75 articles from TUESDAY 31.12.2019
Year in Aerospace: Looking back at Boeing’s troubles, looking ahead to commercial triumphs
2019 was a tough year for the aerospace industry — a year when a control system flaw caused the second catastrophic crash of a 737 MAX jet and sparked a worldwide grounding of Boeing's fastest-selling plane. Nine months after the Ethiopian Airlines crash, which killed 157 people, the 737 MAX is still grounded. Boeing's CEO and the head of its commercial airplanes unit have been replaced,...
Meet Steve, the winter sky phenomenon
Steve has been around for eons, but has been mis-identified as aurora until nowHands up if you’ve ever seen Steve. No, not the chap living down the road, but Steve the winter sky phenomenon. First spotted by auroral photographers in 2016, “Steve” is a purple band of light, sometimes accompanied by green lines, nicknamed “picket-fences”.Although Steve shares similarities with auroras –...
Uber joins lawsuits to block California law protecting gig economy workers
Ride-share company Uber and on-demand meal delivery service Postmates filed a lawsuit Monday to block a broad new California law aimed at giving wage and benefit protections to people who work as independent...
Blazar variability
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies that are accreting material. These AGN emit jets of charged particles that move at speeds close to that of light, transporting huge amounts of energy away from the central black hole region and radiating across the electromagnetic spectrum. Blazars are extreme examples of AGN in which the collimated jets are...
Lawsuit: Asbestos, mold, fumes make fire station hazardous
A firefighter says asbestos, mold and toxic fumes inside a fire station in Alabama's largest city have sickened him and other firefighters.
Egypt draws ire with artifacts' move to busy Tahrir Square
Egypt's recent decision to transport ancient Pharaonic artifacts to a traffic circle in the congested heart of Cairo has fueled fresh controversy over the government's handling of its archaeological heritage.
eDNA expands species surveys to capture a more complete picture
Tiny bits of DNA collected from waters off the West Coast allowed scientists to identify more species of marine vertebrates than traditional surveys with trawl nets. They also reflect environmental shifts such as unusual ocean temperatures that affect the organisms present, new research shows.
NASA finds Tropical Storm Calvinia moving away from Mauritius
Visible imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite on Dec. 31 revealed that Tropical Cyclone Calvinia had moved south of the island of Mauritius in the Southern Indian Ocean.
NASA finds a weaker Sarai now a depression
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided forecasters with an image of Tropical Cyclone Sarai and it showed a much weaker storm near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean.
eDNA expands species surveys to capture a more complete picture
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 18:51
Tiny bits of DNA collected from waters off the West Coast allowed scientists to identify more species of marine vertebrates than traditional surveys with trawl nets. They also reflect environmental shifts such as unusual ocean temperatures that affect the organisms present, new research shows.
What Are The Best Hangover Cures? We Asked Alcohol Experts
Learn how to shift that headache – and why it's best not to reach for another drink – from those in the...
Gardeners urged to seek out alternatives to peat moss
It may be time to bid goodbye to peat moss in the garden and in pots, according to gardener and soil tester Lee Reich, because the way it's harvested is...
Trial suggests babies in intensive care can be better protected from parental bacteria
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 17:19
A research team reports it has developed and tested a relatively simple strategy for reducing the chance of parents exposing their babies in the NICU to one of the most commonly diagnosed and potentially deadly microbial scourges in a hospital: Staphylococcus aureus.
How fish fins evolved just before the transition to land
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 17:18
Research on fossilized fish details the evolution of fins as they began to transition into limbs fit for walking on land.
How bacteria control their cell cycle
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 17:18
Researchers have demonstrated how bacteria coordinate cell division with the replication of their genetic material. In an interdisciplinary study they explain why the current concept of the bacterial cell cycle has to be rewritten.
A new breakthrough in developing effective antimalarial drugs
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 17:18
Parasites in the genus Plasmodium, which cause malaria, are transmitted to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes. The parasites manage to acclimatize to these two completely different hosts because the plasticity of their genome enables them to adapt as necessary. Scientists decided to investigate the epigenetic mechanisms behind this plasticity, in particular DNA methylation. They...
Possible dementia vaccine closer after mice studies
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 17:18
A vaccine to ward off dementia may proceed to clinical trials after successful animal testing. The research is looking to develop effective immunotherapy via a dual vaccine to remove 'brain plaque' and tau protein aggregates linked to Alzheimer's disease. It is showing success in begenic mice models, supports progression to human trials in years to come.
Betrayed by bile: Bile acids help norovirus sneak into cells
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 17:18
Human noroviruses, the leading viral cause of foodborne illness and acute diarrhea around the world, infect cells of the small intestine by piggybacking on a normal cellular process called endocytosis that cells use to acquire materials from their environment.
From crab studies, a broader approach to identifying brain cells
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 17:18
In a new study, a team tests the notion that a cell's identity can be described solely by the genes it expresses. The study advocates a more 'multimodal' approach to defining cell identity.
Combining neurologic and blood pressure drugs reduces breast tumor development in mice
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 17:18
Adding a medication used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder and migraines to a blood pressure medicine reversed some aspects of breast cancer in the offspring of mice at high risk of the disease because of the high fat diet fed to their mothers during pregnancy. Conversely, this treatment combination increased breast cancer development in the offspring whose mothers had not been fed a high fat...
The mysterious case of the ornamented coot chicks has a surprising explanation
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 17:18
The American coot is a somewhat drab water bird with gray and black feathers and a white beak, common in wetlands throughout North America. Coot chicks, however, sport outrageously bright orange and red feathers, skin, and beaks. A new study explains how the bright coloring of coot chicks fits in with the reproductive strategy of their less colorful parents.
Objective subtle cognitive difficulties predict amyloid accumulation and neurodegeneration
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/31 17:18
Researchers report that accumulating amyloid protein occurred faster among persons deemed to have 'objectively-defined subtle cognitive difficulties' (Obj-SCD) than among persons considered to be 'cognitively normal,' offering a potential new early biomarker for Alzheimer's disease.
The Deep Space Decade: How a New Era of Exploration Came of Age in the 2010s
One of the most important discoveries of the 2010s will help us reshape our view of the...
The science of how to stick to your New Year’s resolutions
Since Julius Caesar ruled that New Year began on January 1 in 46BC, and urged subjects to commit to personal improvement, resolutions have been synonymous with the turning of the...