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Tuesday, January 26, 2016

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Sex life of sleeping sickness parasite may lead to its downfall

By Alex Whiting LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - An unusual sex life may spell the extinction of the deadly African sleeping sickness parasite, which threatens millions of people in West and Central Africa, an international team of scientists said on Tuesday. The parasite, called T.b. "We've discovered that the parasite causing African sleeping sickness has existed for thousands of years without having sex and is now suffering the consequences of this strategy," said Willie Weir, bioinformatician at the University of Glasgow.

Oslo trash incinerator starts experiment to slow climate change

By Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - Oslo's main waste incinerator began the world's first experiment to capture carbon dioxide from the fumes of burning rubbish on Monday, hoping to develop technology to enlist the world's trash in slowing global warming. The test at the Klemetsrud incinerator, which burns household and industrial waste, is a step beyond most efforts to capture and bury greenhouse gases at coal-fired power plants or factories using fossil fuels. "I hope Oslo can show other cities that it's possible" to capture emissions from trash, Oslo Mayor Marianne Borgen said at an opening ceremony at the Klemetsrud waste-to-energy incinerator which generates heat to warm buildings in the city.

Sexy Signal? Frill and Horns May Have Helped Dinosaur Communicate

The fancy frill and cheek horns that adorned the head of a triceratops relative may have helped the dinosaur communicate, possibly acting as a social or sexy signal, a new study suggests.

Scientists to announce "Doomsday Clock" time

PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Scientists behind a "Doomsday Clock" that measures the likelihood of a global cataclysm are set to announce Tuesday whether civilization is any closer or farther from disaster.

5 Causes Account for Nearly Half of Child and Teen Deaths

Five causes of death account for nearly half of all deaths in children and adolescents worldwide, a new report finds. Globally, there were 7.7 million deaths among children and adolescents in 2013, according to the report. The vast majority of these deaths — 6.3 million — were in children under age 5. There were about 480,000 deaths among children ages 5 to 9, and 970,000 in children ages 10 to 19.

Medical Marijuana May Reduce Frequency of Migraines

Medical marijuana might help migraine sufferers reduce the frequency of their headaches, a new study suggests. In the study of 121 people with migraines, 103 said they had fewer migraines after they began using marijuana, the researchers found. Among the people who noticed improvement, the frequency of their migraine headaches decreased from 10.4 headaches per month to 4.6 headaches per month, on average, the researchers found.

Color-Morphing Clams Could Inspire New Smartphone & TV Screens

Iridescent cells in the flesh of giant clams could one day help scientists design more efficient solar panels, and television and smartphone screens that are easier on the eyes, researchers say. In addition, the researchers want to see if structures like those found in giant clams might improve the efficiency of solar cells.

Artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky dead at 88

Marvin Minsky, the artificial intelligence pioneer who helped make machines think, leading to computers that understand spoken commands and beat grandmasters at chess, has died at the age of 88, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said. Minsky had "a monster brain," MIT colleague Patrick Winston, a professor of artificial intelligence and computer science, said in a 2012 interview. Minsky's greatest contribution to computers and artificial intelligence was the notion that neither human nor machine intelligence is a single process.

Explorer's Death Highlights Dangers of Antarctica

Explorer Henry Worsley has died of exhaustion and dehydration, just a few dozen miles short of completing his historic voyage across the ice of Antarctica. "It is with heartbroken sadness, I let you know that my husband, Henry Worsley, has died following complete organ failure, despite all efforts of ALE [Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions] and medical staff at the Clínica Magallanes in Punta Arenas, Chile," his wife, Joanna Worsley, said in a statement. The 55-year-old adventurer had traversed 913 miles (1,469 kilometers) of the continent alone and was just 30 miles (48 km) shy of completing Sir Ernest Shackleton's unfinished 1907 "Nimrod Expedition" across the coldest continent.

Deadly Math: Venus Flytraps Calculate When Killing Prey

Unlike proactive predators in the animal kingdom, carnivorous plants like the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) must wait for their insect prey to literally step inside their "jaws" before they can catch the victims. The first tap from an insect tells a Venus flytrap, "Pay attention, but don't respond just yet," the new study said.

Enormous Canyon May Be Hidden Beneath Antarctic Ice

A rift almost as deep as the Grand Canyon but much longer may be hidden beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Using satellite images and radio waves, researchers have uncovered tantalizing hints of a canyon up to 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) deep and more than 680 miles (1,100 km) long. "Discovering a gigantic new chasm that dwarfs the Grand Canyon is a tantalizing prospect," Martin Siegert, an earth scientist at Imperial College London, said in a statement.

Fig-Dwelling Worm Is a Mighty Mouth-Morpher

On La Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, microscopic worms that inhabit wild figs can develop five different mouths. The structure of these mouths varies so widely that the scientists who found the worm, Pristionchus borbonicus, initially thought that worms with different mouths were actually different species. In a new study, published online today (Jan. 15) in the journal Science Advances, the researchers detailed these new species of microscopic worms, also known as nematodes, describing the diversity in their mouth forms as "extreme" and driven by what the worm was eating — yeasts, bacteria or even other roundworms, all of which were found inside the figs where the worms lived.

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