Science In The News Daily

Teenagers' Internet Socializing Not a Bad Thing

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:06:00 EST

Good news for worried parents: All those hours their teenagers spend socializing on the Internet are not a bad thing, according to a new study by the MacArthur Foundation. ...

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

New Finds at King Herod's Tomb: 2,000-Year-Old Frescoes

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:59:00 EST

Archaeologists exploring King Herod's tomb complex near Jerusalem have uncovered rare Roman paintings as well as two sarcophagi, or stone coffins, that could have contained the remains of Herod's sons. ...

from New Scientist

USDA Panel Approves Rules for Labeling Farmed Fish 'Organic'

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:55:00 EST

For the first time, a federal advisory board has approved criteria that clear the way for farmed fish to be labeled "organic," a move that pleased aquaculture producers even as it angered environmentalists and consumer advocates. ...

from the Washington Post (Registration Required)

Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:49:00 EST

Six miles from Urfa, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey, Klaus Schmidt has made one of the most startling archaeological discoveries of our time: massive carved stones about 11,000 years old, crafted and arranged by prehistoric people who had not yet developed metal tools or even pottery. ...

from Smithsonian Magazine

Plumbing the Oceans Could Bring Limitless Clean Energy

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:43:00 EST

For a company whose business is rocket science Lockheed Martin has been paying unusual attention to plumbing of late. The aerospace giant has kept its engineers occupied for the past 12 months poring over designs for what amounts to a very long fibreglass pipe. ...

from New Scientist

Desert Drawn: A Hard Place

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:38:00 EST

To the casual eye, the old Freeman property west of the Salton Sea is a corrugated landscape of sandy washes and barren wasteland, a bit of low desert baking in the heat of a late October sun. But Brad Hollingsworth, curator of herpetology at the San Diego Natural History Museum, knows the emptiness is a mirage. ...

from the San Diego Union-Tribune (Registration Required)

Iron Age Neckband Discovered by Man and His Metal Detector

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:31:00 EST

For 40 years, Maurice Richardson has been braving all weathers to scour the countryside with his trusty metal detector, dreaming of buried treasure. But he almost ignored an unpromising-sounding beep as he searched for debris from a wartime air crash while being pelted with rain. ...

from the Daily Mail (UK)

Criminology: Can the Can

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:26:00 EST

A place that is covered in graffiti and festooned with rubbish makes people feel uneasy. And with good reason, according to a group of researchers in the Netherlands. ...

from the Economist

Risk of Lung, Other Cancers Soars for People with HIV

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:10:00 EST

Twenty-five years ago, a diagnosis of AIDS was a nearly immediate death sentence. But now that patients with the AIDS virus are living longer, doctors are discovering a new set of complications ...

from the Baltimore Sun

Artificial Heart Keeps Teen Alive for 118 Days

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:03:00 EST

Wearing a hospital mask over her face and a long scar on her chest, 14-year-old D'Zhana Simmons stood up from her wheelchair. She took a few tentative steps, sat down in front of the TV cameras and began to talk. ...

from the Miami Herald (Registration Required)

Ginkgo Biloba Doesn't Prevent Dementia, Study Finds

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:39:00 EST

Long touted as an elixir of eternal mental acuity, the herbal extract ginkgo biloba in fact does not prevent or delay the progression of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, according to a clinical trial reported today involving thousands of volunteers between the ages of 75 and 96. ...

from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required)

Fossils Lend Clues to Alaska's Eurasian Roots

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:35:00 EST

The tiny, prehistoric seashells swirl, spiral, and twist. Some curl like soft-serve ice cream, others sport crowns of fragile, hollow spines. They evoke tropical reefs, but geologist David Rohr found them lodged in gray Alaskan limestone. ...

from National Geographic News

Sleep Makes Room for Memories

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:31:00 EST

WASHINGTON—Sleep not only refreshes the body, it may also push the reset button on the brain, helping the brain stay flexible and ready to learn, new research shows. ...

from Science News

Tentacles Test Tenets of Evolution

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:28:00 EST

Novel genes, rather than regulatory DNA, underlie the evolution of morphological traits, according to research published Nov. 17 in PLoS Biology. The new study reports that genes found in simple freshwater animals—but not in any other evolutionary lineage—can drive changes in body plan, and stokes the flames of a long-standing debate among evolutionary developmental biologists. ...

from the Scientist (Registration Required)

Art as Visual Research: Kinetic Illusions in Op Art

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:22:00 EST

Scientists did not invent the vast majority of visual illusions. Rather, they are the work of visual artists, who have used their insights into the workings of the visual system to create visual illusions in their pieces of art. ...

from the Scientific American

The Dead Tell a Tale China Doesn’t Care to Listen To

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:18:00 EST

URUMQI, China—An exhibit on the first floor of the museum here gives the government’s unambiguous take on the history of this border region: “Xinjiang has been an inalienable part of the territory of China,” says one prominent sign. But walk upstairs to the second floor, and the ancient corpses on display seem to tell a different story. ...

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

Ancient Turtle Discovered on Skye

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:15:00 EST

The earliest turtles known to live in water have been discovered on a Scottish island. The 164 million-year-old reptile fossils were found on a beach in southern Skye, off the UK's west coast. ...

from the BBC News Online

Scientists Find New Penguin, Extinct for 500 Years

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:10:00 EST

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Associated Press)—Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago. ...

from the San Diego Union-Tribune (Registration Required)

Scientists Reconstruct Woolly Mammoth's Genome

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:04:00 EST

Scientists have decoded the genome of the woolly mammoth by analysing hairs plucked from carcasses recovered from the Siberian permafrost. The feat was hailed as a milestone in genetic science yesterday and is the first time an extinct animal has had its genome sequenced. ...

from the Times (London)

Dark Matter Proof Found Over Antarctica?

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:59:00 EST

High-energy electrons captured over Antarctica could reveal the presence of a nearby but mysterious astrophysical object that's bombarding Earth with cosmic rays, researchers say. ...

from National Geographic News