Science news

• A fake organ mimics what happens in the blink of an eye

  20-02-2018 23:15
  
  A newly crafted artificial eye could help researchers study treatments for dry eye disease and other ailments.
  
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• Federal budget looks ready to help protect more lands, inland waters, oceans

  20-02-2018 22:17 via cbc.ca
  The federal government appears poised to earmark funds in next week's budget aimed at meeting United Nations' targets on protecting more of Canada's lands, inland waters and oceans.
  
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• How to build a human brain

  20-02-2018 21:30
  
  Organoids, made from human stem cells, are growing into brains and other miniorgans to help researchers study development
  
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• Unprecedented single-digit-nanometer magnetic tunnel junction demonstrated

  20-02-2018 20:35
  Researchers have developed ultra-small magnetic tunnel junctions with high retention properties for use in semiconductor technologies.
  
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• Unique chemistry found in the New Zealand glowworm

  20-02-2018 20:35
  Researchers have helped uncover how New Zealand glowworms produce their glow. The scientists have discovered that the glowworms produce their light using a chemical reaction that is different from that of all other glowing creatures like fireflies.
  
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• Spare parts from small parts: Novel scaffolds to grow muscle

  20-02-2018 20:35
  Australian biomedical engineers have developed a 3-D material that successfully mimics nature to transform cells into muscle.
  
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• Reshaping drug tests

  20-02-2018 20:35
  Researchers have improved on the currently available methods for screening drugs for heart-related side effects. The method involves fabricating a tiny hole in a silicon chip over which lipid membranes, similar to those that surround cells, are encouraged to grow.
  
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• Researchers achieve 'Olympic ring' molecule breakthrough just in time for Winter Games

  20-02-2018 20:35
  More than 7,000 miles away from the snowcapped peaks of PyeongChang, scientists in Florida have unlocked a novel strategy for synthesizing a highly versatile molecule called olympicene -- a compound of carbon and hydrogen atoms named for its familiar Olympic ring shape.
  
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• Land use change has warmed Earth's surface

  20-02-2018 20:35
  Recent changes to vegetation cover are causing Earth's surface to heat up. Activities like cutting down evergreen forests for agricultural expansion in the tropics create energy imbalances that lead to higher local surface temperatures and contribute to global warming.
  
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• Designing microbial communities to help plants battle nutritional stress

  20-02-2018 20:35
  Plants and microbes engage in a diverse array of symbiotic relationships, but identifying the specific microbes or groups of microbes that contribute to plant health is extremely difficult. Researchers have devised a general experimental scheme to identify and predict which small groups of bacterial species can help plants respond to phosphate starvation, a form of nutritional stress.
  
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• Noise from ships scares porpoises

  20-02-2018 20:34
  Porpoises communicate with each other using sounds. Therefore, they are highly sensitive to noise, such as ship noise. A new study shows that porpoises flee from and stop feeding when disturbed by heavy ship noise.
  
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• Can you eat cells? Computer model predicts which organisms are capable of phagocytosis

  20-02-2018 20:34
  Researchers have created a computational model capable of predicting whether or not organisms have the ability to 'eat' other cells through a process known as phagocytosis. The model may be a useful tool for large-scale microbe surveys and provides valuable insight into the evolution of complex life on Earth, challenging ideas put forward in recent studies.
  
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• The intracellular pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase NT5C3A is a negative epigenetic factor in interferon and cytokine signaling

  20-02-2018 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The enzyme pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase (NT5C3A), which mediates nucleotide catabolism, was previously thought to be restricted to blood cells. We showed that expression of the gene encoding NT5C3A was induced by type I interferons (IFNs) in multiple cell types and that NT5C3A suppressed cytokine production through inhibition of the nuclear factor B (NF-B) pathway. NT5C3A expression required both an intronic IFN-stimulated response element and the IFN-stimulated transcription factor IRF1. Overexpr
  
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• Coordinating the overall stomatal response of plants: Rapid leaf-to-leaf communication during light stress

  20-02-2018 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The plant canopy functions as an aerial array of light-harvesting antennas. To achieve maximal yield, each leaf within this array and the array as a whole need to rapidly adjust to naturally occurring fluctuations in light intensity and quality. Excessive light stress triggers the closing of pores in leaves called stomata to minimize moisture loss. We found that different leaves within the canopy of an Arabidopsis thaliana plant, including leaves not directly exposed to light, coordinated stomat
  
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• Condemned by metabolism

  20-02-2018 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The kinase RIP3 increases aerobic flux to produce reactive oxygen species, which enhances necrosome formation and necroptosis.
  
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• Abl and Arg mediate cysteine cathepsin secretion to facilitate melanoma invasion and metastasis

  20-02-2018 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The incidence of melanoma is increasing, particularly in young women, and the disease remains incurable for many because of its aggressive, metastatic nature and its high rate of resistance to conventional, targeted, and immunological agents. Cathepsins are proteases that are critical for melanoma progression and therapeutic resistance. Intracellular cathepsins cleave or degrade proteins that restrict cancer progression, whereas extracellular cathepsins directly cleave the extracellular matrix a
  
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• A calcium-sensing receptor mutation causing hypocalcemia disrupts a transmembrane salt bridge to activate {beta}-arrestin-biased signaling

  20-02-2018 19:55 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) is a G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) that signals through Gq/11 and Gi/o to stimulate cytosolic calcium (Ca2+i) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling to control extracellular calcium homeostasis. Studies of loss- and gain-of-function CASR mutations, which cause familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia type 1 (FHH1) and autosomal dominant hypocalcemia type 1 (ADH1), respectively, have revealed that the CaSR signals in a biased manner. Thus,
  
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• Ancient human, giant sloth remains found in world's biggest flooded cave

  20-02-2018 19:11 via cbc.ca
  Archaeologists exploring the word's biggest flooded cave in Mexico have discovered ancient human remains at least 9,000 years old and the bones of animals that roamed the earth during the last Ice Age.
  
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• Survivors of blood or marrow transplantation are likely to experience cognitive impairment

  20-02-2018 18:47
  Allogeneic blood or marrow transplantation recipients are at a significantly higher risk of cognitive impairment in the years post-transplantation, according to a new study. The research helps add a missing piece to a long-unsolved puzzle about post-transplant effects on recipients, specifically that vulnerable subpopulations of similar transplants can benefit from targeted interventions in the years after they receive their lifesaving treatment.
  
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• Researchers invent tiny, light-powered wires to modulate brain's electrical signals

  20-02-2018 18:47
  A new study shows how tiny, light-powered wires could be fashioned out of silicon to manipulate electrical signaling between neurons. The research offers a new avenue to shed light on--and perhaps someday treat--brain disorders.
  
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• Industry is leaking huge amounts of microplastics, Swedish study shows

  20-02-2018 18:45
  Millions of plastic pellets are leaking out into the environment from a manufacturing site in Stenungsund, according to a new Swedish study. Despite several international and national sets of regulatory frameworks, the leaking continues.
  
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• Brain aging may begin earlier than expected

  20-02-2018 18:45
  Physicists have devised a new method of investigating brain function, opening a new frontier in the diagnoses of neurodegenerative and aging related diseases.
  
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• When it comes to our brains, there's no such thing as normal

  20-02-2018 18:31
  There's nothing wrong with being a little weird. Because we think of psychological disorders on a continuum, we may worry when our own ways of thinking and behaving don't match up with our idealized notion of health. But some variability can be healthy and even adaptive, say researchers, even though it can also complicate attempts to identify standardized markers of pathology.
  
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• Low-fat or low-carb? It's a draw, study finds

  20-02-2018 18:31
  New evidence might dismay those who have chosen sides in the low-fat versus low-carb diet debate. Cutting either carbs or fats shaves off excess weight in about the same proportion, according to the study.
  
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• How political parties influence our beliefs, and what we can do about it

  20-02-2018 18:31
  Fake news is everywhere, but why we believe it is still unclear. Psychologists suggest that valuing our identity more than our accuracy is what leads us to accept incorrect information that aligns with our political party's beliefs. This value discrepancy can explain why high-quality news sources are no longer enough--and understanding it can help us find strategies to bridge the political divide.
  
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• I want to drink your blood: Vampire bat's genetic secrets revealed

  20-02-2018 17:28
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If you want to know how vampire bats can survive on a diet that -- as everyone knows -- consists exclusively of blood, the answer is simple. It's in their genes.
  
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• Typhoid outbreak: Genetic cause of extensive drug-resistance found

  20-02-2018 16:41
  The genetic cause behind a strain of typhoid's resistance to five classes of antibiotics has been uncovered by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators. There is currently a major outbreak of typhoid fever in Pakistan. This study shows the typhoid strain causing the outbreak acquired an additional piece of DNA to become resistant to multiple antibiotics, including a third-generation antibiotic.
  
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• Quintillionths of a second in slow motion

  20-02-2018 16:41
  Many chemical processes run so fast that they are only roughly understood. To clarify these processes, researchers have now developed a methodology with a resolution of quintillionths of a second. The new technology stands to help better understand processes like photosynthesis and develop faster computer chips.
  
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• Infection site affects how a virus spreads through the body

  20-02-2018 16:41
  A person is more likely to get infected by HIV through anal intercourse than vaginal, but no one knows quite why. A new study shows that infection sites could affect the immune system's response to a virus and the way the virus spreads through the body.
  
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• Alexa, how do word senses evolve?

  20-02-2018 16:41
  A new paper is the first to look at 1,000 years of English development and detect the kinds of algorithms that human minds have used to extend existing words to new senses of meaning. This kind of 'reverse engineering' of how human language has developed could have implications for natural language processing by machines.
  
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• When proteins shake hands

  20-02-2018 16:24
  Protein nanofibers often have outstanding properties such as a high stability, biodegradability, or antibacterial effect. Artificially creating these fibers is not easy, much less assigning them specific functions. That and how fibers with new properties can be successfully created is now being reported by materials scientists in a new study.
  
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• Removing globally used anxiety drug from recycled and wastewater at low cost

  20-02-2018 16:24
  Researchers can now remove a common anxiety drug from recycled water and wastewater, using low-cost titanium dioxide nanofibers. In cities running out of water, removing pharmaceuticals from wastewater in a simple, low cost way is becoming a priority.
  
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• Genes activated in metastasis also drive the first stages of tumor growth

  20-02-2018 16:24
  Researchers have demonstrated that genes activated during metastasis are also able to initiate primary tumor development, and they explain the molecular mechanism involved.
  
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• Ancient human remains, Ice Age animal bones found in giant Mexican cave

  20-02-2018 16:16
  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Archaeologists exploring the word's biggest flooded cave in Mexico have discovered ancient human remains at least 9,000 years old and the bones of animals who roamed the earth during the last Ice Age.
  
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• Study of mollusk epidemic could help save endangered sea snail

  20-02-2018 15:50
  Overfishing and environmental change have pushed abalone species on the US west coast to the edge of extinction. Now a fatal disease threatens their recovery. But new research shows that some abalone species may be less susceptible to the disease than others, providing initial data that could help map where abalone could survive and thrive despite the disease.
  
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• 'Nobody poaches here': Study exposes misperception of poaching on the Great Barrier Reef and its remedy

  20-02-2018 15:50
  New research has revealed the tiny minority of fishers who poach on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) think the illegal practice is justified, because they believe 'everyone else is doing it.'
  
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• Nitrate in drinking water increases the risk of colorectal cancer, study finds

  20-02-2018 15:50
  Nitrate in groundwater and drinking water, which primarily comes from fertilisers used in the agricultural production, has not only been subject to decades of environmental awareness -- it has also been suspected of increasing the risk of cancer. The largest epidemiological study ever carried out in this area now shows that there is a correlation -- also when the amount of nitrate in the drinking water is far below the current drinking water standard.
  
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• Moderate and severe exacerbations accelerate physical activity decline in COPD patients

  20-02-2018 15:50
  A new study shows that both moderate and severe exacerbations in COPD patients are associated with a decline in their physical activity level. Researchers observed that the acute drop in physical activity during a COPD exacerbation has an important and lasting effect.
  
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• Grey squirrels beat reds in 'battle of wits'

  20-02-2018 15:50
  Problem-solving powers may help to explain why grey squirrels have taken over from native red squirrels in the United Kingdom, according to new research.
  
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• A trip to the mountains despite a heart condition?

  20-02-2018 15:50
  Cardiologists are in agreement that generally exercise in the mountains is a very good way to prevent or reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless what about those people who have a pre-existing cardiovascular condition? Under what circumstances is it safe for them to reside or holiday in high mountainous regions, and what rules should they apply to their conduct whilst there?
  
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• Very long-chain lipids could help prevent dry eye disease

  20-02-2018 15:49
  Very long-chain lipids in the most superficial layer of the tear film cause severe dry eye disease when they were shortened in mice -- a result that could help develop new drugs for the disease.
  
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• Nitrate flux in the Arctic not following the decreasing NOx emissions in neighboring countries

  20-02-2018 15:49
  Nitrate deposits in the Arctic remains high even after the turn of the century, despite environmental policies adopted by neighboring countries in the late 20th century to cut nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.
  
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• How vampire bats survive on an 'extreme' diet of just blood

  20-02-2018 15:03 via cbc.ca
  By examining vampire bats' DNA, scientists say they have uncovered some of the ways vampire bats survive on their 'extreme' germ-laden, low-carb, vitamin-deficient diet of just blood.
  
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• Are computers better than people at predicting who will commit another crime?

  20-02-2018 15:00
  
  If crime-predicting computer programs aren’t any more accurate than human guesswork, do they still have a place in the criminal justice system?
  
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• The flowers that give us chocolate are ridiculously hard to pollinate

  20-02-2018 13:00
  
  Cacao trees are really fussy about pollination.
  
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• Burn or bury

  20-02-2018 12:55 via bbc.co.uk
  Since China refused last month to accept any more foreign waste for recycling, the UK is facing a challenge disposing of its plastic waste.
  
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• Manitoba rivers feed 400M pieces of microplastic into Lake Winnipeg every year

  20-02-2018 12:00 via cbc.ca
  The Assiniboine and Red rivers are bringing 400-million pieces of tiny plastic into Lake Winnipeg every year, but most of it is thin, wiry and so small that even the avid beachgoer probably doesn't know it's there.
  
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• Whale beached for 3 days on Mexico's northwest coast is back in the Pacific Ocean

  20-02-2018 06:30 via cbc.ca
  A grey whale has been returned safely to the Pacific Ocean after three days beached on the coast of Mexico's Baja California Sur state.
  
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• Younger and older siblings contribute positively to each other's developing empathy

  20-02-2018 06:00
  (Society for Research in Child Development) A new longitudinal study looked at whether younger siblings also contribute to their older sisters' and brothers' empathy in early childhood, when empathic tendencies begin to develop. The research found that beyond the influence of parents, both older and younger siblings positively influence each other's empathic concern over time.
  
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• Why the boss always gets the blame

  20-02-2018 06:00
  (Ruhr-University Bochum) An employee receives significantly more praise if his actions result in positive consequences than his superior. An experiment conducted by a team of researchers from Bochum and Cologne has demonstrated that, unlike previously assumed, the acting person's social status plays an important role when it comes to the distribution of praise and blame -- rather than the extent to which an individual has influenced a given situation.
  
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