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Tuesday, December 1, 2015

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Cobwebs Hold Genetic Secrets About Spiders and Their Prey

You may want to think twice before vacuuming up any pesky cobwebs you find around your home — these messy spider lairs may contain valuable information (valuable to scientists, that is). Knowing exactly which species of spider built a web in a certain area, as well as knowing what that spider feasted on, is important information for researchers in a variety of fields — from conservation ecology to pest management, said study lead author Charles C.Y. Xu, a graduate student in the Erasmus Mundus Master Programme (MEME) in evolutionary biology, a joint program hosted by four European universities and Harvard University in the United States. "There's a variety of different methods to study [spiders]," Xu told Live Science.

A Prehistoric Murder Mystery: Earth's Worst Mass Extinctions

Paul Wignall is the author of "The Worst of Times: How Life on Earth Survived Eighty Million Years of Extinctions" (Princeton University Press). Beginning 260 million years ago, this phase included the worst mass extinction in Earth's history at the end of the Permian period, another mass extinction at the end of the Triassic period and several more major crises. The crises of this worst-ever 80 million years all share many features in common, especially intense global warming and remarkable changes in the ocean that led to widespread stagnation.

The Future of Driverless Vehicles (Roundtable)

Jeffrey Miller, IEEE member and associate professor of engineering practice at the University of Southern California, contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Void of personal and professional opinions, this announcement did a great service for the driverless vehicle industry, promoting awareness of this emerging technology. In late August, IEEE —the world's largest professional organization of engineers — hosted a roundtable at the University of Southern California to discuss the current condition and future development of the autonomous vehicle industry.

Why Sleep? Why Dream?

Robert Lawrence Kuhn is the creator, writer and host of "Closer to Truth," a public television series and online resource that features the world's leading thinkers exploring humanity's deepest questions. Kuhn is co-editor, with John Leslie, of "The Mystery of Existence: Why Is There Anything at All?" (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013). Kuhn contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Scientists debate boundaries, ethics of human gene editing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rewriting your DNA is getting closer to reality: A revolutionary technology is opening new frontiers for genetic engineering — a promise of cures for intractable diseases along with anxiety about designer babies.

Supersize Me: Atom Smasher Reaches Highest Energies Yet

The world's largest atom smasher has supersized its collisions, crashing heavy lead atoms into one another at the highest energy levels yet.

Angry Birds? Seagulls Implicated in Baby-Whale Deaths

Hundreds of baby whales died off the coast of Argentina between 2003 and 2014, and seagulls may have played a role in their deaths, a new study suggests. Gull harassment of right whales off Argentina's Península Valdés has been observed since the 1970s. Since then, researchers from universities and conservation institutions in Argentina and the United States have monitored the gulls' behavior.

Amazon Unveils Its Delivery Drone of the Future

Amazon unveiled a prototype drone yesterday that could one day deliver packages to online shoppers' doorsteps just minutes after they press the "buy" button. The new drone, or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), was created for Prime Air, a same-day delivery service that Amazon first announced in 2013. In the new YouTube video yesterday (Nov. 29) describing this futuristic service, the company said that its small drones (they weigh just 55 pounds, or 25 kilograms) could deliver packages in 30 minutes or less.

Hawaii's Majestic Mauna Kea Stars in '3D' Photo from Space

Mauna Kea, Hawaii's tallest volcano, is circled by clouds in a photo taken by an International Space Station astronaut. The setting sun cast dark shadows along the volcano's eastern flank, lending a depth to the image which is unusual in satellite views of Earth. A tiny ring of white specks at the volcano's summit represents the Mauna Kea astronomical observatory, the largest observatory in the world.

New from the biotech store: an improved gene editing tool

Scientists have developed an improved gene editing tool that significantly reduces potentially dangerous "off-target" edits, promising an even more precise and efficient system for manipulating human DNA. Tuesday's news that U.S. researchers have re-engineered the so-called CRISPR-Cas9 system to slash editing errors comes as experts meet in Washington for a three-day summit to discuss the ethical and policy issues surrounding the field.

European satellite to test method to find ripples in space, time

From a vantage point 93 million miles (1.5 million km) from Earth, the European-built spacecraft, known as LISA Pathfinder, is expected to break ground in the search for the ripples, known as gravitational waves, caused by fast-moving, massive celestial objects such as merging black holes. Black holes are so dense with matter that not even photons of light can escape the powerful gravitational effects. God knows what we will learn," said European Space Agency deputy mission scientist Oliver Jennrich.

'Last-Resort' Antibiotics Fail Against New Superbugs

Some bacteria have finally breached the last wall of humans' antibiotic stronghold, according to a new study from China. In the study, researchers found a gene in one strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) that protects these bacteria against one of the antibiotics considered to be a last resort. The results are "extremely worrying," study author Jian-Hua Liu, a professor at South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, said in a statement.

High Cholesterol Rate Dropping in America, Says CDC

Americans are moving in the right direction when it comes to cholesterol levels, a new report finds. The percentage of adults with high total cholesterol decreased from 18 percent in 1999 to 2000 to 11 percent in 2013 to 2014, according to the findings, published today (Dec. 1). HDL cholesterol is considered the "good" type of cholesterol, so lower levels are considered less healthy.

Your Brain Is a Mosaic of Male and Female

There is no such thing as a "male brain" or a "female brain," new research finds. Instead, men and women's brains are an unpredictable mishmash of malelike and femalelike features, the study concludes. "Our study demonstrates that although there are sex/gender differences in brain structure, brains do not fall into two classes, one typical of males and the other typical of females, nor are they aligned along a 'male brain–female brain' continuum," the study researchers wrote today (Nov. 30) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Science Behind the Power of Giving (Op-Ed)

Jenny Santi is a philanthropy advisor to some of the world's most generous philanthropists and celebrity activists, and was the head of philanthropy services (Southeast Asia) for the world's largest wealth manager. A Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy, Santi is a frequent commentator on the topic and has been quoted in The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, on Channel NewsAsia, and on BBC World News. The morning of Dec. 26, 2004, Czech model Petra Nemcova, then age 25, and her fiancé, photographer Simon Atlee, 33, were vacationing in the resort town of Khao Lak, Thailand.

Satellite launch to test Einstein's idea on space and time delayed

A European satellite launch to find ripples in space that can be caused by merging black holes has been delayed due to a technical problem with its Vega rocket, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Tuesday. The European-built spacecraft, known as LISA Pathfinder, was due to be launched from French Guiana at 0415 GMT on Wednesday. Such delays due to technical issues or poor weather are not unusual.

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Monday, November 30, 2015

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Bizarre Ancient Sea Creature Was Well-Armed for Feeding

Tribrachidium was a denizen of the shallow seas about 550 million years ago, during the late Ediacaran period. Oddly, Tribrachidium had three-fold symmetry, meaning three segments were mirror images of each other. "Because we have no obvious modern comparison, that's made it really hard to work out what this organism was like when it was alive — how it moved, if it moved, how it fed, how it reproduced," said Imran Rahman, a research fellow at the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom, who led the study.

Hypersonic rocket engine could revolutionize space flight

By Matthew and Stock Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines are developing a new aerospace engine class that combines both jet and rocket technologies. The company recently announced a strategic investment from BAE Systems of 20.6 million pounds ($31.4 million USD), in addition to a grant funding of 60 million pounds ($.4 million USD) from the British government, to accelerate the development of their unique SABRE engine. SABRE, which stands for Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine, is designed to enable aircraft to operate from a standstill on the runway to hypersonic flight in the atmosphere, and then transition to rocket mode for spaceflight.

7-Million-Year-Old Fossils Show How the Giraffe Got Its Long Neck

For years, there has been scant fossil evidence showing how the giraffe evolved to have such an admirably long neck. "We actually have an animal whose neck is intermediate [in length] — it's a real missing link," said Nikos Solounias, a professor of anatomy at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) College of Osteopathic Medicine and the lead researcher on the study. The creature in question — Samotherium major —lived during the Late Miocene in the forested areas of Eurasia, ranging from Italy to China, Solounias said.

'Spooky Action' Heats Up: Atoms Entangled at Room Temperature

The world of the very small can get pretty wacky — particles can be in two or more places at once, and even become entangled, wherein actions on one entity can affect its partners across the cosmos. Physicists have broken all kinds of records in proving the existence of so-called quantum entanglement, and now, they have done it again, coupling together thousands of atoms at room temperature. This new achievement could one day be applied to enable more sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, superpowerful quantum computers and even unhackable quantum communications networks unhackable by any known current technologies, researchers say.

Japanese scientists create touchable holograms

A group of Japanese scientists have created touchable holograms, three dimensional virtual objects that can be manipulated by human hand. Using femtosecond laser technology the researchers developed 'Fairy Lights, a system that can fire high frequency laser pulses that last one millionth of one billionth of a second. The pulses respond to human touch, so that - when interrupted - the hologram's pixels can be manipulated in mid-air.

China plans to launch carbon-tracking satellites into space

China plans to launch satellites to monitor its greenhouse gas emissions as the country, estimated to be the world's top carbon emitter, steps up its efforts to cut such emissions, official news agency Xinhua said on Monday. News of the plan comes as more than 150 world leaders arrived in Paris for climate change talks and Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama said they would work together towards striking a deal that moves towards a low-carbon global economy. According to the Xinhau report, the country's first two carbon-monitoring satellites will be ready by next May after four years of development led by Changchun Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics and Physics, part of China's Academy of Sciences.

Buried or Open? Ancient Eggshells Reveal Dinosaur Nesting Behaviors

The fragile remains of 150-million-year-old eggshells are helping researchers figure out what kinds of nests dinosaurs created for their eggs, according to a new study. A comprehensive look at 29 types of dinosaur eggs suggests that most dinosaurs buried their eggs in nests covered with dirt and vegetation, a tactic also used by modern-day crocodiles. But some small theropods (mostly meat-eating, bipedal dinosaurs) that were closely related to birds used another strategy: They laid their eggs in open nests, much like most birds do today, the researchers found.

Is Digital Hoarding a Mental Disorder (And Do You Have It)?

A man who takes thousands of digital pictures weekly and spends hours every day organizing the photos on his computer could have a condition that, until now, has never been described in medical literature. The patient might have "digital hoarding disorder," according to the authors of a recent report on the man's case. The clutter fills his Amsterdam apartment and prevents him from inviting anyone over to visit, according to the report, which was published Oct. 8 in the journal BMJ Case Reports.

Eyes May Offer Window into Cardiovascular Disease

Vision problems may sometimes be the only symptom a person has of a serious cardiovascular condition, a new case report suggests. The man was diagnosed with "amaurosis fugax," a condition in which a person loses vision in one eye, usually for a few minutes at a time, because of an interruption of blood flow in an artery.

The Latest: Islands plead for tough global warming deal

PARIS (AP) — The latest news from the U.N. climate conference that began Monday in Paris. All times local:

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Sunday, November 29, 2015

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Progesterone May Not Lower Risk of Repeated Miscarriage

Pregnant women who have had several miscarriages in the past are sometimes given progesterone supplements, in hopes of avoiding another miscarriage. In the study, researchers found no difference in birth rates between women who received progesterone treatments during their first trimester of pregnancy and those who received a placebo at that time. Among the women given the supplements, 65.8 percent maintained their pregnancy, compared to 63.3 percent of those given the placebo.

Another American Ebola Survivor Had Eye Problems

Ebola survivor Dr. Ian Crozier wasn't the only American to experience eye problems following the disease — a new report describes eye problems in another American doctor who lived through the disease. Dr. Richard Sacra, who works for the Christian mission organization SIM USA, contracted Ebola last year while caring for pregnant women in Liberia during the rise of the Ebola outbreak there.

Why Menstruation Remains a Medical Mystery

Humans are among the few species in which the process occurs, and although researchers have ideas about why menstruation happens, there are many unknowns. But a better understanding of the hows and whys of menstruation is needed, researchers say. "There's so much we don't understand about why this repeated event of shedding and repair happens," said Dr. Hilary Critchley, an ob-gyn and reproductive health researcher at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

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Friday, November 27, 2015

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Debris from U.S. rocket recovered off coast of southwest England

Debris from a U.S. rocket, most likely the doomed SpaceX Falcon 9, has been recovered near the Isles of Scilly, off the coast of southwest England, the UK coastguard has said on Friday. It was covered in barnacles and was initially mistaken for a dead whale. Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency said in a statement that a piece of metal alloy was recovered with the help of a local boatman.

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