New Scientist Magazine: Latest News

New Scientist - Online News

• US stem cell funding freeze lifted - for now
  An appeals court has granted a temporary stay to the controversial injunction that last month froze new government grants for embryonic stem cell research
  
  
  
  
  
• 2000-year-old pills found in Greek shipwreck
  Medicine found in a millennia-old shipwreck in the Mediterranean is the first physical evidence for ancient Greek prescriptions
  
  
  
  
  
• Today on New Scientist: 9 September 2010
  All today's stories on newscientist.com, including: the truth behind vitamin B and dementia, why cane toads aren't all bad and how to spot top tweets
  
  
  
  
  
• Found: natural bridges on the moon
  Two rocky arches have been spotted on the moon in images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – they may have been carved by an ancient impact
  
  
  
  
  
• Birds use optical illusions to get mates
  Male bowerbirds play tricks with perspective in attempts to woo females
  
  
  
  
  
• Smoking, bad for your fertility and your child's
  Would-be mums who smoke risk damaging the fertility of their children
  
  
  
  
  
• Ancient Greeks spotted Halley's comet
  Halley's comet and a meteorite the size of a "wagonload" triggered a turning point in ancient Greek astronomy
  
  
  
  
  
• Japan to begin drilling for methane in undersea slush
  Without conventional fossil fuels to secure its energy demands, Japan is encouraging interest in the methane hydrate deposits in its coastal waters
  
  
  
  
  
• Caution urged over vitamin B dementia therapy
  Claims that large doses of B vitamins could protect against dementia are not quite as dramatic as the headlines suggest, says Jessica Hamzelou
  
  
  
  
  
• Cane toads aren't quite the bad guys we thought
  It's invaded Australia, but the cane toad has not triggered the ecological catastrophe that some predicted
  
  
  
  
  
• Ghostwriting probe into HRT articles
  Scientific papers "ghostwritten" for drug maker Wyeth may have led to hormone replacement therapy being recommended to healthy menopausal women
  
  
  
  
  
• World's most expensive book up for grabs
  If you like pictures of snowy owls and have £4 to £6 million spare, this book might be for you
  
  
  
• New formula shows who's really top of the tweeters
  The most influential Twitter feeds don't necessarily have the most followers. That's the insight given by a new technique for ranking twitterers
  
  
  
  
  
• Turing formula poses plain origin for intricate skins
  A mathematical-biological mixing dreamed up by code breaker Alan Turing can predict what happens when species with simple skin patterns interbreed
  
  
  
  
  
• How Google Instant knows what you want
  Google's new ability to provide full search results as you type is just the first step towards the company's plans to know your desires before you do
  
  
  
• Dinosaur with a mysterious fin found
  A two-legged dinosaur that had a fin on its back has been discovered – but nobody knows what it was for
  
  
  
  
  
• Thank the ur-worm for Shakespeare's brain
  The hallmark of the human brain – its enormous cortex – can be traced back 600 million years to the ancestor of a primitive worm
  
  
  
  
  
• Laws of physics may change across the universe
  A controversial observation suggests that a constant of physics actually varies in space – it could explain why our corner of the cosmos is just right for life
  
  
  
  
  
• Be philosophical: Take part in a thought experiment
  A Yale University experimental philosopher needs your help – take his online test if you want to find out how your mind works
  
  
  
  
  
• Today on New Scientist: 8 September 2010
  All today's stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: BP's report on the gulf spill, how to map the internet, and the shark soup massacre
  
  
  
  
  
• Brain imaging monitors effect of movie magic
  Mining your brain's fundamental response to cinematic action could make movies more moving
  
  
  
  
  
• Exotic matter could show up in the LHC this year
  The Large Hadron Collider could glimpse sparticles, diquarks and leptoquarks sooner than thought possible if new-found decay pathways are correct
  
  
  
  
  
• Robot car passenger: On the road to China, no driver
  Driverless cars are safer and they are the future, says Alberto Broggi, leader of an autonomous-vehicle expedition from Italy to China
  
  
  
  
  
• The shark soup massacre and how to stop it
  In their book Man and Shark, photographers Paul Hilton and Alex Hofford reveal the extent of the bloody trade in shark fins, says Clint Witchalls
  
  
  
  
  
• The eight failures that caused the Gulf oil spill
  A long-awaited BP report lists eight reasons for the accident that caused its catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill