2,903 articles from APRIL 2023
Australia aimed for, and got, more Stem graduates. So where are the jobs for them? | Jessica Rozen
When it comes to employment, science and technology graduates fare only slightly better than ‘starving artists’Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastWe’ve experimented with a bunch of naff names here in Australia. In the 1990s, Bob Hawke wanted us to become the clever country. Two decades later, Malcolm Turnbull aspired to make us an innovation...
New artificial intelligence tool can accurately identify cancer
Exclusive: algorithm performs more efficiently and effectively than current methods, according to a studyDoctors, scientists and researchers have built an artificial intelligence model that can accurately identify cancer in a development they say could speed up diagnosis of the disease and fast-track patients to treatment.Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. It results in about 10 million...
A supermassive black hole and its jet, all in a single picture
In May 2022, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) team released the first-ever radio image of M87's central black hole. It was a stunning revelation based on observations made using a worldwide array of radio telescopes. Recently, they re-released a newer, sharper image of the black hole's "ring of light."
China's Mars rover finds signs of recent water in sand dunes
Water may be more widespread and recent on Mars than previously thought, based on observations of Martian sand dunes by China's rover.
DNA study of famed US sled dog shows what made him so tough
New York's Central Park has a statue dedicated to him, and there's even been a movie about him: a sled dog named Balto. Now he is the focus of a DNA study, 90 years after he died, to see what made the pooch so famously tough.
Human activities have reduced elephant habitat by nearly two-thirds since 1700, dividing population into smaller patches
Despite their iconic status and long association with humans, Asian elephants are one of the most endangered large mammals. Believed to number between 45,000 and 50,000 individuals worldwide, they are at risk throughout Asia due to human activities such as deforestation, mining, dam building and road construction, which have damaged numerous ecosystems.
Zoonomia: Genetic research reveals all we share with animals
By comparing the genetic blueprints of an array of animals, scientists are gaining new insights into our own species and all we share with other creatures.
There's a reason we flock to see cherry blossoms. This Waterloo prof explains why
After a long, dark winter, the sight of bright colours in spring does something positive to a person's brain, and that's why people are often eager to get out to see and take photos with cherry blossoms and other signs of spring, says Colin Ellard, a University of Waterloo psychology...
'Statistically impossible' heat extremes are here: Study identifies the regions most at risk
In the summer of 2021, Canada's all-time temperature record was smashed by almost 5℃. Its new record of 49.6℃ is hotter than anything ever recorded in Spain, Turkey or indeed anywhere in Europe.
‘My father died in my arms at my wedding’
On his wedding day, Tim Sullivan’s much-loved dad suddenly collapsed and died on what should have been the happiest of days. But what he learned has shaped his lifeIt was all set to be one of the happiest days of my life, 9 September 1989. I was getting married. Everything leading up to the date had gone smoothly. The wedding was taking place in a small church, St Teilo’s in Bishopston Valley...
Super-charged textile repairs itself, monitors heart rhythm
Scientists from around the world have developed a simple metallic coating treatment for clothing or wearable textiles which can repair itself, repel bacteria from the wearer and even monitor a person's electrocardiogram (ECG) heart signals.
Pickups are going electric and truck fans are buying in. Will it reduce carbon emissions?
The race to lower carbon emission has pushed automakers to pivot many of their models from fuel to battery power. As more large, utility-focused models are coming onto the market, Canadians are taking...
Children could be prescribed weight-loss jabs on the NHS
Department of Health asks watchdog to assess effectiveness of giving semaglutide to obese youngsters aged 12 to 17Children as young as 12 in England could be given weight-loss injections on the NHS after the government asked medical watchdog Nice to assess the potential benefits of prescribing them to under-18s.Department of Health officials have asked the watchdog to evaluate the clinical and...
Residents west of Edmonton under evacuation orders due to out-of-control wildfire
The critical alerts advised people to collect important documents, medications, and enough food and water to be away for at least three...
SATURDAY 29. APRIL 2023
Colombia urges evacuation near volcano
Authorities in Colombia on Saturday recommended that towns closest to a rumbling, notorious volcano be evacuated, ahead of a a possible eruption.
The science of standup: can you train someone to be funny?
The founders of Melbourne’s Steam Room program believe scientists can make their work more accessible through humour. Will their hypothesis prove true?Get our weekend culture and lifestyle emailFive scientists walk into a theatre and try standup for the first time. Does hilarity ensue?Yes, according to the producers of the Steam Room – a program in which comedians teach a team of scientists...
Viewers can't get enough of this 24/7 falcon nest cam at Université de Montréal
There are two peregrine falcons living in a nest box on the 23rd floor of the Roger-Gaudry building on the Université de Montréal campus. A 24/7 livestream allows people to tune into the birds' everyday...
Thank the Lords someone is worried about AI weapons | John Naughton
While politics as usual dominates the Commons, thankfully a few people from the upper chamber are thinking about the big pictureThe most interesting TV I’ve watched recently did not come from a conventional television channel, nor even from Netflix, but from TV coverage of parliament. It was a recording of a meeting of the AI in weapons systems select committee of the House of Lords, which was...
Seal’s mystery ability to tolerate toxic metal could aid medical research, say scientists
The Juan Fernández fur seal, once thought extinct, can ingest cadmium without ill effects – though no one knows howA creature that humans came very close to obliterating now offers hope that we may be able to find ways to tackle one of the most pernicious environmental poisons, say scientists.Their research has revealed that one of the world’s most isolated aquatic mammals, the Continue...
Scientists take a portable laboratory into the Amazon to study adaptation of trees to drought
As an ecologist, Dr. Julia Tavares often has to consider how to collect data from remote locations.
New viruses related to both giant viruses and herpesviruses
Metagenomic data from Tara Oceans on marine plankton has enabled the discovery of a major group of DNA viruses found abundantly from the equator to the poles: mirusviruses. These viruses play a role in regulating plankton by infecting a considerable number of single-cell organisms at any given time.
New Zealand fights to save its flightless national bird
New Zealand's treasured kiwi birds are shuffling around Wellington's verdant hills for the first time in a century, after a drive to eliminate invasive predators from the capital's surrounds.
Is the future of mining electric? As mines transition equipment, new risks emerge
The transition to electrical mining equipment presents new operational challenges and safety risks. And although it has been slowly trickling into mines for over a decade, some say there’s still work to be done to bring safety standards and training up to...
Will a heat pump work in my region's climate? How low can it go? Your questions answered
Governments have been encouraging Canadians to switch to electric heat pumps to cut greenhouse gas emissions. But what parts of Canada are they suitable for? And what temperatures? Here are some questions asked by CBC News...
Spain, Portugal smash April temperature records
Mainland Spain and Portugal have broken temperature records for April, officials said Friday, as both nations wilt in an unusually early heatwave that has raised the risk of wildfires.
Key radar antenna stuck on Europe's Jupiter-bound spacecraft
A critical antenna is jammed on a Jupiter-bound spacecraft launched two weeks ago, the European Space Agency reported Friday.
Researchers use genomes of 241 species to redefine mammalian tree of life
Research led by a team of scientists from the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences puts to bed the heated scientific debate regarding the history of mammal diversification as it relates to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. Their work provides a definitive answer to the evolutionary timeline of mammals throughout the last 100 million years.
FRIDAY 28. APRIL 2023
Newly discovered electrical activity within cells could change the way researchers think about biological chemistry
The human body relies heavily on electrical charges. Lightning-like pulses of energy fly through the brain and nerves and most biological processes depend on electrical ions traveling across the membranes of each cell in our body.
U.K. science star Brian Cox's new book explores how we might live in a black hole
'We have a picture where the interior of the black hole becomes — in some sense — the same place as the...
NASA Seeks Space Technologies for Suborbital and Orbital Flight Tests
Portal origin URL: NASA Seeks Space Technologies for Suborbital and Orbital Flight TestsPortal origin nid: 486945Published: Friday, April 28, 2023 - 16:33Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: NASA’s 2023 TechFlights solicitation is now open!Portal image: A device with black rings in a clear container floats in microgravity; a researcher with a...
Black holes are messy eaters, two studies show
Bob McDonald's blog: Black holes are known to suck in anything that comes near them in spacetime, but two new studies refine our understanding of these...
Machine learning helps scientists identify the environmental preferences of microbes
- ScienceDaily
- 23/4/28 21:36
A machine-learning approach can give scientists insight into the environmental preferences of microbes, based only on their genes. The approach has practical research implications: it could help researchers more efficiently grow bacteria in the laboratory. It could also lead to smarter use of microbes in agriculture, ecological restoration, and even probiotics.
Previously unknown intercellular electricity may power biology
- ScienceDaily
- 23/4/28 21:36
Researchers have discovered that the electrical fields and activity that exist through a cell's membrane also exist within and around another type of cellular structure called biological condensates. Like oil droplets floating in water, these structures exist because of differences in density. Their foundational discovery could change the way researchers think about biological chemistry. It could...
New research redefines mammalian tree of life
- ScienceDaily
- 23/4/28 21:36
Scientists from around the globe are using the largest mammalian genomic dataset in history to determine the evolutionary history of the human genome in the context of mammalian evolutionary history. Their ultimate goal is to better identify the genetic basis for traits and diseases in people and other species.