Science news

• Karim Baratov, alleged Yahoo hacker, will bypass hearing and go to U.S. to fight charges

  11-08-2017 22:59 via cbc.ca
  Karim Baratov, the 22-year-old charged in connection with an American probe into a Yahoo hacking operation, will not stand for a scheduled extradition hearing this fall, his lawyer told CBC News on Friday.
  
  Read more

• Karim Baratov, alleged Yahoo hacker, will bypass extradition hearing and go to U.S. to fight charges

  11-08-2017 22:59 via cbc.ca
  Karim Baratov, the 22-year-old charged in connection with an American probe into a Yahoo hacking operation, will not stand for a scheduled extradition hearing this fall, his lawyer told CBC News on Friday.
  
  Read more

• Federal action to protect right whales encouraging, say environmental groups

  11-08-2017 21:00 via cbc.ca
  The Canadian Wildlife Federation and World Wildlife Fund both have words of praise for action taken Friday by the federal government to protect endangered right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
  
  Read more

• SoundCloud gets much-needed investment injection

  11-08-2017 20:42 via cbc.ca
  Reports say that music and audio streaming service SoundCloud will receive $170 million US, following recent reports raising concerns about the company's financial health.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• HBO offered $250,000 to hackers in bid to delay data release

  11-08-2017 20:41 via cbc.ca
  HBO last month offered $250,000 to cyber criminals who hacked into its computer system, asking them to extend a deadline for paying a much larger ransom, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.
  
  Read more

• Engraved prehistoric human bones suggest ritualistic cannibalism: study

  11-08-2017 18:35 via cbc.ca
  Engravings on a human bone from a prehistoric archaeological site in a cave in southern England shows that human cannibals ate their prey and then performed ritualistic burials with the remains, scientists said on Wednesday.
  
  Read more

• Did prehistoric humans engrave bones in a cannibalistic ritual?

  11-08-2017 18:35 via cbc.ca
  Engravings on a human bone from a prehistoric archaeological site in a cave in southern England shows that human cannibals ate their prey and then performed ritualistic burials with the remains, scientists said on Wednesday.
  
  Read more

• Fish sauced? Goldfish turn to alcohol to survive icy winters

  11-08-2017 18:19 via bbc.co.uk
  Researchers uncover the evolved ability of goldfish to generate alcohol when deprived of oxygen.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• China investigating WeChat, Weibo in content crackdown

  11-08-2017 17:09 via cbc.ca
  China is investigating its top social media sites, including WeChat and Weibo, for failing to comply with cyber laws, the latest step in the country's push to secure the internet and maintain strict Communist Party control over content.
  
  Read more

• Family Meal? Ancestral Humans May Have Engaged in Ritualistic Cannibalism

  11-08-2017 17:00 via rss.sciam.com
  Patterns carved in an arm bone could mean the gruesome practice held some ceremonial value for Paleolithic people
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• Scientists on research vessel spot rare whales in Bering Sea

  11-08-2017 16:59 via cbc.ca
  U.S. federal researchers studying critically endangered North Pacific right whales sometimes go years without finding their subjects. Over the weekend they got lucky.
  
  Read more

• Watercraft design: A smoother ride over troubled waters

  11-08-2017 16:58
  Researchers are developing the science that will improve soft-hull watercraft design. Their findings could help make a rough ride over choppy waters a lot smoother.
  
  Read more

• Nukes, Warheads and Guam: How Did We Get Here, and What Should Happen Next?

  11-08-2017 16:45 via rss.sciam.com
  Sanctions won’t end ‘cold war’ with North Korea, but diplomacy is still on the table, one expert says
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• Critical insights into T-cell development

  11-08-2017 15:37
  Mutations in the gene encoding the enzyme protein tyrosine phosphatase N2 (PTPN2) have been associated with the development of autoimmune disease including Type 1 diabetes, Crohn's Disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
  
  Read more

• Jackdaws flap their wings to save energy

  11-08-2017 15:36
  For the first time, researchers have observed that birds that fly actively and flap their wings save energy. Biologists have now shown that jackdaws minimize their energy consumption when they lift off and fly, because the feathers on their wing tips create several small vortices instead of a single large one. The discovery could potentially be applied within the aeronautical industry.
  
  Read more

• Why midsize animals are the fastest

  11-08-2017 15:00
  
  New analysis delves into the mystery of why medium-sized animals are speedier than bigger ones.
  
  Read more

• How goldfish make alcohol to survive without oxygen

  11-08-2017 14:50
  Scientists have uncovered the secret behind a goldfish's remarkable ability to produce alcohol as a way of surviving harsh winters beneath frozen lakes.
  
  Read more

• Climate crusader Gore takes up arms again

  11-08-2017 13:11 via bbc.co.uk
  BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin reviews Al Gore's climate movie sequel.
  
  Read more

• Why is this year’s solar eclipse such a big deal for scientists?

  11-08-2017 13:00
  
  Total eclipses offer scientists a way to see all the way down to the sun’s surface.
  
  Read more

• What will scientists learn from the Great American Eclipse?

  11-08-2017 13:00
  
  Between now and August 21, astronomy writer Lisa Grossman will explore the top questions scientists will tackle during the 2017 total solar eclipse.
  
  Read more

• Anger over 'untrue' climate change claims

  11-08-2017 12:55 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists respond furiously to claims about climate change made in a BBC radio interview.
  
  Read more

• Can a Crowdsourced AI Medical Diagnosis App Outperform Your Doctor?

  11-08-2017 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  The Human Dx platform aims to improve the accuracy of individual physicians
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• Ottawa to force ships to slow down to prevent whale deaths in Gulf of St. Lawrence

  11-08-2017 12:00 via cbc.ca
  The Canadian government is implementing a temporary mandatory slowdown for vessels of 20 metres or more in length to address the deaths of North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
  
  Read more

• USC Stem Cell scientists obtain 'how to' guide for producing hair follicles

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (University of Southern California - Health Sciences) How does the skin develop follicles and eventually sprout hair? A USC-led study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), addresses this question using insights gleaned from organoids, 3-D assemblies of cells possessing rudimentary skin structure and function -- including the ability to grow hair.
  
  Read more

• Transgender TV characters have the power to shape audience attitudes

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (Springer) Watching transgender characters on fictional TV shows has the power to influence attitudes toward transgender people and policy issues, according to new research from USC Annenberg. The research was published in the Springer Journal Sex Roles and further highlights the ways political ideology shapes viewer responses to transgender depictions in entertainment.
  
  Read more

• The Lancet: Highly hazardous pesticides: Bans not secure storage

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (University of Bristol) Global policies on access to highly hazardous pesticides - commonly ingested in acts of self-poisoning and suicide in rural Asia - should focus on national bans, rather than safe storage, according to two studies in The Lancet and The Lancet Global Health journals.
  
  Read more

• Testicular macrophages are guardians of fertility

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (CNRS) The origin, development, and characteristics of two types of testicular macrophage have been described by a CNRS team at the Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy. To elucidate the nature of these immune cells, the researchers used a novel cell tracing method. Their findings were published on Aug. 7, 2017, in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, and are of fundamental importance. They may help understand certain kinds of infertility in men and find new treatments for them.
  
  Read more

• Supportive relationships linked to willingness to pursue opportunities

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (Carnegie Mellon University) Carnegie Mellon University psychologists have discovered that people with supportive spouses were more likely to take on potentially rewarding challenges and that those who accepted the challenges experienced more personal growth, happiness, psychological well-being and better relationship functioning months later.
  
  Read more

• Study finds stark increase in opioid-related admissions, deaths in nation's ICUs

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) In one of the first efforts to quantify the impact of opioid abuse on intensive care units on United States' hospitals, a new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's (BIDMC) Center for Healthcare Delivery Science revealed that opioid-related demand for acute care services has outstripped the available supply.
  
  Read more

• Space-based experiment will tackle the mysteries of cosmic rays

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (University of Maryland) On Aug. 14, 2017, a groundbreaking University of Maryland-designed cosmic ray detector travels to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the SpaceX-12 Commercial Resupply Service mission. The instrument, named ISS Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (ISS-CREAM), is roughly the size of a refrigerator and will remain installed on the ISS's Japanese Experiment Module for at least three years. The data ISS-CREAM will collect could reveal new details about the origin and div
  
  Read more

• Scientists probe Neptune's depths to reveal secrets of icy planets

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (University of Edinburgh) Scientists have helped solve the mystery of what lies beneath the surface of Neptune -- the most distant planet in our solar system.
  
  Read more

• Researchers use machine learning to spot counterfeit consumer products

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (New York University) A team of researchers has developed a new mechanism that uses machine-learning algorithms to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit versions of the same product.
  
  Read more

• Professor harnesses AI to keep the Old Trafford traffic flowing

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (University of Huddersfield) Innovate UK award the University of Huddersfield £850,000 and Manchester is to be a test bed for the new artificial intelligence system designed to combat congestion and curtail pollution.
  
  Read more

• Opioid crisis impacts ICUs with more admissions, deaths

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (American Thoracic Society) The opioid crisis in the United States is resulting in increased admissions to hospital intensive care units and in increased numbers of ICU deaths from opioid overdoses, according to new research published online, ahead of print in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
  
  Read more

• Novel software can recognize eye contact in everyday situations

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (Saarland University) Human eye contact is an important information source. Nonetheless, so far, possibilities to recognize eye contact in everyday situations have been very limited. Computer scientists of Saarland University and the Max Planck Institute for Informatics have now developed a method by the aid of which it is possible to detect eye contact, independent of the type and size of the target object, the position of the camera, or the environment.
  
  Read more

• NIH grant to biomedical scientist will advance research on inflammatory bowel disease

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (University of California - Riverside) Declan McCole, a biomedical scientist at the University of California, Riverside, has received a $1.83 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to identify how the loss of a protective barrier in the intestine contributes to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestine that includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
  
  Read more

• Night vision for bird- & bat-friendly offshore wind power

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) The ThermalTracker software analyzes video with night vision, the same technology that helps soldiers see in the dark, to help birds and bats near offshore wind turbines.
  
  Read more

• New ultrathin semiconductor materials exceed some of silicon's 'secret' powers

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (Stanford University) Chip makers appreciate what most consumers never knew: silicon's virtues include the fact that it 'rusts' in a way that insulates its tiny circuitry. Two new ultrathin materials share that traitand outdo silicon in other ways that make them promising materials for electronics of the future.
  
  Read more

• New SQUID-based detector opens up new fields of study with new level of sensitivity

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (American Institute of Physics) Investigators at the University of Colorado, Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new sensor array-based instrument that offers ultra-low noise detection of small amounts of energy for a number of applications. The new device allows for the collection of data from many more detectors than was previously possible.
  
  Read more

• New mission going to the space station to explore mysteries of 'cosmic rain'

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) The ongoing fires that have been plaguing British Columbia for most of the summer are causing air hazards across the province and even parts of the US.
  
  Read more

• NASA watches the Sun put a stop to its own eruption

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) On Sept. 30, 2014, multiple NASA observatories watched a failed solar eruption. Because scientists had so many eyes on the event, they were able to explain how the Sun's magnetic landscape shredded its own eruption.
  
  Read more

• NASA sees formation of comma-shaped Tropical Storm 14W

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) The fourteenth tropical cyclone of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean hurricane season formed about 200 miles away from Wake Island and a NASA-NOAA satellite saw it take on a comma-shape.
  
  Read more

• Massive particles test standard quantum theory

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (University of Vienna) In quantum mechanics particles can behave as waves and take many paths through an experiment. It requires only combinations of pairs of paths, rather than three or more, to determine the probability for a particle to arrive somewhere. Researchers at the universities of Vienna and Tel Aviv have addressed this question for the first time explicitly using the wave interference of large molecules behind various combinations of single, double, and triple slits.
  
  Read more

• Imagining an action-consequence relationship can boost memory

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care) Imagining an action between two objects (the umbrella being lodged in the door lock) and a potential consequence (not being able to lock the door) may help people improve their memory for relationships with other objects, according to a recent Baycrest Health Sciences study published in the Memory & Cognition journal.
  
  Read more

• Higher income individuals more physically active, yet more sedentary

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (American Cancer Society) New research finds that higher income individuals are more likely to be 'weekend warriors,' getting most of their activity on only a few days a week.
  
  Read more

• Canary in a coal mine: Survey captures global picture of air pollution's effects on birds

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Writing Aug. 11 in the journal Environmental Research Letters, University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Tracey Holloway, an expert on air quality, and her former graduate student Olivia Sanderfoot sort through nearly 70 years of the scientific literature to assess the state of knowledge of how air pollution directly affects the health, well-being, reproductive success and diversity of birds.
  
  Read more

• An NJIT researcher throws a global ham radio 'party' to study the eclipse

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (New Jersey Institute of Technology) NJIT experts discuss the Aug. 21 eclipse, its impact on Earth's atmosphere and the data they will be gathering as they observe it at different points along its path.
  
  Read more

• A smoother ride over troubled waters

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (Utah State University) Researchers at USU's Splash Lab are developing the science that will improve soft-hull watercraft design. Their findings could help make a rough ride over choppy waters a lot smoother.
  
  Read more

• A NASA triple-view of Hurricane Franklin's fade out

  11-08-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's GPM, Aqua and Suomi NPP satellites provided three different views of the now fizzled and former Hurricane Franklin.
  
  Read more

• Scientists create safer pig organs with goal of transplants for humans

  11-08-2017 03:57
  (Reuters) - Scientists at a Massachusetts company seeking to make pig organs safe enough to be transplanted into humans have used gene-editing technology to clone piglets that lack a potentially dangerous retrovirus, according to a study released on Thursday.
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!