Saturday, April 14, 2012

Daily News Digest: Reuters Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News

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Saturday, April 14, 2012 12:05 AM PDT
Today's Reuters Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
Turmeric extract may protect heart after surgery
Fri,13 Apr 2012 03:19 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study from Thailand suggests that extracts from turmeric spice, known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, may help ward off heart attacks in people who've had recent bypass surgery. During bypass surgery the heart muscle can be damaged from prolonged lack of blood flow, increasing patients' risk of heart attack. The new findings suggest that curcumins -- the yellow pigment in turmeric -- may be able to ease those risks when added to traditional drug treatment. ... Full Story
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Scientist beams up a real "Star Trek" tricorder
Fri,13 Apr 2012 02:12 PM PDT
Reuters -

Undated handout shows scientific measurement device developed by Dr. Jansen, based on the tricorders used in Star Trek seriesLOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starships, warp speed, transporters, phasers. Think "Star Trek" technology is only the stuff of fiction? Think again. Dr. Peter Jansen, a PhD graduate of the Cognitive Science Laboratory at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, has developed a scientific measurement device based on the tricorders used by Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy and other space adventurers on the classic TV series that has spawned numerous spin-offs in more than 45 years. ...


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Space pictures pick up lots more penguins
Fri,13 Apr 2012 02:08 PM PDT
Reuters -

Emperor penguins are seen in Dumont d'Urville, AntarcticaLONDON (Reuters) - Scientists counting emperor penguins from space have found twice as many of the birds in Antarctica as expected. The discovery is reassuring for a species seen as under threat from global warming and will provide researchers with a benchmark for monitoring the giants of the penguin world in years to come. Using high-resolution satellite images to study each of 44 colonies around the coastline of Antarctica, experts said on Friday they put the total emperor penguin population at 595,000, or roughly double previous estimates of 270,000 to 350,000. ...


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Scientists examine a hot epoch to forecast climate future
Fri,13 Apr 2012 11:31 AM PDT
Reuters -

A view of the eastern hemisphere of earth from space is shown in this undated NASA handout photoWASHINGTON (Reuters) - To figure out what is likely to happen to Earth's climate this century, scientists are looking 3 million years into the past. They have concluded that the most revealing slice of time is the Pliocene Epoch, a warm, wet period between 3.15 million and 2.85 million years ago, when the world probably looked and felt much as it does now. Global temperatures and the amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were similar to today's climate, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. ...


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Tennessee teacher law could boost creationism, climate denial
Fri,13 Apr 2012 09:53 AM PDT
Reuters -

NASA image of planet Earth(Reuters) - A new Tennessee law protects teachers who explore the "scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses" of evolution and climate change, a move science education advocates say could make it easier for creationism and global warming denial to enter U.S. classrooms. The measure, which became law Tuesday, made Tennessee the second state, after Louisiana, to enable teachers to more easily teach alternative theories to the widely accepted scientific concepts of evolution and human-caused climate change. At least five other states considered similar legislation this year. ...


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Satellite mapping pinpoints penguin population
Thu,12 Apr 2012 11:11 PM PDT
Reuters -

Emperor penguins are seen in Dumont d'Urville, AntarcticaSYDNEY (Reuters) - Counting emperor penguins in their icy Antarctic habitat was not easy until researchers used new technology to map the birds from space, and they received a pleasant penguin surprise for their efforts. Using satellite mapping with resolution high enough to distinguish ice shadows from penguin poo, an international team has carried out what they say is an unprecedented penguin census from the heavens over the past three years. The good news was that the team found the Antarctic emperor penguin population numbered about 595,000, nearly double previous estimates. ...


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This is Dan. Dan is a Baboon. Read, Dan, Read
Thu,12 Apr 2012 12:16 PM PDT
Reuters -

Handout photo of a baboonNEW YORK (Reuters) - No one is exactly using the words "reading" and "baboons" in the same sentence, but a study published Thursday comes close. Researchers report in the journal Science that they trained six Guinea baboons (Papio papio) to distinguish real, four-letter English words such as "done" and "vast" from non-words such as "dran" and "lons." After six weeks, the baboons learned to pick out dozens of words — as many as 308 in the case of the clever Dan, and 81 for Violette — from a sea of 7,832 non-words. ...


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U.S. and Russian scientists launch ice seal survey
Thu,12 Apr 2012 07:45 AM PDT
Reuters -

Handout photo of a diseased ringed seal in AlaskaANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A team of U.S. and Russian scientists has launched the biggest population survey to date of Bering Sea ice seals as federal authorities consider endangered species protections for the marine mammals, a U.S. government spokeswoman said. As part of the project, which began this week, scientists are flying by plane at low altitude - just 800 to 1,000 feet above the surface - across 20,000 nautical miles of U.S. and Russian waters, tracking the seals with infrared and digital cameras. The survey is not required for the U.S. ...


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U.S. new car gas mileage up 20 percent since 2007: study
Tue,10 Apr 2012 08:06 AM PDT
Reuters -

A view of a city street lined with cars in Janesville(Reuters) - New cars and trucks sold in the United States are getting an average of 24 miles per gallon of gasoline, the highest ever, researchers at the University of Michigan said on Tuesday. The average fuel economy rating as shown by window stickers on new vehicles bought in March - including pickup trucks, SUVs, minivans and passenger cars - was 24.1 mpg, the researchers found. That was up 20 percent from the average of 20 mpg in October 2007, they said. The university's Transportation Research Institute began monthly updates on fuel economy four-and-a-half years ago. ...


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CERN revs up hopes for smashing year for physics
Thu,5 Apr 2012 12:06 PM PDT
Reuters - GENEVA (Reuters) - Scientists came closer than ever to witnessing "Big Bang"-style conditions on Thursday after revving up the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN research centre to smash sub-atomic particles together faster and harder than ever before. Physicists in the control rooms punched the air as multi-colored arcs flashed across their screens, debris thrown up by the collisions of some of the millions of protons flung around the vast underground circuit at close to the speed of light. "This is a great start to the 2012 run. ... Full Story
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Ammonia used in many foods, not just "pink slime"
Wed,4 Apr 2012 03:36 PM PDT
Reuters -

Packs of ground beef are seen in a crate at the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market meat processing facility in RiversideNew York (Reuters) - Surprise rippled across America last month as a new wave of consumers discovered that hamburgers often contained ammonia-treated beef, or what critics dub "pink slime". What they may not have known is that ammonia - often associated with cleaning products - was cleared by U.S. health officials nearly 40 years ago and is used in making many foods, including cheese. Related compounds have a role in baked goods and chocolate products. Using small amounts of ammonia to make food is not unusual to those expert in high-tech food production. ...


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Gene studies begin to unravel autism puzzle
Wed,4 Apr 2012 11:00 AM PDT
Reuters - CHICAGO (Reuters) - A sweeping study of hundreds of families with autism has found that spontaneous mutations can occur in a parent's sperm or egg cells that increase a child's risk for autism, and fathers are four times more likely than mothers to pass these mutations on to their children, researchers said on Wednesday. The results of three new studies, published in the journal Nature, suggest mutations in parts of genes that code for proteins - called the exome - play a significant role in autism. ... Full Story
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S.Africa, Australia in celestial spat for new telescope
Mon,2 Apr 2012 10:11 AM PDT
Reuters - JOHANNESBURG/CANBERRA (Reuters) - Deadly rivals on the rugby field, cricket pitch and in the underground mining sector, South Africa and Australia are now squaring off in a new contest: to win the right to host the world's most powerful telescope. The duo are finalists in a tender to host the device, known as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which will be 50 times more sensitive and 10,000 times faster than any other telescope on the planet, according to the international consortium funding the 2 billion euro ($2.66 billion) project. ... Full Story
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Factbox: A look at the groundbreaking SKA telescope
Mon,2 Apr 2012 08:32 AM PDT
Reuters - JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa and Australia are fighting for the right to host what will be the world's most powerful radio telescope, a device called the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The international consortium funding the project is expected to announce the winner this week. Here are some key facts about the SKA: It will use 3,000 antennas and receptors to detect radio frequency signals from deep space that are then processed by a super computer. The SKA will be 50 times more sensitive and 10,000 times faster than any other telescope on the planet. ... Full Story
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"Speed of light" experiment professor resigns
Fri,30 Mar 2012 04:22 AM PDT
Reuters - ROME (Reuters) - The Italian professor who led an experiment which initially appeared to challenge one of the fundaments of modern physics by showing particles moving faster than the speed of light, has resigned after the finding was overturned earlier this month. Italy's national institute of nuclear physics INFN said on Friday that Antonio Ereditato had stepped down as coordinator of the so-called OPERA experiment but had no comment beyond saying it "took note" of his decision. It was not immediately possible to reach Ereditato for a comment. ... Full Story
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