BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations may be more common in the general population than previously reported and may be associated with ovarian, breast, testicular and pancreatic cancers, according to a study in the Dec. 6 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Read more…
Despite growing public alarm over the shrinking Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, it is small glaciers and ice caps that have been contributing the most to rising sea levels in recent years, according to a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. Read more…
AP - Space shuttle Discovery astronauts took a break from their hectic schedule to talk to Alaska students during a video conference viewed by participants across the state, including some in the most isolated native communities. Read more…
AFP - NASA has given the Space Shuttle Discovery a green light for a return to Earth, but poor weather forecast for Florida means the craft may make a rare landing in New Mexico. Read more…
AP - NASA managers cleared space shuttle Discovery to return home Friday, but are unsure where the spacecraft will touch down. Read more…
SPACE.com - At this time of year it seems almost traditional for stargazers to ponder the age-old question of the origin of the Star of Bethlehem. The Star's appearance some 2,000 years ago is quite possibly one of the best-known celestial events in all of recorded history. Read more…
AFP - The sudden death of Turkmenistan's president Saparmurat Niyazov has prompted predictions of a power struggle inside the ex-Soviet republic and a fierce contest among world powers coveting the desert nation's energy reserves. Read more…
AFP - The death toll from floods in Malaysia rose to six, as torrential rains in six states forced nearly 80,000 people to flee their homes and experts warned the capital was now under threat. Read more…
AP - A Japanese research team has succeeded in filming a giant squid live — possibly for the first time — and says the elusive creatures may be more plentiful than previously believed, a researcher said Friday. Read more…
A study of the use of biomarkers to predict the risk of cardiovascular disease and death in an apparently healthy population has found that, even though some measurements are associated with future cardiovascular events, their usefulness for predicting risk in individuals may be limited. Read more…
Researchers from the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and four universities have made the first experimental observation of rare particles of light emitted during the radioactive decay of the neutron, a key building block of matter. This work confirms theoretical predictions of this type of decay of the neutron and sets the stage for a new class of tests of basic theories in particle physics. Read more…
A study published in the journal Nature found that mice completely lacking a critical gene for repairing damaged DNA grow old rapidly and have physical, genetic and hormonal profiles very similar to mice that grow old naturally. Furthermore, the premature aging symptoms of the mice led to the discovery of a new type of human progeria, a rare inherited disease in which affected individuals age rapidly and die prematurely. Read more…
Observers in the Netherlands reported that more than 240 wild plant species were flowering in December, along with more than 200 cultivated species. According to biologist Arnold van Vliet of Wageningen University, this unseasonable flowering is being caused by extremely high autumn temperatures. The mean autumn temperature in 2006 was 13.6°C, which is 3.4°C above the long-term average. It was even 1.6°C warmer than in 2005, which was previously the warmest autumn since 1706, when records were first kept. It is very likely that other European countries also experienced unseasonable flowering due to the high temperatures. Read more…
The BBC reports that researchers from the University of Manchester have come up with a formula to calculate the effect of beer goggles on vision. Researchers at Manchester University say while beauty is in the eye of the beer-holder, the amount of alcohol consumed is not the only factor. Additional factors include the level of light in the pub or club, the drinker's own eyesight and the room's smokiness. The distance between two people is also a factor. They all add up to make the aesthetically-challenged more attractive, according to the formula. The formula can work out a final score, ranging from less than one - where there is no beer goggle effect - to more than 100. Here is a breakdown of the formula: An = number of units of alcohol consumed S = smokiness of the room (graded from 0-10, where 0 clear air; 10 extremely smoky) L = luminance of 'person of interest' (candelas per square metre; typically 1 pitch black; 150 as seen in normal room lighting) Vo = Snellen visual acuity (6/6 normal; 6/12 just meets driving standard) d = distance from 'person of interest' (metres; 0.5 to 3 metres) There may some other subtle factors but we still think it is the alcohol that plays the biggest role. Read more…
Instruments aboard a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency satellite named Hinode, or "Sunrise," are returning extraordinary new images of our sun. Read more…
The Space Shuttle Discovery and its crew returned home Friday after a 13-day journey of more than 5.3 million miles in space. Read more…
AFP - NASA opted not to bring down the space shuttle Discovery on a first Florida landing attempt due to bad weather conditions, the space agency announced. Read more…
Reuters - NASA managers decided to land the space shuttle Discovery at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday. Read more…
AFP - Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center here after worries about weather had scotched an earlier landing time. Read more…
SPACE.com - CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Seven astronauts and NASA’s shuttle Discovery are home for the holidays after a successful mission to rewire the International Space Station (ISS). Read more…
AP - Space shuttle Discovery and its seven astronauts safely returned to Earth on Friday after some last-minute suspense over which landing site to use, closing out a year in which NASA finally got construction of the international space station back on track. Read more…
AFP - Russian gas giant Gazprom said it had concluded contracts with Georgia to supply natural gas at the price of 235 dollars for 1,000 cubic metres from next year, averting a potential supply crisis in the Caucasus state. Read more…
AP - The National Zoo was briefly shut down Friday after a clouded leopard was discovered missing from a wire-mesh enclosure, and the animal was found snoozing just outside the exhibit 30 minutes later. Read more…
AP - A federal appeals court told the Bush administration Friday that it does not need to immediately restart a housing program for thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims. Read more…
STATUS REPORT Date Released: Friday, December 22, 2006 Source: ESA Broadcast Centre STS-116 Landing - ESA TV Summary / ESA TV News / 23-12-2006 The next transmission of the ESA TV Service will be: 23-Dec-06 07:00 - 07:30 GMT STS-116 Landing - ESA TV Summary ESA TV News Background information on... Read more…
