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Wednesday, April 1, 2015

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How Long Would It Take to Fall Through the Earth?

How long would it take to fall down a hole in the Earth and reach the other side of the planet? The solution to this problem depends on the strength of Earth's gravitational pull, which in turn is based on its mass.

Blood Moon: Shortest Total Lunar Eclipse of the Century Rises Saturday

Only the speediest of skywatchers will have a chance to see the total lunar eclipse rising Saturday: NASA predicts that the total phase of the lunar eclipse will only last about 5 minutes, making it the shortest lunar eclipse of the century. Early-rising observers all over the United States should be able to see at least the partial phases of the April 4 lunar eclipse just before the sun rises, if weather permits. People on the West Coast will have the chance to see the moon turn an eerie shade of red during totality, which should begin at about 7:58 a.m. EDT (1158 GMT, 4:58 a.m. PDT). NASA this week unveiled a video detailing the total lunar eclipse, and dubbed the event the shortest lunar eclipse of the century in an announcement on Monday (March 30) in detail. Observers in other parts of the world will have an even better chance to see the lunar eclipse.

Bizarre Condition Makes Tongue Resemble a Geographic Map

Known as "geographic tongue," the condition causes red, patchy shapes to appear on the tongue, formed as some areas lose the tiny reddish bumps called papillae that normally cover the tongue's surface. Geographic tongue (GT) affects the tongue's upper layer of tissue, call the epithelium. In people with GT, one type of papillae called filiform papillae becomes inflamed, said study co-author Gabriel Seiden, a physicist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, who is currently based at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Germany. In the study, Seiden and his colleagues use math equations to explain what happens in geographic tongue.

Little bird's arduous migration reaches 'brink of impossibility'

Scientists on Tuesday documented how this songbird that weighs half an ounce (12 grams) completes an arduous nonstop flight over the Atlantic Ocean from forests in New England and eastern Canada to Caribbean islands as it migrates each fall toward its South American wintering grounds. It is truly one of the most amazing migratory feats ever recorded," said ecologist Ryan Norris of the University of Guelph in Ontario, describing "a fly-or-die journey." They landed in Puerto Rico and Hispaniola, resting for a couple of days to a couple of weeks before flying to Colombia and Venezuela. University of Massachusetts ecologist Bill DeLuca described the migration as "on the brink of impossibility." The spring return flight follows a predominantly overland route through Florida and up the U.S. East Coast. The research resolves a half-century mystery about blackpoll warbler migration.

This State Has the Highest Use of Mood-Altering Drugs

Among the 50 states, it is people in West Virginia who most commonly report taking mood-altering drugs to help them relax, whereas Alaskans are the least likely to say the same, a new poll finds. "It's no coincidence that drug use was inversely proportionate to the [state] well-being score," said Dan Witters, who led the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index research. The results of an earlier poll, announced in February, showed that people in West Virginia reported the lowest levels of well-being in the country, while Alaskans reported the highest.

Catalog of Earth Microbes Could Help Find Alien Life

If an alien planet in a distant solar system were home to microscopic life-forms, how might scientists see them and even decipher their identity? Scientists at Cornell University rounded up 137 microorganisms and cataloged how each life-form uniquely reflects sunlight. This database of individual reflection fingerprints, which is available to anyone, might help astronomers identify similar microscopic life-forms on distant alien planets. "This database gives us the first glimpse at what diverse worlds out there could look like," Lisa Kaltenegger, professor of astronomy and director of Cornell University's new Institute for Pale Blue Dots, said in a statement.

SETI Has New Infrared Telescope Tech in Search for E.T.

Scientists searching for signs of intelligent extraterrestial life in the unvierse have a new telescope tool to aid them in their hunt for portential alien civilizations. Called NIROSETI, short for Near-Infrared Optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, the instrument saw its "first light" this month at the University of California's Lick Observatory atop Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose. For more than five decades, scientists have been on the lookout for radio signals from other starfolk. The NIROSETI instrument is attached to the Lick Observatory's Nickel 1-meter telescope, with months of fine-tuning to follow its first-light observation on March 15.

Zombie Cyborg Wood May Lead to Better Night-Vision Cameras

A new so-called cyberwood that continues to work even after its living components die could lead to technological advances in thermal night-vision cameras and temperature sensors. This "zombie" cyborg wood is a hybrid material made of tobacco laced with teensy carbon tubes, and the whole contraption can act like a heat detector even after the plant cells have perished. The best heat-detecting materials available now change their electrical conductivity just by a few percent per degree temperature change. In contrast, the new cyberwood that the scientists created is hundreds of times more responsive to changes in temperature than the best man-made materials currently used in heat detectors.

Superhealing Drug Travels in Nanoparticles to Wounds

A new topical medicine suspended in nanoparticles could dramatically quicken the time it takes wounds to heal, researchers say. The medicine was tested on mice, which have a wound-healing process very similar to that of humans, according to study co-leader David Sharp, a professor of physiology and biophysics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Wound healing is a complex process that involves moving a diverse group of cells and molecules to the source of injury.

First Total Lunar Eclipse of 2015 on Saturday: A Skywatching Guide

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through Earth's shadow. We had a total solar eclipse on March 20 and will have a partial solar eclipse on Sept. 13 and another total lunar eclipse on Sept. 28. The area from which the September lunar eclipse will be visible is almost the exact inverse of this week's eclipse, so if you live in a part of the world where you can't see the April eclipse, you will have better luck six months from now.

6 of the Best Science-Themed April Fools' Day Jokes

Many poor souls have been victims of April Fools' Day jokes, and science — with it's reputation for achieving stunning and sometimes fantastic feats — makes for some of the best fodder. From harnessing the energy of thunderstorms to rounding off the number pi, here are some of history's greatest science April Fools' Day pranks to wow your nerdy friends. Researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), home of the particle smasher used to discover the Higgs boson particle and other groundbreaking insights into the four fundamental forces (the strong force, the weak force, the electromagnetic force and gravity), reported today (April 1) that they had confirmed the existence of the Force — the supernatural power in the fictional "Star Wars" universe. The statement goes on to say that researchers are unsure of what causes the Force but its practical applications include long-distance communication, influencing minds and lifting heavy objects out of swamps.

Scientists say polar bears won't thrive on land food

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A paper published Wednesday says polar bears forced onto land because of melting ice are unlikely to find enough food to replace their diet of seals.

Famed Human Ancestor Lucy Wasn't Alone: Meet 'Little Foot'

A mysterious ancient relative of humanity known as Little Foot apparently roamed the Earth at about the same time as the famed Lucy, suggesting the ancestors of humans may have existed with significant diversity across a good part of Africa, researchers say. Among the earliest known relatives of the human lineage definitely known to walk upright was Australopithecus afarensis, the species that included the famed 3.2-million-year-old Lucy. While Australopithecus afarensis dwelled in eastern Africa, another australopithecine nicknamed Little Foot, due to the diminutive nature of the bones, lived in southern Africa. Discovered about 20 years ago by paleoanthropologist Ronald Clarke from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, Little Foot apparently fell down a narrow shaft in the Sterkfontein Caves.

'Little Foot' fossil sheds light on early human forerunners

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "Lucy," meet "Little Foot." Scientists said on Wednesday a sophisticated new dating technique shows that Little Foot, an important fossil of an early human forerunner unearthed in the 1990s in South Africa, is roughly 3.7 million years old. "The age of Little Foot has been highly debated," said geologist Darryl Granger of Purdue University in Indiana, whose research appears in the journal Nature. The study found Little Foot, a member of the species Australopithecus prometheus, lived at roughly the same time as Australopithecus afarensis, the species whose most famous fossil, known as Lucy, comes from Ethiopia. The researchers analyzed 11 rock samples from around the nearly complete Little Foot fossil skeleton from the Sterkfontein Caves to gauge its age.

Wound-healing laser soon to be a reality: Israeli scientist

Closing wounds and surgical incisions with a laser is a step closer to reality, Israeli scientists say. The futuristic technique is better than current methods which damage tissue and can cause scarring, researchers from Tel Aviv University believe. Head of the Applied Physics Department Abraham Katzir was behind the research.

Voice-controlled GPS helmet to help bikers

By Jim Drury MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Motorcyclists will no longer have to rely on maps or GPS systems, both of which require riders to take their eyes off the road, once a new Russian smart helmet goes on sale this summer. So Russian engineers have invented LiveMap - a GPS helmet which displays simple navigation tips on the visor. CEO Andrew Artshchev got the idea from fighter pilot technology. "I learnt about the concept of aviation helmets and decided to create a civil motorcycling helmet on that model, which would show not target detection for pilots, but navigational information - to turn right or left and so on." The android-based lightweight helmet contains GPS and voice control.

Egyptian Artifacts Salvaged from Robbed Tomb in Israel

In an underground cave in Israel, archaeologists have unearthed 3,000-year-old Egyptian artifacts that had been spared by tomb robbers. Inspectors with the Israel Antiquities Authority's (IAA) Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery say they found pickaxes and other signs of looting in a cave near Kibbutz Lahav in southern Israel. "During this period, Canaan was ruled by Egypt," Daphna Ben-Tor, curator of Egyptian archaeology at the Israel Museum, explained in a statement from the IAA.

Tiny Songbird Is a Champion Long-Distance Flier

The blackpoll warbler, a songbird that weighs no more than an AA battery, flies nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean during its southerly fall migration, covering more than 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) in two or three days, a new study confirms. The warbler's longest nonstop flight was recorded as being more than 1,700 miles (2,730 km) in three days, the scientists reported today (March 31) in the journal Biology Letters. Only the northern wheatear has a longer nonstop flight among songbirds, but it is twice as large as a blackpoll warbler, said study co-author Chris Rimmer, an ornithologist at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies in Norwich, Vermont. "If you account for body scale and size, the blackpoll warbler is the hands-down winner," Rimmer said.

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Monday, March 30, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Germanwings Crash: Mental Illness Alone Does Not Explain Co-Pilot's Behavior, Experts Say

Investigators may never know exactly why Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz carried out what is believed to have been a deliberate plane crash in the French Alps on Tuesday, but mental health experts say that any mental illness that Lubitz may have had is just one possible contributor to the tragedy.

NASA Mercury Probe Trying to Survive for Another Month

A NASA Mercury probe isn't ready to finish its groundbreaking work at the solar system's innermost planet just yet.

Astronomers On the Hunt for Exomoons That May Host Alien Life

The search for alien life doesn't end within the boundaries of our solar system.Scientists are now search for moons orbiting alien planets that might play host to extraterrestrial life. A new project called the Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler (HEK) is the first systematic search for exomoons, or moons that circle planets outside our solar system.HEK astronomers, led by David Kipping at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, simulate billions of possible star-planet-moon arrangements using NASA's Pleiades Supercomputer. So far, the team has surveyed 56 of about 400 Kepler planet candidates that could have an exomoon. The Pleiades Supercomputer, which performs over 3 quadrillion calculations per second, knocks that number down to 30,000 processing hours per object and should complete the project in two years.

Medieval Parasite-Filled Poop Found in Jerusalem Latrine

The excavation of a roughly 500-year-old latrine in Jerusalem has uncovered thousands of eggs from human parasites, including some that may have come from Northern Europe, a new study finds.

Antarctica's Ice Shelves Are Thinning Fast

Antarctica's floating ice collar is quickly disappearing in the west, a new study reports.

Quantum Record! 3,000 Atoms Entangled in Bizarre State

Using a single particle of light, scientists have for the first time linked together thousands of atoms in a bizarre state known as quantum entanglement, where the behavior of the atoms would stay connected even if they were at opposite ends of the universe. The behavior of all the known particles can be explained using quantum physics. A key feature of quantum physics is that the world becomes a fuzzy, surreal place at its very smallest levels. One consequence of quantum physics is quantum entanglement, wherein multiple particles can essentially influence each other simultaneously regardless of distance.

Unlocking the Brain, Earth's Most Complex Biological Structure (Essay)

James Olds is head of the U.S. National Science Foundation's Directorate for Biological Sciences and is a named professor of molecular neuroscience at George Mason University. Federally funded in 2015 at $200 million, the initiative is a public-private research effort to revolutionize scientists' understanding of the brain.

How Real-Life AI Rivals 'Star Wars': A Universal Translator?

In this five-part series Live Science looks at these made-for-the-movies advances in machine intelligence. Right now, such networks merely supplement phrase- or statistics-based translation, Hughes said.

6 Crazy Skills That Prove Geckos Are Amazing

Geckos can hang by their toe hairs, scamper up walls and regrow their tails. Geckos are amazing creatures with a toolbox full of tricks that science is continuing to uncover. How do dirty geckos take a bath? Geckos are covered with hundreds of thousands of tiny, hairlike spines that trap pockets of air to help repel water, according to the study, published in the April issue of the Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

Despite deforestation, the world is getting greener - scientists

By Alisa Tang BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The world's vegetation has expanded, adding nearly 4 billion tonnes of carbon to plants above ground in the decade since 2003, thanks to tree-planting in China, forest regrowth in former Soviet states and more lush savannas due to higher rainfall. It is present in the atmosphere primarily as carbon dioxide (CO2) - the main climate-changing gas - and stored as carbon in trees. Through photosynthesis, trees convert carbon dioxide into the food they need to grow, locking the carbon in their wood. The 4-billion-tonne increase is minuscule compared to the 60 billion tonnes of carbon released into the atmosphere by fossil fuel burning and cement production over the same period, said Yi Liu, the study's lead author and a scientist at the University of New South Wales.

Woolly Mammoth DNA Inserted into Elephant Cells

The idea of bringing extinct animals back to life continues to reside in the realm of science fiction. Harvard geneticist George Church and his colleagues used a gene-editing technique known as CRISPR to insert mammoth genes for small ears, subcutaneous fat, and hair length and color into the DNA of elephant skin cells. Woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) have been extinct for millennia, with the last of the species dying out about 3,600 years ago. But we won't be seeing woolly mammoths prancing around anytime soon, "because there is more work to do," Church told U.K.'s The Times, according to Popular Science.

This Device Records Your Snores to Track Your Sleep

Researchers in Israel developed an algorithm to analyze a person's recorded breathing sounds, in order to measure sleep duration and detect sleep disorders.

Bionic ants could be tomorrow's factory workers

By Amy Pollock Robotic ants the size of a human hand that work together could be the future of factory production systems. The developers, German technology firm Festo, say it's not just the unusual anatomy of real-world ants that inspired the bionic version - the collective intelligence of an ant colony was also something they wanted to replicate. Festo says that in the future production systems will be based on intelligent individual components that adjust themselves to different production demands by communicating with each other.

Angelina Jolie Pitt's Surgery: What Are the Risks of Early Menopause?

Angelina Jolie Pitt's surgery to remove her ovaries has the side effect of putting her into early menopause, a condition which itself comes with some health risks, experts say. On Tuesday, Jolie Pitt revealed that she had surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes to prevent ovarian cancer. The actress said she carries a genetic mutation in the BRCA1 gene, which significantly increases her risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and she has previously undergone a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer. Removing the ovaries reduces her risk of ovarian cancer by 85 to 90 percent, but it will also put her into menopause immediately, at age 39, around a decade before the average woman enters menopause naturally.

Ebola Cases in West Africa Reach Low for 2015

The number of new Ebola cases in West Africa last week was the lowest it has been in 2015, health officials said today. Between March 15 and March 22, there were 79 new Ebola cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, according to a new report from the World Health Organization. Health officials reported 45 new Ebola cases in Guinea (a drop from 95 cases the week before) and 33 new cases in Sierra Leone (a drop from 55 the week before).

Kids with Autism Are More Likely to Have Gastrointestinal Problems

Children with autism may be more likely to have gastrointestinal problems early in life, compared with children who don't have the condition, a new study suggests. Researchers analyzed information from children in Norway whose mothers had answered questions about their child's health during infancy and early childhood. Many of the children with autism had been diagnosed after their mothers completed the study survey. The mothers' reports showed that children with autism had higher odds of experiencing symptoms such as constipation, food intolerance and food allergies at ages 6 to 18 months than the typically developing children did.

Egyptians Brewed Beer in Tel Aviv 5,000 Years Ago

Tel Aviv's reputation as a party city for expats might have started 5,000 years ago. During the Bronze Age, Egyptians were making beer in what is today downtown Tel Aviv, new archaeological evidence suggests. When archaeologists were conducting salvage excavations ahead of construction on new office buildings along Hamasger Street, they found 17 ancient pits that were used to store produce, according to an announcement from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). "On the basis of previously conducted excavations in the region, we knew there is an Early Bronze Age site here, but this excavation is the first evidence we have of an Egyptian occupation in the center of Tel Aviv at that time," Diego Barkan, an archaeologist who was conducting the excavation on behalf of the IAA, said in the statement.

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Sunday, March 29, 2015

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Kitty Litter to Blame for Nuclear Waste Leak

If you're trying to stabilize nuclear waste, don't use organic kitty litter.

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