William Ferriter's List: salem6sci_ce

"In Huntsville, Alabama, scientists developed the spacecraft that took man to the Moon. It's also where Nasa hopes to build a "mega rocket" - the next giant leap for the US space programme.

But hundreds of scientists and engineers have lost their jobs, and the place dubbed Rocket City is in search of an economic boost. "

"The world's first tidal current energy turbine, in Northern Ireland's Strangford Lough, has been given an environmental all-clear by a group of scientists.

Generating electricity from two massive underwater "propellers", the SeaGen was lowered into place in 2008.

It was bolted to the seabed in one of the world's fastest tidal currents. "

"Despite the economic slowdown and the absence of any groundbreaking climate policy, renewable energy had a good year in the United States in 2011. According to the latest report from the Energy Information Administration, the government’s keeper of all energy-related facts, renewables grew at a record pace and squeaked out of last place in the country’s energy generation standings. In the first nine months of the year, renewables accounted for 11.95 percent of domestic energy production, pulling ahead of nuclear power, which contributed only 10.62 percent."

"Researchers have spotted a giant gas cloud spiralling into the supermassive black hole at our galaxy's centre.

Though it is known that black holes draw in nearby material, it will be the first chance to see one consume such a cloud.

As it is torn apart, the turbulent area around the black hole will become unusually bright, giving astronomers a chance to learn more about it."

"Nasa is developing a harpoon capable of taking samples from comets.

The space agency has already built a prototype capable of launching test harpoon tips across a distance of a mile (1.6km).

The engineers believe it would be safer to collect comet material using the equipment rather than trying to land on the celestial bodies."

"It is a beguiling idea - harvest sunshine, and a little wind, from the empty deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, and use it to produce clean power for the region and for Europe.

Desertec, a group based in Germany with heavyweight commercial backers including Siemens and Deutsche Bank, says the scheme would also bring the regions around the Mediterranean closer together, while providing jobs and stability for the countries in the south."

"Scientists have put forward their suggested names for the newest additions to the Periodic Table.

If the names are accepted, element 114 will become Flerovium (Fl) in honour of the physicist Georgiy Flerov.

While element 116 will become Livermorium (Lv), after the Californian laboratory where it was discovered."

"Environmental activists have broken into a French nuclear power station, to highlight the "vulnerability" of atomic sites in France.

Greenpeace campaigners entered the site at Nogent-sur-Seine, 60 miles (95km) south-east of Paris, before dawn.

The activists climbed on top of a reactor building and unfurled a banner, said a Greenpeace spokesman.

The power company, Electricite de France (EDF), says the intruders were detected straight away."

"Astronomers have confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet in the "habitable zone" around a star not unlike our own.

The planet, Kepler 22-b, lies about 600 light-years away and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, and has a temperature of about 22C.

It is the closest confirmed planet yet to one like ours - an "Earth 2.0".

However, the team does not yet know if Kepler 22-b is made mostly of rock, gas or liquid."

"An undersea volcano erupting just south of Spain's Canary Islands may be the beginnings of a new island, or an extension to an existing one. For some, it's a colourful spectacle - for others a major blow to their livelihood.

"It's angry today. Look at it go!" says fisherman Elio Morales Rodriguez in the village of La Restinga, on the south coast of El Hierro island."

"Animals may sense chemical changes in groundwater that occur when an earthquake is about to strike.

This, scientists say, could be the cause of bizarre earthquake-associated animal behaviour.

Researchers began to investigate these chemical effects after seeing a colony of toads abandon its pond in L'Aquila, Italy, in 2009 - days before a quake.

They suggest that animal behaviour could be incorporated into earthquake forecasting."

"A survey of about 600 scientists published this week found that a majority think it's time to consider conservation triage - focusing resources on animals that can realistically be saved, and giving up on the rest.

Those that fall into the too-expensive-to-save category, it has been suggested, might include the panda and the tiger.

So, should we give up on one endangered species to save another? Here, two experts argue for and against triage."

"The males appear to use this technique to avoid hungry females, which are more likely to cannibalise them.

This habit of eating the male after mating earned the spiders their name.

But this research shows that males can mitigate that risk by sniffing the silk to find out if a female is ravenous and therefore too risky to mate with"

"Assassin bugs hunt spiders on their webs by stalking or luring their victims before stabbing them with their long, sharp snouts.

Researchers studying these aggressive arthropods have now found that they use noise to cover their tracks.

The bugs wait for the wind to rustle the web, then take the opportunity to sneak up on their prey. "

"A tiny underwater creature spins silk in order to bind together its sand grain house, researchers have discovered.

The shrimp, Crassicorophium bonellii, produces fibres that combine barnacle cement biology with spider silk production techniques.

The resulting "gossamer threads" are sticky and salt-water resistant.

The Oxford team says this is a new example of "nature's way of engineering a highly functional material"."

"Invasive earthworms can alter the carbon and nitrogen cycles in woodland, as well as undermining native plant species, a study has said.

US researchers found that the presence of non-native worms also accelerated the breakdown of forest litter, increasing the risk of soil erosion.

The worms are spread to new areas by horticulture and land disturbance, they add, as well as on vehicles' tyres."

"On the other end, badgers—which bite attackers—often have stripes by their mouths.

"We think these stripes may guide predators' attention to the source of danger," said Stankowich.

"If you're a badger and your mouth is the source of danger, that's what you want to advertise.""

"Taking a stroll may soon be enough to re-charge your mobile phone, after US researchers developed a way to generate electricity from human motion.

Placed in a shoe, the device captures the energy of moving micro droplets and converts it into electrical current.

Kinetic charging is already used in some low power devices such as watches and sensors."

A really cool video on converting roads into solar panels to create electricity.