Science News

16-Feb-2017 Virginia Tech Expert Says Collapse of Oroville Dam in California Is Virtually Impossible Virginia Tech expert says the danger at Oroville Dam in California is confined to the spillway. While forecasters expect additional storms into next week, damage to the dam itself is highly unlikely. Expert Available – Virginia Tech Embargo expired on 16-Feb-2017 at 03:00 ET Breakthrough in ‘Wonder’ Materials Paves Way for Flexible Tech Gadgets are set to become flexible, highly efficient and much smaller, following a breakthrough in measuring two-dimensional ‘wonder’ materials by the University of Warwick. – University of Warwick Science Advances, Feb 2017 Being a Tattoo Artist Is a Pain in the Neck, Study Finds Getting a tattoo may hurt, but giving one is no picnic, either. That’s the finding of the first study ever to directly measure the physical stresses that lead to aches and pains in tattoo artists—workers who support a multibillion-dollar American... – Ohio State University Applied Ergonomics Attacking the Flu by Hijacking Infected Cells They’re called TIPs and their task would be to infiltrate and outcompete influenza, HIV, Ebola and other viruses. Soon, Rutgers’ Laura Fabris will play a key role in a project aimed at designing TIPs – therapeutic interfering particles to defu... – Rutgers University UF/IFAS Helps ‘Keep the (Blood) Pressure Down’ New UF/IFAS Extension program aims to help people around Florida maintain healthy blood pressure. – University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences 15-Feb-2017 Flat-Footed Fighters Walking on our heels, a feature that separates great apes, including humans, from other primates, confers advantages in fighting, according to a new University of Utah study published today in Biology Open. Although moving from the balls of the feet ... – University of Utah Biology Open Embargo expired on 15-Feb-2017 at 04:00 ET Flashes of Light Offer Potential for Biomedical Diagnostics A group of researchers from the Czech Republic were intrigued that living organisms emit small amounts of light resulting during oxidative metabolism, when oxygen is used to create energy by breaking down carbohydrates. The researchers began to thin... – Biophysical Society Embargo expired on 15-Feb-2017 at 11:30 ET The Glow of Food Dye Can Be Used to Monitor Food Quality Allura Red, a synthetic food and pharmaceutical color widely used within the U.S., boasts special properties that may make it and other food dyes appropriate as sensors or edible probes to monitor foods and pharmaceuticals. A team of researchers -- f... – Biophysical Society Embargo expired on 15-Feb-2017 at 11:30 ET Old Rocks, Biased Data: Overcoming Challenges Studying the Geodynamo Bias introduced through analyzing the magnetism of old rocks may not be giving geophysicists an accurate idea of how Earth's magnetic dynamo has functioned. A team led by Michigan Technological University shows there is a way to improve the methodolo... – Michigan Technological University Science Advances, Feb-2017 Embargo expired on 15-Feb-2017 at 14:00 ET Birmingham Develops Blueprint for Future Indian Cities Researchers at the University of Birmingham worked with children, young people and their families living in a new urban development in India to understand the everyday experiences of urban transformation – with the results informing the future deve... – University of Birmingham Embargo expired on 15-Feb-2017 at 19:05 ET Researchers Use MRIs to Predict Which High-Risk Babies Will Develop Autism as Toddlers Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in infants with older siblings with autism, researchers from around the country were able to correctly predict 80 percent of those infants who would later meet criteria for autism at two years of age. – University of North Carolina Health Care System Nature Embargo expired on 15-Feb-2017 at 13:00 ET Popping Potential of Sorghum Eating popcorn has long been synonymous with watching movies. But soon you might find yourself reaching for another popped snack option—popped sorghum. – American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Crop Science, October 17, 2016 Embargo expired on 15-Feb-2017 at 11:00 ET DNA Patterns Can Unlock How Glucose Metabolism Drives Cancer, Study Finds Less aggressive cancers are known to have an intact genome—the complete set of genes in a cell—while the genome of more aggressive cancers tends to have a great deal of abnormalities. Now, a new multi-year study of DNA patterns in tumor cells sug... – University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences Molecular Systems Biology Embargo expired on 15-Feb-2017 at 12:00 ET Scientists Discover How the Cells in Skin and Organ Linings Maintain Constant Cell Numbers Research published today in Nature from scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah shows how epithelial cells naturally turn over, maintaining constant numbers between cell division and cell death. – University of Utah Health Sciences Nature; 2OD002056; GM102169; CA042014 Embargo expired on 15-Feb-2017 at 13:00 ET Extreme Waves, Melting Canadian Glaciers, Lionfish in the Gulf, and More in the Environmental Science News Source The latest research on the environment in the Environmental Science News Source – Newswise Researchers Catch Extreme Waves with Higher-Resolution Modeling A new Berkeley Lab study shows that high-resolution models captured hurricanes and big waves that low-resolution ones missed. Better extreme wave forecasts are important for coastal cities, the military, the shipping industry, and surfers. – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Geophysical Research Letters, Feb 2017 Is a Stretchable Smart Tablet in Our Future? Engineering researchers at Michigan State University have developed the first stretchable integrated circuit that is made entirely using an inkjet printer, raising the possibility of inexpensive mass production of smart fabric. – Michigan State University Illuminating the Contacts Using super-resolution microscopy, an international research team led by Assistant Professor Pakorn (Tony) Kanchanawong from the Mechanobiology Institute, Singapore (MBI) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Department of Biomedical ... – National University of Singapore Nature Cell Biology, Dec-2016 Using 'Scotch Tape' and Laser Beams, Researchers Craft New Material That Could Improve LED Screens “We’d someday like to see LEDs that are thinner, more energy efficient and bendable,” said researcher Hui Zhao. “Think about a computer or phone screen if you could fold it a few times or and put it in your pocket.” – University of Kansas 10.1039/c6nh00144k Study: Swishing with Mouth Rinse May Improve Athletic Performance Endurance athletes looking to improve their times might consider swishing with a mouth rinse that contains a little sugar during their next performance. – University of Georgia Scripps Florida Scientists Take Aim at Obesity-Linked Protein In a study recently published online in the journal Molecular Metabolism, Chakraborty and his colleagues have shown that deleting the gene for this protein, known as IP6K1, protects animal models from both obesity and diabetes. – Scripps Research Institute Molecular Metabolism; R01DK103746 Researchers Pinpoint Watery Past on Mars Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have discovered a patch of land in an ancient valley on Mars that appears to have been flooded by water in the not-too-distant past. In doing so, they have pinpointed a prime target to begin searching for past ... – Trinity College Dublin Geophysical Research Letters 'The blob' of abnormal conditions boosted Western U.S. ozone levels Abnormal conditions in the northeast Pacific Ocean, nicknamed “the blob,” put ozone levels in June 2015 higher than normal over a large swath of the Western U.S. – University of Washington Geophysical Research Letters Intergalactic Unions More Devastating Than We Thought Scientists estimated the number of stars disrupted by solitary supermassive black holes in galactic centers formed due to mergers of galaxies containing supermassive black holes. – Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University) (MIPT) The Astrophysical Journal New Method Uses Heat Flow to Levitate Variety of Objects Although scientists have been able to levitate specific types of material, a pair of UChicago undergraduate physics students helped take the science to a new level. Third-year Frankie Fung and fourth-year Mykhaylo Usatyuk led a team of UChicago re... – University of Chicago Applied Physics Letters American Concrete Institute Releases 2017 Edition of Manual of Concrete Practice The American Concrete Institute (ACI) has released the printed and digital editions of one of its 2017 Manual of Concrete Practice. – American Concrete Institute (ACI) Planeterrella Recreates Earth’s Vivid Lightshows in Miniature University of Iowa students have built a device to recreate Earth’s auroras and other space phenomena in miniature. The planeterrella is the only one of its kind in Iowa and one of just a handful in the United States. – University of Iowa Lightning Sensor Launch Saturday Brings Decades of Work to Fruition In the mid 1990s, when NASA built two identical Lightning Imaging Sensors (just in case), Dr. Hugh Christian planned all along to send the flight spare into space. He just didn't expect it to take almost 20 years for that to happen. – University of Alabama Huntsville UN Addresses Issue of Ship-Whale Strikes Scientists and government officials met at the United Nations today to consider possible solutions to a global problem: how to protect whale species in their most important marine habitats that overlap with shipping lanes vital to the economies of ma... – Wildlife Conservation Society Kennesaw State University Scientists Conducting Cutting-Edge Research Two Kennesaw State University scientists have received a total of $737,364 in National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grants for developmental biology research into autism and birth defects. Expert Available – Kennesaw State University 14-Feb-2017 How a Plant Resists Drought Climate change will bring worsening droughts that threaten crops. One potential way to protect crops is by spraying them with a compound that induces the plants to become more drought resistant. Now, by identifying the key molecular mechanism that en... – Biophysical Society Embargo expired on 14-Feb-2017 at 14:45 ET Imbalance of Calcium in a Cell's Energy Factory May Drive Alzheimer's Disease Calcium in the mitochondria -- the energy factory of cells -- may be one of the keys to understanding and treating Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Researchers at Temple University have now identified how an imbalance of calcium ions in the mitochon... – Biophysical Society Embargo expired on 14-Feb-2017 at 14:45 ET Life Under Pressure Life can thrive in some of the most extreme environments on the planet. Microbes flourish inside hot geothermal vents, beneath the frigid ice covering Antarctica and under immense pressures at the bottom of the ocean. For these organisms to survive a... – Biophysical Society Embargo expired on 14-Feb-2017 at 14:45 ET New Protein Development May Hold the Key to New Disease Therapeutics The 2016 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded the for discoveries of mechanisms of autophagy, a cellular process much like recycling, where new cellular components are generated from old and damaged ones. Though a relatively simple proce... – Biophysical Society Embargo expired on 14-Feb-2017 at 14:45 ET Canadian Glaciers Now Major Contributor to Sea Level Change, UCI Study Shows Ice loss from Canada’s Arctic glaciers has transformed them into a major contributor to sea level change, new research by University of California, Irvine glaciologists has found. From 2005 to 2015, surface melt off ice caps and glaciers of the Que... – University of California, Irvine Environmental Research Letters Embargo expired on 14-Feb-2017 at 19:00 ET Parenting Significantly Impacts Development of Children with Fragile X Syndrome A longitudinal study of children with Fragile X Syndrome, the leading genetic cause of autism, and their mothers found that sustained maternal responsivity had a significant positive impact on the children's development, even mitigating declines ofte... – University of Kansas, Life Span Institute Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Black-Hole-Powered Jets Forge Fuel for Star Formation Astronomers using ALMA have discovered a surprising connection between a supermassive black hole and the galaxy where it resides. – National Radio Astronomy Observatory Astrophysical Journal, Feb-2017 Just Press Print: New Study Shows How 3-D Printing at Home Saves Big Bucks New research from Michigan Technological University shows that consumers who invest in an at-home 3-D printer can not only make their money back within six months, but may also see an almost 1,000 percent return on their investment over a five-year p... – Michigan Technological University Measuring Entropy A scanning-tunneling microscope (STM), used to study changes in the shape of a single molecule at the atomic scale, impacts the ability of that molecule to make these changes – the entropy of the molecule is changed and, in turn, can be measured. ... – Empa Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Nature Communications 8, Article number: 14404 (2017), doi:10.1038/ncomms14404 Researchers Develop ‘Living Diode’ Using Cardiac Muscle Cells Research from the University of Notre Dame brings scientists one step closer to developing new forms of biorobotics and novel treatment approaches for several muscle-related health problems such as muscular degenerative disorders, arrhythmia and limb... – University of Notre Dame Turning Up the Heat for Perfect (Nano)Diamonds For use in quantum sensing, the bulk nanodiamond crystal surrounding the point defect must be highly perfect. Any deviation from perfection will adversely affect the quantum behavior of the material. Highly perfect nanodiamonds are also quite expensi... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Extending VCSEL Wavelength Coverage to the Mid-Infrared There are several important gases that are detectable with mid-infrared light, having wavelengths between 3-4 micrometers. Application-grade Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), however, aren’t yet available for this wavelength range, ... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Spread of Lionfish in Gulf of Mexico Is Threat toReef Fisheries Continuing his research, NSU scientist Matthew Johnston, Ph.D., looks at the potential threat the invasive lionfish poses to reef fish in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. – Nova Southeastern University Research at Sandia Looking at How Brittle Materials Fail Sandia National Laboratories' Brittle Materials Assurance Performance Program is working to understand how brittle materials inside devices behave and fail. – Sandia National Laboratories 13-Feb-2017 Special Properties of Hagfish's Defense 'Slime' Hagfish are marine fish shaped like eels, famous for releasing large quantities of “slime” that unfolds, assembles and expands into the surrounding water in response to a threat. Gaurav Chaudhary, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Embargo expired on 13-Feb-2017 at 10:00 ET Exploring the Role of Blood Flow During Cardiac Events While several circulatory system models are used today in an attempt to better understand blood flow, they still don’t account for the complex rheological behavior of blood. Because blood is a complex suspension of red and white blood cells and pla... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Embargo expired on 13-Feb-2017 at 14:45 ET Bridging the Gap Between the Mechanics of Blast Traumatic Brian Injuries and Cell Damage Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a largely silent epidemic that affects roughly two million people each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the scale at which blast TBI (bTBI) injuries -- in the spotlight as the... – Biophysical Society Embargo expired on 13-Feb-2017 at 10:00 ET Putting the 'Squeeze' on Drug Delivery One big challenge targeted drug delivery faces today is efficiently “loading” a drug into a carrier without compromising the carrier’s structural integrity. A promising method is to deform a carrier by squeezing it through a narrow, microscale ... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Embargo expired on 13-Feb-2017 at 16:00 ET New Protein Discovery May Lead to New, Natural Antibiotics Scientists have discovered a new protein that likely will advance the search for new natural antibiotics, according to a study by Texas A&M AgriLife Research. – Texas A&M AgriLife journal Nature Microbiology Embargo expired on 13-Feb-2017 at 11:00 ET New Study Links ‘Mastermind’ Gene to Rare Cancer-Causing Tumor Scientists have discovered a new “mastermind fusion gene” may be associated with a rare cancer-causing tumor – pheochromocytomas (“pheo”) and paragangliomas, according to a study published Feb. 13 in Cancer Cell, by researchers at the Unifo... – Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) Cancer Cell; U54 HG003273; U54 HG003067 Embargo expired on 13-Feb-2017 at 12:05 ET Simulated Ransomware Attack Shows Vulnerability of Industrial Controls Cybersecurity researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new form of ransomware that can take over control of a simulated water treatment plant. After gaining access, they were able to command programmable logic controllers (... – Georgia Institute of Technology RSA Conference Queen’s Wedding Cake Resurrected with Scanning Tech Cutting-edge technology has brought Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding cake back to life – thanks to research by WMG at the University of Warwick. – University of Warwick Feeding Wild Dolphins Can Hurt Them, New Study Says Wild dolphins are more likely to be injured if humans feed them — even through unintentional means like discarding bait — reports a new study based in Sarasota Bay, Florida, and published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Royal Society Open S... – Mote Marine Laboratory R. Soc. open sci. 2016 3 160560; DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160560. Published 21 December 2016 Gene That Helps Form Trauma-Related Memories May Also Help Prevent Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder A specific gene that helps form memories from traumatic events can be manipulated – and in doing so may actually help prevent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a new study led NYU Langone Medical Center. – NYU Langone Medical Center Neuropharmacology: Online Dec. 23, 2016 A Kiss of Death -- Mammals Were the First Animals to Produce Venom CT scans of fossils of the pre-mammalian reptile, Euchambersia, shows anatomical features, designed for venom production – University of the Witwatersrand PLOS ONE How Untreated Water Is Making Our Kids Sick: FSU Researcher Explores Possible Climate Change Link A Florida State University researcher has drawn a link between the impact of climate change and untreated drinking water on the rate of gastrointestinal illness in children. – Florida State University Possible Key to Regeneration Found in Planaria’s Origins A new report from the Stowers Institute for Medical Research chronicles the embryonic origins of planaria, providing new insight into the animal's remarkable regenerative abilities. – Stowers Institute for Medical Research eLife Sunlight or Bacteria? Scientists Investigate What Breaks Down Permafrost Carbon Researchers found sunlight converted little if any permafrost thawed carbon to carbon dioxide, whereas microbes were shown to rapidly convert permafrost carbon to carbon dioxide. – Florida State University Climate Change Impacts on Threatened and Endangered Wildlife Massively Underreported A team of scientists reporting in the journal Nature Climate Change say that negative impacts of climate change on threatened and endangered wildlife have been massively under reported. – Wildlife Conservation Society Controlling Electron Spin for Efficient Water Splitting Splitting water molecules to produce hydrogen for fuel holds great promise for alternative energy. However, current methods of water splitting also form undesirable hydrogen peroxide. Now, Israeli and Dutch scientists have found a way to control the ... – Weizmann Institute of Science JACS, Jan-2017 Unwrapping the Physiology of a Tour de France Champion Latest Research Highlights from ACSM – American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Perimeter Institute Researchers Apply Machine Learning to Condensed Matter Physics New research in Nature Physics demonstrates that machine learning algorithms might play an important role in identifying different phases of condensed matter. – Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Nature Physics, February-2017 New Findings Reveal Health, Aging Experiences of LGBT Older Adults Across Nation In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from the University of Washington's School of Social Work have released new findings this month on the health and aging of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender older adults in the U.S. – University of Washington The Gerontologist, Feb-2017 Northrop Grumman Challenges Students to Fight Drones with Cyber Takedown Other than shooting it down, how can you stop an enemy drone from entering a protected zone? The question was put to a University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) senior design class by Northrop Grumman Corp., pawning a cross-campus collaboration. The ... – University of Alabama Huntsville WVU Researchers Join National Program to Develop Technologies to Enhance Natural Gas Utilization West Virginia University has joined a national effort to turn natural gas into valuable products and do it at the well. This serves a real-world need for many production locations in the Marcellus Shale, especially those in West Virginia, where some... – West Virginia University SciWire Announcements URI’s Coastal Resources Center Wins 2017 Peter Benchley Ocean Award Jennifer McCann, director of U.S. coastal programs for the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island and extension director of Rhode Island Sea Grant, has received an international award for her work in coastal and ocean planning. – University of Rhode Island UF/IFAS Entomologist Gets $200,000 to Help Develop Rapid Zika Detection Barry Alto, a UF/IFAS assistant professor of medical entomology, said scientists need better diagnostic tools to detect Zika virus to meet challenges to public health. He is working with collaborator Steven Benner at Firebird Biomolecular Sciences LL... – University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Francis Alexander Named Deputy Director of Brookhaven Lab's Computational Science Initiative Alexander brings extensive management and leadership experie