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Hayabusa’s asteroid-sampling mission, take two
Japan's Hayabusa 2 probe will use brute force to collect samples from an asteroid in an attempt to avoid the pitfalls of its problem-plagued predecessor
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Resignations, fallout from recent bizarre scientific publications
The strange paper that made its way from an obscure journal called Life to headlines at a number of ostensible news sites has continued to make waves this week. As we noted in our update to the story, Case Western Reserve University not only removed the press release from its site, but is now undertaking a review of how press releases are handled by that office. Presumably, they'll consider mechanisms that will allow a press officer to exercise some judgement before acceding to a request by a faculty member that wants to see his or her work promoted.
But that's not the only place where people are undertaking a bit of reevaluation. Science journalist Carl Zimmer noticed that a member of Life's editorial board had been a source for a recent story, so he got in touch to ask about its editorial practices. After looking into the matter, the scientist resigned from the board; Zimmer found that he wasn't the only one, as a number of other names have been removed from Life's webpages. LiveScience also heard of a number of resignations.
This wasn't the only recent paper that's causing a similar response. Nature News is reporting that at least one editor is resigning from the journal that published a paper that attempted to cast doubt on the well-established fact that HIV causes AIDS. In both cases, the editor who handled the papers have claimed that they went through the journals' standard review process.
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Strangford life
Wildlife, landscape and heritage of Strangford Lough, in pictures
Israeli scientists breed ‘Black Galaxy’ tomato
To create the ‘Black Galaxy’ tomato, the breeders crossbred tomatoes with wild varieties. The dark colour comes from a pigment similar to one found in blueberries - and it gets darker in the sun.
Isolated Peruvian tribe pictured
A Spanish archaeologist has snapped the most-detailed pictures ever seen of an "uncontacted" tribe in the Amazon.
Self-steering bullet researched
US researchers are developing a bullet that guides itself to a laser-illuminated target. But an expert is concerned it may be sold to the public.
Beijing ¿seven minutes from destruction¿ when a 2.5 ton satellite crashed to Earth at 300mph
The Chinese capital was directly in the flight path of Germany's research satellite Rosat when it plunged into the Bay of Bengal last October, two decades after it's launch.
Rail gun: US Navy takes step towards hi-tech electromagnetic weapon
The U.S. navy has awarded a $10 million contract to research a power supply for its hi-tech 'rail gun' - an electromagnetic weapon that can hurl projectiles at seven times the speed of sound.
VIDEO: How do you weigh a polar bear?
Staff at Highland Wildlife Park are trying to weigh Walker the polar bear who is thought to be about 400kg (63 stone).
Bio-engineered ‘bulletproof skin’ made of human cells and spider silk revealed in video
Human skin can stop a bullet - with help from genetically modified goats. A Dutch researcher has created a circle of skin mixed with spider silk (made by the goats), which can stop a speeding bullet.