Preventing A Broken Heart: Research Aims To Reduce Scarring From Heart Attacks

A heart damaged by heart attack is usually broken, at least partially, for good. The injury causes excessive scar tissue to form, and this plays a role in permanently keeping heart muscle from working at full capacity.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

'Gross' Messaging Used To Increases Handwashing, Fight Norovirus

Research suggests that it takes "gross" messaging to get undergraduate students to wash their hands more frequently after going to the bathroom.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

Single Virus Used To Convert Adult Cells To Embryonic Stem Cell-like Cells

Adult cells, from both humans and mice, can be converted into embryonic stem cell-like cells using a single virus to insert four reprogramming genes into the cells' genomes. Previous reprogramming approaches have relied on four separate viruses, one virus for each gene, to deliver the genes to cellular nuclei. Because this new method inserts the genes in only one place, it is less disruptive to a cell's genome.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

'Hobbit' Fossils Represent A New Species, Concludes Anthropologist

Fossilized skeletons resembling a mythical 'hobbit' creature represent an entirely new species in humanity's evolutionary chain, according to researchers. Cutting-edge 3D modeling technology was used to connect the fossilized hominid skeletons of the so-called "hobbit people," or Homo floresiensis to the human evolutionary chain.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

Olympic Pollution Controls In Beijing China Had Big Impact On Air Pollution Levels

NASA researchers have since analyzed data from NASA's Aura and Terra satellites that show how key pollutants responded to the Olympic restrictions in China.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

Cry Me A River: The Psychology Of Crying

We've all experienced a 'good cry.' But why is crying beneficial? And is there such a thing as a 'bad cry'? A new report describes some recent findings about the psychology of crying. Analysis of the detailed accounts of more than 3,000 recent crying experiences found that the benefits of crying depend entirely on the what, where and when of a particular crying episode.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:00 pm

Polygamy, Paternal Care In Birds Linked To Dinosaur Ancestors

Sure, they're polygamous, but male emus and several other ground-dwelling birds also are devoted dads, serving as the sole incubators and caregivers to over-sized broods from multiple mothers. It is rare behavior, but research described in Science found that it runs in this avian family, all the way back to its dinosaur ancestors.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm

Blocking Molecular Pathway With Whimsical Name Possible Therapeutic Target For Pancreatic Cancer

A possible new therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer, the most lethal form of human cancer, has been identified in the proteins whose DNA recipe comes from the gene, "Seven-In-Absentia."
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm

'Seeing' The Quantum World: How A Quantum Computer Would Work

Barry Sanders, director of the University of Calgary's Institute for Quantum Information Science, is hoping computer animation can help the public better understand quantum physics. Videos are published for the first time in the New Journal of Physics. For the first time, a detailed description on the making of Sanders' animation -- Solid State Quantum Computer in Silicon -- was published this month in the New Journal of Physics.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm

Exercise Suppresses Appetite By Affecting Appetite Hormones

A vigorous 60-minute workout on a treadmill affects the release of two key appetite hormones, ghrelin and peptide YY, while 90 minutes of weight lifting affects the level of only ghrelin. The research shows that aerobic exercise is better at suppressing appetite than nonaerobic exercise and provides a possible explanation for how that happens. This line of research may eventually lead to more effective ways to use exercise to help control weight.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm

Study clarifies steroid benefit in pre-term births

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A one-time set of steroid injections for pregnant women at high risk of giving birth prematurely can head off major problems for the baby, but more injections give no further benefit, Canadian researchers said.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:21 pm

Daddy day-care: dinosaur fathers guarded the eggs (Reuters)

Reuters - You can call it dino daddy day-care. Scientists who examined the fossilized remains of three types of medium-sized dinosaurs found with large clutches of eggs have concluded that the males rather than the females seem to have guarded the nests and brooded the eggs.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:07 pm

Daddy day-care: dinosaur fathers guarded the eggs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - You can call it dino daddy day-care. Scientists who examined the fossilized remains of three types of medium-sized dinosaurs found with large clutches of eggs have concluded that the males rather than the females seem to have guarded the nests and brooded the eggs.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:07 pm

Wii-Controlled Robots Made for Combat

Will the next generation of autonomous army bots be Wii-mote controlled?
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:00 pm

SLIDE SHOW: Images in the News

From jumbo squid to dark energy, join us for a visual tour of the week's news.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:00 pm

New York oil price slumps below $34 a barrel (AFP)

AFP - The price of New York oil sank under 34 dollars per barrel on Friday for the first time for more than four and a half years, as weak global demand overshadowed a record OPEC output cut, traders said.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:38 pm

Hope raised for EU fishing deal

Fishing leaders hope they could be close to a deal which would prevent the closure of waters.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:32 am

The Nation's Weather (AP)

AP - Heavy snow was forecast for the upper Great Lakes and the Northeast on Friday, while more snow was expected in the Northwest and a rainy day loomed for the Southeast.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:30 am

EU deal on new pesticide controls

Euro MPs make tighter controls on pesticides probable next year after hammering out a deal with member states.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 Dec 2008 | 11:24 am

People 'still willing to torture'

Scientists repeat a notorious experiment which found many willing to torture - and get the same results.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:41 am

Wildlife experts ponder gender of Santa's reindeer (AP)

AP - There may be a perfectly good reason why Santa doesn't get lost on his annual Christmas globetrot: His flying reindeer just might be female and don't mind stopping for directions.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:38 am

Lucy Mangan's seven tried and tested hangover cures

Scientists - probably the same ones that come out every year to tell us that Father Christmas couldn't possibly fly at the speed necessary to deliver all the presents to good children in one night without turning into Santa-paste - have announced that there is no such thing as a hangover cure. Apparently, the only way to avoid a hangover is by - and I quote - "consuming alcohol in moderation or not at all". As any fule who has ever lunged for that third delightful bottle knows, this is arrant nonsense. There are, in fact, a wide variety of copper-bottomed, surefire, empirically tested hangover cures out there, the most failsafe of which are outlined below.

Vitamin C
Take this in the form of orange juice or one of those fizzy tablets you drop into a glass of water, if you can bear the terrible noise they make the morning after the night before.

The latter has the inestimable advantage of resulting in a drink that tastes like orangeade but is good for you. This is in marked contrast to your recent liquid intake, which has all tasted very nice but been extremely bad for you. Research - and by this I mean real anecdotal research among friends, not the square, double-blind-tested, laboratory-based kind - has shown that the beneficial properties of vitamin C are even further enhanced by the addition of two Nurofen. Crazy, but true.

Water
A pint before you go to bed, and a pint when you get up. The great thing about this cure is that if you are still sober enough to remember to drink your palliative before you go to bed, you are still sober enough to remember to get out of bed during the night when you realise you need to urinate. Let me know when science comes up with anything as neat and practical as that, won't you?

Fried food
Ideally, you need three rashers of bacon, two sausages, two eggs, a handful of mushrooms and 18 hash browns. If there is any space left on the plate or you are on a diet, you can add some baked beans. If you are feeling very fragile, you can reduce your intake to the two fried eggs in a sandwich, but do try to get at least a sausage in there too.

If you do not have any of the above in the fridge at your time of need, do not panic. A surprising number of things can be fried in an emergency. In straitened circumstances, I myself have had fried leftover Chinese, dhal, half an avocado and my own sleeve - and they all worked a treat.

Coke
Context, my friends, is all. Yes, on a normal day a concoction of sugar, carbon dioxide and brown food colouring is not the ideal thing to put in to your body. However, on a hungover morning, it is to your Bacardi-poisoned innards as the babbling brook is to a parched and early songbird. Drink deeply and it will cleanse and restore you. And with any luck, "the scientists" will do something useful next year and prove that all that stuff about it rotting baby teeth overnight if you drop them in a tumblerful of our good friend is nobbut a parental scare-mongering myth.

Black coffee
Add enough sugar and it's as good as Coke. Hot, though. If you are actually shaking, best avoid.

Andrews Salts
Again, if you can bear the noise of joyful effervescence, this is the cure for you. A spoonful in a glass of water before bed and again in the morning will see you right. The bubbles, you see, act like tiny, transparent suitcases into which all the alcohol is packed, and their bouncing around dislodges all the tiny hairy monsters that have attached themselves to your system, leaving it sparkling clean once more. This is my own chosen hangover cure, so I know whereof I speak. And again, if you use it to chase down two Nurofen and a cooked breakfast, you will drive the monsters out even faster. The grease helps the bubbles slip around more quickly. You see, I am not a scientist, so I am able to keep things simple for you.

Bed
Just stay there. It's remarkable how much better you feel after a mere eight hours of warm dozing. If you can get a loving partner, dog or paid employee to bring you all the other cures at two-hourly intervals, of course, so much the better.

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 | 19 Dec 2008 | 10:07 am

American Indian cremation pit found on Ga. island (AP)

AP - Exposed by erosion at the edge of a crumbling bluff, the pit discovered beneath 2 feet of sandy dirt at first appeared to be a grave just long and deep enough to bury a human body.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:37 am

Flightless Turkey?

Vital Turkish bird haven under growing threat
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:08 am

Khaled Diab: what science can teach us about the laws of attraction

In the game of love, as in comedy, timing, they say, is everything. And a new study seems to confirm just that. Blokes who have their advances repelled can take solace – or delude themselves – from the possibility that women are most responsive to corny chat-up lines at the most fertile period in their menstrual cycle and least so during their period.

Given the hormonal imbalances, headaches and pain many women feel during menstruation, this is hardly an earth-shattering discovery. In fact, it raises the question: what exactly is the use of this particular study?

It's not much use to single men, unless some nifty gadget which discreetly gauges the menstrual cycle I'm unaware of has come on the market. And I very much doubt that "If you've got the right time of month, I've got the place" will catch on as a chat-up line. Stumped for any other explanation, my wife speculated that the only use of the study would be to help jealous boyfriends and husbands plan their agenda.

Of course, scientific inquiry is a valiant pursuit in its own right, yet I can't help thinking that humanity has more pressing and important questions that need answering. So, in a modest attempt to make sure that all this relationship research does not go to waste, here is a brief empirical guide to courting:

As we are constantly told, first impressions count. Depressingly, according to one study, most people don't even give each other the benefit of an exchange of words and form enduring impressions in a matter of milliseconds. Looked at romantically, though, it could be evidence of "love at first sight".

If, like me, you are someone who needs time before people appreciate your finer points, what can you do to make the right first impression? Don't despair: science is there with some suggestions.

If you want someone to find you attractive on the first encounter or date, a good scientifically sound strategy is to look them straight in the eyes and smile. Preferably, make sure your eyes are smiling, too.

Oh, and don't forget to turn up the smile slowly to enable the onlooker to bask in your warmth – a "long-onset smile", as it is known in the literature – while tilting your head slightly. While you're doing this, cross your fingers that you don't come across as a weirdo with neckache.

The supremely confident – or arrogant – should be warned that, even if their interlocutor reciprocates, this may not necessarily be a "come on". One group of researchers has found that some women chat happily and flirt, even if they have absolutely no interest in the man – which is bound to make the bashful and proud even more tongue-tied.

So, how can you tell if someone finds you attractive?

Research suggests that people tend to choose partners who look like their opposite-sex parents. To my mind, this is not only troublingly Oedipal, but I don't think I've ever been attracted to anyone who looks like a family member.

More worryingly still, many seem to be drawn to partners who look like themselves – so much for "opposites attract". In fact, there is even evidence that a surprising number of people are highly attracted to opposite-sex images of themselves.

So, the self-centred among us can kill two birds with a single stone: increase their chances of finding a partner by seeking out someone who bears a resemblance to them and indulge their narcissistic impulses.

Of course, some people are fortunate enough to be widely regarded as attractive because they have the right facial and physical proportions. But old macho ideals are on the way out. In fact, most women, one study suggests, find a more "feminine" face alluring in men. This is good news for metrosexuals and might explain why many women are so drawn to the boyish good looks of Johnny Depp. And for those who aren't endowed with a baby face, it might be time to invest in that "guyliner" and "manscara".

But you don't have to be one of the beautiful people with a perfect figure to find romance or get laid. In fact, the best way to a man's heart for women who do not fit the emaciated size zero is not through his stomach, but to make sure he doesn't get enough food. Hunger, it seems, makes some men want to feast on their date.

Besides, there are people out there, including good-looking ones, who prefer brains over beauty. The scientific evidence suggests that choosing intelligence is more common among women than men. Then again, other research points to the fact that there are plenty of women who go for looks.

A contradiction? Yes and no. Given the sheer diversity, complexity and individuality of human interactions, certain patterns are bound to hold true in certain circumstances, but the exceptions will at times outnumber the "rule". So, the best strategy is to throw away the science books and embark on your own unique experiments in the laboratory of love.

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 | 19 Dec 2008 | 8:00 am

Shocking study finds most will torture if ordered

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some things never change. Scientists said on Friday they had replicated an experiment in which people obediently delivered painful shocks to others if encouraged to do so by authority figures.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 7:26 am

Mars find suggests area may have been hospitable (AP)

AP - An orbiting spacecraft has discovered a key mineral in bedrock on the Martian surface that suggests the planet might once have had an environment hospitable to life, scientists reported Thursday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 4:55 am

New Space Toilet Has No Door...Yet (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station hooked up their brand new space toilet this week, but it's missing one last touch: A simple door, for privacy.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 3:03 am

Letters: Why you can leave your hat on

Letters: There are only three reasons to wear a hat: to keep warm, to keep cool and to look silly

Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 19 Dec 2008 | 2:10 am

Officers: Pierced 'gothic kittens' marketed on Web (AP)

AP - Humane officers say a Pennsylvania woman marketed "gothic kittens" with ear, neck and tail piercings over the Internet. Officers with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals removed three kittens and a cat Wednesday from a home outside Wilkes-Barre, about 20 miles southwest of Scranton.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 1:25 am

Nasa finds 'missing' Mars mineral

A US probe spots rocks on Mars that suggest the planet would have been more hospitable for life than previously thought.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:46 am

New ban imposed on regulating global warming gases (AP)

AP - The Bush administration is trying to make sure in its final days that federal air pollution regulations will not be used to control the gases blamed for global warming.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:32 am

Obituary: Naomi Datta

Naomi Datta, who has died aged 86, was a pioneer in investigating the development of resistance to antibiotics by bacteria. For almost three decades from 1957, she was associated with the Royal Postgraduate medical school in London, initially as a lecturer, then from 1978 as professor of microbial genetics at University College London (UCL), retiring as emeritus professor in 1984.

Naomi succeeded in combining a full-time research and administration career with the demands of family life. She was well-known for her hospitality and excellent cooking and contributed two articles to the 1988 publication But the Crackling is Superb: an Anthology of Food and Drink by Fellows of the Royal Society and Foreign Members. One was on how to make marmalade, and the other on how she managed to combine cooking for her young family with full-time employment as a lecturer.

When Naomi was first appointed, she was expected to embark on original research. In 1959, at the Hammersmith hospital, there was a severe outbreak of infection by salmonella typhimurium phage-type 27. It was suggested that for her research project, she could collect the cultures to see if the strain was unaltered after moving through several human hosts. She examined 309 of them and found that while the phage type was the same, 25 of the cultures were drug-resistant. Eight of these were resistant to streptomycin, which had been used to treat the patients. Strains were found resistant to tetracycline and sulphthiozole.

Naomi noted that earlier cultures of S.typhimurium from the start of the outbreak were not drug-resistant. It seemed that the antibiotic resistance had developed over time. Two Japanese workers in 1961 had detailed the transfer of drug resistance between enterobacteria. Naomi set up cultures of shigella sonnei to see if the resistance shown by S.typhanimurium transferred to S.sonnei, and found that it did - to between 0.5 to 5% of the S.sonnei. She even found that a percentage of the S.sonnei strains could transfer the resistance back to S.typhanimurium. She was the first person in Europe to document this transfer of resistance.

Her 1960 and 1962 papers on this were published in a relatively unknown journal, so it took some time before the importance of her results filtered through to the scientific community. From this initial research, Naomi was never short of ideas to explore, such as how the resistance was transferred. This led her to explore the structure and function of plasmids, which are able to escape from the main bacterial cell and transmit resistance. These plasmids were identified and classified. With Victoria Hughes, Naomi examined bacteria that had been isolated before antibiotics were used medically. She found plasmids of the same types which in her earlier research had transmitted resistance.

Born Naomi Goddard in London, the youngest child of a chartered surveyor, she was educated at St Mary's school, Wantage, Oxfordshire, followed by the Sorbonne in Paris. She returned to England when the second world war broke out and enrolled on the medical foundation course at UCL. She met her husband, Prakash Datta, in 1941 in Leatherhead, Surrey, where the evacuated students were studying, and they were married two years later. Prakash studied medicine at UCL, while Naomi went to the West London hospital medical school. She qualified as a doctor in 1946 and the following year worked as a junior doctor in various hospitals.

In 1950, she gained a diploma in bacteriology, and for the next decade, while her children were growing up, was a senior bacteriologist at the Public Health Laboratory Service, in Colindale, north London. In 1952 she was awarded an MD from the University of London. Her next move was to the department of bacteriology at the Royal Postgraduate medical school, Hammersmith hospital. The year after her retirement, in 1985, she was elected to fellowship of the Royal Society.

Naomi had always enjoyed travelling to scientific meetings and collaborated with researchers worldwide. She did not continue with her own research, but decided to study. Her first subject was a postgraduate course in linguistics, but UCL would not allow her to obtain a qualification as she did not have an undergraduate degree in an arts subject. She next took a two-year postgraduate course in human evolution in the department of anthropology. At 75, she was the oldest in the group and was awarded a master's degree. For her dissertation, she researched variations in the Y chromosome in Greeks, Turks, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

She was a very caring person, full of enthusiasm, and ready to encourage others at any level.

She is survived by Prakash and two daughters. Their son died in 2006.

• Naomi Datta, bacteriologist, born 17 September 1922; died 30 November 2008

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 | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:27 am

Babysitter jailed for killing toddler is freed after retrial

A babysitter who served three years in prison for killing a toddler was cleared of murder yesterday after a retrial. Suzanne Holdsworth, 38, of Leeds, wept as she was acquitted of murder and manslaughter by a jury at Teesside crown court after a long campaign to clear her name.

She was jailed for life in March 2005 after being found guilty of murdering two-year-old Kyle Fisher, who died from severe brain damage while in her care in 2004. But the court of appeal overturned her conviction this year after an investigation by the BBC's Newsnight raised doubts about medical evidence at the first trial.

At the new trial, testimonies from two senior doctors rubbished original evidence which suggested Holdsworth had repeatedly banged Kyle's head against a wooden banister with as much force as a 60mph crash after losing her temper.

The jury heard that the doctors who gave evidence "got it wrong" and "collectively failed to diagnose" that Kyle had a "highly unusual brain", with abnormalities that predisposed him to epilepsy.

Professor Renzo Guerrini, a paediatric neurologist who has helped write guidelines on paediatric epilepsy for the World Health Organisation, told the court there was a reasonable possibility the toddler suffered a prolonged epileptic seizure. He also said Holdsworth's description of Kyle's symptoms when she rang 999 saying he was floppy, hitting himself and drifting in and out of consciousness matched such a fit.

The court heard that the youngster had bruising and marks to his head but the defence maintained they were inflicted the previous day - blaming Kyle's mother, Clare Fisher - and, coupled with his brain abnormalities, led to the unexpected fit.

Asked by the defence barrister, Andrew Thomas QC, what caused Kyle's collapse, Guerrini said: "In my opinion there is compelling evidence he had some head injury before this night which might have been trivial but sufficient enough to produce bleeding on the brain which triggered the epileptic seizure which, because of Kyle's brain condition, was possibly prolonged."

Dr Waney Squier, a neuropathologist who has also spoken out against "shaken baby syndrome", told the court that the prosecution's case that Kyle had been repeatedly banged against a banister "would fly in the face of a large amount of clinical evidence".

The defence maintained Kyle's mother was suffering from depression at the time and was unable to cope with the demands of bringing up a toddler. Her house was untidy, neighbours complained of loud music at night, and days before Kyle died, she "mistreated" him by leaving him home alone while out with friends.

After the verdict Holdsworth's partner, Lee Spencer, read out a statement on her behalf. "This case has always been about Kyle, a loving child, a little boy who Suzanne has always loved and helped look after," he said.

"We know his family deeply loved him and miss him. Sadly, we now know that he had some bad medical features that led to his sudden collapse and death. We hope that this knowledge will help his family come to terms with his death."

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 | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:06 am

Bribery inquiry into Nobel jurors after paid trips to China

Jurors who accepted all-expenses-paid trips to China to discuss awards investigated

Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 19 Dec 2008 | 12:06 am

Mineral points to Martian water suitable for life

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Mineral evidence for a water environment capable of supporting life has been discovered on Mars, scientists said Thursday.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 18 Dec 2008 | 11:41 pm

Google Shutters Its Science Data Service

Google will shutter its highly-anticipated scientific data service in January without even officially launching the product, the company said in an e-mail to its beta testers.

Once nicknamed Palimpsests, but more recently going by the staid name, Google Research Datasets, the service was going to offer scientists a way to store the massive amounts of data generated in an increasing number of fields. About 30 datasets — mostly tests — had already been uploaded to the site.

The dream appears to have fallen prey to belt-tightening at Silicon Valley's most innovative company. 

"As you know, Google is a company that promotes experimentation with innovative new products and services. At the same time, we have to carefully balance that with ensuring that our resources are used in the most effective possible way to bring maximum value to our users," wrote Robert Tansley of Google on behalf of the Google Research Datasets team to its internal testers.

"It has been a difficult decision, but we have decided not to continue work on Google Research Datasets, but to instead focus our efforts on other activities such as Google Scholar, our Research Programs, and publishing papers about research here at Google," he wrote.

Axing this scientific project could be another sign of incipient frugality at Google. Just a couple weeks ago, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told the Wall Street Journal that his company would be cutting back on experimental projects. First described in detail by Google engineer Jon Trowbridge at SciFoo 2007 — the slides from a later version of the talk is archived on the Partial Immortalization blog — the project was going to store, for free, some of the world's largest scientific datasets. In Trowbridge's slides, he points out the 120 terabyte Hubble Legacy Archive and the one terabyte Archimedes palimpsest.

"'It's a sad story if it's true," wrote Attila Csordas, a stem cell biologist and author of Partial Immortalization who recently moved to Hungary from Tulane University, in an email to Wired.com. "Assuming it is true that might mean that Google is still a couple years away from directly helping the life sciences (on an infrastructural level)."

Other scientists remained hopeful that the service might return in better times.

"The Space Telescope Science Institute has had a long positive relationship with Google that started with our partnership in GoogleSky in early 2006," said astrophysicist Alberto Conti of STSI. "We were looking forward to Google's commitment to helping the astronomical community with the data deluge, and we are sure Google will reconsider this decision in the future. While perhaps understandable in this economic climate, it's sad to see Google leave the field."

And Conti noted, other companies may step up to help scientists manage their information.

"Amazon is doing exactly the opposite and they might actually fill the void," he said. 

Google representatives did not respond immediately to request for comment.

Image: flickr/DannySullivan

See Also:

• Google to Host Terabytes of Open-Source Science Data
• Researchers Track Disease With Google News, Google.org Money ...
• Google's Super Satellite Captures First Image
• How A Google Engineer Hacks His Energy Usage
• Google Launches Medical-Records App

WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter , Google Reader feed, and project site, Inventing Green: the lost history of American clean tech; Wired Science on Facebook.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:30 pm

Video: Molecules Moving in Living Cells

A new microscopic imaging technique has provided what may be the most realistic real-time video yet of molecules moving in living cells.

Called Stimulated Raman Scattering, it uses laser beams to hit molecules, causing them to vibrate. Tracking the vibrations produces a sequence of point-by-point molecular maps.

Unlike other types of molecule-specific, cell-level imaging, SRS doesn't require fluorescent tags that illuminate targets but could also affect their behavior.

Proof-of-principle examples of SRS, described Thursday in Science, involved the penetration of acne-busting retinoic acid into skin cells and the movement of fats through brain cells.

"Companies making skin care products can use the SRS technique to see how different ingredients of their formulations distribute and diffuse in skin," said Harvard University biochemist and study co-author Sunney Xie. "The food industry can map distributions of fats, proteins and sugars in food products. In the long run, with the emerging miniature fiber lasers, SRS microscopes will be used for tumor diagnostic in hospitals."

Citation: "Label-Free Biomedical Imaging with High Sensitivity by Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy." Christian W. Freudiger, Wei Min, Brian G. Saar, Sijia Lu, Gary R. Holtom, Chengwei He, Jason C. Tsai, Jing X. Kang, Sunney Xie. Science, Science 19 December 2008, 10.1126/science.1165758

Label-Free Biomedical Imaging with High Sensitivity by Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy [Science] (not yet online)

Video: Fat molecules (bright yellow perimeter) at different depths in mouse skin / Science

See Also:

• Video of the First 24 Hours of an Embryo's Cells
• Mini-Microscope Could Lead to Cell-Sorting Implants
• Microscope Shows Cells in 3-D | Wired Science from Wired.com
• Amazing Microscope Images From Science as Art Competition
• Beautiful Microscope Art From the Fall 2007 Materials Research
• Rare Microphotographs Resurface After 150 Years
• Video of the First 24 Hours of an Embryo's Cells

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

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 10:03 pm

TechShop: Where Inventors' Dreams Are Made

A workshop capable of creating anything you design.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:15 pm

Obama Rumored to Pick Climate-Change Wonk as Science Adviser

President-elect Barack Obama appears to have picked physicist-turned-environmental policy expert John Holdren as his science adviser.

The selection, reported Thursday afternoon by Science Insider but unconfirmed by Obama's transition team, comes a week after the president-elect's choice of renowned physicist Steven Chu as federal energy chief drew raves from the scientific community.

Holdren, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School and former director of the Woods Hole Research Center, is best-known for his outspoken views on climate change, energy and government.

"The ongoing disruption of the Earth’s climate by man-made greenhouse gases is already well beyond dangerous and is careening toward completely unmanageable," he wrote in October in Scientific American. "To achieve a better-than-even chance of not exceeding that figure, human emissions must start to decline soon, falling to about half of today’s level by 2050 and further thereafter."

That article was entitled, "The Future of Climate Change Policy: The U.S.'s Last Chance to Lead." Its subtitle: "McCain or Obama can end shameful U.S. foot-dragging and rally the world against climate change."

Obama won that chance — and if he indeed does become director of the Office of Science Technology and Policy, Holdren will have a chance to put his own words into action.

Video: Holdren's talk, "Global Warming: What do we know and should do," posted by sergejsh.

See Also:

• Science Born Again in the White House, and Not a Moment Too Soon ...
• Nobel-Winning Physicist Rumored to Be Obama's Pick for Energy ...
• Obama's Most Important Science Decision: Picking EPA Head | Wired ...
• Obama's Biggest Science Challenges: You Tell Us | Wired Science ...
• Obama Campaign Reveals Science Advisors
• Science Funding Should Remain a Priority, Says Obama Advisor ...

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

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:13 pm

I, Nanny: Robot Babysitters Pose Dilemma

Babysitting robots, once the province of speculative fiction, are on the market. They make conversation, recognize faces and keep track of kids. They're not a replacement for TV or games, but for personal care — and some researchers worry that kids will be harmed.

"If you leave a small child in front of the TV, you have to keep popping in to make sure they're OK. But these are so safe that people will eventually leave their children in the care of robots," said  Noel Sharkey, a University of Sheffield roboticist.

Sharkey's concerns, voiced Thursday in an editorial, "The Ethical Frontiers of Robotics," published in Science, come at a potentially historic intersection between robotics and parenting. 

Personal service robots are more common than industrial robots, and people are happy to use them for tasks once fulfilled by people. One survey of public attitude towards robots found that many people were willing to to use them as babysitters — more people, in fact, than would use robots as priests or massage therapists.

Models now on the market range from the Hello Kitty robot — "perfect ... for whoever does not have a lot time to stay with child," proclaims a vendor — to the discontinued Sony QRIO and NEC's PaPeRo, which tells jokes, gives quizzes and uses radio-frequency identification chips to track kids. In another generation, these sophisticated machines will likely seem quaint.

"What would happen if a parent were to leave a child in the safe hands of a future robot caregiver almost exclusively?" wrote Sharkey. "The truth is that we do not know what the effects of the longterm exposure of infants would be."

Sharkey does, however, take instruction from psychologist Harry Harlow's famous and controversial tests on the importance of maternal care for monkeys, and ostensibly people: when nursed by inanimate objects, they grew up to be withdrawn and socially dysfunctional.

In the editorial, he mentions research — which now would be too unethical to conduct — on monkeys raised by inanimate nurses, which demonstrated the importance of maternal care.

Roboticist Ronald Arkin of Georgia Institute of Technology agrees that robots will affect people. "This stuff absolutely warrants further study," he said. "People's behavior is going to change as these artifacts are introduced. We see that with previous technologies, too — TV, the internet, the VCR."

Arkin is, however, less immediately concerned than Sharkey, and willing to wait for research results before being alarmed. "We don't have to be fearmongers, but we do need to study them intelligently and rationally," he said.

But Sharkey is worried that sound science is impossible. Commercial robot makers, he said, are "doing experiments showing positive results by introducing them into schools for two or three hours a day. Children love them. But what we can't do, scientifically, is long-term studies with isolated children."

The sorts of tests necessary to directly test the effect of robot care would be unethical.

To Clifford Nass, director of Stanford's Communications Between Humans and Interactive Media Lab, Sharkey and Arkin's concerns are ultimately just practical. There's a more fundamental question posed by the use of robots to care for children.

"The question is, if robots could take care of your children, would you let them?" he said. "What does it communicate about our society that we're not making child-care a number-one priority?"

Nass pointed out that surveys show people are least willing to use robots as massage therapists, even though robots could make excellent masseurs. The reason, he said, is the meaning of a massage.

"There are some things you do for symbolic reasons, not technical reasons," he said.

Citation: "The Ethical Frontiers of Robotics." by Noel Sharkey, Science, 322, Dec. 19, 2008.

Photo: Ms. President/Flickr

See Also:

• Robot Arm Gives Stroke Patients a Hand | Wired Science from Wired.com
• How to Use Neuroscience to Become Your Avatar | Wired Science from ...
• Baby Einstein Turns Kids Into Baby Homer Simpson | Wired Science ...
• Bush Administration Favored Baby Formula Companies Over Babies ...
• Babies See Pure Color, but Adults Peer Through Prism of Language ...

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

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:02 pm

Solar Car Crosses World-Tour Finish Line

A Swiss engineer completes the first ever round-the-world trip in a solar car.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 9:00 pm

Better Bug Sprays?

50 years of DEET has left a bad taste. Now some promising replacements are emerging.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:59 pm

Antarctic Iceberg Scouring

Divers investigate iceberg scouring on sea floor of Antarctica.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:53 pm

Fatal attraction: How leukemia seduces blood cells

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Leukemia cells use powerful chemical signals to lure healthy blood-forming stem cells into their cancerous lairs, where they lose their power to make healthy blood cells, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:41 pm

Could the Electric Grid Support Far More Wind and Solar?

SAN FRANCISCO — The electric grid may be able to handle more wind and solar power — way more — than previously thought, according to a new preliminary study.

The commonly accepted wisdom in the energy industry is that the grid could only draw something like 20 percent of its power from wind and solar resources before encountering major reliability problems. But the new power flow simulation (.pdf), presented for the first time this week at the American Geophysical Union meeting, shows that, at least in California, the power grid might be able to handle three times that much renewable energy without encountering major trouble pushing electrons around the state.

"This work has shown that at least 70 percent of the total projected California generation on a summer day in 2016 could be provided by renewable sources ... with relatively minimal upgrades to the transmission infrastructure," wrote Elaine Hart, a Stanford doctoral student, in her presentation. "This study demonstrates the grid-feasibility of a renewable portfolio that far exceeds the target set by the the governor of California."

While these findings are preliminary and only cover a single state, they could help overturn long-held ideas about the plausibility of a world powered by solar and wind plants. The electric grid has remained basically the same since it was built out over the first half of the century. Many people have called for its modernization, by which they mean the addition of new sensors, two-way communication and switches to allow for more sophisticated power routing.

Grid upgrades to support more renewable resources are very costly and a major stumbling block to the increased adoption of wind and solar power. If minor upgrades could allow for far more renewable sources to be added to the grid, it could drop the cost

Hart readily admits that her work is far from complete. The research she presented here at AGU is just the initial findings of a multiyear research project with her Stanford adviser, civil and environmental engineer Mark Jacobson.

One thing that needs work is the set of assumptions about the ease with which natural gas plants could be switched on and off to accommodate variable power from renewable sources. She'd also like to expand the simulations to work over months and years, not just single days.

Photo: dougww/Flickr.  Figures: Elaine Hart/Stanford University

See Also:

• DOE Report: Wind Could Power 20 Percent of U.S. Grid by 2030
• Company Plans Pedal-Powered Battery "Grid" for Tanzania
• Solar Company Says Its Tech Can Power 90 Percent of Grid and Cars
• Amish Are Ultimate Early Adopters of Solar Energy
• NSF Head: All Hail the Cluster

WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter , Google Reader feed, and project site, Inventing Green: the lost history of American clean tech; Wired Science on Facebook.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:27 pm

Head-Banging Bad for the Brain

Rocking out to a heavy metal tempo can cause mild traumatic brain injury, a study shows.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 8:00 pm

Jovian Moon Plays Peekaboo

Hubble catches Ganymede ducking behind its giant host.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 7:35 pm

Cats: Smooth, But Inefficient Walkers

Unlike dogs and humans, cats don’t conserve energy when they move. But their inefficient walking keeps them stable when the stalk prey.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 7:31 pm

Discovery Indicates Mars Was Habitable

Evidence of carbonates points to areas on Mars where water may have remained benign enough for life.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 7:14 pm

Shocking Science 2008

Over the past 12 months the world of science has provided a bumper crop of bizarre and scary revelations

Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 18 Dec 2008 | 7:12 pm

Dinosaur Dads Watched Over Eggs (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - In families of some of the most vicious and carnivorous dinosaurs, dad took care of the developing eggs, possibly laid by more than one mom, a new study suggests.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 18 Dec 2008 | 7:11 pm

Leading journal names the top 10 scientific breakthroughs of 2008

A feat of biological alchemy that offers scientists the hope of growing replacement organs from patients' own skin cells has been named the scientific breakthrough of the year.

Cellular reprogramming allows scientists to rewind the developmental clock of adult cells to produce stem cells, which can then be grown into completely different tissues, such as neurons and beating heart cells.

The technique is already being used to gain unprecedented insights into debilitating and incurable diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, but ultimately scientists hope they will be able to treat patients by reprogramming their cells to make healthy replacement tissues and organs.

The discovery leads a top ten of major advances announced by the prestigious US journal Science. It was chosen because it "opened a new field of biology almost overnight and holds out hope of life-saving medical advances," said Robert Coontz, an editor on the publication.

Scientists first showed they could transform adult cells into stem cells in experiments on mice two years ago. This year, they built on the work and made spectacular progress in humans.

In July, researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Boston plucked skin cells from an 82-year-old woman with motor neurone disease and reprogrammed them into stem cells, before turning these into spinal cord nerves. By watching the nerves grow in the lab, the scientists can see how the disease takes hold and progresses, which is impossible to observe in a living patient.

Only a week later, another team created stem cells from patients with 10 other medical conditions, including muscular dystrophy, type 1 diabetes and Down's syndrome. Researchers are now focusing on boosting the safety and efficiency of the technique.

Second place on the list of breakthroughs was awarded for the first direct observation of a planet beyond our own solar system. Scientists first confirmed that there were worlds orbiting other stars in the 1980s, though they did so indirectly. The majority of the more than 300 "extrasolar planets" now known were spotted by watching the tiny wobble in stars' position as enormous, Jupiter-sized planets swung around them.

This year, scientists announced that they had seen shimmers of light from the planets themselves. They are just faint pinpricks of light in space, but they will give astronomers clues to what those distant planets are made of and how they formed.

The remaining eight breakthroughs are not ranked in any particular order but cover the breadth of science from the genetics of cancer and renewable sources of energy, to an unprecedented understanding of "good fat", and a way of calculating the mass of the universe.

Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, made the top 10 list for developing a laser microscope to capture the dance of cells inside a fertilised egg as it grows into an embryo. By rewinding the video of a zebrafish embryo, the researchers were able to trace the origin of cells that formed specific tissues, such as the retina at the back of the eye.

The year saw a flurry of genomes published, from that of the woolly mammoth to individual cancer patients, a feat aided by a surge in new genetic sequencing techniques, which also made the top ten. Joining them was research on two of the deadliest cancers, pancreatic and brain tumours, which revealed dozens of mutations that had made the cells go awry.

Another notable breakthrough involved research into brown fat tissue, which burns "bad" white fat to generate heat for the body. Scientists found that brown fat is remarkably similar to muscle, a discovery that could lead to new treatments for obesity.

The remaining top 10 scientific discoveries included a new family of superconductors that can carry electricity without resistance; a way to watch proteins at work; a catalyst that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen, and so provide renewable energy; and a calculation that predicts the mass of two of the building blocks of matter, the proton and neutron.

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 | 18 Dec 2008 | 7:05 pm

Dinosaur Dads Watched Over Eggs

Some dinosaurs turned to males for parental care.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm

Experts urge safety probe of plastics chemicals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators should examine whether a controversial class of chemicals found in many plastic products including children's toys can hurt people, a panel of experts said on Thursday.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 18 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm

Ethiopians switched on by free, low-energy light bulbs

The Ethiopian government is handing out free energy-saving light bulbs to householders to prevent power cuts.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 Dec 2008 | 6:12 pm

Robert Redford vs. George Bush on Preservation vs. Drilling

Should federal land near natural national treasures in Utah be auctioned off for oil and gas exploration?
Source: Livescience.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 5:19 pm

Tidal energy system on full power

A tidal turbine near the mouth of Strangford Lough begins producing electricity at full capacity for the first time.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 Dec 2008 | 4:59 pm

Climate outcome 'hangs on coal'

If the growth in CO2 emissions is to be constrained, the world cannot afford a coal renaissance, a major scientific meeting is told.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 Dec 2008 | 4:25 pm

Seven Penguins Considered for Protection

Six penguin species may get threatened status and one may become endangered.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 4:16 pm

America's Meat Habit Feeds Gulf Dead Zone

The ever-booming meat industry is mostly responsible for the Gulf dead zone.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 3:51 pm

Space Shuttles Up For Grabs

NASA announces the soon-to-be-retired space shuttles will be available for display.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 3:35 pm

Q&A: Variant CJD

What is

variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

?

A rare, long-incubating disease that is said to be incurable, although a controversial treatment regarded as unproven by most scientists has been tried by a handful of families and in some cases may have prolonged life significantly. A drug called pentosan polysulphate is pumped around the brain. The treatment involves surgery because it has to be administered through tubes at regular intervals.

How is variant CJD caused?

It is generally believed to be caused by exposure to cattle, although three of the 164 people who have died in Britain were probably infected through contaminated blood. The disease is thought to occur when a normal protein called a prion adopts a different shape after encountering an abnormal prion. This leads to a chain reaction which, in turn, leads to damage in brain cells.

When did it first occur in the UK?

The first known cases were found among teenagers in 1995, almost a decade after BSE was first identified in cattle. Many of the people affected so far are thought to have been infected before controls over meat production were introduced in 1990. Further controls followed that covered food, the use of surgical and dental instruments, and blood transfusions.

Is Britain the only country affected?

No. At least eight other countries have reported cases, with France reporting well over 20. However, some of the 40 or so infections are thought to have originated from visits to the UK. Other countries also had BSE in cattle but Britain is generally regarded as having "exported" the disease.

Who is most at risk?

Most of the cases have been among younger people, in their late 20s when diagnosed, although one patient was 74.

What is the significance of the latest case?

If confirmed, this is the first clinical case in what could be the second wave of infections long feared by scientists. The different type of gene involved was previously found during postmortem tests on a woman who died from other causes and has therefore never been an official vCJD case. The new case is believed to involve someone in their late 20s or 30s who is thought to have eaten infected meat as a young teenager.

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 | 18 Dec 2008 | 3:35 pm

Shackleton's feet

Retracing a voyage of one of Britain's greatest explorers
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 18 Dec 2008 | 3:34 pm

Stealthy Cats’ Achilles Heel Discovered

Researcher film cat movement, find is energy inefficient, but keeps them stable.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 3:26 pm

The Energy Debates: Hydrogen Vehicles

The Energy Debates is a LiveScience series about the pros, cons, policy debates, myths and facts related to various alternative energy ideas.
Source: Livescience.com | 18 Dec 2008 | 3:01 pm

Dinosaur Baby Boom Hit Cretaceous Korea

Fossilized eggs suggest dinos chose special "nursery" areas to start a family.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 2:35 pm

High-Energy Jumbo Squid at Risk With Warming

Rising CO2 levels in the oceans is likely to make the Humboldt squid lethargic.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 18 Dec 2008 | 2:20 pm

First U.S. patient gets face transplant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Surgeons have replaced 80 percent of a woman's face, transplanting bone, teeth, muscle and nerve in the first such operation in the United States.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 18 Dec 2008 | 1:24 pm

Space shuttles for sale: one careful owner, starting price $42m

It could be the ultimate Christmas present for anyone who can afford the stellar price tag: Nasa has announced plans to sell off its space shuttles when they stop flying in 2010, at a cost of at least $42m (£27m) apiece – postage and packing included.

Selling its remaining shuttles would bring in much-needed dollars to the hard-up American space agency, which is already facing a budget deficit for the next-generation Ares rockets that it is planned will return astronauts to the moon.

The advertised price is just the starting figure for any one of the orbiters Discovery, Atlantis or Endeavour, which between them have flown 86 missions into space since 1984. Included is the minimum $6m cost of stripping a shuttle of toxic and other hazardous materials, preparing it for travel and flying it to an airport of the buyer's choosing.

As an agency of the US government, Nasa insists it won't be selling its most prized assets to just anybody. So far, it is approaching only educational institutions, science museums and "other appropriate organisations" to gauge interest and assess the size of their chequebooks.

"Nasa is keenly aware of the essential value of these key assets to the space programme's rich history," an official says in a "request for information" document that seeks ideas for the public display of the shuttles after their retirement.

"The agency is therefore committed to making placement decisions that are determined to be in the best interest of the American taxpayer. Special attention will be paid to ensuring they will retire to appropriate places."

Only US citizens will be eligible to purchase and display the shuttles, which will be sold with all space-worthy fittings and fixtures except the main engines. Interested parties must promise to display the spacecraft in a climate-controlled indoor location.

Six main shuttle engines will be available for separate purchase for up to $800,000 each, excluding transport costs.

Previously, Nasa has donated historically important space hardware for free. Saturn rockets, lunar modules and other artifacts from the Apollo era are on display at various locations including the Kennedy Space Centre, in Florida, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington DC, and the US Space and Rocket Centre, in Alabama.

Only two of the shuttles are likely to be sold, with the third expected to remain in government hands, possibly on display in Washington. "Nasa advised Congress that it would begin discussions with the Smithsonian Institution regarding accession of a flown orbiter to the national collection," the agency said in the document.

The idea is to "gauge the level and scope of interest of US organisations in acquiring the two other orbiters for public display once Nasa's programmatic requirements for the assets have been satisfied."

Nasa's own visitor centres, in Houston and at the Kennedy Space Centre, where all 124 shuttle launches to date have taken place, are among those invited to respond.

Five shuttles have flown into space since the programme began in 1981. Two of them, Challenger and Columbia, were destroyed in the disasters of 1986 and 2003 that cost 14 astronauts their lives.

The last shuttle mission is scheduled for September 2010, when construction of the international space station is expected to be complete. The incoming US president, Barack Obama, has appointed a team to assess the viability of extending shuttle flights beyond that date, to close the gap until the planned first manned flight of the new Orion crew capsule and Ares rocket in 2015.

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 | 18 Dec 2008 | 12:03 pm