Science News
Infant ape fossil skull illuminates humankind's remote past
WASHINGTON The lemon-sized fossil skull of an infant ape nicknamed Alesi that inhabited a Kenyan forest about 13 million years ago is offering a peek at what the long-ago common ancestor of people and all modern apes may have looked like.
Japan GPS satellite launch postponed due to glitch
TOKYO Japan on Saturday postponed the planned launch of an H-2A rocket tasked to put a geo-positioning satellite into orbit due to possible helium gas leakage, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI) said.
Scientists create safer pig organs with goal of transplants for humans
Scientists at a Massachusetts company seeking to make pig organs safe enough to be transplanted into humans have used gene-editing technology to clone piglets that lack a potentially dangerous retrovirus, according to a study released on Thursday.
Chinese quantum satellite sends 'unbreakable' code
BEIJING China has sent an "unbreakable" code from a satellite to the Earth, marking the first time space-to-ground quantum key distribution technology has been realized, state media said on Thursday.
It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a prehistoric gliding mammal
WASHINGTON In dense Chinese forests populated by dinosaurs 160 million years ago, two furry critters resembling flying squirrels glided from tree to tree, showing that even in such a perilous neighborhood early mammals had succeeded in going airborne.
Engraved prehistoric human bones show ritualistic cannibalism
LONDON Engravings on a human bone from a prehistoric archaeological site in a cave in southern England shows that human cannibals ate their prey and then performed ritualistic burials with the remains, scientists said on Wednesday.
Crocodile rock: ancient beast named after Motörhead band's Lemmy
WASHINGTON A ferocious sea-going crocodile that menaced coastal waters about 164 million years ago during the Jurassic Period has been given a name honoring the similarly ferocious heavy-metal rocker Lemmy, the late front man for the British band Motörhead.
Born this way? Researchers explore the science of gender identity
NEW YORK While President Donald Trump has thrust transgender people back into the conflict between conservative and liberal values in the United States, geneticists are quietly working on a major research effort to unlock the secrets of gender identity. | Video
Rocket Lab says fixes test flight glitch which terminated first launch
WELLINGTON Rocket Lab, a Silicon Valley-funded space launch company, said a contractor's error was to blame for its maiden flight failing to reach orbit in May, but that the problem had been fixed ahead of another planned launch in the next two months.
U.S. scientists able to alter genes of human embryos
U.S. scientists have succeeded in altering the genes of a human embryo to correct a disease-causing mutation, making it possible to prevent the defect from being passed on to future generations.
EU Commissioner calls for summit over major egg contamination scare
BRUSSELS The European Commissioner in charge of food safety has called for a meeting of ministers and national regulatory agencies to discuss a widespread European contamination scare, which has seen shops remove millions of eggs from sale.
