Thursday 4 July 2019

Climate change should be part of regular savings and investment decisions

As a member of the Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance, we recently published our final report on mobilizing financial services to support Canada's economic prosperity through the global transition to cleaner growth.

* This article was originally published here

The real Tinkerbell: don't mess with these tiny fairy wasps

Have you ever seen a fairy? They exist, and may very well be in your garden. But you would need a high-powered microscope to spot the dainty creatures.

* This article was originally published here

Smart glasses follow our eyes, focus automatically

Though it may not have the sting of death and taxes, presbyopia is another of life's guarantees. This vision defect plagues most of us starting about age 45, as the lenses in our eyes lose the elasticity needed to focus on nearby objects. For some people reading glasses suffice to overcome the difficulty, but for many people the only fix, short of surgery, is to wear progressive lenses.

* This article was originally published here

Tiny change has big effects, reverses prediabetes in mice

A small chemical change—shifting the position of two hydrogen atoms—makes the difference between mice that are healthy and mice with insulin resistance and fatty liver, major risk factors for diabetes and heart disease. Making the change prevented the onset of these symptoms in mice fed a high-fat diet and reversed prediabetes in obese mice.

* This article was originally published here

Flying on Saturn's moon Titan: What we could discover with NASA's new Dragonfly mission

Flying on other worlds is the next leap in the exploration of our solar system. The Mars Helicopter will piggyback on the NASA Mars 2020 rover mission to demonstrate the technology. But this is only the start. The real prize will be the Dragonfly mission in 2026, sending a drone to Saturn's largest moon, Titan – as just announced by NASA.

* This article was originally published here

Don't drink and drive on The Fourth

(HealthDay)—The Fourth of July holiday is one of the most deadly times on America's roads, so Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is urging everyone to avoid drinking and driving.

* This article was originally published here

Best way to fight climate change? Plant a trillion trees

The most effective way to fight global warming is to plant lots of trees, a study says. A trillion of them, maybe more.

* This article was originally published here

Simpler name for cancer genetic syndrome could save lives

As medical science links certain genetic mutations with a greater variety of cancers, the names for these risk syndromes are falling out of step.

* This article was originally published here

The first soft ring oscillator lets soft robots roll, undulate, sort, meter liquids, and swallow

Soft robots can't always compete with the hard. Their rigid brethren dominate assembly lines, perform backflips, dance to Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk," fly, dive, and walk through volcanoes.

* This article was originally published here

Wimbledon reworks AI tech to reduce bias in game highlights

Efforts to make artificial intelligence fairer now extend to Wimbledon's courts.

* This article was originally published here

Substantial increase in body weight since 1960s due to interplay between genes and environment

People with a genetic predisposition to obesity are not only at greater risk of excess weight, their genes interact with an increasingly "obesogenic" environment, resulting in higher body mass index (BMI) in recent decades, finds a study from Norway published by The BMJ today.

* This article was originally published here

Jakarta residents sue Indonesia government over air pollution

Residents of Indonesia's capital on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the government over the toxic levels of air pollution that regularly blanket the city.

* This article was originally published here

Genes could play a role in tooth decay and gum disease

Tooth decay and gum disease impact on illness and healthcare spending, yet the role of genetics in dental problems is largely unknown. New research led by an international team, including researchers at the University of Bristol, suggests hereditary traits and factors such as obesity, education and personality could play a role in tooth decay and gum disease.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/genes-could-play-a-role-in-tooth-decay-and-gum-disease

Stromboli clears up ash after deadly volcano eruption

The village of Ginostra on Stromboli began sweeping away layers of ash on Thursday, the day after a dramatic volcanic eruption on the tiny Italian island killed a hiker.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/stromboli-clears-up-ash-after-deadly-volcano-eruption

Scientists combine light and matter to make particles with new behaviors

Every type of atom in the universe has a unique fingerprint: It only absorbs or emits light at the particular energies that match the allowed orbits of its electrons. That fingerprint enables scientists to identify an atom wherever it is found. A hydrogen atom in outer space absorbs light at the same energies as one on Earth.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/scientists-combine-light-and-matter-to-make-particles-with-new-behaviors

New Zealand slams Google over murder case gaffe

Google was accused of "giving the middle finger" by New Zealand's Justice Minister Thursday, after the US tech giant refused to tighten publication standards after breaching court suppression orders in a high-profile murder case.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/new-zealand-slams-google-over-murder-case-gaffe

Chinese official: Pig fever outbreak 'complicated and grim'

The death toll from a disease outbreak in China's pig herds that has pushed up global pork prices has risen to 1.2 million animals, but its spread has "significantly slowed," a deputy agriculture minister said Thursday.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/chinese-official-pig-fever-outbreak-complicated-and-grim

French lawmakers approve 3% tax on online giants

France's lower house of parliament approved Thursday a small, pioneering tax on internet giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook—and the French government hopes other countries will follow suit.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/french-lawmakers-approve-3-tax-on-online-giants

Hot weather in Greek capital shuts down Acropolis

Greece's most famous archaeological site, the Acropolis in Athens, has shut down to visitors for four hours because of hot weather in the capital.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/hot-weather-in-greek-capital-shuts-down-acropolis

Jakarta residents sue Indonesia government over air pollution

Residents of Indonesia's capital on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the government over the toxic levels of air pollution that regularly blanket the city.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/jakarta-residents-sue-indonesia-government-over-air-pollution

A new, more user-friendly language for programming supercomputers

Decades ago, computers were costly, complex and rare.

* This article was originally published here

Genes could play a role in tooth decay and gum disease

Tooth decay and gum disease impact on illness and healthcare spending, yet the role of genetics in dental problems is largely unknown. New research led by an international team, including researchers at the University of Bristol, suggests hereditary traits and factors such as obesity, education and personality could play a role in tooth decay and gum disease.

* This article was originally published here

New technique could brighten screens and make smartphone batteries last longer

Our future TV and smartphone screens could have double the energy efficiency, thanks to a technique invented by Imperial scientists.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/new-technique-could-brighten-screens-and-make-smartphone-batteries-last-longer

Sharing control with robots may make manufacturing safer, more efficient

Hulking robots common to assembly line manufacturing tend to be loners. They often cut, bend and weld metal inside cages and behind barriers meant to safely separate them from human workers.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/sharing-control-with-robots-may-make-manufacturing-safer-more-efficient

Exercise improves anxiety and mood in older adults undergoing chemotherapy

Although we know that exercise improves anxiety and mood problems in younger people with cancer, few studies have looked at the effects of exercise on older adults with cancer. Since most new cancer cases occur in adults aged 60 or older, a team of researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center and other institutions designed a study to learn more.

* This article was originally published here

Simpler name for cancer genetic syndrome could save lives

As medical science links certain genetic mutations with a greater variety of cancers, the names for these risk syndromes are falling out of step.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/simpler-name-for-cancer-genetic-syndrome-could-save-lives

Creation of big data tool leads to new ideas on form and function of insect eggs

Sometimes disproving an old hypothesis is as important as proving a new one. In a new paper in Nature, Cassandra G. Extavour manages to do both, while helping create a tool that will enable similar big-data studies moving forward.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/creation-of-big-data-tool-leads-to-new-ideas-on-form-and-function-of-insect-eggs

Further insight needed into potential development delays in preterm children

Executive functioning delays—such as difficulties with attention, concentration and self-control—which frequently occur in preterm children actually persist beyond early infancy, through to school-entry age, new research has found.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/further-insight-needed-into-potential-development-delays-in-preterm-children

Researchers map crystals to advance treatments for stroke, diabetes, dementia

Medications attach to the proteins in our bodies the way spacecrafts dock into the International Space Station. Describing that process in detail can reveal a lot about how the medications work—and what form new medications should take.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/researchers-map-crystals-to-advance-treatments-for-stroke-diabetes-dementia

More money, skills and knowledge needed for social prescribing to serve as route into work

New funding, greater expertise and wider awareness in the system—and beyond—are needed to embed work outcomes into social prescribing practice.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/more-money-skills-and-knowledge-needed-for-social-prescribing-to-serve-as-route-into-work