Science news

• These spiders may have the world’s fastest body clocks

  14-11-2017 22:00
  
  Three orb-weaving spiders may have the shortest circadian clocks yet discovered among animals.
  
  Read more

• Zwicky Transient Facility sees 'first light'

  14-11-2017 21:55
  A new robotic camera that can capture hundreds of thousands of stars and galaxies in a single shot has taken its first image -- an event astronomers refer to as 'first light.' The camera is the centerpiece of a new automated sky survey called the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF).
  
  Read more

• Simulating the universe using Einstein’s theory of gravity may solve cosmic puzzles

  14-11-2017 21:30
  
  Better simulating the dense parts of the universe could improve scientists’ view of how the universe evolves.
  
  Read more

• Scientists create yellow, three-eyed, wingless mosquitoes by using gene editing tool

  14-11-2017 20:23
  Researchers have developed transgenic mosquitoes that stably express the Cas9 enzyme in their germline. The addition of Cas9 will enable the use of the CRISPR gene editing tool to make efficient, targeted changes to the mosquitoes' DNA. As proof of concept, the researchers used the system to disrupt cuticle, wing, and eye development, producing completely yellow, three-eyed and wingless mosquitoes. Their long-term goal is to develop new pest control strategies.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Labor induction at 40 weeks associated with lower risk of perinatal mortality

  14-11-2017 20:23
  Induction of labor at 40 weeks in nulliparous women aged 35 and older is associated with reduced risk of in-hospital perinatal death, according to a recent analysis.
  
  Read more

• Disease-resistant apples perform better than old favorites

  14-11-2017 20:23
  You may not find them in the produce aisle yet, but it's only a matter of time before new disease-resistant apple cultivars overtake favorites like Honeycrisp in popularity.
  
  Read more

• The genetics of PKM{zeta} and memory maintenance

  14-11-2017 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Elucidating the molecular mechanisms that maintain long-term memory is a fundamental goal of neuroscience. Accumulating evidence suggests that persistent signaling by the atypical protein kinase C (PKC) isoform protein kinase M (PKM) might maintain synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term memory. However, the role of PKM has been challenged by genetic data from PKM-knockout mice showing intact LTP and long-term memory. Moreover, the PKM inhibitor peptideinhibitory peptide (ZIP) revers
  
  Read more

• Papers of note in Science Translational Medicine 9 (415)

  14-11-2017 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles describe a way to combat the negative effects of stress on cancer therapy; a potential target in heart failure; and why nighttime wounds heal more slowly than daytime wounds.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Papers of note in Science 358 (6364)

  14-11-2017 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles highlight a newly identified component of methionine sensing; a mechanism by which nutrient depletion prevents the efflux of essential amino acids from lysosomes; how reactive oxygen species promote genome stability during metabolic stress; co-option of the cell cycle regulatory machinery to time the differentiation of multiciliated cells; and connections between olfaction, organismal metabolism, and longevity.
  
  Read more

• Papers of note in Nature 551 (7679)

  14-11-2017 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles highlight interactions between astrocytes and neurons that influence both cell types’ form and function; a genetic basis for individual variation in aging; and the mechanism by which an E3 ubiquitin ligase adaptor affects synaptic transmission.
  
  Read more

• MAFB enhances oncogenic Notch signaling in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

  14-11-2017 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Activating mutations in the gene encoding the cell-cell contact signaling protein Notch1 are common in human T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias (T-ALLs). However, expressing Notch1 mutant alleles in mice fails to efficiently induce the development of leukemia. We performed a gain-of-function screen to identify proteins that enhanced signaling by leukemia-associated Notch1 mutants. The transcription factors MAFB and ETS2 emerged as candidates that individually enhanced Notch1 signaling, and whe
  
  Read more

• Isolation of isoform-specific binding proteins (Affimers) by phage display using negative selection

  14-11-2017 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Some 30 years after its discovery, phage display remains one of the most widely used methods of in vitro selection. Initially developed to revolutionize the generation of therapeutic antibodies, phage display is now the first choice for screening artificial binding proteins. Artificial binding proteins can be used as reagents to study protein-protein interactions, target posttranslational modifications, and distinguish between homologous proteins. They can also be used as research and affinity r
  
  Read more

• Generation of specific inhibitors of SUMO-1- and SUMO-2/3-mediated protein-protein interactions using Affimer (Adhiron) technology

  14-11-2017 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Because protein-protein interactions underpin most biological processes, developing tools that target them to understand their function or to inform the development of therapeutics is an important task. SUMOylation is the posttranslational covalent attachment of proteins in the SUMO family (SUMO-1, SUMO-2, or SUMO-3), and it regulates numerous cellular pathways. SUMOylated proteins are recognized by proteins with SUMO-interaction motifs (SIMs) that facilitate noncovalent interactions with SUMO.
  
  Read more

• Fat expansion through norepinephrine catabolism

  14-11-2017 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Certain macrophage populations limit norepinephrine-induced lipolysis in adipose tissues in response to aging or obesity.
  
  Read more

• Climate change making Harvey's 'Biblical' rainfall more likely, study says

  14-11-2017 19:53 via cbc.ca
  ​The chances of a hurricane flooding parts of Texas, like Harvey did, have soared six-fold in just 25 years because of global warming and will likely triple once again before the end of the century, a new study says.
  
  Read more

• U.S. approves digital pill that tracks when patients take it

  14-11-2017 19:36
  (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have approved the first digital pill with an embedded sensor to track if patients are taking their medication properly, marking a significant step forward in the convergence of healthcare and technology.
  
  Read more

• Stranded orca refloated in New Zealand

  14-11-2017 18:57 via bbc.co.uk
  Volunteers and military personnel worked together to help return the killer whale to the ocean.
  
  Read more

• Into the woods: The Japanese way to beat stress

  14-11-2017 18:49 via bbc.co.uk
  One army veteran suffering from PTSD says Forest Bathing is helping him sleep.
  
  Read more

• The brain auditions different cells when learning a task, some don't make the cut

  14-11-2017 18:34
  For decades, neuroscientists have wondered how the brain can continue to learn new skills without needing to grow in size or volume over a person's lifetime. Evidence suggests that the number of brain cells -- neurons, synapses, and glial cells -- does initially increase as we're learning, but many are eventually pruned away or assigned to other roles.
  
  Read more

• Electron backscatter diffraction yields microstructure insights

  14-11-2017 18:34
  Soft magnetic core engineering plays a key role in high-efficiency electric motors, but for higher-frequency applications, soft magnetic composites are also promising. Each stage of motor construction affects the material's microstructure, and understanding the details of the microstructure is paramount to reaching higher efficiency for electrical motors. Researchers have now created an advanced characterization method to closely examine microscale structural characteristics and changes during m
  
  Read more

• Artificially cooling planet 'risky strategy'

  14-11-2017 18:34
  Proposals to reduce the effects of global warming by imitating volcanic eruptions could have a devastating effect on global regions prone to either tumultuous storms or prolonged drought, new research has shown.
  
  Read more

• Sun's role in mitigating fungal disease of mango fruit

  14-11-2017 18:33
  The occurrence of stem end rot (SER) during storage means major losses for mango fruit growers and suppliers. Promising new research explores sunlight's role in cultivating a beneficial mix of microorganisms that help mitigate SER.
  
  Read more

• Psoriasis severity linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes

  14-11-2017 18:33
  People with psoriasis are at a higher risk to develop type 2 diabetes than those without psoriasis, and the risk increases dramatically based on the severity of the disease. Researchers found people with psoriasis that covers 10 percent of their body or more are 64 percent more likely to develop diabetes than those without psoriasis, independent of traditional risk factors such as body weight.
  
  Read more

• Pesticides may cause bumblebees to lose their buzz, study finds

  14-11-2017 18:33
  Pesticides significantly reduce the number of pollen grains a bumblebee is able to collect, a new study has found.
  
  Read more

• New insights into why sleep is good for our memory

  14-11-2017 18:33
  Researchers have shed new light on sleep's vital role in helping us make the most of our memory.
  
  Read more

• Low dose, constant drip: Pharmaceutical, personal care pollution impacts aquatic life

  14-11-2017 18:33
  Traditional toxicity testing underestimates the risk that pharmaceutical and personal care product pollution poses to freshwater ecosystems. Criteria that account for ecological disruption -- not just organism death -- are needed to protect surface waters, which are under pressure from a growing population and escalating synthetic chemical use.
  
  Read more

• Combating devastating amphibian disease

  14-11-2017 18:33
  Amphibian chytridiomycosis, caused by infection with the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus, is the most devastating vertebrate disease on record.
  
  Read more

• 'Black box' methods used by biologists probably overestimate number of new species

  14-11-2017 18:33
  New research demonstrates the misuse and abuse of methods scientists commonly use to place boundaries between different species.
  
  Read more

• Aspirin can prevent heart attacks after noncardiac surgery in patients with prior PCI

  14-11-2017 18:33
  A new study has found that perioperative aspirin can prevent heart-related complications after major noncardiac surgery in patients with previous percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) such as an angioplasty or stent. The study found that for every 1,000 patients with PCI, giving them aspirin at the time of noncardiac surgery would prevent 59 heart attacks and cause eight major bleeding events.
  
  Read more

• Study settles prehistoric puzzle, confirms modern link of carbon dioxide and global warming

  14-11-2017 18:32
  Fossil leaves from Africa resolve a prehistoric climate puzzle and confirm the link between carbon dioxide and global warming. Research previously found conflicting data on high carbon levels and its link to climate change about 22 million years ago. But a new study found the link existed then as now. The finding sheds light on recent and future increases in atmospheric carbon and its impact on our planet.
  
  Read more

• Global birth season study links environment with disease risk

  14-11-2017 18:32
  A new study sheds light on connections between birth month and risk for certain diseases.
  
  Read more

• Why testicular cancer is so responsive to chemo

  14-11-2017 18:30
  A major step has been taken toward answering a key question in cancer research: Why is testicular cancer so responsive to chemotherapy, even after it metastasizes?
  
  Read more

• Canadians more web-connected, but at possible cost to work-life balance, StatsCan says

  14-11-2017 18:08 via cbc.ca
  Canadians are leading more and more digitally connected lives, and that's having both positive and negative implications on our well-being, a new Statistics Canada survey suggests.
  
  Read more

• New camera on Palomar telescope will seek out supernovas, asteroids and more

  14-11-2017 18:00
  
  The Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar Observatory in California will seek supernovas, black holes and asteroids.
  
  Read more

• FDA approves first digital pill to track when patients take medication

  14-11-2017 17:38 via cbc.ca
  American regulators have approved the first drug with a sensor that can track whether patients have taken their medicine.
  
  Read more

• Surgeons repair spina bifida in fetus for 1st time in Canada, hospitals say

  14-11-2017 17:30 via cbc.ca
  For the first time in Canada, a team of surgeons has successfully performed in-utero surgery to repair a form of spina bifida, two Toronto hospitals say.
  
  Read more

• Why hot water freezes faster than cold water

  14-11-2017 16:48
  A team of researchers has defined a theoretical framework that could explain the Mpemba effect, a counterintuitive physical phenomenon revealed when hot water freezes faster than cold water.
  
  Read more

• Sensor for the most important human cancer gene

  14-11-2017 16:42
  The molecular smoke detector works like a TP53 sensor, which monitors the correct function of the gene. A non-functional TP53 gene is going to activate the sensor, which initiates cell death.
  
  Read more

• Parasitic plants rely on unusual method to spread their seeds

  14-11-2017 16:42
  Three species of non-photosynthetic plants rely mainly on camel crickets to disperse their seeds.
  
  Read more

• Oral bacteria in the gut could drive immune cell induction and inflammatory bowel disease

  14-11-2017 16:42
  Investigators have investigated the relationship between salivary microbes and IBD, and they found that when the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae colonizes in an intestine out of microbial balance, immune cells called T helper 1 (TH1) become overactive in the gut, resulting in intestinal inflammation leading to the onset of IBD.
  
  Read more

• Innovative, ideal liquid-repellent surfaces developed by scientists

  14-11-2017 16:42
  Scientists have developed a robust liquid-repellent structure and the fabrication of porous surfaces by an innovative microfluidic-droplet-based technique. Materials such as textiles, metals, and glasses covered by a layer of this robust porous surface can then become liquid-repellent.
  
  Read more

• Ethnic and gender differences in youths' developing gender identity

  14-11-2017 16:42
  The extent to which youths feel typical of their gender and the pressure they feel to conform to traditional gender roles are related to adolescents' well-being. Because many gender-related expectations are culturally based, a new longitudinal study examined how French middle school adolescents' feelings about the development of gender identity differed across groups of teens from different ethnicities, cultures, and genders.
  
  Read more

• Allergy amplifier implicated in asthma also intensifies food allergy

  14-11-2017 16:42
  Almost 8 percent of children under three years old and four percent of adults suffer food allergies, which trigger not only discomfiting symptoms like dermatitis and diarrhea but can cause deadly anaphylactic shock. Allergic responses emerge when food components, like egg, shellfish, or peanut proteins, stimulate white blood cells called mast cells to dump excessive quantities of histamine or cytokines into the blood, fomenting inflammation in skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal tract, among other t
  
  Read more

• Cognitive behavioral therapy for children and adolescents with OCD works in the long run

  14-11-2017 16:41
  The vast majority of children and adolescents who receive cognitive behavioral therapy treatment for OCD thrive and live without symptoms a year after the end of treatment, shows new research.
  
  Read more

• Evidence-based approach to treating post-delivery pain in new moms during opioid crisis

  14-11-2017 15:20
  Women who undergo vaginal delivery often do not require opioids to manage pain after hospital discharge, concludes a study. In addition, the quantity of opioids prescribed to women after cesarean delivery can be less than currently prescribed, say the authors.
  
  Read more

• How food poisoning bacteria Campylobacter uses other organisms as Trojan horse to infect new hosts

  14-11-2017 15:19
  New research has shown how the food poisoning bacteria Campylobacter can multiply and spread inside micro-organisms called amoebae- which could lead to a better understanding of how bacteria survive and help efforts to prevent the spread of infection.
  
  Read more

• Grow, differentiate and freeze stem cells in a transparent bag

  14-11-2017 15:19
  Human stem cells are considered a major new hope in the field of medicine. In the future, it is expected that they will make it possible to treat a wide range of ailments such as neurodegenerative diseases. With LabBag®, researchers have developed an all-in-one system in the form of a transparent bag that provides a cheap, fast and sterile way for scientists to grow, differentiate and freeze stem cells. The cell models produced can be used for toxicity tests and drug development.
  
  Read more

• Tapeworm drug fights prostate cancer

  14-11-2017 15:18
  Medicine against parasites like Tapeworms and Giardia, contains a substance that kills Prostate- and colon cancer, scientists have discovered.
  
  Read more

• Quick! What's that smell? Mammal brains identify type of scent faster than once thought

  14-11-2017 15:13
  It takes less than one-tenth of a second -- a fraction of the time previously thought -- for the sense of smell to distinguish between one odor and another, new experiments in mice show.
  
  Read more

• HPV testing is better than the Pap test at detecting cervical cancer

  14-11-2017 15:13
  Testing for cervical cancer using HPV testing in addition to the Pap smear is unlikely to detect cancer cases that wouldn't be found using HPV testing alone.
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!