Original Signal - Transmitting Science

National Geographic

Superfast Stars Have Five-Minute Orbits: Two stellar corpses circle each other in just 5.4 minutes, whirling tightly together at 310 miles a second, a new study confirms.

Headless Man's Tomb Found Under Maya Torture Mural: The tomb of a headless Maya man has been discovered beneath an ancient chamber famously painted with scenes of torture.

Haiti Earthquake Pictures: Your Images of the Aftermath: See National Geographic enthusiasts eyewitness views of recovery and ruin in Haiti after the January 12 earthquake.

Time-Lapse: Mountaintop Mine Spreads Across Forest: Time-lapse satellite views of a West Virginia coal mine show how long-term mountaintop mining can wipe out swaths of forest.

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Saturn Moon Has Surprisingly Slushy Insides: Under the brittle, icy crust of Titan lies a surprisingly icy mush, followed by a liquid ocean and a core of rock and ice, new data suggest.

Stolen Sarcophagus Handed Over to Egypt: Confiscated in Miami, a brightly painted, 3,000-year-old sarcophagus was handed over to Egypts antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, on Wednesday. Video.

New Frog Found—Has "Striking" Color Change: The jungle species undergoes a striking change from a black, yellow-spotted youngster to a peachy, blue-eyed adult, scientists say.

Sea Spray Detected 900 Miles Inland: Sea spray has been detected in the middle of the United States, some 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) from any ocean—and it may be contributing to air pollution, a new study says.

See-Through Vision Invented: Scientists have figured out how see through thin opaque barriers by unscrambling what little light passes through.

Space Photos This Week: Sun Plume, Moon Lander, More: A satellite sees an oncoming iceberg smashup, an artist re-creates a Saturn moon landers arrival, a Mars orbiter celebrates a milestone, and more in this weeks best space pictures.

Einstein's Gravity Confirmed on a Cosmic Scale: We may finally have proof that general relativity applies to cosmic bodies great and small—and that dark matter and dark energy are real.

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PICTURES: Octopuses Carry Coconuts as Instant Hideaways: Octopuses off Indonesia make stow-and-go shelters out of empty coconut shells, a new study says. Once they stopped laughing, scientists hailed the behavior as a new form of tool use.

Elusive Tree Kangaroos Fitted With Video Cameras: These hard-to-reach plush toys on Papua New Guineau have been outfitted with Crittercams for the first time. The breathtaking treetop footage is already solving tree kangaroo mysteries, researchers say. Video.

Ten Climate Change "Flagship" Species Named: Starving koalas, homeless clownfish, and gender-bending sea turtles are among ten species that join the polar bear as icons of global warmings impact, according to a new report released in Copenhagen.

Under Yellowstone, Magma Pocket 20% Larger Than Thought: The massive column of molten rock that feeds the parks volcano dives deeper and fills a magma chamber bigger than previous estimates, according to the most detailed model yet of the regions plumbing.

"Bizarre" Octopuses Carry Coconuts as Instant Shelters: Scientists are blown away by octopuses discovered tip-toeing with coconut-shell halves suctioned to their undersides, then reassembling the halves and disappearing inside—a rare example of animal tool use, a new study says. With video.

Viking Weapon-Recycling Site Found in England?: Todays recyclers can now conceivably lay claim to a rich, bloody, brawny heritage, if a new discovery is any indication.

SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Geminids, Two-Faced Moon, More: A superbright meteor pierces the California sky, Hubble unveils its holiday wreath, dust helps solve a Saturn moon mystery, and more in our selection of the weeks best space pictures.

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Universe Today

Gemini – Twins Everywhere!: Now that we've hunted down Orion and been bull ridin' with Taurus, it's time for us to discover a pair of celestial brothers – the Gemini twins. Gemini is one of the members of the zodiac which means the imaginary

New Episode of This Week In Space With Miles O'Brien: This Week in Space with Miles O'Brien highlights: Space hits the red carpet: IMAX: Hubble 3D debuts at the Air and Space Museum, a Falcon 9 "hot fire" disappoints, the shuttle program manager says "no problem" for shuttle to keep

A Deep Sky Celebration…: If you don't know this face, then let me introduce you. His name is Ken Crawford and he's the man "behind the curtain" of some of the most amazing works of astrophotography just this side of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Successful Engine Test Firing for SpaceX Inaugural Falcon 9: SpaceX announced that today’s (Mar 13) test firing of all 9 Merlin first stage engines was successful at Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral. This is a major milestone towards the planned inaugural first flight of the Falcon 9 rocket which

Astronomy Without A Telescope – Home Made Quark-Gluon Soup: The most powerful operational heavy-ion collider in the world, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) recently recorded the highest ever temperature created in an Earth-based laboratory of 4 trillion Kelvin. Achieved at the almost speed of light collision of gold

Where In The Universe #95: Ready for another Where In The Universe Challenge? Here's #95! Take a look and see if you can name where in the Universe this image is from. Give yourself extra points if you can name the spacecraft responsible for the

Weekend SkyWatcher's Forecast: March 12-14, 2010: Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! If you're a die-hard amateur astronomer, then you'll recognize this as one of the prime times to undergo the rigorous "Messier Marathon" – an all night race to see how many Messier objects you can capture! If

World-wide Campaign Sheds New Light on Nature's "LHC": In a manner somewhat like the formation of an alliance to defeat Darth Vader's Death Star, more than a decade ago astronomers formed the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope consortium to understand Nature's Death Ray Gun (a.k.a. blazars). And contrary to

NASA manager says Shuttle Extension Possible; Key Issue Is Money not Safety: NASA Shuttle program manager John Shannon said on Tuesday (Mar 9) that the Space Shuttle Program can indeed be safely extended beyond the existing plan to retire the fleet after completing the four missions currently remaining to fly by the

Answer to Universe Puzzle No. 4 Now Posted: I've now posted the answer in the original post.Check back next week for another Universe Puzzle!© Jean Tate for Universe Today, 2010. |Permalink |No comment |Add todel.icio.usPost tags:Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

It’s Not Just The Astronauts That Are Getting Older: Representing what may be the first long term lunar environmental impact study, recent laser ranging data from the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico suggests the Lunar Ranging Retro Reflectors (LRRRs) left on the Moon by Apollo missions 11, 14 and

Massive Repeated Explosions Halted Star Formation in Early Universe: Scientists have found evidence of a catastrophic event they believe was responsible for halting the birth of stars in a galaxy in the early Universe. According to their findings, just 3 billion years after the Big Bang, a massive galaxy

SpaceX Falcon 9 Test Fire Ends with Abort: No official word from SpaceX yet, but it appears the 3.5 second test-fire on Tuesday of the Falcon 9 rocket aborted immediately after it started. The Falcon 9 sits on Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and

Where's My Jetpack? Right Here: Step right up — you can now get your very own jetpack. That's right, a real, not-science-fiction-honest-to-goodness jetpack. New Zealander Glenn Martin has been working on perfecting his jetpack for 30 years, and in 1998 created the Martin Aircraft Company

Carnival of Space #144, Oscar Edition: This week's Carnival of Space is hosted by Ian O'Neill over at Discovery News/Space, (and formerly of Universe Today!) who has given the Carnival the "Red Carpet" treatment.Click here to read the Carnival of Space #144.And if you’re interested in

Possibility of Past Water on Mars Takes a Hit: Images of Mars taken from orbit show a massive system of riverbeds and canyons etched by water. Or maybe not. A new study of one channel shows that it was formed by lava flow and not water, and the results

Obama to Unveil "Ambitous" Plan for NASA: President Obama will travel to Florida to unveil an "ambitious plan for NASA that sets the agency on a reinvigorated path of space exploration," according to a press release from the White House. The President will host a conference on

Universe Puzzle No. 4: As with last week's Universe Puzzle, something that cannot be answered by five minutes spent googling, a puzzle that requires you to cudgel your brains a bit, and do some lateral thinking. This is a puzzle on a "Universal" topic

Taking The Pulse Of A Supernova – NGC 4490: NGC 4490/4485 – T. Grossman, D. Hager and R. JohnsonWay out yonder some 40 to 50 million light years away in the constellation of Canes Venetici is a pair of interacting galaxies sometimes referred to as "The Cocoon". These two

A New Edition of This Week In Space: Florida's Space Coast braces for layoffs, Buzz Aldrin muses on the next steps for NASA and his upcoming stint on "Dancing with the Stars," plus other headlines from This Week In Space.© nancy for Universe Today, 2010. |Permalink |No comment

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The New York Times

Hurdles Remain for City’s Settlement of 9/11 Suit: A federal judge overseeing the settlement between the city and 9/11 cleanup and rescue workers said he would take a week to review the terms of the accord.

Findings: Trusting Nature as the Climate Referee: An economist suggests imposing a tax linked to the earth’s future warming.

Books on Science: A Deluge of Data Shapes a New Era in Computing: A collection of essays pays tribute to Jim Gray, a database software engineer who disappeared off the California coast almost three years ago.A new book is a tribute to a Microsoft researcher, lost at sea in 2007, who argued that

Did You Hear the One About the Former Scientist?: Tim Lee, performing last week, showed his comedy audience how a substitution in messenger RNA had no effect on a protein. The same is true of rock bands, he said. “You can actually remove the drummer and replace him with

Half a Lifetime Spent in Pursuit of Waterbirds: Theodore Cross spent the first half of his life oblivious to birds only to become one of their most ardent photographers and advocates in the second half.

For Bicyclists Needing a Boost, This Wheel May Help: It is not easy to reinvent the wheel, but researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are giving it their best shot.

In Surgery, a Tangled Tumor Meets Its Match: Dr. Tomoaki Kato in glasses and his team at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia operated last week on a 59-year-old Wisconsin man with a cancerous tumor.At NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia, surgeons spent 43 hours performing an ex vivo procedure on a man whose liver was

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Scientific American

Who Is to Blame for Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions?: No description.

Report: Climate change is taking a toll on U.S. bird populations: North American bird species are "facing a new threat--climate change--that could dramatically alter their habitat and food supply and push many species towards extinction," said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Thursday when he announced the new report, "

Keeping Love Alive: Scientific American Does Its Part: No description.

Advances in disease surveillance: Putting the "public" into public health: MIAMI--Before a government reports a disease outbreak, cases must usually be counted, verified and assessed--a process that can take days, weeks or months.

Software behaving badly: Machine learning could resolve issues raised by multi-core processors: What computers have gained in speed with the introduction of multicore processors that split up workloads they may be losing in reliability. This is because software applications are written to execute different actions in a specific order. When different pieces

Bluefin fishing ban to be proposed: A complete ban of the international commercial trade in bluefin tuna is to be proposed at an upcoming world conservation conference

3D TV hits homes: Consumers can now bring the 3D experience into their homes, but programming is limited, and the prices can be high.

6 Fun Facts about the James Webb Space Telescope: The Hubble Space Telescope is an iconic observatory, a triumph of space science that may be the most famous unmanned spacecraft since Sputnik. Hubbles renown is certainly well-deserved, but the spacecraft is aging--it will mark its 20th anniversary of reaching

Mine Injuries Rise Right After Daylight Saving Time: Don’t forget to move your clocks forward this weekend. And then don’t forget to be more careful in the days after you adjust your clocks. Because a recent study found that the hour of lost sleep was related to increased

Consciousness-Raising: Kick-Starting the Brain's Dopamine System May Revive Some Vegetative Patients: A drug targeting dopamine receptors might be able to "kick-start" an injured brain, enabling certain kinds of vegetative and minimally conscious patients to recover faster.

Gene Target Beats Oil Remedy: The 1992 tearjerker Lorenzo’s Oil told the true story of one family’s struggle to save their son from X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a deadly degenerative brain disease. Unfortunately, over the ensuing years, the oil of the film’s title, a dietary supplement,

MIND Reviews: The Other Brain: The Other Brain: From Dementia to Schizophrenia, How New Discoveries about the Brain Are Revolutionizing Medicine and Science by R. Douglas Fields.

Readers Respond on "A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030": Winds of Change I found it surprising that in “ A Path to Sustainable Energy by 2030 ,” Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark A. Delucchi do not mention the effects of the suggested energy sources on climate. The authors propose

Condoms for the World Cup and other ways to keep HIV at bay: MIAMI--In three months, hundreds of thousands of soccer fans are expected to descend on nine South African cities for the 2010 World Cup. But for so many visitors going to a country where more than 10 percent of the population

If Darwin were a sports psychologist: Evolution and athletics: No description.

Sushi chef, restaurant charged with serving whale: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A California sushi chef and the restaurant in which he worked have been charged with illegally serving meat from an endangered Sei whale, the Justice Department said on Thursday. Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, and the parent company of

Researchers Gain New Insights into the Mystery of Thalidomide-Caused Birth Defects: Half a century ago, thousands of pregnant women in 46 countries took a drug for morning sickness that would later be discovered to cause severe malformations in developing fetuses. Worldwide, roughly 10,000 affected children nicknamed "thalidomide babies" were born with

A New Spin on Conductivity: Electric Signals Can Propagate through an Insulator: An electric insulator, in the simplest terms, blocks the flow of electric current. So it would be a bit counterintuitive, to say the least, if a current on one side of an insulator could produce voltage on the other.

Floor Plan: Linoleum May Be Green, but Is There an Ecofriendly Way to Keep It Clean?: Dear EarthTalk: I have a new linoleum floor, which I chose partly for its ecofriendliness. How do I clean and maintain it without using harsh or toxic chemicals? --A. J. Maimbourg, via e-mail

Japan fish sellers blasts tuna ban: Japan is opposing a proposed Atlantic bluefin tuna ban, with everyone from fish sellers to the government calling it unnecessary.

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Space.com

Secret Military Space Plane Primed For Test Launch: A secretive military spacecraft called X-37B is in Florida to prepare for launch on April 19.

Images - Cosmic Visions From Paranal Observatory: The European Paranal Observatory in Chile offers stunning views of the night sky high up in the Atacama Desert.

Comet Makes Death Plunge Toward Sun: A newfound comet is heading for a brush with the sun, one which it will likely not survive.

Mysterious Speed Record May Explain Mystery of Sun: The giant conveyor belt of plasma in the sun is mysteriously running at record speed.

Zero-G Launches Airborne Weightless Science Lab: ZERO-G is offering researchers a chance to fly in a plane that simulates weightless and low-gravity environments like the moon, Mars, and Earth-orbit.

'Killer Electrons' Get Super-Charged Above Earth: Killer electrons generated in Earths magnetic shield when solar storms hit.

New Suborbital Spaceships Spark Scientific Frenzy: Anticipation is growing for new commercial suborbital spaceships that can serve the scientific and educational market.

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ScienceDaily

Psychopaths' brains wired to seek rewards, no matter the consequences: The brains of psychopaths appear to be wired to keep seeking a reward at any cost, new research finds. The research uncovers the role of the brains reward system in psychopathy and opens a new area of study for understanding

Freshwater polyp hydra genome sequenced: Survey finds genes linked to Huntington's, Alzheimer's: An international team of scientists have sequenced the genome of Hydra, a freshwater polyp thats been a staple of biological research for 300 years.

New microscopy technique offers close-up, real-time view of cellular phenomena: For two decades, scientists have been pursuing a potential new way to treat bacterial infections, using naturally occurring proteins known as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Now, scientists have recorded the first microscopic images showing the deadly effects of AMPs, most of

Unlocking the opium poppy's biggest secret: Genes that make codeine, morphine: Researchers have discovered the unique genes that allow the opium poppy to make codeine and morphine, opening the door to alternate methods of producing these effective painkillers either by manufacturing them in a lab or controlling the production of these

Silk structure analysis explains paradox of super-strength; could lead to even stronger synthet(...): Spiders and silkworms are masters of materials science, but scientists are finally catching up. Silks are among the toughest materials known, stronger and less brittle, pound for pound, than steel. Now scientists have unraveled some of their deepest secrets in

New cancer drug screening technique more closely mirrors reality: Improving on traditional screening tests for potential anti-cancer drugs, scientists have developed a laboratory technique that more closely simulates the real-world conditions in which tumor cells mingle with the bodys normal cells.

Family history is strong predictor of obstructive coronary artery disease using CCTA: In the largest study of its kind to date using cardiac computed tomography angiography, people with a family history of early signs of coronary artery disease are at higher risk of developing obstructive coronary artery disease and plaque in their

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New Scientist

Strung-out plastic performs heat feat: Nanoscale polyethylene fibres conduct heat better than pure iron – good news for circuit board designers

'Wasabi' gene gives snakes night vision: Humans and rattlesnakes have similar receptors – for us they detect taste but in the snakes they sense heat from potential prey

Shape-shifting polymer pulls off amazing memory tricks: The polymer, called Nafion, can remember three distinct shapes when heated – the best yet for a shape-memory polymer

Metal mist clears for fusion power: A fine mist of toxic metal will not choke off the fusion reactions inside the planned ITER reactor, as physicists had feared

Does the pill help women live longer? Yes and no: A study shows the contraceptive pill could be helping women live longer, but not that it has more pros than cons, says Jessica Hamzelou

Today on New Scientist: 12 March 2010: All todays stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: better living through green chemistry, getting electric cars onto the power grid, and why Terminator asteroids could re-form after being nuked

Better living through green chemistry: For many people, chemical is still a dirty word – but wooden trousers, dream creams and mussel muscles are coming to the rescue

Pi day: Five tasty facts about the famous ratio: To celebrate Pi day this weekend, New Scientist serves up some lesser-known facts about the famous ratio, from appearances in nature to unusual poetry

Behind the scenes at Kew Gardens: See what New Scientist found when we were invited to see the botanical gardens hidden places

An astronomical piece of 'chiptune' music: Pixelh8, who makes music out of the sounds made by old computers, has written a suite of music inspired by astronomers – we have some excerpts

HDTV reveals brainy octopus has no personality: The worlds most intelligent invertebrates can be tricked by HD images, letting us study their personalities and behaviour

Brainy octopus has no 'personality': The worlds brainiest invertebrates can be tricked by HD images, so we can study their personalities and behaviour

This week's top stories: Our top articles ranked by reader popularity.Adding oxygen to booze speeds sobrietyToday on New Scientist: 5 March 2010New element copernicium wins a symbol at lastAutomatic secretary can tame a bulging inboxThe self-charging cellphoneSleep wrong and youll feel the bad fatThis

England has failed with dangerous, disturbed offenders: Thats the message of a review of a pioneering programme run over the past decade in two jails and two secure mental hospitals

Gloomy octopus is 'moody' octopus: The worlds brainiest invertebrates can be tricked by HD images, so we can study their personalities and behaviour

Electric cars jostle for position on the power grid: When the surge of plug-in vehicles hits the streets over the next few years, how will our electricity grids cope?

Digital Economy Bill is disaster for digital economy: The proposed new laws would result in the innocent being punished for offences that have not even taken place, says Jim Killock

Shoddy construction beats precision in quantum world: Instead of striving to eliminate imperfection physicists would do better to inject a bit of randomness into their quantum devices

'Terminator' asteroids could re-form after nuke: Wed better make sure that we send a big enough bomb to stop an incoming asteroid – if we dont, the space rock could reassemble

Today on New Scientist: 11 March 2010: All todays stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: how the climate science battle spread to US classrooms, the worlds oldest rivers, and an upgraded robot toddler

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BBC

What happened next? Zebra puts head in hippo's mouth: A zebra at Zurich Zoo appeared doomed when visitors saw its head in the mouth of a hippo, but it was only cleaning its teeth.

Ivory and tuna top wildlife talks: UN wildlife negotiations begin on banning the trade in bluefin tuna and permitting sales of ivory at a two-week summit in Doha.

Apollo men decry Obama Moon plans: Nasa Moon astronauts tell the BBC President Barack Obamas decision to cancel the US lunar programme is catastrophic.

Coffee car: The waste fuel for your motor that wont cost a lot

The brain scan that can 'see people's memories': Scientists say they have been able to tell which past event a person is recalling using a brain scan.

Siberian tigers die at China zoo: Eleven rare Siberian tigers die at a zoo in north-eastern China, raising fears over treatment of captive animals in the country.

What happened next? Zebra puts head in hippo's mouth: A zebra at Zurich Zoo appeared doomed when visitors saw its head in the mouth of a hippo, but it was only cleaning its teeth.

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CNN

Mars Science Lab launch delayed two years: NASAs launch of the Mars Science Laboratory -- hampered by technical difficulties and cost overruns -- has been delayed until the fall of 2011, NASA officials said at a news conference Thursday in Washington.

Shuttle lands at California air base: NASA officials Sunday waved off the first opportunity for space shuttle Endeavour to return to Earth, citing poor weather conditions.

iReporters watch planets, moon align

Inspiration for 'Contact' still listening: From a remote valley in Northern California, Jill Tarter is listening to the universe.

Indian lunar orbiter hit by heat rise: Scientists have switched off several on-board instruments to halt rising temperatures inside Indias first unmanned lunar spacecraft.

Mars Science Lab launch delayed two years: NASAs launch of the Mars Science Laboratory -- hampered by technical difficulties and cost overruns -- has been delayed until the fall of 2011, NASA officials said at a news conference Thursday in Washington.

Shuttle lands at California air base: NASA officials Sunday waved off the first opportunity for space shuttle Endeavour to return to Earth, citing poor weather conditions.

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Discovery

SpaceX Fires Up: In case youve wondering, thats what a fully lit Falcon 9 rocket looks like at ignition, which occurred, by the way, for the first time this weekend at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, where SpaceX is preparing for

Lunar Mirror Mystery Solved: Reflectors placed on the moon during Apollo missions practically stop working during a full moon. Now we may know why.

Comet-Kaze Strikes The Sun: The SOHO observatory catches a comet crashing into the sun.

Why Do We Have Daylight Savings Time?: Its a question people are probably more likely to ask themselves this time of year when we go to bed and then lose an hour. It can feel wildly unfair for the clock to say 7:00 a.m. when it actually

'World's Strongest Chicken' Pulls Chariot: The alleged worlds strongest chicken is appearing at a Green Bay rodeo where he will pull trainer and rodeo clown Rory Meeks in a specially designed chicken chariot.

Star Predicted to Blast Through the Solar System: In 1.5 million years time, the solar system could be in for a rough ride. An orange dwarf star named Gliese 710 is powering in our direction and an astronomer has calculated an 86 percent chance of the interstellar interloper

Camera Shy Pregnant Male Seahorse Photographed Giving Birth: The Pacific Seahorse would seem to be a movie natural. This fish is dramatic yellow in color, with sparkling eyes and a hairdo-looking tuft on its head that would be at home on a Dr. Seuss character. But few have

Presenting...The Virginia Creeper Clearwing: Naturalist Mark Fraser is back with a look this time at the Virginia creeper clearwing moth. According to Mark, the insect has evolved to be a mimic of a wasp and looks similar to a paper wasp. They even move

"Ice Arches" Act as Gatekeepers to Melting Arctic Ice: Its easy to imagine the Arctic ice cap as it looks on a globe -- pinned firmly to one spot. However, thats not the case. Sea ice is free to roam when it breaks up, bobbing out of the Arctic

1,000-Year-Old Massacre Uncovered in England: Scientific tests have shown that 51 decapitated bodies found in southern England were executed Viking raiders.

Clothing Plays Music When Touched: This is a fun little Friday post. Something lite. Two students from the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås has developed a textile that works like a musical instruments. Sort of. Jeannine Han and Dan Riley integrated sensors that emit

Women Taking Birth Control Pill May Live Longer: The pill reduced womens risk of dying from bowel cancer and other diseases.

'Doomsday' Seed Vault Hits Half-Million Mark: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault now houses the worlds most diverse collection of seeds.

Mass Graves of Nazi Victims Found in Austria: Nearly 65 years after the conclusion of World War 2, victims of Nazi atrocities are still being discovered.

Dog Growls Contain Specific Information: Dogs emit two primary growls: one for play and one for all other times when dogs are angry, a study confirms.

The Old Norse Predicament: The European settlement of Greenland may sound like a minor folly by some ancient Vikings irrelevant to modern times. But a generation of anthropologists and climate scientists has put a different face on what really happened there 1,000 years ago

Designing an Unmanned Chopper for Nuclear Disasters: This is Yamahas RMAX unmanned aerial vehicle, which according to the companys website is to be used in agriculture for the purpose of crop dusting, and also to serve...for observation/monitoring. Now, the Virginia Tech Autonomous Aerial Robotic Team is modding

Climate Myths and Questions, Part III: In this final part of our three-part series, we examine sea ice extent, extraterrestrial warming, IPCC errors, and hacked e-mails. The topics weve covered this week just scratch the surface, of course; there are many more questions that people have

Funky Flies Offer Model for Surgical Adhesive: An underwater fly that builds a covering of pebbles and sand by gluing them together could point the way for developing a glue that works while wet.

Expedition Sought to Find George Mallory's Camera: George Mallorys camera may contain evidence of whether he and Andrew Irvine were the first to summit Everest.

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Science/AAAS

Roundup 3/12: Go Fish Edition: Japans predilection for marine delicacies underlines two of todays headlines. The government formally arrested...

Spain Turns to Science for Stimulus: Spains economy is in trouble. The countrys real-estate bubble has collapsed and its unemployment...

Scientists Case on Background Check Reaches High Court: A long-running legal battle between the United States government and a group of 29...

MIT's Suresh Tapped to Be NSF Director: The dean of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is in line to...

Study Peels Back More of the Magnetic Sun: Speed of magnetic flow affects the strength of a solar cycle

Roundup 3/11: Like a Snake Edition: Vacationing in Florida? Want to bring your python? Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife...

NIST Looks to Reorganize Its Labs, Top Management: The National Institute of Standards and Technology is reorganizing its eight laboratory divisions. Currently,...

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USATODAY

Tracking the tarantula: Big, hairy, bloodthirsty vermin if youve seen one tarantula, youve seen them all, right?

Ask USA TODAY Weather: How do I track the national and worldwide high temperatures each day? Why is snow so bright at night? These and many more weather questions are answered in our online weather Q and A column.

Texas earthquakes may be linked to wells for gas mining: Saltwater pumped into the earth to release natural gas offers a plausible, but not definitive, explanation for small quakes in 2008 and 2009.

How Henrietta Lacks' cells fueled medical breakthroughs: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of a poor black woman and some of the most important discoveries of modern medicine.

Researchers link inflammation to illness in overweight people: Obesity scientist dig deep to find the connection between body fat, white blood cells and a cascade of diseases.

Former head of Johnson Space Center dies in Texas: Aaron Cohen, the former director of NASAs Johnson Space Center who helped create the space shuttle program, has died in College Station after a long fight with cancer. He was 79.

Scientists misread data on global warming controversy: If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, then, with apologies to Kipling, you might not be a climate scientist.

Undersea Arctic methane could wreak havoc on climate: The potent greenhouse gas appears to be seeping through the Arctic Ocean floor and into the Earths atmosphere, research shows.

Scientists conclude asteroid, not volcanoes, wiped out dinosaurs: An international team Thursday concluded that it was an asteroid, not volcanoes, that wiped out dinosaurs 65.5 million years ago.

France's crumbling sea walls no match for ocean: The moon was full, the wind roared, the tide was high and people died by the dozens.

Scientists catalog zoo of bacteria inside our guts: The human digestive tract is a virtual zoo, full of a wide variety of bacteria, a new study found. And scientists say that is a good thing.

Fossils of snake eating dino eggs found in India: The fossilized remains of a 67 million-year-old snake found coiled around a dinosaur egg offer rare insight into the ancient reptiles dining habits and evolution, scientists said Tuesday.

Chile earthquake may have shortened Earth's day: Earths days may have gotten a little bit shorter since the massive earthquake in Chile, but dont feel bad if you havent noticed.

Fossils of snake eating dino eggs found in India: The fossilized remains of a 67 million-year-old snake found coiled around a dinosaur egg offer rare insight into the ancient reptiles dining habits and evolution, scientists said Tuesday.

Tap water contaminant atrazine 'castrates' frogs: A pesticide that contaminates the water consumed by millions of Americans has been found to produce gender-bending effects in male frogs.

Best science on TV: Comedy Central's Stewart, Colbert?: Skip Animal Planet and the Science Channel, say scientists, and go to Jon Stewarts The Daily Show and Stephen Colberts Colbert Report, both of which regularly host scientists.

Chilean earthquake hints at dangers of 'Big One' for USA: One of the really Big Ones to shake the United States was a magnitude-9.0 earthquake along the Pacific Northwest coast more than 300 years ago, before the arrival of people and development, that sent a catastrophic tsunami to Japan.

Atom smasher restarts to prepare for new science: Operators of the worlds largest atom smasher restarted their massive machine Sunday in a run up to experiments probing secrets of the universe, a spokeswoman said.

Tsunami alerts help save lives: Sensor buoys are among the newest tools deployed to give coastal areas enough time to prepare for potentially destructive waves.

Engineers tired of being outshined by scientists: Einstein, Newton, Hawking the heroes of science trip out of memory effortlessly.

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Digg Science

China Developing 'Combustible Ice' as New Energy Source: Buried below the tundra of China’s Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a type of frozen natural gas containing methane and ice crystals that could supply energy to China for 90 years

Geothermal vs. Astral Energy: A shot taken early last year by lake Mývatn up in northeast Iceland. The smoke is actually steam coming from a geothermal plant near Námaskarð.

Human Brains Have Started to Shrink: Replica of big skull from 28,000 years ago suggests human brains have started to shrink. Scientists, who claim to have produced one of the best replicas yet of an early modern humanâ��s skull, say it is up to 20 per

Landslide hits Northern Pakistan, Creates Artificial Lake: A landslide triggered by torrential rains in northern Pakistan has created a massive artificial lake in the Hunza valley, inundating several villages.Thousands of people are stranded in the highly mountainous region and forced to use boats to get around on

Human Cells 'Forage' Like Amoebae, Bacteria: When cells move about in the body, they follow a complex pattern similar to that which amoebae and bacteria use when searching for food, researchers have found. The discovery has a practical value for drug development: Incorporating this basic behavior

Should We Be Trying to Save the Dodo?: Declaring a species extinct is no trivial matter. A team of Australian researchers are trying to bring a more rigorous approach to this area with the help of the dodo.

The Frame: Hunting for "The Hobbit" (PICS): The discovery of ***** floresiensis shocked and divided scientists. Here apparently was a band of distant relatives that exhibited features not seen for millions of years but were living at the same time as much more modern humans

Study: Fat Drinkers Face Double the Health Risk: Drinkers who are overweight face a double whammy impact on their liver, research suggests.

New Charging Method To Greatly Reduce Battery Recharge Time: In a new study, researchers have proposed a charging method that could greatly reduce the charging time of lithium-ion batteries, which are used in everything from electronic devices to electric vehicles.

Cold, Little Comet Is No Match for the Big, Hot Sun: A small, newly discovered comet will not get a chance to enjoy its fame for long. As you can see in this image sequence obtained by NASA’s Solar and Heliosopheric Observatory, the comet is on a collision course with the

50 million year old ancient rivers buried under the outback: An ancient river system buried 35 m below the Simpson Desert in Central Australia has been revealed by scientists from the Australian National University in Canberra.

Saturn Moon Has Surprisingly Slushy Insides: Under the brittle, icy crust of Titan lies a surprisingly icy mush, followed by a liquid ocean and a core of rock and ice, new data suggest.

Five new human genomes decoded, marking a transition to more: It seems longer, but it was only seven years ago that the Human Genome Project deciphered the sequence of the 3 billion nucleotides that make up a single human blueprint or genome. That project cost more than $3 billion and

APOD: 2010 March 13 - Centaurus A: A different astronomy and space sciencerelated image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

Minimizing the Effects of Earthquakes (Graphic): After the recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, it is not surprising to see countries are updating their disaster contingency plans. As part of these plans, a range of different ideas and technologies are being considered to reduce the destruction

Study: Short Blasts of Exercise as Good as Hours of Training: Less really can be more when it comes to exercise, scientists have discovered.

Einstein's relativity manuscript goes on display in Israel: Handwritten explanation of general theory of relativity being shown at Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Jerusalem. Professor: I refer to it as the Magna Carta of physics

Climate Change Threatens Migratory Birds, Report Says: Changes in the global climate are imposing additional stress on hundreds of species of migratory birds in the United States that are already threatened by other environmental factors, according to a new Interior Department report.

Orange Dwarf Confirmed to be On Collision Course With Earth: Gliese 710 should arrive sometime in...

Can Photos Inspire a New Generation of Environmentalists?: One of the Environmental Protection Agency’s early projects was Documerica, an effort to photograph America’s environmental problems from 1971 to 1977. Now they’re releasing the 15,000 photos from the vault at the National Archives and posting them on Flickr.

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Science News Online

Chemists pin down poppy's tricks for making morphines: Identifying enzymes involved in opiate synthesis could mean better ways to make painkillers

Pit vipers' night vision explained: Study finds protein responsible for sensing heat from prey

One key to teaching toddlers with TV: trickery: New research suggests why kids under 3 don’t learn from video

Young science scholars to be recognized: Science Talent Search will soon announce winners

Issue for the week of March 27th, 2010: No description.

Odds are, it's wrong: Science fails to face the shortcomings of statistics

In Pursuit of the Briefest Beat: Attosecond pulses of light could open electrons’ fast-paced world

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NASA

Solar 'Current of Fire' Speeds Up: A massive "current of fire" on the sun has started running at high speed, surprising researchers and challenging some models of the solar cycle.

Did the Chilean Quake Shift Earth's Axis?: Last months 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile was so strong it might have shifted the axis of the entire Earth.

Spirit's Journey to the Center of Mars: NASAs venerable Mars rover Spirit is starting a second career as an explorer of the Martian core--but first it must survive the deadly Martian winter.

Cool Movie: SDO Destroys a Sundog: NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory amazed onlookers last week when it flew past a sundog and destroyed it. Must-see videos of the event captured shock waves from the rocket billowing through the sundog, eliciting cries of delight and amazement from the

3D Sun for the iPhone: Imagine holding the entire sun in the palm of your hand. Now you can. A new iPhone app developed by NASA-supported programmers delivers a live global view of the sun directly to your cell phone.

Are TGFs Hazardous to Air Travelers?: Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) surge through thunderstorms at about the same altitude where commercial airliners fly. Do these blasts of gamma-radiation pose a hazard to air travelers?

Solar Dynamics Observatory: The 'Variable Sun' Mission: The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), slated for liftoff on Feb. 9th, will make IMAX-quality movies of solar explosions, peer beneath the stellar surface to see the suns inner dynamo, and--researchers hope--unravel the mysteries of solar variability.

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