Science news

• Human gene editing research gets green light

  03-12-2015 23:52
  
  Gene editing research can move forward, but not for reproductive purposes, international summit committee says.
  
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• Human gene editing gets green light

  03-12-2015 23:52
  
  Gene editing research can move forward, but not for reproductive purposes, international summit committee says.
  
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• Gene summit organizers urge caution on human gene editing

  03-12-2015 23:32
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists and ethicists gathered at an international summit in Washington said it would be "irresponsible" to use gene editing technology in human embryos for therapeutic purposes, such as to correct genetic diseases, until safety and efficacy issues are resolved.
  
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• Habitat loss seen as rising threat to world's migratory birds

  03-12-2015 23:28
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Habitat destruction along routes taken by the world's migratory birds poses an increasing peril to these long-distance fliers, with a vast majority crossing terrain that nations are inadequately protecting, according to scientists.
  
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• Virgin presses 747 into space action

  03-12-2015 23:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sir Richard Branson is going to use one of his old Virgin Atlantic 747-400 jumbos to act as a platform to launch rockets into orbit.
  
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• VIDEO: Etna blasts lava and ash high into sky

  03-12-2015 23:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Mount Etna, the volcano on the Italian island of Sicily, has erupted in spectacular fashion.
  
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• 'Dinosaur disco': 100s of dinosaur tracks found in Scotland

  03-12-2015 22:56 via cbc.ca
  
  Scientists have unearthed the largest dinosaur fossil site ever found in Scotland. The collection of hundreds of dinosaur footprints and handprints is helping scientists learn about the long-necked, massive sauropods.
  
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• Hawaii court revokes permit for telescope project on volcano

  03-12-2015 22:52
  (Reuters) - The Hawaii Supreme Court on Wednesday revoked a permit that would have allowed the controversial construction of one of the world's largest telescopes on a dormant volcano considered an ideal location on Earth to view the stars.
  
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• A single penguin can break up a huddle

  03-12-2015 22:50
  
  A new study documents how penguins regulate body temperature by forming huddles and breaking groupings apart.
  
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• UN climate talks turn hostile over money

  03-12-2015 22:49
  
  Angry developing nations warned Thursday that increasingly tense UN talks aimed at averting catastrophic climate change would fail unless a bitter feud over hundreds of billions of dollars was resolved.
  
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• Plight of the Long-Distance Flyers

  03-12-2015 22:45 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Individual countries may protect migratory birds but the great length of their journeys are endangered
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Half of Kepler’s giant exoplanet candidates are false positives, study finds

  03-12-2015 22:30
  An international team made a 5-year radial velocity campaign of Kepler's giant exoplanet candidates, using the SOPHIE spectrograph (Observatory of Haute-Provence, France), and found that 52.3% were actually eclipsing binaries, while 2.3% were brown dwarfs.
  
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• Nuclear power crucial for UN climate goal: top scientist

  03-12-2015 22:24
  
  A top climate scientist says nuclear power must become a core part of the global energy mix, alongside renewables, in order to rapidly draw down the greenhouse gases that drive global warming
  
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• No designer babies, but summit calls for cautious research

  03-12-2015 22:17
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Organizers of an international summit say a tool to edit human genes is nowhere near ready to attempt in pregnancy, but they're calling for more laboratory research with the revolutionary technology.
  
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• Stretchable, wearable sensor made with chewing gum

  03-12-2015 22:03
  Body sensors, which were once restricted to doctors' offices, have come a long way. They now allow any wearer to easily track heart rate, steps and sleep cycles around the clock. Soon, they could become even more versatile -- with the help of chewing gum. Scientists report a unique sensing device made of gum and carbon nanotubes that can move with your most bendable parts and track your breathing.
  
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• Rhythm and blues: Fly's heart beats to the pulse of a blue laser

  03-12-2015 22:03
  It's called optogenetics and it refers to the use of light to regulate cells. In this case, researchers engineered fruit flies that carry light-sensitive proteins in their hearts. When hit by a blue laser, the proteins open channels that cause a flow of ions or charged particles that cause the heart to beat.
  
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• Interventions may temporarily raise kids' IQs, but there is fadeout over time

  03-12-2015 22:01
  A meta-analysis shows that the beneficial effects of interventions to raise intelligence in young children fade over time.
  
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• LISA Pathfinder en route to gravitational wave demonstration

  03-12-2015 21:25
  ESA's LISA Pathfinder lifted off earlier Dec. 3, 2015 on a Vega rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on its way to demonstrate technology for observing gravitational waves from space. Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of spacetime, predicted a century ago by Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.
  
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• Astronaut's 'Mousetronaut' Stories Among Kids' Books Bound for Space Station

  03-12-2015 21:24
  
  "Mousetronaut" and "Mousetronaut Goes to Mars," written by former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, are among a small bundle of space- and science-themed kid's books that are packed aboard Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo ship scheduled to launch to the International Space Station today (Dec. 3). If all goes as planned, the spacecraft will arrive at the orbiting outpost three days later, where Kelly's brother, Scott, is currently the commander. The books are part of "Story Time From Space," a project that of
  
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• Humankind’s water use greater than thought

  03-12-2015 21:23
  
  Humans’ global water footprint increases when accounting for water losses from water management practices.
  
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• Don’t want to raise a psychopath? Be sensitive to a child’s distress

  03-12-2015 21:21
  How do you stop a child, especially one who has experienced significant adversity, from growing up to be a psychopath? Responsive, empathetic caregiving -- especially when children are in distress -- helps prevent boys from becoming callous, unemotional adolescents, according to a new study of children raised in foster care.
  
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• Japan asteroid probe conducts 'Earth swing-by' in space quest

  03-12-2015 21:14
  
  A Japanese space probe launched last year passed by Earth on Thursday to harness the planet's gravitational pull to propel it toward a far away asteroid in its quest to study the origin of the solar system, authorities said.
  
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• Good news: Phytoplankton can survive in a warming world

  03-12-2015 21:14 via cbc.ca
  
  Tiny water-dwelling plants called phytoplankton are being used to measure the effects of our warming world, and scientists have uncovered some good news, CBC Radio science columnist Torah Kachur reports.
  
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• One in 10 globally suffer from foodborne diseases, WHO study finds

  03-12-2015 21:02
  One out of every 10 people worldwide suffer from foodborne diseases annually, and children and the poor suffer most, according to the findings of a World Health Organization task force.
  
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• India to ban old vehicles to curb fumes

  03-12-2015 20:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Indian government says trucks and buses more than 15 years old will be banned in order to try to reduce soaring pollution levels.
  
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• VIDEO: How ethical is gene editing?

  03-12-2015 20:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists from across the world are attending a conference in Washington, to discuss the ethics of gene editing.
  
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• Gene editing of sperm and eggs clinically irresponsible, scientists say

  03-12-2015 20:30 via cbc.ca
  
  Scientists have reached a consensus on the boundaries of using a powerful gene editing tool, saying it would be irresponsible to clinically alter our DNA in a way that's passed on to future generations.
  
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• Poor nations warn climate deal will fail without money deal

  03-12-2015 20:08
  
  Angry developing nations warned Thursday that UN talks aimed at averting catastrophic climate change would fail unless a bitter feud over hundreds of billions of dollars was resolved.
  
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• Vega rocket blasts off with gravity-hunting satellite

  03-12-2015 19:49
  
  BERLIN (Reuters) - A Vega rocket bearing a European prototype satellite blasted into space early on Thursday on a mission to search for ripples in space and across time, a phenomenon predicted but never proven by physicist Albert Einstein 100 years ago.
  
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• All Gene-Editing Research Should Proceed Cautiously, Scientists Conclude

  03-12-2015 19:47 via rss.sciam.com
  
  The official statement, which says work altering human germ lines should remain only in the lab, caps a three-day summit on using technology to alter the human genome
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Weather satellite startup will launch on Indian rocket

  03-12-2015 19:44
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A Colorado-based startup developing a satellite network to predict weather using radio signals will launch its first two spacecraft on an Indian rocket, the company said on Thursday.
  
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• To See Deep into Space, Start Deep Underground (Op-Ed)

  03-12-2015 19:42
  
  Constance Walter is the communications director for the Sanford Underground Research Facility. She explores the stars vicariously through the physics experiments running nearly a mile underground in the former Homestake Gold Mine. She contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
  
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• Plastics Recycling is Working: Here's Why (Op-Ed)

  03-12-2015 19:41
  
  Steve Alexander is executive director of the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, Steve Russell is vice president of the American Chemistry Council's Plastics Division and Steve Sikra is section head for corporate R&D at The Procter & Gamble Company. The authors contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Take plastic bottles: In 2014, U.S. consumers recycled a record high of more than 3 billion pounds of plastic bottles — generating an
  
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• Orbital heading back to International Space Station on hired rocket

  03-12-2015 19:41
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A year after its Antares rocket exploded during launch, Orbital ATK is poised to resume cargo runs to the International Space Station, this time using a hired ride from United Launch Alliance, a Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co joint venture.
  
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• What Triggered the Big Bang? It's Complicated (Op-Ed)

  03-12-2015 19:39
  
  Paul Sutter is a visiting scholar at The Ohio State University's Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP). We've all heard of the Big Bang theory (I'm talking about the cosmological model, not the TV show), but it's important to understand what that theory is and what it's not. Let me take this opportunity to be precisely, abundantly, emphatically, ridiculously, fantastically clear: The Big Bang theory is not a theory of the creation of the universe.
  
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• The Argo, a sunken barge leaking in Lake Erie, cleaned up

  03-12-2015 19:08 via cbc.ca
  
  The U.S. Coast Guard is giving the all-clear after crews cleared a hazardous substance leaking from a sunken tanker barge in Lake Erie.
  
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• Climate talks set to fail if no deal on money, say poor nations

  03-12-2015 18:32
  
  Angry developing nations warned Thursday that UN talks aimed at averting catastrophic climate change will fail unless a bitter feud over hundreds of billions of dollars was resolved.
  
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• Europe probe tests tech for detecting ripples in space time

  03-12-2015 18:28
  
  BERLIN (AP) — The European Space Agency launched a rocket Thursday to carry two cubes of gold and platinum almost a million miles from Earth so scientists can see how they'll behave in a freefall — at a cost of more than $450 million.
  
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• 5 things to know about picking fresh Christmas trees

  03-12-2015 18:12 via cbc.ca
  
  There's nothing quite like the scent of a fresh-cut Christmas tree. Here's what to know about picking and maintaining your tree before grabbing the decorations and tinsel.
  
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• Pay attention to that under-the-weather feeling

  03-12-2015 17:45
  
  People can forecast their likelihood of catching colds by rating their own health, study shows.
  
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• Humanity must change to avert climate disaster: Al Gore

  03-12-2015 17:38
  
  Nobel laureate Al Gore said at the Paris climate summit on Thursday that humanity must change how it lives, travels and grows food in order to avert global warming catastrophe.
  
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• Space probe set to test Einstein's relativity theory

  03-12-2015 17:08
  
  The European Space Agency (ESA) on Thursday said it had launched a prototype lab to test a key part of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, published almost exactly a century ago.
  
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• Too early to use gene editing in human embryos, scientist says

  03-12-2015 16:57 via cbc.ca
  
  One of the scientists who discovered powerful tools for altering genes is not convinced the case has been made for using the technology on human sperm, eggs and embryos.
  
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• Space cargo ship will make 1st commercial launch since explosion disasters

  03-12-2015 16:54 via cbc.ca
  
  A commercial space cargo ship is expected to blast off for the International Space Station for the first time since two launches failed in dramatic explosions in October 2014 and June 2015.
  
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• Bad weather further delays U.S. space station cargo shipment

  03-12-2015 16:54 via cbc.ca
  
  NASA has further pushed back the launch of commercial shipments to the International Space Station due to poor weather conditions.
  
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• Bad weather delays U.S. space station shipment

  03-12-2015 16:54 via cbc.ca
  
  NASA's hope to resume commercial shipments this week to the International Space Station, following months of frustrating delay, has been further pushed back due to poor weather conditions.
  
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• British-built probe blasts off on 'unique European space mission'

  03-12-2015 16:50
  
  A British-built probe that will help to open a new window on the universe has blasted off from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
  
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• Q&A: The physicist who has become a go-to climate adviser for dozens of poor nations

  03-12-2015 16:45
  
  In Paris, Bill Hare aims to provide technical parity
  
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• Patagonia's glaciers are melting at an alarming rate due to global warming

  03-12-2015 16:36
  
  Near the tip of South America lies an unbroken mass of ice about 350km long, covering an area of 12,363sq km. The Southern Patagonian Ice Field is the third largest reserve of fresh water on Earth (after the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.) However, the ice is melting at an alarming rate as the planet warms up. Almost all of the 47 large glaciers in Patagonia's Los Glacieres National Park have retreated over the past 50 years due to warming temperatures, according to the European Space Agenc
  
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• NASA counting on 1st US space station shipment in months

  03-12-2015 16:33
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is looking to get back on track with the first U.S. delivery to the International Space Station in nearly eight months.
  
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