The smallest planet yet detected outside our Solar System appears to have a solid surface, European astronomers say. The European team describe the exoplanet CoRoT-7b, a so-called Super-Earth, which has a diameter approximately twice that of Earth. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

Five months after it was launched on a mission to find earth-like planets, the Kepler space telescope has sent back to Earth high-precision images of a planet some 1,000 light years away, Nasa said on Thursday. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

An Aesop's fable about a crow with a knowledge of physics is more than just folklore, scientists have shown.

Researchers found that rooks, members of the crow family, can use stones to raise the level of water in a container - just like the bird in the tale The Crow And The Pitcher. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

Orangutans make their voices sound deeper by 'blowing kisses' to suggest they are larger than they really are, scientists have discovered. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has officially started its "Warm Mission" after taking its first shots of the cosmos since it ran out of coolant in May. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

The active ingredient in many insect repellents, deet, has been found to be toxic to the central nervous system. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology say that more investigations are urgently needed to confirm or dismiss any potential neurotoxicity to humans, especially when deet-based repellents are used in combination with other neurotoxic insecticides. picked by kakana 4 months ago

Scientists say they have decoded the entire genetic content of the HIV-1 virus, a key source of AIDS infection.

They hope this will pave the way to a greater understanding of how the virus operates, and potentially accelerate the development of drug treatments. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

The American Psychological Association has declared that mental health professionals should not tell gay clients that they can become straight through therapy or other treatments. picked by Bornbad 4 months ago

Nanostructured plastic solar cells could be put into use on a broad scale. As a start, they could be incorporated into purses or backpacks to charge cellular phones or mp3 players, but eventually they could make in important contribution to the electrical power supply. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

Newly unveiled court documents show that ghostwriters paid by a pharmaceutical company played a major role in producing 26 scientific papers backing the use of hormone replacement therapy in women, suggesting that the level of hidden industry influence on medical literature is broader than previously known. picked by Bingo 4 months ago

Last year, psychologist Nicholas Rule raised a few eyebrows when he published a study suggesting a man's sexual orientation can be "accurately and rapidly perceived" simply by looking at his face. Now, a follow-up study finds female faces are equally transparent in conveying which gender turns them on. picked by Bingo 4 months ago

Ancient fossilised, spider-like species have been imaged in 3D using thousands of X-ray scans and imaging software.

The two species, Cryptomartus hindi and Eophrynus prestvicii, lived 300 million years ago but are closely related to modern spiders. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

A team of gearheads at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed an engine that can handle a blend of gasoline and diesel fuel. It outputs low emissions, and offers up to 20 percent greater fuel efficiency. picked by kakana 4 months ago

A recent expedition to the Dominican Republic has resulted in some of the only known film footage of one of the world’s poorest known and unusual mammals, the Hispaniolan solenodon. This strange looking shrew-like creature with a long snout and specialised teeth capable of delivering venom represents the last of an ancient lineage of early mammals that lived near the end of the age of the d... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

If you like beer, then perk up those ears, for we have news of an innovation – brought to you by, who else, the Germans – that could lead to longer-lasting brews. The development in question is a polymer that extracts riboflavin, a micronutrient found throughout beer and other beverages that promotes spoilage when exposed to light. picked by kakana 4 months ago

After testing dozens of individual moves, from simply rolling forwards and backwards to "crab-walking" sideways, engineers decided to throw the kitchen sink at the problem. picked by kakana 4 months ago

An image of what appears to be a mysterious rocky monument on Mars has excited space junkies around the world.
The 'monolith', was snapped from 165miles away using a special high resolution camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. picked by kakana 4 months ago

Scientists have discovered that the spleen, long consigned to the B-list of abdominal organs and known as much for its metaphoric as its physiological value, plays a more important role in the body’s defense system than anyone suspected. picked by nateebiinature 4 months ago

It's not your average garbage dump: Out in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean lies the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," an area of open sea hundreds of miles across littered with floating bits of plastic debris. picked by Bornbad 4 months ago

NASA's Opportunity rover has eyed an odd-shaped, dark rock on the surface of Mars — scientists think it could be a meteorite. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

Fifteen weapons or defensive systems that historians have found sketched in the notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci. These include a tank, cluster munitions, and mobile walls. picked by Bingo 4 months ago

It is now generally accepted that the bowhead whale is the longest lived mammal on the planet, with a lifespan of over 200 years. But that it can sing with "more than one voice" and that it changes its repertoire from year to year is news. This behaviour is unique among baleen whales and is a newly discovered phenomenon that has been investigated by researchers at the University of Copen... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

Fully functioning teeth have been grown from stem cells planted in the mouths of mice, scientists said today.

The researchers in Japan hope the breakthrough could proved not only to be an important step towards being able to replace teeth in humans but eventually replacing organs, lost or damaged as a result of disease, injury or aging. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

Scientists say they have genetic proof malaria spread by mosquitoes jumped species from chimpanzees to humans. picked by AutumnLotus 4 months ago

A tool bag lost by a spacewalking astronaut last year met its fiery demise in Earth's atmosphere Monday after months circling ever closer to the planet. picked by kakana 4 months ago