[Science] NASA Loses, Fixes Comms With ISS

NASA Loses, Fixes Comms With ISS
http://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/NASA-regains-space-station-contact-after-outage-4290254.php
NASA lost communications with the International Space Station for several hours on Tuesday before fixing the issue around midday, according to news reports.

Finding the Higgs? Good news. Finding its mass? Not so good.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/02/finding-the-higgs-good-news-finding-its-mass-not-so-good/
Ohio State's Christopher Hill joked he was showing scenes of an impending i-Product launch, and it was easy to believe him: young people were setting up mats in a hallway, ready to spend the night to secure a space in line for the big reveal.

Nicolaus Copernicus's 540th Birthday Through the Eyes of a Modern Astronomer
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/02/19/nicolaus-copernicus-540th-birthday-through-the-eyes-of-a-modern-astronomer/
Astronomer Jay Pasachoff is the proud 21st-century owner of one of the few hundred copies of Nicolaus Copernicus's 1543 book, “De Revolutionibus.

Meteor explosion largest infrasound recorded
http://www.sciencecodex.com/russian_fireball_largest_ever_detected_by_ctbtos_infrasound_sensors-107164
The meteorite contrail is seen over a vilage of Bolshoe Sidelnikovo 50 km of Chelyabinsk. Photo / AP. Sub-audible infrasonic waves from the meteor which exploded over a remote region of Russia last week were recorded 15,000km away in Antarctica.

NASA Unveils 1st Radar Video of Asteroid Flyby
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/sci-tech/nasa-scrambles-for-better-asteroid-detection-20130220-2eqbg.html
NASA has revealed the first radar video of an asteroid flyby that sent a space rock half the size of a football field buzzing by Earth last week.

UC San Diego Researcher Would Help Lead Obama's Brain Activity Map Project
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/feb/19/uc-san-diego-researcher-would-help-lead-obamas-bra/
The announcement on Monday that President Barack Obama hopes to launch a 10-year initiative to map the human brain caught many by surprise.

California Highway Dig Yields New Whale Species
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/02/19/california-highway-dig-yields-new-whale-species/
Under California law, a paleontologist and an archaeologist must be on-site to supervise during any new road construction - and in at least one case, this law has turned out to be quite useful.

The Moon Has Had Water Its Whole Life, New Study Says
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57570074/apollo-moon-rocks-challenge-lunar-water-theory/
Genesis Rock This sample of lunar unbrecciated anorthosite collected during the Apollo 15 mission was thought to be a piece of the moon's primordial crust.

Super mega dolphin pod off San Diego: Why the big party?
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2013/0219/Super-mega-dolphin-pod-off-San-Diego-Why-the-big-party
Are critters of the sea losing it? Skip to next paragraph. In Pictures: Dolphins! Related stories. Herman Melville's "Moby Dick": 10 most memorable lines · $68,000 for whale vomit?

Jose Canseco explains gravity via Twitter
http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/21075/20130219/canseco-explains-gravity-jose-twitter.htm
Former baseball slugger and noted critical thinker Jose Canseco (yes, that Jose Canseco) took to Twitter on Tuesday to explain gravity to us, the huddled masses.

See the Moon Pass Jupiter Tonight and Monday
http://www.news.com.au/national/perfect-night-for-jupiter-to-meet-the-moon/story-fndo4e3y-1226581224980
The moon will appear to sail past the bright planet Jupiter in the night sky tonight (Feb. 17) and Monday in the latest celestial encounter of Earth's natural satellite and the largest planet in the solar system.

Minds of Mice Read With Glowing Proteins
http://www.livescience.com/27242-minds-of-mice-read.html
Scientists were able to read the minds of mice by lacing their brains with fluorescent proteins and looking at which parts glowed as the critters ran around a cage.

Rebeca Grynspan - Opening of Unep's Global Ministerial Environment Forum
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/02/19/ice-loss-weather-extremes-show-climate-risk
Allow me to begin by congratulating H.E. Mr. Hassan Abdel Gadr Hilal with his election as President of UNEP's Governing Council.

Reduction in Arctic sea ice disturbs balance of greenhouse gases
http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/reduction-in-arctic-sea-ice-disturbs-balance-of-greenhouse-gases/
The widespread reduction in Arctic sea ice is altering the balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, according to researchers from Lund University in Sweden.

Two USC faculty members selected as Sloan Research Fellows
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/021913_ucsb_professor_awarded_sloan_research_fellowship/
Fei Sha and Remo Rohs of USC have been selected as Research Fellows by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, it was announced today. Sha and Rohs are among 126 researchers from the United States and Canada who will receive the prestigious two-year, ...

Cranes making migration visit to Kansas early this year
http://www.kansas.com/2013/02/19/2681892/cranes-making-migration-visit.html
Thousands of lesser sandhill cranes fill the evening sky over the Platte River near Kearney, Ne. as they prepare to land and take a break from their northward migration.

Leadership on climate change depends on Obama
http://frenchtribune.com/teneur/1316108-british-government-concerned-about-climate-change
All eyes are now on US president Barack Obama and whether he can provide real leadership on climate change. Having said nothing about it during the election campaign for fear of losing votes, he came out of the closet in his inauguration speech, saying ...