissertation by Parvin Gheitasi at Umeå University in Sweden explores the different functions of prefabricated phrases in young learners' oral language production. These phrases provided learners with an instrument to overcome their lack of knowledge, to improve their fluency, and to enjoy some language play.
  
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• Saint Louis University researchers predict Zika hot spots in the US

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Saint Louis University) Researchers predicted the places in the continental US where Zika is most likely to be transmitted are along the Mississippi delta and southern states extending northward along the Atlantic coast and in southern California.
  
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• Researchers warn of hazards of smoking and need for wider use of varenicline to quit

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Florida Atlantic University) More than 35 million Americans are trying to quit smoking. Researchers reassure clinicians and their patients that varenicline, whose brand name is Chantix, is a safe and effective way to achieve smoking cessation and that failure to use this drug has caused preventable heart attacks and deaths from cardiovascular disease.Just a few months ago, the FDA removed the black box warning from varenicline.
  
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• Research addresses the threat of Zika virus to the US blood supply

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Wiley) Investigators have shown that certain screening methods that detect the genetic material of Zika virus can be used to ensure that donated blood supplies remain free of the virus.
  
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• Psychologists enlist machine learning to help diagnose depression

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Texas at Austin, Texas Advanced Computing Center) Cognitive neuroscientists from The University of Texas at Austin are using the Stampede supercomputer to provide accurate predictions of risk for those with depression and anxiety.They have been able to classify individuals with major depressive disorder with roughly 75 percent accuracy using a machine learning approach. Stampede 2 --which will come online later in 2017 -- will provide the increased computer processing required to
  
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• Playing to beat the blues: Video games viable treatment for depression

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (University of California - Davis) Video games and 'brain training' applications are increasingly touted as an effective treatment for depression. A new UC Davis study carries it a step further, though, finding that when the video game users were messaged reminders, they played the game more often and in some cases increased the time spent playing.
  
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• Planetary waves, first found on Earth, are discovered on sun

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) The same kind of large-scale planetary waves that meander through the atmosphere high above Earth's surface may also exist on the sun, according to a new study led by a scientist at NCAR.
  
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• Paid medical malpractice claims decrease

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Brigham and Women's Hospital) Researchers report that the overall rate of claims paid on behalf of all physicians dropped by 55.7 percent. Pediatricians had the largest decline, at 75.8 percent, and cardiologists had the smallest, at 13.5 percent. After adjusting for inflation, researchers found that the amount of the payment increased by 23.3 percent and was also dependent on specialty. Neurosurgery had the highest mean payment, and dermatology had the lowest. The percentage of payments exceed
  
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• NUS Pharmacy team develops 'calculator' to predict risk of early hospital readmission

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (National University of Singapore) A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore has developed a novel web-based tool that predicts a patient's 15-day readmission risk.
  
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• New collaboration looks for trans-Atlantic common ground in geriatrics

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (American Geriatrics Society) Top research journals launch international editorial series tackling the latest in geriatrics clinical practice & public policy. Up first: commonalities 'across the pond' for older adults with multimorbidity.
  
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• NASA spacecraft investigate clues in radiation belts

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's Van Allen Probes uncover new phenomena in our near-Earth environment with their unique double orbit. Recently, the spacecraft were in just the right place, at just the right time, to catch an event caused by the fallout of a geomagnetic storm as it happened.
  
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• NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Debbie approaching Queensland for landfall

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the storm early on March 27, 2017 as Tropical Cyclone Debbie had intensified into a powerful hurricane already affecting the coast of eastern Queensland, Australia.
  
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• NASA sees tiny Tropical Cyclone Caleb fading

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Tropical Cyclone Caleb is weakening in the Southern Indian Ocean and NASA's Aqua satellite caught one of the last bursts of strength as it passed overhead.
  
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• Mathematicians predict delaying school start times won't help sleep deprived teenagers

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Surrey) Delaying school start times in the UK is unlikely to reduce sleep deprivation in teenagers, research from the University of Surrey and Harvard Medical School has found. The research, conducted in collaboration between mathematicians and sleep scientists, predicts that turning down the lights in the evening would be much more effective at tackling sleep deprivation.
  
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• 'Maria Theresa was a relentlessly strict matriarch'

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics") New biography on the occasion of the empress' 300th birthday -- historian Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger refutes clichés about one of the most powerful women in history: prosecution of Protestants and Jews, cruelty against her own children, hypocrisy at the royal court -- book nominated for the Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair.
  
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• Longer telomeres may shield mice from age-related human diseases

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (JCI Journals) Researchers in Deepak Srivastava's laboratory at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease hypothesized that mice may be protected from age-associated human diseases due to the relatively longer length of their telomeres, the regions at the end of chromosomes that help guard against deterioration. In work published this week in the JCI, the researchers used mice with shortened telomeres to examine a genetic defect that causes an age-associated congenital heart disease in h
  
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• Kessler Foundation renews collaboration with Children's Specialized Hospital

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Kessler Foundation) Kessler Foundation, a global leader in rehabilitation research, and Children's Specialized Hospital have signed a three-year agreement, with a funding level of $2.1 million, to renew their research program for children with disabilities. The two organizations are working together to investigate ways to improve mobility, cognition, and educational outcomes in children with various challenges, including brain and spinal cord injuries, and are pleased to continue the partnershi
  
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• Is personal adversity contributing to political polarization?

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (University at Buffalo) Unexpected life events can lead to political polarization, pushing moderates toward the spectrum's extremes, according to a new study co-authored by a University at Buffalo psychologist.
  
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• Improving memory with magnets

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (McGill University) The ability to remember sounds, and manipulate them in our minds, is incredibly important to our daily lives -- without it we would not be able to understand a sentence, or do simple arithmetic. New research is shedding light on how sound memory works, and is even demonstrating a means to improve it.
  
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• How do we get young men in vocational schools to eat healthy?

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Aarhus University) There are several challenges associated with getting young men in vocational schools to eat healthy. According to a new study from Aarhus University, the students overall dislike it when someone interferes with their dietary habits.
  
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• ERC Advanced Grant for Sitta von Reden

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Freiburg) The European Research Council selects the Historian of Antiquity's 'Beyond the Silk Road' project for a €2.5 million grant.
  
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• Emotion: An important link to HIV prevention in black adolescents with mental illnesses

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing) Could unique psychological factors that hamper emotional regulation help explain differences in HIV/STI risk-related sexual behaviors among heterosexually active black youth with mental illnesses?
  
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• During late life, what's important changes

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Allina Health ) Supportive late life care improves experience and cost, and model can be replicated.
  
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• Cookbooks give readers (mostly) bad advice on food safety

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (North Carolina State University) A recent study finds bestselling cookbooks offer readers little useful advice about reducing food-safety risks, and much of the advice they do provide is inaccurate and not based on sound science.
  
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• Children, youth born in Canada at higher risk of unintentional gun injury than immigrants

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Canadian Medical Association Journal) Children and youth born in Canada are at higher risk of unintentional injury from guns compared with immigrant children and youth, although certain subgroups of immigrants and refugees are at higher risk of assault-related injury, found a study published in CMAJ.
  
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• Brain activity can be used to predict reading success up to 2 years in advance

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (Binghamton University) By measuring brainwaves, it is possible to predict what a child's reading level will be years in advance, according to research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.
  
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• Astronomers probe swirling particles in halo of starburst galaxy

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research) Astronomers have used a radio telescope in outback Western Australia to see the halo of a nearby starburst galaxy in unprecedented detail.
  
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• A little nudge may provide a big boost to flu vaccination rates

  27-03-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) Currently, only 44 percent of adults in the United States receive an annual flu vaccination. But, a new study suggests that a simple behavioral economics technique may be able to help. In the study, researchers programmed electronic health records (EHR) to alert care providers when a patient was eligible, and prompt them to choose to 'accept' or 'decline' a flu vaccination order. Results showed a 37 percent relative increase in vaccinations from th
  
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