Reuters: Science News

Space shuttle Atlantis returns to Earth

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:57:18 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space shuttle Atlantis touched down at its Florida home port on Friday, wrapping up an 11-day mission to deliver cargo to the International Space Station, one of NASA's final supply runs before the shuttle fleet is retired next year.

Space shuttle Atlantis begins trip back to Earth

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:41:05 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard space shuttle Atlantis fired their ship's braking rockets on Friday to leave orbit and begin the return to Earth after an 11-day mission to deliver spare parts to the International Space Station.

Experts scan disease links with Chinese "gene map"

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:24:52 GMT

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A large analysis of the genes of 8,200 ethnic Chinese has revealed subtle genetic differences between inhabitants in northern China and southern China, and even between different Chinese dialect groups.

Atlantis leaves station as NASA eyes shuttles' end

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:33:17 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space shuttle Atlantis left the International Space Station on Wednesday after a seven-day stay to deliver gear to keep the outpost operating after the shuttle program is retired next year.

Hormones, incentive, experience "make best traders"

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:44:34 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists say a perfect combination of testosterone, experience and a hunger for a share of profits can produce financial traders who consistently outperform the market -- even during a crisis.

Dark ocean depths home to exotic, unknown life

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:05:26 GMT

OSLO (Reuters) - The permanent darkness of the ocean depths is home to a far greater range of animals, from luminous jellyfish to tubeworms that live off oil seeping from the seabed, than previously thought, scientists said on Sunday.

Big Bang machine achieves first particle collisions

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:52:15 GMT

ZURICH (Reuters) -- Scientists have smashed together proton beams for the first time in a 27-kilometre tunnel under the French-Swiss border in an initial step toward discovering how the universe came into existence, they said on Monday.

Darwin debate rages on 150 years after "Origin"

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:28:50 GMT

PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) - Even 150 years after it first appeared in print, Charles Darwin's "On The Origin of Species" still fuels clashes between scientists convinced of its truth and critics who reject its view of life without a creator.

Big Bang machine achieves first particle collisions

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:16:15 GMT

Houston, we have a baby

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:49:14 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Shuttle Atlantis astronaut Randy Bresnik awoke early on Sunday to a much-anticipated call that his new daughter had been born.

Soviet Union's non-Communist astronaut dies age 83

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:35:30 GMT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Soviet Union's only non-Communist astronaut, Konstantin Feoktistov, has died at the age of 83, Russia's space agency said on Sunday.

Dark ocean depths home to exotic, unknown life

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:20:45 GMT

Delayed spacewalk ends successfully

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:25:03 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA astronauts completed a spacewalk on Saturday at the International Space Station that had been delayed after a false alarm woke the crews of the station and the visiting space shuttle Atlantis.

"Big Bang" experiment advancing fast

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:45:54 GMT

GENEVA (Reuters) - After a year's delay, scientists at the world's biggest accelerator have restarted an experiment to recreate "Big Bang" conditions that had sparked suggestions the earth would be sucked in by millions of black holes.

CERN restarts Big Bang collider for biggest test yet

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:06:27 GMT

GENEVA (Reuters) - Scientists are restarting a giant sub-atomic particle collider built to reproduce "Big Bang" conditions, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said on Friday.

Art collector finds Galileo's lost tooth, fingers

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:44:25 GMT

ROME (Reuters) - An art collector has found a tooth, thumb and finger of the renowned Italian scientist Galileo Galilei who died in the 17th century, Florence's History of Science museum said on Friday.

Italy collector finds Galileo's lost tooth, fingers

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:17:43 GMT

Astronaut in space while wife giving birth

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:17:36 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Shuttle Atlantis astronaut Randy Bresnik can be forgiven if he's having a tough time focusing on work -- his wife is due to give birth on Friday to a baby girl.

New fossils reveal a world full of crocodiles

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:21:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New fossils unearthed in what is now the Sahara desert reveal a once-swampy world

Mouse study points to treatment for Down syndrome

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:05:28 GMT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Increasing the levels of a message-carrying chemical in the brain may help prevent some of the memory deficits in Down syndrome that hinder learning and make it hard for the brain to develop normally, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

Gene protects brain-eaters from mad cow-type disease

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:21:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Villagers in the highlands of Papua New Guinea who ritualistically ate human brains but did not die of a brain disease called kuru have a genetic mutation that protects them, researchers said Wednesday.

Shuttle Atlantis arrives at space station

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:34:27 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space shuttle Atlantis arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday to deliver spare parts needed to keep the outpost operational after the shuttles' retirement next year.

Infrared telescope to detect dim, dusty objects

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:20:44 GMT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - NASA plans next month to launch a space telescope that will scan the heavens for the infrared glow of celestial objects never seen because they are too dim, dusty or distant, scientists said on Tuesday.

In Amazon, a frustrated search for cancer cures

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:23:13 GMT

SAO SEBASTIAO DE CUIEIRAS, Brazil (Reuters) - The task of harvesting the secrets of Brazil's vast Amazon rain forest that could help in the battle against cancer largely falls to Osmar Barbosa Ferreira and a big pair of clippers.

NASA launches shuttle Atlantis to space station

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:13:06 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis lifted off its seaside launch pad on Monday, loaded with spare parts to keep the International Space Station flying after the shuttles are retired next year.