Science news

• Potential ingredient for alien life found on Titan

  28-07-2017 20:32
  
  The atmosphere and oceans of Saturn’s moon Titan contain vinyl cyanide, a compound predicted to form cell-like bubbles.
  
  Read more

• 3-man crew launches to space station as U.S. steps up research

  28-07-2017 19:35 via cbc.ca
  A trio of astronauts from the United States, Russia and Italy headed for the International Space Station on Friday, a step toward boosting U.S. research projects aboard the orbiting laboratory.
  
  Read more

• Does doom and gloom convince anyone about climate change?

  28-07-2017 19:30
  
  New York magazine spurred conversation with a recent article on climate change. Will its apocalyptic approach have an impact?
  
  Read more

• Robot that dived into Washington, D.C., fountain not victim of 'foul play'

  28-07-2017 19:28
  (Reuters) - A security robot named STEVE that plunged into a Washington, D.C., fountain while on patrol was not a victim of foul play and instead took a tumble after skidding on a "loose brick surface," its manufacturer said on Friday.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Apple kills iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle as music moves to phones

  28-07-2017 17:44 via cbc.ca
  Apple has discontinued sales of the iPod Nano and the iPod Shuffle in a move reflecting the waning popularity of the devices in an era when most people store or stream their tunes on smartphones.
  
  Read more

• Federal gov't announces plan to protect caribou after legal action taken

  28-07-2017 17:27 via cbc.ca
  The federal government has come up with a proposed plan to protect Canada's threatened boreal caribou population, three months after a wildlife conservation group took the environment minister to court over the matter.
  
  Read more

• Newborn baby’s infection offers a cautionary tale about placenta pills

  28-07-2017 15:00
  
  A newborn came down with a dangerous bacterial infection. The culprit, scientists suspect, was contaminated placenta pills eaten by the mother.
  
  Read more

• Underwater vehicle probes depths of Lake Ontario for long-missing Avro Arrow model planes

  28-07-2017 14:00 via cbc.ca
  Watch as an underwater vehicle is launched in the depths of Lake Ontario in the hopes of recovering long-missing Avro Arrow model planes.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Secrets of the world's toughest creatures revealed

  28-07-2017 13:40 via bbc.co.uk
  DNA analyses of tardigrades has given scientists an insight into their incredible survival abilities.
  
  Read more

• Al Gore Returns with an Ever-More Inconvenient Truth

  28-07-2017 13:15 via rss.sciam.com
  The vice president-turned-environmental crusader takes viewers to climate change’s front lines in his documentary sequel
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• Penis Microbes Linked to Increased Risk of HIV Infection

  28-07-2017 13:00 via rss.sciam.com
  A study of Ugandan men identified several bacterial strains associated with a higher likelihood of acquiring the virus
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• Robots, Start Your Engines!

  28-07-2017 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  Roborace is creating a new motorsport to accelerate the arrival of self-driving cars
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• Astronomers may have found an exomoon, and Hubble is going to check

  28-07-2017 12:00
  
  A distant object may be the first exomoon detected.
  
  Read more

• Burp! Singapore scientists hope for probiotic beer hit

  28-07-2017 11:07
  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - It's a breakthrough worth raising a glass to.
  
  Read more

• The curious case of the 3DS, the device too successful for Nintendo to kill

  28-07-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  To casual observers, the death knell for Nintendo's 3DS family of devices should have been the release of the Switch this past March.
  
  Read more

• NASA scientists will chase solar eclipse in jets

  28-07-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  A team of NASA-funded scientists chasing the moon's shadow in retrofitted WB-57F jet planes will experience a total solar eclipse for more than seven minutes, giving them extra time to study the sun.
  
  Read more

• NASA scientists will chase solar eclipse in fighter jets

  28-07-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  A team of NASA-funded scientists chasing the moon's shadow in retrofitted WB-57F jet planes will experience a total solar eclipse for more than seven minutes, giving them extra time to study the sun.
  
  Read more

• Using science to combat illegal wildlife trade

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Michigan State University) Leading scientists from around the world convened this week at the International Congress for Conservation Biology in Cartagena, Colombia, to discuss how to better leverage science to combat illegal wildlife trade -- both within countries and across international borders.
  
  Read more

• Understanding the impact of childhood cancer rates across sub-Saharan Africa

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (ecancermedicalscience) New open access monograph gives unique insight into extent of childhood cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  
  Read more

• Tropical Storm Irwin's eastern side builds on satellite imagery

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Thunderstorm development on the eastern side of Tropical Storm Irwin appears to have improved in infrared imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite.
  
  Read more

• Touring senior centers, interacting with residents positively impacts health students

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (American Geriatrics Society) A new study has found that a community-based service learning experience involving greater interaction with older adults had a positive impact on career development for medical residents (physicians who have graduated from medical school and are starting work at a healthcare facility under supervision).
  
  Read more

• To pick a great gift, it's better to give AND receive

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (University of Wisconsin-Madison) If it's the thought that makes a gift count, here's a thought that can make your gift count extra: Get a little something for yourself. Research published this month in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by Evan Polman, marketing professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Sam Maglio, marketing professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough, shows that gift recipients are happier with a present when the giver got themselves the
  
  Read more

• Third edition of the Growing Young symposium: 'FOOD HEALTH TECH'

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Elhuyar Fundazioa) The food and biotechnological sectors and the scientific and medical communities will share their knowledge in the third edition of 'Growing Young.'
  
  Read more

• Stampede2 storms out of the corral in support of US scientists

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (University of Texas at Austin, Texas Advanced Computing Center) Stampede2 is the newest strategic resource for the US academic community, enabling thousands of researchers to answer questions that cannot be addressed through theory or experimentation alone and that require high-performance computing power. Currently the 12th most powerful supercomputer in the world, Stampede2 is fastest at any university in the US. When fully deployed later this summer, it will have a peak performance of 18 pet
  
  Read more

• Sleep or sex? How the fruit fly decides

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Yale University) Choosing between sex or sleep presents a behavioral quandary for many species, including the fruit fly. A multi-institution team has found that, in Drosophila at least, males and females deal with these competing imperatives in fundamentally different ways, they report July 28 in the journal Nature Communications.
  
  Read more

• Scientists use new data mining strategy to spot those at high Alzheimer's risk

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Duke University Medical Center) The push to develop treatments for Alzheimer's disease has yielded a greater understanding of the disease, but has failed to generate successful new drugs.To blame are the many undefined subtypes of mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to Alzheimer's disease. But if scientists grouped people with similar types of cognitive impairment, they could more precisely test the impact of investigational drugs, according to findings in a July 28 article in the journal Sc
  
  Read more

• Scientists discover new magnet with nearly massless charge carriers

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Louisiana State University) Advances in modern electronics has demanded the requisite hardware, transistors, to be smaller in each new iteration. Recent progress in nanotechnology has reduced the size of silicon transistors down to the order of 10 nanometers. However, for such small transistors, other physical effects set in, which limit their functionality. The recent discoveries of topological materials -- a new class of relativistic quantum materials -- hold great promise for use in energy s
  
  Read more

• Researchers uncover how to boost learning efficiency in neurofeedback paradigm

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (National Research University Higher School of Economics) Researchers from the HSE Centre for Cognition & Decision Making and the Control of Complex Systems Laboratory (Institute of Problems of Mechanical Engineering, Russian Academy of Sciences) have conducted a series of experiments to uncover what a person actually controls when they are tasked with independently affecting the activity of their own brain. This discovery may help develop non-pharmacological methods for treating epilepsy, a
  
  Read more

• One of the first examples of a local nautical map from Hispanic America

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (University of Seville) In the last third of the 16th century, the Spanish crown set in motion a project to obtain a complete map of the New World. The method thought up for this was to use surveys, known as Relaciones Geográficas. A questionnaire with more than 50 questions was sent to each settlement. These also had to be completed with a map of the local region.
  
  Read more

• On-chip pumps achieve high-speed sorting of large cells

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Nagoya University) Nagoya University research developed a high-speed cell sorting method of large cells with high-viability using dual on-chip pumps. The microfluidic chip has three-branched microchannels. Target cells are sorted into one of two interest channels by the high-speed flow produced by the on-chip pumps, while non-target cells enter a waste channel without pump actuation. The technique overcomes the limitation of many on-chip cell sorting methods in achieving the sorting of large ce
  
  Read more

• Newly discovered biomarkers may lead to promising diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Ohio State University) Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease and determining a patient's prognosis is an inexact business, and that stands in the way of better personalized care and advances in treatment. A new study from The Ohio State University has identified a potential new way of confirming the disease and predicting a patient's outlook.
  
  Read more

• National Academy of Medicine and FDA announce the 2017 Tobacco Regulatory Science Fellows

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) along with the US Food and Drug Administration's Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) have named the 2017-2018 class of the FDA Tobacco Regulatory Science Fellows.Four individuals were selected through a highly selective national competition based on their exceptional, diverse professional qualifications to contribute to the work of CTP.
  
  Read more

• NASA's Aqua satellite tracks Typhoon Nesat headed toward Taiwan

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Typhoon Nesat as the storm continued moving north toward Taiwan.
  
  Read more

• NASA's Aqua satellite tracking Typhoon Noru in northwestern Pacific

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Typhoon Noru in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean as the storm continued moving toward the southwest and remaining far from the big island of Japan.
  
  Read more

• NASA's Aqua satellite finds a Tropical Cyclone sandwich

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean early on July 28 it captured an image of a developing depression in the South China Sea, sandwiching the Philippines between two systems. Tropical Depression 12W formed to the northwest of the Philippines as Typhoon Noru was to the northeast of the Philippines.
  
  Read more

• NASA sees Hilary weaken to Tropical Storm status

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's Aqua satellite provided infrared imagery Hurricane Hilary that showed it weakening. Within 12 hours the storm weakened to a tropical storm.
  
  Read more

• NASA finds moon of Saturn has chemical that could form 'membranes'

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA scientists have definitively detected the chemical acrylonitrile, also known as vinyl cyanide, in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, a place that has long intrigued scientists investigating the chemical precursors of life.
  
  Read more

• 'Missing lead' in Flint water pipes confirms cause of crisis

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (University of Michigan) A study of lead service lines in Flint's damaged drinking water system reveals a Swiss cheese pattern in the pipes' interior crust, with holes where the lead used to be. The findings support the generally accepted understanding that lead leached into the system because that water wasn't treated to prevent corrosion. Researchers say the findings underscore how important uninterrupted anti-corrosion treatment is for the aging water systems that serve millions of American h
  
  Read more

• Making animated characters jump just got easier

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Disney Research) The way a videogame character jumps, kicks, walks, runs or even breathes is determined by a loop of frames known as a motion cycle. Also critical for producing animated films, motion cycles are as important as they are difficult to create.But an innovative new tool from Disney Research can make the task much easier.
  
  Read more

• Hubble Friday

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) This beautiful clump of glowing gas, dark dust and glittering stars is the spiral galaxy NGC 4248, located about 24 million light-years away in the constellation of Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs).
  
  Read more

• Football judgments and driving too fast: The science of judging speed

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (University of Lincoln) Football officials watching slow-motion clips or drivers changing from motorways to 30 mph zones could be unconsciously misjudging speed -- and the motivations behind a person's movements -- because their perceptions of 'normal' have been altered by recent experiences, new research has found.
  
  Read more

• Faster-acting antidepressants may finally be within reach

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Rockefeller University) Neuroscientists have taken a major step toward answering longstanding questions about how Prozac and similar drugs act in the brain. Their findings could lead to better antidepressants that don't take weeks to kick in.
  
  Read more

• Dr. Boukrina of Kessler Foundation awarded major American Heart Association grant

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Kessler Foundation) Olga Boukrina, PhD, research scientist in Stroke Rehabilitation Research at Kessler Foundation, has received a three-year award from the American Heart Association (AHA) valued at $231,000. The grant funds a study exploring a potential neural mechanism that could explain the high incidence of delirium and spatial neglect after right-hemisphere stroke.
  
  Read more

• Design method helps animated characters gain physical form

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Disney Research) Disney Research has developed a method for designing cable-driven mechanisms that help artists and hobbyists give physical form and motion to animated characters.
  
  Read more

• Death rate for depressed heart patients double than for non-depressed heart patients

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Intermountain Medical Center) People who are diagnosed with coronary artery disease and then develop depression face a risk of death that's twice as high as heart patients without depression, according to a major new study.
  
  Read more

• Computer models provide new understanding of sickle cell disease

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Brown University) Simulations developed by Brown University mathematicians provide new details of how sickle cell disease manifests inside red blood cells, which could help in developing new treatments.
  
  Read more

• Broadband light sources with liquid core

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Leibniz-Institute of Photonic Technology) Research scientists from Jena were successful in producing broadband laser light in the mid-infrared range with the help of liquid-filled optical fibers. With these fibers, they also provided experimental proof of a new dynamics of hybrid solitons -- a new type of temporally and spectrally stationary light waves resulting from the unique characteristics of the liquid core.
  
  Read more

• Are the world's highest paid football players overpaid? Big data says yes

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (Lawrence Technological University) Computer scientists used machine learning and data science to analyze the salaries of professional football players. A computational model was developed to show the world's most overpaid and underpaid players, and to identify skills that can earn footballers more Euros.
  
  Read more

• ALMA confirms complex chemistry in Titan's atmosphere

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) Saturn's frigid moon Titan has a curious atmosphere. In addition to a hazy mixture of nitrogen and hydrocarbons, like methane and ethane, Titan's atmosphere also contains an array of more complex organic molecules, including vinyl cyanide, which astronomers recently uncovered in archival ALMA data. Under the right conditions, like those found on the surface of Titan, vinyl cyanide may naturally coalesce into microscopic spheres resembling cell membranes.
  
  Read more

• Abba sequence in tennis tiebreaking serves is proven to be fair -- Ben-Gurion U.

  28-07-2017 06:00
  (American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) "The purpose of this study was to test the ABBA sequence in a real tournament setting," says Dr. Alex Krumer of the Swiss Institute for Empirical Economic Research at the University of St. Gallen. "Based on the analysis of 1,701 men's and 920 women's tiebreak games from 72 men's and 135 women's tournaments, we found no significant effect of the order of serves in tennis tiebreaks. Thus, we affirm IFAB's initiative to take a chance on ABBA
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!