Dr. Aramis Odysseus: September 2016

30 September, 2016

Record-Breaking Gamma-Ray Binary Spotted in Large Magellanic Cloud

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Record-Breaking Gamma-Ray Binary Spotted in Large Magellanic Cloud

Genomic Regions Associated With Interspecies Communication in Dogs Contain Genes Related to Human Social Disorders

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Genomic Regions Associated With Interspecies Communication in Dogs Contain Genes Related to Human Social Disorders

New method allows scientists to rapidly map the routes of thousands of individual neurons in the brain

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New method allows scientists to rapidly map the routes of thousands of individual neurons in the brain

Summer fireworks on comet 67P: Rosetta researchers link localised dust and gas jets with comet's seasons #GoodbyeRosetta

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Summer fireworks on comet 67P: Rosetta researchers link localised dust and gas jets with comet's seasons #GoodbyeRosetta

Despite its remote location, the deep sea and its fragile habitats are already being exposed to human waste to the extent that diverse organisms are ingesting microplastics.

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Despite its remote location, the deep sea and its fragile habitats are already being exposed to human waste to the extent that diverse organisms are ingesting microplastics.

Anomalous ocean conditions contributed to the unprecedented West Coast toxic algal bloom of 2015

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Anomalous ocean conditions contributed to the unprecedented West Coast toxic algal bloom of 2015

"Refrigerator Blindness" published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers complain about their kids yelling when they can't find something in the fridge.

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"Refrigerator Blindness" published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers complain about their kids yelling when they can't find something in the fridge.

One in 10 children with HIV have an inbuilt defence against AIDS

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One in 10 children with HIV have an inbuilt defence against AIDS

Scientists just documented the first case of Zika spreading through physical contact

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Scientists just documented the first case of Zika spreading through physical contact

Researchers get mixed results in training dogs to sniff out lung cancer in humans

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Researchers get mixed results in training dogs to sniff out lung cancer in humans

Comet may have struck Earth just 10 million years after dinosaur extinction

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Comet may have struck Earth just 10 million years after dinosaur extinction

Elon Musk: To join SpaceX's first mission to Mars, you have to be "prepared to die"

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Elon Musk: To join SpaceX's first mission to Mars, you have to be "prepared to die"

Graphene is extremely sensitive to its surroundings, but must be mounted on a stable substrate. Researchers have succeed in placing a layer on top of a stable fatty lipid monolayer. Surrounded by a protective shell of lipids, graphene could enter the body and function as a versatile biosensor.

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Graphene is extremely sensitive to its surroundings, but must be mounted on a stable substrate. Researchers have succeed in placing a layer on top of a stable fatty lipid monolayer. Surrounded by a protective shell of lipids, graphene could enter the body and function as a versatile biosensor.

Pregnant T-rex discovery sheds light on evolution of egg-laying

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Pregnant T-rex discovery sheds light on evolution of egg-laying

Enjoy Earth While It Lasts: Atmospheric Carbon Levels Pass the Point of No Return

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Enjoy Earth While It Lasts: Atmospheric Carbon Levels Pass the Point of No Return

29 September, 2016

FBI, DOJ And Their Forensic Scientists State They'll Continue Using Discredited Junk Science To Put People Behind Bars

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FBI, DOJ And Their Forensic Scientists State They'll Continue Using Discredited Junk Science To Put People Behind Bars

Robin Williams suffered from Lewy Body Disease. His wife just published an account of what the disorder did to him

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Robin Williams suffered from Lewy Body Disease. His wife just published an account of what the disorder did to him

10th of children have a "monkey-like" immune system that stops them developing Aids

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10th of children have a "monkey-like" immune system that stops them developing Aids

Today's parents spend more time with their kids than moms and dads did 50 years ago

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Today's parents spend more time with their kids than moms and dads did 50 years ago

Today’s parents spend more time with their kids than moms and dads did 50 years ago

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Today’s parents spend more time with their kids than moms and dads did 50 years ago

Dark Matter: The leading theory of dark matter is running out of room to hide.

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Dark Matter: The leading theory of dark matter is running out of room to hide.

Chinese Clinical Trials Data 80 Percent Fabricated: Government

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Chinese Clinical Trials Data 80 Percent Fabricated: Government

Concomitant emergence of the antisense protein gene of HIV-1 and of the pandemic

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Concomitant emergence of the antisense protein gene of HIV-1 and of the pandemic

Blood Clot Removal Could Help More Stroke Victims, Study Finds [Link to study in comments]

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Blood Clot Removal Could Help More Stroke Victims, Study Finds [Link to study in comments]

Alcohol shown to act in same way as rapid antidepressants

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Alcohol shown to act in same way as rapid antidepressants

A new study of violent behavior in more than 1,000 mammal species found the meerkat is the mammal most likely to be murdered by one of its own kind.

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A new study of violent behavior in more than 1,000 mammal species found the meerkat is the mammal most likely to be murdered by one of its own kind.

Science AMA Series: Hi Reddit! We're Rodolfo Dirzo, Wägele J. Wolfgang and Christian Schwägerl, and we're talking about the rise of global insect decline and why it matters - Ask Us Anything!

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Hi reddit!

My name is Christian Schwägerl, and I write for Yale Environment 360 magazine. In my work as a journalist and book author, I have covered science, environment and politics for more than 20 years. In recent years, my main focus is the Anthropocene, the now widely known idea that our human impact on Earth is not only profound and global, but also long-lasting enough to be put on the geological time-scale. My book "The Anthropocene" (Synergetic, 2014) explores pathways towards an Anthropocene that is better than today's destructive and degenerative practicies. In my recent Yale Environment 360 investigation, "Vanishing Act: Why Insects are declining and why it matters", scientists Rodolfo Dirzo and Wägele J. Wolfgang join me to understand why the dwindling insect populations was really disconcerting in this respect. Not only do insect populations decline, but monitoring and research fall far behind what would be necessary to really understand and address the problem. Like with so many other things we take for granted, the small and invisible is hugely important. An extinct bug might make most people shrug. But our lives depend more on healthy insect ecology than we think. In future articles, I want to explore the huge importance of small organisms further.

My name is Rodolfo Dirzo and I am an ecologist at Stanford University. My work examines the study of species interactions in tropical ecosystems from Latin America and Africa. My recent research highlights the decline of animal life (“defaunation”), and how this affects ecosystem processes/services. I developed a global index for invertebrate abundance that showed a 45 percent decline over the last four decades, published in 2014 in Science, "Defaunation in the Anthropocene."

My name is Wägele J. Wolfgang and I am a biologist and Director of the Zoological Research Museum in Bonn, Germany. With the help of my team, I have developed a plan for an automated biodiversity surveillance system, which would photograph, videotape, capture, or audio-record animal and insect species and perform automatic analysis of species richness and abundance. We have weather stations for climate research all over the country, so we want to add a dense network of biodiversity stations so we can measure automatically how much life there is in our landscapes. We plan to use automated identification techniques, either through artificial intelligence image analysis or genetic fingerprinting, or by matching acoustic recordings with data collections. This system could collect, identify, and record species data 24/7 and gather data we desperately need to assess the decline of insects.

We will be answering your questions at 11am EST -- Ask Us Anything!

">Science AMA Series: Hi Reddit! We're Rodolfo Dirzo, Wägele J. Wolfgang and Christian Schwägerl, and we're talking about the rise of global insect decline and why it matters - Ask Us Anything!

Science AMA Series: Hi, we’re leaders from the American Association from the Advancement of Science, and we want to talk about identifying, confronting, and overcoming implicit racial bias in science. Ask Us Anything!

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Hi Reddit!

The American Association from the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is proud to offer a platform for conversations around identifying, confronting, and overcoming implicit bias, publishing articles such as Carrie Arnold’s “Countering gender bias at conferences;” hosting panels that explore how to counter implicit bias in peer review; and presenting sessions at our Annual Meeting—including last year’s “Opting out? Gender, Societal Affluence, and 8th Graders’ Aspirations for Math Jobs,” and “Expanding Potential: Overcoming Challenges of Underrepresented STEM Groups.”

We’re teaming up to answer questions about how implicit bias is manifest in the sciences (for example, in peer review, in accepting articles for publication, in promoting people to leadership positions), how individuals can identify and overcome bias, and how institutions can put smart policies in place to minimize the impact of implicit bias.

We are:

Dr. Shirley Malcom is the head of Education and Human Resources Programs at AAAS.

Dr. Ed Smith is a professor of comparative genomics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg

Avery D. Posey, Jr., Ph.D.: I am an Instructor in the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. My laboratory develops chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies to target human and canine cancers, including leukemia, myeloma, pancreatic, prostate, breast, and colon cancer, specifically by recognizing cancer-specific glycosylation. I am passionate about inclusion and diversity in academic science, from trainee through faculty.

Caleph B. Wilson, Ph.D.: I am an industry scientist, co-founder of the National Science & Technology News Service (@NSTNSorg) and logistics director of the National Science Policy Group (@NatSciPolGroup). In addition to my career as a researcher, I advocate for STEM equity and inclusion through science communication, outreach and policy reforms.

We’ll be live at 4 PM EST (1 PM PST, 9 PM UTC)– ask us anything!

">Science AMA Series: Hi, we’re leaders from the American Association from the Advancement of Science, and we want to talk about identifying, confronting, and overcoming implicit racial bias in science. Ask Us Anything!

92% of the world’s population exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution

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92% of the world’s population exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution

Science’s 1%: How income inequality is getting worse in research | "Wages for top scientists are shooting skywards while others are being left behind."

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Science’s 1%: How income inequality is getting worse in research | "Wages for top scientists are shooting skywards while others are being left behind."

The phylogenetic roots of human lethal violence : Nature

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The phylogenetic roots of human lethal violence : Nature

A study has highlighted the risk posed by projected climate change on the world's ability to grow enough food. A US team of researchers found that forecasted shifts in climate by 2070 would occur too quickly for species of grass to adapt to the new conditions.

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A study has highlighted the risk posed by projected climate change on the world's ability to grow enough food. A US team of researchers found that forecasted shifts in climate by 2070 would occur too quickly for species of grass to adapt to the new conditions.

Scientists say chaos theory could keep Moore's Law alive through non-linear circuitry.

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Scientists say chaos theory could keep Moore's Law alive through non-linear circuitry.

The Genetic Basis of Natural Variation in Caenorhabditis elegans Telomere Length

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The Genetic Basis of Natural Variation in Caenorhabditis elegans Telomere Length

Science AMA Series: Hi Reddit, I'm Wilson Smith, an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at TU Delft in the Netherlands. My group studies the conversion of sunlight, water, and CO2 into chemicals and fuels, AMA!

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Hi reddit!

I’m Wilson Smith, an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, studying solar energy. My team researches various ways to convert solar energy into electricity and chemical fuels using only water and CO2 as the raw materials. These processes try to replicate what nature has done for over a billion years in photosynthesis, and thus this process is sometimes called ‘artificial photosynthesis’. However, plants have generally very low efficiencies (~1%), so we try to find ways to beat nature using only cheap and abundant materials. Recently, we were able to achieve an efficiency of 12.7%, but still have our work cut out for us. Our ultimate goal is to design systems and devices that can help contribute to the global transition to a renewable energy society that is sustainable and clean.

You can catch up with our work on our group website (http://ift.tt/2cNjk11), or follow our updates on twitter (@smithsolarlab). Outside of r/Science, I’ve been known to lurk in r/Phish and r/ASOIAF, and went to high school with Jean-Ralphio from Parks and Rec. I’ll be here as long as it takes to answer your questions about solar fuels, sustainable energy technologies, and what its like to set up a research lab (and life) in Europe as an American. Lets get this going reddit, ask me anything!

I’ll be back at 1 pm EST (10 am PST, 6 pm UTC) to answer your questions, ask me anything!

">Science AMA Series: Hi Reddit, I'm Wilson Smith, an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at TU Delft in the Netherlands. My group studies the conversion of sunlight, water, and CO2 into chemicals and fuels, AMA!

SpaceX Test Fires the Engine That Might Bring Humans to Mars

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SpaceX Test Fires the Engine That Might Bring Humans to Mars

Canadian study finds non-stick pan chemical in dolphins, birds and fish

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Canadian study finds non-stick pan chemical in dolphins, birds and fish

28 September, 2016

Doubling of CO2 will cause global plant photosynthesis to increase by a third, study from CRESCENDO´s scientists conclude

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Doubling of CO2 will cause global plant photosynthesis to increase by a third, study from CRESCENDO´s scientists conclude

Even low dilutions of Manuka honey can curb the activity and growth of bacterial biofilms that stick to almost any surface. It raises the prospect of the honey’s potential use in patients fitted with medical devices, such as urinary catheters, which carry a high infection risk.

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Even low dilutions of Manuka honey can curb the activity and growth of bacterial biofilms that stick to almost any surface. It raises the prospect of the honey’s potential use in patients fitted with medical devices, such as urinary catheters, which carry a high infection risk.

Oceanic crabs that live as monogamous pairs on sea turtles change lifestyle on plastic flotsam

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Oceanic crabs that live as monogamous pairs on sea turtles change lifestyle on plastic flotsam

Birds never crash into each other mid-air because they always veer right, research at The University of Queensland has found.

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Birds never crash into each other mid-air because they always veer right, research at The University of Queensland has found.

Tomorrow, we're going to talk about racism in science, please be aware of our rules, and expectations.

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Scientists are part of our culture, we aren't some separate class of people that have special immunity of irrational behavior. One of the cultural issues that the practice of science is not immune from is implicit bias, a subconscious aspect of racism. This isn't something we think about, it is in the fabric of how we conduct ourselves and what we expect of others, and it can have an enormous effect on opportunities for individuals.

Tomorrow, we will have a panel of people who have studied the issues and who have personally dealt with them in their lives as scientists. This isn't a conversation that many people are comfortable with, we recognize this. This issue touches on hot-button topics like social justice, white privilege, and straight up in-your-face-racism. It's not an easy thing to recognize how you might contribute to others not getting a fair shake, I know we all want to be treated fairly, and think we treat others fairly. This isn't meant to be a conversation that blames any one group or individual for society's problems, this is discussing how things are with all of us (myself included) and how these combined small actions and responses create the unfair system we have.

We're not going to fix society tomorrow, it's not our intention. Our intention is to have a civil conversation about biases, what we know about them, how to recognize them in yourself and others. Please ask questions (in a civil manner of course!) we want you to learn.

As for those who would reject a difficult conversation (rejecting others is always easier than looking at your own behavior), I would caution that we will not tolerate racist, rude or otherwise unacceptable behavior. One can disagree without being disagreeable.

Lastly, thank you to all of our readers, commenters and verified users who make /r/science an quality subreddit that continues to offer unique insights into the institution we call science.

">Tomorrow, we're going to talk about racism in science, please be aware of our rules, and expectations.