It is one of the cosmos' most mysterious unsolved cases: dark matter. It is supposedly what holds the universe together. We can't see it, but scientists are pretty sure it's out there.Led by a dogged, Nobel Prize-winning gumshoe who has spent 18 years on the case, scientists put a $2 billion detector aboard the International Space Station to try to track down the stuff. And after two years, the first evidence came in Wednesday: tantalizing cosmic footprints that seem to have been left by dark ma

The melting of ice sheets caused by climate change may be the cause of Antarctic ice expansion, Dutch scientists claimed in a recent study.Climate scientists at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, led by Rechard Bintanja, conducted a study to figure out why ice sheets are expanding in the South Pole while the North Pole has seen its sea ice shrinking over the last three decades.Scientists had been aware of the fact that melted ice forms a cold, fresh layer that protects sea ice from

The sooner a smoker lights up upon waking in the morning, the more likely he or she is to acquire lung or oral cancer, U.S. researchers say.Steven Branstetter, assistant professor of biobehavioral health at Pennsylvania State University, said NNK (4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-[3-pyridyl]-1-butanone) induces lung tumors in several rodent species. Levels of NNAL (4-(methylnitrosamnino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol) in the blood can therefore predict lung cancer risk in rodents as well as in humans."We found

A 1950s memo about UFOs is the most viewed public record in the history of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to the agency’s website.The FBI on Monday uploaded a post about the so-called Hottel memo, a single-page report documented on March 22, 1950, by Guy Hottel, then head of FBI’s field office in Washington. It has been viewed nearly 1 million times since April 2011, when the bureau uploaded its public records.The Hottel memo relayed a story told to FBI agents about “flying

UFO sighting reports in the Texas ended in an anticlimactic way after the objects turned to be paper lanterns, U.S. media reported MondayAccording to the local sheriff’s office, the “fireballs in the sky” which incited UFO stir were actually Chinese paper lanterns from a nearby wedding.The “fireballs” were first reported to police around 8:30 p.m. Saturday. About a dozen locals and police officers responding to the report witnessed several orange lights moving slowly in the sky.Police contacted

A new study revealed that babies exposed to their parents arguing are more vulnerable to stress, even when they are asleep.“We were interested in whether a common source of early stress in children‘s lives -- conflict between parents -- is associated with how infants’ brains function,” said Alice Graham, a doctoral student involved in the study.Researchers at the University of Oregon tested the brains of 20 sleeping babies, exposing them to voices with four different kinds of emotions -- very a

Researchers at Britain‘s Oxford University said bank notes from Denmark and Sweden have more bacteria than any other European cash.　Ian Thompson, professor of engineering science at Oxford, said his team found a piece of paper money in Europe carries an average 26,000 bacteria, while Danish krone were found to have an average 40,266 bacteria and Swedish kroner had an average 39,600 bacteria, The Local.se reported Wednesday.　Thompson and his fellow researchers said they found the euro was the cle

Unidentified shapes recently found in a small U.S. town are stirring talk of aliens, livescience.com reported Tuesday.According to the report, Peggy Gervase from Eden, New York found an unusual pattern -- which resembled large polka dots -– in snow covering a pond near her home. The shape is reminiscent of mysterious crop circles, which are regarded to some as evidence of extraterrestrial life forms.“I‘ve never seen this before in our pond... It’s eerie in a way, but cool in a way,” Gervase said

A Mississippi woman said a chick was born on her farm with four legs and the bird has "captured my heart."Annette Bragg of Pelahatchie said the chicken, which she named Lucy, hatched at 6 p.m. Sunday and she immediately noticed the bird had four legs, all of which were normal sized, WLBT-TV, Jackson, reported Tuesday.Bragg said Lucy, who is unable to walk because of the location of her legs, may have been meant to be a twin.Bragg said she has more than 100 chickens and Lucy is the most unusual o

New research suggests that foods high in sugar content do not boost your mood.　The study by researchers at Pennsylvania State University revealed that women who are concerned with diet and image tend to feel grumpier after eating unhealthy food.　Researchers including Dr. Kristin Heron provided 131 women with handheld computers, which frequently asked them about their mood and eating behavior. Their research focused on gathering data from participants in everyday life since other studies tracked

New research has found that the appearance of a female great tit (Parus major) affects the health conditions of its offspring.According to the study done by researchers at Palacky University in the Czech Republic, the bird’s representative features -- a black stripe across the breast and white patches on the cheeks -- correlate to a chick’s weight and immune strength at two weeks.In order to compare the weight and immune system of baby birds from mothers of different ornamentation, the research

U.S. scientists have announced the first-ever discovery of a two-headed bull shark, confirming it was a single shark with two heads, not conjoined twins.Michigan State University researchers studying the specimen found in the uterus of an adult bull shark taken in the Gulf of Mexico April 7, 2011, said it was the first record of the phenomenon known as dicephalia ever seen in bull sharks although it has been seen before in other species of shark.“This is certainly one of those interesting and ra