Science News Summary: Scientists use rubber hands in OCD therapy;

Following is a summary of current science news briefs. Feces-smeared fakes:

Scientists use rubber hands in OCD therapy

A new type of therapy using feces and fake rubber hands may be able to help patients with the obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) overcome their fears of touching contaminated surfaces, according to new research. "OCD can be an extremely debilitating condition for many people, but the treatments are not always straightforward," said Baland Jalal, a Cambridge University neuroscientist who was part of a team assessing if rubber hands could be a potential new type of exposure therapy.

Lidar laser-sensing technology: from self-driving cars to dance contests

Self-driving cars employ lidar, a remote sensing technology using pulsed laser light the way radar uses radio waves, and lidar makers waiting for the automotive market to take off are courting new customers who would use the technology for everything from monitoring cattle to helping a disc jockey synchronize dance music. Ouster, a San Francisco tech startup, is tapping new markets including delivery robots, disaster relief and even an approach from the disc jockey. Another Bay area startup, AEye, is talking to a bank that wants to monitor cattle growth to ensure the financial health of a rancher who is a loan customer.

NASA, Boeing probe software glitch that stopped astronaut capsule from reaching space station

NASA is opening an independent investigation with Boeing over a software glitch that prevented its unmanned astronaut capsule from reaching the International Space Station in December, the agency said on Tuesday. Boeing Co's (BA.N) CST-100 Starliner astronaut capsule had a successful launch for its first unmanned test mission, but what has been described as an automated timer error prevented the spacecraft from attaining the correct orbit for it to rendezvous and dock with the space station.