Science news

• Kepler Planet-Hunting Spacecraft in 'Emergency Mode'

  10-04-2016 21:51
  
  NASA's prolific Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft appears to be in trouble. Kepler's handlers learned during a routine contact on Thursday (April 7) that the space telescope — which has discovered more than 1,000 alien planets since its March 2009 launch — is now in "emergency mode" (EM). Recovering from EM is the team's priority at this time," Kepler mission manager Charlie Sobeck, of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, wrote in a mission update Friday (Apr
  
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• How a 3D printed egg could save endangered vultures

  10-04-2016 21:44 via cbc.ca
  
  The story of the "Eggduino"
  
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• World's wild tiger count rising for first time in a century

  10-04-2016 21:11
  
  NEW DELHI (AP) — The world's count of wild tigers roaming forests from Russia to Vietnam has gone up for the first time in more than a century, with some 3,890 counted by conservation groups and national governments in the latest global census, wildlife conservation groups said Monday.
  
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• Rating the teacher education rating systems: New study finds leading programs fall short

  10-04-2016 21:05
  A study of four leading systems used to evaluate teacher preparation programs finds the initiatives lack evidence-based approaches and 'thin' on the advancement of equity in the classroom.
  
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• NASA's planet-hunting Kepler Spacecraft in emergency mode

  10-04-2016 20:19
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is trying to resuscitate its planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft, in a state of emergency 75 million miles away.
  
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• There's going to be a new inflatable room on the International Space Station

  10-04-2016 19:11
  
  The extra room arrived in a cargo ship but it won’t be available for use just yet.
  
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• Astronauts Get Inflatable Room At Space Station

  10-04-2016 19:06
  
  The world's first inflatable room for astronauts has been delivered to the International Space Station. It was taken up on SpaceX's unmanned Dragon cargo ship which also carried cabbage seeds and laboratory mice. Britain's Tim Peake said "it looks like we've caught a dragon," as he used a robotic arm to grab hold of the craft, which was carrying 7,000lb of gear.
  
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• Iranian opposition figure asks Rouhani for court hearing

  10-04-2016 18:28
  Former Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest since 2011, appealed to President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday for a court hearing where he could show two elections he lost were rigged. Karroubi, a former speaker of parliament, said in a letter to Rouhani that Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, Basij militia and intelligence ministry falsified the results of the 2005 and 2009 polls that Mahmoud Ahmedinejad won. Karroubi and fellow reformist presidential contender Mir Husse
  
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• Clashes erupt in Yemen hours before planned truce

  10-04-2016 17:57
  Fighting broke out north of Yemen's capital and in the centre of the country on Sunday, killing more than 20 people, hours before a planned halt to the fighting aimed at facilitating talks to end the year-long war. Yemen's government and its Iran-allied Houthi enemies are supposed to implement the U.N.-backed "cessation of hostilities" from midnight (2100 GMT) before peace negotiations begin in Kuwait on April 18. The United Nations hopes this will lead to a more concrete, formal ceasefire with
  
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• SpaceX Dragon Arrives at Space Station, Delivers Inflatable Room Prototype

  10-04-2016 17:01
  
  A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station today (April 10) to deliver vital supplies, science experiments and a prototype inflatable space habitat for the orbiting outpost and its six-person crew. Launched on Friday (April 8) from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the Dragon pulled up to space station on this morning where it was captured by the orbital complex's Canadarm2 robotic arm. "It looks like we caught a Dragon," British astronaut Tim Peak
  
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• Amazing Videos Show SpaceX's Epic Ocean Rocket Landing

  10-04-2016 16:57
  
  Two new videos let you relive SpaceX's incredible rocket landing at sea, giving two different perspectives of the historic event — including a stunning rocket's-eye view. On Friday (April 8), SpaceX brought the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket down for a soft landing on a robotic "drone ship" in the Atlantic Ocean during the successful launch of the company's Dragon cargo capsule toward the International Space Station. SpaceX soon released two videos, which were captured by cameras aboar
  
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• SpaceX delivers world's 1st inflatable room for astronauts

  10-04-2016 15:07
  
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX has made good on a high-priority delivery: the world's first inflatable room for astronauts.
  
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• Protesters against Bangladesh power plant give two weeks for demands to be met

  10-04-2016 14:57
  By Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Protesters opposing the construction of a Chinese-backed, coal-fired power plant in Bangladesh agreed on Sunday to halt their activities for 15 days, defusing tensions after four demonstrators were killed last week. Villagers for and against the $2.4 billion power plant in the coastal district of Chittagong clashed last week before riot police fired their weapons after coming under attack. S Alam Group, a Bangladeshi conglomerate which signed a deal on April 4
  
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• Moon Will Hit the 'Bull's-Eye' in Stellar Eclipse Sunday

  10-04-2016 13:22
  
  A stellar eclipse will be visible from nearly everywhere in the United States and much of southern Canada this Sunday (April 10). The waxing crescent moon, 15 percent illuminated by the sun, will pass in front of the star that marks the angry orange eye of the constellation Taurus, also known as the Bull. That star is Aldebaran, the 13th brightest star in the sky and certainly one of the more colorful ones.
  
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• This week in Zika: New mouse model, virus vs. placenta, nerve insulation loss

  10-04-2016 13:00
  
  In three new papers, scientists present a tool for studying Zika, strike down a theory of infection and offer a broad look at what the virus does to the brain.
  
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• Chad holds presidential election as Deby vies to extend rule

  10-04-2016 12:14
  By Madjiasra Nako N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad voted in a presidential election on Sunday at which incumbent Idriss Deby is running for a fifth term in office arguing that only his government can maintain stability in the face of a threat from Islamist militants. Boko Haram has staged a series of attacks in Chad in the past year as part of a campaign to expand its Islamist insurgency from bases in northeastern Nigeria into neighbouring countries. Chad has one of the most capable armies in the regi
  
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• New era of genetic research must include more indigenous people, scientist says

  10-04-2016 12:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Keolu Fox is on a mission to increase ethnic diversity in human genome sequencing. He discovered that less than one per cent of the human genome project includes indigenous people.
  
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• Angolan police block anti-government protests

  10-04-2016 11:17
  Angolan police briefly detained dozens of protesters in the capital Luanda after they tried to march in support of a group of activists jailed for planning a rebellion, witnesses said late on Saturday. The witnesses said armed police rounded up the protesters as they gathered at Independence Garden for the abortive march in support of 17 activists sentenced last month for plotting against President Jose Eduardo dos Santos's government. Police kicked three people gathering for Saturday's demonstr
  
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• Electrical grid could handle millions of plug-in cars — but maybe not all at once

  10-04-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  If provinces hit their targets, there will be more than 500,000 electric passenger cars on Canadian roads by 2020. But can the electricity system take the strain?
  
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• Topology explains queer electrical current boost in non-magnetic metal

  10-04-2016 06:00
  
  (Kyoto University) Applying a magnetic field to PdCo2, a non-magnetic metal, made it conduct 70% more electricity, even though basic physics principles would have predicted the opposite.
  
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• Exposure to cigarette smoke and flu virus may prevent lung medications working properly

  10-04-2016 06:00
  
  (Biochemical Society) A new study backs up observations in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients showing reduced effectiveness of symptom-reliever medication (β2-adrenoceptor agonists) in flare-ups linked to cigarette smoking and infection with viruses such as influenza.
  
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• Puck return device solves the solo hockey practice dilemma

  10-04-2016 05:05 via cbc.ca
  
  Engineering students at the University of Regina have invented a device that will return hockey pucks to the shooter.
  
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