Science news

• VIDEO: Scott Kelly's year in space

  29-02-2016 23:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Astronaut Scott Kelly returns home after spending a year in space. He documented his journey on Twitter and Instagram.
  
  Read more

• Shortcut-finding app Waze creating residential traffic headaches

  29-02-2016 23:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Shortcut-finding has been a way of life in traffic-jammed L.A. for decades. But now there is an app for that, Waze, which has become a target of politicians and quiet-street residents for creating traffic headaches in their backyards.
  
  Read more

• 'Skinny' cable TV a day away: What's coming for consumers

  29-02-2016 22:58 via cbc.ca
  
  It won't be long now. As of tomorrow, cable TV customers will have access to slimmed-down cable packages costing around $25 per month.
  
  Read more

• 2 Canadians charged with sale of sensor technology to China

  29-02-2016 22:57 via cbc.ca
  
  RCMP have charged 4 people with sale of satellite imaging microelectronics to China, alleging that a sensor developed from Waterloo, Ont. company Teledyne-DALSA technology was being illegally exported.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Voting in Space? Yearlong-Mission Astronaut Will Miss 'Super Tuesday' Primary

  29-02-2016 22:38
  
  "Super Tuesday," when several U.S. states hold their primary presidential elections, won't be so super for astronaut Scott Kelly. Both of the U.S. astronauts on board the station are slated to vote tomorrow (March 1) when their home base of Houston, Texas, casts its votes, but NASA representatives said Kelly will not be able to participate. "Scott confirmed he will not be voting as he will be in the process of landing," NASA spokesman Dan Huot told Space.com.
  
  Read more

• Space Station Command Change Is One Giant Leap (Day) for Space History

  29-02-2016 22:38
  
  Scott Kelly made space history on Monday (Feb. 29). The NASA astronaut, who is set to return to Earth Tuesday after almost a year in space, handed over command of the International Space Station to fellow astronaut Tim Kopra in a ceremony that just happened to fall on a leap day. "Take a leap and explore new possibilities!" Kelly wrote on Twitter.
  
  Read more

• 5 Surprising Things We Learned from 'The Last Man on the Moon'

  29-02-2016 22:38
  
  The new documentary "The Last Man on the Moon" views the Apollo program through the eyes of Gene Cernan, an astronaut who put humanity's most recent footsteps on the moon, in 1972. Before setting foot on the moon during Apollo 17, Cernan flew two other space missions: Gemini 9A, where he struggled during NASA's second spacewalk ever, and Apollo 10, in which the astronauts did "everything but" land on the moon, including approach the surface in the lunar lander. Cernan said he and astronaut Harri
  
  Read more

• Low levels of radiation from Fukushima persist in seafood

  29-02-2016 21:40
  
  Aquatic species in Japan contain low levels of radioactive cesium, but some freshwater species risk high contamination.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• White lion shot dead near Canadian capital

  29-02-2016 21:04
  
  An African white lion was shot dead after escaping from its enclosure at a small private zoo near Ottawa over the weekend, the facility's owner announced Monday.
  
  Read more

• A Year in Space: 7 Mission Milestones for NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly

  29-02-2016 20:42
  
  NASA astronaut Scott Kelly is scheduled to return to Earth tomorrow (March 1) after spending 340 days aboard the International Space Station. Here are seven milestones of Scott Kelly's monumental year in space. When Scott Kelly lifted off aboard a Russian Soyuz space capsule on March 27, 2015, bound for the International Space Station, he began a journey to do something that no American had done before: spend nearly a year in orbit.
  
  Read more

• VIDEO: 'Dragon mum' guards her precious eggs

  29-02-2016 20:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Infrared footage shows a female olm - a bizarre, blind amphibian - guarding her eggs in a Slovenian cave.
  
  Read more

• Romanian police seize stolen archaeological treasures

  29-02-2016 20:00
  
  Romanian police have seized gold coins and a treasure trove of statues which are over 2,000 years old allegedly stolen from archaeological sites and destined for auction, prosecutors said Monday.
  
  Read more

• Protected coral reefs may not be the ones that need protection

  29-02-2016 20:00
  
  A new study finds that more than half of the world’s coral reefs site within a half-hour of a human settlement. But those that are protected tend to be far away.
  
  Read more

• VIDEO: The power station inside a mountain

  29-02-2016 19:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scottish Power is planning to double the size of its hydro-electric power plant which creates and stores energy.
  
  Read more

• Bubble blowing gets scientific scrutiny

  29-02-2016 19:04
  
  A new study uncovers the basic physics of blowing soap bubbles.
  
  Read more

• Living in filth, Greece's migrants battle hunger and cold

  29-02-2016 18:59
  By Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS (Reuters) - Mohammed Asif and his family have no food, no shelter and no security. Asif, who though 43 looks at least 20 years older, is one of thousands of Afghans trapped in Greece, their hopes of reaching sanctuary in northern Europe dashed by a cascade of border shutdowns from Austria to Macedonia. "What will we do now?" Most of the 400 Afghans vying for limited pavement space in Athens' Victoria Square are Hazaras, an ethnic minority who have long suffered discr
  
  Read more

• How should lawmakers address cyberbullying?

  29-02-2016 18:58 via cbc.ca
  
  Politicians have tried to respond to concerns over cyberbullying, but their efforts have run into roadblocks about how to tackle the issue without breaching people's freedom of expression. How should lawmakers address cyberbullying?
  
  Read more

• Bill Gates 'Discovers' 14-Year-Old Formula on Climate Change

  29-02-2016 18:54
  
  Bill Gates just released a climate science equation that explains how the world can lower carbon dioxide emissions "down to zero," according to the 2016 edition the annual letter he and his wife, Melinda, published. But instead of grilling Gates about the origins of the formula, climate scientists are glad he's talking about it, said Michael Mann, a distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University. The genesis of Gates' equation might remain a mystery for now &mdas
  
  Read more

• Why some climate advocates cringed at Leo's Oscar speech

  29-02-2016 18:49 via cbc.ca
  
  Leonardo DiCaprio used his especially high-profile moment to draw attention to climate change, calling it "the most urgent threat facing our entire species," but the way he went about it had even some of the most ardent advocates for action on climate change cringing.
  
  Read more

• Year-in-Space Astronaut Scott Kelly Packs for Home, Skips Souvenir

  29-02-2016 18:45
  
  The NASA astronaut, who has been living and working on the International Space Station since March 2015, is set to return home to Earth on Tuesday (March 1) after 340 days circling the planet. Kelly is the first American to embark on such a long mission and, together with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko is the first to stay for nearly a year at the orbiting outpost. "I don't look at souvenirs that have been flown in space the same [way] that other people do, only because I've been in sp
  
  Read more

• Mars Rover Opportunity Climbs Red Planet Ridge (Photo)

  29-02-2016 18:45
  
  NASA's Opportunity Mars rover is tackling some of the toughest terrain the robot has encountered in its twelve years on the Red Planet. Opportunity began climbing up a 30-degree slope known as Knudsen Ridge late last month, in an effort to reach and study Mars rocks that may have been exposed to liquid water billions of years ago. The six-wheeled robot has managed very well on the slope — the steepest Opportunity has dealt with since March 2004, just two months after it touched down on the
  
  Read more

• Yearlong ISS mission coming to an end for pair of space travellers

  29-02-2016 18:13 via cbc.ca
  
  American astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are preparing to return to Earth today after spending a year aboard the International Space Station.
  
  Read more

• Clean-technology investors call for federal task force

  29-02-2016 17:18 via cbc.ca
  
  Canada could end up more of a buyer than a seller of clean technology without more support from the federal government, a B.C.-based group of investors and entrepreneurs has suggested.
  
  Read more

• Funeral Feast? Butchered Turtles in Ancient Grave Hint at Ritual

  29-02-2016 17:12
  
  In an ancient settlement on the banks of the Tigris River in Turkey, archaeologists have made a strange discovery: 17 butchered soft-shelled turtles in the grave of a woman and child. As there are no marks of trauma or injuries, it's not clear how the two people buried with the turtles died.
  
  Read more

• 'Mojoe' on the Go: New Thermos Doubles as Portable Coffeemaker

  29-02-2016 17:11
  
  Hyman first dreamed up what would become the mojoe when he was a college student studying late at night in the library. The mojoe is the first of its kind, Hyman said, because unlike other portable coffeemakers on the market, the mojoe does not require you to heat water before brewing, and it can withstand superhot temperatures. To create a self-contained coffee-brewing system within a travel mug, Hyman and his team figured out how to combine aspects of drip brewing with vacuum brewing in a smal
  
  Read more

• Physics of Skipping Stones Could Make Bounceable Naval Weapons

  29-02-2016 17:07
  
  "A text titled 'The Art of Shooting [in] Great Ordnaunce' by William Bourne was likely published in 1578, and is the first known account to mention that if cannonballs are fired at a sufficiently low angle they will ricochet across the water surface," said study co-author Tadd Truscott, a fluid dynamicist at Utah State University in Logan. "This bomb was made to spin at a great rate before impact, enabling it to move along the water surface and avoid torpedo nets on its way to destroy key German
  
  Read more

• Easter Island Civilization Not Destroyed by War, New Evidence Shows

  29-02-2016 17:06
  
  Thousands of small, sharp, spearlike objects scattered throughout Easter Island have long been presumed to be evidence of massive warfare that led to the demise of its ancient civilization. Easter Island is a tiny landmass located about 2,300 miles (3,700 kilometers) off the coast of Chile. Polynesians first arrived on the island in the 13th century, and Rapa Nui's early inhabitants were famous for the enormous stone statues (called moai) that they built and placed on the coastline.
  
  Read more

• Rare Charles Darwin Letter Fails to Sell at Auction

  29-02-2016 17:05
  A handwritten letter by famed naturalist Charles Darwin to a British marine biologist was put up for auction yesterday (Feb. 25) but failed to sell, according to Nate D. Sanders Auctions, the Los Angeles-based auction house that arranged the sale. The letter, which was originally listed with a minimum bid of $69,500, was expected to be one of several of Darwin's letters to be auctioned off recently, but the historic document did not end up being sold. Last September, a letter in which Darwin exp
  
  Read more

• New Virtual Reality Suit Lets You Reach Out & Touch 'Environment'

  29-02-2016 17:04
  
  Virtual reality could one day incorporate all the senses, creating a rich and immersive experience, but existing virtual reality headsets only simulate things you can see and hear. Designed by Lucian Copeland, Morgan Sinko and Jordan Brooks while they were students at the University of Rochester, in New York, the suit looks something like a bulletproof vest or light armor. In addition, there are small accelerometers embedded in the suit's arms.
  
  Read more

• World's Richest Man Picks Energy Miracles

  29-02-2016 17:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  What is Bill Gates betting on to provide the world with cheap, clean, reliable energy?
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• At Least 9 Pregnant Women in US Infected with Zika: CDC

  29-02-2016 16:58
  Nine pregnant women in the U.S. have now been confirmed to have had Zika virus infections that they contracted through travel to places where the virus is spreading, U.S. health officials said today. Among the nine cases in the pregnant women, three babies have been born, including two who showed no signs of illness and one who had severe microcephaly, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two women are continuing their pregnancies, and so far, there have
  
  Read more

• Checking Embryo Viability? Give It a Good Squeeze

  29-02-2016 16:55
  
  In fact, the technique of gently squeezing a series of embryos appears to be the most accurate way for researchers to figure out which one to select for implantation, according to the study published Wednesday (Feb. 24) in the journal Nature Communications. Tests that involve implanting embryos chosen this way into human patients may start soon, the researchers said.
  
  Read more

• How to Gain Weight During Pregnancy, the Healthy Way

  29-02-2016 16:41
  Gaining weight during pregnancy is both natural and essential. Women may think that "being pregnant gives them the license to eat anything," said Katherine Tallmadge, a registered dietitian and an op-ed contributor to Live Science. Indeed, studies show that the amount of weight a woman gains during pregnancy plays a major role in how much she'll lose after giving birth.
  
  Read more

• 'The Martian' Lands No Oscars at Academy Awards

  29-02-2016 16:37
  
  "The Martian" was left stranded without any Oscars on Sunday night (Feb. 28) at the 88th Academy Awards. Ridley Scott's science fiction film about a NASA astronaut (Matt Damon) being left for dead on Mars received seven nominations — including Best Picture and Best Actor — but ended the evening with no wins. "It's pretty cool just to be nominated," wrote Andy Weir, author of the book on which the "The Martian" is based, in a post on Facebook.
  
  Read more

• Bolivian president's woes deepen as ex-girlfriend is held

  29-02-2016 15:18
  By Daniel Ramos LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivian President Evo Morales, fresh from his first major electoral defeat in last week's referendum on extending his rule, is facing a deepening scandal over his ties to a woman who was held by police over the weekend. Gabriela Zapata was jailed on Sunday while her case is investigated. Morales, who is unmarried, acknowledges he had a relationship with Zapata, but questions over whether he has fully told the truth about the relationship have weighed on the pr
  
  Read more

• WhatsApp to drop support for BlackBerry, older Android devices

  29-02-2016 14:46 via cbc.ca
  
  Instant messaging service WhatsApp announced it will soon no longer support mobile devices made by BlackBerry, Nokia and other older-model Android devices.
  
  Read more

• Musk's SpaceX rocket launch canceled at final countdown

  29-02-2016 14:36
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - At the last second, Elon Musk's SpaceX scrubbed plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday, again delaying an attempt to put an satellite into orbit and then land the vehicle's first stage intact on a sea platform, a step that may eventually slash costs.
  
  Read more

• Ancient Stubby-Legged Reptiles with Tiny Heads Were World Travelers

  29-02-2016 13:54
  
  Before dinosaurs roamed the planet, tanklike herbivores called pareiasaurs — barrel-chested and stubby-legged turtle relatives — reigned as Earth's first large plant-eaters. With tiny heads and bony knobs studding their skulls and bodies, pareiasaurs wouldn't have won many beauty contests. Pareiasaurs lived during the Permian era, about 266 million to 252 million years ago.
  
  Read more

• Astronauts set to return to Earth after nearly a year in space

  29-02-2016 13:47
  
  Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko are scheduled to return Earth on Tuesday after a record-setting 340 days in space.
  
  Read more

• Historic Gravitational Waves Rippled, But Left No Fireworks

  29-02-2016 13:40
  
  Before confirmation of the first direct observation of gravitational waves rippled through the world, the search had already begun for visible signs of the event that generated the powerful waves in space. "This first attempt to detect visible light associated with gravitational waves was very challenging, but it paves the way to a whole new field of astrophysics," Edo Berger of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said in a statement. Berger was the principal investigator of a team t
  
  Read more

• Oscar-Nominated Space Movies Available to Watch Online

  29-02-2016 13:38
  
  Two space-themed animated short films will compete this weekend to take home one of the biggest movie prizes in the world, an Academy Award. In his signature style, Hertzfeldt draws his characters as simple stick figures, but in "World of Tomorrow" he incorporates colorful backgrounds and other visual effects.
  
  Read more

• 'Last Man on the Moon' Documentary Brings Space Exploration Home

  29-02-2016 13:38
  
  On Dec. 14, 1972, Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan became the last person (to date) to set foot on the lunar surface. The story of Cernan's NASA career, and the way it has shaped the rest of his life, is the subject of "Last Man on the Moon," a documentary directed by Mark Craig that opens in select theatres today (Feb. 26). The story of NASA's Apollo program has been told many, many times in various movies and an almost uncountable number of books.
  
  Read more

• Houston, We Have a Premiere: 'Last Man on the Moon' Debuts with Astronauts

  29-02-2016 13:37
  
  About a dozen men and women who have flown in space came out to Sundance Cinemas to see the new film, which chronicles the life of Apollo 17 moonwalker Gene Cernan. "I don't think you get this type of turnout anywhere but here in Houston," said Tony Antonelli, a former two-time NASA space shuttle pilot who now works for Lockheed Martin. The audience also included members of NASA's mission control and Cernan's family, who also appear on screen.
  
  Read more

• Earth's Early Ocean Was No Scalding Sea

  29-02-2016 13:37
  
  Rocks from the deep past, some 3.5 billion years ago when life first appeared on the planet, were deposited on a deep, cold ocean floor, not in a scalding sea, a new study suggests. "This is the first evidence that over the entire 3.5 billion years, Earth has operated within a temperature range that suits life," said lead study author Maarten de Wit, a professor at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. To take the temperature of Earth's ancient ocean, the resear
  
  Read more

• 5D Black Holes Could Break Relativity

  29-02-2016 13:29
  
  Ring-shaped, five-dimensional black holes could break Einstein's theory of general relativity, new research suggests. "Here we may have a first glimpse that four space-time dimensions is a very, very good choice, because otherwise, something pretty bad happens in the universe," said Ulrich Sperhake, a theoretical physicist at the University of Cambridge in England. From the beginning, Einstein's theory of general relativity, which describes how matter warps space-time, predicted its own demise.
  
  Read more

• Dutch Buzz: Bees Get Smaller, Men Taller

  29-02-2016 13:27
  
  A team of scientists took a closer look at declining bee populations in the Netherlands and discovered something unexpected — it wasn't just the bee populations that were shrinking. Over nearly a century and a half, big-bodied female bee species in the Netherlands have reduced in size by about 7 percent, according to a new study, the first to investigate variations in Dutch bee size over time.
  
  Read more

• Is the Doomsday Clock Still Relevant?

  29-02-2016 13:24
  Last month, experts with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that the "Doomsday Clock," an iconic symbol meant to represent humanity's risk of facing global calamity, was stuck at 3 minutes to midnight, despite a historic climate agreement reached in Paris just a few months earlier. As part of their reasoning, the atomic bulletin scientists cited the nonbinding nature of those Paris climate accords, the rise of hostility between superpowers and the proliferation of more "modernized"
  
  Read more

• Minds Everywhere: 'Panpsychism' Takes Hold in Science

  29-02-2016 13:13
  Is consciousness nothing more than the firing of neurons in the brain? Many objects people think of as conscious may not be, while some that are considered inanimate may in fact have much greater consciousness than previously thought, Koch said.
  
  Read more

• Rouhani allies win all 30 Tehran parliament seats - final result

  29-02-2016 13:06
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Allies of President Hassan Rouhani have won all 30 seats for the capital Tehran in Iran's parliamentary elections, final results announced on Monday showed. "All 30 candidates who were on top of the list in the Tehran results yesterday made it to the new parliament," Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said on state television. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, Editing by William Maclean)
  
  Read more

• VIDEO: 'Two, one, zero...': Rocket aborts launch

  29-02-2016 11:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A rocket launch by Californian company SpaceX was called off just when the countdown reached zero, as onboard computers raised an alarm.
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!