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Friday, February 14, 2014

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Crazy Ants! Secret Weapon Lets Invaders Take Over US South

Invasive "crazy ants" have been displacing fire ants, and a curious defensive strategy may be behind the crazy ants' bold takeover. Fire ants pack potent venom that kills most ants that come into contact with it. "As this plays out, unless something new and different happens, crazy ants are going to displace fire ants from much of the southeastern U.S. and become the new ecologically dominant invasive ant species," study leader Ed LeBrun, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, said in a statement. Fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) invaded the U.S. South in the 1930s, hailing from their native South America home.

Need a Happy Fix This Valentine's Day? Play Cupid

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match — there's something in it for you. What's more, matchmaking may be good for society as a whole, because it creates denser, more resilient social networks. The research is just in time for Valentine's Day, said study leader Lalin Anik, a post-doctoral fellow at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Anik came to the study of matchmaking from personal experience.

Mysterious Energy Ribbon at Solar System's Edge a 'Cosmic Roadmap'

A strange ribbon of energy and particles at the edge of the solar system first spotted by a NASA spacecraft appears to serve as a sort of "roadmap in the sky" for the interstellar magnetic field, scientists say. By comparing ground-based studies and in-space observations of solar system's mysterious energy ribbon, which was first discovered by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) in 2009, scientists are learning more details about the conditions at the solar system's edge. The study also sheds light into the sun's environment protects the solar system from high-energy cosmic rays. "What I always have been trying to do was to establish a clear connection between the very high-energy cosmic rays we're seeing [from the ground] and what IBEX is seeing," study leader Nathan Schwadron, a physicist at the University of New Hampshire, told Space.com.

EPA Vastly Misjudges Methane Leaks, Study Confirms

The federal government has underestimated methane emissions from the United States by 50 percent for the past 20 years, according to a comprehensive new study. Methane, also called natural gas, is a powerful but short-lived greenhouse gas. The review of scientific studies of methane emissions suggests that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methane counts are about 50 percent too low, though the underestimate could range from 25 percent to as much as 75 percent. That means the United States is pumping about 14 million tons more methane than thought into the atmosphere each year, according to the findings, published today (Feb. 13) in the journal Science.

Satellite Spies Winter Storm as Eastern US Digs Out (Photo)

The massive storm system bringing miserable weather to the eastern United States can be seen blanketing the region in pictures from space. NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured this storm image of the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday morning (Feb. 13) 9:45 a.m. EST (1455 UTC), as residents from Georgia to Boston awoke to sleet, ice and several inches snow. NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at the space agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., created the picture, which also incorporates true-color land and ocean image data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Earth-watching sister satellites, Aqua and Terra. The spacecraft take pictures of clouds that are used by NOAA's National Weather Service to monitor storms.

Why the South's Ice Storm Was So Destructive

A treacherous winter storm that is sweeping across the southeastern United States has dumped snow, sleet and freezing rain over a region stretching from the Texas Gulf Coast to the Carolinas. As the storm moves into the Northeast, the icy blast is leaving a trail of destruction, with downed trees and power lines leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power in parts of Georgia and South Carolina. As of this morning (Feb. 13), the National Weather Service (NWS) reported about an inch of ice accumulation from central Georgia into South Carolina. Meteorologists say the worst is now over for the South, but lingering ice, particularly on tree branches and power lines, could exacerbate recovery efforts, said NWS spokesman Chris Vaccaro.

Termite-Inspired Robots Could Be Future Construction Workers

Imagine a fleet of robotic construction workers that can autonomously build structures and work together harmoniously without needing supervision or specific, pre-determined roles. Researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, both in Cambridge, Mass., are designing just this sort of robotic construction crew. Now how do we create and program robots that work in similar ways but build what humans want?'" study lead author Justin Werfel, a researcher at the Wyss Institute, said in a statement.

Flirting with Trouble: Office Romances Can Prove Costly

Whether it's a drop in workplace morale or a sexual harassment lawsuit, office romances have the potential to cause big trouble for businesses of all sizes. Dianne Shaddock Austin, president of Easy Small Business HR, said there is a clear downside to colleagues getting involved in romantic relationships. "All employers should be concerned about workplace romances," Austin told Business News Daily. Research from the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that 43 percent of HR professionals reported romances in their workplaces.

'Pax'? Meteorologists in a Flurry Over Winter-Storm Naming

While a winter storm battered the southern United States and is now barreling up the East Coast, another storm is brewing among meteorologists. Since 2012, The Weather Channel has named some winter storms; Those who oppose the policy say naming winter storms is a publicity stunt and that the criteria for giving blizzards a name is arbitrary. The Weather Channel, for its part, says that naming storms raises awareness of potentially dangerous weather systems, and can make it easier to track a storm's progress across the country, as well as monitor updates on social media.

Gigantic Black Hole Jets Shines in Amazing New Video, Photo

A powerful jet shooting from a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy shines in a newly released image and video tour. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory gathered data that was used to create the new photo of the galaxy Centaurus A — which is located about 12 million light-years from Earth. The space-based observatory collected the data from 1999 to 2012, but the space agency released the photo on Feb. 6. While the black hole jet is a prominent feature, the picture also shows what scientists think to be the leftovers of a collision between Centaurus A (Cen A for short) and a smaller galaxy millions of years ago.

Rare Sight: See Venus During the Day (Photo)

PHOENIX — One of the more amazing sights in our sky is the planet Venus. At its best, Venus is brighter than all other celestial objects except the sun and moon. Right now, Venus is well up in the morning sky before sunrise, and any time this week, if the sky is clear, you'll have no trouble finding it.

Venus Shines at Its Most Brilliant This Week: How to See It

Venus will perform a balancing act this week. Normally Venus, like most objects in space, gets fainter as it gets farther away from Earth. This week, the planet's distance from Earth and its angle to the sun combine so that Venus shows more of its reflective surface than at any other point in the sun's orbit, causing the planet to shine at its very brightest. Unfortunately, observers can only see Venus at its brightest by getting up early in the morning.

Valentine's Day: Geeky Gift Ideas For Your Sweetheart

If you're looking to spoil your science-minded sweetheart with a special gift on Valentine's Day on Friday, the American Chemical Society has some ideas for how to inject a little chemistry into the festivities. The ACS has put together a list of ideas for science-y Valentine's Day cards and gifts, including experiments that couples can do together. Among some of the suggestions are cards that say, "We make a perfect electron pair," "I will alloys love you," "You light my Bunsen burner," and "Valentine, I have my ion you." A blog entry written by Larry Sherman, a senior scientist in the division of neuroscience at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, explains the effect of love on the brain.

Love Connection: Facebook Gets Credit for Lasting Marriages

Couples who meet on social networking sites such as Facebook are more likely to be satisfied with their marriages than those who meet in other ways, new research suggests. The study, which drew from a representative sample of Americans who were married between 2005 and 2012, also found that 7 percent of people found love through social media sites. Though most researchers haven't looked at "social networking as an avenue for dating, this study suggests it's a pretty safe and good avenue for finding a partner," said study author Jeffrey Hall, a communications researcher at Kansas University. But relatively little attention has been paid to online social networks in particular.

Quitting Smoking May Bring Mental Health Benefits

Quitting smoking is known to have benefits for physical health, including a reduced risk of cancer and heart disease, but a new study suggests that giving up the habit may improve mental health as well. In the study, researchers reviewed information from 26 previous studies, and found that people who quit smoking had a reduction in feelings of depression, anxiety and stress, and an increase in positive mood and quality of life, after they quit, compared with those who continued smoking. This finding was true for people in the general population as well as those with mental health disorders, the researchers said. The findings contradict the widely held assumption that smoking is good for mental health: many smokers continue smoking because they feel that the habit alleviates feelings of depression, anxiety and stress, and helps them relax, the researchers said.

Why You Should Put Down Your Smartphone and Talk to Strangers

Contrary to expectations, people are happier after a conversation with a stranger, the study revealed. "At least in some cases, people don't seem to be social enough for their own well-being," said study researcher Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. "They think that sitting in solitude will be more pleasant than engaging in conversation, when, in fact, the opposite is true." [7 Thoughts That Are Bad For You] During his own commute in Chicago, he sees "highly social animals getting on the train every morning and being remarkably anti-social … They might as well be sitting next to a rock."

How to Make Valentine's Day About Love, Not Couples

For singles, Valentine's Day can be a stressful referendum on whether they're lovable. "Perhaps if we widened what the holiday meant, it might be different," said Sandra Faulkner, a relationship researcher at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Despite the advertising, or perhaps because of it, most people probably don't care that much for Valentine's Day, said Jeffrey Hall, a communications researcher at Kansas State University. "There's this real dance where one person, typically the woman, puts expectation on what a guy is supposed to do for Valentine's Day and reserves the right to judge the performance as being good or bad — but doesn't give him any clue as to what she actually wants," Hall said.

Wild Winter Weather Rages — But Not in Sochi

Once again, the eastern United States has been pummeled by a winter storm that's dumped massive amounts of snow on sidewalks and roadways, many of which are still icy from the last snowstorm. Revelers at the Winter Olympics, meanwhile, went shirtless at Sochi's Black Sea beaches, and some athletes were flummoxed by mountain temperatures that hovered near 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). The difference between the two regions' weather is largely due to climate: Sochi is located at 43 degrees north latitude — the same latitude as the south of France — and enjoys a humid, subtropical climate at its lower elevations. The daily temperatures during February in Sochi range from an average low of 37 F (3 C) to an average high of 51 F (11 C), making this winter a fairly typical one for the Black Sea resort.

How Computer Simulations Help Olympic Figure Skaters

Some athletes — including Team USA's Gracie Gold and Ashley Wagner who are competing in the Winter Olympics in Sochi — have turned to computer models seeking the slight adjustments that could help them spin faster in the air to land their triple axels and toe loops on the ice. Jim Richards, a professor of kinesiology and applied physiology at the University of Delaware, developed a system of to help figure skaters refine their jumps.

SpaceX Prepares for Mid-March Launch to Space Station

Juggling flight delays and busy skies with the skill of seasoned air traffic controllers, International Space Station managers have approved the launch date for SpaceX's next cargo resupply mission for March 16. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad is set for 4:41 a.m. EDT (0841 GMT), the time when Earth's rotation brings the space station's flight path over the Space Coast, NASA announced last week. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo carrier will make the company's third commercial logistics delivery to the space station under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA. The Dragon spacecraft will chase the space station for two days, with final approach set for March 18 under the guidance of high-tech laser mapping sensors.

Indonesia's Deadly New Volcanic Eruption 'Heard' Around the World

A powerful eruption yesterday evening (Feb. 13) at Indonesia's Mount Kelud volcano, in eastern Java, hurled ash 9 miles (15 kilometers) into the sky, grounding air travel and sending out sound waves picked up by more than a dozen nuclear weapon detectors. More than 200,000 people have been evacuated from the region near Mount Kelud, one of Indonesia's most deadly volcanoes. Volcanic lighting flashed as Kelud flung ash and lava into the air, and lava poured down the volcano's slopes, eyewitnesses said. A lahar killed more than 5,000 people when Kelud erupted in 1919.

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Thursday, February 13, 2014

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Strange Star Chemistry May Reveal Secrets of Planetary Disks

A dusty gas cloud around a young sun-like star is surprising astronomers with its strange chemistry, suggesting that such planet-forming disks may be more complicated than previously thought. An international team of scientists used the giant ALMA radio telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert to detect significant chemical changes in the star's dust cloud along a region known as the centrifugal barrier, where the pull of gravity no longer overcomes the centrifugal force rotating the gas. "Spectral lines of these minor [chemical] species are faint, because of their low abundances," lead scientist Nami Sakai of the University of Tokyo told Space.com in an email. Sakai led the team of scientists that studied the young star and its gas cloud about 450 light-years from Earth.

Prehistoric Boy May Be Native American 'Missing Link'

A prehistoric boy's DNA now suggests that ancient toolmakers long thought of as the first Americans may serve as a kind of "missing link" between Native Americans and the rest of the world, researchers say. The findings reveal these prehistoric toolmakers are the direct ancestors of many contemporary Native Americans, and are closely related to all Native Americans. Scientists investigated a prehistoric culture known as the Clovis, named after sites discovered near Clovis, N.M. Centuries of cold, nicknamed the "Big Freeze," helped wipe out the Clovis, as well as most of the large mammals in North America. The artifacts of the Clovis are found south of the giant ice sheets that once covered Canada, in most of North America, though not in South America.

Construction crews uncover tusk of Ice Age mammoth in Seattle

By Eric M. Johnson SEATTLE (Reuters) - Construction workers digging in a Seattle neighborhood have found the curved tusk of a mammoth, an ancient elephant relative that inhabited North America at least 10,000 years ago during the Ice Age. Seattle's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture said its paleontologists were confident that the fossil, uncovered on Tuesday, came from an Ice Age mammoth. "The discovery of a mammoth tusk in South Lake Union is a rare opportunity to directly study Seattle's ancient natural history," said curator Dr Christian Sidor. Crews were excavating for plumbing trenches in the city's bustling South Lake Union neighborhood when they found the tusk about 40 feet beneath ground level, said Jeff Estep, president of Transit Plumbing Inc, the subcontracting company involved in the dig.

Ancient native boy's genome reignites debate over first Americans

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - For more than 20 years anthropologists have debated whether the first Americans arrived in the New World by walking over a land bridge across the Bering Strait, as millions of schoolchildren have been taught, or by sea from southwest Europe, perhaps in animal-skin kayaks. A new analysis challenges the out-of-Europe hypothesis, which has figured in a political debate over the rights of present-day Native American tribes. His DNA, they report, links today's Native Americans to ancient migrants from easternmost Asia. The study, published in the journal Nature, "is the final shovelful of dirt" on the European hypothesis, said anthropological geneticist Jennifer Raff of the University of Texas, co-author of a commentary on it in Nature.

Jaw-inspiring: Ancient fish was pivotal in evolution of face, researchers find

It's easy to take for granted that mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish - vertebrates just like people - have a face. The first creatures with a backbone - jawless fish from hundreds of millions of years ago - did not. With Romundina at the center of their work, Swedish and French researchers described in a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday the step-by-step development of the face as jawless vertebrates evolved into creatures with jaws. The evolution of the jaw led to development of the face.

European GPS Satellites Pass Key Test in Orbit

The four satellites that currently comprise the Galileo satellite constellation — Europe's version of the United States' GPS system— have passed a key test called In-Orbit Validation (IOV), European Space Agency officials announced Monday (Feb. 10). "IOV was required to demonstrate that the future performance that we want to meet when the system is deployed is effectively reachable," Sylvain Loddo, ESA's Galileo ground segment manager, said in a statement. The test campaign was a lengthy affair carried out across Europe, officials said. "ESA and our industrial partners had teams deployed in the field continuously for test operations," said Marco Falcone, ESA's Galileo system manager.

NASA Sun-Watching Spacecraft Celebrates 4th Birthday with Amazing Video

A NASA sun-studying probe celebrates four years in space this week, and the agency has released a stunning new video to mark the occasion. The amazing new video of the sun, which NASA released Tuesday, is a greatest-hits set from the space agency's powerful Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which is celebrating its fourth year in space. The video showcases some of SDO's most dramatic and beautiful images from the last 12 months. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory blasted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Feb. 11, 2010, on a mission to study solar activity and help scientists understand how variations in that activity affect life here on Earth.

Fly Larva Crawls Inside Woman's Ear

A woman in Taiwan had an unusual cause of her ear pain: a fruit fly larva was wriggling around inside her ear canal. An exam revealed a fruit fly larva moving around in her ear canal, and the skin close to her eardrum was eroded, according to the doctors at Tri-Service General Hospital, in Taipei. Her ear pain went away immediately, and two weeks later, her ear canal had healed, the report said. Dr. Richard Nelson, an emergency medicine physician at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, who was not involved in the woman's case, said he has seen several types of insects in human ears, but not fruit fly larva.

High-Res Satellites Help Track Whale Populations

New high-resolution satellite imagery now allows researchers to spot and count whales from space, greatly expediting population analyses used in conservation efforts, according to a new report. "If you are very skilled, you can judge how far away it is and work out the species from the size and shape of the blow," said Peter Fretwell, a researcher for the British Antarctic Survey. To make whale counts more accurate and efficient, Fretwell's team used what is known as very-high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery to count a group of southern right whales breeding halfway up the coast of Argentina. The team chose to analyze southern right whales — a large species that grows to be roughly 45 to 55 feet (14 to 17 meters) long and travels around southern regions of the Pacific and Antarctic oceans — during this proof-of-concept study because the species tends to bask at the surface and breed in calm waters, making these whales relatively easy to spot from above.

Oldest Fossil of Reptile Live Birth Found

A new fossil that captures both birth and death reveals the earliest ancestors of the giant prehistoric sea predators called ichthyosaurs birthed their babies headfirst, according to a new study. Until now, researchers thought live birth first appeared in marine reptiles after they took to the seas, Motani said.

Why Is It So Hard To Forecast Winter Storms?

The frosty system is expected to make its way north over the next 24 hours, and forecasters say it could dump a mix of sleet and snow in a broad swath of the East Coast up to Maine. But, narrowing down what type of wintry precipitation will fall and exactly where can be challenging, experts say. "It's easier to forecast if precipitation is going to fall, in general, but the hard part is figuring out what form it's going to be," said Eli Jacks, chief of fire and public weather services at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Silver Spring, Md. "A lot of the challenge in forecasting this storm is whether it will stay all snow, or if it will be freezing rain and sleet mixed in." In the South, the NWS has cautioned that the ice storm could have "potentially catastrophic" and "crippling" effects, and the agency said more than an inch of ice could accumulate from central Georgia into South Carolina through Thursday morning (Feb. 13).

Eastern US Winter Storm Captured in Satellite Photo

The latest images from an Earth-watching satellite show frigid clouds veiling the eastern United States in a frightening sign of the snowstorm unfurling the region. The GOES-East spacecraft, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, captured this shot of the continental United States Wednesday (Feb. 12), as freezing rain, sleet, snow and strong winds, paralyzed travel across the Southeast. Forecasters have warned that an inch of ice could coat parts of Georgia and South Carolina. Perched in a geostationary orbit, the GOES-East satellite keeps a constant watch over the same part of the globe.

China's Jade Rabbit moon rover awake but still malfunctioning

China's Jade Rabbit moon rover has endured a long lunar night but is still malfunctioning, state media said on Thursday, after technical problems last month cast uncertainty over the country's first moon landing. Jade Rabbit, named after a lunar goddess in traditional Chinese mythology, landed to domestic fanfare in mid-December, on a mission to do geological surveys and hunt natural resources. But after awakening this week, Jade Rabbit is still not functioning properly, China National Radio said, citing Pei Zhaoyu, a spokesman for the lunar probe program. China has been increasingly ambitious in developing its space programs for military, commercial and scientific purposes.

Winter Olympic Gold Medalists to Get Bonus Meteorite Medal Saturday

Winning gold at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia on Saturday (Feb. 15) — because on that day, and that day alone, earning a gold medal also means being awarded a piece of a rock that fell from space. Saturday marks exactly one year since a small near-Earth asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere over Russia and exploded over the Chelyabinsk Oblast (region). Over the past year, many fragments of the Chelyabinsk meteorite have been recovered, with some of the pieces heading to labs for study, many landing on the collectors' market, others going to museums and a small set being placed aside for a special set of medallions. Ten of those medals will be presented to those who place gold at the Sochi 2014 Olympics on the anniversary of the Chelyabinsk meteor fall.

One Year Later, Russian Meteor Strike Sparks Asteroid Deflection Talks

A year after the Chelyabinsk meteor slammed into the atmosphere above Russia, the world's space agencies have a new plan to address asteroid threats — including a possible mission to move an asteroid. The newly formed Space Mission Planning and Advisory Group (SMPAG, pronounced "same page") bills itself as Earth's first line of technological defense if an asteroid threatens. Before that ever happens, however, the coalition aims to create space missions to explore the possibility of moving asteroids around to prove potential technologies that could one day protect Earth. "SMPAG will also develop and refine a set of reference missions that could be individually or cooperatively flown to intercept an asteroid," Detlef Koschny, an official in the European Space Agency's Space Situational Awareness Program office, said in a statement.

Science, not muscle, driving many Olympic wins

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) — Nineteen-year-old Slovakian luger Josef Petrulak competed in the Sochi Olympics in a 22-year-old sled. That's right: His sled is three years older than he is. His German rivals get a new sled every year, designed by BMW and calibrated to whoosh faster, smoother and smarter every season.

Curiosity Rover Conquers Martian Sand Dune (Video)

A new video shows NASA's Mars rover Curiosity playing dune buggy, clambering over a drift of sand on its way toward a big Red Planet mountain. "At the start of the drive, the rover's right-front wheel was already at the crest of the 3-foot-tall (1-meter-tall) dune, with the rover still pointed uphill," NASA officials wrote in a description of the video, which was released Tuesday (Feb. 11). Curiosity crossed the dune to find a relatively smooth route to the foothills of Mount Sharp, which rises 3.4 miles (5.5 kilometers) into the Red Planet sky. The 1-ton Curiosity rover landed in August 2012 to determine if the Red Planet could ever have supported microbial life.

New US Military Space Plane Aims for 2017 Liftoff

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to award the first design contracts for the vehicle project — known as Experimental Spaceplane, or XS-1— in May or thereabouts, officials said. DARPA has high expectations for the XS-1 program, which it hopes can eventually launch 3,000- to 5,000-lb (1,361 to 2,268 kilograms) payloads to orbit for less than $5 million per flight — and to do it at least 10 times per year. "The vision here is to break the cycle of escalating space system costs, enable routine space access and hypersonic vehicles," XS-1 program manager Jess Sponable said Feb. 5 during a presentation with NASA's Future In-Space Operations (FISO) working group.

'Corneal Melt': Arthritis Complication Lets Woman's Iris Slip Out

A 61-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis suffered a serious repercussion of her condition: The irises of her eyes began to protrude, and she needed immediate surgery, according to a new report of her case. In people with rheumatoid arthritis, which causes high levels of inflammation throughout the body, a condition called "corneal melt" can occur, the report said. It is very rare for corneal melt to affect both eyes, said Dr. Mark Fromer, director of Fromer Eye Centers in New York City and an ophthalmologist at Lenox Hill Hospital.

3D Video of Swimming Sperm May Aid IVF

A method for taking 3D movies of live sperm could help fertility clinics select the most viable cells for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Using the new technique, "we can observe how the sperm move and determine if that movement is affected by any abnormalities in their shape and structure," Giuseppe Di Caprio of the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems of the National Research Council in Italy and Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., said in a statement. Di Caprio led the team that developed the new technique, detailed Tuesday (Feb. 11) in the journal Biomedical Optics Express. Doctors most commonly measure sperm concentration and mobility by visual inspection or by a process called computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA).

Hungry for Humans: What's Behind Deadly Animal Attacks?

Dark reports began circulating in December, after the mutilated body of a 65-year-old man was found in northern India. The exact identity of the tiger hasn't yet been established — wildlife officials aren't even sure if it's one tiger or two — but that hasn't stopped villagers in India's Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand states from taking extra precautions when venturing outside their homes. The latest tiger-attack victim in India was Ram Charan, a 45-year-old irrigation contractor working near Jim Corbett National Park, a reserve established in 1936 to protect the region's iconic Bengal tigers and other wildlife.

Chronic Infections Linked with Memory Problems Later in Life

Chronic infections from common viruses and bacteria may lead to memory problems and cognitive decline later in life, according to a new study. In the new study, the researchers speculated that the same mechanism — inflammation from chronic infections damaging arteries — might gradually cause cognitive problems, too. The greater the number of chronic infections a patient in the study had, the worse he or she performed during various cognitive tests, according to the researchers, who presented their findings today (Feb. 13) at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in San Diego. The researchers looked at data from 588 participants in the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS), a project started in 1990 at Columbia University to determine stroke risk factors in the local Manhattan community.

Wow! Sochi Winter Olympics Park Seen from Space at Night (Photo)

From their exclusive lookout more than 200 miles above Earth, the six astronauts and cosmonauts currently living aboard the International Space Station have a stunning view of the 2014 Winter Olympics park in Sochi, Russia. NASA released an image this week showing the brightly lit Sochi sporting complex, captured by one of the Expedition 38 crewmembers aboard the orbiting outpost. Like millions of other people around the globe, the astronauts and cosmonauts on the space station are keeping tabs on the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which kicked off on Friday (Feb. 7). With two crewmembers from the United States, one from Japan and three from Russia, NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio told Space.com last month that there might be some friendly competition during the games — and that they could even wager their space food to raise the stakes.

17 Developing Countries That Love Social Media More than the US

The U.S. may be the birthplace of Facebook, but Americans are far from the most social-network obsessed people on the planet. Egypt, Russia, the Philippines and 14 other developing countries outpace the U.S. in the proportion of internet users who log on to social sites. The data comes from a new Pew Research Center report that examines technology adoption in developing nations. The report finds that a majority of Internet users in the 24 countries surveyed use social media, but smartphone users are still a minority.

High Risk of Blood Clots Even 12 Weeks After Pregnancy

Pregnant women have an increased risk of developing blood clots, and now a new study shows this risk remains elevated for at least 12 weeks after delivering a baby — twice as long as previously thought. Of these women, about 1,000 women had a blood clot, including some who suffered a stroke, heart attack or deep vein thrombosis from their clot. The researchers found that women's risk of blood clot peaked around the time of delivery. "Even though these complications are very rare, they can be catastrophic," said study researcher Dr. Hooman Kamel, an assistant professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

China Moon Rover Survives Lunar Night, 'Stands a Chance' of Recovery

Reports of the death of China's first moon rover, Yutu, have been greatly exaggerated, according to the country's state-run media. The Yutu moon rover, which suffered a potentially serious mechanical malfunction last month, is now awake and has apparently survived its second lunar night, China's Xinhua news agency reported today (Feb. 13). Scientists on the ground are still trying to pinpoint the problems that caused the rover's mechanical malfunctions, but Yutu (which translates to "Jade Rabbit") can now receive signals normally. Yutu's mechanical problems arose as the rover entered its second lunar night in late January.

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