news 2016

Environment/Sustainable Development - Medicine/Pharmacology - 29.12.2016
Languages still a major barrier to global science, new research finds
Over a third of new conservation science documents published annually are in non-English languages, despite assumption of English as scientific ‘lingua franca'. Researchers find examples of important science missed at international level, and practitioners struggling to access new knowledge, as a result of language barriers.

Medicine/Pharmacology - 29.12.2016
Can paint strokes help identify Alzheimer’s?
A new University of Liverpool study published in ‘Neuropsychology!' shows that it may be possible to detect neurodegenerative disorders in artists before they are diagnosed. Psychologist Dr Alex Forsythe from the University's School of Psychology and her team, working with Dr Tamsin Williams of Tees, Esk, and Wear Valleys NHS Trust, Vale of York and Maynooth University, Ireland, examined 2092 paintings from the careers of seven famous artists who experienced both normal ageing and neurodegenerative disorders.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Environment/Sustainable Development - 26.12.2016
Divide and rule, or how plant diversity increases the sustainability of their resistance
In the Yuanyang region of China where rice cultivation is a tradition, scientists from INRA and CIRAD, working in collaboration with a Chinese team, have focused on the defence mechanisms of rice against its pathogenic agents.

Medicine/Pharmacology - 23.12.2016
Christmas holidays linked to rise in heart attacks
University of Melbourne researchers have found an increase in heart attacks around the festive period may be due more difficult access to hospitals, combined with stress, an excess of alcohol and a fatty diet.

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 22.12.2016
Study named as People’s Choice for Science magazine’s ‘Breakthrough of the Year 2016’
Cambridge research that will enable scientists to grow and study embryos in the lab for almost two weeks has been named as the People's Choice for Science magazine's ‘Breakthrough of the Year 2016' It's a natural human instinct to be curious about where we come from, but until now, technical hurdles have meant there's been a huge gap in our understanding of how embryos develop - Magdalena Ze

Medicine/Pharmacology - Life Sciences - 22.12.2016
Protein that activates immune response harms body’s ability to fight HIV
UCLA-led researchers suggest that blocking type I interferon may help combat the virus that causes AIDS. Enrique Rivero - In findings they call counterintuitive, a team of UCLA-led researchers suggests that blocking a protein, which is crucial to initiating the immune response against viral infections, may actually help combat HIV.

Medicine/Pharmacology - Business/Economics - 22.12.2016
Healthy behaviors determine weight-loss surgery success
Bariatric surgery can slim your body, but attitude and behavior also play key roles in long-term weight loss, according to new research from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. ‘Although very effective, bariatric surgery is a not a low-effort means of losing weight,' said lead author Anna-Leena Vuorinen of VTT Technical Research Center of Finland, who performed the research as a visiting scholar at the Food and Brand Lab.

Physics/Materials Science - Microtechnics/Electroengineering - 22.12.2016
The fight against creeping cables
Switzerland's overhead power lines are showing signs of old age and can be damaged by power surges. But how long will they actually last? Empa researchers have developed a tool to keep tabs on the aging process.

Life Sciences - Social Sciences - 22.12.2016
How Social Factors Can Influence Hunting
Due to a shortage of natural predators, wild animal populations are often controlled through hunting. Whether a hunter shoots at an animal depends not only on specific hunting criteria, but is also significantly influenced by social factors - such as competition with other hunters.

Life Sciences - 22.12.2016
Solved: mystery that was holding back development of next-generation solar cells
Scientists have identified an unexpected cause of poor performance in a new class of flexible and cheap solar cells, bringing them closer to market. Solar cells are the building blocks of photovoltaic solar panels.

Environment/Sustainable Development - Life Sciences - 22.12.2016
Global warming disrupts fish stocks
The global catches of fishes would largely benefit from achieving the 1.5°C global warming target. This is the conclusion of In the last twelve months, a large number of countries signed the Paris Agreement with the aim to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 21.12.2016
New disease could signal hope for sufferers of brain ageing conditions
New disease could signal hope for sufferers of brain ageing conditions. A new genetic disease which results in neurodegeneration has been discovered by experts at the University of Sussex. In a study published today, Wednesday 21 December, in the top scientific journal Nature, the team from the University of Sussex's Genome Damage and Stability Centre (GDSC) reveal they have discovered the disease, ataxia oculomotor apraxia type XRCC1 , which is caused by a genetic mutation that disrupts the repair of our DNA.

Chemistry - Physics/Materials Science - 21.12.2016
Materials: when defects turn into qualities
Hybrid organic-inorganic materials, which were developed approximately twenty years ago – notably by Gérard Férey, laureate of the CNRS 2010 Gold Medal, and his team – are known firstly for their extreme porosity.

Life Sciences - Medicine/Pharmacology - 21.12.2016
Stressed snakes strike first
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Whether a wild cottonmouth snake will attempt to strike in an encounter depends on its baseline stress level, according to a team of scientists led by undergraduate researcher Mark Herr.

Agronomy/Food Science - 21.12.2016
Turn an ear to hear
Listeners in a noisy situation benefit from facing slightly away from the person they are listening to, turning one ear towards the speech, concludes a study by Cardiff University, funded by UK charity Action on Hearing Loss (RNID).