May 2012
137 posts
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SpaceX First Company to Dock at Space Station...
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. docked a supply ship at the International Space Station in a breakthrough for commercial space travel.
Closely held SpaceX, controlled by billionaire Elon Musk, connected its unmanned Dragon capsule to the station at 12:02 p.m. New York time, according to Kyle Herring, a spokesman for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It is the first...
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Breakthrough in stem cell technology a first in...
Ateam of researchers at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is the first in Africa to establish groundbreaking biomedical stem cell technology, which could hold the key to finding cures for some of Africa’s most prevalent diseases.
The CSIR Department of Biological Sciences’ Gene Expression and Biophysics Group, led by Dr Musa Mhlanga, success- fully generated the first...
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Mysterious nebula glows brightly in stunning new...
A telescope in Hawaii has captured a spectacular new view on a distant nebula, revealing a glowing swirl of gas that is at the center of an unsolved mystery surrounding the nebula’s birth.
The photo from the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii shows the complex planetary nebula Sharpless 2-71, which is located about 3,260 light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquila (The Eagle).
...
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Lab uses skin cells to help repair heart muscle
Lab scientists on Wednesday reported that for the first time they had taken skin cells from patients who had suffered heart failure and turned them into cells that could repair damaged cardiac muscle.
The technique has so far been tested on rats and it could take up to a decade of problem-solving before trials can go ahead on humans, the scientists cautioned.
Even so, it marks an important...
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Maryland teen wins world's largest high school...
A Maryland student was awarded the top prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair on Friday for developing a urine and blood test that detects pancreatic cancer with 90 percent accuracy.
Jack Andraka, 15, claimed the $75,000 prize for his test, which is roughly 28 times cheaper and faster, and over 100 times more sensitive than current tests.
The teen from Crownsville, Md,...
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Tyrannosaurus Sold Despite Mongolian President's...
Despite a lawsuit from the president of Mongolia, a Dallas based auction house sold a largely intact fossil skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus bataar on Sunday for $1.1 million but transfer of the bones will be put on hold during litigation. Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia of Mongolia sued Heritage Auctions in Dallas County Court on Saturday. Tsakhia said the fossil came from the Gobi Desert...
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Scientists find new sensory organ in whales
Biologists on Wednesday reported they had discovered a new sensory organ on blue, humpback, minke and fin whales that helps explain why these mammals are so huge.
In a study appearing in the journal Nature, researchers in the United States and Canada said the organ is located at the tip of the whale’s chin, in a niche of fibrous tissue that connects the lower jaw bones.
Comprising a node...
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Astronaut Photographs Solar Eclipse's Moon Shadow...
As millions of skywatchers gazed up at a dazzling solar eclipse on Sunday, one astronaut was amazed by looking down at the eclipse’s shadow moving across the Earth.
NASA astronaut Don Pettit captured spectacular photos of the moon’s shadow cast by an annular solar eclipse on Sunday (May 20). The images show a huge, black blemish on otherwise pristine white clouds over the Western...
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Rewritable memory encoded into DNA
Synthetic biologists have long sought to devise biological data-storage systems because they could be useful in a variety of applications, and because data storage will be a fundamental function of the digital circuits that the field hopes to create in cells.Rewritable biological memory circuits have been made previously, for instance from systems of transcription factors, which can be used to...
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Houston museum unveils $85 million dinosaur hall...
Paleontologists and scientists at the museum and the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in Hill City, S.D. have worked tirelessly for three years to collect, clean and preserve artifacts designed to give visitors a look at how life evolved beginning 3.5 billion years ago.
“You’ll actually be able to touch a fossil that’s 3.5 billion years old,” Robert Bakker, the museum’s curator of...
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Sidecar App Lets You Share Data While on the Phone
A San Francisco-based startup called Sidecar is looking to make your phone calls a little smarter.
The company on Tuesday launched the Sidecar app for iPhone and Android smartphones that lets users make free VoIP calls, as well as share live videos, photos, contact information, and location data. What makes Sidecar different from other apps is that it lets you share data while you talk on the...
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Fossil Ink Sacs Yield Jurassic Pigment A First
The ink’s been dry for 160 million years but scientists have for the first time confirmed pigment in two fossilized ink sacs from cuttlefish like animals, a new study says.
The ancient ink’s similarity to modern squid ink suggests this defensive weapon hasn’t evolved much since the Jurassic period.
Using several different techniques, though, the team was able to confirm...
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WatchSpace-X rocket blasts off for space station
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First at Home HIV Test Nears Approval
The FDA should approve the first HIV test for at-home use and over-the-counter sale, the agency’s advisory committee said today in a unanimous 17-0 vote. The test is OraQuick from OraSure. It’s a home version of a rapid HIV test already being used by health care professionals in community settings. The committee’s opinion was summed up by panel member Steven W. Pipe, MD, of...
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Bone Transplantation Without Rejection
Last June, an 83-year-old Belgian woman suffering from oral cancer and an infection that was eating away at her jaw received a jawbone transplant that took a team of 10 surgeons 11 hours to complete. The BBC reported on the story on Monday.
The operation was a success. Reportedly, the patient was able to eat and speak with the new jaw within hours. The operation was an even more remarkable...
