Reuters: Science News

Welcome to the “Reuters:  Science News” update from Hawaii Science Digest.

Views expressed in this science and technology news summary are those of the reporters and correspondents.

Content, including text, photos, images, and video, provided by Reuters.

Accessed on 22 June 2019, 0545 UTC.

Source:  feeds.reuters.com/reuters/scienceNews.

This post includes science and technology stories making headlines between 01 June 2019 and 20 June 2019.  Please scroll down to read your selections.

• U.N., European bodies outline joint push against space junk

  Posted:Thu, 20 Jun 2019 13:20:00 -0400

  European and U.N. bodies on Thursday outlined a joint push for global action on space junk, saying that debris orbiting the earth must be cleaned up as satellites launched by private companies and other new entrants are adding to the crowding.

    

  

• Costs, delays mount for Boeing’s NASA launch system, audit finds

  Posted:Wed, 19 Jun 2019 23:52:58 -0400

  NASA’s flagship space launch system being built by Boeing is taking years longer than expected with cost overruns of nearly $2 billion, an audit found on Wednesday, raising questions about meeting a goal of returning humans to the moon by 2024.

    

  

• Grab and throw: South Korea makes flower vase fire extinguisher

  Posted:Wed, 19 Jun 2019 20:49:25 -0400

  In a panic after a fire has broken out and can’t remember where the fire extinguisher is, let alone how to use it?

    

  

• Apollo astronauts celebrate 50 years since first moon landing

  Posted:Tue, 18 Jun 2019 12:59:28 -0400

  Three astronauts instrumental in the groundbreaking U.S. space program of the 1960s and 70s gathered at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, the mission that first put a man on the moon.

    

  

• NASA boss says ‘no doubt’ SpaceX explosion delays flight program

  Posted:Tue, 18 Jun 2019 05:24:35 -0400

  The explosion that destroyed a SpaceX astronaut taxi in April “no doubt” delays NASA’s drive to return Americans to the International Space Station from U.S. soil later this year, the U.S. space agency’s chief said on Tuesday.

    

  

• Prehistoric settlement in Turkey bears telltale signs of modern woes

  Posted:Mon, 17 Jun 2019 20:28:20 -0400

  Overcrowding. Violence. Infectious diseases. Environmental degradation. It may sound like the worst of modern mega-cities.

    

  

• Canada backs startup to boost data on space debris

  Posted:Mon, 17 Jun 2019 11:10:44 -0400

  The Canadian government’s contracting arm is backing a proposed new satellite system that will use big data analytics to provide commercially available data about the Earth and its orbit amid growing concerns about the risks posed by space debris.

    

  

• Ebola’s spread shows how science needs societies to succeed

  Posted:Mon, 17 Jun 2019 02:16:49 -0400

  LONDON – The persistence of Congo’s Ebola outbreak and its deadly spread to Uganda in recent days show how societal issues are as crucial as scientific advances in controlling disease outbreaks, specialists in global public health say.

    

  

• Russia uncovers 40,000 year-old wolf head, preserved in ice

  Posted:Fri, 14 Jun 2019 02:35:28 -0400

  About 40,000 years ago, a wolf died in what we know as Siberia. Now its severed head has been found, and because of the freezing conditions, it is so well preserved that its fur, teeth, brain and facial tissue are largely intact.

    

  

• India plans to launch own space station: space agency

  Posted:Thu, 13 Jun 2019 12:03:28 -0400

  India will look to create its own space station following the completion of the country’s first manned mission into space in 2022, its space agency chief said on Thursday.

    

  

• High times in ancient China revealed in funerary cannabis discovery

  Posted:Wed, 12 Jun 2019 22:16:34 -0400

  Marijuana chemical residue has been found in incense burners apparently used during funerary rites at a mountainous site in western China in about 500 BC, providing what may be the oldest evidence of smoking cannabis for its mind-altering properties.

    

  

• India set to launch second lunar mission; land rover on the moon

  Posted:Wed, 12 Jun 2019 07:18:20 -0400

  India said on Wednesday it will launch its second lunar mission in mid-July, as it moves to consolidate its status as a leader in space technology by achieving a controlled landing on the moon.

    

  

• Hungarian scientists mull legal action over government controls

  Posted:Wed, 12 Jun 2019 07:03:06 -0400

  The head of Hungary’s oldest scientific institute said it was considering taking legal action to challenge government moves to take more control over research work and budgets.

    

  

• Rocket firm Relativity signs lease with NASA for new robotic 3D printing factory

  Posted:Tue, 11 Jun 2019 15:39:28 -0400

  Relativity Space, a venture-backed rocket maker, said on Tuesday it will lease space from NASA in Mississippi, where its gigantic 3D printers will produce low-cost rockets to be used to launch small-payload satellites into orbit.

    

  

• Ocado sows $22 million ‘vertical farming’ seed to diversify

  Posted:Mon, 10 Jun 2019 04:25:54 -0400

  Britain’s Ocado is plowing 17 million pounds ($22 million) into the emerging “vertical farming” industry, further diversifying the online grocer and technology group’s business.

    

  

• Trump criticizes NASA moon mission after promoting it earlier

  Posted:Fri, 07 Jun 2019 20:54:47 -0400

  U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday criticized NASA for aiming to put astronauts back on the moon by 2024 and urged the space agency to focus instead on “much bigger” initiatives like going to Mars, undercutting his previous support for the lunar initiative.

    

  

• Solar eclipse frenzy fuels astronomical tourism in Chile

  Posted:Fri, 07 Jun 2019 17:25:47 -0400

  The total solar eclipse expected in northern Chile early next month is already drawing flocks of visitors eager to glimpse a rare view of the phenomenon through the region’s clear skies.

    

  

• Got $50 million for a vacation? NASA to open space station to private citizens

  Posted:Fri, 07 Jun 2019 15:25:39 -0400

  NASA will allow private citizens to stay at the International Space Station (ISS) for month-long getaways at a cost of about $35,000 per night, the U.S. space agency said on Friday.

    

  

• California ladybug swarm dozens of miles wide shows up on radar

  Posted:Thu, 06 Jun 2019 18:47:22 -0400

  A swarm of many millions of ladybugs taking to the sky in Southern California this week to hunt for aphids has been captured on a radar screen as a massive blob, officials said on Thursday.

    

  

• Richard Branson takes satellite launch business to Japan with airline ANA

  Posted:Thu, 06 Jun 2019 04:30:58 -0400

  Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit said on Thursday it plans to bring its satellite launch system to Japan in partnership with airline operator ANA Holdings Inc, which will provide maintenance and possibly aircraft.

    

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