1. Shuttle Ends 11-Day Mission With a Perfect Landing 3 hours ago   permalink

WILLIAM HARWOOD / NYT

A flawless landing in Florida capped a voyage that involved delivering supplies to the International Space Station.

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BBC News Shuttle Atlantis lands in Florida   —  The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis has landed in Florida after their 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

Newseditor / ABC News Space shuttle Atlantis lands back on Earth   —  The shuttle Atlantis has landed back on Earth, capping a mission to the International Space Station and bringing NASA's small fleet of winged spaceships closer to looming retirement.

Discovery News Space Shuttle Atlantis Crew Back on Earth   —  Space shuttle Atlantis and its seven astronauts returned to Earth with a smooth touchdown Friday to end an 11-day flight that resupplied the International Space Station. Msnbc.com Astronauts land with families on their mind   —  The space shuttle Atlantis sailed down through clear skies to a Florida landing on Friday, wrapping up an 11-day mission to the International Space Station and bringing a new father down to meet his week-old daughter. RedOrbit Images Of The Day The Brightness of the Sun   —  The bright sun greets the International Space Station in this Nov. 22 image, taken from the Russian ... CNN.com Space shuttle lands safely in Florida   —  The space shuttle Atlantis glided to a picture-perfect landing Friday morning under bright, sunny skies at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Latest SciTech Headlines Atlantis, 7 Astronauts Back on Earth   —  (CBS/AP) With clear, crisp weather back home, space shuttle Atlantis aimed for an on-time landing Friday morning in Florida to wrap up an 11-day mission to the International Space Station. Newseditor / ABC News Space shuttle Atlantis heads for landing   —  Astronauts aboard space shuttle Atlantis have fired their ship's braking rockets to leave orbit and begin an hour-long glide to earth, the last leg of an 11-day mission to the International Space Station.

2. New treatment more than doubles survival for high risk childhood leukemia 1 hour ago   permalink

ScienceDaily

Phase 2 study results show high-dose imatinib plus chemo more than doubled survival for high risk type of childhood leukemia.

3. Common herbicides and fibrates block nutrient-sensing receptor found in gut and pancreas 1 hour ago   permalink

ScienceDaily

Certain common herbicides and lipid-lowering fibrate drugs act in humans to block T1R3, a nutrient-sensing taste receptor also present in intestine and pancreas. These compounds were not previously known to act on the receptor, which influences glucose homeostasis and energy metabolism. The effect is specific to humans and not revealed during ...

4. Abu Dhabi to aid Dubai "case by case": official 1 hour ago   permalink

Reuters

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates and one of the world's top oil exporters, will "pick and choose" how to assist its debt-laden neighbor Dubai, a senior Abu Dhabi official said on Saturday.

5. Observatory: People Hear With Skin as Well as Their Ears 1 hour ago   permalink

HENRY FOUNTAIN / NYT

Researchers have added to evidence that suggests an innate ability among humans to integrate different sensory cues.

6. Australia welcomes giant pandas with city party 3 hours ago   permalink

Yahoo! News

AP - Two giant pandas from China were welcomed to Australia on Saturday with gifts of bamboo and a city party before settling into their new home, a 25-acre (10-hectare) natural enclosure at the Adelaide Zoo.

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Newseditor / ABC News Australia's oceans under pressure   —  Scientists have given the state of Australia's marine environment a low grade in the country's first Marine Climate Change report card released today.

7. Atlantic Tropical Weather Discussion 5 hours ago   permalink

Hurricane and Storm Tracking

AXNT20 KNHC 280523 TWDAT TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 105 AM EST SAT NOV 28 2009 TROPICAL WEATHER DISCUSSION FOR NORTH AMERICA...CENTRAL AMERICA...GULF OF MEXICO...CARIBBEAN SEA...NORTHERN SECTIONS OF SOUTH AMERICA...AND ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE AFRICAN COAST FROM THE EQUATOR TO 32N. THE FOLLOWING ...

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Hurricane and Storm Tracking Eastern Pacific Tropical Weather Outlook   —  ABPZ20 KNHC 280537 TWOEP TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 1000 PM PST FRI NOV 27 2009 FOR THE EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC...EAST OF 140 DEGREES WEST LONGITUDE.. TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

Hurricane and Storm Tracking Atlantic Tropical Weather Outlook

8. Artificial Light in the Environment 6 hours ago   permalink

Www.rcep.org.uk

The report addresses two issues – the effect of artificial light on amenity and the possibility of nuisance being caused by badly designed or inappropriate lighting, and the possible effects of artificial light on nature and ecosystems.

discussions

Environmental Protection UK / EarthWire UK :   Support for Measures to Manage Annoying Light Pollution

9. Russian train crash kills 39, attack suspected 2 hours ago   permalink

Reuters

UGLOVKA, Russia (Reuters) - At least 39 people were killed and nearly 100 injured when a Russian express train was derailed late on Friday in what the head of the national railway company said could have been a bomb attack.

10. Less Work, More Play 3 hours ago   permalink

Clifford / Asymptotia

Well, the weekend is here and so I have wrapped up most of the official part of my visit to Madrid. Lest you think that I spent most of my time eating (not that there's anything wrong with that), let me mention that I ended up, from Monday to Thursday giving about eight hours of detailed exposition at the board and fielding questions (the ...

11. A forensic study of human death through the life of insects 3 hours ago   permalink

L.A. Times

A Cleveland entomologist is studying insects collected from the bodies found in Anthony Sowell's duplex. 'I follow where the bugs lead me. Their lives tell a story about death.' Joe Keiper squinted into a microscope and pressed the dead maggot with a pair of surgical forceps to determine how much human flesh the fat white larva had eaten.

12. Catalina Island rattlesnake may be a new subspecies 3 hours ago   permalink

L.A. Times

DNA studies aim to find if the venomous reptiles are distinct from the rattlers found around Southern California. Could the rattlesnakes on Santa Catalina Island be a subspecies new to science?

13. UN chief urges deal at Copenhagen 6 hours ago   permalink

BBC News

UN head Ban Ki-moon urges world leaders to "seal a deal" on climate change when they meet in Copenhagen next month.

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Nick Magel / It Denmark Passes “Anti-Riot” Law 12 days before UN Climate Negotiations.   —  Yesterday the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen passed a hotly disputed “anti-riot law”, less than two weeks before what is shaping up to be the largest single convergence around climate change ever. The law, passed to stymie public protest around the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen, strips people of civil liberties, freedoms, ...

Tom Schueneman / Triple Pundit Copenhagen: Why Bother?   —  With little more than a week to go before the start of the COP15 climate change conference in Copenhagen, the “Road to Copenhagen” starts to sound a little tired, even as participants prepare for actually heading to Copenhagen. With the roller-coaster-like ride of pre-COP15 news, reeling from despair to faint glimmers of hope* that ...

Rhett Butler / Mongabay.com News A fair deal for forest people: working to ensure that REDD forests bear fruit for local communities   —  As world leaders meet to thrash out the next incarnation of the Kyoto climate agreement, the world waits with baited breath to see how greenhouse gas emissions from forests might be included. Despite the high powered nature of these important global decisions, the success of REDD will ultimately be decided by humble forest dependent communities, ...

14. At Odds Over Land, Money and Gas 3 hours ago   permalink

MIREYA NAVARRO / NYT

In upstate New York, landowners’ conflict over whether to allow drilling for natural gas has set neighbor against neighbor, even spouse against spouse.

15. Back from hiatus 3 hours ago   permalink

Margaret Saizan / Beyond Katrina

Whew. It's been a long time  since I lasted posted here. It's not that I haven't been focused on Katrina matters, it's just that my work has been grass roots, hands on, in the trenches. That said, I have really missed blogging...and August 29, 2009 marked the beginning of the fifth anniversary year of Hurricane Katrina. Can you believe that? In ...

16. Japan launches new spy satellite 3 hours ago   permalink

Yahoo! News

AFP - Japan on Saturday launched a next-generation spy satellite as part of efforts to beef up its surveillance system against the threat of North Korea's missiles, officials said.

17. Brown unveils £13bn climate fund 6 hours ago   permalink

Www.independent.co.uk

Gordon Brown warned of a worldwide "climate emergency" last night as he unveiled a £13.4bn global fund to help poor countries cope with the effects of global warming.

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Yahoo! News Britain, France back global fund for climate ills   —  AP - The leaders of Britain and France gave their backing Friday to a global fund that would provide billions of dollars to poor countries to help them reduce the output of greenhouse gases linked to climate change.

BBC News Climate fund to help poor nations   —  The British and French leaders propose a multi-billion dollar fund to help poor nations combat climate change.

18. Panel Suggests Delaying Regular Mammograms Until Age 50 4 hours ago   permalink

TIME.com

In a turnaround from long-standing guidelines from the American Cancer Society, a U.S. task force recommends that women begin regular breast-cancer screening at age 50, not 40

19. Pap Tests: Another Revision of Recommendations 4 hours ago   permalink

TIME.com

Days after a government task force rolled back its mammography screening recommendations, another influential group issued revised guidelines on Pap tests for young women

20. Wanted: Your questions for controversial climatologist 4 hours ago   permalink

Eric Berger / SciGuy

As luck would have it, I am scheduled to interview prominent climate scientist James Hansen Monday afternoon in advance of his visit to Houston on Monday, Dec. 7. Hansen is a lightning rod for criticism both because he was one...