National
Researchers hurt at Ibaraki nuclear facility
At least four researchers suffer internal radiation exposure after an experiment on elementary particles goes awry at a Japan Atomic Energy Agency facility.
World Topics
Science & Health May 4, 2013
Manned Mars trip no longer a dream
by Marc Kaufman
The notion of landing astronauts on Mars has long been more fantasy than reality. The planet is, on average, 225 million km from Earth, and its atmosphere is not hospitable to human life. But a human voyage to the planet is now, for the ...
Science & Health May 4, 2013
Evolution: a new boost for 'aquatic ape' theory
by Robin Mckie
It is one of the most unusual evolutionary ideas ever proposed: humans are amphibious apes who lost their fur, started to walk upright and developed big brains because they took to living the good life by the water’s edge. This is the aquatic ape ...
Science & Health May 4, 2013
Madagascar lemur is first primate known to hibernate underground
Scientists curious about the wintertime vanishing act of a type of Madagascar dwarf lemur were astonished to find the animals burrowed deep into the soil, curled up for a months-long sleep. The discovery, announced in a study published in Nature Scientific Reports on Thursday, ...
Science & Health May 2, 2013
U.S. to make Plan B available to girls from 15
The White House on Tuesday approved over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill for age 15 and above, a move that contradicts a court order requiring the pill to be made available to women of all ages. While it fell short of that order, the ...
Science & Health Apr 29, 2013
Evolutionary biologist says cave-man diet is flawed
Living like cave men — or at least eating like them — is being hailed by some as an ideal lifestyle. The paleo diet, based on the idea that our bodies have not adapted sufficiently to eat foods that were not available 10,000 years ...
Science & Health Apr 27, 2013
Einstein's relativity theory holds up in deep cosmos
Some 7,000 light-years away, Einstein’s theory of general relativity has stood up to its most intense test yet, scientists said Thursday. The project involved observing a massive, fast-spinning star called a pulsar and its companion white dwarf — a smaller but very dense star ...
Science & Health Apr 27, 2013
Chesapeake Bay's pollution-sensitive smallmouth bass under siege
Smallmouth bass that draw hundreds of millions of dollars to the Chesapeake Bay region for sport fishing are sick. A report released Thursday by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation says the fish, particularly those in the lower Susquehanna River, have been struck by pollution, parasites, ...
Science & Health Apr 27, 2013
Jupiter water traced to comet
Enigmatic traces of water in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter came from a comet that crashed into the planet in 1994, the European Space Agency says. Astronomers have been debating the water for 15 years after telltale molecules were spotted by an infrared telescope. ...
Science & Health Apr 27, 2013
Can you really train your brain to be more intelligent?
by Elizabeth Day
My week has been pretty hectic so far. On Monday, I manned a busy beach bar and had to remember a range of ice-cream and pizza orders for a constant stream of customers. On Tuesday, I had to shoot down a selection of rapidly ...
Science & Health Apr 27, 2013
Gene-sequencing breakthrough may save koalas
by Peter Beaumont
Last year the koala, Australia’s iconic marsupial, was officially listed as a threatened species in large parts of the country following two decades of devastating population losses. Hard hit by drought, loss of habitat and attacks by other animals, including domestic dogs, the nation’s ...
Science & Health Apr 23, 2013
U.S. firm's first Antares rocket launch a success
U.S. manufacturer Orbital Sciences launched its first Antares rocket Sunday, paving the way for a demonstration flight to the International Space Station within months. The two-stage launch vehicle blasted off at 5 p.m. from the Wallops Flight Facility on an island off the coast ...
Science & Health Apr 23, 2013
Flying squirrels can adjust 'wings' for complex soaring, speed boost
For decades, scientists thought that flying squirrels could do little more than glide, controlling their descent from a high point to a low point. But most detailed observations took place in laboratory settings. The laboratory is not where Alexander Badyaev prefers to be. Badyaev ...