Science news

• Pope encourages Cuba to provide Church with 'freedom'

  19-09-2015 23:56
  
  Pope Francis on Saturday applauded greatly improved cooperation between the Cuban government and the Roman Catholic Church and encouraged Cuba to continue providing freedom for the Church to fulfil its mission. "Today we renew those bonds of cooperation and friendship, so that the Church can continue to support and encourage the Cuban people in its hopes and concerns, with the freedom, the means and the space needed to bring the proclamation of the kingdom to the existential peripheries of socie
  
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• 100ft Meccano Bridge Sets New World Record

  19-09-2015 14:51
  
  School pupils and civil engineering students have set a new world record after building a footbridge - made entirely from Meccano. The temporary bridge, spanning over 100ft across Belfast's Clarendon dock, has been recognised by representatives from Guinness World Records as the world's largest Meccano structure. It has been designed and constructed by a group of students at Queen's University Belfast and local school children in a bid to encourage more young people to consider careers
  
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• Taiwan boat caught with huge illegal shark fin haul

  19-09-2015 11:37
  
  A Taiwan-flagged boat has been caught with an illegal haul of more than 100 shark fins and is being escorted back to a home port, Taiwanese authorities said.
  
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• VIDEO: Meccano bridge world record attempt

  19-09-2015 10:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Engineering students in Belfast are hoping to make it into the record books for building the largest ever structure made of Meccano.
  
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• A Manned Mission to Mars Is Closer to Reality Than Ever: NASA Chief

  19-09-2015 07:23
  
  NASA is closer to putting boots on Mars than it's ever been before, the space agency's chief says. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, a former space shuttle commander, said he envisioned becoming the first person to explore Mars when he checked in for astronaut training at Houston's Johnson Space Center in 1980. Back then, a crewed Red Planet mission was believed to be 30 years away, Bolden said.
  
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• 6 Months in Space, Astronaut Scott Kelly Misses Food, Outdoors and Loved Ones

  19-09-2015 07:23
  
  Halfway through his almost yearlong mission, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly spoke via satellite to an audience gathered at the National Press Club here about the things he is looking forward to, both for the remainder of his mission and once he returns to Earth. "I feel good overall," Kelly told the club's president, John Hughes, who emceed the event on on Monday (Sept. 14). Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko arrived at the space station on March 27, after launching from the Baikonur Cos
  
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• Silicone vaginal rings deliver antiviral drugs, protect women against HIV

  19-09-2015 06:00
  
  (American Society for Microbiology) Researchers at University Jean Monnet of Saint-Etienne, France have succeeded in developing a vaginal silicone ring that delivers molecules that act on both HIV and herpes virus. This research is presented at the 55th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC/ICC).
  
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• Coal's image suffering in climate debate: BHP

  19-09-2015 05:46
  
  The coal industry is losing the public relations battle against environmental activists, mining giant BHP Billiton has warned as it urged the sector to unite to fight back.
  
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• China calls for responsibility as it pushes North Korea talks again

  19-09-2015 05:17
  
  By Megha Rajagopalan BEIJING (Reuters) - China called on Saturday for all parties involved in talks on North Korea's nuclear programme to adopt a responsible attitude and not take any action to exacerbate tension, as it pushed again for a resumption of the stalled negotiations. This week, the North announced a plan to fire a long-range rocket that it says is for a space programme. North Korea is expected to launch an upgraded long-range ballistic missile, which would violate international sancti
  
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• 'Seismic alert!': Apps warn Mexicans of quakes

  19-09-2015 05:02
  
  A powerful earthquake strikes off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Within seconds, radio transmissions, megaphones and smartphone apps blare warnings to the capital's 20 million people before the ground shakes.
  
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• 100ft Meccano Bridge In World Record Bid

  19-09-2015 03:35
  
  School pupils and civil engineering students are hoping to set a new world record after building a footbridge - made entirely from Meccano. The temporary bridge spanning over 100ft across Belfast's Clarendon dock will be unveiled today and representatives from Guinness World Records will be present to confirm if it has earned the record for the world's largest Meccano structure. It has been designed and constructed by a group of students at Queen's University Belfast and local school childr
  
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• Labs 'open their ears' to the cosmos

  19-09-2015 01:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Advanced Ligo experiment in North America formally begins the observations that will seek finally to detect the ripples in the fabric of space-time predicted by Einstein.
  
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• VIDEO: Inside the 'homes of the future'

  19-09-2015 01:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  As Britain struggles to solve its housing crisis, experts have been looking at the best solutions to building the homes of the future.
  
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• Police reviewing response to Muslim boy with clock at school

  19-09-2015 01:00
  
  DALLAS (AP) — Police in suburban Dallas will review their response to a 14-year-old Muslim boy who brought a homemade clock to school that was mistaken for a possible bomb, according to the police chief overseeing the matter.
  
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