Welcome to the dark side: Comet's hidden face emerges

For a long five and a half years, Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko's southern side has been shrouded by darkness. Now, it's coming into the light, and new microwave images, taken before the big reveal, suggest that the comet's "dark side" may have a very unusual composition.

The European Space Agency's Rosetta probe has been orbiting and investigating Comet 67P since August 2014 with the help of its Philae comet lander. The probe pulled together the most detailed portrait ever of a comet, but had one particular blind spot: the comet's southern side, which is dark for over 5.5 years before a brief, searing-hot year in the light during the comet's closest approach to the sun. Until that time, only Rosetta's microwave instrument, MIRO, could make any sense of the blackness.

"We observed the 'dark side' of the comet with MIRO on many occasions after Rosetta's arrival at 67P/C-G, and these unique data are telling us something very intriguing about the material just below its surface," Mathieu Choukroun, lead author of the new study and researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said in a statement. [Spectacular Comet Photos from Rosetta]

The group investigated data from that region from August to October 2014, and found evidence suggesting a large amount of ice had built up. MIRO's measurements indicated that material very near the surface is transparent, probably consisting of water ice or carbon-dioxide ice. This is very different from the dusty surface elsewhere on the comet.

50 graves uncovered at medieval pilgrimage site in England

The skeletal remains of about 50 medieval individuals have been discovered in shallow graves near the pilgrimage site of a famous seventh-century saint in England.

The human remains, which have been exhumed, may help archaeologists learn more about the medieval era, according to Archaeology Warwickshire, an archaeology and excavation firm. The company plans to study each skeleton to determine its sex and approximate age, and to identify evidence of injuries or diseases preserved in the bones, said Stuart Palmer, the business manager of Archaeology Warwickshire.

"The teeth will give us a lot of information about diet, as well," Palmer told Live Science. "There's a potential for more in-depth study, but we first have to assess the quality of material to see if it's worth trying to do." [See Photos of the Medieval Graves near Lichfield Cathedral]

Archaeologists with the firm discovered the burials in early August. They received a commission to survey the land around an almshouse, located outside the gates of the medieval city of Lichfield, located in the West Midlands. During medieval times, pilgrims traveled to Lichfield to visit its famed three-spired cathedral from the 12th century, which held the tomb of St. Chad.

Lichfield closed its city gates every night about 9 p.m., and pilgrims who arrived after that time would have stayed in the almshouse, called the Hospital of St. John Baptist without the Barrs (the barrs referred to the city gates).

Archaeology Warwickshire surveyed the grounds around the almshouse this summer, just before a planned expansion of the compound. The archaeologists expected to find some graves but "we weren't really expecting the volume and quantity that we got," Palmer said.

Nazis turned candy bars into a secret weapon

First, force the British to endure food shortages—then make them eat exploding candy bars. That was at least part of the Nazi plan to destroy Britain during World War II, according to drawings of German weapons recently seen for the first time, the Smithsonian reports.

Among the drawings: a bomb hidden in a motor-oil can and a mess tin of bangers and mash that also held a bomb, per the BBC.

Then there's the chocolate bar (viewable in this tweet), which was designed to detonate seven seconds after the chocolate was broken. The Nazis reportedly hoped to assassinate Winston Churchill with such a bar by placing it amid items going into the War Cabinet's dining room, according to a letter discovered in 2009, the Telegraph reported three years ago.

That 1943 letter was written by Lord Rothschild to artist Laurence Fish, who also made the drawings of various Nazi booby-traps. Rothschild—"a larger-than-life character, a scientist and self-appointed expert on many things," the BBC says—was also one third of MI5's counter-espionage unit, along with his secretary (and future wife) and police inspector Donald Fish.

Rothschild wanted someone to draw the devices he was finding—in order to create a sort of manual for any Brits who might encounter them—and Fish recommended his son, Laurence, a self-taught draughtsman, the Gloucestershire Echo reports.

‘Ant island’ floats on South Carolina floodwaters

A FOX Carolina reporter witnessed an unusual sight while covering flood conditions in Greenville County, S.C. Sunday – an island of ants floating on the surface of the water.

FOX Carolina’s Adrian Acosta recorded video of what he initially thought was a pile of mud.

Fire ants have the ability to form life rafts out of their own bodies, FOX Carolina reports, citing researchers at Georgia Tech. The ants can reportedly remain in the formation for weeks.

Scientists discover 'glowing' sea turtle

In late July, deep sea divers made a glowing discovery: a sea turtle that reflected light.

Marine biologist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer David Gruber of City University of New York, says he discovered the animals while he was filming bioflouresence in small sharks and coral reefs in the Solomon Islands.

Gruber told National Geographic that during a crocodile hunt one night, "there came out of nowhere this fluorescent turtle. It looked like a big spaceship gliding into view, an alien craft with a patchwork of neon green and red all over its head and body.”

The turtle, identified as the hawksbill sea turtle, is on the critically endangered list. It is the first reptile to reflect blue light hitting a surface and re-emit it it as a different color, also known as bioflourescence.

Rare ‘sofa shark’ stuns scientists

Marine biologists landed an unusual catch off the coast of Scotland recently – a so-called ‘sofa shark’ or false catshark.

Experts were stunned by the rare shark, which was discovered during a recent deep sea survey by scientists from Marine Scotland. “This is not a species that has previously been found in Scottish waters,” explained the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme, in a statement.

Related:  Scientists discover 'glowing' sea turtle

The elusive creatures can grow up to 10 feet long, but this one was around 6 feet, according to media reports.

The strange-looking shark has drawn unfavorable comparisons to the blobfish, which was dubbed the world’s ugliest animal in 2013.

Wasp DNA produces genetically modified butterflies

When a wasp injects its eggs into a caterpillar, the results are grisly to say the least. The viral DNA of the wasp alters the caterpillar’s immune response, allowing the host to stay alive as the eggs grow into larvae and begin to eat its body. After about 10 days of feeding, the larvae emerge, killing the caterpillar.

What’s interesting is this gruesome process has permanently genetically modified several moth and butterfly species, including the monarch. The same virus that allows the wasps to render the caterpillar powerless as its eggs grow into larvae — the bracovirus — is now part of the butterfly’s genes, and has made them less susceptible to pathogens known as baculoviruses.

This Horizontal Gene Transfer is detailed in a study that appears in the journal PLOS GENETICS. Study co–author Jean–Michel Drezen said he was surprised to find the bracovirus DNA present in the different lepidopteran (moth and butterfly) genomes.

Related: Ants are safer, more effective than pesticides, study says

“I did it by looking from curiosity at lepidopteran genomes sequences released on public data banks — in particular when the monarch genome was out in 2011 — and we began to study whether it was real by getting fresh DNA from animals sampled in the field and old DNA from a monarch collection,” Drezen told Foxnews.com. “[Study co-author] Salva Herrero had identified [them] by sequencing a cDNA library of Spodoptera exigua [asparagus fern caterpillar] clones resembling bracovirus genes.”

Though the wasp larvae almost always kill the caterpillar, Drezen has a few theories as to how some of them survive.

Listening for alien life: Could new tech detect microbe movements?

Spacecraft may one day be able to detect alien life by listening to the sounds microbes make.

Scientists are testing a new microphone technology called the remote acoustic sensor (RAS), which is capable of capturing sounds within extreme and often inaccessible aerospace environments. A miniaturized version of the device could theoretically make its way to Mars or to Jupiter's ocean-harboring moon, Europa, to listen for signs of life, researchers said.

"If there's life, and if it moves, it may make RAS-detectable sounds," said RAS lead technologist Dan Slater, an independent consultant based in La Habra Heights, California. Slater presented a review of his work on the RAS concept here Sept. 2 at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' (AIAA) Space 2015 meeting in Pasadena, Calif. [6 Most Likely Places for Alien Life in the Solar System]

Capturing sounds

The RAS detector assembly is sensitive to small audio-frequency variations in electromagnetic energy, Slater said. The technology becomes even more interesting and useful, he added, when combined with time-synchronized high-resolution imagery of the same scene.

To showcase his idea, Slater has used a ground-based, long-range RAStelescope to obtain visual and audio recordings of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch that took place in September 2013. He also monitored a test earlier this year of a rocket motor that will be incorporated into NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket.

RAS technology has also recorded the sound of a plane landing at Los Angeles International Airport, capturing the audio from the summit of Mount Wilson, some 28 miles away. A spectrogram produced from the recording shows several descending tones that were produced by the landing jet, Slater said.

Lost 'Epic of Gilgamesh' verse depicts cacophonous abode of gods

A serendipitous deal between a history museum and a smuggler has provided new insight into one of the most famous stories ever told: "The Epic of Gilgamesh."

The new finding, a clay tablet, reveals a previously unknown "chapter" of the epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia. This new section brings both noise and color to a forest for the gods that was thought to be a quiet place in the work of literature. The newfound verse also reveals details about the inner conflict the poem's heroes endured.

In 2011, the Sulaymaniyah Museum in Slemani, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, purchased a set of 80 to 90 clay tablets from a known smuggler. The museum has been engaging in these backroom dealings as a way to regain valuable artifacts that disappeared from Iraqi historical sites and museums since the start of the American-led invasion of that country, according to the online nonprofit publication Ancient History Et Cetera.

Among the various tablets purchased, one stood out to Farouk Al-Rawi, a professor in the Department of Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. The large block of clay, etched with cuneiform writing, was still caked in mud when Al-Rawi advised the Sulaymaniyah Museum to purchase artifact for the agreed upon $800.

New NASA images show Pluto’s moon Charon in stunning detail

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has sent incredible images of Pluto’s largest moon Charon back to Earth.

The latest images reveal the moon’s complex and violent history, according to NASA. “Many New Horizons scientists expected Charon to be a monotonous, crater-battered world; instead, they’re finding a landscape covered with mountains, canyons, landslides, surface-color variations and more,” explained the space agency, in a statement.

Related: Supermoon lunar eclipse in pictures

The high-resolution images, which were taken on July 14 and transmitted to Earth on Sept. 21, reveal a belt of fractures and canyons just north of the moon’s equator. Four times as long as the Grand Canyon, and twice as deep in places, the faults and canyons indicate a titanic geological upheaval in Charon’s past, according to NASA.

“It looks like the entire crust of Charon has been split open,” said John Spencer, deputy lead for New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging (GGI) at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, in the statement.

Last month NASA released dramatic images from New Horizons’ historic flyby of Pluto, which show icy mountains, fog, and the dwarf planet’s landscape dramatically backlit by the sun.

Scientists to see if they can save planet from asteroid

Come 2022, scientists will attempt to save all of humanity from an asteroid. Calm down, it's just a trial run. The joint US-European AIDA—that's Asteroid Deflection and Assessment—mission intends to crash a probe into a 525-foot-wide asteroid known as Didymoon to see if the impact will change its orbital path.

The egg-shaped asteroid is actually part of a binary system and orbits its larger partner, Didymos, every 12 hours, per Phys.org. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) probe will crash into Didymoon at a speed of roughly 13,420mph, while ESA's Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) will study the effects so researchers can determine whether Didymoon's orbit was indeed altered, reportsITV News.

As ESA mission manager Ian Carnelli explains, "We will gain insight into ... how the technique could be applied if a real threat were to occur." "To protect Earth from potentially hazardous impacts, we need to understand asteroids much better—what they are made of, their structure, origins, and how they respond to collisions," an ESA lead investigator says of the plan, revealed Wednesday at the European Planetary Science Congress in France.

As such, before AIM retreats to a safe distance to watch the impact, it will first study Didymoon's mass, density, and internal structure. The mission is set to launch in October 2020 and will meet up with the binary system in May 2022.

Per the ESA, Didymos will be "comparatively close" to Earth in 2022, at a distance of about 6.8 million miles; the Independent reports it came within 4.5 million miles of our planet in 2003.

Residents of Pompeii had 'perfect teeth' thanks mainly to diet

High-tech scans of Pompeii residents killed in the long-ago eruption of Mount Vesuvius have provided two revelations: They had amazing teeth, and many were killed by falling masonry and other objects—as opposed to the widely held theory that they were suffocated by ash.

As for the first: Thank a low-sugar, high-fiber Mediterranean diet. "The inhabitants of Pompeii ate a lot of fruit and vegetables but very little sugar," a dental expert tells the Telegraph.

"They ate better than we did and have really good teeth." They also benefited from high levels of fluorine in the air and water around Mount Vesuvius.

The upshot was "perfect teeth," in the words of news agency Agenzia Giornalistica Italia. The CT scans were conducted on remains that had been previously preserved in plaster casts.

The scans revealed that many victims had head injuries, likely from crumbling buildings. It supports an ancient account of the eruption preserved in a letter from a nephew of one of the victims, who wrote that people tied pillows to their heads to protect themselves, reports the Atlantic.

Scientists are continuing to study 3D reconstructions of dental arches and skeletons, including those of a young boy, a dog, and a boar. The archaeological superintendent of Pompeii tells the Local they will eventually analyze all 86 plaster casts to discover "their age, sex, what they ate, what diseases they had, and what class of society they belonged to." (This "exceptional" discovery in Pompeii predates its destruction.)

Duck Dynasty stars on how faith, family helped them face daughter’s medical condition

When the stars of A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” discovered at 31 weeks gestation that their youngest daughter would be born with a cleft lip and a possible cleft palate, they hardly knew where to turn.

Missy Robertson, whose husband Jase stars in the hit show alongside his brothers, father and uncle, was undergoing a 4-D ultrasound to see the features of her unborn daughter in summer 2003, when she noticed something was amiss.

“I noticed it, and when I asked the technician, I looked at her and realized she had already seen it and she said ‘I need to get the doctor,’” Missy told FoxNews.com. The doctor then confirmed that Missy’s baby had a cleft lip, and possibly a cleft palate.  

“I had heard of it, but I knew nothing of the condition at all,” Missy, who lives in Louisiana, said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 2,650 babies are born with a cleft palate in the U.S. each year, and approximately 4,440 babies are born with a cleft lip, with or without a cleft palate. A cleft palate occurs when the tissue that makes up the roof of the mouth does not join together completely during pregnancy, while a cleft lip occurs when the tissue that makes up the lip does not join completely before birth.

Upper cervical chiropractors offer new hope to pain sufferers

After enduring  car accidents when she was a young woman— none of which were her fault— Mary Steinhoff was left with chronic, debilitating pain that lasted for 29 years.

“I was in constant pain, [from] head to toe,” the 56-year-old from Morrisville, North Carolina said.  

In fact, the pain was so bad that she couldn’t raise her right arm or lie flat. As a result, she battled insomnia and fatigue, sleeping just 2 to 3 hours every night for years. It was also challenging to drive and impossible to concentrate or read a book.

“It can be an excruciating journey physically, emotionally and spiritually,” she said.

It wasn’t until 2002 that she was finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but she continued to live in pain as she tried virtually every treatment available: physical therapy, massage, aqua therapy, acupressure, medication, yoga, psychotherapy and prayer. She even bought a new mattress, tried a gluten-free diet and stopped eating sugar— nothing helped.

“I was desperate to fix this,” she said.

Although chiropractic treatment helped a bit, it wasn’t until she met Dr. Ray Drury, an upper cervical chiropractic doctor in Charlotte, North Carolina last year that she finally found some relief. Upper cervical chiropractors specialize in correcting a small misalignment of the upper neck known as the Atlas Subluxation Complex, according to the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association.

Drury discovered that Steinhoff’s atlas, or C1 vertebra, was tipped 4 degrees forward, which meant that her neck was flat. Since it didn’t have a natural curvature, it was impossible for her to lay flat. He also discovered that her upper cervical spine was not only turned to the right, which caused her spine to turn left, but it was also severely twisted.

#ShowYourStrap campaign gets flak from some breast cancer survivors

A breast cancer awareness campaign that is asking women to post Instagram photos with their bra straps exposed is facing criticism from survivors of the disease. The effort uses the hashtag #ShowYourStrap.

Metro.co.uk reported that some breast cancer survivors are firing back at the United Kingdom-based campaign, which has drawn the likes of supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and “Game of Thrones” actress Maisie Williams, as they believe the effort is exclusionary and sexualizes the disease. The charityBreast Cancer Now launched the campaign with department store Marks & Spencer— a retailer that does not offer bras for breast cancer patients who have had reconstructive surgery.

“What about people who’ve had double mastectomies and don’t wear bras? Or men? Breast cancer affects them too, and none of them have bra straps to show,” 31-year-old Kim Feast, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, told Metro.co.uk.

Breast cancer bloggers like Loose Debra also argued the #ShowYourStrap selfies sexualize and objectify breast cancer patients.

More US hospitals are encouraging breast-feeding, report says

Health officials say more hospitals are encouraging new mothers to breast-feed. 

A new report found more than two-thirds of hospitals in 2013 helped women start breast-feeding within an hour after birth. That's up from 44 percent six years earlier.

Roughly 90 percent of hospitals teach moms breast-feeding techniques and how to recognize and respond to infant feeding cues.

But only about a quarter refrain from giving infants breast milk alternatives - like formula or water - unless medically necessary.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed about 2,700 hospitals for the report released Tuesday.

Overall, about 80 percent of U.S. babies breast-feed, at least briefly.

The plant that gives you a better night’s rest

Drinking chamomile tea can calm you down and get you ready for bed, but there are some other natural ways to help you get some zzz’s.

Here’s a question we received from a viewer:

Dear Dr. Manny,

I’ve heard that there are plants that will actually help you sleep better— is this true?

Thanks,

Jane

It’s true, making a few adjustments to your bedroom can make all the difference in your sleep quality.

First, be sure to create a cool, dark sleeping environment. Get into the habit of going to bed around the same time each night and avoid using your smartphone and computer an hour before bed.

However, there are some plants that you can add to your bedroom.

“There are herbal teas, chamomile, of course; my favorite being passion flower. It’ll knock you out and keep you out—gives you a great night’s sleep. Kava works as well. But there is also a plant that you can put into your bedroom, snake plant. It’s a common ornamental… and it significantly increases the oxygen density in our bedroom and gives you a better night’s sleep,” said Chris Kilham, Fox News' Medicine Hunter.

Flu-associated pneumonia tied to skipped flu vaccine

The flu vaccine may help prevent flu-related pneumonia, a study suggests.

When researchers looked at patients with pneumonia, those whose pneumonia was related to the flu were more likely to have skipped the flu vaccine, compared to patients with pneumonia from other causes.

Pneumonia can be a serious and common complication of catching the flu, the authors write.

"We knew that influenza vaccines could prevent fever and respiratory symptoms associated with influenza infections, but whether influenza vaccines could prevent pneumonia - a more serious complication of influenza infection - was unclear," said lead author Dr. Carlos G. Grijalva of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.

As reported in JAMA, the researchers used data on 2,767 children and adults hospitalized for pneumonia between 2010 and 2012 - including 162 who had laboratory-confirmed influenza.

Of the 162 people with influenza-associated pneumonia, only 28, or 17 percent, had been vaccinated. Almost 30 percent of the comparison cases had been vaccinated.

More American women may get IUDs right after giving birth

For new mothers in the U.S. who receive government-sponsored health insurance, it's becoming easier to get intrauterine devices (IUDs) implanted immediately after giving birth, a study found.

"Immediate insertion is associated with more women who want an IUD implant actually getting it, higher use at three months postpartum, and lower rates of unplanned rapid repeat pregnancies within 12 to 24 months of delivery," said lead study author Dr. Michelle Moniz of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in email to Reuters Health. "Furthermore, multiple analyses suggest that this strategy is cost-effective."

Just three years ago, no state Medicaid programs paid for these contraceptive devices to be implanted right after delivery. But over the past three years, Medicaid has added coverage for IUDs inserted right after birth in at least 19 states, the study found.

The shift reflects mounting evidence that providing IUDs during hospitalizations for delivery is a safe and effective way to increase contraceptive use among new mothers and discourage pregnancies in rapid succession that pose health risks to women and their babies, said Moniz.

Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, pays for roughly half of U.S. births - and an even greater proportion of deliveries at most safety-net hospitals that treat many of the nation's poor and uninsured patients. States jointly finance the program with the federal government and have wide latitude to determine who qualifies for benefits and what services to cover.

For the current study, Moniz and colleagues interviewed Medicaid representatives from 39 states and the District of Columbia in 2014 and 2015. Officials in the remaining eleven states either declined to participate or didn't respond to interview requests.

FDA's new anti-smoking campaign uses hip-hop to target youth

The Food and Drug Administration will try to adapt the sounds, style and attitudes of hip-hop into a multi-million dollar anti-smoking campaign to discourage young African Americans, Hispanics and other groups from using tobacco.

The federal agency said Tuesday it will spend $128 million on advertising, events and local outreach as part of the "Fresh Empire" campaign, which aims to curb the use of cigarettes and other tobacco products among minority teenagers.

FDA officials say research shows young people who identify with hip-hop are more likely to smoke than their peers.

To be sure, hip-hop's origins as an anti-establishment urban movement would seem to conflict with the federal government's buttoned-down image. But FDA officials say they can convincingly pitch their message to hip-hop fans.

"We know from our research that remaining in control is an important pillar of hip-hop culture. But smoking represents a loss of control, so tobacco use is actually in conflict with that priority," said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products.

Walker joining White House race Monday, amid high expectation in already crowded field

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Monday will announce his entry into the Republican presidential primary race -- a move that will finally answer the question whether he can turn high expectations into top-tier status in the crowded field.

Walker’s expected entrance would make him the 15th GOP candidate, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore to follow in coming weeks, bringing the total by summer's end to at least 17.

The two-term Wisconsin governor waited until after concluding state budget negotiations to enter the race, but he has been near the top of polls since the start of the election cycle.

Walker has nearly 11 percent of the vote, trailing front-running Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, who has roughly 16 percent, in the most recent averaging of polls by the nonpartisan website RealClearPolitics.com. 

His position would likely put him among the top-10 candidates, allowing him to participate in the first Republican debate, on Aug. 6 and hosted by the Fox News Channel.

“What Scott Walker needs to do is to try to reclaim some of the mojo he had in the beginning of the year, when he kind of exceeded expectations,” Washington Examiner political editor Jim Antle told FoxNews.com on Friday.