UK astronomers are set to expand our knowledge of the history of our Universe with a new project to map the inception and formation of galaxies.Making use of an Infrared Array Camera on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (SERVS) will make a very large map of the sky, capable of detecting extremely faint galaxies. The primary aim is to chart the distribution of stars and black holes from when the Universe was less than a billion years old to the present day.The survey is one of the largest ever awards of observing time on a space-based observatory [more]

In an important breakthrough in deciphering dolphin language, researchers in Great Britain and the United States have imaged the first high definition imprints that dolphin sounds make in water. The key to this technique is the CymaScope, a new instrument that reveals detailed structures within sounds, allowing their architecture to be studied pictorially. Using high definition audio recordings of dolphins, the research team, headed by English acoustics engineer, John Stuart Reid, and Florida-based dolphin researcher, Jack Kassewitz, has been able to image, for the first time, the imprint that [more]

Peering at structures only atoms across, researchers have identified the clockwork that drives a powerful virus nanomotor. Because of the motor's strength--to scale, twice that of an automobile--the new findings could inspire engineers designing sophisticated nanomachines. In addition, because a number of virus types may possess a similar motor, including the virus that causes herpes, the results may also assist pharmaceutical companies developing methods to sabotage virus machinery. Researchers from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and the Catholic University of America in Washington, [more]

A microscopic biological sensor that detects Salmonella bacteria in lab tests has been developed by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist and university colleagues. The sensor could be adapted to detect other foodborne pathogens as well. The sensor is part of an evolving science known as nanotechnology—the study and manipulation of materials on a molecular or even atomic level, measured in billionths of a meter, which is about 10 to100 times thinner than a human hair. There are examples of biosensors in nature. Insects detect tiny amounts of sex pheromones in the environment [more]

An Ariane rocket was successfully launched Saturday from the Kourou space center in French Guiana, sending two communication satellites into orbit. Europe's Arianespace broadcast live the launch. The Ariane 5-ECA rocket was blast off from Kourou center at 22:35 GMT. The rocket carried two Eutelsat communication satellites, Hot Bird 9 and W2M, which separated from the rocket soon after it reached the outer space. The satellites remain in temporary orbit before entering the geosynchronous orbit a few days later. Hot bird 9, built by EADS-Astrium, will beam television programs [more]

A NASA’s orbiting spacecraft has discovered the mineral evidence for a water environment capable of supporting life on Mars, according to media reports Friday. Deposits of the 3.6 billion-year-old carbonate were spotted in the bedrock at the edge of a 930-mile-wide (1,490-km-wide) crater. The deposits are about the size of football fields and are visible in images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It is the first time scientists have found a site where carbonate formed. "Obviously this is very exciting," said John Mustard of Brown University in Rhode Island. "It's [more]

Scientists from the California Institute of Technology have created a range of structural metallic-glass composites, based in titanium, that are lighter and less expensive than any the group had previously created, while still maintaining their toughness and ductility -- the ability to be deformed without breaking. A paper describing these breakthrough metallic-glass alloys was published in the latest online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Earlier this year, the same Caltech group had published a paper in the journal Nature, describing new [more]

In his selection of four top scientific advisers, President-elect Barack Obama has signaled what are likely to be significant changes in policies governing global warming, ocean protections and stem cell research.“It’s time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America’s place as the world leader in science and technology,” Mr. Obama said in a radio address on Saturday, when he announced the appointments.John P. Holdren, a physicist and environmental policy professor at Harvard, will serve as the president’s science adviser as director of [more]

A couple of quick text editing tricks for the BlackBerry Storm family of devices, including how to place the cursor exactly where you want it. [more]

Scientists who examined the fossilized remains of three types of medium-sized dinosaurs found with large clutches of eggs have concluded that the males rather than the females seem to have taken care of the eggs. Writing in the journal Science, they said this behavior is seen in certain existing species of birds. Scientists believe birds evolved from small, feathered predatory dinosaurs more than 150 million years ago. The three types of dinosaurs, Troodon, Oviraptor and Citipati, lived roughly 75 million years ago and were primarily meat-eaters. "There are a lot of characteristics [more]