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Re: Science News
Did Jesus Save the Klingons?
If or when we make contact with extraterrestrials, the effect on our religious sensibilities will be profound, says astronomer David Weintraub
October 16, 2014 |By Clara Moskowitz
freeimages.com/msaluste
The discovery of life beyond Earth would be a triumph for science but might wreak havoc on certain religions. Some faiths, such as evangelical Christianity, have long held that we are God’s favorite children and would not easily accommodate the notion that we would have to share the attention; others, such as Roman Catholicism, struggle with thorny questions such as whether aliens have original sin.
Now that researchers have discovered more than 1,500 exoplanets beyond the solar system, the day when scientists detect signs of life on one of them may be near at hand. Given this new urgency, Vanderbilt University astronomer David Weintraub decided to find out what ...
More on http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...SA_MB_20141022
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Re: Science News
Are U.S. Hospitals Prepared for the Next Ebola Case?
Health care emergency management expert Kristin Stevens tells us what went wrong in Dallas, and how we can do better
October 23, 2014 |By Clara Moskowitz
CDC Global via <a href=https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdcglobal/14723720857/in/set-72157646018355339>Flickr</a>
The first U.S. Ebola patient who walked into an emergency room last month posed a major test for the chosen hospital, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. The hospital made some now-notorious missteps, including failing to diagnose Ebola virus the first time the patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, arrived as well as allowing two nurses who treated him to become infected.
In the aftermath of the case the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its guidelines for health care workers’ protective gear, called personal protective equipment (PPE), which was probably at fault for the nurses’ infections. Hospitals around the country are on alert for more cases of the Ebola virus, which has ..
More on http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...SA_BS_20141024
The Hobbit: 10 Years Later
In October 2004 paleontologists announced a new human species called Homo floresiensis. Ever since then debate has raged on whether it truly is a new species or merely a diseased Homo sapiens
Oct 23, 2014
New analyses reveal the mini human species to be even stranger than previously thought and hint that major tenets of human evolution need revision
More on http://www.scientificamerican.com/re...SA_BS_20141024
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Re: Science News
Not Everyone Wants to Be Happy
Americans are obsessed with happiness, but other cultures see things differently
October 28, 2014 |By Jennifer Aaker and Emily Esfahani Smith
Don't worry, be unhappy
Credit: Thinkstock
Everyone wants to be happy. It's a fundamental human right. It's associated with all sorts of benefits. We, as a society, spend millions trying to figure out what the key to personal happiness is. There are now even apps to help us turn our frowns upside down. So everyone wants to be happy—right?
Well, maybe not.
A new research paper by Mohsen Joshanloo and Dan Weijers from Victoria University of Wellington, argues that the desire for personal happiness, though knitted into the fabric of American history and culture, is held in less esteem by other cultures. There are many parts of the world that are more suspicious of personal happiness ...
More on http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...s-to-be-happy/
Cocoa Constitutents Fend Off Senior Moments—the Memory of a 30-Year-Old?
By Gary Stix | October 26, 2014 | Comments4
Memory dust?
Scott Small, a professor of neurology at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, researches Alzheimer’s, but he also studies the memory loss that occurs during the normal aging process. Research on the commonplace “senior moments” focuses on the hippocampus, an area of the brain involved with formation of new memories. In particular, one area of the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, which helps distinguish one object from another, has lured researchers on age-related memory problems.
In a study by Small and colleagues published Oct. 26 in Nature Neuroscience, naturally occurring chemicals in cocoa increased dentate gyrus blood flow. Psychological testing showed that the pattern recognition abilities of a typical 60-year-old on a high dose of the cocoa phytochemicals in the 37-person study matched those of a 30-or 40-year old after three months. The study received support from ...
More on http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...a-30-year-old/
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Re: Science News
Evidence Builds for Dark Matter Explosions at the Milky Way’s Core
Unexplained gamma rays streaming from the galactic center may have been produced by dark matter, but more mundane explanations are also possible
October 28, 2014 |By Clara Moskowitz
This Fermi map of the Milky Way center shows an overabundance of gamma-rays (red indicates the greatest number) that cannot be explained by conventional sources.
T. Linden, Univ. of Chicago
So far, dark matter has evaded scientists’ best attempts to find it. Astronomers know the invisible stuff dominates our universe and tugs gravitationally on regular matter, but they do not know what it is made of. Since 2009, however, suspicious gamma-ray light radiating from the Milky Way’s core—where dark matter is thought to be especially dense—has intrigued researchers. Some wonder if the rays might have been emitted in explosions caused by colliding particles of dark matter. Now a new gamma-ray signal, in combination with those already detected, offers further evidence that this might be the case.
One possible explanation for dark matter is that it is made of theorized “weakly interacting massive particles,” or WIMPs. Every WIMP is thought to be both matter and antimatter, so when two of them meet ...
More on http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...A_SPC_20141030
Unmanned Supply Rocket Explodes Seconds after Liftoff
Orbital Sciences’s Antares rocket burst into flames mere moments into its mission to send a cargo-carrying spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station. NASA reported no injuries to personnel
October 28, 2014 |By Mike Wall and SPACE.com
An Orbital Sciences Antares rocket exploded shortly after lifting off on a private cargo mission to the International Space Station, on October 28, 2014, from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
NASA TV
A private Orbital Sciences-built cargo launch to the International Space Station ended in a fiery explosion just seconds after liftoff Tuesday night (Oct. 28).
Orbital's unmanned Antares rocket exploded in a brilliant fireball shortly after launching from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 6:22 p.m. EDT (2222 GMT), crashing back down to the launch pad in a flaming heap. The Antares was carrying Orbital's unmanned Cygnus spacecraft, which was toting 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms) of food, scientific experiments and other supplies on this flight — the third cargo mission to the space station under a $1.9 billion contract the company holds with NASA. You can see photos of the Antares rocket explosion here.
A NASA spokesman described the explosion as a "catastrophic anomaly" during a NASA TV webcast. While the assessment and investigation ...
More on http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...A_SPC_20141030
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