Wednesday, July 13, 2016

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

feedamail.com Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Scientists surveying ocean floor turn up new fish off Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Federal scientists sampling commercial fish species off Alaska's Aleutian Islands keep finding new species.


Read More »

Solar plane lands in Egypt on penultimate leg of world tour

Solar Impulse 2, a spindly single-seat plane, flew over the Pyramids to make a smooth landing at Cairo airport at about 7:10 a.m. (0510 GMT) ending a flight leg that lasted 48 hours and 50 minutes. The plane, which began its journey in Abu Dhabi in March 2015 and is due to end it there, has been piloted in turns by Swiss aviators Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard in a campaign to build support for clean energy technologies. Solar Impulse flies without a drop of fuel, its four engines powered solely by energy collected from more than 17,000 solar cells in its wings.


Read More »

The Psychology of 'Pokémon Go': What's Fueling the Obsession?

Perhaps you've seen them: roving bands of (mostly) young people, gathering together with smartphones aloft, talking about something called Rattata or Squirtle.


Read More »

Do Pets Really Have Secret Lives?

Fluffy and Fido may not party it up when you're away, as the spoiled terrier Max in the summer blockbuster "The Secret Life of Pets" would have you think. But that's not to say your pets live a dull, snoozeworthy existence when you head out.


Read More »

Massive Florida Algae Bloom Can Be Seen from Space

A huge bloom of toxic algae that took over Florida's largest freshwater lake has been captured in stunning images taken from space.


Read More »

'Ghost Fish' Seen Live for First Time

A living, swimming "ghost fish" has been seen live for the first time ever.


Read More »

Robots Could Hack Turing Test by Keeping Silent

The Turing test, the quintessential evaluation designed to determine if something is a computer or a human, may have a fatal flaw, new research suggests. While it's not news that the Turing test has flaws, the new study highlights just how limited the test is for answering deeper questions about artificial intelligence, said study co-author Kevin Warwick, a computer scientist at Coventry University in England. "As machines are getting more and more intelligent, whether they're actually thinking and whether we need to give them responsibilities are starting to become very serious questions," Warwick told Live Science.


Read More »

Corals 'Kiss' and Wage War, New Underwater Microscope Reveals

The new imaging system — an underwater microscope and computer interface that can be operated by a diver — was developed by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's Jaffe Laboratory for Underwater Imaging at the University of California, San Diego. Dubbed the Benthic Underwater Microscope (BUM), it is the first microscope to image the seafloor and its inhabitants at such a small scale. Researchers used the microscope to observe tiny coral polyps in the Red Sea and in Maui.


Read More »

Many Beer Makers Will Start Listing Calories on Bottles & Cans

Americans will soon start seeing calorie labels on many beer bottles and cans, thanks to new guidelines from the beer industry. Some of the biggest U.S. beer companies have agreed to list the number of calories, along with other nutritional information about their products, on their labels, according to a statement from the Beer Institute, a trade association of companies. Companies that have agreed to the new guidelines (which are voluntary) include Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, Heineken USA, Constellation Brands Beer Division, North American Breweries and Craft Brew Alliance, which together produce more than 80 percent of the beer sold in the U.S., the statement said.

Read More »

Why It's Harder to Recover from Jet Lag When You Fly East

If you've ever found that recovery from jet lag took even longer than you expected it to, physicists have answers: A new mathematical model helps explain why flying east is tougher on jet-lag recovery. The model takes into account how certain cells in the human brain respond to crossing time zones, according to the study, published today (July 12) in the journal Chaos. These cells, called "neuronal oscillator cells," regulate people's circadian rhythm, or biological clock, by syncing up with one another and also linking up with external cues, said Michelle Girvan, an associate professor of physics at the University of Maryland and a co-author of the study.

Read More »

'Pokémon Go' Catches High Praise from Health Experts

Whether it's lumbering up a giant hill to catch up with Pikachu, or trekking several blocks just to nab Magnemite, "Pokeman Go" players are getting some exercise. Indeed, the wildly popular new mobile game "Pokémon Go" is having an unintended side effect for some users: It's making them more physically active. "For a long time, the advances in technology have promoted reduced physical activity and increased time in sedentary behavior, which comes with well-known health risk," said Graham Thomas, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the Miriam Hospital's Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

Read More »

In Cosmic First, Scientists Spy a Star's Snow Line

For the first time, astronomers have caught a glimpse of the water snow line around a star — the point in the young star's orbiting disk of debris where snow and ice first appear. Normally, that boundary huddles too close to the star for astronomers to see it, but this particular star had a sudden burst of brightness that superheated its disk, obliterating ice further out than usual. Researchers are excited to spot their first stellar snow line because of the vital part it plays in the formation of planets around young stars: The rocky section forms planets like Earth and Mars, while the snowy outskirts sprout gaseous worlds like Jupiter and Saturn.


Read More »

Fearsome Argentine dinosaur had pitifully puny arms

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A newly discovered meat-eating dinosaur that prowled Argentina 90 million years ago would have had a hard time using strong-arm tactics against its prey. Scientists said on Wednesday they have unearthed fossils in northern Patagonia of a two-legged, up to 26-foot-long (8-meters-long) predator called Gualicho shinyae with arms only about 2 feet (60 cm) long, akin to a human child's. The fossils of Gualicho, named after an evil spirit feared by Patagonia's indigenous Tehuelche people, were discovered in Argentina's Rio Negro Province. Gualicho and other carnivorous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex are part of a group called theropods that included Earth's largest-ever land predators.


Read More »
 
Delievered to you by Feedamail.
Unsubscribe

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

feedamail.com Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Hillary Clinton Controversy: How Do Email Servers Work?

The controversy surrounding the private email server that Hillary Clinton used while serving as the U.S. Secretary of State has been a central theme of the 2016 presidential race. But what exactly is an email server, and how does it work?

Read More »

Raytheon cautiously optimistic on satellite control station

Raytheon Co on Tuesday said it was cautiously optimistic after hitting key milestones in recent months on a long-delayed and over-budget program to develop a ground control system for next-generation GPS satellites. Wajsgras said Raytheon would continue to work closely with the U.S. Air Force to ensure the success of the program, which is facing a "live or die" Pentagon review after breaching critical cost thresholds earlier this year. "We feel good about the progress we've made." Defense Undersecretary Frank Kendall told reporters this week that Raytheon's work on the program was "a mixed bag", showing progress in some areas but continuing problems in others.

Read More »

Evidence of Cannibalism: Did Neanderthals Eat Each Other?

Neanderthal bones uncovered in a Belgium cave show unmistakable signs of butchery, and scientists said they are the first evidence of Neanderthal cannibalism in northern Europe. "The big differences in the behavior of these people on the one hand, and the close genetic relationship between late European Neanderthals on the other, raise many questions about the social lives and exchange between various groups," Hervé Bocherens, one of the lead researchers, told CBS News.


Read More »

Crystal Pepsi Returns: Uncapping the Weird History of Clear Sodas

Crystal Pepsi is back. Again.


Read More »

Zoo aims to help chimps hang on to their wild side

University of Birmingham researchers have introduced a forest canopy-like environment in the chimpanzee enclosure at Twycross Zoo using the software, which provides data on wild chimpanzee behavior and allows researchers to analyze changes. "A key part of the tool is that it's based on replicating the mechanical challenges that chimpanzees experience in the wild in their daily lives," Susannah Thorpe, senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham, told Reuters. "So when they're moving around forest canopy they have to deal with branches flexing under their weight, they have to deal with planning routes in advance so they know where to go to get to the next food source and we're trying to emulate these mechanical challenges into the lives of captive chimpanzees." Straps and other structures have been installed to make the chimps bend and move around off the ground.

Read More »

Simian Stone Age: Monkeys Used Rocks as Tools for Hundreds of Years

A group of wild capuchin monkeys in Brazil have used stones as tools to prepare their favorite meal of cashew nuts for more than 700 years, according to a new study. Archaeologists found evidence that capuchin monkeys in Brazil?s Serra da Capivara National Park have used stones to smash open the shells of cashew nuts and seeds for at least 100 monkey generations. The researchers observed young monkeys learning to use stones as tools from older monkeys at recognizable "cashew-processing sites," such as around the base of a cashew tree.


Read More »

Prenatal Multivitamins Don't Help Much, Study Says

For pregnant women, taking prenatal vitamins may be a waste of money, a new review of previous research suggests. Instead of taking multivitamin and mineral supplements, pregnant women should focus on improving the overall quality of their diets, and should take just two vitamins: folic acid and vitamin D, according to the review, conducted by researchers in the United Kingdom. "We found no evidence to recommend that all pregnant women should take prenatal multinutrient supplements beyond the nationally advised folic acid and vitamin D supplements, generic versions of which can be purchased relatively inexpensively," the authors wrote in the report, published today (July 11) in the journal Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.

Read More »

Will Staying Hydrated Help with Weight Loss?

Drinking enough water may be one key to maintaining a healthy weight, according to a new study, which finds that there may be a link between staying hydrated and staying slim.

Read More »

Too Many People 'Self-Prescribe' Antibiotics, Experts Say

Many Americans store leftover antibiotic drugs in their homes and say that if they got sick, they would take the antibiotics without going to their doctor first, a new study finds.

Read More »

Trump's denial of climate science at odds with world leaders

WASHINGTON (AP) — If elected president, Donald Trump would be the only head of state in the world to contend that climate change is a hoax, according to a study.


Read More »
 
Delievered to you by Feedamail.
Unsubscribe

Monday, July 11, 2016

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

feedamail.com Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Solar plane leaves Seville on penultimate leg of round-the-world flight

SEVILLE, Spain (Reuters) - An airplane powered solely by energy from the sun took off from southern Spain early on Monday on the penultimate leg of the first ever fuel-free round-the-world flight. The single-seat Solar Impulse 2 lifted off from Seville at 0420 GMT (12:20 a.m. EDT) en route for Cairo, a trip expected to take 50 hours and 30 minutes. The plane has more than 17,0000 solar cells built in to its wings and travels at a cruising speed of around 70 km per hour (43 mph). ...


Read More »

Covered in Ash: Chinstrap Penguins Threatened by Volcanic Eruption

A volcano on the northernmost island of an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean has been spewing ash and smoke since March, threatening one of the largest colonies of penguins in the world, according to a new study. Zavodovski Island, one of the South Sandwich Islands, is uninhabited by humans, but it is home to more than 1 million chinstrap penguins, according to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). BAS researchers found the volcanic eruption via satellite imagery and fishermen from nearby South Georgia were able to photograph ash blowing eastward across the island over penguin-nesting grounds.


Read More »

Bye, Bye, Coffee Cups: Why San Francisco Banned Foam Products

In one of the most extensive such bans in the U.S., San Francisco recently voted to outlaw commonly used foam products due to their environmental impact. The city's board of supervisors unanimously voted last week (June 28) to ban expanded polystyrene, the foam, petroleum-based plastic used in food packaging, packing peanuts, coffee cups and more. The ordinance, which goes into effect next year, is an extension of a 2007 ban of take-out food containers made of the foam, and is another step toward the city's goal to achieve zero waste.


Read More »

Rare Noah's Ark Mosaic Uncovered in Ancient Synagogue in Israel

Mosaics depicting prominent Bible scenes were uncovered during annual excavations of an ancient synagogue in Israel's Lower Galilee. During the excavation in June, archaeologists found two new panels of a mosaic floor in a Late Roman (fifth-century) synagogue at Huqoq, an ancient Jewish village. One panel showed Noah's ark with pairs of animals, such as lions, leopards and bears.


Read More »

Is a 'Mystery Virus' Causing Former Tennis Star?s Bizarre Symptoms?

Former professional tennis player Marion Bartoli says that a mysterious virus is causing her to experience bizarre symptoms, but experts say they don?t know of any virus that fits the description of her illness. Yesterday (July 7), Bartoli addressed rumors that she has an eating disorder by saying that she has been diagnosed with a virus that doctors have not been able to identify. The virus has made her sensitive to electrical devices, including her cellphone, and left her unable to eat anything but organic salad, the former Wimbledon champion said, according to The Guardian.

Read More »

Blaming the Victim: Science Examines Why It Happens

In contrast, people who adhere more closely to values like loyalty, purity and obedience to authority are more likely to blame the victims. This difference holds after accounting for politics and demographic factors, said study researcher Laura Niemi, a postdoctoral researcher in psychology at Harvard University in Massachusetts. It's also equally true both for sex crimes, in which problems in securing convictions are often traced to victim blaming, and for crimes of a nonsexual nature.

Read More »

Brain Zapping May Sharpen Vision

In the study, researchers used a mild electrical current to stimulate an area of people's brains that processes visual information. The people either had normal vision, or had some minor vision problems and wore glasses or contacts during the experiments in the study. The people who showed the most improvement in their vision were those who had the worst vision problems, the researchers said.

Read More »

Raw Food Warning: Why Uncooked Flour Can Make You Sick

The Food and Drug Administration recently made a perhaps surprising recommendation: Don't eat raw flour. The FDA tracked the outbreak to a batch of General Mills flour sold under the brand names Gold Medal, Gold Medal Wondra and Signature Kitchens, triggering a recall. Most people who read the recommendation probably already knew they weren't supposed to eat cookie dough because of the raw eggs in it (though people don?t always do what they?re supposed to do).

Read More »

Stingray Robot Uses Light-Activated Rat Cells to Swim

A new robot stingray can swim with help from an unexpected source: muscle cells that were taken from rat hearts, a new study finds. Understanding how to build machines from heart cells could lead to scientists being able to build entire living artificial hearts from muscle cells that would act more like natural hearts, the researchers said.


Read More »

Hidden Fault Could Trigger Cataclysmic Megaquake in Asia

A massive fault could trigger a cataclysmic earthquake beneath Bangladesh, parts of east India and Myanmar, new research suggests. The hidden fault, which has been buried under miles of river sediment, could release an earthquake of magnitude 8.2 to 9.0 in one of the most densely populated regions of the world, the study found. "We don't know if it's tomorrow or if it's not going to be for another 500 years," said study co-author Michael Steckler, a geophysicist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in New York City.


Read More »
 
Delievered to you by Feedamail.
Unsubscribe

Saturday, July 9, 2016

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

feedamail.com Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

'Bomb Robot' Kills Dallas Shooter: How Police Did It

A suspect in yesterday's (July 7) Dallas shooting — during which five police officers were killed and seven officers were injured — died after police deployed a remote-controlled bomb-disposal robot carrying an explosive device. Dallas Police Chief David Brown explained during a press conference that police sent the robot in after negotiations with the suspect broke down and he exchanged gunfire with officers.

Read More »
 
Delievered to you by Feedamail.
Unsubscribe