Original Signal - Transmitting Science

National Geographic

VIDEO: Herod Mausoleum, Art Found?: Archaeologists in Israel announced new discoveries at what the team believes is the tomb of the biblical King Herod on Wednesday.

VIDEO: Salt Lake Disappearing: Irans largest saltwater inland lake is diminishing because of drought, alarming environmentalists.

WEEK IN PHOTOS: Puppy Smuggling, California Fires, More: Smuggled puppies, raging fires, a Sistine ceiling, and more in the weeks best news photos.

Invisibility Cloak "Feasible Now": Scientists are one step closer to creating a Harry Potter-like invisibility cloak. But when well be able to hide under the high-tech garments is a matter of will and money, experts say.

Buried Mars Glaciers May Be Remnants of Past Ice Age: Sloping features at Marss mid-latitudes are the largest bulk of water ice not at the poles and could be leftover from past climate changes, radar data suggest.

Superdirt Made Lost Amazon Cities Possible?: Long seen as myth, an ancient Amazon civilization may have been fueled by a man-made soil. Scientists are racing to recreate the recipe, which they say might fight hunger and global warming.

Earliest Swimming Turtle Fossils Found -- New Species: Newly discovered fossils of the oldest known swimming turtles show the reptiles first took to water some 165 million years ago, researchers say.

Beetle Invasion to Dim New England Fall Colors?: A tree-devouring Asian beetle is encroaching on New Englands forests, beloved for their brilliant autumn colors and maple syrup, experts say.

VIDEO: Spacewalker Loses Tool Bag: A NASA astronaut accidentally lost a tool bag during a spacewalk Tuesday when a grease gun exploded. The kit is one of the largest items ever lost by a spacewalker.

VIDEO: Stem Cell Transplant a Success: Doctors in Spain successfully transplanted a windpipe into a woman using tissue grown from her own stem cells.

Mammoth Genome Decoded -- Clones on the Way?: The first genetic blueprint from an extinct animal could reveal what separates the fuzzy giants from elephants—and may open the door to a resurrection.

New Finds at King Herod's Tomb: 2,000-Year-Old Frescoes: Archaeologists exploring King Herods tomb complex near Jerusalem have uncovered rare Roman paintings and two stone coffins that could have contained the remains of Herods sons.

Dark Matter Proof Found Over Antarctica?: Unexpected numbers of high-energy electrons could be physical evidence of the mysterious substance—or they may reveal a nearby astrophysical object thats bombarding Earth.

SPACE PHOTOS THIS WEEK: Earth Mosaic, Exoplanet, More: Flares erupt from our galaxys heart, the ISS gets an extreme home makeover, fires blaze near LA, and more in this weeks best space photos.

Fossils Lend Clues to Alaska's Eurasian Roots: The discovery of 420-million-year-old snail fossils adds to a growing body of evidence about Alaskas long-ago links to Eurasia

PHOTOS: Fossils Link Alaska to Eurasia: Fossils suggest that much of Alaska was formed from a patchwork of small land chunks that collected against North America between 251 million and 60 million years ago.

Ton of Illegal Ivory, Hippo Teeth Seized in Kenya: Africas largest undercover investigation of wildlife crime may lead police to smugglers, Kenyan officials said this week. But conservationists claim such stings are futile.

PHOTO IN THE NEWS: Baby Chimp Rescued From Congo Army: Less than ten months old, Mapima was being mistreated by Congolese soldiers before she was rescued last week, experts say.

VIDEO: Locust Swarms Plague Australia: Watch as a destructive locust swarm moves across farmland in drought-ridden New South Wales state, prompting officials to prepare an airborne assault.

U.S. Won't Kill Wild Horses -- For Now: Thousands of wild horses in U.S. care will not be put down to give the government another year to explore possible solutions and let cooler heads prevail, U.S. officials said Monday.

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Universe Today

MSL News: Landing Sites and Naming Contest: Landing sites for the Mars Science Laboratory have been narrowed down to four intriguing places on the Red Planet. The car-sized rover will have the capability to travel to more scientifically compelling sites, and with its radioisotope power source, it

"Loner" Galaxy is Actually in the 'Hood: Astronomers have long wondered why a small, nearby, isolated galaxy is pumping out new stars faster than any galaxy in our local neighborhood. Usually, galaxies need some sort of gravitational interaction with other galaxies to trigger star formation, and galaxy

Astronomers Catch Binary Star Explosion Inside a Nebula: The explosion of a binary star inside a planetary nebula has been detected, an event not witnessed for more than 100 years – and of course the astronomical equipment to observe such an event is much improved since a century

MRO Finds Huge Underground Glaciers on Mars: There's more than just a little ice under Mars' surface. According to data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter radar system, vast Martian glaciers of water ice lie buried under rocky debris. And this ice is not just at the Arctic

10 Years of the ISS in Pictures: Ten years ago today the Russian built Zarya control module was launched into space and the International Space Station was born. The orbiting outpost has gone from one small module to an expansive station with ten different modules made in

Cosmic Rays from Mysterious Source Bombarding Earth: Scientists have discovered an unidentified source of high-energy cosmic rays bombarding Earth from space. They say it must be close to the solar system and it could be made of dark matter. "This is a big discovery," says John Wefel

Where In The Universe #30: It's time once again for the Where In The Universe Challenge. Hard to believe we've done thirty of these already, and our readers are getting really good at this. The goal of the WITU challenge is to test your skills

Lost in Space: Tool Bag Overboard, Spider Missing: A tool bag floated away in space as spacewalking astronauts worked outside the International Space Station Tuesday. Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper had a grease gun explode inside her tool bag, getting the dark gray goop all over a camera, the inside of

Comments for 2012: No Planet X: Because of the huge number of comments on this article, it was slowing down the server. I've created a separate thread here where people can continue their discussions on the story.© Fraser for Universe Today, 2008. |Permalink |259 comments |Add

NASA and Google Successfully Test Deep Space Internet: Communication with spacecraft is vital for NASA, and since the World Wide Web has enabled easy, reliable and quick contact for people around the world, the space agency decided to model a new deep space communication system on the internet.

New Telescope on the Lookout for Near Earth Asteroids, Comets: A prototype telescope with an enhanced ability to find moving objects will soon be operational, and its mission will be to detect asteroids and comets that could someday pose a threat to Earth. The system is called Pan-STARRS (for Panoramic

Black Holes Supply Lifeblood for Galaxies: Obviously, today is the day for news on black holes. While one group of astronomers studied the violent flares of energy sent out by black holes in the near infrared and submillimeter wavelengths, another group used the Chandra X-Ray Observatory

Milky Way's Black Hole Sending Out Flares: Two different telescopes simultaneously observed violent flares from the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way. The outbursts from this region, known as Sagittarius A*, reveal material being stretched like bread dough out as it orbits in

Evidence For Vast Oceans On Ancient Mars: Data from the Mars Odyssey orbiter's Gamma Ray Spectrometer provides new evidence for the controversial idea that oceans once covered about a third of ancient Mars. Spacecraft images going back to Mariner 9 in the early 1970s and the Viking

Mars Rover Spirit Surviving on a Low Energy Diet: Last week, Mars Exploration Rover Spirit looked as if its sols were numbered. Hot on the heals of the demise of the frozen Phoenix lander, Spirit was about to succumb to a low-energy death brought on by a dust storm.

NASA Aids California Wildfire Fight: An Opinion from the Smoke: This morning at 5:30am, I woke up to the smell of smoke. It's one of those horrid, gut-wrenching feelings for anyone as your mind jumps from "did I leave the oven on?" to "oh no, it's our turn." The latter

Moon Impact Probe Hits Paydirt (or pay-regolith…): The lunar impactor from the Chandrayaan-1 mission today successfully made it to the surface of the moon, impacting inside the Shackleton crater on the moon's south pole. Above is an image transmitted back by the 34 kg box-shaped MIP (Moon

Launch of Endeavour Lights Up the Night: With a waning gibbous moon hanging over the launch pad, Space Shuttle Endeavour lit up the night sky with a spectacular and gorgeous liftoff, right on time at 7:55 EST. Endeavour is carrying a load of equipment for a "home

Student Built Agricultural Camera Heading to the Space Station: A new camera that will assist farmers, ranchers, foresters and educators is heading to the International Space Station. Students and faculty from the University of North Dakota built the Agricultural Camera, known as AgCam, which will be delivered by Space

Listen in on Communications for Today's Space Shuttle Launch: Just a reminder of this evening's launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour. And this time, NASA is trying something new. During the countdown you can listen in to live audio of communications between launch controllers and the shuttle, something that is

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The New York Times

Observatory: Invasive Plants in Galápagos May Really Be Native: Some plants that were thought to be invasive species in the Galapagos Islands predate humans by thousands of years.

National Briefing | Space and Technology: Tool Bag Is Lost During Spacewalk: Astronauts ventured outside the International Space Station to do repair work, but lost a bag of tools they had taken along.

Regenerating a Mammoth, for $10 Million: A new report suggests that a living mammoth could perhaps be regenerated from DNA extracted from clumps of the animal’s hair.

Dr. Adrian Kantrowitz, Cardiac Pioneer, Dies at 90: Dr. Kantrowitz performed the first human heart transplant in the United States and pioneered the development of devices to prolong the life of patients with heart failure.

The Dead Tell a Tale China Doesn’t Care to Listen To: The Tarim mummies have become protagonists in a political dispute over who should control the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.

National Briefing | Science and Health: Study Into Cancer Drug and Clot Risk: The cancer drug Avastin raises the risk of blood clots in the veins by a third when added to chemotherapy, researchers said.

Congo Violence Reaches Endangered Mountain Gorillas: With the recent violence in eastern Congo, there are no trained rangers now to protect the mountain gorillas in the region.

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Scientific American

Microsoft changes direction, will offer free security software: Microsoft is changing its tune on computer security, two years after its much-heralded foray into the security space turned out to be less than spectacular. Instead of charging customers $50 per year for its Windows Live OneCare subscription security service,

A Cut above: Ultrapowerful Laser Offers Greater Precision Sans Heat Damage: Most lasers rely on continuous waves of energy to generate heat that allows doctors to make cuts during surgery, computers to burn information onto CDs and DVDs, and scanners to read bar codes. But a newer type of laser promises

Red (Planet) Alert: Massive Subsurface Glaciers Discovered on Mars: The more we learn about Mars, it seems, the icier the Red Planet appears to be. The recently departed Phoenix lander dug up water ice and even spotted falling snow from its position in the northern polar plains. And now

As Somali pirates step up attacks, shippers consider technology options for defense: Piracy on the high seas is making a comeback this year, particularly off the coast of the African nation Somalia, where raiders are using increasingly more powerful and sophisticated technologies to attack ships and hold their crew and cargo for

Farmed fish can be organic, too, ag advisors say: What exactly makes a fish organic? Apparently, one that feeds on a non-organic diet.

Candid criminal: undercover psychologists find bad behavior may be contagious: Attention, shoppers: If the cart you selected has a handle greased with Vaseline, you may be an unwitting participant in an undercover experiment.

Wine Made from Tiger Bones

Bush moves may endanger Endangered Species Act: The Bush Administrations push for "midnight regulations" in the last moments of office continues.

Cell Phone Use Endangers Boneheads: No description.

Bird Brains: Are Parrots Smarter than a Human Two-Year Old?: Irene Pepperberg is associate research professor at Brandeis University and the author of a new book, Alex and Me. She and Jonah Lehrer, the editor of Mind Matters, discuss what Alex and other African Grey Parrots can teach us about

Updates: Whatever Happened to Midsize Black Holes?: Rules for Genetically Engineered AnimalsAfter years of anticipation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released in September preliminary guidelines for genetically engineered animals

New Quantum Weirdness: Balls That Don't Roll Off Cliffs: A good working definition of quantum mechanics is that things are the exact opposite of what you thought they were. Empty space is full, particles are waves, and cats can be both alive and dead at the same time. Recently

Pot joins the fight against Alzheimer's, memory loss: A large-scale study released this week showed that the herb gingko biloba has no effect in preventing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. But alternative medicine aficionados may find hope in a new research touting the bennies of another "herb" in preserving

Tiny primate rediscovered in Indonesia: The tiny Furby-like pygmy tarsier, presumed to be extinct, was found during a recent expedition to Indonesia. And the cuddly, huge-eyed nocturnal critter is the very definition of cute.

Presidential DNA: The next campaign controversy?: Could next election seasons dirty tricks include disclosures about the candidates genes?

Quantum Computing Advances a Qubit Closer to Reality: Quantum computers are a sort of holy grail of information science. Their inherent computational advantage comes from their fundamental computational unit, the quantum bit ("qubit"). Unlike a digital bit in a classical computer, which can take the form of either

Bluefin tuna: headed for extinction in Atlantic and Mediterranean: The international commission charged with saving the once abundant bluefin tuna of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea is meeting this week in Morocco to discuss ways to reverse the decline of the dwindling fish. On the watch of the

Daschle to be health secretary under Obama: President-elect Barack Obama has tapped former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to be his secretary of health, the Associated Press is reporting.

Not in My Backyard: Stopping Illegal Export of Junked Televisions and Computers: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week fined electronics recycler Jet Ocean Technology of Chino, Calif., just over $10,000 for illegally exporting cathode-ray tubes from old television sets to China. Jet Ocean is only the second electronics recycler to

Obama won't Bush-whack climate change: You may recall that President George W. Bush pledged to do something about climate change when campaigning for the office back in 2000--but reneged on that promise once in office. But it appears that President-elect Barack Obama will not follow

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Space.com

Next Mars Mission: Contamination a Big Concern: High level of sensitivity makes contamination control challenging.

Mystery of Rapid Star Birth Solved: Hubble resolves mystery over loner starburst galaxy; galaxy more distant than thought.

Buried Glaciers Found on Mars: Orbiter radar reveals glaciers concealed under mid-latitude debris flows on Mars.

Tracking Ten Years of Space Station 'Stuff': How astronauts living on the International Space Station make room for all their stuff.

Spacewalk to Mark Space Station's 10th Anniversary: Astronauts to mark the 10th anniversary of the ISS with a Thursday spacewalk.

NASA Whittles Down List of Next Mars Landing Sites: NASA reduces list of potential landing sites for Mars Science Laboratory to four spots.

Scientists Say Copernicus' Remains Found: Researchers think they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus.

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ScienceDaily

Concealed Glaciers Discovered On Mars At Mid-latitudes: Vast Martian glaciers of water ice under protective blankets of rocky debris persist today at much lower latitudes than any ice previously identified on Mars, says new research using ground-penetrating radar on NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The discovery is an

Brain Reorganizes To Adjust For Loss Of Vision: A new study shows that when patients with macular degeneration focus on using another part of their retina to compensate for their loss of central vision, their brain seems to compensate by reorganizing its neural connections. Age--related macular degeneration is

'4-D' Microscope Revolutionizes The Way We Look At Nano World: More than a century ago, the development of the earliest motion picture technology made what had been previously thought magical a reality: capturing and recreating the movement and dynamism of the world around us. A breakthrough technology based on new

Misreading Of Damaged DNA May Spur Tumor Formation: Cells can turn on tumor-promoting growth circuits by falsely reporting critical genetic information during the process of transcription: making RNA from DNA. Damage to the DNA making up a gene can lead to a misreading of the gene as it

Pure Insulin-producing Cells Produced In Mice: Researchers have developed an unlimited number of pure insulin-producing cells from mouse embryonic stem cells.

Researchers Make New Electronics -- With A Twist: Scientists have made electronics that can bend. Theyve made electronics that can stretch. And now, theyve reached the ultimate goal -- electronics that can be subjected to any complex deformation, including twisting. Researchers have improved their so-called pop-up technology to

Discovery Of Giant Roaming Deep Sea Protist Provides New Perspective On Animal Evolution: Groove-like tracks on the ocean floor made by giant deep-sea single-celled organisms could lead to new insights into the evolutionary origin of animals, according to biologists.

Darwin Was Right About How Evolution Can Affect Whole Group: Worker ants of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your fertility. The highly specialized worker castes in ants represent the pinnacle of social organization in the insect world. As in any society, however, ant colonies are filled

Biomarkers Used To Predict Chronological And Physiological Age: How old are you really? Chronological age is easy -- count forward from birth. But establishing physiological age is purely subjective, based on how someone looks, feels and functions. Research in nematode worms is providing a crucial first step toward

What Controls Critical 'Go-to' Enzyme: Findings May Hold Key To Better Treatments For Many Disorders: Scientists have gained new insights into regulation of one of the bodys enzyme workhorses called calpains. As the cells molecular overachievers, calpains function in many cellular processes, including the movement of cells in tissues, the death of damaged cells, insulin

'Enlightened' Atoms Stage Nano-riot Against Uniformity: Theorists say atoms in a crystal can be made to behave in an unexpected way, a way that can be exploited to create tiny computer components that emit less heat and new sensors to detect bio-hazards and medical conditions.

Crisis Of Illicit Alcohol In Central And Eastern Europe, Report Finds: The consumption of illicit or noncommercial alcohol is widespread in central and eastern Europe and contributes significantly to the region’s high levels of alcohol-related problems, according to a new report. While illegal alcohol consumption in western Europe is relatively low,

Potential Sources Of 'Rain-Making' Bacteria In The Atmosphere Identified: Scientists recently found evidence that bacteria and biological cells are the most efficient ice-forming catalysts in precipitation from locations around the globe. The formation of ice in clouds is important in the processes that lead to snow and rain. Ice-nucleating

Neurons Derived From Embryonic Stem Cells Restore Muscle Function After Injury: Researchers have discovered that embryonic stem cells may play a critical role in helping people with nerve damage and motor neuron diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), regain muscular strength.

The Tooth Whisperers: The phrase, the eyes are the windows to the soul, is attributed to several authors and philosophers. But the phrase, your teeth are the windows to your health, can be attributed to Mohamed Bassiouny, DMD, MSc, PhD, who has been

Deep Brain Mapping To Isolate Evidence Of Gulf War Syndrome: As a congressionally mandated report reveals one of every four veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf conflict suffers from Gulf War syndrome, statistical scientists are analyzing brain scan images from a nationwide sample of veterans displaying symptoms.

Attending Religious Services Sharply Cuts Risk Of Death, Study Suggests: A new study strongly suggests that regular attendance at religious services reduces the risk of death by approximately 20 percent.

Removing Part Of Brain Controls Girl's Epilepsy: Surgeons told Jessica Nelson one of the scariest things she will ever hear as a parent: they wanted to treat her daughters epilepsy by cutting out or disconnecting half of her brain. Then something extraordinary happened: it worked.

Two New Compounds Show Promise For Eliminating Breast Cancer Tumors: Two new compounds show early promise for destroying breast cancer tumors. Researchers have observed no negative side effects so far. The compounds disrupt bonding of a cancer-related protein.

Site List Narrows For NASA's Next Mars Landing: Four intriguing places on Mars have risen to the final round as NASA selects a landing site for its next Mars mission, the Mars Science Laboratory. The agency had a wider range of possible landing sites to choose from than

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New Scientist

Vast stores of water ice surround Martian equator: Underground glaciers around the planets midsection contain the largest deposits of ice outside the polar regions

It's confirmed: Matter is merely vacuum fluctuations: The apparently solid stuff is no more than fluctuations in the quantum vacuum, fiendishly complex calculations confirm

Dictators lay down the law in baboon troupes: Junior baboons follow their leaders blindly, even though they are often denied food as a result

Light opens up a world of sound for the deaf: Infrared light can stimulate neurons in the inner ear as precisely as sound waves, a discovery that could lead to better cochlear implants

Planes, trains or automobiles? Climate villains revealed: A study that takes into account the different nature of all transportation emissions, says cars and trucks have the biggest warming effect on the planet

Gallery: Ape artists raise funds for conservation: See colourful works of art painted by bonobos and orangutans for an exhibition called aiming to raise money to preserve wild apes

Gallery: Apes paint to save their fellows: See colourful works of art painted by bonobos and orangutans for an exhibition called aiming to raise money for great ape conservation

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BBC

Richard Black: Fishing suspension for seas most valuable fish

Soviet shuttle: Why did the USSR build a copy of the space shuttle?

Sparrow decline: How do you make a garden friendly to sparrows?

Home from home: International Space Station marks its tenth anniversary

Slow progress on ocean protection: Two year after pledging to protect 10% of the oceans, governments have protected less than 1%, a survey finds.

Bush 'seeks to ease wildlife law': US environmentalists accuse President Bush of trying to rush through changes to the Endangered Species Act.

Sparrow numbers 'plummet by 68%': The loss of green spaces in Britain has caused the number of house sparrows to drop sharply in the past 30 years.

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CNN

Astronaut loses tool bag during spacewalk: Things didnt go quite according to plan for astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper during her spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Tuesday.

Endeavour docks with space station: Space shuttle Endeavour docked Sunday with the international space station, where the shuttle crew will help install more living space.

India probe crash-lands on moon: A TV-sized probe adorned with a painted Indian flag is set to crash on the moon Friday as part of New Delhis first unmanned lunar mission, Indian space officials said.

Astronomers capture images of new planets: The first-ever pictures of planets outside our solar system were released today in two studies.

Phoenix Lander silent, Mars mission over: A dust storm and the onset of Martian winter have brought the Phoenix Mars Landers mission to an end, NASA announced Monday.

Mission to fix Hubble Telescope postponed: NASAs plans to fly a fifth and final space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope have suffered another set-back.

Endeavour set for November launch: Read full story for latest details.

Mars winter may end Phoenix's mission: The Phoenix Mars Lander has entered a state of suspended operation called safe mode due to low power, mission managers said Thursday. And while they hope to recharge batteries and reactivate the spacecraft in the coming days, they say the

Venezuela's first satellite launched: Venezuelas first satellite roared into space Thursday from a launching pad in southwest China.

Depressed astronauts to find comfort: Read full story for latest details.

India launches first moon mission: India launched its first lunar mission on Wednesday, with hopes of achieving high-resolution images of the moons topography and diving into the international space race.

Endeavour docks with space station: Space shuttle Endeavour docked Sunday with the international space station, where the shuttle crew will help install more living space.

India probe crash-lands on moon: A TV-sized probe adorned with a painted Indian flag is set to crash on the moon Friday as part of New Delhis first unmanned lunar mission, Indian space officials said.

Astronomers capture images of new planets: The first-ever pictures of planets outside our solar system were released today in two studies.

Phoenix Lander silent, Mars mission over: A dust storm and the onset of Martian winter have brought the Phoenix Mars Landers mission to an end, NASA announced Monday.

Endeavour docks with space station: Space shuttle Endeavour docked Sunday with the international space station, where the shuttle crew will help install more living space.

India probe crash-lands on moon: A TV-sized probe adorned with a painted Indian flag is set to crash on the moon Friday as part of New Delhis first unmanned lunar mission, Indian space officials said.

Astronomers capture images of new planets: The first-ever pictures of planets outside our solar system were released today in two studies.

Phoenix Lander silent, Mars mission over: A dust storm and the onset of Martian winter have brought the Phoenix Mars Landers mission to an end, NASA announced Monday.

Mission to fix Hubble Telescope postponed: NASAs plans to fly a fifth and final space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope have suffered another set-back.

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Discovery

Space Station at 10: Much Teamwork, Less Science: A look at what value the International Space Station has offered after 10 years.

Vast Frozen Water Reserves Found on Mars: Underground reservoirs of frozen water on Mars suggest the planet could sustain life.

Single-Celled Giant Upends Early Evolution: The tracks of a single-celled organism forces scientists to rethink early evolution.

Copernicus' Tomb Found After 200-Year Hunt: DNA studies end a centuries-old hunt for the tomb of astronomer Nicolas Copernicus.

King Herod May Have Been Buried Amid Paintings: Archaeologists find lavish paintings in what may be King Herods mausoleum.

Astronauts Vow Only Tool Bag Won't Drift Away: After losing tools earlier this week, astronauts are being extra-cautious.

Did Asteroid Cause Ancient N.Y. Tsunami?: A giant asteroid may have triggered a tsunami that struck New York more than 2,000 years ago.

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Science/AAAS

Daschle Poised to Head HHS: Obama selects former senator to help guide health policy

Scientists Untangle Woolly Mammoth Genome: Data give clues to creatures evolution, hardiness

Obama Grabs the Reins: Transition teams begin reviews of science agencies

When a Flood Beats a Trickle: Old-fashioned irrigation saves water

Tumor Secrets Written in Blood: Cancer cells release telltale traces into bloodstream

Prehistoric Family Values: Archaeologists find what may be the oldest examples of a nuclear family

A Cure for AIDS? Not Quite: Case of man healed by stem cell transplant has many caveats

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USATODAY

Could a politician's DNA be abused in a campaign?: Although only a handful of humans have had their entire genome sequenced so far, the price of doing so is dropping, and DNA is pretty easy to obtain, especially from someone say, a politician who shakes a lot of hands

Cold start to winter will warm, forecasters say: Weather forecasters are predicting a colder-than-normal start to winter in the eastern part of the United States.

Woolly mammoth task: Extinct critter's DNA mapped: Scientists for the first time have unraveled much of the genetic code of an extinct animal, the ice ages woolly mammoth, and with it they are thawing Jurassic Park dreams.

Archaeologists say they found witch doctor skeleton: Archaeologists believe a 12,000-year-old skeleton found in a grave containing 50 tortoise shells, a leopard pelvis, a cow tail and part of an eagle wing is the remains of a witch doctor.

Big hop forward: Scientists map kangaroo's DNA: Taking a big hop forward in marsupial research, scientists say they have unraveled the DNA of a small kangaroo named Matilda.

Scientists find new penguin, extinct for 500 years: Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago.

Doctors transplant windpipe with stem cells: Doctors have given a woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells, eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs.

Astronaut loses tool bag, spacewalk to continue: Flight controllers were revamping plans Wednesday for the remaining spacewalks planned during space shuttle Endeavours visit to the international space station, after a crucial tool bag floated out to space during a repair trip.

Experts: Warming to cause global water shortages by 2080: Half the worlds population could face a shortage of clean water by 2080 because of climate change, experts warned Tuesday.

Coloring on the other side of the brain: Infants perceive color in the right hemisphere of the brain, U.S. researchers report, while adults do the job in the brains left hemisphere.

Stone-age nuclear family unearthed: A stone-age burial in central Germany has yielded the earliest evidence of people living together as a family.

UN says greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2000-06: Greenhouse gas emissions by 40 industrialized nations that signed the Kyoto Protocol climate treaty have dropped an average of 5% below 1990 levels, U.N. officials reported Monday.

Va. scientist pleads guilty to selling rocket technology to China: A Virginia scientist pleaded guilty Monday to selling rocket technology to China and bribing Chinese officials to secure a lucrative contract for his high-tech company.

Stone-age nuclear family unearthed: A stone-age burial in central Germany has yielded the earliest evidence of people living together as a family.

It's unpacking day for astronauts at space station: Monday was unpacking day for the astronauts at the international space station.

Big particle collider repairs to cost $21 million: Fixing the worlds largest atom smasher will cost at least 25 million francs ($21 million) and may take until early summer, its operator said Monday.

Hackers, phishers can't get away with it like they used to: In what is shaping up as a breakthrough year, federal authorities have quietly cracked down on some of the biggest Internet crime rings.

Re-examining Supreme Court support for sterilization: Eugenics remains a blot on the history of American science, a pseudoscientific racist movement that led to the sterilization of perhaps 60,000 people nationwide in the first half of the 20th Century. Support for eugenics came from members of the

Endeavour passes inspection: Endeavour astronauts today are preparing to dock with the International Space Station, after intensive inspections Saturday of the shuttles heat shields for damage that could have occurred during a moonlit launch from Kennedy Space Center.

Shuttle Endeavour blasts off to space station: Space shuttle Endeavour and a crew of seven blasted into the night sky Friday, bound for the international space station and the most extreme home makeover project ever attempted by astronauts.

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Digg Science

New Quantum Weirdness: Balls That Don't Roll Off Cliffs: A good working definition of quantum mechanics is that things are the exact opposite of what you thought they were. Empty space is full, particles are waves, and cats can be both alive and dead at the same time. Recently

New project aims to unite science and Hollywood: Scientists may have less to cringe about when they go to the movies, if a new initiative designed to foster cooperation between scientists and the entertainment industry is successful.

Rational or Random? Model Shows How People Send E-Mail: Do people act rationally, responding to the most important emails first? Or do they send emails randomly, without any regard to efficiency? After studying emails sent and received from more than 3000 accounts during a 3 month period, a mathematical

5 Reasons to Be Hopeful About Global Warming: There isnt much time to act ... but were actually starting to take action.

Penguin Species Discovered Too Late: Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago. The research suggests that the first humans in New Zealand hunted the newly found Waitaha penguin to extinction by

Battle of the lobbyists: Detroit vs. Iowa: Ethanol producers want to use a bailout of the auto industry to boost production of cars that can run on higher blends of the corn-based fuel. Detroit opposes these mandates. (As does the National Turkey Federation.)

£350,000 Iron Age neckband discovered by metal detector: For 40 years, Maurice Richardson has been braving all weathers to scour the countryside with his trusty metal detector, dreaming of buried treasure. But he almost ignored an unpromising-sounding beep as he searched for debris from a wartime air crash

Sun + Water = Fuel: Solar goes solo: Artificial photosynthesis could provide a practical way to store energy produced by solar power, freeing people’s homes from the electrical grid. In this scheme, electricity from solar panels powers an electrolyzer, which breaks water into hydrogen and

Grave Of World's First Known Human Family Found: Analysis of a remarkable cluster of graves at a Stone Age burial site near Eulau, Germany, provides the oldest molecular genetic evidence for a nuclear family.The 13 graves, dating to 4,600 years ago, contained groups of adults and children buried

Why stop here on our evolution from the ape?: Suppose that scientists discovered an animal species with a genetic resistance to a killer virus. It might be possible to transfer these sequences into the human genome to confer resistance. If this sounds like science fiction, consider that many gene-transfer

Honda's New Fuel Cell Sports Car: Honda surprised the motoring world today with the release of the radical and futuristic Honda FC Sport, a three-seat Hydrogen-powered design study that hints at the future of Honda sports cars to come. Using the Honda V Flow fuel cell

APOD: Endeavour in the Moon

Plumbing the Oceans Could Bring Limitless Clean Energy: FOR a company whose business is rocket science Lockheed Martin has been paying unusual attention to plumbing of late. The aerospace giant has kept its engineers occupied for the past 12 months poring over designs for what amounts to a

Big cat fossil found in North Sea: The partial leg bone of a sabre-toothed cat has been dredged from the seabed by a trawler in the North Sea. The fossil, which is between one and two million years old and found near the UK coast, is from

Frozen hair gives up first mammoth genome: Tufts of frozen woolly mammoth hair have yielded a rough draft of its genome. Its the most successful attempt to sequence the DNA of an extinct ancient animal to date, and although we wont see resurrected mammoths grazing the tundra

Further Evidence of King Herod's Grave Site Revealed: Analysis of newly revealed items found at the site of the mausoleum of King Herod at Herodium (Herodion in Greek) have provided Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeological researchers with further assurances that this was indeed the site of the famed

Did An Asteroid Kill Mars' Magnetic Field?: Deep in Mars past, an asteroid struck the planet with such titanic force that it couldve killed off the planets entire magnetic field. When the Red Planet formed, it is thought to have been much like a young Earth. Then,

Why the universe may be teeming with aliens: As astronomers explore newly discovered planets and create computer simulations of virtual worlds, they are discovering that water, and life, might exist on all manner of weird worlds where conditions are very different from those on Earth. And that means

Nike, Starbucks Demand Congress To Act On Climate Change: Five leading companies joined Ceres today to announce a business coalition demanding stronger U.S. climate and energy legislation as early as 2009.

Cocaine Users Are Destroying The Rainforest: Four square metres of rainforest are destroyed for every gram of cocaine snorted in the UK, a conference of senior police officers as told yesterday. Francisco Santos Calderón, the vice-president of Colombia, appealed to British users of the class A

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Science News Online

Brain reorganizes to make room for math: Between childhood and adulthood, neural map of the brain rearranges to conceptualize arithmetic

Standard model gets right answer for proton, neutron masses: Correct calculation strengthens theory of quark-gluon interactions in nuclear particles

Strong calculations for mass of proton, neutron: Interactions of quarks and gluons are basis for calculations that bolster those predicted by standard model of particle physics

Water-ice deposits found beneath Martian hills: Apronlike reserves in mid-latitude regions largest outside Mars poles

Science & the Public: Don't Flush: Toilets are not where we should be disposing of unwanted medicines.

Science & the Public: Antidepressants Aren’t for Fish: Antidepressants can play potentially dangerous mind games with fish.

Treat HIV-positive babies from the start: Babies born infected with HIV should be treated as soon as possible, a large trial shows

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NASA

Discovered: Cosmic Rays from a Mysterious, Nearby Object: An international team of researchers has discovered a puzzling surplus of high-energy electrons bombarding Earth from space. The source of these cosmic rays is unknown, but it must be close to the solar system and it could be made of

Hubble Directly Observes a Planet Orbiting Another Star: NASAs Hubble Space Telescope has taken the first visible-light snapshot of a planet circling another star. The planet, called Fomalhaut b, orbits the bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years from Earth.

NASA Begins Hunt for New Meteor Showers: NASA astronomers have set up a monitoring station to scan the night sky for unknown or unexpected meteor showers--and theyre finding more than they bargained for.

Solar Cycle Update: The Sun Shows Signs of Life: A surge of new-cycle sunspots in October may signal the beginning of the end of the ongoing solar minimum.

Magnetic Portals Connect Earth to the Sun: Researchers have discovered magnetic portals forming high above Earth that can briefly connect our planet to the Sun. Not only are the portals common, one space physicist contends they form twice as often as anyone had previously imagined.

Halloween Sky Show: The planets are gathering for spooky sunset sky show on Oct. 31st. Read todays story to find out where to look.

The Case of the Missing Gamma-ray Bursts: Gamma-ray bursts are by far the brightest and most powerful explosions in the Universe, second only to the Big Bang itself. So it might seem a bit surprising that a group of them has gone missing.

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