Science News Roundup: Odd lemur has evolved extra 'finger'; German WW2 U-boat base in France reboots as data center

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Bezos's Blue Origin partners with Lockheed, others on moon lander

U.S. billionaire Jeff Bezos said on Tuesday his space company Blue Origin has signed agreements with Lockheed Martin Corp, Northrop Grumman Corp and research and development organization Draper for development of its lunar lander designed to help NASA put humans on the moon by 2024.Blue Origin's so-called Blue Moon lunar lander, unveiled by Bezos in May, is in development and sits at the center of the space company's ambition to ferry humans into deep space and land key contracts from the U.S. space agency for space exploration. "I'm excited to announce that we put together a national team to go back to the moon," Bezos, founder and CEO of online retail giant Amazon, said at the International Astronautical Congress.

German WW2 U-boat base in France reboots as data center

The thick concrete walls of a long-abandoned World War Two German submarine base in Marseille, southern France, are set to find a new purpose: keeping banks of computer servers safe and cool. Dutch cloud services firm Interxion plans to invest 140 million euros to turn the "Martha Base" bunker - which was built in 1943 to accommodate up to 20 U-boats but was never completed - into a data center for corporate clients. The first part of the restoration is set to be completed by March.

Two thumbs up - or is it four? Odd lemur has evolved extra 'finger'

For a strange little lemur native to Madagascar that boasts one of the most unusual hands in the animal kingdom, a "high five" is more like a "trick six." Scientists have discovered that this nocturnal tree dweller, called an aye-aye, possesses an anatomical structure that serves as an extra thumb to go along with its five spindly fingers, an evolutionary innovation helpful for grasping small objects and branches.