New Scientist - Latest Headlines

Aggression written in the shape of a man's face

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:01:00 +0100

The width-height proportions of a man's face could reveal how aggressive he is

Shipwreck fuels invasion of unwanted species

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

Aggressive invaders wipe out any organisms that get in their way as they spread through a coral reef in Hawaii

Shock absorbers to quell NASA rocket's vibrations

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:30:00 +0100

Astronauts on NASA's future Ares I rocket should get a smooth ride to space thanks to a two-tiered system of shock-absorbing springs

First red blood cells grown in the lab

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:30:00 +0100

Blood donations may one day be a thing of the past thanks to the creation of functional red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells

Polygamy is the key to a long life

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:26:00 +0100

Comparison of the lifespans of men from polygamous countries with those from monogamous ones helps explain why men live so long

FBI admits missteps, but defends anthrax probe

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:50:00 +0100

FBI officials defended the scientific evidence linking a US Army scientist who committed suicide to the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks

Personalised maps show the view from the street

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:30:00 +0100

Software generates personalised maps with distorted 3D depictions of buildings to make navigating using landmarks easier

Stem cells from menstrual blood save limbs

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:45:00 +0100

Stem cells from human menstrual blood stimulate blood-vessel growth in mice and prevent limbs from withering - trials in humans could start soon

Gluttony - not laziness - to blame for obesity

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:15:00 +0100

Study shows no decline in physical activity over the past 25 years, suggesting that the food we eat is behind the obesity epidemic

Merck catches more flak over dangerous drug

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:15:00 +0100

Pharmaceutical giant accused of using a drug trial to introduce primary-care physicians to the painkiller Vioxx

Mirror test shows magpies aren't so bird-brained

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

First demonstration of mirror self-recognition in a bird throws current brain theory into doubt

Bloating galaxies confound astronomers

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:29:00 +0100

Dense, compact galaxies in the early universe more than doubled their size in a short time – astronomers are struggling to explain how

Herbivores eat away at climate-change predictions

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Models of climate change may have overestimated the ability of woody plants to suck carbon out of the atmosphere

Cassini spots source of geysers on Saturn moon

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:53:00 +0100

The vents from which icy geysers erupt on Enceladus are revealed in new images – the vents' position changes over time

First object seen from solar system's inner Oort cloud

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0100

Astronomers had theorised that a distant shell of comets called the Oort cloud had an inner region – now they have found its first native son

Invention: Flat-panel ion thrusters

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:21:00 +0100

This week's new patents include microscopic spacecraft thrusters, a gadget with a nose for radiation and a microphone that uses a laser to detect sound

Ferocious California fires kill off aliens

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:05:00 +0100

Deliberately burning shrubland to prevent the next big blaze could harm diversity of native species, according to a study

Ecotourists scare away endangered wildlife

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:30:00 +0100

Nature-loving visitors to protected animal reserves can make carnivorous animals like bobcats and coyotes scarper, a new study says (full text available to subscribers)

World's farmers turn to raw sewage for irrigation

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:01:00 +0100

As water becomes ever more scarce, much of the world's food could not be grown at all without wastewater from urban sewers, says a new 50-city study

Computers tell their life stories to reduce waste

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 10:00:00 +0100

Installing radio frequency tags on all computer parts could speed up recycling programmes and cut the number of used PCs dumped on landfill sites

Eleven new streams of stars found in Milky Way

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:00:00 +0100

The streams were likely ripped from dwarf galaxies that were gobbled up by our Milky Way long ago

Computer model of bees probes the hive mind

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0100

How do bees know where to find the best nectar? A colony of virtual bees may provide the answer (full text available to subscribers)

Fussy fish pick a partner from afar

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:00:00 +0100

In the race to become a father, it's the female who calls the shots, at least among blue-green chinook salmon

NASA backs troubled rocket design

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:00:00 +0100

Officials say NASA will stick with the Ares I design despite rumours that it is considering an alternative

Milky Way keeps tight grip on its neighbour

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:00:00 +0100

The Large Magellanic Cloud is not breaking free of the Milky Way's cluster of galaxies after all, according to the latest measurements on our galaxy

How to ensure animated clones get lost in the crowd

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:55:00 +0100

Challenging people to spot cloned characters in a crowd has revealed tricks to help animators produce more realistic epic scenes

Farms in Brazil and India must adapt or roast in heat

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:14:00 +0100

Agriculture in Brazil and India cannot avoid the effects of global warming, but low-latitude countries can take steps to limit the damage, says study

Biggest 3D galaxy map to probe dark energy's history

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:20:00 +0100

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has entered a new phase, probing to greater distances to study the universe's expansion history

Bisexuality passed on by 'hyper-heterosexuals'

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:45:00 +0100

'Gay genes' persist because female relatives of homosexual and bisexual men have more children than those of straight men

Great Planet Debate ends in stalemate

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:52:00 +0100

What is a planet? As Pluto's lost status hangs in the balance, astronomers agree that we need a new way of looking at the solar system

Go online to find your future spouse

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:12:00 +0100

The internet has overtaken more traditional avenues for people in the US to find their perfect mate

Martian dust speck seen at highest magnification ever

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:50:00 +0100

The Phoenix lander's atomic force microscope took the image, shown at a higher magnification than anything ever seen from another planet

Craving fatty food? Blame it on childhood illness

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:01:00 +0100

Severe childhood ear infections make sufferers twice as likely to be obese in later life

Arsenic-eating bacteria rewrite evolutionary history

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:00:00 +0100

Photosynthesis using arsenic instead of water might have evolved before "normal" oxygenic photosynthesis

Stone Age mass graves reveal green Sahara

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:00:00 +0100

Sahara desert was lush and people thrived 10,000 years ago - before the climate changed for the worse