SciTech Daily Review - science, technology, future developments, innovations, implications

Researchers have successfully vaccinated macque monkeys against the Ebola virus, inspiring hope that a human vaccine will soon follow (free registration required) ... [more]

If you find winter too much of a struggle, hang on a while. Human hibernation is on the way ... [more]

Scientists and activists from four continents were honored recently as this year's winners of the 'alternative Nobel' awards ... [more]

A study of mitochondrial DNA shows that the human evolutionary tree is firmly rooted in Africa ... [more]

Spacecraft, heal thyself! Supermaterials are being developed which promise to repel space dangers ... [more]

Catastrophe is the mother of evolution. Mounting evidence suggests that life on early Earth survived heavy bombardment from space rocks, pointing to an earlier origin for terrestrial life ... [more]

The world's largest tree just keeps getting younger ... [more]

How do you keep mosquitoes from spreading malaria? One way is to disguise their salivary glands ... [more]

Nearly every important recent brain discovery comes from the study of simpler nervous systems in animals. But it seems those animal brain circuits aren't so simple after all. In fact, they're marvels of engineering ... [more]

If you thought warp drive was weird, try jolt propulsion ... [more]

Australia faces the largest locust plague ever recorded in the country, warns the Australian Plague Locust Commission. But the insects may be in for a rude shock ... [more]

Researchers using the testbed interferometer at Palomar Observatory have been able to improve the "cosmic yardstick" used to infer the size and age of the universe ... [more]

Without suitable lubrication, the microscopic ‘nanoscale’ machines and gears of the future will grind to a halt. But the path to nanotech has just become smoother: US chemists have worked out how to reduce friction at the molecular level ... [more]

For years, people have talked of space tourists, but it has only been talk -- until now ... [more]

Capuchin monkeys don't like blood-sucking insects any better than humans do. Both primates employ the same tactic to protect themselves against the merciless onslaught of mosquitoes: rubbing themselves with mosquito repellent ... [more]

Fantasy = reality: Our brains don't appear to distinguish between imagining an object and looking at the real thing ... [more]

Is your memory on the blink? Maybe your brain is suffering from being too stressed, for too long ... [more] Or perhaps you're just not getting enough sleep ... [more]

Forget big generators, in ten years' time we could be making and selling our own electricity. We might even save the planet ... [more]

Despite setbacks, Russian environmentalists have vowed to continue fighting for a referendum that could bar imports of nuclear waste ... [more]

A new, super-strong ceramic material for artificial joints could lead to longer lasting hips ... [more]

An international team of scientists has recovered microorganisms in the upper atmosphere that may have come from outer space ... [more]

A new five-minute vision test is showing promise as a diagnostic tool for a variety of eye diseases and even certain brain tumors ... [more]

Australia's east coast humpback whales are singing a different tune these days -- and it's all in the name of love ... [more]

After a five-year search that has turned up more than 40 giant, inhospitable planets around other stars, the hunt is quietly underway to discover another place like home ... [more]

The end is not nigh -- at least not by way of particle accelerator experiments ... [more]

If NASA engineers have their way, an armada of future Mars spacecraft will seem to arrive at the Red Planet by materialising out of thin air ... [more]

Problem behavior is common among adolescents that lack sufficient parenting -- even when the adolescents in question are elephants ... [more]

Want to buy a piece of land that promises lots of quiet and a great view of the stars? There's a sale going on that's out of this world. But hurry, the price will soon rise astronomically ... [more]

While the heart-smart benefits of the typical Mediterranean diet are well established, new research suggests that such diets may also stave off age-related memory loss ... [more]

Every time we blink, the world goes away for a fifth of a second. So why don't we notice the gap? ... [more]

The humble sea squirt is helping scientists carry out pioneering research into infertility, sidestepping the ethical problems of experimenting on human embryos ... [more]

Some struggling US farmers are finding salvation in a new crop: the wind ... [more]

Light, strong and corrosion-resistant, composite materials are being used in an increasing number of products as more manufacturers discover their benefits ... [more]

With the holiday season approaching, why not check out the perfect gift for that special scientist in your life -- a personal satellite ... [more]

Big old stars don’t die quietly -- they go out with a bang. But in their death is rebirth ... [more]

Despite recent efforts to rehabilitate the generously curved figure, we still tend to despise body fat, viewing it mainly as a useless appendage. But researchers now see fat as a vital organ, at the centre of a highly complex hormonal and immune balancing act ... [more]

When a normal star teams up with a superdense neutron star, gas and dust gets stripped from one, sucked toward the other, and then slammed into one of the densest object in the universe. Then things get wild ... [more]

The secret behind drug side effects may be in your genes ... [more]

Contraception may become virtually foolproof, thanks to a hormone patch developed in Canada ... [more]

The world's first commercial wave power station is going into action in Scotland, harvesting energy from the ocean ... [more]

Shrugging off possible US sanctions over its expanded whale hunt -- all for essential research, of course! -- Japan recently threw a party to farewell its whaling fleet ... [more]

Want to live to a ripe old age? The first step is to be born into the right family (free registration required) ... [more]

"Every single aspect of space is conspiring at every moment to pretty much kill humans." And this is part of what motivates Madhu Thangavelu to be a space architect ... [more]

Archaeologists and population geneticists believe they are on the verge of retrieving a record of human history stretching back almost 50,000 years (free registration required) ... [more]

The newest weapon being deployed against the dreaded fire ant sounds like something out of a sci-fi thriller: An insect whose larvae eat the heads off their prey ... [more]

Exposure to microgravity weakens muscle, causes bone loss and plays havoc with balance and coordination. Now scientists are tackling the problem with experiments in artificial gravity ... [more]

Vitamin A deficiency impairs learning -- but fortunately the effects can be easily reversed ... [more]

Slumping permafrost, starving seal pups and unexpected thunder -- these are among the signs that global warming is changing the Arctic environment ... [more]

Want to recycle your old PC? IBM will take it ... [more]

A trial of the world's first internal artificial pancreas could spell an end to insulin injections for people with diabetes ... [more]

Robodocs may be here, but remote surgery remains a remote prospect ... [more]

While the young are often hotheaded, a handful of juvenile stars in a nearby stellar nursery have broken the temperature gauges, almost literally ... [more]

A new "hitchhiker" painkiller could be a magic bullet for pain making even tiny doses much more effective ... [more]

Ichthyosaurs were the undisputed rulers of the Jurassic seas -- but only recently have paleontologists discovered why these creatures were so successful ... [more]

Space gridlock. It's not quite solar-panel-to-solar-panel traffic above Earth -- but it is getting crowded as more and more nations vie for their own space byways ... [more]

New research suggests that long-term exposure to a widely used pesticide kills brain cells and triggers debilitating physical symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease ... [more]

Even drugs that are popularly believed to be 'safe' have their dangers. Taking ecstasy on a regular basis damages users' cognitive health, impairing both short- and long-term memory ... [more]

Kaposi's Sarcoma, a form of the herpes virus that causes an AIDS-related skin cancer, appears to spread through kissing ... [more]

The Galileo spacecraft has provided picture proof of clouds of ammonia ice above Jupiter ... [more]

Researchers in Iceland claim to have pinpointed a gene for schizophrenia, stirring hope and anxiety among millions of sufferers of what has been called "the worst disease affecting mankind" ... [more]

To maximize the survival of their spawn, white sturgeon are supposed to reproduce in late spring, not autumn. Why are these creatures defying 300 million years of evolution? ... [more]

Better get your fish and chips while you can -- cod's off the menu ... [more]

A team of scientists are on their way to the south Atlantic, to settle once and for all that eternal question: Do penguins really fall over backwards while watching aircraft fly overhead? ... [more]

A pacemaker-like device known as the Vagus Nerve Stimulator -- currently used to treat epilepsy -- is being evaluated as a possible new treatment for severe depression ... [more]

The citizens of Punta Arenas, Chile, are the subjects of a potentially deadly experiment: What happens to people who live under the widening ozone hole? ... [more]

Insecticide-resistant mosquitoes might turn out to be friends, not foes, in the war against killer diseases such as malaria and yellow fever ... [more]

US Chemists have developed a device capable of detecting tiny -- but nonetheless toxic -- amounts of soluble uranium. It could be easily adapted into a pocket kit for instant on-site analyses ... [more]

The first transistors to be fashioned from a single 'buckyball' have been reported by US scientists ... [more]

Human self-esteem seems to depend on seeing our species as exceptional. Geneticists are about to deliver another blow to our collective ego ... [more]

The traffic on Mars is expected to double in the near future as NASA announces plans to launch two large scientific rovers to the red planet in 2003 ... [more]

Locusts' days of destruction may be numbered, with the development of a natural, ecologically safe bio-pesticide ... [more]

"Smart" legs -- computer-controlled prosthetics -- are expected to be on the market within two years ... [more]

Thinking climate change? Think sheep! ... [more]

In a discovery expected to upset conventional thinking about stellar physics, researchers have found plasma-trapping magnetic fields at work on a star 30 times bigger than our Sun ... [more]

The fungus that caused the Irish Potato Famine is back -- and it's more aggressive than ever ... [more]

Chemical analysis of Beethoven's hair reveals that the famous composer's deafness and chronic ill-health were almost certainly due to lead poisoning ... [more]

Wet and wonderful water-filled windows could save a fortune in heating and cooling costs ... [more]

The 'yuck' factor is all in your brain -- and now we know just where ... [more]

Using modern technology to unlock ancient secrets, scientists have deciphered five pages of the only known copy of a 2,300-year-old Greek text by the mathematician Archimedes ... [more]

Ken Storey is Canada's frozen frog expert, and his insight into the winter life of cold-blooded animals is downright chilling ... [more]

Iceland's got a hot idea. It's poised to become the first hydrogen-power based ecomomy ... [more]

The US FDA plans to ban two antibiotics widely used by farmers because of a risk that humans could become infected with germs that resist treatment ... [more]

Tiny, versatile UV lasers could soon take over as the indoor lighting of choice for homes and public buildings ... [more]

Dispensing with sex could transform agriculture ... [more]

US scientists have achieved what researchers since Freud's day have sought: a way to control the content of dreams ... [more]

Workplace lead exposure may cause diminished memory and impaired mental abilities decades afterwards ... [more]

The next time you sprinkle salt on your french fries, consider this: You may be consuming ancient bacterial spores ... [more]

Normally sober space shuttle astronauts had "way too much fun" recently, test-flying jet-propelled backpacks ... [more]

To be kind to the Australian wilderness, you just need to burn it to the ground every few years ... [more]

Solar power is going organic ... [more]

Although the body inevitably withers with age, new research suggests people's emotional health only gets better over time ... [more]

Temperature-sensitive labels for food packages could help win the battle against food poisoning ... [more]

Could it be that aging, like puberty and menopause, is a programmed life-cycle event set off by hormonal signals from the brain? ... [more]

Whether you're in Texas or Tokyo, all the information you'll ever need will be on tap. When the wireless world meets the next generation Net, nothing will be the same again ... [more]

Scientists are unearthing the long-lost secrets of Britain's own Atlantis -- a vast area of former dry land under what is now the North Sea ... [more]

Imagine seeing and touching your first grandchild in a New York hospital -- from Sydney. The smart 3D behind tele-immersion will make it feel just like the real thing ... [more]

Think you must dress for success even in the bold new world of telecommuting? Maybe not, even if your employer has a videophone to display your image ... [more]

Children with severe asthma could benefit from taking a calcium supplement daily, to help prevent osteoporosis ... [more]

Men: Ask not for whom the biological clock tolls. It tolls for thee ... [more]

Snakes: loved by some, loathed by others. Whatever the degree of affection, within five years 'snakebots' may be Earth's ambassadors to the far reaches of the solar system ... [more] And they could be joined by metallic grasshoppers ... [more]

Miniature unmanned planes are ready to take their place as scientific workhorses ... [more]

Go ahead -- light up that cigarette and take a puff, in the secure knowledge that you can blame it on your parents ... [more]

Liquid lenses may make traditional mirrors for large telescopes obsolete ... [more]

You're an excellent host for parasites. They can slip into your body, rewrite your DNA and, sometimes, change your mood ... [more]

You can't buckle up just yet. But a vacation in space is closer to reality than you might expect ... [more]

Pestilences of biblical proportions are still being visited upon us sporadically by dark clouds of locusts ... [more]

A new gadget helps colour blind people dress to impress, in any colour they want ... [more]

A technique for turning common bacteria into toxin eaters could make hazardous waste sites self-cleaning, without the need for air or light ... [more]

Allison Okamura wants to give robots the gift of touch ... [more]

Long term exposure to fluoridated water does not increase the risk of osteoporotic fractures among elderly people -- a finding which should alleviate remaining concerns about the safety of fluoridation (free registration required) ... [more]

Computer scientists in the US have been building a dream house to test their vision of our future ... [more]

Researchers have found that blind people process spoken language faster than sighted people ... [more]

The phrase "to lick your wounds" may have an entirely different meaning now that scientists have discovered the benefits of saliva ... [more]

The leader of a UFO cult has announced plans to clone a dead baby -- and is promising to make human cloning widely available as soon as the method is perfected ... [more]

Careful physical breast examination is as effective as screening mammography in reducing mortality from breast cancer in women aged over 50 ... [more]

Scientists have "fertilized" the Southern Ocean to find out whether they could cut greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by stimulating the growth of algae that consume carbon dioxide ... [more]

Women may soon be superfluous to human reproduction... ... [more]

What do you buy for the Pet of the Person Who Has Everything? An echo-free fish tank, of course ... [more]

The deadly poison cyanide is being conscripted into the war against cancer ... [more]

Scientists have warned that variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease could be transmitted through whole blood transfusions by donors who have no symptoms of the disease (free registration required) ... [more]

Miniature magnetospheres -- fuel-efficient magnetic bubbles -- could speed the occupants of next-generation spacecraft from planet to planet, as well as warding off the worst solar flares ... [more]

The hazards of a healthy choice: Drinking low-fat rather than whole milk could be more likely to infect you with food-poisoning bugs ... [more]

US scientists have succeeded in impregnating a cow using cells taken from the dead body of an endangered ox. The new technology holds promise for rescuing vanishing species ... [more]

Creeping more slowly than a human fingernail grows, Earth's massive continents are on the move ... [more]

Britain and the US are developing a fungus that attacks opium poppies, but the project aimed at withering the heroin trade could end up producing a dangerous biological weapon ... [more]

Researchers have moved one step closer to understanding why reduced-calorie diets increase longevity ... [more]

Orion might want to tighten his pants. It appears that 18 planet-like objects are on the loose in a young star cluster near the his 'belt' ... [more]

Brushing aside controversy and a few glitches, NASA officials are forging ahead with plans to build an antigravity machine ... [more]

Are you tired, run down, plagued by headaches? Maybe you're allergic to your monitor ... [more]

The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has grown to a record size, stretching over a populated city for the first time ... [more]

From a 30 per cent infection rate, the Ugandan capital of Kampala's HIV incidence has been reduced to 12 per cent over the last ten years. Geographical looks into one of the pioneering projects that helped turn the tide ... [more]

High above the roof of the world, US military scientists are playing the sky like a harp ... [more]

A magic box could bring the stuff of your imagination into the hard-edged material world ... [more]

Concentrations of ozone-destroying gases are down, but the Antarctic ozone hole is bigger than ever. It turns out there's more to ozone destruction than just CFCs ... [more]

Clearing minefields is terrifying enough, but mines that move around will make it virtually impossible ... [more]

Shade-grown coffee may provide a rich cup of java, but it doesn't necessarily make for healthy bird populations ... [more]

Fifteen million people live in LA, lured by the sun and scenery. But their impact on the environment means their urban life can be closer to hell than heaven ... [more]

Skin is the perfect breeding ground for rampaging superbugs ... [more]

A small metal coil inserted into a woman's fallopian tubes promises permanent birth control without surgery ... [more]

Advocates of a crude form of surgery called trepanation, which involves drilling holes into the skull, want to bring the practice back -- from prehistoric times ... [more]

The machinery of memory may be responsible for its own notorious fallibility ... [more]

Engineers are putting a whole new spin on Darwinian natural selection -- using computer simulations to create a new breed of diesel engine ... [more]

Short bouts of exercise can be just as effective at protecting the heart as longer workouts, but getting the heart rate up is the key (free registration required) ... [more]

University of Maryland researchers have created a new pathway for sight by 'rewiring' the brains of newborn hamsters ... [more]

Researchers have finally solved the mystery of the snapping shrimp ... [more]

Subtle differences in the DNA of asthmatics can predict which patients will respond best to a certain drug -- the first example of personalised drug treatment made possible by the sequencing of the human genome (free registration required) ... [more]

Dangerous apes: Chimpanzees and gorillas harbour previously unknown herpes viruses that may be poised to jump species into humans ... [more]

Researchers have made the first vaccine that protects against genital herpes. But it does have a few limitations ... [more]

Don't worry, be skinny. It appears that slim women can develop an unwelcome midriff bulge from worrying too much ... [more]

As DNA screening takes hold, Americans find it can leave them unemployed and uninsured ... [more]

The next wave of modern architecture could have more in common with bones than bricks ... [more]

Regular exercise may be a viable alternative to antidepressants ... [more]

Research in Japan is offering insight into how the brain guides movements through the looking glass ... [more]

Beef producers might get to say good-bye to antibiotics used to deter liver abscess in cattle, and hello to a vaccine that is easier to use and could cost less ... [more]

Hundreds of thousands of pets already have identification chips installed in their bodies. But now those frisky little microchips are making a bid to replace our furry friends altogether ... [more]

Researchers have spotted a huge underground ice reservoir on Mars that could serve as a "watering hole" for future human explorers ... [more]

If you've got a spare half a million dollars, you may soon be able to head for the stars in your very own spacecraft (some assembly required) ... [more]

For the first time since the 1960s Apollo moon landings, the US government is making plans to protect Earth from extraterrestrial life forms ... [more]

Planet builders take note -- dust misbehaves in zero gravity ... [more]

While fashion tells us that Armageddon may descend from the skies in the form of a giant meteorite impact, there may be more to fear from the ground beneath our feet ... [more]

Wildlife managers in South Africa's Kruger National Park are tackling a problem of elephantine proportions -- with a novel form of contraception ... [more]

Remnants of human habitation under the Black Sea may be the first proof that people thrived along an ancient shoreline before it was inundated by a great flood thousands of years ago ... [more]

Waiter! There's a fluorescent mutant hare in my soup! ... [more]

For pacifier-loving babies everywhere, the findings of a new study could really suck ... [more]

Experts have warned that parents' refusal to get their children vaccinated could lead to a re-emergence of deadly diseases ... [more]

Scientists are studying the brain circuitry of senile pond snails as a model for understanding how the human brain changes with age ... [more]

Scientific glassblowers are carrying on their ancient trade in the modern world -- and their skills are increasingly in demand, for everything from flasks to flea-counters ... [more]

Blind people often suffer disrupted sleep, but scientists have discovered a remedy -- the anti-jetlag hormone melatonin ... [more]

A recent study in India has raised fresh issues in the breast-feeding debate ... [more]

Inspired partly by science fiction, NASA scientists are seriously considering space elevators as a mass-transit system for the next century ... [more]

Neuroscientists mapping the human brain have recently homed in on a distinctly controversial subject: how the brain reacts to seeing people of other races ... [more]

To spur the growth of the wireless Web, companies are developing networks that can handle huge amounts of data, and handheld devices that can tap into all the Internet's resources ... [more]

One day children may get immunized by munching on foods instead of enduring shots. More important, food vaccines might save millions who now die for lack of access to traditional inoculants ... [more]

Dr Strangelove, the film creation of comic genius Peter Sellers, could be alive but not very well in your community ... [more]

Scientists and looters ignored the ruins of an ancient Mayan marketplace for nearly a century. They had no idea what they were missing ... [more]

Engineers working to save the leaning tower of Pisa are halfway there. When they're done, the tower should survive another 350 years ... [more]

The greatest mass extinction on Earth, which wiped out up to 85 percent of all animal life 250 million years ago, also killed off most of the world's plant species ... [more]

Relics of the 20th century may not be around for as long as we think. Even a plastic Barbie, it seems, is not forever ... [more]

Say aaargh! It isn't just the dental drill you should be worried about ... [more]

The Solar Maximum is now in full swing. So does that mean you're more likely to get sunburned at the beach? ... [more]

Talk about ballooning expectations. A new technology could take flight high over Mars in future years ... [more]

You have twenty seconds to comply. Robocop looks a pushover compared with a robotic security guard that shoots at will ... [more]

Your mother always told you never to use the hair dryer in the bathtub. And she was right. But mixing water with electricity does have its uses ... [more]

Ginkgo biloba may help protect brain cells from the effects of a protein implicated in Alzheimer's disease ... [more]

A drug used to fight nausea in cancer patients can help the most difficult-to-treat alcoholics significantly reduce their drinking ... [more]

Some robots are evolving into surprising forms -- while others are taking lessons in teamwork from ants ... [more]

DNA strands have been moulded into mechanical 'tweezers' that may soon be used to construct integrated nanocircuits and switches, hundreds of times smaller than those of current chip technology ... [more]

It seems there's nothing more comfortable than strapping into a fighter plane cockpit with a full bladder. Or better still, several full bladders ... [more]

In the sunless depths of the ocean, where temperatures hover just above freezing and the pressure is high enough to squeeze a Styrofoam cup into a thimble-sized blob, researchers are discovering a treasure trove of new life ... [more]

There's something in the wind... Farmers are reaping rewards from wind energy ... [more]

In the not too distant future, flesh-and-bone astronaut explorers may meet their match -- as automatons become increasingly imbued with the robotic "right stuff" ... [more]

The exquisite sensitivity of the ear can be a problem when it's blasted with loud noises. Now scientists say they can predict which ears are most sensitive to noise damage by listening to sounds coming out of the ear ... [more]

Gallo pinto, tree climbing and kissing bugs: A day in the life of a tropical biologist ... [more]

Being moderately aggressive can help men fight off illness ... [more]

Catch 'em if you can! Fish are starting to wise up to anglers' tricks ... [more]

The kind of primitive biochemistry that may well have jump-started the emergence of life on Earth occurred naturally, according to hard evidence found by geophysicists ... [more]

Ham radio operators are notorious for their love of long-distance radio chats. Now they can enjoy the ultimate long-distance radio experience by contacting astronauts in orbit ... [more]

A GM goat that produces spider's web protein is about to revolutionise the materials industry ... [more]

A barrier to 100% recycling of outmoded computers has been overcome, with the development of an environmentally friendly adhesive ... [more]

A simple combination of sunlight and plastic bottles could save millions of lives ... [more]

A plastic coating that virtually eliminates rust and corrosion could mean cars, bridges and boats that last 10 times longer ... [more]

Understanding how the larvae of coral reef species go with the flow is crucial in protecting the world's declining reefs ... [more]

Who needs a spade and a brush when you can go fossil-hunting from space? ... [more]

Scientists are mating resilient French bees to their Canadian cousins in an attempt to breed mite-resistant superbees ... [more]

A new 'double whammy' treatment for TB could cure the disease in weeks instead of months ... [more]

Israeli scientists have seized on the secrets of the tiny orange Clown fish to produce a lotion that fends off the nemesis of swimmers everywhere -- the sting of the jellyfish ... [more]

To the observer, pole vaulting may seem fairly simple. But a physicist sees the complex forces at play within the graceful arc above the bar ... [more]

US chemists have developed an artificial nose that is simple, fast and inexpensive -- and works by visualizing odours ... [more]

A US scientist says the North Pole ice cap has melted -- for the first time in 50 million years ... [more]

A meteorite that landed in Egypt in 1911 has provided the newest clue that water was once common on the Martian surface ... [more]

Southern Africa offers an opportunity to study the effects of industrial activity and changing patterns of land usage on the environment. Safari 2000 will carry out this study from the ground, the air and from space ... [more]

Could your next ski holiday be on Titan? ... [more]

Scientists discover that Europa's icy crust has been squeezed like an accordian by gravitational forces ... [more]

Stressed-out: Reptiles worldwide may be under even greater environmental stress than their declining amphibian cousins ... [more]

Picture a hurricane bearing down on Cape Canaveral, a $2 billion shuttle on a launch pad, and a "no vacancy" sign at a NASA assembly building that doubles as a storm shelter. It’s a nightmare that NASA would like to avoid ... [more]

In quake-torn Turkey, Mecca is a microvillage ... [more]

The t-shirt that spawned a lawsuit: Hollywood is suing a T-shirt hawker over the partial code for cracking DVD format printed on a shirt ... [more]

A hacker crackdown? As the long arm of the law reaches Napster and its lookalikes, could programmers be held responsible for what others do with their code? ... [more]

There's something in the water: Do the benefits of fire retardants outweigh possible ecological effects? ... [more]

Scientists recently simulated an important early stage of our solar system's formation -- in a laboratory furnace ... [more]

Location, location, location! With hundreds of homes to his credit, this Cornell University professor emeritus is a major player among Ithaca landlords. But the fact that his tenants are Eastern bluebirds doesn't make it easy to maintain high occupancy rates ... [more]

Infant stars? Imagine a bunch of big, fat, feverish babies who can cry across the galaxy while still hiding out in the womb, says Peter Conti ... [more]

A spoonful of Dickens: British doctors are prescribing "bibliotherapy" for the stressed-out and depressed ... [more]

Save the potatoes! Cornell and Polish research scientists are leading an effort to save a potato genetic archive in Russia, which could be invaluable for fighting potato crop diseases and preserving genetic diversity ... [more]

The hunt for the killer asteriods: it may sound like an old horror movie, but it's here, it's real and it's just reached a milestone ... [more]

The Perseid meteor shower is nearly upon us again, this year peaking on August 12 ... [more]

Noise control in the great outdoors: Biscayne National Park, Florida, will soon be the first national park to establish a soundscape preservation plan ... [more]

A small group of Christian astronomers in Arkansas is seeking to mend the rift between science and religion ... [more]

A small armada of "mini-comets" has been left behind by what seems to be a total disintegration of the explosive Comet Linear ... [more]

They may be a long way from the action, but NASA satellites are providing valuable assistance in fighting wildfires currently raging across the Western US ... [more]

The Red Brigade -- hackers for the good of humanity? ... [more]

Cyber Stimulation: Alone together in your office, you give him a subtle wink, followed by a few meaningful eye movements ... [more]

Light speed: A team of 15 students from Canada have claimed a world record for the longest distance traveled by a solar-powered car ... [more]

Watermarks in music?: This may be the key to protecting copyrighted tunes ... [more]

Scientists are eager to begin using the International Space Station as an innovative orbiting research laboratory ... [more]

When NASA built the Langley Research Center it thought all the interesting science would be taking place in the skies above the facility, not in the ground below it ... [more]

Licking your wounds may soon take on a whole new meaning. It could even be a pleasant and tasty experience! ... [more]

Hot times in the city: The very things that make up a city could make it a stressful and unhealthy place to live ... [more]

The Very Large Telescope has just made a very large discovery ... [more]

The tragedy of the bush meat trade is possibly the primary cause of wildlife decline in eastern and southern Africa ... [more]

It’s 52,001: A Space Odyssey: A nonprofit French group hopes to launch a satellite on a 50,000-year spin around Earth, loading it with messages for the future ... [more]

Seeing is no longer believing: The image you see on your screen could well be a fake -- a fabrication of fast new video-manipulation technology ... [more]

Space is a vacuum, right? But we all know dust gets everywhere... and this dust might just decide the fate of stars and planets ... [more]

Rover rides again! NASA announces plans for a water-sniffing Mars Rover in 2003 with a second Rover under consideration ... [more]

The downward slide to monoculture: In 1900, there were more than 1500 plants under cultivation, and thousands of varieties of these plants. Today, the world relies on about 30 plants for the bulk of its nutrition ... [more]

A simple solar-powered lantern could change the lives of millions without electricity in Africa ... [more]

Like horror movie slime, space fungus is menacing our orbital habitats ... [more]

Digital scanning may be the key to restoring a map of every room, staircase and portico of ancient Rome ... [more]

Comet Linear could not be seen with the unaided eye when it passed by this week. Nonetheless, it's peculiar behavior is attracting attention ... [more]

In the future, some passenger jets may have just one wing. Others, however, could have as many as four ... [more]

Concert halls and restaurants could soon be free from annoying ringing cellphones ... [more]

Full Steam Behind! The British and American navies are investigating ways to launch their aircraft with electricity ... [more]

A Star Trek reality? Force fields and 'plasma' shields get closer on the drawing boards of real-world scientists ... [more]

"In an octopuses' garden..." Imagine living on the ocean floor for 10 days straight ... [more]

Could the future contain hungry flesh-eating robots? The first robot to be completely powered by food is set to make its public debut next month ... [more]

No, it's not a superstition: two old bottles really might keep blindness at bay for Kenyans ... [more]

"A better life awaits you in the off-world colonies..." Yes, here they are: the top ten reasons to inhabit outer space ... [more]

Following the success of home-brewed beers, researchers have developed a technique that allows people to grow their own arteries ... [more]

Hot flashes before fifty? For thousands of women between the ages of 15 and 44, early menopause is a devestating reality ... [more]

It's a caterpillar-eat-caterpillar world ... [more]

It sounds like a Zen koan: Can the globe be warming and not warming at the same time? ... [more]

You love her so much your medial insula could just burst and your anterior cingulate swells every time she is near... no, we're not speaking in euphemisms, we're talking cerebral romance ... [more]

NASA is about to begin testing a small-scale fusion reactor. Could this be the first step towards building fusion rocket engines for settling the solar system? ... [more]

A burping cow is a polluting cow! Belching and flatulence in cows and sheep could be a problem for Australia's agricultural sector ... [more]

Once thought dead, Mars has spewed out enough lava to bury Canada in recent geologic time ... [more]

When some 12th-century monks needed a piece of paper, they found an old parchment and scraped it clean. Unfortunately, they scraped off seven treatises by Archimedes. Now laser technology has allowed modern scholars to read these lost writings ... [more]

Scientists are no longer wavering about the wobble ... [more]

Owners of gas-guzzling autos, beware -- your car's emissions may one day be scanned when you least expect it, thanks to some NASA technology ... [more]

It seems to be true -- elephants never forget, at least as far as friendships are concerned ... [more]

Surgeons have used lab-grown tissue to treat severe eye damage, but they must wait and see how the treatment works in the long term ... [more]

For some youngsters, just looking at skinny models might literally make them weak at the knees. Simply worrying about weight could release hormones that lead to weaker bones ... [more]

Mobile foam: The stuff your coffee cup is made of could power your phone ... [more]

Did bugs build opals in the blink of a geological eye? ... [more]

How sports stars can get peak performance without risking an intimate examination of their precious bodily essences ... [more]

At any moment, Planet Earth could be menaced by potentially devastating asteroids. The Spacewatch Project may provide our early warning system ... [more]

We are such stuff as stars are made of ... [more]

Fossil air: Scientists analysing the evolution of Earth's atmosphere need to understand what the air was like millions of years ago. Now they've realized they can leave no stone unturned ... [more]

On the eve of 2001 four spacecraft will zip around the Earth at thousands of kilometers per hour looking for invisible invaders from the sun ... [more]

Scientists' solution to world energy woes and rising gasoline prices could be as fanciful as moonbeams ... [more]

Neutron stars get their 'kicks' at birth -- What starts the acceleration of a new-born neutron star? ... [more]

From fry-pans to pacemakers -- non-stick technology could save lives ... [more]

Airbag landing systems for Mars are set to make a rebound ... [more]

Nanotechnology at its most worthwhile! The world's smallest saxophone ... [more]

A midnight balloon ride above the American West may sound rather romantic, but this is pure science ... [more]

If we want to travel beyond our own celestial backyard we'll need a new breed of spacecraft ... [more]

Born with the munchies -- Cannabis-like compounds may allow newborn babies to thrive ... [more]

Deep Space 1 was supposed to be dead, but a 300 million kilometer service call has revived and revved it up ... [more]

Crowds simply walking in step may be responsible for London's wobbly Millennium Bridge ... [more]

Modern Darwinism: The evolution of better engines through natural selection ... [more]

From floor coatings to beer bottle decorations to prescription drug production, chemistry is going green ... [more]

One small cut for (a) man, one less AIDS case for Mankind ... [more]

Getting a leg up on Mars requires muscle power. But if you are a robot, using muscle wire will put spring into your step ... [more]

If you've got problems programming your VCR, then "smart" appliances may be a worry, but they could provide some very real benefits ... [more]

The physics of stars tells us that life is like a silk thread which can be torn very easily ... [more]

Blame fat fruit for cancer ... [more]

So how do you get to be in a drug trial, huh? ... [more]

Forget team-building exercises and networking, ants have beaten you to it ... [more]

The gales of creative destruction are blowing through every industry on the planet ... [more]

Eat fish from a smaller pond if you want to avoid bioaccumulation of contaminants ... [more]

No pen nor pencil can portray its fickle hues, its radiance, and its grandeur ... [more]

As if Australia didn't have enough weird animals already, the thylacine may be on the comeback trail ... [more]

Take a look at the future with the imaginative innovations of the Discover Awards ... [more]

Tracking down the poor man's atomic bomb is getting easier ... [more]

When Benedito Signey cuts a tree in the Amazon, it falls up ... [more]

Coming to you live and direct, and lying all the way -- realtime video manipulation lets you change the world as it happens ... [more]

Is the prairie more than just a big field full of grass? You betcha ... [more]

Computers and their operators represent a new form of ecosystem, but watch out for the natural selection ... [more]

What has your genome done for you lately? ... [more]

Had a stroke? Let's just put your brain on ice ... [more]

Do you feel safer for knowing that scientists have created an asteroid traffic map and there could be one screaming down the highway towards you ... [more]

Who needs to get real when virtual reality can be used to help mental health? ... [more]

If burial sounds boring and cremation leaves you cold, why not try the latest in after-death services: high-tech mummification ... [more]

The replica Viking ship Islendingur is setting sail for North America, following in the 1,000-year-old wake of Leif Eiriksson ... [more]

No atmosphere and lots of silicon. Just what you need to make a Moon base ... [more]

The workers who built the great pyramids at Giza took time out to build their own mini-pyramids, complete with false doors and frescoes ... [more]

Step aside, Dolly, the new generation of cloned sheep has arrived ... [more]

Far from easing the strain on Earth's oceans, aquaculture is creating new and even more difficult problems ... [more]

Meet "rotopter", the flapping helicopter that saves fuel (but may make for bumpy rides) ... [more]

Scientists have identified the defective gene that causes a debilitating total colour blindness among many inhabitants of a tiny Pacific island ... [more]

Evidence of liquid water on Mars has given a boost to the already hot field of astrobiology ... [more]

Plans to decommission the reactor responsible for Britain's worst nuclear accident, have been put on hold over fears that the reactor could catch fire again ... [more]

Scientists who study Earth's atmosphere may soon have a new way to reach into thin air: pumpkin-shaped balloons ... [more]

The use of umbilical cord blood can reduce the incidence of a potentially life-threatening transplant complication in children with leukemia ... [more]

A rapist who thinks he won't be caught if he uses a condom can think again. A new condom "fingerprinting" test could help bring rapists to justice ... [more]

Ever wanted to cross the Pacific in just 72 minutes? Aerospace engineers in California have designed a hypersonic aircraft which can travel at up to twelve times the speed of sound ... [more]

The most sensitive measurement ever made of a star’s shape shows that the Sun is speckled with hills and dales, much like the surface of the ocean ... [more]

Disco lighting effects are the latest weapon in the arsenal against headlice ... [more]

Plasma-fueled spacecraft have the potential to rocket missions to Mars in a mere 90 days ... [more]

Ethiopia's threatened forests are the last line of defence against the genetic devastation of the world's favourite drink ... [more]

An electronic circuit that mimics some aspects of the wiring of the human brain could revolutionise computer science and improve our understanding of how nature’s most powerful processor works ... [more]

Mars Global Surveyor has found evidence of water on the Red Planet’s surface. (Read an interview with 'Mars Czar' Scott Hubbard here ) ... [more]

Fuel-cell technology is cool. As cool as 932 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Japanese researchers -- a temperature which allows effective use of common hydrocarbon fuels such as methane, while maintaining high efficiency and low emissions ... [more]

Checking sewers for leaks is a task most of us wouldn't touch with a bargepole. But soon we won't need to, as a team at the University of Manchester has come up with a way to teach robots how to do it ... [more]

Astronomers say they've found new clues to life's origins -- in the form of a spoonful of sugar near the centre of the Milky Way ... [more]

Thought only cartoon superheros could see through walls? Ultra-wideband technology could soon allow mere mortals to detect buried objects and build cars enhanced with collision-avoidance sensors -- not to mention allowing high-speed, wireless internet access ... [more]

Chemists in Tennessee are working on a sniffing detective: an electronic nose that can be waved over a body to detect how long a person has been dead ... [more]

Canadian researchers are to begin trials of a new "invisible condom" for women: a microbiocide gel which kills HIV and other pathogens, and can also act as a contraceptive ... [more]

Whatever the outcome of the midsummer gathering at Stonehenge, it's all in a year's work for the old stones. After all, the story of Stonehenge is one of continual reinvention ... [more]

Poisonous plants of the grasspea family are often a food of last resort for starving people in drought-stricken areas. Now Syrian scientists have developed a variety which is just as hardy and high in protein, but is not toxic ... [more]

What's your astrological sign? It's almost certainly not what you think it is ... [more]

The WHO has warned that unless governments make greater efforts to stem the spread of resistant diseases, the world is facing a return to the preantibiotic era (free registration required) ... [more]

One of the world's deadliest spiders may hold the key to eco-pesticides ... [more]

NASA scientists have unveiled Robonaut, a human-like robotic system with over 100 tactile and movement sensors. They believe the robot will have uses far beyond the reaches of space ... [more]

Malaria-carrying mosquitos prefer to snack on pregnant women -- with dire consequences for the women and their babies (free registration required) ... [more]

Recently uncovered bones may prove that the world's most famous dinosaur was actually discovered 10 years earlier than previously thought. If so, T. rex could be in for a name change ... [more]

Swedish engineers have designed a new type of low-maintenance, hyper-efficient wind turbine that could be banished far offshore or high up mountains ... [more]

A new approach to treating schizophrenia offers hope of minimising the prominent and unpleasant side-effects of traditional antipsychotic medication ... [more]

The speed of light may not be as immutable as it's supposed to be. US particle physicists have shown that light pulses can be accelerated to up to 300 times their normal velocity -- arriving at their destination almost before they have started their journey ... [more]

It appears that death is going out of fashion -- at least in industrialised nations ... [more]

The US Environmental Protection Agency has released two long-awaited sections of its draft reassessment of dioxin-related health risks. The news is not reassuring ... [more]

Supergiant galaxy Perseus A has grown to its colossal size by cannibalising neighbouring galaxies ... [more]

Technology that allows astronomers to obtain better images of the heavens may eventually allow people -- even those with 20/20 vision -- to see more clearly than ever before ... [more]

With its icy surface crisscrossed by myriad cracks and ridges, Europa looks more like a giant ball of string than a planetary moon ... [more]

For the first time, researchers say they have evidence that farmed Atlantic salmon are breeding in the Pacific Northwest, creating more problems for their already beleaguered Pacific cousins ... [more]

An ambitious sky survey that aims to map about 10 percent of the galaxies in Earth's cosmic neighbourhood is off to a remarkable start ... [more]

One day your brain might be able to live on in a mechanical shell. A team from America and Italy have created a strange hybrid creature, with a sea lamprey supplying brain power to a robot ... [more]

Solar energy may finally be moving out of the shadows and into the spotlight ... [more]

Michelangelo's sculpture David has always been regarded as the ultimate in male physical beauty, but a new laser scan of his face reveals the truth: David squints ... [more]

It's a daunting task for astronomers to keep an eye out for all the spectacularly unpredictable happenings in the skies. That's where the robots come in ... [more]

A continuing search by the Hubble Space Telescope to find the universe's most massive black holes has turned up ten new targets ... [more]

Laser technology developed by NASA could make future visits to the dentist less of an ordeal ... [more]

US researchers have built a nanofabricated device that can separate DNA fragments by length. This long-sought 'laboratory on a chip' could greatly speed up the process of DNA sequencing ... [more]

Animal-like robots could act as human surrogates in the exploration of other planets. Imaging three-foot-long dragonflies buzzing high above Mars, and mechanical eels and seahorses swimming deep beneath Europa's icy surface ... [more]

A tireless machine provides a guiding hand in the recovery of stroke victims ... [more]

The Chandra X-ray Observatory's unprecedented images -- ranging from the remains of supernovae to superhot gas in galaxy clusters -- are helping astronomers to unravel the structure of the Universe ... [more]

Science is racing to catch up with athletes who use a blood-boosting hormone to improve performance in endurance events ... [more]

For armchair scientists, the beauty of today's seismology is that anyone with a simple home computer can peek into the same real-time earthquake information that international scientists read each day ... [more]

Colony-dwelling spiders face a daily competition to find the best web sites -- and the victory goes to the earliest risers ... [more]

As the Sun moves into the most active period of its 11-year cycle, new 3-D images of magnetic storms from the Sun are helping forecasters improve their predictions of potential solar disruptions on Earth ... [more]

New-generation insulin pumps are making type 1 diabetes a little less painful and a lot more manageable ... [more]

Archaeologists have found 2,500-year-old ruins of the legendary Pharaonic cities of Herakleion, Canopus and Menouthis submerged in the Mediterranean seabed ... [more]

There's a fungus among us, it appears -- and its effects should make farmers and home horticulturists very happy ... [more]

A watch-like blood glucose monitor could revolutionise life for diabetics ... [more]

A tiny silicon photonic crystal, which enables light to be efficiently trapped and used in computer chips, may revolutionise the telecommunications and computer industry ... [more]

Lung surgeons are often faced with the problem of leaky lungs after removing tumours. A glue-like sealant can help patch the holes ... [more]

A new technique to create canals on microchips could lead to better and cheaper microfluidic devices, including air-pollution detectors and DNA analyzers ... [more]

Researchers have developed a simple, inexpensive index to measure the severity of Alzheimer's disease ... [more]

A new breed of giant hi-tech airships designed by a German company could be the heavy lift aircraft of the future ... [more]

Researchers have succeeded in coaxing stem cells into becoming specific neurons that may one day be used to treat Parkinson’s disease ... [more]

Wernher von Braun's pioneering space station concepts of the mid-1950's bear little resemblance to the erector-set habitat in orbit today ... [more]

King George III was right and Benjamin Franklin was wrong, at least when it came to which lightning conductors work best ... [more]

A picture is worth a thousand words, but when it comes to digital medical images, one of those words should be "caution" ... [more]

Super-broccoli can pack an extra punch against cancer ... [more]

A group of young UK computer techies have revealed the truth behind the spud server hoax that recently received international media coverage. (It even had us fooled!) ... [more]

As NASA scales back plans to explore Mars, a British-led mission could be next in line ... [more]

A UV-sensitive sticker can give fair warning that it's time to come in out of the sunshine ... [more]

A 46-year-old engineer with fatal liver disease has received part of his fiancee's liver in a new "living donor" transplant program ... [more]

A Canadian plan to defend against an invasion of West Nile virus relies on unusual sensors: sentinel chickens ... [more]

Researchers at a Russian institute are working themselves into a lather in their efforts to advance personal hygiene in space ... [more]

Never underestimate the role of enthusiastic amateurs in the pursuit of scientific discovery ... [more] ... [more]

Japanese 'flying trains' promise high-speed transportation at one quarter the energy cost of other fast-train technology ... [more]

Two revolutionary new ventilation therapies are helping save the lives of infants with premature or damaged lungs ... [more]

Volcanic eruptions often disgorge fiery streams of molten sulphur -- but most burn away, leaving behind little evidence of their passage ... [more]

30 years on, moon rocks still conceal as many secrets as they have revealed ... [more]

The mosquito and the pig: a cautionary tale about the introduction of alien species ... [more]

Crystal balls are seldom much use in scientific research -- but NASA researchers will be soon be employing them to examine one of the last, untested portions of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity ... [more]

An unconventional approach to the treatment of heart disease is being taken by a doctor in the Orkney Islands. He is prescribing his patients marinaded herring for dinner (free registration required) ... [more]

Integrated 'electronic' circuits that manipulate whole atoms instead of electrons may be on the horizon -- paving the way for the development of quantum computers ... [more]

The discovery of an ancient Syrian city may prove that urbanisation predates the invention of writing ... [more]

Having tried everything from gum and the patch to acupuncture, smokers might soon be able to finally kick the habit with a new anti-smoking mouthwash ... [more]

Astronauts working on the space station should feel a bit safer on future spacewalks. If a tether breaks, advanced jet-propelled backpacks will give them a fighting chance to fly back to the relative safety of the orbiting station ... [more]

A healthier diet and less salt can dramatically lower blood pressure ... [more]

A new islet cell transplantation technique could put an end to the insulin injections and strict diets that are daily routine for many diabetics ... [more]

Nuclear rocket engines could be the power behind a human-crewed mission to Mars ... [more]

Heart attack victims now have an eight-legged, hairy friend ... [more]

With its flying days at an end, NASA 930 (commonly known as the "Vomit Comet") has finally found a resting place ... [more]

An artificial reef offshore of Queensland, Australia, is curbing beach erosion and making the right kind of waves ... [more]

The latest images of Io reveal a bizarre world of hot volcanoes, sulfurous snowfields, and slip-sliding mountains ... [more]

Gene therapy has been successfully used by French researchers to treat severe combined immunodeficiency in two babies (free registration required) ... [more]

By introducing some of the world's most advanced technology to the homeland of some of its most primitive people, researchers hope to answer questions about climate change and more ... [more]

US researchers are trying to tackle malaria by breeding a disease-free mosquito ... [more]

A space hopper could be the best way to explore the surface of asteroids and comets ... [more]

Surfaces tailored to bind and release proteins at the push of a button could provide a method for controlled release of drugs into the body, as well as aiding studies of how cells stick together and move around ... [more]

Scientists in Australia are working on a pilot cloning project to help preserve endangered species -- but they don't hold out much hope of recreating the extinct Tasmanian tiger ... [more]

Potent drugs and edible vaccines may soon be harvested just like wheat and corn. Welcome to the new world of molecular farming ... [more]

In the murky, paranoid depths of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force developed a top-secret plan to nuke the Moon ... [more]

Conservationists no longer warn that hunting, deforestation and other human activities could threaten the future existence of many of our fellow primates. Their predictions have already come true ... [more]

Holy hunks of junk! It's raining rocket debris -- and the shower looks set to continue ... [more]

A team of US researchers have found a way to trick the body into manufacturing antibodies against itself -- which could help block HIV and treat other diseases ... [more]

International space planners have set their sights on a return to the moon -- and beyond ... [more]

A genetic battle of the sexes is being waged inside marsupial pouches ... [more]

Wanted: Spacecraft construction crew (no experience necessary) ... [more]

Molecular biology is beginning to reveal the architecture of flowers ... [more]

Israeli scientists have developed the world's first system for real-time smellovision ... [more]

Altruistic yeast cells lay down their lives for their friends ... [more]

The Siberian Tiger Project blends Russian personnel, Western technology, and international dedication into an effort to save an endangered feline ... [more]

Tobacco may have one redeeming feature: the sensitive plants can be used to monitor ozone and other pollutants ... [more]

A polymorphic robot could change shape to get the job done -- and even recycle itself when it's finished ... [more]

For the last 37 years, radio astronomers at the Arecibo Observatory have used the world's largest radio telescope to fathom the sounds of the universe ... [more]

Marks on a 1.8 million-year-old molar suggest that the use of toothpicks may be as old as genus Homo ... [more]

Japanese scientists have developed a smart cot that can help keep sleeping babies safe ... [more]

Faster, better... braver: NASA's latest plans for low-cost solar system exploratory vehicles are anything but timid ... [more]

Canadian chemists may have found a salty solution to reduce the drastic problem of iron deficiency in underdeveloped countries ... [more]

A reassessment of stone age artifacts has revealed the world's oldest hat ... [more]

How would you like a robot wheelchair to carry you from place to place? ... [more]

Astronomers have harnessed the power of five satellite observatories to study a binary star system from one end of the electromagnetic spectrum to the other ... [more]

The WHO is backing moves to increase cooperation between practitioners of traditional and modern medicine in Africa ... [more]

An electronic tagging system for domestic appliances could keep your TV from straying ... [more]

Professor Kevin Warwick is planning to become the world's first cyborg, by tapping into the electronic dialogue between his brain & his hand ... [more]

A team of explorers traveled to Antarctica in January 2000 to search for meteorites and extreme-loving microbes ... [more]

NASA's latest robot rovers don't roll, flap or float: they slither ... [more]

From California's Mojave desert comes an extraordinary tale of sex, lies and beetles ... [more]

Scientists are figuring out how to predict killer tornadoes, using lightning data from Earth-orbit ... [more]

The Galileo spacecraft has taken a risky spin through Jupiter's lethal radiation belts to capture high-resolution images of the planet's innermost moons ... [more]

Researchers are working to solve computers' need for speed, by using light to accelerate calculations and increase data bandwidth ... [more]

Corn genetically modified to resist the European corn borer pest is also less likely to harbor a potential cancer-causing agent ... [more]

Forget e-technology. Welcome to the world of p-technology, which promises to revolutionize the way we communicate in our homes, cars and offices ... [more]

Last year's failures of U.S. Mars missions have given scientists time to blueprint a credible and step-by-step search for life on the Red Planet ... [more]

The coyote continues to confound its animal and human predators with a remarkable combination of intellect, adaptability and perseverance ... [more]

Belgian scientists have developed the first complete artificial "eye" that provokes visual sensations in the brain by directly stimulating the optic nerve ... [more]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted conditional registration for the use of harpin, a protein that induces a plant to mobilize its own defenses against pathogens and insects ... [more]

The search for a hypothetical tenth planet in our solar system is continuing ... [more]

Fourteen medicinal plants have recently been given international protection, in an attempt to protect the scarce wild stocks from being wiped out by plant poachers ... [more]

Ever since the height of the Space Race in the late 1960s, policy makers in the Soviet Union wanted to go to Mars. Now, despite its economic problems, modern Russia is pushing ahead with plans to do so ... [more]

An Earth-bound asteroid could still kill us but thanks to powerful telescopes, we may at least be able to see it coming ... [more]

Ken Alibek -- the man who ran the Soviet biological weapons development programme -- now works to combat the germs of war ... [more]

The Hubble telescope's pictures are as much about art as science -- but the two endeavors have more in common than people often think ... [more]

With just a few marrow cells it's now possible to grow new bones from scratch ... [more]

Superbugs may have a genetic weakness which could lead to more effective drugs to fight them ... [more]

X-rays scattered by interstellar dust grains have led scientists to develop a new way of estimating distances to cosmic objects ... [more]

A powerful set of technological tools are coming to the aid of Rwanda's endangered mountain gorillas ... [more]

A handful of small U.S. space companies are plotting a return to the moon, triggering their own 21st-century style lunar race ... [more]

Food engineers have finally found a way to keep fresh-tasting orange juice on the shelves longer ... [more]

A study of brain abnormalities has found that people with autism and Asperger Syndrome perceive faces as if they were objects -- a finding which could offer hope for early intervention programmes ... [more]

A proposed module for artists and performers could become the cultural hub of the International Space Station ... [more]

Chinese officials hope that showing pandas X-rated videos of mating behavior will help boost the species' low birth rate ... [more]

New research confirms that breathing in soot particles can lead to serious illness and premature death ... [more]

Before you decide to take that herbal supplement, be sure you know what's what ... [more]

Astronauts may one day be able to use their spacecraft's septic tank to keep in touch with ground control -- as long as they have plenty of sugar on board ... [more]

The first ever fossilised dinosaur heart has been discovered by scientists in the US ... [more]

A new medical imaging approach could soon allow much earlier detection of breast cancer ... [more]

Satelite-generated solar power is a great idea -- in theory. But it could prove somewhat tricky to put into practice ... [more]

Coffee production contributes to the decline of songbird habitat in many regions of the world. But now there's a way to enjoy a cup of liquid enthusiasm with a clear eco-conscience ... [more]

A new generation of aircraft will get you from Tokyo to New York in 3 hours ... [more]

The Milky Way is on a direct collision course with the Andromeda galaxy -- but there's no need to worry just yet ... [more]

NASA robotics technology could clean up the dirty business of maritime paint removal, allowing workers to strip a ship without the slip of a single chip ... [more]

A new device allows neurosurgeons to precisely contour radiation beams, so they can attack brain tumors more effectively and with less damage to surrounding healthy tissue ... [more]

When birds trill and whales woo-oo, we call it singing. Such songs may have more in common with human music than we have ever realised ... [more]

Holograms will be storing movies, pictures and computer data much sooner than anyone thought. A US company hopes to use off-the-shelf technologies to make data storage holodiscs that can store six times as much data as DVDs ... [more]

What do humans have in common with yeast? Plenty, it appears: Both share a protein that plays a key role in regulating cell growth ... [more]

It is estimated that 40,000 species become extinct every year. To help keep a record of this disappearing life, a team of scientists is trying to establish a global DNA bank for endangered animals ... [more]

The world's largest parafoil soared in a test where it carried the equivalent of NASA's six-person X 38 Crew Return Vehicle ... [more]

Drilling tiny holes in the heart can help ease the pain of angina (free registration required) ... [more]

If you've got a sick satellite, there may soon be help on the way -- in the form of a space "doctor" that makes house calls ... [more]

A change of diet could curb cows' contribution to global warming ... [more]

Due in part to a ban on DDT, peregrine falcons are one of few animals to be removed from the Endangered Species List. Nesting on everything from skyscrapers to smokestacks, their numbers have rebounded from 39 pairs in the US to nearly 1,700 pairs in only 30 years ... [more]

It's goodbye to the paperless office: a new electronic pen could bring paper back with a bang ... [more]

16 volunteers recently spent a month dining on extraterrestrial cuisine ... [more]

Sometimes, the nicer bee wins the territorial battle ... [more]

Robbing Peter to pay Paul may be an obsolete way to treat nerve damage, thanks to a new polymer that uses electric stimulation to help regrow peripheral nerves ... [more]

Chile plans to produce more plankton in a bid to curb global warming ... [more]

Forget pills and injections, an array of tiny blades will help the medicine go down ... [more]

Scientific American looks at some very serious and sober experiments with giant soap films -- including a kitchen-sized version ... [more]

Scientists have found a novel way to kill pest insects, that involves throwing a lethal "switch" hidden in their genes ... [more]

A radical technology could mean never having to change a light bulb again ... [more]

A new food wrap can warn you if your fish is foul ... [more]

The identification of the genes that allow us to recognise bitter tastes could lead to better-tasting medicines ... [more]

The prehistoric sites in Egypt's Western Desert are in danger -- from tourism. Tourists are destroying prehistoric caves along the Nile valley by pouring water on cave paintings, breaking stalactites and collecting the artefacts ... [more]

A radical new "instant-on" memory device could eliminate the need for hard drives ... [more]

Microscopic glass grains gathered from the moon almost 30 years ago are providing clues about the history of meteor activity on Earth ... [more]

Nasa's prototype 'flying lifeboat' has flown through its most stringent test so far, though not without a bumpy landing ... [more]

A liquid bone cement could help prevent the pain and disfigurement of osteoporosis of the spine ... [more]

German brewers have decided to create a pint that won't lose its head -- by brewing the first genetically modified beer ... [more]

Mount Etna has been showing off -- blowing gigantic steam rings into a clear sky ... [more]

A synthetic rubber that kills bacteria on contact could make for safer hospitals and homes ... [more]

Automobile air bags save lives, but they may pose a significant risk to human health and the environment ... [more]

Movie-watching locusts could revolutionise road safety ... [more]

Proponents of biomusic hope that studying natural harmonies will help children appreciate nature, as well as fostering an interest in science ... [more]

Soy- and corn-based feed could help fish farmers fill the gap between the world's growing demand for fish and dwindling wild stocks ... [more]

Non-polluting solar reflectors can really cook up a storm ... [more]

Worried by rising petrol prices? Top up the tank with biomass fuels ... [more]

When surgery can't be avoided, you would want to have the best surgeon perform the procedure. But what if the best surgeon is a robot? ... [more]

It’s a bug-eat-bug world out there. But the tortoise beetle has come up with a truly disgusting method of protecting its larvae from becoming lunch ... [more]

Take a bit of time out, during these first few weeks of April, to enjoy the sight of a rare planetary trio in the evening sky ... [more]

The FBI wants to introduce changes to US laws, to make it easier to keep pace with the rapid growth of cybercrime ... [more]

DNA from the remains of 29,000-year-old infant show that we're not Neanderthals, and probably never were ... [more]

Alternative energy sources have become so common that you probably use them -- often without realising -- in your daily life. But how much do you know about alternative energy? ... [more]

Ice Age hunters may have kept their meat fresh all winter in a handy underwater refrigerator ... [more]

They came to the World Water Forum seeking solutions to the world's growing water problems. But many went away thirsty ... [more]

With the discovery of relatively small extrasolar planets, astronomers are increasingly convinced that other stars harbor planetary systems like our own ... [more]

The Internet sale of one of the world's most important dinosaur skeletons (a snip at a mere US$25 million) has archaeologists appalled ... [more]

Artificial-vision research is beginning to come into focus (free registration required) ... [more]

Earth's oceans are slowly getting warmer ... [more]

An ailing space observatory is scheduled to be crashed into a remote area of the Pacific ocean ... [more]

An off-beat research vessel has set sail on a five-year voyage. Its mission: coral reefs, cross-cultural theater and just getting by on an 84-foot floating island ... [more]

At least some GM genes in crops seem to resist being spread into the environment ... [more]

Rival sea squirt species indulge in sperm warfare ... [more]

Astronomers have discovered compelling evidence of a "feeding" mechanism for black holes ... [more]

A fuel cell which runs efficiently on readily available hydrocarbon fuels could soon make for a cleaner world ... [more]

The moon may not be made of green cheese, but Mars' polar icecaps do a pretty good impression of it ... [more]

A new lightning detection device is helping weather forecasters more accurately predict dangerous thunderstorms ... [more]

The WHO has issued a report stating that drug resistant tuberculosis can be controlled -- but only if health authorities worldwide act quickly (free registration required) ... [more]

An ingenious new material can make light bend over backwards ... [more]

The faltering flight of genetically altered fruit flies could lead to more rapid progress in the treatment or cure for Parkinson’s disease ... [more]

The poultry industry regularly feeds chickens antibiotics, while medical authorities worry that humans are becoming resistant to the drugs. A scientific development could help resolve the dilemma ... [more]

Atlantic hurricanes are influenced by a short-term climate cycle in the Indian Ocean ... [more]

45-million-year-old fossils have provided evidence of the smallest primates ... [more]

Scientists have unearthed an unlikely collection of time capsules: molecular buckyballs bearing extraterrestrial helium ... [more]

Ten years after being paralysed in a car accident, a Frenchman has taken his first steps thanks to a microchip implant ... [more]

NASA scientists are using space age technology to understand how characteristics of the urban environment create "heat islands" ... [more]

The discovery of a coeliac disease specific antigen could offer a new route for treatment of the condition (free registration required) ... [more]

Researchers have peered beneath Mars' surface, to map the underworld of the Red Planet ... [more]

Diabetics could one day undergo transplantation of pancreatic stem cells to provide them with a permanent source of insulin ... [more]

Fragments of a meteor that exploded over the Yukon in January 2000 may prove to be the most important meteor find in over 30 years ... [more]

Galileo is joining forces with Saturn-bound Cassini on a mission to study Jupiter's magnetosphere -- the biggest thing in our solar system ... [more]

Remarkably polite barn owl chicks let their hungriest siblings feed first ... [more]

Score at least a partial victory for green chemistry with the development of a water-souble, re-usable catalyst for a commonplace -- and currently highly toxic -- family of chemical reactions ... [more]

With a little help from the Sun, the NEAR spacecraft has spotted a telltale x-ray glow from elements on asteroid Eros ... [more]

Increased Mediterranean tourism is taking its toll on the coastal area's fragile ecosystem ... [more]

Flying trains could save energy and cut pollution ... [more]

Egypt's hepatitis C epidemic may well turn out to be the largest medically caused infectious epidemic in history ... [more]

The SOHO spacecraft is looking through the sun -- to find the stormy regions on the other side ... [more]

Two Egyptologists have resurrected a 4,000-year-old tradition, with the making of a modern mummy ... [more]

A new method of tuberculosis detection is rapid, reliable -- and inexpensive enough to be used in developing countries ... [more]

Astronomers have recently discovered a host of planets orbiting distant stars. You can meet the neighbours with this handy field guide to the new planets ... [more]

The positive side of salmonella: Genetically modified bacteria may provide a new cancer therapy (free registration required) ... [more]

Tissue engineers are working to grow replacement body parts on polymer foam scaffoldings, much as topiary gardeners grow animal-shaped bushes on elaborate trellises ... [more]

A common bacterium can quickly infect and cause blindness in extended-wear contact lens users -- and many popular cleaning solutions aren't strong enough to fight it ... [more]

A US lingerie chain claims that patented pantyhose could banish cellulite ... [more]

Where primates are concerned, secondary forests may provide second-rate habitat ... [more]

The Chandra telescope has found big surprises in a colossal collision ... [more]

Yawn... So what exactly is the biology of boredom? ... [more]

The patterns in bursting bubbles could help designers solve the geometric quandary of curvaceous clothing ... [more]

Genetically modified contraceptive carrots could help stop the spread of marauding marsupials in New Zealand ... [more]

Samples of glacial ice indicate that the Little Ice Age ended quite abruptly -- providing fresh evidence of the Earth's quick-change climate ... [more]

Biologists' curbside vigils could shed light on the problem of urban wildlife ... [more]

Rotten news for eco-friendly households: Indoor rubbish bins containing separated organic leftovers could be bad for your health ... [more]

For the first time in 14 years, astronomers have spotted two Uranian 'shepherd' moons ... [more]

A breakthrough in stem-cell research promises a potential cure for childhood diabetes ... [more]

Dead whales can tell plenty of tales, especially about oceanic life after death ... [more]

Many species of trees used in making musical instruments are facing their final bow ... [more]

Dwarf galaxies feed off their parents' leftovers to make new stars ... [more]

A thimble-sized pump implant may solve the problems of current haemophilia treatment ... [more]

Two magnetically complex sunspots near the Sun's central meridian are pointed toward our planet. If solar flares erupt from these regions, Earth could be in for stormy space weather ... [more]

A new signature recognition system that's hard to beat captures the rhythm and pressure of the original ... [more]

You can't give them to your loved one on Valentine's Day, and they're a bit too small to be a girl's best friend, but scientists have just created what are believed to be the world's first diamond micromachines ... [more]

An innovative method of physical therapy is helping some disabled individuals trade in their wheelchairs for walkers ... [more]

Leap day may seem like a mere novelty that comes once every four years, but without it, the seasons would quickly get out of whack. And even with the extra day, we're headed for calendrical problems down the line ... [more]

What if researchers could create a tough, lightweight, mouldable material, with "tunable" magnetic properties? Such a material might prove useful for high-density data storage, anti-static coatings for aircraft or spacecraft, and a host of other applications ... [more]

The world's coral reefs are imperiled. Artificial reefs may help combat the problem ... [more]

One of the brightest x-ray sources in the Milky Way seems about to erupt in a dazzling flare. By studying the explosion scientists hope to unravel an extragalactic mystery ... [more]

Hot or cold? You can taste the temperature ... [more]

Medical experts and scholars have ruled out foul play in the death of Mozart. Rheumatic fever, not murder, most likely killed the young musical genius ... [more]

Biocomputers have taken their first big step by solving a little chess puzzle ... [more]

Petrol stations could be replaced by stagnant ponds if a breakthrough in hydrogen fuel technology fulfils its potential ... [more]

The phenomenon of synchronized clapping by audiences in Eastern Europe can tell us something about fireflies, the ticking of clocks on a wall, and the beating cells of our hearts ... [more]

Cross-dressing garter snakes have the upper hand in the mating game ... [more]

Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed the 3,000 year old tomb of Osiris, judge of the dead and ruler of the underworld ... [more]

Data from the NASA shuttle mission now mapping the globe is expected to help solve some of the great mysteries of the Andes ... [more]

The smell of their favourite food -- the potato plant -- could mean the end for the dreaded Colorado beetle ... [more]

A new landmine detection system, which claims rapid and 100% accurate detection, has been revealed by the US Naval Research Laboratory ... [more]

Making synthetic silk is more than a matter of creating the raw ingredients. You have to be able to spin a good yarn as well ... [more]

Portugese fishermen who harvest fiddler crab claws -- a local delicacy -- are turning male crabs into eunuchs ... [more]

NEAR has been in orbit for less than a week, and it's already clear that Eros is no ordinary space rock ... [more]

The male contraceptive pill could become a reality after some surprising findings about cellular communication systems (free registration required) ... [more]

Control of the cedar tip moth, if it can be achieved, may tip the balance in the survival of Southeast Asian rainforests. It all depends on the elephants ... [more]

A canine cupid could help you find your soulmate ... [more]

Despite the colossal size of Jovian storms, they are remarkably similar to thunderstorms on Earth ... [more]

A new tool gives scientists the ability to look inside the 3-dimensional structure of materials ... [more]

Radar data is supplying scientists with new evidence of the existence of life in Lake Vostok, buried deep beneath the Antarctic ice sheet ... [more]

Flying a state-of-the-art fighter demands state-of-the-art training. A new US Air Force flight simulator gives pilots -- and mechanics -- the best chance yet to hone their skills ... [more]

A safer form of gene therapy works by pushing the DNA into cells ... [more]

A simian virus, which has been associated with a number of rare human cancers, contaminated the polio vaccine administered to millions of US residents between 1955 and 1963 ... [more]

These days women's hygiene products have more than just wings. Probiotic panty liners could help to displace harmful bugs ... [more]

Mouthwash containing a genetically-altered bacterium could prevent tooth decay permanently -- but it will never replace the toothbrush ... [more]

There's nothing like a good brew of strong coffee for cleaning up drinking water ... [more]

Farmers, Sunday gardeners, scratch golfers and everyday environmentalists have an Idaho scientist to thank for making their world greener -- and healthier ... [more]

A lowly tubeworm has taken the title as one of the longest-lived animals on the planet: 250 years old, and going strong ... [more]

Traffic forecasts could help commuters predict their transit time more accurately -- thus saving both lost time and lost tempers ... [more]

NASA physicists have come up with a new 'supermodel' for space weather forecasting ... [more]

Smile - it'll help you live longer ... [more]

A veteran rock hound has found two rare Martian meteorites hanging around in a box in his backyard ... [more]

Tiny radar transponders riding on honeybees' backs are allowing scientists to study how the insects learn to forage ... [more]

The Sun's magnetic field morphs constantly -- but it has a remarkable memory for past shapes, and recreates them in a regular cycle ... [more]

To combine the power of silicon with the flexibility of plastic, you've got to understand the strange zone where organisation gives way to anarchy ... [more]

Have you checked the colour of your drinking water lately? ... [more]

A tree-ring study has shown that a mythic disaster known in northwestern Alaska as "The Time that Summertime Did Not Come", was quite real -- and it was all due to a volcanic eruption ... [more]

Armies of mindless robots might one day help build a base on Mars -- or just mow your lawn ... [more]

Soil which has been contaminated with oil can be remarkably hard to clean up. But the humble crabgrass may be an ideal oil-buster ... [more]

Chandra has spied a peculiar black hole at the center of the Andromeda galaxy. The 30 million solar mass object is surounded by a swirling disk of relatively cool gas that is confounding the experts ... [more]

Some of the world's oldest and most famous emeralds have been "fingerprinted" to pinpoint their origins -- with some surprising results ... [more]

Manmade carbon dioxide is being soaked up by the cold waters of the Southern Ocean -- but while it's good for the atmosphere, the effects are not as kind to the marine environment ... [more]

They're cheap, they're plentiful and they're everywhere. What's more, bees may be the best real-time environmental monitors we have available ... [more]

Researchers trying to coax light from semiconductors have a case of the blues, but they couldn't be happier about it ... [more]

Genetic modifications are helping tobacco plants to beat the heat -- and the same technique could equip other crops with the genetic know-how to survive in scorching climates ... [more]

There are only four basic tastes, or so we were taught in school: Sweet, sour, salty and bitter. But researchers have just identified a receptor for a fifth flavour: MSG ... [more]

A versatile new composite material has potential for use in everything from circuit boards and radar installations to bullet-proof cars and joint implants ... [more]

Big business, once the big enemy of efforts to curb global warming, is now embracing initiatives to reduce the amount of fossil fuels pumped into the atmosphere ... [more]

Two newly-developed explosives could make for a much bigger bang ... [more]

Omega-3 rich phytoplankton may be a vital ingredient in ensuring the health of lake ecosystems ... [more]

With the decreasing effectiveness of many pesticides, and the banning of others due to enviromnental concerns, some farmers are looking to a future of soil-free agriculture ... [more]

Photos of an erupting volcano on Io offer scientists the best chance ever to pin down the temperature of lava erupting from the Solar System's most active volcanoes ... [more]

Using gravity as a powerful lens, astronomers have found isolated black holes adrift among the stars in our galaxy ... [more]

The US military is pinning its hopes for future spying missions on the development of a tiny, versatile robofly ... [more]

The latest flyby of Europa has provided strong evidence that an ocean of salty water covers the Jovian moon ... [more]

A Californian rigs-to-reefs plan may lack a storybook ending ... [more]

It's another giant leap for x-ray astronomy as Chandra resolves a longstanding mystery in astrophysics and discovers two puzzling new types of cosmic objects ... [more]

Intraocular lens implants have come a long way, but there's a long way to go before the advances are available to all who need them ... [more]

The first observations from NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer spacecraft reveal that the halo of hot gas that surrounds the Milky Way was generated by thousands of exploding stars as our galaxy evolved ... [more]

It's not a question of whether we'll be driving fuel cell powered cars, but when they'll come on the market ... [more]

The intrepid Galileo spacecraft has had its mission extended once again ... [more]

By splitting an early-stage embryo and implanting the pieces into several mother animals, US researchers have cloned one monkey -- with more on the way ... [more]

If single-gene disorders are akin to minor misspellings in the human genome, then it stands to reason that the biological equivalent of a word processor's search-and-replace function could correct them ... [more]

Its very atmosphere glows green and red. Its sky is lit by massive columns of electric-blue light that resemble giant fluorescent tubes stretching away into the blackness of space. All in all, Jupiter's moon Io is a pretty fabulous place ... [more]

Researchers have identified a powerful tool to promote the growth of new blood vessels in the heart ... [more]

Wasps have a cool trick for surviving the winter months ... [more]

Aliens really are invading the far corners of the Earth: Worldwide havoc is being caused by 'hitchhiker' species finding new homes ... [more]

Galapagos Islands iguanas shrink to survive food shortages ... [more]

Sniff with your right nostril and life may smell sweeter (but the left is more accurate) ... [more]

Putting mud in a river to make the water cleaner? It sounds crazy, but an urban watercourse in Western Australia has been chosen for a world-first experiment in the war against toxic algae ... [more]

Not many companies encourage their employees to shoot each other with squirt guns at work. Then again, not many companies have squirt guns that launch glow-in-the-dark ammo ... [more]

It's not just mothers-to-be who find themselves on a nine-month roller coaster -- expectant fathers also get swept along by their hormones ... [more]

An ecology centre in Wales has been getting back to basics, building Britain's first public building from compacted earth ... [more]

A surprising pattern has emerged from satellite observations of lightning: Storms over the central US have significant amounts of lightning that never reaches the ground, an indicator of violent activity that can spawn hail and tornadoes ... [more]

Altering the genes of the humble silkworm could eventually make it into a miniature chemical factory ... [more]

The common rural practice of burning household rubbish in the backyard is actually more hazardous to the environment than burning it in a well-controlled municipal waste incinerator ... [more]

Happy New Year, Europa! On the eve of another extended mission, NASA's Galileo spacecraft swooped past Jupiter's icy moon Europa morning at an altitude of just 351 kilometers ... [more]

Killer cells called into action by the immune system to fight certain types of cancer can turn against the brain -- a finding that could open new avenues of research into cancer and neurological diseases ... [more]

It's the moment the world has been waiting for. Australian entomologists have announced the discovery of the "real" Millennium Bug. But not to worry -- it eats flies, not files ... [more]