Science news

• Scientists discover 'Legos of life'

  22-01-2018 23:55
  Scientists have found the “Legos of life” – four core chemical structures that can be stacked together to build the myriad proteins inside every organism – after smashing and dissecting nearly 10,000 proteins to understand their component parts. The four building blocks make energy available for humans and all other living organisms, according to a new study.
  
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• Here’s the key ingredient that lets a centipede’s bite take down prey

  22-01-2018 23:25
  
  A newly identified “spooky toxin” launches a broad attack but might be eased with a version of a known drug.
  
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• New neuron-like cells allow investigation into synthesis of vital cellular components

  22-01-2018 22:47
  A new method to create synthetic neurons allows researchers to investigate how the human brain makes metabolic building blocks essential for the survival of all living organisms. A new study describes a core enzyme involved in the synthesis of these building blocks, called purines, and how the enzyme might change during infection by herpes simplex virus.
  
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• Big energy savings: Building the world's smallest electro-optic modulator

  22-01-2018 22:46
  Researchers at have designed and fabricated the world's smallest electro-optic modulator, which could mean major reductions in energy used by data centers and supercomputers.
  
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• Media mogul Rupert Murdoch says Facebook should pay for news

  22-01-2018 22:08 via cbc.ca
  Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose companies own The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, the New York Post, says Facebook should pay fees to 'trusted' news producers for their content.
  
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• Mysterious high-energy particles could come from black hole jets

  22-01-2018 21:48
  
  Three types of high-energy cosmic particles could all have the same source:black holes in galaxy clusters.
  
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• Sound waves used to advance optical communication

  22-01-2018 21:08
  Researchers have demonstrated that sound waves can be used to produce ultraminiature optical diodes that are tiny enough to fit onto a computer chip. These devices, called optical isolators, may help solve major data capacity and system size challenges for photonic integrated circuits, the light-based equivalent of electronic circuits, which are used for computing and communications.
  
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• Ancient rice heralds a new future for rice production

  22-01-2018 21:08
  Growing in crocodile infested billabongs in the remote North of the country, Australia's wild rice has been confirmed as the most closely related to the ancient ancestor of all rices. The unique genetics of the Australian rice may help breed disease resistance and climate adaptation into rice modern production species.
  
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• Pathway opens to minimize waste in solar energy capture

  22-01-2018 21:07
  Researchers have made an important discovery with significant implications for the future of solar cell material design.
  
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• New Caledonian crows extract prey faster with complex hooked tools

  22-01-2018 21:07
  Biologists have discovered why some crows 'craft' elaborate hooked tools out of branched twigs.
  
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• Kicking an old can of worms -- the origin of the head in annelids

  22-01-2018 21:07
  Researchers have described an exceptionally well-preserved new fossil species of bristle worm called Kootenayscolex barbarensis. Discovered from the 508-million-year-old Marble Canyon fossil site in the Burgess Shale in Kootenay National Park, the new species helps rewrite our understanding of the origin of the head in annelids, a highly diverse group of animals which includes today's leeches and earthworms.
  
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• First evidence of winds outside black holes throughout their mealtimes

  22-01-2018 21:07
  New research shows the first evidence of strong winds around black holes throughout bright outburst events when a black hole rapidly consumes mass. The study sheds new light on how mass transfers to black holes and how black holes can affect the environment around them.
  
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• Digging deep into distinctly different DNA

  22-01-2018 21:07
  A new discovery has deepened our understanding of the genetic mutations that arise in different tissues, and how these are inherited. Researchers found the rates of genetic mutations in mitochondrial DNA vary across differing tissue types, with the highest rate occurring in reproductive cells.
  
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• Combined nutrients and warming massively increase methane emissions from lakes

  22-01-2018 21:07
  Shallow lakes in agricultural landscapes will emit significantly greater amounts of methane, mostly in the form of bubbles (ebullition) in a warmer world, which is a potential positive feedback mechanism to climate warming. Submerged plants are key predictors of methane ebullition. The combination of warming with the loss of plants appears to transform shallow lakes into methane bubbling machines.
  
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• Climate engineering, once started, would have severe impacts if stopped

  22-01-2018 21:07
  Facing a climate crisis, we may someday spray sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere to form a cloud that cools the Earth, but suddenly stopping the spraying would have a severe global impact on animals and plants, according to the first study on the potential biological impacts of geoengineering, or climate intervention.
  
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• Climate change and snowmelt -- turn up the heat, but what about humidity?

  22-01-2018 21:07
  Changes in humidity may determine how the contribution of snowpack to streams, lakes and groundwater changes as the climate warms. Surprisingly, cloudy, gray and humid winter days can actually cause the snowpack to warm faster, increasing the likelihood of melt during winter months when the snowpack should be growing, the authors report. In contrast, under clear skies and low humidity the snow can become colder than the air, preserving the snowpack until spring.
  
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• Lab-made hormone may reveal secret lives of plants

  22-01-2018 21:06
  A new synthetic hormone promises to tease apart the many different roles of the plant hormone auxin and could lead to a new way to ripen fruit.
  
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• Wild Sri Lankan elephants retreat from sound of disturbed Asian honey bees

  22-01-2018 21:01
  A new study using playbacks, has for the first time shown that Asian elephants in Sri Lanka are scared of honey bees, much like their African counterparts. The study showed that Asian elephants responded with alarm to the bee simulations. They also retreated significantly further away and vocalized more in response to the bee sounds compared to controls.
  
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• Role of cranial modification in identity formation: Did head shape encourage unity and cooperation in politics?

  22-01-2018 20:59
  It has long been recognized that the Inka incorporated diverse peoples into their empire, but how these ethnic groups developed historically during the political upheaval of the preceding Late Intermediate Period (LIP; AD 1100-1450) is only now receiving commensurate attention.
  
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• Apple CEO Tim Cook visits Canada for the first time

  22-01-2018 19:26 via cbc.ca
  Apple chief executive Tim Cook is visiting Canada for the first time since taking the reins at the tech giant, stopping in for an unannounced appearance in Toronto.
  
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• More than 500 fossils of new ancient worm species found in B.C.

  22-01-2018 18:06 via cbc.ca
  Roughly 508 million years ago, this bristly worm roamed the waters of what is now British Columbia. Now, the newly identified species of ancient worm is helping researchers unravel an ancient mystery.
  
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• Why you can't judge a zebra by its stripes

  22-01-2018 17:22 via bbc.co.uk
  Looking at a zebra's stripes may not be a good way to tell different types apart, say scientists.
  
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• ISS cosmonaut does 'test flight' on a vacuum cleaner

  22-01-2018 17:18 via bbc.co.uk
  Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov said he had many questions from people asking if it was possible.
  
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• New Caledonian crows show how technology evolves

  22-01-2018 17:15 via bbc.co.uk
  Clever, tool-making crows show scientists the first foundations of technological development.
  
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• Cryo-EM reveals critical protein-modifying complex and potential drug target

  22-01-2018 17:13
  Scientists have revealed the atomic-level structure of a molecular complex responsible for modifying proteins, possibly paving the way for the development of new medications for cancer and a host of other diseases.
  
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• Your brain responses to music reveal if you're a musician or not

  22-01-2018 17:12
  How your brain responds to music listening can reveal whether you have received musical training, according to new research. By applying methods of computational music analysis and machine learning on brain imaging data collected during music listening, the researchers we able to predict with a significant accuracy whether the listeners were musicians or not.
  
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• Two-dimensional circuit with magnetic quasi-particles

  22-01-2018 17:11
  Whether smart phone, computer or dialysis machine -- there is no electronic device without chips and their electronic components inside. The individual circuit elements are therefore often wired using three dimensional so called bridge constructions. Physicists are now working on a more efficient variation, where specific quasiparticles named magnons instead of electrons are being used. They have shown for the first time, in an initial model, that magnon current flow is possible in an integrated
  
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• GoJelly project officially kicks off

  22-01-2018 17:10
  While the number of fish in our oceans continues to decrease, changing environmental conditions seem to favour jellyfish. They occur more often in large blooms. So far, they are considered annoying, if not dangerous. The project GoJelly aims to change that perception and to investigate the suitability of the organisms as microplastic filters, fertilizers or fish feed.
  
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• A new assessment method for active aging

  22-01-2018 17:10
  Researchers have developed a new indicator for assessing active aging. Active aging refers to having initiative and doing things the aging person considers important. The indicator consists of a series of questions, which can be presented either in an interview or as a questionnaire. A score describing active ageing is calculated based on the responses. 
  
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• Global temperature targets will be missed within decades unless carbon emissions reversed

  22-01-2018 17:09
  New projections by researchers could be the catalyst the world has sought to determine how best to meet its obligations to reduce carbon emissions and better manage global warming as defined by the Paris Agreement.
  
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• Boosting cancer therapy with artificial molecules

  22-01-2018 17:09
  Researchers have created artificial molecules that can help the immune system to recognize and attack cancer tumors.
  
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• Using social and risk networks helps identify people undiagnosed with HIV

  22-01-2018 17:08
  Conducting HIV testing among the social and risk networks of those recently diagnosed with HIV helps identify undiagnosed cases of HIV at significantly higher rates and at a lower cost than other testing approaches, finds a new study conducted in Ukraine by an international research team.
  
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• User experiment at BESSY II: Complex tessellations, extraordinary materials

  22-01-2018 17:08
  Researchers have discovered a reaction path that produces exotic layers with semiregular structures. These kinds of materials are interesting because they frequently possess extraordinary properties. In the process, simple organic molecules are converted to larger units which form the complex, semiregular patterns.
  
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• Research helps break ground to clean up land

  22-01-2018 17:08
  Researchers have been exploring the intricate shapes that emerge when air is injected into soil. These findings could one day be used to speed up the decontamination of industrial brownfield sites.
  
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• Anemia discovery offers new targets to treat fatigue in millions

  22-01-2018 17:08
  Researchers have discovered an unknown biological process that controls the production of vital cells that carry oxygen throughout the body. The discovery could help doctors develop new treatments for anemias that affect millions of people.
  
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• A race against pine: Wood-boring wasp in North America threatened by a Eurasian invader

  22-01-2018 17:08
  Invasive species have diverse impacts in different locations, including biodiversity loss, as a result of native species being outcompeted for similar resources. A US research team studied the case of an aggressive Eurasian woodwasp that has recently established in North America and poses a threat to a native competitor species.
  
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• Massive dust storms are robbing Mars of its water

  22-01-2018 17:00
  
  Mars was once lush with water. A new analysis of Martian climate data shows a mechanism that might have helped dehydrate the planet.
  
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• Social media good for democracy? Facebook admits it can't make that guarantee

  22-01-2018 16:47 via cbc.ca
  Facebook has warned that it can't offer any assurance that social media is on balance good for democracy, but the company says it is trying to do what it can to stop alleged meddling in elections by Russia or anyone else.
  
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• Want a healthier population? Spend less on health care and more on social services, Canadian study finds

  22-01-2018 16:40
  Increased social spending was associated with health improvements at the population level, while health spending increases did not have the same effect, according to a large new Canadian study.
  
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• Transportable laser

  22-01-2018 16:40
  Physicists have developed a frequency-doubling unit for transportable, optical atomic clock that will even continue to operate when it has been shaken at three times the Earth's gravitational acceleration.
  
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• Seabed mining could destroy ecosystems

  22-01-2018 16:40
  Mining on the ocean floor could do irreversible damage to deep-sea ecosystems, says a new study of seabed mining proposals around the world.
  
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• New semiconductor processing technology developed

  22-01-2018 16:40
  Extremely fine porous structures with tiny holes -- resembling a kind of sponge at nano level -- can be generated in semiconductors. This opens up new possibilities for the realization of tiny sensors or unusual optical and electronic components.
  
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• New long-acting approach for malaria prophylaxis developed using nanomedicine approach

  22-01-2018 16:40
  A new study highlights a novel long-acting medicine for the prevention of malaria. The approach uses nanotechnology to improve the delivery of an existing antimalarial drug via a novel injectable format that can maintain blood concentration of the drug for weeks or months following a single dose.
  
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• How cells are able to turn

  22-01-2018 16:40
  Researchers have long wondered how our cells navigate inside the body. Two new studies have now demonstrated that the cells use molecular force from within to steer themselves in a certain direction. This knowledge may be of great significance in the development of new drugs.
  
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• Female cats are more likely to be right-handed, researchers discover

  22-01-2018 16:40
  Researchers have found that female cats are much more likely to use their right paw than males.
  
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• Combination of resistance genes offers better protection for wheat against powdery mildew

  22-01-2018 16:40
  Plant researchers have tested newly developed wheat lines with improved resistance in field trials. They have demonstrated that a combination of two variations of a resistance gene provides wheat with better protection against the fungal disease.
  
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• Cavity prevention approach effectively reduces tooth decay

  22-01-2018 16:40
  A scientifically based approach that includes a tooth-decay risk assessment, aggressive preventive measures and conservative restorations can dramatically reduce decay in community dental practices, according to a new study.
  
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• Bioinformaticians compute gene sequences inherited from each parent

  22-01-2018 16:40
  In the analysis of the human genome, one question researchers have so far left unanswered is how to differentiate the variants of a gene inherited from the mother and father. Such information would increase the likelihood of treating certain diseases successfully. The so-called third generation of sequencing technologies is now making this possible.
  
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• A method to measure diagnostic errors could be key to preventing disability and death from misdiagnosis

  22-01-2018 16:40
  In an effort to reduce patient misdiagnoses and associated poor patient outcomes from lack of prompt treatment, researchers are providing hospitals a new approach to quantify and monitor diagnostic errors in their quality improvement efforts.
  
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• Tesla to install Atlantic Canada 'supercharger' stations for its vehicles

  22-01-2018 16:37 via cbc.ca
  Tesla Inc. is building fast-charging stations for its electric vehicles in Atlantic Canada, opening up the East Coast to road trippers with the California automaker's high-end plug-in cars.
  
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