Rick Pantaleo

This Science Edition of Press Conference USA marks African-American History Month with a discussion on the many contributions black inventors have made in the US and throughout the world. Host Rick Pantaleo talks with Keith Holmes, founder, and CEO of Global Black Inventor Research Projects, Incorporated and author of “Black Inventors: Crafting over 200 Years of Success”.

A new study, that was recently presented at an American Geophysical Union meeting, suggests 70 to 90 percent of Earth’s coral reefs could disappear over the next 20 years. The study also says that factors like rising sea surface temperatures and acidic waters could destroy nearly all of the existing coral reef habitats by the end of this century.

Scientists with Canada’s CHIME consortium report that they detected repeating fast radio bursts between September 2018 and October 2019. The scientists noticed that these quick, mysterious and high-powered bursts of radiofrequency energy were transmitted over a 16.35-day cycle. They say the bursts would be transmitted over four days and then followed by a 12-day period of silence when the cycle would repeat.

Studies, including one from Harvard Medical School, provided evidence of a link between the loss of a close loved one with a high risk of a heart attack. A new Australian study suggests taking the combination of a high blood pressure medication and aspirin, each day could lower the risk of such a grief-induced heart attack.

Scientists at the University of Cincinnati have developed a credit card-sized medical system for the smartphone. The scientists say that with just a single drop of blood or saliva, on a lab chip, the device can diagnose a number of infectious disease and other health conditions. After gathering the diagnostic data the device would then transmit the information to a doctor.

A team of astronomers discovered a massive ancient galaxy that produced about 1,000 stars a year at its peak. The Milky Way produces about only one star each year. According to the astronomers, the galaxy, called XMM-2599, started generating large numbers of stars when the universe was only 1 billion years old. 800 million later the galaxy suddenly became inactive and, so far, hasn’t produced any stars since.

The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter is being readied for its planned February 9th launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its mission, a collaboration between the ESA and NASA, will include making close-up observations of the Sun from high-latitudes, which will allow the spacecraft to snap the first ever images of the Sun’s Polar Regions.

A new study from Australia’s Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology suggests the sounds that rouse you from your sleep could determine if you’ll wake up feeling tired and groggy or refreshed and ready to face a new day. The study indicates that harsh alarm noise could make you feel sleepy while waking up to a melodic alarm, like your favorite song, could improve your level of alertness.

Earlier this week, a company that monitors orbiting satellites tweeted that two satellites would approach each other so closely that they could collide on January 29th. The chief concern was that such a collision would produce thousands of pieces of space debris, adding to the nearly 1 million bits of space junk now orbiting Earth. Fortunately, the two satellites missed each other and didn’t crash after all.

NASA says that Voyager mission engineers at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory are working to restore the Voyager 2 spacecraft back to normal science operations after a problem tripped a fault detector, shutting off the spacecraft’s instruments late last week. Voyager 2 along with its sister Voyager 1 began their missions back in 1977, both have since exited the solar system and are in interstellar space.