Science news

• Over 18,300 Apply to Become NASA Astronauts, Smashing Record

  19-02-2016 23:46
  
  More than 18,300 people have applied for 14 or fewer spots in NASA's next astronaut class, shattering the 1978 record of 8,000 applicants. The prospective astronauts all submitted their applications between Dec.14 and when the application period closed yesterday (Feb. 18) — and the total number is close to triple the applicants for NASA's most recent astronaut class, in 2012. "It's not at all surprising to me that so many Americans from diverse backgrounds want to personally contribute to
  
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• Brazil prosecutor threatens to torpedo $5 bn dam burst settlement

  19-02-2016 23:19
  
  A nearly $5 billion expected settlement for last year's toxic flood that killed 17 people in Brazil could be challenged by prosecutors, who say the amount is not enough.
  
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• Stephen Hawking 'would be proud' to fly on Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo

  19-02-2016 23:13
  Professor Stephen Hawking has announced the world is "entering a new space age" as he helped to unveil the new Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo.
  
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• Massive black hole photographed

  19-02-2016 22:33 via cbc.ca
  
  Hubble Space Telescope captures a black hole 21 billion times bigger than the sun
  
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• NASA gets record number of astronaut applications

  19-02-2016 22:11 via cbc.ca
  
  NASA announced Friday it received a record number of applicants — some 18,300 — for its next astronaut class.
  
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• FDA to test foods for controversial herbicide

  19-02-2016 21:56
  
  Amid controversy and conflicting studies, the FDA will test food for glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world.
  
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• 'Telescope' Documentary Gives Inspirational View of NASA's Next Space Telescope

  19-02-2016 20:33
  
  "Telescope," a one-hour documentary, features interviews with many of the scientists involved with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and footage taken at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center, where the movie's director, Nathaniel Kahn, has been filming and doing research for about two years. The documentary succeeds in a task that is often taken for granted in science-oriented communications: It generates excitement in its audience.
  
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• Record number of astronaut wannabes apply to NASA _ 18,300

  19-02-2016 19:59
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Space travel never looked so good.
  
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• Without a ban on trade in old ivory, elephant killing continues

  19-02-2016 19:18
  
  Samuel Wasser has been working to track down where poached ivory comes from. But to stop the killing, he says, a ban on the ivory trade is necessary.
  
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• 'Deutschland 83' star keen on Berlin Wall follow-up

  19-02-2016 18:43
  By Sara Hemrajani LONDON (Reuters) - The star of German Cold War drama "Deutschland 83", which has won small-screen fans at home and abroad, says he would welcome a crack at a follow-up covering the fall of the Berlin Wall. Set in 1983 with real events in a divided Germany as a backdrop, the eight-episode show about espionage, the threat of nuclear war and pop culture follows Martin Rauch, a young East German border guard who is recruited by the secret police as an undercover spy in West Germany
  
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• El Niño peaks but La Niña possible

  19-02-2016 18:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The El Niño weather phenomenon is set to decline over the next few months but scientists say that a La Niña event could start later this year.
  
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• Deaths from 'Benzo' Sedatives Quietly Increasing

  19-02-2016 18:20
  Prescription opioids have made headlines for skyrocketing rates of deaths from overdoses, but a new report shows that overdose deaths from another group of medications — sedatives called benzodiazepines — are also increasing. The researchers found that the death rate in the U.S. from overdoses on benzodiazepines has increased more than fivefold since 1996. Also known as "benzos," the class includes drugs such as Valium and Xanax.
  
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• Climate Change Gets Short Shrift in US Classrooms

  19-02-2016 18:20
  
  Middle- and high-school students spend very little time learning about climate change in the classroom, and many students hear misinformation about the cause of rising global temperatures, new research finds. In the first nationally representative survey of public middle- and high-school teachers in the United States, only 30 percent of teachers said they emphasize that humans are causing climate change by burning fossil fuels. Another 12 percent said they don't mention human causes, and 31 perc
  
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• Zika Virus Can Enter the Womb, Tests Confirm

  19-02-2016 18:19
  New tests now officially confirm what doctors have long suspected: The Zika virus can cross the placental barrier in a pregnant woman and enter the amniotic fluid, the protective fluid that surrounds a developing fetus within the womb. However, the findings do not show that the Zika virus causes microcephaly, a congenital condition in infants that causes them to be born with very small heads, the researchers cautioned. "Previous studies have identified Zika virus in the saliva, breast milk and u
  
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• 1 in 5 US Adults Visits ER Yearly

  19-02-2016 18:19
  The report, based on a national survey done by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that 18 percent of American adults said they visited the ER at least once in 2014, and about 6.5 percent said they visited the ER two or more times. Young people were also slightly more likely to end up in the ER. In 2014, 20 percent of people ages 18 to 29 said they visited the ER at least once, compared to 17 percent of people ages 30 to 44, and 17.5 percent of people
  
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• #Catmageddon: Why Experts Love New Anti-Smoking Ad

  19-02-2016 18:18
  Nothing gets the Internet talking like viral cat videos, and now a new anti-smoking ad has tapped into people's love of funny cats in the name of health education — a move that experts say is a good one. "Cats are twice as likely to get cancer if their owner smokes," proclaims a voice in the video, which was produced by a nonprofit organization called the Truth Initiative. "Smoking = no cats = no cat videos," the video warns.
  
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• Social Group Activities May Help Retirees Live Longer

  19-02-2016 18:17
  People who belong to social groups such as book clubs or church groups after they retire may live longer, a new study suggests. In fact, the benefits that belonging to social groups after retirement has for longevity are comparable to those of regular exercise after retirement, the researchers said. "If you are in the process of retiring and don't belong to any group, join one," said study author Niklas Steffens, a postdoctoral research fellow in psychology at the University of Queensland in Aus
  
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• Report Claiming Pesticide Behind Microcephaly in Brazil Lacks Evidence

  19-02-2016 18:17
  
  A recent report claims that a pesticide in Brazil's drinking water could be the culprit responsible for the country's recent alarming rise in microcephaly, but experts say there is no evidence to support this claim, and furthermore, that such a link is not biologically possible. The report, compiled by a group of doctors in Argentina called Physicians in Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST), appeared online Feb. 9, claiming that Brazil's clusters of microcephaly — a congenital condition that causes b
  
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• Does Zika Cause Microcephaly? CDC Seeks More Answers

  19-02-2016 18:17
  
  Right now, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are collaborating with researchers in Brazil studying Zika virus. Now, to further investigate whether there is indeed a cause-and-effect link between the virus and microcephaly, researchers will use a key type of research study called a case-control study, Frieden said.
  
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• Organs to Order: 3D 'Bioprinter' Makes Replacement Bones, Ears

  19-02-2016 18:16
  
  The tissue and organ structures produced by the printer could one day be used to replace injured or diseased tissues in human patients, the researchers said. "This novel tissue and organ printer is an important advance in our quest to make replacement tissue for patients," senior study author Dr. Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, said in a statement.
  
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• Despite tragedy, Virgin Galactic presses on: Bob McDonald

  19-02-2016 17:37 via cbc.ca
  
  Space tourism company Virgin Galactic unveils its new space plane this week, a successor to one destroyed in a tragic accident in 2014. The company is forging ahead, despite serious setbacks, confident it can make space travel safe for citizens.
  
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• UN climate chief to step down

  19-02-2016 17:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The UN's top climate diplomat, Christiana Figueres, will leave her post in July, having played a key role in the successful Paris climate negotiations.
  
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• UN climate chief Figueres to step down in July

  19-02-2016 17:06
  
  STOCKHOLM (AP) — U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres says she will leave her post in July after six years in charge of the diplomatic effort to fight global warming.
  
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• Apple's encryption battle with the FBI could spill into Canada

  19-02-2016 17:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Apple's legal battle with the FBI could reverberate in Canada, where privacy and technology experts say the debate around encryption technology has been alarmingly "quiet" despite its far-reaching consequences.
  
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• 6 Supercool Tech Toy Standouts at the 2016 International Toy Fair [Slide Show]

  19-02-2016 17:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Coding and construction toys stole this year’s show
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• Testosterone Supplementation Brings Modest Benefit to Older Men

  19-02-2016 16:45 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Despite improving sexual function and mood, researchers aren’t overly optimistic about testosterone replacement
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• Exoplanet Census Suggests Earth Is Special after All

  19-02-2016 16:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  A new tally proposes that roughly 700 quintillion terrestrial exoplanets are likely to exist across the observable universe—most vastly different from Earth
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• Plume from Mumbai's Burning Landfill Seen from Space

  19-02-2016 16:01
  
  The end of January had a smoky surprise for Mumbai, India, after the city's largest landfill caught fire and burned for four days. Mumbai's Deonar dumping ground extends across 0.5 square miles (1.3 square kilometers) near Thane Creek. Each day, the landfill receives more than 8.1 million pounds (3.7 million kilograms) of trash, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.
  
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• 'See' What You Breathe with New Air-Quality Monitor

  19-02-2016 16:00
  
  People typically think about clean or dirty air only when they're outside, but air quality can be a significant problem even indoors. AirVisual — a global team of scientists, engineers and others — is producing the gadget, called the AirVisual Node. The Node's bright and colorful screen can illuminate pollution, temperature, humidity and stuffiness, both indoors and outdoors.
  
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• Deadly Orangutan Attack: 2 Apes Team Up to Kill Another

  19-02-2016 16:00
  A loud rumble, a scuffle and 33 long minutes of coordinated attacks by a female orangutan and her male partner led to the death of an older female orangutan in a Borneo forest, in what scientists say is the first incident of lethal aggression among orangutans ever observed by researchers. Immediately, Ekko also joined the fight, taking turns attacking the older female, the researchers reported.
  
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• Stolen Radioactive Material: What Is Iridium-192?

  19-02-2016 15:59
  Some security experts are worried that a cache of radioactive material reportedly stolen from an oil field in Iraq could be used by organizations such as the Islamic State group to produce a dirty bomb. A laptop-size case with about 0.35 ounces (10 grams) of the material, called iridium-192, allegedly went missing from an oil field storage facility in Basra that is run by the American company Weatherford, Reuters reported. "We are afraid the radioactive element will fall into the hands of Daesh,
  
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• Fallout 4 wins game of the year at D.I.C.E. Awards

  19-02-2016 15:54 via cbc.ca
  
  Fallout 4 wasted the competition at the D.I.C.E. Awards in Las Vegas, with the role-playing title set in a post-apocalyptic Boston winning game of the year, outstanding achievement in game direction and role-playing game of the year, while its spin-off app Fallout Shelter was selected as mobile game of the year.
  
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• Alberta Energy to discuss cyberthreats against oil and gas infrastructure

  19-02-2016 15:45 via cbc.ca
  
  Alberta's energy department will be holding meetings in the coming weeks to discuss the threat of cyberattacks on oil-and-gas infrastructure — an issue that was flagged in a recent report by the province's auditor general.
  
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• New phase in polar bear breeding plan

  19-02-2016 15:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A polar bear breeding project in Scotland takes a step forward with the arrival of a crate for moving a male bear to a female's enclosure.
  
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• Psychologist probes possible link between prodigy, autism

  19-02-2016 15:00
  
  The Prodigy’s Cousin explores the baffling world of child prodigies and people with autism.
  
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• Virgin Galactic unveils new space tourism rocket plane today

  19-02-2016 14:52 via cbc.ca
  
  Virgin Galactic will roll out a new version of its SpaceShipTwo space tourism rocket Friday as it prepares to return to flight testing for the first time since a 2014 accident destroyed the original, killed one of its pilots and set back the nascent industry.
  
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• Virgin Galactic unveils new space tourism rocket plane

  19-02-2016 14:52 via cbc.ca
  
  Virgin Galactic rolled out a new version of its SpaceShipTwo space tourism rocket Friday as it prepares to return to flight testing for the first time since a 2014 accident destroyed the original, killed one of its pilots and set back the nascent industry.
  
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• Virgin Galactic to Unveil, Christen New Passenger Spaceship Today

  19-02-2016 14:20
  
  The world will get its first look at Virgin Galactic's new suborbital space plane today. Virgin Galactic will roll out the next SpaceShipTwo, and reveal the new craft's name, today (Feb. 19) during a ceremony at the company's manufacturing facility at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Southern California. The new vehicle is the second SpaceShipTwo to be built.
  
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• Private Cygnus Cargo Ship Leaves Space Station to Meet Fiery Doom

  19-02-2016 14:19
  
  Cygnus is ready to take the plunge: This morning (Feb. 19), at 7:26 a.m. EST (1226 GMT), the International Space Station's robotic arm released the latest Orbital ATK cargo ship into open space so the unmanned spacecraft can end its resupply mission with a death dive into Earth's atmosphere. Once it is safely away from the station, the commercial Cygnus spacecraft will fire its engines twice to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up over the Pacific Ocean. The supply craft, named the S.S. Deke
  
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• Goats gut fungi could boost biofuels

  19-02-2016 14:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The legendary abilities of goats and sheep to digest a wide range of inedible materials could help scientists produce cheaper biofuels.
  
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• Disney's 'Miles From Tomorrowland' Fuses Space Science and Fun

  19-02-2016 14:04
  
  In an episode from "Miles From Tomorrowland" — a new Disney kid's TV show about a galactic-traveling family, whose first season finale will air in March — one of the characters sees Pluto out the spaceship's window and calls it a planet. "No, it's a dwarf planet," another character says, echoing the still hotly debated consensus from an International Astronomical Union decision in 2006. One of the show's advisers, Randii Wessen, has worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) si
  
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• Space station astronauts give huge trash can the boot

  19-02-2016 13:54
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The International Space Station just got a whole lot tidier.
  
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• Swim Like a Butterfly? Sea Snail 'Flies' Through Water

  19-02-2016 13:41
  
  But the sea butterfly, a tiny marine snail, has more in common with flying insects than you might expect, according to a new study. Also known as Limacina helicina, the sea butterfly navigates cold ocean waters in the northern Atlantic and Pacific. Many types of zooplankton, tiny ocean animals, have structures like the sea butterfly's, which they use as paddles to propel themselves through the water.
  
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• 93-Mile-Long Ancient Wall in Jordan Puzzles Archaeologists

  19-02-2016 13:27
  
  A new map of an ancient wall that extended 93 miles (150 kilometers) in Jordan has left archaeologists with a series of mysteries, including questions over when the wall was built, who built it and what its purpose was. Known today as the "Khatt Shebib," the wall's existence was first reported in 1948, by Sir Alec Kirkbride, a British diplomat in Jordan. Archaeologists with the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan (AAJ) project have been investigating the remains of the wall using aerial photography.
  
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• Dads pass health effects of stress on to sons, mouse study finds

  19-02-2016 13:00
  
  In mice, males exposed to repeated psychological stress developed high blood sugar — and so did their unstressed male offspring.
  
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• Sumatran elephant found with leg almost severed by rope

  19-02-2016 12:38
  
  A Sumatran elephant calf lies stricken in the jungle in Indonesia as conservationists fight to remove a rope tightly wound around its leg that almost caused the critically endangered animal to lose a limb.
  
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• Bronze Age wheel at 'British Pompeii'

  19-02-2016 11:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Bronze Age wheel described as an "unprecedented" find is unearthed at a site dubbed "Britain's Pompeii".
  
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• No break for cellphone bills as CRTC rejects plan for virtual networks

  19-02-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  The federal regulator has turned down a plan by about 30 small internet companies that would have allowed them to rent the cellular networks of the big telecoms and, in all likelihood, provide a cheaper wireless service.
  
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• CRTC rejects plea from small internet providers seeking wireless access

  19-02-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  The federal regulator has turned down a plan by about 30 small internet companies that would have allowed them to rent the cellular networks of the big telecoms and, in all likelihood, provide a cheaper wireless service.
  
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• Branson's Virgin Galactic moves to return to space race

  19-02-2016 10:35
  
  LONG BEACH, Calif. (Reuters) - Richard Branson said on Thursday his Virgin Galactic venture is eager to rejoin the race among rival billionaire entrepreneurs to send passengers and satellites into space, following a deadly accident 16 months ago.
  
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