Science news

• Genome pioneer John Sulston enters elite club

  16-06-2017 23:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sir John Sulston is elevated to the Companion of Honour in the Queen’s birthday list.
  
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• Eclipse watchers catch part of the sun’s surface fleeing to space

  16-06-2017 20:57
  
  A serendipitous eruption during a solar eclipse showed relatively cool blobs of plasma, wrapped in a million-degree flame, streaming from the sun.
  
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• New blood test detects stroke and heart attack risk in lupus patients with no CVD symptoms

  16-06-2017 20:39
  A specific biomarker detected in the blood of lupus patients with no symptoms of cardiovascular disease (CVD), thought to be at low risk of CVD based on traditional risk factors, is associated with the presence of atherosclerosis, new research indicates.
  
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• Novel approach may improve valve function in some patients

  16-06-2017 20:18
  Pulsed cavitation ultrasound can be used to remotely soften human degenerative calcified biosprosthetic valves and significantly improve the valve opening function, according to a new study. This new noninvasive approach has the potential to improve the outcome of patients with severe bioprosthesis stenosis.
  
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• Apple and Google say goodbye to auto-play video ads

  16-06-2017 20:00 via cbc.ca
  
  The days of annoying auto-play video ads may be numbered. Google and Apple have announced ad-blocking features that will likely be rolled out in the next year.
  
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• Building a better alligator: Advanced 3-D models of bite data

  16-06-2017 19:56
  
  The ability to bite hard is critical for crocodilians to eat their food such as turtles, wildebeest and other large prey; therefore, their anatomy is closely studied by veterinarians and paleontologists who are interested in animal movements and anatomy. Now, researchers have developed three-dimensional models of the skull of the American alligator using cutting-edge imaging and computational tools.
  
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• Antibiotics promote resistance on experimental croplands

  16-06-2017 19:40
  Researchers have generated both novel and existing antibiotic resistance mechanisms on experimental farmland, by exposing the soil to specific antibiotics.
  
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• A two-headed worm is changing what we know about survival in space

  16-06-2017 19:07 via cbc.ca
  
  A worm has given researchers insights into how regeneration works and how space flight could affect human biology.
  
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• Antarctic ice melt tied to El Nino warming

  16-06-2017 18:48 via cbc.ca
  
  Researchers from Ohio State University have linked the El Nino weather phenomenon with a massive surface melt on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, raising alarm bells about the stability of the ice shelf and what further melting could mean for rising sea levels around the globe.
  
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• Genes and the environment? Factors, patterns that lead to childhood obesity risk

  16-06-2017 18:22
  A factor that has been linked to childhood obesity is restrictive feeding practices by primary caregivers, the implication being that it may interfere with a child's ability to learn to self-regulate food intake. When a child is overweight, parents tend to use more controlling, restrictive feeding practices. A new study is showing that a child's genetics, related to emotion and cognition, may also play a role in this pattern.
  
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• Obamacare key to improving access in Mexican-American patients with hypertension

  16-06-2017 18:21
  The Affordable Care Act, if embraced, can dramatically reduce disparities between Mexican-heritage people and white patients with hypertension, new research concludes.
  
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• Smartphone app detects and alerts sleepy drivers

  16-06-2017 18:18
  
  To reduce accidents caused by fatigue driving, researchers have developed a system that detects drowsy drivers and alerts them simply using a generic smartphone.
  
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• On the road to creating an electrodeless spacecraft propulsion engine

  16-06-2017 18:18
  
  Researchers have been trying to find out how the plasma flow is influenced by its environment via laboratory experiments. And in doing so, have made headway on research towards creating an electrodeless plasma thruster used to propel spacecraft.
  
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• Semi-autonomous cars: No more stopping for red lights?

  16-06-2017 18:17
  Cars could soon negotiate smart intersections without ever having to stop, a new report suggests.
  
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• Making wires of polymers chains

  16-06-2017 18:17
  Researchers have modeled a new route to molecular wires suitable for use in miniature electronics.
  
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• Laying the foundations for hybrid silicon lasers

  16-06-2017 18:17
  
  A new technique for manufacturing hybrid silicon lasers paves the way for low-cost, mass-produced photonic devices usable in a range of applications.
  
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• Researchers seek biomarker to assess spinal muscular atrophy treatment

  16-06-2017 17:50
  Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the leading genetic cause of death in infants. As promising new therapies such as those directly targeting survivor motor neuron (SMN) are entering clinical trials for infants, children, and adults with SMA, researchers are searching for biomarkers in blood that can monitor their effectiveness.
  
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• Lack of 'editing' in brain molecules potential driver of cancer

  16-06-2017 17:50
  A “significant” lack of ‘editing’ has been observed in microRNAs in brain tissue of brain cancer patients, report investigators.
  
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• New web calculator to more accurately predict bowel cancer survival

  16-06-2017 17:45
  'How long do I have, doctor?' For many cancer patients, following the initial shock of their diagnosis, thoughts quickly turn to estimating how much precious time they have left with family and friends or whether certain treatments could prolong their life.
  
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• Trump's coal plan sends U.S. energy "back to the past": Vatican

  16-06-2017 17:13
  
  OSLO (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is sending U.S. energy production "back to the past" with disastrous decisions to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and to promote the coal industry, a senior Vatican official said on Friday.
  
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• Canada's spy agency expects cyberattacks during 2019 federal election

  16-06-2017 16:40 via cbc.ca
  
  The federal government believes Canadian democracy is "not immune" from cyber threats, and today outlined its plan to ensure the electoral system is secure.
  
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• Increase in ciguatera fish poisoning cases in Europe

  16-06-2017 16:22
  Fish is a healthy diet, it supplies important omega-3 fatty acids and trace elements like iodine and selenium. However, eating fish caught in certain regions can sometimes also have its risks. In Bavaria, there have recently been reports of multiple cases of diarrhea, vomiting and cold pain following consumption of imported deep-frozen fish. The symptoms are typical signs of ciguatera -- one of the most frequent fish poisonings worldwide caused by ciguatoxins in edible fish.
  
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• Study casts doubt about link between eczema, cardiovascular disease

  16-06-2017 16:21
  Despite mixed evidence recently about an association between atopic dermatitis and cardiovascular disease, a new study that analyzed more than 250,000 medical records suggests there is no link.
  
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• Passive smoking in childhood linked to rheumatoid arthritis

  16-06-2017 16:21
  The link between active smoking and the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been demonstrated by research. However, interestingly, new work also suggested for the first time that in smokers, exposure to tobacco early in life through passive smoking in childhood significantly increased this risk.
  
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• New relapse prediction tool reduces cost of rheumatoid arthritis treatment

  16-06-2017 16:21
  The combined use of two measurements to accurately predict the risk of relapse in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) allows successful dose reduction (tapering) of their disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), research shows. This in turn increases the cost-effectiveness of each DMARD treatment.
  
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• New effective treatments for psoriatic arthritis patients

  16-06-2017 16:21
  New research reveals promising data supporting two new drug classes for the treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA).
  
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• New approach to unlock the genetic potential of plant cell wall

  16-06-2017 16:21
  Researchers have unlocked the genetic secrets of plant cell walls, which could help improve the quality of plant-based foods, outlines a new report.
  
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• Mathematicians deliver formal proof of Kepler Conjecture

  16-06-2017 16:21
  A mathematical problem more than 300 years old gets a formal proof with the help of computer formal verification.
  
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• Gout hospitalization exacerbated by failure to prescribe recommended urate-lowering treatment

  16-06-2017 16:21
  An increasing incidence of hospitalization due to gout has been witnessed over the last decade, with a resultant increase in health care costs. Also, worryingly, many of the patients admitted to hospital had not been receiving the recommended urate-lowering treatment (ULT).
  
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• Genes explain higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease in chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases patients

  16-06-2017 16:21
  New research represents an important step towards characterizing the genetic basis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in chronic immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID).
  
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• DNA sent on sequential, and consequential, building mission

  16-06-2017 16:21
  
  A team of scientists has developed a method to create structures whose building blocks are a millionth of a meter in size by encoding DNA with assembly instructions.
  
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• Distant brain regions selectively recruit stem cells

  16-06-2017 16:21
  
  Stem cells persist in the adult mammalian brain and generate new neurons throughout life. A research group reports that long-distance brain connections can target discrete pools of stem cells in their niche and stimulate them to divide and produce specific subtypes of olfactory bulb neurons. This allows the 'on-demand' generation of particular types of neurons in the adult brain.
  
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• Manipulating mosquitoes with light

  16-06-2017 15:16
  
  Exposure to just 10 minutes of light at night suppresses biting and manipulates flight behavior in the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, the major vector for transmission of malaria in Africa, according to new research.
  
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• Quality of early family relationships affects children's mental health

  16-06-2017 15:15
  The birth of a child is often a long-awaited and deeply meaningful event, but the transition to parenthood also forces the parents to revise their interparental romantic relationship. At the same time as the parents learn how to cope with the new situation, the infant undergoes one of the most intense developmental periods in human life. Attachment research has demonstrated the importance of the mother-infant relationship to children’s emotional development, but there is still relatively l
  
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• Augmented reality system to help medical professionals

  16-06-2017 15:15
  
  A mixed reality system that allows medical practitioners to view and interact with virtual replicas of patients' organs, bones or body parts is being developed by academics.
  
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• See the latest stunning views of Jupiter

  16-06-2017 15:00
  
  Once every 53 days, NASA’s Juno spacecraft zooms past Jupiter’s cloud tops. A new sequence of images reveals the encounter from Juno’s viewpoint.
  
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• Why is one twin smaller than the other? Answer could lie in the placenta

  16-06-2017 14:37
  
  When a baby is born small, it's often attributed to genetic factors or maternal risk factors like poor nutrition or smoking. But a twin study now finds that slower transport of oxygen from mother to baby across the placenta predicts slower fetal growth, as well as a smaller brain and liver.
  
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• Reducing environmental impact of idling buses and delivery trucks

  16-06-2017 14:37
  Researchers have developed a system for service vehicles that could reduce emissions and save companies and governments millions of dollars per year in fuel costs.
  
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• Bacteria free themselves with molecular 'speargun'

  16-06-2017 14:37
  
  Many bacteria are armed with nano-spearguns, which they use to combat unwelcome competitors or knockout host cells. The pathogen responsible for tularemia, a highly virulent infectious disease, uses this weapon to escape from its prison in cells defending the host, report researchers.
  
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• Shaking Schrödinger's cat

  16-06-2017 14:34
  Frequent measurement of a quantum system's state can either speed or delay its collapse, effects called the quantum Zeno and quantum anti-Zeno effect. But so too can "quasimeasurements" that only poke the system and garner no information about its state.
  
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• Spatial database of the world's rice production to address research and policy questions on food security

  16-06-2017 14:31
  Rice is an important food source for a majority of the world population. Worldwide, on average around 60 kilograms of rice is consumed per year per person. Researchers from all over the world have developed the RiceAtlas: a spatial database that answers key questions like where, when and how much rice is grown globally. The database has just been made publicly available.
  
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• Skin disease caused by sperm cell transmission of keratin mutation

  16-06-2017 14:31
  
  Nagoya University research identified a patient with the whole-body skin disease epidermolytic ichthyosis that had been inherited as a germline mutation from her father with the milder epidermolytic nevus. Analysis of genomic DNA from the patient revealed a mutation in the keratin 10 gene, which was identical to that observed in cells taken from patches of thickened skin on the father’s body. Assessing transmission risk of such diseases allows affected couples to receive genetic counseling
  
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• How a single criminal hacking group held Canadian casinos and mining companies ransom

  16-06-2017 14:00 via cbc.ca
  
  They stole data, demanded payment in bitcoin, and disabled computer systems if the victims didn't pay up.
  
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• Youth is no defence when it comes to shameful online posts

  16-06-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Public figures face their fair share of scrutiny when it comes to online posts, but it is average teens that seem to bear the brunt in this perilous landscape, Ramona Pringle writes.
  
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• China's quantum satellite makes breakthrough in secure communications

  16-06-2017 10:12
  
  BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese quantum satellite has dispatched transmissions over a distance of 1,200 km (746 miles), a dozen times further than the previous record, a breakthrough in a technology that could be used to deliver secure messages, state media said on Friday.
  
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• 'Little sunfish' robot to swim in to Fukushima reactor

  16-06-2017 06:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  It'll be a tough journey - previous robots sent in to the ruined nuclear reactor didn't make it back.
  
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• Viral vectors for gene transfer travel longer distances in the brain than thought

  16-06-2017 06:00
  
  (University of Veterinary Medicine -- Vienna) Gene transfer with laboratory-produced viruses is seen as a hopeful therapy for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients. A team from Vetmeduni Vienna investigated how far these viruses spread in the brain and which cells they infect. Some of these viruses travelled from injection site as far as the olfactory bulb or the cerebellum and infected neurons and other cells. This could improve selection of viral vectors for custom therapies using gene transfer
  
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• Shaking Schroedinger's cat

  16-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Washington University in St. Louis) Frequent measurement of a quantum system's state can either speed or delay its collapse, effects called the quantum Zeno and quantum anti-Zeno effect. But so too can 'quasimeasurements' that only poke the system and garner no information about its state.
  
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• Scientists solve 30-year old mystery on how resistance genes spread

  16-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Technical University of Denmark) For more than 30 years, scientists have proposed that resistance genes actually originate from the microorganisms producing the antibiotic.Now, research conducted at The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability -- DTU Biosustain -- at Technical University of Denmark for the very first time shows that antibiotic resistance genes originate from the same place as the antibiotic compounds, i.e. from a group of soil bacteria called Actinobacteria.
  
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• Save the Date: Leading acoustics meeting in Boston June 25-29, 2017

  16-06-2017 06:00
  
  (Acoustical Society of America) The 173rd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the third joint meeting with the European Acoustics Association will be held this month in Boston. The meeting will cover acoustics across a diverse range of fields and applications including human health, technology, animal communication, education and more.
  
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