Today's Reuters Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Loss of Arctic sea ice may lead to mercury deposits: NASA study
Thu,1 Mar 2012 05:08 PM PST
Reuters - LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Significant declines in perennial Arctic sea ice over the past decade may be intensifying a chemical reaction that leads to deposits of toxic mercury, a NASA-led study showed on Thursday. The study found that thick, perennial Arctic sea ice was being replaced by a thinner and saltier ice that releases bromine into the air when it interacts with sunlight and cold, said Son Nghiem, a NASA researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. ... Full Story | Top |
Oceans' acidic shift may be fastest in 300 million years
Thu,1 Mar 2012 02:40 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The world's oceans are turning acidic at what could be the fastest pace of any time in the past 300 million years, even more rapidly than during a monster emission of planet-warming carbon 56 million years ago, scientists said on Thursday. Looking back at that bygone warm period in Earth's history could offer help in forecasting the impact of human-spurred climate change, researchers said of a review of hundreds of studies of ancient climate records published in the journal Science. ... Full Story | Top |
CERN to tap new Europe cloud computing project
Thu,1 Mar 2012 10:33 AM PST
Reuters - GENEVA (Reuters) - Three key research centers and a consortium of Internet companies said on Thursday they would work together on a European cloud computing platform to handle the continent's rapidly growing demand for computer capacity. A statement from CERN, the Geneva-based particle physics organization, said the platform -- dubbed "Helix Nebula-the Science Cloud" -- would be made available to government bodies and industry after a two-year pilot phase. ... Full Story | Top |
DNA data helps to flesh out "Otzi" the Alpine iceman
Thu,1 Mar 2012 08:15 AM PST
Reuters -  MILAN (Reuters) - The first complete genome-sequencing of "Otzi," Italy's prehistoric iceman, is revealing a wealth of details about the man who roamed the Alps 5,300 years ago and could unleash a frenzy of activity among scientists thanks to open data. Over the last 20 years, scientists have painstakingly collected data from the stomach, bowels and teeth of the 45-year old man, who was found sticking out of a glacier by German climbers in 1991 in the Tyrolean Alps on the Austro-Italian border. ...
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Factbox: Neurotechnologies in spotlight of UK ethics review
Thu,1 Mar 2012 06:02 AM PST
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which examines ethical issues raised by new developments in biology and medicine, launched a consultation on Thursday on the ethics of new technologies and devices that intervene in the human brain. The three main areas of the group's focus are brain-computer interfaces, neurostimulation and neural stem cell therapy. Here are some details about each area of research and how it is being explored. * Brain computer interfaces (BCIs) BCIs measure and analyze a person's brain signals and convert them into an output such as movement. ... Full Story | Top |
Super-human brain technology sparks ethics debate
Thu,1 Mar 2012 06:02 AM PST
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - A British ethics group has launched a debate on the ethical dilemmas posed by new technologies that tap into the brain and could bring super-human strength, highly enhanced concentration or thought-controlled weaponry. With the prospect of future conflicts between armies controlling weapons with their minds, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics launched a consultation on Thursday to consider the risks of blurring the lines between humans and machines. "Intervening in the brain has always raised both hopes and fears in equal measure. ...
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Total recall: Japanese robot finds lost things
Tue,28 Feb 2012 06:42 PM PST
Reuters - TOKYO (Reuters) - Forgot where you put your glasses? A Japanese robot can find them for you, and guide you to where they are. The red and white robot, named EMIEW2, is about the size of a six-year-old child and glides everywhere on wheels at the bottom of its legs, its round, white face with two black eyes vaguely reminiscent of the iconic "Hello Kitty." But the robot, the latest version of one that debuted in 2005 and developed by electronics firm Hitachi, is more than just another cute face. ... Full Story | Top |
Virgin Galactic aims to test fly ship in space this year
Tue,28 Feb 2012 06:13 AM PST
Reuters -  PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) - Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, expects to test fly its first spacecraft beyond the Earth's atmosphere this year, with commercial suborbital passenger service to follow in 2013 or 2014, company officials said on Monday. Nearly 500 customers have signed up for rides on SpaceShipTwo, a six-passenger, two-pilot spaceship being built and tested by Scaled Composites, an aerospace company founded by aircraft designer Burt Rutan and now owned by Northrop Grumman. ...
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Scientists find key to immortality for asexual worms
Mon,27 Feb 2012 12:18 PM PST
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Who wants to live forever? Some flatworms do, even if it means no sex. British scientists have found that a species of flatworm can overcome the process of ageing to become potentially immortal and say their work sheds light on possibilities of alleviating ageing and age-related characteristics in human cells. ... Full Story | Top |
Rocket lifts off with 3G military communications
Mon,27 Feb 2012 10:07 AM PST
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday carrying the first satellite in a new military network designed to give cellphone-like 3G communications to troops on the move. The 191-foot- (58-metre-) tall Atlas 5 rocket, the most powerful launcher in the U.S. inventory, lifted off at 5:15 p.m. EST (2215 GMT), darting through sunny skies as it soared over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Navy's first Mobile User Objective System satellite into orbit. ...
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Spanish treasure lands after 200 years
Sat,25 Feb 2012 12:34 PM PST
Reuters -  MADRID (Reuters) - Coins worth nearly half a billion dollars finally arrived in Spain on Saturday after lying in a sunken warship for more than 200 years and following a five-year legal battle between the Spanish government and a salvage company. The Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a 49-gun navy frigate, set sail from the coast of Peru - then a colony of Spain - with coins to help replenish the Spanish treasury's coffers. In 1804, British warships attacked as the frigate was approaching the Spanish port of Cadiz and the ship went down, with 249 killed, a Spanish government website said. ...
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Rocket lifts off with 3G military communications satellite
Fri,24 Feb 2012 02:44 PM PST
Reuters - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday carrying the first satellite in a new military network designed to give cellphone-like 3G communications to troops on the move. The 20-foot(6-metre)tall Atlas 5 rocket, the most powerful launcher in the U.S. inventory, lifted off at 5:15 p.m. EST (2215 GMT), darting through sunny skies as it soared over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the Navy's first Mobile User Objective System satellite into orbit. ... Full Story | Top |
World Bank issues SOS for oceans, backs alliance
Fri,24 Feb 2012 05:09 AM PST
Reuters -  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The World Bank announced on Friday a global alliance to better manage and protect the world's oceans, which are under threat from over-fishing, pollution and climate change. Oceans are the lifeblood of the planet and the global economy, World Bank President Robert Zoellick told a conference on ocean conservation in Singapore. Yet the seas have become overexploited, coastlines badly degraded and reefs under threat from pollution and rising temperatures. "We need a new SOS: Save Our Seas," Zoellick said in announcing the alliance. ...
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Factbox: Why oceans are key to the global economy
Fri,24 Feb 2012 03:55 AM PST
Reuters - (Reuters) - Oceans carry the bulk of the world's trade, are a major source of food and employment and help regulate the planet's climate but they are under threat from pollution, over-fishing and global warming. Governments and businesses are increasingly aware of the value of oceans but are struggling to address the many threats that imperil seas around the globe. The World Bank is steering a new global alliance on the issue. Following are some facts about the world's oceans, the threats they face and some emerging solutions. ... Full Story | Top |
Renowned climate scientist comes under fire
Thu,23 Feb 2012 06:58 PM PST
Reuters - OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - The prestigious California-based Pacific Institute climate research group has launched an investigation of its president and founder, Peter Gleick, after he admitted fraudulently obtaining documents from global warming skeptics challenging his work. The institute in Oakland revealed its inquiry into the widening controversy in a terse statement posted on Wednesday on its website, hours after the San Francisco Chronicle said it was discontinuing an online blog that Gleick had been writing for the newspaper. ... Full Story | Top |
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