Science News
With Russian help, Europe prepares to search for life on Mars
PARIS - The European Space Agency signed final contracts with Thales Alenia Space Italy for work on a pair of missions to assess if the planet Mars has or ever had life, officials said at the Paris Airshow this week.
NASA wants backyard astronomers to help track asteroids
WASHINGTON - NASA called on backyard astronomers and other citizen-scientists on Tuesday to help track asteroids that could create havoc on Earth.
Beetles, housefly larvae open new frontier in animal feed sector
PARIS - French start-up company Ynsect has identified a cheap, nourishing and locally sourced alternative to soybeans as a vital source of protein in animal feed. The clue is in its name.
Solar plane lands at Washington on journey across U.S.
- An airplane entirely powered by the sun landed in Washington on Sunday after a flight from St. Louis, the next-to-last leg of a journey across the United States intended to boost support for clean energy technologies. | Video
AstraZeneca picks site for new global home in Cambridge
LONDON - AstraZeneca has chosen a science park on the southern outskirts of Cambridge, England, next to the world-renowned Addenbrooke's Hospital, for its new $500 million global headquarters and research center.
Exclusive: Antitrust probe of Lockheed-Boeing rocket venture
WASHINGTON - U.S. regulators have opened a probe into whether a Lockheed-Boeing joint venture that launches U.S. government satellites into space has flouted antitrust laws.
Restrictive drug laws censor science, researchers say
LONDON - The outlawing of drugs such as cannabis, magic mushrooms and other psychoactive substances amounts to scientific censorship and is hampering research into potentially important medicinal uses, leading scientists argued on Wednesday.
Japan mulls hosting global collider project - Nikkei
- The government has decided to solicit construction in Japan of the International Linear Collider (ILC), a next-generation particle accelerator that will allow physicists to explore rudimentary questions about the universe, the Nikkei said.
China's latest 'sacred' manned space mission blasts off
BEIJING - A Chinese manned spacecraft blasted off with three astronauts on board on Tuesday on a 15-day mission to an experimental space lab in the latest step towards the development of a space station. | Video
Weather satellite revived after suspected micrometeoroid hit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - A weather satellite that failed just before the start of an expected busy hurricane season is back in service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Monday.
Analysis: Hospital investors sold on U.S. health reform despite bumps
CHICAGO - Shares of U.S. hospital operators have been on a tear this year, on average posting triple the gains of the broader stock market, as investors tallied up the benefits of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform.

