Science news

• Ancient fish species discovered in Nova Scotia as erosion reveals unique fossil

  17-05-2018 23:31 via cbc.ca
  The fish's lineage appears to be a survivor of the Devonian extinction, which occurred about 375 million years ago, contradicting the notion the extinction wiped out that group.
  
  Read more

• Study suggests one-third of protected wildlife areas under intense human stress

  17-05-2018 23:25 via cbc.ca
  A third of the world's protected areas for wildlife are suffering road-building, more farms and other man-made threats that are undermining goals to safeguard the diversity of life on Earth, scientists said on Thursday.
  
  Read more

• Meet 'lava chasers,' who head toward volcanoes when others are fleeing

  17-05-2018 22:40 via cbc.ca
  For most people, the sight of lava making its way toward them means stay well away. But for a select few, the reaction is the complete opposite.
  
  Read more

• Scientists uncover a new face of a famous protein, SWI2/SNF2 ATPase

  17-05-2018 22:33
  A team of scientists now have a deeper understanding of a large switch/sucrose non-fermentable (SWI/SNF) protein complex that plays a pivotal role in plant and human gene expression that causes life-threatening diseases such as cancer.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Insect gene allows reproductive organs to cope with harmful bacteria

  17-05-2018 22:33
  A group of biologists has studied Nasonia parasitic wasps, which are about the size of a sesame seed, and they serve as one of the best models to dissect and characterize the evolution of insect genomes.
  
  Read more

• Everything You Need to Know about the Ebola Vaccine

  17-05-2018 21:30 via rss.sciam.com
  Public health workers are preparing to roll out inoculations even as the disease has spread to an urban location-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• YouTube to launch new music streaming service

  17-05-2018 21:16 via cbc.ca
  Google's YouTube will launch a music streaming service next week, it said on Thursday, looking to use its popular internet video brand to tap the growing market for paid music streaming.
  
  Read more

• 'Made in China' label sheds light on old Java Sea shipwreck

  17-05-2018 21:11
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A fresh examination of Chinese ceramics and other cargo from an important Java Sea shipwreck has led researchers to conclude that the vessel sank a century earlier than previously thought, providing insight into Asia's maritime trade more than 800 years ago.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• How Much of the World's Protected Land Is Actually Protected?

  17-05-2018 20:45 via rss.sciam.com
  Intense human pressure on areas set aside for preservation could be threatening biodiversity-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• Shocking study shows one third of world's protected areas degraded by human activities

  17-05-2018 20:36
  A shocking study confirms that one third of the world's protected areas -- an astonishing 2.3 million square miles or twice the size of the state of Alaska - are now under intense human pressure including road building, grazing, and urbanization.
  
  Read more

• New catalyst upgrades greenhouse gas into renewable hydrocarbons

  17-05-2018 20:36
  Engineers have designed a most efficient and stable process for converting climate-warming carbon dioxide into a key chemical building block for plastics -- all powered using renewable electricity.
  
  Read more

• More than a living syringe: Mosquito saliva alone triggers unexpected immune response

  17-05-2018 20:36
  Mosquito saliva alone can trigger an unexpected variety of immune responses in an animal model of the human immune system.
  
  Read more

• Limiting warming to 1.5 degree C would save majority of global species from climate change

  17-05-2018 20:36
  New research finds that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C would save the majority of the world's plant and animal species from climate change. Species across the globe would benefit -- particularly those in Southern Africa, the Amazon, Europe and Australia. Examples of animals to benefit include the critically endangered black rhinoceros. Reducing the risk to insects is important because they are vital for 'ecosystem services' such as pollinating crops and being part of the food chain.
  
  Read more

• A way to prevent pancreatic cancer from spreading post-surgery?

  17-05-2018 20:36
  New research suggests a strategy for lowering the odds of metastasis following successful pancreatic cancer surgery: The post-operative period, suggests a researcher, 'offers a window during which efforts might be made to keep cortisol levels down and T cells strong so the patient's own immune system can kill the cancer cells that have made their way to other parts of the body but until this point have been dormant.'
  
  Read more

• Pesticides: What happens if we run out of options?

  17-05-2018 20:26
  What happens when pests resist all forms of herbicides and pesticides? To slow the evolutionary progression of weeds and insect pests gaining resistance to herbicides and pesticides, policymakers should provide resources for large-scale, landscape-level studies of a number of promising but untested approaches for slowing pest evolution.
  
  Read more

• Virtual-reality testing ground for drones

  17-05-2018 20:25
  Engineers have developed a new virtual-reality training system for drones that enables a vehicle to 'see' a rich, virtual environment while flying in an empty physical space. The system, which the team has dubbed 'Flight Goggles,' could significantly reduce the number of crashes that drones experience in actual training sessions. It can also serve as a virtual testbed for any number of environments and conditions in which researchers might want to train fast-flying drones.
  
  Read more

• Surviving sepsis campaign update focuses on critical first hour

  17-05-2018 20:25
  For patients with sepsis, a serious infection causing widespread inflammation, immediate treatment is essential to improve the chances of survival. An updated 'Hour-1 Bundle' of the international, evidence-based guidelines for treatment of sepsis is introduced in the June issue of Critical Care Medicine.
  
  Read more

• Sugars in infant formulas pose risk to babies with inherited metabolic disorder

  17-05-2018 20:25
  Babies with inherited intolerance of fructose face a risk of acute liver failure if they are fed certain widely available formulas containing fructose, pediatricians and geneticists are warning. Baby formula manufacturers should remove fructose or sucrose, or explicitly label their products to allow parents to avoid those sweeteners if necessary, the doctors say.
  
  Read more

• Keep the light off: A material with improved mechanical performance in the dark

  17-05-2018 20:25
  Researchers found that zinc sulfide crystals were brittle under normal lighting conditions at room temperature, but highly plastic when deformed in complete darkness. Deformation of zinc sulfide crystals in the dark also narrowed their band gap, which controls electrical conductivity. The team's findings showed the mechanical and electronic properties of inorganic semiconductors are sensitive to light, revealing a possible route to engineer the performance of inorganic semiconductors, which are
  
  Read more

• Immune cell provides cradle for mammary stem cells

  17-05-2018 20:25
  Researchers have made new discoveries about how an immune cell known as the macrophage, which normally fights infection by swallowing foreign invaders, nurtures mammary gland stem cells through a chemical signaling molecule. The study may provide important clues about the roles of macrophages in breast cancer progression.
  
  Read more

• Battling bubbles: How plants protect themselves from killer fungus

  17-05-2018 20:25
  In the battle between plants and pathogens, molecules called small RNAs are coveted weapons used by both invaders and defenders. Researchers report how plants package and deliver the sRNAs they use to fight back against plant pathogens. The study focused on Botrytis cinerea, a fungus that causes a grey mold disease in strawberries, tomatoes, and almost all fruits, vegetables, and many flowers.
  
  Read more

• Keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees C helps most species hold their ground

  17-05-2018 20:21
  
  Holding global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100 could help protect tens of thousands of insect, plant and vertebrate species.
  
  Read more

• Ancient Chinese farmers sowed literal seeds of change in Southeast Asia

  17-05-2018 20:14
  
  Two waves of ancient migration from China to Southeast Asia spread farming and languages.
  
  Read more

• 'Shocking' human impact reported on world's protected areas

  17-05-2018 20:12 via bbc.co.uk
  One third of the world's protected lands are being degraded by human activities, says a new study.
  
  Read more

• Waterloo researchers use tech tank top to detect heart problems

  17-05-2018 19:41 via cbc.ca
  Using sensors built into a shirt, researchers monitored the daily activities of a group of people and were able to predict the results of a lab-conducted cardiovascular test.
  
  Read more

• Worldwide emergence of resistance to antifungal drugs challenges human health and food security

  17-05-2018 19:39
  The recent rate of emergence of pathogenic fungi that are resistant to the limited number of commonly used antifungal agents is unprecedented. The azoles, for example, are used not only for human and animal health care and crop protection but also in antifouling coatings and timber preservation. The ubiquity and multiple uses of azoles have hastened the independent evolution of resistance in many environments. One consequence is an increasing risk in human health care from naturally occurring op
  
  Read more

• Wicked evolution: Can we address the sociobiological dilemma of pesticide resistance?

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Resistance to insecticides and herbicides has cost billions of U.S. dollars in the agricultural sector and could result in millions of lives lost to insect-vectored diseases. We mostly continue to use pesticides as if resistance is a temporary issue that will be addressed by commercialization of new pesticides with novel modes of action. However, current evidence suggests that insect and weed evolution may outstrip our ability to replace outmoded chemicals and other control mechanisms. To avoid
  
  Read more

• The projected effect on insects, vertebrates, and plants of limiting global warming to 1.5{degrees}C rather than 2{degrees}C

  17-05-2018 19:39
  In the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the United Nations is pursuing efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C, whereas earlier aspirations focused on a 2°C limit. With current pledges, corresponding to ~3.2°C warming, climatically determined geographic range losses of >50% are projected in ~49% of insects, 44% of plants, and 26% of vertebrates. At 2°C, this falls to 18% of insects, 16% of plants, and 8% of vertebrates and at 1.5°C, to 6% of insects, 8% of plants, and 4
  
  Read more

• SLAM-seq defines direct gene-regulatory functions of the BRD4-MYC axis

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Defining direct targets of transcription factors and regulatory pathways is key to understanding their roles in physiology and disease. We combined SLAM-seq [thiol(SH)–linked alkylation for the metabolic sequencing of RNA], a method for direct quantification of newly synthesized messenger RNAs (mRNAs), with pharmacological and chemical-genetic perturbation in order to define regulatory functions of two transcriptional hubs in cancer, BRD4 and MYC, and to interrogate direct responses to BET
  
  Read more

• Single-cell transcriptomics of the mouse kidney reveals potential cellular targets of kidney disease

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Our understanding of kidney disease pathogenesis is limited by an incomplete molecular characterization of the cell types responsible for the organ’s multiple homeostatic functions. To help fill this knowledge gap, we characterized 57,979 cells from healthy mouse kidneys by using unbiased single-cell RNA sequencing. On the basis of gene expression patterns, we infer that inherited kidney diseases that arise from distinct genetic mutations but share the same phenotypic manifestation origina
  
  Read more

• Response to Comment on "Maxima in the thermodynamic response and correlation functions of deeply supercooled water"

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Caupin et al. have raised several issues regarding our recent paper on maxima in thermodynamic response and correlation functions in deeply supercooled water. We show that these issues can be addressed without affecting the conclusion of the paper.
  
  Read more

• Prospects for harnessing biocide resistance for bioremediation and detoxification

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Prokaryotes in natural environments respond rapidly to high concentrations of chemicals and physical stresses. Exposure to anthropogenic toxic substances—such as oil, chlorinated solvents, or antibiotics—favors the evolution of resistant phenotypes, some of which can use contaminants as an exclusive carbon source or as electron donors and acceptors. Microorganisms similarly adapt to extreme pH, metal, or osmotic stress. The metabolic plasticity of prokaryotes can thus be harnessed fo
  
  Read more

• One-third of global protected land is under intense human pressure

  17-05-2018 19:39
  In an era of massive biodiversity loss, the greatest conservation success story has been the growth of protected land globally. Protected areas are the primary defense against biodiversity loss, but extensive human activity within their boundaries can undermine this. Using the most comprehensive global map of human pressure, we show that 6 million square kilometers (32.8%) of protected land is under intense human pressure. For protected areas designated before the Convention on Biological Divers
  
  Read more

• NUFIP1 is a ribosome receptor for starvation-induced ribophagy

  17-05-2018 19:39
  The lysosome degrades and recycles macromolecules, signals to the master growth regulator mTORC1 [mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1], and is associated with human disease. We performed quantitative proteomic analyses of rapidly isolated lysosomes and found that nutrient levels and mTOR dynamically modulate the lysosomal proteome. Upon mTORC1 inhibition, NUFIP1 (nuclear fragile X mental retardation–interacting protein 1) redistributes from the nucleus to autophagosomes and ly
  
  Read more

• Imaging of nonlocal hot-electron energy dissipation via shot noise

  17-05-2018 19:39
  In modern microelectronic devices, hot electrons accelerate, scatter, and dissipate energy in nanoscale dimensions. Despite recent progress in nanothermometry, direct real-space mapping of hot-electron energy dissipation is challenging because existing techniques are restricted to probing the lattice rather than the electrons. We realize electronic nanothermometry by measuring local current fluctuations, or shot noise, associated with ultrafast hot-electron kinetic processes (~21 terahertz). Exp
  
  Read more

• Hybrid molecular-colloidal liquid crystals

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Order and fluidity often coexist, with examples ranging from biological membranes to liquid crystals, but the symmetry of these soft-matter systems is typically higher than that of the constituent building blocks. We dispersed micrometer-long inorganic colloidal rods in a nematic liquid crystalline fluid of molecular rods. Both types of uniaxial building blocks, while freely diffusing, interact to form an orthorhombic nematic fluid, in which like-sized rods are roughly parallel to each other and
  
  Read more

• Gut microbiota utilize immunoglobulin A for mucosal colonization

  17-05-2018 19:39
  The immune system responds vigorously to microbial infection while permitting lifelong colonization by the microbiome. Mechanisms that facilitate the establishment and stability of the gut microbiota remain poorly described. We found that a regulatory system in the prominent human commensal Bacteroides fragilis modulates its surface architecture to invite binding of immunoglobulin A (IgA) in mice. Specific immune recognition facilitated bacterial adherence to cultured intestinal epithelial cells
  
  Read more

• Genomic insights into the emergence and spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial pathogens

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has been vital for revealing the rapid temporal and spatial evolution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacterial pathogens. Some antimicrobial-resistant pathogens have outpaced us, with untreatable infections appearing in hospitals and the community. However, WGS has additionally provided us with enough knowledge to initiate countermeasures. Although we cannot stop bacterial adaptation, the predictability of many evolutionary processes in AMR bacteria offers us
  
  Read more

• Extraordinary plasticity of an inorganic semiconductor in darkness

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Inorganic semiconductors generally tend to fail in a brittle manner. Here, we report that extraordinary "plasticity" can take place in an inorganic semiconductor if the deformation is carried out "in complete darkness." Room-temperature deformation tests of zinc sulfide (ZnS) were performed under varying light conditions. ZnS crystals immediately fractured when they deformed under light irradiation. In contrast, it was found that ZnS crystals can be plastically deformed up to a deformation strai
  
  Read more

• Elastic strain engineering for ultralow mechanical dissipation

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Extreme stresses can be produced in nanoscale structures; this feature has been used to realize enhanced materials properties, such as the high mobility of silicon in modern transistors. We show how nanoscale stress can be used to realize exceptionally low mechanical dissipation when combined with "soft-clamping"—a form of phononic engineering. Specifically, using a nonuniform phononic crystal pattern, we colocalize the strain and flexural motion of a free-standing silicon nitride nanobeam
  
  Read more

• Comment on "Maxima in the thermodynamic response and correlation functions of deeply supercooled water"

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Kim et al. recently measured the structure factor of deeply supercooled water droplets (Reports, 22 December 2017, p. 1589). We raise several concerns about their data analysis and interpretation. In our opinion, the reported data do not lead to clear conclusions about the origins of water’s anomalies.
  
  Read more

• CO2 electroreduction to ethylene via hydroxide-mediated copper catalysis at an abrupt interface

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Carbon dioxide (CO2) electroreduction could provide a useful source of ethylene, but low conversion efficiency, low production rates, and low catalyst stability limit current systems. Here we report that a copper electrocatalyst at an abrupt reaction interface in an alkaline electrolyte reduces CO2 to ethylene with 70% faradaic efficiency at a potential of –0.55 volts versus a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). Hydroxide ions on or near the copper surface lower the CO2 reduction and carb
  
  Read more

• 3D charge and 2D phonon transports leading to high out-of-plane ZT in n-type SnSe crystals

  17-05-2018 19:39
  Thermoelectric technology enables the harvest of waste heat and its direct conversion into electricity. The conversion efficiency is determined by the materials figure of merit ZT. Here we show a maximum ZT of ~2.8 ± 0.5 at 773 kelvin in n-type tin selenide (SnSe) crystals out of plane. The thermal conductivity in layered SnSe crystals is the lowest in the out-of-plane direction [two-dimensional (2D) phonon transport]. We doped SnSe with bromine to make n-type SnSe crystals with the overl
  
  Read more

• Madagascar emerges as whale shark hotspot

  17-05-2018 18:42 via bbc.co.uk
  The endangered whale shark has been hiding in plain sight off Madagascar, say scientists.
  
  Read more

• Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, sending huge plume of ash skyward

  17-05-2018 18:21 via cbc.ca
  After two weeks of volcanic activity, an explosive eruption at Hawaii’s Mount Kilauea sent a plume of ash thousands of metres into the air that rained down on a nearby town.
  
  Read more

• Fracking planning laws should be relaxed say ministers

  17-05-2018 18:11 via bbc.co.uk
  Critics say it will be as easy to get the go-ahead to do a test drill as it is for a home conservatory.
  
  Read more

• Your blood type might make you more likely to get traveler’s diarrhea

  17-05-2018 18:00
  
  People with type A blood are more likely to develop severe diarrhea from E. coli infections.
  
  Read more

• NASA study reveals humans are dramatically shifting global freshwater sources

  17-05-2018 17:48 via cbc.ca
  Scientists at NASA have used a map of Earth's gravitational field to study the movement of water around the planet — and their findings have human fingerprints all over them.
  
  Read more

• Hawaii's Volcano Kilauea spews out 'ballistic blocks'

  17-05-2018 16:29 via bbc.co.uk
  But projectile boulders are not the only hazard facing islanders near the erupting Kilauea volcano.
  
  Read more

• Hawaii's Kilauea volcano eruption

  17-05-2018 15:15 via cbc.ca
  Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has been spewing smoke and lava for nearly two weeks.
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!