Science news

• Engineered immune cells boost leukemia survival for some

  04-04-2017 21:30
  
  Engineered immune cells can extend life for some leukemia patients.
  
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• Cassini spacecraft to begin 'grand finale' plunging into Saturn

  04-04-2017 21:22 via cbc.ca
  
  NASA is preparing to send its long-lived Cassini probe into the unexplored region between Saturn and its rings for a scientific grand finale before the spacecraft's suicidal plunge into the planet, space officials said on Tuesday.
  
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• When coal replaces a cleaner energy source, health is on the line

  04-04-2017 20:30
  
  Health concerns prompted a shift from nuclear power to coal. But that shift came with its own health troubles, a new study suggests.
  
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• How a sticky note could make you more productive at work

  04-04-2017 18:51 via cbc.ca
  
  New research suggests that video chat can hurt your job performance.
  
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• Bone-inspired steel cracks less under pressure

  04-04-2017 16:00
  
  Steel that’s structured like bone resists cracks better that the traditional form of the heavy-duty building material.
  
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• Living a Lie: We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others

  04-04-2017 13:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  New research provides the first evidence for a theory first put forward in the 1970s
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Competing ideas abound for how Earth got its moon

  04-04-2017 12:00
  
  The moon may have formed from one giant impact or from about 20 small ones.
  
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• If we don't want our kids to be addicted to technology, maybe we should start putting down our phones

  04-04-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  We often complain about "kids these days" being glued to their devices — but where are they learning these habits?
  
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• Using drugs to weaken traumatic memories

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Zurich) A potential new approach to treat posttraumatic stress disorder: After taking the antibiotic doxycycline, study participants remembered an unpleasant event considerably less, as experiments conducted by a team of researchers from the University Psychiatric Hospital and the University of Zurich reveal.
  
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• Two new mechanisms for herbicide resistance found in Palmer amaranth

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences) Palmer amaranth is a nightmare of a weed, causing yield losses up to 80 percent in severely infested soybean fields. It scoffs at farmers' attempts at control, having evolved resistance to six classes of herbicides since its discovery in the United States 100 years ago. And now, scientists have discovered it has two new tricks up its sleeve.
  
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• Touch-sensitive, elastic fibers offer new interface for electronics

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (North Carolina State University) Researchers have created elastic, touch-sensitive fibers that can interface with electronic devices.
  
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• To e-, or not to e-, the question for the exotic 'Si-III' phase of silicon

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Carnegie Institution for Science) It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of silicon when it comes to computing, solar energy, and other technological applications. Yet there is still so much to learn about how to harness the capabilities of element number 14. The most-common form of silicon crystallizes in the same structure as diamond. New work shows that one form of silicon, Si-III, which is synthesized using a high-pressure process, is what's called a narrow band gap semiconduc
  
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• Technique makes more efficient, independent holograms

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) Recently, a team of researchers encoded multiple holographic images in a metasurface that can be unlocked separately with differently polarized light.
  
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• Take part in the World's Premier Aging Conference this July in San Francisco!

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (The Gerontological Society of America) The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) invites all journalists to attend the 2017 World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics -- the largest interdisciplinary conference in the field of aging -- from July 23 to 27 in San Francisco, Calif. Qualified media representatives may register free of charge.
  
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• SuperAger brains shrink more slowly than peers' brains

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Northwestern University) A new path-breaking Northwestern Medicine study that shows that brains of SuperAgers (those 80 years old and older whose memories are as sharp as healthy people in their 50s and 60s) shrink much slower than their age-matched peers, resulting in a greater resistance to 'typical' memory loss and dementia.
  
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• Successful reversal of Vasalgel male contraceptive in rabbits

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Parsemus Foundation) Vasalgel is a polymer gel that is injected into the vas deferens to block the flow of sperm and create a long-lasting contraceptive effect. Today, results of a study in rabbits published in Basic and Clinical Andrology showed that the contraceptive could be reversed by a second injection that resulted in a rapid return of sperm flow.
  
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• Studying the brain's suspension system in TBIs

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Washington University in St. Louis) Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, can be devastating and debilitating. Researchers know that the membranes separating the skull from the brain play a key role in absorbing shock and preventing damage caused during a head impact, but the details remain largely mysterious. New research from a team of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis takes a closer at this 'suspension system' and the insight it could provide to prevent TBI.
  
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• Study reverses thinking on genetic links to stress, depression

  04-04-2017 06:00
  (Washington University School of Medicine) For years, scientists have been trying to determine what effect a gene linked to the brain chemical serotonin may have on depression in people exposed to stress. But now, analyzing information from more than 40,000 people who have been studied over more than a decade, researchers led by a team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found no evidence that the gene alters the impact stress has on depression.
  
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• Study reveals 10,000 years of genetic continuity in northwest North America

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) A study of the DNA in ancient skeletal remains adds to the evidence that indigenous groups living today in southern Alaska and the western coast of British Columbia are descendants of the first humans to make their home in northwest North America more than 10,000 years ago.
  
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• Study detects doubly accelerated electrons in collisions of galaxy clusters

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) A cosmic phenomenon resulting from the acceleration of a gas cloud by a black hole and its reacceleration by the shock waves from the merging of two galaxy clusters, has been described by an international collaboration of astronomers. The study enriches scientists' understanding of the universe on the largest scale.
  
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• Sex obsession a killer for male snakes

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Sydney) Snake orgy research by an international team of scientists led from Sydney has confirmed a frenzied approach to the mating season is resulting in males ageing faster and dying earlier and in worse condition than their female counterparts, who prioritize body maintenance over short-term reproductive success.
  
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• Safe driving campaign kicks into gear during World Health Day, National Public Health week

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (American Geriatrics Society) With support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the American Geriatrics Society's (AGS's) Health in Aging Foundation today announced the start of a public information campaign focused on helping older adults and caregivers access resources for safely navigating the open road.
  
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• Report shines light on installed costs and deployment barriers for residential solar PV

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (DOE/National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Researchers from the US Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory are making available the most detailed component and system-level cost breakdowns to date for residential photovoltaic (PV) solar systems equipped with energy storage-and quantifying previously unknown soft costs for the first time.
  
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• Regardless of income and age, best investment strategy is to diversify

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Missouri-Columbia) Michael O'Doherty, associate professor of finance in the Trulaske College of Business, developed a model to determine the optimal retirement savings decisions of households with access to both pre-tax and post-tax accounts. The model accounted for age, current income and taxable income from outside sources in retirement.
  
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• Psychiatric disorders do not increase risk of Alzheimer's disease

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Eastern Finland) Psychiatric disorders do not increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland. However, the prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses increased before the Alzheimer's diagnosis, which might be due to prodromal symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The results were published in European Psychiatry.
  
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• Price awareness can be a buzzkill

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Society for Consumer Psychology) Our enjoyment of an experience or product decreases more quickly when we are aware of the price.
  
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• Platelets instead of quantum dots

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (ETH Zurich) A team of researchers led by ETH Zurich professor David Norris has developed a model to clarify the general mechanism of nanoplatelet formation. Using pyrite, they also managed to confirm their theory.
  
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• Penn researchers investigate how songbirds teach themselves songs

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Pennsylvania) Scientists typically think of songbirds' vocal development in terms of how one circuit in the brain learns a song. But researchers at UPenn investigated how zebra finches learn songs from a different perspective. They studied how one part of its brain, which they dubbed the 'tutor,' teaches another part of its brain, the 'student.' They found that in order to teach effectively, the tutor must adapt its teaching style to how the student best learns.
  
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• Paintings, sunspots and frost fairs: Rethinking the Little Ice Age

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Royal Astronomical Society) The whole concept of the 'Little Ice Age' is 'misleading,' as the changes were small-scale, seasonal and insignificant compared with present-day global warming, a group of solar and climate scientists argue. The new work, led by Prof Mike Lockwood of the University of Reading, appears in a paper in Astronomy & Geophysics.
  
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• Novogene NGS Medical Lab Receives CAP Accreditation

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Novogene Corporation) Novogene Corporation, a leading provider of genomic services and solutions with cutting edge next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics expertise, today announced that its next-generation sequencing (NGS) medical lab in Tianjin, China has received accreditation from the College of American Pathologists (CAP). With CAP accreditation, Novogene now will be able to provide its high-quality, well-established clinical sequencing services to customers throughout the world.
  
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• New research could help speed up the 3-D printing process

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Binghamton University) A team of researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York and MIT have identified some bottlenecks in 3-D printers, that, if improved, could speed up the entire process.
  
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• New drug delivery system shows promise for fighting solid tumors

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Oregon State University) A new cancer-drug delivery system shows the ability to exploit the oxygen-poor areas of solid tumors that make the growths resistant to standard chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
  
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• Neptune's journey during early planet formation was 'smooth and calm'

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Queen's University Belfast) A Queen's University Belfast expert has made a major discovery on the formation of icy bodies within the Kuiper Belt, unlocking unique evidence that Neptune's movement during early planet formation was a 'smooth and calm' journey.
  
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• NASA analyzes storms that caused deadly Colombia mudslides

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's IMERG data were used to estimate the amount of rain that fell near Mocoa, Colombia, during the seven-day period from March 26 to April 2, 2017.
  
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• Method may help myeloma patients avoid painful biopsies

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Engineers at MIT have devised a microfluidic technique to capture and count circulating plasma cells from small samples of blood. The technique, which relies on conventional blood draws, may provide patients with a less painful test for multiple myeloma.
  
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• Living downwind of coal-fired power plant could increase risk of low birth weight

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Lehigh University) Drawing on evidence from a Pennsylvania power plant located upwind of New Jersey, a group of researchers led by Muzhe Yang of Lehigh University studied live singleton births that occurred from 1990 to 2006 in the area downwind of the plant. Infants born to mothers living as far as 20 to 30 miles downwind from the power plant were 6.5 percent more likely to be born with a low birth weight and 17.12 percent more likely to be born with a very low birth weight.
  
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• Less fear: How LSD affects the brain

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Basel) Scientists at the University of Basel have shown that LSD reduces activity in the region of the brain related to the handling of negative emotions like fear. The results, published in the scientific journal Translational Psychiatry, could affect the treatment of mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety.
  
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• Jumping droplets extinguish unpredictable hotspots in electronics

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (American Institute of Physics) The performance of electronic devices is constrained by their inability to evenly dissipate the waste heat they produce. Since the waste heat isn't uniformly distributed, hotspots are all too prevalent in electronics. While a few options for hotspot cooling exist, they don't work well for mobile hotspots, which move according to ever-changing computing tasks or power-amplification demands. In this week's Applied Physics Letters, researchers report a 'jumping dropl
  
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• Intermountain Healthcare Awarded National 2017 Hearst Health Prize

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Intermountain Medical Center) Hearst Health and the Jefferson College of Population Health of Thomas Jefferson University, have announced that Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare is the winner of the 2017 Hearst Health Prize.
  
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• Industry experts discuss advantages & risks of shifting data analytics to the cloud

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News) Thought leaders in both cloud computing and big data examine the factors driving increasing numbers of companies to move their enterprises to the cloud, explore the synergy between the cloud and notebooks, and debate whether the cloud is able to provide the level of information security needed by enterprises in an insightful Expert Panel Discussion published in Big Data.
  
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• Individuals of victimized groups require group sincerity before giving forgiveness

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Society for Personality and Social Psychology) In a series of studies social psychologists examined group forgiveness and found that individuals are astute perceivers of political process. For an apology to be sincere, the process must show that the offenders are in agreement about the apology and that the person(s) saying sorry for the group represents the whole group.
  
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• Improving silver nanowires for FTCEs with flash light interactions

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)) A Korean research team led by Professor Keon Jae Lee of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at KAIST and Dr. Hong-Jin Park from BSP Inc., has developed high-performance Ag NWs with strong adhesion on plastic using flash light-material interactions.
  
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• Improving healthcare commissioning for probation: Mapping the landscape

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Lincoln) A new research project which examines the healthcare services available to people on probation and how they access them is being launched this month. Researchers say better healthcare could help increase the number of people successfully completing community sentences, potentially reduce the rate of recidivism, and save the NHS substantial sums of money by reducing the unnecessary use of urgent and emergency services.
  
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• How to hack a cell

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Boston University College of Engineering) A new study published by Assistant Professor Wilson Wongin Nature Biotechnology outlines a new simplified platform to target and program mammalian cells as genetic circuits, even complex ones, more quickly and efficiently.
  
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• Has music streaming killed the instrumental intro?

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Ohio State University) Remember those drawn-out, dramatic intros into the pop power ballads of the 80s? They're all but gone in today's chart toppers, according to new research, and listeners' short attention spans may be to blame.
  
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• Gray tin exhibits novel topological electronic properties in 3-D

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Illinois College of Engineering) In a surprising new discovery, alpha-tin, commonly called gray tin, exhibits a novel electronic phase when its crystal structure is strained, putting it in a rare new class of 3-D materials called topological Dirac semimetals (TDSs). Only two other TDS materials are known to exist, discovered as recently as 2013. Alpha-tin now joins this class as its only simple-element member. This discovery holds promise for novel physics and many potential appli
  
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• Finger animation research at Clemson begins with CAREER award in hand

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Clemson University) A Clemson University researcher is letting her fingers do the talking with a new project that could lead to more realistic hand movements for animated movies, video games and a range of virtual reality simulations.
  
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• Exotic species aren't all bad

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW)) When it comes to their role in aquatic ecosystems, exotic water plants are generally no different than indigenous species. In fact, they can be an asset. That doesn't mean all exotic species should be given free rein. But they can be managed more effectively if you focus on their properties and not their place of origin. Ecologist Bart Grutters (NIOO-KNAW) will defend his PhD thesis research on Wed., April 5l.
  
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• Electronic control to ensure photovoltaic systems always work at maximum power

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of the Basque Country ) The Advanced Control Group of the UPV/EHU's Department of Systems Engineering and Automation has developed a control system designed to ensure that photovoltaic generators always work at their maximum power point by adapting them in terms of the level of irradiance received from the sun and the load connected to the system.
  
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• Delaying marriage in developing countries benefits children

  04-04-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Sussex) Delaying the marriage age of young women in parts of the developing world has significant positive effects for their children, a new study shows.
  
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