Science news

• Russia says won't halt arms sales to arch foes Armenia and Azerbaijan

  09-04-2016 20:27
  Russia said it would continue selling arms to both Azerbaijan and Armenia despite the latest flare-up of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, angering the Armenians who consider Moscow a close ally. Renewed fighting around Armenian-backed Nagorno-Karabakh, which broke out last weekend, was the most intense since a 1994 ceasefire that stopped the conflict around the rebel region but did not resolve the underlying dispute. A Moscow-brokered ceasefire agreed on Tuesday stopped the outburst of violen
  
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• In search of a treatment for osteoporosis from the tequila agave

  09-04-2016 15:18
  Apart from being the raw material for making a very traditional drink in Mexico, the blue variety of the Agave tequilana has substances capable of improving the absorption of calcium and magnesium, essential minerals to maintain bone health, reports a Mexican scientist.
  
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• Double triumph for SpaceX after Falcon 9 rocket makes a successful landing on ocean platform

  09-04-2016 15:18
  
  The aerospace firm’s unmanned Falcon rocket carried a full load of supplies for the ISS before returning to Earth.
  
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• US doctors report reconstructing new esophagus tissue in a critically ill patient

  09-04-2016 15:17
  American doctors report the first case of a human patient whose severely damaged esophagus was reconstructed using commercially available FDA approved stents and skin tissue. Seven years after the reconstruction and four years after the stents were removed, the patient continues to eat a normal diet and maintain his weight with no swallowing problems.
  
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• Newly discovered way for cells to die

  09-04-2016 15:17
  In studying how worms develop from larvae into adults, scientists have discovered a previously unknown process in which cells are programmed to die. The findings might have implications for understanding some diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders.
  
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• Crystal structure of PKG I suggests a new activation mechanism

  09-04-2016 15:17
  Protein kinases, most scientists would agree, regulate nearly every aspect of cell life. It is no surprise, then, that having faulty protein kinases may lead to a number of human conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. Kinases form a large family. Some of its members have similar structures, which has led some researchers to propose that the activity of these kinases is probably regulated in a similar manner and, therefore, may be targeted with similar medications.
  
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• Application of novel alignment-free sequence descriptors in Zika virus characterization

  09-04-2016 15:17
  In a new article, researchers explain their work on computer-assisted approaches towards surveillance and consequent design of drugs and vaccines to combat the growth and spread of the Zika virus.
  
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• Farmers facing arctic blast in east, dry weather in west

  09-04-2016 15:00 via cbc.ca
  
  A lack of moisture is forcing some farmers to postpone spring seeding, change their crop plans, or plant deeper in the ground.
  
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• President Barack Obama Hails SpaceX's Rocket Landing Success at Sea

  09-04-2016 14:48
  
  SpaceX's stunningly successful rocket landing on a drone ship Friday (April 8) has won accolades from the highest office in the land, with President Barack Obama hailing the company's technological feat. "Congrats SpaceX on landing a rocket at sea," Obama wrote in a Twitter post after the rocket landing. SpaceX landed a Falcon 9 rocket booster on its drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" after successfully launching an unmanned Dragon cargo ship filled with NASA supplies to the International S
  
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• VIDEO: SpaceX lands rocket on ocean barge

  09-04-2016 12:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The private space company SpaceX successfully lands a rocket on a barge floating off the Florida coast.
  
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• Regulation could strengthen sharing economy in long run

  09-04-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Cities are finally figuring out how to integrate disruptive technology companies. Will it spell the end of a sharing economy based largely on a free, unhindered market?
  
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• Reusable rocket lands on sea platform

  09-04-2016 10:59 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The US aerospace company SpaceX successfully lands a reusable rocket on an ocean platform, after four previous attempts failed.
  
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• North Korea says leader Kim supervises test of new engine for missile

  09-04-2016 09:31
  By Jack Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a successful test of a new engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), state media said on Saturday, in their latest report of advances in an arms programme that has attracted U.N. sanctions. South Korea and the United States have shown scepticism over the North's statements about rapid progress in its nuclear and missile programmes ahead of a ruling party congress in May, where analysts expect it to declare it
  
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• SpaceX Rocket Makes Historic Ocean Landing

  09-04-2016 07:10
  
  SpaceX has successfully landed and recovered a rocket on an ocean platform for the first time, after launching a cargo ship to the International Space Station. About two-and-a-half minutes after Friday afternoon's liftoff from Cape Canaveral in Florida the main part of the two-stage booster separated. SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, erupted in cheers and chants of "USA" as the rocket stood upright on the barge about eight minutes after launch.
  
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• Millions of maternal and child lives could be saved every year for less than $5 a person

  09-04-2016 06:00
  
  (Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health) By spending less than $5 per person on essential health care services such as contraception, medication for serious illnesses and nutritional supplements, millions of maternal and child lives could be saved every year, according to a new analysis led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
  
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• UN praises China's leadership in climate change deal

  09-04-2016 05:15
  BEIJING (AP) — The United Nations has commended China's "continued strong leadership" for backing a landmark international agreement to curb climate change.
  
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• SpaceX rocket booster makes breakthrough landing at sea

  09-04-2016 03:33
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on a NASA cargo run to the International Space Station on Friday, and its reusable main-stage booster landed on an ocean platform minutes later in a dramatic spaceflight first.
  
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• Migrating birds of prey draw big crowd at Manitoba raptor festival

  09-04-2016 03:04 via cbc.ca
  
  Hundreds of birders flocked to the small, southwestern Manitoba town of La Rivière Saturday morning to count migrating hawks, falcons, eagles and owls as they fly north en route for their summer breeding grounds.
  
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• SpaceX launches futuristic pop-up room, lands rocket at sea

  09-04-2016 02:33
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX resumed station deliveries for NASA on Friday, and in a double triumph, successfully landed its booster rocket on an ocean platform for the first time.
  
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• SpaceX Rocket Landing 'Another Step Toward the Stars,' Elon Musk Says

  09-04-2016 02:25
  
  The epic rocket landing SpaceX pulled off today (April 8) is a big step forward in humanity's march out into the cosmos, company founder and CEO Elon Musk said. SpaceX managed to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a robotic "drone ship" in the Atlantic Ocean during the successful launch of the company's uncrewed Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this afternoon. The first-of-its-kind touchdown is an important mi
  
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• U.S. needs up to 18 more Russian rocket engines: Pentagon

  09-04-2016 02:20
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon will need to buy up to 18 more Russian-built RD-180 engines to power rockets carrying U.S. military satellites into space over the next six years or so, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said in an interview on Friday.
  
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• Double triumph for SpaceX after successful ocean platform landing

  09-04-2016 01:01
  
  SpaceX has resumed station deliveries for Nasa - and, in a double triumph, successfully landed its booster rocket on an ocean platform for the first time.
  
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• NASA: Global warming is now changing how Earth wobbles

  09-04-2016 00:52
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Global warming is shifting the way the Earth wobbles on its polar axis, a new NASA study finds.
  
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• World record for fastest optical communications for data centers

  09-04-2016 00:44
  Scientists have achieved the world’s fastest optical communications speed for data centres by reaching 240 G bit/s over 2km, 24 times of the existing speed available in the market.
  
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• Turning cities into innovation engines

  09-04-2016 00:44
  Can smartphones improve our quality of life and make cities run more efficiently? A researcher is working towards this vision.
  
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• Using fungi to decrease need for chemical fertilizers

  09-04-2016 00:36
  Plants share their carbohydrates with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi that colonize their roots and, in exchange, these fungi provide their hosts with nitrogen and phosphorous. By exploiting this relationship, scientists may be able to increase the biomass production of bioenergy crops and the yield of food crops and to reduce the required fertilizer inputs. This could improve the environmental sustainability of agricultural production systems according to researchers.
  
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• Health costs for motivated, disadvantaged youth

  09-04-2016 00:36
  There may be a hidden cost to the old adage of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. Research suggests the unintended stress spurred by upward mobility can pose an unintended health risk later down the road.
  
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