Crooked Bough News Round-up

— After critics decry Orion heat shield decision, NASA reviewer says agency is correct

 

at 12/6/24 3:29pm

"If this isn’t raising red flags out there, I don’t know what will."

[Category: Science, Space, heat shield, orion, space]

— US to start nationwide testing for H5N1 flu virus in milk supply

 

at 12/6/24 2:18pm

Feds can compel any company that handles pre-pasteurized milk to share samples.

[Category: Health, Science, Biology, bird flu, Flu virus, H5N1, Infectious disease, medicine]

— Lizards and snakes are 35 million years older than we thought

 

at 12/6/24 11:16am

Reanalysis of a fossil finds that reptiles' traits go back earlier than we thought.

[Category: Science, Biology, fossils, lizards, paleontology, reptiles]

— Rocket Report: NASA delays Artemis again; SpinLaunch spins a little cash

 

at 12/6/24 5:00am

A report in which we read some tea leaves.

[Category: Science, Space, rocket report, space]

— Two European satellites launch on mission to blot out the Sun—for science

 

at 12/5/24 9:39pm

This will all happen nearly 40,000 miles above the Earth, so you won't need your eclipse glasses.

[Category: Science, Space, european space agency, india, isro, launch, proba-3, solar eclipse]

— New drone has legs for landing gear, enabling efficient launches

 

at 12/5/24 4:34pm

The RAVEN walks, it flies, it hops over obstacles, and it's efficient.

[Category: Science, drones, Robotics]

— Study: Warming has accelerated due to the Earth absorbing more sunlight

 

at 12/5/24 1:15pm

If it's a trend, then future warming will be at the high end of estimates.

[Category: Science, albedo, atmospheric science, climate change, Earth science, global warming]

— How did the CEO of an online payments firm become the nominee to lead NASA?

 

at 12/5/24 12:14pm

Expect significant changes for America's space agency.

[Category: Science, Space, jared isaacman, NASA, space]

— E-tattoos could make mobile EEGs a reality

 

at 12/5/24 8:31am

Novel polymer-based conductive inks print directly on the scalp surface—even through pesky short hairs.

[Category: Science, e-ink, EEG, electroencephalography, electronic tattoos, engineering, materials science]

— Prenatal test accidentally picks up cancer in 50% of those with wonky results

 

at 12/5/24 5:18am

The prenatal test results flagged cancers when other screens and tests missed it.

[Category: Health, Science, cancer, cfDNA, chromosomes, NEJM, pregnancy, prenatal]

— These spiders listen for prey before hurling webs like slingshots

 

at 12/4/24 4:00pm

Ballistic webs can reach speeds of nearly 1 m/s to catch mosquitoes within 38 milliseconds.

[Category: Science]

— Dog domestication happened many times, but most didn’t pan out

 

at 12/4/24 3:16pm

Our relationship with wolves, dogs, and even coyotes has always been complicated.

[Category: Science, Archaeology, dog domestication, Dogs, indigenous North America, isotope analysis, nitrogen isotopes]

— Trump nominates Jared Isaacman to become the next NASA administrator

 

at 12/4/24 11:41am

"We will never again lose our ability to journey to the stars and never settle for second place."

[Category: Science, Space, artemis, Donald Trump, human spaceflight, jared isaacman, NASA, space policy, spacex]

— Google’s DeepMind tackles weather forecasting, with great performance

 

at 12/4/24 10:06am

Needs just eight minutes on one processor to do a single 15-day forecast.

[Category: AI, Science, atmospheric science, Computer science, Earth science, meteorology, weather forecasting]

— Seagrass is fantastic at carbon capture—and it’s at risk of extinction

 

at 12/4/24 8:46am

An underwater gardening experiment along the East Coast aims at restoration.

[Category: Science, climate change, eel grass, sea grass, syndication]

— Splash pads really are fountains of fecal material; CDC reports 10K illnesses

 

at 12/3/24 3:09pm

A big problem is leaky swim diapers and kids sucking up recirculated water.

[Category: Health, Science, CDC, cyrptosporidium, gastrointestinal diseases, Infectious disease, kids, public health, splash pads]

— A peek inside the restoration of the iconic Notre Dame cathedral

 

at 12/3/24 10:58am

Tomas van Houtyryve's striking photographs for National Geographic capture the restoration process.

[Category: Science, architecture, National Geographic, notre dame, Notre Dame restoration, photography]

— Cheerios effect inspires novel robot design

 

at 12/3/24 8:39am

A popular science classroom demonstration could one day lead to applications in powering tiny robots.

[Category: Science, 3D printing, active matter, Cheerios effect, fluid dynamics, Marangoni effect, Physics, Robotics, science]

— Raw milk producer optimistic after being shut down for bird flu detection

 

at 12/3/24 5:15am

A second lot of milk was recalled after testing of retail products came back positive.

[Category: Health, Science, bird flu, H5N1, Infectious disease, Raw Farm, raw milk]

— Can desalination quench agriculture’s thirst?

 

at 12/2/24 5:41pm

Some say it’s a costly pipe dream; others say it’s part of the future.

[Category: Science, desalination, syndication]

— Researchers finally identify the ocean’s “mystery mollusk”

 

at 12/2/24 1:32pm

It's a nudibranch, but so distantly related that it gets its own phylogenetic family.

[Category: Science, Biology, marine biology, phylogenetic, Weird]

As of 12/7/24 2:04pm. Last new 12/6/24 4:35pm.