Science news

• First pedestrian death from a self-driving car fuels safety debate

  19-03-2018 23:24
  
  A self-driving Uber kills woman in Arizona in the first fatal pedestrian strike by an autonomous car.
  
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• Some TRAPPIST-1 planets may be water worlds

  19-03-2018 22:53
  
  Two of TRAPPIST-1’s planets are half water and ice, which could hamper the search for life.
  
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• Uber halts self-driving test in Toronto after Arizona pedestrian death

  19-03-2018 18:53 via cbc.ca
  Uber says it has paused its testing of autonomous cars, including in Toronto, after a pedestrian fatality in Tempe, Ariz.
  
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• Notorious Russian online troll farm also took swipes at Canadian targets

  19-03-2018 17:48 via cbc.ca
  The same Russian online troll farm that meddled in the U.S. presidential election has also taken swipes at Canadian targets, including oil infrastructure and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
  
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• Facebook shares fall as EU, U.S. urge probes of data practices

  19-03-2018 17:36 via cbc.ca
  Facebook Inc. faced growing pressure on Monday after European and U.S. lawmakers called for investigations into reports that a consultancy that worked on President Donald Trump's campaign gained access to data on 50 million Facebook users.
  
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• Macular degeneration: 'I've been given my sight back'

  19-03-2018 17:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Two patients have had pioneering stem cell therapy to restore their vision.
  
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• Super-fast, next-generation 5G wireless to get $200M research boost from governments

  19-03-2018 16:00 via cbc.ca
  The federal, Ontario and Quebec governments say they will spend $200 million to help fund research into 5G wireless technology, the next-generation networks with download speeds 100 times faster than current ones can handle.
  
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• Tree rings tell tale of drought in Mongolia over the last 2,000 years

  19-03-2018 15:26
  
  Semifossilized trees preserved in Mongolia contain a 2,000-year climate record that could help predict future droughts.
  
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• Rare poison

  19-03-2018 14:09 via bbc.co.uk
  Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned by Novichok nerve agents, the PM says. So what are they?
  
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• Alberta First Nation fears for bison herd if mega oilsands mine opens

  19-03-2018 13:00 via cbc.ca
  An Alberta First Nation is worried a proposed oilsands mine will doom the Ronald Lake bison herd.
  
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• Young at wrong end of deprivation gap, finds study

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of Manchester) The under thirties have endured most the marked increase in relative deprivation of any age group in England, according to a 11-year study of data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).Led by University of Manchester data scientists, the analysis from 2004-2015 also found that over the same period, deprivation fell for the over-60s, who are also less likely to live in deprived neighborhoods.
  
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• Wives of many prostate cancer sufferers made ill or feel undermined by the disease

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (European Association of Urology) Many wives of advanced prostate cancer sufferers feel that their lives are being undermined by their husband's illness, with nearly half reporting that their own health suffered. In addition a focus subgroup has revealed that many feel isolated and fearful, and worry about the role change in their lives as their husband's cancer advances. This study,is amongst the first carried out on how prostate cancer affects the partners of sufferers.It was presented yesterd
  
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• What is the cost of interrupting a radiologist?

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of Utah) A first of its kind study shows typical interruptions experienced by on-call radiologists do not reduce diagnostic accuracy but do change what they look at and increase the amount of time spent on a case.
  
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• Visual recognition: Seeing the world through the eyes of rodents

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati) Man or woman, happy or sad. The visual process that allows us to recognize someone's gender or emotional state is very sophisticated. Until recently, only primates were deemed able to perform such complex operations as object recognition. A SISSA study shows that rodents also use advanced and diversified recognition strategies, confirming the validity of this animal model for studying object vision and offering new opportunities for the develop
  
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• VIIRS satellite instrument gets 2 views of Tropical Cyclone Marcus

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Tropical Cyclone Marcus was moving along the northern coast of Australia when the VIIRS instrument that flies aboard two different satellites captured true-color images of the storm over two days.
  
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• Vaginal estrogen tablets, moisturizers and placebo gel all can improve vaginal discomfort

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Massachusetts General Hospital) A clinical trial comparing two treatments for postmenopausal vaginal discomfort -- low-dose vaginal estrogen and a vaginal moisturizer -- to placebo treatments found that both produced symptom improvements similar to those associated with the placebos.
  
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• TGen tests ultrasound as way to enhance cancer drug delivery

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (The Translational Genomics Research Institute) A Norwegian biotech company called Phoenix Solutions AS is working with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), a Phoenix, Arizona-based biomedical research facility, to test the use of these pulsed sound waves to direct and focus cancer drug therapies.
  
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• Suicide risk for youth sharply higher in the months after self-harm

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Columbia University Medical Center) A study led by Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) revealed that young Americans had a sharply higher risk of suicide in the months after surviving a deliberate self-harm attempt. The authors say the findings, published online today in Pediatrics, underscore the need to direct clinical interventions toward youth who survive such attempts during this critical period.
  
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• Study suggests helium plays a 'nanny' role in forming chemical compounds under pressure

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University at Buffalo) Helium, a noble gas, was long believed to be 'too aloof' to react with the other elements on the periodic table. Now, however, scientists have provided a theoretical explanation of how helium may be capable of forming stable compounds.
  
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• Study: One-third of young adults have ridden with an impaired driver

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs) A new study led by a Colorado State University researcher indicates that riding with an impaired driver is prevalent among emerging adults, with 33 percent of recent high school grads reporting the risky behavior at least once in the previous year.
  
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• Study finds the heart can terminate atrial fibrillation itself after local gene therapy

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (European Society of Cardiology) The heart is capable of terminating arrhythmias itself after local gene therapy, potentially avoiding the need for patients to undergo painful electric shocks, according to a proof-of-concept study presented today at EHRA 2018, a European Society of Cardiology congress.
  
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• Study finds association between mother's larger waist size, child's autism risk

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (The Endocrine Society) A new study finds children born to mothers who had a larger waist size before pregnancy may be more likely to have autism than those whose mothers had a smaller pre-pregnancy waist. The research results will be presented Monday, March 19, at ENDO 2018, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Chicago, Ill.
  
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• Stem cells treat macular degeneration

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of California - Santa Barbara) UCSB researchers helped develop a specially engineered retinal patch to treat people with sudden, severe sight loss.
  
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• Social, public health services crucial in fight against HIV/AIDS

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of Michigan) Patients at risk for HIV need to be linked to services -- such as mental health and syringe exchange programs -- that will help them stay in care, adhere to medication and avoid reinfection, a new University of Michigan study suggests.
  
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• Social determinants of health linked to HIV mortality rates

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (St. Michael's Hospital) People who are living with HIV in Ontario have access to good health care and medications, yet they are still dying younger and at substantially higher rates than the rest of the population, according to a new study published today.
  
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• So close, yet so far: Making climate impacts feel nearby may not inspire action

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Cornell University) Jonathon Schuldt, assistant professor of communication at Cornell University, says it is possible to make faraway climate impacts feel closer. But that doesn't automatically inspire the American public to express greater support for policies that address it. The paper appeared in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.
  
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• Siblings of cot death victims have four-fold cot death risk

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (European Society of Cardiology) Siblings of cot death victims have a four-fold higher risk of cot death, according to research presented today at EHRA 2018, a European Society of Cardiology congress.1 The 38-year study in nearly 2.5 million infants suggests that autopsies should be carried out on SIDS victims and that family members should have cardiology tests.
  
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• Shedding light on the mystery of the superconducting dome

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of Groningen) University of Groningen physicists, and colleagues from Nijmegen and Hong Kong, have induced superconductivity in a monolayer of tungsten disulfide. By using an increasing electric field, they were able to show how the material turns from an insulator into a superconductor and then back into a 're-entrant' insulator again. Their results show the typical 'dome-shaped' superconducting phase, and finally provide an explanation for this phenomenon.
  
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• Scientists have a new way to gauge the growth of nanowires

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (DOE/Argonne National Laboratory) In a new study, researchers from the US Department of Energy's Argonne and Brookhaven National Laboratories observed the formation of two kinds of defects in individual nanowires, which are smaller in diameter than a human hair.
  
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• Scientists detect radio echoes of a black hole feeding on a star

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) An MIT scientist has detected radio echoes of a black hole feeding on a star, suggesting black hole emits a jet of energy proportional to the stellar material it gobbles up.
  
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• Robocalls improve diabetes eye screening among low-income minorities

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (The Endocrine Society) Automated reminder calls may be an effective tool to improve screening for diabetic eye disease among low-income minority patients, especially African Americans, a new study finds. The study results will be presented Monday at ENDO 2018, the Endocrine Society's 100th annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.
  
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• Rensselaer Professor Jian Shi receives Air Force Young Investigator Research Program award

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) Jian Shi, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will use a three-year, $450,000 grant Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) to pursue fundamental research on nanoscale complex materials that could lead to the development of next-generation resilient and high-performance energy conversion and sensing technologies.
  
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• Quintupling inhaler medication may not prevent asthma attacks in children

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Case Western Reserve University) Children with mild to moderate asthma do not benefit from a common practice of increasing their inhaled steroids at the first signs of an asthma exacerbation, according to clinical trial results published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers found short-term increases in inhaled steroids did not prevent attacks in children aged 5 to 11, and may even slow a child's growth.
  
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• Prostate MRI reveals more treatable cancers, reduces overdiagnosis than standard biopsy

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (European Association of Urology) A large international study has shown that an MRI scan can reduce the number of invasive prostate biopsies by up to 28 percent. The PRECISION trial shows that using MRI to target prostate biopsies leads to more of the harmful prostate cancers, and fewer harmless cancers being diagnosed. The authors believe that this work could change clinical practice. The results are presented at the European Association of Urology Congress, with simultaneous publication in the
  
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• Programming DNA to deliver cancer drugs

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of Delaware) A research team at the University of Delaware has developed technology to program strands of DNA into switches that turn proteins on and off. This technology could lead to the development of new cancer therapies and other drugs.
  
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• 'Oumuamua likely came from a binary star system

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Royal Astronomical Society) New research finds that 'Oumuamua, the rocky object identified as the first confirmed interstellar asteroid, very likely came from a binary star system.
  
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• Oral micronized progesterone may decrease perimenopausal hot flashes, night sweats

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (The Endocrine Society) Oral micronized progesterone (OMP) may diminish hot flashes and night sweats in perimenopausal women, new research from Canada reports. The results will be presented on Monday, March 19 at ENDO 2018, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Chicago, Ill.
  
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• New UTSA study presents method to stop cyber attacks on GPS-enabled devices

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of Texas at San Antonio) A new study by researchers Nikolaos Gatsis,David Akopian and Ahmad F. Taha from the UTSA Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering describes a computer algorithm that mitigates the effects of spoofed GPS attacks on electrical grids and other GPS-reliant technologies. This new algorithm has the potential to help cybersecurity professionals to better detect and prevent cyber attacks in real time.
  
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• New research into letter-spacing could help improve children's reading

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Binghamton University) Increased letter spacing helps individuals read faster, but not due to visual processing, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.
  
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• New EHRA Practical Guide on non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants launched

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (European Society of Cardiology) A new version of the EHRA Practical Guide on the use of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) in patients with atrial fibrillation is published online today in European Heart Journal and an executive summary in EP Europace, and presented at EHRA 2018, a European Society of Cardiology (ESC) congress.1-3 The guide, now in its third edition with more than 400,000 copies of previous versions distributed worldwide, was produced by the European Heart Rhy
  
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• NASA analyzes Tropical Cyclone Eliakim's rainfall, wind shear now affecting storm

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Tropical Cyclone Eliakim soaked the eastern coast of Madagascar as it moved in a southerly path. NASA analyzed that rainfall using data from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite. Another NASA satellite provided a current look at the storm that revealed wind shear was taking a toll on the storm.
  
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• Muslims face high rates of discrimination in Canada

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of Waterloo) One in five Muslim Canadians say they have experienced discrimination due to their religion, ethnicity or culture at least once in the past five years.
  
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• More people miss NHS appointments when clocks go forward

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of York) The numbers of missed hospital outpatient appointments increases following the clock change in the spring, researchers have shown.
  
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• Modified biomaterials self-assemble on temperature cues

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Duke University) Biomedical engineers from Duke University have demonstrated a new approach to making self-assembled biomaterials that relies on protein modifications and temperature. The hybrid approach allows researchers to control self-assembly more precisely, which may prove useful for a variety of biomedical applications, from drug delivery to wound-healing.
  
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• Mars' oceans formed early, possibly aided by massive volcanic eruptions

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of California - Berkeley) A new theory about how oceans and volcanoes interacted during the early history of Mars supports the idea that liquid water was once abundant and may still exist underground. UC Berkeley geophysicists propose that the oceans originated several hundred million years earlier than thought, as the volcanic province Tharsis formed, and that greenhouse gases enabled the oceans. The theory predicts smaller oceans, more in line with estimates of water underground an
  
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• Making intricate images with bacterial communities

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Stanford University) A technique for growing sticky films of bacteria into elaborate microscopic images could reveal how potentially dangerous biofilms grow and transmit antibiotic resistance, and could lead to novel biomaterials or synthetic microbial communities.
  
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• Liquid-to-glass transition process gains clarity

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of Wisconsin-Madison) Paul Voyles, the Beckwith-Bascom Professor in materials science and engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and collaborators in Madison and at Yale University have made significant experimental strides in understanding how, when and where the constantly moving atoms in molten metal 'lock' into place as the material transitions from liquid to solid glass.
  
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• International symposium on chemistry education honors IUPUI's Pratibha Varma-Nelson

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis School of Science) Leading figures in science education are gathering this week for a symposium honoring Pratibha Varma-Nelson of IUPUI, this year's recipient of the American Chemical Society's George Pimentel Award. The award recognizes Varma-Nelson's prominent role in influencing how chemistry and other STEM disciplines are taught at colleges and universities across the United States and abroad.
  
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• Interest rate hikes 'pose mental health threat to people in debt'

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (University of Stirling) Interest rate hikes by central banks can impact on the mental health of people in debt, a new study led by University of Stirling experts has found.
  
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• In children with obesity, impulsivity may be linked with greater weight loss when treated

  19-03-2018 05:00
  (The Endocrine Society) Children with obesity may be more impulsive than those with normal weight, but during family-based behavioral treatment (FBT), the more impulsive of children with obesity may lose more weight, a new study suggests. The results of the study will be presented in a poster on Sunday, March 18, at ENDO 2018, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Chicago, Ill.
  
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