Heart Muscle Helps Cyborg Jellyfish Come Alive, $200,000 Donation to Save Mount Umunhum Radar Tower - 7/23 KQED Science News Roundup

Heart muscle helps cyborg jellyfish come alive - tech - 22 July 2012 - New ScientistEven before a jolt of electricity was applied to animate its body, the cyborg twitched with signs of life. No, this isn't a scene from Frankenstein but a lab at Harvard University where the world's first artificial jellyfish has been created. With a single pulse of electricity, it even swims like the real thing.

$200,000 donation to save Mount Umunhum radar tower - San Jose Mercury NewsSilicon Valley developer and former Oakland A

Underfed pelicans flood coastal areasSince the birds began their migration from the Gulf of California in late June, emaciated pelicans - famished from a lack of food - have been flooding into rescue centers. High mortality rates are typical for brown pelicans - fewer than half survive their first year - but experts don't know whether the apparent increase in deaths is due to a higher birth rate, lower food availability or something else.

Calif., federal officials to reveal water plans - The Sacramento BeeCalifornia Gov. Jerry Brown is set to reignite the state's water wars when he makes the long-awaited announcement next week about plans to build a massive twin tunnel system to carry water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farmland and cities. Already the $23.7 billion proposal is facing heavy criticism.

European Agency Recommends Approval of a Gene TherapyAfter more than two decades of dashed expectations, the field of gene therapy appears close to reaching a milestone: a regulatory approval. The European Medicines Agency has recommended approval of a gene therapy to treat a rare genetic disease, according to the agency's Web site.