Science news

• Stunning aurora display wows Whitehorse

  21-12-2015 23:44 via cbc.ca
  
  Social media in Yukon was abuzz Sunday night, thanks to an incredible display of northern lights.
  
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• Flu Season Will Likely Peak in February, Model Suggests

  21-12-2015 23:24
  This flu season will likely peak in February and could be a mild one, according to a new model that aims to forecast the flu in the United States this winter. The model uses information from past flu seasons, along with a mathematical representation of how influenza spreads through a population and the latest data on the current flu season, to predict how seasonal flu will pan out in the coming months. According to the new model, there's a less than 1 percent chance that the flu season will peak
  
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• Flu Season Will Likely Peak in February, Forecast Suggests

  21-12-2015 23:24
  This flu season will likely peak in February and could be a mild one, according to a new model that aims to forecast the flu in the United States this winter. The model uses information from past flu seasons, along with a mathematical representation of how influenza spreads through a population and the latest data on the current flu season, to predict how seasonal flu will pan out in the coming months. According to the new model, there's a less than 1 percent chance that the flu season will peak
  
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• Take a Gander: Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count Begins

  21-12-2015 23:23
  
  Last week marked the start of the National Audubon Society's 116th annual Christmas Bird Count, which means it's the perfect time to unleash your inner birder and take a gander at migratory bird species as they fly south for the winter. Every winter, citizen scientists participate in bird-counting events across North America, from mid-December until early January, to collect data on bird migrations for the National Audubon Society. The Christmas Bird Count is the longest-running wildlife census
  
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• Actor Nicolas Cage seen returning stolen dinosaur skull he bought

  21-12-2015 23:19
  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - It appears Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage is the mystery owner who agreed last week to forfeit a rare stolen dinosaur skull to U.S. authorities so it can be returned to the Mongolian government. The office of Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, filed a civil forfeiture complaint on Wednesday to take possession of the skull, which will be repatriated to Mongolia. The lawsuit and a press release from Bharara's office did not specifically name Cage as the
  
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• Venomous sea snake washes onto Southern California shore

  21-12-2015 23:13
  
  HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A dead yellow-bellied sea snake from southern Mexico has been discovered on Bolsa Chica beach, only the third one ever reported in California.
  
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• Meet Luke, Leia, Han Solo, Jabba and Yoda — the Calgary Zoo's marmot pups

  21-12-2015 22:57 via cbc.ca
  
  Taking inspiration from a galaxy far, far away, the Calgary Zoo is handing out Star Wars names to some of its new Vancouver Island marmot pups — a species among the rarest mammals in the world.
  
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• Spacewalking Astronauts Rescue Stuck Space Station Railcar

  21-12-2015 22:46
  
  Two astronauts took a surprise spacewalk outside the International Space Station this morning (Dec. 21) to unstick a vital piece of equipment and lock it into place before a resupply spacecraft arrives. The railcar must be secured before the Progress resupply spacecraft, which launched early this morning, arrives at the station, bringing 2.8 tons (2.5 metric tons) of food and supplies. The spacewalk was put together in "just a few days," after the railcar got stuck, NASA spokesman Rob Navias sai
  
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• Fearing pollution, Chinese families build 'bubbles' at home

  21-12-2015 22:28
  
  SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Liu Nanfeng has five air purifiers, two air quality monitors and a water purification system in his Beijing apartment. He buys organic. But still he worries for his 2-year-old daughter's health.
  
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• Tentative agreement reached in dispute over endangered fish

  21-12-2015 22:19
  
  BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Wildlife advocates reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. government in a legal dispute over an endangered fish in the Yellowstone River along the Montana-North Dakota border.
  
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• Exoplanets need right stuff to be habitable

  21-12-2015 22:12
  
  The elemental makeup of a star can reveal whether planets in its solar system could support sustained plate tectonics, a requirement for Earth-like life, researchers propose.
  
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• Wild seahorse birth caught on camera in 'surreal' video

  21-12-2015 22:07 via cbc.ca
  
  Two researchers from the University of British Columbia have filmed a rare video of a sea horse giving birth in the wild.
  
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• SpaceX aims for historic rocket launch, landing

  21-12-2015 21:45
  
  SpaceX aims to make history Monday by landing its most powerful Falcon 9 rocket in an upright position after launch, a key step toward making rockets as reusable as airplanes.
  
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• Penguin Candid Camera: Little Birds Reveal Hunting Secrets

  21-12-2015 21:40
  Wearing video cameras, the world's smallest penguins have revealed their hunting secrets: The little blue-hued birds swim together to stalk groups of prey, but when it comes to catching and killing their meals, it's every penguin for itself. Researchers wanted to learn more about why these birds formed groups when foraging, such as whether doing so gives them a better chance at capturing anchovies, krill, jellyfish and other prey. The video cameras faced forward to give a penguin's-eye view.
  
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• 'Heavy Metal' Bee Is a Headbanging Pollinator (Video)

  21-12-2015 21:40
  
  Australia's blue-banded bee is a successful pollinator because it uses its head — literally, scientists have found. Like a heavy-metal fan headbanging to Iron Maiden, this species of blue-banded bee (Amegilla murrayensis) vibrates its head rapidly when visiting flowers. Native to Australia, blue-banded bees are solitary, with females building individual burrows in soil or clay.
  
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• Bigger Earthquakes May Be Coming to Nepal

  21-12-2015 21:37
  
  The terrifying magnitude-7.8 Gorkha earthquake that rattled Nepal in April is nothing compared to the temblors scientists predict could happen in the future. The shaking observed was "unusually gentle" given the magnitude of the earthquake, leading to far fewer landslides and glacial lake overflows than could have been seen, researchers said here today (Dec. 16) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. "The situation could have been far, far worse," said Jeffrey Kargel, who was a
  
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• Using the Force? Lightsaber Fitness Classes Arrive

  21-12-2015 21:36
  Lightsaber-themed fitness classes are popping up across the country, from New York City to Honolulu. Working out with a lightsaber involves a mix of cardio and body-weight conditioning, said Keith Mylett, who started one of these saber-themed fitness classes at the Hawaii Jedi Saber Academy (part of a gym called Precision Parkour) in Honolulu. In New York, classes are offered at the New York Jedi fitness studio.
  
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• The Most Popular Science Studies of the Year

  21-12-2015 21:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  The attention-grabbing academic papers of 2015 include research on sexist video games and Homo erectus
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Number of wild bees drops where they’re needed most

  21-12-2015 21:00
  
  Wild bee abundance in the United States is lowest in agricultural regions, according to a new model.
  
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• African lions are 'endangered,' must be protected: US

  21-12-2015 20:54
  
  African lions are at risk of extinction and will be protected under US law as an endangered species, authorities declared Monday, months after a high-profile killing stoked global outrage.
  
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• Astronauts Fix Stalled Rail Car On Spacewalk

  21-12-2015 20:25
  
  "That was pretty easy," Commander Scott Kelly said, according to a live broadcast of the spacewalk on NASA television, after he struck the brake handle and got the car moving again. Commander Kelly and his fellow spacewalker, US flight engineer Tim Kopra, made quick work of the task, and completed their mission in less than an hour.
  
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• Astronauts help move stalled rail car during spacewalk

  21-12-2015 20:13
  
  ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Two American astronauts helped move a stalled rail car back into place outside the International Space Station on Monday, quickly finishing the primary job of an unplanned spacewalk before moving on to other housekeeping tasks.
  
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• Climate change: the Grinch that stole Europe's Christmas?

  21-12-2015 20:06
  
  In a season traditionally associated with ice-skating, snowball fights and mulled wine in wintry Europe, birds are chirping, flowers blooming and fake snow covering Alpine ski slopes in one of the warmest Decembers on record.
  
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• Tweaking the pattern equations

  21-12-2015 19:50
  
  A more than 60-year-old theory about how patterns in nature form gets an update.
  
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• The Art of Science: Why Researchers Should Think Like Designers (Op-Ed)

  21-12-2015 19:20
  
  Ten Speed Press is an imprint of Penguin Random House. This fall I read "The Martian" (Crown, 2014) by Andy Weir, and it made me want to be a scientist. It's because I share those three traits — optimism, creativity and problem solving — that I'm a product designer.
  
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• Red Deer Cave thigh bone suggests prehistoric humans survived until recently

  21-12-2015 19:02 via cbc.ca
  
  An ancient thigh bone from southwest China provides more evidence prehistoric humans similar to Homo habilis and Homo erectus walked mainland Eurasia at the same time as modern humans, researchers say.
  
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• Woolly mammoth tusk found in gravel pit near Saskatoon

  21-12-2015 18:44 via cbc.ca
  
  Workers at a gravel pit near Saskatoon have made a fascinating discovery.
  
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• Ericsson, Apple end patent fights, agree to create new, faster phones

  21-12-2015 18:26 via cbc.ca
  
  Swedish telecom firm Ericsson AB has inked a seven-year deal with Apple Inc. that brings an end to patent litigations between the two and paves the way for their joint-development of the next generation of super-fast phones.
  
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• Sickle-Wearing Skeletons Reveal Ancient Fear of Demons

  21-12-2015 18:21
  
  A few skeletons unearthed in a 400-year-old Polish cemetery have been discovered with sickles placed around their necks. Archaeologists believe this strange burial practice is evidence of a belief in magic and a fear of demons. The sickle burials were found at Drawsko cemetery, a site in northeastern Poland that dates from the 17th to the 18th centuries.
  
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• Virus particles engineered to hold enzymes that generate carbon-free hydrogen fuel

  21-12-2015 18:15
  
  How to put a hydrogen fuel factory inside the shell of a virus
  
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• Trapped gas may form Martian gullies

  21-12-2015 18:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Gullies seen on the surface of Mars could be formed by trapped CO2 gas causing sand to flow downhill, a new modelling study suggests.
  
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• Mars gullies likely contain 'no water': study

  21-12-2015 17:49
  
  Months after scientists announced "the strongest evidence yet" of liquid water on Mars, a study Monday said there was none at least in the valleys carved into numerous Red Planet slopes.
  
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• Spacewalk repair needs only two whacks

  21-12-2015 17:43
  
  Two solid whacks to a stuck brake handle was all it took for a spacewalking American astronaut to fix a stalled rail car outside the International Space Station, NASA said Monday.
  
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• Spacewalking astronauts fix station's stuck rail car

  21-12-2015 17:25
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Two U.S. astronauts floated outside the International Space Station on Monday in a hastily planned spacewalk to move a stuck rail car before a Russian cargo ship reaches the outpost on Wednesday, NASA said.
  
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• Dinosaur's Curious Back Sail May Have Aided Migration

  21-12-2015 17:13
  
  The bizarre rigid "sail" on the back of a newfound species of herbivorous dinosaur may have helped the paleo-beast survive in a variety of climates, a new study finds. The dinosaur lived during the Early Cretaceous period about 125 million years ago in ancient Spain, the researchers said. Perhaps the dinosaur used its sail to regulate its body temperature, much like an elephant uses its large ears to release excess body heat, the researchers said.
  
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• 'Welcome back, baby!': SpaceX launches rocket, lands booster in historic feat

  21-12-2015 17:12 via cbc.ca
  
  SpaceX sent a rocket soaring toward orbit Monday night with 11 small satellites, its first mission since an accident last summer. Then it safely landed the leftover 15-storey booster back on Earth.
  
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• 'Welcome back, baby!': Elon Musk's SpaceX launches rocket, lands booster

  21-12-2015 17:12 via cbc.ca
  
  SpaceX sent a rocket soaring toward orbit Monday night with 11 small satellites, its first mission since an accident last summer. Then it safely landed the leftover 15-storey booster back on Earth.
  
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• SpaceX set to launch 1st rocket since June disaster

  21-12-2015 17:12 via cbc.ca
  
  SpaceX is set to launch an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket and attempt to land the booster at the launch site tonight. It will be the company's first launch since a failed cargo delivery to the International Space Station in June.
  
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• 'Bullseye': SpaceX successfully launches rocket, lands booster

  21-12-2015 17:12 via cbc.ca
  
  SpaceX sent a rocket soaring toward orbit Monday night with 11 small satellites, its first mission since an accident last summer. Then it landed the leftover 15-storey booster back on Earth, safely.
  
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• The World Needs a Carbon Tax, Elon Musk Says

  21-12-2015 17:11
  The world's leaders should institute a carbon tax to mitigate the worst effects of climate change and help shift the global economy away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said. The current lack of a carbon tax amounts to a hidden subsidy that incentivizes "bad behavior," Musk said here Tuesday (Dec. 15) at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
  
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• Deck the Halls — Scientifically! 5 Smart Tips for Holiday Decorating

  21-12-2015 17:08
  'Tis the season of tangled Christmas tree lights, burnt-out menorah bulbs and dried-up mistletoe. From how to keep a Christmas tree fresh and green to ensuring that festive lights don't interfere with your home's Wi-Fi signal, here are five scientific tips that will help you stress less this holiday season. You may have heard rumors that holiday lights can interfere with Wi-Fi signals, causing slow Internet connections and, subsequently, a very frustrating holiday.
  
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• Russia says black box from warplane downed by Turkey unreadable

  21-12-2015 17:00
  Investigators in Moscow said on Monday they were unable to retrieve information from the damaged black box of a Russian warplane shot down by Turkey last month, data the Kremlin hoped would support its version of what happened. Russia's Defence Ministry publicly opened the recorder last week, hoping its contents would confirm Moscow's assertions that the bomber did not stray into Turkish air space and was maliciously downed. "Retrieving the information and a read out of flight data ... has prove
  
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• Ontario farm converts from pigs to shrimp in hopes of jumbo profits

  21-12-2015 17:00 via cbc.ca
  
  With low pork prices, Paul and Tracy Cocchio were struggling to make a profit with their Ontario hog farm so they started looking for alternative uses for their empty barns. Years later the result is Canada's latest food craze: inland-farmed shrimp.
  
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• Tim Peake assists with space walk

  21-12-2015 16:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UK astronaut Tim Peake helped two fellow crew members carry out a space walk outside the International Space Station on Monday.
  
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• Phone home: Tim Peake fails to make contact from extraterrestrial mission

  21-12-2015 16:35
  British astronaut Tim Peake has helped two of his fellow crewmen carry out a spacewalk - but failed in an attempt to phone his parents from the International Space Station (ISS).
  
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• SpaceX to Try Falcon 9 Rocket Launch and Cape Canaveral Landing Today

  21-12-2015 16:34
  
  SpaceX has scheduled the launch of its first Falcon 9 mission since a June failure for Dec. 20 after completing a static-fire test of the vehicle on the launch pad late Dec. 18, a flight that will also include an attempted landing of the rocket’s first stage back at Cape Canaveral. SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk reported on Twitter shortly after 7 p.m. Eastern that the company had completed a brief test fire of the rocket’s nine main engines on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Mus
  
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• 30 year sweatshirt tackling 'fast fashion'

  21-12-2015 16:26
  
  A young British entrepreneur has created the 30 Year Sweatshirt - a sustainable, ethical range of clothing that he says offers a practical solution to the cycle of consumption and waste caused by so-called 'fast fashion'.
  
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• Russian supply ship lifts off for space station

  21-12-2015 16:20
  
  MOSCOW (AP) — An unmanned Russian cargo ship has lifted off on a journey to the International Space Station.
  
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• Microwavable Mantle: Physicists Nuke Mock Earth Layer, for Science

  21-12-2015 16:16
  Scientists have jury-rigged a microwave oven and a liquid made of food and cosmetics thickener to recreate the Earth's mantle, the mysterious middle layer of the planet. The mock-up mantle could help scientists determine whether a hidden pool of radioactive elements is producing heat deep in Earth's interior, Angela Limare, a physicist at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France, said Tuesday (Dec. 15) here at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. "It looks like the u
  
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• Here’s How To Extend Your iPhone’s Battery Life

  21-12-2015 16:15
  
  Apple's new case contains a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery that doubles the time you can use your phone before it goes kaput. Gordon Gottsegen at Wired said the case makes it look like the iPhone has a "strange-looking growth on its backside." Lauren Goode at The Verge said it looks like an iPod that swallowed an iPhone.
  
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