PARIS (AFP) ― Lab mice trained to fear a particular smell can transfer the impulse to their unborn sons and grandsons through a mechanism in their sperm, a study said Sunday.The research claims to provide evidence for the concept of animals “inheriting” a memory of their ancestors’ traumas, and responding as if they had lived the events themselves.It is the latest find in the study of epigenetics, in which environmental factors are said to cause genes to start behaving differently without any ch

NEW DELHI (AP) ― India’s Mars orbiter mission ventured out of Earth’s sphere of influence early Sunday in an attempt to reach the red planet’s orbit after a critical maneuver.The Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organization said the spacecraft fired its main engine for more than 20 minutes, giving it the correct velocity to leave the Earth’s orbit.“The Earth orbiting phase of the spacecraft ended. The spacecraft is now on a course to encounter Mars after a journey of about 10 months around

STOCKHOLM (AP) ― A comet that gained an earthly following because of its bright tail visible from space was initially declared dead after grazing the sun. Now, there is a sliver of hope that Comet ISON may have survived.New images being analyzed Friday showed a streak of light moving away from the sun that some said could indicate it wasn’t game over just yet.“It certainly appears as if there is an object there that is emitting material,” said Alan Fitzsimmons, an astronomer at Queens University

South Korea and China have agreed to strengthen their maritime cooperation that will include the mutual use of their assets in the Antarctic for joint research, the South Korean government said Friday.The agreement came at the latest bilateral talks on maritime cooperation held in Beijing on Thursday, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.At this week's meeting, the 12th of its kind, "the two sides agreed to pursue a joint survey of the sea in the polar region, using the two countrie

WASHINGTON (AP) ― An experimental device is letting paralyzed people drive wheelchairs simply by flicking their tongue in the right direction.Key to this wireless system: Users get their tongue pierced with a magnetic stud that resembles jewelry and acts like a joystick, in hopes of offering them more mobility and independence.Researchers reported Wednesday that 11 people paralyzed from the neck down rapidly learned to use the tongue device to pilot their wheelchairs through an obstacle course f

SYDNEY (AFP) ― Watching sports can make you fitter, according to research that says viewing other people exercise increases heart rate and other physiological measures as if you were working out yourself.The study, published in the international journal Frontiers in Autonomic Neuroscience, showed that when watching a first person video of someone else running, heart rate, respiration, skin blood flow and sweat release all increased.They returned to normal at the conclusion of the “jog.”Researche

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Comet ISON is teasing the solar system as it dances with the sun and it’s giving astronomers mixed signals.Will it meet a fiery death ― or survive ― when it whips around the sun on Thursday?The icy comet will be only about 1.6 million kilometers away from the sun’s super-hot surface during its close encounter on Thanksgiving. On Monday, it looked like it was about to die even before it got there. On Tuesday, it appeared healthy again.“We have never seen a comet like this,’’ Nav

South Korea is looking to put an unmanned space vehicle on the moon by 2020 with its own rocket, the government announced Tuesday.In January, Korea successfully launched a scientific satellite into orbit from its own soil with a locally assembled space rocket, the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, built in cooperation with Russian scientists.Korea now aims to complete the development of a three-stage domestically produced space rocket by 2020, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Pla

Students and adults alike resort to coffee for their regular dose of caffeine but new findings shed light on a possible alternative without the common side effects accompanying coffee. “Using blue lights in right amounts can have a positive effect on health,” a research team led by Mid Sweden University said. The research findings show blue lights have an effect that’s similar to caffeine intake. Habitual coffee drinkers can be freed from sleeping disorders, heart palpitations, fretfulness and c

YASNY, Russia ― South Korea’s new scientific satellite has made its first contact with a ground control station in Daejeon, beginning a two-year mission to search for clues about the evolution of the universe. The Satellite Technology Research Center at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon received the first communication contact with the Science and Technology Satellite-3, or STSAT-3, at 10:10 p.m. Korea time on Thursday, the center said.“We had received signals for

YASNY, Russia ― South Korea’s new science satellite will be launched from a Russian launch base Thursday, beginning a two-year mission to tease out the earliest clues about the evolution of the universe. The team in Russia said Tuesday that the Science and Technology Satellite 3, or STSAT-3, was “full-ready” for the launch after completing a simulation test. This marks the culmination of a month of work testing and preparing the country’s first satellite equipped with an infrared space telescope