NewsDaily: Science Headlines

NASA calls for new taxis to fly to Space Station (Reuters)

Irene Klotz — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:00:12 EST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, Feb. 7, 2012 (Reuters) -- NASA is looking for at least two U.S. firms to design and build space taxis to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, program managers said on Tuesday. ... > read full story

Neuroscience the new face of warfare: experts (Reuters)

Kate Kelland — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:09:43 EST

LONDON, Feb. 6, 2012 (Reuters) -- Directed energy weapons that use wave beams to cause pain, and electrical brain stimulation that boosts a soldier's combat ability - it may sound like science fiction warfare, but experts say advances in neuroscience mean it's on the horizon. ... > read full story

Malaria kills twice as many as thought: study (Reuters)

Kate Kelland — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:23:57 EST

LONDON, Feb. 3, 2012 (Reuters) -- Malaria kills more than 1.2 million people worldwide a year, nearly twice as many as previously thought, according to new research published on Friday that questions years of assumptions about the mosquito-borne disease. ... > read full story

NASA confident in Russia despite space accidents (Reuters)

Irene Klotz — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:11:13 EST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, Feb. 2, 2012 (Reuters) -- Despite a spate of Russian space accidents last year, NASA remains confident in its partner's ability to fly crew and cargo to the International Space Station, the program manager said on Thursday. ... > read full story

Siblings' brain scans may hold key to addictions (Reuters)

Kate Kelland — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:09:54 EST

LONDON, Feb. 2, 2012 (Reuters) -- Drug addicts and their non-addicted siblings share certain features in the brain, suggesting a susceptibility to addiction is inherited but is also a flaw that can be overcome, scientists said on Thursday. ... > read full story

OHB confirms won Galileo satellite contract from EU (Reuters)

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:03:48 EST

FRANKFURT, Feb. 2, 2012 (Reuters) -- Germany's OHB AG confirmed it won a 250 million euro ($330 million) contract to build eight satellites for the European Union's Galileo navigation system. ... > read full story

No big Fukushima health impact seen: U.N. body chairman (Reuters)

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:20:31 EST

VIENNA, Jan. 31, 2012 (Reuters) -- The health impact of last year's Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan appears relatively small thanks partly to prompt evacuations, the chairman of a U.N. scientific body investigating the effects of radiation said on Tuesday. ... > read full story

U.S. panel defends call to censor bird flu studies (Reuters)

Julie Steenhuysen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:00:39 EST

CHICAGO, Jan. 31, 2012 (Reuters) -- A potentially deadlier form of the bird flu virus poses one of the gravest known threats to humans and justifies an unprecedented call to censor the research that produced it, a top U.S. biosecurity official said on Tuesday. ... > read full story

Snowy owls soar south from Arctic in rare mass migration (Reuters)

Laura Zuckerman — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:53:36 EST

SALMON, Idaho, Jan. 28, 2012 (Reuters) -- Bird enthusiasts are reporting rising numbers of snowy owls from the Arctic winging into the lower 48 states this winter in a mass southern migration that a leading owl researcher called "unbelievable." ... > read full story

Russia to delay space mission due to technical problems (Reuters)

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:38:01 EST

MOSCOW, Jan. 27, 2012 (Reuters) -- Russia plans to delay the next mission carrying U.S. and Russian astronauts to the International Space Station by several weeks due to problems with the spaceship's descent vehicle, Interfax news agency quoted an industry source as saying Friday. ... > read full story

Arctic ice melt lifts hopes for Russian maritime trade (Reuters)

Albina Kovalyova and Alissa de Carbonnel — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:04:05 EST

SEVERODVINSK, Russia, Jan. 27, 2012 (Reuters) -- When severe snowstorms prevented life-sustaining fuel supplies from reaching the frozen Alaskan town of Nome, U.S. officials turned to a Russian company for help. ... > read full story

Rivals see no need to match Roche's big gene bet (Reuters)

Ben Hirschler — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:30:54 EST

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 27, 2012 (Reuters) -- Roche Holding AG's rivals Sanofi SA and Novartis AG see no need to match the Swiss drug maker in buying a gene-decoding business like Illumina Inc and reckon they can do partnerships instead. ... > read full story

Kepler telescope team finds 11 new solar systems (Reuters)

Irene Klotz — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:44:14 EST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, Jan. 26, 2012 (Reuters) -- NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has found 11 new planetary systems, including one with five planets all orbiting closer to their parent star than Mercury circles the Sun, scientists said on Thursday. ... > read full story

Gingrich calls for moon base, space contests (Reuters)

Irene Klotz — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:25:48 EST

COCOA, Florida, Jan. 25, 2012 (Reuters) -- Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich called on Wednesday for a base on the moon and an expanded federal purse for prize money to stimulate private-sector space projects. ... > read full story

U.S. experts urge more study of nanotechnology threat (Reuters)

Ian Simpson — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:17:59 EST

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2012 (Reuters) -- Studying the potential health hazards of nanotechnology will require an additional $24 million a year to close the knowledge gap about the tiny particles used in a fast-growing array of consumer products, the National Research Council said on Wednesday. ... > read full story

Experts urge more study of nanotechnology threat (Reuters)

Ian Simpson — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:24:50 EST

Delta diverts polar flights due to solar storm (Reuters)

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:44:28 EST

, Jan. 24, 2012 (Reuters) -- Delta Air Lines said it is diverting some flights on polar routes between Detroit and Asia to avoid disruptions to aircraft communications by a strong solar radiation storm. ... > read full story

Sumatran elephants driven closer to extinction: WWF (Reuters)

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:39:47 EST

, Jan. 23, 2012 (Reuters) -- The Sumatran elephant could be extinct in the wild in under 30 years unless immediate steps are taken to protect its rapidly diminishing habitat, environmental group WWF said on Tuesday. ... > read full story

Keeping brain sharp may ward off Alzheimer's protein (Reuters)

Julie Steenhuysen — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:20:37 EST

CHICAGO, Jan. 23, 2012 (Reuters) -- People who challenge their brains throughout their lifetimes -- through reading, writing and playing games -- are less likely to develop protein deposits in the brain linked with Alzheimer's, U.S. researchers said on Monday. ... > read full story

Sun hurls strong geomagnetic storm toward Earth (Reuters)

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:03:02 EST

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2012 (Reuters) -- The strongest geomagnetic storm in more than six years was forecast to hit Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday, and it could affect airline routes, power grids and satellites, the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center said. ... > read full story