Science news

• A new species of tardigrade lays eggs covered with doodads and streamers

  28-02-2018 23:31
  
  These elegant eggs hint that a tardigrade found in a Japanese parking lot is a new species.
  
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• Signal detected from 'cosmic dawn'

  28-02-2018 23:23 via bbc.co.uk
  Scientists observe a signature on the sky from the very first stars to shine in the Universe.
  
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• All Talk, No Bolt-Action: Gun Injuries Drop During NRA Conventions

  28-02-2018 23:00 via rss.sciam.com
  A study pokes holes in the idea that experienced firearm users are less likely to injure themselves-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Human skin bacteria have cancer-fighting powers

  28-02-2018 21:49
  
  Strains of a bacteria that live on human skin make a compound that suppressed tumor growth in mice.
  
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• Ancient human footprints discovered by B.C. family on vacation in South Africa

  28-02-2018 20:56 via cbc.ca
  A B.C. family's hobby of hunting for fossils has led to the discovery of a rare set of ancient human footprints on the south coast of South Africa.
  
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• Climbers on Alaska peak may need to pack out more of their poop

  28-02-2018 20:43 via cbc.ca
  The waste can be more than just bothersome. Climbers on Denali, the centerpiece of sprawling Denali National Park, get all their drinking water by melting snow.
  
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• Federal budget doles out cash for science

  28-02-2018 20:21 via cbc.ca
  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a proud science fiction fan, but his government's third budget is much more focused on uncovering new scientific facts.
  
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• Twice as nice: Barbra Streisand cloned her beloved dog and has 2 new pups

  28-02-2018 20:10 via cbc.ca
  The Funny Girl singer and actress had her beloved 14-year-old Coton de Tulear dog Samantha cloned after her death in 2017, and now has two new pups.
  
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• A new way to make bacteria glow could simplify TB screening

  28-02-2018 20:03
  
  A new dye to stain tuberculosis bacteria in coughed-up mucus and saliva could expedite TB diagnoses and drug-resistance tests.
  
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• Evidence of universe's earliest-known stars detected

  28-02-2018 19:31
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A ground-based radio antenna in western Australia that resembles a dining room table has detected evidence of the earliest-known stars that illuminated an infant universe shrouded in darkness following its formation in the Big Bang.
  
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• Moon to get first mobile phone network

  28-02-2018 19:16
  BARCELONA (Reuters) - The moon will get its first mobile phone network next year, enabling high-definition streaming from the lunar landscape back to earth, part of a project to back the first privately funded moon mission.
  
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• Here’s when the universe’s first stars may have been born

  28-02-2018 19:00
  
  The first stars lit the cosmos by 180 million years after the Big Bang, radio observations suggest.
  
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• Astronomers believe they've found signs of earliest stars in universe

  28-02-2018 19:00 via cbc.ca
  Our universe may have started with the big bang, but it took time for stars to form. Now scientists believe they've captured the first clues to when that happened.
  
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• When it comes to baby’s growth, early pregnancy weight may matter more than later gains

  28-02-2018 17:30
  
  Women’s weight before and during the first half of pregnancy may be most important indicators of baby’s birth weight.
  
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• German court rules cities can ban diesel cars

  28-02-2018 14:42 via cbc.ca
  A German court has ruled that cities can ban diesel cars and trucks to combat air pollution. Rome has announced it will ban diesel cars in its city centre by 2024.
  
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• Pesticides put bees at risk, European watchdog confirms

  28-02-2018 13:25
  LONDON (Reuters) - Wild bees and honeybees are put at risk by three pesticides from a group known as neonicotinoids, Europe's food safety watchdog said on Wednesday, confirming previous concerns that prompted an EU-wide ban on use of the chemicals.
  
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• Lone Star Long Shot: Science Runs for Congress

  28-02-2018 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  In next week’s Texas primary science-backed Democrat Joseph Kopser looks strong. But he's not talking science to voters-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Is the UK winning the graphene race?

  28-02-2018 11:03 via bbc.co.uk
  The scientist who won the Nobel Prize for his work with graphene worries about research funding.
  
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• What's fuelling the potential bitcoin mining boom in Canada

  28-02-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  Cheap, reliable power has foreign bitcoin miners calling Canadian utilities and energy companies in hopes of cashing in on the cryptocurrency craze.
  
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• North Pole thaws mid-winter as temperatures 'smash' records in the Arctic

  28-02-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  Experts say 'extreme' temperatures caused the North Pole to thaw briefly over the weekend.
  
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• U.S.-Russian crew returns from space station: NASA TV

  28-02-2018 08:46
  (Reuters) - A capsule carrying two U.S. astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut from the International Space Station landed in snowy Kazakhstan on Wednesday after a five-and-a-half month mission, a NASA TV live broadcast showed.
  
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• Why the institution of fatherhood is taking so long to change

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (National Research University Higher School of Economics) Men in blue-collar occupations tend to spend limited time with their children, leaving childrearing almost entirely to the child's mother, according to researchers at the Higher School of Economics (HSE University).
  
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• Water in the chest -- New findings on pleural effusion

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health) Lung cancer patients are particularly susceptible to malignant pleural effusion, when fluid collects in the space between the lungs and the chest wall. Researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München, in partnership with the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), have discovered a novel mechanism that causes this to happen. Their study, published in 'Nature Communications', now refines the mechanistic picture.
  
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• Unlocking the secrets of the universe

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Arizona State University) After 12 years of experimental effort, a team of scientists, led by Arizona State University astronomer Judd Bowman, has detected the fingerprints of the earliest stars in the universe. Using radio signals, the detection provides the first evidence for the oldest ancestors in our cosmic family tree, born by a mere 180 million years after the universe began.
  
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• University of Guelph researchers create tool to manage urban cat population crisis

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Guelph) Guelph researchers have developed a unique model that accurately calculates urban cat populations. It's the first to account for overall cat population dynamics and include calculations for the three subpopulations -- owned cats, stray cats, and cats in the shelter system.There are about 10 million to 120 million free-roaming and feral cats in North America.This model will give cities the accurate numbers needed to effectively manage the current cat population crisis.
  
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• Understanding the smallest brain circuits

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Case Western Reserve University) Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found a previously unseen pattern among the rapid-firing neurons inside the brain, one that reveals how distinct networks located in specific areas compete and even suppress each other.
  
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• Trapping multidrug-resistant bacteria in molecular glue

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)) Researchers at VIB, KU Leuven and UZ Leuven devised a novel approach to develop antibacterial drugs. With antibiotic resistance on the rise worldwide, such new drugs are urgently needed. The Flemish biotech spin-off Aelin Therapeutics will exploit the technology to produce new antibiotics for the clinic.
  
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• The Optical Society presents the 2018 Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (The Optical Society) The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to name Lihong Wang, California Institute of Technology, USA, the 2018 Michael S. Feld Biophotonics Award recipient. Wang is recognized for inventing the world's fastest two-dimensional receive-only camera and enabling real-time imaging of the fastest phenomena such as light propagation and fluorescence decay.
  
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• The moon formed inside a vaporized Earth synestia

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (University of California - Davis) A new explanation for the Moon's origin has it forming inside the Earth when our planet was a seething, spinning cloud of vaporized rock, called a synestia. The new model led by researchers at UC Davis and Harvard University resolves several problems in lunar formation and is published Feb. 28 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
  
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• The factors that most affect our immune system

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Institut Pasteur) Why do we respond differently to infections or vaccines? The Milieu Intérieur Laboratory of Excellence coordinated at the Institut Pasteur by CNRS research director, Dr. Lluis Quintana-Murci, has recently described immune variation on a large scale within the French population. To achieve this, the consortium studied an expansive collection of biological specimens from 1,000 French volunteers aged 20 to 69. This article provides an account of their work.
  
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• SwRI's Burch elected to S.A. Aviation and Aerospace Hall of Fame

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Southwest Research Institute) Dr. James L. Burch, vice president of the Space Science and Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute, is one of four honorees being inducted into the San Antonio Aviation and Aerospace Hall of Fame at a dinner and reception March 22, 2018.
  
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• Stunning footage shows how drones can boost turtle conservation

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Exeter) Drones are changing the face of turtle research and conservation, a new study shows.
  
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• Study offers blueprint for community-based public history research

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (North Carolina State University) A new paper on fieldwork in rural Belize serves as a case study for how an established anthropology fieldwork model can be used to both develop site-specific cultural and historical exhibits and train a new generation of public history scholars. The paper also highlights the importance of diversity to research teams when engaging in research - especially community-based scholarship.
  
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• Study first to demonstrate brain mechanisms that give The Iceman unusual resistance to cold

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research) Dutch adventurer Wim Hof is known as 'The Iceman' for good reason. Hof established several world records for prolonged resistance to cold exposure, an ability he attributes to a self-developed set of techniques of breathing and meditation -- known as the Wim Hof Method. Yet, how his brain responds during cold exposure and what brain mechanisms may endow him with this resistance have not been studied -- until now by researchers
  
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• Solar-to-hydrogen conversion: Nanostructuring increases efficiency of metal-free photocatalysts by factor 11

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie) Polymeric carbon nitrides exhibit a catalytic effect in sunlight that can be used for the production of hydrogen from solar energy. However, the efficiency of these metal-free catalysts is extremely low. A team at the Tianjin University in China, in collaboration with a group at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, has increased the catalytic efficiency of these polymeric carbon nitrides by a factor 11 through a simple process resulting in a l
  
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• Skull optical clearing window for cortical imaging

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics) A non-invasive approach for creating an optical window in the skull to enable the brains of living mice to be imaged has been demonstrated by Dan Zhu et al from HUST. The work has been reported in NPG journal Light: Science and Applications.
  
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• Six decades of cosmology

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Springer) In a recent paper published in EPJ H, Jayant V. Narlikar, professor emeritus at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, India, shares his personal reminiscences of the evolution of the subject of cosmology over six decades. He tells of the increase in our confidence in the standard model of cosmology to the extent that it has become a dogma.
  
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• Search for first stars uncovers 'dark matter'

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (American Friends of Tel Aviv University) New research from a Tel Aviv University astrophysicist, published today in Nature, offers the first direct proof that dark matter exists and that it is composed of low-mass particles.
  
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• Scientists pinpoint single letter of genetic code that makes African Salmonella so dangerous

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (University of Birmingham) Scientists have identified a single genetic change in Salmonella that is playing a key role in the devastating epidemic of bloodstream infections.
  
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• Scientists confirm century-old speculation on the chemistry of a high-performance battery

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Scientists have discovered a novel chemical state, first proposed about 90 years ago, that enables a high-performance, low-cost sodium-ion battery. The battery could quickly and efficiently store and distribute energy produced by solar panels and wind turbines across the electrical grid.
  
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• Scientific cooperation in consumer health protection in Africa and Europe

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (BfR Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) With the participation of German research institutions and authorities, a workshop to improve human and animal health protection is to take place in Kenya from 27 February to 1 March 2018. The workshop is being organised by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Ten scientists from the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Freie Universität (FU) Berlin and Friedrich Löffler Institute (FL
  
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• Researchers receive $10M to create computational and informatics tools for glycoscience

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (George Washington University) Researchers at the George Washington University and the University of Georgia are partners in a project that will soon be able to provide a way for questions asked by those studying glycoscience to be answered by big data.
  
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• Researchers receive $10 million to create computational and informatics tools for glycoscience

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (George Washington University) Researchers at the George Washington University and the University of Georgia are partners in a project that will soon be able to provide a way for questions asked by those studying glycoscience to be answered by big data.
  
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• Researchers: Participants' freedom made Restaurant Day world's largest food carnival

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Aalto University) The world's largest food carnival, Restaurant Day, spread to more than 70 countries because it operated in a completely different way than popular consumer movements in general. Usually, the leaders of a movement determine what the movement does and then try to inspire others to join their vision. Restaurant Day, however, gave everyone an opportunity to be as creative as they wanted, say researchers from Aalto University, Finland.
  
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• Research directions for 5G and beyond testbeds

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (IMDEA Networks Institute) With current wireless data networks in the 'fourth generation' or 4G, key players in the ICT sector are already paving the way for 5G wireless data networks and beyond technologies. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona this week we are witnessing examples of how current investment into this next generation networks has spread across research initiatives worldwide.
  
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• Research details mineralogy of potential lunar exploration site

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Brown University) Scientists have long wanted to retrieve rock samples from the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin, and a new study by researchers from Brown University could be helpful in locating an ideal landing site.
  
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• Records study suggests gender affirming surgeries on the rise along with insurance coverage

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Johns Hopkins Medicine) In a national medical records analysis, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say there is evidence that the number of gender affirming surgeries performed in hospitals for transgender individuals is on the rise, along with increased access made possible by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance coverage for the procedures.
  
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• Purdue-affiliated startup commercializes MRI device that could enhance medical diagnostics

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Purdue University) A Purdue-affiliated startup, MR-Link LLC, is developing a coin-sized, affordable device that once inserted into existing MRI machines could allow researchers and medical professionals to perform multiple imaging scans at once and more efficiently and effectively understand a patient's physiology.MR-Link's device would work simultaneously with an MRI system to record electro-physiological signals and perform multiple imaging scans at once.
  
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• Precision maps reveal significant health and education disparities within African nations

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation) A new scientific study finds that while nearly all nations in Africa have at least one region where children's health is improving, not a single country is expected to end childhood malnutrition by 2030, an objective of the relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
  
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• Precision cancer medicine are developed with artificial intelligence methods

  28-02-2018 06:00
  (Abo Akademi University) A patient's own molecular data can be used to identify, with the use of artificial intelligence methods, the best combinatorial multi-drug therapy for that patient. Network modelling plays a major role in this work.
  
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