Mechanism Discovered For Wind Detection In Fruit Flies' Antennae

Tiny, lightweight fruit flies need to know when it's windy out so they can steady themselves and avoid being knocked off their feet or blown off course. But how do they figure out that it's time to hunker down? Scientists have discovered that the flies have evolved a specialized population of neurons in their antennae that let them know not only when the wind is blowing, but also the direction from which it is coming.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm

Random Network Connectivity Can Be Delayed, But With Explosive Results, New Study Finds

A trio of mathematicians studying random networks has provided new evidence that connectivity can be appreciably delayed, but only at a cost. When it finally occurs, the transition is virtually instantaneous, like a film of water abruptly crystallizing into ice.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm

Hyperbaric Treatment For Autism Reports Significant Clinical Improvements

Hyperbaric treatment for children with autism has reportedly led to improvements in the condition, though previous studies were uncontrolled. Now is the first controlled trial to report clinical improvements.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm

Work Stress Associated With Adverse Mental And Physical Health Outcomes In Police Officers

Exposure to critical incidents, workplace discrimination, lack of cooperation among coworkers and job dissatisfaction correlated significantly with perceived work stress among urban police officers, according to a new study. Work stress was significantly associated with adverse outcomes, including depression and intimate partner abuse.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm

Rabies Deaths From Dog Bites Could Be Eliminated Globally

Someone in the developing world -- particularly in rural Africa -- dies from a rabid dog bite every 10 minutes. But global elimination of this horrific disease appears to be possible, according to scientists.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm

Cancerous Kidney Removed Through The Naval

Physicians have removed a kidney from a woman diagnosed with kidney cancer, through a single opening. This is the first operation of this type carried out in Spain and one of very few performed throughout the world. Recovery time is reduced by half and the surgical results are far better than those of conventional laparoscopy.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm

MIT Battery Material Could Lead To Rapid Recharging Of Many Devices

MIT engineers have created a kind of beltway that allows for the rapid transit of electrical energy through a well-known battery material, an advance that could usher in smaller, lighter batteries -- for cell phones and other devices -- that could recharge in seconds rather than hours.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 6:00 pm

Steroid Doping Tests Ignore Vital Ethnic Differences In Hormone Activity

Current steroid (testosterone) doping tests should be scrapped for international sport, because they ignore vital ethnic differences in hormone activity, suggests research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 6:00 pm

Leatherback Turtle Threatened By Plastic Garbage In Ocean

Leatherback turtles, the most widely distributed reptiles on Earth, are threatened with extinction themselves, in large part due to the carelessness of humans. A professor addresses the threat of plastics to this endangered species. Since leatherbacks prefer eating jellyfish, it's widely believed they mistake bags or other plastics for their meals.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 6:00 pm

Not Enough Vitamin D In The Diet Could Mean Too Much Fat On Adolescents

Too little vitamin D could be bad for more than your bones; it may also lead to fatter adolescents, researchers say.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 6:00 pm

More Space Junk Headed for Space Station

To dodge space debris, the International Space Station may have to fire its engines.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Mar 2009 | 3:10 pm

Gravity satellite launch delayed

The launch of a European Space Agency gravity mapping satellite, called Goce, has been delayed.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 16 Mar 2009 | 2:27 pm

Ozone Linked to Deadly Lung Disease

Long-term exposure to ozone raises the risk of dying form lung disease by 30 percent.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Mar 2009 | 2:15 pm

Walking, talking female robot to hit Japan catwalk (AP)

AP - A new walking, talking robot from Japan has a female face that can smile and has trimmed down to 43 kilograms (95 pounds) to make a debut at a fashion show. But it still hasn't cleared safety standards required to share the catwalk with human models.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 2:14 pm

Sea Level Rise to Affect NYC, Northeast Most

New York's coasts will experience twice the sea level rise as the rest of the world.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Mar 2009 | 2:10 pm

Hippo Sweat Offers Key to Natural Sunscreen

An oily secretion keeps hippos safe from the sun. Can scientists put it in a bottle?
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 16 Mar 2009 | 2:09 pm

European satellite ready to blast off on mission to reveal oceans' secrets

Dubbed the 'Ferrari' of space probes for its looks, the European Space Agency's new satellite will use equally advanced technology to gather detailed information on the Earth's climate change and gravitational shape

Space engineers will this afternoon launch one of the most stylish, and important, satellites ever built by European scientists. The 16ft torpedo-shaped probe – the Gravity and Ocean Circulation Explorer, or Goce – will be blasted into space on a Russian SS-19 missile from the Plesetsk cosmodrome near Arkangel.

Once in orbit the £200m satellite – constructed by the European Space Agency, Esa - will swoop over the atmosphere to measure Earth's gravity with unprecedented accuracy. The data it returns will be vital to scientists trying to understand the impact of climate change on Earth, and in particular for climate researchers who are seeking to understand how oceans transport heat around the planet.

"Gravity varies depending where you are on the planet," says Professor Marek Ziebert, of University College, London. "And those variations have an effect on how the oceans circulate. Goce will provide crucial information that will allow us to gain a new understanding of how the oceans behave."

But Goce is also distinctive because of its elegant design and its covering of silver-blue solar cells. It has been labelled the Ferrari of space probes by its manufacturers, Thales Alenia Space Italia while Volker Liebig, Director of Earth Observation Programmes at Esa described the craft as "a jewel of innovations".

Liebig added that Goce has been designed to fly at an extremely low orbital altitude, just 250km (155 miles) above Earth, where it will encounter friction from the thin atmosphere: "For this reason it has an eye-catching aerodynamic shape and will actively compensate for the air drag by using the finely controlled thrust of its ion engine."

The probe's T5 ion rocket was built by QinetiQ in the UK and will be fired constantly throughout its 20-month mission in order to keep Goce in its correct orbit. At the same time, computers will send 10 messages a second to its engines to ensure the probe orbits at the right height. Goce will also use GPS devices to plot its exact position and a gradiometer, a machine that can detect fluctuations of a million millionth in Earth's gravity.

This data will then be transmitted daily and used to build a model of Earth's shape, one that is accurate to within a centimetre, as well as putting together a highly accurate gravity map of the planet. "Gravity is the force that drives the circulation of the oceans," added Dr Mark Drinkwater, Goce's project scientist. "Until we understand its exact role we cannot predict how the seas - and planet - will behave as the climate gets warmer. That is why Goce is being launched."

Ocean currents take a third of all the heat that falls on equatorial regions and carries it to higher latitudes. One of the most important currents is the Gulf Stream, which scientists fear could be destroyed or diverted by melting Arctic ice. But they need to know all the gravitational effects that influence the stream's course across the Atlantic before they can make accurate predictions.

The problem is that Earth's gravity is not constant. The planet is flattened at the poles, for example, so gravity is stronger there, and weaker at the equator. Gas fields, mineral deposits, groundwater reservoirs and rock strata also produce variations in gravity.

"There are all sorts of wiggles and bumps in Earth's gravity field," said Dr Chris Hughes, of the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory in Liverpool. "Each will influence ocean currents, which have a crucial role in moving heat around the world. If we are to understand how climate change is going to affect the planet, we have to have a precise picture of its gravity field.

Once we combine the data we will get from Goce with observations of sea height and ocean current flow - information that is provided by other satellites - we will get a clear idea of what our oceans are doing. Then we will get a better picture of how the seas are changing as the world heats up."

Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 16 Mar 2009 | 1:53 pm

Discovery nears space station as debris nears, too (AP)

AP - Seven astronauts raced to the international space station aboard space shuttle Discovery on Monday, while NASA debated whether the orbiting outpost will need to move aside to dodge a piece of space junk.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 1:52 pm

Teen Dinosaurs Got into Trouble (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Like teenagers today, some juvenile dinosaurs used to hang out together, according to research announced today.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 1:45 pm

Grizzly Bear with Cubs Charge a Wolf

In this remote-camera footage from Glacier National Park in Montana, a bear and her cubs play an amazing long game of cat-and-mouse with a wolf.
Source: Livescience.com | 16 Mar 2009 | 1:38 pm

Teen Dinosaurs Got into Trouble

Like human teenagers, some juvenile dinosaurs used to hang out together in herds.
Source: Livescience.com | 16 Mar 2009 | 1:27 pm

Physicist wins £1m Templeton gong

French physicist and philosopher Bernard d'Espagnat has won the Templeton Prize for work on the nature of reality.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 16 Mar 2009 | 1:23 pm

Trend: Daughters Follow Dads’ Footsteps

Women now are three times more likely than those born a century ago to follow their fathers into his line of work.
Source: Livescience.com | 16 Mar 2009 | 1:12 pm

Astronauts to Inspect Shuttle Heat Shield (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery will inspect their spacecraft's vital heat shield for damage today as they head toward the International Space Station.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 12:16 pm

China's Gobi desert source of rare dinosaur find (AP)

AP - Left on their own by adults, the young dinosaurs sank into the mud beside a lake and died 90 million years ago in what would become the Gobi Desert.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 11:19 am

French physicist d'Espagnat wins prestigious Templeton Prize

PARIS (Reuters) - French physicist and philosopher Bernard d'Espagnat has won the 2009 Templeton Prize, billed as the world's largest annual award to an individual, for his work affirming the spiritual dimension of life.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 10:58 am

Queen Cleopatra was 'of African descent', say scientists

Scientific tests on remains thought to be Queen Cleopatra's sister show the siblings had an African mother.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 16 Mar 2009 | 10:24 am

Mini-boats are 'strongest ever'

Super-buoyant metals used to make postage stamp-sized boats could one day be the basis of "aquatic robots"
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 16 Mar 2009 | 10:15 am

Hurricane Season 2008 (weather.com)

weather.com -
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 10:05 am

From the pits of despair: UK man has first sweat gland removal

How a UK first operation could mean the end of sweaty armpits for one restaurant manager.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 16 Mar 2009 | 10:05 am

Burning issue

Can a new take on charcoal save humanity's future?
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 16 Mar 2009 | 9:20 am

Future of floods

Anticipating watery climate change in the Netherlands
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 16 Mar 2009 | 9:16 am

Analysis: Stem cell payoff wait's decades not days (AP)

AP - For all the past week's headlines about embryonic stem cells' medical promise there is a sobering reality: The science to prove that promise will take years, probably too long for many of today's seriously ill.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 8:28 am

Wales plans energy efficiency drive

Major changes to support for people in fuel poverty are to form part of a plan to make Wales more energy-efficient.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 16 Mar 2009 | 6:49 am

Shuttle Discovery blasts off for space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Discovery blasted off its seaside launch pad on Sunday with a pair of solar wing panels and the first Japanese resident astronaut for the International Space Station.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 16 Mar 2009 | 4:52 am

Nasa shuttle launched after delay

Space shuttle Discovery blasts off from Florida on a mission to the International Space Station after weeks of delay.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 16 Mar 2009 | 12:16 am

Things scientists can't explain

This week we hear from Michael Brooks – a consultant for New Scientist magazine and author of 13 Things That Don't Make Sense. In it he uncovers some extraordinary mysteries that scientists have been unable to explain. Why can't we see 96% of the universe? Is free will an illusion? And why do we bother having sex? (evolutionarily speaking, that is)

Unless you spent last week living in an underground bunker, you can't have failed to notice the climate change conference in Copenhagen. It was convened to discuss new findings in climate science that have come to light since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its last report in 2007. The Guardian's David Adam spoke to the head of the IPCC, Rajendra Pachauri, about the deep carbon cuts that scientists and campaigners say the US needs to make.

And James Randerson recently chaired a debate between the Cambridge palaeontologist Simon Conway-Morris and Elaine Morgan, advocate of the "aquatic ape" hypothesis, at the Bath Literature Festival. We bring you some highlights from the talk, including their take on the purposefulness of evolution and the futility of arguing with creationists.

Plus, we have news of the European Space Agency's new mission to map Earth's gravity, how you can blame your stupidity on your old man, a rock-throwing chimp that's challenged our ideas of the uniqueness of human foresight, and how mindreading might be closer than we know you're thinking.

Transmit your thoughts below or on our Facebook wall, and do try out our new Twitter feeds – guardianscience and scienceweekly.

Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 16 Mar 2009 | 12:03 am

Monitoring of rare whales near NY harbor ends (AP)

AP - Monitoring for endangered right whales off New York harbor is ending because the project has lost funding in the state's current budget crunch.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Mar 2009 | 9:40 pm

OPEC to keep present output (AP)

AP - OPEC tried on Sunday to nudge oil prices up by urging its members to stop overproducing, but the cartel decided not to cut current output levels which could have driven prices sharply higher.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Mar 2009 | 8:16 pm

Northeast US to suffer most from future sea rise (AP)

AP - The northeastern U.S. coast is likely to see the world's biggest sea level rise from man-made global warming, a new study predicts.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 15 Mar 2009 | 6:04 pm

Carbon-neutral goal for Maldives

The Maldives leader says his country will be carbon-neutral within a decade by switching to renewable energy.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 15 Mar 2009 | 2:52 pm