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Sellafield faces nuclear option as overspending threatens plant's future

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:00:01 GMT

Britain’s biggest single nuclear project has run into serious trouble with missed deadlines and cost overruns threatening the future of the entire nuclear reprocessing operation at Sellafield in Cumbria.

Nasa plans to scale back missions to Mars to save money, claim scientists

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Nasa is about to propose "irrational" major cuts to its exploration of other planets, especially Mars, scientists claim.

Swimsuit is 'not like shark skin'

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Claims by a leading sports-clothing company, Speedo, to have invented a swimsuit fabric that emulates the surface properties of shark’s skin are not supported by experiments with real shark skin, scientists said.

Billions of tons of water lost from world's glaciers, satellite reveals

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

The total volume of water that has melted from all of the world's polar ice sheets, ice caps and mountain glaciers over the past decade would repeatedly fill Britain's largest lake, Windemere, more than 13,000 times, according to one of the most comprehensive studies of the Earth's frozen "cryosphere".

No way of stopping leak of deadly new flu, says terror chief

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

The bioterrorism expert responsible for censoring scientific research which could lead to the creation of a devastating pandemic has admitted the information "is going to get out" eventually.

Government 'may sanction nerve-agent use on rioters', scientists fear

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Leading neuroscientists believe that the UK Government may be about to sanction the development of nerve agents for British police that would be banned in warfare under an international treaty on chemical weapons.

New genetic discovery could boost treatment for stroke patients

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Scientists have identified a genetic mutation in one of the 23,000 human genes that can double the risk of a stroke, which kills more than six million people worldwide each year and is the second top cause of death in developed countries.

Science behind the big freeze: is climate change bringing the Arctic to Europe?

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

The bitterly cold weather sweeping Britain and the rest of Europe has been linked by scientists with the ice-free seas of the Arctic, where global warming is exerting its greatest influence.

Science behind the big freeze: is climate change bringing the Arctic to Europe?

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

The bitterly cold weather sweeping Britain and the rest of Europe has been linked by scientists with the ice-free seas of the Arctic, where global warming is exerting its greatest influence.

Let battle commence: US diver hopes to find £2bn treasure on British war wreck

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

It is 70 years since the British merchant ship the SS Port Nicholson was sunk by a U-boat off Cape Cod during the Second World War.

Body Pods: Art from the heart of science

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:01 GMT

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, many people's thoughts are turning to matters of the heart. So it's timely that the performance poet Francesca Beard and the micro-valve surgeon Dr David Hildick-Smith got together to launch the Body Pod The Heart today. This is the second in a new series of podcasts that focus on different parts of the body, made by an artist in collaboration with a scientist.

Electronic telepathy breakthrough hailed

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:19:21 GMT

A first step has been taken towards hearing imagined speech using a form of electronic telepathy, it has been claimed.

Research into mutant flu 'must go on'

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

One of the scientists at the centre of the controversy over the creation a highly dangerous form of bird flu which could cause a devastating human pandemic has denounced attempts by the US Government to censor the research over fears that the findings might be misused by bioterrorists.

The plane truth: Scientist reveals how wings really work

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

The classic explanation of how a wing generates enough lift to keep a plane or a bird in the air is wrong, according to a Cambridge University physicist.

Strongest solar storm since 2005 hits Earth

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:12:26 GMT

Space weather officials say the strongest solar storm in more than six years bombarded Earth with radiation.

Once they were blind, now they see. Patients treated with cells from human embryo

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Two blind people have shown signs of being able to see again – despite having incurable eye disease – following a revolutionary operation involving the transplant of stem cells derived from a human embryo.

Once they were blind, now they see. Patients cured by stem cell 'miracle'

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Nasa launches vital new mission to recover its stolen moon rocks

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

The American space agency, Nasa, is not as busy as it once was sending astronauts into orbit aboard its recently retired shuttle fleet, which means it has time to attend to other urgent business, like trying to track down countless samples of moon rock it has handed out over the years that have gone missing.

Selling out: why some beliefs are not worth keeping

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Whether you're a political pundit, a serious musician or a football club diehard, "selling out" is regarded as the lowest of acts.

Male sex drive causes hostility

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Male sex drive is at the root of most conflict in the world, from football violence to world wars, scientists have claimed.

Epidemic fears see bird flu doctors halt research

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Influenza experts have agreed to a two-month voluntary ban on research into a highly dangerous strain of bird-flu virus because of fears that it may escape from their laboratories to cause a global human epidemic.

It's hip to be E=mc²: Can the worlds of art and fashion help to make the lab cool?

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

Chris Hatherill is sitting in the office he shares with graphic designers, textile artists and painters in east London. Slight, speaking in a quiet Canadian accent and with thin-rimmed steel glasses he looks like the fashion, music and tech journalist for Dazed & Confused and Vice that he is.

UK scientists find 'lost' Charles Darwin fossils

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:45:41 GMT

British scientists have found scores of fossils the great evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin and his peers collected but that had been lost for more than 150 years.

Natural History Museum attacked over links to 'illegal' Israeli company

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:30:01 GMT

The Natural History Museum is today accused by a coalition of prominent academics and cultural figures of helping to break international law by leading a research project which involves an Israeli cosmetics company based in an “illegal” settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The chips that are good for your health

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:01 GMT

An edible microchip that records the precise details of a patient's pill regime will be available in Britain by the end of year following a commercial deal that opens the door to an era of digital medicines.