International Business Times

Google Earth Timelapse Gives A Look At An Evolving Planet That Spans Decades

Charles Poladian — Thu, 09 May 2013 18:55:41 GMT

Google Earth Timelapse is a new interactive website from the search giant that lets users view decades of change on Earth through time-lapsed satellite imagery.

Water On Moon And Earth Likely Came From Ancient Meteorites: Study

r.palmer — Thu, 09 May 2013 18:49:13 GMT

The water locked underneath the mantle of the Moon came from the same place that likely supplied the Earth’s oceans: the asteroid belt near Jupiter.

New research from a team of researchers led by Brown University geochemist Alberto Saal and published online Thursday by the journal Science indicates that water has been around on the Moon since it was first formed.

Annular Eclipse 2013: 'Ring of Fire' Event To Dazzle Australia, Pacific Islands

r.palmer — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:00:48 GMT

The moon will pass between the Earth and the Sun later today, providing a partial solar eclipse for many, while a lucky few will witness an annular or “ring of fire” eclipse.

NYC Teen Pregnancy Rate Dropped 30 Percent Since 2001; New City-Funded App Aims To Reduce Further

r.palmer — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:52:54 GMT

The teen pregnancy rate in the Big Apple dropped significantly over the past decade, but it's still well above the national average. To bring the numbers down further, the city's health department is introducing new measures, including a smartphone app that directs teens to health services.

Cicada Swarm 2013: A Pictorial Guide To The Bug Plague Looming Over The East Coast [PHOTOS]

r.palmer — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:24:58 GMT

Get your earplugs ready: The cicadas are coming.

All around the Northeast -- from Pennsylvania to Maryland to Connecticut -- billions of cicadas are starting to emerge from the ground after 17 years of underground adolescence mostly spent feeding on the fluid inside tree roots.

While this emergence is the biggest in the Northeastern U.S. in a long while, the Southern states have had recent visits too. There are about 15 distinct broods of cicadas that emerge regularly in the U.S. In 2011, the Great Southern Brood popped up across the American Southeast.

New Zealand Sea Monster: Mysterious Carcass Washes Ashore On Pukehina Beach In New Zealand [VIDEO]

Thomas Barrabi — Wed, 08 May 2013 13:53:37 GMT

A mysterious carcass washed up on a New Zealand beach last week, causing local citizens to speculate that it may have been a “sea monster.”

Antidepressants Linked With Heightened Risk Of Superbug CDI

j.heller — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:20:13 GMT

Certain antidepressants could heighten patients’ risk of contracting a fatal superbug infection, a recent study from the University of Michigan indicates.

What Is PC-KUS? All About The New Gray Hair 'Cure' Backed By Actual Science

casac8 — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:51:28 GMT

A new landmark study has revealed that a substance called PC-KUS may mean the end to both gray hair and the skin condition vitiligo, which causes patches of pigment-less skin.

Human hair often turns white or gray when hydrogen peroxide begins to accumulate in hair follicles as a result of oxidative stress, affecting most people as they move into middle age and beyond. The hydrogen peroxide essentially acts as a bleaching agent on the "new" hair growing from the follicles.

T-Rex Returned: ICE Returns Tyrannosaurus Bataar Skeleton To Mongolia; Eric Prokopi Charged With Smuggling

Thomas Barrabi — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:44:14 GMT

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has returned a 70 million-year-old T-Rex skeleton to the Mongolian government after an international custody battle.

During Monday's repatriation ceremony, ICE officials released the massive Tyrannosaurus bataar into the custody of the Mongolian government, ending an international controversy between two governments and self-described “commercial paleontologist” Eric Prokopi, LiveScience reports.

Solar Eclipse Live Stream 2013: When, Where And How To Watch ‘Ring Of Fire’ May 9

mvulta — Tue, 07 May 2013 04:13:20 GMT

The moon will mask the sun this week in a solar eclipse that will make the sun look like a cosmic “ring of fire."

The ring-shaped solar eclipse, known as an annular eclipse, will occur on Thursday and Friday Eastern Time, Space.com reports. Depending on the weather, viewers will be able to see the eclipse in parts of Australia and the Southern Pacific Ocean, where it will be Friday.

Gray Hair Cure? New Study Finds A Solution That May Mean The End Of Silver Locks

casac8 — Tue, 07 May 2013 00:40:51 GMT

Researchers may have found a cure for gray hair, according to a new study that has the potential to bring an end to unwanted silver manes.

The landmark study was conducted last month by a joint group of researchers from the Centre for Skin Sciences at England's University of Bradford and Germany's Institute for Pigmentary Disorders at E.M. Arndt University of Greifswald.

Heroin Vaccine Shows Promise For Curbing Addictive Behavior

r.palmer — Mon, 06 May 2013 21:25:29 GMT

A vaccine designed to help combat heroin addiction by virtually eliminating the drug’s psychoactive properties has shown promising results in preclinical trials, helping prevent addicted rats from escalating their habit.

What Is Sarin Gas? Syrian Government Forces, Rebels Suspected Of Using Nerve Agent

r.palmer — Mon, 06 May 2013 19:01:46 GMT

A United Nations investigation has gathered testimony that Syrian rebels have been using sarin gas on their countrymen.

New Gonorrhea HO41 Superbug Could Be ‘Worse Than AIDS,’ Doctors Say

j.heller — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:01:26 GMT

A new drug-resistant strain of gonorrhea spreading through North America, Europe and Asia could be more deadly than AIDS, according to U.S. doctors.

Gonorrhea HO41, a strain that was first discovered in Japan in 2011 in a 31-year-old female sex worker, has not yet resulted in any deaths, Sky News reported. But doctors warn that if preventative measures aren’t taken now, it could lead to a crisis.

Alaska's Cleveland Volcano Explodes Saturday Morning: Alaska Volcano Observatory

JJMcGrath — Sun, 05 May 2013 04:04:02 GMT

Alaska's Cleveland Volcano -- aka Mount Cleveland when in a more sedate mood -- began erupting Saturday at 5 a.m. AKDT (9 a.m. EDT), according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, or AVO.

The Cleveland Volcano is in a comparatively remote area of the Aleutian Islands, about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, the Associated Press reported.

The Week In Science: Cannibal Baby Sharks, Bug-Eye Cameras And Gray Hair Fixes

r.palmer — Sat, 04 May 2013 12:00:03 GMT

It’s been another crackerjack week in science.

No Laughing Matter: Wittiness Might Actually Hurt A Scientific Paper's Reputation

r.palmer — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:04:16 GMT

Laughter might be the best medicine, but humor’s not necessarily rewarded in the realm of scientific publishing.

Kiera Wilmot Expelled: Scientists, Teachers Outraged By Harsh Punishment For Teen's Experiment Accident

r.palmer — Thu, 02 May 2013 19:31:23 GMT

Scientists are tweeting and blogging in indignation in response to the story of a Florida teenager expelled from school and facing felony charges for a science experiment gone awry.

Oregon Medicaid Study Cheers Conservatives, But What Did It Actually Find?

r.palmer — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:42:02 GMT

Expanded Medicaid coverage in Oregon eased the financial strain of medical expenses for low-income people, but didn't produce immediate health improvements by certain measures, according to newly released research.

The latest results from the Oregon Health Study, published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, come at a time when state legislatures are mulling whether or not to adopt Medicaid expansion requirements outlined in the vast health reform law passed in 2009.

Danish Scientists Expect HIV Cure 'Within Months'; Treatment Eradicates HIV Reservoirs

Zoe Mintz — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:04:25 GMT

Researchers say an HIV cure may be months away.

Danish scientists are conducting clinical trials where the HIV virus is stripped from human DNA and destroyed by the immune system, the Telegraph reports.

Scientists say early signs are promising and believe “a mass-distributable and affordable cure to HIV is possible.”

Zombie Worms Eat Bones: How Worms Without Guts Or Mouths Consume Mammal Bones [PHOTO]

a.tate — Thu, 02 May 2013 12:58:38 GMT

When a whale dies in the ocean, the carcass becomes a feast for countless marine creatures, but what happens to the bones? Scientists had thought they lasted decades, but a recent study discovered that “zombie worms” are making much shorter work of them, "eating" the skeletons by dissolving them with acid.

In a study conducted by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, it has been discovered that these worms, actually called Osedax, excrete acid to eat the nutrients inside the bones of their next meal. They typically eat whale bones and other larger marine animals.

Breast Implants Might Hide Early Stage Cancer From Mammogram, Affect Survival: Study

r.palmer — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:01:25 GMT

Going from an A cup to a D cup by the silicone or saline route might mask early stage breast cancer from appearing in a mammogram and affect your survival odds later, according to a new review of medical literature.

That’s troubling news. There were approximately 307,000 breast augmentation surgeries performed in the U.S. alone in 2011, an 800 percent increase since the early 1990s.

Researchers Map Genetic Mutations In Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Endometrial Cancer

r.palmer — Wed, 01 May 2013 19:23:42 GMT

A large consortium of scientists has created a new, detailed map of the genetic mutations that have a hand in acute myeloid leukemia, a ravenous variety of blood cancer.

The work, done by the Cancer Genome Atlas Project and published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, doesn't immediately suggest possible new avenues of treatment for the disease, but does lay the biology of AML barer than it’s ever been seen before.

Boy And His Atom: IBM Animates Molecules In Stop-Motion Story [VIDEOS]

r.palmer — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:09:33 GMT

IBM is dipping its toe in the movie game – but if it’s latest offering wins any awards, it'll have to make a subatomic statuette.

“A Boy and His Atom” is a stop-motion film made by moving little arrangements of carbon monoxide molecules – made of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom – bit by bit. In the story, a crude figure (named, appropriately enough, Adam) meets up and plays with a tiny atom, which transforms into things like a trampoline and a skateboard:

Tiny 'Alien' Skeleton: Tests Reveal 'Atacama Humanoid' From 'Sirius' Documentary Has Human DNA

Thomas Barrabi — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:14:10 GMT

The tiny “alien” humanoid that some have hailed as “proof of alien life” has been confirmed as human after extensive testing by Stanford University scientists.