CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The lone American in orbit will end up voting for president from the International Space Station, if her homecoming is delayed. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins said Thursday that she doesn’t know yet whether she’ll return to Earth in late October as planned. The Russians have delayed the next crew launch … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — In Virginia and in states across the country, drugmakers that produce opioids and allied advocacy groups are spending heavily as they work to influence state and federal policies. A joint investigation by The Associated Press and the Center for Public Integrity found that drug companies and allied groups spent more than … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Thursday called for an independent review of allegations that the National Football League sought to improperly influence a government study into the link between football and brain disease. In a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general, GOP leaders of the Energy and Commerce Committee … Continue reading
SEATTLE (AP) — More than two years after Washington state launched legal marijuana sales, it’s planning to test pot for banned pesticides more regularly. The state’s Liquor and Cannabis Board said Thursday it’s paying the Washington Department of Agriculture more than $1 million to buy new equipment and hire two full-time workers to conduct the … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — Scientists trying to predict the future path of Zika say that 2.6 billion people living in parts of Asia and Africa could be at risk of infection, based on a new analysis of travel, climate and mosquito patterns in those regions. Some of the most vulnerable countries include India, China, the Philippines, … Continue reading
LONDON (AP) — An independent commission investigating Italian stem cell scientist Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, whose work was once considered revolutionary, says there were numerous problems in how he treated patients and that the scientific basis for his work was “inadequate.” Macchiarini was part of the team that conducted the world’s first transplant using a windpipe … Continue reading
RICHMOND, Va. — The percentage of students achieving at the proficient or advanced level on Standards of Learning assessments in reading, mathematics and science increased by one-point statewide during 2015-2016, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) reported today. Eighty percent of students achieved proficient or advanced scores in reading, and the same percentage passed tests … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Get a charge out of chocolate? New research suggests candy companies may be able to make lower fat versions of the tasty treat with a little electrical trick. By running liquid chocolate through an electric field, researchers were able to make it flow more easily. And that means it doesn’t need … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Ashton Kutcher as a television morning show host? Aaron Paul as an advertising spokesman for hybrid automobiles? Those are two of the ideas suggested by a new analytics tool unveiled by the Nielsen company Wednesday, one that it believes can provide scientific rigor to decisions on how to deploy talent. Nielsen … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A NASA spacecraft is bound for a Fourth of July encounter with Jupiter in the latest quest to study how the largest planet in the solar system formed and evolved. As Juno approaches Jupiter’s harsh radiation environment, it will fire its main engine to slow down and then slip into orbit … Continue reading
HWASEONG, South Korea (AP) — Lee T.B. fled North Korea not because he suffered from dire poverty or persecution at home, as many other defectors have. He did it for mushrooms, and to fulfill his wife’s dying wish. He has studied the fungi for decades and has created products with them that he believes may … Continue reading
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — When you’re trying to fathom a mangled relic of very old hi-tech, it helps to have the manufacturer’s instructions. For over a century since its discovery in an ancient shipwreck, the exact function of the Antikythera Mechanism — named after the southern Greek island off which it was found — was … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Up to 1 in 5 people may be dying unnecessarily from car crashes, gunshots or other injuries, a stark conclusion from government advisers who say where you live shouldn’t determine if you survive. The findings take on new urgency amid the increasing threat of mass casualties like the massacre in Orlando. The … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — An International Space Station crew including an American, a Briton and a Russian landed safely Saturday in the sun-drenched steppes of Kazakhstan. The Soyuz TMA-19M capsule carrying NASA’s Tim Kopra, Tim Peake of the European Space Agency and the Russian agency Roscosmos’ Yuri Malenchenko touched down as scheduled at 3:15 p.m. local … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful new technology holds the promise of rapidly altering genes to make malaria-proof mosquitoes, eliminate their Zika-carrying cousins or wipe out an invasive species, but a report Wednesday says these “gene drives” aren’t ready to let loose in the wild just yet. Advisers to the government say lots more research is … Continue reading
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Maria Korcsmaros was swimming just off the Southern California coast to get ready for her summer triathlon when something big gripped her side and then let go. She knew immediately she had been bit. The normally choppy water around her grew still and turned red with blood, Korcsmaros, a 52-year-old … Continue reading
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — More than one-third of the world’s population can no longer see the Milky Way because of man-made lights. Among those missing out on awe-inspiring Milky Way views: nearly 80 percent of North Americans and 60 percent of Europeans. These are the findings of a new global atlas of light pollution, … Continue reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When John Couch is certain a storm will hit Hatteras Island, he goes into action, moving merchandise in his auto parts store from bottom shelves to top ones and hauling away the most valuable items. But at 64 years old, Couch is less and less enamored of spending eight hours packing … Continue reading
PHOENIX (AP) — An expert in meteorites says a bright flashing light and loud boom over the skies in metro Phoenix looks like a single meteor burning up as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere at thousands of miles per hour. Radar footage shows that meteorites — black rocks ranging in size from a pea to … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treating hearing loss shouldn’t be such a pricey hassle. That’s the message from a prestigious government advisory group that’s calling on Medicare and other agencies to find ways to make better hearing more affordable and accessible for millions of older Americans. One proposal: Allow over-the-counter sales of simple devices for mild hearing … Continue reading
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A heat wave in large parts of the West and Southwest has many scattering for reprieve from the sun. In places like Arizona, the triple-digit temperatures are a way of life, but many still seek ways to escape it. Most are also equipped with cold air conditioning. The heat wave is … Continue reading
