News

DNA transfer from bacteria to animals is more common than thought.
Researchers have found a surprise hidden in the DNA of a fruitfly: what seems to be the entire genome of a parasitic bacterium called Wolbachia. Smaller bits of the promiscuous parasite’s genetic material turned up in worms and wasps, too.
The size of the Wolbachia insertion […]

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Key organisational failures that left Virginia Tech student Seung-hui Cho free to kill 32 people should never be repeated, Virginia’s governor has said.

Tim Kaine lamented a series of “missed opportunities” that allowed Cho to remain at large despite serious concerns over his mental health.
He spoke at the launch of a report that was critical of […]

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Science Daily — TU Delft has taken a new weather radar system into use, the ‘Drizzle Radar’, which can observe even the lightest of drizzles. This is an enormous gain for climate researchers and is attracting international attention.The radar was successfully installed on the 213 metre-high Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) measurement tower in Cabauw, […]

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Science Daily — Diagnostic tests and months of stable, successful operation have resolved concerns raised early this year about long-term prospects for the powerful telescopic camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterThe High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the orbiter has now taken more than 3,000 images of Mars, resolving features as small as […]

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After six weeks of hunkering down during raging dust storms that limited solar power, both of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have resumed driving.Opportunity advanced 13.38 meters (44 feet) toward the edge of Victoria Crater on Aug. 21. Mission controllers were taking advantage of gradual clearing of dust from the sky while also […]

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