Reuters: Science News

Rapunzel number helps scientists quantify ponytails

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:06:56 -0500

LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists said on Friday that a "Rapunzel Number" may have helped them to crack a problem that has perplexed humanity since Leonardo da Vinci pondered it 500 years ago.

Japan priest fights invisible demon: radiation

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:28:10 -0500

FUKUSHIMA (Reuters) - On the snowy fringes of Japan's Fukushima city, now notorious as a byword for nuclear crisis, Zen monk Koyu Abe offers prayers for the souls of thousands left dead or missing after the earthquake and tsunami nearly one year ago.

Exclusive: U.S. squeezes French-led satellite maker over China

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:33:15 -0500

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has threatened action that could disrupt a French-led satellite maker's supply chain, spurred by suspicion that it illegally used U.S. know-how or parts in spacecraft launched by Chinese rockets.

Biologist Norton Zinder dies at age 83

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:53:29 -0500

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Norton Zinder, a biologist whose research into the genetic material of viruses and bacteria led to a greater understanding of the most fundamental building blocks of life, has died at age 83.

Romanian man charged with hacking NASA computers

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:23:35 -0500

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Romanian man accused of hacking into NASA computers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles under the online moniker "Iceman" has been indicted on a federal charge, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

NASA calls for new taxis to fly to Space Station

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:47:54 -0500

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA is looking for at least two U.S. firms to design and build space taxis to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, program managers said on Tuesday.

Origin expects to grow China's first GMO corn in 2013

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:07:04 -0500

BEIJING (Reuters) - Origin Agritech Ltd said it expects the Chinese government to approve its genetically modified organism (GMO) corn for production in 2013, China's first GMO strain in commercial production, its chairman Han Gengchen said on Friday.

Scientists melt mystery over icecaps and sea levels

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:10:48 -0500

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. scientists using satellite data have established a more accurate figure of the amount of annual sea level rise from melting glaciers and ice caps which should aid studies on how quickly coastal areas may flood as global warming gathers pace.

Neuroscience the new face of warfare: experts

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:09:55 -0500

LONDON (Reuters) - Directed energy weapons that use wave beams to cause pain, and electrical brain stimulation that boosts a soldier's combat ability - it may sound like science fiction warfare, but experts say advances in neuroscience mean it's on the horizon.

Malaria kills twice as many as thought: study

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:58:39 -0500

LONDON (Reuters) - Malaria kills more than 1.2 million people worldwide a year, nearly twice as many as previously thought, according to new research published on Friday that questions years of assumptions about the mosquito-borne disease.