Science news

• Help for postpartum mood disorders can be hard to come by

  13-09-2017 22:30
  
  A new survey suggests that many postpartum women who suffer from depression, anxiety and other mood disorders don’t get the help they need.
  
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• So long, Titan. Cassini snaps parting pics of Saturn’s largest moon

  13-09-2017 22:05
  
  The last swing past Saturn’s largest moon sent Cassini heading directly towards the planet — and showed how future spacecraft will explore other moons.
  
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• Skeleton ignites debate over whether women were Viking warriors

  13-09-2017 21:49
  
  Scientists spar over a 10th century woman who may have had serious fight in her.
  
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• Orchid gives up the secrets of its success

  13-09-2017 20:38 via bbc.co.uk
  Science is laying bare the secrets of orchids, one of the biggest families of flowering plant.
  
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• How woodpeckers and aye-aye lemurs can teach us about evolution

  13-09-2017 20:22 via cbc.ca
  When you think of evolution, you probably imagine time scales of millions of years. But scientists say species can adapt way more quickly than that.
  
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• The future of photography is a camera made of code

  13-09-2017 19:32 via cbc.ca
  On devices like the iPhone X, what we think of as a camera is largely a collection of software algorithms — ones that increasingly let us take photos no traditional camera could ever take.
  
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• U.S., Russian crew transfer to space station after Soyuz flight

  13-09-2017 17:25
  BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - Two U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday, about six hours after their Soyuz spacecraft blasted off from Kazakhstan, a NASA TV broadcast showed.
  
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• The beam of invisibility

  13-09-2017 16:45
  A new idea for a cloaking technology has been created by scientists. A completely opaque material is irradiated from above with a specific wave pattern -- with the effect that light waves from the left can now pass through the material without any obstruction. This surprising result opens up completely new possibilities for active camouflage.
  
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• Self-folding electronics could enable advanced robotics

  13-09-2017 16:45
  As demand grows for more versatile, advanced robotics and other technologies, the need for components that can enable these applications also increases. Producing such components en masse has been a major challenge. But now, researchers report that they have developed a way to help meet this need by printing electronics that can fold themselves into a desired shape.
  
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• Popular bottle-breaking trick is giving insight to brain injuries

  13-09-2017 16:45
  As many YouTube videos show, striking the top of a liquid-filled bottle can shatter the bottom. Researchers are hoping to use new knowledge of that party trick to help fill a gap in something much more serious: brain research.
  
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• Bird songs isolate species, new research suggests

  13-09-2017 16:45
  Two birds that look the same, but have songs so different they can't recognize each other, should be considered distinct species, suggests new research. Among 72 related populations of Central and South American birds the researchers tested, they found evidence for 21 new species.
  
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• Multifunctional nano-sized drug carriers based on reactive polypept(o)ides

  13-09-2017 16:44
  Researchers have been able to demonstrate that reactive polypept(o)ides constitute ideal building blocks to control morphology and function of carrier systems in a simple but precise manner.
  
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• Belfast scientists design flexible organic battery

  13-09-2017 15:04 via bbc.co.uk
  Queen's University scientists design a flexible long-life battery that could be used in pacemakers.
  
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• Why are there so many berries this year?

  13-09-2017 14:57 via bbc.co.uk
  Berries are appearing early this year - and promise to last much longer than usual, according to experts.
  
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• New research on probiotics in the prevention and treatment of colon cancer

  13-09-2017 14:44
  In an innovative approach to colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention and treatment, scientists are studying ways to replace missing metabolites in patients prone to gut inflammation and CRC. A new study describes how administration of histamine-producing gut microbes to mice lacking the enzyme histidine decarboxylase (HDC) reduced inflammation and tumor formation. These results suggest that alteration of the gut microbiome with probiotics may become a new preventative or therapeutic strategy for pati
  
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• A hair-trigger for cells fighting infection

  13-09-2017 14:44
  In response to infection the immune system produces unique antibodies to target each illness. To make these new antibodies, cells in the immune system must intentionally damage their own genes, meaning they run the risk of becoming cancer cells. New research reveals how a proteins called Tia1 acts as a hair-trigger for DNA repair, allowing the immune system to walk the line between health and harm.
  
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• Tesla Autopilot limitations played big role in fatal crash

  13-09-2017 14:38 via cbc.ca
  ​Design limitations of the Tesla Model S's Autopilot played a major role in the first known fatal crash of a highway vehicle operating under automated control systems, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board says.
  
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• Searching for the Next Facebook or Google: Bloomberg Helps Launch Tech Incubator

  13-09-2017 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  The former mayor speaks with Scientific American about the new Cornell Tech campus in New York City: “Culture attracts capital a lot quicker than capital will attract culture.”
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Just clicking on 'free' Facebook offers leaves you open to villains and viruses

  13-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  If you're a frequent Facebook user you know all about those "free" ads that pop up on your timeline — postings that offer two free Air Canada tickets, a $100 Ikea gift certificate or free pizzas, to mention just a few.
  
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• Google's plan to eliminate Zika-carrying mosquitoes: more mosquitoes?

  13-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  Google's plan to eliminate Zika-carrying mosquitoes: more mosquitoes? In Fresno, Calif., a truck sprays millions of bacteria-infected mosquitoes to halt advance of Aedes aegytpi.
  
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• Wyss Institute launches human Organ Chip project to model influenza virus infection

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard) The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to leverage its human Organ-on-a-Chip (Organ Chip) microfluidic cell culture technology to develop clinically relevant in vitro models of influenza infection of human lung, and to identify new anti-viral therapeutics that act by modulating the host response to infection.
  
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• Wondering if that mole is cancerous? Look at illustrations, not photos

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Brigham Young University) Melanoma kills more than 50,000 people worldwide annually. But because early detection dramatically improves prognoses, a BYU professor is working to help people better identify problematic moles.
  
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• When music makes male faces more attractive

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Vienna) Women rate photographs of male faces more attractive and are more likely to date the men pictured when they have previously heard music. Moreover, highly arousing music led to the largest effect on sexual attraction. A team of psychologists led by Manuela Marin (University of Innsbruck) and Helmut Leder (University of Vienna) explains the significance of this finding in relation to the origins of music in their latest publication in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
  
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• Wax on, melt off

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Drexel University) Drexel University researchers have made a discovery that could create roads that melt off ice and snow during winter storms. Their secret? Adding a little paraffin wax to the road's concrete mix.
  
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• Water conservation can have unintended consequences

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (University of California - Riverside) Conventional wisdom dictates water conservation can only benefit communities affected by drought. But researchers from the University of California, Riverside have deduced that indoor residential conservation can have unintended consequences in places where systems of wastewater reuse have already been implemented, diminishing both the quantity and quality of influent available for treatment.
  
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• 'Vague' anti-terror laws might lead to charities withdrawing from activities

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Exeter) Charities may withdraw from worthwhile activities because laws designed to stop terrorism are often too vague, experts have warned.
  
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• UW shatters long-range communication barrier for near-zero-power devices

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Washington) University of Washington researchers have demonstrated for the first time that devices that run on almost zero power can transmit data across distances of up to 2.8 kilometers -- breaking a long-held barrier and potentially enabling a vast array of interconnected devices.
  
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• University of Michigan researchers awarded $3.5M to fight fatigue in MS

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan) A new clinical trial will explore three interventions in improving one of the most disabling symptoms for people with multiple sclerosis: fatigue. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute has approved a $3,476,448 funding award over four years to Michigan Medicine's Tiffany Braley, M.D., M.S. and Anna Kratz, Ph.D.
  
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• Unintentional drug use continues among molly users in EDM party scene

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (New York University) Use of MDMA or 'Molly' is common in the electronic dance music scene, but research is showing that many Molly users are using other drugs unknowingly.
  
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• UCI heads $8 million NSF-funded project to develop brain-computer interface

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (University of California - Irvine) The National Science Foundation has awarded $8 million to a consortium led by the University of California, Irvine to develop a brain-computer interface that can restore walking ability and sensation in individuals with spinal cord injury. This initiative represents the largest NSF award received by faculty researchers in the UCI engineering and medicine schools.
  
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• Type 2 diabetes is a reversible condition

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Newcastle University) People with type 2 diabetes can reverse the condition through a low calorie diet, world-renowned expert Professor Roy Taylor will confirm at an international meeting. He will also outline his body of research that has identified the underlying causes of the condition.
  
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• Tropical Depression 15E appears almost shapeless on NASA satellite imagery

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Tropical Depression 15E is being affected by vertical wind shear on NASA satellite imagery and appears almost shapeless.
  
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• Treating acute pain in opioid-dependent patients -- Review and recommendations

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Wolters Kluwer Health) As healthcare providers see more patients with opioid abuse and dependence, they face a difficult challenge: What's the best way to manage acute pain without contributing to the patient's opioid use disorder (OUD)? A review and recommendations for acute pain treatment in patients with OUD is presented in in the September/October Journal of Trauma Nursing, official publication of the Society of Trauma Nurses. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
  
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• Toward unbreakable encrypted messages

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (American Chemical Society) Chinese researchers recently announced a landmark advancement: They used a satellite orbiting Earth to beam pairs of quantum-entangled photons to two Tibetan mountaintops more than 700 miles apart. This distance blew the previous record out of the water. But according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, this is only the beginning for quantum communication.
  
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• Tough stuff: Spider silk enhanced with graphene-based materials

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Graphene Flagship) Natural spider silk has excellent mechanical properties. Researchers from the Graphene Flagship have found a way to boost the strength of spider's silk using graphene-based materials, paving the way for a novel class of high-performance bionic composites.
  
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• 'The dark side' of quantum computers

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Eindhoven University of Technology) The era of fully fledged quantum computers threatens to destroy internet security as we know it. Researchers are in a race against time to prepare new cryptographic techniques before the arrival of quantum computers, as cryptographers Tanja Lange (Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands) and Daniel J. Bernstein (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA) describe today in the journal Nature. In their publication they analyze the options available for
  
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• The benefits and pitfalls of urban green spaces

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (American Institute of Biological Sciences) With the rapid expansion of the urban landscape, successfully managing ecosystems in built areas has never been more important.
  
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• Test strips for cancer detection get upgraded with nanoparticle bling

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Michigan Technological University) Detecting cancer could be as easy as a home pregnancy test. Current test strip designs are not sensitive enough, but a new design with platinum-coated gold nanoparticles could make cheap and simple test strip detection a reality.
  
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• Teens' ability to consider the intentions of others linked to structural changes in the brain

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Dartmouth College) When it comes to the concept of fairness, teenagers’ ability to consider the intentions of others appears to be linked to structural changes underway in the brain, according to a Dartmouth-led study published by Scientific Reports. The study is the first to provide evidence linking structural changes with behavioral changes within this context. Understanding the intentions of others is fundamental to human cooperation and how we exist as social beings.
  
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• Systems analysis points to links between Toxoplasma infection and common brain diseases

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Chicago Medical Center) Nearly one out of every three humans on earth has a lifelong infection with the brain-dwelling parasite Toxoplasma gondii. In the Sept. 13 issue of Scientific Reports, researchers from multiple institutions describe efforts to learn how infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii may alter, and in some cases amplify, several brain disorders, including epilepsy, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases as well as some cancers.
  
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• Surgeons have major influence on breast cancer treatment

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan) A woman's choice of surgeon plays a significant role in whether she's likely to receive contralateral prophylactic mastectomy, an increasingly popular aggressive breast cancer surgery.
  
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• Supported liquid metal catalysts -- a new generation of reaction accelerators

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg) Catalysts are agents that initiate chemical reactions, speed them up or increase the yield of the desired product. New and improved catalysts are thus considered the key to creating more sustainable and efficient production processes in the chemical industry. Researchers at FAU have discovered how to bypass the known drawbacks of the technical catalysts that are currently in use by means of a new material concept that makes the creation of significantly more ef
  
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• Suicide attempts on the rise in US, finds study

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Columbia University Medical Center) New data confirm that suicide attempts among US adults are on the rise, with a disproportional effect on younger, socioeconomically disadvantaged adults with a history of mental disorders.
  
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• Study examines suicide attempts among adults in the United States

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (The JAMA Network Journals) An overall increase in suicide attempts among adults in the United States appears to have disproportionately affected younger adults with less formal education and those with common personality, mood and anxiety disorders, according to an article published by JAMA Psychiatry.
  
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• Startup develops animal detection system to prevent roadkill

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) Through means of sensors e transmitters, an animal detection system aims to feed message boards for drivers hundreds of meters before wild specimen can cross the road.
  
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• Squirrels use 'chunking' to organize their favorite nuts

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (University of California - Berkeley) Like trick-or-treaters sorting their Halloween candy haul, fox squirrels apparently organize their stashes of nuts by variety, quality and possibly even preference, according to new UC Berkeley research.
  
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• Self-folding electronics could enable advanced robotics (video)

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (American Chemical Society) As demand grows for more versatile, advanced robotics and other technologies, the need for components that can enable these applications also increases. Producing such components en masse has been a major challenge. But now, in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, researchers report that they have developed a way to help meet this need by printing electronics that can fold themselves into a desired shape.
  
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• Scientists reveal new insights and possible solutions for opioid epidemics using machine

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine) Mount Sinai researchers have identified unique structural, biological and chemical insights in the way different opioid drugs activate the receptors and specific signaling pathways responsible for the drug's beneficial and adverse effects, according to a study to be published in Nature's Scientific Reports.
  
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• Satellite imagery analysis reveals economic decay within Islamic State

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (RAND Corporation) A new RAND Corporation report paints a bleak picture of economic life under the Islamic State. RAND estimates that the Islamic State contributed to a 23 percent reduction in the GDP of cities under its control, based on novel applications of satellite-derived data.
  
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• Russian scientists adapt their developments to the electronics market in China

  13-09-2017 06:00
  (Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University) Specialists of the Institute of Physics, Nanotechnology and Telecommunications of Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University signed two contracts for the development and adaptation of technologies for the manufacturing of Chinese electronics. Researchers started the fulfillment of contracts at the beginning ofAugust 2017.
  
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