Science news

• NASA's Jupiter Probe Back in Action After Glitch

  26-10-2016 23:29
  
  NASA's Juno spacecraft has bounced back from the glitch that prevented it from gathering any data during its flyby of Jupiter last week, agency officials said. Juno went into a protective "safe mode" on Oct. 19, the same day the probe made its second-ever close flyby of the giant planet.
  
  Read more

• Catch Stunning Lineup of Venus, Saturn and Antares in Thursday's Evening Sky

  26-10-2016 23:21
  
  The two planets — the brilliant Venus and yellow-white Saturn — will appear to form a nearly perfect vertical line in the sky with the 15th brightest star, the reddish supergiant Antares. Venus will be in the middle of the lineup. Saturn will sit about 3 and one-half degrees above it, while Antares will lie about 3 and one-half degrees below Venus.
  
  Read more

• Solar Storm Lit Up Parts of Northern US with Auroras

  26-10-2016 23:10
  
  A moderate geomagnetic storm in Earth's magnetic field created some luminous auroras as far south as the northern United States last night.
  
  Read more

• Cholesterol test for 1-year-olds? Study says it could help

  26-10-2016 23:02
  A big study in England that screened thousands of babies for high cholesterol and genes that can cause early heart disease found the condition is twice as common as has been believed.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Scientists back Inuit in efforts to limit mercury poisoning from Muskrat Falls hydro project

  26-10-2016 22:56 via cbc.ca
  
  Inuit people in Labrador say a hydroelectric project could poison their food if the government doesn't take steps to reduce the production of a deadly neurotoxin — and they've got science on their side.
  
  Read more

• How the Muskrat Falls dam in Labrador risks poisoning Inuit food sources

  26-10-2016 22:56 via cbc.ca
  
  Inuit people in Labrador say a hydroelectric project could poison their food if the government doesn't take steps to reduce the production of a deadly neurotoxin — and they've got science on their side.
  
  Read more

• Yemen foes fight in Marib day after U.N. envoy delivers peace plan

  26-10-2016 22:18
  Yemeni army units backed by an Arab coalition attacked positions held by Houthi rebels in a strategic province east of the capital on Wednesday, a day after a U.N. envoy delivered a peace proposal to the Iran-allied fighters that control Sanaa. A three-day ceasefire aimed at paving the way for a political settlement to Yemen's turmoil collapsed this week, and renewed fighting is threatening U.N. efforts to end a 19-month-old war. A Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive in March last year aim
  
  Read more

• Enraged Venezuela opposition escalates anti-Maduro protests

  26-10-2016 22:06
  By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Oré CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's increasingly militant opposition stepped up its push to remove leftist leader Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday with rallies that drew hundreds of thousands of protesters and calls for a general strike and march on the presidential palace. Enraged by last week's suspension of their push for a referendum to remove Maduro and determined to end 17 years of socialism in the South American OPEC nation, Venezuela's opposition has sharp
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Climate change shifts how long ants hang on to coveted real estate

  26-10-2016 22:04
  
  Simulated climate warming reveals a new pattern in turnover of ant nests.
  
  Read more

• Vermont, New Hampshire bald eagles produce record young

  26-10-2016 21:55
  MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Bald eagles have produced a record amount of young in both Vermont and New Hampshire this year, marking the continued revival of a bird that once was on the brink of extinction.
  
  Read more

• Stop looking at your phone: Majority of Canadians support legislation to ban distracted walking

  26-10-2016 21:51 via cbc.ca
  
  A new poll from Insights West suggests 66 per cent of Canadians would support laws forbidding distracted walking while using a cellphone.
  
  Read more

• You are not watching a live feed from space

  26-10-2016 20:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Misleading "live" video from the International Space Station stuns the internet.
  
  Read more

• Prehistoric humans may have driven Eurasian cave lions to extinction because of their pelts

  26-10-2016 20:12
  
  The big cat disappeared around 14,000 years ago.
  
  Read more

• Experts hope mosquito-borne bacteria can beat the Zika virus

  26-10-2016 20:10
  
  LONDON (AP) — Researchers are trying to infect mosquitoes in Brazil and Colombia with a type of bacteria that could prevent them from spreading the Zika virus and other dangerous diseases.
  
  Read more

• Venezuela opposition escalates protests against Maduro 'dictatorship'

  26-10-2016 19:45
  By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Oré CARACAS (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters rallied across Venezuela on Wednesday against socialist President Nicolas Maduro, whom they accuse of becoming a dictator by blocking a plebiscite to remove him. Escalating its anti-Maduro campaign, the opposition Democratic Unity coalition also called for a national strike for Friday and a march to the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas next week, activists and local media said. Th
  
  Read more

• Surprise! Cold Gas 'Halos' Found Around Brightest Objects in Universe

  26-10-2016 19:40
  
  Researchers examined 19 quasars, or galaxies with very active supermassive black holes at their centers, using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile. Quasar black holes eat huge amounts of nearby material, such as gas and stars, very quickly, causing the galaxy centers to blast out large amounts of radiation. This makes quasars the most luminous objects in the universe.
  
  Read more

• Oregon weighs whether all kids should get outdoor education

  26-10-2016 19:39
  
  MOUNT HOOD NATIONAL FOREST, Ore. (AP) — Each year, thousands of Oregon parents hug their kids goodbye and send them tramping into the wilderness for up to a week to learn about their state's natural wonders.
  
  Read more

• HIV came to NYC at least a decade before virus ID’d

  26-10-2016 19:06
  
  DNA analysis of early viral strains tracks U.S. debut to early ’70s
  
  Read more

• New HIV Genetic Evidence Dispels "Patient Zero" Myth

  26-10-2016 19:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Genome analysis reveals that the AIDS-causing virus circulated in the U.S. as early as 1971
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• It's Triplets! 3 Newborn Stars Spotted in Forming System

  26-10-2016 19:00
  
  For the first time, a litter of newborn stars has been spotted emerging from the same disk of gas and dust, creating a tightly packed stellar family. The data, from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, supports a theorized process in which the whirling disk of gas and dust around a forming star, called a circumstellar disk, splits up to form orbiting companion stars.
  
  Read more

• HIV Patient Zero cleared by science

  26-10-2016 19:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  One of the most demonised patients in history - Gaetan Dugas - has been convincingly cleared of reports he spread HIV to the US, say scientists.
  
  Read more

• Robotics conference in Beijing highlights intelligent robots

  26-10-2016 18:59 via cbc.ca
  
  Over 200 exhibitors from around the world show off technologies
  
  Read more

• Experts hope bacteria can beat Zika

  26-10-2016 18:35
  LONDON (AP) — Researchers are trying to infect mosquitoes in Brazil and Colombia with a type of bacteria that could prevent them from spreading Zika virus and other dangerous diseases.
  
  Read more

• Proxima b Might Be a Habitable 'Ocean Planet'

  26-10-2016 18:01
  
  Using this information, a team led by researchers at the Marseille Astrophysics Laboratory in France, developed different models to help discover what the conditions might be like on the rocky exoplanet, according to a statement from NASA. The new findings suggest Proxima b could have a large liquid ocean covering its entire surface and stretching 124 miles (200 kilometers) deep, as well as a thin gas atmosphere much like that found on Earth. Scientists have proposed different ideas about Proxim
  
  Read more

• Prescription Testosterone Gets New Warning

  26-10-2016 17:04
  
  The labels on prescription testosterone will now carry a new warning about the serious health risks that have been linked with abuse of these products. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the new labels today (Oct. 25), saying that some people abuse testosterone drugs. For example, the agency said, athletes and body builders have been known to take doses that are higher than those prescribed, and to use testosterone together with other anabolic steroids.
  
  Read more

• Astronauts' Back Pain Has Surprising Cause

  26-10-2016 17:03
  
  Astronauts may have no trouble moving heavy objects in the weightlessness of space, but that doesn't mean that the experience isn't hard on their backs. Astronauts on long-duration spaceflights routinely report back pain, both during and after the flight. In a new study, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to observe the spines of six NASA astronauts before they landed, at the time of landing and about two months after they had spent upward of seven months on the Internationa
  
  Read more

• Heart-Healthy Cities: These Spots Have the Least Heart Attacks

  26-10-2016 17:00
  
  Communities in the U.S. range widely in the percentage of residents who've had heart attacks, a new report shows. Less than 2 percent of the residents of Boulder, Colorado, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, reported having had heart attacks, according to new findings from a Gallup-Healthways survey of people living in 190 U.S. metro areas, conducted in 2014 and 2015. The community with the highest rate of heart attacks was Charleston, West Virginia, according to the survey.
  
  Read more

• Women's Alcohol Consumption Catches Up to Men's

  26-10-2016 16:59
  
  In decades past, men typically consumed more alcohol than women and were more likely to experience alcohol-related problems, such as alcohol addiction. Some studies suggested that alcohol use and alcohol-related problems were up to 12 times more common in men than women, the researchers said.
  
  Read more

• Google halts plans to expand its high-speed fibre-optic networks

  26-10-2016 16:44 via cbc.ca
  
  Google's parent company is halting operations and laying off staff in a number of U.S. cities where it once hoped to bring high-speed internet access by installing new fibre-optic networks.
  
  Read more

• Recovered WWI German U-Boat Revives 'Sea Monster' Tales

  26-10-2016 16:35
  
  The wreck of a World War I German submarine has been discovered off the coast of Scotland by marine engineers surveying the route of an undersea power cable. Researchers said they think the wreck is one of two German U-boats sunk by British patrol ships in the Irish Sea in 1918 — including one that was supposedly attacked by a sea monster, according to an internet legend. Marine archeologist and historian Innes McCartney, from Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom, said the submarin
  
  Read more

• New Plastic-Based Textile Helps Cool You Off

  26-10-2016 16:35
  
  A new type of fabric could keep people cool in hot climates and reduce the need for expensive and energy-consuming air conditioning, a new study finds. Just as sweating is one way the body cools off, the new clothing could help people reduce body heat. Heating and cooling spaces contribute to 12.3 percent of total energy consumption in the U.S., according to the researchers.
  
  Read more

• Picture This: Startup Satellite Fleet Will Image Planet Daily

  26-10-2016 16:34
  
  The company, known as Planet, is aiming to make global change visible, accessible, and actionable for everyone, Will Marshall, the startup's co-founder and CEO, said during an address to the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on Sept. 27, 2015. The company has deployed large fleets of small, inexpensive satellites designed solely to capture images of the planet. "We miniaturized these little satellites, and we put them up [in space] in large fleets in order to image the planet, with t
  
  Read more

• Climate scientist killed as snowmobile plunges 100ft into crevasse

  26-10-2016 16:22
  Tributes have been paid to a British climate change researcher who died when his snowmobile plunged 100ft into a crevasse in Antarctica. An investigation was launched into the accident after Dr Gordon Hamilton's body was recovered. Scotland-born Dr Hamilton, aged 50, worked for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was assessing the effect of climate change on ice shelves.
  
  Read more

• Tributes to Scottish scientist who died in Antarctica snowmobile accident

  26-10-2016 16:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The family of a scientist who died in Antarctica in a snowmobile accident pay tribute to him.
  
  Read more

• Proxima b: 8 things you need to know about the mysterious 'Earth-like' exoplanet

  26-10-2016 16:14
  
  Scientists have been excited about the strange new world since its discovery was confirmed earlier this year.
  
  Read more

• Dish to listen for ET around strange star

  26-10-2016 16:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A $100m initiative to listen for radio signals from aliens is targeting a star with an unusual dimming pattern.
  
  Read more

• No, 'Honeycomb' Clouds Don't Explain Bermuda Triangle Mystery

  26-10-2016 15:55
  
  A satellite image showing peculiar hexagonal clouds over the ocean area known as the Bermuda Triangle is prompting speculation about whether they may represent a recurring phenomenon responsible for decades of unexplained disappearances in the region. The photo appeared in the Science Channel's "What on Earth"? According to the Science Channel, similar cloud formations in the North Sea near the U.K. have been associated with so-called "air bombs" — powerful downdrafts of air that could ove
  
  Read more

• Tweet #SnailLove to Help Lonely Mollusk Find a Mate

  26-10-2016 15:53
  
  Most snails have right-spiraling, or dextral, shells, said Angus Davison, an associate professor and reader in evolutionary genetics at the University of Nottingham's School of Life Sciences in the United Kingdom. Davison, who has studied the snail, said that unfortunately for Jeremy, his sinistral shell means that his genitals are on the opposite side of his body compared with most garden snails, making it very difficult for him to mate with dextral snails.
  
  Read more

• Mosquito army released in Zika fight in Brazil & Colombia

  26-10-2016 15:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists are planning to release millions of modified mosquitoes in urban areas of Brazil and Colombia, in an effort to tackle Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses.
  
  Read more

• Venezuela opposition protests Maduro 'dictatorship'

  26-10-2016 14:21
  By Alexandra Ulmer and Andrew Cawthorne CARACAS (Reuters) - Opposition supporters headed to rallies around Venezuela on Wednesday against unpopular socialist President Nicolas Maduro, whom they accuse of turning into a dictator by preventing a plebiscite to remove him. The opposition coalition says Maduro must go before the situation worsens, but Venezuela's electoral authorities last week cancelled a planned signature drive to hold a recall referendum against him, citing fraud. An outraged oppo
  
  Read more

• Why does our planet experience an ice age every 100,000 years?

  26-10-2016 14:15
  Experts have offered up an explanation as to why our planet began to move in and out of ice ages every 100,000 years.
  
  Read more

• Unexpected giant glowing halos discovered around distant quasars

  26-10-2016 14:11
  Astronomers have discovered glowing gas clouds surrounding distant quasars. This new survey indicates that halos around quasars are far more common than expected. The properties of the halos in this surprising find are also in striking disagreement with currently accepted theories of galaxy formation in the early Universe.
  
  Read more

• Turkey has no designs on Syria's Aleppo - Erdogan

  26-10-2016 13:39
  Turkey's military operations in Syria aim to secure control of the towns of al-Bab and Manbij but are not intended to stretch to the city of Aleppo, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. "Let's make a joint fight against terrorist organisations.
  
  Read more

• The Internet of Things Is Growing Faster Than the Ability to Defend It

  26-10-2016 13:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Last week’s use of connected gadgets to attack the Web is a wake-up call for the Internet of Things, which will get a whole lot bigger this holiday season
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• IoT Growing Faster Than the Ability to Defend It

  26-10-2016 13:15 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Last week’s use of connected gadgets to attack the Web is a wake-up call for the Internet of Things, which will get a whole lot bigger this holiday season
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
  Read more

• ‘Time crystal’ created in lab

  26-10-2016 13:00
  
  A chain of ions creates a crystal that repeats in time instead of in space.
  
  Read more

• Elon Musk Talks SpaceX Mars Colony Ships and More in Reddit AMA

  26-10-2016 13:00
  
  SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk provided some additional details on Sunday (Oct. 23) about a Mars transportation system he unveiled last month, including plans to test in the near future one of its key technologies. In an "Ask Me Anything" discussion on the website Reddit, organized on short notice, Musk answered more than a dozen questions posed by users about the Interplanetary Transport System he announced in a Sept. 27 speech at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico.
  
  Read more

• Michael Bloomberg co-authoring climate change book

  26-10-2016 12:05
  NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is working with environmentalist Carl Pope on a book about climate change.
  
  Read more

• Muskrat Falls unrest simmered for years: a look back at methylmercury concerns

  26-10-2016 12:04 via cbc.ca
  
  CBC News looks back at the history of methylmercury concerns in Labrador, which started even before the Muskrat Falls project was sanctioned.
  
  Read more

• Which dinosaur would have made the best pet? We asked an expert

  26-10-2016 11:51
  
  If only dinosaurs weren’t extinct.
  
  Read more

Follow @ScienceUKnews on Twitter!