Tonight, Jupiter and Venus meet in a summer sky

It's been a slow summer dance as Venus and Jupiter have sidled up to one another over the month of June, but tonight is the night of the big rendezvous: Conjunction, when the two planets will appear close enough in the night sky to kiss.

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These 'babbler' birds could shed light on human language

Move over, parrots. Here's another bird with some impressive "language" skills: The chestnut-crowned babbler. Scientists studying the social birds have discovered that they can rearrange meaningless sounds in their calls to form different, meaningful messages.

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Well: Senior Tech: A Tablet for Aging Hands Fall Short

The AARP RealPad promises “no confusion and no frustration” for older adults. Starting with the on button, it delivers the opposite.











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Sugary drinks linked to 25,000 deaths in the U.S. each year

By contributing to obesity and, through that, to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks appears to claim the lives of about 25,000 American adults yearly and is linked worldwide to the deaths of 180,000 each year, new research says.

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Well: Think Like a Doctor

Documents that are part of this week’s Think Like a Doctor were accidentally published ahead of schedule.











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'Leap second': Why June 30 will have one extra second

On June 30, the world will receive a gift of time: a single, extra second known as a "leap second."

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Well: Symptom-Free Carriers May Be Spreading Whooping Cough

A new study traces a rapid increase in the illness also known as pertussis to asymptomatic transmission, driven by a change in vaccines.











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Well: Guinea Pigs Are Autistic Child’s Best Friend

Studies show that interactions at school make the student calmer and more willing to be there.











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With NSF funds limited, is $697,177 for climate change musical worth it?

The National Science Foundation too often shortchanges American taxpayers by funding low-value, low-priority social science projects.

via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1U0eOKW

Lawsuits over California water rights are a fight a century in the making

The lawsuits hit the courts within days of the state mailing notices to some Central Valley irrigation districts: They were to stop diverting from rivers and streams because there wasn't enough water to go around.

via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1NpzGa3

NASA spies strange lone 'pyramid' on dwarf planet Ceres

The closer we get to Ceres, the more perplexing the dwarf planet grows. NASA's Dawn spacecraft has found several more bright spots as well as a pyramid-like peak jutting out of the frigid world's surface.

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Well: With Summer Sun Come Signs of Danger

The latest findings on the damage caused by ultraviolet radiation are enough to send one running past the sunscreen to get indoors.









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Well: Cherries Add a Dash of Sweetness

Martha Rose Shulman, the Recipes for Health columnist, adds cherries to grains and more.









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