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	(Sponsor this newsletter) SpaceX delays launch and landing test of Falcon 9 rocket By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., (Reuters) - Elon Musk's SpaceX on Sunday postponed launch of an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket and an attempt to land the booster at the launch site, saying the tricky touchdown would have a better chance of success if delayed for 24 hours. A smooth landing would provide a big boost to Musk's Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, and its long-term ambition of refurbishing and reusing its rockets, an advance that could slash launch costs. The mission, rescheduled for 8:33 p.m. ET on Monday, is the first for SpaceX since June 28, when the Falcon 9 failed during an attempt to deliver cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. Read More » Self-driving delivery robots could be Santa's new helper By Matthew Stock Fleets of small autonomous robots could soon become a familiar presence on public pathways with the advent of ground-based drones that aim to improve local delivery of goods and groceries.     Former Skype co-founders have launched a new company, Starship Technologies, which is preparing to test their self-driving delivery robots in London. The as yet unnamed robots are small, safe, practical and free from CO2 emissions, according to the developers.     "When you place your order online, as you do right now, but instead of getting the delivery by somebody coming up to your door and knocking on your door, you would get it by a robot," said Ahti Heinla, a Skype co-founder and CEO at Starship Technologies.    The robots can carry the equivalent of two bags of shopping and complete local deliveries in between five and 30 minutes from a designated hub or retail outlet. Read More » The Key to Making Baby Pandas? Love There's a secret to making panda babies, and it looks a little bit like love. Pandas are more likely to produce young when they have a preference for the partner they're meant to mate with, a new study finds. In a new study published Tuesday (Dec. 15) in the journal Nature Communications, researchers allowed pandas to pick their own mates by letting them observe a pair of opposite-sex bears through barriers in a special enclosure. Read More » The Beard Is Back: Beeswax Fixes King Tut's Broken Goatee The imperial goatee on King Tutankhamun's golden burial mask is back in business after scientists reattached it with beeswax, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. Staff workers at Cairo's Egyptian Museum mistakenly reattached it with epoxy glue, leaving scratch marks on the famous artifact after they used a spatula to wipe off the excess glue, Live Science reported in January. But now, after a nine-week restoration, the mask has returned to public display at the museum, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Eldamaty said at a news conference yesterday (Dec. 17) at the museum. Read More » Spacewalking astronauts fix station's stuck rail car By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Two U.S. astronauts floated outside the International Space Station on Monday in a hastily planned spacewalk to move a stuck rail car before a Russian cargo ship reaches the outpost on Wednesday, NASA said. Station commander Scott Kelly and newly arrived flight engineer Timothy Kopra were due to spend about 3.5 hours on an abbreviated spacewalk to latch the stalled car into a parking spot along the station's exterior truss. The rail car jammed about 4 inches (10 cm) short of its intended latching point last Wednesday, blocked by a crew equipment cart that was left with its brake on. Read More » 30 year sweatshirt tackling 'fast fashion' By Jim Drury A young British entrepreneur has created the 30 Year Sweatshirt - a sustainable, ethical range of clothing that he says offers a practical solution to the cycle of consumption and waste caused by so-called 'fast fashion'. Londoner Tom Cridland, 25, told Reuters he has combined old-fashioned craftsmanship with a unique silicon treatment applied to fabric that prevents shrinking. The result is a sweatshirt that he guarantees will last three decades, and because the items are priced at an affordable £55 ($83 USD), he insists that buyers will also save money in the long-term. Read More » Microwavable Mantle: Physicists Nuke Mock Earth Layer, for Science Scientists have jury-rigged a microwave oven and a liquid made of food and cosmetics thickener to recreate the Earth's mantle, the mysterious middle layer of the planet. The mock-up mantle could help scientists determine whether a hidden pool of radioactive elements is producing heat deep in Earth's interior, Angela Limare, a physicist at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France, said Tuesday (Dec. 15) here at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. "It looks like the upper mantle is really depleted of radioactive elements," Limare said. Read More » Here's How To Extend Your iPhone's Battery Life Apple's new case contains a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery that doubles the time you can use your phone before it goes kaput. Gordon Gottsegen at Wired said the case makes it look like the iPhone has a "strange-looking growth on its backside." Lauren Goode at The Verge said it looks like an iPod that swallowed an iPhone. Read More » Futuristic Kicks: 3D-Printed Sneakers Are Tailor-Made to Your Feet Imagine walking into a store, running on a treadmill for a few minutes and then purchasing a pair of shoes tailored precisely to the contours of your feet. The shoe and clothing company recently unveiled its Futurecraft 3D sneaker — a running shoe with a 3D-printed midsole (the part between the inner sole that touches your foot and the outer sole that touches the ground). Adidas said the midsole can be tailored to fit the "cushioning needs" of your feet, whatever those may be. Read More » Dinosaur's Curious Back Sail May Have Aided Migration The bizarre rigid "sail" on the back of a newfound species of herbivorous dinosaur may have helped the paleo-beast survive in a variety of climates, a new study finds. The dinosaur lived during the Early Cretaceous period about 125 million years ago in ancient Spain, the researchers said. Perhaps the dinosaur used its sail to regulate its body temperature, much like an elephant uses its large ears to release excess body heat, the researchers said. Read More » The World Needs a Carbon Tax, Elon Musk Says The world's leaders should institute a carbon tax to mitigate the worst effects of climate change and help shift the global economy away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said. The current lack of a carbon tax amounts to a hidden subsidy that incentivizes "bad behavior," Musk said here Tuesday (Dec. 15) at the annual fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Read More » Deck the Halls — Scientifically! 5 Smart Tips for Holiday Decorating 'Tis the season of tangled Christmas tree lights, burnt-out menorah bulbs and dried-up mistletoe. From how to keep a Christmas tree fresh and green to ensuring that festive lights don't interfere with your home's Wi-Fi signal, here are five scientific tips that will help you stress less this holiday season. You may have heard rumors that holiday lights can interfere with Wi-Fi signals, causing slow Internet connections and, subsequently, a very frustrating holiday. Read More » Sickle-Wearing Skeletons Reveal Ancient Fear of Demons A few skeletons unearthed in a 400-year-old Polish cemetery have been discovered with sickles placed around their necks. Archaeologists believe this strange burial practice is evidence of a belief in magic and a fear of demons. The sickle burials were found at Drawsko cemetery, a site in northeastern Poland that dates from the 17th to the 18th centuries. Read More » The Art of Science: Why Researchers Should Think Like Designers (Op-Ed) Ten Speed Press is an imprint of Penguin Random House. This fall I read "The Martian" (Crown, 2014) by Andy Weir, and it made me want to be a scientist. It's because I share those three traits — optimism, creativity and problem solving — that I'm a product designer. Read More »
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