A great white shark has astounded scientists by swimming from South Africa to Australia and back in a journey that sheds new light on the murky world of the ocean’s most feared predator
Micro-organisms commonly found floating in oceans might someday be reborn as components in incredibly complex computer circuits. The single-celled algae, called diatoms, live in water and assemble a shell, or frustule, of silica by converting nutrients and light. They can adopt an incredible diversity of shapes — from simple geometric structures like triangles and squares to extremely complex 3D constructs with thousands of individual pores
A decades-long mystery surrounding the rumoured existence of a Maya city has reportedly ended with the discovery of the city in the jungles of Guatemala
The Ig Nobel awards for 2005 were presented at Harvard University
A major international trial has confirmed the effectiveness of a cervical cancer vaccine developed in Australia. The vaccine was created by Professor Ian Frazer, who is from Brisbane’s Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research. Trials on 12,000 women from 13 countries, which have been sponsored by US drug company Merck, show the treatment is 100 per cent effective in preventing the most common form of cervical cancer. It would be much more impressive if the research hadn’t been tainted by the stench of PharmaCorp involvement
University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists say they are developing a new lithium battery technology capable of making batteries smaller, last longer and, soon, accept a charge from outside the body without the need for surgery. These organosilicon batteries are projected to power tiny implantable devices for more than 12 years
Two Australian scientists, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall, have been awarded the Nobel prize for medicine for their discovery that stomach ulcers can be caused by a bacterial infection. Thanks to their work these ulcers are often no longer a long-term, frequently disabling problem. They can now be cured with a short-term course of drugs and antibiotics
The tenth planet in the solar system has a moon at least a tenth of its size. The discovery will allow astronomers to pin down the mass of both objects. The planet was nicknamed Xena after the television warrior princess, and the moon has been dubbed Gabrielle, after the princess’s companion
British palaeontologist, Dr David Penney from the University of Manchester, has revealed he has discovered a prehistoric spider preserved in amber, possibly meaning its DNA could be extracted — just as in the film Jurassic Park. The spider, four centimetres long by two centimetres wide, was trapped in resin 20 million years ago but has been perfectly preserved. It is believed to be the first time spider blood has been discovered in amber and could lead to its DNA being extracted
The software, developed by NEC and the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, goes further than existing mobile phone camera technology by allowing entire documents to be scanned simply by sweeping the phone across the page. As reported, an A4 sized page takes only 3 to 5 seconds to scan, and it is causing copyright concerns
NASA has announced that the US will send four astronauts to the moon in 2018 in a major return to its pioneering manned missions into space. Welcome to 1969
Using satellite images from Google Maps and Google Earth, an Italian computer programmer has stumbled upon the remains of an ancient villa. Luca Mori was studying maps of the region around his town of Sorbolo, near Parma, when he noticed a prominent, oval, shaded form more than 500m long. It was the meander of an ancient river
The FBI and New Jersey officials have started a hushed but intensive search for three missing lab mice reportedly infected with deadly strains of plague. The incident has been cited as not that big a deal
, but it’s a little disturbing Richard Ebright, a Rutgers University microbiologist, comments about certain federal bio-terrorism labs: You have more security at a McDonald’s than at some of these facilities
Doctors working in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans killed critically ill patients rather than leaving them to die in agony as they evacuated hospitals
James Randi has released the full text of his Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural online for free. James Randi hopes the move will boost sales of the print edition — via boingboing
When I decided to place the entire text … on the Internet, it was suggested to me that this could cut into the sales of the printed version. However, experience has shown that, in the publishing business, making a book available on the Internet only stimulates sales of the actual book! Another mystery
A flying reptile that lived 100 million years ago and had an 18m wingspan has entered the record books as the largest-known animal to have taken to the air. Scientists discovered the fossilised bones of the dinosaur-like creature at a site in Mexico and have calculated that its wingspan was nearly twice the length of a Spitfire’s
Infecting allergy sufferers with the humble hookworm could be used to treat asthma — providing more support for the idea too much hygiene is responsible for rising rates of the disease. The idea is the parasitic bugs that suck blood from people’s guts will prime their immune systems so they no longer react to grass pollen, cat dander and dust mites
A group of scientists are about to present their breakthrough in hydrogen storage. In contrast to previous storage mechanisms, this method binds hydrogen to a pellet which is completely safe to handle at room temperature. While bound in this medium no hydrogen loss occurs, enabling hydrogen to be stored cheaply for indefinite periods. When needed, the extraction of hydrogen is relatively simple. The pellets exceed all criteria set by the US Department of Energy for 2015, enabling a car to drive more than 500km on a 50L tank
Australian scientists have created mice which can regenerate absolutely any tissue except for the tissues of the brain. Heart, lungs, entire limbs, you name it. This is the first time this has been seen in mammals
Diamond is no longer the hardest substance known to man. Scientists have created a new material, called aggregated diamond nanorods by compressing carbon-60 under high heat. The hardness of a material is measured by its isothermal bulk modulus. Aggregated diamond nanorods have a modulus of 491 gigapascals (GPa), compared with 442 GPa for conventional diamond
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