[Science] Meteor offers insight into solar system

Meteor offers insight into solar system
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/20/167727215/in-calif-gold-country-a-rush-thats-out-of-this-world
An exploding meteor that blasted its fragments across California's Gold Country in April has revealed rare evidence of its origin in a single family of asteroids hundreds of millions of miles from Earth, astronomers report.

Shape of human hand may have evolved for fighting, scientists say
http://www.independent.ie/and-finally/human-hands-evolved-for-fighting-3332269.html
Why are our hands the shape that they are? Compared with those of other apes, the thumb is longer and the palms and fingers are short.

Scientists: Mealworms could replace beef, chicken
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50259422/ns/technology_and_science-science/
Scientists have recently discovered that mealworms and superworms could be the food of the future with the potential to replace many livestock delicacies.

Astronomers find potentially habitable planet nearby
http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Astronomers-find-possibly-livable-planet-4129706.php
Computerworld - A nearby Sun-like star is host to a planet that may be capable of supporting life, according to an international group of astronomers.

DARPA's latest footage of LS3 robodog astounds
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2251164/Roll-The-amazing-moment-giant-robotic-dog-falls-gets-right-again.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
DARPA researchers continue to add new functionality to the four-legged robot originally developed by Boston Dynamics. Christopher MacManus.

Shortest Day: Why Winter Starts Friday
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/winter-solstice-2012-events-all-around-alaska
In the very likely event that we survive Friday's rumored Mayan apocalypse, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere will at least get to experience another cosmic occasion: the winter solstice.

Revealed: Rudolph Really Did Have a Red Nose
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/scientists-decode-why-rudolph-the-rednosed-reindeer-had-a-very-shiny-nose/311083-2.html
Most people know Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose - but why? Medical researchers say they've now found the answer.

New Map Updates Our Fundamental Understanding Of Life On Earth
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2251228/Life-Earth-The-plants-biodiversity-map-updated-time-1876.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
A new map that divides the world's vertebrates into 11 biogeographic realms is the biggest update to a 19th century version, and one of the most important maps for our understanding of global biodiversity.

This Weird Crystal Demonstrates a New Magnetic Behavior that Works Like Magic
http://www.pddnet.com/news/2012/12/mit-researchers-discover-new-kind-magnetism
This Weird Crystal Demonstrates a New Magnetic Behavior that Works Like Magic Scientists at MIT just discovered an entirely new state of magnetism in which the polarity of particles is constantly fluctuating.

Gigantic Black Holes Just Got Even Bigger
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50251073/ns/technology_and_science-space/
A number of the largest black holes in the universe may be even bigger than previously thought, researchers say. "Ultramassive black holes - that is, black holes with masses exceeding 10 billion solar masses - are probably not rare; several and even ...

Little spider makes big-spider-puppet CLONE of itself out of dirt
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2251047/The-astonishing-fake-spider--built-decoy-spider-How-amazing-Amazonian-arachnid-avoids-attack.html
Meet the adroit arachnid that makes a decoy “spider” in its web to mislead predators - and jiggles the strands like a puppet master to make the miniature marionette move.

Discovery of Higgs Boson rated year's top scientific achievement by Science
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/dec/20/top-scientific-discoveries-higgs-boson
From landing the Curiosity rover on Mars after a 350m-mile journey, to the discovery of the world's most wanted sub-atomic particle, the top 10 scientific achievements of 2012 have been nominated by the journal of the American Association for the ...