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Friday, January 17, 2014

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5 Phrases That Will Kill Your Kickstarter Campaign (And 12 That Won't)

If you ask the creators of successful Kickstarter projects how they got funded, they'll probably tell you it was thanks to a strong community of supporters, press coverage, social media shares, or some other factor that they put a lot of time and effort into. Georgia Tech assistant professor Eric Gilbert and doctoral candidate Tanushree Mitra studied the language used in every Kickstarter campaign launched since June 2012. "Our research revealed that the phrases used in successful Kickstarter campaigns exhibited general persuasion principles," said Gilbert, who runs Georgia Tech's computer social lab. Gilbert and Mitra were intrigued by the huge variance between Pebble, the most successful Kickstarter campaign to date with more than $10 million in pledges, and Ninja Baseball, a well-publicized PC game that earned just one-third of its $10,000 goal.

Geminid Meteor Streaks Over Frozen Pennsylvania Lake (Photo)

Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes captured this photo on Dec. 13 from French Creek State Park, Penn., during the annual Geminid meteor shower. "After a series of winter storms and cold temperatures, this frozen lake set the scene for the first meteor shower of the winter— the Geminids," Berkes wrote SPACE.com in an email. Meteor showers are created when the Earth makes its way through the leftover debris of comets or asteroids. Editor's note: If you have an amazing night sky photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

Simulating Surgery On a Mock Mars Mission

Editor's Note: In the Utah desert, scientists are attempting to recreate what a real-life mission to Mars might be like, and SPACE.com contributor Elizabeth Howell is along for the ride. HANKSVILLE, Utah — Within days of beginning our two-week stay at the Mars Desert Research Station, crew members already encountered minor medical problems — a sore back and a cold or flu among them. Take this six-member crew and put them on a 900-day mission to Mars, and it's possible that something could happen two or three times that would require the use of anesthesia, according to Crew 133 health and safety officer Matthieu Komorowski.

Mountains May Suck Up Carbon Better Than Thought

Given that soil is involved in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the results suggest that mountains may have the potential to influence global climate, researchers say. Previous research had suggested there's a "speed limit" to the rate of new soil production and weathering on rapidly eroding mountain ranges. To test if this speed limit can be broken, researchers analyzed soil samples from the western Southern Alps of New Zealand. Through tectonic activity, these mountains uplift, or grow, faster than most others on Earth — this phenomenon also erodes rocks and exposes new soil that is able to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through a process called chemical weathering.

You, Too, Can Smash Atoms!

While most high-school students are stuck building science fair experiments with a funnel, some popsicle sticks or a few parts from Radio Shack, a few lucky ones will have the opportunity to take their science to a whole new level. CERN, the Geneva, Switzerland-based physics organization that runs the Large Hadron Collider that recently found the Higgs Boson, is opening up a particle beamline for students with the best research proposal. The beams accelerate protons and other particles to incredibly high speeds, and the focused beams are then fed to experiments such as the Large Hadron Collider, which smashes beams together to create tiny subatomic particles. The Proton Synchrotron beam line will be open to a total of nine teams of up to 30 students over age 16, along with one adult coach.

How Queen Bees Reign Over Reproduction

When it comes to reproduction in social insects, nobody competes with the queen. Now, researchers have found that queen ants, wasps and bumblebees all use a similar type of chemical to signal fertility, which their ancestors evolved millions of years ago. These chemical signals, called pheromones, are thought to make workers infertile. Studying how these pheromones evolved could provide a window onto how social insects developed their cooperative living system.

Can Chinese Herbal Medicine Reduce Diabetes Risk?

For people with elevated blood sugar levels, taking Chinese herbal medicines may reduce the risk of developing diabetes, early research from China suggests. Nearly 400 people in China with prediabetes were randomly assigned in the study to take either an herbal medicine called Tianqi (a mixture of 10 Chinese herbal medicines; People with prediabetes have elevated blood sugar levels that are not yet high enough to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. At the end of the year, 36 participants in the Tianqi group and 56 in the placebo group developed Type 2 diabetes.

Your Name in Space: NASA Asteroid Probe Latest Mission to Fly Names

NASA is inviting the public to submit their names to fly to an asteroid and back aboard a robotic spacecraft set to leave Earth in two years. If the space agency's offer sounds familiar, that's because it is: NASA has been collecting and launching names on its space-bound missionsfor more than 15 years. NASA and The Planetary Society's "Messages to Bennu!" is the latest incarnation of the "send your name to space" public outreach program.

China Launches Hypersonic Missile Test, Downplays Fears

China's recent test of a hypersonic vehicle should not unduly alarm the United States or any other nation, Chinese military officials say. The test of China's new "hypersonic glide vehicle," which apparently took place Jan. 9, was not designed to advance the nation's ability to penetrate American missile defense systems, according to a statement issued by China's Ministry of National Defense. "It is normal for China to conduct scientific experiments within its borders according to its plans," the statement reads, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported today (Jan. 16). China's hypersonic glide vehicle is likely launched atop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), then released at an altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers) or less, according to the Washington Free Beacon, which first reported the test on Jan. 13.

Dogs' Closest Wolf Ancestors Went Extinct, Study Suggests

But the origin of this domestication remains stubbornly mysterious. "The dogs all form one group, and the wolves all form one group, and there's no wolf that these dogs are more closely related to of the three that we sampled," said study researcher John Novembre, a professor of genetics at the University of Chicago. Fossil evidence for domestication dates back as far as 33,000 years, based on the shape of the skull and on ancient DNA analysis. Novembre and his colleagues wanted to refine the understanding of domestication using high-quality, full genomes.

Best US States for Child Kidney Transplants Revealed

Consider moving to Georgia, or one of the other states where the odds of quickly getting a life-saving kidney donation are much higher than in other places. This discrepancy is particularly troublesome, researchers say, because children awaiting a kidney transplant must undergo kidney dialysis treatment, the mechanical filtering of their blood, several times a week. The procedure is especially hard on their arteries, and studies have shown these children's risk of early death, often from cardiovascular disease, is four times higher compared with that for children fortunate enough to get a donated kidney. Moreover, suitable kidneys are likely available to help the approximately 2,000 children nationwide waiting for a kidney transplant, if only the distribution could be handled better, said Dr. Sandra Amaral, of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania and senior author of the report.

Are New Execution Drugs 'Cruel and Unusual'?

Dennis McGuire, convicted of the rape and murder of a pregnant woman in 1989, was executed today in Ohio using a combination of two drugs that had never before been used in an execution. Attorneys for McGuire and medical experts argued that the use of the drugs represented an unconstitutional, "cruel and unusual" execution, because of the possibility that McGuire would be conscious and in pain as he died. "Ohio is taking drugs that are normally used for things like a colonoscopy, and they're giving massive overdoses to kill people," Dr. Jonathan Groner, a professor of clinical surgery at The Ohio State University, told TIME. The first drug McGuire received, midazolam, is in a class of drugs called benzodiazepines, which are prescribed by doctors to treat anxiety, seizures and insomnia.

Even Baby's 'Fake' Crying Builds Relationship with Mom

The infant "appeared to cry deliberately to get her mother's attention and convey to her [mother] that she wanted her to come closer and play with her again," study researcher Hiroko Nakayama, of the University of the Sacred Heart in Tokyo, wrote in the December issue of the journal Infant Behavior and Development. "This appeared to be an instance of fake crying," Nakayama said.

Snow Leopards Photographed for the 1st Time in Uzbekistan

A camera trap snapped the first-ever pictures of the elusive snow leopard in Uzbekistan. Even better, it caught not one, but two of the endangered cats on camera. The new images of the cats released by conservation groups Panthera and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) confirm that there are at least two individual snow leopards in the Gissar Nature Reserve, a protected part of the Pamir Mountains that can be visited only for scientific research. Uzbekistan, which is about the size of California, is one of 12 countries in Asia where snow leopards still roam through rugged mountainous terrain.

Male Spiders Must Twerk — or Be Eaten

Miley Cyrus may have made "twerking" a household word, but male black widow spiders are the real masters of the rump-jiggling dance move. These arachnids twerk their abdomens to avoid getting eaten by potential mates. "They take a few steps and then they stop and vibrate their abdomen, and then they take a few steps and vibrate again," study researcher Samantha Vibert, a doctoral candidate at Simon Fraser University in Canada, said of the males. Vibert knew from observing hobo spiders (Tegenaria agrestisi) that mating spiders perform elaborate dances.

Scientists seek cause of catastrophic fish kill in Nevada lake

Biologists scrambled on Thursday to unravel the mystery behind a massive fish kill in a popular manmade lake in Nevada that draws thousands of anglers each winter for prized game fish such as trout. More than 100,000 stocked fish such as bass and catfish are estimated to have perished in the lake in the northern city of Sparks in recent weeks in an unprecedented die-off that has destroyed the entire fishery, said Chris Healy, spokesman for the state Department of Wildlife. "We're seeing oxygen levels that are totally lethal to fish," Healy said. The depleted oxygen levels pose no threat to human or pet health, and sampling of the water shows no evidence of pollution or contaminants, said Adam Mayberry, spokesman for the city of Sparks.

Mock Mars Mission: How to Stay Clean on the Red Planet

HANKSVILLE, UTAH – During an orientation walk around the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah on Jan. 5, our crew confronted a steep hill. Have a burning question about the mission or a picture you really would like to see from the site?

New Device May Put DNA Testing in Doctors' Hands

United Kingdom company QuantuMDX now has a working prototype for a device intended to quickly test a sample of blood, sputum (saliva mixed with mucus) or even tumor cells for genetic markers that provide information to guide a doctor's decisions on how to treat a patient. "We want to put a full diagnostic test into the palms of health professionals' hands," said Elaine Warburton, chief executive officer of QuantuMDX and the company's cofounder. The prototype is about the size of an iPad 5, or 6.6 by 9.4 inches (17 by 24 centimeters), but thicker. In about six months, Warburton said she anticipates the device will be reduced to about the size of an iPad mini, 5.3 by 7.9 in.

New England's 'Lost' Archaeological Sites Rediscovered

Take a walk in the New England woods, and you may stumble upon the overgrown remains of a building's foundation or the stacked stones of a wall. Examinations of airborne scans of three New England towns revealed networks of old stone walls, building foundations, old roads, dams and other features, many of which long were forgotten. These features speak to a history that Katharine Johnson, an archaeologist and study researcher, wants to see elucidated. "I think there is a general idea of what was happening, but it is not as well understood as it could be," Johnson, a doctoral student at the University of Connecticut, told LiveScience.

Kilauea Eruption Triggered Unusually Strong Earthquakes

Strong earthquakes can occur when molten-hot magma rapidly pressurizes volcanoes, researchers found after studying activity at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano during 2007. The researchers found that Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, located on Hawaii's Big Island, has been erupting since 1983.

Why Is It So Hot in Australia?

Record-high heat has scorched Australia this week, with temperatures exceeding 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) for several days in a row in some areas. Blazing temperatures have hit athletes and fans at the Australian Open in Melbourne, in what forecasters said could be the hottest stretch of weather in a century for the city. "Almost all heat waves form due to unusually strong areas of high pressure at high altitudes — or a so-called ridge in the jet stream," said Jason Samenow, weather editor at The Washington Post. Samenow said the heat wave is already Australia's second this year, following record heat earlier in January.

NY State Lawmakers Weigh Ban on Sale of Ivory

NEW YORK — At a public hearing held today (Jan. 16) here in Manhattan, state lawmakers discussed the need to tighten restrictions on the sale of ivory in New York, with some raising the possibility of a statewide ban on the trade. A diverse panel of diplomats, law enforcement officials, research scientists and activists testified before the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Environmental Conservation to evaluate the effectiveness of existing laws and regulations to protect endangered species and halt the illegal sale of ivory. New York is one of the largest markets for illegal ivory in the United States, and despite laws in place to restrict its sale, enforcement of these regulations has remained a challenge, said Maj. Scott Florence, acting direct of the division of law enforcement at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Vitamin D Reduces Pain in People with Fibromyalgia

Taking vitamin D supplements may alleviate chronic pain in people with fibromyalgia who have low levels of the vitamin, according to a new study from Austria. Patients with fibromyalgia syndrome suffer from chronic, body-wide muscle and joint pain, and fatigue. Previous studies have pointed to the possible role of vitamin D in the perception of chronic pain. In the new study, researchers studied whether raising patients' vitamin D levels to the recommended range would help with some of their symptoms.

Japan to Test Space Junk Cleanup Tether Soon: Report

Japanese scientists are getting ready to launch a test of a space junk-cleaning tether, according to press reports. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) researchers are developing an electrodynamic tether designed to generate electricity that will slow down space-based debris, according to a report from Agence France Presse. The slowed-down space junk will fall into lower and lower orbits until burning up harmlessly in Earth's atmosphere. "We have two main objectives in the trial next month," Masahiro Nohmi, associate professor at Kagawa University, who is working with JAXA on the project, told the AFP.

Landmark Sexuality Survey Foiled by Teen Jokes

Teenagers who thought it would be funny to fake being gay may have skewed the results of a landmark 1990s adolescent health survey, a new research paper argues. "We need to be careful when we do our research that our sexual-minority participants are representative of the gay youth population so that we can accurately and adequately represent their lives," study co-author Ritch Savin-Williams, a human development researcher at Cornell University, said in a statement. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health survey, colloquially known as Add Health, asked 14,000 teenagers detailed questions about their health, well-being and other behaviors in four waves from 1994 to 2008.

Extremely Rare Gangrene Strikes Man after Routine Hemorrhoid Treatment

For one man in the UK, a routine treatment for hemorrhoids resulted in a rare, life-threatening complication that required a number of surgeries and powerful antibiotics to save his life, according to a new report of his case. The 80-year-old man had undergone rubber band ligation to treat inflamed hemorrhoids, a common outpatient procedure that a doctor performs in the office. In rubber band ligation, a small elastic band is tied around the base of hemorrhoid, which is a swollen blood vessel in the rectum or anus. Rubber band ligation is the most commonly used technique for treating inflamed hemorrhoids because it is an effective, low-risk treatment, said Dr. Daryl Subramaniam, a surgeon at Royal Sussex County Hospital, in East Sussex, who treated the man.

Sydney's Bald Reef Gets a Seaweed Transplant

Seaweed transplants could help revive an underwater forest off the coast of Sydney, Australia, that was wiped out by sewage dumping decades earlier, a new study suggests. The large brown seaweed species Phyllospora comosa, commonly called crayweed, once thrived off the city's shores, providing food and shelter for other undersea creatures like fish and abalone. But in 2008, researchers discovered that this macroalgae had disappeared from a 43-mile (70 kilometers) stretch of Sydney's coastline — and that it had probably been missing for years. During the 1970s and 1980s, a high volume of Sydney's sewage was pumped into the water close to shore.

California Colby Wildfire Seen from Space

New satellite images reveal the rapid growth of a wildfire that is burning in Glendora, Calif., near Los Angeles. Though the Colby fire started small yesterday (Jan. 16), ash and smoke hovered over much of the metropolitan area by the afternoon, and has led to air quality advisories for the region. The images were captured using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers on NASA's Terra and Aqua Satellites. The fast-moving fire, which has consumed more than 1,700 acres and destroyed five homes, according to The Los Angeles Times today (Jan. 17), may be a harbinger of a rare winter fire season for the region.

Hellish Northridge Earthquake: Is Los Angeles Safer 20 Years Later?

Roaring like a freight train from hell, the Northridge earthquake threw sleeping Angelenos from their beds at 4:31 a.m. on Jan. 17, 1994. Los Angeles firefighters watched their massive fire trucks hop across a station garage in time with the seismic waves. With more than $40 billion in property and economic losses, Northridge was one of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history. California geologists say their big cities are overdue for another devastating earthquake.

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Thursday, January 16, 2014

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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FDA Limit on 23andMe Genetic Tests Called Unwarranted

The Food and Drug Administration's recent action to stop the sale of genetic tests by the company 23andMe is unwarranted, according to scholars who argue that recent research shows such tests do not cause people distress, or encourage risky behavior. In November, the FDA asked 23andMe to stop marketing its DNA testing kits, saying that the kits are medical devices that require FDA approval. Shortly after the FDA's request, 23andMe said it would stop providing health information to customers along with their test results. But today, some legal and genetic experts are calling the FDA's approach overcautious.

New Theory: Alexander the Great Poisoned by Flowering Herb?

On June 11, 323 B.C., the famed Alexander the Great died, felled by a mysterious illness that left him too weak to move. Now, research finds that if poison killed Alexander the Great, the toxin may well have come from an unassuming plant called white hellebore (Veratrum album) that may have been slipped into his wine. Alexander was the son of the king of Macedonia, Philip II, and Olympias, one of Philip II's five to seven wives. Upon inheriting the throne, Alexander began an ambitious military campaign that would extend the borders of his empire from modern-day Greece to the Himalayan Mountains.

Fitness Trackers May Trigger Rashes in People Allergic to Nickel

Fitness tracker maker Fitbit has issued an apology and is offering refunds and replacements to some users of its popular fitness tracker who have experienced rashes on their wrists. The company suspects that nickel in the metal parts of the fitness tracker may be causing skin irritations for some. "We are looking into reports from a very limited number of Fitbit Force users who have been experiencing skin irritation, possibly as a result of an allergy to nickel, an element of surgical-grade stainless steel used in the device," a Fitbit spokesperson said in a statement. A Fitbit Force user told Consumerist this week that he developed an irritation near the spot where the band's battery and charging port sits on the wrist.

Smallest Full Moon of 2014 Rises Tonight: Here's Why

The smallest full moon of 2014 rises in the night sky tonight (Jan. 15), and there's some interesting science behind the lunar sight. Two years ago, there was a great flurry in the media about a so-called "Supermoon," which was to occur on March 19, 2011. Supermoon was a term invented by astrologer Richard Nolle many years earlier to refer to the coincidence between two astronomical events: a full moon and lunar perigee, when the moon is at its closest point to Earth. A "Minimoon," like the one rising this week, is a full moon at apogee, or its farthest point from the planet.

New Genital Herpes Treatment Shows Promise

A new drug appears to combat the virus that causes genital herpes, suggesting it could one day be used as a treatment for people with the condition, according to a new study. In the study, the drug pritelivir reduced the replication of herpes simplex virus type 2 (which causes genital herpes) in patients with the condition, as well as the number of days patients experienced genital lesions. More studies are needed to further assess the effectiveness of pritelivir, and compare it with existing drugs for genital herpes, the researchers said. The new findings are good news, said Dr. Richard Whitley, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who was not involved in the study.

What Fetal Genome Screening Could Mean for Babies and Parents

Gene Therapy Improves Vision for Some with Rare Disease

Two adults with a rare disease that causes gradual loss of eyesight had their vision improved after being treated with a new gene therapy, according to preliminary results from a new study. "Those genes that they're injecting essentially have the ability to make the correct protein" that is unavailable in patients with defective genes, Fromer said.

Alligators Stalk, Crush & Swallow Prey on Candid Camera

An inconspicuous — albeit with a camera on its back — alligator slithers through a lake stalking and capturing nearby prey, then surfaces to crush and swallow it. This gator is one of a group of camera-toting American alligators that are revealing some surprising insights about their foraging behaviors in two coastal regions in Florida, scientists report in a new study. "We discovered that alligators forage at all times of the day, but increasingly during the night and evening hours, however they were most successful in the morning and while attacking prey below the surface," said the researchers, James Nifong from the University of Florida and colleagues, in a statement. In the past, scientists have relied on stomach contents of alligators, direct observations of captured animals or indirect methods such as calculating metabolic needs of the animal to understand their preying behavior and the potential impact they have on their surrounding ecosystem.

China confirms hypersonic missile carrier test

China has flight-tested a hypersonic missile delivery vehicle in a move that was scientific in nature and not targeted at any country, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday. They are beefing up military spending and ties with Washington. "Our planned scientific research tests conducted in our territory are normal," the Beijing Defence Ministry said in a faxed response to Reuters. "These tests are not targeted at any country and at any specific goals." The statement confirmed a report by the online Washington Free Beacon newspaper that the hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) was detected flying at 10 times the speed of sound over China last week.

Amazing Auroras Shimmer Over Norway in Incredible Video

Multicolored cosmic lights dance over mountains, bridges and lakes in an amazing new video that highlights the beauty of the northern lights as seen from Norway. The spectacular video of Norway's northern lights — entitled "Sixth Element" and produced by the production company Level 4 — runs nearly five minutes in duration and showcases the aurora borealis in the sky near Nordeisa, Troms, Norway, with an ethereal musical score setting the mood. "Quite a bit of time was spent finding the right music to go along with it, we did quite a few rough cuts with different music just to see how the video panned out, and when we finally found 'Promise' by Thomas Bergersen the rough cut was quite close to the finished version," Level 4's Tommy Richardsen told SPACE.com via email. Particularly striking images from the video include meteors streaming overhead as green northern lights flow through the sky.

Indian Satellite Launch Marks Big Success for New Rocket Engine

India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle put a 2.1-ton communications satellite in orbit this month, boosting prospects for the medium-class launcher after a spate of mishaps in recent years. Although it carried a costly communications satellite, India's space agency officially considered the launch a test flight for the GSLV and its indigenous hydrogen-fueled third stage. The 161-foot-tall rocket blasted off at 1048 GMT (5:48 a.m. EST) on Jan. 5, darting through a clear afternoon sky over the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India's east coast, where it was 4:18 p.m. local time. The GSLV's second stage assumed control of the flight for more than two minutes, then yielded to the rocket's Indian-built cryogenic engine, which failed at the moment of ignition during a previous demonstration launch in April 2010.

American Peter Molnar wins Crafoord science prize

STOCKHOLM (AP) — American scientist Peter Molnar has been awarded the 2014 Crafoord Prize in Geosciences for a groundbreaking contribution to the understanding of the driving forces behind plate motions and the place of continents in earth's evolution.

Spacewalking Cosmonauts to Install Earth-Watching Cameras on Space Station This Month

Two Russian cosmonauts will venture outside the International Space Station this month in a second bid to install two high-definition cameras on the exterior of the orbiting lab, the Vancouver-based company UrtheCast announced Monday (Jan. 13). During a long spacewalk on Dec. 27, 2013, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy successfully installed UrtheCast's two cameras outside the space station. But before the cosmonauts went back inside the orbiting lab, they had to remove and return the cameras to storage because mission controllers in Moscow were unable to confirm the devices were receiving power from the space station due to a cabling problem. The cameras arrived at the space station in November as part of the unmanned Russian Progress 53 cargo delivery.

NY State Assembly to Hold Public Hearing on Illegal Ivory Trade

NEW YORK — Lawmakers will gather here in Manhattan tomorrow (Jan. 16) to examine the effectiveness of New York State's restrictions on the sale of ivory. The Assembly Standing Committee on Environmental Conservation will hold a public hearing Thursday at 11 a.m. EST at the Assembly Hearing Room in Lower Manhattan to discuss the laws in place to curb the illegal sale of ivory and protect endangered species. Despite the existence of these laws, New York is one of the largest markets for illegal ivory in the United States, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which is based in the city. In 2012, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, seized more than $2 million worth of ivory in New York City.

'Polar Vortex' Event Paltry Compared to Past Freezes

Was the crisp bite of frozen air during this month's polar vortex a remembrance of winters past for Americans? The cold snap triggered by the polar vortex, the low-pressure weather pattern that rammed into the United States from the Arctic the week of Jan. 5, was pretty paltry compared to cold waves in the past four decades, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. "If you look at the number of days it stayed cold all day and all night, this cold wave was much briefer than past cold waves," Henson told LiveScience. He worked with data provided by colleague Brandt Maxwell of the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration.

New Zealand's Tallest Mountain Shrinks by 100 Feet

New Zealand's stunning Aoraki/Mount Cook, the country's tallest peak, is officially 98 feet (30 meters) shorter than previously thought, researchers with the University of Otago announced today (Jan. 15). While currently officially listed as 12,316 feet (3,754 meters) tall, GPS data from an Otago-led climbing expedition reveal that Aoraki/Mount Cook is actually only 12,217 feet (3,724 m) high, the scientists said today. Since the avalanche, the ice crown has continued to collapse, the University of Otago scientists recently discovered. "When it broke, the top of the ice cap was not in balance with the shape underneath," said Pascal Sirguey, a research scientist at the university and project leader for the research.

Wart Removers Catch Fire and Hurt 10, FDA Reports

Some wart removers are highly flammable, and consumers should not use them around any source of heat, the Food and Drug Administration is warning today (Jan. 16) after receiving several reports of these products catching fire and harming people. The real number of incidents that go unreported is likely higher, according to the FDA. In the reports, 10 consumers described injuries such as burnt hair and skin, and blisters, according to information on the agency's website from FDA nurse consultant Karen Nast. "This is extremely concerning, especially because people may not be aware that everyday household items like curling irons and straight irons can be hot enough to be an ignition source for these products," Nast said in a statement.

Attack! How Falcons Stalk Their Prey in Flight

When a falcon swoops through the air and spots a flock of birds, these crafty predators use a special aerial attack strategy to capture prey in midflight, according to a new study. To gain insight into the hunting practices of falcons, researchers at Haverford College in Haverford, Pa., outfitted falcons across the United States and Europe with miniature helmet- and backpack-mounted video cameras to record footage of raptor attacks in action.

Cold Facts: Does Winter Weather Cause More Deaths?

Cold weather, it's often assumed, causes more deaths overall than hot weather. And the recent polar vortex that broke low-temperature records across North America provides some evidence: At least 21 deaths have been blamed on that cold-weather event, according to CBC News. But scientific research presents a more complex picture, and for a number of reasons, cold weather-related deaths have to be analyzed in a different way than deaths linked to hot weather. In cold weather, people with cardiovascular disease should be careful to avoid exertion, like walking through deep snow or shoveling a driveway, according to the American Heart Association.

How Much Does It Really Cost to Have a Baby?

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, surveyed cost data for more than 109,000 hospital deliveries across the state in 2011. All of the cases involved women with private health insurance, and all were uncomplicated vaginal deliveries or uncomplicated Cesarean-section births. The results showed a wild — and completely unsubstantiated — variation in costs throughout California, from $3,296 for a vaginal delivery to a high of $37,227. "This is unfortunately the appalling state of affairs of health care in the United States," said lead study author Dr. Renee Y. Hsia, an associate professor of emergency medicine at UCSF and a faculty member of the UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies.

Nearly 6,000 Natural Gas Leaks Found in Washington, D.C.

Aging pipelines under the streets of Washington, D.C., are to blame for nearly 6,000 natural gas leaks, including 12 that could have caused dangerous explosions, a new study finds. Researchers from Duke University and Boston University mapped 1,500 road miles (2,400 kilometers) of underground infrastructure that delivers fuel to power homes and businesses in the nation's capital. Using a high-precision device to detect methane — the chief component of natural gas — the scientists discovered more than 5,893 natural gas leaks throughout the city. The scientists also found some manholes with methane concentrations nearly 10 times greater than the threshold at which explosions can occur.

Ocean Radioactivity from Fukushima Leak to be Tracked

Since the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami crippled Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011, concerns have spread among the public that water with traces of radioactive material might be traveling in a plume across the Pacific Ocean toward the west coast of North America. Experts say the radiation levels reaching the U.S. coast and Hawaiian Islands will be too low to threaten human health or marine life, but no U.S. government or international agency is actually monitoring radiation in these places. Now, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts is launching a new citizen science project to measure levels of radioactive cesium in water washing up along the West Coast. "The levels of cesium in the ocean we expect of the west coast of North America are not of concern for our own exposure or fisheries," said WHOI marine chemist Ken Buesseler, who is leading the project.

Massive Antarctic Glacier Uncontrollably Retreating, Study Suggests

The glacier that contributes more to sea level rise than any other glacier on Antarctica has hit a tipping point of uncontrollable retreat, and could largely collapse within the span of decades, a new study suggests. Pine Island Glacier accounts for about 20 percent of the total ice flow on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet — an amalgam of glaciers that covers roughly 800,000 square miles (2 million square kilometers) and makes up about 10 percent of the total ice on Antarctica. Many researchers think that, given the size of Pine Island Glacier, its demise could have a domino effect on surrounding glaciers and ultimately — over the course of many years — lead to the collapse of the entire ice sheet, which would raise average global sea level by between 10 and 16 feet (3 and 5 meters). The glacier is not only massive, but also one of the least stable of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet ice flows.

Climate Change Disbelief Rises in America

The number of Americans who believe global warming isn't happening has risen to 23 percent, up 7 percentage points since April 2013. The proportion of people who do believe in climate change has been steady since April 2013, but the proportion of those who say they "don't know" whether climate change is happening dropped 6 percentage points between April and November 2013, suggesting that many "don't knows" moved into the "not happening" category. "People who prior said don't know are increasingly saying they don't believe it," said Anthony Leiserowitz, the director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, which released the new results today (Jan. 16). The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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