The giant dinosaurs had a problem. Many of them had narrow, pointed teeth, which were more suited to tearing off plants rather than chewing them. But how did they then grind their food? Until recently many researchers have assumed that they were helped by stones which they swallowed. In their muscular stomach these then acted as a kind of "gastric mill." But this assumption does not seem to be correct, as scientists at the universities of Bonn and T?bingen have now proved. Read more…

Commander Mark Polansky and his crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery will complete their 13-day mission to the International Space Station Friday, Dec. 22. Read more…

The National Space Society and ProSpace have announced dates for their next space policy lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill, which will be among the first such citizen space lobbying events of the 110th Congress. The NSS plans to conduct its Space Budget Blitz 2007 on February 11-13, which should be shortly after when the FY2008 budget proposal is released. "With the new Democratic majority in Congress, American's space program and NASA's budget is in our hands. That's why we need your help to make sure America's space future is secure for generations to come." The exact details about the event haven't been released yet, but presumably the format will be similar to past "Space Blitz" events conducted by the NSS. ProSpace, meanwhile, announced that its annual March Storm lobbying effort will take place March 4-7: training on Sunday the 4th, followed by Congressional visits on the 5th through the 7th. The preliminary agenda for 2007 edition of the long-running event includes near Earth objects (presumably supporting efforts to search for them, although it's not specified), prizes competitions, ITAR reform, and "NASA/Commercial Services". Read more…

SPACE.com - CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA mission managers are eyeing the weather for Friday’s planned landing of the space shuttle Discovery while awaiting the results from a second look at the orbiter’s heat shield. Read more…

SPACE.com - CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Seven astronauts are spending what is expected to be their last full day in orbit aboard NASA's space shuttle Discovery today as their 13-day flight to the International Space Station (ISS) draws towards its close. Read more…

AFP - Bad weather could force the Space Shuttle Discovery to land at a backup site in the western United States instead of Florida as planned, NASA officials said. Read more…

SPACE.com - A compelling theme in science fiction is the potential of humanity to create life and the hazards arising from such an endeavor. Perhaps Frankenstein was the first popular tale of a mad scientist creating havoc when the beings he created went haywire. The theme has been followed by writers such as Asimov in the Robot series, Philip K. Dick in 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' (later adapted to film as Blade Runner) and recently has been re-imagined by the writers of Battlestar Galactica. ... Read more…

AFP - Weather conditions looked better for a possible landing of the space shuttle Discovery Friday in Florida, a NASA spokeswoman said, after engineers found no signs of damage on its heat shield. Read more…

Reuters - NASA on Thursday cleared the U.S. space shuttle Discovery for landing on Friday, though poor weather and dwindling supplies could force the crew to divert to a rarely used site in New Mexico. Read more…

AP - A $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow the Big Island's W.M. Keck Observatory to take a closer look at the areas surrounding the black hole at the center of our galaxy. Read more…

The fossil bones of what may have been Europe's largest animal ever, a new type of dinosaur, have been discovered in Spain.Channel: Science Tags: Turiasaurus riodevensis Saurapod Spain Read more…

The last time a human being walked on the Moon was in 1972. Close to half of the U.S. population has been born since then. It therefore falls to people over the age of 50 to recall the incredible excitement and sense of adventure that was the NASA Space program up to that year. Channel: Science Tags: space exploration Read more…

Scientists have used silicon crystals to trap light and slow it down to the lowest speed ever recorded in the material. The breakthrough is a step towards light-based storage for quantum computers.Channel: Science Tags: light quantum computers Read more…

A transparent lacquer containing carbon nanotubes could clear car windscreens or mirrors by acting as a heater. Thicker, opaque versions of the coating could turn entire floors of buildings into radiators, researchers claim.Channel: Science Tags: science carbon nanotubes coating heater Read more…

International study kicked off by a prematurely aging boy provides insight into the mechanisms behind growing older Channel: Science Tags: science fountain of youth aging mechanism Read more…

Bears have stopped hibernating in the mountains of northern Spain, scientists revealed yesterday, in what may be one of the strongest signals yet of how much climate change is affecting the natural world.Channel: Science Tags: Climate Change Bears hibernation global warming science Read more…

Two new studies by scientists at the Australian Research Council for Coral Reef Studies suggest that coral reefs may be in worse shape than previously thought. The first, appearing in the journal Geology indicates that the current large scale coral die-offs are now occurring more frequently than at any time in the last 11,000 years.Channel: Science Tags: coral reef climate change environment ocean Read more…

Reuters - Scientists in Spain have found the fossilized remains of one of the largest animals ever to walk the Earth, a gargantuan plant-eating dinosaur up to 125 feet long and weighing as much as seven elephants. Read more…

Reuters - Natural and organic grocer Wild Oats Markets Inc. pulled bottles of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice from shelves in seven stores, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday, after an animal rights group claimed it tampered with 487 bottles. Read more…

weather.com - Read more…

AP - A joint Indian-Chinese team plans to chart remote Himalayan glaciers that scientists fear are rapidly melting because of global warming, threatening the great rivers that give life to one of South Asia's most fertile regions. Read more…

AP - The fossil bones of what may have been Europe's largest animal ever, a new type of dinosaur, have been discovered in Spain. Discovery of the sauropod, estimated to have weighed between 40 and 48 tons, is reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science. Read more…

AP - The discovery of fossilized remains of a mouse-like animal that lived at least 16 million years ago is the first hard evidence that New Zealand had its own indigenous land mammals, a researcher said Thursday. Read more…

AP - A western lowland gorilla has given birth at a zoo in southwest England after being given a fertility drug that is normally used on humans, zoo officials said Friday. Read more…

STATUS REPORT Date Released: Thursday, December 21, 2006 Source: ESA Broadcast Centre ESA TV coverage of STS-116 mission on landing day - 22 December On 22 December, ESA TV provides Shuttle mission coverage as follows: 22 December 05:00 - 05:30 GMT Flight Day 13 Highlights of Mission STS-116 The... Read more…