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Wednesday, August 26, 2015

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Starship Enterprise vs. Superman: Who's the Fastest Sci-Fi Spacefarer? (Graphic)

If the fictional USS Enterprise raced the ship from "Battlestar Galactica" to the nearest star system, which would get there first? When leaving Earth on a voyage to Alpha Centauri, it turns out, Galactica would get there in just 29 minutes, traveling at an average speed of 53.4 trillion miles per hour (85.9 trillion kilometers per hour). The USS Enterprise from "Star Trek" would take more than 161 days, at a speed of "just" 6.6 billion mph (10.6 km/h).

Star Tunes: Composer Sets Twinkling Data to Music

The twinkling star is one of two in a binary system called Y Cam whose two stars orbit very close together. The pulsing frequencies that Y Cam A beams toward Earth form the basis of the chords and musical scale used in the composition. Burak Ula?, an astronomer at the Izmir Turk College Planetarium in Turkey, started the project after finding, in an earlier study, that the star Y Cam A's vibrations closely match a particular, unusual musical scale.

'Lonely Mountain' on Dwarf Planet Ceres Shines in Jaw-Dropping Photos

The mountain, with an altitude of 21,120 feet (6,437 meters), is one of many gorgeous features captured in the new images, which Dawn took on Aug. 19. Dawn currently orbits Ceres at an altitude of 915 miles (1,470 kilometers), but in October, the probe will start spiraling down to an orbit just 230 miles (375 km) above the surface. The images show that the "lonely mountain" is not part of any visible mountain range (hence its name).

Has Stephen Hawking Just Solved a Huge Black-Hole Mystery?

Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that the physical information about material gobbled up by a black hole is destroyed, but the laws of quantum mechanics stipulate that information is eternal. Hawking — working with Malcolm Perry, of the University of Cambridge in England, and Harvard University's Andrew Stromberg — has come up with a possible solution: The quantum-mechanical information about infalling particles doesn't actually make it inside the black hole. "I propose that the information is stored not in the interior of the black hole, as one might expect, but on its boundary, the event horizon," Stephen Hawking said during a talk today (Aug. 25) at the Hawking Radiation conference, which is being held at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Giant Washington Wildfire Spotted from Space (Photo)

A new satellite photo captures the wildfires raging throughout the American West, including the biggest conflagration in the history of Washington State.

Billionaires Wanted to Fund Private Mars Colony

Could the first Mars colony be called Buffettville, or Zuckerburgh? The Netherlands-based nonprofit Mars One aims to establish a permanent settlement on the Red Planet, beginning with the touchdown of the first four pioneers in 2027. Mars One "is so ambitious and — I think 'crazy' is the right word — that we might actually get a phone call from a billionaire who says, 'I want to make this happen.

'Panda Swap' Keeps Newborn Twins in Mom's Care

Zookeepers are playing a complicated game of "baby swap" with two new pink and fuzzy panda twins at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The mother, 17-year-old Mei Xiang (may-SHONG), gave birth to the twins on Saturday (Aug. 22), delivering the first at 5:35 p.m. EDT and the second at 10:07 p.m., the zoo reported. But giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) can care for only one cub at a time.

Amazing 'Red Lightning' Photographed from Space

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) captured two rare photographs of red sprites from above on Aug. 10. Red sprites are strange luminous phenomena that occur alongside more familiar lightning strikes. "They're very exciting to look at, they create these fabulous visual images, but there is a lot that we still don't understand about them," said Ryan Haaland, a professor of physics at Fort Lewis College in Colorado who is involved in an ongoing project studying sprites.

Vigorous Flossing Caused Woman's Knee Infection in Strange Case

A woman in Wisconsin got a nasty bacterial infection in her knee, but the infection's source was an unexpected culprit: her vigorous tooth-flossing regimen. About 1 percent of people who undergo joint-replacement surgery develop an infection in the joint during the first several months after surgery (although the rate is slightly higher in smokers and people with diabetes), Hepinstall said.

Compounds in Flax & Sesame Seeds May Prevent Weight Gain

Eating a plant-based diet is known to be good for your waistline, but now a new study has zeroed in on specific plant compounds — found in foods such as flax and sesame seeds — that may help prevent or slow weight gain. The study found that women who consumed high levels of these compounds, called lignans, tended to weigh less and gain less weight over time, compared with women who didn't consume these compounds in high amounts. Earlier studies in animals have suggested that lignans may play a role in regulating weight.

Plague Cases in US Are Unusually High This Year

There's been an unusually high number of plague cases in the United States this year, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since April 1, there have been 11 cases of plague in six states, the report said. In 2014, there were 10 plague cases, and in 2013 and 2012, there were four cases each year.

Nearly 1 in 5 Children and Teens Are Obese

More than one-third of American adults are obese, and now, a new report shows that children and teens aren't far behind. The report, released today (Aug. 25) by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that 17.5 percent of children and adolescents ages 3 to 19 are now obese. But the researchers also found that the prevalence of childhood obesity has leveled off in the past decade, with an increase of only 0.9 percent since the 2001-2004 study period.

Women's Sexuality May Depend on Romantic Options

Women's sexual orientation may be partly influenced by their romantic options, new research suggests. In addition, the study confirmed that women tend to be more flexible than men in their sexual orientation, with women in the study being nearly three times more likely than men to experience a change in their orientation during the study. That doesn't mean that lesbians or bisexual women are settling for the ladies because the "good men" are all taken, said study author Elizabeth Aura McClintock, a sociologist at the University of Notre Dame in North Bend, Indiana.

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Tuesday, August 25, 2015

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Sun Unleashes Medium-Strength Solar Flare (Photo)

The sun fired off a midlevel solar flare early this morning (Aug. 24) while a NASA satellite watched. The space agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured an image of the flare, which erupted at 3:33 a.m. EDT (0733 GMT) this morning from an Earth-facing sunspot known as Active Region 2403. This morning's outburst registered as an M5.6, NASA scientists said.

Farewell Dione: Cassini Snaps Last Close Photos of Saturn Moon

The Cassini spacecraft recently got its last close views of Dione, a small icy moon orbiting Saturn, and the results are astounding. Images returned from the Aug. 17 flyby show a mottled surface of craters and ice. The closest approach brought the spacecraft to within 295 miles (474 kilometers) of the moon's surface.You can see more of Cassini's amazing Dione photos in our full gallery.

'8 Days or Bust' +50: Gemini 5 Made History with 1st Crew Mission Patch

Fifty years ago on Monday (Aug. 24), two NASA astronauts were more than one-third of the way through what was destined to be the world's longest space mission at the time. Gordon Cooper and Charles "Pete" Conrad, seated snugly in the U.S. space agency's third-manned Gemini capsule, had launched atop a Titan II rocket from Cape Canaveral on Aug. 21, 1965. Cooper, who two years earlier had flown on the longest of NASA's one-man Mercury missions, was now the first person to fly into orbit twice.

Why Does Comet 67P Sing? Scientists Think They Know

The sound waves picked up by Rosetta are moving through the comet's magnetic field. In space, no one can hear you scream — that's because on Earth, sound waves move through the air, and there is no atmosphere in space. In empty space, there is no atmosphere, so the sound waves don't have a material to travel through.

Origins of 'Gospel of Jesus's Wife' Begin to Emerge

The truth may be finally emerging about the "Gospel of Jesus's Wife," a highly controversial papyrus suggesting that some people, in ancient times, believed Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. Debate about the credibility of the "gospel" began as soon as Harvard University professor Karen King reported her discovery of the papyrus in September 2012. Written in Coptic (an Egyptian language), the papyrus fragment contains a translated line that reads, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife …'" and also refers to a "Mary," possibly Mary Magdalene.

High-Res NASA Video of Hurricane Katrina Could Improve Forecasting

Ten years after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, NASA has helped scientists better understand why the storm was so devastating, and how to save lives in the future. A new video, created by scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, shows a high-resolution simulation of Hurricane Katrina as the storm moved across the Atlantic Ocean, then the Gulf of Mexico, and finally collided with the southern United States. You can see watch the hurricane video here, courtesy of NASA.

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Monday, August 24, 2015

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California Wildfires: Can Burning Marijuana Fields Get You High?

In a paradoxical twist, some of the farms set ablaze in the recent conflagrations were marijuana farms, which produce plants that are meant to be burned (though not quite like this). "Unfortunately, no. Or fortunately, no, depending on your perspective," said Ryan Vandrey, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. It's very unlikely that nonsmoking Californians will suddenly get the munchies or experience any of the other reported effects of the intoxicating plant, Vandrey told Live Science.

Do Great White Sharks Grow Forever?

How did this 20-foot-long (6 meters) great white Internet sensation become such a behemoth? Named Deep Blue, the female shark made a colossal impression in video clips shared on Facebook by shark researcher Mauricio Hoyos Padilla, director of Pelagios-Kakunjá A.C., a nonprofit organization that focuses on sharks and other open-water species. Even though great white females are typically larger than males, they average just 15 to 16 feet (just under 5 m) in length.

Chinese Cave Graffiti Tells of Ancient Droughts & Strife

An ancient cave with centuries of Chinese characters written on the walls reveals the history of severe droughts. By tying the cave graffiti to ratios of chemical elements in the stalagmites growing in the cave, a team of scientists created a snapshot of the climate over the last 500 years, said study co-author Sebastian Breitenbach, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Cambridge in England. "Even slight droughts — slight excursions in the climate regime that may be just a couple of years, like two or three years — had a drastic impact on the local population in the area," Breitenbach told Live Science.

A Day in Space? For Scott Kelly, It's Work, TV (But No Laundry!)

It's a question that never seems to get old, as demonstrated in a series of interviews this week with astronaut Scott Kelly, who is spending a year aboard the International Space Station. TV interviewers Larry King, host of the show "Larry King Now," and Katie Couric, a global news anchor for Yahoo, both spoke with Kelly this week, and both wanted to know the same thing: What's a normal day like in space? Kelly is one of two participants in NASA's One-Year Mission, the first instance of American astronauts spending almost an entire calendar year in orbit.

Japanese Cargo Ship Delivers Mice, Booze and More to Space Station

A robotic Japanese cargo ship made a special delivery to the International Space Station on Sunday (Aug. 24), ending a four-day trek to ferry tons of food, supplies — and even some mice and (experimental) liquor — to the orbiting lab. The H-II Transfer Vehicle, called HTV-5, arrived at the space station at 6:55 a.m. EDT (1055 GMT), when it was captured via a robotic arm by astronauts inside the space station. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the HTV-5 cargo ship on Wednesday (Aug. 19).

Bend & Snap: Origami Inspires New Ways to Fold Curved Objects

A new mathematical rule explains how simple, 3D curved surfaces — such as domes or saddles — can be folded and snapped into new positions or to form different structures. As such, understanding how to bend materials smoothly or snap them quickly could enable more efficient mechanical designs, said Arthur Evans, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "There's a lot of math behind how you can fold flat things," Evans told Live Science.

New Robotic Exoskeleton Is Controlled by Human Thoughts

The man wearing the exoskeleton in the experiment can walk on his own (he's one of the participants in the researchers' newly published study), but the scientists think their new mind-controlled device could one day be used by people who can't walk — such as those who have suffered severe spinal cord injuries, or people with neurodegenerative diseases, like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Lots of researchers are working to develop technologies that help people regain control over their movements through a combination of robotics and brainpower (formally known as brain-computer interface control systems). In 2011, a woman who suffered a stroke that left her unable to move lifted a cup with a robotic arm that she manipulated with her thoughts.

Japan delivers whiskey to space station_ for science

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Spirits have arrived at the International Space Station.

Young Woman's 'Hysteria' Turned Out to Be Deadly Heart Condition

A woman in Germany who went to the emergency room because she felt "hysterical" ended up not having a psychiatric disorder as doctors originally suspected. The 29-year-old woman was a medical student, and was taken by ambulance to the emergency room in June 2014. The woman seemed very anxious and was constantly tossing and turning on the stretcher, said Dr. Thilo Witsch, a cardiologist at the University of Freiburg Heart Center in Freiburg, Germany, and the lead author of the case report, published online Aug. 10 in The Journal of Emergency Medicine.

Free Pass! National Parks Waive Admissions Fee on Tuesday

In celebration of its 99th birthday, the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) is providing free admission to all of its sites for one day next week. Next Tuesday (Aug. 25), people can visit any of the NPS' 408 sites across the country, including popular spots such as Joshua Tree National Park in California and the Wright Brothers National Memorial in North Carolina. "The National Park Service's 99th birthday is an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the role of national parks in the American story," National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said in a statement.

Mini Frog, Bat with Freakish Tongue Found in Bolivia

A "robber frog" with beady, gold-rimmed eyes and a bizarre bat with a record-long tongue are among the menagerie of species discovered during an expedition in Bolivia. The slick, earth-hued robber frog, or big-headed frog, was spotted during the first leg of the 18-month-long expedition to explore Bolivia's Madidi National Park, considered the world's most biologically diverse park, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. "As soon as we saw these frogs' distinctive orange inner thighs, it aroused our suspicions about a possible new species, especially because this habitat has never really been studied in detail before Identidad Madidi," which is the name of the Bolivian scientific expedition, James Aparicio, a herpetologist at the Bolivian Faunal Collection, said in a statement.

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Sunday, August 23, 2015

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See Saturn and the Moon Pair Off Tonight

If the weather is clear in your area on tonight (Aug. 22), you'll have an opportunity to see what probably are for most people, the two most popular objects to look at through a telescope: Saturn and the moon.

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