Science news

• How cats managed to take over the world (it's our fault)

  20-06-2017 23:39 via cbc.ca
  
  Cats have mounted a silent takeover of the world. They're in backyards, on T-shirts and motivational posters — and let's not even talk about the internet. Now, a new study from a team of international researchers has determined how they managed to do it: through humans.
  
  Read more

• Satellite trio will hunt gravitational waves from space

  20-06-2017 22:58
  
  The European Space Agency has green-lighted the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, expected to launch in 2034.
  
  Read more

• How, when, and where can Canada's digital spies hack? Government makes some suggestions in CSE Act

  20-06-2017 22:35 via cbc.ca
  
  The Canadian government is proposing new legislation that, for the first time, would explicitly define how and when the country's digital spies can hack into computer networks and infrastructure around the world.
  
  Read more

• Google's anti-terrorism plan creates a game of whack-a-mole

  20-06-2017 22:30 via cbc.ca
  
  For years, online video has been be a powerful recruitment tool for violent extremists. Now, online giant Google has announced a new plan to combat terrorist content online. But will its plan work?
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• New material could filter water contaminants that others miss

  20-06-2017 22:23
  
  A new polymer offers a better way to pull fluorine-containing pollutants out of drinking water.
  
  Read more

• Shared decision-making is cornerstone of multiple sclerosis treatment

  20-06-2017 21:42
  One of the cornerstones of multiple sclerosis treatment is shared decision-making between patients and their doctors and nurses, according to a new report.
  
  Read more

• The glycosylation pathway is required for the secretion of Slit and for the maintenance of the Slit receptor Robo on axons

  20-06-2017 20:38 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Slit proteins act as repulsive axon guidance cues by activating receptors of the Roundabout (Robo) family. During early neurogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster, Slit prevents the growth cones of longitudinal tract neurons from inappropriately crossing the midline, thus restricting these cells to trajectories parallel to the midline. Slit is expressed in midline glial cells, and Robo is present in longitudinal axon tracts and growth cones. We showed that the enzyme Mummy (Mmy) controlled Slit-Rob
  
  Read more

• Papers of note in Science Translational Medicine 9 (394)

  20-06-2017 20:38 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles describe how broccoli can combat type 2 diabetes, how monocytes contribute to the failure of organ transplant grafts, and how to more durably treat RET- or KRAS-driven lung cancer.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Papers of note in Science 356 (6343)

  20-06-2017 20:38 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles describe a mechanism by which starvation primes a cellular nutrient-sensing system for activation upon refeeding; microRNAs that control pain sensitivity; and the lasting effects of early life stress on the likelihood of developing depression.
  
  Read more

• Papers of note in Nature 546 (7658)

  20-06-2017 20:38 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles highlight a compound that may be useful for treating cryptosporidiosis and a kinase complex that links cell division to cellular metabolism.
  
  Read more

• Macrophages dont take more than they can eat

  20-06-2017 20:38 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Innate immune signaling feeds forward to control the rate at which macrophages phagocytose bacteria.
  
  Read more

• Ligand- and voltage-gated Ca2+ channels differentially regulate the mode of vesicular neuropeptide release in mammalian sensory neurons

  20-06-2017 20:38 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Neuropeptides released from dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons play essential roles in the neurotransmission of sensory inputs, including those underlying nociception and pathological pain. Neuropeptides are released from intracellular vesicles through two modes: a partial release mode called "kiss-and-run" (KAR) and a full release mode called "full fusion–like" (FFL). Using total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, we traced the release of pH-sensitive green fluorescent pr
  
  Read more

• Genetic evidence that {beta}-arrestins are dispensable for the initiation of {beta}2-adrenergic receptor signaling to ERK

  20-06-2017 20:38 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) has provided a paradigm to elucidate how G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) control intracellular signaling, including the discovery that β-arrestins, which bind to ligand-activated GPCRs, are central for GPCR function. We used genome editing, conditional gene deletion, and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to determine the roles of β-arrestin 1 (β-arr1) and β-arr2 in β2AR internalization, trafficking, and signaling to ERK
  
  Read more

• Dazed and confused from infection

  20-06-2017 20:38 via stke.sciencemag.org
  TNF-α produced by circulating CX3CR1high monocytes causes the problems that infected individuals have with learning and remembering.
  
  Read more

• Primary care decisions often made without the best evidence

  20-06-2017 20:31
  Primary care providers may have a difficult time finding quality evidence to support their clinical decisions, according to a new study.
  
  Read more

• Finding the perfect match: New approach to battle drug-resistant bacteria

  20-06-2017 20:31
  Antibiotics were the wonder drug of the 20th century, but bacteria evolved resistance. According to the CDC, more than 2 million people in the U.S. develop MDR infections every year. Researchers have now developed a rapid screen to pair existing FDA-approved drugs to combat MDR infections.
  
  Read more

• How phytoplankton rule the oceans

  20-06-2017 20:30
  
  Photosynthesis is a unique biological process that has permitted the colonization of land and sea by plants and phytoplankton respectively. While the mechanisms of photosynthesis in plants are well understood, scientists are only now beginning to elucidate how the process developed in phytoplankton.
  
  Read more

• Bacterial superantigens turn our immune cells to the dark side

  20-06-2017 20:29
  
  A subpopulation of immune cells that normally fend off pathogens can turn against the host during certain infections, a new study reveals.
  
  Read more

• Thousands of genes influence most diseases, researchers report

  20-06-2017 20:06
  
  In a provocative new perspective piece, researchers say that disease genes are spread uniformly across the genome, not clustered in specific molecular pathways, as has been thought.
  
  Read more

• An elevator to space? Demo by Japanese students brings science fiction closer to reality

  20-06-2017 19:05 via cbc.ca
  
  A demonstration by a group of Japanese students showed how the technology for a space elevator could work. These elevators would link Earth's surface to space using cables tethered to satellites.
  
  Read more

• Ten near-Earth size planets in habitable zone of their star

  20-06-2017 18:33
  
  NASA's Kepler space telescope team has released a mission catalog of planet candidates that introduces 219 new planet candidates, 10 of which are near-Earth size and orbiting in their star's habitable zone, which is the range of distance from a star where liquid water could pool on the surface of a rocky planet.
  
  Read more

• Exhausted immune cells linked to irritable bowel syndrome

  20-06-2017 18:29
  A specific type of irritable bowel syndrome is associated with exhaustion of the immune system in patients, researchers have discovered for the first time.
  
  Read more

• First randomized controlled trial of deep brain stimulation for chronic pain shows promise

  20-06-2017 18:11
  Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the ventral striatum/anterior limb of the internal capsule is safe and feasible in addressing the affective component of pain in patients with post-stroke pain syndrome, report investigators.
  
  Read more

• Best delivery mode for potential HIV vaccine tested

  20-06-2017 18:11
  
  For decades, HIV has successfully evaded all efforts to create an effective vaccine but researchers are steadily inching closer. Their latest study demonstrates that optimizing the mode and timing of vaccine delivery is crucial to inducing a protective immune response in a preclinical model.
  
  Read more

• Physical activity counseling affects parents and get children to move

  20-06-2017 18:07
  Parents can affect their children's physical activity behavior. A unique finding of the study was that especially the parents who have previously provided only little support for their children's physical activity can make changes that have a positive effect on the daily physical activity of the children.
  
  Read more

• Internet-based weight-loss program for low-income women after child birth

  20-06-2017 17:42
  An internet-based weight loss program was effective in promoting significant weight loss in low-income postpartum women over 12 months, according to a study.
  
  Read more

• Applying continuous airway pressure improves respiratory and survival rates in children

  20-06-2017 17:42
  Applying continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a form of non-invasive ventilation, decreased mortality in children with respiratory distress, new research has found. Findings from the trial indicated that the procedure especially benefited children less than one year of age, confirmed that no serious adverse events were associated with the treatment, and is a step forward in treating children with respiratory distress in resource-limited settings.
  
  Read more

• Age-specific overall risk of breast, ovarian cancer among women with BRCA1/2 genetic mutations

  20-06-2017 17:42
  Researchers conducted an analysis that included nearly 10,000 women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic mutations to estimate the age-specific risk of breast or ovarian cancer for women with these mutations, according to a study.
  
  Read more

• Solar heating could cover over 80 percent of domestic heating requirements in Nordic countries

  20-06-2017 17:41
  
  By using suitable systems, more than 80 percent of heating energy for Finnish households could be produced using solar energy with competitive prices. This result is also valid for Sweden, Norway, Alaska, northern Canada and other locations at the same latitudes.
  
  Read more

• Screening for obesity in children and adolescents recommended

  20-06-2017 17:41
  The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that clinicians screen for obesity in children and adolescents 6 years and older and offer or refer them to comprehensive, intensive behavioral interventions to promote improvements in weight.
  
  Read more

• Scientists turbocharge high-resolution, 3-D imaging

  20-06-2017 17:41
  
  Scientists have found a relatively simple, low-cost fix that substantially improves images obtained via a widely used optical scanning technique, opening the door to 'virtual biopsies.'
  
  Read more

• People looking for prestige prefer 'big ponds' over small ones

  20-06-2017 17:41
  When looking at new opportunity, do you choose an average place where you are among the top performers or do you choose a prestigious place where you might be average and not particularly remarkable? In other words, do you want to be the big frog in a small pond or a little frog in a big pond? According to recent research your cultural upbringing ultimately affects your choice.
  
  Read more

• Older dads have 'geekier' sons

  20-06-2017 17:41
  Sons of older fathers are more intelligent, more focused on their interests and less concerned about fitting in, all characteristics typically seen in 'geeks,' suggests new British research.
  
  Read more

• Isolating anti-Alzheimer's compounds in plants

  20-06-2017 17:41
  Scientists have developed a method to isolate and identify active compounds in plant medicines, which accurately accounts for drug behavior in the body. Using the technique, they have identified several active compounds from Drynaria Rhizome, a traditional plant medicine, which improve memory and reduce disease characteristics in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.
  
  Read more

• Increase in use of high-dose vitamin D supplements

  20-06-2017 17:41
  From 1999 through 2014 the number of US adults taking daily vitamin D supplements above the recommended levels increased, and 3 percent of the population exceeded the daily upper limit considered to possibly pose a risk of adverse effects, according to a study.
  
  Read more

• Genetic modifier for Huntington's disease progression identified

  20-06-2017 17:41
  Researchers have developed a novel measure of disease progression for Huntington's disease, which enabled them to identify a genetic modifier associated with how rapidly the disease progresses.
  
  Read more

• Modeling Gulf War illness: Knowing the cause of brain dysfunction is key to finding a cure

  20-06-2017 17:40
  When hundreds of thousands of American troops deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1990 and 1991 in the First Gulf War, they were exposed to a variety of chemicals. These chemicals -- especially when coupled with war-related stress -- seem to still be affecting nearly 200,000 Gulf War veterans -- or 25 to 32 percent of those who served -- more than 25 years later, and the constellation of resulting symptoms has been termed Gulf War illness.
  
  Read more

• Blocking yeast-bacteria interaction may prevent severe biofilms that cause childhood tooth decay

  20-06-2017 17:40
  In early childhood caries, a severe form of tooth decay that affects more than a third of toddlers in the US, yeast often partners with bacteria to form an intractable biofilm. New research reveals the mechanisms and suggests a way to block the interaction and reduce plaque.
  
  Read more

• Brain tumors: Still devastating, but treatment has come a long way

  20-06-2017 17:12
  A neurosurgeon discusses advances in brain tumor diagnosis and treatment that are bringing renewed hope to the battle against brain cancer.
  
  Read more

• Hawking urges Moon landing to 'elevate humanity'

  20-06-2017 17:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Prof Stephen Hawking has called for leading nations to send astronauts to the Moon by the end of this decade.
  
  Read more

• Europe selects grand gravity mission

  20-06-2017 16:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  After decades in the planning, a space mission to detect gravitational waves finally gets the go-ahead.
  
  Read more

• Vaccine that lowers cholesterol in mice offers hope of immunizing against cardiovascular disease

  20-06-2017 15:45
  A vaccine to immunize people against high levels of cholesterol and the narrowing of the arteries caused by build-up of fatty material (atherosclerosis) may be possible following successful results in mice. Now, a phase I trial in patients has started to see if the findings translate to humans.
  
  Read more

• Steaming fish eliminates more cyanotoxins than boiling it

  20-06-2017 15:45
  
  People today do not know the real exposure, via the food we consume, to cyanotoxins, which can affect different organs and which can be transferred to the water used for cooking, warn researchers.
  
  Read more

• Knowing more about economic gains makes people less cooperative

  20-06-2017 15:45
  Access to earnings information hampers cooperation, suggests a new report.
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!