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This story was originally published by Inside Science News Service. (ISM) – Throughout most of the world sharks are in trouble. Big trouble. In some areas, with adequate management, shark populations have stabilized, but likely at levels far below what they were decades ago. In the rest of the world, shark fishing continues to be a major threat to many species. Recent estimates suggest that around 100 million sharks are taken by fisheries every year....

If you look very carefully at the C-curved squiggle taking shape on a 3-D printer at Columbia University Medical Center, you just might spot the future of knee repair. Layer by layer, the machine’s tiny needle squirts out a bead of white polymer, matching a virtual blueprint of a meniscus—the semicircular band of tough, fibrous cartilage that serves as the knee’s shock absorber. A bioprinter in the laboratory of Jeremy Mao can churn out three menisci in just under 16 minutes....

For the parents of a child born with haemophilia, the diagnosis comes with both good and bad news. The good news is that the child, at least if he (or rarely, she) is born in the developed world, can expect a near-normal lifespan, up from a mere 20 years in 1970. The bad is that the parents must teach themselves to find their child’s veins, insert a needle and infuse him with a clotting factor to replace what he lacks....

California Institute of Technology theoretical physicist and 2004 Nobel laureate David Politzer helps shed some light on these mysterious influences. The forces you feel in a moving car—those that push you back into your seat when the driver steps on the gas or throw you side to side when the car makes sharp turns—are everyday examples of fictitious forces. In general, these influences arise for no reason other than that the natural frame of reference for a given situation is itself accelerating....

Rachel Ewing is a news officer for science and health at Drexel University. She contributed this article to Live Science’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Like most people, you may believe that washing raw chicken prior to cooking is safe, or even prevents food-borne illness. In fact, the opposite is true. “You should assume that if you have chicken, you have either salmonella or campylobacter bacteria on it, if not both,” said food safety researcher Jennifer Quinlan, an associate professor at Drexel University....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Pirates, especially those of the so-called Golden Age of Piracy (c. 1690-1730), are particularly famous for their pithy expressions which relate to all things nautical, general roistering, and life of crime on the High Seas. There is even an international ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’ on 19 September, when landlubber romantics can indulge their fantasy of a life more glamorous than the one fate has bestowed upon them....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. During the English Civil Wars (1642-1651) artillery was an important if still developing feature of warfare. Both Royalist and Parliamentarian armies had large artillery units, which were used in battles and sieges throughout the conflict. With no particular standardisation, there were many different types of cannon and ammunition ranging from huge monsters that fired stone balls weighing 36 kg (80 lb) to handheld leather guns which fired grapeshot....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The 102 Mayflower passengers were a diverse group made up of religious separatists (later known as pilgrims) and others referred to by the pilgrims as Strangers (people who did not share their faith). The ship also had a crew of approximately 30 (possibly 50) captained by Christopher Jones (l....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. For well over 1,000 years, sacred stories and heroic epics have made up the mythology of Hinduism. Nothing in these complex yet colourful legends is fixed and firm. Pulsing with creation, destruction, love, and war, it shifts and changes. Most myths occur in several different versions, and many characters have multiple roles, identities, and histories....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Romans constructed mills for use in agriculture, mining and construction. Around the 3rd century BCE, the first mills were used to grind grain. Later developments and breakthroughs in milling technology expanded their use to crushing ores in mining and such construction activities as cutting wood and marble....

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – With the spooky glow of his headlamp illuminating an antenna in his hand, Paul Levesque stalks one of Canada’s last remaining barn owls. “Are you getting anything?” research team leader Sofi Hindmarch asks over a walkie-talkie. “I got it!” Levesque responds. Then a few seconds later, dejected, he radios back: “No. I lost the signal.” Working in darkness, with the quarter-moon obscured by clouds, these two scientists are trying to figure out what an elusive, radio-collared owl is eating along this country road just beyond the suburbs that ring Vancouver....

Six projects in life sciences, physics and math have won this year’s Breakthrough Prizes—a series of annual awards honoring major discoveries in basic sciences. The $3-million prizes, founded three years ago by billionaire venture capitalist Yuri Milner, are the richest awards in science. (The 2015 Nobel Prizes, for comparison, came with purses of eight million Swedish kronor, or about $915,000 U.S.). The winners will accept their prizes during a televised awards ceremony on Sunday, November 8 at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif....

The dramatic retreat of Arctic sea ice in recent years is changing disease patterns, altering the local food web and lowering the region’s ability to reflect sunlight, according to two new studies. The research in Science and Nature Climate Change, although on two different topics, fits into a growing body of knowledge about the side effects of ice loss. The papers also come as scientists say that Arctic ice extent could be near historic lows this year, even if it does not break last year’s record....

Dear EarthTalk: I’ve heard that many air fresheners contain toxic chemicals. Are there any green-friendly, nontoxic air fresheners out there, or how can I make my own?—Jenny Rae, Bolton, Mass. It is true that some air fresheners on the market today make use of harsh chemicals to eliminate or overpower odors. “Many air fresheners contain nerve-deadening chemicals that coat your nasal passages and temporarily block your sense of smell,” reports National Geographic’s The Green Guide....

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Light-sheet fluorescence microscopy is an exciting new imaging method that harnesses thin sheets of light to make images of large biological samples such as fly and fish embryos, mice and even pieces of human tissue. And its use could lead to less intrusive and more effective diagnosis for patients. At the University of St Andrews, we have recently utilised the unusual properties of shaped laser beams to get a clearer image deeper inside specimens—using beams that bend and curve round corners and get brighter, rather than dimmer, as they travel....

Ministers from 24 countries unveiled about a dozen clean energy partnerships yesterday in an event that avoided the topic of climate talks, even as the participants make up more than 80 percent of world energy use. Instead, there was talk of tax policy, atlas-drawing, sister-city partnerships, and other keywords of practical action a world away from the much more difficult process of negotiating a climate treaty. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the Clean Energy Ministerial meeting last December in Copenhagen, Denmark....

Fourteen months after entering orbit around Saturn, Cassini has spotted evidence of dusty spokes in the planet’s rings. First seen 25 years ago by instruments on the Voyager spacecraft, the spokes are most likely charged dust particles floating above the rings. The new pictures should help astronomers piece together a better understanding of the Saturnian environment. A sequence of images captured on September 5 reveals faint, narrow spokes in the outer B ring stretching 3,500 kilometers long and just 100 kilometers wide....

Click here for a full list of our coverage of the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. LAS VEGAS—On Day Two of the Consumer Electronics Show, the SciAm team literally played it close to the vest. Avoiding the punditry of the seminars, and following a tip from a recent SciAm.com article, the contingent sought out gaming vest that translates the force of virtual bullet impacts into actual thumps—perfect for Halo frag fests. It took nearly all day to track down the device....

Scientists have developed a new weapon for the war on drugs: a novel method for tracing the illicit substances on currency. Study results indicate that the pattern of contamination on money recovered from drug-related crime scenes is significantly different than that seen on notes in regular circulation. Previous studies had revealed that many bank notes around the world contain trace amounts of cocaine, but contamination with other controlled substances is still relatively rare....

Dear EarthTalk: The 2008 Summer Olympics in China are drawing a lot of attention right now for political reasons. I’ve heard, though, that one ray of light is China’s effort to make the event as green as possible. What’s going on in that regard? – Josh Rogers, Concord, NH It’s true that China is using the upcoming Beijing Olympics as a sustainability showcase, going so far as to dub the event the “Green Olympics....