Science Headlines


Comatose for 23 years Belgian feels reborn

BRUSSELS (AP) -- With a caretaker holding his hand, a Belgian man who was diagnosed as comatose for 23 years typed out a message Tuesday that he felt reborn after decades of loneliness and frustration. A leading bioethicist, however, expressed skepticism that the man was truly communicating on his own....

Icebergs head from Antarctica for New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A flotilla of hundreds of icebergs that split off Antarctic ice shelves is drifting toward New Zealand and could pose a risk to ships in the south Pacific Ocean, officials said Tuesday....

Shuttle, station crews seal hatches for departure

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- After nearly a week together, the crews of shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station said goodbye Tuesday and closed the hatches between them....

Big Bang atom smasher starts speeding proton beams

GENEVA (AP) -- The world's largest atom smasher used its accelerator Tuesday to speed up proton beams for the first time as scientists moved ahead in efforts to learn more about the universe....

EU: US should spell out long-term climate goal

STRASBOURG, France (AP) -- The United States should be ready to spell out its long-term vision for reducing carbon emissions over the next two decades, not just until 2020, the European Union said Tuesday....

CO2 curve ticks upward as key climate talks loom

MAUNA LOA OBSERVATORY, Hawaii (AP) -- The readings at this 2-mile-high station show a troubling upward curve as the world counts down to crucial climate talks: Global warming gases are building in the atmosphere at record levels from emissions that match scientists' worst-case scenarios....

Grand Canyon to change 'unfair' permit system

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) -- Getting one of the roughly 11,500 permits granted each year to backpack overnight in the Grand Canyon has become so competitive and "unfair" that managers at the national park have decided to change the system....

Warming's impacts sped up, worsened since Kyoto

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Since the 1997 international accord to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and accelerated - beyond some of the grimmest of warnings made back then....

Thousands of strange creatures found deep in ocean

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- The creatures living in the depths of the ocean are as weird and outlandish as the creations in a Dr. Seuss book: tentacled transparent sea cucumbers, primitive "dumbos" that flap ear-like fins, and tubeworms that feed on oil deposits....

Rare Charles Darwin book found on toilet bookshelf

LONDON (AP) -- An auction house says it is selling a rare first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" found in a family's guest lavatory in southern England....

Ukraine's `hot air' bedevils global climate deal

KONSTANTINOVKA, Ukraine (AP) -- Vladimir Gapor is a plumber by trade, but now he's a scavenger, prying bits of scrap steel from the ruins of his old factory and selling them for a pittance....

Hackers leak e-mails, stoke climate debate

LONDON (AP) -- Computer hackers have broken into a server at a well-respected climate change research center in Britain and posted hundreds of private e-mails and documents online - stoking debate over whether some scientists have overstated the case for man-made climate change....

Researcher: Faint writing seen on Shroud of Turin

ROME (AP) -- A Vatican researcher has rekindled the age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, saying that faint writing on the linen proves it was the burial cloth of Jesus. Experts say the historian may be reading too much into the markings, and they stand by carbon-dating that points to the shroud being a medieval forgery....

Museum: Galileo's fingers, tooth are found

ROME (AP) -- Two fingers and a tooth removed from Galileo Galilei's corpse in a Florentine basilica in the 18th century and given up for lost have been found again and will soon be put on display, an Italian museum director said Friday....

Astronauts await word of baby girl on Earth

Measure to change U. of Neb. stem-cell rule fails

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- The University of Nebraska's governing board on Friday voted not to place tighter restrictions on embryonic stem cell research than those outlined under federal guidelines, which were expanded after President Barack Obama took office....

Biologists save fish after landslide

NILE, Wash. (AP) -- A gigantic landslide that buried a highway, uprooted homes and rerouted a river in Washington state's Cascade Range left hundreds of smaller victims: fish....

Military experiment seeks to predict PTSD

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (AP) -- Two days before shipping off to war, Marine Pfc. Jesse Sheets sat inside a trailer in the Mojave Desert, his gaze fixed on a computer that flashed a rhythmic pulse of contrasting images....

3 new ancient crocodile species fossils found

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A 20-foot-long crocodile with three sets of fangs - like wild boar tusks - roamed parts of northern Africa millions of years ago, researchers reported Thursday. While this fearsome creature hunted meat, not far away another newly found type of croc with a wide, flat snout like a pancake was fishing for food....

Calif. requires TVs to be more energy-efficient

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California regulators have adopted the nation's first energy-efficiency standards for televisions, a move that will eventually ban power-hungry sets from the state's store shelves....

Researchers ask: Are caged chickens miserable?

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Are cramped chickens crazy chickens?...

1 conjoined twin talking after separation surgery

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- A Bangladeshi toddler separated this week from her conjoined twin sister was talking and behaving normally Thursday after waking from a medically induced coma, the head of the surgery team said....

UN: Fight climate change with free condoms

LONDON (AP) -- The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday....

Rare crocs found hiding in plain sight in Cambodia

BANGKOK (AP) -- Conservationists searching for one of the world's most endangered crocodile species say they have found dozens of the reptiles lounging in plain sight - at a wildlife rescue center in Cambodia....

Meteor showers in Asia disappoint

NEW DELHI (AP) -- Thousands of stargazers across Asia stayed awake overnight to catch a glimpse of what was advertised as an intense Leonid meteor shower, but the show fizzled rather than sizzled for many because of cloudy conditions....

Don't blame fast food: Mummies had heart disease

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- You can't blame this one on McDonald's: Researchers have found signs of heart disease in 3,500-year-old mummies....

Led by China, carbon pollution up despite economy

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pollution typically declines during a recession. Not this time. Despite a global economic slump, worldwide carbon dioxide pollution jumped 2 percent last year, most of the increase coming from China, according to a study published online Tuesday....

Environmentalists: bluefin tuna quota too high

BRUSSELS (AP) -- Environmentalists on Monday said an international deal to reduce catches of Atlantic bluefin tuna didn't go far enough to protect the species from extinction....

Jellyfish swarm northward in warming world

KOKONOGI, Japan (AP) -- A blood-orange blob the size of a small refrigerator emerged from the dark waters, its venomous tentacles trapped in a fishing net. Within minutes, hundreds more were being hauled up, a pulsating mass crowding out the catch of mackerel and sea bass....

Hawaii's famed white sandy beaches are shrinking

KAILUA, Hawaii (AP) -- Jenn Boneza remembers when the white sandy beach near the boat ramp in her hometown was wide enough for people to build sand castles....

Splash! NASA moon crash struck lots of water

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The lunar dud for space enthusiasts has become a watershed event for NASA....

Hawaii planning to replenish sand at Waikiki Beach

HONOLULU (AP) -- Hawaii officials are appealing to the state's tourism authority for funds to restore part of world-famous Waikiki Beach....

Judge says seals can stay in California cove

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The seals can stay and play at a La Jolla swimming cove....

India to move all zoo elephants to wildlife parks

NEW DELHI (AP) -- All elephants living in Indian zoos and circuses will be moved to wildlife parks and game sanctuaries where the animals can graze more freely, officials said Friday....

Clinton: No binding climate deal at Denmark talks

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Next month's climate change summit in Copenhagen is not likely to produce a legally binding treaty to cut the greenhouse gas emissions that are widely blamed for global warming, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday....

Brazil: Deforestation sees biggest drop in 20 yrs

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped nearly 46 percent from August 2008 to July 2009 - the biggest annual decline in two decades, the government said Thursday....

NASA to try to free stuck Mars rover Spirit

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For NASA's stuck Mars rover, the Spirit may be willing, but the wheels could prove too weak. The space agency on Thursday outlined a rescue plan to try to free the rover Spirit, which has been bogged in a sand trap on the red planet for half a year. The risky operation is expected to last several months....

Space station gets new research module

MOSCOW (AP) -- A cargo ship has delivered a Russian research module to the International Space Station....

Warming drives off Cape Cod's namesake, other fish

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Fishermen have known for years that they've had to steam farther and farther from shore to find the cod, haddock and winter flounder that typically fill dinner plates in New England....

Gov't says brown pelicans are endangered no longer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Much like its death-defying dives for fish, the brown pelican has resurfaced after plummeting to the brink of extinction....

Scientists: New dinosaur species found in SAfrica

JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- A newly discovered dinosaur species that roamed the Earth about 200 million years ago may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land, scientists in South Africa said Wednesday....

Israel displays coins from ancient Jewish revolt

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel displayed for the first time Wednesday a collection of rare coins charred and burned from the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple nearly 2,000 years ago....

Gene found that seems key in evolution of speech

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Chimps, our nearest relative, don't talk. We do. Now scientists have pinpointed a mutation in a gene that might help explain the difference. The mutation seems to have helped humans develop speech and language. It's probably not the only gene involved, but researchers found the gene looks and acts differently in chimps and humans, according to a study published online Wednesday by the journal Nature....

Vatican looks to heavens for signs of alien life

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- E.T. phone Rome. Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church....

Planetary Society plans new 'solar sail'

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Four years after its first solar sail ended up in the ocean instead of orbit, The Planetary Society announced Monday that by the end of 2010 it will try again to launch a spacecraft that will be propelled by the subtle pressure of sunlight....

UK starts study on using human DNA in animals

LONDON (AP) -- British scientists begin a new study on Tuesday to consider how human DNA is used in animal experiments and to determine what the boundaries of such controversial science might be....

Turner leads No. 16 Ohio State in 100-60 win

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Evan Turner recorded only the second triple-double ever for Ohio State with 14 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in the 16th-ranked Buckeyes' 100-60 victory over Alcorn State on Monday night in the 2K Sports Classic....

China sends panda expert to Taiwan to aid breeding

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Nothing like a little time apart to rekindle the affections that could lead to a baby panda....

W. Africa's last giraffes make surprising comeback

KOURE, Niger (AP) -- A crisp African dawn is breaking overhead, and Zibo Mounkaila is on the back of a pickup truck bounding across a sparse landscape of rocky orange soil....

Seattle team wins $900,000 in Space Elevator Games

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A Seattle team has collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop the concept of an elevator to space - an idea spurred by science fiction novels....

Prized mushroom collection returns to China

BEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese scholar persecuted during the Cultural Revolution for smuggling a rare collection of mushrooms out of China before World War II was honored Saturday when the collection was returned more than 70 years later....

Sea lions killed, but Columbia salmon toll rises

Killing or removing 25 California sea lions over the past two years has not reduced the toll on salmon at the base of Bonneville Dam in the Columbia River....

France hunts for security driver in big bank heist

PARIS (AP) -- French police conducted a nationwide search Friday for a security driver who vanished with euro11 million ($7.4 million) in cash from a bank in the central city of Lyon, authorities said....

Caribbean, Gulf spared widespread coral damage

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Lower-than-feared sea temperatures this summer gave a break to fragile coral reefs across the Caribbean and the central Gulf of Mexico that were damaged in recent years, scientists said Thursday....

Senate rejects bid aimed at Sept. 11 terrorists

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Democratic-controlled Senate on Thursday turned back a GOP-led effort to bar Sept. 11 terrorists from being prosecuted in civilian federal courts....

New gene therapy halts 2 boys' rare brain disease

WASHINGTON (AP) -- French scientists mixed gene therapy and bone marrow transplants in two boys to seemingly halt a brain disease that can kill by adolescence. The surprise ingredient: They disabled the HIV virus so it couldn't cause AIDS, and then used it to carry in the healthy new gene....

Genetic tests for UK asylum seekers draw criticism

LONDON (AP) -- Britain is using genetic tests on some African asylum seekers in an effort to catch those who are lying about their nationality, drawing criticism from scientists and provoking outrage from rights groups....

Comic magazine Viz turns 30, refuses to grow up

LONDON (AP) -- What makes a British cultural institution? Style? Sophistication?...

Merkel calls for strong deal on climate change

WASHINGTON (AP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by exhorting the world in a speech to Congress on Tuesday to "tear down the walls of today" and reach a deal to combat global warming....

Over 17,000 species threatened by extinction

GENEVA (AP) -- A rare Panamanian tree frog, a rodent from Madagascar and two lizards found only in the Philippines are among over 17,000 species threatened with extinction, a leading environmental group said Tuesday....

82 healthy sea turtles hatch at San Diego SeaWorld

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The population of endangered green sea turtles at SeaWorld in San Diego grew by 82 in October when the eggs hatched on Shipwreck Beach without human help....

Study: Man-eating lions consumed 35 people in 1898

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nightly attacks by two man-eating lions terrified railway workers and brought construction to a halt in one of east Africa's most notorious onslaughts more than a hundred years ago. But the death toll, scientists now say, wasn't as high as previously thought....

Snow cap disappearing from Mount Kilimanjaro

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The snows of Kilimanjaro may soon be gone. The African mountain's white peak - made famous by writer Ernest Hemingway - is rapidly melting, researchers report....

Texas clinic: Headscarf ban was misunderstanding

DALLAS (AP) -- A Texas health clinic operator says it regrets telling a Muslim doctor applying for a job that she couldn't wear her traditional headscarf....

Scientists decode DNA of pig, a research favorite

CHICAGO (AP) -- An international group of scientists has decoded the DNA of the domestic pig, research that may one day prove useful in finding new treatments for both pigs and people, and perhaps aid in efforts for a new swine flu vaccine for pigs....

Colorado county copes with methane mystery

WALSENBURG, Colo. (AP) -- Bernice and Jerry Angely like to show visitors the singed T-shirt a friend was wearing when their water well exploded and shot flames 30 feet high....

US labor official, Chile's Lagos on Honduras panel

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- The U.S. secretary of labor and a former Chilean president were named Sunday to a commission tasked with monitoring the creation of a power-sharing government in Honduras, under a U.S.-brokered agreement to end the nation's 4-month-old political crisis....

Federal regulators close 9 banks, mostly in West

NEW YORK (AP) -- Regulators have shut California National Bank of Los Angeles and eight smaller related banks as the weak economy continues to produce a stream of loan defaults....

Father of China's space tech program dies at 98

BEIJING (AP) -- Qian Xuesen, a rocket scientist known as the father of China's space technology program, died Saturday in Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency said. He was 98....

Blanton to start World Series Game 4 for Phillies

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Joe Blanton was picked to start Game 4 of the World Series for the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies. Manager Charlie Manuel said Friday he will go with Blanton against the New York Yankees rather than ace Cliff Lee on short rest. Lee, who has never pitched on three days' rest, is slated to start Game 5....

2 parachutes malfunctioned in NASA test flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Two of three parachutes malfunctioned in the test flight of a prototype moon rocket earlier this week, causing major damage to the booster, NASA said Friday....

US rubber company disputes Liberia pollution study

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- An American-owned rubber company is disputing claims by the Liberian government that the company's waste products are polluting creeks....

Russia hopes nuclear ship will fly humans to Mars

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia should build a new nuclear-powered spaceship for prospective manned missions to Mars and other planets, the nation's space chief said Thursday....

Obama team: US needs bill to lead in clean energy

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration warned on Tuesday that the U.S. could slip further behind China and other countries in clean energy development if Congress fails to pass climate legislation, as early signs of a rift emerged among Democrats over the bill's costs....

UN signals delay in climate change treaty

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Just weeks before an international conference on climate change, the United Nations signaled it was scaling back expectations of reaching agreement on a new treaty to slow global warming....

Another Titanic expedition possible in 2010

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- The company that has exclusive rights to salvage the Titanic wants to make another expedition to the world's most famous shipwreck in 2010....

AP IMPACT: Statisticians reject global cooling

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Have you heard that the world is now cooling instead of warming? You may have seen some news reports on the Internet or heard about it from a provocative new book. Only one problem: It's not true, according to an analysis of the numbers done by several independent statisticians for The Associated Press....

Disgraced cloning expert convicted in South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- A South Korean stem cell scientist once hailed as a hero for bringing hope to people with incurable diseases and creating the world's first cloned dog was convicted Monday on criminal charges related to faked research, but avoided jail....

Latvian experts say meteorite crater was hoax

RIGA, Latvia (AP) -- Scientists investigating a large crater initially believed to have been caused by a meteorite said a closer analysis Monday revealed it was a hoax....

Association marks 20 years of greening Hollywood

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- With local, organic food, minimal electricity use and on-site composting, the Environmental Media Association's 20th anniversary party might be the green standard for future Hollywood awards shows....

From ecological Soviet-era ruin, a sea is reborn

AKESPE, Kazakhstan (AP) -- Standing on the shore under the relentless Central Asian sun, Badarkhan Prikeyev drew on a cigarette and squinted into the distance as one fishing boat after another returned with the day's catch....

Nuclear energy becomes pivotal in climate debate

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nuclear energy, once vilified by environmentalists and facing a dim future, has become a pivotal bargaining chip as Senate Democrats hunt for Republican votes to pass climate legislation....

Global events mark magic number on climate change

NEW YORK (AP) -- Activists held events around the world Saturday to mark the number they say the world needs to reach to prevent disastrous climate change: 350....

Hawaii regulators approve first US tuna farm

HONOLULU (AP) -- Hawaii regulators have approved a Honolulu startup company's plan to build the nation's first tuna farm in waters off the Big Island....

Largest solar panel plant in US rises in Fla.

ARCADIA, Fla. (AP) -- Greg Bove steps into his pickup truck and drives down a sandy path to where the future of Florida's renewable energy plans begin: Acres of open land filled with solar panels that will soon power thousands of homes and business....

Denmark urges agreement on climate change funds

NEW DELHI (AP) -- Denmark urged the European Union, the United States and other rich countries to commit to financing for a new climate change deal, saying Friday that billions of dollars are needed....

Scientists seek origins of obesity in the womb

NEW YORK (AP) -- When Kathy Perusse had weight-loss surgery and shed 120 pounds, she may have done more than make her own life easier....

Kan., Okla. conduct joint livestock disease drill

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Trucks that could be hauling livestock along the Kansas and Oklahoma border were detained and their drivers questioned Thursday, during a drill aimed at protecting the nation's food supply from foot-and-mouth disease....

Panel says NASA should skip moon, fly elsewhere

WASHINGTON (AP) -- NASA needs to make a major detour on its grand plans to return astronauts to the moon, a special independent panel told the White House Thursday....

Poll: US belief in global warming is cooling

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans seem to be cooling toward global warming....

Fishermen contest plans for Calif. ocean reserves

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- There's nothing pacific about the ocean off Southern California these days....

Feds designate polar bear habitat in Alaska

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration said Thursday it is designating more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska and off its coast as "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could add restrictions to future offshore drilling for oil and gas....

EU probes mismanagement in prized Spanish wetland

MADRID (AP) -- The European Union has launched an investigation into a prized Spanish wetland that has turned bone dry through mismanagement of water resources and is now on fire underground, white smoke now rising from areas where fish once swam....

Seasonal ladybug swarms pester even bug experts

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Pest-control specialist Gene Scholes even gets bugged by them - legions of ladybugs lately swarming his rural Missouri home and other stretches across the country, exploiting gaps in door and window seals for cozier climes inside....

Primate fossil called only a distant relative

NEW YORK (AP) -- Remember Ida, the fossil discovery announced last May with its own book and TV documentary? A publicity blitz called it "the link" that would reveal the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans. Experts protested that Ida wasn't even a close relative. And now a new analysis supports their reaction....

India, China agree to cooperate on climate change

NEW DELHI (AP) -- India and China, both major polluters and crucial players in fighting global warming, agreed Wednesday to stand together on climate change issues at a major global conference later this year....

Scientists ID fossil bones of smallest dinosaur

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Fossil bones housed at a Los Angeles museum belong to the smallest dinosaur discovered in North America, scientists said Tuesday....

EU OKs tougher penalties for illegal fishing

LUXEMBOURG (AP) -- The European Union agreed Tuesday on tougher penalties to counter illegal fishing, considered a major cause of the depletion of fish stocks in European waters, particularly of prized cod and bluefin tuna....

Europeans find 32 new planets outside solar system

WASHINGTON (AP) -- European astronomers have found 32 new planets outside our solar system, adding evidence to the theory that the universe has many places where life could develop. Scientists using the European Southern Observatory telescope didn't find any planets quite the size of Earth or any that seemed habitable or even unusual. But their announcement increased the number of planets discovered outside the solar system to more than 400....

UK's Brown urges progress on climate pact

LONDON (AP) -- The world has less than two months to agree on how to avoid catastrophic global warming whose impact would be felt for generations, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday, a stark warning that puts pressure on the United States to finalize its position before this year's global climate conference in Denmark....

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