Virgin Galactic joined messed up flying astronaut of NASA (Reuters)

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida | Thursday 16 December 2010 7 pm EST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of the U.S. Group of Richard Branson Virgin, was joined by two separate teams for 200 million NASA program $ stimulate the development of the private sector space taxi, the company said Thursday.

Teams, led by Orbital Sciences Corporation and of Sierra Nevada Corp., both offer passenger flights on reusable winged vessels as expendable rockets launch and land on runways such as the space shuttle NASA.

These drawings "could revolutionize orbital spaceflight in much the same way that SpaceShipTwo has revolutionized suborbital flights into space," Virgin said in a statement, referring to the first of a fleet of suborbital commercial spacecraft developed by Scaled Composites.

Built scale prototype SpaceShipOne, who won a prize of $ 10 million in 2004 to make the first private sector financed by human astronauts.

Virgin sells tickets to mount the SpaceShipTwo six passengers, two pilots, named Enterprise, $ 200,000 and plans to begin flight services about a year.

Society has collected more than 54 million in deposits of 400 clients, Virgin Galactic said.

Orbital at least four companies competing for the next round of funding from NASA and the Sierra Nevada commercial personal development program.

Program would provide a U.S. alternative flight of astronauts aboard the international space station in addition to the Russian Soyuz capsules after the space shuttle is retired in 2011.

Other bidders include technologies for space exploration or SpaceX and Boeing. Private SpaceX December 8 steals successfully the dragon capsule which supports NASA pursuant to a separate development effort cargo version.

Orbital has a similar agreement with NASA for a capsule of Cygnus carrying cargoes, supposed to debut next year.

SpaceX is considering upgrading Dragon for passengers with the addition of a system to escape launch and other improvements. Orbital provides a completely different spacecraft, are not yet named, and the Launcher.

NASA provides select two or more projects for funding in March. Agency, which takes its retired his three space shuttles next year due to higher operating costs and ongoing security concerns, has begun efforts to develop commercial crew with 50 million went to five companies, including the Sierra Nevada and Boeing stimulus funds.

The deadline for the submission of the proposals was Monday. NASA not proposals said how much he had received.

(Editing by Jane Sutton and Xavier Briand)

Bone corroded Reveal Cannibal caatinga (LiveScience.com) (Yahoo!)

Prehistoric human researchers may have undermined other bone, now suggest.

Scientists have long seen evidence of prehistoric cannibalism, such as trademark Boucher on bones. To find out if yes or no cavemen chewed on human bones, the researchers first get a look at this bite marks might look like.

Scientists had volunteers chew bone - those not human, but boiled pork raw ribs and sheep as well as sheep and BBQ pork ribs legs. The bone-gnawers included European and Koi people of Namibia.

Researchers saw patterns in bone spike - including the folded edges, gratin and perforations surface and grooves. They detected brands like bite on bones of 12,000 years of prehistoric man cave Gough in England and the remains of extinct human species Homo antecessor site of Gran Dolina in Spain 800,000 years.

"It helps to give a better idea of what had happened to as the first humans were recolonize Britain after the last glaciation," said paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner at the Smithsonian Institution, who have not participated in this study. "They could have been under the major constraint on nutritional cannibalism and resources may be an adaptation to it."

Not all these bite marks are unique individuals. Yet, scientists explained that seen in combination, they can provide evidence of erode human.

"It would be really interesting to see if the toothmarks on assemblages prehistoric really early fossil were made by humans, as opposed to carnivorous mammals", Pobiner said LiveScience. "Previous species of homo have chewing muscles much more robust than ours, with a greater capacity to damage in os than we."

Researchers in detail their conclusions in the issue of January, 2011 for the journal of human evolution.

LiveScience.com chronicles the daily advances and innovations in science and technology. We take on the misconceptions that often appear around scientific discoveries and provide short explanations, provocations with some humor and style. Discover our videos science, Almanach & quizzes and top tens. Join our community discussion hot-button issues, such as stem cells, climate change and evolution. You can also sign up for free newsletters, Subscribe to RSS feeds and get cool gadgets at LiveScience Bank.

Best books of 2010: choice of Steven Rose (newscientist.com)

Steven Rose, neuroscientist and author

Finger Michelangelo Raymond Tallis (Atlantic) explores what it means to humans through a strange meditation on often overlooked and unique capability human - pointing to indicate the direction and emphasize the argument. There is a serious point (Yes, pun intended) behind Tallis reflections.

Service Canberra farewell Fenner (ABC.net.au)

Updated 17 December 2010 10: 50: 00 science famous Frank Fenner will be honoured at a memorial service state Canberra this afternoon.

Professor Fenner, died aged 95 last month.

The service will be held at the Australian National University (ANU) Llewellyn Hall at 4: 00 pm.

Professor Fenner contributed large worldwide scientific, but is best known for his work on the eradication of smallpox and rabbit plague Australia myxomatosis control.

After serving as an officer in the Australian medical corps during the war, he came to work in Canberra in 1949.

He was appointed Professor of Microbiology at the new John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) at the ANU and continued at the head of the school from 1967 to 1973.

The Federal Government today announced an award to commemorate the achievements of Professor Fenner.

The national award for health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is attributed to early career scholars whose research reflects the work of Professor Fenner in international health.

"It will be open to researchers at the beginning of career, which is entirely appropriate that Professor Fenner was a great mentor to as many people across the country," says NHMRC President Professor Michael Good.

"Right now we are trying to do our utmost to encourage more people to enter science and remain in the science and medical research as a career." I therefore believe that it is entirely appropriate. »

Although Professor said he hoped the Fellowship recipients to continue the work of Professor Fenner.

"I hope they achieve what they want in terms of their own personal aspirations to improve the health of the country thanks to medical research." "I'm sure that's what Dr. Fenner wished too," he said.

The mental health and aging Mark Butler explains award and memorial service today recognize the contribution of an Australian icon.

"It is important that we also reflect on the extent to which health and medical research have many benefits beyond improvements in the health care system", he said.

"Work of Professor Fenner with the World Health led to the eradication of smallpox, which remains the only disease have been annihilated."

"Economic and social benefits it brought huge."

Tags: died, people, science and technology, Australia, Act, canberra-2600 first posted December 17, 2010 23

California air regulators approve plan deals with carbon (Los Angeles Times)

California Thursday regulators voted for big industry greenhouse gas emissions cap status and to establish first large carbon nation commerce program.

The move marks another connection point of a State which has led in the environmental policy, national climate legislation to regulate greenhouse gases and combat climate change has been stalled in Congress.

"This is a historical company," said Mary Nichols, President of the California Air Resources Board, as the Panel voted 9 to 1 to approve the estimated 3,000 pages of regulations and documents in support, manufactured on three years of intense negotiations with the companies and public interest groups.

In view of fragile economy State, Nichols said, "said more people that we should do as little as possible as slowly as possible." Instead of this, she said: "we are being prudent and careful, but on a very bold effort."

Serv. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a champion of an approach on market regulation of the climate shows midway through a public hearing at 10 a.m. at the Commission headquarters to applaud the agency efforts on developing rules for carbon emissions trading. "We led the nation to develop green policies," he said. "And we have seen our green economy to grow accordingly.

2006 Global Warming Solutions Act California requires the State to reduce gas emissions greenhouse at the level of 1990 by 2020 - amounting to a reduction of 15% below today's levels.

CAP and complex trading system is a central element of the multiple facets of the State plan. Already approved to hike the energy efficiency of cars, reducing the energy intensity of gasoline and the source of one-third of electricity from renewable energy sources state rules.

More than 180 industry leaders, environmentalists and concerned citizens testified on trade regulations, which limit emissions from 600 large industrial facilities in the State. Representatives of cement, electric and the areas of agri-food apart from aspects of the rules, such as the protective forest environment, health and poverty lawyers defenders.

In most contentious debate day, more than one note environmentalists and residents of the communities of the Sierra Nevada in protest against provisions that would allow industrial facilities reduce their obligation to reduce pollution in their own facilities enabling them to purchase offsets from forestry companies commit to adapt their practices to conserve more carbon in forests.

Several members of the Board of Directors has sought to exclude a portion of the regulation allowing white cut and replanted plots. They have voted, 7-3.

Rules of the forest divide the environmental community, with groups such as the conservation of nature and environmental defense - two strong supporters of carbon exchange - siding Sierra Pacific larger Timber Corporation of the State in support of the rule as written. Local communities of the Sierra Nevada, supported by the Sierra Club activists pleaded with the Board to exclude any negotiation which could encourage cutting blank and the replacement of natural forest to plantations of single species.

"We want in California to be the leader in climate, not a laughing stock," said Addie Jacobson, Member of the Board of the Alliance of the Sierra Nevada, who said she took the floor to the 85 organisations.

Member of the Board of the only air had voted against the overall cap-and-trade program: John Telles, a doctor who represents the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Such said that measure does not protect residents in low-income energy prices. It also suggested that a carbon stock would be open to "manipulation", as was the case with disastrous deregulation of electricity markets California in the 1990s.

Of the regime, the State would cap emissions of each industrial plant in 2012, gradually reducing the ceiling over the next eight years. Companies would be granted allowances for each tonne of carbon dioxide they could emit.

Many interveners at the public hearing have criticised the decision of the jury to ignore the recommendation of its own economic Advisory Committee to these allocations at the beginning of the program, rather than to provide industry and phase in the auctions auction.

"The auction provides a signal sharper price," said UC Berkeley economist Michael Hanneman, adding that give allowances free of charge "risk granting windfall profits" in the industry.

Margot.Roosevelt@LAtimes.com

Telephone mobile masts linked to mysterious birth rate spikes (guardian)

Radiation electromagnetic mobile phone masts seems to increase human fertility even though the mechanism remains uncertain. Photography: Malcolm Fife/Alamy

Mobile phone towers are more likely to procreate people? It might be possible that radiation from mobile phone facilitates somehow fertilization, or perhaps there is just something romantic about mobile phone transmitter mast projection of the landscape?

These questions are our natural learning that the variation in the number of Poles from mobile phone across the country corresponds exactly to the variation in the number of births response. For each additional mast of mobile phone in a region is 17.6 babies more above average national.

It was discovered by taking the data accessible to the public on the number of mobile phone masts in each county across the United Kingdom and matching it then against data of births for the counties of same. When a regression line is calculated that there a "correlation coefficient" (a measure of good game is) to 98.1 100. "Statistically significant" a pattern in a data set must be liable to occur in less than 5% (known as a "p-value") random data and correlation of Poles-births has a probability of 0.00003% of occurring by chance.

The correspondence between the mobile phone towers and birth rates is a very strong correlation and it is very significant. He did y no doubting that most mobile phone masts mean that there will be also birth more mathematical discovery. It is also strict access statistics.

Mobile phone masts, however, have absolutely no impact on the number of births. There is no causal link between the poles and the birth in spite of the strong correlation. Both the number of mobile phone transmitters and the number of births are linked to a third independent factor: the size of the local population. As the population of an area can be traced back, do as the number of mobile phone users and the people number giving birth.

The problem is that our first instinct is to assume that a correlation means that a factor causes the other. While this does not cause a problem using pattern-spots as a tool for advanced survival, it causes serious problems in the assessment of possible alerts for health based on a recently discovered correlation. For the majority of cases, the correlation does not indicate the presence of causality.

To investigate a possible causal link requires carefully mathematical Untangling the correlations of false positives. This is what makes a team of researchers at Imperial College London when they were looking for a link between cancer among children and exposure to radiation from mobile phone transmitters. They got data location for 1.397 children who had undergone a form of childhood cancer. For each of these children, they found and then four random children who were born at the same time, but never had cancer. These two groups of cases were compared in terms of the number and strength of the mobile transmitters when their mothers during pregnancy and early childhood experiences.

This particular study in childhood - cancers with robust study investigating possible links between mobile phones and health - not found no causal link.

But the media lit a correlation in fear of health based on the causal conclusion? To find out, I've published my mobile masts and the results of births as a press release. We'll see if someone jumps to the conclusion that mobile phone radiation can really give design a helping hand.

Listen to Matt discuss its conclusion on more or less, BBC Radio4 at 13 h 30 today, Friday 17 December. Or visit the website of the Guardian Monday, December 20 to see that Matt reports back.

Data sources

Data from "Sitefinder" OFCOM

Data in England and Wales Live birth country

Scotland live birth data

Ireland North Live birth data

Display records concerns About Another BP Rig (NYT)

Officials raised specific concerns Congress concerning the safety of a second oil BP in the Gulf of the Mexico and the failure of regulators to spend millions of dollars approved for oil spill research, among other issues, according to e-mails between representatives of the Congress and the regulatory function of the minerals management platform as the Agency then called.

When CIDA officials told members of Congress in 2009 would not specifically respond to concerns about the possibility of a "catastrophic" on a second BP platform off the coast of New Orleans, called Atlantis, accident, some staff members were angry at what they saw as the obstruction.

"If I have this straight," aid to Representative Sander M. Levin, Democrat of Michigan, wrote in an e-mail message to an official agency of minerals, "I tell my boss M.M.S. has nothing to say about this company Atlantis" beyond general observations which it has already taken?

Mail electronic and other recent correspondence between federal regulatory agencies and representatives of the Congress have been among the more than 5 400 pages of documents that the Ministry of the Interior for the New York Times under the freedom of information act.

Blast drilling deep horizon 20 April led to a careful examination of the relationship between the Federal regulatory agencies and the oil industry - a relationship critics say since always too comfortable. But much less attention has been paid for relationships with members of Congress, who also play an essential role in supervising regulators and to shape regulatory policies and priorities.

Offer documents one window regulators drilling and officers of Congress has been various tours, civil and commercial, distant and contentious relationship or, as is often the case in Washington, D.c., servile and caring when members were research to help a constituent business gain.

For example, when a businessman in Alaska was upset because her company aviation as an aerial survey contract closure, Senator Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican urged regulatory authorities to reconsider the contract, emails show.

(The Ministry of the Interior stood by his decision, he told Mr. Stevens a 2008 letter company - whose owners had donated to Republican causes - had no safety and training equipment to do the job.)

Members and their assistants also went to regulators to get a jump on next drilling decisions which could have political implications, records show.

But at other times, federal regulatory agencies were struggling to get someone's attention on Capitol Hill, records show.

For example, minerals agency officials went to dozens of members of Congress on the relevant committees in the fall of 2009 to try to establish sessions meet and greet the newly appointed Director of the Agency, s. Elizabeth Birnbaum.

The majority of the members is passed to the invitation. "Unfortunately, Senator Bunning is able to meet Liz Birnbaum," a help Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky, said. "Thank you for good offer."

But six months later, that BP disaster triggered one of the worst environmental disaster in American history, agency of Mrs. Birnbaum was apparently the world arose in Congress--with regulatory shortcomings suddenly under brutal control of politicians and the public.

Under fire, Mrs. Birnbaum quickly left his job, his agency was reorganized and renamed to try to avoid a repeat of the BP disaster and federal regulators there are hundreds of oil per day of Capitol Hill - accompanied by frequent notes sympathy - as oil spread applications.

"Hook," read an e-mail a staff member Congress an official agency of the minerals weeks after the spill.

But other officials of the Congress were less sympathetic, as they demanded that the Agency, now called the Office of the ocean, regulation and Enforcement Act, energy management turn its records regarding the approval of the project BP and other regulatory measures.

Records indicate that even after the spill, minerals agency officials have resisted turning on some recordings on the grounds that they detained "proprietary" information that belonged to BP.

But some information the Agency stood ready to provide is illuminating. In a letter of April 2009 regulators sent to BP approving exploration in the region where the later explosion took place, they urge BP "exercise caution during the drilling of gas hints at shallow depth and water flow as possible.

Various facets of the catastrophe of BP, including the exact cause of the explosion and anti-Eruption of the deep horizon shutter failure are still under investigation by a presidential commission and other investigative agencies. But the preliminary findings released last month found that the oil industry and the Government were captured prepared by the spill, delaying the response.