• China on schedule for launch this year of second space station

  6 hours ago

  China on Sunday recovered an experimental probe launched aboard a new generation rocket, marking another milestone in its increasingly ambitious space program that envisions a mission to Mars by the end of the decade.

• Remains of mammoth uncovered in Mexico

  20 hours ago

  Mexican experts are carefully digging up fossils of a Pleistocene-era mammoth believed to have been cut to pieces by ancient humans.

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  Study: Rotting trees caused mysterious holes in huge dunes

  20 hours ago

  Mysterious holes that forced the closure of a massive dune at an Indiana national park after a 6-year-old boy fell into one and nearly died were caused by sand-covered trees that left cavities behind as they decayed over ...

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  US Navy keeps electromagnetic cannon in its sights

  Jun 25, 2016

  The US Navy is quietly pushing ahead with a radical new cannon that one day could transform how wars are fought, even though some Pentagon officials have voiced concerns over its cost and viability.

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  Hairs, feathers and scales have a lot in common

  Jun 24, 2016

  The potential evolutionary link between hairs in mammals, feathers in birds and scales in reptiles has been debated for decades. Today, researchers of the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, ...

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  Skeletons, coins found in dig of ancient Pompeii shop

  Jun 24, 2016

  Italian and French archaeologists have discovered four skeletons and gold coins in the ruins of an ancient shop on the outskirts of Pompeii, officials said Friday.

• Scientists uncover route for finding out what makes individuals nice or nasty

  Jun 24, 2016

  A University of Exeter scientist has helped develop an innovative mathematical model for exploring why some individuals evolve to be genetically programmed to be nice, while others stay nasty.

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  Insects were already using camouflage 100 million years ago

  Jun 24, 2016

  Those who go to a masked ball consciously slip into a different role, in order to avoid being recognized so quickly. Insects were already doing something very similar in the Cretaceous: They cloaked themselves in pieces of ...

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  What did Earth's ancient magnetic field look like?

  Jun 24, 2016

  New work from Carnegie's Peter Driscoll suggests Earth's ancient magnetic field was significantly different than the present day field, originating from several poles rather than the familiar two. It is published in Geophysical ...

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  Computer sketches set to make online shopping much easier

  Jun 24, 2016

  A computer program that recognises sketches pioneered by scientists from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) could help consumers shop more efficiently.