Abstracts: Exfoliating Fish, Sled Dogs, and More

A roundup of science news from around the Web — and around the world.

• The Union of Concerned Scientists, an organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is seeking to limit what the public can receive through open records requests. (The Boston Globe)

The Union of Concerned Scientists wants to limit what information can be obtained from researchers in open records requests.

• Getting a tattoo (or several) isn’t exactly the key to improving your immune system, despite what the media says.(Jezebel)

• A research vessel will spend a year in the Laptev Sea, north of Siberia, to study the melting of the polar ice caps. (The Guardian)

• Here’s how sound can help scientists make new discoveries. (The Economist)

• Colombian researchers warn that if fish used in an exfoliating spa treatment escape, they could become invasive. (El Tiempo)

• The Hubble Space telescope spotted a cluster of “monster stars,” all more than 100 times as big as our sun. (BBC News)

• Here’s a deeper look into how Google’s artificial intelligence technology defeated Lee Sedol, a professional player of the complex and ancient board game Go. (Scientific American)

• Also in Google news, the company put robot-maker Boston Dynamics up for sale amid concerns that it wouldn’t produce a marketable product in the near future. (Bloomberg)

• Archaeologists say sled dogs have been pulling us for thousands of years (and sometimes we ate them too). (National Geographic)

• And a health tracking app company’s efforts to develop a wristband to monitor blood pressure have come up short. (MIT Technology Review)