A study of eight "solar twins" of our sun suggests any planets orbiting those stars may very well be hotter and more dynamic than Earth, U.S. researchers say.Scientists at Ohio State University, searching for alien life in a new way, studied stars that very closely match the sun in size, age, and overall composition to measure the amounts of radioactive elements they -- and their planets -- may contain.Elements such as thorium and uranium are essential to Earth's plate tectonics because they war

Snow cover in Earth‘s Northern Hemisphere is shrinking with the level last June the lowest since satellite observations began 45 years ago, researchers say.Satellite data shows the maximum amount of snow across the Northern Hemisphere is slowly decreasing while spring snow, particularly at high latitudes, is melting significantly earlier, the European Space Agency reported Monday.The data shows record lows in Eurasia for June each year since 2008, while three of the past five years have seen rec

Having an impaired sense of smell can cause trouble when maintaining a relationship because it can cause people to be insecure, according to a new study by European scientists.“It may well be that we are exchanging much more information through body odors than we are aware of,” study co-author Thomas Hummel, from the University of Dresden in Germany, said in an interview with Livescience.com.He added people are “governed by our noses in some ways.”Researchers analyzed data from the people suffer

For the first time, scientists have figured out how to determine the age of a lobster ― by counting its rings, like a tree.Nobody knows how old lobsters can live to be; some people estimate they live to more than 100.But knowing ― rather than simply guessing ― their age and that of other shellfish could help scientists better understand the population and assist regulators of the lucrative industry, said Raouf Kilada, a research associate at the University of New Brunswick who was the lead autho

Korean scientists have discovered a way to improve the energy output and lifecycle of lithium-ion batteries by applying nanotechnology in the development of lithium manganese oxide for use in cathodes.The materials have been studied over the years as an alternative to lithium cobalt oxide to boost power and life expectancy of rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles.However, the dissolution of manganese during the chemical reaction process to create the compound has shortened the life cycle

Most of the harmful mutations in people are of recent origin, evolutionarily speaking, arising in the past 5,000 to 10,000 years, a U.S. geneticist says.A study by University of Washington researcher Joshua Akey dating the age of more than 1 million single-letter variations in the human DNA code reveals most of these mutations are of recent origin, with more than 86 percent of the harmful protein-coding mutations of this type appearing in humans just during the past 5,000 to 10,000 years.Humans

Just in time for Christmas, scientists have confirmed a vast amount of ice at the north pole on Mercury, the closest planet to the sun.The findings are from NASA's Mercury-orbiting probe, Messenger, and the subject of three scientific papers released Thursday by the journal Science.The frozen water is located in regions of Mercury's north pole that always are in shadows, essentially impact craters. It's believed the south pole harbors ice as well, though there are no hard data to support it. Mes

Korea called off the launch of its first space rocket again on Thursday due to a technical glitch on its electronic systems.Officials of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said that they detected malfunctions in the control system for a hydraulic pump that provides the thrust to the second-stage solid rocket.“We will further look for and resolve the problem, and announce a new launch date in the near future,” Education, Science and Techno

Experts say Korea has already gained expertise from Naro

NASA scientists on Wednesday attempted to squash rumors that the world is coming to an end on Dec. 21, and warned of negative effects deriving from such fears.“There is no true issue here. This is just a manufactured fantasy,” said NASA’s astrobiologist David Morrison during a NASA Google+ Hangout event. “While this is a joke to some people and a mystery to others, there is a core of people who are truly concerned.”According to a report on the Livescience website, Morrison and other NASA officia

South Korea's third attempt to send a space rocket from its own soil was again pushed back Thursday due to problems in the upper second-stage rocket of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1.When the launch will be possible was to be determined later, according to Cho Yul-rae, vice minister for science and technology."Abnormal signals from the thrust vector system of the upper (second) stage rocket of Naro have been detected," he told a press briefing.Thrust vectoring refers to the ability of an aircr