Science news

• This is why those lynx are shrieking

  22-05-2018 23:36 via bbc.co.uk
  A pair of Canada lynx have been caught on camera "screaming" at each other.
  
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• Amazon urged not to sell face-recognition tool to police

  22-05-2018 22:30 via cbc.ca
  The American Civil Liberties Union and other privacy activists are asking Amazon to stop marketing a powerful facial recognition tool to police, saying law enforcement agencies could use the technology to "easily build a system to automate the identification and tracking of anyone."
  
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• Grace mission launches to weigh Earth's water

  22-05-2018 22:17 via bbc.co.uk
  The joint US-German Grace satellites go into orbit to monitor Earth's most important resource.
  
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• Russia's 1st sea-borne nuclear power plant arrives in the Arctic

  22-05-2018 20:46 via cbc.ca
  The plant will provide electricity to an isolated Russian town across the Bering Strait from Alaska. The state nuclear company says it could pioneer a new power source for remote regions, but green campaigners are concerned about the risk of nuclear accidents.
  
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• Intrigued by aliens, Edmonton high school astronomers study strange star

  22-05-2018 20:27 via cbc.ca
  Research on a mysterious star, believed by some to be a mining site for an alien race, is earning a group of Edmonton high school students a place in the annals of science.
  
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• Tuning ITAM multiplicity on T cell receptors can control potency and selectivity to ligand density

  22-05-2018 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The T cell antigen receptor (TCR) recognizes peptides from pathogenic proteins bound in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). To convert this binding event into downstream signaling, the TCR complex contains immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs) that act as docking sites for the cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase ZAP-70. Unique among antigen receptors, the TCR complex uses 10 ITAMs to transduce peptide-MHC binding to the cell interior. Using synthetic, drug-inducible receptor-li
  
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• The DUF1669 domain of FAM83 family proteins anchor casein kinase 1 isoforms

  22-05-2018 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Members of the casein kinase 1 (CK1) family of serine-threonine protein kinases are implicated in the regulation of many cellular processes, including the cell cycle, circadian rhythms, and Wnt and Hedgehog signaling. Because these kinases exhibit constitutive activity in biochemical assays, it is likely that their activity in cells is controlled by subcellular localization, interactions with inhibitory proteins, targeted degradation, or combinations of these mechanisms. We identified members of
  
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• Integration of protein phosphorylation, acetylation, and methylation data sets to outline lung cancer signaling networks

  22-05-2018 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Protein posttranslational modifications (PTMs) have typically been studied independently, yet many proteins are modified by more than one PTM type, and cell signaling pathways somehow integrate this information. We coupled immunoprecipitation using PTM-specific antibodies with tandem mass tag (TMT) mass spectrometry to simultaneously examine phosphorylation, methylation, and acetylation in 45 lung cancer cell lines compared to normal lung tissue and to cell lines treated with anticancer drugs. T
  
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• How Treg cells stay true

  22-05-2018 19:54 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Human Treg cells maintain their cellular identity through changes in their protein expression signature.
  
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• Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg apologizes to EU lawmakers over data leak

  22-05-2018 19:23 via cbc.ca
  Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg apologized to European Union lawmakers on Tuesday for a massive data leak, in his latest attempt to draw a line under a scandal that has rocked the world's biggest social media network.
  
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• Facebook face-off: EU gets little news from Zuckerberg

  22-05-2018 19:23 via cbc.ca
  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sailed through a grilling from EU lawmakers about the social network's data policies as lengthy questions left the 34-year-old American little time to answer.
  
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• What genetic tests from 23andMe, Veritas and Genos really told me about my health

  22-05-2018 18:00
  
  A Science News reporter tried out three consumer genetic testing companies to see what people really learn about their health.
  
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• Special report: Genetic testing goes mainstream

  22-05-2018 18:00
  
  Consumer genetic tests may not tell customers that much about themselves. Science News delves into these tests in a multipart series.
  
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• Consumer DNA testing promises more than it delivers

  22-05-2018 18:00
  
  Chances are your DNA doesn’t contain dark secrets. But there may be lots of variety in results from testing company to company.
  
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• 'Rare' birth of live reindeer twins in Cairngorms

  22-05-2018 15:12 via bbc.co.uk
  Previously twins born in the herd in the Cairngorms have been stillborn or died shortly after birth.
  
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• Black kids commit suicide at twice the rate of white children

  22-05-2018 15:00
  
  The suicide rates for young black kids are higher than those of their white counterparts, a pattern that flips in older kids, researchers find.
  
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• Black children commit suicide at twice the rate of white kids

  22-05-2018 15:00
  
  The suicide rates for young black kids are higher than those of their white counterparts, a pattern that flips in older kids, researchers find.
  
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• Wolves adjust sleeping habits to avoid human contact, research suggests

  22-05-2018 14:48 via cbc.ca
  New research has found some carnivores in Kananaskis Country have altered their behaviour in response to the presence of humans.
  
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• A caterpillar outwits corn defenses by gorging on fattening ‘junk’ food

  22-05-2018 13:00
  
  The crop plants defend themselves with zombie-maker wasps, but one pest has a desperate work-around.
  
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• Comsat Launch Bolsters China's Dreams for Landing on the Moon's Far Side

  22-05-2018 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  The Queqiao orbiter will serve as a vital communications relay between the Earth and future lunar landers—and perform some science, too-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Blue carbon is the billion-dollar resource you've never heard of

  22-05-2018 11:00 via cbc.ca
  Early indications show the mud and plants surrounding the Bay of Fundy could contain enough carbon to offset the emissions of thousands of vehicles.
  
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• Air pollution plans to tackle wood burners

  22-05-2018 10:44 via bbc.co.uk
  Critics of the government proposals say they put too much responsibility on local councils.
  
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• Can art recreate a migrant's border trauma? This simulation might come close

  22-05-2018 10:00 via cbc.ca
  As the White House considers how to crack down on illegal border crossings, a virtual-reality project in Washington, D.C., that simulates the panic and despair of a migrant's journey has become a hit. The Oscar-winning project by Alejandro Inarritu has been booked solid since March.
  
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• Young toddlers may learn more from interactive than noninteractive media

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Society for Research in Child Development) Preschoolers can learn from educational television, but younger toddlers may learn more from interactive digital media (such as video chats and touchscreen mobile apps) than from TV and videos alone, which don't require them to interact. That's the conclusion of a new article in the journal Child Development Perspectives that also notes that not all children learn to the same degree from these media.
  
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• 'Virtual safe space' to help bumblebees

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (University of Exeter) The many threats facing bumblebees can be tested using a 'virtual safe space' created by scientists at the University of Exeter.
  
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• UTA bioengineer earns AHA grant to study biomechanical influences on cardiac development

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (University of Texas at Arlington) Juhyun Lee, an assistant professor in the Bioengineering Department, has been awarded a prestigious Career Development Award by the American Heart Association for the research. The three-year, $251,000 grant relates to another grant that he received in March to develop a new microscope that can capture 3-D motion, then add time to construct a 4-D beating heart using optical imaging techniques with fluorescent nanoparticles in a zebrafish.
  
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• Using 3D X-rays to measure particle movement inside lithium ion batteries

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (University of Illinois College of Engineering) Lithium ion battery performance can decay over time, may not fully charge after many charge/discharge cycles, and may discharge quickly even when idle. Researchers at the University of Illinois applied a technique using 3D X-ray tomography of an electrode to better understand what is happening on the inside of a lithium ion battery and ultimately build batteries with more storage capacity and longer life.
  
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• Using 3-D X-rays to measure particle movement inside lithium ion batteries

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (University of Illinois College of Engineering) Lithium ion battery performance can decay over time, may not fully charge after many charge/discharge cycles, and may discharge quickly even when idle. Researchers at the University of Illinois applied a technique using 3D X-ray tomography of an electrode to better understand what is happening on the inside of a lithium ion battery and ultimately build batteries with more storage capacity and longer life.
  
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• Under age 13, suicide rates are roughly double for black children vs. white children

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Carnegie Mellon University) A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that racial disparities in suicide rates are age-related. Specifically, suicide rates for black children aged 5-12 were roughly two times higher than those of similarly aged white children.
  
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• Tunable diamond string may hold key to quantum memory

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the University of Cambridge engineered diamond strings that can be tuned to quiet a qubit's environment and improve memory from tens to several hundred nanoseconds, enough time to do many operations on a quantum chip.
  
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• Training compassion 'muscle' may boost brain's resilience to others' suffering

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (University of Wisconsin-Madison) A new study suggests that as little as two weeks of compassion meditation training -- intentionally cultivating positive wishes to understand and relieve the suffering of others -- may reduce the distress a person feels when witnessing another's suffering. The findings may have implications for professions in which people routinely work with others who are suffering, like doctors, law enforcement officers and first responders.
  
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• The nature of the Ebola virus responsible for the 9th epidemic currently raging in the DRC character

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (INSERM (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale)) The National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB) of Kinshasa and Inserm have characterized the nature of the Ebola virus responsible for the 9th epidemic currently raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The strain identified is the so-called Ebola Zaire strain.Identify the virus circulating in RDC represented a major stake because the use of a vaccinal strategy is possible only if the origin of the
  
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• The case for not taxing multinationals

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Bocconi University) The habit of taxing Multinational Enterprises (MNEs)' profits is the legacy of a time when "GM had to make cars in Detroit and Hollywood had to make movies in L.A.", but is now inefficient and detrimental to global welfare, a new study by Nicolai Foss, Rodolfo Debenedetti Chair of Entrepreneurship at Bocconi University, and colleagues asserts. The solution would be zeroing corporate tax and replacing it with a hike in taxes on dividends and sales.
  
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• Technique doubles conversion of CO2 to plastic component

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) Fossil fuels have long been the precursor to plastic, but new research has detailed a technique for doubling the amount of carbon dioxide that gets converted to ethylene -- an essential component of the world's most common plastic.
  
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• Subtle hearing loss while young changes brain function, study finds

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Ohio State University) New research from The Ohio State University has found that young people with subtle hearing loss -- the kind they aren't even aware of -- are putting demands on their brains that typically wouldn't be seen until later in life.
  
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• Study: Guns in Chicago just '2.5 handshakes' away

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Northwestern University) In one of the first studies to try to map a gun market using network science, researchers used the novel scientific approach to understand how close offenders are to guns in the city of Chicago. Recreating Chicago's co-offending network of approximately 188,000 people, the researchers used data on firearms recovered by the Chicago Police Department to locate who in the network possessed those guns.
  
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• Study finds popular 'growth mindset' educational interventions aren't very effective

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Michigan State University) A new study co-authored by researchers at Michigan State University and Case Western Reserve University found that 'growth mindset interventions,' or programs that teach students they can improve their intelligence with effort -- and therefore improve grades and test scores -- don't work for students in most circumstances.
  
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• Study: Ancient mound builders carefully timed their occupation of coastal Louisiana site

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) A new study of ancient mound builders who lived hundreds of years ago on the Mississippi River Delta near present-day New Orleans offers new insights into how Native peoples selected the landforms that supported their villages and earthen mounds -- and why these sites were later abandoned. (Includes link to video.)
  
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• 'Spooky action at a distance': Researchers develop module for quantum repeater

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Saarland University) Physicists at Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany, have succeeded in entangling a single atom with a single photon in the telecom wavelength range. This constitutes a basic building block for transmission of quantum information over long distance with low loss. The results have raised great attention in the quantum technology community; now they are published in Nature Communications.
  
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• Seduction: An industry selling men and women short

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (University of York) An industry training men in the art of seduction -- estimated to be worth $100 million USD -- encourages its clients to treat women and themselves as commodities in a sexual marketplace, a new study has found.
  
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• Report of interventional cardiology practice presented in first extensive survey

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (European Society of Cardiology) A report on interventional cardiology practice from an extensive survey is presented today at EuroPCR 2018, the annual meeting of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), a branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
  
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• Posttraumatic stress affects academics

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Penn State) Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused by traumatic military experiences is associated with feelings of anxiety, anger, sadness and/or guilt. New Penn State research is evaluating how PTSD symptoms increase risks for academic difficulties as well.
  
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• Pigs that digest their nutrients could reduce pork industry's carbon footprint

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (eLife ) Giving pigs the ability to digest more nutrients in their grains could help reduce the pork industry's environmental impact, says new research published in eLife.
  
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• People with ASD risk being manipulated because they can't tell when they're being lied to

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (University of Kent) A new study shows that the ability to distinguish truth from lies is diminished in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) -- putting them at greater risk of being manipulated.
  
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• Oxytocin mediates subjective duration of social interactions

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters) Psychologists ZHOU Wen, JIANG Yi and their colleagues at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, probed this issue by examining individuals' temporal perception of social interactions and the variation among individuals, noting the gregarious nature of humans, the ubiquity of social interactions in daily life and the pronounced interindividual differences in social proficiency -- a stable personality trait.
  
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• One-way roads for spin currents

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Singapore University of Technology and Design) Scientists from the Singapore University of Technology and Design, together with collaborators from University Insubria (Italy) and Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil) have shown that systems with strong interactions can rectify extremely well the flow of spins i.e. a spin current will flow much more in one direction than the other. This discovery could unlock new spintronics applications.
  
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• Non-plasma high-speed anisotropic diamond etching with nickel in 1000°C water vapor

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Kanazawa University) Development of next-generation power devices is needed for energy saving in a low carbon society. Diamond is a potentially important power device material due to its excellent physical and electronic properties. Here we have developed a non-plasma high-speed anisotropic etching process using a thermochemical reaction between nickel and diamond in high-temperature water vapor. This technology is expected to contribute to fabrication of diamond devices of excellent performanc
  
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• NIST puts the optical microscope under the microscope to achieve atomic accuracy

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)) New work at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) enables optical microscopes to measure these nanometer-scale details with a new level of accuracy.
  
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• New tech may make prosthetic hands easier for patients to use

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (North Carolina State University) Researchers have developed new technology for decoding neuromuscular signals to control powered, prosthetic wrists and hands. The work relies on computer models that closely mimic the behavior of the natural structures in the forearm, wrist and hand. The technology could also be used to develop new computer interface devices for applications such as gaming and computer-aided design.
  
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• New study sheds light on the opioid epidemic and challenges prevailing views about this public health crisis

  22-05-2018 06:00
  (Elsevier) A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine sheds new light on the sharp rise in fatal drug overdoses in recent years, one of the most severe public health challenges of our time. The study found that the growth in fatal overdoses for non-Hispanic whites (NHWs) aged 22-56 years was sufficiently large to account for the entire growth in mortality rates (MR) and years of potential life lost (YPLL) for this population from 1999 to 2015.
  
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