[Science] New study links extreme weather to climate change

New study links extreme weather to climate change
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0225/Scientists-link-extreme-weather-to-giant-atmospheric-waves
Scientists said Monday they have identified a physical mechanism behind the extreme weather that has plagued many parts of the world in recent years -- and that it is tied to climate change.

Fragments of ancient continent buried under Indian Ocean
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/dVyZYDL82k8Du9M92vWI9O/Prehistoric-lost-continent-found-in-the-Indian-Ocean.html
Map of Rodinia Land on Earth was once gathered together in a supercontinent known as Rodinia, shown here as it was during its break-up 750 million years ago.

When Captain Kirk is not at the Oscars, he's naming Pluto moons
http://herocomplex.latimes.com/science-2/when-captain-kirk-is-not-at-the-oscars-hes-naming-pluto-moons/
When Captain Kirk is not at the Oscars, he's naming Pluto moons. Feb. 25, 2013 | 4:01 p.m.. William Shatner: One night he's doing a cameo at the Oscars, the next day he's naming one of Pluto's moons.

UPI NewsTrack Science and Technology News
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/25/ranulph-fiennes-antarctic-trek-frostbite
Large fragment from Russian meteor found ... Frostbite ends explorer's Antarctic trek ... Mobile data to surpass voice by 2018 ... Poll: Environment is low global priority ... Science and Technology news from UPI.

Nobel Prize for Sale; Belonged to DNA Pioneer Francis Crick
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2013/02/nobel-prize-for-sale-belonged-to-dna-pioneer-francis-crick/
Francis Crick in 1993. with his Nobel Prize medal as an inset. Heritage Auctions, Daniel Mordzinski AFP/Getty Images. Reported by Ned Potter and Susanna Kim: In 1953 Francis Crick and James D. Watson published a short paper in the journal Nature with a ...

White dwarfs could be key to the discovery of extraterrestrial life
http://thespacereporter.com/2013/02/white-dwarfs-could-be-key-to-the-discovery-of-extraterrestrial-life/
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope “offers the best hope of finding an inhabited planet in the near future.” By Max Sonnenberg, The Space Reporter Monday, February 25, 2013.

The mystery behind long-necked dinosaurs
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0225/How-did-those-dinosaurs-get-such-long-necks-anyway
UK researchers found that the sauropod was the longest-necked creature on Earth but that feat was never repeated in any other species.

Full “snow moon” and International Space Station in this evening's sky
http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/02/25/Mondays-full-moon-is-a-snow-moon/8571361806910/
A Southwest Airlines jet is silhouetted against the rising full moon as it takes of from Sky Harbor Airport Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013 in Phoenix.

Suitcase-sized satellite launched to hunt asteroids, space junk
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/pslv-c20-launches-7-satellites/articleshow/18676876.cms
A rocket carrying seven new satellites, including the first spacecraft designed to hunt huge asteroids and two of the world's smallest space telescopes, launched into space Monday, Feb. 25, from an Indian spaceport.

Falcon 9 rocket fires engines in preflight hold-down test
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/005/130225staticfire/
SpaceX engineers hoisted a Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad, filled the launcher with liquid propellant, and fired the booster's nine main engines Monday, crossing off a big item on the rocket's preflight checklist ahead of its planned launch Friday.

NASA Mars rover analyzing powder from drilled rock
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-072
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - The Mars rover Curiosity has successfully transferred a pinch of rock dust to its onboard laboratories for inspection, two weeks after drilling into its first rock.

Connecting the Neural Dots
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/science/proposed-brain-mapping-project-faces-significant-hurdles.html?pagewanted=all
In setting the nation on a course to map the active human brain, President Obama may have picked a challenge even more daunting than ending the war in Afghanistan or finding common ground with his Republican opponents.

Plan to Crash Spacecraft into Asteroid
http://fox8.com/2013/02/25/spacecraft-crash-into-asteroid-planned/
The Washington Post reports that researchers from Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory are preparing to crash a spacecraft into a far-flung asteroid to prove that incoming objects from space can be knocked from their path.

The Science of Winning
http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/570171/The-Science-of-Winning.html?nav=10
Curiosity and the thrill of competition drive five Maui High School students to spend hours preparing for science competitions that feature concepts that may seem mundane or complex to the ordinary person but, for the students, are interesting yet way beyond ...

Whale count suggests that peak season still to come
http://mauinow.com/2013/02/25/maui-whale-count-tallies-1126-humpbacks/
More than 100 volunteers on Saturday working with Pacific Whale Foundation researchers counted 1,126 humpback whale sightings during the annual Great Whale Count off Maui.

Permafrost Melt May Start Sooner Than Thought
http://abcnews.go.com/International/melting-permafrost-scientists-warn-dangers-trapped-carbon/story?id=18569156
Climate activists have pinned a two-degree-Celsius increase in global average temperature as the maximum our globe can withstand without suffering catastrophic environmental change, but new studies of Siberian caves suggest that that target may be far ...

Poll on climate change: Most Californians consider it a serious threat
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/02/25/2406071/global-warming-worries-california.html
Despite mounting political divisions over the issue, nearly two-thirds of Californians continue to consider global warming a serious threat that needs to be addressed -- and they still strongly back a 2006 state law aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions, ...