Original Signal - Transmitting Science

National Geographic

Brain-Controlled Wheelchair Is "95 Percent Accurate": A new brain-computer interface turns thought into action with lightning speed, allowing precise piloting of a wheelchair, experts say. Their advice: Imagine playing the piano or jogging.

WEEK IN PHOTOS: Ugliest Dog, "Miracle" Birth, and More: Filipino inmates dance to Thriller, a girl rests 1,400 feet in the air, and an elderly ape has a baby in this weeks best news photos.

"Diamond Dust" Snow Falls Nightly on Mars: Ice crystals drifting from Martian clouds resemble the glittering precipitation that falls in Earths Arctic regions during winter, new data show.

Tunguksa Mystery Solved by Space Shuttle?: Rare night shining clouds linked to the 1908 Russian event and plumes from shuttle launches suggest that the blast was caused by an icy comet, a new study says.

PICTURES: World Wonders Added to UN Heritage List: The Tower of Hercules, a sacred mountain, and royal tombs are among the sites recognized for their universal value to humanity during a 2009 World Heritage Committee session.

STATUE OF LIBERTY PICTURES: Rare Views, Inside and Out: Before it reopens on the Fourth of July, get an insiders eye on the Statue of Liberty—the inside of her face, the little-known ladder to the torch, and more.

Rare Albino Whale Spotted: Migaloo, a twentysomething rare white humpback whale was seen this week along Australias east coast, where hes migrating northward with other humpbacks. Video.

July 4th Facts: Fireworks, Founding Fathers, and More: From artillery shows to hot dog eating, learn how Americans have celebrated the Fourth of July over the centuries.

Statue of Liberty Facts: July 4th Reopening and More: As the Statue of Libertys crown is readied for reopening this Fourth of July, stock up on intriguing Lady Liberty facts for this weekends barbecue banter.

PHOTOS: Giant Rays' "Feeding Frenzy" Spots Protected: An Indian Ocean island nation has created three new ocean sanctuaries, including a tropical bay where hundreds of 12-foot manta rays and 40-foot whale sharks feast on swarms of plankton and krill.

New Class of Black Hole Found?: A superbright object in a distant galaxy is the best candidate yet for a theoretical middleweight known as an intermediate-mass black hole, a new study says.

Presented By:

Deadly Cable Crossing Is Only Way Out: Despite falling nearly ten stories from it and losing a child in 2008, the Combatas—like the other seven families of a Bolivian village—continue using a crucial river-spanning cable. Video.

"Dinosaur Mummy" Has Skin Like Birds' and Crocodiles': A stunningly preserved dinosaur has skin like that of modern birds and crocodiles, a paleontologist says. This is the closest youre going to get to patting the animal.

High-Rise Farms: The Future of Food?: Sky-scraping greenhouses in urban areas may be a promising way to feed Earths growing human population in coming decades, advocates say.

FUTURE FARMS: High-Rise, Beach Pod, Pyramid Pictures: From glass pyramids to towers of greenhouses, see some of the concepts that architects have created for vertical farms, a proposed strategy for growing crops year-round at the hearts of urban centers.

SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Moon Shadow, Shock Wave, More: See a shadow slicing across Saturns rings, a gas cloud that acts like a particle accelerator, a NASA moving van, and more among the weeks best space pictures.

Nut-Size Ancient Skull Explains Our Brains' Bigness?: A 54-million-year-old primate followed its nose, and that might help reveal why todays primates—including humans—have comparatively big brains.

Dogs Smell Diabetic Attacks Coming: Some dogs can smell odors given off by humans with bladder cancer and diabetes, researchers say. In some cases, the canines warn of oncoming attacks. Video.

PHOTOS: "Glorious" Ancient Chamber Found in Israel: The one-acre human-made cave in the Jordan Valley, thought to have begun as a quarry, may later have been converted for other uses, including a possible monastery and maybe a hideout for persecuted

more

Universe Today

Find the Answer to This Week's WITU Challenge: The answer to this week's Where In The Universe challenge is now available back on the original post. Check it out! And happy 4th of July holiday weekend to everyone in the US!© nancy for Universe Today, 2009. |Permalink |No

Weekend SkyWatcher's Forecast: July 3-5, 2009: Greetings, fellow SkyWatchers! Are you ready for a Moon-filled weekend? Then let's have a look a some great lunar features as we race Mad Max to the "Megadome"! For some lucky viewers in Japan and Hawaii, there will be an

Happy Fourth of July!: Astronomers working with the Subaru Telescope have released these new images of a "fireworks display" in a near-infrared image of the Helix Nebula, showing comet-shaped knots within.(...)Read the rest of Happy Fourth of July! (560 words)© anne for Universe Today, 2009.

Perchlorates and Water Make for Potential Habitable Environment on Mars: Scientists say that the Arctic region studied by Phoenix lander may be a favorable environment for microbes. Just-right chemistry and periods where thin films of liquid water form on the surface could make for a habitable setting. "Not only did

First Images from LRO: Woohoo! NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken its first images of the Moon! There are two cameras on board which combine to create the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC. They were both activated June 30, and their "first light"

By Gamma-Rays Alone: Fermi Raises the Curtain on 16 New Pulsars: For the first time, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has spotted a new group of pulsars using only their gamma-ray emissions, in the absence of radio signals beamed to Earth. The 16 new objects are reported in this week's edition of

Phoenix Lander Team: It Rains at Night on Mars: It rains and snows on Mars. This occurs, at least in the northern arctic region where the Phoenix lander set up camp in 2008. Science teams from Phoenix were able to observe water-ice clouds in the Martian atmosphere and precipitation

Messier 87 Shows Off for Hundreds of Earth-bound Astronomers: When the giant radio galaxy Messier 87 (M 87) unleashed a torrent of gamma radiation and radio flux, an international collaboration of 390 scientists happened to be watching. They're reporting the discovery in this week's issue of Science Express.(...)Read the

Test-Bed Rover is Now Stuck — Which is a Good Thing!: Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have intentionally driven their engineering rover into soft soil in a sandbox testbed, to simulate how the Spirit rover is stuck on Mars. And they did a good job of it, too, as the

WiFi in Space Coming Soon?: Although current astronauts are Twittering and blogging from space, it's a cumbersome process as the ISS, shuttle and Soyuz do not have internet access. Instead, they have to downlink their information to mission control, where someone posts it to the

Where In The Universe #60: Ready for another Where In The Universe Challenge? Here's #60! 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

Astronomers Discover Medium-Sized Class of Black Holes: It's the Goldilocks variety of black holes: not too big and not too small.The new source HLX-1, the light blue object to the top left of the galactic bulge, is the ambassador for a new class of black holes, more than

Your New Guide to the Inner Galaxy: All you galactic hitchhikers take note: a new atlas of the inner regions of the Milky Way was released today, showing thousands of previously undiscovered dense knots of cold cosmic dust — the potential birthplaces of new stars. This new

Mars Will NOT Look as Big as the Full Moon, But You Can Watch it Get Closer: or criminy's sake, I just got one of those "Mars as big as the full Moon in August" emails. For one more time: this is completely false and it couldn't possibly happen. Besides, in 2009 Mars is all but unobservable

Get Your Own Personal UFO: I'm always amazed at what you can find on You Tube. Type "UFO" in the search panel, and you get all sorts of wacky stuff. But this one is really quite cool. It's called the X-Jet and was created by

Faster, Cheaper (and Better?) Way to the Moon: The word this morning from several NASA Twitterers is that the stacking of the new Ares I-X rocket for its upcoming test flight is temporarily on hold. Everyone is waiting for word from a NASA executive session reconsidering the plan.

Fly Me To The Moon…: "Fly me to the Moon and let me play among the stars… Let me see what life is like on…" Oh, hi there! I'll just bet you know what's up with the double image, don't you? That's right. A little

Device Makes Radio Waves Travel Faster Than Light: A scientist has created a gadget that can make radio waves travel faster than light. Einstein predicted that particles and information can't travel faster than the speed of light, but phenomena like radio waves are a different story, said John

NASA, Japan Release Most Complete Topographic Map of Earth: Topographic maps are some of the most used and valuable maps for both government and the general public. Now, NASA and Japan have released a new digital topographic map of Earth Monday that covers more of our planet than ever

Book Review: Cold War Tech War: When is the best answer not the right answer? Assuredly many historical events epitomize this dilemma. Randall Whitcomb digs into Canada's Avro Arrow story and delivers up such an event in his book, "Cold War Tech War – The Politics

more

The New York Times

Global Update: Tuberculosis: TB Vaccine Too Dangerous for Babies With AIDS Virus, Study Says: A common tuberculosis vaccine is too risky to give to those born infected with the AIDS virus, says a new study published by the World Health Organization.

Swine Flu Death Toll in Argentina Climbs: Argentina’s president said she would not rule out closing major public venues where swine flu could spread more quickly.

Environment Groups Find Less Support From Justices: Environmental groups lost all five of their cases before the Supreme Court last term, a trend scholars see continuing as the court moves to the right.

In Public Housing, Spreading the Gospel of the Recycling Bin: Two residents of the General Grant Houses in Upper Manhattan are spreading the word about recycling, building by building.

El Niño Variant Is Linked to Hurricanes in Atlantic: The discovery that a periodic warming pattern in the central Pacific Ocean is linked to more frequent hurricanes in the Atlantic may help improve forecasts.

Green Power Takes Root in the Chinese Desert: Beijing is steering a push toward wind and solar power, while the U.S. is just starting.

The Case of the Shrinking Sheep: On a remote Scottish island, the sheep are shrinking, and the cause appears to be the warming of winter.

more

Scientific American

New Radar May Help U.S. Draw the Line on Burrowing Under the Mexico Border: Underground tunnels crisscross the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and the U.S. government is looking for better ways to stop the smugglers who build and use them.

Genetic Link For Perfect Pitch?: No description.

Animals of the Disappearing Mangroves: In the watery limbo between sea and river, where salt and fresh water mingle in the roots of mangrove trees, a handful of uniquely adapted species--terrestrial and aquatic--have evolved to fill the novel niche.

Bombs bursting in air: What's in those 4th of July fireworks, anyway?: Red, white and blue aside, how green will this weekend’s firework festivities be? Not very, argue some.

How Fructose Impairs the Memory: Americans consume more fructose than ever before, yet concerns remain that the sugar, used to sweeten beverages and processed foods, poses health risks. In animals, fructose-rich diets increase the production of fat and promote resistance to the energy-regulating hormone insulin.

MIND Reviews: A Healthy Mind: Healthy Mindswww.wliw.org/healthyminds

For your health, steer clear of the hospital on July 4th weekend: A word to the wise: stay out of the emergency room this long weekend.

Students imitate penguins to set people-powered sub records: University of Quebecs Team OMER found inspiration in nature--penguins, actually--as they set two international speed records last week at the International Human-Powered Submarine Races held at the U. S. Naval Surface Warfare Centers Carderock test tank in Bethesda, Md.

Space Show Takes Viewers on a Stellar Journey: As moviegoers make plans to watch summer blockbusters this weekend, there is an additional choice for New Yorkers: Journey to the Stars, the new space show opening July 4 at the Hayden Planetarium in the American Museum of Natural History

Tennessee physicist sentenced to 4 years for sharing drone plans with foreign students: John Reece Roth, 71, a prominent plasma physicist was sentenced to four years in prison for 18 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and violations of the Arms Export Control Act, after he allowed a Chinese graduate student to see sensitive

Puffins fitted with "sat-nav": Puffins are being fitted with GPS devices similar to those used in satellite navigation to find why their numbers are down in a key British breeding colony.

Pint-sized fighter planes: Model aircraft enthusiasts converge on the shores of the Dead Sea in Israel, for the International Jet World Masters Championship.

Some Species Rebound, But More Become Endangered: The global crisis for endangered species is more serious than the financial meltdown, with numbers of imperiled animals and plants rising at record rates, scientists are warning in a report released today.In its latest four-year assessment of endangered species, the

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter snaps its first images of the moon: NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which reached its destination just last week, is already showing its stuff.The space agency switched on the LROs cameras two days ago and today released the first images from the orbiters mission, which is intended to

Green Dam Web filter delayed, but not dropped: Although Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) earlier this week granted PC makers a reprieve from having to include the Green Dam-Youth Escort Internet filtering software with every PC sold in the country, the government today made clear

Desert plant plucks water from thin air: The arid Negev desert in southern Israel is no match for the desert rhubarb, which plant researchers say has found a unique way to water itself.

Higher temperatures may be shrinking Scottish sheep: Bigger had always been better for sheep living on the remote, windswept Scottish island of Hirta.

Ant colony crosses continents: Those ants crawling across your picnic table this weekend might be members of a massive, trans-national ant mafia, recently reported by researchers in Japan and Spain.

The Wonderful World of Transgenic Animals: No description.

Plastic Not-So-Fantastic: How the Versatile Material Harms the Environment and Human Health: From cell phones and computers to bicycle helmets and hospital IV bags, plastic has molded society in many ways that make life both easier and safer. But the synthetic material also has left harmful imprints on the environment and perhaps

more

Space.com

Military Seeks Common Ground with Scientists on Fireball Data Flap: The Air Force Space Command is circling the wagons to close some loopholes in the dissemination of potentially sensitive information.

Wild Fireworks Spotted in Space: New image of a gaseous space nebula reveals tens of thousands of giant comet-like knots raining down.

NASA Probe Looks at Bright Side of Mars: NASA shifted the orbit of its Mars satellite Odyssey to make better use of its infrared camera for mapping the surface.

No Fireworks in Space on July 4: There will be no fireworks in space, or even visible out the window, for American astronaut Michael Barratt.

Traffic Heats Up at Space Station: The space station crew moved one of its Soyuz lifeboats late Thursday as traffic heats up at the outpost.

New Moon Orbiter Sends First Lunar Snapshots: NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has transmitted its first images since reaching lunar orbit June 23.

MISSION UPDATE: ISS Crew to Move Soyuz Spacecraft

more

ScienceDaily

Avian Bacterium More Dangerous Than Believed: Bordetella hinzii just may be the Eddie Haskell of avian bacteria. Like the notoriously sneaky character from the iconic 1950s television show Leave It to Beaver, B. hinzii has been causing trouble and dodging the blame.

Bee Colony Collapse Disorder: New Bait Lures Varroa Mite To Its Doom: Varroa mites, prime suspect in bee colony collapse disorder, could literally be walking into a trap --- thanks to a newly developed attractant.

Fire Ant Outcompetes Other Species, Even In Its Native Habitat: Even in its native Argentina, the fire ant wins in head-to-head competition with other ant species more than three-quarters of the time.

Discovery Highlights New Direction For Drug Discovery: In a discovery that rebuffs conventional scientific thinking, researchers have discovered a novel way to block the activity of the fusion protein responsible for Ewings sarcoma, a rare cancer found in children and young adults.

DNA Variations Linked To Brain Tumors: Scientists have found a connection between DNA alterations on human chromosome 9 and aggressive brain cancer known as glioblastoma.

Genetic Factors That Hold Promise For Treatment Of Vascular Diseases: Researchers have discovered a key switch that makes stem cells turn into the type of muscle cells that reside in the wall of blood vessels. The same switch might be used in the future to limit growth of vascular muscle

Molecule That Regulates Heart Size Developed By Using Zebrafish Screening Model: Using zebrafish, researchers have identified and described an enzyme inhibitor that increases the number of cardiac progenitor cells and influences the size of the developing heart. The task was accomplished primarily because of the powerful advantages of studying embryonic development

MicroRNAs Hold Promise For Treating Diseases In Blood Vessels: A newly discovered mechanism controls whether muscle cells in blood vessels hasten the development of both atherosclerosis and Alzheimers disease, according to a new article.

Variations In Five Genes Raise Risk For Most Common Brain Tumors: Common genetic variations spread across five genes raise a persons risk of developing the most frequent type of brain tumor, scientists report.

Accelerated Fertility Treatment Leads To Shortened Time To Pregnancy And Cost Savings: For couples beginning infertility treatments, an accelerated path to in-vitro fertilization can offer a shorter time to pregnancy, cost savings of nearly $10,000, and a lowered risk of multiple births.

Desert Dust Alters Ecology Of Colorado Alpine Meadows: Accelerated snowmelt -- precipitated by desert dust blowing into the mountains -- changes how alpine plants respond to seasonal climate cues that regulate their life cycles, according to a new study. These results indicate that global warming may have a

Discovery May Provide New Treatments For Alcohol Dependence: Researchers have discovered a new brain mechanism involved in alcohol addiction involving the stomach hormone ghrelin. When ghrelins actions in the brain are blocked, alcohols effects on the reward system are reduced. It is an important discovery that could lead

Researchers Discover New Information On Spreading Of Cancer: Researchers have discovered a mechanism lung cancer cells use when spreading into the body to form metastases. They have also found a factor controlling the spreading of several different cancer types. The common feature in both findings is that they

Innovative Technology Shatters The Barriers Of Modern Light Microscopy: Researchers are using a combination of light and ultrasound to visualize fluorescent proteins that are seated several centimeters deep into living tissue.

New Way To Fix Leaking Mitral Heart Valves Safe In Initial Testing, Study Shows: A novel method to seal leaking heart valves was shown to be safe in its first use in heart failure patients. If effective in larger trials, the PTMA system could significantly reduce the life-threatening risks associated with surgical repair of

Fast Neutral Hydrogen Detected Coming From The Moon: NASAs Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft has made the first observations of very fast hydrogen atoms coming from the moon, following decades of speculation and searching for their existence.

Zooming In To Catch The Bad Guys: New 'Perfection Tool' From Researchers In Israel Enhances Vid(...): Its a frequent scene in television crime dramas: Clever police technicians zoom in on a security camera video to read a license plate or capture the face of a hold-up artist. But in real life, enhancing this low-quality video to

Late Blight -- Irish Potato Famine Fungus -- Attacks U.S. Northeast Gardens And Farms Hard: Home gardeners beware: This year, late blight -- a destructive infectious disease that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s -- is killing tomato and potato plants in gardens and on commercial farms in the eastern United States. In

Researchers Describe The 90-year Evolution Of Swine Flu: The current H1N1 swine flu strain has genetic roots in an illness that sickened pigs at the 1918 Cedar Rapids Swine Show in Iowa, report experts. Their paper describes H1N1s nearly century-long and often convoluted journey, which may include the

Tubules 'Grown' From Droplets: Since the discovery of carbon nanotubes in the early 1990s, nanotubes and nanowires have been the focus of scientific and technological interest. It has since also proved possible to produce these tiny structures from materials other than carbon. Possible applications

more

New Scientist

Call for tolerance towards some 'stem cell tourism': The internet may be awash with bogus or untested stem cell-based treatments targeted at unwary patients, but that is no reason to condemn scientifically justifiable therapies, say researchers

Review: Sex in shades of grey: Science is undermining the notion that there are only two sexes and presenting a broad spectrum – from male to female and everything in between, says the author of Between XX and XY

Cosmic 'whips' may have left their mark: Cosmic strings may have broken into pieces in the early universe – but, if so, they should have left traces that we could observe, say researchers

Fellow students smell your exam fear: Anxiety seems to prompt the release of a chemical that automatically triggers empathy in anyone who sniffs it

'Hippy' monkey is a killer when starved of sex: The worlds most peaceful primate is observed launching a lethal attack, giving clues to the origins of human gang warfare

Blood test could predict IVF success: Patterns of gene expression in a womans blood may give couples a clue as to whether she is likely to get pregnant using IVF

Emotional robots: Will we love them or hate them?: Software that can tell our emotional state is on the way, but will we like machines that can sense how we feel?

Revealed: How pandemic swine flu kills: Two independent studies show that the pandemic H1N1 flu virus binds deeper into the lungs than ordinary flu, which could explain why it is sometimes fatal

GM rice makes allergies easy to stomach: Rice that has been genetically modified to produce pollen proteins and then release them in the gut during digestion is ready for human trials, say its creators

Billabong fossils end Australia's dinosaur drought: The discovery of two massive plant-eating titanosaurs, and a velociraptor-like predator, promises to put Australia on the global dinosaur map at last

Robot rescue 'rat' feels its way through rubble: A new robot with artificial whiskers could one day be used to locate survivors of natural disasters, or people trapped in burning buildings

Meadows of the sea in 'shocking' decline: Seagrass meadows, an important habitat for shrimps, crabs and juvenile fish, are disappearing fast

This week's top stories: Our top articles ranked by reader popularity.Laser light switch could leave transistors in the shadeTreat killing like a disease to slash shootingsDinosaur mummy gives up organic materialX-rays are smoking gun for middleweight black holesSea level rise: Its worse than we

Billabong fossil finds end Australia's dinosaur drought: The discovery of two massive plant-eating titanosaurs, and a velociraptor-like predator, promises to put Australia on the global dinosaur map at last

Metal comes to the rescue of revolutionary plane: The first flight of the Boeing 787 has been delayed after engineers discovered structural weaknesses in its new plastic airframe

Police crackdowns may encourage drug use: Tough law enforcement may have the perverse effect of making drugs more affordable

Lunar uranium and Martian sand traps: the week in space: This week, a new lunar orbiter sent back its first images and engineers prepared a mock Mars rover to help free Spirit, which is stuck in a sand trap on the Red Planet

Brain scanner for astronauts passes 'vomit comet' test: A device designed to study astronauts brain activity has been tested in zero gravity for the first time – one day it could be used to monitor mission-compromising depression

Incredible shrinking sheep blamed on climate change: The mysterious size reduction of Scottish sheep over the last 20 years can be explained by shorter winters, researchers say

Computer reveals stone tablet 'handwriting' in a flash: Identifying individual carving styles on ancient tablets takes years of training – and even then can be up for debate – but now a computer can do it in seconds

more

BBC

UK-born astronauts are to receive a commemorative pin: The five British-born individuals who have flown in space are being honoured with a commemorative pin.

Planck achieves ultra-cold state: Europes Planck telescope reaches its operating temperature, making it the coldest object in space.

How honeybee mobs smother giant hornets to death: Bees smother hornets in a bee ball that kills the giant predators with heat and carbon dioxide.

No safe haven for rarest antelope: Hopes are dashed that some of the few remaining hirola antelope have managed to colonise new, safer territory.

A sanctuary threatened: The BBCs Gary Duffy assesses the future the Brazilian Pantanal, one of the Worlds largest freshwater wetlands.

New dinosaurs found in Australia: Three new dinosaur species are found in Queensland, Australia, and named after the Outback song Waltzing Matilda.

Space ambitions: US moonwalker Buzz Aldrin looks to new frontiers

more

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.

more

Discovery

Vegans Have Lower Bone Density: Vegans have 5 percent lower bone mass density than non-vegans, research finds.

Mystery of Salamander Limb Regrowth Solved: Scientists have uncovered how salamanders are able to regenerate their limbs.

Solved: Why Blind Faults Make Big Quakes: Why do blind faults shake harder when they break? Scientists find the answer.

BLOG: Return to the Moon? Yea or Nay?: Should NASA return to the moon or aim straight for Mars? Vote here.

Inflatable Tower Promises Easy Access to Outer Space: A nine-mile-high inflatable tower could offer cheap access to outer space.

Eco-Friendly Fireworks Offer Safer Pyrotechnics: Green fireworks produce less smoke and use fewer toxic metals than other pyrotechnics.

Trees Buffered Earth From Iceball Fate: Greenery likely helped save Earth from runaway cooling, research concludes.

more

Science/AAAS

Scientists Find Heart Stem Cells: Cells could eventually be used to regrow heart parts

Secret of Scotland's Shrinking Sheep Solved: Climate change cited as credible culprit

New Fossil Primate Challenges "Missing Link" Ida: Researchers propose that it was Asian, not European or African, primates that gave rise to monkeys, apes, and humans

Finally, an Average Black Hole: Astronomers may have discovered a black hole thats neither small nor gigantic

CIRM Takes a Hit, NASA Gets a Boost: Plus more from Sciences policy blog, ScienceInsider

Study Refutes Protein's Role in Heart Attacks: Companies chasing c-reactive protein may be on wrong path, say experts

How the Piranha Got Its Teeth: Lost fossil sheds light on evolution of frightening fish

more

USATODAY

Looters attack Libyan ruins: Once a major city of the ancient world, Cyrene, today rests in ruins in Libya. Now open again to the world, the site is victimized by looters, the bane of archaeologists everywhere.

NASA astronaut takes Twitter to space en Espanol: NASA has tweeted in space, but now one of its astronauts is breaking a new space Twitter barrier. He will tweet from space in Spanish and English.

Baaad news? Global warming now shrinking sheep: Like the wool sweater that emerges from the dryer a size too small, global warming seems to be shrinking sheep.

New form of El Nino may increase Atlantic hurricanes: El Nino may have a split personality.

NASA: Fuel test a success, shuttle launch day set: To NASAs relief, a fueling test on space shuttle Endeavour uncovered no hydrogen gas leaks Wednesday and paved the way for another launch attempt late next week for the delayed mission.

Myanmar fossil may shed light on evolution: Fossils recently discovered in Myanmar could prove that the common ancestors of humans, monkeys and apes evolved from primates in Asia, rather than Africa, researchers contend in a study released Wednesday.

Protection sought again for giant, spitting worms: Fans of the giant Palouse earthworm are once again seeking federal protection for the rare, sweet-smelling species that spits at predators.

NASA manager pitches a cheaper return-to-moon plan: Like a car salesman pushing a luxury vehicle that the customer no longer can afford, NASA has pulled out of its back pocket a deal for a cheaper ride to the moon.

NASA manager pitches a cheaper return-to-moon plan: Like a car salesman pushing a luxury vehicle that the customer no longer can afford, NASA has pulled out of its back pocket a deal for a cheaper ride to the moon.

Analysis: Climate bill may spur energy revolution: Congress has taken its first step toward an energy revolution in the U.S., with the prospect of profound change for every household, business, industry and farm in the decades ahead.

Increasing dust speeds melting of mountain snow: Dust in the wind is rewriting the cycle of life in the mountains. Throughout memory the warmth of spring has begun the mountain snowmelt, bringing life-giving water to greening plants so they can blossom and renew their species.

Huge tornado experiment yields only 1 twister: The first phase of an $11.9 million experiment to study tornadoes ended with researchers only finding one twister during a 35-day period.

1941 science test shows how things have changed: Some of us might rather forget our old science exams. But sometimes they still have lessons to offer.

After 19 years, Ulysses solar probe to go dark: NASA and the European Space Agency are about to pull the plug on a robotic solar probe that just wouldnt quit. The Ulysses probe was launched from the space shuttle Discovery in 1990. It was supposed to last five years.

Fish in acidic waters grow bigger ears: Carbon dioxide being absorbed by the oceans is having a puzzling effect on fish their ears get bigger, scientists say.

Telescope finds space blobs are pubescent galaxies: Mysterious space blobs arent infant galaxies as astronomers once thought. Scientists say they mostly consist of galaxies going through puberty, all hot and bothered.

Brain scans show how hypnosis can paralyze a limb: How can a hypnotist paralyze your hand just with words? By making a part of your brain butt in on the process that normally makes your hand move, a study says.

For many, meaning of rain forecast is cloudy at best: When your local weather forecaster announces that there is a 30% chance of rain tomorrow, not everyone knows what that means. Some think it means 30% of an area will get rain. Others think it will rain for 30% of

Ozone-friendly HFCs still post threat: Chemicals used in cooling known as hydroflourocarbons (HFCs) will be a far more dangerous threat to global warming in upcoming decades than previously thought, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Indonesian elephant fossil opens window to past: Indonesian scientists are reconstructing the largest, most complete skeleton of a prehistoric giant elephant ever found in the tropics, a finding that may offer new clues into the largely mysterious origins of its modern Asian cousin.

more

Digg Science

Black holes do join together: Researchers have found evidence for a moderate-size black hole, backing up the idea that smaller black holes merge into huge ones.

World's First 'Self-Watering' Plant: Desert Rhubarb: Researchers have managed to make out the self-irrigating mechanism of the desert rhubarb, which enables it to harvest 16 times the amount of water than otherwise expected for a plant in this region based on the quantities of rain in

NGC 4921, An Unusual Spiral Galaxy: Located in the Coma galaxy cluster, in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices, the hair of Queen Berenice, 320 million light-years from Earth. Photographer: The Peoples Telescope -- the worlds most beloved and greatest telescope ever -- the one and

Faults And Earthquakes In China Monitored From Space: China is in a very seismically active area and has had many catastrophic earthquakes during its history. A joint European-Chinese team is using satellite radar data to monitor ground deformation across major continental faults in China to understand better the

Super-energetic Bursts Discovered Near Giant Black Hole: Astronomers have discovered that a giant galaxys bursts of very high energy gamma rays are coming from a region very close to the supermassive black hole at its core. The discovery provides important new information about the mysterious workings of

Ow-Ow-OWWWWW!: *****

How The Human Brain Works: Find out how our brains make us feel fear, remember our lives and make decisions, with an animated graphic.

APOD: 2009 July 4 - Mount Rushmore s Starry Night: 4th of July night above Black Hills of South Dakota United States Mount Rushmore National Park. Enormous sculpture of US presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt & Abraham Lincoln carved into the southeast face of granite cliffs. Above the

Coolest spacecraft ever In orbit: Europes Planck observatory has reached its operating temperature of 273.05C - just a tenth of a degree above absolute zero making it the coldest object in space.

Medieval Science (COMIC) - SMBC: Its gonna take a long time to find anything that way.

'Diamond Dust' Snow Falls Nightly on Mars: Ice crystals drifting from Martian clouds resemble the glittering precipitation called diamond dust that falls in Earths Arctic regions during winter.

Australia Unveils Three New Dinosaurs Species: Australian scientists today unveiled three new dinosaur skeletons, excavated from Queensland---two herbivores and one carnivore which roamed the land about 98 million years ago, one of the most significant discoveries in decades.

A Well-Fed Tornado On The Wyoming Plains: *****

Did Evolution Make Us Cancer Prone?: Researchers have discovered that gene mutations that once helped humans survive may increase the possibility for diseases, including cancer.

Top 10 Apollo hoax claims (PICS): Landing humans on the moon was a monumentally improbable feat. We examine some of the claims that the moon landing was a hoax.

Buzz Aldrin urges unity for mission to Mars (w/VID): US moonwalker Buzz Aldrin says that the right kind of global leadership could set mankind on a path to the colonisation of other planets.

US Department of Energy Cancels Nuclear Reprocessing Project: The Obama administration has canceled plans for a large-scale nuclear fuel recycling facility. The move may signal the end of the Global Nuclear Energy Project.

The Strange Ingredients in Fireworks: Fireworks for the 4th of July are all about light, color and sound. But inside, there are some bizarre ingredients, from aluminum to Vaseline and even the stuff of rat poison.

BMW Electric Bike Saves The Planet But Not People: The Halbo takes up about half the space of a conventional motorbike, according to the designer. Its front wheel is standard, gyro-assisted, and even propels the vehicle. The rear wheel, which is spherical and attached to a mounted arm, pivots

APOD: 2009 July 3 - Perihelion and Aphelion: A different astronomy and space sciencerelated image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

more

Science News Online

The Star That Ate a Mars: Astronomers study white dwarf pollution for clues to extrasolar planet ingredients

You Are Who You Are by Default: It may be off when you’re on, but the brain network behind daydreams and a sense of self is no slacker

Bad Breath: Studies are homing in on which particles polluting the air are most sickening

Issue for the week of July 18th, 2009: No description.

Hornets suffocate in bee ball: Spike in carbon dioxide combined with heat may make honeybees enemies vulnerable

Climate change shrinks sheep: The size-reducing effects of gentler winters overwhelm evolutionary trends

New cyclone predictor: Occasional sea-surface warming in central Pacific linked with more, stronger hurricanes in North Atlantic

more

NASA

Space Station Marathon: The International Space Station (ISS) is about to make a remarkable series of flybys over the United States. Beginning this 4th of July weekend, the station will appear once, twice, and sometimes three times a day for many days in

Space Station Room With a View: Astronauts are looking forward to an unprecedented view of the cosmos when the largest window ever built for space is installed on the International Space Station.

Satellites Guide Relief to Earthquake Victims: In the aftermath of a recent, deadly earthquake, the NASA-led SERVIR program orchestrated use of satellite data to show Honduran disaster officials where help was needed most.

Mystery of the Missing Sunspots, Solved?: Where have all the sunspots gone? Scientists studying a jet stream deep inside the sun may have found the answer.

Running Out of This World: With NASA poised to launch the worlds most famous treadmill (COLBERT) to the International Space Station, an astronaut describes what its like to run in space where sweat floats and there is no gravity to hold your feet to the

Return of the Mars Hoax: Just when you thought it was safe to check your email, the Mars Hoax is back!

Fake Astronaut Gets Hit by Artificial Solar Flare: Researchers are about to subject a fake astronaut complete with blood cells and simulated human tissue to an artificial solar flare. How the unlucky volunteer emerges from the radiation storm will reveal for the first time how much of a

more

Original Signal - Transmitting Web 2.0