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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for January 11, 2018:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Steep slopes on Mars reveal structure of buried iceResearchers using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have found eight sites where thick deposits of ice beneath Mars' surface are exposed in faces of eroding slopes. |
 | No planets needed: NASA study shows disk patterns can self-generateWhen exoplanet scientists first spotted patterns in disks of dust and gas around young stars, they thought newly formed planets might be the cause. But a recent NASA study cautions that there may be another explanation—one that doesn't involve planets at all. |
 | GBT detection unlocks exploration of 'aromatic' interstellar chemistryAstronomers had a mystery on their hands. No matter where they looked, from inside the Milky Way to distant galaxies, they observed a puzzling glow of infrared light. This faint cosmic light, which presents itself as a series of spikes in the infrared spectrum, had no easily identifiable source. It seemed unrelated to any recognizable cosmic feature, like giant interstellar clouds, star-forming regions, or supernova remnants. It was ubiquitous and a bit baffling. |
 | Champagne box-sized satellite to probe distant planetFrance is set to launch a champagne box-sized mini satellite into Earth orbit on Friday to study a mysterious, juvenile planet system in our Milky Way galaxy, mission controllers said. |
 | New SOFIA observations help unravel mysteries of the birth of colossal sunsAstronomers are observing star-forming regions in our galaxy with NASA's flying telescope, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, to understand the processes and environments required to create the largest known stars, which tip the scales at ten times the mass of our own Sun or more. |
 | NASA team first to demonstrate X-ray navigation in spaceIn a technology first, a team of NASA engineers has demonstrated fully autonomous X-ray navigation in space—a capability that could revolutionize NASA's ability in the future to pilot robotic spacecraft to the far reaches of the solar system and beyond. |
 | Hubble finds substellar objects in the Orion NebulaUsing NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to peer deep into the vast stellar nursery called the Orion Nebula, astronomers searched for small, faint bodies. What they found was the largest population yet of brown dwarfs—objects that are more massive than planets but do not shine like stars. Researchers identified 17 brown dwarf companions to red dwarf stars, one brown dwarf pair, and one brown dwarf with a planetary companion. They also found three giant planets, including a binary system where two planets orbit each other in the absence of a parent star. This survey could only be done with Hubble's exceptional resolution and infrared sensitivity. |
 | Possible lava tube skylights discovered near the North Pole of the MoonThe SETI Institute and the Mars Institute announced today the discovery of small pits in a large crater near the North Pole of the Moon, which may be entrances to an underground network of lava tubes. The pits were identified through analysis of imaging data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). If water ice is present, these potential lava tube entrances or "skylights" might allow future explorers easier access to subsurface ice, and therefore water, than if they had to excavate the gritty ice-rich "regolith" (surface rubble) at the actual lunar poles. |
 | Citizen scientists discover five-planet systemIn its search for exoplanets—planets outside of our solar system—NASA's Kepler telescope trails behind Earth, measuring the brightness of stars that may potentially host planets. The instrument identifies potential planets around other stars by looking for dips in the brightness of the stars that occur when planets cross in front of, or transit, them. Typically, computer programs flag the stars with these brightness dips, then astronomers look at each one and decide whether or not they truly could host a planet candidate. |
 | Magnetic coil springs accelerate particles on the SunIn April and July 2014, the Sun emitted three jets of energetic particles into space, that were quite exceptional: the particle flows contained such high amounts of iron and helium-3, a rare variety of helium, as have been observed only few times before. Since these extraordinary events occurred on the backside of our star, they were not discovered immediately. A group of researchers headed by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) and the Institute for Astrophysics of the University of Göttingen (Germany) present a comprehensive analysis now in the Astrophysical Journal. It is based on data from the twin space probes STEREO A and STEREO B, which – at that time still both operating – were in a favorable observation position behind the Sun at the crucial time. For the first time, the study shows a correlation between helium-3 and iron-rich particle flows and helical eruptions of ultraviolet radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. These could provide the necessary energy to accelerate the particles into space. |
 | Researchers catch supermassive black hole burping—twiceA team led by CU Boulder researchers has caught a supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy snacking on gas and then "burping"—not once, but twice. |
 | NASA space telescopes provide a 3-D journey through the Orion NebulaAstronomers and visualization specialists from NASA's Universe of Learning program have combined visible and infrared vision of the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to create an unprecedented, three-dimensional, fly-through view of the picturesque Orion Nebula, a nearby star-forming region. |
 | Hubble probes the archeology of our Milky Way's ancient hubFor many years, astronomers had a simple view of our Milky Way's central hub, or bulge, as a quiescent place composed of old stars, the earliest homesteaders of our galaxy. |
 | Hubble and Spitzer team up to find magnified and stretched out image of distant galaxyAn intensive survey deep into the universe by NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes has yielded the proverbial needle-in-a-haystack: the farthest galaxy yet seen in an image that has been stretched and amplified by a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. |
 | Astronomers to build space telescope to explore nearby starsIn 2021, a spacecraft the size of a Cheerios box will carry a small telescope into Earth orbit on an unusual mission. Its task is to monitor the flares and sunspots of small stars to assess how habitable the space environment is for planets orbiting them. |
 | Image: China's space station Tiangong-1This vivid image shows China's space station Tiangong-1 – the name means 'heavenly palace' – and was captured by French astrophotographer Alain Figer on 27 November 2017. It was taken from a ski area in the Hautes-Alpes region of southeast France as the station passed overhead near dusk. |
Pentagon mum on fate of secret satelliteThe mystery surrounding the fate of a secret military satellite deepened Thursday when the Pentagon refused to answer even simple questions about whether the mission to launch it had gone awry. | |
 | Life-supporting pilot plantA prototype version of a self-sustaining life-support system, intended to allow humans to live in space indefinitely, is seen in Spain's University Autònoma of Barcelona. |
 | The night sky magic of the AtacamaThere's nothing an astronomer – whether professional or amateur – loves more than a clear dark night sky away from the city lights. Outside the glare and glow and cloud cover that most of us experience every day, the night sky comes alive with a life of its own. |
 | The surprising scale of China's space programIt's no secret that China's growth in the past few decades has been reflected in space. In addition to the country's growing economic power and international influence, it has also made some very impressive strides in terms of its space program. This includes the development of the Long March rocket family, the deployment of their first space station, and the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) – aka. the Chang'e program. |
Technology news
 | New 'emotional' robots aim to read human feelingsThe robot called Forpheus does more than play a mean game of table tennis. It can read body language to gauge its opponent's ability, and offer advice and encouragement. |
 | Hoping for mech racing league comes easy at CESA crew of supersized exoskeletons ready to race? Well, a machine teased as such, as the machine, of startling proportions, drew attention at CES this week. This curiosity is nearly 15 feet tall, 18 feet wide, and weighs more than 8,000 pounds. |
 | Startup aims to make vision care more accessible in developing worldVision impairment is a major global issue. More than 2 billion people worldwide don't have access to corrective lenses. |
 | Danish wind power whips up record 43% of electricityWind power generated 43.4 percent of electricity consumed in Denmark last year, a new record for the Nordic nation which aims to rely on renewables for half of its energy needs by 2030, authorities said Thursday. |
 | Modeling wind power's impact on local climateIn 2012, a study led by UAlbany atmospheric scientist Liming Zhou analyzed nine years of NASA satellite data to present the first observational evidence of turbine induced nighttime warming effects in a west-central Texas region covered with wind farms. |
China warns of US protectionism after Huawei setback (Update)China warned on Thursday that American protectionism was on the rise after congressional documents showed that Chinese tech giant Huawei's designs on the US market were causing national security concerns in Washington. | |
Hyundai Motor invests in Southeast Asian ride-sharing GrabHyundai Motor is joining hands with Southeast Asian ride-hailing service Grab to break into one of the world's fastest-growing markets. | |
 | Old dog, new tricks: Sony unleashes 'intelligent' robot petAs Japan celebrates the year of the dog, electronics giant Sony on Thursday unleashed its new robot canine companion, packed with artificial intelligence and internet connectivity. |
 | Huawei wins China patent lawsuit against rival SamsungChinese tech giant Huawei won a patent infringement lawsuit against South Korea smartphone rival Samsung on Thursday, according to information released by a Chinese court. |
 | S. Korea govt sends bitcoin on rollercoaster rideBitcoin and other virtual currencies were sent on rollercoaster rides in South Korea Thursday as the government said it was planning to ban cryptocurrency exchanges, before later backtracking. |
 | Artificial muscles power up with new gel-based roboticsScientists are one step closer to artificial muscles. Orthotics have come a long way since their initial wood and strap designs, yet innovation lapsed when it came to compensating for muscle power—until now. A collaborative research team has designed a wearable robot to support a person's hip joint while walking. The team, led by Minoru Hashimoto, a professor of textile science and technology at Shinshu University in Japan, published the details of their prototype in Smart Materials and Structures, a journal published by the Institute of Physics. |
 | Tesla faces fresh Norway lawsuit over false advertisingNearly 80 Tesla owners in Norway have sued the US automaker over misleading advertising, saying their electric car did not deliver the promised performance, Norwegian daily Dagens Naeringsliv (DN) reported on Thursday. |
 | Soft robots could be the factory workers of the futureKiller robots are already among us. Not weaponised drones, but industrial robots working alongside humans in factories that can cause significant injuries and occasionally deaths if an accident occurs. In 2015, an employee at a Volkswagen factory in Germany was killed when a robot picked up and crushed him. |
 | eHarmony's ads may not be scientifically proven, but online dating can make society less segregatedThe UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) recently banned an ad from online dating site eHarmony which assured those looking for love that it was a "scientifically proven" matching system. |
 | EU unveils supercomputer plan to rival ChinaThe EU unveiled plans Thursday to raise one billion euros to build superfast computers that catch up with China and others to boost Europe's economy, make medical advances and fight hacking. |
 | How tidal energy could help Japan with its nuclear power problemJapan was the third-largest producer of nuclear power in the world in 2011. Then, on March 11 of that year, an earthquake of magnitude 9 was followed by a catastrophic tsunami, resulting in the first nuclear disaster of the 21st century – at the Fukushima Daiichi power station. The country's nuclear plants were shut down, and within a year Japan had become the world's second biggest importer of fossil fuels. |
 | A month in, Tesla's SA battery is surpassing expectationsIt's just over one month since the Hornsdale power reserve was officially opened in South Australia. The excitement surrounding the project has generated acres of media interest, both locally and abroad. |
 | Yamaha motorcycle comes on command at CES eventWith a wave, Kinji Asamura summoned a riderless motorcycle to his side in the Yamaha booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. |
 | Airbnb 'disappointed' by Amsterdam plan to cut rentalsRent-a-room giant Airbnb has voiced disappointment in Amsterdam's plans to impose a 30-day limit on letting private homes, saying it will harm the local economy. |
 | Pickups, SUVs in spotlight at 2018 Detroit auto showPickup trucks and SUVs will be among the biggest stars of this year's Detroit Auto Show, reflecting the US tilt towards larger vehicles in an era of relatively low gasoline prices. |
Apple seen getting possible $4 billion boost from tax-law quirkCompanies that stockpiled trillions of dollars offshore free of U.S. income tax may get one last break before paying up—provided their fiscal years don't follow the calendar year. | |
Bell Helicopter unveils plans for air taxis, but when will they be zipping around?Imagine flying from Fort Worth to Frisco in just a matter of minutes. | |
Tableau goes Hyper to keep up with customers' data needsTableau Software is revamping a core part of its technology to analyze data faster, a move intended to keep up with its customers' increasing big-data needs. | |
 | Uber used tech tool to shield data from police outside USThe ride-sharing company Uber confirmed Thursday that it had technology to shield company data when law enforcement raided its offices outside the U.S. |
 | YouTube punishes star blogger over apparent suicide postYouTube said Thursday it has punished well-known blogger Logan Paul over a video that appeared to show a body hanging in a Japanese forest that is said to be a suicide spot. |
 | US declares Florida exempt from offshore drilling planThe Trump administration on Tuesday said it would not allow oil drilling off the coast of Florida after pressure from the state's Republican governor. |
 | LuxLeaks whistleblower's conviction overturnedA Luxembourg court on Thursday overturned—on human rights grounds—the verdict against a "LuxLeaks" whistleblower who was convicted of leaking thousands of documents that revealed tax breaks for multinational firms. |
 | Samsung targeted by French lawsuit amid alleged labor abuseTwo French rights groups have filed a lawsuit against electronics giant Samsung, accusing it of misleading advertising because of alleged labor abuses at factories in China and South Korea. |
India's TCS records 3.6% decline in quarterly profitsIndia's biggest IT sourcing firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Thursday reported a 3.6 percent fall in quarterly earnings due to falling demand for its banking and financial services. | |
 | Walmart raises US worker pay following tax cutWalmart announced Thursday it will raise the minimum wage for more than a million US workers to $11 an hour and pay bonuses, crediting the US tax reform approved in December for making the changes possible. |
Amazon looks to build on 1st season of NFL streamingAmazon had a mostly successful debut into live streaming of major sports events, with increased audience and an improved viewing experience in its first season showing NFL games. | |
 | Army scientists improve human-agent teaming by making AI agents more transparentU.S. Army Research Laboratory scientists developed ways to improve collaboration between humans and artificially intelligent agents in two projects recently completed for the Autonomy Research Pilot Initiative supported by the Office of Secretary of Defense. They did so by enhancing the agent transparency, which refers to a robot, unmanned vehicle, or software agent's ability to convey to humans its intent, performance, future plans, and reasoning process. |
 | Carmaker PSA picks new head of British unit VauxhallFrench auto giant PSA, maker of Citroen and Peugeot vehicles, on Thursday picked the group's sales and marketing boss Stephen Norman to run its troubled UK brand Vauxhall. |
 | Stevie Wonder wows crowd on 'smart' piano at tech showTrying to distinguish your product among the thousands at the CES gadget show is no easy feat, so it helps when music legend Stevie Wonder pays an unexpected visit. |
Toy-maker VTech to pay $650,000 to settle FTC charges over children's privacy violationsAn electronic toy-maker has agreed to pay $650,000 to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission that it collected personal information on hundreds of thousands of children without their parents knowing. | |
 | French glitches put technology under reviewThe debate on using technology to help football referees took a twist on Thursday as the French league suspended its use of goal-line reviews following some "serious dysfunctions". |
 | What robot strippers say about sexism, tech and the futureOn a recent evening in Las Vegas during the CES technology show, robot strippers offered a window into technology's gender fault lines—not to mention our robot future. |
Medicine & Health news
 | Optimized human peptide found to be an effective antibacterial agentA team of researchers in the Netherlands has developed an effective antibacterial ointment based on an optimized human peptide. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the group describes developing the synthetic peptide and how well it worked when tested in the lab. |
 | Surprise: A virus-like protein is important for cognition and memoryA protein involved in cognition and storing long-term memories looks and acts like a protein from viruses. The protein, called Arc, has properties similar to those that viruses use for infecting host cells, and originated from a chance evolutionary event that occurred hundreds of millions of years ago. |
 | Rare melanoma type highly responsive to immunotherapyDesmoplastic melanoma is a rare subtype of melanoma that is commonly found on sun-exposed areas, such as the head and neck, and usually seen in older patients. Treatment is difficult because these tumors are often resistant to chemotherapy and lack actionable mutations commonly found in other types of melanoma that are targeted by specific drugs. However, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers report in the Jan. 10 issue of Nature that patients with desmoplastic melanoma are more responsive to immune-activating anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies than previously assumed. |
 | With these special bacteria, a broccoli a day can keep the cancer doctor awayColorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the developed world. Although the five-year survival rates for earlier stages of this cancer are relatively high, at later stages, survival drops and the risk of cancer recurrence rises considerably. |
 | Babies stir up clouds of bio-gunk when they crawlWhen babies crawl, their movement across floors, especially carpeted surfaces, kicks up high levels of dirt, skin cells, bacteria, pollen, and fungal spores, a new study has found. The infants inhale a dose of bio bits in their lungs that is four times (per kilogram of body mass) what an adult would breathe walking across the same floor. |
 | Scientists use gene expression to understand how astrocytes change with agePotentially explaining why even healthy brains don't function well with age, Salk researchers have discovered that genes that are switched on early in brain development to sever connections between neurons as the brain fine-tunes, are again activated in aging neuronal support cells called astrocytes. The work, which appeared in Cell Reports on January 2, 2018, suggests that astrocytes may be good therapeutic targets to prevent or reverse the effects of normal aging. |
 | Re-programming innate immune cells to fight tuberculosisTuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease which attacks the lungs, claims a life every 20 seconds and 1.5 million lives worldwide every year. A cure has eluded scientists for more than a century but, now, a Montreal team of researchers may have discovered a new weapon to combat this global killer. The team is re-programing - or 'training' - immune cells to make them kill TB. These groundbreaking findings are published online today in the journal Cell. |
 | Estrogen-mimicking compounds in foods may reduce effectiveness of breast cancer treatmentScientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered that two estrogen-mimicking compounds found in many foods appear to potently reverse the effects of palbociclib/letrozole, a popular drug combination for treating breast cancer. |
 | By altering bone marrow, training can prepare innate immune system for future challengesWhen you receive a vaccine against a disease like polio or influenza, your immune system gears up to defend against that particular infection. If you wind up getting chickenpox instead, or even a slightly different strain of the flu, you would be out of luck. That's because traditional vaccines enlist the adaptive immune system, the functions of which are carried out largely by hyperspecific T and B cells, each targeted to a particular threat. |
 | The brain's GPS has a buddy systemTo be successful as a social animal, you need to know where you stand relative to others. Brain cells that perform precisely this function—locating the 'self' and others in space—have now been identified. In rats, the same brain area that stores the animal's own location also maps the movements of other rats. Sometimes these representations are processed jointly by the same cells, depending on a rat's goals and actions. This discovery, from Japan's RIKEN Brain Science Institute, deepens our understanding of the hippocampus and its role as the brain's positioning system. |
 | Research discovers possible link between Crohn's and Parkinson's in Jewish populationMount Sinai Researchers have just discovered that patients in the Ashkenazi Jewish population with Crohn's disease (a chronic inflammatory of the digestive system) are more likely to carry the LRRK2 gene mutation. This gene is the major genetic cause of Parkinson's disease, which is a movement disorder. The study's findings, published in the January 10, 2018 issue of Science Translational Medicine, and featured on the cover, could help doctors better understand Crohn's disease, determine specifically who's at risk, and develop new drugs for treatment and/or prevention by targeting this specific gene. |
 | The coming of age of gene therapy: A review of the past and path forwardAfter three decades of hopes tempered by setbacks, gene therapy—the process of treating a disease by modifying a person's DNA—is no longer the future of medicine, but is part of the present-day clinical treatment toolkit. The Jan. 12 issue of the journal Science provides an in-depth and timely review of the key developments that have led to several successful gene therapy treatments for patients with serious medical conditions. |
 | Scientists identify immune cells that keep gut fungi under controlImmune cells that process food and bacterial antigens in the intestines control the intestinal population of fungi, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine scientists. Defects in the fungus-fighting abilities of these cells may contribute to some cases of Crohn's disease and other forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). |
 | Two simple tests could help to pinpoint cause of strokeDetecting the cause of the deadliest form of stroke could be improved by a simple blood test added alongside a routine brain scan, research suggests. |
Benefits of a healthy diet greater in people at high genetic risk for obesityThe benefits of sticking to a healthy diet to prevent long term weight gain are greater in people at high genetic risk for obesity than in those with low genetic risk, finds a study in The BMJ today. | |
 | New prostate cancer risk score could help guide screening decisionsA new score for predicting a man's genetic risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer could help guide decisions about who to screen and when, say researchers in The BMJ today. |
Housework gender differences may affect health in elderly men and womenElderly men across Europe and the US spend less time on housework than elderly women, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology found that elderly women on average spent almost five hours a day doing housework compared to only around three hours a day for elderly men. The study also found that while those who did more housework felt healthier, women who did long hours of housework combined with too much or too little sleep reported poorer health. | |
 | Enzyme shown to regulate inflammation and metabolism in fat tissueThe human body has two primary kinds of fat—white fat, which stores excess calories and is associated with obesity, and brown fat, which burns calories in order to produce heat and has garnered interest as a potential means of combating obesity. |
 | Restaurant and bar smoking bans do reduce smoking, especially among the highly educatedSmoking risk drops significantly in college graduates when they live near areas that have completely banned smoking in bars and restaurants, according to a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology. |
 | Heart failure risk factors need a closer lookAssessing the risk of heart attack and stroke is a common practice among doctors and their patients; however, the risk factors for heart failure are not as clearly laid out or considered. A group of Baylor College of Medicine cardiologists are working together to bring awareness to the need for including heart failure risk factors in overall cardiovascular disease evaluations with the goal of preventing what could become the most costly cardiovascular disease in the coming years. |
 | Tiny antibiotic beads fight infections after joint replacementMore than 1 million people undergo total joint replacements each year, and nearly 10,000 will develop infections. To reduce this infection risk, a Houston Methodist orthopedic surgeon created small antibiotic beads that are implanted with the new joint to slowly release medicine for several weeks. |
 | Suicides by drugs in U.S. are undercounted, new study suggestsThe rate of suicides by drug intoxication in the United States may be vastly underreported and misclassified, according to a new study co-written by Mark Kaplan, professor of social welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. |
 | Tamper-resistant oxycodone tablets have no impact on overall opioid useThe introduction of tamper-resistant opioid tablets does not have an effect on rates of opioid use or harms at a population level, according to a new study led by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW Sydney. |
 | Untangling how Epstein-Barr virus infects cellsA team led by scientists at Northwestern Medicine has discovered a new epithelial receptor for Epstein-Barr virus, according to a study published recently in Nature Microbiology. |
 | Arsenic-tainted drinking water may increase diabetes riskA new study reports that chronic exposure to arsenic interferes with insulin secretion in the pancreas, which may increase the risk of diabetes. The paper, published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. |
Guidelines for management of recurrent pituitary tumours recommend new drug as first line treatmentNew guidelines for managing recurrent pituitary tumours identify the drug temozolomide, as first line chemotherapy treatment. The guidelines, published in the European Journal of Endocrinology and produced by the European Society of Endocrinology (ESE), include a series of recommendations aimed at improving survival rates and quality of life for patients, through early identification of tumours and more effective treatment strategies. | |
Researchers identify new melatonin-based molecular targets that will allow to design new drugs against Parkinson'sA team of scientists led by Darío Acuña-Castroviejo, professor at the University of Granada (UGR), has published the results of a new breakthrough in molecular mechanisms of the anti-Parkinsonian activity of melatonin. | |
 | Objectification of women results in lack of empathySexualized representations, especially the emphasis of secondary sexual characteristics, can change the way we perceive an individual. An international team of researchers led by Giorgia Silani from the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Vienna has shown that empathic feelings and brain responses are reduced when we observe the emotions of sexualized women. The results of the study were recently published in the renown scientific journal Cortex. |
 | Philippines says deaths in vaccine row 'consistent with' dengueThe Philippines said Thursday that some of the 14 children who died after receiving a controversial vaccine showed signs of "severe dengue", as investigators probe the drug whose use was suspended due to health concerns. |
 | What are antioxidants? And are they truly good for us?Antioxidants seem to be everywhere; in superfoods and skincare, even chocolate and red wine. Products that contain antioxidants are marketed as essential for good health, with promises to fight disease and reverse ageing. |
 | Why a drug treatment for dementia eludes researchersFinding a cure for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's is challenging. They're difficult to diagnose, and drugs struggle to get into the brain as the brain's blood supply is largely separate to the rest of the body. Not surprisingly, several companies have left this territory in recent years. This week, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced it will stop research into developing drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease, after costly failed attempts over the past decade. |
 | Stroke patients at higher risk for suicide attemptsStrokes can be disabling, leaving survivors to confront many challenges during their recovery. Now, a new Asian study shows survivors are at higher risk for attempting suicide, especially if they are younger, less affluent and have a physically demanding job. |
How the immune system curbs its own mistakesWhen we encounter a pathogen, the immune system is usually able to respond quickly and forcefully to protect us from infection. Some of its preparedness is inherent in the process by which white blood cells called B cells make antibodies, proteins fine-tuned to recognize a specific invader. Within structures called germinal centers, B cells undergo many mutations to diversify—and when a pathogen attacks, those cells making the most potent antibodies are singled out and start multiplying quickly. | |
 | What supplements do scientists use, and why?Supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry. But, unlike pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers of these products don't have to prove that their products are effective, only that they are safe – and that's for new supplements only. |
 | New wholegrain labelling system helps consumers choose healthy breakfast optionsUniversity of Hertfordshire researchers have been trialing a new approach to help the public easily identify which wholegrain foods are healthiest. |
 | 16 week NHS programme to treat type 2 diabetesAn inexpensive, 16-week NHS lifestyle programme aimed at patients with type 2 diabetes can help to treat the disease. |
 | Six easy ways to encourage children to eat less sugarA new campaign from Public Health England is urging parents to limit snacks for children to two a day, and 100 calories a piece. The aim is to reduce kids' sugar consumption – according to PHE data, children eat on average 10kg of sugar every year, with about half of this coming from sugary drinks and snacks. |
 | Study identifies brain circuit controlling social behaviorA new study by researchers at Roche in Basel, Switzerland has identified a key brain region of the neural circuit that controls social behavior. Increasing the activity of this region, called the habenula, led to social problems in rodents, whereas decreasing activity of the region prevented social problems. |
New biomarkers for colorectal cancerFor colorectal cancer (CRC), early detection and classification is important, as not all Stage II patients benefit from chemotherapy. Identifying patients at risk for recurrence during the early course of the disease might help clinicians. However, there are still too few prognostic markers for colorectal cancer known so that too many patients still suffer needlessly from side effects of the chemotherapy without having real benefits. | |
 | Girls twice as likely to experience emotional problems as boys, reveals studyGirls are more than twice as likely to experience emotional difficulties as boys, while boys are significantly more likely to experience behavioural problems, UCL research has revealed. |
 | 'Bone cement': A non-surgical option for painful joints?(HealthDay)—Injecting a calcium-based cement into the bones of some people with knee or hip pain could help them avoid joint replacement surgery, Ohio State University doctors say. |
 | Be sure to read labels for portion, calorie control(HealthDay)—"Nutrition Facts" labels mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have made it easier to know more about what's inside packaged foods. But the information isn't always easy to decipher, especially since the "daily value" percentages are based on a maintenance diet, not a weight-loss one. |
 | Neurodevelopment not impacted by glucocorticoids in preemies(HealthDay)—Use of inhaled glucocorticoids in extremely preterm infants for the prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia does not lead to a higher rate of neurodevelopmental disability at 2 years, according to a study published in the Jan. 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. |
 | Economic impact of physicians quantified for 2015(HealthDay)—Physicians have a large economic impact across the nation, creating an aggregate of $2.3 trillion of economic activity and supporting employment of nearly 12.6 million Americans, according to a report published by the American Medical Association. |
 | High-risk plaque on coronary CTA linked to future MACE(HealthDay)—For outpatients with stable chest pain, high-risk plaque found by coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is associated with subsequent major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), according to a study published online Jan. 10 in JAMA Cardiology. |
 | Cervical lesions change fastest in Hispanics, slowest in blacks—for better and worsePhysicians determining treatment options following abnormal Pap smears now have another factor to consider: the patient's race. |
 | Removing the immunotherapy blindfoldImmunotherapies are promising in theory, but often not in practice. In fact according to experts, they actually only work 10 percent of the time in the treatment of cancer – at best. Yet, while immunotherapy drugs may only help a minority of patients, those who do respond often do extremely well. As a result, many scientists are working to tap into the treatment's benefits for a wider group of patients. |
 | The 'greatest pandemic in history' was 100 years ago – but many of us still get the basic facts wrongThis year marks the 100th anniversary of the great influenza pandemic of 1918. Between 50 and 100 million people are thought to have died, representing as much as 5 percent of the world's population. Half a billion people were infected. |
 | When sexual assault victims speak out, their institutions often betray themA 27-year-old medical resident in general surgery is sexually harassed by two men – the chief resident and a staff physician at the hospital. She feels trapped. When one of the men's actions escalates to assault, she struggles to find the strength and courage to report it. |
 | New expert guidance on contact precautions for drug-resistant infectionsNew expert guidance released today by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America advises hospitals on determining when they can safely discontinue contact precautions for patients with multi-drug resistant bacteria. The framework, published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, addresses how long hospital staff should use these safety protocols to reduce the spread of potentially deadly organisms within the hospital, in most cases ranging from one to three negative cultures prior to discontinuation. The guidance also outlines the use of molecular testing that is guiding these care decisions. |
Teenagers gamble away their educationThe odds are stacked against teenagers who regularly gamble. A new study in Springer's Journal of Gambling Studies shows that a 14-year-old who gambles is more likely to struggle at school. The study was led by Frank Vitaro of the University of Montreal, Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center and the Research Unit on Children's Psychosocial Maladjustment in Canada. | |
Study supports use of short-term HIV treatment interruption in clinical trialsA short-term pause in HIV treatment during a carefully monitored clinical trial does not lead to lasting expansion of the HIV reservoir nor cause irreversible damage to the immune system, new findings suggest. | |
 | Different strains of same bacteria trigger widely varying immune responsesGenetic differences between different strains of the same pathogenic bacterial species appear to result in widely varying immune system responses, according to new research published in PLOS Pathogens. |
 | Human protein may aid neuron invasion by virus that causes hand, foot, and mouth diseaseA human protein known as prohibitin may play a significant role in infection of the nervous system by EV71, one of several viruses that can cause hand, foot, and mouth disease. Issac Too of the National University of Singapore and colleagues highlight this finding in a new PLOS Pathogens study. |
 | Risk of non-infectious elephantiasis mapped in CameroonBoth the etiology and demographics of podoconiosis, a non-infectious disease which causes massive swelling of the legs, are poorly understood. To help contribute to the global atlas of podoconiosis knowledge, researchers reporting in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases have now described the distribution of podoconiosis in Cameroon. |
New study reveals adverse impact of both type 2 and type 1 diabetes on pregnancy outcomesA new study published in Diabetologia reveals that both type 2 (T2D) and type 1 diabetes (T1D) are associated with complications during pregnancy including stillbirths and emergency Caesarean sections, as well as increasing the risk of infant mortality. | |
 | Students more engaged and attentive following outdoor lesson in natureA study recently published in open-access journal Frontiers in Psychology has found that 9-10 year-old children are significantly more attentive and engaged with their schoolwork following an outdoor lesson in nature. Strikingly, this "nature effect" allowed teachers to teach uninterrupted for almost twice as long during a subsequent indoor lesson. The results suggest that outdoor lessons may be an inexpensive and convenient way to improve student engagement - a major factor in academic achievement. |
 | Team develops method to identify seizure-causing regions in the brainEpilepsy—a condition that affects an estimated 65 million people worldwide—can be a difficult condition to treat. A team at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Mayo Clinic have developed a method with the potential to significantly improve the accuracy and reduce the cost and time needed to identify regions of the brain causing epilepsy. |
 | New studies reveal how Big Pharma plays the system to secure lucrative funding deals in Central EuropeNew research, from an international group of health policy experts led by the University of Bath (UK), reports a mixed picture of transparency in public decisions-making around new medicine approvals in Poland, one of Europe's largest pharmaceutical markets. |
Stem cell-rich cord blood donations could increase by 'nudging' parents, study suggestsIt contains potentially lifesaving stem cells that can treat a host of blood-based cancers and other diseases. Yet the blood found in newborns' umbilical cords is almost always discarded as medical waste, rather than banked for future needs. | |
 | Researchers map out genetic 'switches' behind human brain evolutionUCLA researchers have developed the first map of gene regulation in human neurogenesis, the process by which neural stem cells turn into brain cells and the cerebral cortex expands in size. The scientists identified factors that govern the growth of our brains and, in some cases, set the stage for several brain disorders that appear later in life. |
 | New AI technology significantly improves human kidney analysisThe ability to quantify the extent of kidney damage and predict the life remaining in the kidney, using an image obtained at the time when a patient visits the hospital for a kidney biopsy, now is possible using a computer model based on artificial intelligence (AI). |
 | Hepatic fat accumulation may have causal role in liver disease(HealthDay)—Hepatic fat accumulation may play a causal role in chronic liver disease, according to a study published online Dec. 27 in the Journal of Internal Medicine. |
 | Psoriasis is independent risk factor for comorbidity in children(HealthDay)—Children with psoriasis have an increased risk of comorbidities compared to children without psoriasis, independent of obesity, according to a study published online Jan. 10 in JAMA Dermatology. |
 | Active surveillance feasible for small, low-grade bladder cancer(HealthDay)—For patients who present with small, low-grade pTa/pT1a recurrent papillary bladder tumors, active surveillance appears to be a reasonable strategy, according to a study published in the February issue of The Journal of Urology. |
 | Do less harm: E-cigarettes a safer option than smoking, new study saysQuitting smoking is among the top New Year's resolutions, but is notoriously difficult to do and often requires multiple attempts and strategies. |
Patient education brochure provides low-cost solution to avoid diversion of unused opioidsUnused prescription painkillers lying around the home have proven to be a major source of drugs supplying the nation's opioid epidemic,1 but a new patient education brochure that describes safe disposal practices of unused pain pills can be a low-cost and effective way of getting patients to properly dispose of their leftover medications, according to study results published as an "article in press" on the website of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons ahead of print. | |
 | Researchers demonstrate RAS dimers are essential for cancerMutated RAS genes are some of the most common genetic drivers of cancer, especially in aggressive cancers like pancreatic and lung cancer, but no medicines that target RAS are available despite decades of effort. |
Failed outpatient sterilization procedures not associated with adverse pregnancy outcomesWhile the risk of pregnancy is low after female sterilization procedures, 60 percent of pregnancies that do occur result in a live birth, according to a new study. Researchers looked at data from close to 1,000 pregnancies after failed outpatient and surgical sterilization procedures and found that while neither option was associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, outpatient procedures were more likely to result in a live birth and less likely to result in an ectopic pregnancy, which occurs outside of the uterus, when compared to surgical options. | |
 | Women and men military veterans, childhood adversity and alcohol and drug useResults of a national study led by public health scientist Elizabeth Evans at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with others at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the University of California, Los Angeles, suggest that risk for alcohol and drug use disorders among United States military veterans is increased by childhood adversity, and in ways that are different between women and men and different compared to the civilian population. |
 | Dengue takes low and slow approach to replicationA new study reveals how dengue virus manages to reproduce itself in an infected person without triggering the body's normal defenses. Duke researchers report that dengue pulls off this hoax by co-opting a specialized structure within host cells for its own purposes, like a lazy roommate sneaking bits of his laundry into the communal wash. |
Emergency department program for older adults cuts hospitalizations by 33 percentRoughly one third of all older patients age 65 and older visiting emergency departments nationwide are admitted to the hospital. But an emergency department program focused on geriatric transitional care has reduced the risk of unnecessary admission of older patients at Northwestern Medicine by 33 percent, according to a new study from Northwestern Univeristy, Mount Sinai Medical Center and St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center. | |
 | One of the most promising drugs for Alzheimer's disease fails in clinical trialsTo the roughly 400 clinical trials that have tested some experimental treatment for Alzheimer's disease and come up short, we can now add three more. |
 | Can writing your 'to-do's' help you to doze? Study suggests jotting down tasks can speed the trip to dreamlandWriting a "to-do" list at bedtime may aid in falling asleep, according to a Baylor University study. Research compared sleep patterns of participants who took five minutes to write down upcoming duties versus participants who chronicled completed activities. |
Polish lawmakers reject proposal to ease abortion restrictionsPoland's parliament rejected proposals to ease strict abortion restrictions Wednesday, a year after tens of thousands of black-clad women flooded the streets to prevent the Catholic country from adopting harsher laws. | |
 | France decries 'dysfunction' in baby milk recall (Update)France said Thursday there has been a "major dysfunction" in a recall of baby milk after stores sold potentially contaminated products despite having been ordered to take them off their shelves. |
 | An old paper on presidential mental health gets new attentionTwelve years ago, publishing in a journal most people had never heard of, a group of faculty from the Duke Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences suggested that 18 of America's first 37 presidents met the criteria for a serious psychiatric disorder, based on a review of biographical information. |
 | Hormone therapy may reduce eating disorder symptoms in transgender peopleNew research has shown that receiving cross-sex hormone therapy (CHT) can help to reduce the feelings of body dissatisfaction associated with eating disorders including anorexia and bulimia in transgender people. |
Experts call for action to address physician burnout in nephrologyKidney specialists face increasing work demands, high rates of burnout, and declining interest in nephrology as a career. A group of articles publishing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN) sheds light on how that these factors threaten to reduce job satisfaction and impair the delivery of high-quality care to patients with kidney diseases. | |
 | Education and income determine whether women participate in cervical screeningThe impression that foreign-born women in Sweden more often are excluded from gynecological cancer screening needs to be reconsidered. A study from Sahlgrenska Academy, published in the journal PLOS One, makes it clear that foreign-born women participate to the same extent as women born in Sweden with a corresponding educational level and income. |
 | Are women really under-represented in clinical trials?Several studies have reported a lack of gender diversity in clinical trials, with trials including mostly adult males; however, a recent review of publicly available registration data of clinical trials at the US Food and Drug Administration for the most frequently prescribed drug classes found no evidence of any systemic significant under-representation of women. |
Team reports gambling research results to Massachusetts Gaming CommissionResults of a baseline study on gambling behavior in Massachusetts that establishes how people participated - or not - in gambling prior to the opening of any casinos were reported today to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) by epidemiologist Rachel Volberg and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst's School of Public Health and Health Sciences. It is the first major cohort study of adult gambling to be carried out in the United States. | |
Trump allows US states work rules for Medicaid enrolleesDonald Trump's administration moved Thursday to let states require that able-bodied adults work in order to receive health care benefits through Medicaid, a pillar of the US social safety net. | |
 | Court: Yes, there is doctor-patient confidentialityConnecticut's highest court has ruled on an issue that most people may think is already settled, saying doctors have a duty to keep patients' medical records confidential and can be sued if they don't. |
Study suggests many gay and bisexual men are skeptical, but attitudes are on the riseDr. Jonathon Rendina, an Assistant Professor at Hunter College and Director of Quantitative Methods at Hunter's Center for HIV Educational Studies & Training, and Dr. Jeffrey Parsons, Distinguished Professor at Hunter and Director of CHEST, have published a new paper in the Journal of the International AIDS Society focused on gay and bisexual men's perceptions of the HIV treatment-as-prevention message, "Undetectable = Untransmittable." Numerous well-controlled trials have recently demonstrated that there is effectively no risk of HIV transmission during sex with a partner who has a sustained, undetectable viral load. This notion, that HIV treatment can lead to HIV prevention, has been captured with the #UequalsU slogan popularized by Bruce Richman and the Prevention Access Campaign, of which he is Executive Director, and has gained growing popularity and endorsements, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Hunter CHEST study sought to examine how accurate gay and bisexual men perceive this message to be by surveying more than 12,000 men across the United States in the summer of 2017. | |
Biology news
 | Malaria parasite packs genetic material for trip from mosquitoes to humansThe parasite that causes malaria has not one, but two, specialized proteins that protect its messenger RNAs—genetic material that encodes for proteins—until the parasite takes up residence in a new mosquito or a human host. A new study by researchers at Penn State describes the two proteins and reveals an additional role that one may play to facilitate RNA-based interactions between the parasite, its mosquito vector, and its human host. The study appears January 10, 2018, in the journal mSphere. |
 | Frogs reveal mechanism that determines viability of hybridsWhy are some hybrids viable and others not? It is known that this depends on the father species and the mother species. New research in two related frog species shows the influence of mother and father species: One hybrid is viable, the other hybrid dies in early stages of development. Scientists from Radboud University, together with colleagues from the United States and Japan, published their findings on 10 January in Nature. |
 | Study uncovers distinctions in major crop genome evolutionsSometime between 5 million and 13 million years ago, both maize and soybeans underwent genome duplications, but Purdue University scientists believe they happened in very different manners. |
 | Biologists create toolkit for tuning genetic circuitsRice University scientists have created a toolkit for synthetic biologists who need to precisely tune the input and output levels of genetic circuits. |
 | Spider eat spider: Scientists discover 18 new spider-hunting pelican spiders in MadagascarIn 1854, a curious-looking spider was found preserved in 50 million-year-old amber. With an elongated neck-like structure and long mouthparts that protruded from the "head" like an angled beak, the arachnid bore a striking resemblance to a tiny pelican. A few decades later when living pelican spiders were discovered in Madagascar, arachnologists learned that their behavior is as unusual as their appearance, but because these spiders live in remote parts of the world they remained largely unstudied—until recently. |
 | Rising CO2 is causing trouble in freshwaters too, study suggestsAs carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere rise, more CO2 gets absorbed into seawater. As a result, the world's oceans have grown more acidic over time, causing a wide range of well-documented problems for marine animals and ecosystems. Now, researchers reporting in Current Biology on January 11 present some of the first evidence that similar things are happening in freshwaters too. |
 | Researchers map druggable genomic targets in evolving malaria parasiteResearchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues across the country and around the world, have used whole genome analyses and chemogenetics to identify new drug targets and resistance genes in 262 parasite cell lines of Plasmodium falciparum—protozoan pathogens that cause malaria—that are resistant to 37 diverse antimalarial compounds. |
 | Solving Darwin's 'abominable mystery': How flowering plants conquered the worldScientists have found an explanation for how flowering plants became dominant so rapidly in ecosystems across the world—a problem that Charles Darwin called an 'abominable mystery'. In a study publishing on January 11 in the open access journal PLOS Biology, Kevin Simonin and Adam Roddy, from San Francisco State University and Yale University respectively, found that flowering plants have small cells relative to other major plant groups and that this small cell size is made possible by a greatly reduced genome size. |
 | Scientists make cells that enable the sense of touchResearchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have, for the first time, coaxed human stem cells to become sensory interneurons—the cells that give us our sense of touch. The new protocol could be a step toward stem cell-based therapies to restore sensation in paralyzed people who have lost feeling in parts of their body. |
 | All in the family: Focused genomic comparisonsFound in microbial communities around the world, Aspergillus fungi are pathogens, decomposers, and important sources of biotechnologically-important enzymes. Each Aspergillus species is known to contain more than 250 carbohydrate active enzymes (CAzymes), which break down plant cell walls and are of interest to Department of Energy (DOE) researchers working on the industrial production of sustainable alternative fuels using candidate bioenergy feedstock crops. Additionally, each fungal species is thought to contain more than 40 secondary metabolites, small molecules with the potential to act as biofuel and chemical intermediates. |
 | The origin of flower-making genesFlowering plants have evolved from plants without flowers. It is known that the function of several genes, called MADS-box genes, creates shapes peculiar to flowers such as stamens, pistils and petals. Plants that do not produce flowers, such as mosses, ferns and green algae, are also known to have the MADS-box genes. However, it was not well understood how the MADS-box genes work in plants without flowers until now. In order to understand the mechanism of flower evolution, it is necessary to understand how the MADS-box genes work in plants without flowers. |
 | Why did the passenger pigeon die out?Why do species die out? This is the overarching question being asked by many leading researchers. Knowing more about what leads to a species becoming extinct could enable researchers to do something about it. The passenger pigeon is a famous example, and the species has been studied extensively. |
 | Lethal management of wolves in one place may make things worse nearbyLethal management of wolves following wolf attacks on livestock may have unintended consequences, a new study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison suggests. |
 | An orchid that never bloomsA flower identified as Lecanorchis nigricans has been revealed to be a different identity, Lecanorchis nigricans var. patipetala. Both species are self-pollinating, but the flowers of the true L. nigricans never open. |
 | Everything you never wanted to know about bed bugs, and moreIf some insects could save the world, others do their best to seriously complicate life on earth. Among them the prize perhaps goes to the bed bug, which after decades of absence has returned to our homes, hotels and public facilities to seriously disturb us. |
 | Turning power over to states won't improve protection for endangered speciesSince the Endangered Species Act became law in 1973, the U.S. government has played a critical role in protecting endangered and threatened species. But while the law is overwhelmingly popular with the American public, critics in Congress are proposing to significantly reduce federal authority to manage endangered species and delegate much of this role to state governments. |
 | As climate warms, more bird nests are destroyed in Finnish farmlandsA new study shows that birds have shifted the time of their breeding much more quickly than Finnish farmers are anticipating their sowing times. This means that more birds are laying their eggs on fields that are still to be sown, a mismatch in timing that is most likely fatal for the bird nests. |
 | Rising temperatures turning major sea turtle population femaleScientists have used a new research approach to show that warming temperatures are turning one of the world's largest sea turtle colonies almost entirely female, running the risk that the colony cannot sustain itself in coming decades, newly published research concludes. |
 | Scientists identify the link between light and chloroplast developmentIt has long been assumed that light activates chloroplastic gene expression via so-called thiol-mediated redox regulation. However, the mechanism giving rise to this regulation has remained elusive until now. Åsa Strand and her group at the Umeå Plant Science Centre have now identified the components involved in this redox regulatory mechanism. Their results are published in the journal Nature Communications. |
 | Marijuana farms expose spotted owls to rat poison in Northwest CaliforniaWildlife species are being exposed to high levels of rat poison in northwest California, with illegal marijuana farms the most likely source point, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis, with the California Academy of Sciences. |
Maintaining tiger connectivity and minimising extinction into the next centuryTigers have lost 95% of their historical range, and what remains is highly fragmented. According to this study, high traffic roads and densely populated urban areas are a severe impediment to tiger movement between fragments. Unplanned development in the future will result in loss of connectivity and an increased possibility of extinction for several tiger populations. To ensure future persistence, tiger populations need to be managed as a network of protected areas connected by corridors. | |
Cuttlefish hear bow wave of looming dangerImagine trying to get close to your dinner only for it to be swept aside by your approach; this is the scenario faced by aquatic creatures every day as they try to snap up a tasty morsel. | |
New studies aim to boost social science methods in conservation researchScientists have produced a series of papers designed to improve research on conservation and the environment. | |
 | Top European chefs take electric pulse fishing off the menuMore than 200 top chefs across Europe have pledged to stop sourcing seafood obtained by electric pulse fishing, days before an EU vote that could expand the use of the controversial technique, an ocean advocacy group said Thursday. |
 | Biologists look to the past for early genetic development of tiny spider and insect eyesWith the increasing advantages of DNA sequencing, University of Cincinnati biologists are unraveling many evolutionary mysteries behind the complex world of spider vision. |
Northern corn leaf blight genes identified in new studyMidwestern corn growers know the symptoms of northern corn leaf blight all too well: greenish-gray lesions on the leaves that can add up to major yield losses if not detected and treated early. Resistance genes have been identified in corn, but the fungal disease has found ways to sneak around corn's defenses. Now, researchers have figured out how the fungus is outsmarting corn, and they may be able to use this information to help corn fight back. | |
 | US says snow-loving lynx no longer need special protectionWildlife officials say Canada lynx no longer need special protections in the United States following measures to preserve populations of the snow-loving wild cats. |
 | Court OKs killing a type of owl to see effect on other owlsA federal appeals court in San Francisco has upheld a plan by wildlife officials to kill one type of owl to study its effect on another type of owl. |
 | Outrage after koala found screwed to pole in AustraliaA dead koala has been found screwed to a pole in Australia in a "sickening" act that sparked outrage Thursday on social media. |
 | Race to save Indonesian croc stricken by tyre necklaceIndonesian conservation officials are racing to locate and rescue a saltwater crocodile that has had a motorbike tyre wrapped around its neck for more than a year on the island of Sulawesi. |
Don't forget about your pets during cold weatherIt's easy to let your dog outside in the backyard for a few minutes to get some exercise or use the bathroom. But, during the winter months, cold spells or deep freezes could be hazardous. | |
 | New hope for critically endangered Myanmar snub-nosed monkeyEight years after the discovery of a new primate species in Myanmar, scientists have released a new report revealing how the 'snubby' is faring. |
Cold-stunned manatees, sea turtles warming up at SeaWorldSome marine animals stunned by cold weather nationwide are warming up at SeaWorld in Florida. | |
Virus cause of more than 170 dolphin deaths in BrazilBrazilian scientists say a virus is the main cause for the death of close to 200 guiana dolphins in little more than 40 days on the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. | |
 | Article provides detailed look at participants in Golden Retriever Lifetime StudyWhat do 3,044 golden retrievers across the nation have in common? They are the principal players in the second published scientific paper from Morris Animal Foundation's groundbreaking Golden Retriever Lifetime Study, highlighting characteristics of the dogs in this landmark study, including age, medical condition, preventive care and more. |
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