NASA-(ENEWSPF)- NASA will launch a spacecraft to an asteroid in 2016 and use a robotic arm to pluck samples that could better explain our solar system’s formation and how life began. The mission, called Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from[Read More…]

Columbus, OH-(ENEWSPF)- Game-worn football faceshields are more susceptible to breaking when subjected to high-velocity impact than are new faceshields, according to recent research. In the study, researchers used an air cannon to hurl baseballs at new and used polycarbonate faceshields. All of the new shields withstood the strongest impact tested,[Read More…]

Astrocytes are star-shaped cells that are the most common cell in the human brain and have now been grown from embryonic and induced stem cells in the laboratory of UW-Madison neuroscientist Su-Chun Zhang. Once considered mere putty or glue in the brain, astrocytes are of growing interest to biomedical research[Read More…]

Tucson, AZ-(ENEWSPF)- A tumbling comet nucleus with a changing rotational rate has been observed for the first time, according to a new paper by a Planetary Science Institute researcher.  These findings, as well as information gleaned from a recent NASA EPOXI spacecraft flyby of Comet 103P/Hartley 2, are expected to[Read More…]

WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–May 24, 2011.  NASA has reached an important milestone for the next U.S. transportation system that will carry humans into deep space. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced today that the system will be based on designs originally planned for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. Those plans now will be used[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 24, 2011.  U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu joined with U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Dr. Francis Eberle, Executive Director of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), today to announce the launch of a new energy education initiative: America’s Home Energy Education Challenge.  This[Read More…]

Many drugs sold as ‘legal highs’ on the internet do not contain the ingredients they claim, reports the journal Drug Testing and Analysis University of Lincoln, UK-(ENEWSPF)- Many drugs sold as ‘legal highs’ on the internet do not contain the ingredients they claim. Some instead contain controlled substances and are[Read More…]

LOS ANGELES-(ENEWSPF)- When two adjacent discs in the low back wear out, become compressed and cause unmanageable pain, numbness or other symptoms, replacement with artificial discs can be a viable alternative to standard fusion surgery, based on two-year post-surgery data from a randomized, multicenter trial recently published in the Journal[Read More…]

This TRMM satellite 3-D image shows that some thunderstorm towers near TSO4W’s center of circulation were punching up to heights of over 16 km (~9.9 miles) above the ocean’s surface. (Photo: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce) NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center-(ENEWSPF)- Tropical Storm 04W formed from the low pressure System 98W this morning[Read More…]

DPS-(ENEWSPF)- The Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) is pleased to announce its 2011 prize winners: Gerard P. Kuiper Prize for outstanding contributions to the field of planetary science: William Ward, Southwest Research Institute. Many dynamical processes that are now cornerstones of current theories of[Read More…]