Following is a summary of current science news briefs.
Japanese researchers build robotic tail to keep elderlyupright
Millions of years after the ancestors of humans evolved tolose their tails, a research team at Japan’s Keio Universityhave built a robotic one they say could help unsteady elderlypeople keep their balance. Dubbed Arque, the grey one-meterdevice mimics tails such as those of cheetahs and other animalsused to keep their balance while running and climbing, accordingto the Keio team.
Genetic study implicates humans in demise of prehistoriccave bear
Genetic research that reconstructed the past populationdynamics of the cave bear, a prominent prehistoric denizen ofEurope, implicates Homo sapiens rather than climate cooling inthe Ice Age extinction of these brawny plant-loving beasts.Scientists said on Thursday they obtained genome data from 59cave bears from bones unearthed at 14 sites in France, Germany,Italy, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland.
China state agency successfully launches rocket forcommercial use: CCTV
A Chinese government space agency successfully launched onSaturday its first rocket meant for commercial use, statetelevision CCTV reported, as firms in the country compete tojoin a commercial satellite boom. Smart Dragon-1 rocket, whichweighs 23 tonnes and was developed by a unit of China AerospaceScience and Technology Corp (CASC), successfully delivered threesatellites into orbit after a launch in Jiuquan, Gansu, CCTVsaid.
NASA chief announces Alabama facility as moon spacecraftheadquarters
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Friday said MarshallSpace Flight Center in Alabama will serve as headquarters forthe U.S. space agency's program to build a spacecraft to putastronauts back on the moon by 2024. Bridenstine made theannouncement at the Alabama facility, accompanied by lawmakersfrom that state. The announcement, which means potential jobsand prestige for Alabama, disappointed lawmakers from Texas whohad lobbied for a site in their state.
Planet 10 times Earth's mass may have smacked Jupiter longago
Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet, may have beensmacked head-on by an embryonic planet 10 times Earth's mass notlong after being formed, a monumental crash with apparentlasting effects on the Jovian core, scientists said on Thursday.The violent collision, hypothesized by astronomers to explaindata collected by NASA's Juno spacecraft, may have occurred justseveral million years after the birth of the sun roughly 4.5billion years ago following the dispersal of the primordial diskof dust and gas that gave rise to solar system.