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Scientists have found methane deep within Uranus - revealing the blue planet is gassier than previously thought. Early experiments of Uranus found the planet is primarily made up of Helium and hydrogen with a touch of methane, but a new study said it considerably outstrips previous expectations. What's odd about the methane though, is it isn't in gas-form but is frozen or 'mushy,' - like a 7-eleven Slurpee - and is lodged in Uranus's core. Researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology and University of California Santa Cruz revealed that despite findings that said Uranus is made up entirely of...

I never thought it would happen to me! April 16th, Kiteboarding at Desoto Beach Florida, I fell and when I stood up Bam!! Stingray Barb right in the bottom of my foot!! The bastard got me good because the water turned Crimson around me almost immediately! I made my way back into the beach, wrapped my foot the best I could, stowed my gear in the van and headed to Palm Medical Center near Treasure Island. Long story short, I got 2 X-rays on my foot to check for pieces of the Barb, a little saline flush syringe, and the...

NAIROBI (AFP) – Climate change can be curbed by changing the diet of livestock, whose feed crops, farting, belching and manure contribute a fifth of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions, a new study said Friday. The study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) said livestock risk growing as global demand for meat and milk surges and recommended simple steps to curb livestock-related greenhouse gas emissions. It recommended using more nutritious pasture grasses, supplementing diets with crop residues, restoring degraded grazing lands and adopting more productive breeds, among other simple measures for tropical countries. ... The scientists said the burden...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Dutch primary school teacher and amateur astronomer has discovered what some are calling a "cosmic ghost," a strange, gaseous object with a hole in the middle that may represent a new class of astronomical object. The teacher, Hanny van Arkel, discovered the object while volunteering in the Galaxy Zoo project, which enlists the help of members of the public to classify galaxies online. "At first, we had no idea what it was. It could have been in our solar system, or at the edge of the universe," Yale University astrophysicist Kevin Schawinski, a member and co-founder...

Gassy Bugs: Microbes may produce propane under the sea Julie Rehmeyer For decades, scientists have been puzzled by periodic findings of ethane and propane in sediments that they've pulled from deep below the ocean floor. As far as they knew, these gases could be produced only as petroleum is—by great heat applied to ancient, buried organic matter. But sometimes, ethane and propane turn up in areas where that process seems unlikely. A new report suggests a different source: microbes. Bacteria and archaea within underwater sediments could chew up buried organic material and spew out ethane and propane as waste products,...

To our way of thinking, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's eagerness to have California become the de facto world leader of an aggressive effort to combat global warming by requiring businesses to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions has an inescapable fundamental flaw: It would add unique costs to industries here not borne by competitors in the other 49 states, to say nothing of the many developed and emerging nations who see pollution as a small price to pay for prosperity. Especially at a time of growing international competition, for one state to tackle global warming alone isn't just quixotic, it's economic folly. Obviously, a...

<p>This week, Sen. John Kerry accused the administration of playing global politics with gas prices. Under scrutiny, that scandalous charge raises more questions about Mr. Kerry than President Bush.</p> <p>The source of the allegations was Bob Woodward's recently published book, "Plan of Attack." Mr. Woodward wrote that the Saudis planed "to fine-tune oil prices to prime the economy in 2004." Mr. Kerry seized upon the text to accuse Mr. Bush of making a "secret deal" with the Saudis to reduce oil prices in time for the election.</p>