178 articles from MONDAY 2.12.2019

Operational mapping system for high-resolution tropical forest carbon emissions

For the first time, scientists have developed a method to monitor carbon emissions from tropical forests at an unprecedented level of detail. The approach will provide the basis for developing a rapid and cost-effective operational carbon monitoring system, making it possible to quantify the economic cost of deforestation as forests are converted from carbon sinks to sources.

New device enables battery-free computer input at the tip of your finger

Computer scientists have created a device for wearable computer input suitable for many situations, just by touching your fingertips together in different ways. The device, called Tip-Tap, is inexpensive and battery-free through the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to sense when fingertips touch. The device could, therefore, be added to disposable surgical gloves, allowing...

Dogs promote page turning for young readers

Reading in the presence of a pooch may be the page-turning motivation young children need, suggests a researcher. A new study examines the behavior of 17 children from Grades 1 to 3 while reading with and without a dog.

Solar wind slows farther away from the Sun

Measurements taken by the Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument aboard NASA's New Horizons spacecraft are providing important new insights from some of the farthest reaches of space ever explored. Astronomers now show how the solar wind -- the supersonic stream of charged particles blown out by the Sun -- evolves at increasing distances from the Sun.

Russian Scientists Show Off 18,000-Year-Old Prehistoric Puppy Perfectly Preserved in Permafrost

(YAKUTSK, Russia) — Russian scientists on Monday showed off a prehistoric puppy, believed to be 18,000 years old, found in permafrost in the country’s Far East. Discovered last year in a lump of frozen mud near the city of Yakutsk, the puppy is unusually well-preserved, with its hair, teeth, whiskers and eyelashes still intact. “This puppy has all its limbs, pelage – fur,...

Could a Buried Ocean on Jupiter’s Moon Point to Life Beyond Earth?

GettyThere’s water on Europa, one of 79 moons orbiting Jupiter, NASA just confirmed. And where there’s water, there could be life, according to the space agency.The discovery, which NASA scientists announced in a November paper in the journal Nature, is the latest in a series of findings that point to some form of life possibly sharing the cosmos with Earth’s own beings.Scientists are...

Russian scientists present ancient puppy found in permafrost

Russian scientists on Monday showed off a prehistoric puppy, believed to be 18,000 years old, found in permafrost in the country’s Far East. Discovered last year in a lump of frozen mud near the city of Yakutsk, the puppy is unusually well-preserved, with its hair, teeth, whiskers and eyelashes still...

Spacewalking astronauts add new pumps to cosmic detector

Spacewalking astronauts installed new pumps on a cosmic ray detector outside the International Space Station on Monday in a bid to extend its scientific life. It was the third spacewalk in nearly three weeks for Italy’s Luca Parmitano and NASA’s Andrew Morgan. One more spacewalk remains before NASA can declare the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer successfully...