Science news

• Mission Accomplished! 747-Space Shuttle Exhibit Launches in Houston

  23-01-2016 22:56
  
  HOUSTON — Under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," Space Center Houston officials celebrated on Saturday (Jan. 23) the opening of Independence Plaza, a new $12 million exhibit featuring NASA's historic space shuttle-carrying jumbo jet topped by a full-size mockup of the iconic winged orbiters. "With the ability to walk through both [vehicles], you will experience a behind-the-scenes look at life in the shuttle era," said Richard Allen, the president and CEO of Space Center H
  
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• Blue Origin Launches Rocket Into Space and Lands It Safely for 2nd Time

  23-01-2016 21:23
  
  Blue Origin has done it again. The statement accompanied a spectacular video of the Blue Origin launch and landing. Blue Origin's billionaire founder Jeff Bezos announced the test flight success in a blog post, revealing that it used the same suborbital New Shepard rocket and crew capsule the company launched and landed last year.
  
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• U.S. urges African leaders to sway Burundi on peacekeepers

  23-01-2016 20:12
  By Michelle Nichols ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday urged African leaders to "work behind the scenes" before their annual summit next weekend to convince Burundi to accept a deployment of international troops in the tiny African state amid festering political violence. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said members of the African Union Peace and Security Council expected leaders to endorse its proposed deployment of 5,000 troops to protect civilians, de
  
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• Bezos space firm duplicates reusable rocket breakthrough

  23-01-2016 19:08
  
  Blue Origin, said that the same New Shepard booster which blasted off and landed in November had repeated the feat, hitting an altitude of 333,000 feet (101 kilometers) before "gently" returning ...
  
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• Khamenei calls for security cooperation with China, says U.S. not to be trusted

  23-01-2016 19:02
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Saturday for closer economic and security ties with China, saying both countries could be reliable partners, especially in energy. "Iran is the most reliable country in the region for energy since its energy policies will never be affected by foreigners," Khamenei was quoted as saying by his official website at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Khamenei said the United States was "not honest" in the fight against
  
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• Astronaut in Space Spots Rare Thundersnow in Blizzard Over Eastern US (Photo)

  23-01-2016 17:40
  
  As the epic winter storm Jonas bore down on the U.S. East Coast this morning (Jan. 23), astronaut Scott Kelly snapped a series of photos of the storm's evolution from orbit, including one that catches a rare view of "thundersnow."
  
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• Finland begins controversial wolf hunt

  23-01-2016 17:36
  
  Finland on Saturday began a controversial wolf cull that gives hunters the right to kill around one fifth of the endangered animals, in a decision that has angered environmentalists.
  
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• Earth’s inner secrets divulged in ‘Into the Heart of Our World’

  23-01-2016 15:00
  
  A scientific journey to the center of the Earth includes just as much excitement and mystery as Jules Verne’s classic novel, a new book demonstrates.
  
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• Taliban want removal from U.N. blacklist before peace talks

  23-01-2016 13:48
  Pakistan hosted the first formal talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government in July 2015 but a second round was cancelled after it emerged that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Mullah, who sanctioned the talks, had been dead for two years. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have since deteriorated amid an upswing in fighting between the Taliban and Afghan forces.     On Saturday morning, activists, former Afghan officials and Taliban representatives arrived at a hot
  
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• Reusable Bezos rocket revisits space

  23-01-2016 12:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US entrepreneur Jeff Bezos reflies the New Shepard rocket and capsule system he launched and recovered last November.
  
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• Eritrea president dismisses food crisis fears despite drought

  23-01-2016 12:18
  
  Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Saturday dismissed fears the Horn of African nation faces a food crisis, despite sweeping drought across the wider region leaving millions in need of aid.
  
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• Planet 9 from outer space: How science decides if it's a planet

  23-01-2016 12:04 via cbc.ca
  
  The title of "planet" seems to be as rock solid as the surface of Neptune these days. McMaster University Astronomer Robert Cockcroft offers up his planet flow chart for the Planet 9 debate.
  
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• Is Planet 9 a planet? A simple flow chart helps with a tough question

  23-01-2016 12:04 via cbc.ca
  
  The title of "planet" seems to be as rock solid as the surface of Neptune these days. McMaster University Astronomer Robert Cockcroft offers up his planet flow chart for the Planet 9 debate.
  
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• Cold-blooded lizards literally get hot when it's time to get down

  23-01-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Tegu lizards are officially cold-blooded, but it turns out they literally turn up the heat when it's time for some lizard love — a surprising finding that could help scientists get one step closer to solving a mystery of evolution.
  
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• Cold-blooded lizard goes warmer-blooded for mating season

  23-01-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Tegu lizards are officially cold-blooded, but it turns out they literally turn up the heat when it's time for some lizard love — a surprising finding that could help scientists get one step closer to solving a mystery of evolution.
  
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• Late birdies boost McIlroy at Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship

  23-01-2016 10:49
  
  World number three Rory McIlroy turned around his disappointing outing in the space of two holes and finished the weather-interrupted second round just two shots behind leader Andy Sullivan in the $2.7 million Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Saturday.
  
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• Zimbabwe's Mugabe back home after heart attack rumours

  23-01-2016 08:13
  By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe returned home late on Friday after a month-long holiday in the Far East, just over a week after the presidency dismissed rumours that Africa's oldest president had suffered a heart attack and collapsed. Mugabe, who turns 92 on Feb. 21, is the only leader that the Southern African nation has ever known, and his health is being closely watched in and outside his ruling party, ZANU-PF. The president was shown on the state t
  
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• Storm slams into Eastern US with wet snow, strong gales

  23-01-2016 07:34
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A storm that arrived postcard-pretty in the nation's capital Friday was morphing into a painful, even paralyzing blizzard with gale-force winds pushing heavy snow and coastal flooding. One in seven Americans could get at least half a foot of snow by Sunday, and Washington could see snowdrifts more than 4 feet high.
  
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• Bad Omen: How Full Moon Could Worsen Winter Storm Jonas

  23-01-2016 06:58
  The first full moon of January will rise this weekend, coinciding with a massive winter storm that is expected to wallop parts of the U.S. East Coast with snow and ice. Full moons can incite a whole host of fears and superstitions, but tomorrow's full moon will have one real effect: It will bring with it high tides that could exacerbate the impending blizzard. A full moon occurs when the Earth, sun and moon form one straight line, with the Earth in between, so that the moon is fully illuminated
  
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• NASA sees winter storm slamming eastern United States

  23-01-2016 06:00
  
  (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center) NASA satellite imagery captured the size of the massive winter storm that continued to pummel the US East Coast early on Jan. 23, 2016.
  
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• Jeff Bezos' space company successfully re-flies, lands rocket

  23-01-2016 05:10
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuters) - - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space transportation company, Blue Origin, successfully launched and landed a suborbital rocket for a second time, a key step in its quest to develop reusable boosters, the company said on Friday.
  
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• Michigan cooperative, confrontational with US on Flint water

  23-01-2016 04:29
  
  DETROIT (AP) — Michigan's top environmental officer was by turns cooperative and confrontational with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, pledging to work together to ensure the safety of Flint's drinking water but challenging the legality and scope of some federal demands.
  
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• Noted futurist predicts disease-fighting computers as small as blood cells in 25 years

  23-01-2016 03:00 via cbc.ca
  
  A famed futurist who foresees a day when and human and artificial intelligence merge and nanobots battle disease spoke to CBC's Duncan McCue about what lies ahead.
  
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• Flint lead problem could be eased by recoating old pipes

  23-01-2016 02:14
  
  Flint's mayor has floated a shockingly high price tag to fix the Michigan city's lead-contamination problem: $1.5 billion to replace damaged pipes. Gov. Rick Snyder put the figure at $700 million.
  
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• Former US auto hub reeling from tainted water scandal

  23-01-2016 01:27
  
  For months, people in Flint, Michigan -- a dying industrial town in the American heartland -- consumed water contaminated with lead. And the country ignored it.
  
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• VIDEO: Capturing the world's longest sunset

  23-01-2016 01:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A BBC News crew is in Antarctica following a team of British researchers who are monitoring penguins.
  
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• Michigan panel offers plan to return safe water to Flint

  23-01-2016 00:43
  
  DETROIT (AP) — An advisory panel to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Friday recommended steps the state should take to restore reliable drinking water to Flint, including hiring an unbiased third party to declare when the system is free of lead.
  
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