Today's Reuters Science News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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SpaceX Dragon capsule splashes down after successful test flight
Thu,31 May 2012 01:28 PM PDT
Reuters -  CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The first privately developed ship to travel to the International Space Station returned home on Thursday, completing a pioneering mission for commercial firms seeking a major role in space travel. Riding beneath three parachutes, the bell-shaped SpaceX Dragon capsule ended a nine-day spaceflight and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean about 560 miles west of Baja California at 11:42 a.m. EDT (1542 GMT). ...
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Scientists unlock gene secrets of opium poppy drug
Thu,31 May 2012 11:04 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have unravelled exactly how opium poppies produce a non-addictive compound that can both suppress coughs and kill tumor cells, paving the way for improved production of the medicine. Opium poppies, the source of illicit heroin, are also important for producing medical painkillers such as morphine and codeine, along with noscapine, which has been used for decades as a cough suppressant. More recently, researchers have found noscapine is also a potent anti-cancer agent, prompting clinical tests into its role in fighting blood cancer. ... Full Story | Top |
Paralysed rats walk again in Swiss lab study
Thu,31 May 2012 11:01 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists in Switzerland have restored full movement to rats paralysed by spinal cord injuries in a study that might eventually be used in people with similar injuries. Gregoire Courtine and his team at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne saw rats with severe paralysis walking and running again after a couple of weeks following a combination of electrical and chemical stimulation of the spinal cord together with robotic support. ... Full Story | Top |
ISS astronauts release SpaceX Dragon capsule
Thu,31 May 2012 04:08 AM PDT
Reuters - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station released Space Exploration Technologies' unmanned Dragon cargo capsule on Thursday, the last milestone for a pioneering commercial test flight. Dragon was the first privately owned spaceship to reach the space station, a project of 15 nations. It is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles at 11:44 a.m. EDT (1544 GMT). Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, is one of two firms hired by NASA to fly cargo to the station following the retirement of the space shuttles last year. ... Full Story | Top |
Drug bans hamper brain research, says neuroscientist
Thu,31 May 2012 02:04 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Bans on drugs like ecstasy, magic mushrooms and LSD have hampered scientific research on the brain and stalled the progress of medicine as much as George Bush's ban on stem cell research did, a leading British drug expert said on Thursday. David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and a former chief adviser on drugs to the British government, said the international prohibition of psychedelics and other mind-altering drugs over the past half century has had damaging and "perverse" consequences. ...
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FAA clears Virgin Galactic spaceship for test flights
Wed,30 May 2012 04:14 PM PDT
Reuters - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has cleared SpaceShipTwo, a commercial six-passenger spacecraft owned by Virgin Galactic, to begin rocket-powered suborbital test flights, the company said on Wednesday. SpaceShipTwo manufacturer Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, received a one-year experimental launch permit on May 23 for test flights beyond the atmosphere, FAA spokesman Hank Price said. ... Full Story | Top |
Fukushima quake, tsunami disturbed upper atmosphere: NASA
Wed,30 May 2012 12:33 PM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Fukushima, Japan, last year wreaked havoc in the skies above as well, disturbing electrons in the upper atmosphere, NASA reported. The waves of energy from the quake and tsunami that were so destructive on the ground reached into the ionosphere, a part of the upper atmosphere that stretches from about 50 to 500 miles above Earth's surface. The ionosphere is the last, thinnest part of the atmosphere, where solar ultraviolet radiation breaks up molecules and leaves a haze of electrons and ions. ... Full Story | Top |
Tomato genome project bears fruit
Wed,30 May 2012 10:02 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - An international team of scientists has cracked the genetic code of the domesticated tomato and its wild ancestor, an achievement which should help breeders identify the genes needed to develop tastier and more nutritious varieties. The full genome sequence of a tomato breed known as Heinz 1706, and a draft sequence for its closest wild relative Solanum pimpinellifolium, were published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. ...
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Intelsat buys ride on new SpaceX heavy-lift rocket
Tue,29 May 2012 02:23 PM PDT
Reuters - CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Intelsat Global Holdings S.A. will buy a ride for a future communications satellite on Space Exploration Technologies' planned heavy-lift rocket, the companies said on Tuesday. The contract is the first for a Falcon Heavy rocket, which is being designed to carry more than twice as much as the Boeing-built Delta 4 Heavy launcher, which is currently the biggest rocket in the U.S. fleet. ... Full Story | Top |
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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