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Thursday, November 12, 2015

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'Superduck' dinosaur provides insight into elaborate head crests

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a warm, lush environment near a meandering river 79.5 million years ago in Montana, a dinosaur nicknamed "Superduck" munched on leaves and kept a lookout for predators related to Tyrannosaurus rex that might threaten its herd. It was a member of a plant-eating group called duck-billed dinosaurs, known for beaks resembling a duck's bill, common during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period. Many duck-billed dinosaurs boasted head crests of various shapes and sizes.

Bee-lieve it or not: people liked honey back in the Stone Age

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Murals from ancient Egypt's vibrant New Kingdom era depicting bees and honey amid scenes of everyday life some 4,400 years ago provide early evidence of people using of beehive products. Scientists said on Wednesday they have found evidence of beeswax in pottery made by Stone Age people from early farming cultures in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, including in cooking pots from a site in eastern Turkey dating to about 8,500 years ago. "The distinctive chemical fingerprint of beeswax was detected at multiple Neolithic sites across Europe, indicating just how widespread the association between humans and honeybees was in prehistoric times," organic geochemist Mélanie Roffet-Salque of the University of Bristol in Britain said.

New 'Making North America' Series Explores Continent's Rich History

The first part of the "Making North America" series has already aired, but the second installment will air tonight (Nov. 11) at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT (check local listings). The host of the series, Kirk Johnson, is a renowned paleontologist and director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Throughout the series, Johnson flies, swims, hikes and rappels around the North American continent, speaking to experts and using (literally) earth-shattering special effects to guide viewers through North America's billions of years of history. It turns out that the land isn't, err, set in stone, and the North American continent has been through some pretty drastic changes.

Tractor beams of science fiction becoming a reality

By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The tractor beam, a staple of science fiction including "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" that is employed to grab spaceships and other things remotely, is entering the realm of reality. Researchers on Tuesday said they have developed a tractor beam that uses high-amplitude sound waves to levitate, move and rotate small objects without making contact with them. "As a mechanical wave, sound can exert significant forces on objects.

Germany, U.S. in hot pursuit of 'messenger' drug molecules

In theory, the promise of mRNA is enormous, ranging from cancer to infectious diseases to heart and kidney disorders, since it could be used to tackle the 80 percent of proteins that are difficult to affect with existing medicines. Despite a recent sell-off in biotech stocks, sparked by U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's threat to crack down on drug pricing, enthusiasm for mRNA, is rising. Privately-held CureVac in the university town of Tuebingen, which already has backing from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates thanks to its vaccine work, last week raised $110 million from new investors, valuing it at $1.6 billion.

Astronomers discover new distant object in the solar system

By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a miniature planet that is the most distant body ever found in the solar system, scientists said on Wednesday. "We can't really classify the object yet, as we don't know its orbit," said Scott Sheppard, an astronomer with the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. "We only just found this object a few weeks ago." Based on its reflectivity, scientists believe the icy body, known as V774101, is between 300 and 600 miles (500 to 1,000 km) in diameter, roughly half the size of Pluto. Currently, the most distant planet-like bodies in the solar system are Sedna, discovered in 2003, and VP113, discovered in 2012.

Part of Pluto's Heart Was 'Born Yesterday'

Pluto has a surprisingly youthful heart — the smooth, round region on the dwarf planet'ssurface is no more than 10 million years old, a blink of an eye in the 4.5-billion-year lifetime of the solar system. The large,western lobe of the "heart" on Pluto's surface is also known as Sputnik Planum, and it is strikingly free of craters. Researchers with NASA's New Horizons mission said this is surprising, because such processes require an internal heat source, which is often lost in small bodies like Pluto.

Strategic Command Issues Statement on Trident Missile Test that Freaked Out the West Coast

With images like these, it's no wonder California — not to mention the Twittersphere — freaked out Saturday evening when an unannounced test of a submarine-launched Trident missile lit up the evening sky. Photographer Porter Tinsley and her wife were on the shore of California's desolate Salton Sea taking long exposures and time lapses with three different cameras when they witnessed what they thought at the time was a chemical or nuclear weapon detonating over Los Angeles two and a half hours to the west. The test occurred the same day U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, called out Russia for engaging in "challenging activities" at sea, in the air, in space and cyberspace.

Robot salamander helping scientists unlock spinal secrets

By Matthew Stock A robotic salamander that can replicate the amphibian's movement to an unprecedented degree of accuracy has been built by robotic engineers in Switzerland. Called Pleurobot, it can reproduce the many postures and positions of a real salamander, and can even swim underwater. Researchers hope it will give neuroscientists an important new tool for further understanding the way the nervous system co-ordinates movement in vertebrates.

Ozone Hole Over Antarctica Nears Record-Breaking Size Again

The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica is nearing record-breaking size again, scientists say. In fact, new observations show that the infamous "ozone hole" is currently larger than the entire continent of North America. Researchers at the German Aerospace Center are using Earth-observing satellites to monitor the protective ozone layer and recently reported that a large, nearly circular hole over Antarctica extends over an area measuring 26 million square km (10 million square miles).

How Robots Are Building a 3D-Printed Metal Bridge in Amsterdam

The quaint, cobblestoned city of Amsterdam is about to get a modern addition: a 3D-printed footbridge. The bridge will be constructed entirely by robots that can "print" complex steel objects in midair. The autonomous bots are like mechanical, torch-wielding welders that melt together layer upon layer of steel to form a solid object, said Tim Geurtjens, MX3D's co-founder and chief technology officer.

European scientists say weedkiller glyphosate unlikely to cause cancer

By Barbara Lewis BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Glyphosate is unlikely to cause cancer in humans, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which nevertheless proposed new limits on Thursday on the amount of residue of the weedkiller deemed safe for humans to consume. The EFSA advises EU policymakers and its conclusion could pave the way for the 28-member European Union to renew approval for glyphosate, which was brought into use by Monsanto in the 1970s and is used in its top selling product Roundup as well as in many other herbicides around the world. Environmental groups have been calling for a ban after the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, said in March that glyphosate was "probably carcinogenic to humans".

Hoping to find life on other planets, astronomers start on giant Chile telescope

By Gram Slattery CERRO LAS CAMPANAS, Chile (Reuters) - Chilean President Michelle Bachelet put hammer to stone on an Andean mountaintop on Wednesday evening to mark the start of construction for one of the world's most advanced telescopes, an instrument that may help shed light on the possibility of life on distant planets. The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), scheduled to be completed by 2024, will have a resolution 10 times that of the Hubble spacecraft. Such technology, astronomers say, will help humans determine how the universe formed and if planets hundreds of light years away could support life.

Why the Pyramids Spawn So Many Wacky Theories

GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson stands by an odd theory he floated at a commencement address: that the Egyptian pyramids are not pharaohs' tombs, but ancient grain silos built by the biblical Joseph. Indeed, though the pyramids are some of the most well-researched ancient structures in the world, they have a long-standing tendency to attract crackpot theories. Like Carson, these people ignore massive amounts of contemporary evidence about the pyramids.

Dog-Size Rats Once Lived Alongside Humans

Scientists on an expedition to the island nation of East Timor discovered fossils representing seven new species of giant rats, all larger than any species ever found. The biggest of them would have tipped the scales at 11 lbs. (5 kilograms), about 10 times as much as a modern rat, according to Julien Louys, a paleontologist and research fellow at the Australian National University, who presented the findings in October at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Calling the dig sites fossil-rich would be an understatement, Louys told Live Science.

Darwin's 'Origin of Species' Voted Most Influential Academic Book

Women's rights, the foundations of capitalism and the warping of space-time can all take a backseat to meticulous descriptions of long-beaked finches, at least if public opinion is any measure. A group of academic booksellers, publishers and librarians conducted the survey in advance of Academic Book Week in the United Kingdom. In Darwin's theory, species emerge through natural selection, where genetic changes lead some in a population to be more fit for their environment than their competitors.

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Wednesday, November 11, 2015

FeedaMail: Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Drug industry bemoans Britain's lack of science skills

British pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies face a major skills shortage which threatens future investment and the long-term success of the life sciences sector, according to a new industry report. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said on Wednesday that firms could increasingly seek workers abroad due to low numbers of good quality candidates, particularly those with appropriate biology and maths skills. The report follows a warning this week from lawmakers on the House of Commons science and technology committee that Britain's position as a "science superpower" would be jeopardized if government spending on science was not protected.

Drug industry bemoans Britain's lack of science skills

British pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies face a major skills shortage which threatens future investment and the long-term success of the life sciences sector, according to a new industry report. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said on Wednesday that firms could increasingly seek workers abroad due to low numbers of good quality candidates, particularly those with appropriate biology and maths skills. The report follows a warning this week from MPs on the House of Commons science and technology committee that Britain's position as a "science superpower" would be jeopardised if government spending on science was not protected.

Getting HyQ the robot 'disaster ready'

By Jim Drury Robotics engineers are developing algorithms to make HyQ, a quadruped robot, into a useful tool in disaster missions. The HyQ quadruped robot was developed and built by Claudio Semini, of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa, who completed it in 2010. A copy of the robot was built in 2012 for ETH Zurich Professor Jonas Buchli's laboratory, part funded by the National Science Foundation.

Why Do Supermassive Black Holes Erupt?

Astronomers are dragging the inner workings of black holes out into the light. The powerful X-ray flares seen erupting from supermassive black holes are tied to the motion of these behemoths' surrounding "coronas," mysterious features that are sources of high-energy light, a new study suggests. Specifically, supermassive black holes likely flare when their coronas launch away from them, researchers said.

Ancient Cosmic Crashes May Have Altered Earth's Composition

Mysteriously, Earth's chemical composition is drastically different from that of the rocks that most likely helped to form the planet. Now, scientists think they may have an answer to this long-standing puzzle: The constant pummeling that formed Earth may have altered its composition. Among these, previous research found that enstatite chondrites have a mix of isotopes that is remarkably similar to that of Earth, which suggests they might be the raw material from which Earth originated.

Sweet Beginnings: Origins of Chocolate Found

A genetic tweak about 10 million years ago may be responsible for delicious chocolate bars, new research suggests. The cacao tree's ancient roots suggest it has greater genetic diversity in the wild than previously thought. "We show for the first time that the source of chocolate, Theobroma cacao, is remarkably old for an Amazonian plant species," study lead author James Richardson, a tropical botanist at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland, said in a statement.

Self-Folding Minirobots Possible with Origami-Inspired Graphene

Origami-inspired graphene paper that can fold itself could be used to create anything from miniature robots to artificial muscles, according to a new study. Scientists from Donghua University in China have demonstrated that gently heating a sheet of graphene paper, which is extraordinarily strong (about 200 times stronger than steel by weight), could make it fold into a device that is able to walk forward and backward. The research could help scientists develop self-folding structures and devices for modern applications, including wirelessly controlled micro robots, artificial muscles and devices for tissue engineering, said Jiuke Mu, a Ph.D. student at Donghua University and one of the material's inventors.

Half-Billion-Year-Old Brains Preserved in Fool's Gold

A set of incredible fossils from southwest China reveals something amazing: 520 million-year-old brains, some preserved in fool's gold. Researchers led by Nicholas Strausfeld, a neuroscientist at the University of Arizona, first discovered fossilized brains this old in 2012, but only reported on one specimen. Now, Strausfeld and his colleagues have analyzed seven more fossils and discovered bits of brain in each.

Get a Whiff of This: Man Hasn't Showered in 12 Years

David Whitlock, a chemical engineer in Boston, has not showered for 12 years. To boost the presence of odor-eating bacteria, Whitlock has designed a bacterial spray called AO+ Mist, which is now sold by the company AoBiome under the brand Mother Dirt. The company hopes this bacterial spritz could reduce the need for products such as soaps and deodorants and potentially even reduce or eliminate the need for showering for those so inclined.

Honeybees Sweetened Life for Stone Age Humans

Stone Age people may have satisfied their sweet tooth with honey, new research finds. The chemical residues on pots that prove this are from beeswax, so researchers can't say for sure whether Neolithic people used beeswax alone or both beeswax and honey. "It seems that the first farmers in every single area of Europe were exploiting beeswax from the beginning of farming," said study researcher Mélanie Roffet-Salque, a postdoctoral researcher in chemistry at the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom.

Closest Earth-size Alien Planet Found, May Be a Venus Twin

A newly discovered planet 39 light-years away is being called the closest Earth-size exoplanet ever discovered — and a potential "Venus twin" — providing the mouth-watering opportunity for a close-up look at the environment on a rocky alien world. One of the dire frustrations of studying planets around other stars (and, really, any astronomical object) is their distance from Earth, which makes it onerous or impossible to get many basic details about them. Exoplanets are doubly frustrating because any light they emit (light that would give hints about what's happening on the surface) is often overwhelmed by the light of the parent star.

These Ancient Stars May Be the Oldest Ever Seen in the Milky Way

Astronomers have found what may be the oldest stars in the Milky Way. The stars, discovered in the galaxy's bulge, reveal that extraordinarily powerful explosions known as hypernovas might have dominated the Milky Way during its youth, researchers say. The oldest stars in the universe are poor in what astronomers call "metals" — elements heavier than helium.

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