GoogleTrends: July 2015

Friday, July 31, 2015

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Earth's 'magnetic personality' much older than previously thought

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Earth's magnetic field has been a life preserver, protecting against relentless solar winds, streams of charged particles rushing from the Sun, that otherwise could strip away the planet's atmosphere and water. "It would be a pretty barren planet without it," said University of Rochester geophysicist John Tarduno. Researchers on Thursday said evidence entombed in tiny crystals retrieved from the outback of western Australia indicates the magnetic field arose at least 4.2 billion years ago, much earlier than previously believed.

When is a jackal not a jackal? When it's really a 'golden wolf'

Scientists said on Thursday a comprehensive genetic analysis found that these populations are made up of two entirely distinct species, with those in Africa different from the others. The scientific name for the golden jackal is Canis aureus. The researchers proposed renaming those in Africa Canis anthus, or the African golden wolf.

U.S. lawmakers question NASA, Air Force on blast probe led by SpaceX

By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fourteen U.S. lawmakers on Thursday told the Air Force and NASA they had "serious concerns" about the fact that SpaceX is leading an investigation into the June 28 explosion of its Falcon 9 rocket, and whether it would receive enough oversight. Republican Representatives Mike Coffman from Colorado and Randy Forbes from Virginia led the bipartisan group, which questioned the two government agencies about what the explosion means for future NASA and Air Force launches.

Zoom In on NYC in United Nations' 'My Planet from Space' (Video)

This gorgeous satellite view of the busy Big Apple as seen from orbit offers a glimpse into the new "My Planet from Space" exhibit currently on view at the United Nations. The video shows a satellite photo of New York City, pointing out the metropolis' boroughs before focusing in on the United Nations building, the home of the new exhibition. The image was captured by Japan's ALOS satellite in June 2010, with the European Space Agency unveiling it as part of its Earth from Space video series to spotlight the U.N.'s "My Planet from Space: Fragility and Beauty" exhibit.

Closest Rocky Alien Planet Discovered

Astronomers have discovered a rocky exoplanet that lies just 21 light-years from Earth — closer than any other confirmed rocky alien world. The alien planet, called HD 219134b, is about 4.5 times more massive than Earth, making it a so-called "super Earth," a new study reports. HD 219134b lies extremely close to its host star, completing one orbit every three days, so its surface is too hot to harbor life as we know it, researchers said.

Blue Moon Full Moon Rises Tonight: What to Expect

There's a "Blue Moon" in the sky tonight — but that doesn't mean the lunar surface will turn indigo. Tonight's (July 31) moon will be a gorgeous sight, but it won't look different than any other full moon. The term Blue Moon has come to refer to the second full moon in a given month (since full moons come around about every 29 days, most months only contain one).

For Dr. Seuss, Nonsensical Rhymes Came with a Reason

Most fans of Dr. Seuss can predict how a line from one of his books will end the moment they hear the beginning. For instance, many will fondly remember the line, "I do not like green eggs and ham," and be able to parrot what comes next: "I do not like them Sam I Am." The predictability of Dr. Seuss' lines and imaginative drawings have been catnip to young readers for decades. Now, more than half a century after "Green Eggs and Ham" (Random House, 1960) was published, Dr. Seuss is asking a new generation of readers, "What Pet Should I Get?" (Random House, 2015).

NYC Light Show Aims to Raise Awareness About Endangered Species

On Saturday (Aug. 1), New York's Empire State Building will be converted into a giant billboard to draw attention to the plight of endangered animals around the world. From 9 p.m. to midnight EDT on Saturday, the Empire State Building's southern face will feature images of a snow leopard, a golden lion tamarin, a manta ray and many other creatures that could soon be wiped out in Earth's sixth mass extinction, according to Louie Psihoyos and Travis Threlkel, the organizers of the upcoming event. Psihoyos, a photographer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker (he directed the 2009 Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove"), is co-founder of the animal rights and conservation organization Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS).

Shake, Rattle and Build: Colliding Bricks Self-Assemble Into Objects

A team of researchers at Israel's Bar-Ilan University built a cylinder from half-inch (about 1.3 centimeters), pyramid-shaped "bricks" of plastic, each with a set of small depressions and studs on its sides and a magnet under the surface. In their experiment, Hacohen and her team put the bricks in a container and spun them at rotation frequencies between 200 and 350 revolutions per minute.

'Magnetic' Discovery May Reveal Why Earth Supports Life and Mars Doesn't

Earth's magnetic field, which protects the planet from harmful blasts of solar radiation, is much older than scientists had previously thought, researchers say. Without Earth's magnetic field, solar winds — streams of electrically charged particles that flow from the sun — would strip away the planet's atmosphere and oceans. As such, Earth's magnetic field helped to make life on the planet possible, researchers have said.

Deadly Fungus Could Threaten US Salamanders

Each year, thousands of live salamanders arrive in shipments on U.S. shores, a trade that must stop immediately, scientists say. According to new research, a ban on salamander imports is crucial to stopping the spread of a deadly fungus that kills almost every salamander it infects. Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, also known as Bsal, is a chytrid fungus, and a close relative of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a frog fungus that is threatening species worldwide.

1 in 5 Adult Americans Report Having a Disability

About one in eight adults say they have mobility limitations, such as difficulty walking or climbing stairs, making this the most common type of disability, according to the report. The South had the highest percentages of people with disabilities, according to the report. Although the report did not analyze the reasons for the disparity between states, the South tends to have higher rates of chronic diseases associated with disability, including heart disease and diabetes, than the rest of the country, the CDC said.

Exercise in Teen Years Tied to Lower Mortality Later

During the study, 5,282 of the women died, including 2,375 who died from cancer and 1,620 who died from cardiovascular disease. "In women, adolescent exercise participation, regardless of adult exercise, was associated with reduced risk of cancer and all-cause mortality," study author Sarah J. Nechuta, an assistant professor of medicine Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said in a statement.

'Leaky' Vaccines May Fuel Evolution of Deadlier Viruses

Some vaccines may cause viruses to evolve into deadlier forms, a new study suggests. The effect has so far been demonstrated with just one bird virus, though it's possible it may also occur with some human vaccines, the researchers said.

Cheers! 'Blue Moon' Beer Celebrates Lunar Sight for 20th Anniversary

In a coincidence of cosmic proportions, the second full moon of July rises tonight, making it a so-called "Blue Moon" — and Blue Moon Brewing Co. will celebrate its 20th anniversary by painting the town red. A celestial Blue Moon comes around roughly every 2.7 years. Tonight (July 31), a Blue Moon will rise on the same night as Blue Moon Brewing Co. celebrates its 20th anniversary with parties and events at more than 750 locations across the country.

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Thursday, July 30, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Too Salty! High Sodium Intake Tied to Increased Blood Pressure

People who increase their salt intake significantly are at higher risk of developing high blood pressure, a large Japanese study finds. Researchers looked at about 4,500 adults in Japan who had normal blood pressure at the beginning of the study. After following these people for three years and measuring their salt intake with an annual urine analysis, the researchers found that about 23 percent of the participants, or 1,027 people, developed hypertension, a condition known as high blood pressure.

How Robots Could Build a Radio Telescope on Far Side of the Moon

Researchers are making strides on a radio telescope array that would be unfurled on the far side of the moon by an unmanned rover operated by nearby astronauts. The rover would be commanded by astronauts in NASA's Orion spacecraft, which would be hovering in a gravitationally stable spot near the lunar far side called Earth-moon Lagrange Point 2 (L2). Now, a university team has developed a system that mimics rover control to recognize potential problems with human-telerobotic operations, such as time lags and communication quality.

'Bathtub Rings' On Saturn Moon Titan Suggest Dynamic Seas

Saturn's moon, Titan, is the only object in the solar system other than Earth known to have liquid on its surface. While most of the lakes are found around the poles, the dry regions near the equator contain signs of evaporated material left behind like rings on a bathtub that, when combined with geological features, suggest that the location of the liquids on the moon has shifted over time. "Today, Titan's equatorial region is more like a desert — there is a huge sand sea of these phenomenal linear dunes and no lakes or seas," Shannon MacKenzie, a graduate student in physics at the University of Idaho, told Astrobiology Magazine by email.

Delivery Drones Could Be on Your Doorstep in a Decade, Google Says

The Google concept, called Project Wing, would enable people to get products delivered "in short order," even in the most populated areas, Dave Vos, the project's leader, said here today (July 29) at a NASA-sponsored conference on drones. Project Wing was first described publicly in August 2014, when test flights of early prototypes were conducted in Australia, The Atlantic reported.

Why Diet Pepsi's New Artificial Sweetener Won't Replace the Old

Diet Pepsi drinkers only have a few more days to enjoy their favorite aspartame-sweetened beverage fresh from the soda fountain. Starting in August, the popular diet soda will get its sugary taste from a different, and less controversial, artificial sugar called sucralose (popularly known as Splenda). The company's decision to sell two versions of the same drink suggests that some Diet Pepsi fans aren't thrilled about the switch to sucralose.

Not All African Pygmy Groups Grow the Same Way

Not all African people of short stature — often referred to as Pygmies — grow alike, a new study finds. However, other African Pygmy tribes grow differently: In East Africa, the Sua and Efe peoples give birth to smaller-than-average babies.

Polar Bear Awes with Record-Breaking Dive

Polar bears are known to be excellent swimmers, but new research suggests that they are also superb divers. Scientists recently observed a polar bear dive that lasted 3 minutes, 10 seconds, shattering the previous known record by about 2 minutes. The researchers — Ian Stirling from the University of Alberta in Canada, and Rinie van Meurs, a naturalist and polar expedition leader from the Netherlands — were studying polar bears in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard (located between continental Norway and the North Pole, east of Greenland), when they witnessed this epic underwater swim.

Volcanoes Dot Snowy Russian Landscape in New Photo from Space

The Kamchatka Peninsula, in eastern Russia, is one of the most active volcanic regions on Earth, and the ash-covered Klyuchevskoy volcano erupts most frequently. The volcano formed 6,000 years ago and hasn't slowed down since, according to NASA. The image, which shows a thin plume of ash and steam flowing out of the Klyuchevskoy volcano, was captured by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station in early May. Klyuchevskoy is flanked by other snow-covered volcanoes, including Ushkovsky, Bezymianny and Tolbachik, according to NASA.

Scientist: oil slick likely from natural seafloor seepage

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Officials are still trying to determine the source of a mysterious miles-long oil slick off California's coast, but a scientist says it's likely the result of naturally occurring seepage from the sea floor.

Philae lander shows there's more to comets than soft dust

By Victoria Bryan and Maria Sheahan BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The comet lander Philae may be uncommunicative at the moment, but the pictures and measurements it took after it touched down on a comet in November have shown scientists that the comet is covered with coarse material, rather than dust, and is harder than expected. European scientists celebrated an historic first when Philae landed on a comet called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November after a 10-year journey through space aboard the Rosetta spacecraft. As it landed, Philae bounced and ended up in shadow, where its batteries soon ran out.

Saving rhinos in a lab

By Ben Gurber San Francisco, California - Matthew Markus, of biotech company Pembient, is holding up a rhinoceros horn worth thousands of dollars on the black market because a poacher had to risk his life to kill an endangered species to obtain it. At least that is what Markus would have you believe. The truth is this horn wasn't cut off a rhino in the African savannah, it was bioengineered in lab in San Francisco. Rhino horns are comprised primarily of keratin, a family of proteins that make up hair and nails. It is highly sought after in parts of Asia where it's used as an ingredient in conventional medicine. Markus and his partner George Bonaci obtained a real rhino horn and are using the latest techniques in biotechnology to replicate it so perfectly that it passes as the real thing. "There is going to be some differences still.

Will Europe's Philae Comet Lander Make Another Comeback?

The lander team would love to get Philae up and running again soon so that they can get an up-close look at how this "perihelion passage" affects 67P. This work ended when Philae's primary battery died and the probe went into hibernation — a consequence of coming to rest in an unexpectedly shaded location. A recharge did end up happening, though it took much longer than planned: Philae phoned home on June 13, apparently revivified by the increasing levels of solar radiation it experienced as Comet 67P got closer and closer to the sun.

Surprising Comet Discoveries by Rosetta's Philae Lander Unveiled

The structure, composition and evolutionary history of comets are starting to come into focus, thanks to observations beamed home by the first probe ever to land on one of these icy objects. On Nov. 12, 2014, the European Space Agency's Philae lander detached from its Rosetta mother ship, which had arrived in orbit around Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko three months earlier, and spiraled down toward the icy wanderer's surface. Philae's anchoring harpoons failed to fire, and the 220-lb. (100 kilograms) lander bounced off 67P's surface, clipped a crater rim and then bounced a second time before finally coming to rest nearly two hours after first making contact with the comet's surface.

Minority Report-type insect robots jump on water

The spider robots that invade the bath of Captain John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise, were one of the highlights of iconic 2002 film Minority Report. Now a team of international researchers has created a similar insect android that can launch itself easily from the water. "I'm just fascinated by how the water striders can jump on water and I'm really excited to see that we were able to extract the principles from nature to re-create one of the most fascinating locomotion of nature, the water jumping," said Kyujin Cho, professor of mechanical engineering at Seoul National University.

GM moths could end cabbage ravage

Scientists in Britain say they have developed a way of genetically modifying and controlling an invasive species of moth that causes serious pest damage to cabbages, kale, canola and other similar crops world-wide. In what they said could be a pesticide-free and environmentally-friendly way to control insect pests, the scientists, from the Oxford University spin-off company Oxitec, developed diamondback moths with a "self-limiting gene" which dramatically reduced populations in greenhouse trials. The self-limiting gene technique has already been tested against dengue fever-carrying mosquitoes, cutting their populations by more than 90 percent in trials in Brazil, Panama and the Cayman Islands.

NASA Working to Avoid Traffic Jams at Mars

With two more Mars orbiters sent into space last year, traffic has picked up around the Red Planet — so much so that NASA recently bolstered its monitoring process to avoid future traffic jams. NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft and India's Mangalyaan probe both began circling the Red Planet last September, bringing the total number of operational Mars orbiters to five — the most ever. NASA's Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the European Space Agency's Mars Express are the other three spacecraft.

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