Vicious Shark-Tooth Weapons Reveal 2 Lost Species
A collection of vicious weapons made of shark teeth reveals that two species of sharks vanished from the reefs of Kiribati before scientists even noticed the species were there. Until about 130 years...
View ArticlePHOTO: Punch Leaves Man With Star-Shaped Cataract
A man in Austria developed a cataract shaped like a star in his eye after he was punched, according to a report of his case. The 55-year-old went to his doctor because his vision in that eye had...
View ArticleWhere Are All The Tornadoes?
March is typically when tornado season ramps up, with spring’s unstable weather giving rise to thunderstorms and twisters. But this year has been relatively quiet so far. By early April 2012, there had...
View ArticleArctic Going Green from Warming, Study Finds
Large swaths of the Arctic tundra will be warm enough to support lush vegetation and trees by 2050, suggests a new study. Higher temperatures will lessen snow cover, according to the study, which is...
View ArticleNASA Mega-Rocket Could Lead to Skylab 2 Deep Space Station
NASA’s first manned outpost in deep space may be a repurposed rocket part, just like the agency’s first-ever astronaut abode in Earth orbit. With a little tinkering, the upper-stage hydrogen propellant...
View ArticleHints of Dark Matter Have NASA Scientists Over the Moon
WASHINGTON — Patience and meticulous science were cause for celebration when an international team of scientists announced new results pointing to the possible detection of dark matter Wednesday (April...
View ArticleCuriosity Rover Goes Solo on Mars for 1st Time Today
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity will be on its own for the first time over the next four weeks, thanks to an unfavorable alignment of the Red Planet, Earth and the sun. Curiosity’s handlers don’t plan to...
View ArticleDeadly new bird flu vindicates controversial research
LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists in the Dutch city of Rotterdam know precisely what it takes for a bird flu to mutate into a potential human pandemic strain – because they’ve created just such mutant...
View ArticleFarthest Star Explosion Yet Revealed by Hubble
Astronomers have spotted the most distant massive star explosion of its kind, a supernova that could help scientists better understand the nature of the universe. Using the Hubble Space Telescope,...
View ArticleSupercomputers Reveal How Spiral Galaxy Arms Grow
New supercomputer simulations show how spiral galaxies like the Milky Way get, and keep, their skinny, star-studded arms. Spiral galaxies are quite common in the universe. We live in one and 70 percent...
View ArticleFaked Moon Landing? Conspiracy Beliefs Fall Along Party Lines
A new national poll reveals that Americans differ along political party lines even in their endorsement of conspiracy theories, ranging from the belief that President Obama is the Anti-Christ to the...
View ArticleSurprisingly Simple Logic Explains Amazing Bee Abilities
Bumblebees and Pavlov’s dogs have something in common: Both can learn to associate two things they’ve never seen together before. A new study finds that bees use simple logical steps to learn from...
View Article500,000 Kids Have High Lead Levels
More than half a million children in the United States have elevated levels of lead in their blood, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveys done between...
View ArticleSun’s Magnetic ‘Heartbeat’ Revealed
A magnetic “solar heartbeat” beats deep in the sun’s interior, generating energy that leads to solar flares and sunspots, according to new research. A new supercomputer simulation, described in the...
View ArticleIsolated Coral Reefs Can Heal Themselves
Coral reefs may be more independent and resilient than previously thought. New research shows that an isolated reef off the northwest coast of Australia that was severely damaged by a period of warming...
View ArticleTropical Ice Reveals Rare Climate Record
A new and rare ice core record of tropical temperatures highlights changes in the enfants terribles of world climate, the El Niño/La Niña–Southern Oscillation. The climate record comes from Peru’s...
View ArticleAncient Life Form Breathes Rocket Fuel Ingredient
An ancient form of life can use an ingredient in rocket fuel for energy, suggesting creatures with this odd ability are more diverse than anyone thought. The new discovery might offer insight into the...
View ArticleAntarctic Blue Whales Found With Sound
Whales may be the biggest animals on Earth, but finding them in the vast open ocean isn’t easy. Now, an Australia-led research team has demonstrated a novel idea for chasing down the massive marine...
View ArticleHunger May Be Driving Spike in Sea Lion Strandings
Nearly 1,100 sickly sea lion pups that should still be with their mothers have stranded in southern California since the beginning of this year, officials say. Biologists still don’t know exactly...
View ArticleReefer Acceptance: Most Americans Now Support Legalized Pot
For the first time in four decades, most Americans say that marijuana should be legal. A new survey by the Pew Research Center pegs support for legalized pot at 52 percent, an all-time high in more...
View ArticleNASA Sees Curiosity Rover’s Parachute Flapping in Martian Wind (Video)
NASA’s most powerful spacecraft orbiting Mars has captured amazing new images of the huge parachute used by the agency’s Curiosity rover when it safely landed on the Red Planet last August. A video of...
View ArticleNorth Korea Nuclear Strike on US Unlikely
There’s little reason to believe that North Korea can actually make good on its recent threats to turn major American cities into “seas of fire,” experts say. Angered by United Nations sanctions and...
View ArticleRadar Plane Scans Volcanoes, Archaeological Sites
NASA’s globe-trotting, remote-sensing plane wrapped up a month-long trip to Central and South America in March, returning with images of volcanoes, Amazon floods and archaeological sites. The small...
View ArticleMeet the Tarantula as Big as Your Face
It’s big, it’s hairy, and it’s venomous. The newest spider to give arachnophobes the willies, a tarantula named Poecilotheria rajaei has been discovered on the island nation of Sri Lanka. With a leg...
View ArticleCheap Drones Made in China Could Arm US Foes
Cheap drones made in China could end up arming potential U.S. foes such as North Korea, Iran and terrorist organizations. China already makes drones that don’t quite match up to U.S.military drones,...
View ArticleNear-Death Experiences More Vivid Than Real Life
Long after a near-death experience, people recall the incident more vividly and emotionally than real and false memories, new research suggests. “It’s really something that stays in the mind of people...
View ArticleSahara Went from Green to Desert in a Flash
From lakes and grasslands with hippos and giraffes to a vast desert,North Africa’s sudden geographical transformation 5,000 years ago was one of the planet’s most dramatic climate shifts. The...
View ArticleVolcanoes on Jupiter’s Moon Io Are All Wrong, NASA Says
The hundreds of volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io aren’t where they’re supposed to be, scientists say. Io’s major volcanic activity is concentrated 30 to 60 degrees farther east than models of its...
View ArticleEarthquake Swarm Rattles North Iceland
Iceland’s earthquake swarm on April 4 CREDIT: Icelandic Meterological Office An earthquake swarm continues to shake North Iceland, home to one of the world’s largest and most active series of...
View ArticleNASA to Get $100 Million for Asteroid-Capture Mission, Senator Says
NASA will likely get $100 million next year to jump-start an audacious program to drag an asteroid into orbit around the moon for research and exploration purposes, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson says. The...
View Article