News

Last updated: October 4, 2009.

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August 2009

Sun, 23 Aug 2009: How lightning races to the sky: Upside-down lightning? Scientists can show you the photos to prove it.

Sun, 23 Aug 2009: Apple poised for touchscreen revolution: You've had the iPod and the iPhone, but now Apple are reputed to be working on a revolutionary all-singing, all-dancing touchscreen computer that could consign such things as netbooks and e-books to the dustbin.

Fri, 21 Aug 2009: What makes space spirals?: Astronomers think they have finally cracked the secret of spiral galaxies.

Fri, 21 Aug 2009: Microsoft battling Word judgement: Microsoft's legal brains are battling to overturn a legal judgement centered on allegations of patent infringement.

Fri, 21 Aug 2009: Saving the planet means saving life: Edward O. Wilson explains why saving biodiversity is the key to saving the environment.

Fri, 21 Aug 2009: Still no sign of gravitational waves: BBC science correspondent Jonathan Amos wonders why physicists have still not found direct evidence for the waves behind gravity.

Fri, 21 Aug 2009: Wraparound displays are coming soon: Bendy and transparent displays that use organic LEDs are almost here.

Fri, 21 Aug 2009: A good year for rubber boots: Lynne Peeples looks back on Charles Goodyear, Amazonian Indians, and the amazing history of rubber.

Sat, 8 Aug 2009: How the world's biggest water pump protects New Orleans: Popular Science explains how a massive new floodwater pump could stop a repeat of the devastation following Hurricane Katrina.

Wed, 5 Aug 2009: Protect yourself against Net crimes: Amir Orad explains ten common Web scams and how to avoid them.

July 2009

Tue, 7 Jul 2009: Facebook is growing up: It started out in schools and colleges, but now Facebook is increasingly being dominated by thirty-something users.

Tue, 7 Jul 2009: Audio meets Twitter meets YouTube?: The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones explains how new sound-sharing sites could revolutionize audio on the Web.

Tue, 7 Jul 2009: Return of the invisible man: An article from New Scientist updating us on progess to develop "invisibility cloaks" for military and other cunning uses.

Mon, 6 Jul 2009: Maybe You Shouldn't Buy That: A hilarious blog that shares news of overpriced and often completely bonkers gadgets.

Mon, 6 Jul 2009: New e-bible goes online: In the latest installment of its plan to digitize great works from the past, the British Library has put online the Codex Sinaiticus (a handwritten bible that contains the oldest complete copy of the New Testatement).

Mon, 6 Jul 2009: Why electric cars are so expensive: Wired explains why electric costs so much—and why that won't change anytime soon.

Mon, 6 Jul 2009: The jet-propelled ATV: Popular Science adds jet power to a go-anywhere buggy.

Mon, 6 Jul 2009: Even flatter flatscreen TV: You thought your LCD was flat? New technologies such as organic LEDs are making them thinner still.

Thu, 2 Jul 2009: Plastic really harms health?: Scientific American examines the downsides of this versatile material.

April/May 2009

Sat, 2 May 2009: Still excited by the future: Why inventor and futurologist Ray Kurzweil remains optimistic about tomorrow's world.

Sat, 2 May 2009: The wheelchair that reads your mind: New Scientist reports on a chair for the disabled controlled by thought alone.

Fri, 1 May 2009: Make way for the JWT: NASA is starting to get excited about the James Webb Telescope, the replacement for the Hubble due to launch in 2013.

Fri, 1 May 2009: Scope it out!: Find out how the new JWT telescope works by playing NASA's scope-it-out game.

Fri, 1 May 2009: How to win or lose your diet: Your brain is as important as your body says Science magazine, considering the neuropsychology of dieting.

Thu, 30 Apr 2009: Energy department donates more supercomputer time: The DoE is releasing a whopping 1.3 billion processor hours of supercomputer time to scientists.

Thu, 30 Apr 2009: The rhythm of birdsong: We all know birds can sing, but now we find they can dance to a beat too.

Wed, 29 Apr 2009: Coal must stay underground, scientists warn: Most fossil fuels must remain unburned to avoid more serious climate change.

Wed, 29 Apr 2009: The climate crunch: Nature has a special on climate change and our apparent political inability to get to grips with it.

Wed, 29 Apr 2009: Are fruit batteries just lemons?: Popular Science takes on bogus YouTubers and tries charging an iPhone with some pennies and apple slices.

March 2009

Mon, 16 Mar 2009: French physicist wins million pound prize for God: French physicist and philosopher Bernard d'Espagnat has scooped the Templeton prize for his work on the spiritual side of science.

Mon, 16 Mar 2009: Copper floats their boats: Chinese scientists have made copper float in daring new mesh boats. Read our background on copper.

Mon, 16 Mar 2009: Why electric cars make sense: Electric cars cost less per charge than petrol has cost for decades. Read our background article on electric cars.

Sun, 15 Mar 2009: Table-top touch computing still years away: Latest whispers from Microsoft suggest their touch-sensitive table-top PCs are a couple of years away, at least. Read some background on touchscreen computing.

Sun, 15 Mar 2009: Save the Earth... or solar power?: Geoengineering enthusiasts who think we should use aerosols to blot out the sun to stop global warming won't be helping solar power. Read some background on solar power and aerosol cans.

Sat, 14 Mar 2009: Dying online: How do you tell your online friends you've gone to the great social network in the sky? MSNBC takes a look at online life after death.

Thu, 12 Mar 2009: Google takes on the iPhone: Android, Google's new phone system, puts your PC experience in your pocket! Read our background on cellphones.

Thu, 12 Mar 2009: Doubts raised about voice recognition: British government plans to use voice recognition for benefits testing are meeting with growing consternation. Read our background on voice recognition.

Thu, 12 Mar 2009: Bridges on mars?: Popular Science looks at some of the daftest space illusions of recent years. Read background on space telescopes.

Mon, 23 Fri 2009: Road test: the giant office unicycle: Wired magazine tries out a bonkers unicycle in the office! Read background on the science of bicycles.

February 2009

Mon, 2 Feb 2009: India plans low-cost laptop: Rumors are rife that India's high-tech experts are planning the world's cheapest educational computer. Read more about the one laptop per child (OLPC/XO) project.

Sun, 1 Feb 2009: China's birth defect babies: High levels of air pollution related to heavy use of coal fuel are taking a tragic toll. Read more about air pollution. Read more about air pollution.

Sun, 1 Feb 2009: Arctic could be global "national park": WWF are calling for special measures to save the melting Arctic icecap. Read more about global warming and climate change.

Sun, 1 Feb 2009: Google to map the seabed: Heading out for fish and chips? Fancy a gander at the wreck of the Titanic? Let Google Earth help you explore beneath the sea!

Sun, 1 Feb 2009: Ads that watch you back: MSN reports on a new departure in interactive advertising: technology that detects who's watching and modifies the content accordingly!

January 2009

Fri, 30 Jan 2009: UK fails to persuade energy saving: Despite growing pressure to reduce greenhouse emissions, the UK is failing to improve energy efficiency. Read more about how energy monitors can help.

Fri, 30 Jan 2009: Tougher protection for the world's oldest crystals: Zircons in Western Australia that are more than 4 billion years old are to be spared from mining.

Tue, 27 Jan 2009: Is organic pest control always better?: Researchers in South West England have found surprising results while studying how wasps attack crops. Read more about organic farming.

Mon, 26 Jan 2009: The world's oldest nuclear reactor?: An African uranium deposit was making nuclear power more than two billion years ago. Read more about nuclear power.

Mon, 26 Jan 2009: A Tech Guide for the Newly Jobless: Popular Science present their slightly tongue-in-cheek guide to surviving the credit crunch.

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