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Most popular science news & articles of the past 30 days

Why can't chimps speak?

If humans are genetically related to chimps, why did our brains develop the innate ability for language and speech while theirs did not?

Advanced nuclear fuel sets global performance record

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) scientists have set a new world record with next-generation particle fuel for use in high temperature gas reactors (HTGRs).

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Gamma-ray photon race ends in dead heat; Einstein wins this round

In this illustration, one photon (purple) carries a million times the energy of another (yellow). Some theorists predict travel delays for higher-energy photons, which interact more strongly with the proposed frothy nature of space-time. Yet Fermi data on two photons from a gamma-ray burst fail to show this effect, eliminating some approaches to a new theory of gravity.Racing across the universe for the last 7.3 billion years, two gamma-ray photons arrived at NASA's orbiting Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope within nine-tenths of a second of one another. The...

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'Escaped' proteins add to hearing loss in elderly, UF researchers find

Age-related hearing loss is the most common sensory disorder among the elderly. But scientists are still trying to figure out what cellular processes govern or contribute to the loss.

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Stanford scientists turn stem cells into precursors for sperm, eggs

Human embryonic stem cells derived from excess IVF embryos may help scientists unlock the mysteries of infertility for other couples struggling to conceive, according to new research from the Stanford...

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Blast from the past gives clues about early universe

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope have gained tantalizing insights into the nature of the most distant object ever observed in the Universe --...

Science begins at the world's most powerful X-ray laser

Thirty-three LCLS undulator magnets create intense X-ray laser light from a pulse of electrons traveling 99.9999999 percent the speed of light.The first experiments are now underway using the world's most powerful X-ray laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source, located at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Illuminating...

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Workplace BPA exposure increases risk of male sexual dysfunction

High levels of workplace exposure to Bisphenol-A may increase the risk of reduced sexual function in men, according to a Kaiser Permanente study appearing in the journal Human Reproduction, published...

Opening up a colorful cosmic jewel box

The FORS1 instrument on the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) at ESO's Paranal Observatory was used to take this exquisitely sharp close up view of the colorful Jewel Box cluster, NGC 4755. The telescope's huge mirror allowed very short exposure times: just 2.6 seconds through a blue filter (B), 1.3 seconds through a yellow/green filter (V) and 1.3 seconds through a red filter (R). The field of view spans about seven arcminutes.Star clusters are among the most visually alluring and astrophysically fascinating objects in the sky. One of the most spectacular nestles deep in the southern skies near the Southern Cross...

Rosetta bound for outer Solar System after final Earth swingby

This is an artist's view of the ESA's Rosetta cometary probe. The spacecraft is covered with dark thermal insulation in order to keep its warmth while venturing into the coldness of the outer Solar System, beyond Mars orbit. Selected in November 1993 as a cornerstone mission of ESA's long-term science programme, the Rosetta probe was launched by an Ariane 5 on 2 March 2004, on an 11-year journey to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Built by EADS Astrium, the Rosetta probe consists of a 3,065-kg spacecraft (1,578-kg dry mass) designed to enter orbit around the comet's nucleus in August 2014 after a series of gravity assist manoeuvres to gain enough orbital energy, with three swing-bys at Earth (March 2005, November 2007 and November 2009) and one at Mars (February 2007). En route to the comet, the probe will flyby the asteroids 2867 Steins (September 2008) and 21 Lutetia (July 2010). The spacecraft carries 11 science instruments to probe the comet's nucleus and map its surface in fine detail. It will also land a package of instruments (the Philae Lander) to study some of the most primitive, unprocessed material in the Solar System. The mission will provide clues to the physical and chemical processes at work during the formation of planets, beginning 4.6 billion years ago.Rosetta passed over the ocean, just South of the Indonesian island of Java, at exactly 08:45:40 CET, at a speed of 13.34 km/s with respect to Earth an an altitude...

Africa's rarest monkey had an intriguing sexual past, DNA study confirms

A shy tree-dwelling monkey with a black face and long brown fur, the kipunji (key-POON-jee) was unknown to science until 2003, when it was discovered in a remote region of southern Tanzania.The most extensive DNA study to-date of Africa's rarest monkey reveals that the species had an intriguing sexual past. Of the last two remaining populations of the recently discovered kipunji,...

Heart disease found in Egyptian mummies

This image shows the mummy of Esankh, male, Third Intermediate Period (1070-712 BCE), undergoing CT scanning.
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Fertility procedures need not delay breast cancer treatment for younger women

A new study published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that breast cancer patients under 40 years old who undergo fertility preservation...

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Heart patients running the red light on traffic restrictions

Edmonton − More than half of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) don't get any counselling on their ability to drive after angioplasty – and this could be putting lives...

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Snows Of Kilimanjaro shrinking rapidly, and likely to be lost

Along with retreat of Kilimanjaro's glaciers at their margins, the surface of these massive ice fields have begun eroding as temperatures rise.The remaining ice fields atop famed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania could be gone within two decades and perhaps even sooner, based on the latest survey of the ice fields remaining...

Gene therapy technique slows brain disease

Progeny of HSCs that were engineered to carry the correct version of a gene (through the integration of a lentiviral vector) distribute throughout the body. Cartier <i>et al</i>. show that some cells replaced diseased microglia in the brain and relieved lipid storage in patients suffering from ALD.A strategy that combines gene therapy with blood stem cell therapy may be a useful tool for treating a fatal brain disease, French researchers have found. These findings appear in...

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Help your kidneys: Pass on salt and diet soda

This is Julie Lin, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.S.N., from Brigham and Women's Hospital.Individuals who consume a diet high in sodium or artificially sweetened drinks are more likely to experience a decline in kidney function, according to two papers being presented at the...

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NASA's Fermi telescope detects gamma-ray from 'star factories' in other galaxies

M82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy, lies 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Fermi’s LAT and the ground-based VERITAS observatory have detected diffuse gamma rays from the galaxy’s core, which produces stars at a rate ten times faster than our entire galaxy.Nearby galaxies undergoing a furious pace of star formation also emit lots of gamma rays, say astronomers using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Two so-called "starburst" galaxies, plus a satellite...

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Earthquakes actually aftershocks of 19th century quakes

When small earthquakes shake the central U.S., citizens often fear the rumbles are signs a big earthquake is coming. Fortunately, new research instead shows that most of these earthquakes are...

Warm-blooded dinosaurs worked up a sweat

Were dinosaurs endothermic (warm-blooded) like present-day mammals and birds or ectothermic (cold-blooded) like present-day lizards? Reporting in PLoS ONE, Herman Pontzer at Washington University in St Louis and colleagues sought...

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Nanotech in space: Rensselaer experiment to weather the trials of orbit

Space Shuttle Atlantis will next week carry a new Rensselaer nanomaterials experiment to the International Space Station. Samples of novel nanocomposite materials, seen in the photo, will be mounted to the hull of the space station, and tested to see how they weather the perils of space.Novel nanomaterials developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are scheduled to blast off into orbit on November 16 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis.

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Shedding light on the cosmic skeleton

Astronomers have tracked down a gigantic, previously unknown assembly of galaxies located almost seven billion light-years away from us. The discovery, made possible by combining two of the most powerful ground-based telescopes in the world -- ESO's Very Large Telescope and NAOJ’s Subaru Telescope -- is the first observation of such a prominent galaxy structure in the distant Universe, providing further insight into the cosmic web and how it formed. This 3-D illustration shows the position of the galaxies and reveals the extent of this gigantic structure. The galaxies located in the newly discovered structure are shown in red. Galaxies that are either in front or behind the structure are shown in blue."Matter is not distributed uniformly in the Universe," says Masayuki Tanaka from ESO, who led the new study. "In our cosmic vicinity, stars form in galaxies and galaxies usually form...

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