Today's Reuters Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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SpaceX capsule docks at space station, opens new era
Fri,25 May 2012 04:12 PM PDT
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship and guided the privately owned craft into a docking berth on Friday, opening a new chapter in the U.S. space program. The unmanned capsule was the first commercial spaceship to reach the orbital outpost. "This really is the beginning of a new era in commercial spaceflight," said Alan Lindenmoyer, who manages NASA's commercial space transportation programs. Using the station's 58-foot long (17.7-meter) robotic crane, NASA astronaut Don Pettit snared Dragon at 9:56 a.m. ...
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Astronauts snare SpaceX Dragon capsule: NASA
Fri,25 May 2012 03:00 PM PDT
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured Space Exploration Technologies' unmanned Dragon cargo capsule on Friday, the first private ship to reach the orbital outpost. Using the station's robot arm, NASA astronaut Don Pettit latched on to the capsule at 9:56 a.m. EDT as the two vehicles sailed at 17,500 mph around Earth. Dragon, which is making a test flight under a NASA contract with the company, known as SpaceX, was expected to be attached to a station docking port later on Friday. ...
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Corrected: Gevo starts up first new plant, shares jump
Fri,25 May 2012 01:57 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Gevo Inc started production at a converted ethanol plant in Minnesota, bringing on line the world's first commercial-scale facility to make advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals. Shares rose more than 9 percent. Gevo said it had flipped the switch on the plant, which will produce isobutanol from corn starch, on Wednesday and it expects to ship the first rail cars of the chemical to its customer Sasol around the end of June. ... Full Story | Top |
Giant telescope to explore far reaches of cosmos
Fri,25 May 2012 08:56 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The world's biggest and most advanced radio telescope, capable of detecting signs of extraterrestrial life in the far reaches of the universe, will be located in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The decision to split the location of the $2 billion "Square Kilometre Array" followed intense lobbying by the two leading bidders, South Africa one side and a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand on the other. ...
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Gevo starts up first new plant, shares jump
Thu,24 May 2012 02:02 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Gevo Inc started production at a converted ethanol plant in Minnesota, bringing on line the world's first commercial-scale facility to make advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals. Shares rose more than 9 percent. Gevo said it had flipped the switch on the plant, which will produce isobutanol from corn starch, on Wednesday and it expects to ship the first rail cars of the chemical to its customer Sasol around the end of June. Sasol will use the isobutanol as a feedstock in its chemical products, although the organic compound can also be used as an alternative to gasoline. ... Full Story | Top |
SpaceX capsule zips through practice drive by space station
Thu,24 May 2012 01:52 PM PDT
Reuters - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space Exploration Technologies' unmanned Dragon spaceship flew smoothly in a practice drive by the International Space Station on Thursday, clearing the way for it to become the first private vessel to reach the orbital outpost. If Dragon continues to operate as planned, it will fly to within about 30 feet of the $100 billion station on Friday and shut down its maneuvering thrusters so the station crew can snare it with a robotic crane and hook it onto a docking port. Dragon took a test drive past the station early on Thursday, coming as close as about 1. ...
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Factbox: What does the Square Kilometre Array do?
Thu,24 May 2012 07:28 AM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - A decision on where to site the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope, either South Africa or Australia and New Zealand, could be made on Friday. Scientists hope the telescope will help answer fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of the universe, and whether it contains life beyond our planet. Here is a look at the radio telescope: WHAT DOES IT DO? -The SKA will drive technology development particularly in information and communication technology. ... Full Story | Top |
Decision time on site for giant radio telescope
Thu,24 May 2012 07:26 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The location of a huge radio telescope strong enough to detect extraterrestrial life in the far reaches of the universe could be settled on Friday when the group in charge of the project meets in the Netherlands. When completed in 2024 the "Square Kilometre Array" (SKA) will be made up of 3,000 dishes, each 15 meters wide, together with many more antennae, that will stretch over 3,000 km (1,864 miles). ... Full Story | Top |
Italy doctors save baby with smallest artificial heart
Thu,24 May 2012 07:13 AM PDT
Reuters -  ROME (Reuters) - Italian doctors have saved the life of a 16-month-old boy by implanting the world's smallest artificial heart to keep the infant alive until a donor was found for a transplant. The doctors at Rome's Bambino Gesu hospital said the operation was carried out last month and made public this week. The baby, whose identity has not been disclosed, was kept alive for 13 days before the transplant and is now doing well. The baby was suffering from dilated myocardiopathy, a heart muscle disease which normally causes stretched or enlarged fibers of the heart. ...
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Pioneering U.S. commercial spaceflight quiets critics
Wed,23 May 2012 03:11 PM PDT
Reuters - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A pioneering commercial spaceship closed in on the International Space Station on Wednesday, a key test in a controversial program to reduce the U.S. government's role in human space flight. Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, launched its Dragon cargo capsule into orbit on Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida for a test run to the $100 billion orbital outpost. Dragon is expected to make its first pass by the space station on Thursday. Starting from a point 6. ...
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SpaceX rocket lifts off for space station trial run
Tue,22 May 2012 03:59 PM PDT
Reuters - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An unmanned rocket owned by privately held Space Exploration Technologies blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday on the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. The 178-foot (54-meter) tall Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 3:44 a.m. EDT from a refurbished launch pad just south of where NASA launched its now-retired space shuttles. Less than 10 minutes later, the rocket delivered its cargo - a Dragon capsule with 1,200 pounds (544 kg) of supplies for the station crew - into orbit. ...
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Rights group aims to stop killing of Canada GMO pigs
Tue,22 May 2012 12:23 PM PDT
Reuters - WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - A U.S. animal rights group hopes to save a herd of genetically modified pigs from early deaths after funding dried up for a Canadian research project that has stoked controversy about altering animal genes to produce food. Possible euthanization of the nine so-called Enviropigs, descendants of swine first bred 13 years ago by the University of Guelph in Ontario to lessen the environmental impact of pig waste, has drawn opposition from Farm Sanctuary, a New York state-based group that places abused animals in new homes. ... Full Story | Top |
Scientists deploy genetics in search for bigfoot
Tue,22 May 2012 07:02 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists are turning to genetic testing to see if they can prove the existence of the elusive hairy humanoid known across the world as bigfoot, yeti and sasquatch. A joint project between Oxford University and Switzerland's Lausanne Museum of Zoology will examine organic remains that some say belong to the creature that has been spotted in remote areas for decades. "It's an area that any serious academic ventures into with a deal of trepidation ... It's full of eccentric and downright misleading reports," said Bryan Sykes at Oxford's Wolfson College. ... Full Story | Top |
Pollution-hunting robot fish take to the sea
Mon,21 May 2012 10:01 PM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Robot "fish" developed by European scientists to improve pollution monitoring moved from the lab to the sea in a test at the northern Spanish port of Gijon on Tuesday. The developers hope the new technology, which reduces the time it takes to detect a pollutant from weeks to seconds, will sell to port authorities, water companies, aquariums and anyone with an interest in monitoring water quality. It could also have spin-offs for cleaning up oil spills, underwater security, diver monitoring or search and rescue at sea, they said. The fish, which are 1. ...
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Study finds permafrost thaw, glacier melt releasing methane
Mon,21 May 2012 08:46 PM PDT
Reuters - ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Methane from underground reservoirs is streaming from thawing permafrost and receding glaciers, contributing to the greenhouse gas load in the atmosphere, a study led by scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has found. The study, published online on Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience, is the first to document leakage of deep geologic methane from warming permafrost and receding glaciers, said its lead author, Katey Walter Anthony. ... Full Story | Top |
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