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AP Science NewsBrief at 5:29 a.m. EST
(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Icebergs head from Antarctica for New ZealandWELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) _ Ships are on alert and maritime authorities are monitoring the movements of hundreds of menacing icebergs drifting toward New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean, officials said. The area is not a major shipping lane and few sailors are out in November _ spring in the southern hemisphere _ but ships that traverse the area have little hull protection and could be significantly damaged by a collision with an iceberg, which typically has 90 percent of its mass under water.
Big Bang atom smasher starts speeding proton beamsGENEVA (AP) _ The world's largest atom smasher used its accelerator Tuesday to speed up proton beams for the first time as scientists moved ahead in efforts to learn more about the universe. The $10 billion Large Hadron Collider showed it could raise the energy of the proton beams whizzing around the massive machine by an initial 20 percent.
Shuttle Atlantis leaves space station, headed homeCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) _ Atlantis and its seven astronauts have left the International Space Station. The shuttle undocked early Wednesday morning, ending its one-week visit. Pilot Barry "Butch" Wilmore was at the controls.
CO2 curve ticks upward as key climate talks loomMAUNA LOA OBSERVATORY, Hawaii (AP) _ The readings at this 2-mile-high station show a troubling upward curve as the world counts down to crucial climate talks: Global warming gases are building in the atmosphere at record levels from emissions that match scientists' worst-case scenarios. Carbon dioxide concentrations this fall are hovering at around 385 parts per million, on their way to a near-certain record high above 390 in the first half of next year, at the annual peak.
Comatose for 23 years, Belgian feels rebornBRUSSELS (AP) _ Helped by a therapist, Rom Houben's outstretched finger tapped with surprising speed on a computer touchscreen, spelling out how he felt "alone, lonely, frustrated" in the 23 years he was trapped inside a paralyzed body. After a doctor found he was wrongly diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, and worked out a way for him to communicate, Houben said he now feels reborn.
Grand Canyon to change 'unfair' permit systemFLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) _ Getting one of the roughly 11,500 permits granted each year to backpack overnight in the Grand Canyon has become so competitive and "unfair" that managers at the national park have decided to change the system. Now those who want the coveted permits either show up in person or try their luck with mail or fax machines on the day the permits become available.
Warming's impacts sped up, worsened since KyotoWASHINGTON (AP) _ Since the 1997 international accord to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and accelerated _ beyond some of the grimmest of warnings made back then. As the world has talked for a dozen years about what to do next, new ship passages opened through the once frozen summer sea ice of the Arctic. In Greenland and Antarctica, ice sheets have lost trillions of tons of ice. Mountain glaciers in Europe, South America, Asia and Africa are shrinking faster than before.
EU: US should spell out long-term climate goalSTRASBOURG, France (AP) _ The United States should be ready to spell out its long-term vision for reducing carbon emissions over the next two decades, not just until 2020, the European Union said Tuesday. With two weeks to go before a global climate conference, the EU urged Washington and Beijing to come to the Copenhagen event with meaningful bids to check their greenhouse gas emissions.
Rare Charles Darwin book found on toilet bookshelfLONDON (AP) _ An auction house says it is selling a rare first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" found in a family's guest lavatory in southern England. Christie's auction house said Sunday the book _ one of around 1,250 copies first printed in 1859 _ had been on a toilet bookshelf at a family's home in Oxford.
Ukraine's `hot air' bedevils global climate dealKONSTANTINOVKA, Ukraine (AP) _ Vladimir Gapor is a plumber by trade, but now he's a scavenger, prying bits of scrap steel from the ruins of his old factory and selling them for a pittance. For others beyond this manufacturing graveyard, however, Ukraine's economic collapse has produced a potential multibillion-dollar bonanza. In an era of climate change regulation and carbon trading, Ukraine, ironically, is profiting from the smokeless smokestacks of its industrial shutdown.
(c) 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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