Amputees Can Experience Prosthetic Hand As Their Own

Scientists have succeeded in inducing people with an amputated arm to experience a prosthetic rubber hand as belonging to their own body. The results can lead to the development of a new type of touch-sensitive prosthetic hands.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 1:00 am

Iron Age 'Sacrifice' Is Britain's Oldest Surviving Brain

The oldest surviving human brain in Britain, dating back at least 2000 years to the Iron Age, has been unearthed during excavations on the site of the University of York's campus expansion at Heslington East.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 1:00 am

Surge In Older Cancer Survivors Expected As Baby Boomers Age

Given the high incidence and prevalence of cancer in older adults and the anticipated growth of this population over the next few decades, oncologists, geriatricians and primary care providers will be challenged to provide timely and appropriate post-treatment care to older cancer survivors. More post-treatment studies are needed to understand the mental, social and physical health issues among older cancer survivors, behavioral health experts say in special supplement to the journal Cancer.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 1:00 am

These Shells Don't Clam Up: Innovative Technique To Record Human Impact On Coastal Waters

Using stable isotope techniques, scientists have demonstrated it is possible to identify and trace wastewater inputs to estuaries and coastal food webs by studying the organic matrix in the shell of the hard clam Mercenaria mercenaria.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 1:00 am

Strategic Video Game Improves Critical Cognitive Skills In Older Adults

A desire to rule the world may be a good thing if you're over 60 and worried about losing your mental faculties. A new study found that adults in their 60s and 70s can improve a number of cognitive functions by playing a strategic video game that rewards nation-building and territorial expansion.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 1:00 am

Clear Computer Chip Fabricated

A group of scientists at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology has fabricated a working computer chip that is almost completely clear -- the first of its kind. The new technology is called transparent resistive random access memory.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 14 Dec 2008 | 1:00 am

Supermassive Black Hole Dissected With Natural Magnifying Glasses: 1,000 Times Clearer Than Best Telescopes Can Do

Combining a double natural "magnifying glass" with the power of ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have scrutinized the inner parts of the disc around a supermassive black hole 10 billion light-years away. They were able to study the disc with a level of detail a thousand times better than that of the best telescopes in the world, providing the first observational confirmation of the prevalent theoretical models of such discs.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm

Ecological Impact Of African Cities

African cities are growing faster than anywhere else in the world. This is having a major impact, but few ecologists are studying the urban environment and effect of cities on rural areas. One of the most important ecological changes in Africa’s history is being over-looked.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm

Potential Breakthrough For T-Cell Lymphoma Patients With Drug That Mimics Folic Acid

Preliminary results of a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial of pralatrexate, a drug that partially works by mimicking folic acid, showed a complete or partial response in 27 percent of patients with recurrent or resistant peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm

Heart Regenerates After Infarction: First Trials With Mice

Up until today, scientists assumed that the adult heart is unable to regenerate. Now, researchers from Germany have been able to show that this dogma no longer holds true. They demonstrated that the body's heart muscle stem cells generate new tissue and improve the pumping function of the heart considerably in adult mice, when they suppress the activity of a gene regulator known as beta-catenin in the nucleus of the heart cells.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm

Cheaper Plastic Solar Cells In the Works (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Dec 2008 | 2:09 pm

Stumbling blocs

Mixed messages from EU Council and UN climate talks
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 13 Dec 2008 | 12:53 pm

Upstate NY explorers ID rare boat in Lake Ontario (AP)

AP - Two explorers conducting underwater surveys of Lake Ontario have uncovered an aquatic mystery — a rare 19th-century schooner sitting upright 500 feet under the waves.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Dec 2008 | 8:47 am

Areas near parks dropped from oil drilling plan (AP)

AP - The Bureau of Land Management has dropped more than half the parcels it originally proposed for an oil and gas lease sale next week, many of which were criticized because of their proximity to southern Utah national parks.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Dec 2008 | 8:41 am

US ice storm knocks out power, shuts offices (AFP)

AFP - The northeastern United States was recovering Saturday from a major ice storm that caused massive power outages, forced a government shut-down in Maine and put Massachusetts and New Hampshire under a state of emergency.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Dec 2008 | 8:05 am

Tim Radford: A black hole at the heart of the Milky Way confirms we're nothing special

The black hole at the heart of the galaxy – confirmed this week by a team from the European Southern Observatory – is good news for one small community orbiting a main sequence star on one limb of a spiral galaxy called the Milky Way. It means we can claim to have kept up with the neighbours. They seem to have black holes at the hearts of their galaxies. If we didn't have a black hole in the galactic equivalent of downtown, then there'd be something special about the Milky Way, the sun and planet earth. And if we were in a special place, then astrophysics, particle physics and modern cosmology would be in trouble, because it is a central tenet of modern science that there is nothing special about planet earth and its immediate environment.

The Copernican principle says that we are not the centre and focus and purpose of creation: we are a neither here nor there accretion of recycled stardust assembled by chance and the still somewhat mysterious forces that manage the universe. What happens on and around planet earth could happen anywhere. This sounds a bit diminishing. In fact, it is the foundation of a very powerful idea: that what is true for us must be true for everybody, everywhere. The corollary is that what is logical and experimentally demonstrated in a terrestrial laboratory – the second law of thermodynamics, the equivalence of mass and energy and so on – will also be valid a billion light years away.

Science has hung on grimly to these very interesting ideas for the last 100 years and the pay off has been prodigious: nothing less than a confident history of creation from roughly the first second of time 13.5bn years ago to the present.

One of the way stations of this great intellectual adventure has been the black hole. These were proposed as theory more than 200 years ago, and long before they confirmed that the universe must indeed have had a beginning (and that didn't happen until 1965) cosmologists had a lovely time working out what a black hole might involve, how big it might grow and so on.

Back in 1988, when Stephen Hawking wrote A Brief History of Time, the existence of black holes was still a matter for debate. But although astrophysicists knew that these monsters would be truly invisible, they had had begun to get a clearer idea of what the area around a black hole would look like, how the dust and stars falling into the voracious void would behave on the spiral to oblivion, and what tell-tale signals would be visible. And then they already had a candidate: the invisible half of the x-ray binary star Cygnus X-1.

Since then, supermassive black holes have been identified in Andromeda and other nearby galaxies. If black holes were a standard feature of the galactic zoo, then there had to be one at the heart of the Milky Way. The catch, of course, is that from where we find ourselves, literally out on a limb of a spiral galaxy, we cannot see the heart, because of all those other stars and clouds of dust in the way. We can only guess, and use the tools tested by science in the immediate environment of a single rather run-of-the-mill star, nowhere special in the vastness of the universe. So astrophysicists guessed, and then found a way of testing their hunch. The result: we are as good as any other galaxy, no better, and no worse. It's another triumph for the scientific method, and another small chapter in the wonderful story of who we are, where we came from, and how we got here.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 13 Dec 2008 | 8:00 am

Scientists find 2,000-year-old brain in Britain (AP)

AP - British archaeologists have unearthed an ancient skull carrying a startling surprise — an unusually well-preserved brain. Scientists said Friday that the mass of gray matter was more than 2,000 years old — the oldest ever discovered in Britain. One expert unconnected with the find called it "a real freak of preservation."

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Dec 2008 | 6:07 am

Mood mixed as climate summit ends

The UN climate summit concludes with satisfaction among many delegates, but criticism from environmentalists.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 13 Dec 2008 | 4:03 am

Games choice

What to buy? Two experts give their views for 2008
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 13 Dec 2008 | 1:32 am

Vatican Goes 21st Century With Biotech Advice

In its first comprehensive evaluation of modern biotechnologies, the Vatican has denounced most forms of embryonic stem cell research, artificial reproduction and genetic enhancement.

The statement, issued today by the Vatican's doctrinal arm, is not uniformly opposed to human biotechnology: a few of its recommendations, especially those concerning genetic engineering, are surprisingly liberal.

By insisting that embryos deserve humane treatment from the moment of conception, the Vatican's views still amount — from the perspective of their critics — to sacrificing full-grown people in order to save a few cells.

But even opponents acknowledge that the arguments are carefully reasoned and well-intentioned. 

"It's well-written and well-argued," said Penn State bioethicist Art Caplan. "There's a lot I disagree with, but I like the fact that they're taking on the latest technologies and trying to wrestle with them. They're at least trying to get to the 21st century here."

The theoretical underpinnings of the statement, entitled Dignitas Personae, were laid out in Pope John Paul II's 1987 encyclical Donum Vitae, or "The Gift of Life." It re-articulated Catholic doctrine for a biotechnological age: life begins at conception, and embryos should be protected as humans.

That concept is reflected in today's document. "The body of a human being, from the very first stages of its existence, can never be reduced to a group of cells," it reads. "The fruit of human generation ... from the moment the zygote has formed, demands the unconditional respect that is morally due to the human being."

This position leaves little room for many of the latest reproductive and therapeutic biotechnologies.

Forms of assisted reproduction that produce leftover embryos, including in-vitro fertilization, are denounced. Prenatal genetic diagnosis, in which embryos are scanned for defects before being implanted, is similarly unacceptable.

These prohibitions, said Caplan, are the least-logical arguments in Dignitas Personae: Natural reproduction already involves embryo loss, and many sterile Catholic couples use assisted reproduction to conceive.

More logical are the implications of embryo personhood for most embryonic stem cell research, in which  the harvest of tissue-regenerating cells involves embryo destruction. This is unacceptable, says the Vatican, though a few alternative forms of production might be permissible. 

One of these is Altered Nuclear Transfer, in which embryos are engineered to be incapable of further development: if they can't ever become people, then they're not considered fully human. Another alternative is stem cells taken from eggs that divide without fertilization, a process known as parthenogenesis. Left unmentioned is a technique invented by Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technologies, in which a few cells are taken from an embryo without harming it.

These methods are still highly-experimental and may never be developed. The Obama administration is expected to lift President Bush's limitations on embryonic stem cell research, eliminating the need for tricky hacks.

But one alternative that will flourish is induced pluripotency, in which adult cells — even a flake of skin — are coaxed into a near-embryonic state. Pioneered by Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease researcher Shinya Yamanaka — himself troubled by embryo destruction — induced pluripotency is both scientifically promising and ethically uncontroversial.

Stem cell experts say that both embryonic and reprogrammed stem cells are required, but the latter will at least provide an outlet for Catholic researchers heedful of the Vatican's position. And Dignitas Personae, though it condemns researchers who use unethically harvested stem cells, allows people to use life-saving treatments if ethical alternatives don't exist.

Dignitas Personae also strikes a compromise with gene therapy, which is approved for treating diseases, though not for non-therapeutic uses, such as making people smarter or stronger. Even permanent genetic modifications that can be passed to children are acceptable, as long as it's safe.

"That was the most surprising thing in the document," said Caplan. "That commitment to healing is noble."

The least-controversial part of Dignitas Personae may be its introduction, in which researchers and the public are encouraged to ensure that first-world therapies "be made available in areas of the world that are poor and afflicted by disease, so that those who are most in need will receive humanitarian assistance."

This point is often overlooked in moral battles over biotechnology: everyone deserves access. And that's something we can all agree on, Catholic or not.

See Also:

• Skin Cell-to-Stem Cell Pioneer Driven by Ethical Concerns
• Why Arguing Over the Souls of Embryos Isn't a Waste of Time
• McCain Equates Embryos and Fetuses in Stem Cell Statement
• The First Genetically Modified Human Embryo: Advance or Abomination?
• A Beginner's Guide to Muslim Bioethics

WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 13 Dec 2008 | 1:07 am

Jellyfish gone wild ruin tourist spots, report says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Huge swarms of stinging jellyfish and similar slimy animals are ruining beaches in Hawaii, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, Australia and elsewhere, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 13 Dec 2008 | 1:05 am

Earth enjoys full moon close-up

A full moon has occurred closer to the Earth than at any other time during the past 15 years.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 13 Dec 2008 | 12:10 am

Bad Science: How the Sun boobed over Britney Spears equation

Just to be clear, nobody listens to a word I say. More important equation news from the Sun this week, with the exciting headline "How to tell if the boobline is too low ... use this equation O=NP(20C+B)/75". Alongside a photograph of poor old Britney with her boobs falling out.

"Following her wardrobe malfunction - where she was snapped nearly popping out of a very low-cut dress at her 27th birthday bash - scientists, undies experts and mathematicians have been trying to figure out where the decency perimeter lies. And here we can exclusively reveal the formula to work it out."

I will talk you through this important work. "To figure out the naughtiness rating (O), you times the number of nipples exposed, from zero to two or expressed as fractions of nipple shown (N) with the percentage of exposed frontal surface area (P)." We'll stop there.

This is, of course, part of a crap effort to sell a presumably crap book by an apparently crap mathematician who I shall not name, partly in protest at the crass way he makes a big fuss about doing maths at Cambridge (congratulations), and partly because it seems to me that he can't do basic arithmetic.

"Britney's tight fitting Roberto Cavalli dress showed off around 70% of her breasts," said the Sun: "and experts at Wonderbra think she is a 32D. Without any nipple exposure, Britney's formula works out as 0x70x(20x5+32)/75 = 123.2."

No. Without nipple exposure Britney's score is zero, because zero multiplied by anything is zero. In fact, even if that error wasn't made by our genius mathematician (did you know he did maths at Cambridge?) the formula is still rubbish, because if all women walked around wearing absolutely nothing but tassles on their nipples they would still have a naughtiness rating of zero.

Meanwhile my frighteningly anal chums at the Apathy Sketchpad blog have performed quantitative analysis on this question, by doggedly documenting every single equation story to appear in the Telegraph, a serious paper that covers science properly.

Their finds include such important breakthroughs in the field of mathematical modelling as: The Perfect Sitcom (quality = (rd+v)f÷a+s) to promote UKTV Gold; The Perfect Joke (x = (fl + no)/p) to promote some comedian; The Perfect Day (quality = O + NS + Cpm÷T + He) to promote ice cream; The Perfect Rugby Kick (KP = CSP - s + w + r + yn + cr + sc + mt + xn + ctw), which somehow has something to do with a research company called Qinetiq; The Perfect Marriage (some guy); The Perfect Chip (Tesco); The Perfect Football Penalty (odds of scoring = (X + Y + S)*(T + I + 2B)÷8 + V÷2 - 1) for, oh, Ladbrokes.

How To Open Champagne (P = T÷4.5 + 1) (Marks and Spencer); The Perfect Place To Shop (D=f(m,b,c)), Yellow pages; The Perfect Newspaper (it's the Telegraph, heh); How To Pour Gravy: (amount of gravy = (W - D÷S) ÷ D * 100), mmm Bisto; The Perfect Biscuit (where the formula was deemed too complicated for Telegraph readers), and many more. Then they've done exactly the same thing for the Mail.

These stories tell us nothing about science. They are what PR companies call "advertising equivalent exposure", a way to get your brand into the paper without paying, and on to editorial pages. They are copied and pasted on to the page by hurried journalists with other deadlines to deal with, exactly as I have copied and pasted this work from my friend's blog into my column, in a rather pleasing and self-effacing moment of rhetorical symmetry.

But most crucially of all, these companies know that the way to get a non-story into a national newspaper is to make it about science, the one subject which is regarded by editors and senior executives with universal derision and incomprehension.

• Please send your bad science to bad.science@guardian.co.uk

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Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 13 Dec 2008 | 12:09 am

A full moon spectacular (because it is at its perigee)

A night-time spectacle not seen for 15 years was produced last night when a full moon coincided with the moon orbiting the Earth almost 18,400 miles (30,000km) closer than usual this month.

The moon's orbit is not a circle but an ellipse, and when it is at its closest approach, or perigee, the moon comes much closer to the Earth than at its apogee, or greatest distance, hence its apparent swelling.

Despite the fact that it was still around 221,800 miles away, the rare conjunction meant that the moon appeared much larger and brighter than it usually does.

Or, as the blog of the Royal Observatory Greenwich noted a little more scientifically: "On average, the Moon is 378,000 km away, and at furthest, it is 399,300 km away from the Earth's surface. So [the] full Moon is 6% closer than average, and so 11% brighter than average! (Or, to put it another way, it is 11% bigger & 20% brighter than when the Moon is at its furthest point away from us)."

Nasa estimated that the moon could appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons this year.

The closeness of the moon last night also had an effect on tides. Thanks to its increased proximity, it exerted an even greater pull than the usual full moon. The resultant perigean tide drags the high-water mark up another 50cm (2in).

However, the Environment Agency said last night that it was not expecting the unusual tides to cause any significant problems around the British coastline.

"The risk of tidal flooding is still low," said a spokesman. "But there are 31 flood watches in place. This is to do with rain rather than any lunar effects." Fifteen watches were in place in the north-west of England, nine in the Midlands, and seven in the Thames area.

Yesterday's celestial show was also slated to kick off with the "moon illusion" - when the moon appears to swell as it lies close to the horizon - before segueing into the annual Geminid meteor shower. The Geminids, which rank among the finest shooting star displays, streak through the sky at a comparatively slow 21.75 miles a second, with as many as 100 meteors shooting past every hour.

The Geminids stream travels in the wake of the gigantic, mountain-sized asteroid Phaethon, which was discovered in October 1993 by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite. It measures 3.2 miles in diameter, and takes 18 months to orbit the Sun.

It is probably the extinct hulk of a comet's nucleus which released the Geminids meteoroids during its active phase some 4,000 or more years ago. The Geminids' splendour, though, might have been slightly dimmed by the huge, bright moon.

The next big event on the astronomical calendar is the winter solstice, which takes place on December 21.

Those who missed the spectacle last night should take heart - it is scheduled again on November 14 2016.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 13 Dec 2008 | 12:03 am

Vatican condemns IVF in bio-ethics review

In its most authoritative declaration on bio-ethics for more than 20 years, the Vatican yesterday reinforced its hostility to a wide range of techniques and treatments that have become available in recent decades. They included IVF, embryonic stem cell research, the morning-after pill and the contraceptive drug mifepristone.

A 36-page document endorsed by Pope Benedict XVI stopped short of declaring that human embryos were people. The pope's chief adviser on bio-ethical issues, Monsignor Rino Fisichella, told a press conference that such a declaration would have embroiled the Vatican in a "very complex philosophical debate".

But he said, the document fully backed the idea that a human embryo had the "dignity typical of a person".

And he noted this was an "advance" on the position taken in the Vatican's last high-level pronouncement, its 1987 instruction entitled Donum Vitae (The Gift of Life).

The formulation in its latest document, Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of the Person), comes close to equating with murder such practices as the destruction of defective embryos in IVF.

On one issue - what to do with frozen, "orphan" embryos - the Vatican admitted it was flummoxed. Dignitas Personae rules out every apparent solution: their destruction, their donation to infertile couples and their use for therapeutic or experimental purposes.

It said that proposals for the adoption of unwanted embryos were "praiseworthy in intention", but fraught with problems.

Fisichella's predecessor as president of the Pontifical Pro-life Academy, Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, said: "Our basic advice is that the freezing [of the embryos] ought not to be done." It created "a blind alley"; a situation "the correction of which implies another mistake".

But neither he nor any of the other Vatican officials at the presentation would venture an opinion on what they considered the lesser evil.

The document otherwise restates the Catholic church's opposition to abortifacient forms of contraception, or those it regards as such. These include the world's most widely used method of reversible contraception, the intrauterine device (IUD) or coil.

Dignitas Personae said most forms of artificial fertilisation were "to be excluded" on the grounds that they replaced "the conjugal act" as a means of reproduction. And it said pre-implantation diagnosis during IVF, in which embryos are examined for defects or to determine gender or other characteristics, was "shameful and utterly reprehensible".

Saying life was sacred from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, the document also defended the Catholic church's right to intervene on such matters.

It accepted, however, that Catholic parents, especially in the US, might have no alternative to having their children inoculated with vaccines produced with cells from aborted foetuses.

It also stressed that the Catholic church did not oppose the use by researchers of adult stem cells.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 12 Dec 2008 | 11:58 pm

The Last Word - Of Time Machines and Extra-Terrestrials

When you look out deeply into space, you look back far into time. Who might be looking back at you? When did they live? This video concludes "The Star Party" a video guide to amateur astronomy from the crew of Orion Telescopes and Binoculars.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Dec 2008 | 11:20 pm

Dealing With Dew - Keeping Your Optics Dry

Condensation on a telescope can ruin your date with the stars. Here's how to prevent a good night from going bad! This is an episode of "The Star Party" a video guide to amateur astronomy from the crew of Orion Telescopes and Binoculars.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Dec 2008 | 11:13 pm

EU leaders reach new climate deal

EU leaders agree a package to fight global warming, but critics say concessions made to some nations will reduce its impact.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 12 Dec 2008 | 10:31 pm

Track the Sky - Polar Aligning a Telescope

How to counter the apparent motion of the sky due to Earth's rotation. Hint: In the Northern Hemisphere, it all starts with a bear! This is an episode of "The Star Party" a video guide to amateur astronomy from the crew of Orion Telescopes and Binoculars.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Dec 2008 | 10:28 pm

Vatican hardens opposition to stem cell research (AP)

AP - The Vatican hardened its opposition Friday to using embryos for stem cell research, cloning and in-vitro fertilization. But in a major new document on bioethics, it showed flexibility on some forms of gene therapy and left open questions surrounding embryo adoption.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2008 | 10:16 pm

EU hails climate deal as example for the world (AP)

AP - European nations on Friday dared the United States, Russia and China to follow their lead on global warming after agreeing on a plan to meet the so-called "20-20-20" targets: reducing greenhouse emissions by 20 percent and ensuring that 20 percent of energy comes from wind, sun and other renewable sources by 2020.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2008 | 10:02 pm

Types of Telescopes - Which is Right for You?

Each kind of telescope gathers light in a different way. Here's why you might choose one over another. This is an episode of "The Star Party" a video guide to amateur astronomy from the crew of Orion Telescopes and Binoculars.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Dec 2008 | 9:58 pm

Ancient armored amphibian had world's oddest bite

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A peculiar amphibian that was clad in bony armor prowled warm lakes 210 million years ago, catching fish and other tasty snacks with one of the most unusual bites in the history of life on Earth.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 12 Dec 2008 | 9:53 pm

Target: The Stars - Special Tricks to See More

There's an amazing range of color in the stars - from subtle to striking. Here's how to best see distant suns. This is an episode of "The Star Party" a video guide to amateur astronomy from the crew of Orion Telescopes and Binoculars.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Dec 2008 | 8:48 pm

Bewerewolves: Fullest Moon in 15 Years Tonight

Prepare yourself for a sight tonight — not to mention some wild behavior, if the legends are true. The biggest full moon in 15 years is set to grace the Northern Hemisphere tonight.

Because the moon orbits along an egg-shaped ellipse, not a circle, its distance from us changes. Today, the moon is approaching its nearest point to Earth, so it should look about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than this year's other full moons, according to NASA.

Since the moon takes about 28 days to orbit Earth, it reaches its point of closest approach, called perigee, about once a month. But since the moon's orbit isn't a perfect oval — rather, it wobbles — some perigees are closer than others. Tomorrow's approach will be the closest the moon has come to Earth since 1993.

On top of that, tonight's moon will become full just four hours after perigee. The next time these two events will coincide will be in 2016.

The full moon isn't the only boost we get from this special alignment: Tides should be especially big, too. Lunar gravity at perigee pulls tide waters about an inch higher than usual.

See Also:

• Tonight: Second Full Moon This Month
• The Moon Makes You Crazy? That's Lunacy
• Full Moons Don't Cause Accidents

Image: NASA

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 12 Dec 2008 | 8:33 pm

Space shuttle Endeavour finally home (AP)

AP - Space shuttle Endeavour returned home to NASA's spaceport Friday, nearly two weeks after landing back on Earth.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2008 | 7:53 pm

Fur flies: BBC won't air dog show over breeds row (AP)

AP - The BBC will not televise Britain's biggest dog show for the first time in more than 40 years after a controversy about canine inbreeding.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2008 | 7:46 pm

Target: The Moon - Special Tricks to See More

How to best observe this favorite of amateur astronomers. This is an episode of "The Star Party", a video guide to amateur astronomy from the crew of Orion Telescopes and Binoculars.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Dec 2008 | 7:36 pm

Found: 2,000-Year-Old Brain, Preserved

Archaeologists unearth an ancient skull encasing an unusually well-preserved brain.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 12 Dec 2008 | 7:20 pm

Science Born Again in the White House, and Not a Moment Too Soon

Most scientists consider the last eight years a tough era in Washington. But President-elect Barack Obama's reported picks for Secretary of Energy and EPA administrator and the creation of an "energy czar" signal a return to scientific principles in the decision-making process at the federal level.

And it's about time.

One of the biggest reasons to fill the scientific vacuum in Washington is the pressing need to find new sources of sustainable energy. For this to become reality, Washington needs to step up and support science when industry and academia are unwilling or unable.

"The federal government has an opportunity to do something," said physicist Steven Chu, Obama's Nobel Prize-winning choice to head the Department of Energy. "To give more money to a few universities and a couple of national labs, to a core of people who can get this done."

"If the backers are willing to back you, you go for the home run. Bell Labs would go for the home run," he said. "The United States should put down research bets to go for the home run."

Last September, Chu talked to me about the future of U.S. science as industry, universities and even national laboratories seemed to be moving away from long-term, large-scale science research. His comment came after Bell Laboratories announced it was shutting down its fundamental physics research lab, which had fostered six physics Nobel Prizes including Chu's.

The way to solve the energy problem, Chu said, is to take it on the way Bell Labs scientists tackled the problem of replacing the inefficient vacuum tubes it used to connect phone lines from one side of the country to the other, with the long-term support of a forward-thinking company. But this time, the government has to make the investment.

I met Chu four years ago when he became director of the DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which I covered as a science reporter at a Bay Area newspaper. Since then, he has consistently thought big, followed through and exceeded expectations. I think he has what it takes to keep doing so.

He recognizes the need to invest in science, from grade schools to universities to industry. He sees the imperative for the government to think in new and big ways about the energy problem. He understands we have to face up to climate change. And, most importantly, he has ideas about how to get it all done and the character to make them happen.

If the word on the street is true, for first time since the post of Secretary of Energy was established in 1977, it will be filled by a Nobel laureate and an Asian American.

While these firsts are impressive, what really sets him apart is the rare combination of a brilliant scientific mind coupled with a natural way with people.

The fact that Obama made such a spot-on choice for Secretary of Energy gives me the kind of hope I haven't had in, well, at least eight years — because I think Chu has the right ideas. And I think he could be the man to make them happen.

Politicians and other people who have never met Chu are predictably questioning whether a career scientist can successfully navigate Washington, stand up to Big Oil and push major energy reform through the legislature next year.

As a scientist and a science journalist, I may be biased in this regard, but it strikes me as highly appropriate that the federal agency that funds more scientific research than any other should be run by a scientist rather than a politician.

While current Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman taught chemical engineering at MIT, he moved into business and politics on his way to the DOE, and most of his predecessors were lawyers and politicians. Chu has worked as a research physicist since 1976 at UC Berkeley, Bell Labs and Stanford University.

And Chu isn't just a career scientist: He's one of the most respected physicists in the world.

At Bell Labs, he devised a way to cool, trap and manipulate individual atoms using lasers. Trapping atoms wasn't a new idea, but Chu figured out how to actually do it. That breakthrough opened up new realms in physics and led to important advances in molecular biology, a more accurate atomic clock and more precise measurements of gravity, which have improved exploration for oil, gas and minerals. And won him the Nobel Prize in 1997. 

Physicists, though I love them, can be among the most difficult scientists to to carry on a conversation with. Not Chu. He isn't merely well-spoken for a scientist, he is well-spoken, period.

He was able to tune his explanation of his Nobel Prize-winning research precisely to my level of understanding. And I'm not alone — I've witnessed him successfully explain high-energy particle physics to Arnold Schwarzenegger as well.

He's as comfortable talking about how to solve the world's energy problems as he is describing a childhood filled with Erector sets and homemade rockets. He'd be a great guy to hang out with over a couple of beers. And while this may not seem to be an important qualification for a cabinet secretary, I think it is.

Chu has the ability to win people over, and this will be critical if he is going to make the kind of impact on the country's energy policy that I think he can.

At Berkeley Lab, he turned his considerable strength and determination as a scientist and as a leader toward ambitious energy projects in an effort to make the lab the world leader in renewable energy research. He convinced BP to spend $500 million over 10 years on a solar energy project at the lab that is researching ways to store solar energy as transportation fuel. He brought several national labs, universities and industry together to work on bioenergy at the Joint BioEnergy Institute and the Energy Biosciences Institute.

He encouraged the scientists in his charge to work on energy research. Many were inspired to take up the challenge, some even changing the entire direction of their scientific careers.

"People who were doing energy research with their left hand are now doing it with both hands," he said.

These are leadership skills that will serve him well as Energy Secretary.

And the country really, really needs some leadership in the energy arena.

Americans take for granted that the United States leads the world in science, Chu said. "But we've lost many of these leads, especially when it comes to energy."

"The U.S. is making it easier for other countries to catch up and pass us," he said. Other countries are making the right investments over the long term, more along the lines of the Bell Labs model. The Europeans had long term tax-credits, and now we use their wind-turbine technology.

The United States needs a business environment that allows businesses to make investments in science, he said. U.S. companies should be able to write off scientific research as a tax credit.

"We have an option to be a leader in energy technologies, but we are not because our support system for that is on again off again. The future wealth of the United States will come from our ability to invent new technologies."

See Also:

• Nobel-Winning Physicist Rumored to Be Obama's Pick for Energy Secretary
• Bell Labs Kills Fundamental Physics Research
• Obama's Most Important Science Decision: Picking EPA Head
• Obama Campaign Reveals Science Advisors
• Obama Answers Your Science Questions

Image: Steven Chu with Senator Diane Feinstein. Roy Kaltschmidt/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

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