Science news

• Bear 148 hunter knew bear was wearing tracking collar before kill

  28-09-2017 23:56 via cbc.ca
  The hunter that killed a notorious female grizzly bear in B.C. after the bear wandered into the province from Alberta knew the animal was wearing a research tracking collar but shot it anyway.
  
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• Damaged tropical forests now emit more carbon than all the vehicles in U.S.

  28-09-2017 22:43 via cbc.ca
  Tropical forests emit more carbon each year than all of the cars and trucks in the U.S., scientists said on Thursday, calling for greater efforts to stem forest loss and damage.
  
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• m6A enzymes found to be central to the development of AML

  28-09-2017 22:05
  A new molecular pathway that is required for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) development has been identified by a team of researchers for the first time. This work could provide a rationale for targeting the RNA methylation program in myeloid leukemia.
  
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• Happy 350,000th birthday: Study pushes back Homo sapiens origins

  28-09-2017 21:45
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Genetic data from the skeletal remains of seven people who lived centuries ago in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal Province is offering intriguing new evidence that our species, Homo sapiens, is older than previously believed.
  
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• Canada's border agency to start tracking the number of cellphone searches

  28-09-2017 21:31 via cbc.ca
  The Canada Border Services Agency says it will begin tracking the number of cellphones its officers search at the border and will provide Canadians their first glimpse into the frequency of those searches after six months. In the U.S., the number of border searches has risen sharply in recent years.
  
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• Broad-spectrum inhibitors of influenza virus developed

  28-09-2017 21:28
  Artificial peptide molecules that neutralize a broad range of influenza virus strains have been developed by a team of researchers.
  
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• Sensible driving saves more gas than drivers think

  28-09-2017 21:27
  A new study has quantified the impact speeding and slamming on the brakes has on fuel economy and consumption. Aggressive behavior behind the wheel can lower gas mileage in light-duty vehicles, which can equate to losing about $0.25 to $1 per gallon.
  
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• Hunt is over for one of the 'top 50 most-wanted fungi'

  28-09-2017 21:27
  In a step toward bridging the gap between fungal taxonomy and molecular ecology, scientists have characterized a sample of "mystery" fungus collected in North Carolina and found its home in the fungal tree of life.
  
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• Solving the mystery of Pluto's giant blades of ice

  28-09-2017 21:24
  NASA's New Horizons mission revolutionized our knowledge of Pluto when it flew past that distant world in July 2015. Among its many discoveries were images of strange formations resembling giant knife blades of ice, whose origin had remained a mystery. Now, scientists have turned up a fascinating explanation for this "bladed terrain": the structures are made almost entirely of methane ice, and likely formed as a specific kind of erosion wore away their surfaces.
  
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• Farthest active inbound comet yet seen

  28-09-2017 21:23
  NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has photographed the farthest active inbound comet ever seen, at a whopping distance of 1.5 billion miles from the Sun (beyond Saturn's orbit). Slightly warmed by the remote Sun, it has already begun to develop an 80,000-mile-wide fuzzy cloud of dust, called a coma, enveloping a tiny, solid nucleus of frozen gas and dust. These observations represent the earliest signs of activity ever seen from a comet entering the solar system's planetary zone for the first time.
  
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• It takes the right amount of carbon

  28-09-2017 21:22
  Researchers have created a model that sheds new light on the formation of terrestrial planets and Earth.
  
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• How different ant species coexist in the same territory

  28-09-2017 21:22
  In every animal community, several species in the same group share habitats. An international team has chosen ants to create the largest public-access database on the cohabitation of these insects. The goal is to understand their tricks for coexistence and how they respond to invasive species and climate change.
  
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• A fresh look at older data yields a surprise near the Martian equator

  28-09-2017 21:22
  Scientists taking a new look at older data from NASA's longest-operating Mars orbiter have discovered evidence of significant hydration near the Martian equator -- a mysterious signature in a region of the Red Planet where planetary scientists figure ice shouldn't exist.
  
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• Castaway critters rafted to U.S. shores aboard Japan tsunami debris

  28-09-2017 21:19
  
  Researchers report finding 289 living Japanese marine species that washed up on American shores on debris from the 2011 East Japan earthquake and tsunami.
  
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• Understanding connection between HIV transmission, racial/ethnic/geographical differences

  28-09-2017 20:54
  The health effects of where people live, work, and interact are well documented, as are the value of neighborhood-level structural interventions designed to improve health. But place-based characteristics that contribute to disparities in HIV transmission and disease burden are poorly understood, possibly resulting in less-effective HIV risk reduction interventions and programming.
  
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• Disease resistance successfully spread from modified to wild mosquitoes

  28-09-2017 20:54
  Using genetically modified mosquitoes to reduce or prevent the spread of disease is a rapidly expanding field of investigation. One challenge is ensuring that GM mosquitoes can mate with their wild counterparts so the desired modification is spread in the wild population. Investigators have engineered mosquitoes with an altered microbiota that suppresses human malaria-causing parasites. These GM mosquitoes preferred to mate with wild mosquitoes and passed the desired protection to offspring.
  
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• Are we really headed to the moon?

  28-09-2017 20:36 via cbc.ca
  There have been plans to return to the moon for decades, and although Wednesday's announced co-operation between Russia and the U.S. sounds promising, it's a familiar story.
  
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• Tsunami enabled hundreds of aquatic species to raft across Pacific

  28-09-2017 20:21
  The 2011 Japanese tsunami set the stage for something unprecedented. For the first time in recorded history, scientists have detected entire communities of coastal species crossing the ocean by floating on makeshift rafts. Nearly 300 species have appeared on the shores of Hawaii and the US West Coast attached to tsunami debris, marine biologists discovered.
  
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• Protecting 'self-reactive' immune cells so they can fight melanoma

  28-09-2017 20:21
  Researchers report on a potential new way to fight melanoma by blocking one of the immune system's checks and balances.
  
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• Massive projected increase in use of antimicrobials in animals by 2030

  28-09-2017 20:21
  The amount of antimicrobials given to animals destined for human consumption is expected to rise by a staggering 52 percent and reach 200,000 tons by 2030 unless policies are implemented to limit their use, according to new research.
  
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• Generating terahertz radiation from water makes 'the impossible, possible'

  28-09-2017 20:21
  For nearly a decade, researchers have worked to solve a scientific puzzle that many in the research community believed to be impossible: producing terahertz waves -- a form of electromagnetic radiation in the far infrared frequency range -- from liquid water.
  
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• Flexible new platform for high-performance electronics

  28-09-2017 20:21
  A team of engineers has created the most functional flexible transistor in the world -- and with it, a fast, simple and inexpensive fabrication process that's easily scalable to the commercial level. It's an advance that could open the door to an increasingly interconnected world, enabling manufacturers to add 'smart,' wireless capabilities to any number of large or small products or objects -- like wearable sensors and computers for people and animals -- that curve, bend, stretch and move.
  
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• Continental controls needed to maintain fightback against tree diseases

  28-09-2017 20:21
  Tighter controls on timber and plant movements into Europe are necessary to prevent further disastrous effects of plant diseases, a new study of the ash-dieback pathogen advises.
  
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• New measurements show widespread forest loss has reversed the role of tropics as a carbon sink

  28-09-2017 20:20
  A new report provides the most comprehensive picture of deforestation's toll on critical climate change safeguard; reveals hard-to-measure forest degradation is responsible for nearly 70 percent of emissions from tropical forests. Researchers discovered that tropical regions are now a net source of carbon to the atmosphere.
  
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• Modern humans emerged more than 300,000 years ago new study suggests

  28-09-2017 20:20
  A genomic analysis of ancient human remains from KwaZulu-Natal revealed that southern Africa has an important role to play in writing the history of humankind.
  
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• Bed bugs attracted to dirty laundry

  28-09-2017 20:20
  Bed bugs are attracted to dirty laundry, according to new research.
  
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• Tropical forests have flipped from sponges to sources of carbon dioxide

  28-09-2017 20:00
  
  Analyses of satellite images suggest that degraded forests now release more carbon than they store.
  
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• Ancient boy’s DNA pushes back date of earliest humans

  28-09-2017 20:00
  
  Genes from South African fossils suggest humans emerged close to 300,000 years ago.
  
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• A Single Mutation Helps Modern Zika Cause Birth Defects

  28-09-2017 20:00 via rss.sciam.com
  The minuscule change allows the virus to more readily damage brain cells
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• A mutation may explain the sudden rise in birth defects from Zika

  28-09-2017 20:00
  
  A mutation in a protein that helps Zika exit cells may play a big role in microcephaly.
  
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• Final Rosetta photo shows rocky comet surface

  28-09-2017 19:55 via cbc.ca
  The European Space Agency says scientists have pieced together a final image of a comet's surface taken by its Rosetta probe just before its mission ended in a slow-motion crash a year ago.
  
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• ZATT (ZNF451)-mediated resolution of topoisomerase 2 DNA-protein cross-links

  28-09-2017 19:22
  Topoisomerase 2 (TOP2) DNA transactions proceed via formation of the TOP2 cleavage complex (TOP2cc), a covalent enzyme-DNA reaction intermediate that is vulnerable to trapping by potent anticancer TOP2 drugs. How genotoxic TOP2 DNA-protein cross-links are resolved is unclear. We found that the SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier) ligase ZATT (ZNF451) is a multifunctional DNA repair factor that controls cellular responses to TOP2 damage. ZATT binding to TOP2cc facilitates a proteasome-independ
  
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• Tsunami-driven rafting: Transoceanic species dispersal and implications for marine biogeography

  28-09-2017 19:22
  The 2011 East Japan earthquake generated a massive tsunami that launched an extraordinary transoceanic biological rafting event with no known historical precedent. We document 289 living Japanese coastal marine species from 16 phyla transported over 6 years on objects that traveled thousands of kilometers across the Pacific Ocean to the shores of North America and Hawai‘i. Most of this dispersal occurred on nonbiodegradable objects, resulting in the longest documented transoceanic survival
  
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• Synthesis of mixed hypermetallic oxide BaOCa+ from laser-cooled reagents in an atom-ion hybrid trap

  28-09-2017 19:22
  Hypermetallic alkaline earth (M) oxides of formula MOM have been studied under plasma conditions that preclude insight into their formation mechanism. We present here the application of emerging techniques in ultracold physics to the synthesis of a mixed hypermetallic oxide, BaOCa+. These methods, augmented by high-level electronic structure calculations, permit detailed investigation of the bonding and structure as well as the mechanism of its formation via the barrierless reaction of Ca (3PJ)
  
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• Supersonic gas streams enhance the formation of massive black holes in the early universe

  28-09-2017 19:22
  The origin of super-massive black holes in the early universe remains poorly understood. Gravitational collapse of a massive primordial gas cloud is a promising initial process, but theoretical studies have difficulty growing the black hole fast enough. We report numerical simulations of early black hole formation starting from realistic cosmological conditions. Supersonic gas motions left over from the Big Bang prevent early gas cloud formation until rapid gas condensation is triggered in a pro
  
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• Spin-imbalance in a 2D Fermi-Hubbard system

  28-09-2017 19:22
  The interplay of strong interactions and magnetic fields gives rise to unusual forms of superconductivity and magnetism in quantum many-body systems. Here, we present an experimental study of the two-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model—a paradigm for strongly correlated fermions on a lattice—in the presence of a Zeeman field and varying doping. Using site-resolved measurements, we revealed anisotropic antiferromagnetic correlations, a precursor to long-range canted order. We observed non
  
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• Nanophotonic rare-earth quantum memory with optically controlled retrieval

  28-09-2017 19:22
  Optical quantum memories are essential elements in quantum networks for long-distance distribution of quantum entanglement. Scalable development of quantum network nodes requires on-chip qubit storage functionality with control of the readout time. We demonstrate a high-fidelity nanophotonic quantum memory based on a mesoscopic neodymium ensemble coupled to a photonic crystal cavity. The nanocavity enables >95% spin polarization for efficient initialization of the atomic frequency comb memory
  
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• Mutations in the promoter of the telomerase gene TERT contribute to tumorigenesis by a two-step mechanism

  28-09-2017 19:22
  TERT promoter mutations (TPMs) are the most common noncoding mutations in cancer. The timing and consequences of TPMs have not been fully established. Here, we show that TPMs acquired at the transition from benign nevus to malignant melanoma do not support telomere maintenance. In vitro experiments revealed that TPMs do not prevent telomere attrition, resulting in cells with critically short and unprotected telomeres. Immortalization by TPMs requires a gradual up-regulation of telomerase, coinci
  
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• Kinetics of dCas9 target search in Escherichia coli

  28-09-2017 19:22
  How fast can a cell locate a specific chromosomal DNA sequence specified by a single-stranded oligonucleotide? To address this question, we investigate the intracellular search processes of the Cas9 protein, which can be programmed by a guide RNA to bind essentially any DNA sequence. This targeting flexibility requires Cas9 to unwind the DNA double helix to test for correct base pairing to the guide RNA. Here we study the search mechanisms of the catalytically inactive Cas9 (dCas9) in living Esc
  
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• Gating of social reward by oxytocin in the ventral tegmental area

  28-09-2017 19:22
  The reward generated by social interactions is critical for promoting prosocial behaviors. Here we present evidence that oxytocin (OXT) release in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a key node of the brain’s reward circuitry, is necessary to elicit social reward. During social interactions, activity in paraventricular nucleus (PVN) OXT neurons increased. Direct activation of these neurons in the PVN or their terminals in the VTA enhanced prosocial behaviors. Conversely, inhibition of PVN OX
  
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• Frequency combs enable rapid and high-resolution multidimensional coherent spectroscopy

  28-09-2017 19:22
  Dual laser frequency combs can rapidly measure high-resolution linear absorption spectra. However, one-dimensional linear techniques cannot distinguish the sources of resonances in a mixture of different analytes, nor can they separate inhomogeneous and homogeneous broadening. Here, we overcame these limitations by acquiring high-resolution multidimensional nonlinear coherent spectra with frequency combs. We experimentally differentiated and assigned the Doppler-broadened features of two natural
  
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• Electronic crystal growth

  28-09-2017 19:22
  Interacting atoms or molecules condense into liquid, and, when cooled further, they form a crystal. The time evolution of the atomic or molecular ordering has been widely studied as a nonequilibrium emergence of order from a supercooled liquid or a glass. Interacting electrons in a variety of correlated electron systems also form crystals, but observing the time evolution of electronic crystallization has been experimentally challenging. Here, working with an organic conductor exhibiting a super
  
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• Driving mosquito refractoriness to Plasmodium falciparum with engineered symbiotic bacteria

  28-09-2017 19:22
  The huge burden of malaria in developing countries urgently demands the development of novel approaches to fight this deadly disease. Although engineered symbiotic bacteria have been shown to render mosquitoes resistant to the parasite, the challenge remains to effectively introduce such bacteria into mosquito populations. We describe a Serratia bacterium strain (AS1) isolated from Anopheles ovaries that stably colonizes the mosquito midgut, female ovaries, and male accessory glands and spreads
  
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• Crystallization and vitrification of electrons in a glass-forming charge liquid

  28-09-2017 19:22
  Charge ordering (CO) is a phenomenon in which electrons in solids crystallize into a periodic pattern of charge-rich and charge-poor sites owing to strong electron correlations. This usually results in long-range order. In geometrically frustrated systems, however, a glassy electronic state without long-range CO has been observed. We found that a charge-ordered organic material with an isosceles triangular lattice shows charge dynamics associated with crystallization and vitrification of electro
  
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• Changes in the microbiota cause genetically modified Anopheles to spread in a population

  28-09-2017 19:22
  The mosquito’s innate immune system controls both Plasmodium and bacterial infections. We investigated the competitiveness of mosquitoes genetically modified to alter expression of their own anti-Plasmodium immune genes in a mixed-cage population with wild-type mosquitoes. We observed that genetically modified mosquitoes with increased immune activity in the midgut tissue did not have an observed fitness disadvantage and showed reduced microbial loads in both the midgut and reproductive or
  
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• Advances in thermoelectric materials research: Looking back and moving forward

  28-09-2017 19:22
  High-performance thermoelectric materials lie at the heart of thermoelectrics, the simplest technology applicable to direct thermal-to-electrical energy conversion. In its recent 60-year history, the field of thermoelectric materials research has stalled several times, but each time it was rejuvenated by new paradigms. This article reviews several potentially paradigm-changing mechanisms enabled by defects, size effects, critical phenomena, anharmonicity, and the spin degree of freedom. These me
  
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• Harvard team's Cape Breton fossil find could shed light on our fish-like ancestors

  28-09-2017 19:21 via cbc.ca
  A paleontologist who picked up an "interesting" rock on a beach near Sydney Mines, N.S., stumbles upon a previously undiscovered fossil bed.
  
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• Europe plans Sentinel satellite expansion

  28-09-2017 18:58 via bbc.co.uk
  The process begins of scoping new spacecraft for the Sentinel Earth observation network.
  
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• Will this rover succeed in exploring the Moon's surface?

  28-09-2017 18:23 via bbc.co.uk
  A team in Bangalore has entered the Google Lunar X Prize to land a rover on the Moon.
  
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• Summer could be one long heatwave if planet hits 2 degrees Celsius

  28-09-2017 18:18
  New paper highlighting how heatwaves will change with every degree of global warming up to 5 degrees C. It finds tropical summers may be one continuous heatwave at 2 degrees C.
  
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