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Promising gene therapy delivers treatment directly to brain

When Rylae-Ann Poulin was a year old, she didn't crawl or babble like other kids her age. A rare genetic disorder kept her from even lifting her head. Her parents took turns holding her upright at night just so she could breathe comfortably and sleep.

Then, months later. doctors delivered gene therapy directly to her brain.

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Norway archaeologists find 'world's oldest runestone'

Archaeologists in Norway said Tuesday that have found a runestone which they claim is the world's oldest, saying the inscriptions are up to 2,000 years old and date back to the earliest days of the enigmatic history of runic writing.

The flat, square block of brownish sandstone has carved scribbles, which may be the earliest example of words recorded in writing in Scandinavia, the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo said. It said it was "among the oldest runic inscriptions ever found" and "the oldest datable runestone in the world."

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Eating one wild fish same as month of drinking tainted water

Eating one freshwater fish caught in a river or lake in the United States is the equivalent of drinking a month's worth of water contaminated with toxic "forever chemicals", new research said on Tuesday.

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EU inaugurates first mainland satellite launch port

The European Union wants to bolster its capacity to launch small satellites into space with a new launchpad in Arctic Sweden.

European officials and Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf inaugurated the EU's first mainland orbital launch complex on Friday during a visit to Sweden by members of the European Commission, which is the 27-nation bloc's executive arm.

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Europe's largest rare earths deposit discovered in Sweden

Europe's largest known deposit of rare earth elements, essential for the manufacturing of electric vehicles, has been discovered in Sweden's far north, boosting Europe's hopes of cutting its dependence on China.

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Glass act: Scientists reveal secrets of frog transparency

Now you see them, now you don't.

Some frogs found in South and Central America have the rare ability to turn on and off their nearly transparent appearance, researchers reported in the journal Science.

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Oldest DNA reveals life in Greenland 2 million years ago

Scientists discovered the oldest known DNA and used it to reveal what life was like 2 million years ago in the northern tip of Greenland. Today, it's a barren Arctic desert, but back then it was a lush landscape of trees and vegetation with an array of animals, even the now extinct mastodon.

"The study opens the door into a past that has basically been lost," said lead author Kurt Kjær, a geologist and glacier expert at the University of Copenhagen.

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NASA capsule buzzes moon, last big step before lunar orbit

NASA's Orion capsule reached the moon Monday, whipping around the back side and passing within 80 miles (128 kilometers) on its way to a record-breaking lunar orbit.

The close approach occurred as the crew capsule and its three test dummies were on the far side of the moon. Because of the half-hour communication blackout, flight controllers in Houston did not know if the critical engine firing went well until the capsule emerged from behind the moon, more than 232,000 miles (375,000 kilometers) from Earth.

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NASA's mightiest rocket lifts off 50 years after Apollo

NASA's new moon rocket blasted off on its debut flight with three test dummies aboard early Wednesday, bringing the U.S. a big step closer to putting astronauts back on the lunar surface for the first time since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago.

If all goes well during the three-week, make-or-break shakedown flight, the rocket will propel an empty crew capsule into a wide orbit around the moon, and then the capsule will return to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific in December.

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Last total lunar eclipse for three years arrives Tuesday

Better catch the moon's disappearing act Tuesday — there won't be another like it for three years.

The total lunar eclipse will be visible throughout North America in the predawn hours — the farther west, the better — and across Asia, Australia and the rest of the Pacific after sunset. As an extra treat, Uranus will be visible just a finger's width above the moon, resembling a bright star.

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