PLOS Pathogens Published April 11, 2019 | 14:00 EDT (News release from PLOS) The increased survival of white blood cells called neutrophils is associated with changes in the intestinal microbiome of HIV-infected individuals. Lactobacillus bacteria, which are commonly found in yoghourt and probiotics, may shorten neutrophil lifespan, and could be an effective therapy to reduce intestinal inflammation […]
Fall freeze–thaw events depress Canada Jay reproduction months later 
Royal Society Open Science Published April 10, 2019 | 17:01 EDT (Brief from the Royal Society) Canada jays (Perisoreus canadensis) rely on perishable food cached in the fall to fuel late-winter reproduction. Forty years of breeding data from a population at the southern edge of the bird’s range show that frequency of fall freeze–thaw events leads […]
Martian methane mystery probed
Nature Published April 10, 2019 | 13:00 EDT (News release from Nature Research Press) Early observations from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter show that, in contrast to previous work, the orbiter did not detect methane on Mars, which raises questions about the reasons for these discrepancies. A second paper describes a rare Martian global dust storm, which […]
New imaging reveals previously unseen vulnerabilities of HIV
Cell Host & Microbe Published April 10, 2019 | 11:00 EDT (News release from University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre) Researchers used a molecular “can opener” to expose parts of the HIV virus envelope that can be targeted by antibodies, revealing the virus’s inner structure and a previously unknown virus shape. The new information provides a […]
Can flipping coins replace animal experiments?
PLOS Biology Published April 9, 2019 | 14:00 EDT (News release from PLOS) A coin toss has exposed a problem that may affect many biomedicine studies. In many of these studies, small sample sizes and frequent loose thresholds for accepting statistical significance can lead to high rates of false-positive results and overestimation of true effects. Contrary to […]
April 9, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up
Mars probed | Bad news for Canada’s official bird | HIV innards revealed | April 9, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up – Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
Increased competition drives males to age faster
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Published April 3, 2019 | 17:01 EDT (Brief from the Royal Society) If we fall apart as we age because we allocate so much energy to trying to reproduce that we don’t look after our bodies, then males that have to compete more vigorously should age faster. In […]
Losing a mating match boosts loser’s sperm competitiveness
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Published April 3, 2019 | 17:01 EDT (Brief from the Royal Society) When researchers tested the mating success of winners and losers in a variety of mating competitions, they found that winners are better at acquiring mates, but losers perform better in sperm competition. These results have important […]
Slippery slopes: Climate change is reshaping the Arctic landscape
Nature Communications Published April 2, 2019 | 11:15 EDT (News release from University of Ottawa) The number of landslides caused by melting permafrost ice on Banks Island, in the Canadian Arctic, increased from 63 in 1984 to 4,077 in 2013. More than 85 per cent of the slumps occurred just after four particularly warm summers. The […]
April 2, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up
Slippery Arctic slope | Mating aging | Winners & losers | April 2, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up – Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
Early observations from near-Earth asteroid Bennu
Nature Geoscience and Nature Astronomy Published March 19, 2019 13:30 EDT (News release from Nature Research Press) Early observations from instruments aboard NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft confirm the presence of widespread and abundant hydrated minerals on near-Earth asteroid Bennu and the unexpected presence of numerous, large boulders, suggesting that Bennu is between 100 million and one billion years […]
How geography shaped North American Indigenous languages
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Published March 27, 2019 | 17:01 EDT (Brief from the Royal Society) Researchers modelled North American language diversity at time of European contact, using influences such as topography, rivers, climate change since the last Ice Age, precipitation, and other ecological factors, to gain insight into the factors that […]
Prepare for drought conditions in southern Canada as the Arctic warms
Nature Published March 27, 2019 | 14:00 EDT When Arctic regions warmed relative to equatorial regions beginning about 12,000 years ago, temperate regions saw substantially less rain- and snowfall, researchers say. Palaeoclimate records from the end of the last Ice Age to some 5,000 years ago and climate simulations indicate that weakening temperature gradients led to […]
March 26, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up
Arctic warming, southern drought | What drives language dispersal | March 26, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up – Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
Freeze-tolerant insects draw on a range of protectant molecules
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Published March 20, 2019 17:01 EDT (Brief from the Royal Society) Low temperatures kill most animals, but some insects can survive ice forming inside their bodies. Researchers tested how small-molecule cryoprotectants work the freeze-tolerant spring field cricket, showing that different cryoprotectants have unique impacts on freeze tolerance. The information […]
Trouble in the OR: Clinicians report assault, verbal abuse, intimidation
Canadian Journal of Anesthesia Published March 19, 2019 21:00 EDT Canadian and U.S. clinicians experienced almost 1,000 physical assaults in operating rooms in 2012–2014. Verbal threats and other forms of intimidation occurred. Clinicians working as nurses, working in privately funded clinics, or who were young, inexperienced, female, or non-heterosexual were most likely to experience abuse. A […]
