US agency lifts ban on funding human-animal hybrids
Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Adding human stem cells to animal embryos is a growing area of research. Since September 2015, researchers funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been banned from adding human stem cells to animal embryos, creating blends called chimaeras. But a proposal by the NIH released 4 August would lift the funding moratorium, except for certain situations. It would also set up a panel to review the ethics and oversight of grant applications. The new rules ..>> view originalNew "Flexible" Quantum Computer Can Be Reprogrammed with Lasers
From Popular MechanicsThe future of the quantum computer is already bright, but this new variation on the ultra-powerful new tech can do what none other can: It can be reprogrammed on the fly to crunch new algorithms.While computer scientists worldwide have already built dozens of small, simple quantum computers-machines that use the mind-bending physics of atoms to solve complex math in simple steps-they've been almost entirely "rigid" devices. Basically single-use computers that can't be repro..>> view originalGlobal warming could 'unfreeze' waste buried in old Greenland military base
Researchers say rising temperatures could start 'unfreezing' buried radioactive waste and raw sewage left behind at a U.S. Army base in Greenland. The northeast portal to Camp Century during construction in 1959.(Photo: U.S. Army)Global warming is slowly thawing out a once top-secret subterranean U.S. nuclear base in northern Greenland, potentially exposing the environment to radioactive coolant, PCBs, and raw sewage that the military originally believed would stay entombed for millenni..>> view originalThese whale fossils hold 'hidden intrigue' and clues to whale evolution
In the dark depths or the murky shallows of the ocean, it can be difficult to see obstacles, predators, or tasty prey. But orcas, porpoises, dolphins, and other toothed whales famously have a way to "see."The toothed whales, scientifically called odontocetes, use echolocation, emitting sounds and listening to how they echo back in order to map their surroundings. And those sounds they emit are at a particularly high frequency, a quality which adds finer details to their auditory map.It turns ou..>> view originalAsleep at the wing? How frigatebirds can nap while flying
Some bird species can fly for weeks on end without ever touching ground. Scientists have long suspected that they compensate by taking in-flight naps, but none have actually observed it. Until now, that is.“Most people assumed that birds sleep unihemispherically in flight,” says lead author Niels Rattenborg in an email to The Christian Science Monitor. “However, the frigatebirds also sometimes slept with both halves of the brain at the same time.”Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Or..>> view originalNext stop, the Moon: private company 'Moon Express' gets greenlight for 2017
Moon Express took one giant leap for private enterprise on Wednesday when it became the first company to receive permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly beyond Earth’s orbit.The company plans to fly a suitcase-sized robot to the moon for a two-week mission in 2017, said Bob Richards, the company's co-founder and chief executive officer, Reuters reported. The robot will conduct science experiments, send pictures and video to Earth, and travel with commercial cargo, inclu..>> view original4 Years on Mars! NASA's Historic Curiosity Rover Marks Anniversary
Four years ago today, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity made one of the most dramatic and harrowing landings in the history of space exploration. On the night of Aug. 5, 2012, a rocket-powered "sky crane" lowered the car-size Curiosity onto Mars' red dirt using cables, then flew off and crash-landed intentionally a safe distance away. Curiosity team members had modeled this novel technique repeatedly using computers, but it had never been tested fully here on Earth, let alone employed on t..>> view originalDeath Dive! Comet Plunges into the Sun at Mind-Blowing Speed
A comet with a death wish met a truly fiery end today (Aug. 4) when it was destroyed by the sun after diving toward the star at a truly jaw-dropping speed. It is one of the brightest sungrazing comet events in over two decades, one scientist says. Video of the comet's death dive into the sun was captured by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) between Aug. 2 and Aug. 4. It shows the comet zooming toward the sun at nearly 373 miles per second (600 kilometers per second). That's a ..>> view originalSun worshippers: watch how sunflowers can catch daily rays
True to their name, young sunflowers greet the sun each morning with their heads turned east to catch its rays. Throughout the day, they follow its movement until the sun sets in the west at night, and the cycle begins again.But just how sunflowers can do that has long been a mystery – until now. According to a new study published in the journal Science, the heliotropic sunflower uses both circadian rhythms and heliotropism (bending and turning toward the light) to enhance its performance in th..>> view originalWhat science can — and can't — tell us about legendary ancient figures like China's Emperor Yu
A view of the Yellow River near the Jishi Gorge in Qinghai province, China. (Wu Qinglong/Science via Reuters) Modern people have long wondered about ancient stories of great floods. Do they tell of real events in the distant past, or are they myths rooted in imagination? Most familiar to many of us in the West is the biblical story of Noah’s flood. But cultures around the world have passed down their own tales of devastating natural disasters. New research recently published in Science by a ..>> view original
Sunday, August 7, 2016
US agency lifts ban on funding human-animal hybrids and other top stories.
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