Yahoo! News: Science News

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• Europe: Proton beams circulate in Big Bang machine (AP)

  AP - Scientists switched on the world's largest atom smasher Friday night for the first time since the $10 billion machine suffered a spectacular failure more than a year ago.

  
  
• Museum: Galileo's fingers, tooth are found (AP)

  AP - Two fingers and a tooth removed from Galileo Galilei's corpse in a Florentine basilica in the 18th century and given up for lost have been found again and will soon be put on display, an Italian museum director said Friday.

  
  
• Researcher: Faint writing seen on Shroud of Turin (AP)

  AP - A Vatican researcher has rekindled the age-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, saying that faint writing on the linen proves it was the burial cloth of Jesus. Experts say the historian may be reading too much into the markings, and they stand by carbon-dating that points to the shroud being a medieval forgery.

  
  
• How to Take a Gorilla's Blood Pressure: Very Carefully (LiveScience.com) LiveScience.com - Humans can be difficult enough patients, but try a 300-pound gorilla.
• The Day Global Warming Stood Still (Investor's Business Daily) Investor's Business Daily - Climate Change: As scientists confirm the earth has not warmed at all in the past decade, others wonder how this could be and what it means for Copenhagen. Maybe Al Gore can Photoshop something before December.
• Pennsylvania residents sue over gas drilling (Reuters) Reuters - Residents of a small rural Pennsylvania town sued Cabot Oil & Gas Corp on Friday, claiming the company's natural-gas drilling has contaminated their water wells with toxic chemicals, caused sickness and reduced their property values.
• NASA: Birth of Astronaut's Daughter Delayed (SPACE.com) SPACE.com - NASA has joined astronaut Randy Bresnik, who is in orbit now, in the waiting game for the birth his daughter, just one day before the spaceflyer is poised to make his first spacewalk.
• Measure to change U. of Neb. stem-cell rule fails (AP)

  AP - The University of Nebraska's governing board on Friday voted not to place tighter restrictions on embryonic stem cell research than those outlined under federal guidelines, which were expanded after President Barack Obama took office.

  
  
• Astronauts await word of baby girl on Earth (AP)

  AP - Atlantis' astronauts anxiously awaited word Friday on the birth of a crewman's daughter as they moved more supplies into the International Space Station and geared up for another spacewalk.

  
  
• Australia 'disappointed' at Japan whaling mission (AFP)

  AFP - Australia said it was "deeply disappointed" after a fleet of Japanese whaling ships set out to kill hundreds of the giant ocean mammals on their annual hunt.

  
  
• New fossils reveal a world full of crocodiles (Reuters) Reuters - New fossils unearthed in what is now the Sahara desert reveal a once-swampy world
• Nebraska ethanol plant fire produces lawsuit (AP) AP - The owners of a Lexington ethanol plant and their insurer are suing a subsidiary of a Houston-based natural gas provider they say is responsible for an explosion and fire that shut down the plant for weeks.
• The nation's weather (AP) AP - New England was expected to see another dreary day, while the Pacific Northwest remains under wintry conditions on Friday.
• Astronauts Unfazed by False Alarms in Space (SPACE.com) SPACE.com - Astronauts on the linked shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station said Friday that they're not worried about recent false alarms that disrupted their sleep with erroneous reports of calamity.
• Asthma Combo Seems Less Influenced by Genes (HealthDay) HealthDay - THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- People's genetic makeup has been shown to affect how they respond to asthma medications, but a new study finds that many people respond well to a particular combination treatment regardless of their genes.
• Permafrost thaw threatens Russia oil and gas complex: study (AFP)

  AFP - Thawing permafrost caused by global warming is costing Russian energy firms billions of dollars annually in damage control and shrinking Russia's territory, Greenpeace warned in a new study Friday.

  
  
• Evacuations underway as floods hit towns (AFP)

  AFP - Rescuers were working on Friday to evacuate about 200 people by helicopter from a town after storms triggered flooding across parts of the country, police said.