Science

Scientists track 'killer' shrimps

Thursday, 3 March 2011

Traps baited with cat and fish food are being used to track "killer" shrimp in British rivers, the Environment Agency has announced.

Government failed to act on volcanic ash threat, say MPs

Thursday, 3 March 2011

Steve Connor: Government failed to plan for a possible volcanic eruption in Iceland.

Just like us, chimps laugh even when the joke isn’t funny

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Steve Connor: Chimpanzees can share a joke just like any human but they are also capable of sharing a laugh even when they don't find something particularly funny, scientists have discovered.

'Limitless' microscope to aid virus research

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

An optical microscope that uses light and is so powerful that it can capture living viruses and be used to view the working biological machinery that keeps human cells alive has been invented by British scientists.

Looted Afghan treasures identified

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Afghan treasures looted from Kabul have come to light nearly 20 years after they were stolen, thanks to an unknown benefactor.

Video: Astronauts begin spacewalk

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Stephen Bowen and Alvin Drew carry out maintenance on the International Space Station, 220 miles above the earth.

We're all aliens...how humans began life in outer space

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Steve Connor: The mystery of how the building blocks of biology came to be on Earth may have been solved.

After 5,000 years, the iceman shows his face

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

The naturally mummified body of Oetzi, the 5,000-year-old "Iceman" discovered on the border between Italy and Austria in 1991, and an impression of his face created by experts Alfons and Adrie Kennis. Both feature in the exhibition "20 years of Oetzi", which opens in Bolzano, Italy.

Video: Discovery shuttle crew 'remain focused'

Monday, 28 February 2011

Discovery's crew say they are focused on their mission despite the retirement of the space shuttle next week.

Video: Nasa film large solar flare

Monday, 28 February 2011

Scientists at Nasa have recorded a huge solar flare caused by a large magnetic eruption.

The descent of man?

Monday, 28 February 2011

Our species is still evolving, but future humans might be more like Danny DeVito than Stuart Broad. Olly Bootle explains why

Discovery docks at International Space Station for last time

Sunday, 27 February 2011

Space shuttle Discovery arrived at the International Space Station yesterday, making its final visit before being parked at a museum.

Arctic Circle? No, Aberdeen

Saturday, 26 February 2011

To many Scots, "The Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen" is a popular traditional song by Mary Webb – the sort of thing your Uncle Jimmy might sing after too many wee drams at Hogmanay, writes Victoria Summerley.

UCL to lead planetary life mission

Friday, 25 February 2011

British scientists are to lead a mission searching for signs of life on planets orbiting nearby stars.

The final countdown and the end of an era

Friday, 25 February 2011

Guy Adams: The last journey of 'Discovery' represents the grounding of Nasa's ambitions.

Video: Countdown to last ever Discovery mission

Thursday, 24 February 2011

'Thunder thighs' dinosaur discovered in America

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

The beast, named Brontomerus mcintoshi, or "thunder-thighs", has been discovered in Utah.

Toxins from South African mines threaten city

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Toxic liquids building up in defunct gold mines beneath Johannesburg could reach environmentally dangerous levels by June 2012, officials and scientists said yesterday.

Seaweed may be the key in the fight against malaria parasite

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

A red seaweed found off the Pacific island of Fiji has been found to contain a powerful class of natural substances that can effectively destroy the malaria parasite, scientists said yesterday.

Solar storm 'could cause more damage than Katrina'

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

Steve Connor: A solar flare hit the Earth last week – and experts are now warning the next could be catastrophic.

Study links brain and white-collar crime

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

People who commit "white collar" crime such as credit-card fraud and computer hacking have been found to have brains that are structurally different from the brains of non-criminals with similar backgrounds, scientists have found.

Squeak defects in mice could help treat human stutterers

Monday, 21 February 2011

The mystery of why some children begin to stutter in the first few years of life, and never fully recover from the speech impediment, may soon be solved with the creation of the world’s first “stuttering” mouse.

James Watt bust to appear in 3D

Monday, 21 February 2011

A sculpture of James Watt, one of the Industrial Revolution's greatest engineers, has been created using 3D technology.

US science chief warns: 'China will eat our lunch'

Sunday, 20 February 2011

Steve Connor: Soviet Sputnik satellite launch in 1957 threatened American pre-eminence. Now Beijing poses a similar danger, says Obama adviser.

Out with tuna, in with sardines – a recipe for saving the seas

Saturday, 19 February 2011

The world's oceans would be a better place for wildlife if people shifted from eating large, predatory fish such as tuna and cod to smaller, "grazing" fish such as anchovies and sardines, a study finds.