The United States planned to blow up the moon with a nuclear bomb during the cold war, according to reports.
The secret project, dubbed 'A Study of Lunar Research Flights' or 'Project A119', was allegedly devised by US military chiefs at the height of the space race in the late 1950s as a show of strength over the Soviet Union, scientists claim.
According to reports, the US would have used an atom bomb because a hydrogen bomb would have been too heavy.
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Undisclosed Finding by Mars Rover Fuels Intrigue
The Mars rover Curiosity has found something - something noteworthy, in a pinch of Martian sand. But what is it?
The scientists working on the mission who know are not saying. Outside of that team, lots of people are guessing. The intrigue started last week when John P. Grotzinger, the Mars mission’s project scientist, told National Public Radio: "This data is going to be one for the history books. It's looking really good". |  |
Amazon deforestation 'at record low'
The destruction of Amazon rainforest has reached its lowest level since monitoring began 24 years ago, the Brazilian government says.
Environment minister Izabella Teixeira said it was thanks to government action against offenders. Figures show the rate of deforestation fell 27% in the year to July compared with the previous 12 months. Even so, more than 4,600 sq km (1,780 sq miles) of rainforest have been lost in a year. |  |
Sea levels rising more quickly than predicted, warn scientists
Sea levels are rising faster than predicted as a result of climate change, scientists said today.
Satellite measurements show sea levels rose 3.2mm a year between 1993 and 2011, 60% above the 2mm estimate in central projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its most recent review of climate science. |  |
In Hawaii, a coral reef infection has biologists alarmed
HANALEI, Hawaii — When compiling a list of places that may be described as paradise, Hanalei Bay on the rugged north shore of the island of Kauai surely qualifies.
The perfect crescent bay, rimmed by palm trees, emerald cliffs and stretches of white sand, has always had a dreamy kind of appeal. It was on these shores that sailors in the movie "South Pacific" sang of the exotic but unattainable "Bali Ha'i." The problem is what lies below the surface of the area's shimmering blue waters. |  |
Blue whales pirouette for food
The world's largest animal can be as agile as a ballet dancer when it is hungry. Video cameras and motion sensors strapped to 22 blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) reveal that they sometimes incorporate underwater pirouettes — 360º body rolls — as they lunge at patches of krill from below.
The 30-second manoeuvre — two half turns, performed either side of engulfing a meal — enables the whales to position their jaws underneath their prey and to take the biggest mouthful possible before the krill scatter, says Jeremy Goldbogen, a zoologist at the Cascadia Research Collective in Washington, who led the work. The findings are published today in Biology Letters. |  |
Smoking 'rots' brain, says King's College study
Smoking "rots" the brain by damaging memory, learning and reasoning, according to researchers at King's College London.
A study of 8,800 people over 50 showed high blood pressure and being overweight also seemed to affect the brain, but to a lesser extent. Scientists involved said people needed to be aware that lifestyles could damage the mind as well as the body. |  |
Hemp: Could the US rekindle its love affair?
Hemp, once a major US crop, has been banned for years because of its close association with cannabis. But several states now want to resume hemp farming, and two states voted this month in favour of legalisation of cannabis. Could change be in the air?
There's an all-American plant that weaves its way throughout the nation's history. The sails of Columbus' ships were made from it. So was the first US flag. It was used in the paper on which the Declaration of Independence was printed. Today, however, industrial hemp is effectively banned by the federal government, damned by association with cannabis, its intoxicating cousin. |  |
Give Pot a Chance
SEATTLE- In two weeks, adults in this state will no longer be arrested or incarcerated for something that nearly 30 million Americans did last year. For the first time since prohibition began 75 years ago, recreational marijuana use will be legal; the misery-inducing crusade to lock up thousands of ordinary people has at last been seen, by a majority of voters in this state and in Colorado, for what it is: a monumental failure.
That is, unless the Obama administration steps in with an injunction, as it has threatened to in the past, against common sense. For what stands between ending this absurd front in the dead-ender war on drugs and the status quo is the federal government. It could intervene, citing the supremacy of federal law that still classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug.
But it should't. Social revolutions in a democracy, especially ones that begin with voters, should not be lightly dismissed.
That is, unless the Obama administration steps in with an injunction, as it has threatened to in the past, against common sense. For what stands between ending this absurd front in the dead-ender war on drugs and the status quo is the federal government. It could intervene, citing the supremacy of federal law that still classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug.
But it should't. Social revolutions in a democracy, especially ones that begin with voters, should not be lightly dismissed.
UN: methane released from melting ice could push climate past tipping point
The United Nations sounded a stark warning on the threat to the climate from methane in the thawing permafrost as governments met for the second day of climate change negotiations in Doha, Qatar.
Thawing permafrost releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, but this has not yet been included in models of the future climate. Permafrost covers nearly a quarter of the northern hemisphere at present and is estimated to contain 1,700 gigatonnes of carbon – twice the amount currently in the atmosphere. As it thaws, it could push global warming past one of the key "tipping points" that scientists believe could lead to runaway climate change. |  |
Light pollution can benefit some wildlife, study shows
Light pollution can have positive effects on some wildlife by helping migratory birds find more food at night, a new study has shown, contrasting with previous research which has emphasised the negative effects of artificial light.
A team from the University of Exeter studied how electrical lighting and gas flares affected the feeding habits of the common redshank (Tringa totanus) in the Forth estuary, eastern Scotland. |  |
How a blue light in your car 'is as good as coffee at keeping you alert at the wheel'
Forget a large cup of coffee or a can of red bull behind the wheel - a simple blue light could be enough to keep drivers awake.
Researchers from the Université Bordeaux Segalen, France, and their Swedish colleagues demonstrated that constant exposure to blue light is as effective as coffee at improving night drivers' alertness. The findings could pave the way for the development of an electronic anti-sleep system to be built into vehicles - which could be crucial in preventing fatal crashes. Sleepiness is responsible for one third of fatalities on motorways as it reduces a driver's alertness, reflexes and visual perception. |  |
New Nuclear Engine Could Power Deep-Space Exploration
Researchers have tested a small prototype of a nuclear-reactor engine design that could one day power deep-space exploration probes.
The proposed design is based on a Stirling engine - an engine first invented in the 19th century that uses hot pressurized gas to push a piston. It would use a 50-pound nuclear uranium battery to generate heat that is then carried to eight Stirling engines to produce about 500 watts of power. Scientists at NASA’s Glenn Research Center and Los Alamos National Laboratory have tested a pared-down prototype of this design using a small nuclear source and a single Stirling engine that produced about 24 watts of energy. |  |
Pentagon: A Human Will Always Decide When a Robot Kills You
The Pentagon wants to make perfectly clear that every time one of its flying robots releases its lethal payload, it’s the result of a decision made by an accountable human being in a lawful chain of command. Human rights groups and nervous citizens fear that technological advances in autonomy will slowly lead to the day when robots make that critical decision for themselves. But according to a new policy directive issued by a top Pentagon official, there shall be no SkyNet, thank you very much.
Here’s what happened while you were preparing for Thanksgiving: Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter signed, on November 21, a series of instructions to “minimize the probability and consequences of failures” in autonomous or semi-autonomous armed robots “that could lead to unintended engagements,” starting at the design stage . |  |
Engineers pave the way towards 3D printing of personal electronics
Scientists are developing new materials which could one day allow people to print out custom-designed personal electronics such as games controllers which perfectly fit their hand shape.
The University of Warwick researchers have created a simple and inexpensive conductive plastic composite that can be used to produce electronic devices using the latest generation of low-cost 3D printers designed for use by hobbyists and even in the home. |  |
Japan firm offers 3D model of foetus
Expectant parents in Japan who can't wait to show the world what their baby will look like can now buy a three-dimensional model of the foetus to pass around their friends.
The nine-centimetre resin model of the white foetus, encased in a transparent block in the shape of the mother's body, is fashioned by a 3D printer after an MRI scan. "As it is only once in a lifetime that you are pregnant with that child, we received requests for these kind of models from pregnant women who... do not want to forget the feelings and experience of that time," said Tomohiro Kinoshita of FASOTEC, the company offering the service. |  |
A gorilla in the midst — of emotional rebirth?
In the Central African Republic, a female western lowland gorilla runs through a cloud of butterflies. She capers, if a gorilla can be said to caper. The other gorillas in her group carry on feeding, ignoring her.
It is in stark contrast to the week before: the capering gorilla, named Malui, had given birth to a stillborn fetus. It would have been Malui's fourth offspring, and Makumba, the silverback's, thirteenth. "Malui tried to revive the baby and even tried to get it to suckle," says wildlife photographer Anup Shah, who was watching the animals at the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve. What happened next was unusual. Malui's daughter, Mosoko, started grooming her. "Since grooming is rare, it probably signifies something profound," says Shah. "Was the daughter telling her mother that she understood her grief?" |  |
Seeing someone scratch an itch 'makes you itchy too'
Seeing someone scratch an itch could make you feel itchy too, a study suggests.
The British Journal of Dermatology paper looked at whether images such as those of others scratching or ants crawling on skin, made people scratch. The study of 30 people asked them how they felt looking at these and "non-itch" images - and found visual cues did provoke a "scratch response". Experts said the work could help understand skin disorders. |  |
'Bigfoot' Is Part Human, DNA Study Claims
Genetic testing confirms the legendary Bigfoot is a human relative that arose some 15,000 years ago -- at least according to a press release issued by a company called DNA Diagnostics detailing supposed work by a Texas veterinarian.
The release and alleged study by Melba S. Ketchum also suggests such cryptids had sex with modern human females that resulted in hairy hominin hybrids, but the scientific community is dubious about her claim. |  |
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