Science news

• U.S. will withdraw from climate pact, Trump announces

  01-06-2017 23:58
  
  President Trump announced June 1 that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord.
  
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• Going on a road trip? Study shows how to reduce roadkill

  01-06-2017 23:53 via cbc.ca
  
  With summer roadtrip season approaching, two new Canadian studies have come out with scientific strategies to prevent roadkill. The answer? Fences, lots of fences.
  
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• How delaying meal times can affect your body clock

  01-06-2017 23:40 via cbc.ca
  
  When men postpone meal times, it delays one of the body's clocks, British researchers say, a finding that sheds light on a potential way to overcome jet lag and health harms for shift workers.
  
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• SpaceX scrubs launch of reused Dragon capsule to International Space Station

  01-06-2017 23:18 via cbc.ca
  
  SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will launch a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station on Thursday night.
  
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• SpaceX launches reused Dragon capsule to International Space Station

  01-06-2017 23:18 via cbc.ca
  
  SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched a resupply mission to the International Space Station on Saturday afternoon using a recycled cargo ship. It's all part of SpaceX's long-term effort to save money through reusability.
  
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• Trump Pulls Out of Paris: How Much Carbon Will His Policies Add to the Air?

  01-06-2017 22:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A detailed analysis shows how much more CO2 each of Trump’s climate policy changes would send into the atmosphere
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• When preventing HIV, bacteria in the vagina matter

  01-06-2017 20:52
  
  Vaginal bacteria affect how well microbicide gels used to prevent HIV work.
  
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• Trump announces U.S. will withdraw from 'very unfair' Paris climate accord

  01-06-2017 20:41 via cbc.ca
  
  U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, calling it "very unfair" to his country.
  
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• Brains encode faces piece by piece

  01-06-2017 19:58
  
  Cells in monkey brains build up faces by coding for different characteristics.
  
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• 'An unbelievable sight': Same-sex vulture couple hatches abandoned egg

  01-06-2017 19:46 via cbc.ca
  
  The Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo is home to a vulture couple that has never been able to have babies — that is, until zookeepers found an abandoned egg.
  
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• Vaginal bacteria modify HIV tenofovir microbicide efficacy in African women

  01-06-2017 19:23
  Antiretroviral-based strategies for HIV prevention have shown inconsistent results in women. We investigated whether vaginal microbiota modulated tenofovir gel microbicide efficacy in the CAPRISA (Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa) 004 trial. Two major vaginal bacterial community types—one dominated by Lactobacillus (59.2%) and the other where Gardnerella vaginalis predominated with other anaerobic bacteria (40.8%)—were identified in 688 women profiled. Tenofovi
  
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• Structure, force balance, and topology of Earths magnetopause

  01-06-2017 19:23
  The magnetopause deflects the solar wind plasma and confines Earth’s magnetic field. We combine measurements made by the four spacecraft of the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission to demonstrate how the plasma and magnetic forces at the boundary affect the interaction between the shocked solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere. We compare these forces with the plasma pressure and examine the electron distribution function. We find that the magnetopause has sublayers with thickness compara
  
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• Structural basis for antibody-mediated neutralization of Lassa virus

  01-06-2017 19:23
  The arenavirus Lassa causes severe hemorrhagic fever and a significant disease burden in West Africa every year. The glycoprotein, GPC, is the sole antigen expressed on the viral surface and the critical target for antibody-mediated neutralization. Here we present the crystal structure of the trimeric, prefusion ectodomain of Lassa GP bound to a neutralizing antibody from a human survivor at 3.2-angstrom resolution. The antibody extensively anchors two monomers together at the base of the trimer
  
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• Redox stratification of an ancient lake in Gale crater, Mars

  01-06-2017 19:23
  In 2012, NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars to assess its potential as a habitat for past life and investigate the paleoclimate record preserved by sedimentary rocks inside the ~150-kilometer-diameter Gale impact crater. Geological reconstructions from Curiosity rover data have revealed an ancient, habitable lake environment fed by rivers draining into the crater. We synthesize geochemical and mineralogical data from lake-bed mudstones collected during the first 1300 martian solar days
  
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• Observation of Anderson localization in disordered nanophotonic structures

  01-06-2017 19:23
  Anderson localization is an interference effect crucial to the understanding of waves in disordered media. However, localization is expected to become negligible when the features of the disordered structure are much smaller than the wavelength. Here we experimentally demonstrate the localization of light in a disordered dielectric multilayer with an average layer thickness of 15 nanometers, deep into the subwavelength regime. We observe strong disorder-induced reflections that show that the int
  
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• mTORC1 activity repression by late endosomal phosphatidylinositol 3,4-bisphosphate

  01-06-2017 19:23
  Nutrient sensing by mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) on lysosomes and late endosomes (LyLEs) regulates cell growth. Many factors stimulate mTORC1 activity, including the production of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate [PI(3,4,5)P3] by class I phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) at the plasma membrane. We investigated mechanisms that repress mTORC1 under conditions of growth factor deprivation. We identified phosphatidylinositol 3,4-bisphosphate [PI(3,4)P2], synthesize
  
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• Massive blow-out craters formed by hydrate-controlled methane expulsion from the Arctic seafloor

  01-06-2017 19:23
  Widespread methane release from thawing Arctic gas hydrates is a major concern, yet the processes, sources, and fluxes involved remain unconstrained. We present geophysical data documenting a cluster of kilometer-wide craters and mounds from the Barents Sea floor associated with large-scale methane expulsion. Combined with ice sheet/gas hydrate modeling, our results indicate that during glaciation, natural gas migrated from underlying hydrocarbon reservoirs and was sequestered extensively as sub
  
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• Locked synchronous rotor motion in a molecular motor

  01-06-2017 19:23
  Biological molecular motors translate their local directional motion into ordered movement of other parts of the system to empower controlled mechanical functions. The design of analogous geared systems that couple motion in a directional manner, which is pivotal for molecular machinery operating at the nanoscale, remains highly challenging. Here, we report a molecular rotary motor that translates light-driven unidirectional rotary motion to controlled movement of a connected biaryl rotor. Achie
  
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• Entanglement distillation between solid-state quantum network nodes

  01-06-2017 19:23
  The impact of future quantum networks hinges on high-quality quantum entanglement shared between network nodes. Unavoidable imperfections necessitate a means to improve remote entanglement by local quantum operations. We realize entanglement distillation on a quantum network primitive of distant electron-nuclear two-qubit nodes. The heralded generation of two copies of a remote entangled state is demonstrated through single-photon–mediated entangling of the electrons and robust storage in
  
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• Bloch oscillations in the absence of a lattice

  01-06-2017 19:23
  The interplay of strong quantum correlations and far-from-equilibrium conditions can give rise to striking dynamical phenomena. We experimentally investigated the quantum motion of an impurity atom immersed in a strongly interacting one-dimensional Bose liquid and subject to an external force. We found that the momentum distribution of the impurity exhibits characteristic Bragg reflections at the edge of an emergent Brillouin zone. Although Bragg reflections are typically associated with lattice
  
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• Biological control of aragonite formation in stony corals

  01-06-2017 19:23
  Little is known about how stony corals build their calcareous skeletons. There are two prevailing hypotheses: that it is a physicochemically dominated process and that it is a biologically mediated one. Using a combination of ultrahigh-resolution three-dimensional imaging and two-dimensional solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, we show that mineral deposition is biologically driven. Randomly arranged, amorphous nanoparticles are initially deposited in microenvironments enri
  
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• A modular and enantioselective synthesis of the pleuromutilin antibiotics

  01-06-2017 19:23
  The tricyclic diterpene fungal metabolite (+)-pleuromutilin has served as a starting point for antibiotic development. Semisynthetic modification of its glycolic acid subunit at C14 provided the first analogs fit for human use, and derivatization at C12 led to 12-epi-pleuromutilins with extended-spectrum antibacterial activity, including activity against Gram-negative pathogens. Given the inherent limitations of semisynthesis, however, accessing derivatives of (+)-pleuromutilin with full control
  
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• A genetic signature of the evolution of loss of flight in the Galapagos cormorant

  01-06-2017 19:23
  We have a limited understanding of the genetic and molecular basis of evolutionary changes in the size and proportion of limbs. We studied wing and pectoral skeleton reduction leading to flightlessness in the Galapagos cormorant (Phalacrocorax harrisi). We sequenced and de novo assembled the genomes of four cormorant species and applied a predictive and comparative genomics approach to find candidate variants that may have contributed to the evolution of flightlessness. These analyses and cross-
  
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• How We Save Face--Researchers Crack the Brain's Facial-Recognition Code

  01-06-2017 18:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A Caltech team has deciphered the way we identify faces, re-creating what the brain sees from its electrical activity
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• 3rd gravitational wave detected, opening 'new window on the universe'

  01-06-2017 17:33 via cbc.ca
  
  Scientists from LIGO have detected a third gravitational wave after two black holes merged in a far off galaxy.
  
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• LIGO's Latest Black-Hole Merger Confirms Einstein, Challenges Astrophysics

  01-06-2017 17:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  New results from the gravitational wave observatory hint that black holes move in mysterious ways
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• LIGO snags another set of gravitational waves

  01-06-2017 17:00
  
  Two black holes stirred up the third set of gravitational waves ever detected.
  
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• Gravitational waves: Third detection of deep space warping

  01-06-2017 17:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists pick up once again the distortions in space-time resulting from a huge black hole merger.
  
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• 50 years ago, antibiotic resistance alarms went unheeded

  01-06-2017 15:00
  
  Scientists have worried about antibiotic resistance for decades.
  
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• X-Ray Lasers Make Atoms Act Like "Black Holes" in Molecules

  01-06-2017 14:45 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Findings could improve scanning of proteins, viruses and bacteria
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• Babies categorize colors the same way adults do

  01-06-2017 13:00
  
  Babies divide hues into five categories, much like adults, a result that suggests color categorization is built into the brain.
  
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• Trump quitting the Paris accord might not necessarily be the end of the world

  01-06-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  The United States, the world's second-largest emitter, might walk away from the Paris climate deal. Regardless, it seems unlikely the Trump administration will be taking significant action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And that raises questions for every other nation on Earth.
  
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• As weather extremes become the norm, taxpayers must foot the bill for climate chaos: Don Pittis

  01-06-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  In 2013, the economies of the Great Lakes faced record low water levels. Now, Lake Ontario faces a record high. Either way, taxpayers must foot the bill for climate volatility.
  
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• 'Faceless' fish, last seen in 1873, found off Australia

  01-06-2017 10:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The unique deep-sea fish was last spotted back in 1873.
  
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• The Last Animals - fighting to save animals from extinction

  01-06-2017 10:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Kate Brooks' documentary focuses on individuals trying to save animals from extinction.
  
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• Air pollution results in 7,700 premature deaths in Canada each year, report says

  01-06-2017 06:37 via cbc.ca
  
  Air pollution cost Canadian families an estimated $36 billion in 2015 due to premature death and illness, a new research report says.
  
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• Screens 'not a toy:' Canadian pediatricians promote limits for kids 5 and under

  01-06-2017 06:01 via cbc.ca
  
  Parents and caregivers of children aged five and younger should not only minimize screen time at home but use it mindfully themselves, the Canadian Paediatric Society says.
  
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• Why pot-smoking declines -- but doesn't end -- with parenthood

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Washington) Adults who smoke marijuana often cut back after becoming parents -- but they don't necessarily quit.The influence of a significant other and positive attitudes toward the drug overall, in addition to the onset of parenthood, also are factors in whether someone uses marijuana.
  
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• Why antibiotics fail

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of California - Santa Barbara) UCSB biologists correct a flaw in the way bacterial susceptibility to these drugs is tested.
  
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• Who has better mental health: Public or private college students?

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Georgia Institute of Technology) Using Reddit posts as an indicator, researchers found that students at higher-ranked schools have better mental health than those at lower-ranked colleges. The well-being index is also better at universities with higher tuition. It's lower at large public schools with a majority of female students.
  
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• Where to look for new treatments for alcoholism? The matrix

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Elsevier) A new study in Biological Psychiatry may pave the way for treating alcohol addiction by reducing motivation to drink, rather than by altering the effects of alcohol itself. Led by Drs. Kasia Radwanska and Leszek Kaczmarek of the Nencki Institute, Warsaw, Poland, the study reports a new mechanism behind alcohol seeking behavior.
  
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• What's powering your devices?

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Washington State University) Americans, regardless of whether they're Democrats or Republicans, wantto power their homes with renewable energy, according to a new study by Washington State University sociologists.
  
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• Wayne State professors receive $500k from NSF to enhance computational research

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research) A team of researchers from Wayne State University's College of Engineering recently received nearly $500,000 from the National Science Foundation for its research project,SSE: Development of a High-Performance Parallel Gibbs Ensemble Monte Carlo Simulation Engine.
  
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• UNH research finds seacoast roads under new threat from rising sea level

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of New Hampshire) Research out of the University of New Hampshire has found that some roads, as far as two miles from the shore, are facing a new hazard that currently cannot be seen by drivers -- rising groundwater caused by increasing ocean water levels.
  
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• Tobacco the 'silent killer' of HIV patients, say researchers

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of York) Researchers at the University of York have shown that tobacco use is more common among HIV positive individuals than HIV negative individuals.
  
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• Third gravitational wave detection offers new insight into black holes

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Australian National University) An international team of researchers has made a third detection of gravitational waves, ripples in space and time, in a discovery that provides new insights into the mysterious nature of black holes and, potentially, dark matter.
  
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• THE and PolyU co-host innovation & impact summit

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University ) More than 200 participants, including influential higher education and industry leaders, entrepreneurs and policy-makers around the globe, gather in Hong Kong for the inaugural Times Higher Education (THE) Innovation & Impact Summit. Co-hosted by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and THE, the Summit inspires participants with a series of thought-provoking panel discussions on best practices and case studies to empower universities' economic
  
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• Telehealth reduces wait time, improves care for children with autism living in remote areas

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Missouri-Columbia) Kristin Sohl, director of ECHO Autism, says that the expanding ECHO Autism will help families and children with autism around the world, especially those living in remote areas.
  
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• Subsidies promote overfishing and hurt small-scale fishers worldwide

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of British Columbia) Large-scale fisheries receive about four times more subsidies than their small-scale counterparts, with up to 60 per cent of those subsidies promoting overfishing.
  
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• Social laughter releases endorphins in the brain

  01-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Turku) Finnish and British researchers have revealed how laughter releases endorphins in the human brain. The more opioid receptors the participants had in their brain, the more they laughed during the experiment.
  
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