French King Henry IV's head stars in forensic dispute

International forensic scientists fight over whether a severed head was that of France's Henry IV, with intrigue fit for a king.



Doubt — and a reportedly royal severed head — haunts a murky corner of forensic science these days, as researchers squabble over an unearthed packet of mummified remains thought to have belonged to King Henry IV of France.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/T4kH7jWVVvA/la-sci-king-henry-head-20131031,0,7672266.story

Trick or treat for science: Kids become test subjects

Behavioral economists are taking advantage of Halloween's steady stream of young doorbell ringers, using them to gain insight into kids' thinking and development. They're paid in candy, of course.



NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Each year, Halloween is a massive operation at Dean Karlan's house, drawing in members of his family, particularly his 13-year-old daughter, Maya.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/tgyhEl3J1ZI/la-sci-c1-halloween-experiments-20131031-m,0,307064.story

Napolitano commits funds to aid UC students who entered U.S. illegally

The new UC president says she will dedicate $5 million in university funds for the purpose. She has encountered protests against her policies on deportation as head of Homeland Security.



UC President Janet Napolitano, tackling one of the hot button issues facing her new leadership, announced Wednesday that she will authorize $5 million in university funds to help students who entered the country illegally and do not qualify for federal financial aid.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/l_tPdgbPaEs/la-me-uc-napolitano-20131031,0,4541451.story

Report on sports concussions in kids calls for more study

Research to prevent and better treat brain injury is incomplete, the Institute of Medicine says. Reluctance to report trauma endangers young athletes, it says.



As American children play team sports in greater numbers and with growing intensity, their risk of getting a concussion has grown but the science of preventing, diagnosing and treating this increasingly frequent brain injury remains maddeningly incomplete, a group of experts warned Wednesday.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/yHM_YGrxCEI/la-sci-youth-sports-concussions-20131031,0,5302832.story

Letters: Not all science is created equal

Re "Science has lost its way, costing all of us," Column, Oct. 27



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/oV1KohvwO8c/la-le-1030-wednesday-science-journals-20131030,0,3538987.story

Science has lost its way, at a big cost to humanity

Researchers are rewarded for splashy findings, not for double-checking accuracy. So many scientists looking for cures to diseases have been building on ideas that aren't even true.



In today's world, brimful as it is with opinion and falsehoods masquerading as facts, you'd think the one place you can depend on for verifiable facts is science.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/6GjHlDkUjV8/la-fi-hiltzik-20131027,0,7643296.column

Astronomers discover most distant known galaxy

Just 700 million years after the big bang, our most distant known galaxy was a cauldron of star production, churning out new suns hundreds of times faster than our own Milky Way galaxy, scientists say.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/oUbRgpdl85w/la-sci-sn-astronomers-discover-most-distant-galaxy-yet-20131023,0,215907.story

University of Chicago physicist to lead Caltech

Thomas F. Rosenbaum, a prominent physicist and provost at the University of Chicago, is named Caltech's new president.



Thomas F. Rosenbaum, an expert in condensed matter physics and second in command at the University of Chicago, will become the new president of Caltech, officials announced Thursday.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/GgDAFjFnv5Q/la-me-caltech-president-20131025,0,2751400.story

Tuition increases at public colleges in U.S. slow

The average price for tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. rose 2.9% this year to $8,893 for in-state students, a College Board report says.



The rise in tuition at public colleges slowed this year to the smallest increase in more than three decades, although financial aid has not kept pace to cover the hikes, according to a College Board study released Wednesday.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/XKkWykJIvFI/la-me-1023-college-costs-20131023,0,395413.story

Scientists rethink humans' family tree

A set of fossilized craniums found in the republic of Georgia indicates there were fewer species of human ancestors than thought, study says.



In the humid foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, deep within a carnivore's bloody lair, an early human ancestor fought a life-or-death struggle, and lost.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/9GSHtg5TPuc/la-sci-homo-erectus-20131018,0,7935539.story

Study estimates nearly 500,000 Iraqis died in war

At least war-related 461,000 deaths occurred between the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and the end of 2011, researchers say.



New research on the human cost of the war in Iraq estimates that roughly half a million men, women and children died between 2003 and 2011 as a direct result of violence or the associated collapse of civil infrastructure.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/F_lj108dnOM/la-fg-iraq-war-deaths-20131016,0,446041.story

Nobel Prize in chemistry honors 3 for computer modeling research

Arieh Warshel of USC, Michael Levitt of Stanford and Martin Karplus of Harvard are recognized for their pioneering use of computer modeling programs in studying chemical reactions.



As a chemistry professor at USC, Arieh Warshel says he sometimes finds it difficult to convince his fellow scientists that computers have a place in experimental fields like his own.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/5gbNeqmVS9I/la-sci-nobel-chemistry-computers-20131010,0,2075452.story

Global warming poses most immediate threat to tropics, study finds

Plant and animal species in the tropics will be forced to cope with temperatures beyond their historical range in perhaps 15 years, a new climate analysis concludes.



WASHINGTON — Polar bears and penguins are usually the first creatures that come to mind when considering the likely victims of global warming, but a new study finds that fish, coral and other inhabitants of the tropics will be the first to take the brunt of climate change.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/FWfseePOGP4/la-sci-climate-change-tropics-20131010,0,1033675.story

Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to Karplus, Levitt and Warshel

STOCKHOLM — Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel have won this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry for laying the foundation for computer models used to understand and predict chemical processes.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/tazsl_WnAQE/la-sci-sn-nobel-prize-in-chemistry-karplus-levitt-warshel-20131009,0,1385144.story

Nobel Prize in physics awarded to pair who theorized Higgs boson

Last year's confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson, or 'God' particle, leads to the Nobel for Belgium's Francois Englert and Britain's Peter Higgs, who theorized it nearly 50 years ago.



They call it the "God particle." It holds the key to humanity's presence on Earth — indeed, to the existence of all the matter in the universe.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/OvotgqAnSoM/la-sci-nobel-physics-higgs-20131009,0,631304.story

Nobel Prize in physics goes to Higgs and Englert

STOCKHOLM — Physicists Francois Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of Britain won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for their theoretical discoveries on how subatomic particles acquire mass.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/3FendwClCUM/la-sci-sn-nobel-prize-in-physics-goes-to-higgs-and-englert-20131008,0,2483027.story

Hollywood's Blvd6200 project escaped review despite fault threat

L.A. could have required a seismic evaluation of the site near the Hollywood fault but did not do so. The $200-million Blvd6200 project, next to the Pantages Theatre, will include 500 apartments.



A sprawling $200-million commercial and residential development under construction next to the Pantages Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard was approved by Los Angeles city officials without a seismic evaluation, even though it sits next to an active earthquake fault capable of producing a devastating temblor, according to records and interviews.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/AyAyODOuv9U/la-me-hollywood-fault-20130810,0,4400226.story

3 U.S.-based scientists win Nobel in physiology or medicine

Randy W. Schekman of UC Berkeley, Thomas C. Suedhof of Stanford and James E. Rothman of Yale share a Nobel for their cell work.



Three scientists who study the inner workings of cells have won the 2013 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their work in unraveling the mystery of how proteins, hormones and other molecules are moved around inside cells and exported to other parts of the body.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/eruWOOCMBHc/la-sci-nobel-medicine-20131008,0,1462446.story

NASA: Government shutdown won't stop MAVEN launch to Mars

Planetary scientists are breathing a sigh of relief as NASA’s MAVEN mission to Mars has been cleared for takeoff. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission, slated for launch as early as Nov. 18, had been put on hold after this week's government shutdown, raising fears that the spacecraft would miss the launch window and be grounded for years.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/FUQslUBQrj8/la-sci-sn-mars-maven-nasa-launch-government-shutdown-released-20131003,0,2725524.story

New health insurance exchanges want young, healthy people

California's health insurance market is opening Tuesday. Obama's plan will work as envisioned only if millions of healthy people join and offset the bills racked up by sicker ones.



Older and sicker Californians are likely to be first in line for guaranteed health coverage as the state's new insurance market opens Tuesday as part of the landmark healthcare law.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/6sGBpBeBTEw/la-fi-health-law-young-vs-old-20131001,0,2616906.story

Examining your health insurance options under Obamacare

With open enrollment in the state's new health insurance marketplace beginning this week, it's a good time to answer some commonly asked questions.



Starting Oct. 1, millions of Californians can start signing up for health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/KIUD-pm4UIs/la-fi-healthcare-watch-20130929,0,5399224.story