Science News Roundup: Boeing Starliner capsule's first crewed flight delayed over rocket glitch; Chicago museum acquires new specimen of famed Archaeopteryx and more

It has the best-preserved skull, vertebral column and soft tissues of the 13 known Archaeopteryx specimens, the museum said. Boeing Starliner capsule's first crewed test flight postponed over Atlas rocket glitch The long-awaited first crewed test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft was called off for at least 24 hours over a technical glitch with the Atlas V rocket that was being readied to launch the new astronaut capsule to orbit on Monday night.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Chicago museum acquires new specimen of famed Archaeopteryx

An exquisitely preserved fossil of the earliest-known bird Archaeopteryx, a pigeon-sized specimen revealing new anatomical details of a creature whose 19th century discovery lent support to Charles Darwin's ideas about evolution, has been acquired by the Field Museum in Chicago and will go on public display. The museum announced on Monday the acquisition of the fossil, which it said had been in the hands of a series of private collectors since being unearthed in southern Germany sometime before 1990. It has the best-preserved skull, vertebral column and soft tissues of the 13 known Archaeopteryx specimens, the museum said.

Boeing Starliner capsule's first crewed test flight postponed over Atlas rocket glitch

The long-awaited first crewed test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft was called off for at least 24 hours over a technical glitch with the Atlas V rocket that was being readied to launch the new astronaut capsule to orbit on Monday night. The CST-100 Starliner's inaugural voyage carrying astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) has been highly anticipated and much-delayed as Boeing scrambles to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX for a greater share of lucrative NASA business.

Boeing Starliner capsule's first crewed flight delayed over rocket glitch

Boeing's long-awaited first crewed test flight of the new Starliner space capsule was called off for at least 24 hours over a technical issue that launch teams could not resolve in time for the planned Monday night lift-off. The latest flight was scrubbed with less two hours left in the countdown as the capsule stood poised for blastoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop an Atlas V rocket furnished by United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture.

People with two copies of a risk gene have genetic form of Alzheimer's, scientists say

People who carry two copies of the APOE4 gene are virtually guaranteed to develop Alzheimer's and face symptoms at an earlier age, researchers reported on Monday in a study that could redefine such carriers as having a new genetic form of the mind-wasting disease. The reclassification could change Alzheimer's research, diagnosis and approaches to treatment, according to the researchers, whose study was published in the journal Nature Medicine.

(With inputs from agencies.)