Science News Roundup: Total lunar eclipse set to wow star gazers, clear skies willing


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 23-01-2019 10:45 IST | Created: 23-01-2019 10:30 IST
Science News Roundup: Total lunar eclipse set to wow star gazers, clear skies willing
Image Credit: Wikipedia

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Scientists make gene-edited chickens in bid to halt next pandemic

British scientists are developing gene-edited chickens designed to be totally resistant to flu in a new approach to trying to stop the next deadly human pandemic. The first of the transgenic chicks will be hatched later this year at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said Wendy Barclay, a professor of virology at Imperial College London who is co-leading the project. Chinese scientist who gene-edited babies fired by university

A Chinese scientist who created what he said were the world's first "gene-edited" babies evaded oversight and broke ethical boundaries in a quest for fame and fortune, state media said on Monday, as his former university said he had been fired. He Jiankui said in November that he used a gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to alter the embryonic genes of twin girls born that month, sparking an international outcry about the ethics and safety of such research.

A T. rex and a shark as neighbors? Yes, eons ago in South Dakota

Scientists conducting a recent painstaking examination of the two tons of rock left over after the fossilized bones of the celebrated Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue were extricated in the 1990s came across a surprise: shark teeth. The huge meat-eating dinosaur did not meet its demise in a shark attack in some sort of "Jaws" meets "Jurassic Park" monster mash. But, scientists said on Monday, when the 40-1/2-foot-long (12.3-meter) Sue died some 67 million years ago, the beast fell into a South Dakota river teeming with sharks - albeit small ones - thriving in the freshwater environment.

Total lunar eclipse set to wow star gazers, clear skies willing

Astronomy buffs across the United States have been promised all the makings of a spectacular total lunar eclipse on Sunday except one - clear skies. Star gazers from Los Angeles to New York will keep their eyes on the sky for the eclipse, known as a super blood wolf moon, expected to appear at 11:41 p.m. EST.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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