Science news

• Getting Up Close and Personal with an Earth-Sized Exoplanet (Kavli Hangout)

  30-11-2015 23:56
  
  Adam Hadhazy, writer and editor for The Kavli Foundation, contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
  
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• A Prehistoric Murder Mystery: Earth's Worst Mass Extinctions

  30-11-2015 23:53
  
  Paul Wignall is the author of "The Worst of Times: How Life on Earth Survived Eighty Million Years of Extinctions" (Princeton University Press). Beginning 260 million years ago, this phase included the worst mass extinction in Earth's history at the end of the Permian period, another mass extinction at the end of the Triassic period and several more major crises. The crises of this worst-ever 80 million years all share many features in common, especially intense global warming and remarkable cha
  
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• The Future of Driverless Vehicles (Roundtable)

  30-11-2015 23:52
  
  Jeffrey Miller, IEEE member and associate professor of engineering practice at the University of Southern California, contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Void of personal and professional opinions, this announcement did a great service for the driverless vehicle industry, promoting awareness of this emerging technology. In late August, IEEE —the world's largest professional organization of engineers — hosted a roundtable at the Univers
  
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• Climate vulnerable nations call for drastic action

  30-11-2015 23:07
  
  From low-lying islands in the Pacific to parched areas of Africa, nations facing the most immediate peril of climate change called Monday for the world to take more drastic action to avoid catastrophe.
  
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• Sun Spews Plasma Fireworks in Stunning Videos

  30-11-2015 22:58
  
  "Charged particles spin along the magnetic field, tracing out bright lines as they emit light in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths," NASA officials said in a statement describing one of the videos. Three days later, as shown in a second video taken by SDO, the sun threw out a set of fireworks seen in several wavelengths of light when coronal mass ejections, or streams of particles, erupted from the sun into space.
  
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• Comets May Have Caused 'Alien Megastructure' Star's Strange Dimming

  30-11-2015 22:57
  
  A faraway star's mysterous dimming was most likely caused by comets, a new study suggests — though it doesn't rule out the much-ballyhooed possibility of an "alien megastructure" in the system. Observations by NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope revealed that the star KIC 8462852, which lies about 1,500 light-years from Earth, dipped in brightness dramatically in 2011 and 2013, dimming by up to 22 percent. Such deep brightness dips puzzle astronomers, who have advanced a numb
  
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• Bill Gates plots a surprise attack on the energy sector

  30-11-2015 22:31
  
  By Bruce Wallace PARIS (Reuters) - Bill Gates grows most animated when the talk turns to the "cool" new energy technologies that have yet to leave the lab. Gates was a rare civilian sharing the limelight alongside presidents and prime ministers at the opening session of Paris climate talks on Monday. “There are dozens of things like that that are high risk but huge impact if they are successful.” Gates was in Paris to push his latest bit of entrepreneurial philanthropy: the Breakthro
  
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• Inside the roaring sex lives of howler monkeys

  30-11-2015 22:12
  
  Listening to the intense roars of howler monkeys in Mexico inspired scientists to decipher how and why calls differ among species.
  
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• Canadian entrepreneurs seek path to fossil-fuel-free future

  30-11-2015 22:03 via cbc.ca
  
  Right now, politicians from around the globe are meeting in Paris to figure out the next steps in reducing climate change. But a number of Canadian entrepreneurs have spent years sussing out technologies that may help us get to a future of cleaner power.
  
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• Should You Take an App For That?

  30-11-2015 21:45 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Mental health apps may be promising, but they sorely lack regulation and quality reviews
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• Hackers may have stolen personal data of 5 million customers of toymaker VTech

  30-11-2015 21:19 via cbc.ca
  
  Children's technology maker VTech says the personal information of about five million of its customers and their children may have been stolen by hackers.
  
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• The Most Important Number in Climate Change

  30-11-2015 21:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Just how sensitive is Earth's climate to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide?
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Solar-powered plane could land in Vancouver this spring

  30-11-2015 21:10 via cbc.ca
  
  The Swiss solar-powered plane whose record-setting, round-the-world flight was put on hold in July by weather and battery trouble has raised the $27 million it needs to finish the trip, co-founder and pilot Andre Borschberg said on Monday.
  
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• Cobwebs Hold Genetic Secrets About Spiders and Their Prey

  30-11-2015 21:02
  
  You may want to think twice before vacuuming up any pesky cobwebs you find around your home — these messy spider lairs may contain valuable information (valuable to scientists, that is). Knowing exactly which species of spider built a web in a certain area, as well as knowing what that spider feasted on, is important information for researchers in a variety of fields — from conservation ecology to pest management, said study lead author Charles C.Y. Xu, a graduate student in the Eras
  
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• Angels, security and green messages mark first day of climate talks

  30-11-2015 21:00
  
  From activists in angel wings to armed police and carefully sorted refuse, the much-awaited Paris climate talks opened Monday with a touch of spectacle, hefty security and lofty rhetoric.
  
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• Putin says Turkey shot down Russian plane to defend IS oil supplies

  30-11-2015 20:53
  
  By Denis Dyomkin PARIS (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the reason Turkey downed a Russian warplane last week was that it wanted to protect supplies of oil from Islamic State. Putin, speaking at the global climate conference in Paris, added that the decision to shoot down the plane was a "huge mistake" and that he had not met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, despite them both being in Paris. "We have received additional data which confirm that Islamic State
  
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• U.S. says Russia violated Turkish airspace, but dialogue needed now

  30-11-2015 20:52
  
  U.S. and Turkish evidence shows a Russian military jet violated Turkish air space before it was shot down last week, but it is important now that Moscow and Ankara work to de-escalate the situation, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told a briefing evidence from Turkey and U.S. sources "indicates the Russian aircraft violated Turkish airspace" despite being warned multiple times by Turkish forces. Trudeau said while the United States support
  
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• With climate at 'breaking point', leaders urge breakthrough in Paris

  30-11-2015 20:29
  
  By Bruce Wallace and Alister Doyle PARIS (Reuters) - World leaders launched an ambitious attempt on Monday to hold back rising temperatures, with the United States and China leading calls for the climate summit in Paris to mark a decisive turn in the fight against global warming. In a series of opening addresses to the U.N. talks, heads of state and government exhorted each other to find common cause in two weeks of bargaining to steer the global economy away from its dependence on fossil fuels.
  
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• Pope: climate situation is 'borderline suicide', deal 'now or never'

  30-11-2015 20:26
  
  Pope Francis said Monday it was "now or never" for the world community to hammer out a deal on climate change, warning the situation was "borderline suicide".
  
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• AP News Guide: Summit opens debate on ethics of gene editing

  30-11-2015 20:26
  
  Designer babies or an end to intractable illnesses: A revolutionary technology is letting scientists learn to rewrite the genetic code, aiming to alter DNA in ways that, among other things, could erase disease-causing genes.
  
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• Super-Earths, meet superpuffs, a lighter weight class of planet

  30-11-2015 20:17
  
  Superpuffs are underweight, oversized planets that formed in outskirts of star systems before cuddling up close to their sun.
  
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• Rich countries must not impose end to 'conventional energy': India PM

  30-11-2015 19:52
  
  Rich countries should not force the developing world to abandon fossil fuels completely, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday at the UN climate summit in Paris.
  
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• OPEC November oil output rises, led by Iraq, Saudi - Reuters survey

  30-11-2015 19:38
  
  By Alex Lawler VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC oil output has risen in November from the previous month, a Reuters survey found on Monday, led by a rebound in Iraqi exports after bad weather had temporarily halted supply growth from the group's second-largest producer. The increase indicates the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is again pumping close to a record high as Saudi Arabia and other big producers focus on market share. OPEC meets this week to review the policy, with no change
  
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• India's Modi says developing nations need space to grow

  30-11-2015 19:31
  
  Developing countries need room to develop while fighting climate change, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi told delegates at the start of two weeks of U.N. talks in Paris on Monday. "The prosperous still have a strong carbon footprint and the world's billions at the bottom of the development ladder are seeking space to grow. Earlier, he held talks with U.S. President Barack Obama during which Modi pledged to ensure India's development would go "hand in hand" with environmental protection, whi
  
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• PayPal, Target websites suffer outages as retailers struggle with Cyber Monday

  30-11-2015 17:58 via cbc.ca
  
  Users of the popular online payment processing service PayPal have reported major problems logging in or making transactions — a critical time as Cyber Monday sales are in full swing.
  
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• COP21: Beijing chokes in hazardous pollution as President Xi attends Paris climate summit

  30-11-2015 17:44
  
  As Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a crucial climate conference in Paris, pollution reached its worst level of the year in Beijing, with authorities maintaining a rare "orange" alert for a second consecutive day. Schools in the Chinese capital suspended outdoor activities as the city of 12 million people was choked in a cloud of thick grey smog. Monitoring sites recorded pollutants filling the air at extremely hazardous levels, more than 20 times higher than considered safe by the World He
  
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• Insight - Decades after Nigeria's war, new Biafra movement grows

  30-11-2015 17:20
  
  By Alexis Akwagyiram ENUGU, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nearly half a century after a civil war in which a million people died, 27-year-old Okoli Ikedi is part of a new protest movement in southeastern Nigeria calling for an independent state of Biafra. Such calls have become common since the leader of the group Ikedi represents in Enugu, the region's main city, was arrested in October, prompting thousands in the oil-producing southeast to join demonstrations in recent weeks calling for his release. It'
  
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• Beijing pollution hits extremely hazardous levels

  30-11-2015 17:18 via cbc.ca
  
  Beijing suffered its worst air pollution of the year on Monday, with monitoring sites throughout the city reporting extremely hazardous levels of pollutants.
  
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• 'Canada can and will do more,' Trudeau tells Paris climate summit

  30-11-2015 16:56 via cbc.ca
  
  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told delegates at the Paris climate change summit that Canada "will take on a new leadership role internationally." He made the comment in his opening address to the UN summit as two weeks of meetings are set to begin. "Canada is back, my friends," Trudeau declared. "We're here to help."
  
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• Watch an Amazon delivery drone in action

  30-11-2015 16:34 via cbc.ca
  
  Amazon has unveiled what its unmanned drones for package delivery would look like with a video launched on Sunday.
  
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• Leaders pledge climate rescue, but fault lines emerge

  30-11-2015 16:24
  
  World leaders vowed Monday to save mankind from catastrophic climate change as an historic summit opened with the "hope of all humanity" laid on their shoulders, but fault lines quickly emerged.
  
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• Hypersonic rocket engine could revolutionize space flight

  30-11-2015 16:20
  Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines are developing a new aerospace engine class that combines both jet and rocket technologies. They call it the greatest advance in propulsion since the jet engine; potentially revolutionizing hypersonic flight and dramatically reducing the cost of space access.
  
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• Is Digital Hoarding a Mental Disorder (And Do You Have It)?

  30-11-2015 16:18
  
  A man who takes thousands of digital pictures weekly and spends hours every day organizing the photos on his computer could have a condition that, until now, has never been described in medical literature. The patient might have "digital hoarding disorder," according to the authors of a recent report on the man's case. The clutter fills his Amsterdam apartment and prevents him from inviting anyone over to visit, according to the report, which was published Oct. 8 in the journal BMJ Case Reports.
  
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• Eyes May Offer Window into Cardiovascular Disease

  30-11-2015 16:17
  
  Vision problems may sometimes be the only symptom a person has of a serious cardiovascular condition, a new case report suggests. The man was diagnosed with "amaurosis fugax," a condition in which a person loses vision in one eye, usually for a few minutes at a time, because of an interruption of blood flow in an artery.
  
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• U.S. embraces responsibility to fix climate - Obama

  30-11-2015 16:05
  
  By Jeff Mason and Bate Felix PARIS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday the United States, as the world's second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, recognized its role in creating the problem of global warming and embraced its responsibility to help fix it. Addressing more than 150 world leaders at the start of two weeks of U.N. talks in Paris, Obama said the staging of the summit in the French capital was a rebuke to Islamist militants who killed 130 people there on Nov. 13. "As
  
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• Mugabe lashes out at 'miserly' West in climate change talks

  30-11-2015 15:43
  
  Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe lashed out at "miserly" developed nations at the UN climate summit Monday, accusing them of trying to shift the burden for curbing carbon emissions onto poor countries.
  
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• Buried or Open? Ancient Eggshells Reveal Dinosaur Nesting Behaviors

  30-11-2015 15:41
  
  The fragile remains of 150-million-year-old eggshells are helping researchers figure out what kinds of nests dinosaurs created for their eggs, according to a new study. A comprehensive look at 29 types of dinosaur eggs suggests that most dinosaurs buried their eggs in nests covered with dirt and vegetation, a tactic also used by modern-day crocodiles. But some small theropods (mostly meat-eating, bipedal dinosaurs) that were closely related to birds used another strategy: They laid their eggs in
  
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• The Biggest Climate Challenge: Leaving Carbon in the Ground

  30-11-2015 15:20 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Science shows that safeguarding the climate will require us to leave most fossil fuels in the ground. Can we restrain ourselves?
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• As Paris talks open, meet a geoscientist who has attended every major climate negotiation

  30-11-2015 14:15
  
  DOE’s Jonathan Pershing will advise U.S. delegation
  
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• German chancellor says climate deal needs binding reviews

  30-11-2015 13:53
  
  Paris climate talks need to agree on a binding U.N. framework, complemented by binding reviews to ensure progress to limit global warming, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday. The legal form of a Paris agreement on climate change is contested as the U.S. Congress would be expected to block any binding deal, but the European Union is pressing hard for mandatory targets. Merkel said the aim at a summit in Paris was "a binding U.N. framework" and a binding review mechanism to close a gap
  
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• Chinese President Xi says climate deal must address economic gaps

  30-11-2015 13:45
  
  PARIS (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping said it was crucial climate talks in Paris addressed economic differences between nations and allowed different countries to develop their own solutions to the problem of global warming. China, the world's top emitter, has always insisted that developed nations had to take the most responsibility for warming the planet and emerging economies needed to be given freedom to develop. "It is important to respect the differences among countries, especiall
  
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• World’s First Anti-Ageing Drug Could Help You Live Until 120

  30-11-2015 13:35
  
  Trials of the world’s first anti-ageing drug are set to start in 2016, potentially paving the way for humans to live until they reach 120 years old.
  
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• China smog at crippling levels as climate talks open

  30-11-2015 13:19
  
  Choking smog blanketed Beijing and much of northern China Monday as climate change talks opened in Paris and a new Chinese report raised the alarm about rising sea levels.
  
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• World leaders launch bid for climate breakthrough in Paris

  30-11-2015 13:17
  
  By Bruce Wallace and Alister Doyle PARIS (Reuters) - World leaders launched an ambitious attempt on Monday to hold back the earth's rising temperatures, with French President Francois Hollande saying the world was at a "breaking point" in the fight against global warming. Some 150 heads of state, including U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, will urge each other to find common cause in two weeks of bargaining to steer the global economy away from its dependence on
  
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• Obama says U.S. accepts responsibility to help fix climate change

  30-11-2015 13:14
  
  U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday said that the United States accepted its responsibility as the world's second biggest greenhouse gas emitter to help fix climate change, adding that global action need not damage economic growth. Speaking in Paris where more than 150 world leaders have gathered for a U.N. summit aimed at reaching an agreement to curb global warming, Obama said a growing threat of climate change could define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other. "As t
  
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• Bizarre Ancient Sea Creature Was Well-Armed for Feeding

  30-11-2015 13:14
  
  Tribrachidium was a denizen of the shallow seas about 550 million years ago, during the late Ediacaran period. Oddly, Tribrachidium had three-fold symmetry, meaning three segments  were mirror images of each other. "Because we have no obvious modern comparison, that's made it really hard to work out what this organism was like when it was alive — how it moved, if it moved, how it fed, how it reproduced," said Imran Rahman, a research fellow at the University of Bristol, in the United
  
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• 7-Million-Year-Old Fossils Show How the Giraffe Got Its Long Neck

  30-11-2015 13:11
  
  For years, there has been scant fossil evidence showing how the giraffe evolved to have such an admirably long neck. "We actually have an animal whose neck is intermediate [in length] — it's a real missing link," said Nikos Solounias, a professor of anatomy at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) College of Osteopathic Medicine and the lead researcher on the study. The creature in question — Samotherium major —lived during the Late Miocene in the forested areas of Eurasi
  
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• 'Spooky Action' Heats Up: Atoms Entangled at Room Temperature

  30-11-2015 13:09
  
  The world of the very small can get pretty wacky — particles can be in two or more places at once, and even become entangled, wherein actions on one entity can affect its partners across the cosmos. Physicists have broken all kinds of records in proving the existence of so-called quantum entanglement, and now, they have done it again, coupling together thousands of atoms at room temperature. This new achievement could one day be applied to enable more sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (
  
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• Acid Fog on Mars Likely Took a Bite Out of Its Rocks

  30-11-2015 13:08
  
  Acid fog may once have eaten away rocks on Mars, researchers say. Spirit analyzed a dozen locations on four outcrops of rocks spanning about 650 feet (200 meters) along Cumberland Ridge and the Husband Hill summit. For instance, the degree to which the rocks had either an orderly crystalline structure or a disorderly amorphous structure varied greatly over a distance of only about 100 feet (30 meters) in Cumberland Ridge, or about a third the size of a football field.
  
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• Search for 'Missing' Carbon on Mars Cancelled

  30-11-2015 13:07
  
  Mars' carbon-rich atmosphere was once thick enough to raise the planet's surface temperature and allow entire oceans of liquid water to form there — a drastic change from the cold desert it is today. This metamorphosis of the Red Planet has put scientists on the hunt for a left-over "carbon reservoir" in the planet's dirt and soil. Like any planetary system, Mars' atmosphere is intimately linked with conditions on the planet's surface.
  
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