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Missile Shield Useless Against Iran's Arsenal: Study

System wouldn't protect Europe; Iran far from nuclear missiles

(Newser) - The US missile shield planned for eastern Europe wouldn’t protect the continent from threats posed by Iranian missiles, a team of American and Russian scientists found. Further, the Washington Post notes, it will be more than 5 years before Iran can build nuclear warheads and missiles to launch them,...

Deadly Genes Make Euro Jews Smarter: Scientist

Scientists spark furor with controversial DNA theory

(Newser) - The genes that make European Jews susceptible to deadly diseases may also increase their intelligence, two scientists say. Arizona physicist Gregory Cochran stumbled on the theory when pondering why natural selection hasn't removed bad DNA from the gene pool that makes Ashkenazi Jews get so many diseases. His answer: ...

Meet Titanoboa, 45-Foot Snake
 Meet Titanoboa, 45-Foot Snake 
Feb 5, 2009 11:32 AM CST

Meet Titanoboa, 45-Foot Snake

(Newser) - A 45-foot, 1.25-ton snake stalked the jungles of South America in the period shortly after dinosaurs went extinct, the Times of London reports. Researchers have found 28 individual “Titanoboas” in Colombia’s Cerrejon Coal Mine; with every specimen at least 40 feet long, scientists say it’s likely...

Scientists Sniff Out Ancient Stash of Pot

2 lbs. of green plant material found in 2700 year-old grave

(Newser) - Scientists excavating a grave in China’s Gobi desert have found what they believe is the world’s oldest marijuana stash, reports Discovery News. Two pounds of still-green plant material were found in a 2,700-year-old grave belonging to a Caucasian man researchers believe may have been a shaman.

Scientists Closer to Invisibility Cloak

New material geared towards military, medical uses

(Newser) - Soon Harry Potter may not be the only one wearing an invisibility cloak. Researchers today announced a new material that bends light away from objects, causing "negative refraction" and "cloaking." The technology, which adds to earlier research veiling two-dimensional objects, will likely conceal military devices and improve...

Ancient Device Gives Up Its Secrets
Ancient Device Gives Up Its Secrets
Jul 30, 2008 5:40 PM CDT

Ancient Device Gives Up Its Secrets

Greek calculating machine tracked eclipses, Olympics

(Newser) - The world's oldest calculating machine was used as a calendar that tracked eclipses and marked Olympic Games, the Telegraph reports. Scientists say the ancient Greek "Antikythera Mechanism," a 2,100-year-old bronze gadget discovered in 1900, marked the 4-year cycle of Games that climaxed with the Olympics—"which...

EPA Forecasts Longer, Smoggier Summers for US

Agency warns of effects from global warming

(Newser) - Climate change will bring longer, hotter, smoggier summers in the coming decades across the US, a new EPA reports says. Expect more wildfires and hurricanes, too, along with water problems in the West, the Washington Post reports. The federal report is noteworthy because it refutes the Bush administration's rosier outlook...

Scientists Find Fossil of Most Primitive 4-Legged Creature

Fish-eater likely a product of extinct branch of 4-legged family

(Newser) - Scientists have found a partial skeleton of the world's most primitive four-legged creature— a water-dwelling tetrapod—in Latvia, AP reports. The four-foot-long fish eater resembles a small alligator and likely belongs to an extinct offshoot of the four-legged family tree. The fossil is 365 million years old—predating dinosaurs by...

EPA Scientists Rip Political 'Interference'

Survey finds agency 'under siege' from meddling officials

(Newser) - Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency scientists say they have come under political pressure to fudge their findings, the Los Angeles Times reports. More than half the scientists who responded to a survey said they had experienced interference over the last five years. The report from a nonprofit scientists' group describes...

Mecca Time Plugged for World Standard

Muslim scholars say British-imposed GMT due for a change

(Newser) - A group of Muslim scholars wants Mecca time to replace Greenwich Mean Time as the world's default setting, the BBC reports. As Islam’s holiest city lies in perfect longitudinal alignment to magnetic north, scientists told a Qatar conference that Mecca was the “true” center of the earth. GMT,...

Lousy Figure? Blame Mom and Dad

Another reason to get mad at your parents: body shape is inherited

(Newser) - Still struggling to get that 36-24-36 figure? Science can’t help you, but it can explain why some girls are leaner than others, reports the Telegraph. Researchers have found a link between parental DNA and female muscle mass, which could explain “why many people will never obtain the perfect...

Human-Animal Embryos Created
 Human-Animal Embryos Created 
Apr 2, 2008 6:14 AM CDT

Human-Animal Embryos Created

Controversial cow-human creation lived for three days

(Newser) - In a brave new world breakthrough, British scientists for the first time have created animal-human hybrid embryos, the London Times reports. The nuclei of cow eggs were removed and replaced with ones from a human cell, creating "admixed" embryos—or "cybrids" whose genetic material is 99.9% human....

Top 10 Planet Earth Puzzlers
 Top 10 Planet Earth Puzzlers 
Mar 16, 2008 3:12 PM CDT

Top 10 Planet Earth Puzzlers

Even basic questions still have scientists scratching their heads

(Newser) - Forget deep-space exploration; even basic questions about Earth still have scientists scratching their heads, LiveScience reports. A panel of geologists and planetary scientists lists its top lingering mysteries.
  1. How did Earth form into such a distinct body?
  2. What happened during Earth's first 500 million years?
  3. How did life start on
...

Kamikaze Palm Baffles Botanists
Kamikaze Palm Baffles Botanists
Jan 17, 2008 3:30 AM CST

Kamikaze Palm Baffles Botanists

Madagascar giant flowers spectacularly, then dies

(Newser) - Scientists have found a gigantic—and suicidal—new species of palm tree in a remote area of Madagascar, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The tree, so big it can be seen in satellite photos, grows normally for a century or so until it spectacularly erupts with countless tiny flowers that...

'Christmas Punch-up' Rocks South Pole

Two Antarctic workers engage in Yuletide combat

(Newser) - The North Pole is usually abuzz with activity this time of year, but the South Pole was rocked by a "drunken Christmas punch-up," between two men in a remote research station at the bottom of the world. The Guardian reports both men—one with a broken jaw—were...

Heatwaves Double Over 100 Years
Heatwaves Double Over 100 Years
Aug 4, 2007 4:42 PM CDT

Heatwaves Double Over 100 Years

Number of 'extremely hot days' have tripled, Euro study shows

(Newser) - The duration of heatwaves in Western Europe has doubled and the frequency of extremely hot days has nearly tripled since 1880, according to a study released yesterday. Periods of sweltering weather last an average of 3 days now compared to 1.5  in 1880, a shift that forebodes a higher...

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