After nine months in space, mouse sperm has yielded healthy mice, Japanese scientists reported.

The freeze-dried sperm samples were launched in 2013 to the International Space Station and returned to Earth in 2014. The intense radiation of space caused slight DNA damage to the sperm.

Yet, following in vitro fertilization on the ground, healthy offspring resulted. The baby mice grew into adults with normal fertility of their own.

The researchers said it's a step toward reproducing other mammals, even humans, using space-preserved sperm. They envision missions lasting several years or multiple generations, during which assisted reproductive technology might be used for domestic animals and people.

Besides looking ahead to long-term space crews and societies, the researchers see other reasons for saving sperm in space, including in the event of disasters on Earth.

'Winged' snake lived 5 million years ago

A new species of snake that lived roughly 5 million years ago has been discovered at a fossil site in Tennessee. A study published in the Journal of Herpetology says the snake has been named Zilantophis schuberti, which roughly translates to "Schubert's Winged Snake." The snake is named in part after Blaine Schubert, the executive director of the Gray Fossil Site where the discovery was made. The snake didn't have wings, but its vertebrae have pronounced projections toward the front of its body.

Rate of sea level rise tripled since 1990

A new scientific analysis finds that the Earth's oceans are rising nearly three times as rapidly as they were throughout most of the 20th century, one of the strongest indications yet that a much feared trend of not just sea level rise, but its acceleration, is now underway. The paper, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, isn't the first to find that the rate of rising seas is itself increasing — but it finds a bigger rate of increase than past studies. The paper concludes that before 1990, oceans were rising about 1.1 millimeters per year, or .43 inches per decade. From 1993 through 2012, though, it finds that they rose 3.1 millimeters per year, or 1.22 inches per decade.

Orangutans nurse young for up to 9 years

Orangutans are exceptionally dedicated mothers. They give birth to one baby at a time, raising each for six to nine years, until it's time to rear another. Mother and young sleep and spend most of their time with each other. And, scientists reported this month, they nurse longer than any other mammal — sometimes into the ninth year. Why? The availability of food varies drastically for the endangered apes. Many live in forests where many trees fruit at once, independent of a seasonal cycle.

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