Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Arsenic Life edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from NPR.

Scientists Find Bacterium That Survives On Arsenic
by Jon Hamilton

Researchers say they have found a bacterium that defies scientific dogma: It's able to use the deadly poison arsenic in place of an element previously considered essential for life. The finding appears to expand the range of places where life could exist — both on Earth and elsewhere in the universe.

The discovery comes from a young NASA astrobiologist who likes to find exceptions to rules. Felisa Wolfe-Simon says she was fascinated by crustaceans because they don't use iron to carry oxygen around their bodies the way most species do. Instead, they use copper.

Wolfe-Simon thought this sort of chemical substitution might go even further.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Thanksgiving weekend edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

No featured story tonight, just this Thanksgiving greeting from the OND volunteer editors.

Science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Vice President Joe Biden's birthday edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from MSNBC.

Happy Birthday: Joe Biden Turns 68

In honor of Vice President Joe Biden's birthday, we look back on 68 glorious years of mutton chops, embarrassing gaffes and winning smiles.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Vice President.  What do you have to say for yourself today?

That's the spirit!

This week's science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Leonid Meteor Shower edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from the University of Texas via physorg.com.

Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks Wednesday

The Leonid meteor shower best viewing this year will be in the two to three hours before dawn on Nov. 17 and 18, according to the editors of StarDate magazine.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Carl Sagan Day 2010 edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from The Daily Telegraph (UK).

Happy Carl Sagan Day, everybody
By Tom Chivers

It would have been Carl Sagan’s 76th birthday on Tuesday, and his army of nerdish fans around the world have dedicated a day to his memory. It’s today, for some reason, so go and celebrate.

There’s a lot to love about Sagan: a great scientist and great author, a genuine thinker and an excellent populariser. His book and TV series "Cosmos" remain some of the greatest works of popular science of all time. And, of course, he is one of the most quotable men in history.

Hat/Tip to Inspired By Nature for this topic.

More on this and other science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Trick or Vote 2010 edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, energy, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes Trick or Vote.

According to a 2001 Yale study, face-to-face interaction is the single best way to get someone to vote.  Knocking on doors increases voter turnout by a whopping 8-12%, more than any other method.

If knocking on doors is the best way to get out the vote, what is the one day each year people expect a knock on their door? Halloween.

And when does Halloween happen to fall on the calendar? Always a few days before the election.

So, while you may be too old to Trick or Treat, you’re never too old to Trick or Vote.

This week's science, space, energy, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Autumnal Equinox 2010 edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from CNN.

Severe floods hit Midwest; areas downriver get ready
By Moni Basu

Parts of the Midwest battled severe flooding Friday as torrential rains caused rivers to overflow their banks and submerged entire towns.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa and warned that waters gushing down bloated rivers and creeks could cause major rivers, including the Mississippi, to surge over the weekend.

The governors of Minnesota and Wisconsin declared states of emergency in flood-affected counties as local emergency officials ordered the evacuation of residents in several towns.

No deaths or injuries have been reported.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (9/11 9th Anniversary edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Reuters.

U.S. resumes funding controversial stem cell research
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON | Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:48pm EDT

The U.S. government said it was resuming work on controversial human embryonic stem cell research on Friday after an appeals court ruled in its favor.

In the latest legal back-and-forth on the issue, a U.S. appeals court on Thursday granted an Obama administration request to temporarily lift a judge's ban on federal funding of research involving human embryonic stem cells.

More legal action is pending but the National Institutes of Health said it would resume work that had been suspended.

"We are pleased with the court's interim ruling, which will allow promising stem cell research to continue while we present further arguments to the court in the weeks to come," the NIH said in a statement.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Labor Day 2010 and NZ earthquake edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Agence France Presse by way of Discovery News.

Magnitude 7.1 Quake Rattles New Zealand

New Zealand's most destructive earthquake in nearly 80 years caused two billion dollars' worth of damage Saturday, felling buildings, tearing up roads and sending terrified residents fleeing into the streets.

Officials said it was "extremely lucky" no one was killed when the 7.0 magnitude quake shook the island nation's second-largest city of Christchurch just before dawn.

Frightened residents fled from their homes to find streets covered in rubble and glass, but despite the extent of the damage only two people were seriously injured in the city of 340,000 people.

More on this and other science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Recession causes U.S. birthrate to drop edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Red Orbit.

US Birth Rates Affected By Economic Downturn

Health officials said Friday that the economy may be causing some women to think twice about having children as the birth rate in 2009 declined for the second year in a row.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 4,136,000 children were born in 2009, which was down 2.6 percent from the 2008 estimate.

That followed a similar decline in 2008, which was the beginning of the economic downturn.  The CDC said the 2009 numbers are preliminary and could change.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Woodward Dream Cruise 2010 edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Michigan Radio.

It's Dream Cruise weekend on Woodward Avenue
Steve Carmody

Tony Michaels is the Dream Cruise executive director. He says in a time when more hybrid and electric cars are hitting the streets, he expects the popularity of the Dream Cruise will grow.

"It probably put more importance on the nostalgia for the people who own these older cars and keep them in great shape and keep them pretty much forever," says Michaels.

People are already feeling nostalgia for the gas-guzzling, fossil-fuel-burning past.  I consider that to be a good thing.  It means that era is about over.

More after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest - Last Call Edition

by Oke

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Overnight News Digest: David Kelly update

by ScottyUrb

Huffington Post: James Cameron, Environmental Group To Plant One Million Trees, Half In Haiti

Earth Day Network is enlisting groups in 15 countries to plant 1 million trees this year with "Avatar" movie director James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox.

...

In the U.S., trees will be planted in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles to improve air quality and urban animal habitats.

Tree plantings in such places as Mexico, Canada and Spain will be focused on reforestation of depleted areas.

Other efforts tie in with both development and environmental improvements. In Haiti, the U.S.-based Trees for the Future will work with farmers to plant about 500,000 fruit trees and other native species to provide economic benefits. That makes Haiti one of the largest sites.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (2010 Perseid Meteor Shower edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Space.com via MSNBC.

Perseid meteor shower lives up to its promise

The 2010 Perseid meteor shower lived up to its promise of a meteor per minute just before dawn Friday, providing an excellent celestial spectacle for people around the globe who had dark and clear skies.

"In Iran, the Perseid meteor shower was great," Mohammad Reza Zaman Sani told Spaceweather.com.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (August auroras edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Spaceweather.com.

Aurora Photo Gallery August 2010

Summary: Solar activity continues to increase after a two-year solar minimum that ranks among the century's deepest. The return of sunspots and a resurgent solar wind is good news for aurora watchers, who are seeing some of the best displays since ~2006.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (House passes drilling bill edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Reuters.

House approves oil spill reform bill
By Tom Doggett and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON | Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:16pm EDT

The House of Representatives on Friday approved the toughest reforms ever to offshore energy drilling practices, as Democrats narrowly pushed through an election-year response to BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Passing the bill as the House leaves for its six-week recess gives lawmakers the opportunity to return home boasting they reined in Big Oil and held BP responsible for the worst offshore oil disaster in U.S. history.

The vote was 209-193 on the bill supported by President Barack Obama.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Netroots Nation 2010 edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Science News.

Voter madness
Home team victories may influence elections
By Laura Sanders

Whether politicians win or lose may come down to how local athletes play the game. When local football and basketball teams were victorious, voters were more pleased with elected officials, a study appearing online July 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds. The capricious link between sports teams and politicians’ performance is a clear example of how irrelevant events can shape important judgments.

Lakoff maintains that conservatives understand the irrational factor in politics better than liberals. It's time to use science to close that gap.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (First Flight of VSS Enterprise edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Space.com.

Virgin Galactic's Private Spaceship Makes First Crewed Flight
By Clara Moskowitz

A private suborbital spaceship built for the space tourism firm Virgin Galactic made its first flight with a crew onboard Thursday as it soared over California's Mojave Desert beneath its enormous mothership.

The commercial spaceliner – called VSS Enterprise, one of the company's fleet of SpaceShipTwo spacecraft – did not try to reach space in the test flight. Instead, it stayed firmly attached to its WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve mothership.

The two crewmembers riding onboard VSS Enterprise evaluated all of the spacecraft's systems and functions during the 6-hour, 12-minute flight, Virgin Galactic officials said in a statement. In addition, automated sensors and ground crews conducted thorough vehicle systems tests.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Solar Eclipse/World Cup Final edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from CNN.

Solar eclipse predicted at same time as World Cup final
By Gillian Tee

It is unlikely anything would fully eclipse the World Cup final, but the universe is giving it a shot.

A total solar eclipse is predicted to start at sunrise in the Cook Islands on July 11 -- when the World Cup 2010 final will be in play.

It's set to take place in the southern Pacific across the French Polynesia, according to NASA's report on the Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

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Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (July 4th 2010 edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from IEEE Spectrum.

How to Build a Better Barbecue Pit
Engineers use technology to demystify the black art of barbecue
BY Erica Westly // July 2010

About six years ago, Bill Karau, an engineer who has worked for the U.S. Navy and Motorola, decided to build his own barbecue pit. What started as an annual barbecue tour with friends had quickly turned into a full-fledged hobby. "I’ve probably had the opportunity to eat at somewhere between 120 and 130 barbecue joints over the last decade," says the Texas native, "and one of the things we always did on these trips, in addition to sampling the meat and talking about it, is we always go visit the pit boss and look at the pit. And me being the engineering geek in the crowd, I always wanted to try to understand the science behind what appears to be a black art."

More after the jump.

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