Health & Science briefs
Rover analyzing powder from rock
The Mars rover Curiosity has successfully transferred a pinch of rock dust to its onboard laboratories for inspection, two weeks after drilling into its first rock.
Scientists will spend the next several weeks studying the rock's chemical and mineral makeup.
Curiosity landed in Gale Crater near the equator last summer on a mission to determine whether the environment was favorable for microbes. It drilled into a flat rock earlier this month and collected a tablespoon-size sample from the interior - the first time this was achieved on Mars.
NASA facility may get a new name
The U.S. House has approved a bill to rename a NASA flight center in California for the late astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.
The bill, which passed on a 394-0 vote, would rename the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center.
Mr. Armstrong, who died in 2012, commanded the historic landing of the Apollo 11 spacecraft on the moon in 1969. He was also a test pilot who worked at the center for seven years.
The measure goes to the Senate for consideration.
War of the ants intensifies in U.S.
An aggressive species of ant may be losing ground in North America to a more aggressive - and potentially dangerous - species, according to a new study.
Argentine ants long ago established dominance in many parts of the continent, thanks to their ability to form "supercolonies" consisting of thousands of ants. But the species seems to have met its match in the Asian needle ant, which was observed stealing turf from the Argentine ant over four years in North Carolina.
The danger for humans is that the Asian ants have venomous stings that can cause weeks of burning and itching. Victims who are allergic to the sting can suffer more severe reactions.
Warming to affect wind and waves
Coastal areas in parts of Australia, Indonesia and Antarctica will be hard-hit by stronger winds and waves in a warming world, according to a letter published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
On the opposite side of the world, wind and waves in the Northern Hemisphere could actually lessen, according to the researchers, who say the research has implications not just for people in coastal regions but also the fishing industry and entire ecosystems.
The changes would occur due to the transfer of energy between the atmosphere and the oceans.