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40,085 articles from Guardian Unlimited Science


FRIDAY 5. DECEMBER 2008


Climate scientists say 2008 will be coolest year of the decade

This year is set to be the coolest since 2000, according to a preliminary estimate of global average temperature that is due to be released next week by the Met Office. The global average for 2008 should come in close to 14.3C, which is 0.14C below the average temperature for 2001-07. The relatively chilly temperatures compared with recent years are not evidence that global warming is slowing...


THURSDAY 4. DECEMBER 2008


Teddy bears go on space mission

Four British teddy bears this week ascended to the outer edges of Earth's atmosphere.Boldly going where few cuddly toys have gone before, the teddynauts were dressed in special spacesuits designed and made by 11- and 12-year-old pupils from Parkside and Coleridge community colleges as part of a project with Cambridge University's spaceflight student club.The space mission, aiming to get pupils...

Iconic tortoise Lonesome George, 80, may be sterile

Lonesome George, the conservation icon of the Galapagos islands and last surviving tortoise of his kind, looks set to stay lonely after again failing to produce offspring.Galapagos National Park officials announced yesterday that eight eggs laid by the giant tortoise's two female companions are infertile.Conservationists' hopes were raised in July when George's mates produced eggs after no fewer...

Fossil provides glimpse of giant flying reptile

Soaring overhead in the Cretaceous skies with taut, leathery wings longer than a family car, it would have made an unnerving sight. Scientists who analysed a fossil that lay in a German museum for years after its discovery have glimpsed for the first time one of the most imposing of the prehistoric flyers.Lacusovagus magnificens, or "magnificent lake wanderer", is the largest toothless prehistoric...

New research reveals humans really can smell fear

The smell of fear, one of the most terrible cliches of pulp fiction, is actually founded in fact, scientists claim today. People can unconsciously detect whether someone is stressed or scared by smelling a chemical pheromone released in their sweat, according to researchers who have investigated the underarm secretions of petrified skydivers. The team found that the smell of fear triggered a...


WEDNESDAY 3. DECEMBER 2008


The smell of fear is real, say scientists

The smell of fear, one of the most terrible cliches of pulp fiction, is founded in fact, scientists claim today. People can unconsciously detect whether someone is stressed or scared by smelling a chemical pheromone released in their sweat, according to researchers who have investigated the underarm secretions of petrified skydivers. The team found that the smell of fear triggered a heightened...

Giant flying reptile – terror of Cretaceous skies

Soaring overhead in the Cretaceous skies with taut leathery wings longer than a family car, they would have made an unnerving sight. Now scientists, analysing a fossil that had lain for years after its discovery in a German museum, have for the first time glimpsed one of the most imposing of the prehistoric flyers.Lacusovagus magnificens, the magnificent lake wanderer, is the largest prehistoric...

Darwin public holiday

Surely no denizen of the Science Blog could disagree with the notion of celebrating the life and works of Charles Darwin with a public holiday - unless perhaps you think some other scientist would be more deserving.If Darwin is your man then tell Gordon Brown by signing this petition on the Number 10 website.Here's why Ian Roberts of the Watford Area Humanists set it up:Charles Darwin was a truly...

Body swap research shows that self is a trick of the mind

Brain scientists have succeeded in fooling people into thinking they are inside the body of another person or a plastic dummy.The out-of-body experience - which is surprisingly easy to induce - will help researchers to understand how the human brain constructs a sense of physical self. The research may also lead to practical applications such as more intuitive remote control of robots, treatments...

Surgeon carries out amputation by text

A British surgeon volunteering in the Democratic Republic of Congo saved the life of a teenage boy by amputating his shoulder using instructions texted by a colleague in London.David Nott, 52, a general and vascular surgeon at Chelsea and Westminster hospital, was working with the charity Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) in the town of Rutshuru when he came across the badly injured...