BBC Science/Nature

Space.com

Smithsonian Rolls Out Red Carpet for Hubble 3D Premiere
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Tuesday for the world premiere of the Hubble 3D IMAX film.
10 Mar 2010 at 5:10pm

Air Force to Test New Hypersonic Aircraft
The U.S. Air Force is gearing up for the first of four planned test flights of a hypersonic aircraft designed to operate for much longer durations and cover far greater distances than previous platforms of its type.
10 Mar 2010 at 5:10pm

Warp Speed Will Kill You
Harmless interstellar hydrogen becomes deadly ionized radiation that would fry the crew and electronics of starships traveling near light speed, according to a physicist.
10 Mar 2010 at 5:10pm

Just One Hitch in Choosing China's First Women Astronauts
China has selected two female pilots as its first women astronauts, but they had to pass the marriage test first.
10 Mar 2010 at 5:10pm

Lord of the Rings in Opposition
Saturn will be in opposition on Monday March 22 and visible all night.
10 Mar 2010 at 5:10pm

Einstein Was Right: General Relativity Confirmed
Score one more for Einstein. A new study has confirmed his theory of general relativity works on extremely large scales.
10 Mar 2010 at 5:10pm

SpaceX Aborts Test Firing of New Rocket's Engines
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) aborted the Falcon 9 rocket's first static fire test March 9.
10 Mar 2010 at 5:10pm

Fastest Orbiting Stars Circle Each Other in Mere Minutes
Astronomers have reported the fastest known orbiting pair of stars ever known, a finding that challenges binary star formation models and could help uncover elusive gravitational waves.
10 Mar 2010 at 5:10pm

NASA: Space Shuttles Could Fly Longer With Extra Funds
NASA could continue to fly space shuttles beyond their planned 2010 retirement if given more money, the shuttle program chief said.
10 Mar 2010 at 5:10pm

Virgin Galactic Applauds Legal Protection Against Space Tourist Lawsuits
Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn applauded New Mexico legislation reducing the risk of industry-crippling lawsuits against space tourism companies.
10 Mar 2010 at 5:10pm

ScienceDaily

Mysterious cosmic 'dark flow' tracked deeper into universe
Distant galaxy clusters mysteriously stream at a million miles per hour along a path roughly centered on the southern constellations Centaurus and Hydra. A new study tracks this collective motion -- dubbed the "dark flow" -- to twice the distance originally reported.
11 Mar 2010 at 1:00pm

Brain mechanism may explain alcohol cravings that drive relapse
New research provides exciting insight into the molecular mechanisms associated with addiction and relapse. The study uncovers a crucial mechanism that facilitates motivation for alcohol after extended abstinence and opens new avenues for potential therapeutic intervention.
11 Mar 2010 at 1:00pm

Temporary hearing deprivation can lead to 'lazy ear'
Scientists have gained new insight into why a relatively short-term hearing deprivation during childhood may lead to persistent hearing deficits, long after hearing is restored to normal. The research reveals that, much like the visual cortex, development of the auditory cortex is quite vulnerable if it does not receive appropriate stimulation at just the right time.
11 Mar 2010 at 1:00pm

Obesity linked to poor colon cancer prognosis
Obese patients with colon cancer are at greater risk for death or recurrent disease compared to those who are within a normal weight range, according to a new study.
11 Mar 2010 at 1:00pm

Conquering the chaos in modern, multiprocessor computers
A group of computer scientists have found a way to tame multiprocessor computers, which behave in wildly unpredictable ways even as the systems become widespread in the industry.
11 Mar 2010 at 1:00pm

Students' perceptions of Earth's age influence acceptance of human evolution
High school and college students who understand the geological age of the Earth (4.5 billion years) are much more likely to understand and accept human evolution, according to a new study. A 2009 Gallup poll reported that 16 percent of biology teachers believe God created humans in their present form at some time during the last 10,000 years.
11 Mar 2010 at 1:00pm

Development of more muscular trout could boost commercial aquaculture
A 10-year effort by a scientist to develop transgenic rainbow trout with enhanced muscle growth has yielded fish with what have been described as six-pack abs and muscular shoulders that could provide a boost to the commercial aquaculture industry.
11 Mar 2010 at 10:00am

Experimental drug that mimics thryoid hormone safely lowers 'bad' cholesterol
People whose "bad" cholesterol and risk of future heart disease stay too high despite cholesterol-lowering statin therapy can safely lower it by adding a drug that mimics the action of thyroid hormone.
11 Mar 2010 at 10:00am

Boost for technology: Huge step toward mass production of coveted form of carbon
Scientists have leaped over a major hurdle in efforts to begin commercial production of a form of carbon that could rival silicon in its potential for revolutionizing electronics devices ranging from supercomputers to cell phones. Called graphene, the material consists of a layer of graphite 50,000 times thinner than a human hair with unique electronic properties.
11 Mar 2010 at 10:00am

Study finds elevated levels of cobalt and chromium in offspring of patients w...
Hip replacement patients with metal-on-metal implants (both the socket and hip ball are metal) pass metal ions to their infants during pregnancy, according to a new study.
11 Mar 2010 at 10:00am

Scientific American

IPCC Errors Prompt Review by International Science Academies

African crop yields wither, along with the Amazon rainforest; Himalayan glaciers disappear by 2035. These are the erroneous predictions ascribed to the most recent report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)--a document reviewed by some 2,500 scientists and other experts as well as vetted by more than 190 countries. So does the fact that a few errors crept into a more than 3,000 page report merit a revision of IPCC processes? [More]

By Zeeya Merali

It's another victory for Einstein -- albeit not a resounding one. [More]

By Janet Fang

A study of sexually scrambled chickens suggests that sex in birds is determined in a radically different way from that in mammals.

Researchers studied three chickens that appeared to be literally half-male and half-female, and found that nearly every cell in their bodies--from wattle to toe--has an inherent sex identity. [More]

Tuberculosis is a serious public health challenge in the developing world, where the infection claims roughly two million lives each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) . Yet the disease, which is a leading killer of patients with HIV/AIDS, is cumbersome to detect, resulting in delayed or inappropriate treatment, greater spread of the infection and preventable deaths. [More]

About a third of all Americans still lack broadband access to the Internet. At its Digital Inclusion Summit, held Tuesday in Washington, D.C., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provided a preview of its upcoming National Broadband Plan (NBP) to provide high-speed Internet access to the estimated 93 million people in the U.S. without it. The plan, mandated by Congress last year as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , aims to increase home broadband use to 90 percent of the population by 2020. [More]

Dear EarthTalk: Short of massive efforts to build a public transportation infrastructure, which doesn’t appear likely anytime soon, what is being done to address traffic congestion, which is reaching absurd levels almost everywhere? --John Daniels, Baltimore

Energy-efficiency gurus want to create the "Rosenfeld" as a simple unit of energy savings.

It may not roll off the tongue like the ohm, watt or volt, but it would follow in their tradition. Many call Arthur Rosenfeld, a recently retired member of the California Energy Commission , the "godfather of energy efficiency." One Rosenfeld would represent saving 3 billion kilowatt-hours per year--the same amount generated by a 500-megawatt coal-run power plant .

Here's how to make a solar cell from silicon : take one solid block of doped silicon, saw it into thin wafers, layer said semiconductors beneath a panel of transparent glass, connect them to a metal electrode that can channel away the electrons knocked loose by incoming photons and turn it into a photovoltaic device. That process has at least two flaws: such silicon is very expensive, as much as $300,000 for a wafer, and sawing it turns as much as half of that very expensive silicon into wasted grit. [More]

The forward momentum of medical progress is manifest, it could be argued, in the $50 billion spent in 2008 on pharmaceutical research and development in the quest to bring new drugs to market. But little scientific or governmental infrastructure exists to ensure that each new treatment is actually an improvement over existing therapies--and to tease out what therapies are best for which patients. [More]

USGS Earthquake Activity

M 2.6, Southern Alaska
March 11, 2010 06:43:58 GMT
11 Mar 2010 at 12:43am

M 5.6, South Sandwich Islands region
March 11, 2010 06:22:19 GMT
11 Mar 2010 at 12:22am

M 4.1, Dominican Republic
March 11, 2010 06:20:31 GMT
11 Mar 2010 at 12:20am

M 3.0, Santa Barbara Channel, California
March 11, 2010 05:30:10 GMT
10 Mar 2010 at 11:30pm

M 4.5, Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
March 11, 2010 04:12:01 GMT
10 Mar 2010 at 10:12pm

M 2.6, Santa Barbara Channel, California
March 11, 2010 03:29:52 GMT
10 Mar 2010 at 9:29pm

M 3.5, Southern California
March 11, 2010 01:39:38 GMT
10 Mar 2010 at 7:39pm

M 3.1, Northern California
March 11, 2010 01:06:37 GMT
10 Mar 2010 at 7:06pm

M 4.9, offshore Maule, Chile
March 11, 2010 00:45:03 GMT
10 Mar 2010 at 6:45pm

M 2.6, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii
March 11, 2010 00:07:44 GMT
10 Mar 2010 at 6:07pm

LA Times Science

Invasive heart test may be overused, researchers say
Almost 66% of patients who undergo cardiac catheterization despite no previous diagnosis of heart disease receive results indicating no 'significant' blockage, study finds.

Nearly two-thirds of those who undergo an invasive heart test called cardiac catheterization when they do not have diagnosed heart disease receive a clean bill of health, suggesting that the expensive procedure -- which exposes the patient to substantial amounts of radiation -- may be overused, researchers reported Wednesday.

11 Mar 2010 at 2:00am

Panel urges more choice in birth after C-section
A National Institutes of Health panel says vaginal birth after caesarean is reasonably safe and should be more widely available. Many hospitals ban the practice as a matter of policy or liability.

Vaginal birth after caesarean, or VBAC, is reasonably safe and should be more widely available, a National Institutes of Health advisory panel concluded Wednesday.

11 Mar 2010 at 2:00am

Pill found to outdo lotion in tough head-lice cases
Despite results of a study, the chief author says ivermectin is not advised for first-line use, and it's not approved in the U.S. for use against lice.

Head lice are itchy, nasty nuisances that can be hard to get rid of. Can a pill provide relief? A new study has found that in tough cases, an oral medication kills the parasites more effectively than a prescription lotion applied to the scalp.

11 Mar 2010 at 2:00am

Researchers confirm safety of kidney donations
After the procedure, the donors live as long or longer than those in the general population.

People who donate a kidney to a sick friend or relative live at least as long as others in the general population and may live somewhat longer because they tend to take better care of themselves after the procedure, researchers reported Tuesday.

10 Mar 2010 at 2:00am

A lot is riding on SpaceX rocket
The Hawthorne firm's Falcon 9 is a major contender to cheaply carry astronauts and cargo into orbit.

A new rocket 18 stories tall and waiting to be launched from a pad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., could determine the fate of a private aerospace venture in Hawthorne -- and even possibly NASA's space program.

8 Mar 2010 at 2:00am

Obesity risks start before birth
Prenatal, infancy, early childhood — factors in all may affect a person’s future weight and health.

Pam Levin's daughter weighed less than 5 pounds at birth. But by the time the child turned 3, Levin and her husband had begun to bristle at some of the comments about her. "People would say, ‘She's chunky' or ‘She's a big girl,'" Levin says.

8 Mar 2010 at 2:00am

Chilean earthquake moved entire city 10 feet, researchers say
GPS measurements show the city of Concepcion shifted to the west. The magnitude 8.8 quake also moved the capital of Santiago about 11 inches west-southwest.

The massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck off the coast of Chile last month moved the entire city of Concepcion -- the closest urban area to the quake's epicenter -- at least 10 feet west, American researchers said Monday.

9 Mar 2010 at 2:00am

Study: Women who drink moderately tend to gain less weight in midlife
Women who abstained put on more pounds than those who had a drink or two per day. But researchers warn against an alcohol diet.

Women who drink moderate amounts of alcohol don't gain as much weight in midlife as those who abstain, a study has found. However, drinking should not be heralded as a new diet, said the authors and alcohol abuse experts.

9 Mar 2010 at 2:00am

Leviathans may battle in remote depths
New studies suggest that great white sharks may migrate so they can dine on giant squids.

In what could be the ultimate marine smack-down, great white sharks off the California coast may be migrating 1,600 miles west to do battle with creatures that rival their star power: giant squids.

7 Mar 2010 at 2:00am

Hopping to it to preserve the rare mountain yellow-legged frog
Researchers' efforts to breed more of the California amphibians include refrigerating them to mimic their winter hibernation.

Some like it hot. Apparently, the endangered mountain yellow-legged frog is not among them.

6 Mar 2010 at 2:00am