Science news

• Europa's plumes make Jupiter moon a prime candidate for life

  14-05-2018 23:32
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new look at old data is giving scientists a fresh reason to view Europa, a moon of Jupiter, as a leading candidate in the search for life beyond Earth, with evidence of water plumes shooting into space.
  
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• Is Malaria's Peculiar Odor the Key to Its Conquest?

  14-05-2018 22:47 via rss.sciam.com
  The smell attracts mosquitoes, and may help identify hidden cases-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Is Malaria's Peculiar Odor Key to Its Conquest?

  14-05-2018 22:47 via rss.sciam.com
  The smell attracts mosquitoes, and may help identify hidden cases-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Facebook suspends about 200 apps that may have misused data

  14-05-2018 21:41 via cbc.ca
  Facebook is suspending about 200 apps that it believes may have misused data.
  
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• World's fastest water heater -- 100,000 degrees in 0.000 000 000 000 075 seconds

  14-05-2018 21:19
  Scientists have turned a powerful X-ray laser into the world's fastest water heater, reaching 100,000 degrees Celsius in less than a tenth of a picosecond (millionth of a millionth of a second). The experiment produced an exotic state of water, from which researchers hope to learn more about the peculiar characteristics of Earth's most important liquid.
  
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• Where hominid brains are concerned, size doesn't matter

  14-05-2018 21:19
  Researchers pieced together traces of Homo naledi's brain shape from an extraordinary collection of skull fragments and partial crania, from at least five adult individuals. One of these bore a very clear imprint of the convolutions on the surface of the brain's left frontal lobe.
  
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• Nouns slow down our speech

  14-05-2018 21:19
  Speakers hesitate or make brief pauses filled with sounds like 'uh' or 'uhm' mostly before nouns. Such slow-down effects are far less frequent before verbs, as researchers working together with an international team have now discovered by looking at examples from different languages.
  
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• Lead pollution in Greenland ice shows rise and fall of ancient European civilizations

  14-05-2018 21:19
  Scientists, historians and economists have used ice samples from the North Greenland Ice Core Project to measure, date and analyze European lead emissions that were captured in Greenland ice between 1100 BC and AD 800. Their results provide new insight for historians about how European civilizations and their economies fared over time.
  
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• High-sensitivity microsensors on the horizon

  14-05-2018 21:19
  A new article explains how scientists borrowed concepts from quantum mechanics to build new microsensors that can enable data gathering from hard-to-monitor environments.
  
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• Deadly cancers show early, detectable differences from benign tumors

  14-05-2018 21:19
  Do metastatic cancer tumors 'break bad' or are they 'born bad'? Researchers found that in the colorectal tumors they examined, invasive cancers are born to be bad, and this tendency can potentially be identified at early diagnosis.
  
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• Biologists 'transfer' a memory through RNA injection

  14-05-2018 21:19
  Biologists report they have transferred a memory from one marine snail to another, creating an artificial memory, by injecting RNA from one to another. This research could lead to new ways to treat traumatic memories with RNA -- perhaps a traumatic memory could be altered -- and perhaps new ways to restore lost memories.
  
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• American tropics, Amazon origins

  14-05-2018 21:19
  A new study is suggesting many of the plants and animals that call Latin America home may actually have their roots in the Amazon. Researchers found that a dynamic process of colonization and speciation led to the formation of the American tropics, which is today the most species-rich region on the planet.
  
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• With a little convincing, rats can detect tuberculosis

  14-05-2018 21:01
  
  TB-sniffing rats prove more accurate in detecting infection, especially in children, than the most commonly used diagnostic tool.
  
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• Minority children develop implicit racial bias in early childhood

  14-05-2018 20:08
  New research suggests that minority children as young as six years old show an implicit pro-White racial bias when exposed to images of both White and Black children. But how ingrained these biases become and whether they persist into late childhood and adulthood might depend on their social environment.
  
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• RNA injected from one sea slug into another may transfer memories

  14-05-2018 19:49
  
  Long-term memories might be encoded in RNA, a controversial study in sea slugs suggests.
  
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• 'Memory transplant' achieved in snails

  14-05-2018 19:31 via bbc.co.uk
  Memories are transferred from one snail to another in a laboratory.
  
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• 'Lost' asteroid to fly between moon and Earth tonight

  14-05-2018 19:26 via cbc.ca
  On Nov. 30, 2010, astronomers discovered asteroid 2010 WC9. However, it soon faded from view and was lost. But now it's back, and it's going to whiz past Earth Monday night.
  
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• 'Lost' asteroid to fly between moon and Earth

  14-05-2018 19:26 via cbc.ca
  On Nov. 30, 2010, astronomers discovered asteroid 2010 WC9. However, it soon faded from view and was lost. But now it's back, and it's going to whiz past Earth Monday night.
  
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• 'Universal antibodies' disarm various pathogens

  14-05-2018 19:24
  Scientists have been studying how the immune system succeeds in keeping pathogens in check. For the first time, the researchers have now discovered antibodies that are capable of disarming not only one specific bacterium but a whole variety of microorganisms at once. The newly discovered antibodies recognize a tiny sugar structure found on the surface of various germs. Thus, a limited number of antibodies is sufficient to control a wide variety of microorganisms.
  
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• Restoring epigenetic balance reinstates memory in flies with Alzheimer's disease symptoms

  14-05-2018 19:24
  A study showed that restoring a balance between two epigenetic regulator enzymes restored learning and memory function in flies that displayed symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
  
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• Multiple resistance genes found in commercially farmed chickens and in hospital

  14-05-2018 19:24
  A team of investigators has isolated colistin-resistant Escherichia coli from a commercial poultry farm in China. Colistin is an antibiotic of last resort against certain bacteria.
  
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• Discovery of differences in the brains of rats classified as workers vs. slackers

  14-05-2018 19:24
  Neurologists have uncovered a network of regions in the brain that are involved in determining the choice of being a 'hard-worker' or a 'slacker.' Understanding how the brain makes such decisions is one of the most fundamental questions in neuroscience and psychology, and sophisticated animal behavioral testing, coupled with advance brain imaging and stimulation techniques are shedding light on this important process.
  
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• Details of brain networks in autism

  14-05-2018 19:24
  A new study analyzing more than 1,000 brain scans reveals surprising new insights into brain networks in people with autism, after applying a new personalized approach to brain mapping. The new approach provides a way to examine the location of individual brain networks with more precision.
  
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• UK ups the ante on Galileo sat-nav project

  14-05-2018 18:35 via bbc.co.uk
  London warns Brussels that it is prepared to block Galileo technologies from leaving the UK.
  
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• Better equipped in the fight against lung cancer

  14-05-2018 18:26
  Lung cancer is the third most common type of cancer in Germany and the disease affects both men and women. However, immunotherapies are successful in only 20 percent of cases. Researchers have now discovered a special mechanism that regulates tumor growth in lung cancer. This opens up new possibilities in the treatment of lung cancer patients.
  
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• Understanding steam burns

  14-05-2018 18:25
  Even if the wound looks superficially harmless, steam burns must be cooled persistently. Researchers have now been able to show for the first time how hot steam achieves its vicious effect: it penetrates the upper skin layer and can cause severe burns in the lower skin layers -- initially almost invisible.
  
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• New computational strategy designed for more personalized cancer treatment

  14-05-2018 18:25
  Mathematicians and cancer scientists have found a way to simplify complex biomolecular data about tumors, in principle making it easier to prescribe the appropriate treatment for a specific patient.
  
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• Molecule that acts on human cells might provide hope for 'irresistible' cold cure

  14-05-2018 18:25
  Researchers have lab-tested a molecule that can combat the common cold virus by preventing it from hijacking human cells.
  
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• How bacteria guide electron flow for efficient energy generation

  14-05-2018 18:25
  Biochemists have isolated a protein supercomplex from a bacterial membrane that, like a battery, generates a voltage across the bacterial membrane. The voltage is used to make ATP, a key energy currency of life. The new findings will inform future efforts to obtain the atomic structures of large membrane protein supercomplexes.
  
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• 'Giant' problem looms for aging population

  14-05-2018 18:25
  Urgent attention needs to be paid to frail older New Zealanders' oral health, a study has highlighted.
  
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• Deeper understanding of quantum chaos may be the key to quantum computers

  14-05-2018 18:25
  New research gives insight into a recent experiment that was able to manipulate an unprecedented number of atoms through a quantum simulator. This new theory could provide another step on the path to creating the elusive quantum computers.
  
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• A new drug shows preclinical efficacy in Rett syndrome

  14-05-2018 18:25
  A new article describes how a new drug is able to reduce the symptoms and activate the dormant neurons characteristic of Rett Syndrome in preclinical models.
  
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• Scientists discover a variation of the genome predisposing to Alzheimer's disease

  14-05-2018 18:24
  A new article shows that the inheritance of small changes in DNA alters the expression of the PM20D1 gene and is associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
  
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• Decades-Old Data Unveils Plumes Spewing from Europa

  14-05-2018 17:00 via rss.sciam.com
  Archived observations from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft all but confirm the Jovian moon’s subsurface ocean is within reach of future life-seeking missions -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Another hint of Europa’s watery plumes found in 20-year-old Galileo data

  14-05-2018 17:00
  
  A fresh look at old data suggests that NASA’s Galileo spacecraft may have seen a plume from Jupiter’s icy moon Europa in 1997.
  
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• Snorers suffer from nerve and muscle damage in the palate

  14-05-2018 15:55
  People who snore may have extensive tissue damage in the nerves and muscles of the soft palate. This can in turn create problems with swallowing and contribute to development of sleep apnea. Treatment strategies aimed at early intervention to stop snoring might have beneficial effects in healing or preventing development of sleep apnea.
  
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• Serving smaller alcoholic drinks could reduce the UK's alcohol consumption

  14-05-2018 15:55
  New research published in Addiction, conducted by researchers from the universities of Liverpool and Sheffield, highlights the potential benefits of reducing the standard serving size of alcoholic beverages.
  
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• How a pinch of salt can improve battery performance

  14-05-2018 15:55
  Researchers have discovered how a pinch of salt can be used to drastically improve the performance of batteries.
  
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• Ecological systems research: What do disturbances in the system result in?

  14-05-2018 15:55
  The effects of disturbances such as flooding or increasing drought on an ecosystem have been difficult to predict in the past. Researchers have demonstrated the complexity with which even simple model ecosystems respond to disturbances and have uncovered underlying mechanisms that may play a role in natural ecosystems.
  
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• Brain size mediates the association between height and cognitive ability

  14-05-2018 15:55
  Several studies have found that height and general cognitive ability, or intelligence, are positively associated. A recent study reveals a biological factor underlying this relationship: the size of the cerebral cortex.
  
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• Why older workers might be more stressed than younger ones

  14-05-2018 15:15
  Older workers tend to feel more stress than younger workers when their employers don't provide them with the support and resources needed to do their jobs well, according to a new study.
  
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• 'Let's hope everyone made it out': virtual reality game immerses players in Port Alberni, B.C., tsunami

  14-05-2018 15:00 via cbc.ca
  A team at the University of Victoria is developing a virtual realty game based on a real tsunami that slammed into Port Alberni, B.C. in 1964.
  
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• Optical tweezers -- mini 'tractor beams' -- help arrange artificial cells into tissue structures

  14-05-2018 14:39
  Researchers have used lasers to connect, arrange and merge artificial cells, paving the way for networks of artificial cells that act like tissues.
  
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• In-womb air pollution exposure associated with higher blood pressure in childhood

  14-05-2018 14:39
  Children who were exposed to higher levels air pollution while in the womb had a higher risk of elevated blood pressure in childhood. This is one of the first studies to show that air pollution may have negative health effects on offspring exposed during pregnancy.
  
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• A New Push for a Universal Flu Vaccine

  14-05-2018 13:30 via rss.sciam.com
  One experimental shot is slated for human testing-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Antarctic Quest Seeks to Predict the Fate of a Linchpin Glacier

  14-05-2018 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  Adventurer scientists swarm the melting Thwaites Glacier for clues to how fast sea level will rise-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Citizen scientist's all-natural spray sends ticks running in first tests

  14-05-2018 11:30 via cbc.ca
  A natural anti-tick spray created by a Mahone Bay, N.S., woman has yielded some encouraging results from its first round of scientific tests at Acadia University.
  
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• How crematoriums are recovering precious metals from inside the dead

  14-05-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  A Dutch firm has created a system through which it compensates cremation facilities for recovering recyclable parts from dead bodies, such as titanium hips and knees, stainless steel bone screws — even gold teeth.
  
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• Door will open to genetic discrimination if act protecting Canadians is overturned, genomics expert says

  14-05-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  A genomics and policy researcher with the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto says the health and personal freedom of patients will be at risk if a challenge by the government of Quebec to Canada's year-old Genetic Non-Discrimination Act (GNA) is successful.
  
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• 10 kinds of packaging that are a pain in the blue box

  14-05-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  Confused about what can and can't go in your blue box? These 10 kinds of packaging that pose a challenge for recycling programs. Here's a look at why and what the solutions might be.
  
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