The worst drought in 900 years helped spark Syria's civil war
The drought that played a role in triggering the catastrophic Syrian Civil War was the worst such climate event in at least the past 900 years, according to a new study published this week. The study bolsters the conclusions from other research that found that because of human-made global warming, the drought was made three times more likely to occur, and that it was one of a number of factors that led to the outbreak of hostilities in 2011. The new study examined tree-ring records showing th..>> view originalWill robots become pets? Maybe, but your dog won't like it.
The first meeting between a robot dog and a biological dog fell short of a fairy-tale love story.Last week, Spot, a robot made by Boston Dynamics, met a small terrier in a parking lot. The exchange quickly became confrontational as the confused dog, Cosmo, began aggressively barking and posturing at the faux dog. It ended only after Spot made a retreat.Despite the defeat, Spot is one of the most advanced robots capable of maneuvering through nearly any terrain. It was originally designed as par..>> view originalSmall Dragonfly May Make World's Longest Flights
Found all over the world, the wandering glider (Pantala flavescens) is aptly named. The dragonfly has truly global reach, and it is found on every continent except Antarctica. To get to all those far-flung corners of the planet, the winged insect (also sometimes called the “globe skimmer”) makes epic migratory flights: They have been seen, for example, traversing the Indian Ocean in the hundreds of thousands on their way from Asia to Africa. But just how far they go has shocked researchers. New..>> view originalUnderstanding others: A smarter way to search for aliens?
Maybe a team effort is the best way to search for aliens. That is, teaming up with the extraterrestrials themselves.A new study suggests that perhaps we should be looking for aliens who are looking for us in the hope of finding each other and communicating.The idea is to flip our current apprach around. NASA's Kepler spacecraft has discovered more than 1,000 exoplanets by watching for the light of a star to dim as an orbiting planet passes by. Scientists now suggest that we target worlds that c..>> view originalThe Sound of Space: Now we can hear black holes collide, ripples in space-time
PORTLAND, Ore. รข€” One of the biggest discoveries in modern physics came as a quiet thump in the night.The first ever detection of a gravitational wave sent ripples of excitement through the scientific community when the detection was announced a few weeks ago. Literal rippling of space-time, first predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago, had been observed in two giant detectors on opposite sides of the United States.Einstein had been right. His theory of gravity, general relativity, w..>> view original'Buried Giants' in Space Set Crimson Space Clouds Aglow (Video, Photos)
Crimson gas clouds in space shine bright with reflected light in this new view from a European Southern Observatory telescope in Chile. The light comes from young stars that are buried deeply in a surrounding dust cloud. The region is called RCW 106, and is located about 12,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Norma (The Carpenter's Square). This is the 106th entry in a catalog of H II regions, which have clouds of hydrogen gas that are being ionized (electrically charged)..>> view originalEnd of 1-Year Space Mission 'Bittersweet' for Astronaut Scott Kelly (Video)
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly has mixed emotions about being back on Earth after nearly a year in space. Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko touched down on the steppe of Kazakhstan late Tuesday (March 1), wrapping up their unprecedented 340-day stay aboard the International Space Station. (Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov came home with them, but his space station mission had been the typical 5.5-month stint.) In a newly released NASA postlanding video, Kelly said he's glad to be home — but his ..>> view originalThe cosmic hunt for Fast Radio Bursts just got a surprising new twist
One of the mysterious signals repeated, suggesting it might come from a pulsar like this one – but much stronger, and beyond our own galaxy. (EPA/NASA/Chandra X-ray Observatory) Last week, scientists reported a huge step in the hunt for mysterious cosmic phenomena known as Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). But now their results are being called into question by others in the field. Amid that controversy, a new paper has just hit the presses: For the first time ever, they've found an FRB that keeps r..>> view original520 million-year-old fossilized nervous system is the most detailed of its kind
Chengjiangocaris kunmingensis wasn't exactly a beautiful animal: The crustacean-like Cambrian creature had a long, segmented body and an unholy number of legs that it used to scuttle across the ocean floor. But scientists are oohing and ahhing over the ugly arthropod anyway, and for good reason. The nervous system of one 520 million-year-old specimen shows some of the best and most well-preserved nerves ever seen in an animal of that era.According to a study published Monday in the Proceedings ..>> view originalWeather looks good for Friday SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral
SpaceX is now targeting Friday, March 4 for a Falcon 9 launch with the SES-9 satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Video by Emre Kelly. WochitA Falcon 9 rocket on the pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016.(Photo: SpaceX)Update, March 2:The Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron has issued a 90 percent "go" forecast for Friday's Falcon 9 launch attempt.Forecasters expect slight chances of thunderstorms to clear by midday. Cumulus clouds are the primary..>> view original
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
The worst drought in 900 years helped spark Syria's civil war and other top stories.
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