Articles filed under Science

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  How deep can a fish go? Scientists may have answerMar 5, 2014 12:00 AM
  They may look like guts stuffed in cellophane, but five fish hauled up from near-record depths off the coast of New Zealand are providing scientists with new insights into how deep fish can survive. In a paper published this week, scientists describe catching translucent hadal snailfish at a depth of 4.3 miles. By measuring levels of a compound in the fish that helps offset the effects of pressure, the scientists say they’ve concluded that fish likely can’t survive below about 5.1 miles. That would mean no fish at all live in the deepest one-quarter of the world’s oceans.
  

   
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  NASA announces mother lode of new planetsFeb 26, 2014 12:00 AM
  To the list of planets orbiting distant stars, add another 715. That’s the number of planets, strewn among 305 planetary systems, popping out of the observational data from NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, according to two new scientific papers released Wednesday by NASA.
  

   
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  Supply ship departs space station after 5 weeksFeb 18, 2014 12:00 AM
  The International Space Station has one less capsule and a lot less trash. A commercial cargo ship ended its five-week visit Tuesday morning. NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins used the space station’s big robot arm to release the capsule, called Cygnus, as the orbiting lab sailed 260 miles above the South Atlantic. Cygnus is filled with garbage and will burn up Wednesday when it plunges through the atmosphere, over the Pacific.
  

   

• Nuclear repository monitored for radiationFeb 16, 2014 12:00 AM
  The U.S. Department of Energy says personnel are on-site Saturday to assess what officials are calling a “possible radiological event” at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
  

   
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  Ancient dog burial site found in Mexico CityFeb 15, 2014 12:00 AM
  Archaeologist Antonio Zamora, who works at the excavation site, said a biologist told the team the remains belonged to medium-sized dogs with full sets of teeth, likely common dogs.Aztecs kept pets Techichi dogs, a breed with short legs believed to be an ancestor of the Chihuahua dog, and Xoloitzcuintlis, whose remains can be identified because of the loss of some of their teeth during adult age.
  

   
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  Mystery of 'jelly doughnut' Martian rock solved Feb 14, 2014 12:00 AM
  Scientists have solved the mystery of the “jelly doughnut” rock on Mars that appeared to come out of nowhere.
  

   
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  Future scientists visit Fermi for Family Open House Day Feb 9, 2014 12:00 AM
  More than 2,000 children and families learned about physics and other science concepts Sunday afternoon at the annual hands-on Family Open House at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia. The event included ask-a-scientist sessions, tours of the U.S. Department of Energy laboratory and booths with experiments on topics including magnets, air pressure, Newton’s laws and friction.
  

   
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  Lego robot competition commences in Arlington Hts. Feb 6, 2014 12:00 AM
  Teams of elementary and middle school students from around the suburbs competed Saturday for the Illinois First Lego League’s Northern Illinois title Saturday at the Forest View Educational Center, 2121 S. Goebbert Road, Arlington Heights. The teams, 62 in all, design, build and program an autonomous robot using Lego Mindstorms technology to create innovative solutions to problems facing today’s scientists.
  

   
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  Bill Nye defends evolution in debate Feb 4, 2014 12:00 AM
  
  

   

• Chicago science museum free for kids in February Jan 30, 2014 12:00 AM
  
  

   
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  Texas drops algebra II mandate Jan 26, 2014 12:00 AM
  The state that started a trend by making high school students tackle algebra II is now abandoning the policy in a move praise by school districts for affording more flexibility. But some policy experts are nervous because nearly 20 states have followed Texas’ lead in requiring the vigorous course.
  

   
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  New river dolphin species found in Brazil Jan 25, 2014 12:00 AM
  “The Araguaia dolphin is very similar to its Amazon river cousin although somewhat smaller and with fewer teeth,” bilogist Tom Hrbek said. He added that there were about 1,000 “Inia araguaiaensis” dolphins living in the 1,630-mile river.
  

   
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  British Museum: Prototype for Noah’s Ark was round Jan 24, 2014 12:00 AM
  The tablet records a Mesopotamian god’s instructions for building a giant vessel — two-thirds the size of a soccer field in area — made of rope, reinforced with wooden ribs and coated in bitumen.
  

   
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  Study: New Madrid fault zone alive and active Jan 23, 2014 12:00 AM
  The New Madrid fault zone in the nation’s midsection is active and could spawn future large earthquakes, scientists reported Thursday. It’s “not dead yet,” said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough, who was part of the study published online by the journal Science.
  

   
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  Arlington Hts. Science Olympiad a place for kids to belong Jan 18, 2014 12:00 AM
  South Middle School students Patrick Shalton and Derek Prusener have one clear goal in mind for this year — making the Science Olympiad nationals. The 8th graders are co-captains of South’s Science Olympiad varsity team, which took third place in the state for the last three years. Only the top two in state make it to nationals, which this year will be in May in Florida.
  

   
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  Kill a black rhino to save a black rhino? Jan 12, 2014 12:00 AM
  Jim and Lauren Riese traveled with their children from Atlanta to protest the auction of the rare black rhino hunting permit in Dallas. Ries said it was his son Carter, 12, and daughter Olivia, 11, who pushed for them to go and participate.
  

   
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  N.Y. governor takes careful step on medical marijuana Jan 11, 2014 12:00 AM
  Under Cuomo's plan, people with cancer, glaucoma and possibly some other “life-threatening or sense-threatening” conditions could seek to get marijuana through studies based at hospitals yet to be named, with “stringent research protocols and eligibility requirements.” His initiative bypasses a state Legislature that has declined to pass more ambitious medical marijuana laws. He’s relying instead on his administrative powers to carry out a 1980 law allowing medical-marijuana research.
  

   

• Virgin Galactic spaceship makes successful flight Jan 10, 2014 12:00 AM
  The company says the reusable space vehicle was carried by airplane to 46,000 feet Friday and then released. The craft used its rocket motor the rest of the way to reach its highest altitude to date.
  

   
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  Long shots: Galaxies from 13.2 billion years ago Jan 7, 2014 12:00 AM
  The Hubble Space Telescope has captured snapshots of never-before seen galaxies far, far away. Try 13.2 billion years ago. That’s so long ago and far away that Hubble was never supposed to see these clusters of baby stars.
  

   
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  Mars rover photographs featured at Smithsonian Jan 7, 2014 12:00 AM
  Ten years after NASA landed two rovers on Mars for a 90-day mission, one is still exploring, and the project has generated hundreds of thousands of images from the planet’s surface. Now the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is presenting more than 50 of the best photographs from the two rovers known as Spirit and Opportunity in an art exhibit curated by the scientists who have led the ongoing mission.