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Monday, December 16, 2013

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NASA planning for possible spacewalks to fix station cooling system

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Dec 15 (Reuters - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are preparing for possible spacewalks this week to repair the outpost's failed cooling system, NASA said on Sunday. NASA engineers on Sunday continued to assess options for fixing the valve, said agency spokesman Josh Byerly with the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Meanwhile, space station flight engineers Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins began preparing their spacesuits in case spacewalks were needed to replace the faulty pump, NASA said in a statement posted on its website on Saturday.

Chinese unmanned spacecraft lands on moon

By Pete Sweeney SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China landed an unmanned spacecraft on the moon on Saturday, state media reported, in the first such "soft-landing" since 1976, joining the United States and the former Soviet Union in managing to accomplish such a feat. The Chang'e 3, a probe named after a lunar goddess in traditional Chinese mythology, is carrying the solar-powered Yutu, or Jade Rabbit buggy, which will dig and conduct geological surveys. China has been increasingly ambitious in developing its space programs, for military, commercial and scientific purposes. "The dream for lunar exploration once again lights up the China Dream," Xinhua news agency said in a commentary.

Odd Octopus: What It's Like to Be a Clever 8-Armed Creature

To learn more about these marvels, LiveScience caught up with Katherine Harmon Courage, a freelance journalist and contributing editor for Scientific American, to talk about her new book "Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature In the Sea" (Current Hardcover, October 2013). [8 Amazing Octopus Abilities] That could obviously be used in the military for light and color, but also for things like radar and sonar, so instead of just disappearing under the sonar signal, [the material] could actually become invisible by reemitting the sonar.

Smart Grids Could Fix Decrepit US Power Grid

And because so much of modern life relies on electricity, failures in the aging U.S. electric grid threaten to plunge parts of the country into darkness on a continuing basis. A number of experts, however, believe the solution is at hand: a smart grid. The term "smart grid" is a catchall phrase for an electrical grid that's integrated with a computerized, two-way communication network. Unlike the prevailing, older electrical grid that only sends electrical power one way — from a power plant to homes and offices — a smart grid also sends instantaneous feedback on power interruptions and electrical use, information that goes back to system operators.

Water Geysers on Jupiter Moon Europa May Boost Support for Life-Hunting Mission

SAN FRANCISCO — The apparent discovery of water geysers on Jupiter's moon Europa makes the icy body an even more attractive target for a life-hunting mission, researchers say. The ice-covered moon is thought to contain a subsurface ocean of liquid water, and the geysers represent a way to sample this potentially life-supporting environment, NASA officials said. "Indeed, the plumes are incredibly exciting, if they are there," Jim Green, head of NASA's planetary science division, said here Thursday at the at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The new find, made using observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, could build some momentum for a mission concept the space agency is developing called the Europa Clipper.

Raw Milk: Pregnant Women & Infants Shouldn't Drink It, Pediatricians Say

Pregnant women, infants and children who drink raw milk are at particularly high risk of developing serious, life-threatening illnesses, said a leading U.S. group of pediatricians. People should consume only pasteurized milk, the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a new policy statement, reaffirming its position on the issue. Pregnant women who drink raw milk may face a fivefold increase in risk of the parasite infection toxoplasmosis, the doctors' group said; and infection with bacteria called Listeria, which are also found in raw milk, has been linked with high rates of stillbirths, preterm delivery, as well as sepsis and meningitis in the newborns, said the AAP researchers who reviewed studies on the risks of raw milk consumption.

Lundbeck hopes to launch new Alzheimer's drug in 2017

By Shida Chayesteh COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish pharmaceutical group Lundbeck said on Monday that it hopes to launch a new Alzheimer's medicine in 2017 in what would be the first new drug for the condition in more than a decade. Dementia - of which Alzheimer's disease is the most common form - already affects 44 million people worldwide and is set to reach 135 million by 2050, according to non-profit campaign group Alzheimer's Disease International. There is currently no treatment that can cure the disease or slow its progression, but Lundbeck's new drug - known as Lu AE58054 - is designed to alleviate some of the symptoms and improve cognitive function. As such, it would build on treatments currently on the market rather than competing with more ambitious projects under way at large drug companies, which aim to modify the biology of the disease.

Gaping Maw of Aquatic Killer Wins Micro-Photo Competition

Igor Siwanowicz, a neurobiologist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus, took the winning image of the floating carnivorous plant, called the humped bladderwort (Utricularia gibba). For his photo, Siwanowicz colored the cells of the bladderwort with the cellulose-binding fluorescent dye Calcofluor and then magnified the subject 100 times using a laser scanning confocal microscope. Highlighted in the image are the single-celled green algae that call the trap home and the trigger hairs sprouting from the center of the bladderwort's dome-shaped trap.

Iran Says It Launched a Second Monkey Into Space (Video)

Iran has successfully launched a monkey into space for the second time on Saturday (Dec. 14) and returned it safely to Earth after a 15-minute rocket ride, according to Iranian officials. Iran's space monkey — named Fargam — launched 74.5 miles (120 kilometers) above Earth's surface atop a liquid fueled rocket, according to a report from the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency in Iran. The mission was announced by the office of Iran President Hassan Rouhani. "The President also congratulated the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Iranian nation on the significant achievement.

Antibacterial Soap: FDA Proposes New Requirements for Manufacturers

Out of concern that antibacterial soaps may pose more risks than benefits, the Food and Drug Administration has issued a proposal that would require makers of such soaps to show that their products really work, and are safe to use. Under the proposal, which still needs to be finalized, manufacturers of antibacterial soaps and body washes would need to prove that their products can be used safely on a daily basis, and that they are more effective than plain soap and water at preventing the transmission of infections, the FDA said. If manufacturers cannot demonstrate this, the products would need to be reformulated to remove certain antibacterial chemicals, or be relabeled without their antibacterial claim, the FDA said. Although millions of Americans use antibacterial soaps, there is no evidence that these products are more effective than regular soap at preventing illness, the FDA said.

'Baby Illusion' Makes Family's Youngest Seem Tiny

"Contrary to what many may think, this isn't happening just because the older child just looks so big compared to a baby," Jordy Kaufman of the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia said in a statement. "It actually happens because all along, the parents were under an illusion that their first child was smaller than he or she really was.

The Cassava Express: 1st Antarctica Atmospheric River Found

SAN FRANCISCO — A wild weather phenomenon that causes massive winter flooding in California also dumps snow in East Antarctica, wetting one of the driest places on Earth, researchers said here Thursday (Dec. 12) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union California weather forecasters call them the "Pineapple Express," known for transporting tropical moisture from Hawaii to the West Coast during winter. But the weather pattern can appear any time of the year, and atmospheric rivers have been spotted dropping rain and snow in Europe and even in the Arctic. Researcher Maria Tsukernik and her colleagues discovered Antarctica's atmospheric rivers because of incredibly high snowfall recorded May 19, 2009, at a weather station in East Antarctica's Dronning Maud Land.

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Sunday, December 15, 2013

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Race, Tattoos in Advertising Affect What Consumers Buy

A study recently published in the Economic Journal of the Royal Economic Society discovered that online shoppers are less likely to purchase a product if a black person or someone with a tattoo is selling it. As part of the study, researchers conducted a yearlong experiment selling iPods in about 1,200 online classified ads placed in more than 300 locales throughout the United States, ranging from small towns to major cities.

6 Mobile Apps Changing Shopping Forever

Mobile shopping doesn't just mean visiting a retailer's website and making purchases using a mobile phone. Today, the latest mobile app technology is turning smartphone users into smart shoppers as well. One such technology is mobile visual search, which uses recognition technology to make finding products using a mobile phone easier than ever. "Mobile visual search is the future, period," said Dominik Mazur, CEO and co-founder of Image Searcher, Inc., developers of CamFind, an iPhone app that practically renders text search obsolete.

Fired for What? 10 Infamous Firings

You've probably already heard about the Kentucky man who lost his job at Wamart last month after allegedly trying to bring a little Thanksgiving cheer to an elderly customer. A petition on Change.org has garnered more than 350,000 online signatures, but so far, Walmart hasn't given him his job back, citing a number of other problems with the employee. The Jaglal firing isn't the only time Walmart has received attention for letting an employee go. The company fired Kristopher Oswald, who had been sitting in his car on break at the time of the incident.

Scientists believe some whales flee from sonar

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Navy plans to increase sonar testing in U.S. waters over the next five years even as studies it funded reveal worrying signs that the loud underwater noise could disturb whales and dolphins.

Fossils of 4.4-Million-Year-Old Horse Found

Scientists poking around Ethiopia's fossil-rich badlands say they have discovered the first pieces of an extinct species of horse that was about the size of a small zebra and lived about 4.4 million years ago. The leg bone bits indicate this horse had longer legs than its ancestors.

World's E-Waste to Grow 33% by 2017, Says Global Report

The forecast, based on data gathered by United Nations organizations, governments, and nongovernment and science organizations in a partnership known as the "Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP) Initiative," predicts e-waste generation will swell by a third in the next five years, led by the United States and China. The StEP Initiative created a map of the world's e-waste, which is available online.

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Saturday, December 14, 2013

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This Antarctic Ice Shelf Will Be the Next to Collapse

SAN FRANCISCO — Antarctica's crumbling Larsen B Ice Shelf is poised to finally finish its collapse, a researcher said Tuesday (Dec. 10) here at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The Scar Inlet Ice Shelf will likely fall apart during the next warm summer, said Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. Scar Inlet's ice is the largest remnant of the vast Larsen B shelf still attached to the Antarctic Peninsula. (Another small fragment, the Seal Nunataks, clings on as well.) In the Southern Hemisphere's summer of 2002, about 1,250 square miles (3,250 square kilometers) of the enormous Larsen B Ice Shelf splintered into hundreds of icebergs.

Earth's Greatest Killer Finally Caught

SAN FRANCISCO — Geology is partly detective work, and scientists now have enough evidence to book a suspect in the biggest environmental catastrophe in Earth's history. Painstaking analysis of rocks from China and Russia prove the culprit is a series of massive volcanic eruptions, which flooded ancient Siberia with thick lava flows just before Earth's worst mass extinction almost 252 million years ago, researchers said here yesterday (Dec. 11) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Thanks to new computer models of the eruption's devastating effects, and detailed mapping of rocks deposited around the time of the mass dying, researchers now have their best case ever for pinning the extinction on the enormous lava outpouring. The eruptions — now called the Siberian Traps — lasted less than 1 million years but left behind Earth's biggest "large igneous province," a pile of lava and other volcanic rocks about 720,000 cubic miles (3 million cubic kilometers) in volume.

The Science of U.S. Energy: A Q&A with Secretary Ernest J. Moniz

Stunning 10,000-Fish Vortex Caught on Video

A tornado of fish 10,000 strong spins in shallow water in the Bahamas. This is the pre-spawning behavior of the bonefish (Albula vulpes), a popular quarry for anglers off the coast of Florida and in the Bahamas. Researchers presented their observations of this secretive behavior — with amazing video — to the Bahamas Ministry of the Environment and conservation collaborators' Bahamas National Trust and The Nature Conservancy this week. Fish ecologist Andy Danylchuk, of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Aaron Adams, director of operations for Bonefish & Tarpon Trust at the Florida Institute of Technology, tracked 10,000 bonefish in their final stages of spawning using tracking tags inserted into some members of the school.

5 Holiday Cyberscams to Watch Out For

The clock may be ticking on holiday shopping, but cybercriminals are shoring up their efforts to scam unsuspecting consumers in the last two weeks of the season. "Many businesses are still rolling out deals to entice online shoppers, but with attractive Internet deals come the cybercrooks who design new ways to trick you into parting with your cash," said Troy Gill, senior security analyst at Web security firm, AppRiver. Gill advised consumers to watch out for five major cyberscams as they finish up their e-commerce holiday shopping.

8 Unique Box Subscription Services to Try in 2014

Whether it's clothes, beauty products, snacks or crafting supplies, there seems to be a box for every interest. If you want to discover great new products delivered by customer-focused businesses, here are eight unique box subscription services you'll want to sign up for in 2014.

SpaceX to Lease Historic NASA Launch Pad

NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies, better known as SpaceX, to lease a historic launch pad for the company's commercial rockets. The space agency announced Friday (Dec. 13) that it is beginning negotiations with SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., to take over exclusive use of Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA used the pad for decades to send astronauts to the moon and later launch space shuttles into Earth orbit. "Permitting the use and operation of this valuable national asset by a private-sector, commercial space partner will ensure its continued viability and allow for its continued use in support of U.S. space activities," NASA said in its statement announcing the selection.

Under a China Moon: The Politics of Cooperation in Space

China may soon become the third nation to soft-land robotic hardware on the moon. NASA has been mum on China's moon ambitions. The space agency ended its human visits to the moon in 1972. So as China's lunar craft silhouettes itself across the landing zone, perhaps it's fitting for the U.S. space agency to strike up that 1970s tune by songwriter Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens: "Yes, I'm being followed by a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow."

Weekend Stargazing: How to See the Famed Constellation Orion

On winter evenings, the sky is filled with bright stars, more than at any other time of the year. Central in the southern sky is the constellation Orion the Hunter. But even in the south, Orion dominates the sky right now. This makes Orion an "equal opportunity" constellation, well seen everywhere on Earth except at the poles.

Iran say it sends second monkey into space, brings it back safely

Iran said on Saturday it had sent a second live monkey into space and brought it back safely, the latest demonstration of the country's missile capabilities, state news agency IRNA reported. "President Hassan Rouhani ... congratulated Iranian scientists and experts on successfully sending a second living creature into space," the news agency said. Iran said it launched its first monkey to space in January. Rouhani used Twitter to mark the latest event, a demonstration of rocket power that is likely to cause concern in the West and among some Gulf states, which are worried about Iran's nuclear ambitions.

NASA picks SpaceX to lease idled shuttle launch pad

NASA will turn over one of its mothballed space-shuttle launch pads to privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, which intends to set up a second site in Florida for its Falcon rockets, officials said on Friday. NASA's decision to lease out Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to SpaceX followed a challenge by rival bidder Blue Origin, a startup rocket company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. On Thursday, the Government Accountability Office dismissed Blue Origin's protest over NASA's bidding process.

Chinese lunar probe lands on moon: report

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese spacecraft landed on the moon on Saturday, the official Xinhua news service reported, in the first such "soft-landing" since 1976, joining the United States and the former Soviet Union in managing to accomplish such a feat. The Chang'e 3, a probe named after a lunar goddess in traditional Chinese mythology, is carrying the solar-powered Yutu, or Jade Rabbit rover, which will dig and conduct geological surveys. ...

Grab Your Binoculars! Audubon's Christmas Bird Count Begins This Weekend

The National Audubon Society's 114th annual Christmas Bird Count begins Saturday (Dec. 14). Volunteer citizen scientists in all 50 U.S. states, all Canadian provinces, and parts of Mexico, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands are set to take part in the yearly tradition, armed with bird guides, binoculars and checklists. The annual count is the longest-running census of bird populations, and is used to help scientists assess the health of different species, said Geoff LeBaron, director of the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). "We try to look at the trend data to understand what's going on in the big picture," LeBaron told LiveScience.

China Lands On The Moon: Historic Robotic Lunar Landing Includes 1st Chinese Rover

China has landed its first robotic lander on the moon, a historic lunar arrival that makes the country only the third nation to make a soft-landing on Earth's celestial neighbor. China's Chang'e 3 moon lander and its Yutu rover touched down on the moon Saturday (Dec. 14) at about 8:11 a.m. EST (1311 GMT), though it was late Saturday night local time at the mission's control center in Beijing during the landing. Chang'e 3 launched toward the moon on Dec. 2 Beijing time to begin its two-week trek to the lunar surface. The spacecraft arrived in lunar orbit about five days after launch, and then began preparing for landing.

Incredible Tech: How Life Will Change With Smart Homes

Motion sensors embedded in your home will cue your heating system to start cranking when she enters.

Is 'Affluenza' Contagious?

In June, 16-year-old Ethan Couch plowed his pickup truck into two vehicles parked on the side of a Texas highway, killing four people and injuring nine. Media pundits, outraged citizens and the families of the deceased are now howling for justice after Couch got a relatively lenient sentence: 10 years' probation, plus a stint at a high-priced private counseling center in California, paid for by Couch's wealthy father, according to KHOU. The psychologist, G. Gary Miller, said that Couch's parents gave him "freedoms no young person should have." As an example of the teen's affluenza and the way the condition breaks the link between behavior and consequences, Couch received no punishment when, as a 15-year-old, he was found passed out in a parked pickup truck with an undressed 14-year-old girl. The term affluenza was first coined by author Jessie H. O'Neill in her book "The Golden Ghetto: The Psychology of Affluence" (Affluenza Project, 1997).

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