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/ 10 February 2006
A long-lost 17th century manuscript charting the birth of modern science has been found gathering dust in a cupboard in a house in southern England. Filled with crabby italics and acerbic asides, the 520 or so yellowing and stained pages are the handwritten minutes of the United Kingdom Royal Society.
Elephants roaming the parched plains of Africa’s national parks can get up to half their food by risky midnight raids into crop fields, according to scientists who tracked a herd by satellite monitoring. Conservationists hope that, by understanding the elephants’ behaviour, they can improve ways of protecting farmers against damage caused by the animals — and the elephants themselves.
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/ 29 November 2005
A genetic experiment to unlock the secrets of the ageing process has created organisms that live six times their usual lifespan, raising hopes that it might be possible to slow ageing in humans. The geneticists behind the study say the increase in lifespan is so striking, they may have tapped into one of the most fundamental mechanisms that controls the rate at which living creatures age.
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/ 11 November 2005
The biological clock ticks for men as well as women, suggesting it is not just females who should be aware of the consequences of starting families later in life, according to research published recently. In the biggest study to date of the effects of paternal age on babies’ health, scientists found that older men have a greater chance of fathering children with a variety of limb defects.
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/ 7 November 2005
They might not huddle round a marvellous mechanical mouse organ or live with a cartoon character cat called Bagpuss, but scientists have discovered that mice are more musical than their simple squeaks suggest. Research by a team of neuroscientists has revealed that male mice construct complex songs and sing them for minutes at a time when they come across sex pheromones produced by potential mates.
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/ 18 October 2005
Only a handful of scientists have security clearance to access the laboratory at the United States government’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Before entering, they must pull on protective hoods, don breathing apparatus and pass through electronic fingerprint and retina scanners to prove their identity. Inside the lab lies a batch of a virus that more than justifies the extreme level of security.
It is the ultimate conundrum for vegetarians who think that meat is murder: a revolution in processed food that will see fresh meat grown from animal cells without a single cow, sheep or pig being killed. Researchers have published details in a biotechnology journal describing a new technique, which they hailed as the answer to the world’s food shortage.
The authorised use of drugs by military forces is rarely acknowledged by officials, but despite accidents like the one in Afghanistan, interest in using drugs to improve performance remains high. Yet, as money is directed into the hunt for newer and better pills to squeeze more out of exhausted troops, some military researchers believe it’s time to quit the drugs and try something radically different.
First it was the fridge mountain, then it was the tyre mountain. Now discarded computers have got environmentalists worried. According to a new study, the world’s relentless appetite for buying new computers — and the ease with which we throw out old ones — is having a major impact on the environment.
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/ 14 October 2003
Brain implants that could allow severely disabled people to control prosthetic limbs with their minds could be ready for use within two years, according to a team of scientists. Their claim comes after tests with monkeys showed that the animals could control a robotic arm using just their thoughts.