Science news

• Trio of detectors tracks gravitational waves to their home

  27-09-2017 20:26
  
  LIGO and Virgo spot spacetime ripples in their first joint detection.
  
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• Saber-toothed kittens were born armed to pounce

  27-09-2017 20:00
  
  Even as babies, saber-toothed cats had not only oversized canine teeth but also unusually powerful forelimbs.
  
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• Origami outfits help these bots change tasks swiftly

  27-09-2017 20:00
  
  These robots change shape by slipping into different origami exoskeletons.
  
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• Gravitational wave hunters bag fourth black-hole detection

  27-09-2017 18:34 via bbc.co.uk
  Ripples in the fabric of space-time are sensed again - this time using three different laser systems.
  
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• Want to unlock your phone with your face? Here's how Apple says Face ID works on iPhone X

  27-09-2017 18:11 via cbc.ca
  Apple's new iPhone X won't be available until later this year, but the company is revealing a bit more information about how the facial recognition features of the new phone will work.
  
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• How a state-of-the-art prosthetic leg helped this amputee win a silver medal at the Invictus Games

  27-09-2017 17:31 via cbc.ca
  Étienne Aubé's golf swing won him a silver medal at the Invictus Games, an accomplishment the Canadian military veteran credits to his state-of-the-art prosthetic leg.
  
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• Blue Planet 2 producer promises a 'real life Pixar' from underwater sequel

  27-09-2017 17:03 via bbc.co.uk
  The BBC is going under the waves with David Attenborough in a second series of Blue Planet, which was first shown in 2001.
  
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• U.S., Russia to collaborate on spaceport orbiting moon

  27-09-2017 15:34 via cbc.ca
  NASA has signed a joint statement with its Russian counterpart to collaborate on a future spaceport orbiting the moon called Deep Space Gateway.
  
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• 'Giant wombats made annual migration'

  27-09-2017 15:14 via bbc.co.uk
  Diprotodon, an extinct Ice Age marsupial of Australia, would trek long distances each year for food.
  
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• Alberta town hopes to pull new kind of energy from old gas well

  27-09-2017 14:34 via cbc.ca
  An Alberta town is planning to pull a different kind of energy from the abandoned oil and gas wells that ring its outskirts.
  
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• Giant Tree-Dwelling, Coconut-Eating Rat Species Discovered

  27-09-2017 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  The finding was the result of years of searching for the elusive creature
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Is there life after Uber? What Montreal could learn from Austin, Texas

  27-09-2017 12:00 via cbc.ca
  If ride-hailing giant Uber carries through with its threat to pack up and leave Montreal next month, the city might want to look to the example of Austin, Texas about how to fill the void.
  
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• Rodents of unusual size? Researchers find giant, tree-dwelling rat in Solomon Islands

  27-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  Deep in the forests of Vangunu in the Solomon Islands lives a rat like no other you've likely ever seen. It measures more than four times the size of an average rat and weighs more than a kilogram. Meet Uromys vika, a new giant rat species.
  
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• 'Radical and overreaching': Bell wants Canadians blocked from piracy websites

  27-09-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  Canada is a safe haven for internet pirates, Bell Canada says. The telecom giant wants the federal government to fight back by blocking Canadians' access to piracy websites and stiffening the penalties for violations.
  
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• Climate change: Ministers should be 'sued' over targets

  27-09-2017 07:58 via bbc.co.uk
  The ex-chief scientist says the government should be made to enshrine a zero-emissions target in law.
  
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• Working group urges better access to safe abortion, in developing world

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Massachusetts at Amherst) On International Safe Abortion Day, Sept. 28, an international research group reports in a new paper with senior author Leontine Alkema at the University of Massachusetts Amherst that out of the 55.7 million abortions that are estimated to have occurred each year between 2010 and 2014, almost half (45.1 percent) were unsafe. Further, they found that the global proportion of unsafe abortions is significantly higher in developing countries than developed co
  
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• Virtual reality helps veterans prepare for new jobs

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (U.S. Army Research Laboratory) The US Army Research Laboratory and its partners recently developed a new way for veterans to seek employment.
  
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• UTSA researcher, along with collaborators, will study resilience in LGBTQ+ populations

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Texas at San Antonio) Phillip Schnarrs, assistant professor in the UTSA Department of Kinesiology, Health and Nutrition, along with his collaborators, Amy Stone, associate professor of sociology and anthropology at Trinity University, and Robert Salcido from Pride Center San Antonio and Equality Texas, have been awarded a fellowship to study resilience in the LGBTQ+ populations in San Antonio and South Texas.
  
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• US-Russia-China cooperation could hinder the proliferation of hypersonic missiles

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (RAND Corporation) A new RAND report proposes that despite their differences, Russia, China and the United States should act jointly to head off a little-recognized security threat -- the proliferation of hypersonic missiles beyond the three nations.
  
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• Unlocking the mysteries of memory -- and potentially enhancing it

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (American Chemical Society) Memory acts like an anchor, reminding us of past experiences that have made us who we are today. Attempts to boost it, particularly as we age, have sprouted cottage industries of supplements and brain games. In parallel, researchers have been pursuing pharmaceutical interventions. In some of the latest work on this front, one team reports in ACS Chemical Neuroscience that they have identified a novel compound that enhances long-term memory in animal studies.
  
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• University of Hawaii awarded nearly $6.3 million to develop trivalent Ebola vaccine

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Hawaii Cancer Center) University of Hawaii vaccine researcher Axel Lehrer, Ph.D., has received a $6.35 million grant to test whether the Ebola vaccine formula he has developed will protect against two additional viruses in the same family.
  
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• Unexpected discovery leads to new theory of liquid streaming

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Houston) Researchers at the University of Houston were studying the nonlinear transmission of light through an aqueous suspension of gold nanoparticles when they noticed something unexpected. A pulse laser appeared to have forced the movement of a stream of liquid in a glass laboratory cuvette. Their observation led to a new optofulidics principle, explained in a paper published Sept. 27 in the journal Science Advances.
  
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• Two new crustacean species discovered on Galician seabed

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology) The fauna of deep seabed tends to be relatively unknown due to the difficulty of collecting samples at great depths. A research team from the A Graña Marine Biology Station in Galicia undertook four oceanographic expeditions in the waters off the northwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula that have led to the discovery of several new species that inhabit the abyssal plains. Now they describe two eyeless species of millimetric proportio
  
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• Two CNRS 2017 gold medals awarded to physicists Alain Brillet and Thibault Damour

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (CNRS) In 2017, the CNRS has awarded two Gold Medals, to the physicists Alain Brillet and Thibault Damour for their major contributions to the detection of gravitational waves, first announced on 11 February 2016 . The prize, France's highest scientific distinction, is awarded by the CNRS Management Board and will be presented on 14 December 2017 during a ceremony held at the Collège de France.
  
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• Tree-climbing geckos that use narrower perches have longer limbs than expected

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (PLOS) Tree-climbing geckos that use narrow perches have relatively longer limbs than comparisons with other tree-climbing lizards would suggest, according to a study published Sept. 27, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Travis Hagey from Michigan State University, US, and colleagues.
  
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• The volatile processes that shaped the Earth

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Oxford) In a new study featured on the cover of the latest edition of Nature, researchers from the University of Oxford's Department of Earth Sciences untangle some of the processes involved in shaping the Earth. Revealing that the mini-planets added to Earth had previously undergone melting and evaporation. They also address another scientific conundrum: the Earth's depletion in many economically important chemical elements.
  
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• The strange structures of the Saturn nebula

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (ESO) The spectacular planetary nebula NGC 7009, or the Saturn Nebula, emerges from the darkness like a series of oddly-shaped bubbles, lit up in glorious pinks and blues. This colourful image was captured by the MUSE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT). The map -- which reveals a wealth of intricate structures in the dust, including shells, a halo and a curious wave-like feature -- will help astronomers understand how planetary nebulae develop their strange shapes and symmetries.
  
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• The hormone that could be making your dog aggressive

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Arizona) Thousands of people are hospitalized every year for dog bites, and aggressive behavior is a major reason dogs end up in shelters. University of Arizona researcher Evan MacLean studied the biology behind canine aggression, specifically the role of the hormones vasopressin and oxytocin.
  
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• The Cherenkov Telescope Array releases its updated science case

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Cherenkov Telescope Array) This release of the updated science case for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) details how it will be the major global observatory for very high energy gamma-ray astronomy over the next decade and beyond. The scientific potential of CTA is extremely broad: from understanding the role of relativistic cosmic particles to the search for dark matter. Covering a huge range in photon energy from 20 GeV to 300 TeV, CTA will improve on all aspects of performance with respec
  
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• Study suggests an answer to young people's persistent sleep problems

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (James Cook University) A collaborative research project involving James Cook University and the University of Queensland indicates high rates of sleep problems continuing through teenage years and into early adulthood -- but also suggests a natural remedy.
  
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• Study shows high cost of truckers not having enough places to park and rest

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Oregon State University) A pilot study illustrates the high economic cost of having too few safe places for commercial truck drivers to park and rest.
  
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• Study reveals troubling disparities in prescribing opioids for patients with nonmalignant chronic pain

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Kansas) Published in the journal Pain Medicine, the analysis of 690 million outpatient visits related to nonmalignant chronic pain between 2000 and 2007 suggests prescriptions of opioids are influenced by non-medical factors such as a patient's form of insurance, geographic region and patient's relationship to the provider.
  
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• Study examines survival of very low birthweight babies

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Wiley) A new study published in Acta Paediatrica indicates that survival of babies born weighing ?500 g is poor despite advances in neonatal care.
  
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• Strong family ties improve employment options for people with childhood-onset disabilities

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Oregon State University) Family and close friends play an integral role in helping people with childhood-onset disabilities attain quality employment as adults, a new study from Oregon State University has found.
  
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• Satellite spots a tiny, mighty Hurricane Lee

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Hurricane Lee continues to strengthen in the Central Atlantic Ocean, and the tiny hurricane appeared well-organized with a clear eye in satellite imagery.
  
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• Saber-toothed kittens may have been born with thicker bones than other contemporary cats

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (PLOS) Saber-toothed kittens may have been born with thicker bones compared to other contemporary cats, but they have a similar pattern of bone development, according to a study published Sept. 27, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Katherine Long from California State Polytechnic University, USA and colleagues.
  
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• Researchers uncover our brain's filing system for storing experiences

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (New York University) A team of neuroscientists has uncovered how our brains organize, over time, our experiences: that is, according to their similarities.
  
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• Research sheds new light on how Earth and Mars were created

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Bristol) Analysing a mixture of earth samples and meteorites, scientists from the University of Bristol have shed new light on the sequence of events that led to the creation of the planets Earth and Mars.
  
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• Reducing disparities in cancer precision medicine

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center) The National Cancer Institute has awarded LSU Health New Orleans and Moffitt Comprehensive Cancer Center in Tampa a $2 million grant over four years to study cancer precision medicine with an emphasis on underserved minorities and to train students and junior scientists in cancer health disparities-based precision medicine research.
  
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• People think harder and produce better political arguments when their views are challenged

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Binghamton University) People who are presented with political statements contradictory to their own beliefs tend to think harder and produce better arguments, according to research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.
  
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• Pass the salt: Mapping the neurons that drive salt cravings

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) A team of scientists in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, have shed new light on the process. In research published today in the journal Neuron, a team of scientists working in the lab of Bradford Lowell, M.D., Ph.D., identified the sub-population of neurons that respond to the body's sodium deficiency and mapped the brain circuitry underlying the drive to consume salt.
  
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• Opioid crisis in Staten Island affects all races and socioeconomic backgrounds

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health) Contrary to media reports, the opioid epidemic on Staten Island is not confined to affluent young white residents, and affects all neighborhoods, races, ages, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The study is published in a report titled, "Staten Island Needs Assessment: Opioid Addiction Prevention and Treatment Systems of Care." The findings were presented at a press conference by the District Attorney's Office for Staten Island.
  
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• On a collision course with game theory

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Würzburg) How do pedestrians behave in a large crowd? How do they avoid collisions? How can their paths be modeled? A new approach developed by mathematicians from Würzburg and Nice provides answers to these questions.
  
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• New test rapidly diagnoses Zika

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) MIT researchers have developed a paper-based test that can diagnose Zika infection within 20 minutes. Unlike existing tests, the new diagnostic does not cross-react with Dengue virus, a close relative of the Zika virus that can produce false positives on many Zika tests.
  
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• New study released on nontraffic injuries and fatalities in young children

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Brown University) From 1990-2014, researchers found more than 11,750 distinct incidents in a variety of venues and vehicles affecting 14,568 children 14 years and younger, resulting in nearly 3,400 deaths.
  
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• New gravitational wave hits Earth -- For the first time, 3 detectors zoom in on location

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Penn State) For the first time, three detectors have tracked the gravitational waves emitted by a merger of two black holes -- a critical new capability that allows scientists to more closely locate a gravitational wave's birthplace in space. It is the fourth announced detection of a binary black-hole system by the LIGO detectors and the first significant gravitational-wave signal recorded by the Virgo detector.
  
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• NASA satellites peer into a lop-sided Hurricane Maria

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA's Aqua satellite and Global Precipitation Measurement mission, or GPM, satellites have been peering into what appears to be a somewhat lop-sided Hurricane Maria. The storm appears asymmetric because vertical wind shear is pushing clouds and showers to the eastern side of the storm.
  
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• Move towards 'holy grail' of computing by creation of brain-like photonic microchips

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Exeter) Scientists have made a crucial step towards unlocking the 'holy grail' of computing -- microchips that mimic the way the human brain works to store and process information.
  
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• Monetising time savings makes toll roads financially stack up

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (Queensland University of Technology) Putting a dollar value on the savings from traffic congestion, noise and air pollution as a result of toll roads and tunnels will make large infrastructure projects more cost effective, according to a new study by Queensland University of Technology.
  
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• Mini-protein rapid design method opens way to create a new class of drugs

  27-09-2017 06:00
  (University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine) A high-speed method has been developed to generate many different, small, stable proteins from scratch,custom-designed to bind to specific therapeutic targets. Protection against infectious diseases, like flu, and antidotes to nerve toxins are but two research goals of this approach. The method rapidly originates thousands of new drug candidates. These computer-designed proteins, which did not previous exist in nature, combine thestability a
  
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