Pneumonic Plague: Should We Worry?

From Live Science:

An outbreak of pneumonic plague in Ziketan, China has killed three people, leading officials to seal off the town, according to news reports that are getting a lot of play this week.

But what is the pneumonic plague, and how is it different from other types of plague?

Plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis and is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can be transmitted from animals (usually rodents) to people.

There are three types of plague. The bubonic plague is the most common form and is spread to people from flea bites. This type is thought to be responsible for the Black Death, the pandemic that killed millions of people in the 1300s.

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New Technology Could Drill Deeper Into The Earth Than Ever Before

Ultra-Deep Drill G Myers

From Popular Science:

An adaptation of oil drills for deep water could bring scientists closer to the goal of drilling all the way through the earth's crust to the wonders beneath.

In 2005, we came the closest we ever had before to drilling into the mantle: the layer beneath the Earth's crust. Now, with new drilling technology adapted from the oil and gas industry, scientists might finally be ready to reach that holy grail of depth.

The International Ocean Drilling Project announced today that, with the help of a company called AGR Drilling Services, they have engineered a type of technology called Riserless Mud Recovery (RMR) for extremely deep drilling. RMR allows for a closed drilling system -- where the mud and drilling fluid are kept separate from surrounding seawater -- without the need for risers surrounding the drill to draw mud up to the surface. Althought it was originally designed as a shallow water drilling system for oil and gas collection, the IODP says their development has made RMR a good tool for drilling in deep water as well.

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Strange New Air Force Facility Energizes Ionosphere, Fans Conspiracy Flames

From Wired Science:

Todd Pedersen had to hustle—the sky was scheduled to start glowing soon, and he didn't want to miss it. It was just before sunset, a cold February evening in deep-woods Alaska, and the broad-shouldered US Air Force physicist was scrambling across the snow in his orange down parka and fur-lined bomber hat. Grabbing cables and electronics, he rushed to assemble a jury-rigged telescope atop a crude wooden platform.

The rig wasn't much, just a pair of high-sensitivity cameras packed into a dorm-room refrigerator and pointed at a curved mirror reflecting a panoramic view of the sky. Pedersen had hoped to monitor the camera feed from a relatively warm bunkhouse nearby. But powdery snow two feet deep made it difficult to string cables back to the building.

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Giant Particle Collider Struggles

Many of the magnets meant to whiz subatomic particles around the 17-mile underground Large Hadron Collider outside Geneva have mysteriously lost their ability to operate at high energies. Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times

From The New York Times:

The biggest, most expensive physics machine in the world is riddled with thousands of bad electrical connections.

Many of the magnets meant to whiz high-energy subatomic particles around a 17-mile underground racetrack have mysteriously lost their ability to operate at high energies.

Some physicists are deserting the European project, at least temporarily, to work at a smaller, rival machine across the ocean.

After 15 years and $9 billion, and a showy “switch-on” ceremony last September, the Large Hadron Collider, the giant particle accelerator outside Geneva, has to yet collide any particles at all.

But soon?

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European Bison On 'Genetic Brink'

From The BBC:

Europe's largest mammal, the European bison, remains extremely vulnerable to extinction, despite long-standing efforts to save it, new research shows.

One of the two remaining wild herds of pure bred European bison is down to an effective population size of just 25.

That is despite the actual number of wild bison in the herd having steadily risen to around 800.

The effective population measures the bison's genetic diversity, and can help predict the animal's survival chances.

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A More Efficient Spacecraft Engine

Photo: Ion power: NASA’s new ion-propulsion system is undergoing testing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Credit: NASA

From Technology Review:

NASA's new ion-propulsion system could be ready for launch as soon as 2013.

NASA engineers have finished testing a new ion-propulsion system for earth-orbiting and interplanetary spacecraft. The system is more powerful and fuel-efficient than its predecessors, enabling it to travel farther than ever before.

Ion propulsion works by electrically charging, or ionizing, a gas using power from solar panels and emitting the ionized gas to propel the spacecraft in the opposite direction. The concept was first developed over 50 years ago, and the first spacecraft to use the technology was Deep Space 1 (DS1) in 1998. Since then, one other spacecraft has used ion propulsion: the Dawn mission to the outer solar system, launched in 2007.

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WHO Maintains 2 Bln Estimate For Likely H1N1 Cases

From Reuters:

* Rough estimate of likely H1N1 cases by end is 2 billion

* No precise estimate of current infections

* High proportion of southern hemisphere flu cases are H1N1

* WHO to update on vaccine efforts this week

* WHO names African expert as H1N1 chief

By Jonathan Lynn

GENEVA, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation stuck on Tuesday to its statement that about two billion people could catch H1N1 influenza by the time the flu pandemic ends.

But the estimate comes with a big health warning: no one knows how many people so far have caught the new strain, known as swine flu, and the final number will never be known as many cases are so mild they may go unnoticed.

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Has The Mystery Of The Mars 'Monolith' Been Solved?

How the experts see it: The original HiRISE satellite image supplied to Mail Online by the University of Arizona showing a close up of what appears to be a 'monolith' on Mars

From The Daily Mail:

An image of what appears to be a mysterious rocky monument on Mars has excited space junkies around the world.

The 'monolith', was snapped from 165miles away using a special high resolution camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

After being published on the website Lunar Explorer Italia, it set tongues wagging with space buffs questioning whether there was once life on the Red Planet.

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Love Songs Of Bowhead Whales: Whales Sings With 'More Than One Voice'

Bowhead whale. (Credit: Photo by John Jacobsen, University of Copenhagen)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Aug. 3, 2009) — It wasn’t that many years ago that the bowhead whale was written off as extinct in the waters around Greenland and especially in Disko Bay in northwest Greenland where University of Copenhagen has its Arctic Field Station.

But now the situation has changed and adult bowhead whales, which can grow up to 18 metres long and weigh 100 tons, have returned to the bay. This is probably because global warming has opened up the Northwest Passage, making it ice free at certain times of the year for the first time in 125,000 years. This gives bowhead whales from the northern Pacific a chance to reach Disko Bay and mate with the small local population.

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8 Tools and Gadgets to Prepare Your Home For Any Disaster

(Illustration by Gabriel Silveira)

From Popular Mechanics:

For millions of Americans living along the Gulf and Atlantic coastlines, hurricane season is an annual call to arms, a six-month stretch from June through November spent watching the skies and the local news for signs of trouble. Other regions cope with the threat of wildfires, quakes and tornadoes—and blackouts can strike anywhere. While no season is safe from disruption, late summer seems particularly inviting to the demons of disaster. Here’s a step-by-step guide to preparing your home and family.

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Launch Your Own Personal Satellite

TubeSat: My First Satellite

From Popular Science:

Ever wanted to launch your own satellite into low earth orbit, then track it on ham radio for a few weeks before it burns up on re-entry? Well, 52 years after the launch of Sputnik, you can. Interorbital Systems is offering YOU the chance (by the end of 2010) to send up a TubeSat Personal Satellite Kit for the low introductory price of just $8,000.

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Do Computers Make Planes Less Or More Safe?

In this Sunday, June 14, 2009 file photo workers unload debris, belonging to crashed Air France flight AF447, from the Brazilian Navy's Constitution Frigate in the port of Recife, northeast of Brazi. (AP Photo)

From ABC News:

A Look at Whether Increased Automation Means that Planes Will be More Dangerous.

Ben Cave was starting to get bored. The Australian had been sitting in his seat for more than three hours, and he still had two hours left before the Qantas jet was scheduled to touch down in Perth.

The Airbus A330 was flying at a cruising altitude of 11,278 meters (37,000 feet). The calm of modern jet travel, accentuated by the monotonous drone of the engines, prevailed on board the aircraft. The flight attendants were clearing away the last of the lunch trays into their trolleys, some of the 303 passengers were waiting near the toilets, and others were passing the time with stretching exercises.

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Domestic Dog Origins Challenged

Domestic dog origins challenged

From BBC News:

The suggestion that the domestic dog originated in East Asia has been challenged.

The huge genetic diversity of dogs found in East Asia had led many scientists to conclude that domestication began there.

But new research published in the journal PNAS shows the DNA of dogs in African villages is just as varied.

An international group of researchers analysed blood samples from dogs in Egypt, Uganda and Namibia.

Today's dogs are descended from Eurasian grey wolves, domesticated between 15,000 and 40,000 years ago.

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Scientists Report Original Source Of Malaria

UCI's Francisco Ayala and colleagues report in a new study that malignant malaria originates from a parasite found in chimpanzees in equatorial Africa. (Credit: Daniel A. Anderson / University Communications)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Aug. 4, 2009) — Researchers have identified what they believe is the original source of malignant malaria: a parasite found in chimpanzees in equatorial Africa.

UC Irvine biologist Francisco Ayala and colleagues think the deadly parasite was transmitted to humans from chimpanzees perhaps as recently as 5,000 years ago – and possibly through a single mosquito, genetic analyses indicate. Previously, malaria's origin had been unclear.

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Top 10 American Innovations

From Live Science:

With the recession seemingly on the wane, it is time to tap into that spirit of innovation that has always succeeded in moving America forward, President Obama said Aug. 1.

Pull up your bootstraps and invent stuff, in other words.

Historically, Americans have had no trouble leading the way in scientific and technological advancement, especially in the 20th century, and it's that leadership that has pulled the country out of tough economic times. Foster the innate potential with policies and education and this recession can be a thing of the past too, according to Obama.

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After The Boom, Is Wikipedia Heading For Bust?

From New Scientist:

Wikipedia has rapidly become one of the most used reference sources in the world, but a new study shows that the website's explosive growth is tailing off and also suggests the community-created encyclopaedia has become less welcoming to new contributors.

Ed Chi and colleagues at the Palo Alto Research Center in California warn that the changes could compromise the encyclopaedia's quality in the long term.

"It's easy to say that Wikipedia will always be here," says Chi, a computer scientist. "This research shows that is not a given."

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Living Near A Wind Farm Can Cause Heart Disease, Panic Attacks And Migraines

Turbines: Ministers want to see another 4,000 across the country, meanwhile new research shows living near wind farms could damage your health.

From The Daily Mail:

Living close to wind farms can lead to a greater risk of heart disease, panic attacks and migraines, according to a study.

The farms can cause 'wind turbine syndrome', the symptoms of which also include tinnitus, vertigo and sleep deprivation, research to be published later this year claims.

Dr Nina Pierpoint, a leading New York paediatrician, says her five-year study of people living near wind turbines in the U.S., Britain, Italy, Ireland and Canada has led her to believe that they can also trigger nightmares in children and stop their brains developing properly.

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Trees Are 'Crucial Famine Food'

From The BBC:

Trees can serve as a vital "famine food" to keep drought-hit communities alive when all other food crops fail, according to campaigners.

Food insecurity is a routine fact of life for many of the world's poorest people, Miranda Spitteler, chief executive of Tree Aid told BBC News.

She said the West needed to recognize the important role trees could play in reducing the need for conventional aid.

She also called for support for a local tree-based solution to food shortages.

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Scientists 'Grow Replacement Teeth In Mice'

From The Telegraph:

Scientists have managed to grow replacement teeth in mice from cells in a laboratory.

The team behind the research claim that it is a crucial step towards growing fully functioning "bioengineered" organs in the human body.

The scientists grew a tooth "germ", a seed-like piece of tissue which contains the cells and instructions necessary to form a tooth, which they then transplanted into the animal's jawbones.

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Newly Discovered Faults Illuminate Earthquake Hazard Along San Andreas

Image: A seismic map of the Salton Sea area reveals the grid covered by the CHIRP instrument (green lines), faults (black lines) and bomb target sites (gray boxes). The red dots represent earthquakes that have taken place in the area since 1983. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of California - San Diego)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Aug. 3, 2009) — New research by a team of scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) offers new insight into the San Andreas Fault as it extends beneath Southern California's Salton Sea. The team discovered a series of prominent faults beneath the sea, which transfer motion away from the San Andreas Fault as it disappears beneath the Salton Sea. The study provides new understanding of the intricate earthquake faults system beneath the sea and what role it may play in the earthquake cycle along the southern San Andreas Fault.

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