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Fossil footprints on Scottish island reveal dinosaur parade ground

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – On a crag of rock called Brother’s Point on Scotland’s Isle of Skye, scientists have identified two bustling footprint sites that reveal an abundance of dinosaurs that thrived 170 million years ago including an early member of a celebrat... More »

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On faraway planet, it’s cloudy with a chance of liquid iron rain

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have detected an exotic planet in another solar system where the weather forecast is always dire – a 100 percent chance of the most outrageous rain imaginable, with droplets of scaldingly hot liquid iron. The researchers said ... More »

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Zimbabwean artist’s dynamic stone sculptures find global acclaim

HARARE (Reuters) – When Dominic Benhura started creating traditional Zimbabwean stone sculptures as a teenager four decades ago, he never imagined that art would bring him fame or fortune. Born to a peasant family in 1968 in Murewa, 90 kilometers northeast of ... More »

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Poland names new head of Jewish museum as tensions rise

WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s government appointed a new director of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews on Thursday, as the ruling nationalists face accusations of politicizing museums to reflect their view of history. POLIN, which opened its main ex... More »

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Billion-year-old Chinese seaweed is oldest green plant fossil

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists have spotted in rocks from northern China what may be the oldest fossils of a green plant ever found, tiny seaweed that carpeted areas of the seafloor roughly a billion years ago and were part of a primordial revolution among ... More »

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Shake it, baby! NASA robotic lander confirms quakes on Mars

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA’s robotic InSight lander has for the first time established that Mars is seismically active, but do not call the shaking, rattling and rolling taking place on the Red Planet earthquakes. The proper term, fittingly, is marsquakes. Sc... More »

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Robots, clocks and computers: How Ancient Greeks got there first

ATHENS (Reuters) – A humanoid figure dressed as a maid holds a jug in its right hand and, as hidden gears click and whirr, lifts it and pours wine into a cup a bystander has placed into the palm of its left. The robot is a recreation of the automatic servant o... More »

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Factbox: Latest on coronavirus spreading in China and beyond

(Reuters) – Here are the latest developments around the coronavirus outbreak: *The death toll in mainland China reached 1,770 as of Sunday-end, up by 105 from the previous day, while there were 2,048 new cases, bringing the total count to 70,548. *In Hubei pro... More »

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Oddly shaped celestial body Arrokoth sheds light on planet formation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A vaguely hourglass-shaped icy object called Arrokoth residing in the far reaches of the solar system – the most distant body ever explored by a spacecraft – is giving scientists intriguing clues about the formation of the planets includ... More »

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Latest on coronavirus spreading in China and beyond

(Reuters) – Here are the latest developments around the new coronavirus outbreak: * China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said on Monday the death toll rose to 908, as employees began trickling back to offices and factories around China after the government... More »

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The bitter end: Last woolly mammoths plagued by genetic defects

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The world’s last woolly mammoths, sequestered on an Arctic Ocean island outpost, suffered from serious genetic defects caused by generations of inbreeding that may have hampered traits such as sense of smell and male fertility in the doo... More »

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NASA astronaut Koch returns to Earth after record space mission

(Reuters) – A capsule carrying a crew of three from the International Space Station, including record-setting United States astronaut Christina Koch, landed in Kazakhstan on Thursday, a live feed by Russian space agency Roscosmos showed. The touchdown on a sno... More »

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Latest on the coronavirus spreading in China and beyond

(Reuters) – The number of deaths in China from the newly identified virus, which emerged in Wuhan city in the central province of Hubei in December, has risen to 361, as of Sunday, up 57 from the previous day, the National Health Commission said. Here are the ... More »

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China science database scraps paywall to aid virus battle

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A major scientific database run by China’s Tsinghua University has made its contents available free of charge from Wednesday in order to help researchers work from home, following a virus outbreak in the central city of Wuhan. The death to... More »

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Factbox: What is known about the new coronavirus

(Reuters) – A new virus that has killed 81 people in China can spread before symptoms show up, Chinese health authorities said, adding that its incubation period can range from one to 14 days. Here are more facts on the virus, called 2019-nCoV, which can be tr... More »

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Factbox: Latest on the coronavirus spreading in China and beyond

(Reuters) – The coronavirus outbreak that began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, in the province of Hubei, has killed 81 people in China so far and infected more than 2,750 globally, most of them in China. The virus has caused alarm because it is still to... More »

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To train more workers, companies turn to virtual reality

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The future of employee training involves no embarrassing role-playing in front of new colleagues or boring web modules which take an hour each to click through. For the next wave in workplace learning, get ready to strap on a pair of virtu... More »

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Disputed Van Gogh self-portrait is genuine, Dutch research finds

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A rare Vincent van Gogh self-portrait, which had been contested as a forgery for decades, is a genuine work by the Dutch master, researchers have concluded after six years of study. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said on Monday that it ... More »

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Deep-sea microbe sheds light on primordial evolutionary milestone

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A microorganism scooped up in deep-sea mud off Japan’s coast has helped scientists unlock the mystery of one of the watershed evolutionary events for life on Earth: the transition from the simple cells that first colonized the planet to ... More »

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Oldest stuff on Earth found inside meteorite that hit Australia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A meteorite that crashed into rural southeastern Australia in a fireball in 1969 contained the oldest material ever found on Earth, stardust that predated the formation of our solar system by billions of years, scientists said on Monday.... More »

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China pneumonia outbreak not spreading at present: WHO

LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) – An outbreak of pneumonia that has killed one person in China and infected 40 others appears to be linked to a single seafood market in the central city of Wuhan and has not spread beyond there so far, the World Health Organization sa... More »

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China launches gigantic telescope in hunt for life beyond earth

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China on Saturday officially opened operations of the world’s largest radio telescope, which it will use for space research and help in the hunt for extraterrestrial life, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The Five-hundred-meter Ap... More »

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Feces-smeared fakes: Scientists use rubber hands in OCD therapy

LONDON (Reuters) – A new type of therapy using feces and fake rubber hands may be able to help patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) overcome their fears of touching contaminated surfaces, according to new research. “OCD can be an extremely debilit... More »

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WHO says new virus may have caused China pneumonia outbreak

LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) – A cluster of more than 50 pneumonia cases in China’s central city of Wuhan may be due to a newly emerging member of the family of viruses that caused the deadly SARS and MERS outbreaks, World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesd... More »

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Genetic markers not very good for predicting disease risk

(Reuters Health) – Many people worry about inheriting health problems from their parents, but a new approach to analyzing genetic contributions to disease risk suggests that for most diseases, commercial DNA tests are not the best way to assess the odds. For t... More »

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Strides in lung cancer lead steep decline in U.S. death rates

(Reuters Health) – Cancer death rates in the United States fell 2.2% from 2016 to 2017 – the largest single-year drop ever recorded – fueled in large part by progress against lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death, the American Cancer Society (ACS) rep... More »

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No eyes? No problem. Marine creature expands boundaries of vision

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A cousin of the starfish that resides in the coral reefs of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico lacks eyes, but can still see, according to scientists who studied this creature that expands the boundaries of the sense of sight in the animal... More »

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India approves third moon mission, months after landing failure

BENGALURU (Reuters) – India has approved its third lunar mission months after its last one failed to successfully land on the moon, its space agency said on Wednesday, the latest effort in its ambitions to become a low-cost space power. The Chandrayaan-3 missi... More »

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Egg-standing test goes viral as ring-of-fire eclipse crosses Asia

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Can you make an egg stand on its narrow side during a solar eclipse? According to a popular scientific theory, an egg will support itself that way when the moon obscures the sun and during the spring equinox, due to increased gravity. ... More »

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Eisai Inc announces U.S. approval for insomnia drug

(Reuters) – Japan-based drugmaker Eisai Co’s U.S. subsidiary announced on Sunday that it had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its insomnia treatment in adult patients. The agency approved the drug, Dayvigo, in doses of 5 mg and ... More »

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Boeing’s Starliner lands in desert: company

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co’s Starliner astronaut spacecraft landed in the New Mexico desert on Sunday, the company said, after faulty software forced officials to cut short an unmanned mission aimed at taking it to the International Space Station. The 7:... More »

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NASA, Boeing investigating why Starliner spacecraft missed orbit

(Reuters) – The Boeing Co Starliner spacecraft that failed to hit the right orbit to reach the International Space Station is healthy, in a stable orbit and expected to land in New Mexico on Sunday morning, NASA said. Boeing’s (BA.N) CST-100 Starliner astronau... More »

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Boeing’s failed Starliner mission strains ‘reliability’ pitch

SEATTLE/CAPE CANAVERAL (Reuters) – Boeing Co’s (BA.N) stunted Friday debut of its astronaut capsule threatens to dent the U.S. aerospace incumbent’s self-declared competitive advantage of mission reliability against the price and innovation strengths of “new s... More »

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Ethiopia launches first satellite into space

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia launched its first satellite into space on Friday, as more sub-Saharan African nations strive to develop space programs to advance their development goals and encourage scientific innovation. Before dawn on Friday, senior offic... More »

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Elbit Systems launches nanosatellite for commercial communications

TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israeli defense electronics firm Elbit Systems said on Wednesday its nanosatellite, called Nanova, was successfully launched into space. Nanova was developed in collaboration with an unnamed U.S. company and is planned to be a part of a na... More »

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Novartis drops asthma drug fevipiprant after trial failures

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Novartis on Monday said it is jettisoning what it had hoped would be a billion-dollar-selling asthma drug, fevipiprant, from its development program after the medicine failed another set of key trials. The drug’s star fell in... More »

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How can Generation Z compete with robots? Focus on the human touch

NEW YORK (Reuters) – It sounds counterintuitive, but members of Generation Z will have to focus on human connections if they want to compete with robots for the jobs of the future. Born after 1996 on the heels of the millennials, Gen Z is just entering the wor... More »

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New autism guidelines focus in early diagnosis, treatment

CHICAGO (Reuters Health) – The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on Monday issued its first new autism treatment guidelines in 12 years aimed at helping doctors identify at-risk children and getting them the care they need as early as possible. Since develo... More »

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Researchers criticize AI software that predicts emotions

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A prominent group of researchers alarmed by the harmful social effects of artificial intelligence called Thursday for a ban on automated analysis of facial expressions in hiring and other major decisions. The AI Now Institute at New Y... More »

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Health experts warn of emerging threat of Nipah virus

LONDON (Reuters) – A deadly virus called Nipah carried by bats has already caused human outbreaks across South and South East Asia and has “serious epidemic potential”, global health and infectious disease specialists said on Monday. The virus, identified in 1... More »

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Emotion-sensing robot launches to assist space station astronauts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An intelligent robot equipped with emotion-sensing voice detectors was headed to the International Space Station after launching from Florida on Thursday, becoming the latest artificial intelligence-powered astronaut workmate in orbit. T... More »

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NASA’s probe soaring near sun reveals surprises about solar wind

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Troves of new data from a NASA probe’s close encounters with the sun are giving scientists unique insight about the solar wind and space weather more generally as the spacecraft zooms through the outermost part of the star’s atmosphere. ... More »

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In New York lab, centuries-old corals hold clues to climate shifts

PALISADES, N.Y. (Reuters) – Some 20 miles north of New York City, a team of scientists is searching for clues about how the environment is changing by studying organisms not usually found in the woods around here: corals. In the labs of the Lamont-Doherty Eart... More »

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Bye-bye, birdie: Study finds North American birds getting smaller

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Since 1978, researchers have scooped up and measured tens of thousands of birds that died after crashing into buildings in Chicago during spring and fall migrations. Their work has documented what might be called the incredible shrinking... More »

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Earth’s temperature likely marks hottest decade on record: report

MADRID (Reuters) – The past decade is almost certain to be the hottest on record, weather experts warned on Tuesday, painting a bleak picture of vanishing sea ice, devastating heatwaves and encroaching seas in a report launched at a climate summit in Spain. An... More »

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Samoa in Christmas lockdown as measles deaths top 50

WELLINGTON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – The small Pacific island nation of Samoa has closed schools and is restricting travel ahead of the Christmas holiday season as the death toll from a measles outbreak tops 50, in the latest flare-up of a global epidemic of the viru... More »

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Elizabeth I revealed as the translator of Tacitus into English

LONDON (Reuters) – Elizabeth I, one of England’s best-loved monarchs, has been revealed to be the translator behind an English version of an ancient text by Tacitus who described the high politics, treachery and debauchery of the Roman elite. A 16th Century tr... More »

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Egypt to send its first communication satellite into orbit on Friday

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt will launch its first communication satellite into orbit on Friday, a move it says will improve its communications infrastructure and internet services and attract investment. Tiba-1 is due to launch at 2108 GMT on one of Europe’s Arian... More »

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Philippine students turn littered dog poo into bricks

MANILA (Reuters) – A group of secondary school students in the Philippines has found a way to convert poo from stray dogs into a mixture for bricks, aiming to rid city streets of excrement and potentially even lower construction costs. As part of a research pr... More »

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Miniature Bronte manuscript returns to author’s childhood home

PARIS (Reuters) – A miniature manuscript written by the teenage Charlotte Bronte is returning to her childhood home in West Yorkshire after it was bought by a British museum at auction in Paris. The Bronte Parsonage Museum bid 780,000 euros ($862,600) for the ... More »

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Spacecom’s Amos-17 satellite completes test, reaches final orbit

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s Space Communications said on Monday its Amos-17 communication satellite, which was launched into space in August, has completed its in-orbit testing and reached its final position. Spacecom has suffered some major setbacks in rec... More »

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Japan space probe on its way back after asteroid mission

TOKYO (Reuters) – A Japanese space probe is heading home from an asteroid 250 million km (155 million miles) from Earth after collecting sub-surface samples that could help scientists seeking the origins of life, Japan’s space agency said on Monday. Asteroids ... More »

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Stents no better than drugs for many heart patients: U.S. study

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Many patients with severe but stable heart disease who routinely undergo invasive procedures to clear and prop open clogged arteries would do as well by just taking medications and making lifestyle changes, U.S. researchers reported on Satu... More »

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Novartis sickle-cell drug gets U.S. FDA approval

(The Nov 16 story corrects to clarify in second graph that patients will be infused by a healthcare provider.) By John Miller and Carl O’Donnell (Reuters) – Novartis AG on Friday won U.S. approval for its experimental sickle cell disease drug, Adakveo, making ... More »

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China completes crucial landing test for first Mars mission in 2020

HUAILAI, China (Reuters) – China on Thursday successfully completed a crucial landing test in northern Hebei province ahead of a historic unmanned exploration mission to Mars next year. China is on track to launch its Mars mission, Zhang Kejian, head of the Ch... More »

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Roche sets sights on Novartis, Biogen as SMA trial hits target

ZURICH (Reuters) – Roche’s bid to rival Biogen and Novartis in treating spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) got a lift on Monday when the Swiss drugmaker said its drug risdiplam improved motor function of patients in a key study. Roche, which plans to seek approval ... More »