Science news

• Readers ask about supernovas, dark energy and more

  07-02-2018 21:30
  Readers had questions about a supernova that continuously erupts, the difference between dark energy and dark matter, and more.
  
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• In play, kids and scientists take big mental leaps

  07-02-2018 21:30
  Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill explores the science behind children's play and how kids like to mimic the same things adults do.
  
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• SpaceX's 'Starman' misses Mars orbit, heads to asteroid belt

  07-02-2018 21:20 via cbc.ca
  It was a launch to remember: on Tuesday, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy soared into the sky from Cape Canaveral, Fla., complete with a dummy named 'Starman' destined to orbit between Earth and Mars. But it turns out, he's going a little farther than expected.
  
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• Skyrmions open a door to next-level data storage

  07-02-2018 21:03
  
  Skyrmions are tiny magnetic swirls that are hard to undo and may be perfect for miniaturizing electronics.
  
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• Ancient Briton had dark skin and blue eyes, scientists find

  07-02-2018 20:06
  LONDON (Reuters) - "Cheddar Man", Britain's oldest, nearly complete human skeleton, had dark skin, blue eyes and dark curly hair when he lived in what is now southwest England 10,000 years ago, scientists who read his DNA have discovered.
  
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• How to Bear a Bull Market: The Psychology of Volatile Securities Trading

  07-02-2018 20:01 via rss.sciam.com
  The wild up-and-down swings of the markets this week reveals the underlying dynamics of herd behavior in the buying and selling of securities-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Superdense wood is lightweight, but strong as steel

  07-02-2018 19:00
  
  New superdense wood could be a more lightweight, environmentally friendly alternative to current construction materials.
  
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• Stronger Than Steel, Able to Stop a Speeding Bullet--It's Super Wood!

  07-02-2018 19:00 via rss.sciam.com
  Simple processes can make wood tough, impact-resistant—or even transparent  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Humans are overloading the world’s freshwater bodies with phosphorus

  07-02-2018 17:00
  
  Human activities are driving phosphorus levels in the world’s lakes and other freshwater bodies to a critical point.
  
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• Bacterial "Tape Recorder" Could Keep Tabs on Bodily Functions

  07-02-2018 16:20 via rss.sciam.com
  Scientists have used CRISPR to turn microbes into tiny recording devices-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• This is what people in Britain looked like 10,000 years ago

  07-02-2018 16:00 via cbc.ca
  DNA from a 10,000-year-old skeleton found in an English cave suggests the oldest-known Briton had dark skin and blue eyes, researchers said Wednesday.
  
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• Russian hackers came close to stealing secret U.S. defence technology

  07-02-2018 15:18 via cbc.ca
  Russian hackers exploited a key vulnerability in U.S. cyber defences to come within reach of stealing some of the nation's most secret and advanced defence technology, an Associated Press investigation has found.
  
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• Cheddar Man: DNA shows early Briton had dark skin

  07-02-2018 14:57 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists put a face to Cheddar Man, Britain's oldest complete skeleton from 10,000 years ago.
  
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• Ottawa spends millions on artificial intelligence to battle child pornography

  07-02-2018 13:40 via cbc.ca
  Canada's Liberal government has announced millions of dollars for a national centre that uses artificial intelligence to crawl the internet for images of child pornography and report it.
  
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• Ottawa earmarks cash to protect children from online sexual exploitation

  07-02-2018 13:40 via cbc.ca
  The Liberal government has announced millions of dollars in new money for a national centre that works to protect children from online sexual exploitation.
  
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• Scientists are tracking how the flu moves through a college campus

  07-02-2018 13:00
  
  Researchers are following the spread of viruses and illness among students in a cluster of University of Maryland dorms to learn more about how the bugs infect.
  
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• Titanic wreckage will get its closeup in upcoming expedition

  07-02-2018 12:30 via cbc.ca
  Clarenville's SubC Imaging will provide two industrial cameras that will record video and pictures of the famous Titanic shipwreck.
  
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• Trudeau to meet with Amazon, eBay CEOs on 4-day U.S. trip

  07-02-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  The prime minister is set to meet with some of the most influential leaders in the tech industry as he launches a four day trade and investment mission to the U.S. Justin Trudeau will meet with Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, as the company considers several cities, including Toronto, for a second headquarters.
  
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• In San Diego, a lamppost can tell you where to park

  07-02-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  San Diego is installing sensors in lampposts to collect data about nearby people, cars and even the air.
  
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• SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket soars in debut test launch from Florida

  07-02-2018 08:17
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - The world's most powerful rocket, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, roared into space through clear blue skies on its debut test flight on Tuesday from a Florida launch site in another milestone for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's private rocket service.
  
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• Plastic bottle scheme that could help clean the oceans

  07-02-2018 07:04 via bbc.co.uk
  As the scale of plastic pollution in the world's oceans becomes ever more apparent, could bottle deposit schemes help turn the tide?
  
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• Youth consider mobile health units a safe place for sexual health services

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Chicago Medical Center) Mobile health units bring important medical services to communities across the country. A new study indicates that mobile health units may provide a new approach for offering sexual health education and services to adolescents.
  
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• WSU researchers build alien ocean to test NASA outer space submarine

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (Washington State University) Building a submarine gets tricky when the temperature drops to -300 Fahrenheit and the ocean is made of methane and ethane. Washington State University researchers are working with NASA to determine how a submarine might work on Titan, the largest of Saturn's many moons and the second largest in the solar system. The space agency plans to launch a real submarine into Titan seas in the next 20 years.
  
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• Wage increases do not have a persistent effect on job satisfaction

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Basel) After a wage increase, people tend to be more satisfied with their jobs -- and even more so when what they have gained exceeds the wage increases of their colleagues. Yet, this effect on job satisfaction is not persistent. Two economists from University of Basel reported these findings in a study recently published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.
  
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• UTA student named one of New Faces of Civil Engineering, Collegiate Edition, by ASCE

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Texas at Arlington) Maria Frias, a senior in civil engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington, has been named one of 10 '2018 New Faces of Civil Engineering, Collegiate Edition' by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
  
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• University of Houston to host national meeting on Hispanics in STEM

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Houston) Administrators, faculty and students from Hispanic-serving institutions around the nation will meet Feb. 14-16 at the University of Houston to make recommendations on how best to attract Hispanic students and help them succeed in STEM disciplines.
  
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• Towards a better prediction of solar eruptions

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (CNRS) Just one phenomenon may underlie all solar eruptions.French researchers have identified the presence of a confining 'cage' in which a magnetic rope forms, causing solar eruptions. It is the resistance of this cage to the attack of the rope that determines the power and type of the upcoming flare. This work has enabled the scientists to develop a model capable of predicting the maximum energy that can be released during a solar flare.
  
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• The robots will see you now

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (NYU Tandon School of Engineering) Researchers tapped advances in real-time tracking software and robotics to design and test the first closed-loop control system featuring a bioinspired robotic replica interacting in three dimensions with live zebrafish. The system allows the robotic replica to both 'see' and mimic the behavior of live zebrafish in real time. Robots previously have been deployed alongside live animals to better understand animal behavior but the encounters were unidirectional.
  
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• The American College of Rheumatology recommends biosimilar use in new white paper

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (American College of Rheumatology) The ACR has published a new white paper that provides a comprehensive overview of the scientific, clinical, economic and prescribing issues pertaining to biosimilar use. The paper encourages providers to incorporate these drugs into treatment plans of patients with rheumatic diseases.
  
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• Sweet route to greater yields

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (Rothamsted Research) Three years ago, biotechnologists demonstrated in field trials that they could increase the productivity of maize by introducing a rice gene into the plant that regulated the accumulation of sucrose in kernels and led to more kernels per maize plant. They have now unravelled the intimate details of the relationships governing the increased productivity and hope to transfer the biotechnology to other cereals, such as wheat and rice.
  
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• Super wood could replace steel

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Maryland) Engineers at the University of Maryland, College Park have found a way to make wood more than 10 times stronger and tougher than before, creating a natural substance that is stronger than many titanium alloys.
  
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• Suicides spiked after death of Robin Williams

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health) In the months after Robin Williams committed suicide in 2014, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health documented a marked 10 percent increase in of suicides. Males aged 30 to 44 were particularly affected. The data also showed there was a 32 percent increase in suffocation suicides in the five months that followed Williams' death by the same method, compared to a 3 percent rise for all suicides from other method
  
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• Scientists successfully test new, safer titanium plate for bone tissue repair

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (Shinshu University) For the first time, patented titanium fiber plates developed by Japanese engineers for medical use were put to the test in an animal model.Researchers from Shinshu University found that, unlike conventional plates, the titanium fiber plates do not cause bone embrittlement after close contact with the bone for prolonged periods. This could eliminate the need for plate extraction and the associate surgical risks.
  
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• Research suggests vapers are vulnerable to pneumonia

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (European Lung Foundation) The vapor from e-cigarettes seems to help pneumonia-causing bacteria stick to the cells that line the airways, according to research published in the European Respiratory Journal.
  
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• Recent study in Oregon reveals public considers alcohol more harmful than marijuana

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (RTI International) A new study, led by researchers at RTI International, surveyed more than 1,900 adults in Oregon prior to the legalization of marijuana in the state and found that more than half (52.5 percent) consider alcohol to be more harmful than marijuana while few (7.5 percent) believe marijuana is more harmful to a person's health.
  
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• Public policy, transportation PhD student receives national award

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Texas at Arlington) Somayeh Moazzeni, a UTA doctoral student in public policy and transportation, has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Transportation as the 2017 outstanding student of the year for C-TEDD.
  
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• Printable, colorful camouflage with polymers

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (American Chemical Society) In nature, colors can serve as a form of communication, but they can also hide animals and plants, camouflaging them from sight. Researchers now report in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces that they have developed polymers that can better mimic nature's color-changing abilities than existing polymers. They say the materials could enable smart decorations, camouflage textiles and improved anti-counterfeiting measures.
  
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• Positive attitudes about aging reduce risk of dementia in older adults

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (Yale University) Research has shown that older persons who have acquired positive beliefs about old age from their surrounding culture are less likely to develop dementia. This protective effect was found for all participants, as well as among those carrying a gene that puts them at higher risk of developing dementia, a new study led by the Yale School of Public Health has found.
  
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• Polluted air may pollute our morality

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (Association for Psychological Science) Exposure to air pollution, even imagining exposure to air pollution, may lead to unethical behavior, according to findings published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. A combination of archival and experimental studies indicates that exposure to air pollution, either physically or mentally, is linked with unethical behavior such as crime and cheating. The experimental findings suggest that this association may
  
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• PBS and SU2C announce 100 HS students selected for 2018 Class of Emperor Science awards

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (Entertainment Industry Foundation) 100 high school students from 28 states were named winners in the third year of PBS' and SU2C's Emperor Science Award. This program empowers high school students to become the next generation of scientists as they explore careers in cancer research. The award includes a unique multi-week mentoring opportunity with an esteemed university scientist, a Google Chromebook computer to enhance studies and facilitate communication with their mentor, and a $1,500 stipe
  
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• Nostalgia safeguards against negative feelings

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Cologne) Psychologists discover strong correlations between Americans' glorification of their country, nostalgia for the past, and the rejection of collective guilt regarding past crimes.
  
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• New move to act for research assessment reform

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (American Society for Cell Biology) Professor Stephen Curry is calling for research assessment reform. As chair of a new steering committee behind the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), Curry's call to action is bolstered by investments from nine organizations in the US and Europe combined with signatures on the Declaration for each of the UK's seven Research Councils. The news is announced in a World View column published in Feb. 8 issue of Nature and available online toda
  
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• New approach reduces immune response to tissue engineered vascular grafts

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News) Using RNA interference (RNAi) technology to silence an immune-stimulating complex in endothelial cells (EC), the main cellular component of blood vessels, researchers have made it possible to use the plentiful supply of donor ECs instead of a patient's own cells to generate tissue engineered vascular grafts for transplantation.
  
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• New analysis proves protein supplements provide significant benefits for weight lifters

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (McMaster University) The debate is over.Dietary protein supplements significantly improve muscle strength and size when taken by healthy adults who lift weights, a determination reached by McMaster scientists who analyzed dozens of research studies.
  
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• National Academy of Engineering Elects 83 members and 16 foreign members

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine) The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected 83 new members and 16 foreign members, announced NAE President C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., today.This brings the total US membership to 2,293 and the number of foreign members to 262.
  
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• Multiple chronic diseases leave patients with adversely high costs

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Melbourne) Current strategies for treating patients with several chronic diseases are putting an unnecessary financial burden on countries' health systems and individuals, a global study has found. Experts say that the current clinical practice of tackling each disease in isolation may lead to the prescription of unnecessary medicines, resulting in patient expenses that are disproportionate to the number of conditions they have.
  
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• Male susceptibility to autism linked to male hormones in early-stage brain development

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (Elsevier) Exposure to androgens (male hormones) during brain development alters genes related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a new study published in Biological Psychiatry. Using male human cells, researchers at the University of Strasbourg, France, identified key genes that are regulated by testosterone and that contribute to the risk for autism, generating important insight into how male hormones might contribute to the increased male susceptibility to ASD.
  
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• Leading cloud providers join with NSF to support data science frontiers

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (National Science Foundation) The National Science Foundation (NSF) is providing nearly $30 million in new funding for research in data science and engineering through its Critical Techniques, Technologies and Methodologies for Advancing Foundations and Applications of Big Data Sciences and Engineering (BIGDATA) program.
  
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• Inflammation in testes could explain link between obesity and reduced fertility

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (Frontiers) A new study suggests that chronic inflammation caused by obesity may harm the male genital tract, leading to lower fertility in obese men.
  
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• How safe is your email?

  07-02-2018 06:00
  (European Commission Joint Research Centre) Why not take five minutes to check the safety of your email communications with My Email Communications Security Assessment (MECSA), an online tool developed by the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission's science and knowledge service.
  
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