Science News

Fat fuels inflammation

If you’re carrying a bit of a spare tyre in the tummy department, you probably just think it just affects your clothing size. But increasingly, it’s becoming clear that excess fat ...

Putting the brakes on car accidents

Canadian researchers have come up with a way to make the roads safer, with a revolution in brake-light design. University of Toronto researchers Zhonghai Li and Paul Milgram realis...

Making light of asteroid spin

Scientists in Helsinki have spotted an asteroid behaving badly, and it's all down to light. Mikko Kaasalainen, from the University of Helsinki in Finland, has been watching an aste...

Finding the killer asteroid

NASA have just published a report on how the should look for asteroids that may be on killer orbits and collide with the Earth, like in the Hollywood blockbuster Deep Impact...

Pollution, Mountains and Rainfall

Pollution seems to be affecting rainfall in mountainous areas, there have been many reports of this over the last few years but now there is some hard evidence for this effect. ...

Barnacles give a Fungal Farewell

A microscopic fungus known as Streptomyces avermitilis could be the solution to a problem that has dogged sailors for centuries. Barnacles attach to the hulls of ...

Making Light of Rapid Virus Diagnosis

Researchers at the University of Georgia, US, have developed a technique for rapidly identifying minute traces of viral genetic material, using just light. The method pioneered by ...

Loud Lizards

Lizards have evolved to play it cool, blending into background foliage to remain hidden from predators. But what do they do when they actually need to get noticed - for example, to...

Sweetcorn Solution to Gas Storage

US researchers have found a way to turn corn on the cob leftovers into gas storage tanks for cars running on methane (Liquified Natural Gas - LNG). The problem wi...

Ancient Hot Stuff

Are you a fan of hot spicy food? Well it seems that us humans have been enjoying fiery food for a very long time indeed. In fact South Americans may have been spicing up their food...