Science news

• Iraq's water minister judges only tiny danger of Mosul dam collapse

  06-02-2016 22:39
  Iraq's minister of water resources on Saturday played down warnings that Mosul dam will collapse, estimating only a "one in a thousand" chance of failure and saying the solution was to build a new dam or install a deep concrete support wall. The U.S. military has warned that a collapse of the 3.6 km-long (2.2 mile) hydroelectric dam located near Islamic State-held territory in the country's north would be catastrophic. "The looming danger to Mosul dam is one in a thousand.
  
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• When should courts and police be allowed to take your DNA?

  06-02-2016 16:58 via cbc.ca
  
  An Ontario man convicted of animal abuse has been ordered to give a DNA sample in case he commits crimes in the future. We want to hear from you: When should courts and police be allowed to take your DNA? Should animal abuse cases warrant submitting DNA? You weighed in via CBC Forum.
  
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• CBC Forum: When should courts and police be allowed to take your DNA?

  06-02-2016 16:58 via cbc.ca
  
  An Ontario man convicted of animal abuse has been ordered to give a DNA sample in case he commits crimes in the future. We want to hear from you: When should courts and police be allowed to take your DNA? Should animal abuse cases warrant submitting DNA? Weigh in via CBC Forum.
  
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• Spanish biodiesel plant blast kills two

  06-02-2016 16:44
  
  Two workers were killed and a third was seriously injured in an explosion at a biodiesel plant in eastern Spain on Saturday, regional emergency services said.
  
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• Could You Stomach the Horrors of 'Halftime' in Ancient Rome?

  06-02-2016 15:19
  
  All of Rome came to the Games: rich and poor, men and women, children and the noble elite alike. He triumphed in one match that pitted him against a bear, a lion and a leopard, all of which were released to attack him at once.
  
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• Super Bowl Showdown: Would Broncos or Panthers Win a Real-Life Matchup?

  06-02-2016 14:39
  
  While people are stocking up on Buffalo wings and potato chips in advance of the Super Bowl this Sunday, fans are split on who has the best chances of winning: the Denver Broncos or the Carolina Panthers. It turns out that the Super Bowl mascots would be a fairly even match out in the wild, too: While a panther is powerful and stealthy, broncos tend to live in herds, and they have strength in numbers, said Don Moore, a senior scientist at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, on assignment at the Asso
  
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• Seriously? That Ancient Greek Statue Does Not Depict a Laptop

  06-02-2016 14:26
  
  There's a new conspiracy theory out there, but instead of invoking big government or aliens, it questions whether there's a laptop carved into an ancient Greek statue. The theory, proposed by the anonymous YouTube user StillSpeakingOut, ventures that the ancient Oracle of Delphi may have foreseen the invention of laptops, and told people about it. "Just so we are clear, I'm not saying that this relief was depicting an ancient laptop computer," StillSpeakingOut said in the 100-second-long video.
  
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• Where the Super Bowl Meets Space: NASA's Aerodynamics Lab

  06-02-2016 14:04
  
  Only a few miles away is the NASA Ames Research Center, where engineers can use wind tunnels, water channels and other tools to study the aerodynamics of rockets, airplanes — and even footballs. In Ames' Experimental Aero-Physics Branch lab, scientists use a fluid dynamics chamber to recreate the conditions of an object flying through the air. "What we are looking for in the smoke patterns is, at what speed the smoke patterns suddenly change," Rabi Mehta, chief of the Experimental Aero-Phy
  
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• DNA order in animal abuse case sparks privacy debate

  06-02-2016 14:00 via cbc.ca
  
  A southern Ontario man admits he bound a dog's snout, neck and legs with electrical tape and left it for dead behind a shopping centre in Windsor, Ont.
  
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• Halifax exotic animal exhibit teaching diversity and conservation

  06-02-2016 13:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Fans of reptiles and exotic animals in the Halifax area have an opportunity this weekend to get up close and personal with an assortment from the animal kingdom.
  
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• Sixth man on Moon Edgar Mitchell dies

  06-02-2016 12:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who was the sixth man to walk on the Moon and had an "epiphany" in space, dies at the age of 85.
  
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• Obama seeks to double US funds for clean energy research

  06-02-2016 12:10
  
  President Barack Obama on Saturday proposed doubling US funding over the next five years for clean energy research and development, as part of his ongoing effort to tackle climate change.
  
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• Halifax scientist off to Japan for Astro-H satellite launch

  06-02-2016 12:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Saint Mary's University astronomer Luigi Gallo leads the Canadian portion of the space telescope being launched in Japan next week.
  
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• Sky-high Wi-Fi: Canada's airlines roll out more internet

  06-02-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Canadian airlines are working to expand wireless access on their flights to meet demand for the service. But Canada is still catching up to U.S. airlines when it comes to how often passengers can expect to find Wi-Fi on their flights.
  
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• Apollo 14 Astronaut Edgar Mitchell Dies

  06-02-2016 07:37
  
  Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who was the sixth man to walk on the moon, has died in Florida, aged 85. Mitchell's 1971 mission with two fellow astronauts, the third US lunar landing, restored wavering public faith in NASA after the failure of Apollo 13. The spaceman passed away on Thursday night at a hospice in West Palm Beach following a short illness, his daughter, Kimberly Mitchell, said.
  
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• Sea lion found in San Diego restaurant

  06-02-2016 06:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A hungry sea lion pup is rescued after finding its way into a restaurant in the US city of San Diego.
  
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• Cambridge researcher develops smartphone app to map Swiss-German dialects

  06-02-2016 06:00
  
  (University of Cambridge) Researchers from the Universities of Cambridge, Zurich and Bern have taken advantage of 'crowdsourcing' to gather new information on the spread of dialects in German-speaking Switzerland, which has been recently published as a paper in PLOS One.
  
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• U.S. officials say North Korea may be nearing launch

  06-02-2016 05:27
  By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Satellite images taken this week of North Korea's Sohae rocket launch site show apparent fuelling activity seen in the past shortly before a rocket launch, a U.S. think-tank said, as U.S government officials signalled that a launch could occur as early as Monday. North Korea has told U.N. agencies it will launch a rocket carrying what it called an earth observation satellite some time between Feb. 8 and Feb. 25, triggering international opposition from
  
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• Strong quake hits Taiwan, killing 3; 221 rescued from rubble

  06-02-2016 02:37
  
  TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Rescuers in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan pulled out 221 people and three dead from a residential high-rise complex that collapsed when a shallow 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck before dawn Saturday, leaving still others trapped inside.
  
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• Edgar Mitchell, astronaut who walked on Moon, dead at 85

  06-02-2016 01:59
  
  US astronaut Edgar Mitchell, one of just 12 people to have walked on the Moon, has died aged 85, his family and NASA said Friday, calling him a "pioneer."
  
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• EPA: Mine spill dumped 880,000 pounds of metals in river

  06-02-2016 01:55
  
  DENVER (AP) — A 3 million-gallon spill from a southwestern Colorado gold mine last year may have dumped more than 880,000 pounds of metals into the Animas River, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Friday.
  
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