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Study: Fraud Growing in Scientific Research Papers

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Weather.com - Seth Borenstein, 10/2/12

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WASHINGTON -- Fraud in scientific research, while still rare, is growing at a troubling pace, a new study finds. A review of retractions in medical and biological peer-reviewed journals finds the percentage of studies withdrawn because of fraud or suspected fraud has jumped substantially since the mid-1970s. In 1976, there were fewer than 10 fraud retractions for every 1 million studies published, compared with 96 retractions per million in 2007.

The study authors aren't quite sure why this is happening. But they and outside experts point to pressure to hit it big in science, both for funding and attention, and to what seems to be a subtle increase in deception in overall society that science may simply be mirroring.

To read the rest of this story, visit Weather.com.

 

The $1 billion mission to reach the Earth's mantle

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CNN - Tom Levitt, 10/2/12

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Scientists planning mission to drill down to Earth's mantle and bring back first fresh samples
  • Mantle could hold clues to origin and evolution of the planet
  • Geologist calls it the most "challenging endeavor in the history of Earth science"
  • If project gets the go-ahead, the team hope to reach the mantle by early 2020s

A team of international scientists are planning to drill into the Earth's mantle in an attempt to answer questions about the origins and evolution of life. The drills will need to get through around 6 km of oceanic crust to reach the mantle.

New Comet Discovered—May Become "One of Brightest in History"

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National Geographic - Andrew Fazekas, 9/27/12

Next year comet 2012 S1 might outshine the moon.

Comet Lovejoy picture: people watching the comet from Perth, Australia

Sky-watchers in Australia ogle comet Lovejoy late last year.

Photograph by John Goldsmith, TWAN

If astronomers' early predictions hold true, the holidays next year may hold a glowing gift for stargazers—a superbright comet, just discovered streaking near Saturn.

Even with powerful telescopes, comet 2012 S1 (ISON) is now just a faint glow in the constellation Cancer. But the ball of ice and rocks might become visible to the naked eye for a few months in late 2013 and early 2014—perhaps outshining the moon, astronomers say.

Priceless Tibetan Buddha statue looted by Nazis was carved from meteorite

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The Guardian - Mark Taylor, 9/27/12

Relic taken by SS in 1930s analysed by researchers following reappearance at auction in 2007

The Buddhist statue that a Nazi expedition brought back from Tibet.

The Buddhist statue that a Nazi expedition brought back from Tibet. Photograph: Elmar Buchner/AP
 

A priceless Buddha statue looted by Nazis in Tibet in the 1930s was carved from a meteorite which crashed to the Earth 15,000 years ago, according to new research.

The relic bears a Buddhist swastika on its belly – an ancient symbol of luck that was later co-opted by the Nazis in Germany.

Greece pushes for austerity deal despite protests

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Buenos Aires Herald - 10/02/12

A protester smokes a cigarette as he waits for the troika inspectors from the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank to arrive for a meeting at the Labour ministry in Athens.

Greece held a new round of talks with foreign lenders to bridge differences over two billion euros of disputed austerity cuts today, with time running short to clinch a deal before a key meeting of euro zone ministers next week.

For the second day in a row, inspectors from the so-called troika of European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF lenders had to face rows of angry Greeks heckling them as they entered a ministry building to start discussions.

To read the rest of this story, visit buenosairesherald.com.

Man's Failing Heart Heals Itself on Day of Emergency Transplant

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ABC News - Erin McLaughlin, 9/25/12

A miraculous thing happened the day Michael Crowe was set to receive a potentially life-saving heart transplant. Doctors had determined the surgery would be ineffective - but his heart suddenly started beating again.

Crowe, a 23-year-old pharmacy student from Omaha, had been diagnosed with acute myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, likely caused by a viral infection. When his mother brought him to the emergency room at his local hospital on Aug. 14, doctors found his heart was only functioning at about 25 percent efficiency. The hospital referred him to the Nebraska Medical Center, and by the time he was admitted to the intensive care unit there, his heart's efficiency had dropped below 10 percent.

To read the rest of this story, visit GMA.Yahoo.com.

Arctic Sea Ice Coverage 'At Lowest Level For A Million Years', Says Researcher (PICTURES)

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Huff Post - Ted Thornhill, 9/25/12

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Sea ice in the Arctic is at a record low, say researchers
 

Sea ice in the Arctic has melted to below four-million square kilometres, the lowest it has been for a million years, according to a noted sea ice geophysicist and climatologist.

Professor John Yackel from the University of Calgary said: "This is the smallest minimum ice extent we've ever had, and not just in the satellite record, but probably in the last million years." Last week marked the end of the summer ice melt and satellite monitoring shows that it has dramatically diminished since 1979, when records began.

To read the rest of this story, visit HuffingtonPost.com.

China Leads the World in Weather Modification

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Canada Free Press - Jack Dini, 9/20/12

Not content to push the edge in cloning, architecture and geological engineering, China’s also leaving the rest of the world behind when it comes to controlling the weather. Chinese officials say cloud seeding has helped to relieve severe droughts and water shortages in cities. In Shanghai, officials are considering the measure to cool the daytime temperature, easing demand for electricity, reports Brandon Keim. (1)

The Beijing Weather Modification Office is just one part of the National Weather Modification Office that manipulates the weather across the whole of the country. China’s weather engineering program is the largest in the world—1,500 weather modification experts, in charge of thirty aircraft and their crews, as well as 40,000 part-time workers—farmers in the main—who are there to man the 7,000 anti-aircraft guns and 5,000 rocket launchers to shell the clouds. (2)
To read the rest of this story, visit CanadaFreePress.com.

Earth is undergoing true polar wander, scientists say

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Source: EarthSky.org - Deborah Byrd, 10/1/12

Scientists developed a computer model to identify four possible instances of true polar wander in the past. And, they say, true polar wander is happening now.

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Scientists based in Germany and Norway today published new results about a geophysical theory known as true polar wander. That is a drifting of Earth’s solid exterior – an actual change in latitude for some land masses – relative to our planet’s rotation axis. These scientists used hotspots in Earth’s mantle as part of a computer model, which they say is accurate for the past 120 million years, to identify four possible instances of true polar wander in the past. And, they say, true polar wander is happening now. These scientists published their results in the Journal for Geophysical Research today (October 1, 2012).

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