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Top Science News

September 27, 2016

Poaching: Worst Elephant Losses in 25 Years

Water Plumes Erupting On Jupiter's Europa

Morning Sickness May Be a Good Sign

X-Rays That Don't Come from Any Known Source

Sep. 26, 2016 — Africa's overall elephant population has seen the worst declines in 25 years, mainly due to poaching over the past ten years -- according to IUCN's African Elephant Status ... read more

Sep. 26, 2016 — Astronomers have imaged what may be water vapor plumes erupting off the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. This finding bolsters other Hubble observations suggesting the icy moon erupts with high ... read more

Sep. 26, 2016 — Nausea and vomiting that occurs in pregnancy is often called "morning sickness," as these symptoms typically begin in the morning and usually resolve as the day progresses. For most women, nausea and ... read more

Sep. 26, 2016 — Space is filled with types of light we can't see -- from infrared signals released by hot stars and galaxies, to the cosmic microwave background. Some of this invisible light that fills space takes ... read more

Latest Top Headlines

updated 5:03am EDT

What Happens When the Brain Is Artificially Stimulated?

Sep. 26, 2016 — Stimulating the brain via electricity or other means may help ease symptoms of various neurological and psychiatric disorders, with the method already used to treat conditions from epilepsy to depression. But what really happens when doctors zap ... read more

How Cancer’s 'Invisibility Cloak' Works

Sep. 26, 2016 — Researchers have discovered how cancer cells become invisible to the body's immune system, a crucial step that allows tumors to metastasize and spread throughout ... read more

Landmark Map Reveals the Genetic Wiring of Cellular Life

Sep. 23, 2016 — A new map breaks away from the old way of studying genes one at a time, showing how genes interact in groups to shed light on the genetic roots ... read more

Multifaceted Genetic Impact of Training

Sep. 23, 2016 — Endurance training changes the activity of thousands of genes and give rise to a multitude of altered DNA-copies, RNA, researchers report. The study also nuances the concept of ... read more

Scientists' Finding Supports Moon Creation Hypothesis

Sep. 26, 2016 — A layer of iron and other elements deep underground is the evidence scientists have long been seeking to support the hypothesis that the moon was formed by a planetary object hitting the infant Earth some 4.5 billion years ago, a new ... read more

New Low-Mass Objects Could Help Refine Planetary Evolution

Sep. 26, 2016 — When a star is young, it is often still surrounded by a primordial rotating disk of gas and dust, from which planets can form. Astronomers like to find such disks because they might be able to catch the star partway through the planet formation process, but it's highly unusual to find such disks ... read more

How to Merge Two Black Holes in a Simple Way

Sep. 26, 2016 — The merger of two black holes, such as the one that produced the gravitational waves discovered by the LIGO Observatory, is considered an extremely complex process that can only be simulated by the world's most powerful supercomputers. However, two theoretical physicists have demonstrated that what ... read more

Pluto's 'Heart' Sheds Light on Possible Buried Ocean

Sep. 24, 2016 — Ever since NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto last year, evidence has been mounting that the dwarf planet may have a liquid ocean beneath its icy shell. Now, by modeling the impact dynamics that created a massive crater on Pluto's surface, a team of researchers has made a new estimate of ... read more

Rising Ocean Temperatures Threaten Baby Lobsters

Sep. 26, 2016 — If water temperatures in the Gulf of Maine rise a few degrees by end of the century, it could mean trouble for lobsters and the industry they support, according to newly ... read more

In Bird Feathers, Scientists Find Hints About Color of Extinct Animals

Sep. 23, 2016 — In order to discover the true colors of ancient animals, scientists are using X-rays to closely examine the chemical details of modern bird feathers. The researchers were able to map elements that make up pigments responsible for red and black colors in feathers. They hope to use this information ... read more

Shape-Shifters Found in the Belt Supergroup: Revelations About Tappania Plana

Sep. 25, 2016 — The rise of eukaryotic organisms (organisms with complex cells, or a single cell with a complex structure) is still a mystery, but researchers have compelling evidence that Tappania plana may represent one of the earliest eukaryotic fossils. ... read more

Acidity in Atmosphere Minimized to Preindustrial Levels

Sep. 24, 2016 — New research shows that human pollution of the atmosphere with acid is now almost back to the level that it was before the pollution started with industrialization in the 1930s. The results come from studies of the Greenland ... read more

Realistic Dinosaur Model Sheds Light on Camouflage

East Antarctic Meltwater Ponds Seen for First Time

Chinese Officials Aren't Sure Where Their Falling Spacecraft Will Land

Smoking Can Cause Damage To Your DNA, Even Years After You Quit

Tattoo Therapy Could Ease Chronic Disease

Swarms of Magnetic Bacteria to Deliver Drugs?

'Sixth Sense' May Be More Than Just a Feeling

Youthful DNA in Old Age

Sep. 22, 2016 — A temporary tattoo to help control a chronic disease might someday be possible, according to scientists who tested newly created antioxidant ... read more

Sep. 22, 2016 — One of the biggest challenges in cancer therapy is being able to sufficiently deliver chemotherapy drugs to tumors without exposing healthy tissues to their toxic effects. Magnetic bacteria are a ... read more

Sep. 22, 2016 — With the help of two young patients with a unique neurological disorder, scientists have discovered that a gene called PIEZO2 controls specific aspects of human touch and proprioception, a "sixth ... read more

Sep. 22, 2016 — The DNA of young people is regulated to express the right genes at the right time. With the passing of years, the regulation of the DNA gradually gets disrupted, which is an important cause of aging. ... read more

Latest Health Headlines

updated 5:03am EDT

Regulatory RNA Essential to DNA Damage Response

Sep. 26, 2016 — It iss essential for cells to quickly ascertain whether it's possible to repair mistakes or to self-destruct for the good of the organism. That's because cells with a damaged genome often begin to flout the standard rules of growth and become cancerous. Now, researchers have discovered a new player in this high-stakes molecular game in the form of a novel regulatory RNA they've named DINO. This ... read more

Iron Nanoparticles Make Immune Cells Attack Cancer

Sep. 26, 2016 — Iron nanoparticles can activate the immune system to attack cancer cells, according to a study. The nanoparticles, which are commercially available as the injectable iron supplement ferumoxytol, are approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat iron ... read more

Vaccine Vs Many Common Cold Viruses Achievable

Sep. 26, 2016 — Scientists are making the case that a vaccine against rhinoviruses, the predominant cause of the common cold, is achievable, saying that the immune system can handle the ... read more

Tapping Evolution to Improve Biotech Products

Sep. 26, 2016 — Scientists can improve protein-based drugs by reaching into the evolutionary past, a new paper proposes. As a proof of concept for this approach, the research team showed how "ancestral sequence reconstruction" or ASR can guide engineering of the blood clotting protein known as factor VIII, which is deficient in the inherited disorder hemophilia ... read more

Scientists Track Down Possible New Treatment for Epilepsy

Sep. 26, 2016 — Increasing the concentration of specific fats in the brain could suppress epileptic seizures, ground-breaking new research shows. On the basis of this discovery, scientists were able to completely suppress epileptic seizures in fruit ... read more

The Language of Senses

Sep. 26, 2016 — Sight, touch and hearing are our windows to the world: these sensory channels send a constant flow of information to the brain, which acts to sort out and integrate these signals, allowing us to perceive the world and interact with our environment. But how do these sensory pathways emerge during ... read more

'Teashirt' Gene Links Autism and Kidney Problems, New Study Finds

Sep. 26, 2016 — A gene dubbed the ‘Teashirt’ by its discoverers has been identified as a link between children with kidney problems and autism, in a new study which has implications for how doctors working on both conditions administer tests to their ... read more

Unknown Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke Associated With Increased Mortality

Sep. 26, 2016 — A new biomarker has identified known and unknown exposure to second-hand smoke and confirmed a strong association to increased mortality in non-smokers, according to a new study. The results provide a more accurate way to gauge second-hand smoke exposure than questionnaires, and present a strong case for more stringent limits on smoking and increased preventive screenings for those more likely to ... read more

Having a Happy Spouse Could Be Good for Your Health

Sep. 26, 2016 — New research finds that having a happy spouse may be related to better health, at least among middle-aged and older ... read more

Women With Hearing Loss More Likely to Have Preterm or Low Birth Weight Babies

Sep. 26, 2016 — The first study of birth outcomes in women with hearing loss finds significant differences when compared to women without hearing loss, scientists ... read more

Does Physical Activity Lower the Risk of Bacterial Infections?

Sep. 24, 2016 — The risk of viral infections is known to be affected by physical activity, but little information is available regarding the more serious infections caused by bacteria. In a new study, investigators examined the relationship between leisure-time physical activity and suspected bacterial infections during a one-year follow ... read more

Ouch! Avoiding Failure Leads to Missed Opportunities for Children With ADHD

Sep. 23, 2016 — Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are potentially more exposed to reproaches than typically developing children, explain researchers. A behavioral experiment on reward and punishment highlights the cumulative effect of punishment in children with ... read more

Mark Zuckerberg And Priscilla Chan Want To Cure Every Single Disease

Smoking Can Cause Damage To Your DNA, Even Years After You Quit

Excess Levels Of Dangerous Chemical Found In Tap Water Across US

The FDA Wants To Create An App That Could Save Opioid Users' Lives

Exploring the Early Universe

Hubble Finds Planet Orbiting Pair of Stars

Cosmology: Universe Has No Sense of Direction

Twin Jets Pinpoint Heart of an Active Galaxy

Sep. 22, 2016 — International teams of astronomers have used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to explore the distant corner of the Universe ... read more

Sep. 22, 2016 — Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, and a trick of nature, have confirmed the existence of a planet orbiting two stars in the system OGLE-2007-BLG-349, located 8,000 light-years away ... read more

Sep. 22, 2016 — The universe is expanding uniformly. Space isn't stretching in a preferred direction or ... read more

Sep. 21, 2016 — Two particle jets shoot out from the heart of active galaxy NGC 1052 at the speed of light, apparently originating in the vicinity of a massive black hole. Researchers have now measured the magnetic ... read more

Latest Physical/Tech Headlines

updated 5:03am EDT

Crystalline Fault Lines Provide Pathway for Solar Cell Current

Sep. 26, 2016 — A team of scientists studying solar cells made from cadmium telluride, a promising alternative to silicon, has discovered that microscopic "fault lines" within and between crystals of the material act as conductive pathways that ease the flow of electric current. This research may help explain how ... read more

Lowering the Heat Makes New Materials Possible While Saving Energy

Sep. 26, 2016 — A low-temperature process has been developed that has opened a window on the ability to combine incompatible materials, such as ceramics and plastics, into new, useful compound ... read more

Photons Do the Twist, and Scientists Can Now Measure It

Sep. 26, 2016 — Researchers have measured the twisting force, or torque, generated by light on a silicon chip. Their work holds promise for applications such as miniaturized gyroscopes and torsional sensors to measure magnetic field, which can have significant industrial and consumer ... read more

Single Photon Light Emitting Diodes for on-Chip Integration

Sep. 26, 2016 — Researchers have used layered materials to create an all-electrical quantum light emitting diodes (LED) with single-photon emission. These LEDs have potential as on-chip photon sources in quantum ... read more

Colorful Demise of a Sun-Like Star

Sep. 23, 2016 — Our sun will eventually burn out and shroud itself with stellar debris, but not for another 5 ... read more

The Death of a Planet Nursery?

Sep. 21, 2016 — The dusty disk surrounding the star TW Hydrae exhibits circular features that may signal the formation of protoplanets. Astrophysicist argue, however, that the innermost actually points to the impending dispersal of ... read more

In Rotating Galaxies, Distribution of Normal Matter Precisely Determines Gravitational Acceleration

Sep. 21, 2016 — Researchers have found a significant new relationship in spiral and irregular galaxies: the acceleration observed in rotation curves tightly correlates with the gravitational acceleration expected from the visible mass only. The discovery may alter the understanding of dark matter and the internal dynamics of ... read more

NASA Scientists Find 'Impossible' Cloud on Titan -- Again

Sep. 21, 2016 — The puzzling appearance of an ice cloud seemingly out of thin air has prompted NASA scientists to suggest that a different process than previously thought -- possibly similar to one seen over Earth's poles -- could be forming clouds on Saturn's ... read more

Computer Engineers Boost App Speeds by More Than 9 Percent

Sep. 26, 2016 — Researchers have found a way to boost the speed of computer applications by more than 9 percent. The improvement results from techniques that allow computer processors to retrieve data more ... read more

Next Generation of Statistical Tools to Be Developed for the Big Data Age

Sep. 21, 2016 — Statisticians are developing new ways to interpret the unprecedented amounts of data being generated continuously all around us. Whether it is smart phones packed full of sensors measuring your health, location and the weather, or connected cars driving past roadside monitors measuring traffic volumes or air quality, or even thousands of sensors on individual oil wells, in the world of the ... read more

Automated Screening for Childhood Communication Disorders

Sep. 23, 2016 — For children with speech and language disorders, early-childhood intervention can make a great difference in their later academic and social success. But many such children -- one study estimates 60 percent -- go undiagnosed until kindergarten or ... read more

With Great Power Comes Great Laser Science

Sep. 22, 2016 — Scientists have found a way to compress ultrashort laser pulses, increasing its peak power to half a terawatt – which is equivalent to the output of hundreds of ... read more

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Environment News

September 27, 2016

How Natural Selection Affects One Penguin Species

How Human Activities Can Rattle Solid Rock

Ice Man Otzi Was Murdered

Greenland Rising as Ice Melts

Sep. 24, 2016 — Biologists combed through 28 years' worth of data on Magellanic penguins to search for signs that natural selection -- one of the main drivers of ... read more

Sep. 22, 2016 — Utah's iconic Rainbow Bridge hums with natural and human-made vibrations, according to a new study. The study characterizes the different ways the bridge vibrates and what frequencies and energy ... read more

Sep. 23, 2016 — The copper used to make Ötzi's axe blade did not come from the Alpine region as had previously been supposed, but from ore mined in southern Tuscany. Ötzi was probably not involved in working the ... read more

Sep. 23, 2016 — A new study on the Greenland Ice Sheet provides valuable insight on climate change, using unique research methods to establish new estimates of ice loss for both modern and ancient times, says ... read more

Latest Environment Headlines

updated 5:03am EDT

New Discovery May Benefit Farmers Worldwide

Sep. 26, 2016 — Plant scientists have shown for the first time how an ancient crop teams up with a beneficial microbe to protect against a devastating fungal infection, a discovery that may benefit millions of subsistence farmers and livestock in ... read more

Shrubs More Expansive Than Trees

Sep. 26, 2016 — Shrubs are more widespread than trees in nature and on Earth. A new study explains their global success. It turns out that the multiple stems of shrubs are of key importance. This feature contributes to both better growth and better survival than in trees of similar size, according to the research team behind the ... read more

How Plants Grow New Lateral Roots: New Method Uses 3D Live Imaging

Sep. 26, 2016 — Researchers have used 3D live imaging to observe the formation process of lateral roots in plants, and clarified part of the mechanism that creates new meristematic tissue. If the root formation mechanism in plants is revealed further, this could potentially be used to control plant growth by ... read more

Ancestor of Arthropods Had the Mouth of a Penis Worm

Sep. 26, 2016 — Imagine a meter long worm with 12 stubby legs and matching sets of flaps running down the body. On the head is a large pair of spiny appendages used for grasping prey that transport victims into a circular mouth with several rows of teeth. For years, scientists have disagreed over whether this ... read more

Soil Modeling to Help Curb Climate Change

Sep. 26, 2016 — Soil is a major carbon pool, whose impact on climate change is still not fully understood. According to a recent study, however, soil carbon stocks and could be modeled more accurately by factoring in the impacts of both soil nutrient status and soil composition. Determining the volume of carbon dioxide efflux from soil is important to enabling better choices in forest management with respect to ... read more

Ocean Fronts Attract Ocean Wanderers

Sep. 21, 2016 — Foraging seabirds use oceanic fronts as an efficient means to forage for food, according to an international study that could help safeguard the future of protected ... read more

Hunt for the Truest North

Sep. 21, 2016 — If you chop a magnet in half, you end up with two smaller magnets. Both the original and the new magnets have “north” and “south” poles. But what if single north and south poles exist, just like positive and negative electric charges? These hypothetical beasts, known as “magnetic monopoles,” are an important prediction in several ... read more

Fate of Turtles, Tortoises Affected More by Habitat Than Temperature

Sep. 20, 2016 — Habitat degradation poses a greater risk to the survival of turtles and tortoises than rising global temperatures, according to new research. More than 60 per cent are listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, because they are being traded, collected for food and medicine and their habitats are being degraded. Understanding the additional impact of global warming and changes in ... read more

Oxygen Levels Were Key to Early Animal Evolution, Strongest Evidence Now Shows

Sep. 23, 2016 — It has long puzzled scientists why, after 3 billion years of nothing more complex than algae, complex animals suddenly started to appear on Earth. Now, a team of researchers has put forward some of the strongest evidence yet to support the ... read more

Bizarre New Species of Extinct Reptile Shows Dinosaurs Copied Body, Skull Shapes of Distant Relatives

Sep. 22, 2016 — Iconic dinosaur shapes were present for at least a hundred million years on our planet in animals before those dinosaurs themselves ... read more

The Scroll from En-Gedi: A High-Tech Recovery Mission

Sep. 22, 2016 — Archeologists have further unlocked writings in the ancient En-Gedi scroll -- the first severely damaged, ink-based scroll to be unrolled and identified noninvasively. Through virtual unwrapping, they have revealed it to be the earliest copy of a Pentateuchal book -- Leviticus -- ever found in a ... read more

All Non-Africans Alive Today Likely Descend from People Within a Single Migration out of Africa

Sep. 21, 2016 — A study of hundreds of new genomes from across the globe has yielded insights into modern genetic diversity and ancient population dynamics, including compelling evidence that essentially all non-Africans today descend from a single migration out ... read more

Realistic Dinosaur Model Sheds Light on Camouflage

Conservationists Say 'sustainable' Shark Fishing Is Possible

East Antarctic Meltwater Ponds Seen for First Time

Incessant Rains Flood India's Southern State

What's the Impact of the VW Emissions Cheat?

Internet Addiction Signals Mental Health ...

Half of Kids Spend Time in Home With Firearms

Earthquakes Can Trigger Other Fault Aftershocks

Sep. 20, 2016 — Beginning in 2008, Volkswagen installed software to circumvent emissions testing by turning off the nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions control system in ... read more

Sep. 18, 2016 — A new survey of internet users suggests that people who use the internet excessively may have more mental health problems. Using two scales to ... read more

Sep. 14, 2016 — About half of the children whose parents were surveyed in the United States spend time in homes that have firearms, a study of shows. However, few ... read more

Sep. 8, 2016 — A large earthquake on one fault can trigger large aftershocks on separate faults within just a few minutes. These findings have important implications for earthquake hazard prone regions like ... read more

Latest Society/Education Headlines

updated 5:03am EDT

Science Can Shape Healthy City Planning

Sep. 23, 2016 — The health gains achieved if cities were designed so that shops, facilities, work and public transportation were within walking distance of most residents have now been quantified by researchers. In a series of articles, researchers tackle how to implement timely research into city design, planning and policy to improve the health of a city’s ... read more

Marriage Made in Sunlight: Invention Merges Solar With Liquid Battery

Sep. 22, 2016 — As solar cells produce a greater proportion of total electric power, a fundamental limitation remains: the dark of night when solar cells go to sleep. Lithium-ion batteries are too expensive a solution to use on something as massive as the electric grid. A professor of chemistry has a better ... read more

New Model Could Point Way to Microbiome Forecasting in the Ocean

Sep. 22, 2016 — A new mathematical model integrates environmental and molecular sequence information to better explain how microbial networks drive nutrient and energy cycling in ... read more

New Comprehensive Approach to Inland Fisheries Management

Sep. 20, 2016 — Managing inland fisheries in the 21st century presents several obstacles including the need to view fisheries from multiple scales, which usually involves populations and resources spanning sociopolitical boundaries, say ... read more

Research Shows That How Students Engage With Feedback Is as Important as Its Content

Sep. 21, 2016 — A new research review takes a novel approach to feedback by focusing not on how it is delivered, but how students engage with and use it. The key message from the study is that effective feedback needs to be a dialogue – not a one-way ... read more

Health Benefits of Evening Classes Revealed

Sep. 20, 2016 — Those with a taste for adult education classes have long known it, but now scientists have confirmed that taking part in the weekly sessions can boost wellbeing -- regardless of the ... read more

Video Games Can Have Lasting Impact on Learning

Sep. 20, 2016 — A computer-based brain training program helps improve student performance in reading and math — in some cases even more than individualized tutoring, according to a new ... read more

Let's Talk About More Than Sex: Parents in Favor of Expanding Health Education

Sep. 19, 2016 — Teaching kids about drugs, alcohol and sex appears to be less controversial than ever before but parents want to see health education classes cover ... read more

Rushing to Complete Work on Deadline Could Mean More Mistakes

Sep. 19, 2016 — When deadlines are in place, workers tend to complete their tasks at the last minute, often leading to lower quality outcomes, shows a new ... read more

'Sleeper Effect' Accounts for Durability of Weak Messages from Credible Sources

Sep. 13, 2016 — The least convincing arguments can reverberate in the public consciousness over time -- provided they're delivered by a credible source, explains new ... read more

Group Work Can Harm Memory

Sep. 13, 2016 — Collaborating in a group to remember information is harmful, new research suggests. The research statistically analysed 64 earlier collaborative remembering studies and found that groups recall less than their individual members would if working ... read more

Women Do Ask for Pay Rises but Don’t Get Them

Sep. 5, 2016 — New research shows that women ask for wage rises just as often as men, but men are 25 per cent more likely to get a raise when they ... read more

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