When the Stardust spacecraft was launched in 1999, NASA had no idea how it would extract comet grains from the innovative aerogel dust catchers. By the time the dust returned to Earth early this year, UC Berkeley's Andrew Westphal and colleagues had developed micromanipulation techniques and microneedle cutters able to do the job efficiently. Together, he and NASA provided the 35 grains whose analysis is reported this week in seven Science papers. Read more…

A diagnostic device that resembles a mammography unit can detect breast tumors as tiny as one-fifth of an inch in diameter, which may make it a valuable complementary imaging technique to mammography, say researchers at Mayo Clinic, who helped develop the technology along with industry collaborators Gamma Medica and GE Healthcare. Read more…

The molecular nature of a key component of cell division, the "chromosome-spindle" connection, which is critical for the inheritance of genetic information as cells divide, has remained elusive. Read more…

Many men have breast symptoms, including enlarged or painful breast tissue, but the majority do not need a mammogram, say researchers from Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. Mammograms are used to check for the presence of breast cancers, which are very rare in males. Read more…

Findings of Kent State University scientists indicate that manipulating the size of colloids, micron-sized or nanometer-sized particles, can produce huge changes in the material properties of liquid crystals. Read more…

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have taken the dangerous guesswork out of dosing a life-saving medication for congestive heart failure. Read more…

Particulate materials captured from the comet Wild two have revealed clues about the birth of our solar system that counter some of the basic theories that the solar nebular is gently collapsing inward to form the sun and the planets. Read more…

Researchers have found that diabetes is controlled by abnormalities in the sensory nociceptor (pain-related) nerve endings in the pancreatic islet cells that produce insulin. This discovery, a breakthrough that has long been the elusive goal of diabetes research, has led to new treatment strategies for diabetes, achieving reversal of the disease without severe, toxic immunosuppression. Read more…

An international team of over 2,000 scientists, led by Professor Tejinder Virdee New Window from Imperial College London's Department of Physics is stepping up preparations for the world's largest ever physics experiment, starting next year at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland. Read more…

The St. Petersburg Times (the one in Florida, not Russia) has a brief but interesting interview with NASA administrator Mike Griffin in Sunday's issue. Besides talking about the lunar base announcement earlier this month and Mars exploration plans, the paper asks Griffin about what the change in party control of Congress means to NASA. Griffin gives a standard reply: I would observe of course that we didn't get the… very one-sided majority… without plenty of Democrats pitching in. NASA has not historically been a partisan agency… (There are enough ellipses in that quote to make one wonder what else Griffin said.) The Times then asks whether he thinks Bush's successor might change NASA's overall exploration plans. "I would hope that doesn't happen," Griffin responded, adding that "the choices are pretty stark", based on what the Columbia Accident Investigation Board noted in its report: And then they went on to say (that) if it's going to be done, that the goals ought to be worthy of the cost and the risk and the difficulty of the enterprise. That's rational. And then they added that a human space program, a human space program which dead-ends at the space station is not, does not qualify. That was a rather thoughtful piece in their report… So we need to go beyond the space station if we're going to do it at all. Now I personally do not envision any president or any Congress putting an end to the U.S. manned spaceflight program. I hope I do not live to see such a thing… Griffin added that the "geometry of the solar system" means that the next destination for human spaceflight is the Moon, followed by Mars. "So when I look at all that and mush it up together what I come out with is a future president or a future Congress may say go a little faster or go a little slower, but I don't see the rational grounds by which anyone is going to say pick another goal." Read more…

SPACE.com - HOUSTON -- Astronauts aboard NASA's shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station (ISS) are hauling cargo between their two spacecraft today while preparing for an extra spacewalk to pack away a half-furled solar array atop the orbital laboratory. Read more…

AP - Instead of enjoying a relaxing day at the international space station, the space shuttle Discovery's seven astronauts prepared Sunday for an unplanned, fourth spacewalk to get a stubborn, half-retracted solar array to fold up. Read more…

On January 1, 1970 around 7 p.m. in the southern part of Vancouver Island, Canada, a UFO was seen by several people living in Mill Bay. It resembled a moving vertically oriented egg. According to the principal witness Jim Drummond, at one point...something left this object... Read more…

Science routinely uncovers the surprising. But some stories are downright strange. Vote for your favorite. [via Digg]Channel: Science Tags: science weird vote 2006 Read more…

Great article about the recent salvaging of the steamboat Arabia, which was discovered with a metal detector lying fifty feet under a Kansas farm!with picturesChannel: Science Tags: steamboat farm Kansas underground Read more…

A new Bush administration policy for reviewing scientific documents before publication has angered some U.S. Geological Survey scientists, who say the elaborate internal review of their work may impede them from conveying information to the public...Channel: Science Tags: government peer review geology supervision censorship Read more…

From the article: "The newest giant panda cub in the U.S. has a name: Mei Lan. The moniker, which officials said means 'Atlanta Beauty,' was announced Friday during a traditional Chinese naming ceremony at Zoo Atlanta on the cub's 100th day.The 12-pound (5.4 kilo) honoree did not make an appearance at the event, which featured traditional Chinese song and dance as well as speeches from dignitaries, but she could be seen by video feed sleeping peacefully in her secluded habitat."Channel: Science Tags: zoo Atlanta Panda Giant Panda baby Mei Lan Read more…

AP - A 13-foot boa constrictor wrapped itself around its owner's neck and killed the man in his home, authorities said. Read more…

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AP - "SNAKE!" Hearing this shout, Skip Snow slammed on the brakes. When the off-roader plowed to a halt, he and his partner, Lori Oberhofer, leaped out and took off running toward two snakes, actually — a pair of 10-foot Burmese pythons lying on a levee, sunning themselves. Read more…

AP - The study indicates the human brain compares information it gets from each nostril to get clues about where a smell is coming from. And it suggests dogs, mice and other mammals do the same thing, contrary to what most scientists have thought. Read more…

STATUS REPORT Date Released: Friday, December 15, 2006 Source: Ames Research Center NASA ARC Internal Memo: Increased WiFi Access Editor's note: The cost of the WiFi was totally borne by Golf Course profits. No tax dollars were involved. Read more…

PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Sunday, December 17, 2006 Source: Aerojet Aerojet Helps Expand United States/Russian Space Cooperation SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 6 Aerojet, a GenCorp Inc. Read more…

PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Sunday, December 17, 2006 Source: NASA HQ NASA Announces Virginia Aeronautics Research Award WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 -- NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, Airspace Systems Program, Washington, has awarded approximately $1.5 million to Metron Aviation Inc. Read more…

PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Sunday, December 17, 2006 Source: NASA HQ NASA Announces Massachusetts Aeronautics Research Awards WASHINGTON, Dec. Read more…