Phoenix Lander sees snow falling on Mars

In this artist conception, the Phoenix Mars Lander, which launched in August 2007 and the first project in NASA’s Mars Scout missions, landed on Mars on May 25, 2008. (UPI Photo/NASA)WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) — The U.S. space agency says its Phoenix Mars Lander has detected snow falling from Martian clouds, vaporizing before reaching the [...] continue reading latest news

Eruption of 3 volcanoes has scientists asking questions

PUZZLE: Is there a common thread or were events just coincidence?How likely is it that three neighboring volcanoes would all erupt at the same time — as the Kasatochi, Okmok and Cleveland volcanoes in the Aleutians did this summer?About as likely as a storm that only appears once in a thousand years, says Anchorage volcanologist [...] continue reading latest news

Sept. 11, 1822: Church Admits It’s Not All About Us

Galileo Galilei, Italian mathematician, astronomer and physicist, was condemned for heresy by the the Roman Inquisition in 1633. He spent the last eight years of his life under house arrest.Painting: Joseph Nicolas Robert-Fleury (1797-1890)/Bettmann Corbis1822: The College of Cardinals finally caves in to the hard facts of science, saying that the “publication of works treating [...] continue reading latest news

Cord blood bank ‘will save lives’

Eva was saved by a donation of cord blood like that donated by baby DarceyA scheme to store blood taken from the umbilical cords of newborns and use it to save lives has been launched.Cord blood, like bone marrow, can help patients survive deadly diseases such as leukaemia.For now, the Anthony Nolan Trust Cord [...] continue reading latest news

Hackers claim there’s a black hole in the atom smashers’ computer network

From The TimesSeptember 13, 2008Hackers have broken into one of the computer networks of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).A group calling itself the Greek Security Team left a rogue webpage describing the technicians responsible for computer security at the giant atom smasher as “schoolkids” - but reassuring scientists that they did not want to disrupt [...] continue reading latest news

L.A. County sees an upward trend in West Nile infections

The year is shaping up to be the worst in Southern California since 2004.Jack Austin doesn’t remember a mosquito biting him. The 72-year-old Duarte resident also doesn’t remember the nine days he spent in the hospital in July or much of the 20 days he spent in rehab in August, recovering from West Nile neuroinvasive [...] continue reading latest news