Wild birds, new tunes | Kids’ physical literacy | Arctic-predator shifts | SMCC Heads Up – Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
Canada’s first ‘state of the nation’ report on children’s physical literacy
BMC Public Health Embargoed until October 2, 2018 06:00 EDT (News release from Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute) Two-thirds of Canadian children are physically illiterate. Physical literacy includes fitness and motor skill, as well as the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engaging in physical activities […]
Caring for the sick may have contributed to human evolution
Scientific Reports Published September 27, 2018 09:00 EDT (News release from Nature Research Press) Caring for individuals with diseases may have enabled prehistoric humans to prevent disease transmission as social networks became more complex and the threat from socially transmitted diseases increased. Researchers used computer modelling to simulate evolution of care-giving in four different social systems […]
Plants use fruit colour to communicate to fruit-eating animals
Biology Letters Published September 26, 2018 Researchers exploited a natural experiment setting in which plants have found themselves depending on the seed-dispersal services of animals with different colour-vision capacities in Uganda and Madagascar. They found that fruit colour is optimized to the visual system of the primary seed disperser. This indicates that fruit colour has evolved as […]
An evolving jet from a strongly magnetized accreting X-ray pulsar
Nature Published September 26, 2018 Researchers report an evolving jet launched by a strongly magnetized, accreting neutron star. The jet’s radio luminosity is two orders of magnitude fainter than those seen in other neutron stars with similar X-ray luminosities, implying an important role for the properties of the neutron star in regulating jet power. The […]
Canadian clinics market unproven stem cell treatments
Regenerative Medicine Published September 26, 2018 (News release from Future Science Group) A survey of the Canadian direct-to-consumer marketplace reveals 30 Canadian businesses advertise unproven stem cell therapies at 43 clinics in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan. The most commonly marketed therapies are for orthopedic and musculoskeletal conditions, pain relief, and sports-related injuries, but one […]
SMCC Heads Up | September 25, 2018
Marketing stem cell therapies | Ancient sick care | Pulsar cools its jet | SMCC Heads Up Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
How parasitic plants lose the ability to photosynthesize
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Published September 19, 2018 (Brief from the Royal Society) The loss of photosynthesis genes in parasitic plants alternates between rapid loss of gene families and periods with little change. However, parasitic plants can integrate host genes into their own genomes. Lead author: Adam Schneider, University of Toronto Mississauga – […]
Bloated bodies and hairy legs attract dance-fly guys
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Published September 19, 2018 (Brief from the Royal Society) When researchers monitored physical models of female dance flies adorned with the species’ exclusively female sexual ornaments — swollen bodies and hairy legs — they found male flies like both large bodies and hairy legs, but prefer large bodies. Inflatable […]
SMCC Heads Up | September 18, 2018
Parasitic plants | Sexy flies | Chimp flu | SMCC Heads Up Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
Mini-video cameras offer peek at hard-to-observe bird behavior
The Auk: Ornithological Advances Published September 12, 2018 (News release from the American Ornithological Society) Video data of more than 200 grassland bird nests in Alberta, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin show that when and why baby birds decide to leave the nest is more complex than anyone guessed. The more siblings in a nest, the […]
High blood sugar during pregnancy increases risk of mother’s type 2 diabetes, child’s obesity
JAMA Published September 11, 2018 (News releases from JAMA and National Institutes of Health) Mothers with elevated blood glucose during pregnancy – even if not high enough to meet the traditional definition of gestational diabetes – are significantly more likely to have developed type 2 diabetes a decade after pregnancy than their counterparts without high blood glucose. For […]
SMCC Heads Up | September 11, 2018
Fledgling decisions | Delayed blood-sugar effects | SMCC Heads Up Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
Melting glaciers may increase risk of landslide-triggered tsunamis
Nature Scientific Reports Published September 6, 2018 (News release from Nature Research Press) The October 17, 2015, landslide at the toe of Tyndall Glacier, which sent 180 million tonnes of rock into Taan Fiord, Alaska, affected two square kilometres of land onshore, but the resulting tsunami affected more than 20 square kilometres, with the wave runup reaching 193 metres. The […]
Climate change mitigation in Canada’s forest sector
Carbon Balance and Management Published September 5, 2017 Researchers evaluated nine mitigation scenarios in two forests management units in Canada — in Cranbrook, British Columbia, and in Dog River–Matawin Forest, Ontario. They found that very large differences existed between mitigation scenarios and that combining forest management activities with wood-use that generated longer-lived products had the highest potential to mitigate greenhouse […]
Dementia symptoms peak in winter and spring
PLOS Published September 4, 2018 (News release from PLOS) Researchers analyzed data on 3,353 people enrolled in cohort studies in the U.S., Canada, and France. Participants had undergone testing and, for some, levels of proteins and genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease were available. Adults both with and without Alzheimer’s disease have better cognition skills in late summer and […]
