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40,083 articles from Guardian Unlimited Science

Today's Mystery Bird for you to identify | GrrlScientist

This beautiful African species has an unusual common name that was suggested by a special reproductive behaviour that many other birds in the family do not share. What behaviour is that?Mystery Bird photographed at Tarangire National Park, northeastern Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Dan Logen, 17 January 2010. [with binoculars].Nikon D300, 200-400 mm lens...

Science is Vital! Follow live audio updates here

Listen to regular near-live audio updates from the Science is Vital rally today.James O'Malley of The Pod Delusion fame will be be giving us live audio updates from the Science is Vital protest at The Treasury today, including providing updates on what's happening, getting interviews with key people there, and getting the reaction of the great unwashed. Keep this page in your browser this...

Video: A curious cat gets into a prickly situation | GrrlScientist

A curious cat gets into a prickly situationJust in time for Caturday, a new episode of Simon's Cat!A curious cat gets into a prickly situation. Yes, I know it's silly. But it's Caturday, and if a person can't be silly on Caturday, when can they be silly?GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More...

Climate change: Tropical heat | Editorial

New research suggests the relatively low rise in temperature in the tropics will still lead to devastating rates of extinctionYet more ominous news about climate change: its most devastating effects could be in the tropics rather than in the polar regions, according to new research in Nature. This is unexpected. For more than 20 years, climate scientists have assumed that, as the world warmed, the...


FRIDAY 8. OCTOBER 2010


Mystery Bird: Wilson's warbler, Wilsonia pusilla | GrrlScientist

A daily mystery bird demsytified! This gorgeous but tiny neotropical species has an impressive taxonomic history to share with youWilson's warbler, Wilsonia pusilla, photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas, United States. Image: Joseph Kennedy, 29 September 2010 [would you like to see this bird with binoculars?].Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera...

Today's Mystery Bird for you to identify | GrrlScientist

This challenging-to-identify shorebird goes by two different scientific names. Can you identify this bird and tell me both scientific names?Mystery Bird photographed at Iona Beach Regional Park on Iona Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Kevan Cowcill, 15 September 2010 (You'll probably want to look at this challenging bird with...

Consciousness: One of the last great mysteries

Alok Jha introduces a lecture by Christof Koch of the California Institute of Technology on how the brain creates the sensation of consciousnessThere are tens of billions of neurons in your brain. Groups of them fire in a certain sequence when you see or otherwise experience an object, and those sequences and firing patterns are encoded as memories of that object. Networks of cells not only record...

Anna Chapman waves off space rocket in Kazakhstan

Former spy Anna Chapman turns up to launch of rocket carrying US and Russian astronautsThe already improbable Anna Chapman saga took another surprising twist today when the 28-year-old former Russian spy resurfaced in Kazakhstan to wave off a space rocket.Chapman, who was one of 10 Russian agents to be deported from the US in July, became a tabloid sensation after sultry pictures of her were...


THURSDAY 7. OCTOBER 2010


Georges Charpak obituary

He won the Nobel physics prize for inventing the MWPC particle detectorGeorges Charpak, who has died aged 86, won the Nobel prize for physics in 1992 for his invention and subsequent development of the multiwire proportional chamber (MWPC), a type of particle detector now widely used in high-energy particle physics, biophysics and medicine. He developed the device, consisting of an array of...

Mystery Bird: Indigo bunting, Passerina cyanea | GrrlScientist

Mystery bird demystified! What species is this 'blue bird of happiness', and how does it make its feathers blue?An immature male indigo bunting, Passerina cyanea (formerly; Tanagra cyanea), photographed at Heritage Community Park, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. Image: Audrey DeRose-Wilson, 2 October 2010 (look at this bird with binoculars).Nikon D80, 70-300mm, f/5.6, 1/400, iso: 160Question: This...

Today's Mystery Bird for you to identify | GrrlScientist

At first glance, this elegant species might appear to be impossible to ID from this photograph, but the pose is part of the typical behaviours shown by one of the several closely related species found in this location. What is that behaviour and what species is this?Mystery Bird photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, close to the towns of Freeport and Lake Jackson on the upper Texas...

Roman cavalry helmet sells for £2m

Found by a metal detectorist in Cumbria; sold at Christie's for nearly 10 times its estimate. But who is the buyer?Turn to Maev Kennedy's fantastic piece for the latest on the beautiful Crosby Garrett Roman cavalry helmet, which I had the good luck to examine in detail at Christie's South Kensington the other day. It's the most exquisite, and somehow rather spooky, thing... Tullie House Museum in...