Friday, August 23, 2019

Science X Newsletter Friday, Aug 23

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for August 23, 2019:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

A wearable system to assist visually impaired people

Scurrying roaches help researchers steady staggering robots

Engineering collagen-binding serum albumin (CBD-SA) as a drug conjugate carrier for cancer therapy

After using tools, crows behave more optimistically, study suggests

How memories form and fade

'100-year' floods will happen every 1 to 30 years, according to new flood maps

Cheap combo pill cuts heart, stroke risks, study finds

Big brains or big guts: Choose one

Researchers advance organ-on-chip technology to advance drug development

Scientists a step closer to saving northern white rhino from extinction

Complex quantum teleportation achieved for the first time

Mapping nucleation kinetics with nanometer resolution

Bioinspired robots can now learn to swarm on the go

30 years ago: Voyager 2's historic Neptune flyby

Manta rays form social bonds with each other

Astronomy & Space news

30 years ago: Voyager 2's historic Neptune flyby

Thirty years ago, on Aug. 25, 1989, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft made a close flyby of Neptune, giving humanity its first close-up of our solar system's eighth planet. Marking the end of the Voyager mission's Grand Tour of the solar system's four giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune—that first was also a last: No other spacecraft has visited Neptune since.

Habitable type planets found around nearby small mass star

A team of researchers from several European countries and one from Chile has found evidence of three possibly habitable exoplanets circling the star GJ1061. In their paper uploaded to the arXiv preprint server, and soon to be published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the group describes their study of the star system and what they found.

Q&A: Scientist models exoplanet's atmosphere

In the search for life beyond our galaxy, many scientists have their eyes turned toward orbs like Earth: rocky planets. So after the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) detected a rocky planet slightly larger than Earth last fall, a team of researchers launched a campaign to take additional images with the Spitzer Space Telescope, the only telescope currently in space that can directly detect a planet's infrared light. The telescope produced pictures smaller than 1 pixel—1/94 of an inch—like a speck of dust with which to make predictions about the planet's habitability.

Scientists explore outback as testbed for Mars

This week, scientists from NASA's upcoming Mars 2020 mission joined their counterparts from the joint European-Russian ExoMars mission in an expedition to the Australian Outback, one of the most remote, arid regions on the planet. Both teams came to hone their research techniques before their missions launch to the Red Planet next summer in search of signs of past life on Mars.

Rolling Stones get name on little Martian rock that rolled

There is now a "Rolling Stones Rock" on Mars, and it's giving Mick, Keith and the boys some serious satisfaction.

Technology news

A wearable system to assist visually impaired people

New technological advances could have important implications for those affected by disabilities, offering valuable assistance throughout their everyday lives. One key example of this is the guidance that technological tools could provide to the visually impaired (VI), individuals that are either partially or entirely blind.

Scurrying roaches help researchers steady staggering robots

Ew, a cockroach! But it zips off before the swatter appears. Now, researchers have leveraged the bug's superb scurrying skills to create a cleverly simple method to assess and improve locomotion in robots.

Researchers advance organ-on-chip technology to advance drug development

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed an organ-on-an-electronic-chip platform, which uses bioelectrical sensors to measure the electrophysiology of the heart cells in three dimensions. These 3-D, self-rolling biosensor arrays coil up over heart cell spheroid tissues to form an "organ-on-e-chip," thus enabling the researchers to study how cells communicate with each other in multicellular systems such as the heart.

Bioinspired robots can now learn to swarm on the go

A new generation of swarming robots which can independently learn and evolve new behaviors in the wild is one step closer, thanks to research from the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England (UWE).

Energizing buildings

A solar façade developed at ETH Zurich combines electricity production with intelligent shading to achieve optimal energy balance.

Volocopter gets safety nod in push for air taxis of the future

How far off are we from hopping on and off air taxis as a familiar local mode of transport? Eyes this week were fixed on one company aggressively keeping up its bit to open commercial routes and bring this type of mobility to life.

Russia launches floating nuclear reactor in Arctic despite warnings

Russia launched the world's first floating nuclear reactor on Friday, sending it on an epic journey across the Arctic, despite environmentalists warning of a "Chernobyl on ice."

FAA puts out a call for pilots to test changes in Boeing jet

Federal safety officials are recruiting pilots from airlines around the world to test changes that Boeing is making to the flight-control software on the grounded 737 Max jet, according to two people briefed on the situation.

Focusing computational power for more accurate, efficient weather forecasts

They say if you don't like the weather, just wait awhile. But how long you wait may depend on your location—the weather changes much faster and more violently in some geographic areas compared to others, which can mean that current weather prediction models may be slow and inefficient.

Singularity: How governments can halt the rise of unfriendly, unstoppable super-AI

The invention of an artificial super-intelligence has been a central theme in science fiction since at least the 19th century. From E.M. Forster's short story The Machine Stops (1909) to the recent HBO television series Westworld, writers have tended to portray this possibility as an unmitigated disaster. But this issue is no longer one of fiction. Prominent contemporary scientists and engineers are now also worried that super-AI could one day surpass human intelligence (an event known as the "singularity") and become humanity's "worst mistake."

Futurology: How a group of visionaries predicted today's world a century ago

From shamanic ritual to horoscopes, humans have always tried to predict the future. Today, trusting predictions and prophecies has become part of daily life. From the weather forecast to the time the sat-nav says we will reach our destination, our lives are built around futuristic fictions.

Walmart, Tesla pause in legal fight over fiery solar panels

Walmart said Friday that is working on a resolution with Tesla after the retailing giant sued the electric car company's energy division for installing rooftop solar panels that caught fire.

Researchers use machine learning to teach robots how to trek through unknown terrains

A team of Australian researchers has designed a reliable strategy for testing physical abilities of humanoid robots—robots that resemble the human body shape in their build and design. Using a blend of machine learning methods and algorithms, the research team succeeded in enabling test robots to effectively react to unknown changes in the simulated environment, improving their odds of functioning in the real world.

Appeals court insulates Qualcomm from FTC's antitrust win

A federal appeals court is temporarily protecting Qualcomm from an antitrust ruling that would have forced the mobile chipmaker to drastically change how it licenses key technology for connecting smartphones to the internet.

US wants woman accused in Capital One hack to stay locked up

A woman accused of hacking Capital One and at least 30 other organizations is a flight risk, a threat and should be kept locked up until her trial, U.S. prosecutors said in court documents filed ahead of a Friday detention hearing in Seattle.

US charges 80 in internet fraud and money laundering scheme

US authorities on Thursday announced charges against 80 people, most of them Nigerians, in a wide-ranging fraud and money laundering operation that netted millions of dollars from victims of internet con jobs.

China's 'barefoot architects' are transforming left-behind rural villages

China is urbanizing at breakneck speed. Hundreds of millions of people have migrated from rural areas to cities in search of jobs or higher wages, even as the government commissions new buildings and infrastructure in less populated places, to try to even out development.

BA pilots to strike for three days in September

British Airways pilots on Friday said they will strike for three days in September in a dispute over pay, in a move that could affect tens of thousands of travellers.

Google tells workers to avoid arguing politics in house

Google on Friday told employees to focus on work instead of heated debates about politics with colleagues at the internet company, which has long been known for encouraging people to speak their minds.

Transat shareholders accept Air Canada takeover

Tour operator Transat's shareholders on Friday voted overwhelmingly in support of a takeover bid by Canada's flagship airline Air Canada for Can$720 million (US$540 million), creating a domestic giant with a 60 percent share of the Canadian travel market.

Medicine & Health news

Engineering collagen-binding serum albumin (CBD-SA) as a drug conjugate carrier for cancer therapy

Medical researchers often use serum albumin (SA) as a drug carrier to deliver cytotoxic agents to tumors during biomedical drug delivery via passive targeting approaches. To improve the targeting capacity of SA's a team of scientists recently developed an approach to retain SA-drug conjugates in tumors by combining passive and active targeting mechanisms. In the new study, Koichi Sasaki and colleagues in the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering in the University of Chicago, U.S., recombinantly fused SA with a collagen-binding domain (CBD) of the von Willebrand factor protein. The approach allowed binding within the tumor stroma after drug release, due to tumor-vascular permeability. The work is now published on Science Advances.

How memories form and fade

Why is it that you can remember the name of your childhood best friend that you haven't seen in years yet easily forget the name of a person you just met a moment ago? In other words, why are some memories stable over decades, while others fade within minutes?

Cheap combo pill cuts heart, stroke risks, study finds

A cheap daily pill that combines four drugs cut the risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart failure in a large study, suggesting it could be a good way to help prevent heart problems especially in poor countries.

Researchers develop early detection test for ovarian cancer

Researchers from Queen's University Belfast have developed a test that may be able to detect ovarian cancer up to two years earlier than current approaches.

New vaccine targets killer disease tuberculosis

There is only one existing vaccine for TB and it is not effective in adults. Researchers at the Centenary Institute and University of Sydney will next test their new vaccine in clinical trials with humans.

Genome screen uncovers new targets for cancer immunotherapy

Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of cancer in the last decade, yet many tumors do not respond to these new therapies. A new genome-wide screen of 20,000 human genes in T cells have turned up several new candidates to unleash the immune system's ability to attack a variety of tumor types, Yale researchers report Aug. 22 in the journal Cell.

Antibiotic usage associated with increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis

A new study has provided evidence that antibiotic usage is associated with an increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

Epilepsy causes brain's defenses to collapse

What happens during an epileptic seizure? A recent study suggests that seizures occur after certain defense cells in the brain break down.

Researchers find a way to stop lung damage due to the body's immune response

University of Calgary researchers at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) led by Drs. Donna Senger, Ph.D., Paul Kubes, Ph.D., and Stephen Robbins, Ph.D. have discovered a new way to stop harmful inflammation in the lungs due to sepsis and injury.

Study shows frying oil consumption worsened colon cancer and colitis in mice

Foods fried in vegetable oil are popular worldwide, but research about the health effects of this cooking technique has been largely inconclusive and focused on healthy people. For the first time, UMass Amherst food scientists set out to examine the impact of frying oil consumption on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colon cancer, using animal models.

Brain's astrocytes play starring role in long-term memory

Star-shaped cells called astrocytes help the brain establish long-lasting memories, Salk researchers have discovered. The new work adds to a growing body of evidence that astrocytes, long considered to be merely supportive cells in the brain, may have more of a leading role. The study, published in the journal Glia on July 26, 2019, could inform therapies for disorders in which long-term memory is impaired, such as traumatic brain injury or dementia.

Tech time not to blame for teens' mental health problems

A new study, published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, suggests that the time adolescents are spending on their phones and online is not that bad.

Systemic failures in public health system led to deaths in elderly patients

The deaths of 17 elderly people earlier this summer were the result of systemic failures in the public health system in England, according to a leading public health expert.

Child death rate linked to hospital preparedness for pediatric emergencies

Critically ill children brought to hospital emergency departments that are ill-prepared to care for pediatric emergencies have more than three times the odds of dying compared to those brought to hospitals well-equipped to care for them, according to an analysis led by University of Pittsburgh and University of California-Los Angeles physician-scientists.

Researchers identify key areas of measles virus polymerase to target for antiviral drug development

Targeting specific areas of the measles virus polymerase, a protein complex that copies the viral genome, can effectively fight the measles virus and be used as an approach to developing new antiviral drugs to treat the serious infectious disease, according to a study by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University published in PLoS Pathogens.

Your heart's best friend: Dog ownership associated with better cardiovascular health

Owning a pet may help maintain a healthy heart, especially if that pet is a dog, according to the first analysis of data from the Kardiozive Brno 2030 study. The study examines the association of pet ownership—specifically dog ownership—with cardiovascular disease risk factors and cardiovascular health. The results are published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes.

Junk food intake in children reduced by health education that addresses emotional issues

Teacher training followed by classroom education with information, activities, and emotional support improves lifestyles in teachers and students, according to research to be presented at ESC Congress 2019 together with the World Congress of Cardiology. The study suggests that knowledge alone is insufficient to change behaviour.

International team discovers unique pathway for treating deadly children's brain cancer

An international team of researchers led by Yale University, University of Iowa, and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, has discovered a new pathway that may improve success against an incurable type of children's brain cancer.

UN: Possible to eradicate malaria, but probably not soon

The World Health Organization says it's theoretically possible to wipe out malaria, but probably not with the imperfect vaccine and other control methods being used at the moment.

92% of HPV-caused cancers could be prevented by vaccine: health authority

An estimated 92% of cancers caused by HPV could be prevented through vaccination, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday, adding that boosting immunization coverage was a key priority.

Study suggests weight loss regardless of psychiatric medication use

A new Canadian study suggests that individuals who take anti-depressants and/or anti-psychotics and participate in a weight management program can lose weight whether or not they take psychiatric medications, according to a report published online today in Obesity, the flagship journal of The Obesity Society. The study is the first to examine weight loss outcomes in individuals taking anti-depressants or anti-psychotics alone, in combination or not at all.

Suicide and self-harm risk nearly triple in people with restless leg syndrome

Restless legs syndrome was associated with a nearly tripled risk of suicide and self-harm in a new study led by Penn State researchers.

Can researchers engage safely with the food industry?

Researchers from The University of Queensland and University of Cambridge are exploring ways to help scientists better protect their work from the influence of the food industry.

Sex should be considered as experimental variable in all studies submitted for publication

In an editorial published in the British Journal of Pharmacology (BJP), the Editor-in-Chief and Senior Editors have recommended that all future studies published in the journal should formally address sex as an experimental variable.

Unlocking compassion in the face of mass suffering

Ample research has shown that as the number of people suffering increases, our individual capacity to feel compassion stays flat or decreases—a phenomenon known among scientists as "compassion fade," says David DeSteno, a psychology professor at Northeastern.

Driver behavior not altered by roadside memorials, study finds

Roadside memorials may be controversial, but a University of Otago study has found they have very little impact on driver behavior or perception of road safety.

Finding the right birth control for you

When it comes to birth control, many preconceived notions may influence which method a woman chooses.

Depression, anxiety linked to opioid use in older women with breast cancer

Elderly women battling breast cancer who have anxiety, depression or other mental health conditions are more likely to use opioids and more likely to die, a new study led by the University of Virginia School of Medicine has found.

Dietary restrictions may benefit children with premature aging disease

Progeria, which develops from a rare genetic mutation, causes the same symptoms in children as in 80-year old people: brittle bones, longer healing times, and heart disease, among others. Affecting randomly about one in every four million children worldwide, it usually leads to death around age 14 due to strokes or heart attacks.

The middle aged are lonelier than older and younger people

Middle-aged people are lonelier than older adults and young people, new research suggests.

Using a matching game to study the language of conversations

Picture a set of cards with images of ordinary objects such as a kitchen knife or a red baseball hat arranged in a four-by-four grid. A friend sits across from you behind an opaque screen looking at another set of the exact same cards but placed in a different order. Your task: to help her rearrange them so they match the lineup you see.

Do single people suffer more? The mere presence of a partner may reduce pain

Researchers at the University of Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology (UMIT, Hall, Austria) and the University of the Balearic Islands (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) have confirmed the analgesic effects of social support—even without verbal or physical contact.

New approaches to heal injured nerves

Injuries to nerve fibers in the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves usually result in functional losses as the nerve fibers are unable to regenerate. A team from the Department of Cell Physiology at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) led by Professor Dietmar Fischer has deciphered new mechanisms that enable the regeneration of such fibers. This could open up new treatment approaches for the brain, optic nerve, and spinal cord injuries. The researchers report on these results in the journal Nature Communications Biology on 23 August 2019.

Why we laugh when we know it's wrong

For the Batek people of the Malaysian peninsula rainforest, laughter can be dangerous. Within the system of taboos of these egalitarian hunter-gatherers, laughing in certain situations can cause storms, illness or even death. And yet sometimes, Batek people—like anyone else—laugh when they know they shouldn't. In fact, laughter can be especially pleasurable when it's forbidden.

Elite athletes have poor oral health despite brushing twice daily

Elite athletes have high rates of oral disease despite brushing their teeth more frequently than most people, finds a new UCL study.

Heart attack patients with mild cognitive impairment get fewer treatments

A new study finds people who have mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which lies on the continuum of cognitive decline between normal cognition and dementia, are less likely to receive proven heart attack treatment in the hospital.

Caregivers of people with dementia are losing sleep

Caregivers of people with dementia lose between 2.5 to 3.5 hours of sleep weekly due to difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep—a negative for themselves and potentially for those who receive their care, Baylor University researchers say.

Novel paradigm in drug development

Traditional medicines mostly function as inhibitors, attacking the disease-relevant proteins that cause cancer, by binding to their accessible pockets. Following this strategy, only ~20% of all proteins are chemically addressable, leaving some of the most relevant targets inaccessible to therapeutic development.

Who you see matters: Stroke patients benefit more from observing their own hand movements during therapy

Japanese scientists at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) have found that for stroke patients, observing their own hand movements in a video-assisted therapy—as opposed to someone else's hand—could enhance brain activity and speed up rehabilitation.

The technology behind Bitcoin may improve the medications of the future

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have developed a prototype of an app that may potentially prescribe the optimal dose of medicine for the individual patient, as well as prevent counterfeit products.

Biophysicists discover how 'Australian' mutation leads to Alzheimer's disease

A team of scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (IBCh RAS) studied one hereditary genetic mutation to discover general molecular mechanisms that may lead both to early onset of Alzheimer's disease and to the form of the disease caused by age-related changes in human body. Understanding these mechanisms is necessary for developing new targeted treatments for this neurodegenerative disease that is becoming ever more widespread across developed countries' aging populations. The study findings were published in ACS Chemical Biology.

Coverage with HPV vaccine continuing to increase in boys

(HealthDay)—Coverage with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine increased among boys from 2017 to 2018, according to research published in the Aug. 23 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Multidrug-resistant salmonella outbreak characterized

(HealthDay)—A recent multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella enterica serotype Newport outbreak, affecting patients in 32 states, was associated with soft cheese and beef consumption, according to a report published in the Aug. 23 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Online information about diabetic retinopathy is poor

(HealthDay)—Free online information about diabetic retinopathy is of poor quality, varying accuracy, and low readability, according to a study published online Aug. 22 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Opioid addiction treatment used more in states that expanded Medicaid

(HealthDay)—The use of the opioid addiction medication buprenorphine is much higher in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act than in those that did not expand the program, according to a new report from the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research group.

One in eight teen girls has faced 'reproductive coercion'

(HealthDay)—A staggering number of teen girls are experiencing an insidious form of relationship abuse: reproductive coercion.

Most HPV-linked cancers due to types targeted by 9vHPV vaccine

(HealthDay)—Ninety-two percent of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers are attributable to HPV types targeted by the 9-valent HPV vaccine (9vHPV), according to research published in the Aug. 23 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Radiologists performing more paracenteses, thoracenteses

(HealthDay)—The proportion of paracentesis and thoracentesis procedures performed by radiologists is continuing to increase, according to a study published online Aug. 14 in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.

Prurigo nodularis associated with mental health disorders

(HealthDay)—Prurigo nodularis (PN) is associated with mental health disorders, systemic illnesses, and HIV infection, according to a study published online Aug. 15 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

Can diabetes be reversed?

Registered dietitian and diabetes educator Charlene Dorcey said it as gently as she could:

Long-term use of e-cigarettes may increase risk of emphysema, study shows

Some may consider vaping safer than smoking traditional cigarettes, but new research from the UNC School of Medicine suggests that using e-cigarettes long-term may lead to a higher risk of emphysema.

Mayo Clinic minute: Is CBD safe to use?

CBD has surpassed all other supplements in history in terms of rapid rise in sales and use in the U.S., says Dr. Brent Bauer, director of the Mayo Clinic Integrative Medicine and Health Research Program. It's being marketed to help with a myriad of aliments and diseases.

Mindfulness: Tips to reclaim some control in your life-work balance

There was a time when the boundaries between work and home were fairly clear. Today, however, work is likely to invade your personal life—and maintaining work-life balance is no simple task. When your work life and personal life are out of balance, your stress level is likely to soar.

How to tell if your teen is depressed

Teen depression is a serious mental health problem that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in activities. It affects how your teenager thinks, feels and behaves, and it can cause emotional, functional and physical problems. Although depression can occur at any time in life, symptoms may be different between teens and adults.

Probiotic helps breast-fed babies beat antibiotic-resistant germs, study says

Researchers at UC Davis say they were able to dramatically reduce the number of antibiotic-resistant germs in breast-fed newborns' intestines by giving them a daily dose of probiotic for just three weeks during their first month of life.

Children of incarcerated parents have more substance abuse, anxiety

Children of incarcerated parents are six times more likely than other children to develop a substance use disorder as adults and nearly twice as likely to have diagnosable anxiety, according to new research from the Center for Child and Family Policy at the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy.

Pollution and winter linked with rise in heart attack treatment

Heavily polluted areas have a higher rate of angioplasty procedures to treat blocked arteries than areas with clean air, according to research to be presented at ESC Congress 2019 together with the World Congress of Cardiology. Procedures are even more common in winter, the most polluted time of year.

Lead pollution in Zambia town a public health 'emergency': HRW

Children living in a central Zambian mining town are still exposed to high levels of toxic lead 25 years after the mine closed, Human Rights Watch said Friday, as lawyers announced plans to take legal action.

How to prevent the spread of germs in hospitals

Infections that are caused by microorganisms like bacteria, viruses and some parasites, particularly drug-resistant ones known as superbugs, are a major threat to health worldwide. Their existence in hospitals leads to increasing mortality, patient suffering and rising healthcare costs.

Spain reports 2nd death in widening listeria outbreak

Spanish authorities say a second person has died in an outbreak of listeria from pork meat.

UN: Ebola outbreak in Congo has killed nearly 2,000 people

The World Health Organization's emergencies chief said the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo is approaching a "stark" milestone with nearly 2,000 people killed by the virus in the year-long epidemic.

Addressing causes of mortality in Zambia

Despite the fact that people in sub-Saharan Africa are now living longer than they did two decades ago, their average life expectancy remains below that of the rest of the world population. A new study looked into the importance of various causes of death in Zambia and how eliminating the most prominent of these would impact life expectancy in the country.

How to get on track when weekend eating is your downfall

(HealthDay)—Do you eat healthy during the week, then ease off the brakes on the weekend? You're not alone.

Give this recipe for tasty, nutritious beets a try

(HealthDay)—"Eating the rainbow" is a great way to harness the different micronutrients in fruits and vegetables.

Illinois patient's death may be first in US tied to vaping

Illinois health officials said Friday that a patient who contracted a serious lung disease after vaping has died, which could make it the first death in the United States linked to the smoking alternative that has become popular with teens and young adults.

Biology news

After using tools, crows behave more optimistically, study suggests

It's no secret crows are smart. They're notorious for frustrating attempts to keep them from tearing into garbage cans; more telling, however, is that they are one of the few animals known to make tools.

Big brains or big guts: Choose one

Big brains can help an animal mount quick, flexible behavioral responses to frequent or unexpected environmental changes. But some birds just don't need 'em.

Scientists a step closer to saving northern white rhino from extinction

Veterinarians have successfully harvested eggs from the last two surviving northern white rhinos, taking them one step closer to bringing the species back from the brink of extinction, scientists said in Kenya on Friday.

Manta rays form social bonds with each other

Manta rays form social relationships and actively choose their social partners, a new study has revealed. Research published today by scientists from the Marine Megafauna Foundation, Macquarie University and the University of Papua is the first to describe the structure of social relationships in manta rays.

Birds balance sexiness and predator avoidance by changing color

Most birds remain the same color year-round, replacing their feathers only once a year.

Breath! Respiring microbes generate more energy

How do cells generate and use energy? This question might seem simple, but the answer is far from simple. Furthermore, knowing how microbial cell factories consume energy and how proteins are allocated to do so is crucial when working with industrial fermentations.

Research details impact of energy development on deer habitat use

For every acre of mule deer habitat taken by roads, well pads and other oil and gas development infrastructure in Wyoming's Green River Basin, an average of 4.6 other acres of available forage is lost, according to new research by University of Wyoming scientists.

High diversity of harvestmen in Atlantic Rainforest and ancient geological events

In the southern Atlantic Rainforest remnants between Rio de Janeiro State in Southeast Brazil and Santa Catarina State in South Brazil, there are some 600 species of harvestmen (Opiliones), arachnids that live in caves and humid forests. The number of species is considered high even for this well-known biodiversity hotspot, and most of these species are endemic.

Using CRISPR to program gels with new functions

The CRISPR genome-editing system is best-known for its potential to correct disease-causing mutations and add new genes into living cells. Now, a team from MIT and Harvard University has deployed CRISPR for a completely different purpose: creating novel materials, such as gels, that can change their properties when they encounter specific DNA sequences.

To ban or not to ban genetically modified crops? That's not the question

The South Australian government recently announced its intention to lift the long-standing statewide moratorium on genetically modified (GM) crops, following a statutory six-week consultation period.

Caffeine does not influence stingless bees

The western honey bee (Apis mellifera) that has a sting for use in defense is common in Western Europe. Stingless bees, on the other hand, are mainly at home in the tropics and subtropics. They are a very social group and live in colonies. They construct hives where they store honey for their colony. While the western honey bee reacts to the presence of caffeine in nectar and pollen and becomes more active in terms of foraging the corresponding food source, it would seem that stingless bees find caffeine to be less appealing. "We looked at stingless bees in Brazil but found there was no effect when we offered them caffeinated feeds," said Dr. Christoph Grüter of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). "In the context of our study, the behavior of the insects was not influenced by the presence of caffeine." Some plants add caffeine or other secondary metabolites to their nectar with the aim of manipulating the activity of pollinators. The western or European honey bee and the bumblebee are indeed susceptible to this form of deception. They increase their foraging of the resource in question, thus benefiting the plant through enhanced pollination but, at the same time, the food materials the insects collect can be of poor quality, resulting in potential harm to themselves and their colony.

Scientists find longevity biomarkers

An international group of scientists studied the effects of 17 lifespan-extending interventions on gene activity in mice and discovered genetic biomarkers of longevity. The results of their study were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Plants are going extinct up to 350 times faster than the historical norm

Earth is seeing an unprecedented loss of species, which some ecologists are calling a sixth mass extinction. In May, a United Nations report warned that 1 million species are threatened by extinction. More recently, 571 plant species were declared extinct.

Artificial trees capture new bird species on candid camera

An experiment from The Australian National University (ANU) using artificial trees has attracted birds and other wildlife never before seen in a damaged Canberra landscape—catching them on camera at the same time.

Keeping monkeys as pets is extraordinarily cruel–a ban is long overdue

Most people will have seen at least one headline over the last couple of years describing animal attacks on humans. This needn't include the elephant from a Zimbabwe National Park that trampled a tourist or the Sumatran tiger that killed a keeper who entered his zoo enclosure in Birmingham. There are numerous examples of attacks by wild pets on their owners, often whom they have known for years.

This rat is foiling developers' plans to capitalize on a weaker Endangered Species Act

Southern California developers have long sought relief from regulations protecting wildlife, and earlier this month the Trump administration obliged, formally moving to weaken the federal Endangered Species Act.


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