Science news

• Walruses on packed Alaska beach may have died in a stampede

  14-09-2017 23:08 via cbc.ca
  Thousands of Pacific walrus are coming to Alaska's northwest shore again in the absence of summer sea ice and not all are surviving.
  
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• Why Canada's endangered species are declining faster than ever

  14-09-2017 22:52 via cbc.ca
  Canadian laws designed to protect wildlife species at risk of extinction and rebuild their populations are failing to stop those animals from vanishing faster than ever, a new report shows. Here are some of the reasons why.
  
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• Space oddity: U of A satellite survives mission mishaps to capture super solar storm

  14-09-2017 22:21 via cbc.ca
  A tiny made-in-Edmonton satellite began beaming messages back to Earth just in time to capture the most powerful solar flare in more than a decade.
  
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• Sorting molecules with DNA robots

  14-09-2017 21:24
  Scientists have programmed a 'robot' made of DNA to pick up and sort molecules into predetermined locations.
  
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• In step toward controlling chemistry, physicists create a new molecule, atom by atom

  14-09-2017 21:24
  Physicists have discovered a unique new molecule that could lead to many useful applications, and show how chemical reactions can be studied on a microscopic scale using tools of physics.
  
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• Biomarkers in the blood prove strong role of food for type 2 diabetes

  14-09-2017 21:24
  A pioneering method has demonstrated its potential in a large study, showing that metabolic fingerprints from blood samples could render important new knowledge on the connection between food and health. The study finds that diet is one of the strongest predictors of type 2 diabetes risk in older women.
  
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• Synaptic receptor mobility: Discovery of a new mechanism for controlling memory

  14-09-2017 21:23
  A new mechanism has been discovered for storing information in synapses and a means of controlling the storage process. The breakthrough moves science closer to unveiling the mystery of the molecular mechanisms of memory and learning processes.
  
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• Rare genetic cause of peritoneal mesothelioma points to targeted therapy

  14-09-2017 21:23
  Investigators have uncovered a new genetic cause of mesothelioma: a genetic rearrangement in the ALK gene, observed in three patients with peritoneal mesothelioma. Unlike previously known causes, this new discovery points to a potential therapeutic approach for those few patients whose tumors harbor the mutation.
  
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• Insulin therapy initially declined and delayed by an average of two years

  14-09-2017 21:23
  Thirty percent of type 2 diabetic patients don't begin insulin when it's initially recommended, with the average start time being two years later.
  
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• Huge genetic diversity among Papuan New Guinean peoples revealed

  14-09-2017 21:23
  The first large-scale genetic study of people in Papua New Guinea has shown that different groups within the country are genetically highly different from each other. Scientists reveal that the people there have remained genetically independent from Europe and Asia for most of the last 50,000 years, and that people from the country's isolated highlands region have been completely independent even until the present day.
  
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• 'Handedness' in scale-eating fish: Nature and nurture

  14-09-2017 21:23
  Lateralized behaviors are thought to be strengthened during development. However, little is known about how they are acquired during development. In the scale-eating cichlid model, researchers demonstrated the attack side preference of juveniles was developed with scale-eating experience, regardless of age. They also found that kinetics of attack behavior is superior on one side by nature. Therefore, they concluded that the fish learn to use the naturally dominant side through experience.
  
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• 'Mysterious' ancient creature was definitely an animal, research confirms

  14-09-2017 21:22
  It lived well over 550 million years ago, is known only through fossils and has variously been described as looking a bit like a jellyfish, a worm, a fungus and lichen. But was the 'mysterious' Dickinsonia an animal, or was it something else? A new study provides strong proof that Dickinsonia was an animal.
  
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• 3 female former Google employees seek class action status over pay discrimination

  14-09-2017 20:53 via cbc.ca
  Google faces a new lawsuit accusing it of gender-based pay discrimination. A lawyer representing three female former Google employees is seeking class action status for the claim.
  
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• The Cassini probe dies tomorrow. Here’s how to follow its end.

  14-09-2017 20:30
  
  Science News is on the scene at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the big finish of the Cassini mission to Saturn.
  
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• A researcher reveals the shocking truth about electric eels

  14-09-2017 20:14
  
  A biologist records the electrical current traveling through his arm during an electric eel’s defensive leap attack.
  
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• Microbes hobble a widely used chemo drug

  14-09-2017 20:00
  
  Bacteria associated with cancer cells can inactivate a chemotherapy drug.
  
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• Where is the body of John Franklin? Inuit historian thinks he knows

  14-09-2017 19:40 via cbc.ca
  The man who guided searchers to the wreck of John Franklin's flagship may have one more surprise left up his parka sleeve.
  
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• Two artificial sweeteners together take the bitter out of bittersweet

  14-09-2017 19:30
  
  Some artificial sweeteners are well known for their bitter aftertastes. But saccharin and cyclamate are better together, and now scientists know why.
  
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• Thirst-associated preoptic neurons encode an aversive motivational drive

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Water deprivation produces a drive to seek and consume water. How neural activity creates this motivation remains poorly understood. We used activity-dependent genetic labeling to characterize neurons activated by water deprivation in the hypothalamic median preoptic nucleus (MnPO). Single-cell transcriptional profiling revealed that dehydration-activated MnPO neurons consist of a single excitatory cell type. After optogenetic activation of these neurons, mice drank water and performed an operan
  
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• The form and function of channelrhodopsin

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Channelrhodopsins are light-gated ion channels that, via regulation of flagellar function, enable single-celled motile algae to seek ambient light conditions suitable for photosynthesis and survival. These plant behavioral responses were initially investigated more than 150 years ago. Recently, major principles of function for light-gated ion channels have been elucidated by creating channelrhodopsins with kinetics that are accelerated or slowed over orders of magnitude, by discovering and desig
  
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• Structures of the CRISPR genome integration complex

  14-09-2017 19:23
  CRISPR-Cas systems depend on the Cas1-Cas2 integrase to capture and integrate short foreign DNA fragments into the CRISPR locus, enabling adaptation to new viruses. We present crystal structures of Cas1-Cas2 bound to both donor and target DNA in intermediate and product integration complexes, as well as a cryo–electron microscopy structure of the full CRISPR locus integration complex, including the accessory protein IHF (integration host factor). The structures show unexpectedly that indir
  
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• Soft x-ray excitonics

  14-09-2017 19:23
  The dynamic response of excitons in solids is central to modern condensed-phase physics, material sciences, and photonic technologies. However, study and control have hitherto been limited to photon energies lower than the fundamental band gap. Here we report application of attosecond soft x-ray and attosecond optical pulses to study the dynamics of core-excitons at the L2,3 edge of Si in silicon dioxide (SiO2). This attosecond x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (AXANES) technique enables d
  
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• Response to Comment on "The complex effects of ocean acidification on the prominent N2-fixing cyanobacterium Trichodesmium"

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Hutchins et al. question the validity of our results showing that under fast growth conditions, the beneficial effect of high CO2 on Trichodesmium is overwhelmed by the deleterious effect of the concomitant decrease in ambient and cellular pH. The positive effect of acidification reported by Hutchins and co-workers is likely caused by culture conditions that support suboptimal growth rates.
  
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• Potential role of intratumor bacteria in mediating tumor resistance to the chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Growing evidence suggests that microbes can influence the efficacy of cancer therapies. By studying colon cancer models, we found that bacteria can metabolize the chemotherapeutic drug gemcitabine (2',2'-difluorodeoxycytidine) into its inactive form, 2',2'-difluorodeoxyuridine. Metabolism was dependent on the expression of a long isoform of the bacterial enzyme cytidine deaminase (CDDL), seen primarily in Gammaproteobacteria. In a colon cancer mouse model, gemcitabine resistance was induced by i
  
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• Observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering

  14-09-2017 19:23
  The coherent elastic scattering of neutrinos off nuclei has eluded detection for four decades, even though its predicted cross section is by far the largest of all low-energy neutrino couplings. This mode of interaction offers new opportunities to study neutrino properties and leads to a miniaturization of detector size, with potential technological applications. We observed this process at a 6.7 confidence level, using a low-background, 14.6-kilogram CsI[Na] scintillator exposed to the neutrino
  
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• Highly efficient electrocaloric cooling with electrostatic actuation

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Solid-state refrigeration offers potential advantages over traditional cooling systems, but few devices offer high specific cooling power with a high coefficient of performance (COP) and the ability to be applied directly to surfaces. We developed a cooling device with a high intrinsic thermodynamic efficiency using a flexible electrocaloric (EC) polymer film and an electrostatic actuation mechanism. Reversible electrostatic forces reduce parasitic power consumption and allow efficient heat tran
  
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• Fabrication of fillable microparticles and other complex 3D microstructures

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Three-dimensional (3D) microstructures created by microfabrication and additive manufacturing have demonstrated value across a number of fields, ranging from biomedicine to microelectronics. However, the techniques used to create these devices each have their own characteristic set of advantages and limitations with regards to resolution, material compatibility, and geometrical constraints that determine the types of microstructures that can be formed. We describe a microfabrication method, term
  
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• DNA sequence-directed shape change of photopatterned hydrogels via high-degree swelling

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Shape-changing hydrogels that can bend, twist, or actuate in response to external stimuli are critical to soft robots, programmable matter, and smart medicine. Shape change in hydrogels has been induced by global cues, including temperature, light, or pH. Here we demonstrate that specific DNA molecules can induce 100-fold volumetric hydrogel expansion by successive extension of cross-links. We photopattern up to centimeter-sized gels containing multiple domains that undergo different shape chang
  
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• DNA replication-coupled histone modification maintains Polycomb gene silencing in plants

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Propagation of patterns of gene expression through the cell cycle requires prompt restoration of epigenetic marks after the twofold dilution caused by DNA replication. Here we show that the transcriptional repressive mark H3K27me3 (histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation) is restored in replicating plant cells through DNA replication–coupled modification of histone variant H3.1. Plants evolved a mechanism for efficient K27 trimethylation on H3.1, which is essential for inheritance of the silen
  
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• Distinct phases of Polycomb silencing to hold epigenetic memory of cold in Arabidopsis

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Gene silencing by Polycomb complexes is central to eukaryotic development. Cold-induced epigenetic repression of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) in the plant Arabidopsis provides an opportunity to study initiation and maintenance of Polycomb silencing. Here, we show that a subset of Polycomb repressive complex 2 factors nucleate silencing in a small region within FLC, locally increasing H3K27me3 levels. This nucleation confers a silenced state that is metastably inherited, with memory held in the local
  
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• Comment on "The complex effects of ocean acidification on the prominent N2-fixing cyanobacterium Trichodesmium"

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Hong et al. (Reports, 5 May 2017, p. 527) suggested that previous studies of the biogeochemically significant marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium showing increased growth and nitrogen fixation at projected future high CO2 levels suffered from ammonia or copper toxicity. They reported that these rates instead decrease at high CO2 when contamination is alleviated. We present and discuss results of multiple published studies refuting this toxicity hypothesis.
  
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• Biological fabrication of cellulose fibers with tailored properties

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Cotton is a promising basis for wearable smart textiles. Current approaches that rely on fiber coatings suffer from function loss during wear. We present an approach that allows biological incorporation of exogenous molecules into cotton fibers to tailor the material’s functionality. In vitro model cultures of upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) are incubated with 6-carboxyfluorescein–glucose and dysprosium–1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid–glucose,
  
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• A Neolithic expansion, but strong genetic structure, in the independent history of New Guinea

  14-09-2017 19:23
  New Guinea shows human occupation since ~50 thousand years ago (ka), independent adoption of plant cultivation ~10 ka, and great cultural and linguistic diversity today. We performed genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping on 381 individuals from 85 language groups in Papua New Guinea and find a sharp divide originating 10 to 20 ka between lowland and highland groups and a lack of non–New Guinean admixture in the latter. All highlanders share ancestry within the last 10 thous
  
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• A cargo-sorting DNA robot

  14-09-2017 19:23
  Two critical challenges in the design and synthesis of molecular robots are modularity and algorithm simplicity. We demonstrate three modular building blocks for a DNA robot that performs cargo sorting at the molecular level. A simple algorithm encoding recognition between cargos and their destinations allows for a simple robot design: a single-stranded DNA with one leg and two foot domains for walking, and one arm and one hand domain for picking up and dropping off cargos. The robot explores a
  
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• 'Bigger is better': York U gets largest campus telescope in Canada

  14-09-2017 19:00 via cbc.ca
  Astronomy students at a Toronto university will have a new way to probe the cosmos. But that also means that the public will be able to peer deeper into space.
  
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• Why scientists are so excited about Saturn's icy moon Enceladus

  14-09-2017 18:48 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists explain how they discovered a water ocean beneath the ice shell of Saturn's moon Enceladus.
  
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• Snow leopard no longer 'endangered'

  14-09-2017 16:50 via bbc.co.uk
  The conservation status of the elusive snow leopard is downgraded from "endangered" to "vulnerable".
  
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• How Cassini probe reached Saturn

  14-09-2017 16:21 via bbc.co.uk
  It took seven years for the US-European mission to get to the ringed planet, launching in 1997.
  
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• Best Buy stops selling Kaspersky antivirus after U.S. ban

  14-09-2017 16:04 via cbc.ca
  Best Buy said it will no longer sell software made by Kaspersky after the U.S. government banned federal agencies from using the anti-malware packages over espionage fears.
  
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• Forty years of space photography

  14-09-2017 15:13 via bbc.co.uk
  David Malin has spent four decades photographing space. Now retired, he has held a competition to inspire other astrophotographers.
  
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• Premature infants may get metabolic boost from mom's breast milk

  14-09-2017 14:40
  The breast milk of mothers with premature babies has different amounts of microRNA than that of mothers with babies born at term, which may help premature babies catch up in growth and development, according to researchers.
  
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• Mechanism behind calorie restriction, lengthened lifespan revealed

  14-09-2017 14:40
  Almost a century ago, scientists discovered that cutting calorie intake could dramatically extend lifespan in certain animal species. Despite numerous studies since, however, researchers have been unable to explain precisely why. Now, investigators have broken past that barrier.
  
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• How to peel permanent marker off glass

  14-09-2017 13:00
  
  Water’s surface tension can peel a thin hydrophobic film such as permanent ink off glass surfaces.
  
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• Cassini's "Grand Finale" Will Be a Blaze of Glory

  14-09-2017 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  The Cassini orbiter will burn out, but its legacy won’t fade away
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• RCMP used cellphone tracking technology unlawfully 6 times, says privacy watchdog

  14-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  Canada's privacy commissioner says the RCMP has used cellphone tracking technology in a way that was "not lawful" six times.
  
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• Farewell Cassini: How a spacecraft helped us expand the search for life

  14-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  NASA's Cassini spacecraft will plunge into Saturn's atmosphere, ending its 13-year mission. But it's done more than take pretty pictures; it's turned planetary science on its head.
  
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• You're not alone in feeling alone

  14-09-2017 06:00
  (University of British Columbia) Feel like everyone else has more friends than you do? You're not alone -- but merely believing this is true could affect your happiness.
  
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• Young binge drinkers show altered brain activity

  14-09-2017 06:00
  (Frontiers) Researchers have studied the brain activity of young binge-drinking college students in Spain, and found distinctive changes in brain activity, which may indicate delayed brain development and be an early sign of brain damage. The results suggest that bingeing has tangible effects on the young brain, comparable with some of those seen in chronic alcoholics.
  
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• Wiley announces new Data Sharing and Citation policies to improve transparency in research

  14-09-2017 06:00
  (Wiley) John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (NYSE:JWa) (NYSE:JWb), today announced the launch of new data sharing and citation policies that will be implemented across all participating Wiley journals.
  
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• Treatment of overweight: Is metabolically healthy obesity a worthwhile initial goal?

  14-09-2017 06:00
  (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Diabetesforschung DZD) More and more people suffer from diseases associated with morbid overweight. Despite the health risks, only some of those affected attempt to lose weight. Many people are most probably daunted by the prospect of losing the required large amount of weight. Researchers of the German Center for Diabetes Research now report in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology that metabolically healthy obesity could be a worthwhile initial goal in the therapy of
  
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