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Monday, May 9, 2016

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520-Million-Year-Old Fossil Larva Preserved in 3D

This is the first fossil of its kind to be found at Chengjiang since the site's discovery in 1984, according to Yu Liu, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. In fact, it was the shape of those appendages in the larva fossil that helped the scientists with their identification, Liu told Live Science in an email. "As you may imagine, the chance of finding a fossil is not very high," Liu told Live Science.

Oldest Crystals on Earth Originated in Asteroid Craters

The oldest pieces of rock on Earth, zircon crystals, may have formed in craters left by asteroid impacts early in the planet's life. Since the Earth itself is just over 4.5 billion years old, these ancient crystals can offer insight into the planet's history. Fifteen years ago, the crystals first made headlines, when research into the rocks' formation revealed the presence of water on Earth's surface soon after the planet formed.

Head Games: This Male Spider Is an Oral Sex Champ

The Darwin's bark spider exhibited a "rich sexual repertoire," the scientists wrote. It's an essential reproductive technique, typically driven by sexual dimorphism — significant physical differences between the sexes. "Sexual dimorphism — especially size dimorphism in general — is linked to bizarre sexual behaviors," Matjaž Gregori?, the study's lead author, told Live Science in an email.

Fearsome Dinosaur-Age 'Hammerhead' Reptile Ate … Plants?

Despite its rows and rows of chisel- and needle-like teeth, a newly described prehistoric marine reptile wasn't a fearsome predator but rather an herbivorous giant that acted like a lawnmower for the sea, a new study finds. It's also the earliest herbivorous marine reptile on record by about 8 million years, they said. "I haven't seen anything like it before," said study co-researcher Olivier Rieppel, the Rowe family curator of evolutionary biology at The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

Splat! Paintball Blow Causes Liver Damage in Teen

A game of paintball had an unfortunate ending when a teen in England wound up needing liver surgery after being struck in the abdomen, according to a new report of the young man's case. The injury was the first instance of a person suffering liver damage from playing paintball, the doctors who treated the teen wrote in their report of his case, published May 5 in the journal BMJ Case Reports. Based on the patient's symptoms, the doctors there diagnosed him with appendicitis.

The Universe Has Probably Hosted Many Alien Civilizations: Study

Many other planets throughout the universe probably hosted intelligent life long before Earth did, a new study suggests. The probability of a civilization developing on a potentially habitable alien planet would have to be less than one in 10 billion trillion — or one part in 10 to the 22nd power — for humanity to be the first technologically advanced species the cosmos has ever known, according to the study. "To me, this implies that other intelligent, technology-producing species very likely have evolved before us," said lead author Adam Frank, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester in New York.

How Cultural Pressures May Affect Your Sleep Habits

Our biological clocks may not dictate our bedtimes, but they do influence when we wake up in the morning, a new study finds. However, people's wake-up times are still highly dependent on their biological clocks, as opposed to just on their morning responsibilities, such as going to work or school, the researchers said. The new findings show that "bedtime is more under the control of society, and wake time is more under the control of the [biological] clock," Olivia Walch, a graduate student at the University of Michigan and a co-author of the study, told Live Science.

Bionic Implant Improves Vision for Some Eye Patients

It may sound like something out of "Star Trek": Doctors have implanted a device in patients that has restored some central vision after advanced eye disease left those individuals with only limited peripheral vision. This is the first time that artificial and natural vision has ever been integrated in humans, the U.K.-based research team said. The study was small and preliminary, involving only four patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Christina's Diagnosis: Famous Painting Gets New Look

It ranks as one of the most iconic paintings in modern American history: Andrew Wyeth's 1948 "Christina's World" depicting a woman crawling across a bleak, rural landscape with her sights focused on a distant, gray farmhouse. Wyeth's inspiration for the painting was his real-life friend and neighbor, Anna Christina Olson, a lifelong resident of the Cushing, Maine, farm on which she's pictured. Now, after being challenged to diagnose Olson's condition, neurologist Dr. Marc Patterson of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said it was very unlikely that Olson had polio.

Scientists peel back the carrot's genetic secrets

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have gotten to the root of the carrot, genetically speaking. Researchers said on Monday they have sequenced the genome of the carrot, an increasingly important root crop worldwide, identifying genes responsible for traits including the vegetable's abundance of vitamin A, an important nutrient for vision. The genome may point to ways to improve carrots through breeding, including increasing their nutrients and making them more productive and more resistant to disease, pest and drought, the researchers said. The vitamin A in carrots arises from their orange pigments, known as carotenoids.

Scientists peel back the carrot's genetic secrets

Researchers said on Monday they have sequenced the genome of the carrot, an increasingly important root crop worldwide, identifying genes responsible for traits including the vegetable's abundance of vitamin A, an important nutrient for vision. The wild ancestors of carrots were white, the researchers said.

Gorgeous New Mercury Maps Showcase Planet's Striking Features

A stunning digital model of Mercury unveils the planet's striking landscape, while other new maps provide a closer look at the shadowed northern pole and reveal the highest and lowest points on the closest planet to the sun. Built with data from NASA's MESSENGER mission that orbited Mercury for four years, the new maps offer a bounty of scientific insight, while also delivering an incredible view of the planet. "The wealth of these data, greatly enhanced by the extension of MESSENGER's primary one-year orbital mission to more than four years, has already enabled and will continue to enable exciting scientific discoveries about Mercury for decades to come," Susan Ensor, a software engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and manager of the MESSENGER Science Operations Center, said in a statement.

Earthlings watch as tiny Mercury sails past the sun

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Tiny Mercury, the solar system's innermost planet, sailed across the face of the sun on Monday, a celestial dance that occurs about once every decade as Earth and its smaller neighboring planet align in space. The journey, which astronomers refer to as a "transit," began with what looked to be a small, black dot on the edge of the sun at 7:12 a.m. EDT (1112 GMT), images relayed live on NASA TV showed. ...

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Sunday, May 8, 2016

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'Boaty McBoatface' Vessel Named for David Attenborough

A research vessel meant to ply the polar seas has been graced with the name Sir David Attenborough, just days before the famed naturalist turns 90, U.K. Science Minister Jo Johnson announced today (May 6). In March, the U.K.'s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) put out a call for the public to submit and vote for names for their forthcoming polar research vessel, which received funding of 200 million British pounds (about $289 million) from the U.K. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in April 2014.

Mercury poised for rare 'transit' across sun's face on Monday

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Stargazers will have a rare opportunity on Monday to witness Mercury fly directly across the face of the sun, a sight that unfolds once every 10 years or so, as Earth and its smaller neighboring planet come into perfect alignment. The best vantage points to observe the celestial event, known to astronomers as a transit, are eastern North America, South America, Western Europe and Africa, assuming clouds are not obscuring the sun. In those regions, the entire transit will occur during daylight hours, according to Sky and Telescope magazine.

U.S. traders reject GMO crops that lack global approval

Across the U.S. Farm Belt, top grain handlers have banned genetically modified crops that are not approved in all major overseas markets, shaking up a decades-old system that used the world's biggest exporting country as a launchpad for new seeds from companies like Monsanto Co. Bold yellow signs from global trader Bunge Ltd are posted at U.S. grain elevators barring 19 varieties of GMO corn and soybeans that lack approval in important markets. CHS Inc, the country's largest farm cooperative, wants companies to keep seeds with new biotech traits off the market until they have full approval from major foreign buyers, Gary Anderson, a senior vice president for CHS, told Reuters. The U.S. farm sector is trying to avoid a repeat of the turmoil that occurred in 2013 and 2014, when China turned away boatloads of U.S. corn containing a Syngenta AG trait called Viptera that it had not approved.

The Mercury Transit of the Sun on Monday is a Science Smorgasbord

Mercury's rare passage across the face of the sun on Monday, May 9, should be an exciting event for skywatchers and scientists alike. The planet's pass across Earth's nearest star may provide information about its thin atmosphere, assist in the hunt for worlds around other stars, and help NASA hone some of its instruments. As seen from Earth, Mercury appears to cross the disk of the sun — an event known as a transit — only about 13 times per century.

Mercury Transit: The History and Science of This Rare Celestial Event

The event, which astronomers call a transit of Mercury, will occur only 14 times during the 21st century. As seen from Earth, only transits of Mercury and Venus are possible, because these are the only planets that lie between Earth and the sun. Transits of Mercury and Venus hold an interesting place in astronomical history, mostly because of the slightly different times when the events occur as seen from different locations on the surface of the Earth.

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Saturday, May 7, 2016

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Sanctions, restrictions seen impeding science in North Korea

BEIJING (AP) — Tightening U.N. sanctions and an inability to freely access the Internet are inhibiting the work of North Korean scientists, Nobel Prize laureates who recently visited the country said Saturday.

'Noah' and 'Emma' Top List of Most Popular Baby Names

For the second year in a row, "Emma" was the number one choice for girls in 2015, and "Noah" topped the chart for a second time as the favorite for boys, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA), which released its annual list today (May 6) of the most popular baby names in the United States. The real action happens much farther down the list of names — in the top 500 or even top 1,000 names in the country — where the appearance of brand-new names heralds the impact of current trends and popular culture.

Mysterious 'Man in the Iron Mask' Revealed, 350 Years Later

A 350-year-old French mystery has been unmasked: In his new book, Paul Sonnino, a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, claims he has uncovered the real identity of the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask. The Man in the Iron Mask was a prisoner arrested in 1669 and held in the Bastille and other French jails for more than three decades, until his death in 1703. The story was even popularized in the 1998 film "The Man in the Iron Mask," starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Albert Einstein's Signed Photo Up for Auction

Although Albert Einstein's many iconic photographs have been plastered across mugs and T-shirts for years, physics enthusiasts and art collectors may now be able to get their hands on one of the original, autographed photos that inspired the memorabilia, according to International Autograph Auctions, the British auction house handling the sale. Three years later, Einstein signed the photograph Karsh had taken, using an English version of the last sentence of his foreword to "Relativity: A Richer Truth" (1950), by Philipp Frank, according to the auction house statement.

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Friday, May 6, 2016

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SpaceX rocket blasts off from Florida on satellite delivery mission

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - An unmanned SpaceX rocket on Friday blasted off from Florida to put a communications satellite into orbit, with the launch vehicle's main-stage booster set to attempt a quick return landing on a floating platform at sea. A company webcast showed the 23-story-tall Falcon 9 rocket soaring off a seaside launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 1:21 a.m. EDT. Perched atop the booster was the JCSAT-14 satellite, owned by Tokyo-based telecommunications company SKY Perfect JSAT Corp, a new customer for Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX.

Can You Decipher These Bizarre Satellite Images?

Now an engineering company is trying to harness the power of the masses to get information on those mysterious images. The company, Draper, is hosting the Chronos Data Science contest for teams that find the best way to decode aerial imagery. "This work will ultimately help analysts uncover trends related to climate change, natural disasters and public health crises," said Kim Slater, the leader of Draper's small satellite initiative.

There Might Be 1 Trillion Species on Earth

Calculating how many species exist on Earth is a tough challenge. On the other hand, a study published in the journal Science in 2013 suggested that where there's a will, there's a way: The authors said it would cost a mere $500 million to $1 billion a year for 50 years to describe most species on Earth.

Eye Scan May Detect Early Signs of Alzheimer's Disease

The eyes, long described as the windows to the soul, appear to be windows to the brain, as well: Scientists have developed an eye-scan technique that may detect Alzheimer's disease at its earliest stage, before major symptoms appear. Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, is an epidemic that shows no signs of abating, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Death rates for Alzheimer's disease are increasing: More than 5 million Americans live with the disease, and by 2050, this number is projected to rise to 14 million, according to CDC statistics.

Forget Taking Over the World. All this AI Wants to Do Is Dance

The computer-generated dancer — dubbed virtual artificial intelligence (Vai) — is the brainchild of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. The virtual dancer "watches" a person dancing, and then improvises moves of its own based on its earlier dancing experiences, the researchers said. Once the human dancer responds to Vai's moves, the virtual dancer responds again, making an impromptu dance with its deft artificial intelligence.

Brazil scientists seek to unravel mystery of Zika twins

By Nacho Doce and Pablo Garcia SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Scientists struggling to unravel the mysteries of a Zika epidemic in Brazil hope they can learn from cases of women giving birth to twins in which only one child is afflicted by the microcephaly birth defect associated with the virus. Jaqueline Jessica Silva de Oliveira hoped doctors were wrong when a routine ultrasound showed that one of her unborn twins would be born with the condition, marked by stunted head size and developmental issues.

Nailed it: scientists describe weird ancient hammerhead reptile

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It was a creature so outlandish that scientists say it reminds them of the fanciful beasts conjured up by Dr. Seuss. Scientists on Friday announced the discovery in southern China of new fossils of a reptile from 242 million years ago called Atopodentatus that clarify the nature of this strange crocodile-sized, plant-eating sea-dweller. When the first fossils of Atopodentatus were found in 2014, scientists thought, based on its poorly preserved skull, it had a down-turned snout resembling a flamingo's beak with a vertical, zipper-like mouth.

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