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1. Early Retirements for Chimpanzees
Early Retirements for Chimpanzees In a move that drew criticism from some research groups and applause from animal rights activists, the National Institutes of Health announced this week that it would follow guidelines from an independent review to retire most of the chimpanzees currently being used in NIH-funded research projects. While the vast majority of scientific research on animals today is conduc..
2. Effects of Air Pollution on Super Storms
Effects of Air Pollution on Super Storms Air pollution is rarely thought of as being good for human beings, but new research shows that even smog clouds may have a silver lining.  According to a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, hurricanes and other major tropical storm systems may be suppressed to some degree by human-generated air pollution. With climatologists increasingly concerned abou..
3. New Mission to Study the Sun: IRIS Satellite Launched by NASA
New Mission to Study the Sun: IRIS Satellite Launched by NASA Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA—Your parents may have told you not to stare at the sun, but soon, NASA will be doing just that from a satellite called Iris, or the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph. The satellite, launched on the evening of June 27, is designed to study only one specific region of the sun, the chromosphere.  The chromosphere is the solar reg..
4. Senators Propose Solution for “Orphaned” Nuclear Waste
Senators Propose Solution for “Orphaned” Nuclear Waste Four United States Senators—two Democrats and two Republicans—proposed a bill this week aimed at solving the country's nuclear storage woes.  If the bill becomes law, it would create a nuclear waste policy incorporating both temporary and permanent storage solutions. After President Obama de-funded the Yucca Mountain Project, which would have provide..
5. USDA in Preventing World Famine from Spreading
USDA in Preventing World Famine from Spreading The United States Department of Agriculture announced in a press release this week that U.S. laboratories have found a gene that may be able to stop the spread of wheat stem rust, a reddish fungus that could cause widespread famine if left unchecked. Wheat stem rust, a disease caused by infectious microfungi, has been observed in Africa and the Middle East.  In area..
6. Voyager Spacecraft At Edge of Solar System
Voyager Spacecraft At Edge of Solar System While astronomers still do not know exactly when the Voyager 1 spacecraft will enter interstellar space completely, they say that current data suggests it is now in the outermost layer of our solar system and could leave it at any time. Scientists working on the Voyager project, launched in 1977 to explore the worlds in our solar system before leaving it to do the first ..