Today's Reuters Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Polar bears can swim vast distances, study finds
Tue,1 May 2012 07:35 PM PDT
Reuters -  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Polar bears are capable of swimming vast distances, a potential survival skill needed in an Arctic environment where summer sea ice is vanishing, a study led by the U.S. Geological Survey showed on Tuesday. The study, published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology, tracked 52 female polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea off Alaska. Between 2004 and 2009, a period of extreme summer-ice retreat, about a third of those bears made swims exceeding 30 miles in distance, according to the study results. ...
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Silkworms and squid inspire smart materials
Tue,1 May 2012 04:39 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Car panels made of silkworm cocoons, clothing that can camouflage the wearer at the flick of a switch and a "smart" shirt with a phone and power source embedded in the fabric. Scientists, some with funding from the U.S. Air Force, have made breakthroughs that could eventually make all this reality. Research published on Wednesday reveals advances in materials science that could transform industries struggling with the rising cost and scarcity of raw materials and save lives in post-conflict countries still clearing minefields. ... Full Story | Top |
Icy Alpine caves setting for Mars mission tests
Tue,1 May 2012 06:52 AM PDT
Reuters -  VIENNA (Reuters) - Scientists were out of this world on Tuesday about tests in icy Alpine caves of the technology needed for a mission to Mars one day. "We have learned an infinite amount in the past three days," project leader Gernot Groemer from the Austrian Space Forum said of the 11-nation field test in the Dachstein region near Salzburg. Scientists picked the area - which Groemer called a "scientific playground" - for experiments because ice caves would be a natural refuge for any microbes on Mars seeking steady temperatures and protection from damaging cosmic rays. ...
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Tech billionaires bankroll gold rush to mine asteroids
Mon,30 Apr 2012 12:31 PM PDT
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Google Inc executives Larry Page and Eric Schmidt are among those bankrolling a venture to survey and eventually extract precious metals and rare minerals from asteroids that orbit near Earth, the company said on Tuesday. Planetary Resources, based in Bellevue, Washington, initially will focus on developing and selling extremely low-cost robotic spacecraft for surveying missions. A demonstration mission in orbit around Earth is expected to be launched within two years, said company co-founders Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson. ...
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Space shuttle Enterprise lands in New York atop jet
Fri,27 Apr 2012 12:33 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The space shuttle Enterprise flew to New York from Washington on Friday piggybacking atop a Boeing 747 and made a dramatic flight along the Hudson River past the Statue of Liberty to the delight of observers. En route to John F. Kennedy International Airport, the retired shuttle flew at low altitude along the river, giving residents of New York and New Jersey an extraordinary view of the craft, which will be put on display at a New York museum. ...
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FDA approves Glaxo cancer drug Votrient
Thu,26 Apr 2012 02:57 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators gave the nod to GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Votrient for a type of sarcoma on Thursday, following a positive advisory panel vote last month. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the pill for people with soft-tissue sarcoma who have already received chemotherapy. Soft-tissue sarcoma is a rare but aggressive form of cancer that afflicted about 11,000 Americans last year, 4,000 of whom died from the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. The cancer begins in the muscles, fat or other tissues. ...
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Corrected: Tech billionaires bankroll gold rush to mine asteroids
Thu,26 Apr 2012 11:47 AM PDT
Reuters - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Google Inc executives Larry Page and Eric Schmidt are among those bankrolling a venture to survey and eventually extract precious metals and rare minerals from asteroids that orbit near Earth, the company said on Tuesday. Planetary Resources, based in Bellevue, Washington, initially will focus on developing and selling extremely low-cost robotic spacecraft for surveying missions. A demonstration mission in orbit around Earth is expected to be launched within two years, said company co-founders Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson. ...
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Worm turns sheep clone to "good" fat: China scientists
Thu,26 Apr 2012 08:17 AM PDT
Reuters -  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese scientists have cloned a genetically modified sheep containing a "good" type of fat found naturally in nuts, seeds, fish and leafy greens that helps reduce the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease. "Peng Peng", which has a roundworm fat gene, weighed in at 5.74 kg when it was born on March 26 in a laboratory in China's far western region of Xinjiang. "It's growing very well and is very healthy like a normal sheep," lead scientist Du Yutao at the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) in Shenzhen in southern China told Reuters. ...
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Scientists call for rethink on consumption, population
Wed,25 Apr 2012 04:05 PM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have called for a radical rethink of our relationship with the planet to head off what they warn could be economic and environmental catastrophe. In a report published on Thursday by the London-based Royal Society, an international group of 23 scientists chaired by Nobel laureate Sir John Sulston called for a rebalancing of consumption in favor of poor countries coupled with increased efforts to control population growth to lift the estimated 1.3 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day out of poverty. ...
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GSK says it the only obvious owner for Human Genome
Wed,25 Apr 2012 07:16 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said on Wednesday its $2.6 billion bid for long-time partner Human Genome Sciences was "full and fair" and it was the only obvious owner for the biotechnology firm. After releasing disappointing first-quarter results, Britain's biggest drugmaker insisted its $13 a share offer was generous and Chief Executive Andrew Witty played down the possibility of increasing the price. "We absolutely believe that we are the compelling owner for this business," he told reporters in a conference call. ...
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Tech billionaires bankroll gold rush to mine asteroids
Tue,24 Apr 2012 02:58 PM PDT
Reuters - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Google Inc executives Larry Page and Eric Schmidt and filmmaker James Cameron are among those bankrolling a venture to survey and eventually extract precious metals and rare minerals from asteroids that orbit near Earth, the company said on Tuesday. Planetary Resources, based in Bellevue, Washington, initially will focus on developing and selling extremely low-cost robotic spacecraft for surveying missions. A demonstration mission in orbit around Earth is expected to be launched within two years, said company co-founders Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson. ...
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Worm turns sheep clone to "good" fat: China scientists
Tue,24 Apr 2012 06:20 AM PDT
Reuters -  HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese scientists have cloned a genetically modified sheep containing a "good" type of fat found naturally in nuts, seeds, fish and leafy greens that helps reduce the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease. "Peng Peng", which has a roundworm fat gene, weighed in at 5.74 kg when it was born on March 26 in a laboratory in China's far western region of Xinjiang. "It's growing very well and is very healthy like a normal sheep," lead scientist Du Yutao at the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) in Shenzhen in southern China told Reuters. ...
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SpaceX delays its trip to space station
Mon,23 Apr 2012 05:40 PM PDT
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space Exploration Technologies, a privately held firm founded and run by entrepreneur Elon Musk, is delaying its trial cargo run to the International Space Station, Musk announced Monday. "Am pushing launch back approximately a week to do more testing on Dragon docking code. New date pending coordination with NASA," Musk said in a Twitter post. The company, also known as SpaceX, is expected to be the first private company to fly to the $100 billion research complex, which is owned by the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. ...
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Google execs, director Cameron in space venture
Fri,20 Apr 2012 05:52 PM PDT
Reuters -  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt and billionaire co-founder Larry Page have teamed up with "Avatar" director James Cameron and other investors to back an ambitious space exploration and natural resources venture, details of which will be unveiled next week. The fledgling company, called Planetary Resources, will be unveiled at a Tuesday news conference at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, according to a press release issued this week. ...
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FDA says nanotech may need extra safety tests
Fri,20 Apr 2012 02:20 PM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators said consumer products that use nanotechnology may have unknown effects on the human body, and advised food and cosmetic companies to further study the safety of these tiny particles. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued two draft guidelines on Friday calling for more studies, putting, for now, much of the onus for safety on companies. The FDA also rejected a consumer group's petition from 2006 that urged a separate category of regulation for nanotechnology due to its "unique human health and environmental risks. ... Full Story | Top |
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