Since I’ve started tweeting a lot of the science articles that catch my eye, those who follow me on twitter or are friends with me on Facebook (I have it set up so that Twitter feeds Facebook), you’ve already had a chance to see these articles. If not, then now’s your chance.

A rattlesnake that had been captive and separate from other snakes for five years gave birth to 19 young. Since some reptiles have been known to give birth without the need of any contribution from a male, a geneticist compared the genes of the young to those of their mother and found that there was in fact a father. This would suggest that she held the sperm for five years before conception. (New Scientist)

NASA is considering setting up fueling stations in space that would allow for using smaller rockets than they are currently designing for launches to the moon, asteroids, Mars, and beyond. (New York Times)

A pre-Clovis culture in the Olympic Peninsula of what is now Washington state hunted mastodons 13,800 years ago using what was probably a spear made from sharpened mastodon bone.
(New Scientist)

A new malaria vaccine, the best so far, has completed a Phase III clinical trial. Depending on the strain of malaria it’s at best 50% effective, while it’s not all that great, it’s better than nothing. Hopefully this will eventually lead to a more effective vaccine. (Scientific American)

Assamese macaques, who like humans do not show any outward signs of fertility, have demonstrated an interesting strategy when it comes to sex. Even though they are not all fertile at the same time, if one female becomes receptive to sex, they all do. This allows them greater choice in sexual partners, rather than just being monopolized by the dominate males. As a result each female can have most of her sex with her preferred male, but they do make a point of mating with each male in the troupe so that the ambiguous paternity would result in all of the males protecting their young. (New Scientist)

A US based NGO plans on starting a new cholera vaccination campaign in Haiti in January. This is in response to the cholera outbreak that started after last years earthquake which has infected around 5% of the population and killed more than 6500 people. (Scientific American)

A group of scientists who have been skeptical of climate change have reanalysed 200 years worth of global data. This project has even resulted in several climate change deniers to agree to follow the conclusions of this study. Not surprising, the study agreed with all the previous ones, the world is getting warmer. (New Scientist)