Science news

• 'Don't listen to trolls, don't become one': Apple CEO addresses MIT grads

  09-06-2017 22:55 via cbc.ca
  
  Science is worthless if it isn't motivated by basic human values and the desire to help people, Apple CEO Tim Cook told MIT graduates in his commencement speech Friday.
  
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• Scientists find baby bird trapped in 99-million-year-old amber

  09-06-2017 22:04 via cbc.ca
  
  The remains of a prehistoric baby bird have been found preserved in a 99-million-year-old piece of amber in Myanmar.
  
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• Therapy flags DNA typos to rev cancer-fighting T cells

  09-06-2017 21:12
  
  Genetic tests help identify cancer patients who will benefit from immune therapy.
  
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• NASA unveils Mars rover concept designed to carry people

  09-06-2017 21:00 via cbc.ca
  
  NASA has unveiled a new concept for a vehicle that could one day transport people around the Red Planet.
  
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• Swift kick from a supernova could knock a black hole askew

  09-06-2017 20:37
  
  An exploding star may have tilted the spin of one of LIGO’s black holes.
  
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• Radiation therapy vital to treating brain tumors, but it exacts a toll

  09-06-2017 19:38
  Radiation therapy (RT) using high-energy particles is a common and critical component in successfully treating patients with brain tumors but it is also associated with significant adverse effects. In a new study, researchers report that irradiation can cause broader adverse effects, altering the structural network properties in impacted brains and perhaps contributing to delayed cognitive impairments observed in many patients following brain RT.
  
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• Parasitic nematodes that cause greatest agricultural damage abandoned sex

  09-06-2017 19:38
  
  The nematode worms that cause the world's most devastating crop losses have given up on sexual reproduction and instead rely on their large, duplicated genomes to thrive in new environments, report scientists.
  
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• New study design holds promise for drug safety research

  09-06-2017 18:05
  As the pace of drug approvals accelerates and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) faces potential budget cuts, a new research design offers a new way to successfully assess safety of newly approved drugs, as well as drugs that have been on the market for a long time and have had a marked rise in their use.
  
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• Study shows texting as good as medication at improving type 2 diabetes management

  09-06-2017 18:04
  
  Low-income Hispanics with Type 2 diabetes who received health-related text messages every day for six months saw improvements in their blood sugar levels that equaled those resulting from some glucose-lowering medications, researchers report.
  
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• Risk for binge drinking differs by ethnicities, income and changes with age, study finds

  09-06-2017 18:04
  There are differing risks for binge drinking based on race, income and age, say researchers. African-Americans are generally at low risk for binge drinking, but that risk increases disproportionately with age among African-Americans who are poor.
  
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• Similar design, different genes: Miniature weapons in the animal kingdom

  09-06-2017 16:38
  Researchers describe the principle of convergence in unicellular organisms and cnidarians in a new scientific report.
  
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• The way toward cleaner coal plants

  09-06-2017 16:22
  In an effort to design cleaner coal power plants, researchers have performed some of the most detailed multiphase turbulence simulations ever run.
  
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• Mind the liquid gap: Liquids are capable of supporting waves with short wavelengths only

  09-06-2017 16:22
  Flowing particles in liquids act as a filter to suppress long-wavelength waves but allow short-wavelength ones to be supported, according to physicists.
  
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• Could removal of aging cells extend human life?

  09-06-2017 16:22
  A research team has confirmed that targeting SnCs could treat age-related degenerative joint disease.
  
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• Wind turbines: The strength test

  09-06-2017 15:27
  
  Wind turbines rise into the sky on enormous feet. To ensure these giants can reliably generate electricity for many years to come, the iron processing industry must manufacture their massive components in a stable, resource-saving and yet cost-effective way. However, material inclusions such as dross are often unavoidable while casting. Researchers are currently working to detect and analyze such material defects.
  
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• Why microplastic debris may be the next big threat to our seas

  09-06-2017 15:27
  
  More than five trillion pieces of plastic debris are estimated to be in our oceans, though many are impossible to see with the naked eye.
  
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• Drug combination benefits patients with tophaceous gout

  09-06-2017 15:27
  The drug lesinurad in combination with febuxostat was better at lowering blood levels of urate than febuxostat alone in a phase III clinical trial of 324 patients with tophaceous gout. Over 12 months, significantly more patients in the combination group achieved target levels of urate than patients in the febuxostat group.
  
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• Experimental drug BIA 10-2474 deactivates proteins in human nerve cells

  09-06-2017 15:26
  At high doses, drug candidate BIA 10-2474 binds not only to the protein that it targets, but to other proteins as well. It thus deactivates proteins that are involved in the metabolism of nerve cells.
  
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• Smiling during victory could hurt future chances of cooperation

  09-06-2017 15:12
  Researchers have studied how reacting with a smile affects game outcomes, hoping one day to empower virtual humans with this knowledge.
  
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• Lost ecosystem found buried in mud of southern California coastal waters

  09-06-2017 15:12
  Paleontologists investigating the sea bed off California have discovered a lost ecosystem that for thousands of years had nurtured communities of scallops and shelled marine organisms called brachiopods. They had died off by the early 20th century, replaced by the mud-dwellling burrowing clams that inhabit this seabed today.
  
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• Infants born preterm may lack key lung cells later in life

  09-06-2017 15:12
  Mice born into an oxygen-rich environment respond worse to the flu once fully grown due to an absence of certain lung cells, a discovery that provides a potential explanation for preterm infants' added susceptibility to influenza and other lung diseases later in their lives.
  
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• Improving global medical device standard on auditory alarms

  09-06-2017 15:12
  Participants recognized and remembered each of the four prototype alarm sets better than those designed under the current IEC standard, and could localize three of the four prototype alarms faster and more accurately.
  
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• Distinct wiring mode found in chandelier cells

  09-06-2017 15:12
  For the first time, researchers show that a unique type of inhibitory interneuron called chandelier cells -- which are implicated in several diseases affecting the brain such as schizophrenia and epilepsy -- seem to develop their connections differently than other types of neurons.
  
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• Fiendishly complex

  09-06-2017 13:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  World Land Speed record holder Andy Green examines how the extremes of speed and acceleration will affect the airflow around the Bloodhound supersonic car.
  
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• Inside Australia's War on Invasive Species

  09-06-2017 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  
  The island country has a long history of unique efforts to battle nonnative animals
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Dogs and wolves share sense of fair play

  09-06-2017 10:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Animals take umbrage when they feel that others are getting greater rewards than they are.
  
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• Primitive whales had mediocre hearing

  09-06-2017 09:00
  
  Fossils suggest that early whale hearing was run-of-the-mill, along the same line as that of land mammals.
  
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• Unraveling the mysteries of Nipponosaurus

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Hokkaido University) Nipponosaurus sachalinensis -- a controversial hadrosaurid dinosaur whose fossilized skeleton was unearthed in southern Sakhalin in 1934 -- is found to be a valid taxon and a juvenile that had not reached sexual maturity.
  
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• UNIST improves remote detection of hazardous radioactive substances

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology(UNIST)) A research team, led by South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology has proposed a new method that might be used to detect nuclear hazards from up to a few hundred meters away.
  
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• UNIST engineers robotic device helping stroke survivors recover

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology(UNIST)) A research team, led by South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology has introduced a new robotic tool for assessments of muscle overactivity and movement dysfunction in stroke survivors. Their findings appeared in the the prestigious journal, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.
  
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• Today in 1922, Illinois professor showed how movies could talk

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Illinois College of Engineering) Electrical Engineering professor Joseph Tykociner had given several private demonstrations of his inventions, but on June 9, 1922, he gave his first public lecture and demonstration of his sound on film apparatus. A film of his demonstration was one of the first to successfully incorporate sound.
  
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• The largest virtual Universe ever simulated

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Zurich) Researchers from the University of Zurich have simulated the formation of our entire Universe with a large supercomputer. A gigantic catalogue of about 25 billion virtual galaxies has been generated from 2 trillion digital particles. This catalogue is being used to calibrate the experiments on board the Euclid satellite, that will be launched in 2020 with the objective of investigating the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
  
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• Study shows Cesarean patients sent home with more narcotic pain medications than needed

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Vanderbilt University Medical Center) Most women who undergo a cesarean childbirth are prescribed more opioid (narcotic) pain medications than needed upon release from the hospital, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study shows.
  
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• Space-traveling flatworms help scientists enhance understanding of regenerative health

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Tufts University) Flatworms that spent five weeks aboard the International Space Station are helping researchers led by Tufts University scientists to study how an absence of normal gravity and geomagnetic fields can have anatomical, behavioral, and bacteriological consequences, according to a paper to be published June 13 in Regeneration. The research has implications for human and animal space travelers and for regenerative and bioengineering science.
  
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• Retina may be sensitive gauge of blast-wave pressure injury

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Elsevier) Although traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a well-recognized consequence of extreme blast waves, it is less appreciated that over 80 percent of combat veterans with TBI also develop visual problems. A new study reports that blast exposure that does not cause detectable changes in the brain can result in long-term retinal injury. Researchers identified early indicators of retinal injury and inflammation that may help detect individuals at risk of visual impairment who would then benefit
  
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• Researchers compute their way toward cleaner coal plants

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Gauss Centre for Supercomputing) In an effort to design cleaner coal power plants, RWTH Aachen University researchers have been using High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart resources to perfrom some of the most detailed multiphase turbulence simulations ever run. The team recently released results in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics.
  
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• Removal of aging cells could extend human life

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology(UNIST)) A research team, led by South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology has confirmed that targeting SnCs could treat age-related degenerative joint disease. Their findings appeared in the world renowned medical journal, Nature Medicine.
  
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• Physicists use numerical 'tweezers' to study nuclear interactions

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (North Carolina State University) Researchers from North Carolina State University and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have developed numerical 'tweezers' that can pin a nucleus in place, enabling them to study how interactions between protons and neutrons produce forces between nuclei.
  
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• NIH-led workshop addresses opioid misuse during pregnancy

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (NIH/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) Research is essential to determining how best to screen pregnant women for opioid use disorder, to treat pregnant women who have the disorder, and to care for infants as they experience withdrawal symptoms, according to experts convened for a National Institutes of Health workshop in April 2016. A summary of the workshop, co-sponsored by NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
  
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• New way to weigh a white dwarf: Use Hubble Space Telescope

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Penn State) For the first time, astronomers have used a novel method to determine the mass of a type of star known as a 'white dwarf' -- the shrunken corpse of a dead star that used to be like our sun. The achievement, made with the Hubble Space Telescope, is described as a wonderful confirmation of theoretical predictions, and a beautiful reprise of the Einstein solar eclipse observations of a century ago.
  
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• New report: Social, behavioral, and economic sciences contribute to advancing NSF mission

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) The social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences make significant contributions to the National Science Foundation's mission to advance health, prosperity and welfare, national defense, and progress in science, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.NSF should undertake a systematic and transparent strategic planning process that defines SBE research priorities, the required resources, an
  
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• New form of carbon that's hard as a rock, yet elastic, like rubber

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Carnegie Institution for Science) Carbon is an element of seemingly infinite possibilities. This is because the configuration of its electrons allows for numerous self-bonding combinations that give rise to a range of materials with varying properties. A team including several Carnegie scientists has developed a form of ultrastrong, lightweight carbon that is also elastic and electrically conductive. A material with such a unique combination of properties could serve a wide variety of applicati
  
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• New findings aim to improve global medical device standard on auditory alarms

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Human Factors and Ergonomics Society) Participants recognized and remembered each of the four prototype alarm sets better than those designed under the current IEC standard, and could localize three of the four prototype alarms faster and more accurately.
  
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• New blood test uses nanotechnology to predict aggressive prostate cancer accurately

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry) A new diagnostic developed by Alberta scientists will allow men to bypass painful biopsies to test for aggressive prostate cancer. The test incorporates a unique nanotechnology platform to make the diagnostic using only a single drop of blood, and is significantly more accurate than current screening methods.
  
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• NASA mission tests ketogenic diet undersea, simulating life on Mars

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of South Florida (USF Health)) NASA selects University of South Florida researcher Dr. Dominic D'Agostino for NEEMO 22 expedition. The 10-day mission begins June 18th in the Florida Keys.
  
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• Mussels add muscle to biocompatible fibers

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Rice University) Rice University chemists use the sticky substance found in mussels to develop self-assembling, biocompatible macroscale fibers that can be used as scaffolds for directed cell growth.
  
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• Koch Institute to hold 16th annual symposium: Convergence of Science and Engineering in Cancer

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT) On June 16, MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research will present its 16th Annual Summer Symposium: Convergence of Science and Engineering in Cancer Research. Convergence -- the merging of historically distinct disciplines such as engineering, physics, chemistry, and the life sciences -- has created extraordinary opportunities for cancer research. Leaders in this emerging field will discuss innovative new approaches and technolo
  
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• IUPUI study finds risk for binge drinking differs by race, income and changes with age

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Science) An Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis study finds differing risk for binge drinking based on race, income and age. African-Americans are generally at low risk for binge drinking, but that risk increases disproportionately with age among African-Americans who are poor.
  
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• It's a breeze: How to harness the power of the wind

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Chinese Association of Automation) Scientists from the University of Rhode Island, Florida Atlantic University, USA, and Wuhan University, China, teamed up to find a way to optimize wind power for use, even when it's not blowing. To tackle the problem of reliability and consistency in wind power, the researchers proposed a day-ahead economic dispatch model for wind-integrated power systems. It's an algorithm designed to consider both the next day's planned energy use along with real-time energy
  
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• Hubble applauds waltzing dwarfs

  09-06-2017 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) This seemingly unspectacular series of dots with varying distances between them actually shows the slow waltz of two brown dwarfs. The image is a stack of 12 images made over the course of three years with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Using high-precision astrometry, an Italian-led team of astronomers tracked the two components of the system as they moved both across the sky and around each other.
  
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