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Monday, May 4, 2015

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Astronaut-Led Charity Auction Offers Rare Look at Orion Space Capsule

Since splashing down after its historic test flight last December, NASA's first Orion capsule to launch into space has been, for the most part, out of public sight. Now, an auction benefiting students is offering the chance for two lucky people to go behind-the-scenes and see the Orion spacecraft up close. The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF), founded by the Mercury astronauts in 1984 to award college students who are excelling in science and engineering degrees, is auctioning access to the Orion as part of its annual Spring sale of astronaut memorabilia and experiences. "You and a guest will join Hugh Harris, the legendary voice of NASA, for a private behind-the-scenes tour of Kennedy Space Center and the Orion!" the foundation states on its auction website.

Mysterious Nazca Line Geoglyphs Formed Ancient Pilgrimage Route

The Nazca Lines, a series of fantastical geoglyphs etched into the desert in Peru, may have been used by two separate groups of people to make pilgrimage to an ancient temple, new research suggests. Sakai found that about four different styles of geoglyphs tended to be clustered together along different routes leading to a vast pre-Incan temple complex in Peru known as Cahuachi.

Shrinking Mount Everest: How to Measure a Mountain

The magnitude-7.8 earthquake that rocked Nepal on Saturday (April 25) may have caused the world's tallest mountain to shrink a bit. Official measures put Mount Everest at 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) above sea level, but recent satellite data suggest the sky-scraping peak may have shrunk by about 1 inch (2.54 centimeters), because the underlying tectonic plates have relaxed somewhat. Accurately measuring miniscule changes in a mountain that is more than 5 miles up is no easy feat, but surprisingly, measurements rely on geometric formulas and surveying techniques that haven't changed all that much since the 1800s, said Peter Molnar, a geologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The Future Envisioned at Museum of Science Fiction (Op-Ed)

David Brin is an American scientist and award-winning author of science fiction. Brin is also an advisory board member to the Museum of Science Fiction in Washington, D.C. Greg Viggiano is the executive director for the museum. The Museum of Science Fiction's first home will be a modular preview museum, which will open in late 2015 in nearby Arlington, Va., and remain in place until the creation of the full-scale museum facility is completed about four years later.

Fully Restored WWII Fighter Plane Up for Auction

1 Spitfire models still able to fly — will be sold to commemorate the 75th anniversary of two pivotal WWII skirmishes: the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. The iconic warplane is associated with the Battle of Britain, in which the German Air Force attempted to exert superiority over the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force (RAF). The Spitfire is credited with helping Britain hold its own and for preventing the Germans from becoming the dominant force in the air.

Chile Volcano Unleashes Massive Plume of Ash (Photo)

The Calbuco volcano in southern Chile awoke with a vengeance on April 22, splashing lava down its slopes and sputtering a plume of ash high into the atmosphere. This photo captured April 25, two days after the second eruption — by the Advanced Land Imager on NASA's Earth Observing-1 satellite — shows Calbuco's plume rising high above Chile's cloud deck. Data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura satellite show that 300,000 to 400,000 tons of sulfur dioxide were released into the atmosphere over the three days since the first eruption. When sulfur dioxide gas interacts with water vapor, it can create sulfate aerosols.

Color Me Confused! Iridescence Helps Animals Evade Predators

Iridescent creatures — such as dragonflies, catfish and boa constrictors — often dazzle onlookers with their shimmering colors. These alluring, luminescent hues may be key to an animal's survival, helping it to confuse and escape from predators looking for a meal, a new study finds. Iridescence is hardly the only conspicuous coloration that befuddles predators, said the study's author, Thomas Pike, a behavioral and sensory ecologist at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom. For instance, contrasting stripes may help animals escape from predators, likely because stripes make it hard for predators to judge speed and movement, Pike said.

LA's Island Playground Could Trigger Tsunamis

PASADENA, Calif. — Landslides coming off Catalina Island's steep slopes could send tsunamis racing toward popular Los Angeles and Orange County beaches with just a few minutes of warning, geoscientists said on April 23 here at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America.

2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Had Deadly Predecessors

Indian Ocean tsunamis destroyed one of the world's most important silk-route ports in the 15th century, new research finds. Yet there is little record of this devastating tragedy passed down in stories or written records on the island of Sumatra. "Probably not enough people survived to rebuild," said study author Kerry Sieh, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore. Archaeologists working with Sieh have now found smashed pottery sherds, broken gravestones and other artifacts in towns hit by the tsunamis, from when the region was a refueling stop on the maritime silk route.

Royal Baby: Second Siblings Who Changed the World

Princess Kate Middleton and Prince William just welcomed their second child, a baby girl, into the world — and into the growing queue to the British throne. Based on custom, the baby girl will be fourth in line to the throne, after Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George. King Henry VIII, who ruled England from 1509 to 1547, ascended to the throne only because his elder brother, Arthur, died in 1502.

Out-of-Body Experience Is Traced in the Brain

What happens in the brain when a person has an out-of-body experience? In a new study, researchers using a brain scanner and some fancy camera work gave study participants the illusion that their bodies were located in a part of a room other than where they really were. Then, the researchers examined the participants' brain activity, to find out which brain regions were involved in the participants' perceptions about where their body was. The findings showed that the conscious experience of where one's body is located arises from activity in brain areas involved in feelings of body ownership, as well as regions that contain cells known to be involved in spatial orientation, the researchers said.

Kids with 'Night Terrors' More Likely to Sleepwalk

Young children who get "night terrors" could be at greater risk for sleepwalking later in life, a new study from Canada suggests. Night terrors were most common in younger children, whereas sleepwalking was most common at age 10. But children who experienced night terrors before age 4 were nearly twice as likely to sleepwalk later in childhood, compared with children who didn't experience early night terrors, the study found. Overall, 34 percent of kids with early childhood night terrors sleepwalked later in life, whereas 22 percent of kids who didn't have early night terrors later sleepwalked.

Insomnia Can Worsen Chronic Pain Conditions

People who have problems sleeping may also be more sensitive to pain, thus potentially worsening the effects of chronic pain conditions, new research from Norway shows. In the study, researchers measured pain sensitivity in more than 10,000 adults who were participants in the Tromsø Study, anongoing public health study in Norway that began in 1974. The results of the study showed that people who had insomnia were more sensitive to pain than people who didn't have sleep problems. In particular, people who were experiencing chronic pain and who also had insomnia showed a greater increased sensitivity to pain.

Ebola Survivors Should Use Condoms Indefinitely, CDC Says

The Ebola virus can remain in semen for longer than previously thought, and so men who survive the disease should always use a condom during sex until more information is known, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The woman, who developed Ebola in mid-March, had not had contact with anyone with Ebola symptoms, and hadn't traveled to other areas where people have Ebola. Although the man had been declared Ebola-free six months earlier, in October 2014, a sample of his semen taken in late March of this year found genetic material from the Ebola virus. What's more, when researchers looked at part of the genetic sequence of the Ebola virus in the man's semen, this part matched the Ebola virus found in the woman, according to a new report of the case.

Child Prodigies and Autism: Is There a Genetic Link?

Child prodigies may share certain genetic traits with people who have autism, new research suggests. They also looked at 39 other people who were all members of the children's families, including 10 family members who had autism, and four prodigies who also had autism. For example, one prodigy had played an entire DVD of classical music by ear at age 3, and earned a spot on a symphony by age 6, said study co-author Joanne Ruthsatz, an assistant professor of psychology at The Ohio State University. Prodigies clearly share traits with children who have autism, such as exceptional memories and attention to detail, Ruthsatz told Live Science.

Astronomers Salute Hubble Telescope, Look Forward to Its Successor

Just three decades ago, scientists didn't know how old the universe was, that supermassive black holes lurk at the hearts of galaxies or that you could directly image planets around other stars. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope changed all that. At a panel discussion Thursday (April 30) at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, scientists discussed how much Hubble has allowed humans to see, and the possibilities for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the $8.8 billion Hubble successor scheduled to launch in 2018.

To Boldly Brew: Astronaut Uses ISSpresso to Make 1st Cup of Coffee in Space

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, dressed in a "Star Trek" captain's uniform, became the first person in space to sip from a freshly-made cup of coffee on Sunday (May 3), using the International Space Station's newly-installed espresso machine. Her sci-fi styling aside, Cristoforetti made real-life space history. Until Sunday, they only had instant coffee crystals. Launched with other cargo and supplies on a SpaceX Dragon capsule last month, the commercially-developed coffee machine is the first such device designed for use in microgravity.

It's Charlotte! Royal Baby Name Is 'Perfectly Balanced'

Looks like Prince George has a new sibling with a suitably impressive moniker: Charlotte Elizabeth Diana. The wee royal, now fourth in line to the throne, will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. "This is a name of perfect balance," said Laura Wattenberg, founder of babynamewizard.com. Not only is the name both classic and relatable, but it is also a very diplomatic choice that honors several members of the extended royal family, Wattenberg said.

US in Longest 'Hurricane Drought' in Recorded History

Hurricane Wilma, a hurricane that hit Florida in 2005, was the last Category 3 storm to make landfall in the United States. Other storms — including Hurricane Ike (Category 2, 2008), Hurricane Irene (Category 1, 2011) and Hurricane Sandy (Category 1, 2012) — caused significant damage, but their winds weren't as strong. Several storms identified as Category 3 or higher have hit Cuba during the past nine years, but they substantially weakened by the time they reached the United States, the researchers found. "There's been a lot of talk about how unusual the string is, and we want to quantify it," Timothy Hall, the study's lead author and a hurricane researcher at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, told the American Geophysical Union blog.

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Saturday, May 2, 2015

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'Wired' Underwater Volcano May Be Erupting Off Oregon

An underwater volcano off the coast of Oregon has risen from its slumber and may be spewing out lava about a mile beneath the sea. Researchers were alerted to the possible submarine eruption of the Axial Seamount, located about 300 miles (480 kilometers) off the West Coast, by large changes in the seafloor elevation and an increase in the number of tiny earthquakes on April 24. Geologists Bill Chadwick, of the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and Oregon State University, and Scott Nooner, of the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, successfully forecast the eruption in a blog post in September 2014, though they had presented their ideas at a meeting before then. Axial Seamount is an underwater mountain that juts up 3,000 feet (900 meters) from the ocean floor, and is part of a string of volcanoes that straddle the Juan de Fuca Ridge, a tectonic-plate boundary where the seafloor is spreading apart.

Auditors: National Science Foundation suspends UConn grants

Auditors say the National Science Foundation has frozen more than $2 million in grant money to the University of Connecticut after a foundation investigation found two UConn professors used grant money ...

Scientists monitor undersea volcanic eruption off Oregon coast

By Courtney Sherwood PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - An undersea volcano about 300 miles (480 km) off Oregon's coast has been spewing lava for the past seven days, confirming forecasts made last fall and giving researchers unique insight into a hidden ocean hot spot, a scientist said on Friday. Researchers know of two previous eruptions by the volcano, dubbed "Axial Seamount" for its location along the axis of an underwater mountain ridge, Oregon State University geologist Bill Chadwick said on Friday. Last year, researchers connected monitoring gear to an undersea cable that, for the first time, allowed them to gather live data on the volcano, whose peak is about 4,900 feet (1,500 meters) below the ocean surface. "The cable allows us to have more sensors and monitoring instruments than ever before, and it's happening in real time," said Chadwick, who also is affiliated with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Scientists monitor undersea volcanic eruption off Oregon coast

Penguins Use Poop to Melt Ice, Make Baby Nurseries (Video)

Gentoo penguins have given the term nesting a whole new meaning. The new insight came from thousands of hours of video taken by researchers from the University of Oxford in England, along with the Australian Antarctic Division. The researchers spent a year videotaping the behavior of a colony of Gentoo penguins on Cuverville Island, off the Antarctic Peninsula. Gentoo penguins, or Pygoscelis papua, are among the rarest of the Antarctic birds, with fewer than 300,000 breeding pairs on the icy continent, according to the British Antarctic Survey.

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Friday, May 1, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Smallpox-Like Virus Infects Lab Worker After Mishap

A lab worker in Boston became infected with a virus similar to smallpox after he accidentally stuck himself with a needle that was contaminated with the virus, according to a new report of the case. In November 2013, the 27-year-old lab worker was preforming an experiment that required him to inject mice with the vaccinia virus — which is the virus in the smallpox vaccine.

Why the Apple Watch Is Confused by Tattoos

Some Apple Watch users who have tattoos are running into problems when using the device's heart-rate monitor and other features, as it appears the ink in tattoos can interfere with the watch's sensors. This week, one person noted on the website Reddit that the Apple Watch's auto-lock would engage when it was placed over an arm tattoo, possibly indicating that the device was not registering that it was being worn. The Apple Watch monitors heart rate in the same way as the Basis Peak, the Fitbit Surge and other wrist-worn fitness trackers — they all use a light that shines into the skin to measure pulse. The Apple Watch has an LED light that flashes many times per second to detect your heartbeat, the company says.

Farewell, MESSENGER! NASA Probe Crashes Into Mercury

This violent demise was inevitable for MESSENGER, which had been orbiting Mercury since March 2011 and had run out of fuel. The 10-foot-wide (3 meters) spacecraft was traveling about 8,750 mph (14,080 km/h) at the time of impact, and it likely created a smoking hole in the ground about 52 feet (16 m) wide in Mercury's northern terrain, NASA officials said. MESSENGER was the first spacecraft ever to orbit the solar system's innermost planet, and its observations over the last four years helped lift the veil on mysterious Mercury, mission team members said. "Although Mercury is one of Earth's nearest planetary neighbors, astonishingly little was known when we set out," MESSENGER principal investigator Sean Solomon, director of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said in a statement.

Colorado Plague Outbreak Shows It's Hard to Diagnose the Disease

Doctors and veterinarians in the southwestern United States should keep an eye out for cases of plague, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the summer of 2014, four people in Colorado became ill with pneumonic plague, in the United States' largest outbreak of the illness since 1924. Pneumonic plague is a very rare disease caused by the same type of bacteria as the bubonic plague, which is perhaps best known for causing the Black Death in Europe during the Middle Ages. In people with pneumonic plague, the bacteria infect the respiratory system.

FAA proposes fix for possible power loss issue in Boeing's 787

(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it would ask the operators of Boeing Co's model 787 airplanes to deactivate the plane's electrical power system periodically. The FAA said the new airworthiness directive was prompted by the determination that power control units on a model 787 airplane could shut down power generators if they are powered continuously for 248 days. Sudden loss of power could result in the aircraft going out of control, the directive noted. Boeing is developing a software upgrade to counter the problem.

Scientists breed Arctic fish as they study ocean warming

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A silvery fish that represents an important link in the Arctic food chain has been successfully grown in laboratory conditions, giving federal researchers a tool to learn more about the key but vulnerable species.

Rocky Planets May Have Formed from Tiny Particle Clusters

Clumps of small, glassy particles may be responsible for the formation of giant asteroids and the planetary "embryos" that collided to form rocky planets like Earth, a new study suggests. Asteroid fragments that fall to Earth as meteorites often contain tiny, round pellets known as chondrules that formed when molten droplets quickly cooled in outer space during the solar system's early years. Previous work had suggested that chondrules were the building blocks of asteroids, which, in turn, often have been thought to be the building blocks of planets. Now, computer simulations modeling the behavior of more than 150 million particles in space reveal how chondrules might have coalesced into asteroids.

In Search for Alien Life, Follow the Water

The search for life beyond Earth homes in on water, whose abundance throughout the solar system is becoming increasingly clear to scientists. Water is a polar molecule and a solvent, two properties that are important for certain chemical reactions critical to life, said NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan. "We think water is key to life as we know it," Stofan said Tuesday (April 28) during the Asimov Memorial Debate, an annual event at New York's American Museum of Natural History that was moderated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the museum's Hayden Planetarium. Jupiter's moon Europa is covered with a sheet of ice that very likely sits on top of a global ocean, and Saturn's moon Enceladus shows evidence of subsurface water as well.

Big Aftershocks May Occur at Edge of Large Quakes

Large aftershocks not only rattle nerves, they also can cause new destruction and injuries by further damaging structures hit by the initial earthquake. While there was no way to predict the deadly magnitude-7.8 earthquake that rocked Nepal on April 25, scientists are developing ways to forecast where the worst aftershocks will hit. A new study finds that the biggest aftershocks tend to strike at the edge of the original earthquake. "We're very concerned about large aftershocks," said study author Nicholas van der Elst, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Bat Wings Harbor Special Sensory Cells

Bat wings sport a unique touch-receptor design, researchers report today (April 30) in the journal Cell Reports. Tiny sensory cells associated with fine hairs on the bat wing likely enable the animals to change the shape of their wings in a split second, granting them impressive midair maneuverability. "The wing of the bat is really a very specialized structure," study researcher Cynthia Moss, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University, told Live Science. Moss and her colleagues first began examining the miniscule hairs on bat wings two years ago, recording how the absence of these hairs influenced flight.

Early Urban Planning: Ancient Mayan City Built on Grid

An ancient Mayan city followed a unique grid pattern, providing evidence of a powerful ruler, archaeologists working at Nixtun-Ch'ich' in Petén, Guatemala, have found. This city was "organized in a way we haven't seen in other places," said Timothy Pugh, a professor at Queens College in New York.

Why Some Women Lose More Weight from Exercise

Some women may get more benefit than others from doing the same type of exercise, and genes are part of the reason why, a new study finds. The researchers looked at genes that have been linked in previous studies with an increased risk of obesity. The findings may mean that women whose genes predispose them to obesity need to do more exercise to get their desired weight-loss results, and may also need to pay more attention to their diet, said study author Yann C. Klimentidis, an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "There is just a higher wall to climb if you have a high genetic predisposition [for obesity]," Klimentidis said.

Limiting global warming to 2 degrees 'inadequate', scientists say

By Laurie Goering LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Holding global warming to a 2-degree Celsius temperature rise – the cornerstone of an expected new global climate agreement in December – will fail to prevent many of climate change's worst impacts, a group of scientists and other experts warned Friday. With a 2-degree temperature hike, small islands in the Pacific may become uninhabitable, weather-related disasters will become more frequent, workers in many parts of the world will face sweltering conditions and large numbers of people will be displaced, particularly in coastal cities, the experts warned. The 2-degree goal is "inadequate, posing serious threats for fundamental human rights, labor and migration and displacement" the experts said in a series of reports commissioned by the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a group of 20 countries chaired by the Philippines. Some group members, particularly Pacific island states, have previously asked for a lower temperature target of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Even a Little Walking Can Improve Your Health, Study Suggests

Study participants who traded time on the sofa for a total of 30 minutes of walking during the day reduced their risk of dying over a three-year period by 33 percent. For the participants with chronic kidney disease, the risk of dying was reduced by more than 40 percent, according to the findings, published today (April 30) in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, a complement to the government's diet guidelines, recommend that people do at least 75 minutes of high-intensity aerobic physical activity (such as running, swimming or biking), or 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity (such as brisk walking) every week to reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases. But the researchers on the new study wanted to know what the minimum threshold was — the lowest amount of physical activity that could still provide health benefits, said Dr. Srinivasan Beddhu, a kidney specialist at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City and lead author of the new study.

Limiting global warming to 2 degrees "inadequate", scientists say

By Laurie Goering LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Holding global warming to a 2-degree Celsius temperature rise – the cornerstone of an expected new global climate agreement in December – will fail to prevent many of climate change's worst impacts, a group of scientists and other experts warned Friday. With a 2-degree temperature hike, small islands in the Pacific may become uninhabitable, weather-related disasters will become more frequent, workers in many parts of the world will face sweltering conditions and large numbers of people will be displaced, particularly in coastal cities, the experts warned. The 2-degree goal is "inadequate, posing serious threats for fundamental human rights, labour and migration and displacement" the experts said in a series of reports commissioned by the Climate Vulnerable Forum, a group of 20 countries chaired by the Philippines. Some group members, particularly Pacific island states, have previously asked for a lower temperature target of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Five Mercury Craters Named to Celebrate End of NASA's MESSENGER Mission

Just hours before NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft was expected to crash onto the surface of Mercury, ending the probe's four-year observation of the rocky planet, the winners of a contest to name five new craters on Mercury were announced. The five winning crater names are: Carolan, Enheduanna, Karsh, Kulthum and Rivera. MESSENGER, which captured stunning images of Mercury's cratered surface, crashed into the surface of the planet at at 3:26 p.m. EDT (1926 GMT) yesterday (April 30). The new crater names have been approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

A space odyssey: cosmic rays may damage the brains of astronauts

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It may not be space debris, errant asteroids, supply shortages, thruster malfunctions or even the malevolent aliens envisioned in so many Hollywood films that thwart astronauts on any mission to Mars. It may be the ubiquitous galactic cosmic rays. Researchers said on Friday long-term exposure to these rays that permeate space may cause dementia-like cognitive impairments in astronauts during any future round-trip Mars journey, expected to take at least 2-1/2 years. In a NASA-funded study, mice exposed to highly energetic charged particles like those in galactic cosmic rays experienced declines in cognition and changes in the structure and integrity of brain nerve cells and the synapses where nerve impulses are sent and received.

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