Scientists race to gauge pandemic risk of new bird flu
LONDON (Reuters) - Genetic sequence data on a deadly strain of bird flu previously unknown in people show the virus has already acquired some mutations that might make it more likely to cause a human...
View ArticleMaya Blue Paint Recipe Deciphered
The ancient Maya used a vivid, remarkably durable blue paint to cover their palace walls, codices, pottery and maybe even the bodies of human sacrifices who were thrown to their deaths down sacred...
View ArticleSicily revokes permission for military satellite station
PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) - The Sicilian regional government in Italy has revoked permission for the United States to build a military satellite station on the island, its governor said on Friday, after...
View ArticleScientists close in on mysterious dark matter
View PhotoReuters/Reuters – This all-sky image shows the spatial distribution over the whole sky of the galactic haze at 30 and 44 GHz, extracted from the Planck observations. REUTERS/NASA/ESA/Planck...
View ArticleBoy Gets Rare Tick Infection from Blood Transfusion
A 9-year-old Georgia boy who developed a rare tick-borne disease got the infection from a blood transfusion, according to a report of his case. The case is the first time this infection, called...
View ArticleHow Will Scientists Confirm Dark Matter Discovery?
Physicists announced today (April 3) that a particle detector on the International Space Station has possibly detected signals of dark matter. Though exciting, the new results are still uncertain, and...
View ArticleClimate Change Future Suggested by Looking Back 4 Million Years
The last time the Earth enjoyed greenhouse gas levels like those of today was roughly four million years ago, during an era known as the Pliocene. The extra heat of average temperatures as much as 4...
View ArticleGeologic History of North America Gets Overturned
It’s time to redraw the map of the world during the reign of the dinosaurs, two scientists say. Picture the U.S. West Coast as a tortured tectonic boundary, similar to Australia and Southeast Asia...
View ArticleNew Bird Flu Virus: 6 Things You Should Know
A new strain of bird flu in China has sickened nine people, including three who died, according to news reports. Two of the deaths were in Shanghai, and one in the Zhejiang province, the BBC says. Here...
View ArticlePhysicists Nudge Electrons, Move Toward Crazy-Fast Computers
Physicists have nudged electrons to change their spin in just quadrillionths of a second, the fastest ever achieved and a basic-science feat that could lead to faster computer processing and storage....
View ArticleVicious 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...
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