Science news

• Targeted treatment could prevent spread of pancreatic cancer, heart damage

  30-11-2017 23:02
  A new targeted treatment could benefit patients with certain pancreatic tumors by preventing spread of the cancer and protecting their heart from damage -- a direct result of the tumor. Higher levels of serotonin among other tumor secretions can cause injury to the valves of the heart over time, leading to cardiac impairment -- a condition referred to as cardiac carcinoid disease -- in these patients.
  
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• Anti-aging protein could be targeted to rejuvenate immune cells

  30-11-2017 23:02
  An anti-aging protein called SIRT1, commonly known for being activated by red wine, has been shown to protect against age-related diseases, such as cancer, neurodegeneration, and cardiovascular disease. A study now reveals that it could also be targeted to rejuvenate cells in the immune system.
  
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• Fossilised eggs shed light on reign of pterosaurs

  30-11-2017 23:00 via bbc.co.uk
  A collection of 200 eggs gives new insights into the development of the extinct flying reptiles.
  
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• Dazzling egg fossils crack open secrets of ancient flying reptiles

  30-11-2017 21:26
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A dazzling discovery in northwestern China of hundreds of fossilized pterosaur eggs is providing fresh understanding of these flying reptiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs including evidence that their babies were born flightless and needed parental care.
  
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• What gives poetry its aesthetic appeal? New research has well-versed answer

  30-11-2017 21:04
  New psychology research points to the factors that explain why we find particular poems aesthetically pleasing -- results that enhance our understanding of 'why we like what we like.'
  
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• More mammoth bones recovered from Michigan farm where skull, tusks and dozens of intact bones of an ice age mammoth were found

  30-11-2017 21:04
  Paleontologists conducted a second excavation this week at the Chelsea-area farm where the skull, tusks and dozens of intact bones of an ice age mammoth were pulled from the ground in late 2015.
  
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• Brain activity mapped to improve prosthetic design

  30-11-2017 21:04
  High-tech prosthetics allow amputees to engage more fully in everyday life, even to compete in sporting events. Researchers have demonstrated how brain activity is used to identify different terrains -- level ground and stairs, for example -- a key step in developing prosthetics that allow the user's prosthesis to automatically adjust to changing ground conditions in real time.
  
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• Sonic Kayaks: Environmental monitoring and experimental music by citizens

  30-11-2017 20:13
  Researchers have rigged kayaks with underwater environmental sensors and speakers to create an environmental monitoring tool suitable for citizen scientists. Instructions for the hardware and open-source software for making the 'Sonic Kayak' are available.
  
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• New treatment investigated for brain tapeworm infection

  30-11-2017 20:12
  Treating neurocysticercosis (NCC), an infection of the brain with tapeworm larvae, often leads to inflammation and seizures when the parasites in the brain die. Now, researchers have reported that pretreatment with the anti-tumor necrosis factor drug etanercept (ETN) is a viable strategy to manage this post-treatment inflammation.
  
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• Bat cave study sheds new light on origin of SARS virus

  30-11-2017 20:12
  Genetic recombination between viral strains in bats may have produced the direct evolutionary ancestor of the strain that caused a deadly outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in humans, according to new research.
  
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• To proliferate or not to proliferate? A cellular spring replies

  30-11-2017 20:11
  The epithelium is subjected to multiple types of mechanical stretch. Researchers have discovered that the proteins ZO-1 and ZO-2, which contribute to the tightness of the epithelium, perceive these physical signals and activate cellular responses accordingly. These results reveal a novel process by which mechanical forces can regulate the structure of epithelia, their dynamic equilibrium and the establishment of tissue barriers. Targeted inhibition of ZO-1 in tumors could therefore be a pathway
  
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• New research agenda to accelerate malaria elimination, eradication

  30-11-2017 20:11
  Over 180 scientists, malaria program managers and policy makers from around the world have come together through a consultative process to update the research agenda for malaria elimination and eradication, first produced in 2011. The outcome is a series of seven 'malERA Refresh' papers. This forward-looking research and development agenda should help accelerate progress towards a malaria-free world.
  
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• Hundreds of fossilized eggs shed light on pterosaur development

  30-11-2017 20:11
  An invaluable collection of more than 200 eggs is providing new insights into the development and nesting habits of pterosaurs.
  
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• Do your ears hang low? The complex genetics behind earlobe attachment

  30-11-2017 20:11
  A common, hands-on method for teaching genetics in grade school encourages students to compare their earlobes with those of their parents: are they attached and smoothly mesh with the jawline? Or are they detached and dangly? The answer is meant to teach students about dominant and recessive genes. Simple, right? Not so fast.
  
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• Designer molecule points to treatment for diseases caused by DNA repeats

  30-11-2017 20:11
  Using a molecule designed to overcome a roadblock formed by a common type of genetic flaw, researchers have made progress towards novel molecular treatments for Friedreich's ataxia -- a rare but fatal disorder -- in the laboratory dish and in animals.
  
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• Butterfly pattern emerges from quantum simulation

  30-11-2017 20:11
  An international team demonstrates on Google's quantum chip a novel method to study quantum phases of matter.
  
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• Antibiotics may reduce the ability of immune cells to kill bacteria

  30-11-2017 20:11
  A new study has shown that antibiotics can reduce the ability of mouse immune cells to kill bacteria, and that changes to the biochemical environment directly elicited by treatment can protect the bacterial pathogen.
  
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• Public resource boosts drug discovery, offers insights into protein function

  30-11-2017 20:10
  Researchers have taken the Connectivity Map -- a widely used resource of tools and data -- to new heights with a massively scaled-up version. This expanded 'connectivity map' creates more than 1.3 million gene expression profiles of drug treatment and genetic perturbation, accelerating research on small molecules and gene function. For this new platform, the researchers have improved its accessibility for the scientific community, enabling studies of small molecule and gene function and informin
  
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• New early gravity signals to quantify the magnitude of strong earthquakes

  30-11-2017 20:10
  After an earthquake, there is a disturbance in the field of gravity almost instantaneously. This could be recorded before the seismic waves. Researchers have managed to observe these weak signals and to understand where they come from. Because they are sensitive to the magnitude of earthquakes, these signals may play an important role in the early identification of the occurrence of a major earthquake.
  
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• Scallops’ amazing eyes use millions of tiny, square crystals to see

  30-11-2017 20:08
  
  Each of a scallop’s many eyes contains an intricate mirror made from millions of crystals.
  
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• Jackpot of fossilized pterosaur eggs unearthed in China

  30-11-2017 20:00
  
  A treasure trove of pterosaur eggs and embryos gives tantalizing clues to the winged reptile’s early development.
  
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• Eggs in 1 Basket: China Fossil Find Opens Up Lost World of Pterosaurs

  30-11-2017 20:00 via rss.sciam.com
  Researchers think the winged reptiles may have nested in colonies and cared for their young
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Bats in China carry all the ingredients to make a new SARS virus

  30-11-2017 20:00
  
  Viruses infecting bats could recombine to re-create SARS.
  
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• What leads certain people to seek vengeance? Sadism

  30-11-2017 19:38
  People who enjoy hurting others and seeing them in pain are more likely to seek revenge against those who have wronged them, according to a new study.
  
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• Obesity increases dementia risk

  30-11-2017 19:38
  People who have a high body mass index (BMI) are more likely to develop dementia than those with a normal weight, according to a new study.
  
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• Microscopy: A space-time sensor for light-matter interactions

  30-11-2017 19:38
  Physicists have developed an attosecond electron microscope that allows them to visualize the dispersion of light in time and space, and observe the motions of electrons in atoms.
  
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• Despite forest loss, African protected area can support 10s of thousands of elephants

  30-11-2017 19:38
  Despite some forest loss, Mozambique's sprawling Niassa National Reserve has the potential to support tens of thousands of elephants and 1,000 lions according to a new land-use study.
  
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• Copy of 'Jesus' secret revelations to his brother' discovered by biblical scholars

  30-11-2017 19:38
  The first-known original Greek copy of a heretical Christian writing describing Jesus' secret teachings to his brother James has been discovered by biblical scholars. The original manuscript was probably a teacher's model used to help students learn to read and write.
  
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• Breakthrough process for directly converting methane to methanol

  30-11-2017 19:38
  The direct oxidation of methane -- found in natural gas -- into methanol at low temperatures has long been a holy grail. Now, researchers have found a breakthrough way to accomplish the feat using a heterogeneous catalyst and cheap molecular oxygen, according to a new article.
  
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• The target landscape of clinical kinase drugs

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Kinase inhibitors are important cancer therapeutics. Polypharmacology is commonly observed, requiring thorough target deconvolution to understand drug mechanism of action. Using chemical proteomics, we analyzed the target spectrum of 243 clinically evaluated kinase drugs. The data revealed previously unknown targets for established drugs, offered a perspective on the "druggable" kinome, highlighted (non)kinase off-targets, and suggested potential therapeutic applications. Integration of phosphop
  
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• The image-forming mirror in the eye of the scallop

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Scallops possess a visual system comprising up to 200 eyes, each containing a concave mirror rather than a lens to focus light. The hierarchical organization of the multilayered mirror is controlled for image formation, from the component guanine crystals at the nanoscale to the complex three-dimensional morphology at the millimeter level. The layered structure of the mirror is tuned to reflect the wavelengths of light penetrating the scallop’s habitat and is tiled with a mosaic of square
  
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• Stripe order in the underdoped region of the two-dimensional Hubbard model

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Competing inhomogeneous orders are a central feature of correlated electron materials, including the high-temperature superconductors. The two-dimensional Hubbard model serves as the canonical microscopic physical model for such systems. Multiple orders have been proposed in the underdoped part of the phase diagram, which corresponds to a regime of maximum numerical difficulty. By combining the latest numerical methods in exhaustive simulations, we uncover the ordering in the underdoped ground s
  
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• Spectroscopic signatures of localization with interacting photons in superconducting qubits

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Quantized eigenenergies and their associated wave functions provide extensive information for predicting the physics of quantum many-body systems. Using a chain of nine superconducting qubits, we implement a technique for resolving the energy levels of interacting photons. We benchmark this method by capturing the main features of the intricate energy spectrum predicted for two-dimensional electrons in a magnetic field—the Hofstadter butterfly. We introduce disorder to study the statistics
  
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• Selective increase in CO2 electroreduction activity at grain-boundary surface terminations

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Altering a material’s catalytic properties requires identifying structural features that give rise to active surfaces. Grain boundaries create strained regions in polycrystalline materials by stabilizing dislocations and may provide a way to create high-energy surfaces for catalysis that are kinetically trapped. Although grain-boundary density has previously been correlated with catalytic activity for some reactions, direct evidence that grain boundaries create surfaces with enhanced activ
  
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• Photoredox-catalyzed deuteration and tritiation of pharmaceutical compounds

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Deuterium- and tritium-labeled pharmaceutical compounds are pivotal diagnostic tools in drug discovery research, providing vital information about the biological fate of drugs and drug metabolites. Herein we demonstrate that a photoredox-mediated hydrogen atom transfer protocol can efficiently and selectively install deuterium (D) and tritium (T) at α-amino sp3 carbon-hydrogen bonds in a single step, using isotopically labeled water (D2O or T2O) as the source of hydrogen isotope. In this c
  
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• Osteoblasts remotely supply lung tumors with cancer-promoting SiglecFhigh neutrophils

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Bone marrow–derived myeloid cells can accumulate within tumors and foster cancer outgrowth. Local immune-neoplastic interactions have been intensively investigated, but the contribution of the systemic host environment to tumor growth remains poorly understood. Here, we show in mice and cancer patients (n = 70) that lung adenocarcinomas increase bone stromal activity in the absence of bone metastasis. Animal studies reveal that the cancer-induced bone phenotype involves bone-resident osteo
  
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• Organocalcium-mediated nucleophilic alkylation of benzene

  30-11-2017 19:27
  The electrophilic aromatic substitution of a C–H bond of benzene is one of the archetypal transformations of organic chemistry. In contrast, the electron-rich -system of benzene is highly resistant to reactions with electron-rich and negatively charged organic nucleophiles. Here, we report that this previously insurmountable electronic repulsion may be overcome through the use of sufficiently potent organocalcium nucleophiles. Calcium n-alkyl derivatives—synthesized by reaction of et
  
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• Ocean biogeochemistry modeled with emergent trait-based genomics

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Marine ecosystem models have advanced to incorporate metabolic pathways discovered with genomic sequencing, but direct comparisons between models and "omics" data are lacking. We developed a model that directly simulates metagenomes and metatranscriptomes for comparison with observations. Model microbes were randomly assigned genes for specialized functions, and communities of 68 species were simulated in the Atlantic Ocean. Unfit organisms were replaced, and the model self-organized to develop
  
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• Observations and modeling of the elastogravity signals preceding direct seismic waves

  30-11-2017 19:27
  After an earthquake, the earliest deformation signals are not expected to be carried by the fastest (P) elastic waves but by the speed-of-light changes of the gravitational field. However, these perturbations are weak and, so far, their detection has not been accurate enough to fully understand their origins and to use them for a highly valuable rapid estimate of the earthquake magnitude. We show that gravity perturbations are particularly well observed with broadband seismometers at distances b
  
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• Numerical evidence of fluctuating stripes in the normal state of high-Tc cuprate superconductors

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Upon doping, Mott insulators often exhibit symmetry breaking where charge carriers and their spins organize into patterns known as stripes. For high–transition temperature cuprate superconductors, stripes are widely suspected to exist in a fluctuating form. We used numerically exact determinant quantum Monte Carlo calculations to demonstrate dynamical stripe correlations in the three-band Hubbard model, which represents the local electronic structure of the copper-oxygen plane. Our results
  
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• Metalenses: Versatile multifunctional photonic components

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Recent progress in metasurface designs fueled by advanced-fabrication techniques has led to the realization of ultrathin, lightweight, and flat lenses (metalenses) with unprecedented functionalities. Owing to straightforward fabrication, generally requiring a single-step lithography, and the possibility of vertical integration, these planar lenses can potentially replace or complement their conventional refractive and diffractive counterparts, leading to further miniaturization of high-performan
  
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• Host DNases prevent vascular occlusion by neutrophil extracellular traps

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Platelet and fibrin clots occlude blood vessels in hemostasis and thrombosis. Here we report a noncanonical mechanism for vascular occlusion based on neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), DNA fibers released by neutrophils during inflammation. We investigated which host factors control NETs in vivo and found that two deoxyribonucleases (DNases), DNase1 and DNase1-like 3, degraded NETs in circulation during sterile neutrophilia and septicemia. In the absence of both DNases, intravascular NETs fo
  
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• Giant nonlinear response at a plasmonic nanofocus drives efficient four-wave mixing

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Efficient optical frequency mixing typically must accumulate over large interaction lengths because nonlinear responses in natural materials are inherently weak. This limits the efficiency of mixing processes owing to the requirement of phase matching. Here, we report efficient four-wave mixing (FWM) over micrometer-scale interaction lengths at telecommunications wavelengths on silicon. We used an integrated plasmonic gap waveguide that strongly confines light within a nonlinear organic polymer.
  
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• Egg accumulation with 3D embryos provides insight into the life history of a pterosaur

  30-11-2017 19:27
  Fossil eggs and embryos that provide unique information about the reproduction and early growth of vertebrates are exceedingly rare, particularly for pterosaurs. Here we report on hundreds of three-dimensional (3D) eggs of the species Hamipterus tianshanensis from a Lower Cretaceous site in China, 16 of which contain embryonic remains. Computed tomography scanning, osteohistology, and micropreparation reveal that some bones lack extensive ossification in potentially late-term embryos, suggesting
  
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• A generic interface to reduce the efficiency-stability-cost gap of perovskite solar cells

  30-11-2017 19:27
  A major bottleneck delaying the further commercialization of thin-film solar cells based on hybrid organohalide lead perovskites is interface loss in state-of-the-art devices. We present a generic interface architecture that combines solution-processed, reliable, and cost-efficient hole-transporting materials without compromising efficiency, stability, or scalability of perovskite solar cells. Tantalum-doped tungsten oxide (Ta-WOx)/conjugated polymer multilayers offer a surprisingly small interf
  
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• 3.9 A structure of the yeast Mec1-Ddc2 complex, a homolog of human ATR-ATRIP

  30-11-2017 19:27
  The ataxia telangiectasia–mutated and Rad3-related (ATR) kinase is a master regulator of DNA damage response and replication stress in humans, but the mechanism of its activation remains unclear. ATR acts together with its partner ATRIP. Using cryo–electron microscopy, we determined the structure of intact Mec1-Ddc2 (the yeast homolog of ATR-ATRIP), which is poised for catalysis, at a resolution of 3.9 angstroms. Mec1-Ddc2 forms a dimer of heterodimers through the PRD and FAT domains
  
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• Migration makes breeding harder for seabirds

  30-11-2017 18:29
  The key drivers of seabird migration have now been revealed for the first time in a new study. The research suggests that puffin colonies that travel great distances during the winter often find it more difficult to breed than others, and that escaping your habitat with far flung migration therefore carries a cost.
  
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• Humble sponges are our deepest ancestors: Dispute in evolutionary biology solved

  30-11-2017 18:29
  New research has resolved evolutionary biology's most-heated debate, revealing it is the morphologically simple sponges, rather than the anatomically complex comb jellies, which represent the oldest lineage of living animals.
  
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• Why are genetically identical individuals different? Ask your mum!

  30-11-2017 18:28
  Does the age of a mother influence the traits and characteristics of her progeny, and how? A team of scientists have addressed these questions by studying tiny, genetically identical C. elegans worms.
  
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• Under stress, newborn babies show greater brain response to pain

  30-11-2017 18:28
  When newborn babies are under stress, their brains show a heightened response to pain, a new study has found. However, you'd never know it from the way those infants act. The findings show that stress leads to an apparent disconnect between babies' brain activity and their behavior. Stressed babies may not seem to respond to pain, even as their brain is still processing it.
  
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