Russia plans to colonize moon by 2030, report says

May 17, 2011: The moon appears near the earth's horizon in this photograph of an orbital moonset taken from aboard the International Space Station.Reuters

Nearly a half-century after America won the Space Race, Russia apparently wants to take another crack at landing on the moon.

A report in the Russian-language newspaper Izvestia Thursday said the nation is planning to put a manned colony on the moon as soon as 2030, and is racing to dispatch the first robotic rovers to explore the lunar surface two years from now, according to The Moscow Times.

By 2028, Russia would be ready to send manned missions to orbit the moon, and in the program's final stage, humans would be sent to the lunar surface to set up the infrastructure for a colony using local resources.

The first stage of the program is expected to cost around 28.5 billion rubles ($815.8 million), though Russia hopes to attract private investors to help bankroll the project.

Benefits of establishing a moon colony include access to the "treasure trove" of rare and valuable minerals, as well as the strategic importance of using the moon as a launchpad for future missions into deep space, The Moscow Times reports.

The paper adds that China, India and Japan are also developing lunar exploration projects, and a California-based company, Moon Express, is planning to send its first robotic spacecraft to the satellite next year, according to the company's website.

U.S. astronauts first landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, and the United States later made five other landings on the Earth satellite. No humans have visited the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.

Click here to read more from The Moscow Times.

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Rare megamouth shark caught off Japan

FILE: Fishermen off the coast of japan pulled in a rare megamouth shark, similar to the one pictured, marking only the 58th time one was encountered by humans, Japanese news outlets reported.Reuters

Fishermen off the coast of Japan hauled in a rare megamouth shark recently, marking the 58th time in history one of its kind were seen or caught by man, Japanese news outlets reported.

The Japan Daily Press reported Thursday that scientists performed an autopsy on the 1,500-pound female shark in front of onlookers at the Marine Science Museum in Shizuoka City. The shark was reportedly caught from a depth of about 2,600 feet. It's unclear precisely when it was nabbed, according to the report.

The first megamouth was discovered in Hawaii in 1976, prompting scientists to create an entirely new family and genus of sharks. The megamouths are docile filter-feeders with wide, blubbery mouths.

RARE GOBLIN SHARK CAUGHT OFF KEY WEST

Others megamouths — considered one of the rarest fish in the world — have been encountered in California, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador, Senegal, South Africa, Mexico and Australia. It's known to inhabit the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

"As with the two other filter-feeding sharks, the basking and whale sharks, this species is wide-ranging," according to a profile of the animal on the museum's website. "However, the megamouth is considered to be less active and a poorer swimmer than the basking or whale sharks."

The megamouth primarily feeds on large quantities of krill and its maximum size is at least 17 feet long. The sperm whale is its only known predator, researchers say.

In 2009, fishermen in the Philippines accidentally caught and later ate a megamouth shark. The 1,100-pound, 13-foot megamouth died while struggling in the fishermen's net off Burias island in the central Philippines. It was taken to nearby Donsol in Sorsogon province, where it was butchered and eaten.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Tomb dating back to 1100 B.C. found in Egypt

An Egyptian conservator cleans limestones at a newly-discovered tomb dating back to around 1100 B.C. at the Saqqara archaeological site, 19 miles south of Cairo, Egypt.AP

Archaeologists and journalists gather at a newly-discovered tomb dating back to around 1100 B.C. at the Saqqara archaeological site, 19 miles south of Cairo, Egypt.AP

An Egyptian archeology worker covers limestones at a newly-discovered tomb in Egypt.AP

Lead archaeology workers supervise as their colleagues dig a newly-discovered tomb in Egypt.AP

An Egyptian conservator works at a newly-discovered tomb in Egypt.AP

CAIRO –  Archeologists have found a tomb dating back to around 1100 B.C. south of Cairo, Egypt's Antiquities Ministry said Thursday.

Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said that the tomb belongs to a guard of the army archives and royal messenger to foreign countries. Ibrahim said the Cairo University Faculty of Archaeology's discovery at Saqqara adds "a chapter to our knowledge about the history of Saqqara."

Ola el-Egeizy of Cairo University said the tomb contains "very nice inscriptions" of the funerary procession and the afterlife of the deceased.

The tomb was found near another one dating back to the same period belonging to the head of the army that was discovered in the previous excavation season. That tomb was larger but much of what remains is mud bricks as "most of its stone blocks were stolen and many of them are in museums all over the world," said el-Egeizy. Because of the blocks, archaeologists had long known that the tomb existed though it was not uncovered until recently.

Saqqara was the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis and site of the oldest known pyramid in Egypt.

Egypt's vital tourism industry has suffered in the wake of the 2011 uprising that toppled autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak.

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Space telescope reveals weird star cluster conundrum

NGC 2024 is a star cluster found in the center of the Flame Nebula, approximately 1,400 light-years from Earth. This observation combines X-ray and infrared data from NASA's Chandra and Spitzer space telescopes, respectively.NASA

We thought we had star formation mechanisms pinned down, but according to new observations of two star clusters, it seems our understanding of how stars are born is less than stellar.

PHOTOS: Herschel’s Coolest Infrared Hotshots

When zooming in on the young star clusters of NGC 2024 (in the center of the Flame Nebula) and the Orion Nebula Cluster, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory teamed up with infrared telescopes to take a census of star ages. Conventional thinking suggests that stars closest to the center of a given star cluster should be the oldest and the youngest stars can be found around the edges.

However, to their surprise, astronomers have discovered that the opposite is true.

“Our findings are counterintuitive,” said Konstantin Getman of Penn State University, lead scientist of this new study. “It means we need to think harder and come up with more ideas of how stars like our sun are formed.”

It is thought that stars form after the gravitational collapse of vast clouds of dust and gas, or nebulae. The densest material can be found at the nebula’s center and, as the thinking goes, will be ripe for the first stars in that nebula to appear. After the first stars in the nebula’s center burst to life with fusion burning cores, the leftover gases in the less dense portions of the nebula will generate stars later on.

ANALYSIS: Orion’s ‘Death Stars’ Exterminate Baby Planets

After using Chandra data to gauge the stars’ masses and brightnesses, and then combining that data with infrared observations, stellar ages could be calculated. In the case of NGC 2024, the researchers noticed that the stars in the cluster’s core were 200,000 years old, but the stars on the outer edges were much older — around 1.5 million years old. Likewise, the Orion Nebula Cluster hosts stars in its core that are 1.2 million years old and the ones around the edge were 2 million years old.

This discovery has caught astrophysicists on the hop and may turn our understanding of star forming regions on its head.

“A key conclusion from our study is we can reject the basic model where clusters form from the inside out,” said coauthor Eric Feigelson, also of Penn State. “So we need to consider more complex models that are now emerging from star formation studies.”

So what’s going on? Is our understanding of stellar mechanics really that wrong? Not necessarily, but star cluster evolution models will certainly need some tweaking.

NEWS: Spitzer Sheds Light on Colony of Baby Stars

The researchers have several possible answers to the conundrum. First, it could be that there’s simply more gas in the center of the star-forming nebula that allows stars to be born long after stars have finished forming in the depleted edges of the cluster. That would make it appear that there are older stars at the edges than in the core. Secondly, stars that formed first in the cluster’s center have more time to gravitationally interact with other stars, causing them to be slingshotted to the cluster’s edges, leaving younger stars behind.

Thirdly, the young stars could be formed in the cluster’s center by filaments of gas and dust that fall into the center of the cluster. This could be envisaged as a sort of “conveyer belt” effect where older stars are replaced in the core by new stars being created by in-falling material.

Whether one of these theories is the correct one (or whether it’s a combination of all three) remains to be seen, but this is certainly a reminder that the physics of star formation is far from being fully understood; it is an exciting and evolving field of study that turns up its fair share of surprises.

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Scientists make new find in photos of freakish shark

A giant deep-sea isopod or Bathynomus giganteus.Reuters

A rare goblin shark was caught last month off the coast of Key West, Fla., in what biologists are calling “an important scientific discovery,”Carl Moore/courtesy of NOAA

Researchers studying photos of a rare goblin shark hauled up in the Gulf of Mexico last month say they've spotted something just as exciting—and just as weird-looking—in the shrimpers' catch.

Mixed in with the shrimp are unusually large numbers of giant isopods, a deep-sea creature that resembles a cat-sized woodlouse, reports the Houston Chronicle, which has a photo gallery of the catch.

Scientists believe their presence, along with that of the goblin shark, indicates that the trawler passed over a "whalefall"—a decaying whale on the ocean floor, perhaps as much as a mile below the surface.

Entire ecosystems can spring up around the dead whales, living off the carcass for decades. "While I think (the) goblin shark is cool and all, look at all those freakin' giant isopods!" tweeted marine biologist Andrew Thaler, who plans to seek funding to send a submersible to the site.

If his team makes it there, they may encounter the same goblin shark: The captain who caught it says he returned the strangest creature he's encountered in his 50 years of shrimping to the Gulf after taking photos.

"Anything that's alive we try to put back in the ocean," he tells CNN. (More on the freakish shark here.)

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Bear in Israel undergoes surgery to repair herniated disc

May 7, 2014: Mango, a 19-year-old male Syrian brown bear, rests on a bed as zoo veterinarians and staff prepare him for surgery in the Ramat Gan Zoological Center's animal hospital near Tel Aviv, Israel.AP

RAMAT GAN, Israel –  Surgery can be a real bear. Even for a bear.

In Israel, a 19-year-old Syria brown bear named Mango underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a herniated disc, said Sagit Horowitz, a spokeswoman for the Ramat Gan Zoological Center near Tel Aviv.

Zoologists first noticed Mango had a problem when he started to show signs of paralysis in his hind legs in the last few weeks, said Dr. Merav Shamir, who led the surgery on the furry patient.

"It started acutely," she said. "He wasn't able to move his right hind limb and it progressively deteriorated over the following 48 hours to become completely paralyzed on the hind limbs."

Horowitz said veterinarians discovered the 550-pound bear had the injured disc during an X-ray taken after noticing his worsening paralysis. That disc compressed Mango's spinal cord and caused the paralysis he had been suffering through, Shamir said.

Veterinarians shaved parts of the bear's furry back to prepare him for surgery Wednesday, as well as intubated him. They propped his head up on a pillow wrapped in a trash bag and put an IV through his snout. They also wrapped a blood-pressure cuff around his right paw.

Such unique procedures aren't uncommon at the Ramat Gan Zoological Center, the premier zoo of Israel. Last year, veterinarians there used acupuncture to cure the chronic ear infection of a 14-year-old Sumatran tiger named Pedang.

Shamir said other bears with a similar disc problem like Mango had been euthanized and that the surgery he underwent was novel for bears — though often performed on small dogs.

"I'm nervous now — I'll be happier in a few hours," Shamir said before the hourslong surgery began. "I wish him luck."

Veterinarians will know in the coming weeks whether Mango makes a full recovery.

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1 in 5 women will undergo pelvic surgery in her lifetime, study says

About 1 in 5 women now will undergo certain pelvic surgeries during her lifetime, nearly double the risk of having one of these surgeries in the 1990s, according to a recent study.

Researchers looked at women's likelihood of undergoing surgery before age 80 for either stress urinary incontinence (a condition that can cause urine to leak during sneezing or laughing), or pelvic organ prolapse (in which pelvic organs begin to droop within a woman's body).

"Surgeries for both of these conditions have increased substantially," said Dr. Jennifer M. Wu, associate professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's department of obstetrics and gynecology, an author of the study. "The 20 percent figure is nearly double that of earlier U.S. studies, which reported rates of 11.1 percent and 11.8 percent," for stress urinary incontinence surgery and pelvic organ prolapse surgery, respectively, she said.

Wu said she is not surprised by the results of this study, because stress incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse are very common conditions, which 1 in 3 women will experience in her lifetime. Many women, however, are embarrassed discussing symptoms such as involuntary urine leakage with their doctors, she said. [7 Embarrassing Health Problems (And How to Treat Them)]

"It's often not talked about until they are referred to a sub-specialist," Wu told Live Science. "Many women have suffered in silence for years with problems such as 'accidents' in public places. This can lead to social isolation for many of them."

Stress incontinence can be triggered by any sudden pressure increase within the abdomen. Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when a pelvic organ, such as the bladder, drops (prolapses) from its normal spot in the lower belly and pushes against the sides of the vagina, causing bulging, pressure or urine leakage during intercourse. This can happen when the muscles that hold the pelvic organs in place get weak or stretched from childbirth or surgery.

In the study, researchers used 10 years of data from a database of U.S. health plan claims and doctors' visits that included more than 10 million women from ages 18 to 89. Previous studies on this topic had small sample sizes, or were limited to one geographic region, Wu said.

The study appears today (May 7) in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

"Many women believe these conditions are a normal part of the aging process," Wu said. "They're not."

However, surgery is not the only option. "With prolapse, one treatment option is no treatment at all," she said. "We just watch and wait if it's not affecting a woman's quality of life."

Other options, she said, include treatment with a pessary device, which is used to lift the bladder or apply compression to the urethra during activities certain activities, or pelvic floor physical therapy (Kegel exercises) designed to improve muscle tone.

For women with bladder incontinence, she said, nonsurgical treatments include lifestyle changes such as weight loss for those who are overweight or obese, dietary changes, anti-spasmodic medications, a pessary, Kegel exercises and nerve stimulation.

Copyright 2014 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Stonehenge-area inhabited thousands of years prior to building of monument

Visitors take photographs of the world heritage site of Stonehenge, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013.AP Photo/Alastair Grant

The ancient monument of Stonehenge dates back to between 2500 BC and 3000 BC—but when it was built, people had already been living in the area for millennia, researchers found after a dig.

Artifacts from what is now Amesbury, the nearest settlement to Stonehenge, dated to 8820 BC. It's been inhabited ever since, the BBC notes, making it Britain's oldest settlement, something the Guinness Book of Records has now officially recognized.

(As such, Thatcham has lost the honor.) The year was established after burnt flints and large animal bones were unearthed; they point to feasts held there, Smithsonian reports.

"The site blows the lid off the Neolithic Revolution in a number of ways," says researcher David Jacques, who notes that it provides evidence of "people staying put, clearing land, building, and presumably worshiping, monuments." Experts had believed the stones were erected by European immigrants, notes Culture24, but in fact the area was a hub for people in the region, says Jacques.

It "was a forerunner for what later went on at Stonehenge itself," he says. "The first monuments at Stonehenge were built by these people. For years, people have been asking why is Stonehenge where it is; now at last, we have found the answers." Giant pine posts were placed in the area long before Stonehenge was there, sometime before 6590 BC, reports the Guardian; the study offers a "missing link" between the posts and the stone monuments.

(Click to read about Stonehenge's sonic secret.)

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British space scientist Colin Pillinger dies at 70

Dec. 19, 2003: A photo from files showing The Beagle2 spacecraft projects leading scientist Professor Colin Pillinger, in London.AP

LONDON –  Colin Pillinger, an ebullient space scientist who captured the popular imagination with his failed attempt to land a British probe on Mars, has died. He was 70.

Pillinger's family said Thursday that he died at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge after suffering a brain hemorrhage while sitting in his garden.

Pillinger, a professor of interplanetary science at the Open University, was the driving force behind the largely privately funded Beagle 2 space mission.

The tiny craft -- named for the ship that took naturalist Charles Darwin on his 19th-century voyage of discovery -- was supposed to land on Mars on Christmas Day in 2003 and search for signs of life. But contact with the probe was lost soon after it separated from its European Space Agency Mars Express mother ship on Dec. 19. An investigation found that it may have burned up in the planet's atmosphere.

The loss of the probe, which cost the government more than $40 million and the private sector another $80 million, prompted questions in Britain about Europe's ability to participate in the race to Mars.

Pillinger, who had become famous with his bushy sideburns and enthusiastic delivery of frequent media updates on the mission, was bitterly disappointed but held out hope of a second attempt.

"We have unfinished business on Mars," he said in 2005. "The science is more important now than it ever was."

A new European Mars mission, ExoMars, is due to launch in 2018.

Britain's astronomer royal, Martin Rees, said Pillinger was "an archetype eccentric professor" who had done a great deal to communicate and popularize science.

Rees said the Beagle mission "was a failure, but a heroic failure. Several far more expensive and elaborate Mars missions failed, and he deserves huge admiration for the way he cobbled together the funds for this project against all the odds, inspiring interest and enthusiasm along the way."

Pillinger gained a PhD from Swansea University in 1968 and began his career at NASA, analyzing samples of moon rock. He worked at Cambridge and the Open University, a pioneer of distance learning.

PIllinger, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005, is survived by his wife Judith, daughter Shusanah and son Nicolas.

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