Russian rocket takes off for International Space Station

Moscow, April 2 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A Russian rocket carrying two cosmonauts and a US astronaut took off on a six-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur space centre Friday.

Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Korniyenko and US astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, part of the ISS Expedition 23, are scheduled to land [..] Read the original article: here.

Leaders act more decisively in crowd-like situations

LONDON – Do you find yourself leading groups, or are you more comfortable following others? The latest research shows that if you want to be a leader you are better off at the edges of a crowd, and not in the middle of the action.

In experiments on crowd behaviour, a biological science research team at …. Original article on Gaea Times at  : Leaders act more decisively in crowd-like situations.

Carbon emissions lead to dangerous changes in oceans

SYDNEY – The rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is driving fundamental and dangerous changes in the chemistry and ecosystems of the world’s oceans, warn international marine scientists.

More than 30 percent of the CO2 released from burning fossil fuels, cement production, deforestation and other human activities goes straight into the oceans, turning them gradually more … Read the original article on Gaea Times at : Carbon emissions lead to dangerous changes in oceans.

How an ordinary T-shirt could become body armor

WASHINGTON – An ordinary cotton T-shirt can be converted into body armour, thanks to scientists from South Carolina, Switzerland and China.

They combined the carbon in the cotton with boron to create a tough, lightweight fabric of boron carbide, the … Read more »»».

Blind snakes inhabited Madagascar even before its creation

WASHINGTON – A newfound snake family’s genes have indicated that blind snakes lived on the island of Madagascar even before it was an island.

The discovery could help decode how these rarely seen, and not completely blind snakes came to colonize much of the planet.
Blind snakes, growing … Read the original article on Gaea Times at : Blind snakes inhabited Madagascar even before its creation.

Mechanism behind calcium protein mutation causing night blindness uncovered

LONDON – The molecular mechanism behind the mutation in a calcium channel protein that causes congenital stationary night blindness has now been uncovered, courtesy researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Congenital stationary night blindness is an inherited condition that affects one’s ability to see in the … Original article on : Mechanism behind calcium protein mutation causing night blindness uncovered.

Baby elephant dies in Alipore zoo

KOLKATA – A baby elephant died of diarrhoea in the Alipore Zoological Garden here Friday, a forest department official said.

The four-month-old ailing elephant had been given five bottles of saline after it developed an infection, said West Bengals Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Atanu Raha.
It had been brought to the zoo when it was …. Source article  : Baby elephant dies in Alipore zoo.

California bill would expand pesticide safety program, targeting threats to farmworkers

Calif. bill would expand pesticide safety program

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Josefina Miranda doesn’t need scientific studies to tell her about the dangers of pesticide exposure. She knows them all too well.
On a Thursday morning in 1995, the four-months pregnant farmworker spent several hours working in a field in the small Central Valley town of Earlimart – …. Source article  : California bill would expand pesticide safety program, targeting threats to farmworkers.

Scientists sequence peach tree DNA

WASHINGTON – Scientists have sequenced the DNA of the Lovell peach tree.
The tree’s DNA sequence has opened a new era in fruit-tree research that could have far-reaching implications for the future of peaches, as well as many other valuable plants.

This genome sequence is the culmination of an … Read more >>>.

Sleep apnea associated with hard-to-diagnose eye disorders

WASHINGTON – Scientists in the UK have found that the condition known as floppy eyelid syndrome (FES) is strongly linked to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

The finding implies that when doctors see FES in a patient, they should also look for OSA, and vice-versa.
Study’s lead author Daniel G. Ezra, MRCOphth, of …. Read the original article  : Sleep apnea associated with hard-to-diagnose eye disorders.

Drug that extends life span may prevent Alzheimer’s

WASHINGTON – Rapamycin, a drug that has been shown to extend lifespan in mice and is used to prevent rejection of transplanted organs, has demonstrated an ability to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

A few weeks after a report that rapamycin curbed the effects of Alzheimer’s disease …. Source article  : Drug that extends life span may prevent Alzheimer’s.

Laughter not the best medicine after all

WASHINGTON – Laughter is not the best medicine, that’s what a scientist has pointed out.
In a study, Dr. Margaret Stuber, a psychiatry professor at University of California Los Angeles Medical School, studied whether laughter helped patients.

After analyses, she found [..] Read the original article: here.

On/off button on plants’ alarm system discovered

WASHINGTON – A group of biologists has discovered an on/off button on plants’ alarm system.
When attacked by herbivores or pathogens, plants respond by activating defense programs that drive off or even kill the attackers. These defense responses require a great deal …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

For Stone Age Scandinavians, milk was ‘too hard to swallow’

WASHINGTON – Researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University have claimed that the hunter-gatherers who inhabited the southern coast of Scandinavia 4,000 years ago were lactose intolerant.

The study has been published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology.
It supports the researchers’ earlier conclusion … Read : For Stone Age Scandinavians, milk was ‘too hard to swallow’.

Rain, snowfall likely in Himachal Friday

SHIMLA – Temperatures across Himachal Pradesh hover four to seven degrees Celsius above average — but the weatherman Friday held out hopes of rain and snowfall in the hill state.

“Western disturbances are approaching the region Friday. This would bring rain and snow in the hill state,” Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, … Read more »».

Anxiety of chronic worry may modify some of depression’s ill effects

WASHINGTON – Anxiety may modify depression for better or for worse, says a new study.
The research, thereby, establishes a link between anxiety and depression, claiming that they co-occur.

The study, in the journal Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, looked at depression and two types of anxiety: anxious arousal, the fearful vigilance that sometimes turns …. Original article  : Anxiety of chronic worry may modify some of depression’s ill effects.

Delhi may get some respite from heat

NEW DELHI – Delhiites may get some respite from the scorching heat with the likelihood of a cloudy sky Friday, the weatherman said.

The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 36.9 degrees Celsius, three degrees above average.
“The minimum temperature was recorded at 20.5 degrees Friday, also three degrees above average,” an official of …. Source article  : Delhi may get some respite from heat.

Rocket carrying 2 cosmonauts, 1 astronaut blasts off from Kazakhstan to Space Station

Rocket blasts off with 2 Russians, 1 American

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan – The International Space Station is set for some heavy traffic over the coming days in a tightly packed schedule that kicked off Friday when a Russian rocket transporting three astronauts blasted off from a space center in southern Kazakhstan.
The Soyuz craft carrying California native Tracy … Read more »»».

Rocket carrying NASA astronaut blasts off from Kazakhstan to International Space Station

Rocket with NASA astronaut blasts off for ISS

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan – A Russian rocket has blasted off from a space center in southern Kazakhstan, transporting a NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station.
The Soyuz craft carrying California native Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko rose into brilliant blue … Original article on : Rocket carrying NASA astronaut blasts off from Kazakhstan to International Space Station.

More miles on less fuel: Gov’t efficiency standards will mean higher car prices, fuel savings

New mileage rules: Pay more for cars, less at pump

WASHINGTON – Drivers will have to pay more for cars and trucks, but they’ll save at the pump under tough new federal rules aimed at boosting mileage, cutting emissions and hastening the next generation of fuel-stingy hybrids and electric cars.
The new standards, announced Thursday, call for … Original article on : More miles on less fuel: Gov’t efficiency standards will mean higher car prices, fuel savings.