Mercury: 'first rock from the sun' in transit
May 05, 2016 16:44 pm UTC| Science
The solar systems smallest and most remarkable planet, Mercury, will cross the face of the sun on May 9 offering a great opportunity for people in many places across the world to see it. Mercury is a dark and enigmatic...
Code-a-cola: how to hide secret messages using fizzy drinks
May 04, 2016 04:34 am UTC| Science
Next time you see someone spilling a drink in a bar, you could actually be witnessing a spy secretly decoding an encrypted message. This might sound like something from a Bond movie. But a team from Israel has used some...
Small and bright: what nanophotonics means for you
May 03, 2016 23:19 pm UTC| Science
Twenty fifteen was UNESCOs International Year of Light and Light based Technologies. It was a celebration of past milestones in optics and photonics and a look forward into its future. We celebrated 1,000 years of...
Scientists need to engage more with the public to secure funding
May 02, 2016 01:48 am UTC| Insights & Views Science
We live in an age when society is crying out for scientific solutions to global problems. Just a few of the many considerable challenges we face include the urgent need to transition to a carbon-free economy, the need for...
Gene linked to youthful appearance may help solve ageing puzzle
Apr 29, 2016 15:14 pm UTC| Science
How long you live depends in part on the genes you inherit. For example, those suffering from Werners syndrome have inherited two defective copies of a gene coding for an enzyme that is involved in DNA replication and...
Genetic detectives: how scientists use DNA to track disease outbreaks
Apr 29, 2016 10:21 am UTC| Science Health
Theyre the top questions on everyones mind when a new disease outbreak happens: where did the virus come from? When did this happen? How long has it been spreading in a particular country or group of people? These...
What is a quantum spin liquid?
Apr 29, 2016 10:16 am UTC| Science
Magnetism is one of the oldest recognised material properties. Known since antiquity, records from the 3rd century BC describe how lodestone, a naturally occurring magnetised ore of iron, was used in primitive magnetic...
South Africa’s plan to move away from coal: 8 steps to make it succeed
Germany lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects