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 Mutant ferns point to new culprit in prehistoric mass extinction
Science Advances
Embargoed until October 23, 2019 | 14:00 EDT
Massive, widespread volcanic eruptions and the toxic gases they released may have triggered the mass extinction marking the end of the Triassic period about 201 million years ago. Researchers have correlated pulsed, elevated mercury concentrations in sediments across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary in northern Europe today with intense volcanic activity on the former supercontinent Pangaea. The high mercury levels also correlate with high occurrences of fossilized abnormal fern spores in the same sediments, indicating severe environmental stress and genetic disturbance in plants.
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Canadian co-author: Peter Outridge, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa - outridge@nrcan.gc.ca
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Flapping, soaring or gliding? Birds' flight style determines wing range of motion
Science Advances
Embargoed until October 23, 2019 | 14:00 EDT (News release from AAAS)
The size of a bird and whether it flaps, hovers, bounds or soars govern the animal’s wing range of motion but not wing shape, researchers say. Species with flapping-and-bounding and flapping-and-gliding flight styles have lower body masses and greater range of motion at extreme wing postures, while species with a flapping-and-slope-soaring style have higher body masses and limited range of motion. Besides providing insight into how bird flight evolved, the results could inform designs for drone aircraft based on the vehicles’ mass and mode of flight.
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Corresponding author: Doug Altshuler, University of British Columbia - doug@zoology.ubc.ca
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Mammals’ Permian ancestors were both widespread and around for a long time
Royal Society Open Science
Embargoed until October 23, 2019 | 17:01 EDT (Brief from the Royal Society)
A new, 289-million-year-old species of varanopid – part of group of early synapsids, the ancestors of mammals – from the early Permian of Oklahoma is anatomically similar to a Russian specimen that is 20 million years younger. The similarities and time range suggest these animals occupied the role of small-bodied carnivores in many ecosystems during a significant span of the Permian.
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Lead author: Sigi Maho, University of Toronto - Mississauga, sigi.maho@mail.utoronto.ca
How to reduce young kids' biases against gender-nonconforming peers
Child Development
Embargoed until October 24, 2019 | 0:00 EDT (News release from the Society for Research in Child Development)
School-aged children tend to show more bias towards gender-nonconforming peers. But when researchers showed the kids examples emphasizing positive attributes of individuals and qualities that both gender-conforming and nonconforming children share broadly – without highlighting whether the examples are conforming or nonconforming – the biases were reduced.
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Canadian corresponding author: Doug VanderLaan, University of Toronto Mississauga - doug.vanderlaan@utoronto.ca
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In Case You Missed It
Large loss of CO2 observed in winter across the northern permafrost region
Nature Climate Change
Published October 21, 2019
Carbon dioxide losses from Arctic permafrost during winter exceed the region's estimated average carbon uptake during the growing season. The results provide a baseline for winter CO2 emissions from northern terrestrial regions and suggest that enhanced soil CO2 loss due to winter warming may offset growing season carbon uptake under future climatic conditions.
Canadian co-authors: Jocelyn Egan, Dalhousie University - jocelyn.egan@dal.ca; Paul Grogan, Queen’s University - groganp@queensu.ca; David Olefeldt, University of Alberta - olefeldt@ualberta.ca, and more
Stormquakes rock B.C. and Newfoundland coasts
Geophysical Research Letters
Published October 14, 2019
During large coastal storms, long‐period ocean waves interact with shallow-seafloor features located near the edge of continental shelves to trigger seismic events. The “stormquakes” migrate with the storms but have focused epicentres with seismic shaking that can be greater than a 3.5-magnitude earthquake. Read more>
Lead author: Wenyuan Fan, Florida State University - wfan@fsu.edu
Warming oceans boost invasive lionfish appetite
Journal of Experimental Biology
Published October 10, 2019
Invasive lionfish eat more and perform better as the ocean warms with climate change, thanks to a digestive system that likes the heat. This could amplify the species’ impact on marine ecosystems as sea temperatures rise under climate change. Read more>
Lead author: Clay Steell, Carleton University - clay.steell@carleton.ca
Lakes worldwide developing increasingly severe algal blooms
Nature
Published October 14, 2019
Summer algal blooms are increasing in intensity. Researchers used 30 years of data from the Landsat 5 near-Earth satellite and created a partnership with Google Earth Engine to reveal long-term trends in summer algal blooms in 71 large, freshwater lakes in 33 countries on 6 continents. Read more>
Canadian co-authors: Anna Michalak, Stanford University - michalak@stanford.edu; Jeff Ho, Stanford University - jho@carnegiescience.edu
Early humans moved through the Mediterranean much earlier than thought
Science Advances
Published October 16, 2019
An international research team has unearthed evidence in Greece that proves the island of Naxos was inhabited by Neanderthals and earlier humans at least 200,000 years ago, tens of thousands of years earlier than previously believed. Read more>
Lead author: Tristan Carter, McMaster University - stringy@mcmaster.ca
Fishing for the triple bottom line: Profit, planet, and people
Fish and Fisheries
Published September 30, 2019
Researchers used Pacific herring in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, to model economic, ecological and socio-cultural tradeoffs that result from different fisheries management decisions. The model provides a new, concrete way to balance fisheries values. Read more>
Canadian co-authors: Derek Armitage, University of Waterloo - derek.armitage@uwaterloo.ca; Jaclyn Clearly, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo - Jaclyn.Cleary@dfo-mpo.gc.ca, and more
Bulimia increases women's risk for heart disease
JAMA Psychiatry
Published October 16, 2019
In this 12-year study of 416,709 women, those diagnosed with bulimia nervosa had a significantly increased risk of hospitalization for cardiovascular disease and death up to eight years after their first bulimia-related hospitalization. Read more>
Corresponding author: Nathalie Auger, Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, Montreal - nathalie.auger@inspq.qc.ca
Exercise reduces risk of cancer recurrence and improves survival rates
Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise
Published November 2019
This series of reviews has concluded that exercise prevents at least seven types of cancer from recurring. Substantial evidence suggests exercise is associated with improved cancer-specific survival in patients with breast, colon, and prostate cancer. Read more here> and here>
Lead author: Kristin Campbell, University of British Columbia - Kristin.campbell@ubc.ca.
Widely used medication may increase suicide risk
JAMA Network Open
Published October 16, 2019
Compared with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, taking angiotensin receptor blockers to lower blood cholesterol increased patients' risk of suicide. Read more>
Corresponding author: Tony Antoniou, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto - tantoniou@smh.ca
Butterflies and plants evolved in sync, but moth 'ears' predated bats
PNAS
Published October 21, 2019
When they analyzed the largest-ever dataset assembled for butterflies, moths and other lepidopteran insects, researchers found multiple moth lineages had developed "ears" long before the existence of bats, which were long credited with triggering moths' development of hearing organs. The researchers also determined that lepidopterans first evolved about 100 million earlier than previously thought. Read more>
Canadian co-author: Jayne Yack, Carleton University - JayneYack@cunet.carleton.ca
Why taking cholesterol-lowering drugs can lead to muscle aches
American Journal of Physiology: Cell Physiology
Published October 15, 2019
Researchers have discovered how some people who take cholesterol-lowering statin drugs develop aching muscles. Statins enter the muscle cells, where they cause oxidative stress. In response, the muscle increases production of antioxidants, which in turn release glutamate – a potent activator of muscle pain receptors – from muscle cells. Read more>
Corresponding author: Thomas Hawke, McMaster University - hawke@mcmaster.ca
Atmospheric pressure affects emissions from leaky oil and gas wells
Scientific Reports
Published October 1, 2019
Fluctuations in atmospheric pressure influence how much natural gas leaks from wells below the ground surface at oil and gas sites. Current monitoring strategies do not take this phenomenon into account and may be under- or over-estimating gas emissions. Read more>
Lead author: Olenka Forde, University of British Columbia - oforde@eoas.ubc.ca
Women less likely to receive Canadian federal research funding
PLOS Medicine
Published October 15, 2019
Women are significantly less likely than men to be awarded grants and New Investigator personnel awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), according to this new study.
Lead author: Karen Burns, University of Toronto - burnsk@smh.ca
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Of Interest
The Craft of Science Writing: Selections from The Open Notebook
A collection of indispensable articles on the craft of science writing, as told by some of the most skillful science journalists working today.
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