Science news

• Falcon Heavy: Big SpaceX rocket lights 27 engines

  24-01-2018 23:25 via bbc.co.uk
  US firm SpaceX conducts a key test ahead of the debut flight of its new rocket - the Falcon Heavy.
  
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• If you're going to blame a cyberattack on North Korea, you'd better show your work

  24-01-2018 22:55 via cbc.ca
  Attribution is hard, which is why security experts want to see evidence to back up the claim by an Ontario transit agency that it was hit by a North Korean cyberattack.
  
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• If you're going to blame a cyberattack on North Korea, you better show your work

  24-01-2018 22:55 via cbc.ca
  Attribution is hard, which is why security experts want to see evidence to back up the claim by an Ontario transit agency that it was hit by a North Korean cyberattack.
  
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• Sound waves 'can help' early tsunami detection

  24-01-2018 22:18 via bbc.co.uk
  People in high-risk tsunami areas could be helped by an alarm system devised by Cardiff scientists.
  
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• Mind bender: shape of human brain evolved over time

  24-01-2018 21:55
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An analysis of fossils including the oldest-known Homo sapiens specimen has revealed that brain shape in our species evolved over time to become less elongated and more globular, a change that appears to have accommodated key advances in its function.
  
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• U.S. safety board investigating Tesla freeway crash

  24-01-2018 21:28 via cbc.ca
  The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the California crash of a Tesla Model S electric car that may have been operating under its semi-autonomous "Autopilot" system.
  
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• Lasers trace a new way to create hovering hologram-like images

  24-01-2018 20:30
  
  Hovering 3-D images pave the way for futuristic displays that could be used for education or entertainment.
  
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• Monkey clones created with Dolly-the-sheep technique

  24-01-2018 20:23 via cbc.ca
  For the first time, researchers have used the cloning method that produced Dolly the sheep to create two healthy monkeys, bringing science an important step closer to being able to do the same with humans.
  
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• Human brains rounded into shape over 200,000 years or more

  24-01-2018 20:00
  
  Ancient humans’ brains slowly but surely became round, scientists say.
  
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• A New Recipe for Hunting Alien Life

  24-01-2018 20:00 via rss.sciam.com
  For most life in the universe, oxygen might be a deadly poison. Surprisingly, that might make such creatures easier for astrobiologists to find-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Cloned monkeys: First primate clones are created in lab

  24-01-2018 19:48 via bbc.co.uk
  Two monkeys named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua have become the first primates to be cloned.
  
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• SpaceX successfully test fires engines on big new rocket

  24-01-2018 19:36 via cbc.ca
  It's the rocket that SpaceX hopes will pave the way to Mars. Today it went it's first static firing, preparing for a test launch in February.
  
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• Memory remains elusive, but the search continues

  24-01-2018 19:35
  Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill explores the history of memory and scientists' search for its physical trace in our brains.
  
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• Readers wonder about the universe's expansion and more

  24-01-2018 19:34
  Readers had questions about the universe's accelerating expansion, a hidden void in the Great Pyramid of Giza and what happens to human waste in space.
  
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• Baby macaques are the first primates to be cloned like Dolly the Sheep

  24-01-2018 19:30
  
  Scientists have cloned two baby macaque monkeys with the same technique used to clone Dolly. The research could help advance the cloning of other species.
  
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• How to escape from a lion or cheetah - the science

  24-01-2018 19:26 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists work out how prey can escape much faster predators when hunting in the African savannah.
  
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• Donald Trump's 'hatred of sharks' benefits conservation charities

  24-01-2018 19:12 via bbc.co.uk
  Shark conservationists see donations rise after claims the US president hates the animals.
  
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• Chinese scientists break key barrier by cloning monkeys

  24-01-2018 18:36
  LONDON (Reuters) - Chinese scientists have cloned monkeys using the same technique that produced Dolly the sheep two decades ago, breaking a technical barrier that could open the door to copying humans.
  
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• First monkey clones created in Chinese laboratory

  24-01-2018 18:19 via bbc.co.uk
  Two monkeys cloned using the 'Dolly the sheep' technique could bring the world a step closer to human cloning.
  
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• 'Disco ball' put into space from NZ

  24-01-2018 18:14 via bbc.co.uk
  US start-up Rocket Lab says its recent launch put a reflective sphere in orbit.
  
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• First Primate Clones Produced Using the "Dolly" Method

  24-01-2018 18:00 via rss.sciam.com
  The success with monkeys could ignite new ethical debates and medical research-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• The X-ray glow keeps growing after the recent neutron star collision

  24-01-2018 15:00
  
  X-rays from a neutron star collision have been getting brighter, and scientists are debating why.
  
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• Someone, somewhere, thinks you'll like this new kind of online store enough to buy

  24-01-2018 15:00 via cbc.ca
  You may never have heard of the brands turning up in ads on your social media feeds. But someone, somewhere, thinks you'll like them enough to buy.
  
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• NTAs: David Attenborough on Blue Planet II's Impact

  24-01-2018 14:56 via bbc.co.uk
  Sir David Attenborough's impassioned speech at the NTAs was all about protecting "our beautiful world".
  
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• Somewhere in the brain is a storage device for memories

  24-01-2018 13:00
  
  New technology and new ideas spur the hunt for the physical basis of memory.
  
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• Cocktail of Brain Chemicals May Be a Key to What Makes Us Human

  24-01-2018 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  A study that compares us with other primates finds a brain region linked to social behavior that may offer a biological explanation for why humans, not chimps, produced Shakespeare, Gandhi and...-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Cannabis company to use fish waste to grow marijuana in former pulp mill

  24-01-2018 12:00 via cbc.ca
  A Nova Scotia company will soon begin growing cannabis in a former pulp and paper mill in Queens County, and hopes the buy-local ethos extends to marijuana.
  
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• Cannabis growers get creative to ease power demands of pot

  24-01-2018 11:00 via cbc.ca
  Commercial cannabis producers are trying to drive costs down, and that's sparking a market for scientific and engineering ideas to soften the huge electricity demands of producing pot. It's delivering some interesting spin-off benefits, too.
  
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• Zebrafish study provides new insights into autism spectrum disorder research

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Oregon State University) Exposure to a compound used to treat migraines and seizures causes characteristics associated with autism, groundbreaking research with zebrafish has demonstrated.
  
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• Working in female-dominated workplaces means worse access to flexible working arrangements

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (University of Kent) Workers in female-dominated workplaces have worse access to flexible working arrangements than those in gender-neutral and even male-dominated workplaces, new research from the University of Kent has found.
  
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• Wisdom at the end of life

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (University of California - San Diego) In a paper publishing Jan. 24 in the journal International Psychogeriatrics, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine asked 21 hospice patients, ages 58 to 97 and in the last six months of their lives, to describe the core characteristics of wisdom and whether their terminal illnesses had changed or impacted their understanding of wisdom.
  
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• Will supplements help your workout or diet routine?

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (NIH/Office of Dietary Supplements) The new year is a time to set new goals, and for many people this means losing weight and improving fitness. Many people may turn to dietary supplements for a boost to their routines. To help cut the confusion, the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health has two new resources to help people understand what is known about the effectiveness and safety of many ingredients in dietary supplements promoted for fitness and weight loss
  
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• Weather patterns, farm income, other factors, may be influencing opioid crisis

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Penn State) The overprescribing of opioid-based painkillers may be the main driver of the increased abuse of opioids in rural America, but economists say that other factors, including declining farm income, extreme weather and other natural disasters, may affect a crisis that is killing thousands of citizens and costing the country billions of dollars.
  
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• Vitamin C in the body can be tracked by fluorescence

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo) A Japanese research team led by The University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science bio-imaged vitamin C in mice. A probe chemical emitted red fluorescent light after reacting with vitamin C in the mice's bloodstream. When a dose of exogenous vitamin C was injected, it accumulated in vital organs. This is the first bioimaging of vitamin C in living tissue, showing high sensitivity and good selectivity, paving the way toward the use
  
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• Ultralow power consumption for data recording

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Tohoku University) Researchers have made a discovery that could see a drastic reduction in power consumption for data recording.
  
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• Study finds a third of households -- double previous estimates -- struggle to get food

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Ohio State University) The struggle to get enough nutritious food could be far worse than previously understood, according to a new study examining the intersection between hunger and the types of foods found at nearby stores.
  
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• State of US science enterprise report shows US leads in S&E as China rapidly advances

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (National Science Foundation) According to the National Science Foundation's Science and Engineering Indicators 2018 report released today, the United States is the global leader in science and technology (S&T). However, the US global share of S&T activities is declining as other nations -- especially China -- continue to rise.
  
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• Scientists reveal the fundamental limitation in the key material for solid-state lighting

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Forschungsverbund Berlin) For the first time an international research group has revealed the core mechanism that limits the indium content in indium gallium nitride thin films -- the key material for blue light emitting diodes (LED).
  
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• Scientific breakthrough could lead to better antipsychotic drugs

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (University of North Carolina Health Care) 'If we want to create better medications, the first step is to see what the D2 receptor looks like in high-resolution detail when it's bound tightly to a drug,' said senior author Bryan L. Roth, M.D., Ph.D., at the UNC School of Medicine. 'We now have the structure, and we're exploring it to find new compounds we hope can help the millions of people in need of better treatments.'
  
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• Rogers named Fellow to Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (University of Texas at Arlington) Jamie Rogers, Distinguished Teaching Professor and associate chair of the Industrial, Manufacturing and Systems Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Arlington, has been named a Fellow of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
  
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• Rise in severity of hottest days outpaces global average temperature increase

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (University of California - Irvine) While our planet's average annual temperature has increased at a steady pace in recent decades, there has been an alarming jump in the severity of the hottest days of the year during that same period, with the most lethal effects in the world's largest cities.
  
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• Racism linked to uptake of smoking in young people

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (King's College London) Adolescents who have experienced some form of racism between the ages of 11 and 23 are more likely to take up smoking than those who have not, according to a new study led by King's College London.
  
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• Prediction of titanic nitride proved unsinkable

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Carnegie Institution for Science) A team of experimental and computational scientists led by Carnegie's Tim Strobel and Venkata Bhadram have synthesized a long sought-after form of titanium nitride, Ti3N4, which has promising mechanical and optoelectronic properties.
  
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• Physicists have learned to change the wavelength of Tamm plasmons

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Siberian Federal University) Scientists from Siberian Federal University (SFU) and the L. V. Kirensky Institute of Physics (SB RAS) conducted theoretical studies of hybrid Tamm plasmons. Using numerical calculations, they were able to predict the structure in which it is possible to control the wavelength of these quasiparticles by means of an external electric field or heating. The study is presented in the Journal of the Optical Society of America B.
  
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• Pearly material for bendable heating elements (video)

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (American Chemical Society) The iridescent shimmer of a string of pearls may one day be more than pretty adornment. Scientists now report in ACS Applied Nano Materials a hybrid material consisting of imitation pearl combined with silver nanowires that works as a heater, with the added benefit of high flexibility, suggesting a potential role in wearable devices.
  
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• Our science fictional world

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Springer) According to the author of this book, science fiction is the most important literature of our day.
  
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• OSC helping OU researcher revolutionize drug discovery with RNA in the spotlight

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Ohio Supercomputer Center) The rise of antibiotic resistance among common infectious bacteria is a worrisome health threat. Jennifer Hines, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Ohio University, is looking to ribonucleic acid (RNA) structures for new drug discovery. Since Hines has to test the docking of entire libraries of small molecules on the riboswitch, she uses the power of the Ohio Supercomputer Center's Oakley Cluster to speed up the calculation process.
  
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• Optimizing recycling of scrap car parts yields big savings

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Tohoku University) Detailed sorting of scrap car parts could boost recycling rates to over 97 percent, saving billions and slashing greenhouse gas emissions.
  
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• Novel material cuts cost of substance purification for industry

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) Technology developed by a Brazilian startup consists of a porous silica magnetic microparticle which has affinity with different molecules, a feature that enables its application on various industries; this solution aims at simplifying established industrial processes, thus reducing costs.
  
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• Non-profit to accelerate development of potential new Parkinson's drug

  24-01-2018 06:00
  (Parkinson's UK) UK charity, Parkinson's UK is partnering with US biotech Neurolixis in a $1 million deal to accelerate the development of a potential cure for dyskinesia -- a severe side effect of common Parkinson's medication.
  
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