Science news

• Watching this newborn island erode could tell us a lot about Mars

  11-12-2017 23:48
  
  The birth and death of a young volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean may shed light on the origins of volcanoes in Mars’ wetter past.
  
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• Saturn’s rings mess with the gas giant’s atmosphere

  11-12-2017 23:38
  
  Data from Cassini’s shallow dives into Saturn’s ionosphere show that this charged layer in the atmosphere interacts with the planet’s rings.
  
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• Trump announces focus on returning Americans to the moon

  11-12-2017 22:48 via cbc.ca
  President Donald Trump wants to send humans back to the moon — and on to Mars.
  
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• 'It doesn't get any rarer than this': Mistle thrush could be continent's first

  11-12-2017 22:33 via cbc.ca
  A "mega-rarity" bird blew into Miramichi over the weekend, and it's attracting bird lovers from Eastern Canada and the U.S. who've never seen one in North America before.
  
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• Turning pathogens against each other to prevent drug resistance

  11-12-2017 21:28
  Limiting a much-needed resource could pit pathogens against one another and prevent the emergence of drug resistance. New research demonstrates that harnessing competition among pathogens inside a patient could extend the life of existing drugs where resistance is already present and prevent resistance to new drugs from emerging.
  
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• Social media trends can predict tipping points in vaccine scares

  11-12-2017 21:28
  Analyzing trends on Twitter and Google can help predict vaccine scares that can lead to disease outbreaks, according to a study from the University of Waterloo.
  
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• The force is strong: Amputee controls individual prosthetic fingers

  11-12-2017 21:16
  Luke Skywalker's bionic hand is a step closer to reality for amputees in this galaxy. Researchers have created an ultrasonic sensor that allows amputees to control each of their prosthetic fingers individually. It provides fine motor hand gestures that aren't possible with current commercially available devices.
  
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• AML study reports high response rates with combination targeted therapy

  11-12-2017 21:16
  Initial findings from a multi-national open-label phase Ib study of inhibitory drug therapy for relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have demonstrated a complete response in up to 50 percent patients say researchers.
  
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• Researchers predict 'vaccine scares' using Google and Twitter trends

  11-12-2017 21:06 via cbc.ca
  A team of researchers found that by analyzing trends on Google searches and Twitter, they can predict vaccination scares that could eventually lead to disease outbreaks.
  
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• Scientists pioneer new way to analyze ancient artwork

  11-12-2017 20:59
  Scientists have used a combination of three advanced imaging techniques to produce a highly detailed analysis of a second century Egyptian painting. They are the first to use the specific combination -- which they termed "macroscale multimodal chemical imaging" -- to examine an ancient work of art.
  
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• Multi-year submarine-canyon study challenges textbook theories about turbidity currents

  11-12-2017 20:57
  The most extensive, long-term effort to monitor turbidity currents ever attempted has just been completed. The results of this two-year project challenge existing paradigms about what causes turbidity currents, what they look like, and how they work.
  
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• That Uber breach? Privacy commissioner is now investigating

  11-12-2017 20:27 via cbc.ca
  Personal information for more than 57 million of Uber's riders and drivers was stolen in 2016, and Uber still won't say how many Canadians were affected.
  
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• New satellite-based global drought severity index unveiled by researchers

  11-12-2017 20:09
  Just in time for the holidays, researchers are rolling out a new satellite-based drought severity index for climate watchers worldwide.
  
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• Possible master switch for programming cancer immunotherapy

  11-12-2017 20:04
  Researchers report the discovery that a protein called 'Runx3' programs killer T cells to establish residence in tumors and infection sites.
  
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• New world standard in nano generators

  11-12-2017 20:04
  Engineers have developed a new way to produce electrical power that can charge handheld devices or sensors that monitor anything from pipelines to medical implants. The discovery sets a new world standard in triboelectric nanogenerators by producing a high-density DC current -- a vast improvement over low-quality AC currents produced previously. The devices can transform mechanical energy such as wind or vibrations into electricity.
  
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• Liver cancer: Lipid synthesis promotes tumor formation

  11-12-2017 20:04
  Lipid, also known as fat, is an optimal energy source and an important cell component. Much is required for the rapid and uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. Researchers have now discovered that the protein mTOR stimulates the production of lipids in liver tumors to satisfy the increased nutrient turnover and energy needs of cancer cells among other functions.
  
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• How much can 252-million-year-old ecosystems tell us about modern Earth? A lot

  11-12-2017 20:04
  During the late Permian, the equator was dry and desert-like, yet surprisingly a hotspot for biodiversity, new paleontological research shows. Similarly to modern rainforests, equator ecosystems were home a unique diversity of species, including those both anciently and newly evolved. After the late Permian extinction, this diversity was decimated, and the climate change event that triggered an extinction back then is informative as we move forward with protecting our planet's species diversity.
  
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• After the fire, charcoal goes against the grain, with the flow

  11-12-2017 20:04
  A two-year study of property damaged by a 2011 forest fire found that charcoal behaved very differently from other forms of soil carbon as the land rebounded from the fire. The study could help researchers and land managers make better use of charcoal soil amendments called biochar.
  
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• Asphalt-based filter now advanced to sequester greenhouse gas at wellhead

  11-12-2017 20:03
  Adding a bit of water to asphalt-derived porous carbon greatly improves its ability to sequester carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, at natural gas wellheads, report scientists. The filter is highly selective for carbon dioxide while letting methane pass through.
  
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• Injuries from window blinds send two children to the emergency department every day

  11-12-2017 19:55
  Almost 17,000 children under six years of age were treated in hospital emergency departments in the US for window blind-related injuries from 1990 through 2015, averaging almost two per day. While the majority of children were treated and released, there was about one child death each month -- most from strangulation when a child became entangled by the neck in a window blind cord.
  
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• Pacific 'baby island' is natural lab to study Mars

  11-12-2017 19:12 via bbc.co.uk
  A newly emerged volcanic island will help trace the Red Planet's water history and the search for life.
  
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• US flood risk 'severely underestimated'

  11-12-2017 19:04 via bbc.co.uk
  More than three times as many Americans are at risk of having their homes flooded than federal maps show.
  
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• Ex-contractor says he shut Trump's Twitter account by accident

  11-12-2017 18:41 via cbc.ca
  The former employee who shut down Donald Trump's Twitter account says he did so by mistake, but says he believes some of the U.S. president's recent tweets breach the social network's ban on hate speech.
  
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• Cyanobacteria in lakes: Risks linked to loss of diversity

  11-12-2017 18:28
  The composition of cyanobacterial communities in peri-alpine lakes has become increasingly similar over the past century. Climate warming and a period of eutrophication have favored in particular potentially toxic species which can adapt rapidly to environmental changes. These are the findings of an study analyzing DNA extracted from sediment cores.
  
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• World-first uses satellites, ocean models to explain Antarctic seafloor biodiversity

  11-12-2017 18:04
  In a world-first, a research team has used data collected by satellites and an ocean model to explain and predict biodiversity on the Antarctic seafloor.
  
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• Tiny ice losses at Antarctica's fringes can accelerate ice loss far away

  11-12-2017 18:04
  It is known that the ice shelves surrounding the continent regulate the ice flow from the land into the ocean. Now scientists found that also melting near the fringes and in the midst of the ice shelves can have direct effects reaching very far inland. This could increase ice loss and hence sea-level rise.
  
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• Financial incentives may increase breastfeeding rates

  11-12-2017 18:04
  Offering new mothers financial incentives may significantly increase low breastfeeding rates, new English research has found.
  
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• Drug for spinal muscular atrophy prompts ethical dilemmas, bioethicists say

  11-12-2017 18:04
  Medical experts have raised ethical questions about the way a treatment for spinal muscular atrophy is being used.
  
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• Dolphin, bear studies have paved the way to improved population forecasting

  11-12-2017 18:04
  A new article challenges the validity of current methods for forecasting the persistence of slow-growing species for conservation purposes, and provides a better approach to reducing the threat of extinction.
  
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• African deforestation not as great as feared

  11-12-2017 18:04
  The loss of forests in Africa in the past century is substantially less than previously estimated, an analysis of historical records and paleontology evidence shows.
  
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• A global north-to-south shift in wind power by end of century

  11-12-2017 18:04
  Wind resources in the next century may decrease in many regions in the Northern Hemisphere -- and could sharply increase in several hotspot regions down south.
  
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• The origin of the Andes unravelled

  11-12-2017 18:03
  Why do the Andes exist? Why is it not a place of lowlands or narrow seas? A geophysicist has been pondering these questions for more than a decade. Now, he has found the answers using an advanced computer model.
  
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• Powerful new method for microbiome analysis developed

  11-12-2017 18:01
  A new approach can identify antibiotic resistance and virulence markers missed by conventional techniques, report scientists.
  
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• Preventing colon polyps: Another reason to lose those holiday pounds

  11-12-2017 17:03
  Being over ideal body weight has known risks with respect to heart and blood pressure problems, but the list is growing. Now researchers have studied nearly 3000 patients undergoing routine physicals over a 6-year period, and found a link between weight and colon polyps.
  
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• 'Smoke rings' in the ocean could 'suck-up' small creatures and send them 'flying'

  11-12-2017 16:50
  Researchers have spotted the equivalent of smoke-rings in the ocean which they think could 'suck-up' small marine creatures and carry them at high speed and for long distances across the ocean.
  
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• The world's youngest island

  11-12-2017 16:04 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists think Hunga Tunga Hunga Ha'apai might hold clues on where to look for life on Mars.
  
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• Drug lowers deadly Huntington's disease protein

  11-12-2017 16:03
  The first drug targeting the cause of Huntington's disease was safe and well-tolerated in its first human trial, and successfully lowered the level of the harmful huntingtin protein in the nervous system.
  
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• Irish DNA map reveals history's imprint

  11-12-2017 16:01 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists have unveiled a detailed genetic map of Ireland, revealing subtle DNA differences that may reflect historic events.
  
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• For women with genetic risk, bi-annual MRI beats mammograms

  11-12-2017 15:30
  Intensive surveillance including a dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) exam every six months was far more effective in detecting breast cancer in younger women with a high-risk genetic profile than an annual mammogram. DCE-MRI every six months performed well for early detection of invasive breast cancer in high-risk women.
  
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• Endangered listing urged for cheetahs

  11-12-2017 15:27
  Researchers present evidence that low cheetah population estimates in southern Africa support a call to list the cheetah as "Endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
  
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• How to tackle drug resistant parasites that cause killer disease malaria

  11-12-2017 15:26
  A new analysis of all relevant previously published clinical data shows how parasites causing malaria become resistant to a commonly used treatment for malaria in travellers.
  
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• Basic element for quantum computer -- stable quantum gate -- created

  11-12-2017 15:26
  Physicists create a stable quantum gate as a basic element for the quantum computer.
  
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• Traces of historical reindeer grazing can still be observed after 100 years

  11-12-2017 15:19
  With the holiday season around the corner, most people may first think of reindeer as Santa Claus' trusted helpers. But it turns out that reindeer are not only good at pulling Santa's sleigh; they can also teach us important lessons about the functioning of ecosystems. By studying small meadows in the Swedish mountains, formed by historical traditional reindeer herding practices, researchers revealed long-lasting ecological effects induced by reindeer grazing.
  
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• Infant brain responses predict reading speed in secondary school

  11-12-2017 15:19
  A new study has found that the brain responses of infants with an inherited risk for dyslexia, a specific reading disability, predict their future reading speed in secondary school.
  
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• Yeast can be engineered to create protein pharmaceuticals

  11-12-2017 15:17
  It took several years, but a research team has finally succeeded in mapping out the complex metabolism of yeast cells. The breakthrough means a huge step forward in the potential to more efficiently produce protein therapies for diseases such as cancer.
  
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• Kidney disease increases risk of diabetes, study shows

  11-12-2017 15:07
  Diabetes is known to increase a person's risk of kidney disease. Now, a new study suggests that the converse also is true: kidney dysfunction increases the risk of diabetes. Further, the researchers deduced that a likely culprit of the two-way relationship between kidney disease and diabetes is urea. The findings are significant because urea levels can be lowered through medication and diet.
  
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• Exposure to air pollution just before or after conception raises risk of birth defects

  11-12-2017 15:07
  Women exposed to air pollution just prior to conception or during the first month of pregnancy face an increased risk of their children being born with birth defects, such as cleft lip or palate or abnormal hearts.
  
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• Once settled, immigrants play important guard roles in mongoose packs

  11-12-2017 15:00
  
  Dwarf mongoose packs ultimately benefit from taking in immigrants, but there’s an assimilation period.
  
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• Alien Probe or Galactic Driftwood? SETI Tunes In to 'Oumuamua

  11-12-2017 15:00 via rss.sciam.com
  It’s a long shot, but scientists are about to listen very closely for radio signals from our solar system’s first known interstellar visitor
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Cryptocurrency fraud doubled to $1.7M in Canada this year

  11-12-2017 14:56 via cbc.ca
  Canadians have been swindled out of more than $1.7 million via scams involving cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin so far this year — more than double the amount during all of 2016.
  
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