Science news

• The RNA-editing enzyme ADAR promotes lung adenocarcinoma migration and invasion by stabilizing FAK

  19-09-2017 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Large-scale, genome-wide studies report that RNA binding proteins are altered in cancers, but it is unclear how these proteins control tumor progression. We found that the RNA-editing protein ADAR (adenosine deaminase acting on double-stranded RNA) acted as a facilitator of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) progression through its ability to stabilize transcripts encoding focal adhesion kinase (FAK). In samples from 802 stage I LUAD patients, increased abundance of ADAR at both the mRNA and protein lev
  
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• TALK-1 channels control {beta} cell endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ homeostasis

  19-09-2017 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Ca2+ handling by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) serves critical roles in controlling pancreatic β cell function and becomes perturbed during the pathogenesis of diabetes. ER Ca2+ homeostasis is determined by ion movements across the ER membrane, including K+ flux through K+ channels. We demonstrated that K+ flux through ER-localized TALK-1 channels facilitated Ca2+ release from the ER in mouse and human β cells. We found that β cells from mice lacking TALK-1 exhibited reduced basa
  
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• PKD and inflammation

  19-09-2017 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Protein kinase D signaling at the Golgi is required for activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome.
  
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• Papers of note in Science Translational Medicine 9 (407)

  19-09-2017 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles show that blocking a prometastatic process unintentionally impairs immunotherapy and report new therapeutic targets in type 2 diabetes and asthmatic lung disease.
  
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• Papers of note in Science 357 (6356)

  19-09-2017 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles explain how plants establish and maintain an epigenetic memory of cold temperature and review how the engineering of channelrhodopsins as research tools has elucidated the biochemical properties of these light-activated ion channels.
  
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• Papers of note in Nature 549 (7671)

  19-09-2017 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles highlight the immune response to intestinal helminth parasites and an mRNA modification that determines cell fate.
  
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• Microtubule structures underlying the sarcoplasmic reticulum support peripheral coupling sites to regulate smooth muscle contractility

  19-09-2017 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Junctional membrane complexes facilitate excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal and cardiac muscle cells by forming subcellular invaginations that maintain close (≤20 nm) proximity of ryanodine receptors (RyRs) on the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) with voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels in the plasma membrane. In fully differentiated smooth muscle cells, junctional membrane complexes occur as distributed sites of peripheral coupling. We investigated the role of the cytoskeleton in maintaining
  
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• Highlight: RNA-binding proteins in cancer

  19-09-2017 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  ADAR promotes lung adenocarcinoma migration and invasion through stabilization of FAK.
  
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• Robot judges? Edmonton research crafting artificial intelligence for courts

  19-09-2017 19:23 via cbc.ca
  If Edmonton researcher Randy Goebel has his way, artificially intelligent judges and attorneys will become players in the courtroom of the future.
  
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• Equifax says 100,000 Canadians impacted by cybersecurity breach

  19-09-2017 16:26 via cbc.ca
  A massive cybersecurity breach at the company may have exposed the personal information of some 100,000 Canadian consumers, Equifax Canada says 12 days after it was disclosed that the personal data of about 143 million Americans was exposed.
  
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• This biochemist brews a wild beer

  19-09-2017 16:00
  
  Wild beer studies are teaching scientists and brewers about the tropical fruit smell and sour taste of success.
  
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• The most dangerous celebrity on the web? Avril Lavigne, apparently

  19-09-2017 15:57 via cbc.ca
  One-time pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne has beaten superstar Beyoncé at something, but the Canadian singer may not be totally happy with her victory — she has been named the most dangerous celebrity on the internet.
  
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• No doubt that neonicotinoids are killing birds, bees, scientists say

  19-09-2017 15:20 via cbc.ca
  A group of international scientists is meeting Tuesday to try to convince parliamentarians there is no longer any doubt that common agricultural pesticides are toxic chemicals that are killing off honeybees.
  
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• Canada's privacy commissioner 'very concerned' about U.S. border phone searches

  19-09-2017 14:45 via cbc.ca
  Canada's privacy czar says Canadians should be "very concerned" about their cellphones, computers and other electronic devices being searched by U.S. border agents.
  
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• The list of diseases linked to air pollution is growing

  19-09-2017 13:00
  
  Air pollution levels have come down since the 1970s, but smog is being linked with a growing list of diseases, including dementia, obesity, diabetes and even Parkinson’s.
  
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• iPhones emerging as tool of choice for online sexual predators

  19-09-2017 13:00 via cbc.ca
  Mobile devices such as iPhones are the latest front in the techno-war between police and sexual predators.
  
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• Paris climate aim 'still achievable'

  19-09-2017 12:55 via bbc.co.uk
  The ambitious goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C is still within reach, a study indicates.
  
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• Extended Adolescence: When 25 is the new 18

  19-09-2017 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  It is a common grumble that children grow up too fast. No more. Teens are in no hurry to embrace the putative joys of adulthood
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• The untold story of whale rescuer Joe Howlett's death

  19-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  On July 10 Joe Howlett and the rest of the Shelagh crew were racing toward North Atlantic right whale No. 4123, hoping to save it. It would be Howlett's final voyage.
  
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• The story of whale rescuer Joe Howlett's death

  19-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  On July 10, Joe Howlett and the rest of the Shelagh crew were racing toward North Atlantic right whale No. 4123, hoping to save it. It would be Howlett's final voyage.
  
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• If you're blind, this technology will help you find the checkout line

  19-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  If you were blind and walked into a coffee shop, how would you find the counter to place an order? New technology being installed in Toronto is making that easy.
  
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• Bear warning: Saving the Banff-Yoho grizzlies

  19-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  With grizzly bears dying from train strikes at an alarming rate in the rail corridor between Banff and Yoho national parks since 2000, researchers have been studying why. Now there are signs that measures being taken by researchers, Parks Canada and the railway may be starting to stem the losses.
  
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• Bear warning: How to stop trains from killing Canada's grizzly bears

  19-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  With grizzly bears dying from train strikes at an alarming rate in the rail corridor between Banff and Yoho national parks since 2000, researchers have been studying why. Now there are signs that measures being taken by researchers, Parks Canada and the railway may be starting to stem the losses.
  
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• Astronomers discover pitch-black planet orbiting distant star

  19-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a planet orbiting a star 1,400 light-years away that reflects almost no light.
  
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• Apple iPhone app and stores' iBeacons are helping blind shoppers

  19-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  If you were blind and walked into a coffee shop, how would you find the counter to place an order? New technology being installed in Toronto is making that easy.
  
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• Winner takes all: Success enhances taste for luxury goods, study suggests

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Cambridge) Footballers in flashy cars, City workers in Armani suits, reality TV celebrities sipping expensive champagne while sitting in hot tubs: what drives people to purchase luxury goods? New research suggests that it may be a sense of being a 'winner' -- but that contrary to expectations, it is not driven by testosterone.
  
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• VTT has developed a device for measuring inflammation value at home

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland) VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a portable device for measuring inflammation levels quickly in home environment.
  
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• Virtual brain lab brings together leading neuroscientists across the world

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Simons Foundation) Twenty one leading neuroscience groups from around the world have formed a 'virtual brain lab' to test how the brain controls learning and decision making. The £10 million International Brain Lab brings together groups from UK, USA, France, Switzerland and Portugal to uncover how complex networks of brain cells support our ability to learn and make decisions.
  
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• Victimization of transgender youths linked to suicidal thoughts, substance abuse

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Texas at Austin) In two peer-reviewed papers, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have found that transgender adolescents are twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts as the general population, and they are up to four times as likely to engage in substance use.
  
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• Tiny lasers from a gallery of whispers

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (American Institute of Physics) Whispering gallery mode resonators rely on a phenomenon similar to an effect observed in circular galleries, and the same phenomenon applies to light. When light is stored in ring-shaped or spherical active resonators, the waves superimpose in such a way that it can result in laser light. This week in APL Photonics, investigators report a new type of dye-doped WGM micro-laser that produces light with tunable wavelengths.
  
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• The wrong first step to revive athletes in cardiac arrest

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Elsevier) New research presented in HeartRhythm, suggests that the main obstacle to an appropriate bystander response during athletes' cardiac arrest could be an apparently widespread myth: that 'tongue swallowing' is a common complication of sudden loss of consciousness that must be avoided or relieved at all costs to prevent death from asphyxia.
  
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• The brain at work: Spotting half-hidden objects

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine) The human and non-human primate brain is remarkable in recognizing partially hidden objects.A study, conducted during a shape recognition task,shows as more of the shape is hidden, a brain areainvolved in cognition starts to sends signals to the visual cortex.The findings make the scientists wonder ifthis communication between different brain areas might be impaired in people with autism or Alzheimer's.Both conditions can cause confusion in
  
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• Teens are growing up more slowly today than they did in past decades

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Society for Research in Child Development) A new study explored this issue by examining how often teens in recent years (compared to teens in previous decades) engaged in adult activities such as drinking alcohol, working, driving, or having sex. The study found that today's adolescents are less likely than their predecessors to take part in activities typically undertaken by adults.
  
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• Supercontinuum lasers can lead to better bread and beer

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Faculty of Science - University of Copenhagen) Researchers from the Department of Food Science (FOOD) at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark are the first in the world to have analysed whole grains with long near-infrared wavelengths using a new type of light source, the supercontinuum laser. The research has significance for our knowledge of food ingredients and may, for example, eventually lead to better quality of bread and beer.
  
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• Study showing 70 years of progress for LGBTQ students raises concerns about Trump agenda

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Vermont) The author of a new study showing slow but consistent progress in the experiences of LGBTQ students on college campuses over the past 70 years is concerned that for the first time since 1944, that trend may be reversing.
  
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• Students' self-concepts of ability in math, reading predict later math, reading attainment

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Society for Research in Child Development) A new longitudinal study looked at how youths' self-concepts are linked to their actual academic achievement in math and reading from middle childhood to adolescence. The study found that students' self-concepts of their abilities in these two academic domains play an important role in motivating their achievements over time and across levels of achievement.
  
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• Solar wind impacts on giant 'space hurricanes' may affect satellite safety

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) Could the flapping of a butterfly's wings in Costa Rica set off a hurricane in California? For most people, this hypothetical scenario may be difficult to imagine on Earth -- particularly when a real disaster strikes. Yet, in space, similarly small fluctuations in the solar wind as it streams toward the Earth's magnetic shield actually can affect the speed and strength of 'space hurricanes,' researcher Katariina Nykyri of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Universit
  
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• Smart traffic signals will help blind cross streets

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Carnegie Mellon University) Smart traffic signals that are designed to improve the flow of traffic also could help pedestrians with visual or other disabilities safely cross streets, or even catch a bus. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have begun a two-year project, sponsored in large part by a $2 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration, to develop a system that relays information from a user's smartphone directly to the smart traffic signals.
  
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• Security cameras are vulnerable to attacks using infrared light -- Ben Gurion U. study

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) The cyber team led by Dr. Mordechai Guri, head of research and development for BGU's Cyber Security Research Center (CSRC), shows how IR can be used to create a covert communication channel between malware installed on an internal computer network and an attacker located hundreds of yards outside or even miles away with direct line of sight. The attacker can use this channel to send commands and receive response messages.
  
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• Screening for cervical abnormalities in women offered HPV vaccination

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (PLOS) Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing detects a higher number of precancerous cervical lesions than cytology-based Pap smears in a female population including a proportion offered HPV vaccination, according to a new study published in PLOS Medicine by Karen Canfell of Cancer Council New South Wales, Australia, researchers at the Victorian Cytology Service, Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues.
  
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• Scientists identify key regulator of male fertility

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center) When it comes to male reproductive fertility, timing is everything. Now scientists are finding new details on how disruption of this timing may contribute to male infertility or congenital illness. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report in Genes & Development identifying the key molecular and genetic switch that activates production of healthy male sperm -- but only when the time is right.
  
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• Scientists from Russia and Germany implement a closed cycle algae processing mechanism

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Peter the Great Saint-Petersburg Polytechnic University) A unique cycle of processing algae into valuable materials and its residual biomass into sorbents for water purification with biogas generation was proposed by scientists of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) in collaboration with the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH). The project is to be implemented within 3 years' time.
  
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• Scientists from MSU have invented a new way to 'weigh' intergalactic black holes

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Lomonosov Moscow State University) Astrophysicists from Moscow State University have found a new way to estimate the mass of supermassive black holes outside our galaxy, even if these holes are barely detectable. The results of the study were published in the Astronomy and Astrophysics journal
  
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• Scientists explore biology's boundaries at Allen Discovery Center at Tufts first symposium

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Tufts University) Eight researchers in the vanguard of biological science gathered at the inaugural symposium of the new Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University today to explore new frontiers within the dark matter of biology. The day-long symposium, which attracted guest speakers from leading research institutions such as Tufts, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Jackson Labs, was expected to draw about 300 attendees.
  
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• Science denial not limited to political right

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Illinois at Chicago) A new study from social psychologists at the University of Illinois at Chicago suggests people of all political backgrounds can be motivated to participate in science denial.
  
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• Rogue wave analysis supports investigation of the El Faro sinking

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Georgia Institute of Technology) A new analysis done to support the investigation into the 2015 sinking of the El Faro cargo ship has calculated the likelihood of a massive rogue wave during Hurricane Joaquin in October of that year -- and demonstrated a new technique for evaluating the probability of rogue waves over space and time.
  
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• Researchers use Wikipedia to give AI context clues

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Brigham Young University) A team of BYU computer scientists is teaching artificial intelligence agents how to interact with the world in a way that makes sense.
  
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• Researchers document changes in teenage parenthood

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (Indiana University) The US birth rate hasn't changed for two generations of teenage girls, but other aspects of young parenthood are shifting, especially regarding young fathers, according to new Indiana University research.
  
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• Researchers developing advanced lithium-ion and metal-air batteries

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Central Florida) A research lab run by University of Central Florida Professor Yang Yang is developing energy storage technologies that are cheaper, safer and more efficient.
  
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• Researchers compose guidelines for handling CAR T cell side effects

  19-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center) Immune-cell based therapies opening a new frontier for cancer treatment carry unique, potentially lethal side effects that provide a new challenge for oncologists, one addressed by a team led by clinicians at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center with proposed guidelines for systematically dealing with the toxicities of these drugs.
  
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