Contraceptive gel could offer alternative to pill

A new contraceptive gel that is applied directly to the skin could offer women an alternative to the pill, a study suggests.

The clear gel is put on once a day and delivers a dose of hormones to prevent pregnancy. Women using the gel have reported none of the typical side effects associated with the pill, such as weight gain and acne.

It is suitable for breastfeeding women, who are often warned not to take the combined pill because its hormone levels interfere with milk supply.

The gel can be applied to the abdomen, thighs, arms or shoulders and is quickly absorbed, with no residue. Experts hope to bring it to market if clinical trial results continue to be positive — via redwolf.newsvine.com

More species slide to extinction

One fifth of animal and plant species are under the threat of extinction, a global conservation study has warned.

Scientists who compiled the Red List of Threatened Species say the proportion of species facing wipeout is rising.

But they say intensive conservation work has already pulled some species back from the brink of oblivion — via redwolf.newsvine.com

CSIRO: Australian Solar Technology To Have ‘Global Impact’

The Australian government-owned science organisation CSIRO has described the future of solar technology in the country as having a global impact after announcing the installation of 450 solar mirrors, or heliostats.

CSIRO will begin the rollout for Australia’s largest solar-thermal tower system at the CSIRO National Solar Energy Centre in Newcastle, New South Wales, according to an Oct. 26 press release by the organisation — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Indian neutrino lab to boast world’s biggest magnet

A major neutrino observatory set to be built in India cleared a major hurdle this week, when the Ministry of Environment and Forests formally approved the project.

The $250 million underground laboratory, called the Indian Neutrino Observatory (INO), will be built in the Bodi West Hills Reserved Forest in the state of Tamil Nadu — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Daring cuttlefish flees lab tank for freedom of lough

It hasn’t been seen in Strangford Lough for 30 years — and it could be another 30 before it’s spotted again.

Scientists probing the shores of the lough found a tiny cuttlefish not seen since the 1980s, so they decided to hand it to the aquarium at Exploris in Portaferry.

But the intrepid cephalopod made a daring Great Escape, squeezing its way down the drain of the tank where it was being held — and vanished without trace once more into the waters of Strangford Lough — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Dogs can be optimistic or pessimistic?

A study has found that some dogs are natural gloom-mongers while others have sunnier dispositions.

“We know that people’s emotional states affect their judgments and that happy people are more likely to judge an ambiguous situation positively,” said professor Mike Mendl, an author of the study and head of animal welfare and behavior at Bristol University.

What our study has shown is that this applies similarly to dogs — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Study: Doodling Helps You Pay Attention

A lot of people hate doodlers, those who idly scribble during meetings (or classes or trials or whatever). Most people also hate that other closely related species: the fidgeter, who spins pens or reorders papers or plays with his phone during meetings. (I stand guilty as charged. On occasion, I have also been known to whisper.) We doodlers, fidgeters and whisperers always get the same jokey, passive-aggressive line from the authority figure at the front of the room: “I’m sorry, are we bothering you?” How droll. But the underlying message is clear: Pay attention.

But I’ve never stopped fidgeting, and I’ve always thought I walked out of meetings remembering all the relevant parts. Now I have proof. In a delightful new study, which will be published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, psychologist Jackie Andrade of the University of Plymouth in southern England showed that doodlers actually remember more than nondoodlers when asked to retain tediously delivered information, like, say, during a boring meeting or a lecture — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Andre Geim: in praise of graphene

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics went to the discoverers of the one-atom-thick sheets of carbon known as graphene. Andre Geim of the University of Manchester, UK, who shared the award with his colleague Konstantin Novoselov, tells Nature why graphene deserves the prize, and why he hasn’t patented it — via redwolf.newsvine.com