Reuters: Science News

UK climate experiment canceled on patent concerns

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:45:14 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists have abandoned an experiment to test the possibility of spraying particles into the upper atmosphere to stem global warming, largely due to concerns over a patent for some of the technology, the project's leader said.

U.S., Russian crew blast off for space station

Tue, 15 May 2012 03:47:23 GMT

KOROLYOV, Russia (Reuters) - A Soyuz spaceship carrying two Russians and one American astronaut blasted off for the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday after more than a month's delay over a problem with the hull of the Russian-built capsule.

Children at risk as "button" battery use grows: study

Tue, 15 May 2012 03:24:39 GMT

(Reuters) - Children face a growing risk from "button" batteries, according to a U.S. study showing a near doubling of emergency room visits in the past two decades as the objects can cause electrical or chemical burns if swallowed.

Google-backed wind power line clears hurdle

Mon, 14 May 2012 18:47:10 GMT

(Reuters) - A planned $5 billion transmission line to send power from wind farms off the East Coast cleared a hurdle, allowing the Google Inc-backed project to move to the next step in the approval process, officials said.

Eastern rattlesnake slithers closer to U.S. endangered list

Fri, 11 May 2012 20:27:50 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - The eastern diamondback rattlesnake, North America's largest venomous snake, may need its own antidote.

Maya lunar calendar notes discovered in Guatemala

Thu, 10 May 2012 22:50:57 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On the wall of a tiny structure buried under forest debris in Guatemala, archaeologists have discovered a scribe's notes about the Maya lunar calendar, which they say could be the first known records by an official chronicler of this ancient civilization.

Scientists spot unseen planet in Kepler scope data

Thu, 10 May 2012 19:38:40 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Scientists poring over data collected by NASA's Kepler space telescope have discovered a world outside its field of view, demonstrating a new technique for finding planets beyond the Solar System, scientists reported on Thursday.

Scientists urge action on world's biggest problems

Thu, 10 May 2012 18:55:54 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists from 15 countries are calling for a better political response to the provision of water and energy to meet the challenge of feeding a world of 9 billion people within 30 years.

U.S. downs test missile with new interceptor

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:50:44 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. forces said they had destroyed a target in the first successful test of the Navy's newest anti-missile interceptor, designed to protect allies from attacks by countries like North Korea and Iran.

Shuttle rocket-builder vying for NASA space taxi work

Thu, 10 May 2012 03:05:44 GMT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Two of NASA's prime contractors are teaming with Europe's Astrium to develop a commercial space taxi built from shuttle heritage booster rockets and a prototype NASA spaceship originally designed as an alternative to the deep-space Orion capsule, the companies announced on Wednesday.

U.S. military embraces robots with greater autonomy

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:02:50 GMT

PENN HILLS, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - The unattended steering wheel on the 15-ton military truck jerked sharply back and forth as the vehicle's huge tires bounced down a rain-scarred ravine through mounds of mine rubble on a rugged hillside near Pittsburgh.

Study finds psychopaths have distinct brain structure

Mon, 07 May 2012 20:35:10 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists who scanned the brains of men convicted of murder, rape and violent assaults have found the strongest evidence yet that psychopaths have structural abnormalities in their brains.

It's a gas: dinosaur flatulence may have warmed Earth

Mon, 07 May 2012 18:43:53 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a major new climate finding, researchers have calculated that dinosaur flatulence could have put enough methane into the atmosphere to warm the planet during the hot, wet Mesozoic era.

Scientists "switch off" brain cell death in mice

Sun, 06 May 2012 17:01:56 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have figured out how to stop brain cell death in mice with brain disease and say their discovery deepens understanding of the mechanisms of human neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

"Super Moon" to light up night sky this weekend

Sat, 05 May 2012 19:51:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A "super Moon" will light up Saturday's night sky in a once-a-year cosmic show, overshadowing a meteor shower from remnants of Halley's Comet, the U.S. space agency NASA said.

"Made in space" coming soon to a product near you

Fri, 04 May 2012 13:38:50 GMT

BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Space Agency is hatching plans for a branding campaign aimed at making people more aware of the benefits of spending their hard-earned taxes on the International Space Station (ISS).

Yoga for jets: why planemakers prefer bent wingtips

Wed, 02 May 2012 23:01:02 GMT

CHICAGO/PARIS (Reuters) - There are, so the industry saying goes, only three secrets in the commercial airplane business: the selling price, the production cost and the shape of the wing.

Italy scientists say they have found oldest human blood

Wed, 02 May 2012 17:44:16 GMT

ROME (Reuters) - Scientists examining the remains of "Otzi," Italy's prehistoric iceman who roamed the Alps some 5,300 years ago, said on Wednesday they have isolated what are believed to be the oldest traces of human blood ever found.

Plant study flags dangers of warming world

Wed, 02 May 2012 17:19:06 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Plants are flowering faster than scientists predicted in response to climate change, research in the United States showed on Wednesday, which could have devastating knock-on effects for food chains and ecosystems.

Can an African "green revolution" help feed the world?

Wed, 02 May 2012 12:06:58 GMT

SABA SABA, Kenya, May 2 (AlertNet) - Her bare feet coated with mud, Sabena Gitau trudged down the rain-sodden hillside to her banana plantation, machete in hand.

"Green bullet" innovations aim to feed world of 9 billion

Wed, 02 May 2012 11:15:21 GMT

LONDON, May 2 (AlertNet) - In flood-hit fields in the Philippines, farmers are testing a hardy new variety of rice that can survive completely submerged for more than two weeks.

Polar bears can swim vast distances, study finds

Wed, 02 May 2012 02:35:58 GMT

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.

Silkworms and squid inspire smart materials

Tue, 01 May 2012 23:40:03 GMT

(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.

Icy Alpine caves setting for Mars mission tests

Tue, 01 May 2012 17:56:55 GMT

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.

Tech billionaires bankroll gold rush to mine asteroids

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:31:15 GMT

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.