Science News

13-Feb-2017 Researchers Identify “Achilles’ Heel” of Key Anti-Cancer Protein Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York have discovered that a protein called Importin-11 protects the anti-cancer protein PTEN from destruction by transporting it into the cell nucleus. The study, “The nuclear transport receptor I... – The Rockefeller University Press The Journal of Cell Biology, March 6th 2017; National Institute of General Medical Sciences (1R01GM092900-03); U.S. Department of Defense (W81XWH-13-PCRP-IDA); American Cancer Society (RSG-14-069-01-TBE)... Embargo expired on 13-Feb-2017 at 09:00 ET Next-Gen Dark Matter Detector in a Race to Finish Line The race is on to build the most sensitive U.S.-based experiment designed to directly detect dark matter particles. Department of Energy officials have formally approved a key construction milestone that will propel the project toward its April 2020 ... – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Embargo expired on 13-Feb-2017 at 09:00 ET How Evolution Alters Biological Invasions Biological invasions pose major threats to biodiversity, but little is known about how evolution might alter their impacts over time. Now, Rutgers University scientists have performed the first study of how evolution unfolds after invasions change na... – Rutgers University Nature Ecology & Evolution Kepler, Don’t Give Up on the Hunt for Exomoons LLNL researchers have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible for a planetary collision to form a moon large enough for Kepler to detect. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory physicist Megan Bruk Syal and Amy Barr of the Planetary Scien... – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory The Royal Astronomical Society Rutgers Develops Eco-Friendly Concrete In the future, wide-ranging composite materials are expected to be stronger, lighter, cheaper and greener for our planet, thanks to an invention by Rutgers’ Richard E. Riman. Nine years ago, Riman, a distinguished professor in the Department of Mat... – Rutgers University Journal of the American Ceramic Society Organo-Metal Compound Seen Killing Cancer Cells From Inside Researchers have witnessed - for the first time - cancer cells being targeted and destroyed from the inside, by an organo-metal compound discovered by the University of Warwick. – University of Warwick Chemistry - A European Journal 12-Feb-2017 Passengers Take Mobile Measure of Comfort for Railway Companies Passengers could soon be using their mobile phones to help rail companies around the globe improve the ride quality on their trains, thanks to new research. – University of Birmingham Frontiers in Built Environment, February 2017 Embargo expired on 12-Feb-2017 at 19:15 ET 10-Feb-2017 Giant Flying Reptile Ruled Ancient Transylvania The creature has a considerably shorter and stronger neck with larger muscles than the long graceful necks of others in its species. – University of Portsmouth How About Another Sweet, Juicy Strawberry, Courtesy of UF/IFAS? When you bite into a Florida strawberry for Valentine’s Day or National Strawberry Day on Feb. 27, you savor sweetness and juice. That’s what you’ll find in all varieties bred by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences... – University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Scientists Estimate Solar Nebula's Lifetime A collaborative study involving Brookhaven, MIT, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro suggests the gas cloud from which our solar system formed lasted about 4 million years. – Brookhaven National Laboratory Science, 10 Feb 2017: Vol. 355, Issue 6325, pp. 623-627 New Study of Ferroelectrics Offers Roadmap to Multivalued Logic for Neuromorphic Computing Research published Wednesday in Nature Scientific Reports lays out a theoretical map to use ferroelectric material to process information using multivalued logic – a leap beyond the simple ones and zeroes that make up our current computing systems ... – Argonne National Laboratory Nature Scientific Reports, Feb-2017 Breaking Research Published in AACC’s Clinical Chemistry Journal Could Help to Combat Rise in Drivers Impaired by Edible Marijuana Consumption Though marijuana edibles are becoming increasingly common, scant information exists on how to test drivers for impairment following their consumption. For the first time, research published today in AACC’s Clinical Chemistry journal evaluates the p... – American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Clinical Chemistry, Feb-2017 Protecting Bulk Power Systems From Hackers Most of us take turning the lights on for granted. In reality, the energy we draw from the electrical grid to brighten homes, freeze food and watch TV is part of a complicated and widespread system. Understanding that system's vulnerabilities and rel... – Michigan Technological University IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid; NSF CNS&CSE1541000 ; NSF ECCS1128512 Dwarf Star 200 Light Years Away Contains Life's Building Blocks Team discovers object in the constellation Boötes with carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen. – University of California Los Angeles UCLA Astrophysical Journal Letters Ancient Signals From the Early Universe For the first time, theoretical physicists from the University of Basel have calculated the signal of specific gravitational wave sources that emerged fractions of a second after the Big Bang. – University of Basel Physical Review Letters Upstate Medical University Study Highlights Key Principles of a Successful Malaria Elimination Program The program's approach can also serve as a guide to ongoing and future control efforts of other emerging mosquito-borne illnesses globally. – SUNY Upstate Medical University 50+ Year-Old Protein Volume Paradox Resolved Research published this week in Nature Communications makes it possible to predict how volume for a given protein will change between the folded and unfolded state. Computations accurately predict how a protein will react to increased pressure, shed ... – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Heart-Shaped Cells The cellular skeleton protein actin can bind cells together, and also play a number of roles in cancer’s invasion into new tissues in the body. – NIH, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Exploring Mysteries on the Surface Ames Laboratory scientists Pat Thiel and Michael Tringides are explorers, discovering the unique properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials and metals grown on graphene, graphite, and other carbon coated surfaces. Expert Available – Ames Laboratory The Truth is Way, Way Out There Jason Steffen, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at UNLV, discusses the ways in which exoplanet research have shaken up the theoretical models. Expert Available – University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) 09-Feb-2017 Chemicals Hitch a Ride Onto New Protein for Better Compounds Berkeley Lab chemists have developed a powerful new method of selectively linking chemicals to proteins, a major advance in the manipulation of biomolecules that could transform the way drugs are developed, proteins are probed, and molecules are trac... – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Science, Feb 10, 2017 Embargo expired on 09-Feb-2017 at 14:00 ET Getting Kids to Eat Veggies, Healing Tea, Bad Supplements, and More in the Food Science News Source Click here to go to the Food Science News Source – Newswise Hubble Witnesses Massive Comet-Like Object Pollute Atmosphere of a White Dwarf Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found the best evidence yet of the remains of a comet-like object scattered in the atmosphere of a white dwarf. The icy object, which has been ripped apart, is similar to Halley's Comet in chemical... – Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Feb-2017 Researchers Develop Device That Emulates Human Kidney Function and Could Replace Animal, Human Testing Instead of running tests on live kidneys, researchers at Binghamton, University State University of New York have developed a model kidney for working out the kinks in medicines and treatments. Developed by Assistant Professor Gretchen Mahler and ... – Binghamton University, State University of New York RSC Advances, Jan-2017 Mosquito Research Receives $2 Million Grant to Speed the Development of New Vector Control Products A major grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been made for a research programme to develop novel test protocols to accelerate development and bring to market, the next generation of vector control products. – University of Warwick A New Sensitive and Stable Self-Powered Photodetector Researchers in Singapore and China have collaborated to develop a self-powered photodetector that can be used in a wide range of applications such as chemical analysis, communications, astronomical investigations and much more. – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Johns Hopkins APL Plays Key Role as US, Japan Conduct First SM-3 Block IIA Intercept Test Engineers from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, in cooperation with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Japan Ministry of Defense, and U.S. Navy sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53), pla... – Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory UCI, NASA Reveal New Details of Greenland Ice Loss Irvine, Calif., Feb. 9, 2017 – Less than a year after the first research flight kicked off NASA’s Oceans Melting Greenland campaign, data from the new program are providing a dramatic increase in knowledge of how Greenland’s ice sheet is meltin... – University of California, Irvine Oceanography, Feb.-2017 UGA Scientists Use Robots and Drones to Accelerate Plant Genetic Research, Improve Crop Yield A team of researchers is developing a robotic system of all-terrain rovers and aerial drones that can quickly and accurately gather and analyze data on the characteristics of crops. – University of Georgia New Supercomputer Triples Earth System Science Capability with Greater Efficiency The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is launching operations this month of one of the world's most powerful and energy-efficient supercomputers, providing the nation with a major new tool to advance understanding of the atmospheric and... – National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Biomimic Batteries: Lucia Gauchia Wins NSF CAREER Award Energy storage can learn a lot from ecology—and that's what one engineer plans to do with her early career award grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). She also mentors young Hispanic women, brings real-time data monitoring into undergra... – Michigan Technological University Music Professor Receives Patent to Help Fight Bark Beetles Ravaging Western Forests UC Santa Cruz music professor David Dunn has joined forces with two forest scientists from Northern Arizona University to combat an insect infestation that is killing millions of trees throughout the West. – University of California, Santa Cruz Constant Challenge for Discovery Propels Harvinder Gill The Texas Tech researcher has shown how vaccines can be administered more effectively through the use of creative methods of drug delivery. Expert Available – Texas Tech University SciWire Announcements Consortium for Dark Sky Studies The University of Utah announced the Consortium for Dark Sky Studies, the first academic center in the world dedicated to discovering, developing, communicating and applying knowledge of the quality of the night skies. The consortium will research li... – University of Utah U.S. Commerce Dept. Awards $500,000 to Cal State LA, Biocom Institute and Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator for Labiostart Boot Camp California State University, Los Angeles and its partners the Biocom Institute and the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) have been awarded an i6 Challenge grant of nearly $500,000 to fund LABioStart, a boot camp to train emerging bioscience entr... – California State University, Los Angeles ORNL Wins Four FLC Technology Transfer Awards Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers win four Federal Laboratory Consortium awards. – Oak Ridge National Laboratory Yonggang Huang Elected to National Academy of Engineering Northwestern University’s Yonggang Huang, whose work has led to major advancements in stretchable and flexible electronics with biomedical applications, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Election to the academy is among... – Northwestern University DHS to Hold Emerging Technology Showcase for First Responder Innovation DHS S&T will host the EMERGE 2016: Wearable Technology Showcase to present the results of the 10 startup companies that were part of this year’s cohort class. – Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate River Research Project at California Campus Gets $250,000 Keck Grant Funds for Sac State's SIRIUS program will help pay for six new classes, expanding opportunities for undergrad students. – California State University, Sacramento Embargo expired on 09-Feb-2017 at 16:00 ET Andrea Davidson Joins SBP as Vice President of Philanthropy Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) has named Andrea Davidson as the new vice president of philanthropy. Davidson joins SBP from UC San Diego, where she most recently led the development team in raising $119 million in the 2015-2... – Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute Embargo expired on 13-Feb-2017 at 05:00 ET SciWire Marketplace Young Astronomer Presents Research Cannan Huey-You, an 11-year-old astronomer, presents new research from the Green Bank Telescope at the meeting of the American Astronomical Society. – Green Bank Observatory AAS Meeting, Jan. 2017