Science News

Police protection for a plant? It makes sense if it's one of the last wild examples of its species and collectors are willing to pay rhino horn–level prices for its flowers.

That's the situation for the lady's slipper orchid ( Cypripedium calceolus ). Just a few of the wildflowers remain in Britain following decades of habitat loss to real-estate development and overharvesting by orchid collectors . One of the plants--in fact, the last flowering example of the plant in the wild in Britain--exists at Silverdale Golf Club in Carnforth, England, where it is visited by hundreds of plant enthusiasts every year. As the 100-year-old orchid prepares to bud some time in the next two months, British police are stepping up efforts to protect it from collectors, who have twice already tried to steal it.

Strange tales of lactating men or male pregnancy pains crop up in the news from time to time, despite the fact that men cannot get pregnant. Does that mean men are also susceptible to bouts with prenatal and postpartum depression ? [More]

By Eric Hand

When the Falcon 9 rocket makes its inaugural test flight, expected later this month, it will carry with it NASA's hopes for a new generation of low-cost rockets to ferry cargo and people into space.

The rocket--touted as a possible savior of human spaceflight--could also solve a serious problem facing the next generation of space probes. [More]

Editor's Note: William Gilly , a professor of cell and developmental biology and marine and organismal biology at Stanford University, is traveling with a group of students on board the Don José in the Sea of Cortez. They will monitor and track Humboldt squid and sperm whales in their watery habitats. This is the group's seventh blog post. [More]

It may look like a floor lamp mounted on a vacuum cleaner, but Anybots, Inc.'s new QB is actually the latest in surrogate robotics. QB is designed to serve as your eyes, ears and voice when you can't be there in person. Even better, it's mobile, rolls around on two wheels like Rosie (from The Jetsons ) and can be navigated remotely via the Web and a Wi-Fi connection. [More]

By Michael Haskins