Science news

• Canadians 'reluctant' to accept new police powers, prefer privacy online, government finds

  19-05-2017 23:35 via cbc.ca
  
  The findings are part of a report published by Public Safety, based on responses to the government's consultation on national security reform held last fall.
  
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• Science knows no borders in the Middle East: Bob McDonald

  19-05-2017 21:20 via cbc.ca
  
  A new light synchrotron to be constructed in Jordan signals scientific cooperation in a region plagued by conflict and rivalry.
  
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• Penguins that found sanctuary in a minefield may be threatened by demining campaign

  19-05-2017 19:04 via cbc.ca
  
  35 years ago, Argentine forces mined a beach in the Falkland Islands and created an accidental nature reserve for penguins. Now, a demining operation is in the works, and some conservationists fear it might threaten the penguins' habitat.
  
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• Greece battles locust plague on Agios Efstratios island

  19-05-2017 16:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Locals say sheep on Agios Efstratios are starving as so much plant life is being devoured by swarms.
  
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• Even short-term opioid use can set people up for addiction risks

  19-05-2017 15:00
  
  A study of opioid prescriptions for sprained ankles finds that patients prescribed 30 or more pills are more likely to seek refills.
  
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• Recycling body criticises Pringles and Lucozade packaging

  19-05-2017 13:29 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The packaging for Pringles and Lucozade Sport are among the most difficult to recycle, a trade body says.
  
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• Quantum tractor beam could tug atoms, molecules

  19-05-2017 13:00
  
  The wavelike behavior of quantum particles could be harnessed to move atoms.
  
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• UN looks to protect birds from green energy threats

  19-05-2017 12:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Shutting down wind farms when birds pass over is one of the methods being tested to save migrating species.
  
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• China claims breakthrough in mining 'flammable ice'

  19-05-2017 11:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The vast reserves of methane hydrates under the bottom of the sea could be key to future energy needs.
  
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• Do babies show bias? Researchers seek the roots of racism

  19-05-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Studies suggest racial bias begins within months of birth. But does that mean people carry it for the rest of their lives?
  
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• UTA civil engineer's book illustrates the power of recycled plastic in shoring up roads

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Texas at Arlington) Sahadat Hossain, a UTA civil engineering professor, is taking landfill plastic and recycling it into giant pins that are inserted in failing soil on highway slopes. Those pins strengthen the failing soil and in turn the highways, putting off or eliminating the need to repair the roads. Hossain's research, funded in prior years by the Texas Department of Transportation, has helped lead toward his publishing a book titled: "Sustainable Slope Stabilisation using R
  
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• University of Surrey wins award to help revolutionize paper technology

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Surrey) The University of Surrey's Professor David Frohlich has won £1.17m funding from the Digital Economy program, to research and develop paper materials that would allow readers to 'interact' with printed materials like Harry Potter portraits.
  
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• The deaf-blind can now 'watch' television without intermediaries

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), Telefónica and FASOCIDE (the Spanish acronym for the Federation of Deaf-Blind Persons Associations) presented the PervasiveSUB technology, ground-breaking software which allows deaf-blind persons to receive and enjoy television content without intermediaries at the same time as the people around them.
  
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• Tau prevents synaptic transmission at early stage of neurodegeneration

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)) Tau proteins are involved in more than twenty neurodegenerative diseases, including various forms of dementia. These proteins clump together in patients' brains to form neuronal tangles: protein aggregation that eventually coincides with the death of brain cells. Prof. Patrik Verstreken's research team (VIB-KU Leuven) has now discovered how tau disrupts the functioning of nerve cells, even before it starts forming tangles.
  
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• Stressing the brain through technology may reduce age-related disease

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (Bentham Science Publishers) In this Opinion paper the researchers discuss how a meaningful and intentional integration with technology, which hormetically challenges our cognition, may redress the conflict for resources between the soma and the germline, and result in a reduction of age-related dysfunction in participating humans.
  
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• Self-ventilating workout suit keeps athletes cool and dry

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) A team of MIT researchers has designed a breathable workout suit with ventilating flaps that open and close in response to an athlete's body heat and sweat. These flaps, which range from thumbnail- to finger-sized, are lined with live microbial cells that shrink and expand in response to changes in humidity.
  
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• Scientists enlist engineered protein to battle the MERS virus

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Toronto) Researchers converted a staple human ubiquitin protein into ananti-viral tool. Through subtle tweaks, they created an engineered version of the ubiquitin that binds more tightly and paralyzes a key enzyme in MERS to halt viral replication in cells. Other synthetic forms of ubiquitin can be quickly generated to target a diverse range of pathogens.
  
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• Researchers look to add statistical safeguards to data analysis and visualization software

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (Brown University) Brown University computer scientists have shown a new way to help prevent users of data exploration software from making false discoveries.
  
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• Physicists discover that lithium oxide on tokamak walls can improve plasma performance

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (DOE/Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory) A team of physicists has discovered that a coating of lithium oxide on the inside of fusion machines known as tokamaks absorbs as much deuterium as pure lithium does.
  
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• Optimizing power networks for tomorrow's smart cities

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (Lehigh University) Lehigh student Jie Liu was the recipient of an IBM Ph.D. Fellowship Award to study power systems and data analytics at IBM Research-Ireland, one of 12 IBM research laboratories in the world. The fellowship is given each year to 50 outstanding students worldwide.
  
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• Insects resist genetic methods to control disease spread, Indiana University study finds

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (Indiana University) A study from Indiana University published May 19 in the journal Science Advances finds that insects possess a naturally occurring resistance to the use of gene-editing technology to prevent diseases such as malaria.
  
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• How RNA formed at the origins of life

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (University College London) A single process for how a group of molecules called nucleotides were made on the early Earth, before life began, has been suggested by a UCL-led team of researchers.
  
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• Experts explain origins of topographic relief on Earth, Mars and Titan

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (City College of New York) The surfaces of Earth, Mars, and Titan, Saturn's largest moon, have all been scoured by rivers. Yet despite this similarity and the amazingly Earth-like landscapes of Titan complete with valleys, lakes, and mountains, researchers led by City College of New York geologist Benjamin Black report new evidence that the origins of the topography there and on Mars are different from on Earth.
  
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• DFG to fund 15 new research training groups

  19-05-2017 06:00
  
  (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) Topics range from malaria to contemporary literature. €66 million in funding for an initial four and a half years continues promotion of transferable skills.
  
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• Global access to quality health care has improved in the last two decades

  19-05-2017 00:53
  
  Health care quality and availability improved worldwide from 1990 to 2015, but the gap between countries with the lowest and highest levels of care widened.
  
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