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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 71 declined, 32 accepted (103 total, 31.07% accepted)

Submission + - LIGO just detected an 'unknown or unanticipated' burst of gravitational waves so (independent.co.uk) 2

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: LIGO has detected gravitational waves deep in space. The source is currently unknown. From the article:

Scientists think they have detected an "unknown or unanticipated" burst of gravitational waves coming from somewhere deep in space. The wobble in spacetime was picked up unexpectedly by the LIGO experiment, which was specifically built to detect gravitational waves. Astronomers have a picture of what part of the sky the burst originated from, and will look to find more information about its source by further studying the area. But for now there is very little indication of what could have caused the blast, which sent ripples through the fabric of the universe that were detected by LIGO in recent hours. Errors of this kind are predicted to happen only once every 25 years, indicating that the burst probably did really come from an astrophysical event.

In case anyone is worried, it's already been confirmed Betelgeuse is still there.

Submission + - Every Month This Year Has Been the Hottest in Recorded History (vice.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: From the article:

On Wednesday, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that July was the hottest month ever recorded on our planet, since modern record-keeping began in 1880. NASA has reached the same conclusion. July smashed all previous records.

“We should be absolutely concerned,” Sanchez-Lugo said. “We need to look at ways to adapt and mitigate. If we don’t, temperatures will continue to increase.”

Next year is expected to be slightly less intense, with the fierce El Niño we’ve been experiencing now abating. But the truth is that record-breaking temperatures, month after month, year after year, are starting to look less like an exception, more like the norm.

Submission + - Third of Central, Northern Great Barrier Reef Corals Dead (smh.com.au)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: More than one-third of the coral reefs of the central and northern regions of the Great Barrier Reef have died in the huge bleaching event earlier this year, Queensland researchers said.

Corals to the north of Cairns – covering about two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef – were found to have an average mortality rate of 35 per cent, rising to more than half in areas around Cooktown.

Bleaching occurs when abnormal conditions, such as warm seas, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, called zooxanthellae. Corals turn white without these algae and may die if the zooxanthellae do not recolonise them.

Submission + - Scientists Find A "Weak Spot" In HIV That May Pave the Way to a Vaccine (futurism.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: Research conducted by a team from the National Institutes of Health reported a new vulnerable site on HIV for vaccines to target. It is based on an antibody from the blood of an HIV-infected patient that binds with the virus and also prevents it from infecting a cell.

A recent press release reports that a team of scientists led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has discovered a new “weak spot” in HIV that vaccines can target. The area, called the fusion peptide, is a simple structure of eight amino acids that helps the virus fuse with a cell.

According to the study, the team used a particularly powerful antibody, called VRC34.01, taken from the blood of an unnamed HIV-positive patient that caught the weak spot in the virus. It’s not only capable of binding with the virus through the fusion peptide but also preventing it from infecting an entire cell.

Submission + - Rio Given Up on Clean Water For Olympics (deadspin.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: From the article: "When bidding to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Jaineiro promised the International Olympics Committee that it would eliminate 80 percent of the sewage found in the city’s notoriously filthy water, and would fully regenerate the lagoon in which rowing and kayaking events will be held. Now a few months from the start of the games, Rio has given up on keeping those promises."

It goes on to talk about how the US rowing teams will deal with this: "The U.S. will send 48 rowers to Rio, and they will be as forewarned and forearmed as the federation can make them, starting with squeeze bottles of hand sanitizer that will be distributed on the flight to Brazil.

Hannafin says the athletes have been asked to get hepatitis A vaccinations and polio boosters and take the oral typhoid vaccine. Their oar handles will be bleached and their boats washed inside and out after each training session or competition. Gear will be laundered at a high enough temperature to kill microbes. "

Submission + - Oceans running out of fish as undeclared catches add a third to official figures (theecologist.org)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: From the article: "The global catch of fish and seafood is falling at three times the rate reported by the United Nations and urgently needs to be slowed to avoid a crash, reports Christopher Pala. The finding comes in a new study for Nature which quantifies the huge illegal industrial fish pillaging taking place around the world, together with artisanal catches, which in 2010 added over 50% to UN estimates."
The article goes on to say: "If the current rate of fishing continues, warns the study's leader, Professor Daniel Pauly of the University of British Columbia, consumers in rich countries will soon face fewer choices of wild fish and coastal residents of poor countries will see their supply of affordable animal protein dwindle."

Submission + - Brazil Cautions Women to Avoid Pregnancy over Zika Virus Outbreak (discovermagazine.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: As per the article: "Authorities in Brazil have recently issued an unusual and unprecedented announcement to women: don’t get pregnant, at least not just yet. Amidst an intractable outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, public health authorities in Brazil are highly suspicious of an unusual surge of cases of microcephaly among newborn children." There was over 3000 cases in 2015.

It's believed this virus is linked to shrinking newborns brain, and is spreading. The CDC has published an article, and travel warnings are now being issued for pregnant women.

Submission + - U.S. Scientists Successfully 'Switch Off' Cancer Cells (nationalpost.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: From the article: "For the first time, aggressive breast, lung and bladder cancer cells have been turned back into harmless benign cells by restoring the function which prevents them from multiplying excessively and forming dangerous growths." Specifically, this is done by triggering production of the protein PLEKHA7 which in turn levels off the microRNA levels in the cells. So far this has only been done in human cells in a lab.

Submission + - Breathing Beijing's Air is The Equivalent of Smoking Almost 40 Cigarettes a Day (economist.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: From the economist: "Pollution is sky-high everywhere in China. Some 83% of Chinese are exposed to air that, in America, would be deemed by the Environmental Protection Agency either to be unhealthy or unhealthy for sensitive groups. Almost half the population of China experiences levels of PM2.5 that are above America’s highest threshold. That is even worse than the satellite data had suggested."

They go on to say "Berkeley Earth’s scientific director, Richard Muller, says breathing Beijing’s air is the equivalent of smoking almost 40 cigarettes a day and calculates that air pollution causes 1.6m deaths a year in China, or 17% of the total. A previous estimate, based on a study of pollution in the Huai river basin (which lies between the Yellow and Yangzi rivers), put the toll at 1.2m deaths a year—still high."

Submission + - There Is No Honeybee Crisis (theglobeandmail.com) 1

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: An article today claims that there is no longer any Honeybee crises, and that the deaths of the Honeybees previously was a one-off, or possibly non-cyclical occurance (caused by neonics or nature — the debate is still out). The data used is that from Stats Canada which claims "the number of honeybee colonies is at a record high [in Canada]." Globally, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization says that "worldwide bee populations have rebounded to a record high." However, many corporations and pro-environment groups have much to gain by creating a panic about Honeybee deaths, and as such continue to publish stories claiming the situation is dire.

Submission + - Bell Media President says Canadians are 'stealing' US Netflix content (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: Today the Bell Media president claimed that Canadians are 'stealing' US Netflix, saying the practice is “stealing just like stealing anything else.” She went on to say that it is socially unacceptable behaviour, and “It has to become socially unacceptable to admit to another human being that you are VPNing into U.S. Netflix. Like throwing garbage out of your car window, you just don’t do it. We have to get engaged and tell people they’re stealing." Of course, I'm sure the fact that Bell Media profits from Canadian content has nothing to do with these remarks...

Submission + - AirAsia Flight Loses Contact With Air Traffic Control (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: As reported by many news sources, yet another plane has lost contact during a trip.

This comes on the heels of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 which is still missing, and Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 which was shot down.

The question has to be asked: is airline travel still safe, especially within Asia? And, why has the news completely forgot about flight 370?

Submission + - UN Climate Change Panel: It's happening, and it's almost entirely man's fault (ap.org)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: The UN released a new climate change report which concludes that it is indeed happening, and it's almost entirely man's fault. From the article: 'The IPCC was set up in 1988 to assess global warming and its impacts. The report released Sunday caps its latest assessment, a mega-review of 30,000 climate change studies that establishes with 95-percent certainty that nearly all warming seen since the 1950s is man-made.'

However, the report isn't entirely dire. It goes on to say: 'To get a good chance of staying below 2C, the report's scenarios show that world emissions would have to fall by between 40 and 70 percent by 2050 from current levels and to "near zero or below in 2100".'

Below zero of course means mining existing CO2 out of the atmopshere somehow.

Submission + - Confidence Shaken In Open Source Security Idealism (bloomberg.com) 1

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: According to a few news articles, the general public has taken notice of all the recent security breaches in open source software. From the article: 'Hackers have shaken the free-software movement that once symbolized the Web’s idealism. Several high-profile attacks in recent months exploited security flaws found in the “open-source” software created by volunteers collaborating online, building off each other’s work.'

While it's true that open source means you can review the actual code to ensure there's no data-theft, loggers, or glaring security holes, that idealism doesn't really help out most people who simply don't have time, or the knowledge, to do it. As such, the trust is left to the open source community, and is that really so different than leaving it to a corporation with closed source?

Submission + - UN Report: Climate Changes Overwhelming (bbc.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: From the article, "The impacts of global warming are likely to be "severe, pervasive and irreversible", a major report by the UN has warned." A major document was released by the IPCC outlining the current affects on climate change, and they are not good. For specific effects on humans: "Food security is highlighted as an area of significant concern. Crop yields for maize, rice and wheat are all hit in the period up to 2050, with around a tenth of projections showing losses over 25%."

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