Reuters Science News Summary

Deep-sea microbes called missing link for complex cellular life

Deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean between Greenland and Norway, scientists have found microorganisms they call a missing link connecting the simple cells that first populated Earth to the complex cellular life that emerged roughly 2 billion years ago. The researchers said on Wednesday a group of microorganisms called Lokiarchaeota, or Loki for short, were retrieved from the inhospitable, frigid seabed about 1.5 miles (2.35 km) under the ocean surface not too far from a hydrothermal vent system called Loki's Castle, named after a Norse mythological figure.

Brain technology patents soar as companies get inside people's heads

From ways to eavesdrop on brains and learn what advertisements excite consumers, to devices that alleviate depression, the number of U.S. patents awarded for "neurotechnology" has soared since 2010, according to an analysis released on Wednesday. Most surprising, concluded market-research firm SharpBrains, is that patents have been awarded to inventors well beyond those at medical companies. The leader in neurotechnology patents, according to the report, is consumer-research behemoth Nielsen.

Real-life Star Trek 'replicator' prepares meal in 30 seconds

It's a revolution in food technology that could deliver your food fantasy to your plate in less than a minute. The Genie, similar in size and appearance to a coffee maker, can produce an unlimited variety of meals using pods, that contain natural dehydrated ingredients. So whether salty or sweet, an appetizer or a dessert, the device can create the food you crave in 30 seconds.

Huffing and puffing won't blow these straw homes down

A batch of straw houses have gone on sale in the UK - and their manufacturers insist that unlike the home featured in classic nursery rhyme The Three Little Pigs, huffing and puffing will not lead the buildings to blow down. In fact, the architect of the scheme, Professor Pete Walker of the University of Bath, says that using straw in home construction isn't just viable, but safer than other traditional building materials, and will lead to vastly reduced energy bills for inhabitants.

Open wide and say 'ah': secret of gaping whale mouths revealed

When the fin whale gets ready to eat, Earth's second-largest animal opens its mouth so wide that it can gulp an amount of water larger than the volume of its own body as it filters out meals of tiny fish and shrimp-like krill. When feeding, this whale measuring up to about 88 feet (26.8 meters) long and 70 tons increases its swimming speed, opens its mouth and lunges in the ocean.

Failed Russian spacecraft expected to burn up Friday

An unmanned Russian spacecraft on a failed resupply run to the International Space Station is heading back toward Earth faster than original predictions, with a fiery demise in the atmosphere expected early on Friday, U.S. Air Force tracking data shows. The Russian Progress capsule, loaded with more than three tons of food, fuel and supplies, blasted off aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 28.

Inmarsat's GlobalXpress being used in Nepal ahead of global launch

The first of Inmarsat's high-capacity GlobalXpress satellites is being used in Nepal after the country was hit by an earthquake and ahead of a global launch for the technology set for later this year, the company said on Wednesday. "We were able to rush terminals into Nepal, and the feedback from that has been great," Chief Executive Rupert Pearce said following release of the British satellite maker's first-quarter earnings.

SpaceX puts Dragon passenger spaceship through test run

A Space Exploration Technologies' passenger spaceship made a quick debut test flight on Wednesday, shooting itself off a Florida launch pad to demonstrate a key emergency escape system. The 20 foot- (6 meter) tall Dragon capsule, a modified version of the spacecraft that flies cargo to the International Space Station, fired up its eight, side-mounted thruster engines at 9 a.m. EDT to catapult nearly one mile (1.6 km) up and over the Atlantic Ocean.