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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for April 6, 2018:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Dark matter might not be interactive after allAstronomers are back in the dark about what dark matter might be, after new observations showed the mysterious substance may not be interacting with forces other than gravity after all. Dr Andrew Robertson of Durham University will today (Friday 6 April) present the new results at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science in Liverpool. |
 | Giant solar tornadoes put researchers in a spinDespite their appearance solar tornadoes are not rotating after all, according to a European team of scientists. A new analysis of these gigantic structures, each one several times the size of the Earth, indicates that they may have been misnamed because scientists have so far only been able to observe them using 2-dimensional images. Dr Nicolas Labrosse will present the work, carried out by researchers at the University of Glasgow, Paris Observatory, University of Toulouse, and Czech Academy of Sciences, at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS) in Liverpool on Friday 6 April. |
 | ASU Online science course brings to life a new way of teachingArizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration recently released new research on its flagship Smart Course, Habitable Worlds, published in the peer-reviewed journal, Astrobiology. The study found that its student-centered, exploration-focused design resulted in high course grades and demonstrable mastery of content. |
 | How many stars to expect in Gaia's second data releaseAs astronomers worldwide are preparing to explore the second data release of ESA's Gaia satellite, the Data Processing and Analysing Consortium announced just how many sources will be included in the new catalogue, which will be made public on 25 April. |
 | Hunting for dark matter in the smallest galaxies in the UniverseAstrophysicists from the University of Surrey and the University of Edinburgh have created a new method to measure the amount of dark matter at the centre of tiny "dwarf" galaxies. |
 | Space-based telescope can image Earth and beyondLawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have developed and tested an optical telescope system that can be used for Earth and space observation. |
 | Image: Ariane 5's second launch of 2018An Ariane 5, operated by Arianespace, has delivered the DSN-1/Superbird-8 and Hylas-4 telecom satellites into their planned orbits. |
 | Image: Gullies of Matara CraterGullies on Martian sand dunes, like these in Matara Crater, have been very active, with many flows in the last 10 years. The flows typically occur when seasonal frost is present. |
Technology news
 | Firefox Reality beckons our browser futureIn theory, what a concept. Augmented reality and virtual reality experiences right here right now. |
 | Samsung Electronics flags record $14.7 bn Q1 operating profitSamsung Electronics flagged Friday a first-quarter operating profit of 15.6 trillion won ($14.7 billion), a record for any three-month period, as it benefited from soaring demand for its memory chips for mobile devices. |
 | Amazon ignores Trump's attacks as it molds a business empireOnline retail giant Amazon is ignoring Donald Trump's barrage of taunts and threats, focusing instead on expanding its reach into a swath of industries that the president's broadsides haven't come close to hitting. |
 | Facebook: Most users may have had public data 'scraped'Facebook's acknowledgement that most of its 2.2 billion members have probably had their personal data scraped by "malicious actors" is the latest example of the social network's failure to protect its users' data. |
Facebook's facial recognition violates user privacy, watchdog groups plan to tell FTCAlready under siege over loose privacy controls and Russian manipulation, Facebook is about to be challenged on another issue: facial recognition. | |
Refill app: This company will bring the gas pump to youIf you could use an app to send someone to fill your car's empty gas tank while you were at work, would you do it? | |
Toyota's Plano-based CEO talks self-driving cars and the real reason the automaker suspended testingWhen a woman crossing an Arizona street was struck and killed by a self-driving Uber car late last month, it sparked a swift public reckoning over the near-term future of autonomous vehicle testing on public roads. | |
Amazon and Lidl are creating upheaval for big Charlotte grocers, new report showsThe arrival of Lidl and Amazon's massive purchase of Whole Foods last summer appear to have put pressure on the area's top grocers last year, costing them market share and pushing them to roll out creative ways to win over customers. | |
During bombings, robots played key role for Austin policeOn the morning of March 21, a white Austin police bomb squad truck pulled out of an obscure city facility near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and rolled north, toward Pflugerville. | |
South Florida startups taste the one thing they've been missing: moneySouth Florida startups are finally being shown the money. | |
 | Russian regulator moves to block Telegram messaging appRussia's telecoms watchdog on Friday asked a Moscow court to block the popular messaging app Telegram after the expiry of a deadline for it to give the state security services access to private conversations. |
 | Double perovskites in environmentally friendly solar cellsResearchers have taken a step toward manufacturing solar cells from lead-free perovskites. High-quality films based on double perovskites, which show promising photovoltaic properties, have been developed in collaboration between Linköping University, Sweden, and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. |
 | More accurate biopsy by augmented realityThe University of Twente is currently developing a smartphone technology based on the usage of Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) and augmented reality (AR). This technology enables medical personnel to reconstruct 3-D body sections quickly, only by holding the smartphone around the area of interest. This smartphone will display the augmented layers of the 3-D skin surface in order to visualize invisible information for medical personnel. |
 | Solar PV and wind are on track to replace all coal, oil and gas within two decadesSolar photovoltaic and wind power are rapidly getting cheaper and more abundant – so much so that they are on track to entirely supplant fossil fuels worldwide within two decades, with the time frame depending mostly on politics. The protestation from some politicians that we need to build new coal stations sounds rather quaint. |
 | Our ongoing love-hate relationship with personality testsThe public backlash against Cambridge Analytica and Facebook centres on their practices of harvesting psychological data to influence political behaviour. But this is not the first time corporations have used personality tests for their own gains. |
 | Putting the 'smart' in manufacturing"Although smartphones and tablets are ubiquitous, many of the companies that make our everyday consumer products still rely on paper trails and manually updated spreadsheets to keep track of their production processes and delivery schedules," says Leyuan Shi, a professor of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. |
 | Better roads essential for safer cyclingA QUT-led study of Queensland motorists and cyclists recommends that efforts to improve cyclist safety during overtaking events should focus on improving roadway infrastructure. |
 | Facebook says it should have audited Cambridge AnalyticaFacebook's No. 2 executive says the company should have conducted an audit after learning that a political consultancy improperly accessed user data nearly three years ago. |
 | Up to 2.7 million Europeans affected by Facebook data scandal: EUFacebook has admitted it may have "improperly shared" the personal data of up to 2.7 million people in the European Union, the bloc announced Friday, saying it would demand further answers from the social media giant. |
 | Best Buy warns of data breachBest Buy is warning that some of its customers' payment information may have been compromised in a data breach. |
 | Smartphone 'scores' can help doctors track severity of Parkinson's disease symptomsParkinson's disease, a progressive brain disorder, is often tough to treat effectively because symptoms, such as tremors and walking difficulties, can vary dramatically over a period of days, or even hours. |
 | Facebook to verify identities for political adsFacebook announced Friday that it will require any political ads on its platform to state who is paying for the message, and would verify the identity of the payer, in a bid to curb outside election interference. |
 | Japan's hacked crypto exchange Coincheck bought outJapanese online broker Monex Group said Friday it would buy virtual currency exchange Coincheck, which was hit by a massive hack that saw thieves steal hundreds of millions of dollars in virtual currency. |
Facebook faces Indonesia investigation over privacy breachIndonesian government said Friday it is investigating Facebook over the privacy breach of its Indonesian users. | |
 | German carmakers worst hit by China tariffs: studyGerman carmakers with big US operations like BMW and Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler would be worse hit by proposed Chinese import tariffs than American auto firms, a study has found. |
 | India defence website 'hacked', three other govt websites downIndia's defence minister said the department website was hacked on Friday, with the web portals of at least three other government departments including the interior, law and labour ministries also appearing to be down. |
Medicine & Health news
 | Drug helps mouse and monkey brains recover from strokeA team of researchers from several institutions in Japan has found that a certain drug in conjunction with physical therapy has resulted in improved recovery from a stroke in mice and monkeys. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their study of the impact of the drug on mice and monkeys and what they found. Simon Rumpel with the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany offers a Perspectives piece on the work done by the team in the same issue, and also offers an outline on other therapies being developed to treat stroke victims. |
 | Scientists build better way to decode the genomeThe genome is the body's instruction manual. It contains the raw information—in the form of DNA—that determines everything from whether an animal walks on four legs or two, to one's potential risk for disease. But this manual is written in the language of biology, so making sense of all that it encodes has proven challenging. Now, Columbia University researchers have developed a computational tool that shines a light on the genome's most hard-to-translate segments. With this tool in hand, scientists can get closer to understanding how DNA guides everything from growth and development to aging and disease. |
 | Older Americans are hooked on vitamins despite scarce evidence they workWhen she was a young physician, Dr. Martha Gulati noticed that many of her mentors were prescribing vitamin E and folic acid to patients. Preliminary studies in the early 1990s had linked both supplements to a lower risk of heart disease. |
 | IBM lab designs molecule to kill drug-resistant superbugsAs a scientist at IBM's Almaden Research Laboratory, James Hedrick was well aware of the global problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can turn a minor scrape into a death sentence. |
 | The link between losing a relative during pregnancy and the mental health of the childWhen a close relative dies, the stress can be overwhelming. But for many adults and children, mourning and grief often give way to healing. |
 | Pesky mosquitoes provide neural implant solutionBrain scientists face a dilemma: Conventional wire implants are rigid and can sometimes traumatize that sensitive, vital organ; but softer materials now being tested by researchers, have their own problems—they often bend or buckle and can't be easily forced into squishy tissue inside the skull. |
 | New rapid-fire method using pathology images, tumor data may help guide cancer therapiesBy combining data on pathology images of 13 types of cancer and correlating that with clinical and genomic data, a Stony Brook University-led team of researchers are able to identify tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), called TIL maps, which will enable cancer specialists to generate tumor-immune information from routinely gathered pathology slides. Published in Cell Reports , the paper details how TIL maps are related to the molecular characterization of tumors and patient survival. The method may provide a foundation on how to better diagnose and create a treatment plan for cancers that are responsive to immune-based anti-cancer therapy, such as melanoma, lung, bladder, and certain types of colon cancer. |
 | Using mathematical models to determine the best chemotherapy schedulesCan mathematical models predict how can cancer cells respond to varied chemotherapy schedules? In other words, should cancers associated with fast-growing tumors, like brain cancer, be treated using a low drug dose administered continuously, as opposed to a high drug dose given periodically? |
 | Massive single-cell survey of kidney cell types reveals new paths to diseaseThe kidney is a highly complex organ - far beyond a simple filter. Its function requires intricate interactions between many highly specialized cell types to extract waste, balances body fluids, form urine, regulate blood pressure, and secrete hormones. New research from a team in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shines a light on specific cell types that drive normal or diseased kidney function at the molecular level. |
What is the best way to treat infected hip replacements?New research has found treating an infected hip replacement in a single stage procedure may be as effective or better than the widely used two-stage procedure. To date no well-designed study has compared these procedures head-to-head to decide if one is better or if they achieve the same results. Hip replacement is a very common operation that is effective at providing pain relief and improving mobility, however, infection can sometimes occur following joint replacement. The findings have wide implications for orthopaedic surgery, the NHS, and health systems worldwide. | |
 | More evidence shows exposure to traffic and outdoor air pollution increases risk of asthmaLong-term exposure to high levels of road traffic and ozone significantly increases the risk of asthma symptoms, asthma attacks or the need for use of asthma medications, according to a new study published in the European Respiratory Journal. |
 | School lunch decisions made by the child and not the parentWhile 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. |
 | New blood test found to predict onset of TB up to two years in advanceA 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 research published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, an American Thoracic Society journal. |
 | New brain cells in the old? Study stokes debatePeople as old as 79 may still generate new brain cells, US researchers said Thursday, stoking fresh debate among scientists over what happens to our brains when we age. |
 | ACA marketplaces expand coverage for chronically ill(HealthDay)—The Affordable Care Act's Marketplaces covered a disproportionate share of non-elderly adults with high health care risks in the 2014 to 2015 time period, according to a study published in the April issue of Health Affairs. |
 | Sex differences persist in academic rank for neurologists(HealthDay)—Sex differences persist in academic rank among neurologists, with men more likely to be full professors, according to a study published online April 2 in JAMA Neurology. |
Heart sends out signals to fatty tissueOverweight patients are often told that extra pounds are bad for their hearts. | |
 | How to get the most out of nappingWhile closing your eyes for a few minutes during your busy day may seem like a good idea, it's important to consider the effects napping may bring. |
Dexcom wins FDA approval for next generation of glucose monitors for diabetesSan Diego's Dexcom has won regulatory approval for its latest continuous glucose monitoring system that eliminates the need for finger pricks and is nearly one-third smaller than its current wearable sensor for diabetes patients. | |
 | Q&A: Insomnia—what to do when you can't sleepDear Mayo Clinic: What is the best way to eliminate insomnia? For almost a year, I've had trouble getting much sleep. I've tried over-the-counter medications, but they aren't very effective. |
 | 'Aggressive' new advance directive would let dementia patients refuse foodTreading into ethically and legally uncertain territory, a New York end-of-life agency has approved a new document that lets people stipulate in advance that they don't want food or water if they develop severe dementia. |
A potential new therapeutic target for Ewing sarcomaThe sarcoma research group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), led by Dr. Òscar Martínez-Tirado, has identified a potential new therapeutic target for Ewing sarcoma, the second most frequent bone cancer in children and adolescents, and a tumor known for its aggressiveness and tendency to metastasize. The research is published in the International Journal of Cancer. | |
 | Tips for students to avoid burnoutBetween school, homework and extracurricular activities, it can be hard for students to balance all of their responsibilities, which can lead to a feeling of being burned out. Baylor College of Medicine's Dr. Karen Lawson gives her tips on how students can avoid feeling this way. |
 | Three-quarters of COPD cases are linked to childhood risk factors that are exacerbated in adulthoodThree-quarters of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cases have their origins in poor lung function pathways beginning in childhood. These pathways are associated with exposures in childhood, and amplified by factors in adulthood, according to a cohort study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. |
 | Research toward healing the hearts of children with DuchenneAfter a progressive weakening of the muscles takes away their motor skills, and then their abilities to stand and walk, most males with Duchenne muscular dystrophy die of heart and respiratory failure in their 20s. |
PCSK9 inhibitors have unexpected anti-inflammatory effectsPCSK9 inhibition is a new therapeutic strategy for atherosclerosis which is known to lower LDL cholesterol. Research from Karolinska Institutet, presented at the ESC Congress last year and now published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, shows that PCSK9 inhibitors could ameliorate cardiovascular disease by immune mechanisms that are independent of LDL lowering. | |
Study calls attention to cyclist-motorist collisionsWhile deaths from cyclist-motorist collisions are relatively rare, nearly half of them can be attributed to driver fault and following too closely, according to Western researchers. | |
 | Doctors should consider using e-cigarettes to help patients who have repeatedly failed to quit tobacco, a new study saysGrowing evidence of the effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a quitting aid means doctors should consider recommending them as a less harmful alternative for patients who have repeatedly failed to stop smoking tobacco with approved treatments, a new study concludes. |
Lung diseases share molecular signatureThe fibrotic lung diseases BPD (bronchopulmonary dysplasia) and IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) affect preterm infants and older adults, respectively. Evidence suggests that these diseases involve dysregulation of lung repair processes, including Wnt signaling. | |
 | Early intervention may minimise later lung problemsA major study has found that controlling asthma through appropriate monitoring and medication is among several variables that can affect whether someone develops chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in later life. |
 | Reducing severity of PTSD symptoms long-term holds significant public-health and economic implicationsBoth civilians and military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reap long-term benefits from psychotherapies used for short-term treatment, according to a new study from Case Western Reserve University. |
 | Soft drinks sugar tax to tackle obesity 'has already had an effect'The Soft Drinks Industry Levy charges manufacturers based on the amount of sugar added to beverages. Campaigners hope it will reduce obesity levels and improve health. |
 | Young people with ADHD 'more likely' to come from deprived neighbourhoodsChildren and young adults diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are twice as likely to come from the most socio-economically deprived neighbourhoods in England than the least deprived, new research has found. |
 | Two thirds of young children do not do enough physical activityThe largest global study to examine physical activity in children aged between two and five years old has found 66 per cent of children are not getting the nationally recommended three hours of daily physical activity needed for their growth and development. |
Mapping facial expressions to explain Bell's palsy, a puzzling facial paralysisEvery year, about 40,000 Americans are afflicted with Bell's palsy, a temporary paralysis of the facial muscles that can manifest as muscle twitching and drooping at the corners of the mouth and eyelids. | |
 | High-deductible health plans raise risk of financial ruin for vulnerable Americans, study findsHigh-deductible health plans are touted for their money-saving potential, but a new USC study finds that they can greatly increase the risk of high out-of-pocket health care costs for Americans who are low income or chronically ill—and may topple them into financial disaster. |
Poverty increases risk of non-communicable diseases in lower income countriesPoverty increases the risk of death and disability from non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes in low- and middle-income countries, a new systematic review shows. Researchers also found evidence that developing an NCD increases the risk of falling into poverty in these countries. | |
 | New needle device to revolutionise biopsies and reduce scarringWith at least two in three Australians diagnosed with skin cancer before the age of 70, monitoring moles and skin is vital in detecting skin cancer early for a generation of people who spent much of their upbringing in the sun (often with little to no protection). |
New blood test useful to detect people at risk of developing Alzheimer's diseaseThere is, as yet, no cure for Alzheimer's disease. It is often argued that progress in drug research has been hampered by the fact that the disease can only be diagnosed when it is too late for an effective intervention. 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. | |
 | New study to test the role of cortisol on pregnancy in women on IVFA new study by experts at the University of Nottingham and CARE Fertility is to explore the role of the stress hormone 'cortisol' on pregnancy in women undergoing IVF treatment. |
The missing piece in fighting Africa's malnutrition problemsAfrica has made great progress in the fight against malnutrition. Between 2000 and 2016 Senegal, Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Togo, Cameroon and Angola reduced undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting and child mortality by up to 56%. | |
 | Food allergy is linked to skin exposure and geneticsInfant and childhood food allergy, whose cause has long been a mystery, has now been linked to a mix of environmental and genetic factors that must coexist to trigger the allergy, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. |
Romania measles epidemic: baby dies, death toll reaches 46Romanian health authorities say a nine-month old baby has died of measles, the 46th fatality from an epidemic that has struck the country over the past year. | |
 | Unexpected finding may deter disabling diabetic eye diseaseDiabetic retinopathy is considered one of the most disabling complications of diabetes and the leading cause of new cases of vision loss among adults. |
 | Kids in tough neighborhoods head to ER more often(HealthDay)—Growing up in a disadvantaged neighborhood may mean more visits to the emergency room, a new study suggests. |
 | Sometimes, headaches can be an emergency. Here's when.(HealthDay)—Nearly everyone has a headache now and then. Most of the time, relief is just an over-the-counter pill away. Other times, learning ways to relax and relieve tension, or getting treatment for sinus infections can get rid of your headaches. |
 | New hope against disease that brings a colorless world(HealthDay)—Imagine a world in black and white. |
 | COPD is an adult killer, but its origins may lie in childhood(HealthDay)—COPD may seem like an adult disease, often tied to smoking. But two new studies suggest it could have roots in life's earliest years. |
 | PET tracer could help predict treatment effectiveness for depressionA 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. |
Telemedicine provides accurate diagnosis of rare cause of blindness in preemiesAccurately 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 published in JAMA Ophthalmology suggests. This is believed to be the first study to directly compare the two approaches. | |
 | New study highlights benefits of weekly nutrition classes to improve type 2 diabetesPrescriptions are not enough—diet changes and nutrition education make the difference in people with diabetes, according to a study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. |
 | Myocarditis rare side effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors(HealthDay)—Myocarditis in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) may be more common than previously thought, according to a study published online March 19 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. |
 | Quality improvement initiative cuts early elective deliveries(HealthDay)—A statewide quality improvement initiative can reduce early elective deliveries, according to a study published in the April issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. |
 | Glycemic extremes in T1DM impact cognitive skills in kids(HealthDay)—Type 1 diabetes is associated with cognitive dysfunction in children, according to a review published online March 23 in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation. |
 | Factors ID'd for breastfeeding behavior in women with BMI >30(HealthDay)—Five psychological factors are associated with breastfeeding behaviors among women with a body mass index ≥30 kg/m², according to a review published online March 24 in Obesity Reviews. |
 | High-intensity exercise harmful in arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy(HealthDay)—High-intensity exercise in an independent marker for ventricular arrhythmia (VA) in arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (AC), according to a study published online March 28 in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology. |
 | Leukemia, and its treatment, may pose neurocognitive risks(HealthDay)—Underlying leukemia, even before chemotherapy, may pose a neurocognitive risk to young patients, according to a study published online March 29 in JAMA Oncology. |
 | Early intervention service cuts suicide rate in schizophrenia(HealthDay)—Early intervention (EI) services seem to improve the suicide rate for patients with first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum (FES) disorders, according to a study published online April 4 in JAMA Psychiatry. |
 | Roche seals takeover of cancer data upstart FlatironSwiss pharmaceutical giant Roche on Friday said it has completed its acquisition of US oncology data leader Flatiron Health, a tech upstart that has runs a huge platform of cancer patient records. |
13 die of cholera in NE Nigeria: officialThirteen people have died of cholera in the northeast Nigerian state of Yobe in the past week, the state health commissioner said Friday, blaming the outbreak on contaminated water. | |
New recommendations for endoscopic eradication therapy in Barrett's esophagusThe latest issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the official journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE), includes a new society guideline on use of endoscopic eradication therapy Barrett's esophagus. | |
Out-of-pocket expenses for chronic heart disease care inflict heavy financial burdens for low-income familiesCumulative out-of-pocket expenses for the treatment of chronic heart disease led to significant financial burdens for low-income families, even for those with health insurance, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2018, a premier global exchange of the latest advances in quality of care and outcomes research in cardiovascular disease and stroke for researchers, healthcare professionals and policymakers. | |
Can you recover from nerve gas poisoning?As poisoned Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal was said to be on the mend Friday, toxicology experts warned the nerve agent used on him could leave long-term damage. | |
Michigan approves ban on antidepressant tianeptine sodiumMichigan's governor has signed what's been described by state police as the nation's first statewide ban on the antidepressant tianeptine sodium. | |
Biology news
 | Bacteria can pass on memory to descendants, researchers discoverLed by scientists at UCLA, an international team of researchers has discovered that bacteria have a "memory" that passes sensory knowledge from one generation of cells to the next, all without a central nervous system or any neurons. |
 | Scientists discover hybrid swarm in global mega-pestCSIRO scientists have confirmed the hybridisation of two of the world's major pest species, into a new and improved mega-pest. |
 | A new class of antibiotics to combat drug resistanceResearchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Nosopharm, a biotechnology company based in Lyon, France, are part of an international team reporting on the discovery of a new class of antibiotics. |
 | Nova-like explosion of spinning live bacteria explainedSuspensions of live bacteria in a viscous liquid do not act as expected when spun at certain speeds and now a team of researchers know why the bacterial aggregation appears to explode when the spinning stops. |
 | Experts team up to study bluefin tuna and confirm return to UK watersAtlantic bluefin tuna are known for being amongst the biggest, fastest and most valuable fish in the sea. |
 | In Cambodia, fears tarantula may go off the menuWhile a plate piled high with hairy, palm-sized tarantulas is the stuff of nightmares for some, these garlic fried spiders are a coveted treat in Cambodia, where the only fear is that they may soon vanish due to deforestation and unchecked hunting. |
 | Index measures similarity between cancer cells and pluripotent stem cellsThe theory that cancer progression involves tumor cells acquiring features similar to those of stem cells has gained strength in the scientific community. According to this theory, tumor cells become dissimilar from their originating tissue as the disease progresses, acquiring an undifferentiated phenotype associated with heightened aggressiveness and treatment resistance. |
Human brain drug uncovers key to plant stress responseUniversity of Adelaide research has discovered that drugs used in the treatment of certain brain disorders, including epilepsy, also alter the signalling process in plants under stress. | |
 | Wild horses living on the Channel Islands face an uncertain future on the mainlandIt's hot at El Campeon Farms, even for early August. A hard wind accompanies the heat, blowing through the Conejo Valley, where this horse ranch sits in Southern California. Abby Followwill is saddled on a horse named Vince. His golden-brown coat and blond mane stand out against the saturated blue sky and dusty corral where Followwill is training with him. |
 | New study shows climate change is wreaking havoc on delicate relationship between orchids and beesThe first definitive demonstration of climate change upsetting the vital interdependent relationships between species has been revealed, thanks to a study led by the University of Sussex. |
 | Chickens remain optimistic in enriched environments despite exposure to stressChickens 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. |
Mechanism vital to keeping blood stem cells functional uncoveredHematopoietic stem cells, that form mature blood cells, require a very precise amount of protein to function – and defective regulation of protein production is common in certain types of aggressive human blood cancers. Now, a research team at Lund University in Sweden has uncovered a completely new mechanism that controls how proteins are produced to direct stem cell function. | |
Sowing strips of flowering plants has limited effect on pollinationMany pollinating insects benefit from a small-scale agricultural landscape with pastures, meadows and other unploughed environments. In landscapes dominated by arable land, they lack both food and nesting places. Sown flower strips can increase the availability of food for pollinating insects, and are therefore assumed to benefit pollination. However, new research from Lund University in Sweden shows that the effect of the sown flower strips on pollination is limited and cannot compensate for the advantages of a varied landscape. | |
 | Bolivia's jaguars facing threat from Chinese fang crazeBolivia's once-thriving jaguar population is loping into the cross-hairs of a growing threat from poachers responding to growing Chinese demand for the animal's teeth and skull. |
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