The residents of Utqiaġvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow), saw the final sunset for 2018 last Sunday. The city is currently in complete darkness until the sun rises on January 23, 2019, which is when residents begin to see touches of light over the horizon again (due to the refraction and scattering of the atmosphere).

Between November 18 and January 23, there is a decreasing amount of twilight each day (see illustration below) during the first half of the polar night, and on the winter solstice (around December 21 or December 22), civil twilight in Utqiagvik lasts for a mere 3 hours. By January 27 or 28, the sun rises completely over the horizon.


Utqiaġvik is one of the northernmost public communities in the world and is the northernmo ...

At roughly 6 billion kilometers from Earth, the image you see to your right is the farthest images ever taken.

The New Horizons spacecraft captured its first images on August 16 of the remote icy world nicknamed Ultima Thule (a traditional name of distant places beyond the known world), confirming that New Horizons is on track for its January 1 flyby around Pluto. With about 160 million kilometers to go — roughly the same distance as Earth is from the sun — the tiny world appears as no more than a faint speck in the probe’s camera.

Officially named 2014 MU69, Ultima Thule is part of the Kuiper Belt, a thick disk-shaped zone containing space debris left over from the formation of the planets 4.6 billion years ago. By sending New Horizons to t ...

Finally, the world is paying attention to the dangers of consuming trans-fatty acids in food.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called all nations to rid foods of artificial trans-fats in the next five years. Artificial trans-fat is made by converting healthy unsaturated oils (those that are fluid at room temperature) into ones that are chemically more stable through a process known as hydrogenation (illustrated below). The food industry began using this deceptive technique in the 1950s to increase the shelf-life of perishable grocery items such as pastries, and fried foods sold at restaurants.


Numerous studies have linked these fats to an increase in cholesterol levels, which can lead to cardiovascular diseases. One of the reasons for ...

As part of Donald Trump's cabinet pick, Myron Ebell, who is a director at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and a prominent climate change skeptic, will lead the Environmental Protection Agency's administration.

While Ebell has had no formal scientific education, and makes no claim to be a scientist, his view is that if public decisions are to be made according to scientific findings, than they should be discussed democratically by all people, not just scientists. Unfortunately, in the realms of science, public opinion doesn't matter much unless you're discussing the ethics of a scientific matter.

Appointing Ebell doesn't mean the environment is under threat, as suggested by the disenfranchised, New York Times. The discussion on global w ...

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has just awarded Virginal Galactic their first operating license, allowing them to start using their SpaceShipTwo craft for commercial use - as soon as certain guidelines are met. This means that the company - owned by billionaire Richard Branson - will soon be able to shuttle paying passengers into space.

Other than making the flights legal, the license dictates the conditions required before Virgin Galactic can actually let any passengers on board SpaceShipTwo, which will be carried by White Knight Two (below) roughly 99 kilometres (62 miles) into the sky.


Once everything is squared away with the FAA, SpaceShipTwo - a spacecraft designed to hold two pilots and six passengers - will hitch a ride w ...

Back in January, I reported that the periodic table would be getting an update because four new elements were discovered - finally, the new names have been penciled in. Nihonium, moscovium, tennessine, and oganesson will grace the blocks assigned to atomic numbers 113, 115, 117, and 118, said the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) today.

Nihonium, discovered by a Japanese team, means “the land of the rising sun,” while moscovium and tennessine are named after places near the labs where they were discovered (Moscow and Tennessee, of course). And oganesson recognizes the work of Russian chemist Yuri Oganessian. By tradition, the right to suggest a name for an element is granted to its discoverer, although IUPAC has ...

Infant swaddling, an old practice that has recently gained popularity in the United States, may be linked to increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). A new review of 760 SIDS cases in the journal Pediatrics found that infants who were swaddled - wrapped in light cloth with only the head exposed - were about a third more likely to die from SIDS. The risk was higher among infants sleeping on their stomachs or sides, positions already known to be more dangerous for sleeping babies. SIDS risk among swaddled infants was also higher for children older than 6 months, suggesting that swaddling should be stopped when babies are able to start rolling over. The researchers cautioned that these results should be taken with a grain of salt ...

According to a new study published in Cell Metabolism, mice who spent their free time on a running wheel were better able to shrink tumors (a 50 percent reduction in tumor size) compared to their less active counterparts. Researchers found that the surge of adrenaline ( epinephrine) that comes with a high-intensity workout helped to move cancer-killing immune (NK) cells toward lung, liver, or skin tumors implanted into the mice.

While the research is hopeful for patients looking for inexpensive ways to manage their cancer, more needs to be learned about the effects of exercise on metastasis and longevity, as well as if the observations hold true in humans. Scientists also wants to explore the combined impact of anti-cancer treatments and ex ...

Scientists have discovered evidence that homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice, but rather is rooted in a person’s biology. While specific genes have not been found, a male twin study reveals that homosexuality may be caused by chemical modifications that alter gene activity. As the fetus develops, certain genes get turned on or off depending the chemicals the fetus is exposed to. These chemicals don't necessarily have to be chemicals ingested or inhaled by the mother, but could be an imbalance in a hormone, such as testosterone. As adults, genes can also activate and deactivated based on our environment. More research is needed, but scientists stress that these findings shouldn’t be used to produce tests for homosexuality or a misguid ...

The images, taken by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft from a distance of 18,000 kilometres give Pluto a "strangely Arctic look", NASA scientists said.

According to a new report published out of the UK, E-cigarettes are 95% less harmful to your health than normal cigarettes. When supported by a smoking cessation service, they help most smokers to quit tobacco altogether. They have also concluded that there is "no evidence" that they offer young people a gateway into smoking.

In fact, the review suggests that e-cigarettes may be contributing to falling smoking rates in the U.K., as 2.6 million adults are now thought to be using the product. They also found that almost all of these adults are ex-smokers, providing evidence that many people are not starting to use the devices after having never smoked in the first place, and instead are using them to either quit or cut down on tobacco.
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NASA scientists have nominated eight potential new targets for a 2020 Mars mission. They're focusing on ancient river deltas and hot springs as sites that have the best chance of preserving signs of life on the red planet. New sites can still be considered, and mission engineers have yet to weigh in on the technical feasibility of landing the rover in the nominated sites.

A possible vaccine for lung cancer! In a country known for cigars, lung cancer is one of the major killers in Cuba. So for the past 25 years, they’ve been developing Cimamax, which is now available freely to Cubans. According to a Phase II trial conducted in Cuba in 2008, lung cancer patients who received the vaccine lived an average of four to six months longer than those who didn’t. This led Japan and some European countries to trial the drug as well.

The drug itself is far from flawless and, by attacking a cell’s protein rather than the tumour directly, can have severe side effects, including – of all things - causing a higher risk of cancer. It might not be a "cure" in the traditional sense, but it's a way of managing the disease. What t ...

If you've ever been to the Netherlands, you probably noticed one of two things a) nearly everyone rides a bike or b) you're a lot shorter than everyone there. According to statistics, this countries population has gained an impressive 20 centimeters in the past 150 years and is now officially the tallest on the planet. While a rich diet and good health care is always a recipe for physical growth, a new study suggests something else is going on as well: The Dutch growth spurt may be an example of human evolution in action.

The study, published online today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, shows that tall Dutch men on average have more children than their shorter counterparts, and that more of their children survive. That suggests ge ...

Before you get any ideas that we're cloning wholly mammoths back into the 21st century, it's not that. An American geneticist has extracted DNA from the frozen remains of a long-dead mammoth found on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean (shown above), created a synthetic replica of it, and implanted it into elephant cells that have been isolated in a petri dish, using a new technique of DNA splicing that allows for unprecedented accuracy.

The technique used to join synthetic mammoth DNA fragments with the genetic code of an elephant is called CRISPR/Cas9, and while it’s been recently used to create transgenic organisms, this is the first time it’s been used on the DNA of an extinct organism.

Way to go!

Source: http://www.sciencealert.com/mammot ...

Researchers have discovered that sun exposure gives skin cells a postsunshine hangover that lasts for hours. In fact, UV rays damage skin cells for hours after you've stepped out of the sun - and even if you're in complete darkness!

India’s tiger population has risen from 1,706 individuals to 2,226 in the past four years, officials have reported. With the global population teetering around 3,000 individuals, this kind of growth is incredible.

Good news for pain-pill poppers: Ibuprofen (found in Advil) may help you live longer. A new study shows that it increases life span in lab organisms, raising the possibility it does the same thing in people.

To put ibuprofen through its paces, biochemist Michael Polymenis of Texas A&M University, College Station, and colleagues gave yeast, nematode worms, and fruit flies doses of the drug that are comparable to what humans would take. The life spans of all three types of organisms increased if they received ibuprofen, the researchers report today in PLOS Genetics. In yeast, for instance, ibuprofen stretched life span by 17%, half of what researchers can produce by cutting the cells’ food supply (another approach to increasing longevity). ...

For all those doubters out there, this one is for you.

Lunar Mission One, which was announced today at the Royal Society in London, will be the UK’s first trip to the moon. It’s an exploratory robotic mission that hopes to see a probe land on the moon’s South Pole within the next ten years, should funding allow. The aim of the venture is to drill through the surface, reaching a depth of at least 20 meters, but perhaps as deep as 100 meters.

By analyzing this 4.5 billion year old rock that has been shielded from cosmic radiation and meteor bombardment, scientists hope to increase our understanding of the origins and evolution of the moon, solar system and even our planet. Furthermore, it should also inform us of the practicality of a permanent ...

No one wants to be sad. So why do we love listening to sad songs so much? New research suggests that we're drawn to sad songs because they evoke mostly positive emotions, which is great for our mental health.

According to the study published by the journal PLOS One, researchers found that "a wide range of complex and partially positive emotions, such as nostalgia, peacefulness, tenderness, transcendence, and wonder," were brought out in the participants that took part in the study by sad music. These are emotions are all healthy, feel-good emotions. The researchers concluded that "Music-evoked sadness plays a role in well-being, by providing consolation as well as regulating negative moods and emotions."

Source: http://www.plosone.org/article ...

The Afghan musk deer was thought to be extinct, until it was sighted again - 60 years after its last appearance.

The world’s first artificial cow's milk is being developed in an effort to put a more environmentally sustainable option on the market. Scientists say 'Muufri' milk will taste as good and be just as nutritious as regular milk, and it'll be on sale next year.

To simulate life on Mars, a six-person crew will live in a dome in the middle of the desert—with almost no connection to the outside world—for eight straight months.

Desolate, frozen and black as coal - welcome to the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This is one of the closest colour images ever of a comet, taken from just 29 kilometres away by the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft. Rosetta will soon land on this rugged surface.

These tiny chips have been designed to bring the capability of the Internet to everyday objects in your home. Think smart light globes, smart vacuum cleaners, and smart coffee makers, all communicating wirelessly with each other to cater to your every whim.

A federal judge has passed down a ruling on the largest accidental marine oil spill (the Deepwater Horizon oil spill) in history, calling major players British Petroleum (BP) "reckless", and Transocean and Halliburton "negligent". BP is ordered to pay 17.6 billion for the damages it caused in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Let's just hope they don't end up spending that money on their military instead.

Right now, people with pacemakers need to go into surgery every time the battery dies. But this new pacemaker is based on the mechanics of a self-winding wristwatch, drawing all its power from the patient's beating heart.

Human trials are now planned. If successful, the simple, cheap HIV vaccine could be taken as a probiotic-like drink.

The new vaccine works in the opposite way to most vaccines - by suppressing, rather than triggering, an immune response. This is because HIV and SIV actually require immune cells known as CD4 T-cells in order to proliferate and establish an infection in the body.

Source: http://www.aidsmap.com/Novel-immune-suppressant-vaccine-completely-blocks-HIV-infection-in-monkeys-human-trials-planned/page/2902377 ...

Trampe is the world's first bicycle lift intended for urban areas. The prototype was built in 1993. During its 15 years of operation, Trampe pushed more than 200.000 cyclists up the 130 m long hill Brubakken in Trondheim, Norway.

A six-metre tall boulder that bounced down a slope on Mars has left a mark visible from space. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took a snapshot of the 500-metre long trail in July.

No pun intended, but nut allergies are getting more and more common. Now, new research suggests that by changing the protein structure of nuts, we may be able to create hypoallergenic nuts that even the severely allergic can eat. Which begs the question, would you risk eating these chemically modified nuts?

Source: http://news.sciencemag.org/chemistry/2014/08/chemical-modification-could-make-nuts-safe-eat ...

Scientists identified sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon -- some of the key chemical ingredients for life -- in the powder Curiosity drilled out of a sedimentary rock near an ancient stream bed in Gale Crater on the Red Planet last month.

Beijing subway owners have begun to offer its passengers the ability to pay their bills with plastic bottles, thus helping to preserve the environment and helping the pocket of every traveller.

Meet Solar Impulse 2, an aircraft that can fly for up to five days straight and will reportedly be able to fly around the world. The plane is an impressive feat of engineering, with wings as wide as a 747, but weighing only a little more than the average car. Tests of the aircraft will begin in a few weeks, with the round-the-world attempt planned for next March.

Surgeons have successfully replaced a patient’s skull with a 3D-printed version. Three months after the operation the patient, a 22-year-old woman with a rare disorder that thickened her skull and gave her poor eyesight as well as headaches, has recovered her eyesight and has gone back to work.

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A new study has found that oxytocin alters anorexic patients' tendencies to fixate on images of high calorie foods and larger body shapes. The research presents a possible pathway for future treatments of anorexia nervosa, which has one of the highest mortality rates of all mental illnesses.

Reference: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0090721 ...

Thanks to deforestation, road building, and other human activity, these sweet little guys have become so rare that in 1997, just 102 Vancouver Island marmots remained in the wild. But conservation efforts have brought them back from the brink, with around 300 captive-bred individuals released into the wild in 2010, and 26 wild litters born last year, producing 80 pups. Researchers state that climate change may further reduce or impact subalpine habitats along with associated forage plants.

Co-owned by Google, NRG Energy and BrightSource Energy, the giant Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California's Mojave desert will produce 392 MW of solar power at full capacity - enough electricity to provide 140,000 Californian homes with clean energy. The plant contains 300,000 large computer-controlled mirrors that help focus sunlight to the top of three 140m-high towers, where water is turned into steam to power turbines.

To view how it appears in Google Maps, follow the link. ...

The culling policy aims to reduce shark attacks by killing white, bull and tiger sharks over 3 metres long off the coast of Western Australia. Research on previous culls reveal no scientific evidence that destroying sharks reduces attacks, and the cull has caused outrage from conservation groups. Two experts from the University of Western Australia explain: "Pre-emptively killing sharks is a response based on emotion rather than of scientific data."

The dragon’s blood tree (Dracaena draco) has a thick red resin that makes the plant appear to be bleeding when it is cut. These subtropical plants form huge umbrella-like canopies and can grow for hundreds of years, but they are currently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to the trademark resin being used in traditional medicine, violin staining, and even for embalming the dead.

The world's newest island, Niijima, keeps on growing, and is now eight times the size it was when it first emerged off the coast of Japan on 20 November. Having merged with its neighbouring uninhabited island, Nishino Shima - which sat 500 metres away in November - the pair bears an uncanny resemblance to Snoopy the cartoon dog.

Snow has fallen in Cairo, Egypt for the first time in over a century. Other countries including Turkey, Syria and Israel have also been suffering the worst winter storm in decades.

Australian researchers have grown a kidney from human stem cells. The rudimentary kidney resembles that of a 5-week-old embryo, but it could be used to test drugs. The technology could also help produce kidneys for transplantation.

An unexpected side-effect of the 2010 flooding in parts of Sindh, Pakistan, was that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters; because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water took so long to recede, many trees became cocooned in spiders webs. People in the area had never seen this phenomenon before, but they also reported that there were less mosquitos than they would have expected, given the amount of standing water that was left. Not being bitten by mosquitoes was one small blessing for people that had lost everything in the floods. ...

This 22-year-old man had a car accident last year and as a result his nose became infected and deformed. Doctors weren’t able to repair it, but decided to take cartilage from one of the young man’s ribs to grown a new nose. The nose, which is temporarily attached to his forehead, has been developing for 9 months and is ready to be transplanted.

Cosmologists have formulated a new theory that suggest the universe didn’t start with the Big Bang. They believe the birth of the universe happened after a 4D star collapsed into a black hole and ejected debris, which helps explain why the universe has an almost uniform temperature.

A new vaccine has successfully killed the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) that causes AIDS in monkeys. It's hoped that with further research, an HIV-form of the vaccine can soon be tested in humans.

Scientists in Japan have built a levitating train that in recent trials hit speeds of almost 500 km/h. It's hoped that by 2027, this floating 'maglev' train will cut 55 minutes off the current travel time between Nagoya and Tokyo on today's high-speed trains.

The program builds on previous research and uses a mathematical model to determine which letter the test subject was thinking about at the time of the scan. Researchers hope to refine this technology in the future in order to reconstruct memories or dreams.

Glow-in-the-dark rabbits were born a few days ago at the University of Istanbul, Turkey. To produce the ‘mutant’ bunnies, researchers took two embryos from a pregnant female rabbit, injected them with a fluorescent jellyfish protein, and reinserted them into the female rabbit. The scientists believe this experiment could help in the development of better, more efficient ways to produce medicines.

This announcement is the result of over 30 years of extensive research. It was determined that prenatal exposure to low levels of mercury through fish in the mother’s diet or the environment does not contribute to disorders on the Autism spectrum.

The tail was discovered in northern Mexico and most likely belonged to a hadrosaur, a duck-billed dinosaur. The tail is 4.9 meters (16 feet) long and is made up of 50 vertebrae. Tails are rare finds, and this is the first discovered in such good condition.

The medication is designed to be injected right after a traumatic experience. It targets Oprl1, a receptor that researchers believe is responsible for attaching fear to traumatic memories.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is caused by many things, such as surviving an accident or exposure to violence. There are genetic risk factors, but many people who acquire the disorder had no predisposition. Symptoms include debilitating flashbacks and hallucinations of the event, avoiding close relationships, angry or violent outbursts, and an inability to return to the location where the traumatic experience occurred, among many others.

A manned mission to Mars will inevitably consist of a few people living in incredibly close quarters in a constantly stressful environment.

Starting next summer, Mars Society will be conducting a mock Mars mission in the Canadian Arctic. Six participants will live in a facility 7.6 meters tall (25 feet) and 8.3 meters wide (27 feet). For one full year, they will perform a great deal of geological experiments similar to work that would be done on Mars. Spacesuits will be worn to help simulate Mars-like conditions.

Though similar studies have been done in the past, this is the most stressful and will be more true to actual conditions on Mars. The goal of the experiment is to determine leadership structure and what equipment will be necessary. ...

Researchers from McGill University in Montreal have discovered a bacterium living in the frozen permafrost of the high Arctic. The permafrost bacterium, Planococcus halocryophilus strain Or1, grows and divides at -15°C and can even remain metabolically active at -25°C.

This bacteria is yielding clues about how extraterrestrial organisms might endure extreme conditions - as one of the things that makes it extremely hard for life to flourish in foreboding places like Mars and the moons of Saturn is the punishing cold. ...

Sadly, the remaining rhinos in Mozambique are reported to have been wiped out due to poaching. The animals had been under protection on a preserve, but 30 of the 100 rangers who were supposed to be caring for the animals are believed to have been aiding poachers, and are currently awaiting trial. Even if found guilty, it will only be a misdemeanor.

Rhino horns are a big market in certain Asian countries, primarily China and Vietnam, and are used in folk remedies or for ornamental purposes. If poaching continues, experts warn that elephants will suffer the same fate. ...

Listeria bacteria has been enlisted by researchers to selectively infect metastatic pancreatic cancer cells and deliver radioisotopes into them. The experimental treatment dramatically decreased the number of metastases (cancers that have spread to other parts of the body) in a mouse model of highly aggressive pancreatic cancer without harming healthy tissue. Mice livers are shown above. The saline control liver on the left presents a large number of metastases compared to the liver on the right which was subject to the radioactive Listeria treatment. ...

Imagine a battery the size of the one in your cell phone with enough juice to jump-start a car. It's actually not too far-fetched. Scientists at the University of Illinois have been developing microbatteries. Only a few millimeters long, these batteries may pave the way for electronics to become smaller and thinner, while still providing enough energy to be highly effective. The best part is that it recharges 1000 times faster than current batteries. Good things do come in small packages ...

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute have identified a prime suspect in the mystery of an increased incidence of autoimmune diseases in the past few decades—dietary salt. In the paper, researchers showed that salt can induce and worsen pathogenic immune system responses in mice and that the response is regulated by genes already implicated in a variety of autoimmune diseases.

A new estimate suggests 100 million sharks are slaughtered worldwide every year, numbers that are completely unsustainable according to researchers.

The majority of the time, the fin is the only part of the body used. The rest is simply thrown away.

Scientists at University of St Andrews in Scotland and the Institute of Scientific Instruments (ISI) in the Czech Republic have designed a minute but completely functional tractor beam.

Reminiscent of Star Trek, they use a beam of light to draw objects towards the light source on a microscopic level.

A new study from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) estimates that our galaxy contains at least 100 billion planets. The team made their estimate while analysing planets orbiting a star called Kepler-32 - planets that are representative, they say, of the vast majority in the galaxy and thus serve as a perfect case study for understanding how most planets form.

According to scientists at The Keck Institute for Space Studies in California, NASA is seriously considering capturing an asteroid to put in a high orbit around the moon. If the idea is implemented, we could be looking at a manned mission to "capture" an asteroid in the 2020s. This idea is thought to tie in with the Obama administration's enthusiasm for sending a manned mission to a near-Earth asteroid. If NASA were able to capture an object and lock it into an orbit around the moon, it could be safely used as a practise mission without the need for astronauts to move beyond the range of a rescue mission. ...