Newsdesk Archive
times-herald.comExplorations in Antiquity in LaGrange will soon open its Biblical Life Artifacts Gallery, displaying real antiquities from the Bronze Age through the late Byzantine Period.The Explorations in Antiquity Center is an educational experience focused on ancient Middle-Eastern history. Its purpose is to help people experience the ancient biblical world, its history and culture.
Alien moons around distant worlds may not possess magnetic fields strong enough to protect extraterrestrial life from radiation that may blast it from deep space and nearby stars, researchers say.The images that most likely come to mind when thinking of life-bearing alien moons are those of the forest moon of Endor in the "Star Wars" universe or Pandora in James Cameron's movie "Avatar." Astronomers might soon be able to spot real exomoons and scan their atmospheres for key signs of life as we know it, such as oxygen.
Violent impacts from comets and other hurtling bodies can pepper planets and their moons with the molecular building blocks of life, new research suggests.The high-speed collisions unleash intense shock waves that can turn simple organic compounds found in comets and on icy worlds into amino acids, which make proteins, cells and ultimately all living organisms.
The Canadian government in recent years has banned government scientists from talking about a growing list of research topics including: snowflakes, the ozone layer, salmon, and previously published work about a 13,000-year-old flood.Now it seems the scientists are talking back.
THE United Nation's latest investigation into climate change reportedly admits the world has been warming at only just over half the rate it had claimed in 2007.According to the UK's Daily Mail newspaper, a leaked draft of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest assessment of the state of the climate and global warming - AR5 - says the earth has been warming at a rate of 0.12C each decade since 1951.
Tropical forests speed their own recovery, capturing nitrogen and carbon faster after being logged or cleared for agriculture. Researchers working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama think the discovery that trees "turn up" their ability to capture or "fix" nitrogen from the air and release it into the soil as the forest makes a comeback has far-reaching implications for forest restoration projects to mitigate global warming.
New research has revealed that more ice leaves Antarctica by melting from the underside of submerged ice shelves than was previously thought, accounting for as much as 90 per cent of ice loss in some areas.
Plus, why colony collapse disorder is not that big of a deal anymoreWhat's killing the bees? If you've been watching the news, you might answer: "Colony collapse disorder." Yet after the winter of 2011-2012, beekeepers only attributed 8 percent of their wintertime honeybee-hive losses to colony collapse disorder. Other reasons for hive deaths were much more common, including ailing queen bees, to which beekeepers attributed 32 percent of their dead hives.
Dr Alexander Weigand of the Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany, has described a new species of cave-dwelling snail from the Lukina Jama
Smaller animals tend to perceive time as if it is passing in slow-motion, a new study has shown.This means that they can observe movement on a finer timescale than bigger creatures, allowing them to escape from larger predators.Insects and small birds, for example, can see more information in one second than a larger animal such as an elephant.
The first nearly indestructible ball designed for wild animals is a hit in zoos across the country, zookeepers report.The ball, called the One World Futbol, will not pop or deflate, even if it
A world-first superbug is to undergo field trials to clean up two of Australia's most polluted industrial sites at Port Botany in NSW and Altona in Melbourne in the coming year.The microbe, the first in the world found to completely break down chloroform
A healthy diet may reduce the risk of severe depression, according to a prospective follow-up study of more than 2,000 men conducted at the University of Eastern Finland. In addition, weight loss in the context of a lifestyle intervention was associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms."The study reinforces the hypothesis that a healthy diet has potential not only in the warding off of depression, but also in its prevention", says Ms Anu Ruusunen, MSc, who presented the results in her doctoral thesis in the field of nutritional epidemiology.
From her Oxfordshire home, Amanda Feilding leads a group with the sort of academic and political influence that could see cannabis being legalised
Archaeological research in western Anatolia shows doping in sports was a common
Modern researchers have puzzled for centuries over the striking stone construction known as Stonehenge. But now researchers have discovered new aspects of the site, including a processional road, that may eventually help unravel some of its mysteries.There are many theories about why ancient peoples constructed the prehistoric megalithic monument, which is estimated to have been built between 3000 and 1520 B.C. Located outside Salisbury, England, Stonehenge is the focus of ongoing research projects coordinated by English Heritage, a cultural preservation agency.
An archaeologists analysis on how the construction of megalithic monuments in Atlantic Europe are not restricted to a single purpose, nor how they reflect one aspect of the community that built them.Contrarily, they give well-rounded evidence for practical and symbolic components of the early agricultural lifestyle within the Neolithic.
times-herald.comExplorations in Antiquity in LaGrange will soon open its Biblical Life Artifacts Gallery, displaying real antiquities from the Bronze Age through the late Byzantine Period.The Explorations in Antiquity Center is an educational experience focused on ancient Middle-Eastern history. Its purpose is to help people experience the ancient biblical world, its history and culture.
Alien moons around distant worlds may not possess magnetic fields strong enough to protect extraterrestrial life from radiation that may blast it from deep space and nearby stars, researchers say.The images that most likely come to mind when thinking of life-bearing alien moons are those of the forest moon of Endor in the "Star Wars" universe or Pandora in James Cameron's movie "Avatar." Astronomers might soon be able to spot real exomoons and scan their atmospheres for key signs of life as we know it, such as oxygen.
Violent impacts from comets and other hurtling bodies can pepper planets and their moons with the molecular building blocks of life, new research suggests.The high-speed collisions unleash intense shock waves that can turn simple organic compounds found in comets and on icy worlds into amino acids, which make proteins, cells and ultimately all living organisms.
A healthy diet may reduce the risk of severe depression, according to a prospective follow-up study of more than 2,000 men conducted at the University of Eastern Finland. In addition, weight loss in the context of a lifestyle intervention was associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms."The study reinforces the hypothesis that a healthy diet has potential not only in the warding off of depression, but also in its prevention", says Ms Anu Ruusunen, MSc, who presented the results in her doctoral thesis in the field of nutritional epidemiology.
Modern researchers have puzzled for centuries over the striking stone construction known as Stonehenge. But now researchers have discovered new aspects of the site, including a processional road, that may eventually help unravel some of its mysteries.There are many theories about why ancient peoples constructed the prehistoric megalithic monument, which is estimated to have been built between 3000 and 1520 B.C. Located outside Salisbury, England, Stonehenge is the focus of ongoing research projects coordinated by English Heritage, a cultural preservation agency.
An archaeologists analysis on how the construction of megalithic monuments in Atlantic Europe are not restricted to a single purpose, nor how they reflect one aspect of the community that built them.Contrarily, they give well-rounded evidence for practical and symbolic components of the early agricultural lifestyle within the Neolithic.
times-herald.comExplorations in Antiquity in LaGrange will soon open its Biblical Life Artifacts Gallery, displaying real antiquities from the Bronze Age through the late Byzantine Period.The Explorations in Antiquity Center is an educational experience focused on ancient Middle-Eastern history. Its purpose is to help people experience the ancient biblical world, its history and culture.
Alien moons around distant worlds may not possess magnetic fields strong enough to protect extraterrestrial life from radiation that may blast it from deep space and nearby stars, researchers say.The images that most likely come to mind when thinking of life-bearing alien moons are those of the forest moon of Endor in the "Star Wars" universe or Pandora in James Cameron's movie "Avatar." Astronomers might soon be able to spot real exomoons and scan their atmospheres for key signs of life as we know it, such as oxygen.
Violent impacts from comets and other hurtling bodies can pepper planets and their moons with the molecular building blocks of life, new research suggests.The high-speed collisions unleash intense shock waves that can turn simple organic compounds found in comets and on icy worlds into amino acids, which make proteins, cells and ultimately all living organisms.
The Canadian government in recent years has banned government scientists from talking about a growing list of research topics including: snowflakes, the ozone layer, salmon, and previously published work about a 13,000-year-old flood.Now it seems the scientists are talking back.
THE United Nation's latest investigation into climate change reportedly admits the world has been warming at only just over half the rate it had claimed in 2007.According to the UK's Daily Mail newspaper, a leaked draft of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest assessment of the state of the climate and global warming - AR5 - says the earth has been warming at a rate of 0.12C each decade since 1951.
Tropical forests speed their own recovery, capturing nitrogen and carbon faster after being logged or cleared for agriculture. Researchers working at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama think the discovery that trees "turn up" their ability to capture or "fix" nitrogen from the air and release it into the soil as the forest makes a comeback has far-reaching implications for forest restoration projects to mitigate global warming.
New research has revealed that more ice leaves Antarctica by melting from the underside of submerged ice shelves than was previously thought, accounting for as much as 90 per cent of ice loss in some areas.
Plus, why colony collapse disorder is not that big of a deal anymoreWhat's killing the bees? If you've been watching the news, you might answer: "Colony collapse disorder." Yet after the winter of 2011-2012, beekeepers only attributed 8 percent of their wintertime honeybee-hive losses to colony collapse disorder. Other reasons for hive deaths were much more common, including ailing queen bees, to which beekeepers attributed 32 percent of their dead hives.
Smaller animals tend to perceive time as if it is passing in slow-motion, a new study has shown.This means that they can observe movement on a finer timescale than bigger creatures, allowing them to escape from larger predators.Insects and small birds, for example, can see more information in one second than a larger animal such as an elephant.
Aging is an inevitable fact of life for most organisms, but one particular microbe has found a way to avoid getting older, at least in a sense, a new study finds.Under favorable conditions, the microbe, a species of yeast called S. pombe, does not age the way other microbes do, the researchers said.
Saturday, Aug. 31, marked the end of the application period for future astronauts hoping to catch a ride on a rocket to Mars. The project, known as Mars One, is a nonprofit foundation established with the eventual goal of using existing transportation and other technologies to arrive at and settle on Mars.As a hard-science fiction writer, I have spent some time attempting to envision what life might be like as a settler on Mars 35 years from now.
A huge asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs may not have been the only cosmic event to cause mass extinctions or change Earth
Japan is set to be nuclear power-free, for just the third time in more than four decades, and with no firm date for re-starting an energy source that has provided about 30 percent of electricity to the world's third-largest economy.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil will probably scale down its plans for new nuclear plants due to safety concerns following the 2011 radiation leak in Japan and pick up some of the slack with a "revolution" in wind power, the head of the government's energy planning agency said.Mauricio Tolmasquim, chief of the Energy Research Company, told Reuters it was "unlikely" the government would stick to its plans to build four new nuclear plants by 2030 to meet rising demand for electricity.
Recent experimental research showing that the anesthetic and club drug ketamine can relieve depression quickly has intrigued a number of major pharmaceutical companies. Depression, it goes without saying, affects huge numbers and a fundamentally new and effective pharmaceutical approach to treating the disorder hasn
Parenting competitions can start early. How old children are when they utter their first words, walk or learn to read can all be topics of parental comparisons. But a new study in Finland found a twist: Children with advanced language skills were more likely to drink alcohol as teens.
Facebook, the social networking website was created to enhance global communication. However, it is now causing more loneliness and reducing satisfaction and happiness among users, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan.
Hyperactivity can be a frustrating experience for children as well as for their parents, teachers and other caregivers. The state typically is viewed simply as abnormal behavior, with little understanding of its causes. Now, research with mice points to an unlikely source: a defective inner ear.
Even though Danish students have equal access to education, their choice of studies is still influenced by social class. Young people from working class backgrounds are motivated by studies with a clear job profile and high income, while prestige and studies with a strong identity appeal to young people of parents with university degrees when choosing which studies to pursue. This is what researchers from the University of Copenhagen conclude in a new study.
Despite never having performed surgery or dissected an animal, 8-month-old babies expect living creatures to have insides, new research suggests.The study, detailed Sept. 3 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed that tots expected self-propelled objects to have guts and were surprised when those objects were hollow.
Shortly after an elephant gave birth at the Shendiaoshan Wild Animal Nature Reserve in Rongcheng, China, she rejected the calf.She didn't just reject him, the mother elephant stepped on him.Zookeepers removed the baby elephant, treated his injuries, and returned him to his mother. They thought she'd mistakenly stepped on him.
Before there was life on Earth, there were molecules. A primordial soup. At some point a few specialized molecules began replicating. This self-replication, scientists agree, kick-started a biochemical process that would lead to the first organisms. But exactly how that happened -- how those molecules began replicating -- has been one of science's enduring mysteries.
The cyclic wobble of the Earth on its axis controls the production of a nutrient essential to the health of the ocean, according to a new study in the journal Nature. The discovery of factors that control this nutrient, known as "fixed" nitrogen, gives researchers insight into how the ocean regulates its own life-support system, which in turn affects the Earth's climate and the size of marine fisheries.
Aging is an inevitable fact of life for most organisms, but one particular microbe has found a way to avoid getting older, at least in a sense, a new study finds.Under favorable conditions, the microbe, a species of yeast called S. pombe, does not age the way other microbes do, the researchers said.
Saturday, Aug. 31, marked the end of the application period for future astronauts hoping to catch a ride on a rocket to Mars. The project, known as Mars One, is a nonprofit foundation established with the eventual goal of using existing transportation and other technologies to arrive at and settle on Mars.As a hard-science fiction writer, I have spent some time attempting to envision what life might be like as a settler on Mars 35 years from now.
A huge asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs may not have been the only cosmic event to cause mass extinctions or change Earth
Japan is set to be nuclear power-free, for just the third time in more than four decades, and with no firm date for re-starting an energy source that has provided about 30 percent of electricity to the world's third-largest economy.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil will probably scale down its plans for new nuclear plants due to safety concerns following the 2011 radiation leak in Japan and pick up some of the slack with a "revolution" in wind power, the head of the government's energy planning agency said.Mauricio Tolmasquim, chief of the Energy Research Company, told Reuters it was "unlikely" the government would stick to its plans to build four new nuclear plants by 2030 to meet rising demand for electricity.
Recent experimental research showing that the anesthetic and club drug ketamine can relieve depression quickly has intrigued a number of major pharmaceutical companies. Depression, it goes without saying, affects huge numbers and a fundamentally new and effective pharmaceutical approach to treating the disorder hasn
Parenting competitions can start early. How old children are when they utter their first words, walk or learn to read can all be topics of parental comparisons. But a new study in Finland found a twist: Children with advanced language skills were more likely to drink alcohol as teens.
Facebook, the social networking website was created to enhance global communication. However, it is now causing more loneliness and reducing satisfaction and happiness among users, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan.
Hyperactivity can be a frustrating experience for children as well as for their parents, teachers and other caregivers. The state typically is viewed simply as abnormal behavior, with little understanding of its causes. Now, research with mice points to an unlikely source: a defective inner ear.
Even though Danish students have equal access to education, their choice of studies is still influenced by social class. Young people from working class backgrounds are motivated by studies with a clear job profile and high income, while prestige and studies with a strong identity appeal to young people of parents with university degrees when choosing which studies to pursue. This is what researchers from the University of Copenhagen conclude in a new study.
Despite never having performed surgery or dissected an animal, 8-month-old babies expect living creatures to have insides, new research suggests.The study, detailed Sept. 3 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed that tots expected self-propelled objects to have guts and were surprised when those objects were hollow.
Shortly after an elephant gave birth at the Shendiaoshan Wild Animal Nature Reserve in Rongcheng, China, she rejected the calf.She didn't just reject him, the mother elephant stepped on him.Zookeepers removed the baby elephant, treated his injuries, and returned him to his mother. They thought she'd mistakenly stepped on him.
Before there was life on Earth, there were molecules. A primordial soup. At some point a few specialized molecules began replicating. This self-replication, scientists agree, kick-started a biochemical process that would lead to the first organisms. But exactly how that happened -- how those molecules began replicating -- has been one of science's enduring mysteries.
The cyclic wobble of the Earth on its axis controls the production of a nutrient essential to the health of the ocean, according to a new study in the journal Nature. The discovery of factors that control this nutrient, known as "fixed" nitrogen, gives researchers insight into how the ocean regulates its own life-support system, which in turn affects the Earth's climate and the size of marine fisheries.
Aging is an inevitable fact of life for most organisms, but one particular microbe has found a way to avoid getting older, at least in a sense, a new study finds.Under favorable conditions, the microbe, a species of yeast called S. pombe, does not age the way other microbes do, the researchers said.
Saturday, Aug. 31, marked the end of the application period for future astronauts hoping to catch a ride on a rocket to Mars. The project, known as Mars One, is a nonprofit foundation established with the eventual goal of using existing transportation and other technologies to arrive at and settle on Mars.As a hard-science fiction writer, I have spent some time attempting to envision what life might be like as a settler on Mars 35 years from now.
A huge asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs may not have been the only cosmic event to cause mass extinctions or change Earth
Japan is set to be nuclear power-free, for just the third time in more than four decades, and with no firm date for re-starting an energy source that has provided about 30 percent of electricity to the world's third-largest economy.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil will probably scale down its plans for new nuclear plants due to safety concerns following the 2011 radiation leak in Japan and pick up some of the slack with a "revolution" in wind power, the head of the government's energy planning agency said.Mauricio Tolmasquim, chief of the Energy Research Company, told Reuters it was "unlikely" the government would stick to its plans to build four new nuclear plants by 2030 to meet rising demand for electricity.
Recent experimental research showing that the anesthetic and club drug ketamine can relieve depression quickly has intrigued a number of major pharmaceutical companies. Depression, it goes without saying, affects huge numbers and a fundamentally new and effective pharmaceutical approach to treating the disorder hasn
Parenting competitions can start early. How old children are when they utter their first words, walk or learn to read can all be topics of parental comparisons. But a new study in Finland found a twist: Children with advanced language skills were more likely to drink alcohol as teens.
Facebook, the social networking website was created to enhance global communication. However, it is now causing more loneliness and reducing satisfaction and happiness among users, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan.
Hyperactivity can be a frustrating experience for children as well as for their parents, teachers and other caregivers. The state typically is viewed simply as abnormal behavior, with little understanding of its causes. Now, research with mice points to an unlikely source: a defective inner ear.
Even though Danish students have equal access to education, their choice of studies is still influenced by social class. Young people from working class backgrounds are motivated by studies with a clear job profile and high income, while prestige and studies with a strong identity appeal to young people of parents with university degrees when choosing which studies to pursue. This is what researchers from the University of Copenhagen conclude in a new study.
Despite never having performed surgery or dissected an animal, 8-month-old babies expect living creatures to have insides, new research suggests.The study, detailed Sept. 3 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed that tots expected self-propelled objects to have guts and were surprised when those objects were hollow.
Shortly after an elephant gave birth at the Shendiaoshan Wild Animal Nature Reserve in Rongcheng, China, she rejected the calf.She didn't just reject him, the mother elephant stepped on him.Zookeepers removed the baby elephant, treated his injuries, and returned him to his mother. They thought she'd mistakenly stepped on him.
Before there was life on Earth, there were molecules. A primordial soup. At some point a few specialized molecules began replicating. This self-replication, scientists agree, kick-started a biochemical process that would lead to the first organisms. But exactly how that happened -- how those molecules began replicating -- has been one of science's enduring mysteries.
The cyclic wobble of the Earth on its axis controls the production of a nutrient essential to the health of the ocean, according to a new study in the journal Nature. The discovery of factors that control this nutrient, known as "fixed" nitrogen, gives researchers insight into how the ocean regulates its own life-support system, which in turn affects the Earth's climate and the size of marine fisheries.
Aging is an inevitable fact of life for most organisms, but one particular microbe has found a way to avoid getting older, at least in a sense, a new study finds.Under favorable conditions, the microbe, a species of yeast called S. pombe, does not age the way other microbes do, the researchers said.
Saturday, Aug. 31, marked the end of the application period for future astronauts hoping to catch a ride on a rocket to Mars. The project, known as Mars One, is a nonprofit foundation established with the eventual goal of using existing transportation and other technologies to arrive at and settle on Mars.As a hard-science fiction writer, I have spent some time attempting to envision what life might be like as a settler on Mars 35 years from now.
Japan is set to be nuclear power-free, for just the third time in more than four decades, and with no firm date for re-starting an energy source that has provided about 30 percent of electricity to the world's third-largest economy.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil will probably scale down its plans for new nuclear plants due to safety concerns following the 2011 radiation leak in Japan and pick up some of the slack with a "revolution" in wind power, the head of the government's energy planning agency said.Mauricio Tolmasquim, chief of the Energy Research Company, told Reuters it was "unlikely" the government would stick to its plans to build four new nuclear plants by 2030 to meet rising demand for electricity.
Parenting competitions can start early. How old children are when they utter their first words, walk or learn to read can all be topics of parental comparisons. But a new study in Finland found a twist: Children with advanced language skills were more likely to drink alcohol as teens.
Facebook, the social networking website was created to enhance global communication. However, it is now causing more loneliness and reducing satisfaction and happiness among users, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan.
Hyperactivity can be a frustrating experience for children as well as for their parents, teachers and other caregivers. The state typically is viewed simply as abnormal behavior, with little understanding of its causes. Now, research with mice points to an unlikely source: a defective inner ear.
Even though Danish students have equal access to education, their choice of studies is still influenced by social class. Young people from working class backgrounds are motivated by studies with a clear job profile and high income, while prestige and studies with a strong identity appeal to young people of parents with university degrees when choosing which studies to pursue. This is what researchers from the University of Copenhagen conclude in a new study.
Despite never having performed surgery or dissected an animal, 8-month-old babies expect living creatures to have insides, new research suggests.The study, detailed Sept. 3 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed that tots expected self-propelled objects to have guts and were surprised when those objects were hollow.
Shortly after an elephant gave birth at the Shendiaoshan Wild Animal Nature Reserve in Rongcheng, China, she rejected the calf.She didn't just reject him, the mother elephant stepped on him.Zookeepers removed the baby elephant, treated his injuries, and returned him to his mother. They thought she'd mistakenly stepped on him.
Before there was life on Earth, there were molecules. A primordial soup. At some point a few specialized molecules began replicating. This self-replication, scientists agree, kick-started a biochemical process that would lead to the first organisms. But exactly how that happened -- how those molecules began replicating -- has been one of science's enduring mysteries.
The cyclic wobble of the Earth on its axis controls the production of a nutrient essential to the health of the ocean, according to a new study in the journal Nature. The discovery of factors that control this nutrient, known as "fixed" nitrogen, gives researchers insight into how the ocean regulates its own life-support system, which in turn affects the Earth's climate and the size of marine fisheries.
The Mars One venture says more than 200,000 people registered their interest in taking a one-way trip to the Red Planet, but only a fraction of those are officially in the running for the trip.To be precise, 2,782 people have paid their registration fee and submitted public videos in which they make their case for going to Mars in 2023
Scientists used to scan the skies for messages from alien civilisations. Now they go looking for their ruinsThe natural sciences tell us that time is deep, and that civilisations could have arisen well before the Earth formed. Today, a small group of interstellar archaeologists is looking for evidence of those civilisations. They are tantalised by the possibility that the universe is not just a birthplace of alien cultures but also their necropolis.
Brynne Larson and Tess and Savannah Scherkenback are all-American girls from Arizona, who enjoy martial arts and horse riding. But something sets them apart from most teenagers - they perform public exorcisms and often appear on TV chat shows.
Icebreakers trawl the world's frozen seas, cutting a path for other ships in the harsh Arctic winter. Now, a new kind of ship that can drift sideways could make traffic - and trade - easier. Could the maritime technology change life in the extreme north?Traditional icebreakers use their weight, size and power to bulldoze crusts of ice as much as 3m (10ft) thick when the sea freezes over.In its wake, this special class of ship leaves a narrow, open lane along which other vessels can follow.
For five years, a scientific expedition tried reaching Pine Island Glacier ice shelf in a remote, wind-ridden corner of Antarctica. The obstacles to get to the ice shelf were extreme, but the science goal was simple: to measure how fast the sea was melting the 37-mile long ice tongue from underneath by drilling through the ice shelf.