Science news

• Astronaut Scott Kelly is retiring from Nasa now that he's completed his year in space

  11-03-2016 23:55
  
  Kelly has spent a total of 502 days in space since 1999, but has decided to take a step back.
  
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• FDA predicts no significant environmental impact from GM mosquitoes

  11-03-2016 23:22
  
  The FDA has taken a step in the process of deciding whether to allow the first test release in the United States of genetically modified mosquitoes to fight diseases such as Zika.
  
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• How do we embrace clean energy without disrupting the economy?

  11-03-2016 22:36 via cbc.ca
  
  Nevada power utility NV Energy has responded to Las Vegas casinos installing solar panels by threatening "exit fees" for leaving the utility and promising higher fees for homeowners. What's the best way to embrace clean energy without disrupting the economy?
  
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• CBC Forum: How do we embrace clean energy without disrupting the economy?

  11-03-2016 22:36 via cbc.ca
  
  Nevada power utility NV Energy has responded to Las Vegas casinos installing solar panels by threatening "exit fees" for leaving the utility and promising higher fees for homeowners. What do you think? What's the best way to embrace clean energy without disrupting the economy?
  
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• Should We Hunt Yellowstone Grizzly Bears? (Op-Ed)

  11-03-2016 22:23
  
  Jon Beckmann is a conservation scientist for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) North America Program. In the 2015 film "The Revenant," one of the most dramatic scenes pits frontiersman Hugh Glass in a harrowing effort to ward off an attacking grizzly bear — a battle that helped Leonardo DiCaprio win the Oscar for Best Actor.
  
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• The Carbon-Fiber Future: It's About More Than Speed (Op-Ed)

  11-03-2016 22:22
  
  Nikhil Gupta is an associate professor, and Steven Zeltmann is a student researcher, in the Composite Materials and Mechanics Laboratory of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at New York University Tandon School of Engineering.
  
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• The Experimenters: Temple Grandin on the Autistic Brain

  11-03-2016 22:21
  David Gerlach is the executive producer of "Blank on Blank," which brings new life to classic interviews, and the founder of Quoted Studios, a nonprofit dedicated to animated journalism. Learn more at BlankOnBlank.org.
  
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• Penguin travels over 8,000 km every year to visit man who rescued him

  11-03-2016 22:21 via cbc.ca
  
  Ever since a 71-year-old Brazilian man rescued this penguin, he's regularly travelled more than 8,000 kilometres to visit the man.
  
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• France's Royal applauds US-Canada move to cut methane emissions

  11-03-2016 22:09
  
  France's ecology minister Segolene Royal on Friday welcomed new commitments from Canada and the United States to cut methane emissions, whose global warming potential is worse than carbon dioxide.
  
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• Spotting the Shadows of Jupiter's Galilean Moons

  11-03-2016 21:53
  
  On the evening of Jan. 7, 1610, Galileo Galilei turned his newly constructed telescope on the planet Jupiter and was amazed to observe three tiny stars in a neat row alongside it, two on the left and one on the right. Over the next eight nights, he re-observed Jupiter and quickly realized that these were not background stars, but were four moons in regular orbits, mimicking in miniature the motions of the planets around the sun. Jupiter was passing behind the sun, in conjunction, on June 25.
  
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• Celestial Whiz Kids Named Pluto, Designed Alaska's State Flag

  11-03-2016 21:53
  
  American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, the person who first spied Pluto in photographs captured at Lowell, urged the director of the observatory, Vesto M. Slipher, to suggest a name before someone else did. But it was an 11-year old English girl by the name of Venetia Burney who first suggested "Pluto," during breakfast with her mother and her grandfather, Falconer Madan, Librarian of the Bodleian Library of the University of Oxford.
  
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• Pentagon Paying Techies to Think Like Terrorists

  11-03-2016 21:37 via rss.sciam.com
  
  DARPA’s new “Improv” program encourages hackers to weaponize common gadgets to help anticipate the next big threats
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• With ExoMars, Europe and Russia Aim to Kickstart Mars Exploration

  11-03-2016 20:51
  
  A new Mars mission launching Monday (March 14) aims to kick off a new European program of exploration — and reboot Russian dreams of working at the Red Planet. Russia hasn't had any sort of Mars success since 1989, when the Soviet Union's Fobos 2 mission obtained orbital observations prior to a failed landing. The European Space Agency (ESA) has operated the Mars Express orbiter since 2003, but it hasn't mounted a successful surface mission on the Red Planet yet.
  
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• 10 Years at Mars: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Best Images [Slide Show]

  11-03-2016 20:30 via rss.sciam.com
  
  NASA’s most prolific interplanetary mission reaches a new milestone in Martian exploration
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• New process encourages ice to slip, slide away

  11-03-2016 20:00
  
  Researchers discover new process for making durable ice-phobic materials.
  
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• ExoMars Spacecraft Roll Out to Launchpad for Monday's Liftoff (Photos)

  11-03-2016 19:48
  
  The next robotic mission to Mars has rolled out to the launchpad ahead of its liftoff, which is planned for Monday (March 14).
  
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• Africa's Next Einstein Forum builds expertise in science, tech, engineering, math

  11-03-2016 18:49 via cbc.ca
  
  The Next Einstein fellows are 15 innovators paving the way to build Africa's expertise in science, technology, engineering and math with the help of governments, donors and academics.
  
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• Wary of tech competitors, big automakers invest in automation, mobility

  11-03-2016 18:41 via cbc.ca
  
  General Motors and Ford have both announced moves geared at taking advantage of the tech world's growing influence in the car industry.
  
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• Sin City is trying to go solar, but the power utility is fighting back: Bob McDonald

  11-03-2016 18:38 via cbc.ca
  
  There is no shortage of clean energy on Earth, just a shortage of technology to capture it. But if those technologies are truly going to make an impact, they have to make economic sense as well, Bob McDonald writes.
  
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• ExoMars mission to search for signs of life on the Red Planet

  11-03-2016 18:00
  
  The next mission to Mars will tally gases in the planet’s atmosphere and test technologies for a 2018 rover.
  
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• Nasa showcases potential breakthrough new heart pump motor using flywheel technology

  11-03-2016 17:59
  An animation released by Nasa on social media on 8 March showcases a new piece of technology which could give hope to people born with a missing ventricle. The video shows a heart motor pump that uses flywheel technology produced by Doctor Mark Rodefeld at Nasa's Glenn Research Center. Flywheel technology is a type of technology that features a motor gaining incredible speed and then maintaining the energy produced as rotational or kinetic energy.
  
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• ExoMars 2016: European Space Agency's mission to Mars set to blast off on Proton rocket

  11-03-2016 17:31
  The European Space Agency's ExoMars spacecraft is set to blast off on top of a Proton rocket on Monday (14 March). Scientists hope they will find traces of life – past or present – on the red planet. This will be the ESA's first mission to Mars since the failure of the Beagle-2 lander in 2003.
  
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• Panel: Finding climate fingerprints in wild weather is valid

  11-03-2016 16:44
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Climate science has progressed so much that experts can accurately detect global warming's fingerprints on certain extreme weather events, such as a heat wave, according to a high-level scientific advisory panel.
  
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• Experts issue warning on problems with P values

  11-03-2016 16:30
  A report from the American Statistical Association warns against misinterpretation and misuse of a common statistical test.
  
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• Patagonia's Perito Moreno glacier puts on spectacular display as huge arch collapses

  11-03-2016 15:50
  Chunks of Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier collapsed on Thursday 10 March, as large chunks of ice broke off and crashed into the water. The Patagonian glacier, known as the White Giant, is one of Argentina's biggest attractions. The river of ice, which is 18 miles long, ends in a sheer wall blocking Lago Argentino, where large pieces break off and tumble into the water from time to time.
  
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• Birth Date May Influence Child's Risk for ADHD Diagnosis

  11-03-2016 15:50
  The researchers found that preschool and school-age children who were born in August had an increased risk of being diagnosed with ADHD and receiving medication for it compared to their classmates who were born in September. Because the cutoff birth date for entering school in Taiwan is August 31, children born in August are typically the youngest in their grades, while children born in September are typically the oldest.
  
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• Stunning New 'Drowned Apostles' Discovered on Seafloor

  11-03-2016 15:46
  
  A bevy of limestone towers, dubbed the "Drowned Apostles," have been discovered beneath the waves off the coast of Australia. The discovery may mark the first time scientists have uncovered limestone pillars, called sea stacks, below the water's surface. "Sea stacks are always eroding, as we saw with the one that collapsed in 2005, so it is hugely surprising that any could be preserved at that depth of water," David Kennedy, a geographer at the University of Melbourne in Australia, said in a sta
  
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• Brexit leaves environment 'vulnerable'

  11-03-2016 15:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A new report suggests that a UK departure from the EU would leave Britain's environment "in a more vulnerable and uncertain position."
  
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• Facebook 'sponsored stories' case will be heard by Supreme Court

  11-03-2016 14:58 via cbc.ca
  
  The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to decide whether a Vancouver woman who unwittingly became a brand ambassador on Facebook can fight her case in British Columbia.
  
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• Here’s how dust mites give dermatitis sufferers the itch

  11-03-2016 14:49
  
  Dust mites can make people with eczema truly miserable. Now, scientists have figured out why they make some people scratch, and resolved a dermatological debate.
  
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• Real-Life 'Death Star' Continues to Destroy Alien Worlds

  11-03-2016 13:40
  
  This finding could shed light on how dead stars rip apart their planetary systems — a phenomenon that could happen in Earth's solar system billions of years from now, scientists added. Recently, astronomers detected a dead star tearing apart a planetesimal — a small planetary body, such as a dwarf planet, large asteroid or moon. Most stars, including the sun, will become white dwarfs one day.
  
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• Packing Lunches for Space: Scientists Talk Astronaut Health on 1-Year Mission

  11-03-2016 13:40
  
  NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are back on Earth after spending a record 340 days on the International Space Station. Last Friday (March 4), a group of NASA scientists fielded questions from the public about Kelly and Kornienko's extended stay on the station, during a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA). The scientists discussed specific questions about the physical and metal toll that spaceflight can have on humans — questions they will have to answer before N
  
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• NASA Rover on Mars May Have Ringside Seat to Europe's ExoMars Mission

  11-03-2016 13:40
  
  ExoMars is a joint endeavor between ESA and Russia's Roscosmos space agency, and comprises the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli, an entry, descent and landing demonstrator. Turns out that NASA's Opportunity rover might have a ringside seat to view Schiaparelli's descent and landing. Schiaparelli is designed to demonstrate a range of technologies to enable a controlled landing on Mars in preparation for future missions.
  
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• ExoMars Spacecraft Mated with Rocket Ahead of Monday's Launch (Photos)

  11-03-2016 13:39
  
  Two European Mars spacecraft have been mated to the rocket that will blast them toward the Red Planet on Monday (March 14). The Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli lander, which together constitute the first part of the two-phase ExoMars mission, were attached to their Russian Proton rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan over the weekend, European Space Agency (ESA) officials said.
  
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• Drone to police massive marine reserve

  11-03-2016 13:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An ocean-going drone will be helping to spot illegal fishing in the world's largest, continuous marine reserve.
  
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• Spacecraft to seek life on Mars in European-led mission

  11-03-2016 13:09
  
  BERLIN (Reuters) - A spacecraft is due to set off for Mars next week on a mission that scientists hope will help answer one of the most burning questions of spacefaring times: Is there life on other planets?
  
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• Seoul says number of North Korean cyberattacks doubled in month

  11-03-2016 13:06 via cbc.ca
  
  South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers Friday that the number of North Korean cyberattacks on the South has doubled over the past month.
  
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• Underwater Photography Masterclass by Alex Mustard

  11-03-2016 13:00
  A new book by Alex Mustard, one of the world's leading underwater photographers, is packed with beautiful images of colourful sea creatures and advice on how to capture photos like these. The book is called Underwater Photography Masterclass, and that's exactly what it aims to be. Mustard says the book is packed with tips that he picked up shooting all around the world: "It includes everything from how to get a pygmy seahorse to face your camera to why you want to flinch first when playing chick
  
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• Fossil reptile discovery 'extraordinary'

  11-03-2016 12:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A newly discovered 250-million-year-old fossil reptile from Brazil gives an insight into life just before the dinosaurs appeared.
  
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• Going places: machine beats top Go player in win for artificial intelligence

  11-03-2016 12:16
  
  SEOUL (Reuters) - Google's AlphaGo computer program on Wednesday won the first of five matches against one of the world's top players of a complex board game, Go, marking a dramatic advance for the field of artificial intelligence (AI).
  
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• Angolan president Dos Santos says to step down in 2018

  11-03-2016 12:16
  Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said on Friday he plans to step down in 2018 after being at the helm since 1979, making him one of Africa's longest-serving leaders. Angola, a member of OPEC and Africa's second largest oil exporter after Nigeria, relies on crude export revenues for more than 90 percent of foreign exchange revenues. "I took the decision to leave and end my political life in 2018," Dos Santos said in speech members of his ruling party's key decision-making organ that was
  
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• Deeply moving pictures of Japan mourning the victims of 2011 earthquake and tsunami

  11-03-2016 11:24
  On 3 March 2011, a massive earthquake hit northern Japan, triggering a tsunami that killed nearly 20,000 people and turned towns to matchwood. The tsunami sparked the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Meltdowns in three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant spewed radiation over a wide area of the countryside, contaminating water, food and air.
  
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• 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami: Time-lapse aerial footage shows rebuilding progress 5 years on

  11-03-2016 11:16
  Technology giant Google has released time-lapse aerial footage detailing the massive rebuilding efforts that have taken place in Japan five years on from the devastating earthquake and tsunami that killed over 15,000 people. The images, compiled from aerial shots and Google Street View photos, reveal farm land and buildings gradually being reconstructed from the ground up in the north-eastern Tohoku region of Japan. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake was the largest tremor to strike the country since
  
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• Everyone thinks they're in Silent Hill because it's foggy as hell

  11-03-2016 11:12
  
  If this is virtual reality gaming, sign us up.
  
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• 'Still returning from hell': New normal settles in 5 years after Fukushima nuclear disaster

  11-03-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Five years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, residents in communities near the crippled plant are coping with how their lives have changed.
  
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• Obama and Trudeau pledge to protect a warming Arctic

  11-03-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have made a pledge to protect the Arctic from overfishing and development. That is increasingly important as climate change melts the ice in the Arctic Ocean and opens it up to outsiders.
  
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• Beating 'heart on a chip' developed by Canadian scientists

  11-03-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Canadian scientists have developed a way to grow swatches of living heart tissue — containing muscle, blood vessels and all — that beat rhythmically like a real heart.
  
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• Things to know about GMO mosquito test proposed in Florida

  11-03-2016 10:45
  MIAMI (AP) — The spread of the Zika virus in Latin America is giving a boost to a British biotech firm's proposal to deploy a genetically modified mosquito to try to stop transmission of the disease.
  
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• The 7 steps between Earth and the Red Planet for the ExoMars 2016 orbiter

  11-03-2016 10:01
  
  A graphic showing what will happen between launch and arrival seven months later.
  
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• APNewsBreak: Feds seek rules for swims with Hawaii dolphins

  11-03-2016 09:32
  
  WAIANAE, Hawaii (AP) — Allison Alterman likes to swim in the ocean for exercise near her home on Hawaii's Big Island. Sometimes her swimming group will see spinner dolphins gliding or jumping near their course.
  
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