Science / 30

China reports 571 confirmed cases of new coronavirus pneumonia

January 23, 2020

There have been 460 confirmed cases so far, and nine deaths, putting the fatality rate on par with the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic, which wiped out 50 million people globally. In a study published online by SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences on Tuesday, researchers from the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other Chinese research institutes compared the genome sequences of the 2019-nCoV to coronaviruses known to infect humans: SARS-CoV and Middle East ...

Trump and Thunberg clash over climate at World Economic Forum

January 23, 2020

Over the past year, Thunberg has taken issue with many aspects of US policy, not least President Donald Trump's decision to pull the country out of the Paris accord to limit global warming. Trump went through a list of what he celebrated as victories for middle class workers and companies, including the first phase of a trade deal with China and the Senate's approval of a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico .

You Can Vote To Name NASA’s Next Mars Rover

January 23, 2020

NASA has picked three submissions in each of the three age categories - grades K-4, 5-8 and 9-12. Tenacity , K-4, Eamon Reilly of Pennsylvania. Vision , 5-8, Hadley Green of Mississippi. NASA officials said in a statement that after the poll closes, the nine student finalists will discuss their rover names with a panel including Glaze, NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, NASA-JPL rover driver Nick Wiltsie and Clara Ma, who earned the honor of naming the Mars rover Curiosity as a ...

SpaceX Test Success Allows US To Resume Flights to ISS

January 23, 2020

Private aerospace companies SpaceX and Boeing both have agreements with NASA to transport astronauts to the International Space Station - as soon as they've proved their systems are safe enough. retired its space shuttle fleet. Company chief Elon Musk told attendees at a post-test conference that the crewed mission to the International Space Station will likely take place in the second quarter of the year, or sometime between April and June.

LEGO to launch set of worldwide space stations

January 23, 2020

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories . The new kit will be available starting in February, and will retail for $69.99 . This Monday, January 20, the company released a video showing a balloon launched at high altitude and transporting the mini-station about 50 km above the Earth, at sunset, when the stars appear.

Australian PM Scott Morrison says removing hazards as important as reducing emissions

January 22, 2020

As the fires have raged, so has the debate about climate change and its part in Australia's destructive summer. Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused Australia's government of not doing enough. Shortly before he was replaced, Mr Turnbull abandoned his commitment to set an emissions reduction target in legislation , in what critics viewed as a last-ditch concession to his party's right wing.

Outback Australia home to Earth's oldest asteroid strike

January 22, 2020

Thanks to NASA , Curtin University in Australia and Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, researchers have also found Yarrabubba is the oldest known impact crater on the planet. It is so old that it doesn't look like the typical impact crater that would have a clearly visible rim and deep bowl, according to the researchers. "Yarrabubba is about half the age of the Earth and it raises the question of whether all older impact craters have been eroded or if they are still out ...

Trump lauds United States economy in Davos, dodges climate woes

January 22, 2020

In a wide-ranging address pitched to appeal to the Davos crowd, touting the achievements of his administration despite his unorthodox approach, Trump picked up on some of the themes he voiced when he first addressed the WEF two years ago. He attended the event despite his impeachment trial in the U.S. getting underway today. Economist Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Laureate, criticised Mr Trump's speech.

Trump dismisses climate 'prophets of doom' as Greta Thunberg looks on

January 22, 2020

However he cautioned that to "embrace the possibilities of tomorrow, we must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse". Trump said in his speech that he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping "love each other" even after their fight over trade. The founder of Chinese tech giant Huawei has shrugged off USA pressure on his company.

Platypus Is Inching Towards Extinction Due To Climate Change, Claim Researchers

January 22, 2020

The study predicted a drop in "expected minimum population" size of 52 per cent to 72 per cent depending on the severity of drought over a period of about 100 years. 'There is an urgent need for a national risk assessment for the platypus to assess its conservation status, evaluate risks and impacts, and prioritise management in order to minimise any risk of extinction, ' Bino said.

SpaceX launches, destroys rocket in astronaut escape test

January 22, 2020

SpaceX effectively tried the abort system of its Crew Dragon rocket January 19, one of the final achievements before a crewed test flight that could happen when this spring. Founded by Elon Musk , SpaceX was awarded $2.5 billion by NASA in 2014 to develop a capsule system capable of ferrying astronauts to a space station.

IEA to track oil and gas companies' efforts outside of fossil fuels

January 22, 2020

Every part of the industry needs to consider how to respond. "No energy company will be unaffected by clean energy transitions", said IEA's executive director Fatih Birol. "The first immediate task for all parts of the industry is reducing the carbon footprint of their own operations". "Without the input of industry, these technologies may simply not reach the scale necessary to scale up the emissions dial", added Birol.

ESA Scientists Have Started Making Oxygen Out Of Simulated Moondust

January 21, 2020

If it works, it could provide humans with important resources that will aid future Moon missions, and maybe even enable long-term Moon bases and colonies. The first prototype oxygen facility will be attempting the same extraction process on a larger scale, it was reported by Science Alert on Monday.

San Diego researcher discovers ‘dancing dragon’ fossil

January 21, 2020

Wulong's fossil, unearthed in Liaoning Province in northeastern China almost a decade ago and recently unveiled in a paper publish The Anatomical Record , includes a complete skeleton as well as soft tissues like feathers rarely preserved in such detail.

Trump's impeachment trial begins today

January 21, 2020

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was blunt when she addressed a crowd of the world's most powerful and wealthiest people at Davos today, reports CNBC . "America's thriving, America's flourishing, and yes, America is winning again like never before", Trump said. But a planned appearance by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif - which could have paved the way for a showdown or even meeting with Trump - has been cancelled.

Nasa all-female astronaut team perform another daring spacewalk outside the ISS

January 21, 2020

NASA has gradually replaced the space station's 48 old nickel-hydrogen batteries with new, more powerful lithium-ion batteries. The 2 additionally installed two adapter plates to enable the jam's built-in electronics assembly (IEA) to work with the present battery.

Malaysia says won't be 'garbage dump' as it returns waste

January 20, 2020

The containers held more than 3,700 tons of plastic waste, and originated from 13 countries. Several Southeast Asian countries have sent back unwanted waste in recent months. " We don't want to pay a single cent ", the minister said. She added that a total of 393 plastic recycling factories were inspected past year and 218 were shut down for not following regulations .

SpaceX crew capsule escape test a success as crowds watch rocket explode

January 20, 2020

Flying atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida , the Crew Dragon lifted off at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT) on a trajectory that mimicked the ascent that astronauts will follow on missions to the International Space Station .

Pacific 'blob' heatwave feared to have killed a million birds

January 19, 2020

During the 2015 breeding season, three colonies did not produce a single chick. The blob was up to 6 degrees Celsius above typical maximum temperatures in places and extended to a depth of 200 metres, and more than 3,000 kilometres up the United States coastline into Alaska.

No in-flight abort for SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft today

January 19, 2020

The missile is lost if it burns in the atmosphere over the Atlantic. SpaceX and Boeing , the two of which won pined for contracts (all-out $6.8 billion) to carry space travelers to and from the ISS, have started the last testing phases of their particular airplane, Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner .

First spacewalk of 2020 has all-female crew

January 19, 2020

Koch's helmet lights weren't attached and the camera was also detached from the helmet. Meir tried to fix the helmet, but Mission Control in Houston, Texas, advised the women to remove the camera and light assembly. If the battery replacement work goes as planned, NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and space station Commander Luca Parmitano from the European Space Agency will exit the station January 25 to finish installing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer's new cooling apparatus and lines begun ...

Astronauts spot smoke from growing Australian wildfires from space

January 18, 2020

Large Australian cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and Adelaide have also endured unsafe air quality levels due to smoke from nearby bushfires. The space agency has also labelled Australia's bushfire-generated storms, or pyrocumulonimbus events which have been exacerbating fire activity this week, as rare.

Stanford researchers’ PigeonBot provides insight into mechanics of bird wings

January 17, 2020

Scientists had thought the feathers might be controlled by individual muscles. During the flight tests, the wrist and finger manipulations began steady turns at tight angles, which the researchers said provided some of the first evidence that the birds mainly used these digits to direct in flight.

A new ‘super Earth’ discovered, but will it be viable for life?

January 17, 2020

A previous study of Proxima Centauri using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)-an astronomical observatory in northern Chile-reported an unknown source of light spectrum signals that could belong to a second planet or may simply have been the product of a neighboring galaxy or an unrelated phenomenon.

The first spacewalk of 2020 has an all-female crew

January 17, 2020

U.S. Eastern Time , which lasted about seven hours and 29 minutes, according to the U.S. space agency NASA . Jessica Meir and Christina Koch had been staunch getting started on battery replacements Wednesday when Koch's helmet camera and lights came off.

Microsoft pledges to go carbon negative by 2030

January 17, 2020

The company will use the newly established $1 billion innovation fund to develop the technologies the company will ultimately use to capture emissions from the atmosphere. Microsoft "is at the helm of what could be a new movement towards negative emissions", Elizabeth V. Sturcken of the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement, adding that the nonprofit advocacy group was eager for Microsoft to use its political influence as well.

A new class of objects discovered orbiting Sagittarius A black hole

January 17, 2020

The weird and wonderful orbits of six unknown objects zooming spherical Sgr A*, the supermassive dusky gap at the center of the Milky Draw. They published their research in the January 16, 2020. It's possible that numerous stars we've been watching and not understanding may be the end product of mergers that are calm now. 'We want to know how black holes grow and affect the evolution of galaxies and the universe, ' Ghez added.

Fires in Australia: groups working to rescue injured animals on Kangaroo Island

January 17, 2020

Experts have estimated that the animal death toll will eventually be in the billions - although one professor puts the figure in the trillions. With forests and coastal areas roughly the size of Portugal burnt through, environmentalists fear the fires will drive some species to extinction.

United Kingdom will return to European Union after Brexit, MEP insists in passionate speech

January 17, 2020

Assuming the EU remaining 27 member state's have granted a mandate for Boris' Withdrawal Agreement, the European Parliament has yet to approve it by a simple majority for it to be a done deal and all before January 31. These are there to protect any substandard goods seeping into the EU's single market through smuggling over the Irish border into the Republic of Ireland.

Risk BlackRock CEO: Climate Change is Causing a 'Fundamental Reshaping of Finance'

January 16, 2020

BlackRock , the largest money manager in the world, is bracing for large capital shifts "sooner than most anticipate", its CEO said. And, they note, BlackRock's vow to "closely scrutinize" companies that use lots of thermal coal could bring divestment from big power companies like Duke Energy.

PM Joins World Leaders For Renewable Energy Talks In Dubai

January 16, 2020

In 2013, ADFD committed US$350 million (AED1.28 billion) to the IRENA /ADFD Project Facility over seven funding cycles to support renewable energy projects in IRENA-member developing countries. He also noted that the sustainable project will benefit more than150,000 people and create 250 direct and indirect jobs. - A project to create 20 biogas digesters as demonsrtation units in Nepal , with United States dollars 10 million in funding.

ISS Astronauts Snap Photos Of Australian Bushfires’ Massive Ash Cloud From Space

January 16, 2020

The American crew member's post swiftly received thousands of likes, with several users expressing their sadness at the continuing tragedy in Australia. Together, NASA instruments detect actively burning fires, track the transport of smoke from fires, provide information for fire management, and map the extent of changes to ecosystems, based on the extent and severity of burn scars.

Last year second hottest year on record, data shows

January 16, 2020

Previous year saw two major heat waves hit Europe in June and July, with a new national record of 46C set in France on 28 June. The UK, for instance, fought hard to host the annual UN climate conference at the end of the year where all nations will be urged towards deeper emissions cuts.

Crew Dragon faces its last big test before human spaceflight on Saturday

January 15, 2020

The test entails a Falcon 9 rocket taking the Crew Dragon up to a height of 21 kilometres before the capture - which would generally be manned - separates from the main unit thanks to its SuperDraco thrusters. The Crew Dragon's previous test was on 20 April past year, an outing that didn't end as expected. Initially, the spacecraft recovered from the maiden uncrewed test flight in March 2019 was expected to be used for the test.

Oceans were hottest in 2019

January 15, 2020

Warmer seas mean more evaporation, said Mann. Now a new study has found that the oceans around the world showed a record high temperature in 2019. "I'm particularly anxious about the effect of Southern Ocean warming on the destabilization of the Antarctic Ice Shelves, which could lead to not only feet but meters of sea level rise by the end of this century", Mann told UPI.

Smoke from Australian wildfires will travel around the globe

January 15, 2020

So much so that the smoke produced by this fire is nearly unprecedented. Smoke from Australia's fires is also causing "severe air quality issues" in New Zealand, and is darkening snow on the country's mountains, NASA added . All 57 peer-reviewed papers assessed showed links between climate change and increased frequency or severity of hot, dry "fire weather", found the rapid response review paper published on the ScienceBrief .org online platform.

Australian prime minister's approval rating goes up in flames

January 15, 2020

If that forecast bears out, the NSW Rural Fire Service said it would be "all of our Christmas, birthday, engagement, anniversary, wedding and graduation presents rolled into one". these are sensitive, emotional environments", he said during the chat with the ABC . In an attempt to save the billions of starving animals trapped in Australia's bushfires , the New South Wales government reportedly dropped over 4,800 pounds of vegetables Sunday, using helicopters and airplanes to access the ...

'Living robot' developed by scientists using frog embryos

January 14, 2020

As soon as they start investigating that unknown, they can even make progress on the more mysterious question of what else a cell would like to do. It is a new class of artifacts: "a living and programmable organism". The second and the most hectic part, as the scientists here would take stem cells from the embryo of the African clawed frogs and cut them into tiny pieces and rearranging them as per the created computer designs.

Could exercise be replaced with a protein supplement?

January 14, 2020

Taking advantage of Drosophila flies' normal instinct to climb up and out of a test tube , their collaborators from Wayne State University in the USA developed a type of fly treadmill. The researchers also found that triggering overexpression of sestrin in the muscles of normal flies and maximizing their sestrin levels gave these flies greater abilities than the trained flies, even without exercise.

Oldest material known to exist on Earth discovered

January 14, 2020

When presolar grains form on the death of a star, they reveal the story of the star. The stardust trapped in meteorites remain unchanged for billions of years, making them time capsules of the time before the solar system. It's also essential to mention the fact that our Sun is 4.6 billion years old, and our planet is 4.5 billion years old. The unusual concentration of grains of about the same age suggests a " baby boom " of stars, Heck said .

7b years: Scientists say oldest solid material found

January 14, 2020

Why is the Murchison meteorite so special? Now, a new study has identified the oldest known solid material on the planet that precedes the formation of the Solar System. The grain is about 8 micrometers on its longest dimension. Previously, the oldest pre-solar grain dated with neon isotopes was around 5.5 billion years old.

Australia fires ‘long way from over’ but rain brings relief

January 14, 2020

The individual was airlifted to a Sydney hospital in a serious condition, with several others receiving minor burns. "Whilst it was a very long and - in parts of New South Wales - hard night, we're relieved this morning that no lives have been lost and no substantial property damage", New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Saturday.

NY teen discovers new planet while interning with NASA

January 13, 2020

It was the first time that the Nasa program he was working on, called the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (Tess ), had discovered a planetary system with two stars. NASA's Kepler and K2 missions previously discovered 12 circumbinary planets in 10 systems- all similar to TOI 1338 b. TOI 1338 b is silhouetted by its host stars.

This Indian citizen made a place in NASA's new 13 astronaut

January 13, 2020

According to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, "the individuals represent the best of America". Both Lt. -Col Kutryk, 37, and Dr. Sidey-Gibbons, 32, received astronaut pins, which indicate their flight-ready status. The CSA's newest astronauts are Joshua Kutryk , a Royal Canadian Air Force lieutenant colonel, and Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons who holds a doctorate in engineering from the University of Cambridge where she was working as an assistant professor in combustion in the Department of ...

Aust PM mulls commission of inquiry into blazes

January 13, 2020

Glen Schlehuber, Tiffany & Co's vice president and managing director for Australia and New Zealand says the company has also donated to support firefighters and wildlife recovery. He also repeatedly stated that Australia was doing more than enough to meet its emission reduction targets, prompting a series of large-scale street protests.

Experts rule out any previous virus for the mysterious disease in China

January 13, 2020

The viral illness was first reported last week in Wuhan , a central Chinese city with a population of over 11 million, and has since grown to at least 59 cases. Though coronaviruses typically infect mammals - including bats, livestock, and household pets - they can also infect humans, and may spread from sick to healthy people through the air (coughing and sneezing), close physical contact, or when fingers touch a contaminated surface and then the mouth, nose, or eyes, according to the U.S.

House approves bill to remove contaminants from drinking water

January 12, 2020

PFAS contamination has been turning up more and more frequently in drinking water systems across the state of MI. These are considered "forever chemicals" that can remain in the human body for a lifetime and have been linked to risks for cancer.

Trump Unveils Plan to Speed Up Permits for Big Projects

January 12, 2020

It also cuts the time federal agencies are given to carry out environmental impact studies from four and a half years to two years. Professional associations and town planners spoke out against the administration's proposal. What followed was decades of environmental progress that went hand in hand with public participation in project planning and the federal decision-making process.

Firefighter dead in Australia blaze

January 12, 2020

Firefighters were fighting at least 147 fires in New South Wales alone on Friday as strong winds reached speeds as high as 55 miles per hour. "But the scale of this disaster is something I couldn't have imagined, and it's the same for a lot of people in Australia ".

The Chinese Paddlefish Has Been Declared Extinct

January 11, 2020

The Chinese paddlefish , one of the largest freshwater fish to inhabit our planet for over 150 million years, has gone extinct under humanity's watch, according to new research. Qiwei Wei, a maritime scholar at the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute and co-author of the study , and colleagues last saw a paddlefish in 2003.

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