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Robert Boyd
Researchers hunt for energy in strange places
Scouring the Earth for new sources of clean, renewable energy, scientists and engineers are exploring some unusual nooks and crannies. Kites, waves, tides, ocean currents, geysers, garbage, cow manure, old utility poles, algae and bacteria are being enlisted in the effort to lower the world's reliance on climate-warming coal and oil. | 08/17/08 06:00:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
Science's awesome challenge: Creating artificial life
Scientists are advancing slowly toward one of the most audacious goals humans have ever set for themselves: creating artificial life. They've already accomplished some steps needed to construct a simple, single-celled organism that's capable of evolving and reproducing itself — basic requirements for life. | 08/04/08 16:26:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
Battle of chips: Computer beats human experts at poker
Human pride took a hit 11 years ago when IBM's Big Blue computer beat world chess champion Gary Kasparov. Now it's poker players' turn to be humiliated by a machine. A computer system called Polaris outperformed some of the world's top players last weekend at a human-vs.-machine competition in Las Vegas. The score was computer 3, humans 2, with one draw. | 07/10/08 14:00:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
In cancer war, viruses can be good guys
Viruses aren't always the bad guys. Sure, they can cause colds, measles, AIDS and other miseries. But with some tinkering, these tiny organisms may become a new and better way to treat cancer. In the last few years, scientists have been genetically engineering various viruses so they attack cancer cells but leave healthy cells alone. | 06/23/08 15:48:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
NASA reveals plans for lunar base, asks industry for ideas
NASA is asking private industry to come up with creative ideas for a lunar outpost that can house four astronauts for one to four weeks on the moon starting about 2024. | 06/09/08 16:06:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
China likely to beat U.S. back to the moon, NASA says
The goal of NASA's Constellation program is to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. The head of NASA's moon program says Chinese astronauts are on schedule to beat that goal by two or three years. The Chinese lead will be even longer if the American schedule slips, as some space experts predict. | 06/04/08 14:20:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
Microbes thrive where nothing else lives
Life keeps popping up in the most unlikely places. In the last few days, scientists reported finding unexpected colonies of microorganisms occupying three very different regions on Earth. | 06/03/08 16:08:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
Smallest Earth-like planet detected
Astronomers have discovered what may be the smallest alien planet yet — a rocky "SuperEarth" only four times heavier than our home planet. It's orbiting a small star at a distance that puts it in the so-called "habitable zone" — a region neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water and therefore suitable for possible life. | 05/30/08 15:04:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
Cells die to keep you alive
In an act of ultimate self-sacrifice, millions of human cells commit suicide every day, making your life better by their death. Now scientists are learning to control this biological demolition process and enlist it in the war on cancer. It's called "programmed cell death" (PCD) or, in scientific jargon, apoptosis (ah - pop - TOE - sis). | 05/28/08 00:34:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
For first time, astronomers witness a star explode and die
The remnants of thousands of supernovas have been seen before, but, thanks to a lucky break, astronomers in January witnessed the actual explosion of a supernova — a star's final burst of energy before it collapses in on itself. The star-burst lasted only five minutes, but it shone brighter than a billion normal stars combined. | 05/21/08 15:42:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
Finding quake survivors just one use for remote heartbeat detectors
A system that detects the faint electric signals of beating human hearts is being used to help rescuers frantically seeking to locate people trapped under the rubble in China's horrific earthquake. | 05/20/08 18:24:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
Mars landing May 25 will kick off a year of space missions
Despite a painful budget squeeze, the United States will undertake a jampacked array of new astronomy missions over the next 12 months. The goals range from counting tiny specks of carbon in Earth's atmosphere to surveying the outer boundary of the solar system and studying the farthest corners of the universe. | 05/12/08 15:03:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
More killer germs resisting world's antibiotics
The threat of death-defying bacteria, stubborn organisms that refuse to be conquered by antibiotic medicines, is growing more alarming. Infectious microbes that used to be able to resist only one drug, such as penicillin or methicillin, now resist multiple drugs. Some can survive virtually every weapon in doctors' medicine cabinets. | 05/05/08 15:55:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
Dangerous Russian space landing raises alarms at NASA
The terrifying landing Saturday of a Russian space capsule with three astronauts aboard is raising serious concerns about how to get humans to and from the International Space Station. | 04/24/08 15:31:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
Florida moving closer to Canada? Tiny measurements yield big discoveries
As scientists learn how to make more exact measurements, they're finding some astonishing surprises. New technologies are enabling researchers to measure things such as time, distance, temperature, weight, force, size and motion with a precision never before achieved. | 04/15/08 14:47:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
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