Science news

• Canadian firm tied to Facebook data scandal got $100K from feds in 2017

  06-04-2018 23:46 via cbc.ca
  The Canadian company at the heart of the international scandal over the unauthorized use of Facebook information received $100,000 in federal funding last year to develop data-driven tools for political campaigns, The Canadian Press has learned.
  
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• Facebook users will soon know if their data was shared with Cambridge Analytica

  06-04-2018 22:29 via cbc.ca
  As many as 87 million Facebook users whose data might have been shared with Cambridge Analytica will get a detailed message informing them of the breach. The political data-mining firm allegedly used ill-gotten Facebook user data in its efforts to sway elections.
  
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• Scientists hope harpoons can skewer space junk

  06-04-2018 22:27 via cbc.ca
  A European satellite launched this week to try out ways of tackling the growing amount of garbage in space will use technology as familiar to the ancient Romans as astronauts — nets and harpoons.
  
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• Canada not on board with plan to ban 'dirty fuel' use on Arctic shipping routes

  06-04-2018 22:12 via cbc.ca
  It's time Canada develops a plan to get rid of "the dirtiest, the cheapest, the bottom of the barrel fuel on the planet" without placing a burden on northern communities, says specialist.
  
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• Sheets of tiny bubbles could bring a sense of touch to virtual reality

  06-04-2018 21:55
  
  Shape-shifting films used in sleeves or other garments could provide tactile feedback that makes virtual realities feel more real.
  
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• Clues for improved influenza vaccine design

  06-04-2018 19:51
  Influenza vaccines that better target the influenza surface protein called neuraminidase (NA) could offer broad protection against various influenza virus strains and lessen the severity of illness, according to new research.
  
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• OSC looking into complaints against cryptocurrency trading platforms

  06-04-2018 19:30 via cbc.ca
  The Ontario Securities Commission is gathering information on several cryptocurrency trading platforms after it received a number of complaints.
  
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• Mount Kilauea sputtering lava from summit lake

  06-04-2018 19:30 via cbc.ca
  Mount Kilauea, the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaii, is spraying lava, but does not pose a threat to nearby communities at this time, the U.S. Geological Survey says.
  
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• Scientists hope harpoons can skewer space junk crisis

  06-04-2018 19:25
  STEVENAGE, England (Reuters) - A European satellite launched this week to try out ways of tackling the growing amount of garbage in space will use technology as familiar to the ancient Romans as astronauts - nets and harpoons.
  
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• Telemedicine provides accurate diagnosis of rare cause of blindness in preemies

  06-04-2018 19:01
  Accurately detecting a rare, but devastating cause of blindness in premature babies can be done as effectively with telemedicine as with traditional, in-person eye exams, a study suggests. The finding could enable more blindness-preventing treatment for infants born in rural and other areas where there are few ophthalmologists trained to detect the condition, called retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP.
  
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• China's STEM research environment in higher education

  06-04-2018 19:01
  China's President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stated his aim of transforming the country into a 'science and technology superpower.' But when it comes to China's science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) research environment, newly published research suggests that they may have a long way to go.
  
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• A new class of antibiotics to combat drug resistance

  06-04-2018 19:01
  Researchers report on the discovery of a new class of antibiotics that may be effective at treating drug-resistant infections.
  
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• Virgin Galactic spaceship completes test flight

  06-04-2018 18:31 via bbc.co.uk
  The supersonic test flight of its SpaceShipTwo rocket ship was the first since a crash in 2014.
  
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• Virgin Galactic tests rocket ship, three years after fatal accident

  06-04-2018 18:03
  (Reuters) - Richard Branson's company Virgin Galactic conducted a supersonic test flight over the Sierra Nevada mountains of its SpaceShipTwo passenger rocket ship on Thursday, the company said, three years after a fatal accident on an earlier version of the ship.
  
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• In a colony, king penguins behave like molecules in a 2-D liquid

  06-04-2018 18:03
  
  Positions of king penguins in a breeding colony resemble molecules in a 2-D liquid.
  
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• Virgin Galactic tests passenger rocket ship, 3 years after fatal accident

  06-04-2018 17:32 via cbc.ca
  Richard Branson's company Virgin Galactic has conducted a supersonic test flight over the Sierra Nevada mountains of its SpaceShipTwo passenger rocket ship, three years after a fatal accident on an earlier version of the ship.
  
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• Out-of-pocket expenses for chronic heart disease care inflict heavy financial burdens for low-income families; even those with insurance

  06-04-2018 17:22
  One in 4 low-income families experience significant financial burden from out-of-pocket expenses for treatment of chronic heart disease, according to new research. One in 10 low-income families, including those with insurance, experience catastrophic financial burden for treating chronic heart disease conditions. Low-income families with insurance had higher rates of out-of-pocket expenses than those without insurance.
  
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• Astronomers use old-time math to measure distance, age of one of the oldest objects in the universe

  06-04-2018 17:00 via cbc.ca
  They are some of the most spectacular sights in the sky: globular clusters, tight collections of hundreds of thousands or even millions of stars. Now, using trigonometry, astronomers have accurately measured the distance to one of the oldest in our universe.
  
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• Astronomers use old-time math to measure distance, age of 1 of the oldest objects in the universe

  06-04-2018 17:00 via cbc.ca
  They are some of the most spectacular sights in the sky: globular clusters, tight collections of hundreds of thousands or even millions of stars. Now, using trigonometry, astronomers have accurately measured the distance to one of the oldest in our universe.
  
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• How birds can detect Earth’s magnetic field

  06-04-2018 15:17
  Researchers have made a key discovery about the internal magnetic compass of birds. Biologists have identified a single protein without which birds probably would not be able to orient themselves using the Earth’s magnetic field.
  
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• Transparent patch to detect dangerous food-borne threats

  06-04-2018 14:55
  Is that meat still good? Are you sure? Researchers have developed a test to bring certainty to the delicate but critical question of whether meat and other foods are safe to eat or need to be thrown out.
  
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• New blood test found to predict onset of TB up to two years in advance

  06-04-2018 14:55
  A new blood test has been found to more accurately predict the development of tuberculosis up to two years before its onset in people living with someone with active TB, according to new research.
  
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• Food allergy is triggered by perfect storm of genetics and skin exposure to infant wipes, dust and food

  06-04-2018 14:55
  Infant and childhood food allergy has now been linked to a mix of environmental and genetic factors that must coexist to trigger the allergy, reports a new study. Those factors include genetics that alter skin absorbency, use of infant cleansing wipes that leave soap on the skin, skin exposure to allergens in dust and skin exposure to food from those providing infant care. The good news is factors leading to food allergy can be modified in the home environment.
  
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• Climate change is wreaking havoc on delicate relationship between orchids and bees

  06-04-2018 14:55
  Rising temperatures have wrecked a relationship, which relies on precision timing to succeed, between a rare orchid species and the Buffish Mining-bee which pollinates it.
  
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• Orangutans Use Plant Extracts to Treat Pain

  06-04-2018 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  Humans aren’t the only animals that have discovered medicinal products in nature-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Puffin beaks are fluorescent and we had no idea

  06-04-2018 11:30 via cbc.ca
  Ornithologist Jamie Dunning had the idea to shine a UV light on a puffin in January. The results were spectacular.
  
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• Microplastics found in some Canadian bottled water

  06-04-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  Marketplace asked a lab at McGill University to test leading Canadians bottled water brands. It found microplastics in 60 per cent of the samples.
  
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• Many Canadians are recycling wrong, and it's costing us millions

  06-04-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  Canadians are throwing too much garbage in their blue bins, sometimes with the best of intentions. It’s a problem costing millions of dollars and making many would-be recyclables unrecyclable.
  
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• World's preeminent showcase for interactive technology opens April 21

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Association for Computing Machinery) The Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI) has announced that the premier international conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2018, will take place in Montreal, Canada from April 21-26, 2018. Widely recognized as the world's most important showcase for human-computer interaction (HCI), CHI gathers thousands of the top researchers, scientists, and designers in the world to presen
  
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• Who are the best gift-givers? Not who you'd think, says Baylor marketing research

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Baylor University) New research shows that people who are "secure" in interpersonal settings are most likely to engage in social projection (making choices on behalf of others based on their own preferences). Those who are "anxious" are less likely to assume others share their preferences and less likely to make choices for others based on their personal attitudes.
  
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• Two Penn professors named Guggenheim Fellows

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (University of Pennsylvania) University of Pennsylvania sociology professor Charles L. Bosk and Charles Yang, professor of linguistics and computer science, have been awarded 2018 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowships.They are among 173 scholars, artists, and scientists selected from nearly 3,000 applicants in the United States and Canada, chosen on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise.
  
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• Thermoelectric nanodevice based on Majorana fermions is proposed

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo) A particle that is its own anti-particle is the subject of a theoretical study by Brazilian researchers with results published in Scientific Reports. These Majorana quasi-particles can emerge as excitations in topological superconductors.
  
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• Smartphone 'scores' can help doctors track severity of Parkinson's disease symptoms

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Johns Hopkins University) A new smartphone app allows Parkinson's disease patients and their doctors to better track the progression of symptoms, such as tremors and walking difficulties, that can vary dramatically over days, or even hours.
  
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• School lunch decisions made by the child and not the parent

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Elsevier) While school lunches in the UK are subject to food standards, the contents of packed lunches are not as closely scrutinized, and studies have raised concern regarding the nutritional quality of packed lunches. A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior found that children, not their parents, are often the primary decision maker of whether they will eat a school lunch or what is packed for their lunch.
  
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• Save the date: Leading acoustics meeting in Minneapolis May 7-11, 2018

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Acoustical Society of America) Science promises to sound more exciting than ever at this year's Acoustical Society of America meeting. Presenters will reveal the latest in acoustics research with insight into topics like how new materials could control acoustic waves, improving audio in virtual reality, acoustic levitation, and how certain insects use acoustics to attract a mate, as well as much more.
  
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• Research suggests water appeared while Earth was still growing

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (University of Chicago) A team including UChicago cosmochemist Nicolas Dauphas performed the largest study to date of oxygen isotopes in lunar rocks, and found a small but measurable difference in the makeup of the moon and Earth.Published March 28 in Science Advances, the research proposes that Earth acquired the majority of its water during the main stage of its growth--which counters a popular theory.
  
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• PET tracer could help predict treatment effectiveness for depression

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging) A positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agent could show, ahead of time, whether a specific treatment is likely to be effective for major depressive disorder (MDD) -- a debilitating condition that affects more than 14 million Americans. No such marker is currently available in clinical psychiatry. The study is featured in the April issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
  
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• OU engineering senior wins grand prize at 2018 Research Day at the Capitol

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (University of Oklahoma) A University of Oklahoma Mechanical Engineering Senior in the Accelerated Bachelor and Master of Science program, Devin W. Laurence, is the Grand Prize winner at the 2018 Research Day at the Capitol, sponsored by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, Oklahoma Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and National Science Foundation. Laurence was one of 23 undergraduate student researchers who presented poster presentations based on a technical abst
  
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• Optimism remains in chickens in enriched environments despite exposure to stress

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Linköping University) Chickens that grow up in an environment that they perceive as more diverse and manageable, retain an optimistic view of life and cope with stress better than individuals that grow up in more sterile surroundings, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports. A team of researchers lead by researchers from Linköping University, Sweden, measured how optimism in chickens is affected by stress.
  
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• Ohio Supercomputer Center's spring SUG conference showcases variety of research, OSC resources

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Ohio Supercomputer Center) The demand for high performance computing in Ohio is relentless, and it does not discriminate by field.At Thursday's Ohio Supercomputer Center Statewide Users Group (SUG) spring conference, OSC clients in fields spanning everything from astrophysics to linguistics gathered to share research highlights and hear updates about the center's direction and role in supporting science across Ohio.
  
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• nTIDE March 2018 Jobs Report: Americans with disabilities reach 2-year milestone

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Kessler Foundation) 'For the 24th consecutive month, we are seeing improvement in the employment-to-population ratio for people with disabilities, commented John O'Neill, PhD, director of employment and disability research at Kessler Foundation. 'This is the longest duration of job gains we've seen during our five years of issuing nTIDE Jobs Reports.Most importantly,' he emphasized, 'because of this upward trend, people with disabilities are closing in on their pre-Great Recession employment le
  
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• NSF announces Graduate Research Fellowships for 2018

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (National Science Foundation) The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) has announced the offer of 2,000 fellowship awards, following a national competition.
  
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• NSF announces 2018 winners for Generation Nano: Superheroes inspired by science

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (National Science Foundation) A solar-powered, fast-charging, high-flying hero named Heliora! A sweet nanoparticle solution that defeats the sugar-blasting nemesis Glycosa! A peppy polymer that transforms into a cell-size, chain-welding hero to battle an antibiotic resistant superbug!
  
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• New Pan-European electronic invoicing in the healthcare sector

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) A European group of scientists, technologists and providers of e-invoicing services, in which Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) researchers participate, have developed a new electronic invoicing system among different European countries for the public and private healthcare sector that automates, enhances and expedites the relation with public and private suppliers from different European countries.
  
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• New cellular insights in bone development

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (Washington University in St. Louis) Most of us don't think about our teeth and bones until one aches or breaks. A team of engineers at Washington University in St. Louis looked deep within collagen fibers to see how the body forms new bone and teeth, seeking insights into faster bone healing and new biomaterials.
  
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• New blood test useful to detect people at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (EMBO) Alzheimer's disease is thought to begin long before patients show typical symptoms like memory loss. Scientists have now developed a blood test for Alzheimer's disease and found that it can detect early indicators of the disease long before the first symptoms appear in patients. The blood test would thus offer an opportunity to identify those at risk and may thereby open the door to new avenues in drug discovery. The research is published today in EMBO Molecular Medicine.
  
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• NASA's GPM shows rainfall southeast of sheared Tropical Cyclone Iris

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) Wind shear has been affecting Tropical Cyclone Iris as it lingers off the coast of eastern Queensland. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission core satellite observed how northerly wind shear was pushing Iris' rainfall to the south of the center.
  
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• Mirror, mirror

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (DOE/Argonne National Laboratory) The mirror-like physics of the superconductor-insulator transition operates exactly as expected. Scientists know this to be true following the observation of a remarkable phenomenon, the existence of which was predicted three decades ago but that had eluded experimental detection until now. The observation confirms that two fundamental quantum states, superconductivity and superinsulation, both arise in mirror-like images of each other.
  
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• Insilico to present the latest developments in AI for aging biomarkers and age management research

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (InSilico Medicine, Inc.) Insilico Medicine announces the presentation at the International Conference on Interventions to Extend Healthspan and Lifespan. The International Conference on Interventions to Extend Healthspan and Lifespan will bring together more than 40 leading scientists to present their research in genomics, epigenetics, proteomics, and metabolomics of longevity and aging. The conference will transpire on April 22-26, 2018.
  
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• Innovation nation

  06-04-2018 06:00
  (University of California - Santa Barbara) China's President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stated his aim of transforming the country into a 'science and technology superpower.' But when it comes to China's science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) research environment, newly published research suggests that they may have a long way to go.
  
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