Today's Reuters Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Doomsday Clock a minute closer to midnight
Tue,10 Jan 2012 04:36 PM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - The symbolic Doomsday Clock calculated by a group of scientists was moved a minute closer to midnight on Tuesday, with the group citing inadequate progress on nuclear weapons reduction and climate change. The clock was moved to five minutes to midnight, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said, the first adjustment since the beginning of 2010, when it was moved back one minute to six minutes from midnight -- or "doomsday". "Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. ...
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Life Tech steers ahead of rivals in race for faster DNA device
Tue,10 Jan 2012 09:20 AM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Life Technologies said it started taking orders for its "$1000 genome" device, placing the maker of life sciences tools in pole position in an industry-wide race to build the cheapest and fastest platform for gene sequencing. The news drove Life's stock up as much as 11 percent, while shares of rivals Illumina Inc, and Complete Genomics slipped on Tuesday on the Nasdaq. Industry analysts said the device will put "significant" pressure on Illumina and they are waiting to see how the platform performs. ... Full Story | Top |
Next ice age not likely before 1,500 years: study
Mon,9 Jan 2012 07:09 AM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - High levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere mean the next ice age is unlikely to begin for at least 1,500 years, an article in the journal Nature Geoscience said on Monday. Concentrations of the main gases blamed for global warming reached record levels in 2010 and will linger in the atmosphere for decades even if the world stopped pumping out emissions today, according to the U.N.'s weather agency. An ice age is a period when there is a long-term reduction in the earth's surface and atmospheric temperature, which leads to the growth of ice sheets and glaciers. ...
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NASA probes reach moon for gravity-mapping mission
Thu,5 Jan 2012 05:25 AM PST
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Two robotic probes began orbiting the moon Sunday in preparation for an unprecedented mission to map the lunar interior. NASA's twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, spacecraft wrapped up 2.6-million-mile journey to put themselves into lunar orbit on Saturday and Sunday. Over the next two months, the probes' 34-mile-high orbits will be adjusted to get them into optimal position to measure the pushes and pulls of the moon's gravity, data that scientists can use to model what is inside the moon. ...
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Avoiding fracking earthquakes: expensive venture
Tue,3 Jan 2012 03:34 PM PST
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - With mounting evidence linking hundreds of small earthquakes from Oklahoma to Ohio to the energy industry's growing use of fracking technology, scientists say there is one way to minimize risks of even minor temblors. Only, it costs about $10 million a pop. A thorough seismic survey to assess tracts of rock below where oil and gas drilling fluid is disposed of could help detect quake prone areas. But that would be far more costly than the traditional method of drilling a bore hole, which takes a limited sample of a rock formation but gives no hint of faults lines or ...
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NASA probes reach moon for gravity-mapping mission
Tue,3 Jan 2012 05:11 AM PST
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Two robotic probes began orbiting the moon Sunday in preparation for an unprecedented mission to map the lunar interior. NASA's twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, spacecraft wrapped up 2.6-million-mile journey to put themselves into lunar orbit on Saturday and Sunday. Over the next two months, the probes' 34-mile-high orbits will be adjusted to get them into optimal position to measure the pushes and pulls of the moon's gravity, data that scientists can use to model what is inside the moon. ...
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NASA probes reach moon for gravity-mapping mission
Sun,1 Jan 2012 04:42 PM PST
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Two robotic probes began orbiting the moon Sunday in preparation for an unprecedented mission to map the lunar interior. NASA's twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, spacecraft wrapped up 2.6-million-mile journey to put themselves into lunar orbit on Saturday and Sunday. Over the next two months, the probes' 34-mile-high orbits will be adjusted to get them into optimal position to measure the pushes and pulls of the moon's gravity, data that scientists can use to model what is inside the moon. ...
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Lunar probes to resolve mystery of moon's interior
Fri,30 Dec 2011 09:43 AM PST
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Two robotic NASA probes are due to arrive at the moon this weekend to resolve a long-standing mystery of what is inside Earth's natural satellite and how it got there. The 667-pound (303-kg) craft of the U.S. space agency's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, mission have been flying to the moon since their joint launch in September. GRAIL A is due to begin a 40-minute braking maneuver to put itself into orbit around the moon at 4:21 p.m. ET on Saturday, with GRAIL B following suit 25 hours later. ...
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This year was UK's second-warmest ever
Fri,30 Dec 2011 06:22 AM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - The year 2011 was Britain's second-warmest ever, the Met Office said on Friday, although temperatures in December have in fact been close to average. The mean temperature so far this month has been 4.7 degrees Celsius (40.5 degrees Fahrenheit), 0.5 above the 1971-2000 average, a far cry from 2010, when temperatures were 5 degrees below average to notch up the coldest December on record. "While it may have felt mild for many so far this December, temperatures overall have been close to what we would expect," said John Prior, national climate manager at the Met Office. ...
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Record number of ivory seizures in 2011: WWF
Thu,29 Dec 2011 11:27 AM PST
Reuters -  JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A record number of large scale ivory seizures will be recorded globally in 2011, pointing to a surge in elephant poaching in Africa to meet Asian demand for tusks for use in jewelry and ornaments, a monitoring group said Thursday. TRAFFIC, a conservation group which tracks trends in wildlife trading, said there have been at least 13 large-scale seizures of over 800 kg (2,000 pounds) of ivory in 2011, more than double the 6 recorded in 2010. ...
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U.S. approves Monsanto drought-tolerant GM corn
Tue,27 Dec 2011 11:30 AM PST
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Monsanto's genetically engineered, drought resistant corn is deregulated, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday, clearing the variety for sale. USDA approved the variety after reviewing environmental and risk assessments, public comments and research data from Monsanto. Corn is the most widely grown U.S. crop and farmers grew 91.9 million acres of the feed grain this year, the second-largest area since World War Two. In its 2009 petition for approval of its GM variety, Monsanto said 40 percent of crop losses in North America are due to sub-optimal moisture. ...
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China tests 500 km/h super high-speed train
Mon,26 Dec 2011 12:45 AM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China launched a super-rapid test train over the weekend which is capable of travelling 500 kilometers per hour, state media said on Monday, as the country moves ahead with its railway ambitions despite serious problems on its high-speed network. The train, made by a subsidiary of CSR Corp Ltd, China's largest train maker, is designed to resemble an ancient Chinese sword, the official Xinhua news agency reported. It "will provide useful reference for current high-speed railway operations," it quoted train expert Shen Zhiyun as saying. ...
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China tests 500 kmph super high-speed train
Sun,25 Dec 2011 10:02 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China launched a super-rapid test train over the weekend which is capable of travelling 500 kilometers per hour, state media said on Monday, as the country moves ahead with its railway ambitions despite serious problems on its high-speed network. The train, made by a subsidiary of CSR Corp Ltd, China's largest train maker, is designed to resemble an ancient Chinese sword, the official Xinhua news agency reported. It "will provide useful reference for current high-speed railway operations," it quoted train expert Shen Zhiyun as saying. ...
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Ancient "purity" seal found near Jerusalem temple site
Sun,25 Dec 2011 05:48 AM PST
Reuters -  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli archaeologists said on Sunday they had found a 2,000-year-old clay seal near Jerusalem's Western Wall, confirming written accounts of ritual practices in the biblical Jewish Temple. The button-shaped object bears the Aramaic words "pure for God," suggesting it was used to certify food and animals used in sacrificial ceremonies. The Western Wall is part of the compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, where Islam's al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock shrine now stand in a holy complex Muslims call the Noble Sanctuary. ...
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New crew arrives at International Space Station
Fri,23 Dec 2011 01:01 PM PST
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A Russian Soyuz capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Friday with a trio of astronauts, bringing the orbital outpost back to full staffing after a failed cargo ship launch in August disrupted flight schedules. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA's Don Pettit and the European Space Agency's Andre Kuipers blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday for the space station, a $100 billion research complex that orbits about 240 miles above Earth. Their two-day trip in the cramped capsule ended at 10:19 a.m. ...
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