Science news

• 'Don't assume they're dead': Florida cold snap affecting iguanas

  04-01-2018 22:52 via cbc.ca
  It's so cold in Florida that iguanas are falling from their perches in suburban trees.
  
  Read more

• Why Niagara Falls isn't frozen and will likely never freeze

  04-01-2018 22:27 via cbc.ca
  The minimum flow rate of water going over Niagara Falls is slower during the winter, but the freezing temperatures aren't impacting rates.
  
  Read more

• The device you're using right now has a big security flaw — but you don't have to panic

  04-01-2018 22:11 via cbc.ca
  For most people, the same advice as usual applies to the latest security issue: Keep your software up to date.
  
  Read more

• Coral reefs head for 'knock-out punch'

  04-01-2018 22:10 via bbc.co.uk
  Repeat bouts of warmer seawater are posing a significant challenge to the world's tropical corals.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Warmer oceans damaging coral 5 times more often than in 1980s: research

  04-01-2018 21:26 via cbc.ca
  High ocean temperatures are harming tropical corals almost five times more often than in the 1980s, undermining reefs' ability to survive marine heat waves caused by man-made climate change, scientists said on Thursday.
  
  Read more

• Drone footage reveals SpaceX's mighty Falcon Heavy ready for demonstration test

  04-01-2018 21:23 via cbc.ca
  The Falcon Heavy rocket — which could one day take humans to the moon or Mars — sits at Cape Canaveral, ready for its test launch later this month.
  
  Read more

• Trump moves to vastly expand offshore drilling

  04-01-2018 20:09 via cbc.ca
  The Trump administration on Thursday moved to vastly expand offshore drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic oceans with a plan that would open up federal waters off the California coast for the first time in more than three decades.
  
  Read more

• Corals are severely bleaching five times as often as in 1980

  04-01-2018 20:00
  
  Corals are now bleaching more frequently and severely than they were in the early 1980s.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Transferrin receptor 1 is a reticulocyte-specific receptor for Plasmodium vivax

  04-01-2018 19:38
  Plasmodium vivax shows a strict host tropism for reticulocytes. We identified transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) as the receptor for P. vivax reticulocyte-binding protein 2b (PvRBP2b). We determined the structure of the N-terminal domain of PvRBP2b involved in red blood cell binding, elucidating the molecular basis for TfR1 recognition. We validated TfR1 as the biological target of PvRBP2b engagement by means of TfR1 expression knockdown analysis. TfR1 mutant cells deficient in PvRBP2b binding were r
  
  Read more

• The commensal microbiome is associated with anti-PD-1 efficacy in metastatic melanoma patients

  04-01-2018 19:38
  Anti–PD-1–based immunotherapy has had a major impact on cancer treatment but has only benefited a subset of patients. Among the variables that could contribute to interpatient heterogeneity is differential composition of the patients’ microbiome, which has been shown to affect antitumor immunity and immunotherapy efficacy in preclinical mouse models. We analyzed baseline stool samples from metastatic melanoma patients before immunotherapy treatment, through an integration of 16
  
  Read more

• Spatial and temporal patterns of mass bleaching of corals in the Anthropocene

  04-01-2018 19:38
  Tropical reef systems are transitioning to a new era in which the interval between recurrent bouts of coral bleaching is too short for a full recovery of mature assemblages. We analyzed bleaching records at 100 globally distributed reef locations from 1980 to 2016. The median return time between pairs of severe bleaching events has diminished steadily since 1980 and is now only 6 years. As global warming has progressed, tropical sea surface temperatures are warmer now during current La Niñ
  
  Read more

• S1P-dependent interorgan trafficking of group 2 innate lymphoid cells supports host defense

  04-01-2018 19:38
  Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) are innate counterparts of adaptive T lymphocytes, contributing to host defense, tissue repair, metabolic homeostasis, and inflammatory diseases. ILCs have been considered to be tissue-resident cells, but whether ILCs move between tissue sites during infection has been unclear. We show here that interleukin-25– or helminth-induced inflammatory ILC2s are circulating cells that arise from resting ILC2s residing in intestinal lamina propria. They migrate to divers
  
  Read more

• Rapid genome shrinkage in a self-fertile nematode reveals sperm competition proteins

  04-01-2018 19:38
  To reveal impacts of sexual mode on genome content, we compared chromosome-scale assemblies of the outcrossing nematode Caenorhabditis nigoni to its self-fertile sibling species, C. briggsae. C. nigoni’s genome resembles that of outcrossing relatives but encodes 31% more protein-coding genes than C. briggsae. C. nigoni genes lacking C. briggsae orthologs were disproportionately small and male-biased in expression. These include the male secreted short (mss) gene family, which encodes sperm
  
  Read more

• Phase separation of a yeast prion protein promotes cellular fitness

  04-01-2018 19:38
  Despite the important role of prion domains in neurodegenerative disease, their physiological function has remained enigmatic. Previous work with yeast prions has defined prion domains as sequences that form self-propagating aggregates. Here, we uncovered an unexpected function of the canonical yeast prion protein Sup35. In stressed conditions, Sup35 formed protective gels via pH-regulated liquid-like phase separation followed by gelation. Phase separation was mediated by the N-terminal prion do
  
  Read more

• Observation of the quantum spin Hall effect up to 100 kelvin in a monolayer crystal

  04-01-2018 19:38
  A variety of monolayer crystals have been proposed to be two-dimensional topological insulators exhibiting the quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE), possibly even at high temperatures. Here we report the observation of the QSHE in monolayer tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) at temperatures up to 100 kelvin. In the short-edge limit, the monolayer exhibits the hallmark transport conductance, ~e2/h per edge, where e is the electron charge and h is Planck’s constant. Moreover, a magnetic field suppresses
  
  Read more

• Mechanically robust, readily repairable polymers via tailored noncovalent cross-linking

  04-01-2018 19:38
  Expanding the range of healable materials is an important challenge for sustainable societies. Noncrystalline, high-molecular-weight polymers generally form mechanically robust materials, which, however, are difficult to repair once they are fractured. This is because their polymer chains are heavily entangled and diffuse too sluggishly to unite fractured surfaces within reasonable time scales. Here we report that low-molecular-weight polymers, when cross-linked by dense hydrogen bonds, yield me
  
  Read more

• In situ measurements of Saturns ionosphere show that it is dynamic and interacts with the rings

  04-01-2018 19:38
  The ionized upper layer of Saturn’s atmosphere, its ionosphere, provides a closure of currents mediated by the magnetic field to other electrically charged regions (for example, rings) and hosts ion-molecule chemistry. In 2017, the Cassini spacecraft passed inside the planet’s rings, allowing in situ measurements of the ionosphere. The Radio and Plasma Wave Science instrument detected a cold, dense, and dynamic ionosphere at Saturn that interacts with the rings. Plasma densities reac
  
  Read more

• Hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic actuators with muscle-like performance

  04-01-2018 19:38
  Existing soft actuators have persistent challenges that restrain the potential of soft robotics, highlighting a need for soft transducers that are powerful, high-speed, efficient, and robust. We describe a class of soft actuators, termed hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) actuators, which harness a mechanism that couples electrostatic and hydraulic forces to achieve a variety of actuation modes. We introduce prototypical designs of HASEL actuators and demonstrate their ro
  
  Read more

• Gut microbiome modulates response to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in melanoma patients

  04-01-2018 19:38
  Preclinical mouse models suggest that the gut microbiome modulates tumor response to checkpoint blockade immunotherapy; however, this has not been well-characterized in human cancer patients. Here we examined the oral and gut microbiome of melanoma patients undergoing anti–programmed cell death 1 protein (PD-1) immunotherapy (n = 112). Significant differences were observed in the diversity and composition of the patient gut microbiome of responders versus nonresponders. Analysis of patient
  
  Read more

• Gut microbiome influences efficacy of PD-1-based immunotherapy against epithelial tumors

  04-01-2018 19:38
  Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis induce sustained clinical responses in a sizable minority of cancer patients. We found that primary resistance to ICIs can be attributed to abnormal gut microbiome composition. Antibiotics inhibited the clinical benefit of ICIs in patients with advanced cancer. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from cancer patients who responded to ICIs into germ-free or antibiotic-treated mice ameliorated the antitumor effects of PD-1 blocka
  
  Read more

• Genomic signals of selection predict climate-driven population declines in a migratory bird

  04-01-2018 19:38
  The ongoing loss of biodiversity caused by rapid climatic shifts requires accurate models for predicting species’ responses. Despite evidence that evolutionary adaptation could mitigate climate change impacts, evolution is rarely integrated into predictive models. Integrating population genomics and environmental data, we identified genomic variation associated with climate across the breeding range of the migratory songbird, yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia). Populations requiring the g
  
  Read more

• Elevated HLA-A expression impairs HIV control through inhibition of NKG2A-expressing cells

  04-01-2018 19:38
  The highly polymorphic human leukocyte antigen (HLA) locus encodes cell surface proteins that are critical for immunity. HLA-A expression levels vary in an allele-dependent manner, diversifying allele-specific effects beyond peptide-binding preference. Analysis of 9763 HIV-infected individuals from 21 cohorts shows that higher HLA-A levels confer poorer control of HIV. Elevated HLA-A expression provides enhanced levels of an HLA-A–derived signal peptide that specifically binds and determin
  
  Read more

• Declining oxygen in the global ocean and coastal waters

  04-01-2018 19:38
  Oxygen is fundamental to life. Not only is it essential for the survival of individual animals, but it regulates global cycles of major nutrients and carbon. The oxygen content of the open ocean and coastal waters has been declining for at least the past half-century, largely because of human activities that have increased global temperatures and nutrients discharged to coastal waters. These changes have accelerated consumption of oxygen by microbial respiration, reduced solubility of oxygen in
  
  Read more

• An excess of massive stars in the local 30 Doradus starburst

  04-01-2018 19:38
  The 30 Doradus star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud is a nearby analog of large star-formation events in the distant universe. We determined the recent formation history and the initial mass function (IMF) of massive stars in 30 Doradus on the basis of spectroscopic observations of 247 stars more massive than 15 solar masses (M). The main episode of massive star formation began about 8 million years (My) ago, and the star-formation rate seems to have declined in the last 1 My. The I
  
  Read more

• A mitosis-specific and R loop-driven ATR pathway promotes faithful chromosome segregation

  04-01-2018 19:38
  The ataxia telangiectasia mutated and Rad3-related (ATR) kinase is crucial for DNA damage and replication stress responses. Here, we describe an unexpected role of ATR in mitosis. Acute inhibition or degradation of ATR in mitosis induces whole-chromosome missegregation. The effect of ATR ablation is not due to altered cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) activity, DNA damage responses, or unscheduled DNA synthesis but to loss of an ATR function at centromeres. In mitosis, ATR localizes to centromere
  
  Read more

• Bonobos Might Not Be So Laid-Back after All

  04-01-2018 19:00 via rss.sciam.com
  The apes may focus on dominance rather than morality when it comes to interpreting social behaviors-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• How the Dead Sea Scrolls survived a war in the 1960s

  04-01-2018 18:30
  
  50 years after the Dead Sea Scrolls survived a war, another possible scroll cave offered tantalizing new clues.
  
  Read more

• It may be cold where you are, but 2017 was 2nd hottest year on record

  04-01-2018 18:14 via cbc.ca
  Last year was the second hottest worldwide on record, just behind a sweltering 2016 with signs of climate change ranging from wildfires to a thaw of Arctic ice, a European Union monitoring centre said on Thursday.
  
  Read more

• Power outages down in Maritimes, but massive storm not done yet

  04-01-2018 17:24 via cbc.ca
  A massive winter storm making its way through the Maritimes has closed roads, halted ferry and air service, and thousands of power customers, mostly in Nova Scotia, are without electricity, but the weather forecast is improving.
  
  Read more

• Nor'easter batters Maritimes with high winds, rain and snow

  04-01-2018 17:24 via cbc.ca
  A massive winter storm making its way through the Maritimes has closed roads, halted ferry and air service, and tens of thousands of power customers, mostly in Nova Scotia, are without electricity, but the weather forecast is improving.
  
  Read more

• More than 100,000 without power in Maritimes, as winter storm brings high winds

  04-01-2018 17:24 via cbc.ca
  A massive winter storm making its way through the Maritimes has closed roads, halted ferry and air service, and tens of thousands of power customers, mostly in Nova Scotia, are without electricity, but the weather forecast is improving.
  
  Read more

• Maritime provinces getting taste of East Coast 'weather bomb'

  04-01-2018 17:24 via cbc.ca
  A massive winter storm that has reached the Maritimes is being described as a "weather bomb."
  
  Read more

• Post-Brexit farming funding set out by Michael Gove

  04-01-2018 16:35 via bbc.co.uk
  Farmers are to receive payments for "public goods", such as planting meadows, instead of subsidies.
  
  Read more

• Security flaws in virtually all phone and computer chips 'one of the worst CPU bugs ever found'

  04-01-2018 16:26 via cbc.ca
  Researchers discovered a way to steal sensitive data from nearly every modern computing device containing chips from Intel, AMD, and ARM.
  
  Read more

• As Vets Demand Cannabis for PTSD, Science Races to Unlock Its Secrets

  04-01-2018 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  Curbs on studies have limited understanding of marijuana’s therapeutic mechanisms, but political pressure and a shift in research could soon shed light-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• Social media plays 'extremely important' role in Iranian protests despite censorship

  04-01-2018 11:00 via cbc.ca
  Since the 2009 Green Movement protests in Iran, online connectivity has grown significantly, which is why social media is likely playing a much larger role in the demonstrations now rocking the country.
  
  Read more

• 6 signs that this winter's cold has been extreme

  04-01-2018 11:00 via cbc.ca
  Ready for the next round of extreme cold? Here are some signs we’ve already survived some pretty extraordinary temperatures, from sharks found frozen to death to polar bear swims cancelled for the first time ever.
  
  Read more

• How alcohol damages stem cell DNA and increases cancer risk

  04-01-2018 06:56
  LONDON (Reuters) - Drinking alcohol produces a harmful chemical in the body which can lead to permanent genetic damage in the DNA of stem cells, increasing the risk of cancer developing, according to research published on Wednesday.
  
  Read more

• 'Will I look dumb?' When virtual assistants deter help-seeking

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (Association for Psychological Science) Virtual assistants have become increasingly sophisticated -- and more humanlike -- since the days when Clippy asked if you needed help with your document. These assistants are intended to make programs and apps easier to use, but research published in Psychological Science suggests that humanlike virtual assistants may actually deter some people from seeking help on tasks that are supposed to measure achievement. 
  
  Read more

• When is the right time to start infants on solid foods?

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (Elsevier) The first study of a nationally representative group of US infants reports that more than half of babies are currently introduced to complementary foods, that is, foods or drinks other than breast milk or formula, sooner than they should be. Babies who were never breastfed or breastfed for less than four months were most likely to be introduced to foods too early. These findings emphasize the need to introduce foods at the proper time to get the most benefit from breast milk or formul
  
  Read more

• Weighing massive stars in nearby galaxy reveals excess of heavyweights

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (University of Oxford) An international team of astronomers has revealed an 'astonishing' overabundance of massive stars in a neighboring galaxy. The discovery, made in the gigantic star-forming region 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, has 'far-reaching' consequences for our understanding of how stars transformed the pristine Universe into the one we live in today.
  
  Read more

• USDA's NIFA invests in integrated biorefinery optimization

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (National Institute of Food and Agriculture ) The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today awarded a grant to improve biorefinery technologies through the Integrated Biorefinery Optimization (IBO) program. The funding comes from NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), which addresses challenges in food and agricultural sciences through research, extension, and education.
  
  Read more

• Touchy nanotubes work better when clean

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (Rice University) Heating carbon nanotubes at high temperatures and slowly cooling them eliminates contaminants that make nanotubes difficult to test for conductivity. Scientists from Rice and Swansea universities show how decontaminated nanotubes may simplify the design and manufacture of nanoscale devices.
  
  Read more

• Supercharged antibiotics could turn tide against superbugs

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (University of Queensland) An old drug supercharged by University of Queensland researchers has emerged as a new antibiotic that could destroy some of the world's most dangerous superbugs.The supercharge technique , led by Dr Mark Blaskovich and Professor Matt Cooper from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), potentially could revitalise other antibiotics.
  
  Read more

• Stressed out? Try smelling your partner's shirt

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (University of British Columbia) The scent of a romantic partner can help lower stress levels, new psychology research from the University of British Columbia has found. Women feel calmer after being exposed to their male partner's scent, but being exposed to a stranger's scent had the opposite effect and raised levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.
  
  Read more

• Soft, self-healing devices mimic biological muscles

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (University of Colorado at Boulder) A new class of soft, electrically activated devices is capable of mimicking the expansion and contraction of natural muscles. These devices, which can be constructed from a wide range of low-cost materials, are able to self-sense their movements and self-heal from electrical damage, representing a major advance in soft robotics.
  
  Read more

• Small-cell lung cancer patients face barriers to receiving standard-of-care treatment

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center) Despite decades of clinical research establishing chemotherapy with thoracic radiation as the standard-of-care for the initial management of non-metastatic small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), a large percentage of US patients do not receive these treatments and in turn have lower overall survival, according to research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
  
  Read more

• Sedentary desk jockeys, stand up for your health: Western University study

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (University of Western Ontario) A few simple, strategic changes can move people from sedentary behaviour to better health, a study by researchers at Western University says. A group of students who cued themselves with timers and text reminders for six weeks took more frequent breaks from prolonged sitting; and those cues became habits even after those six weeks.
  
  Read more

• Scientists take a big step toward building a better opioid

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (University of North Carolina Health Care) For the first time, UNC School of Medicine scientists and collaborators solved the crystal structure of the activated kappa opioid receptor bound to a morphine derivative. They then created a new drug-like compound that activates only that receptor, a key step in the development of new pain medications.
  
  Read more

• Rice U.'s one-step catalyst turns nitrates into water and air

  04-01-2018 06:00
  (Rice University) Engineers at Rice University's Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT) Center have found a catalyst the cleans toxic nitrates from drinking water by converting them into air and water.
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!