Science news

• Canada wildfire explodes in size, more evacuees reaching south

  07-05-2016 22:31
  By Rod Nickel and Liz Hampton GREGOIRE LAKE, Alberta (Reuters) - A raging Canadian wildfire grew explosively on Saturday as hot, dry winds pushed the blaze across the energy heartland of Alberta and smoke forced the shutdown of a major oil sands project. The fire that has already prompted the evacuation of 88,000 people from the city of Fort McMurray was on its way to doubling in size on Saturday, the seventh day of what is expected to be the costliest natural disaster in Canada's history. In no
  
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• Testosterone therapy does not raise risk of aggressive prostate cancer

  07-05-2016 20:33
  Men with low levels of the male sex hormone testosterone need not fear that testosterone replacement therapy will increase their risk of prostate cancer, suggests a new study.
  
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• Canada wildfire explodes in size, fed by 'extremely' dry forest

  07-05-2016 20:28
  By Rod Nickel and Liz Hampton LAC LA BICHE, Alberta (Reuters) - A raging Canadian wildfire grew explosively on Saturday as hot, dry winds pushed the blaze across the energy heartland of Alberta and smoke forced the shutdown of a major oil sands project. The fire that has already prompted the evacuation of 88,000 people from the city of Fort McMurray was on its way to doubling in size on Saturday, the seventh day of what is expected to be the costliest natural disaster in Canada's history. Police
  
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• Obama says U.S. race relations have improved, but work to be done

  07-05-2016 19:01
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said in a commencement speech on Saturday that U.S. race relations have improved over the last three decades, but that significant work still needs to be done. "I tell you this not to lull you into complacency, but to stir you into action because there's still so much work to do," Obama told about 2,300 Howard University graduates in Washington. The United States has a racial gap in economic opportunities, Obama said, noting that
  
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• Canada wildfire explodes in size, fed by hot, dry weather

  07-05-2016 18:24
  By Rod Nickel and Liz Hampton LAC LA BICHE, Alberta (Reuters) - A raging Canadian wildfire grew explosively on Saturday as hot, dry winds pushed the blaze across the energy heartland of Alberta and smoke forced the shut down of a major oil sands project. The fire that has already prompted the evacuation of 88,000 people from the city of Fort McMurray was on its way to doubling in size on Saturday, the seventh day of what is expected to be the costliest natural disaster in Canada's history. Polic
  
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• Albert Einstein's Signed Photo Up for Auction

  07-05-2016 17:59
  
  Although Albert Einstein's many iconic photographs have been plastered across mugs and T-shirts for years, physics enthusiasts and art collectors may now be able to get their hands on one of the original, autographed photos that inspired the memorabilia, according to International Autograph Auctions, the British auction house handling the sale. Three years later, Einstein signed the photograph Karsh had taken, using an English version of the last sentence of his foreword to "Relativity: A Richer
  
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• Canada wildfire growing as weather heats up, escape convoy underway

  07-05-2016 16:55
  By Rod Nickel and Liz Hampton LAC LA BICHE, Alberta (Reuters) - A raging Canadian wildfire that forced the evacuation of the Alberta oil town of Fort McMurray intensified on Saturday, helped by hot, dry weather, with police escorting a fresh convoy of evacuees out of the region. The blaze, the largest of some 40 wildfires burning across the province of Alberta, has forced some 88,000 residents, the entire population of Fort McMurray, to flee for safety. The weather, with temperatures on Saturday
  
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• Saudi king reshuffles cabinet and reforms ministries

  07-05-2016 16:42
  RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Saturday restructured some government ministries and reshuffled his cabinet to appoint new ministers in a series of royal decrees carried on state television. He replaced the ministers in charge of the energy, oil, water, transport, commerce, social affairs, health and pilgrimage portfolios and established a new recreation and culture commission. (Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Katie Paul)
  
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• Mysterious 'Man in the Iron Mask' Revealed, 350 Years Later

  07-05-2016 15:30
  
  A 350-year-old French mystery has been unmasked: In his new book, Paul Sonnino, a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, claims he has uncovered the real identity of the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask. The Man in the Iron Mask was a prisoner arrested in 1669 and held in the Bastille and other French jails for more than three decades, until his death in 1703. The story was even popularized in the 1998 film "The Man in the Iron Mask," starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
  
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• Time to up the game: Video game designers need to do more for young disabled players

  07-05-2016 15:12
  Computer games controlled through wheelchair movements have the potential to improve quality of life for young people with severe mobility impairments but more needs to be done to consider the needs and preferences of players in game design, new research shows.
  
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• PAD patients on statins may have lower amputation, early death risk

  07-05-2016 15:12
  People with peripheral artery disease (PAD) who take cholesterol-lowering statins may have a lower risk of amputation and early death than PAD patients who don't take statins. The risk of amputation and early death among PAD patients on higher dose statins is lower for patients on low or moderate dose statins.
  
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• Blood thinners on 'as needed' basis is safe and effective for lowering stroke risk as compared to long-term use

  07-05-2016 15:12
  A new study shows the use of novel anticoagulants for AF prescribed on an 'as-needed basis' guided by diligent pulse monitoring, can be a safe and effective alternative to lowering overall risk of stroke.
  
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• Thundery downpours set to put a dampener on outdoor weekend fun

  07-05-2016 14:56
  
  It’s still going to be warm – but with added wetness.
  
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• NASA Satellites to Beam Back Images of Rare Mercury Transit in Real-Time

  07-05-2016 14:40
  
  Even if you can't find a solar telescope to watch the Mercury transit on Monday (March 9), you don't have to miss the action: NASA will have three satellites watching the planet pass across the face of the sun, with one satellite providing nearly real-time imagery to skywatchers online. Mercury transits are rare because Mercury's orbital plane is tilted with respect to Earth's orbit. During Monday's transit, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which is operated by NASA and the Eu
  
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• Mercury Transit on Monday: The Gear You Need to Watch It Safely

  07-05-2016 14:40
  
  Mercury will pass across the face of the sun Monday (May 9) in its first such "transit" since 2006. The Mercury transit — which begins Monday at 7:42 a.m. EDT (1142 GMT) and ends at 2:42 p.m. EDT (1842 GMT) — is accessible to amateur astronomers, as long as they have the right equipment to view the event safely.
  
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• 'Noah' and 'Emma' Top List of Most Popular Baby Names

  07-05-2016 14:14
  For the second year in a row, "Emma" was the number one choice for girls in 2015, and "Noah" topped the chart for a second time as the favorite for boys, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA), which released its annual list today (May 6) of the most popular baby names in the United States. The real action happens much farther down the list of names — in the top 500 or even top 1,000 names in the country — where the appearance of brand-new names heralds the impact of c
  
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• Leopards have lost 75 percent of historic range, study shows

  07-05-2016 13:22
  A new study says leopards have lost 75 percent of their historic range across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, with three Asian subspecies facing eradication. A three-year review of data published in ...
  
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• Sanctions, restrictions seen impeding science in North Korea

  07-05-2016 12:22
  
  BEIJING (AP) — Tightening U.N. sanctions and an inability to freely access the Internet are inhibiting the work of North Korean scientists, Nobel Prize laureates who recently visited the country said Saturday.
  
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• Study suggests testosterone therapy does not raise risk of aggressive prostate cancer

  07-05-2016 06:00
  
  (NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine) Men with low levels of the male sex hormone testosterone need not fear that testosterone replacement therapy will increase their risk of prostate cancer.
  
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• Convoy leads Canada fire evacuees through burning city to safety

  07-05-2016 03:24
  By Rod Nickel and Liz Hampton WANDERING RIVER, Alberta (Reuters) - Convoys of evacuees stranded by a wildfire raging in and around the Canadian oil town of Fort McMurray made their way on Friday through the heart of the devastation on the only highway out of the region, as officials warned that the blaze could soon double in size. The blaze, the largest of 40 wildfires burning across the province of Alberta, has forced some 88,000 residents, the entire population of Fort McMurray, to flee for sa
  
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• Fossils shed light on 'bizarre' reptile

  07-05-2016 01:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists say new fossils found in China are of a crocodile-like creature that was the first known plant-eating marine reptile.
  
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• Global sleeping patterns revealed

  07-05-2016 01:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The world's sleeping patterns have been revealed by scientists analysing data collected from an app.
  
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