Science News Roundup: Blue Origin, Boeing chart course for 'business park' in space; Roche launches genomic profiling kit to ease cancer research and more

The remote-sensing method, called lidar, pinpointed 478 ceremonial centers in areas that were home to the ancient Olmec and Maya cultures dating to roughly 1100-400 BC, researchers said on Monday.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Roche launches genomic profiling kit to ease cancer research

Roche is launching a new genomic profiling kit that lets cancer researchers explore tumours without having to send tissue samples to centralised laboratories, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday. The AVENIO Tumour Tissue Comprehensive Genomic Profiling (CGP) Kit was developed with Roche unit Foundation Medicine, a molecular information specialist whose products help doctors match patients to appropriate therapies and clinical trials.

Remote-sensing reveals details of ancient Olmec site in Mexico

Aerial remote-sensing of a large region of Mexico has revealed hundreds of ancient Mesoamerican ceremonial centers, including a large one at an important site for the ancient Olmec culture that is known for its colossal stone heads. The remote-sensing method, called lidar, pinpointed 478 ceremonial centers in areas that were home to the ancient Olmec and Maya cultures dating to roughly 1100-400 BC, researchers said on Monday. The study was the largest such survey involving ancient Mesoamerica, covering all of the state of Tabasco, southern Veracruz and bits of Chiapas, Campeche and Oaxaca.

Blue Origin, Boeing chart course for 'business park' in space

Billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin on Monday unveiled plans to develop a commercial space station called "Orbital Reef" with Boeing, aiming to launch the spacecraft in the second half of this decade. The venture will be built in partnership with Sierra Space, the spaceflight wing of defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corp, and will be backed by Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions and Arizona State University.

German dogs to sniff out wildlife at building sites to speed up work

Sniffer dogs are being trained by Germany's Deutsche Bahn (DB) to find protected wildlife at planned major building sites to speed up projects, the railway group said on Tuesday. Humans have so far been responsible for finding animals that need to be moved to a safer place while construction goes ahead, but the dogs are set to take over the job in 2022 following training that should finish by the end of this year, DB said.

(With inputs from agencies.)