|  Europe's prototype gravity wave detector reset for Thursday launch By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - The launch of a prototype satellite to look for ripples in space and across time is back on track for Thursday following a day's delay to review a potential technical concern with Europe's Vega rocket, officials said on Wednesday. The spacecraft, known as LISA Pathfinder, is scheduled for liftoff at 0404 GMT from the European Space Agency's launch site at Kourou, French Guiana. The rocket is designed to deliver the 1,900 kg (4,200-pound) satellite into an orbit 1.5 million km (930,000 miles ) from Earth. Read More » Cygnus Spacecraft Hauling Science to Space Station on Return-to-Flight Mission  | The first launch of the private Cygnus cargo spacecraft since an October 2014 rocket explosion aims to deliver a wealth of science equipment and experiments to the International Space Station. The uncrewed Cygnus, which is built by the aerospace company Orbital ATK, is scheduled to blast off Thursday (Dec. 3) at 5:55 p.m. EST (2255 GMT) atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. You can watch the broadcast of the launch here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV.
| Read More » Modern science detects disease in 400-year-old embalmed hearts  | By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the ruins of a medieval convent in the French city of Rennes, archaeologists discovered five heart-shaped urns made of lead, each containing an embalmed human heart. It turns out three of them bore tell-tale signs of a heart disease very common today. "Every heart was different and revealed its share of surprises," anthropologist Rozenn Colleter of the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research said on Wednesday.
| Read More » Modern science detects disease in 400-year-old embalmed hearts By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the ruins of a medieval convent in the French city of Rennes, archaeologists discovered five heart-shaped urns made of lead, each containing an embalmed human heart. It turns out three of them bore tell-tale signs of a heart disease very common today. "Every heart was different and revealed its share of surprises," anthropologist Rozenn Colleter of the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research said on Wednesday. Read More » Too early to use gene editing in embryos: scientist By Julie Steenhuysen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of the scientists who discovered powerful tools for altering genes is not convinced the case has been made for using the technology on human sperm, eggs and embryos. "The tools are not ready," biologist Emmanuelle Charpentier said in an interview on Wednesday during a global meeting on the technology. Changes made in the genes of human reproductive cells, known as germline cells, would be passed along to future generations. Read More » Weird prehistoric beast conjures up images of 'Star Wars' queen  | By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - What does a strange giraffe-like animal with three horns atop its head and a set of fangs that roamed Europe about 15 million years ago have in common with a pretty young queen from the "Star Wars" movies? Plenty, according to the scientists who on Wednesday announced the discovery in Spain's Cuenca province of beautifully preserved fossils of this creature. They gave it the scientific name Xenokeryx amidalae, meaning "strange horn of Amidala," referring to the "Star Wars" character Queen Amidala, played by actress Natalie Portman. ...
| Read More » Vega rocket blasts off with gravity-hunting satellite A Vega rocket bearing a European prototype satellite blasted into space early on Thursday on a mission to search for ripples in space and across time, a phenomenon predicted but never proven by physicist Albert Einstein 100 years ago. The launch lit up the night sky at the launch site in French Guiana, just north of the Equator in South America, before the rocket disappeared into the clouds, the European Space Agency (ESA) said. The trailblazing Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, or LISA, spacecraft will spend about six months testing a technique to detect ripples in space and across time. Read More » Weather satellite startup will launch on Indian rocket By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A Maryland-based startup developing a satellite network to predict weather using radio signals will launch its first two spacecraft on an Indian rocket, the company said on Thursday. Privately owned PlanetiQ signed a contract with Antrix Corp Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization, to launch the pair of satellites in late 2016. PlanetiQ plans to build and operate a constellation of 12 miniature satellites that monitor GPS and other navigational radio signals passing through Earth's atmosphere. Read More » Ancient Tiny Whale Hunted with Pointy Teeth, Oversize Gums  | Before baleen whales developed their iconic bristled filter-feeding structures, they relied on their pointy teeth and a suctioning method to nab and gulp down prey, a new study finds. The findings are based on the fossilized remains of a newfound species of early baleen whale. Paleontologists Jim Goedert and Bruce Crowley, both researchers at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle, discovered the fossilized whale off the northern tip of Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
| Read More » Clever Cuttlefish 'Freeze' Bioelectric Fields to Avoid Predators  | Cuttlefish are known for their ability to change colors, but these clever cephalopods have a problem: Sharks, rays and other predators hunt not only by sight, but by sensing the bioelectric fields emanating from their prey. Now, new research reveals that cuttlefish have a solution to this problem: They turn down their natural electric fields by freezing in place and holding their breath. This freeze response has not been studied as extensively as cephalopod color camouflage, or cuttlefish's response of releasing ink and jetting away from danger, said study researcher Christine Bedore, a biologist at Georgia Southern University.
| Read More » Paleo Campouts Depicted in Cave Etchings  | The world's oldest depiction of a campsite may have been unearthed outside a cave in Spain. The findings suggest that the ancient people may have lived in dwellings similar to those of modern-day hunter-gatherers, and could shed light on the lifestyle of these elusive people.
| Read More » Why So Blue? Tarantula's Cool Color Is Still a Mystery  | Known as photonic nanostructures, the itsy-bitsy structures reflect blue light, turning a creepy-crawly arachnid into something resembling an eight-legged Cookie Monster. Scientists have known about the tarantula'slight-scattering hairs for some time, but a recent study took a closer look at the nanostructures that make so many spiders in the family Theraphosidae appear blue. The study found that the blue-reflecting nanostructures are unlikely to have evolved as a result of sexual selection, which is often responsible for the bright colors that distinguish closely related species.
| Read More » Sir Butterfly! New Species Named for David Attenborough  | A rare Amazonian butterfly was recently named for a man who has spent much of his time surrounded by these winged critters (as well as a whole host of other animals): Sir David Attenborough. The butterfly's namesake, Sir David Attenborough, is best known as the narrator and host of many popular nature-themed television series, including the BBC's "Life" and "Planet Earth." He's also president of the United Kingdom's Butterfly Conservation, one of the largest insect conservation organizations in the world. Attenborough's black-eyed satyr stands out from its closest relatives because of its atypical wings, which have a peculiar pattern and shape.
| Read More » World's first sonic tractor beam By Jim Drury British researchers have built the world's first sonic tractor beams that lift and move objects using soundwaves. A team from the universities of Bristol and Sussex, in conjunction with Ultrahaptics, a spin-off set up by Sussex Professor of Informatics, Sriram Subramanian, used high-amplitude soundwaves to generate an acoustic hologram that can pick up and move small objects. The device allows the manipulation of small spherical objects in mid-air by individually controlling 64 miniature loudspeakers to generate the acoustic hologram without physical contact. Read More » What Triggered the Big Bang? It's Complicated (Op-Ed)  | Paul Sutter is a visiting scholar at The Ohio State University's Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP). We've all heard of the Big Bang theory (I'm talking about the cosmological model, not the TV show), but it's important to understand what that theory is and what it's not. Let me take this opportunity to be precisely, abundantly, emphatically, ridiculously, fantastically clear: The Big Bang theory is not a theory of the creation of the universe.
| Read More » Orbital heading back to International Space Station on hired rocket  | By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A year after its Antares rocket exploded during launch, Orbital ATK is poised to resume cargo runs to the International Space Station, this time using a hired ride from United Launch Alliance, a Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co joint venture. Liftoff of the ULA Atlas 5 rocket is slated for 5:55 p.m. EST (2255 GMT) on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. "This is step one in the return-to-flight plan," said Mike Pinkston, Orbital's Antares program manager.
| Read More » To See Deep into Space, Start Deep Underground (Op-Ed)  | Constance Walter is the communications director for the Sanford Underground Research Facility. She explores the stars vicariously through the physics experiments running nearly a mile underground in the former Homestake Gold Mine. She contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
| Read More » Plastics Recycling is Working: Here's Why (Op-Ed) Steve Alexander is executive director of the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, Steve Russell is vice president of the American Chemistry Council's Plastics Division and Steve Sikra is section head for corporate R&D at The Procter & Gamble Company. The authors contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Take plastic bottles: In 2014, U.S. consumers recycled a record high of more than 3 billion pounds of plastic bottles — generating an estimated $730 million in revenue from selling bales of plastic material — and the recycling rate climbed to an all-time high of 32 percent . Read More » | |
