Primary Perception
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GPS tracking of migratory birds has revealed quie a bit about their extraordinary range.
The tracing of the ancestry of corn back 9,000 years is very interesting.
The space shuttle Atlantis landed for the last time, ending a 25-year career after a 12-day
mission that marked its 32nd journey into space. Only two shuttle missions remain, by
NASA's two other spaceships, before the shuttle program ends.
NASA announced last week that it has given up on trying to revive the Phoenix lander on Mars.
Phoenix landed near the planet's north pole on May 25, 2008, and successfully operated for
five months--two months longer than planned.
Researchers continue to be at a loss to explain the sun's behavior following a surprisingly
long solar minimum.
Britons Doubt Manmade Climate Change
Scientists in Great Britain are scratching their heads over public opinion polls that indicate
their fellow citizens are having doubts about the seriousness of climate change, even though
scientific consensus on the subject has not changed.
Astronomers called on citizen scientists last week to help review, measure and classify tens
of thousands of craters on our moon via the Web site www.MoonZoo.org.
In other environmental news, U.S. researchers said last week that a fungus and a particular
family of viruses may be to blame for Colony Collapse Disorder in honeybees, a disease
responsible for wiping out many beekeepers' entire colonies over the past few years.
A study has found that two new forms of a devastating wheat fungus, known as Ug99 stem
rust, have shown up in South Africa and are able to overcome the effects of two resistance
genes in wheat that normally prevent stem rust from taking hold.
Meanwhile, a genetic discovery promises to boost rice yields, which is good news, since
some agricultural experts believe crop yields need to double by 2050 to avert a global food
crisis.
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