Hidden housemates: cockroaches

Mar 17, 2016 05:17 am UTC| Science

Cockroaches are a very ancient group of insects. They have been around virtually unchanged in general appearance since the Carboniferous period, more than 300 million years ago. Technically speaking they are in the...

What the 'weather' is like on a star can help in the search for life

Mar 17, 2016 05:15 am UTC| Science

An artists illustration of Kappa Ceti whose stellar winds are 50 times stronger than our suns. Any Earth-like planet would need a magnetic field to protect its atmosphere if it was to stand a chance of hosting life. M....

Indonesia offers a cool million to whoever can help take the heat off its peatlands

Mar 17, 2016 01:28 am UTC| Technology Science

Last year, fires burned 2 million hectares of peatlands in Indonesia, creating an acrid haze that affected several neighbouring Southeast Asian countries. As nations met in Paris late last year to agree a deal to limit...

How much math do you need to win your March Madness pool?

Mar 16, 2016 14:23 pm UTC| Sports Science

Deciding which teams to pick in your NCAA basketball pool? Then youre faced with a classic decision problem and here, science can help. On one hand, you want to pick good teams, the favorites, because those teams seem...

How long until we can print human faces in the lab?

Mar 16, 2016 14:10 pm UTC| Science Technology

More than 30 people across the world have received face transplants since the first procedure was successfully carried out in France in 2005. The discussion has long since moved on from initial apprehensions to the...

What makes us conscious?

Mar 15, 2016 22:52 pm UTC| Science

Do you think that the machine you are reading this story on, right now, has a feeling of what it is like to be in its state? What about a pet dog? Does it have a sense of what its like to be in its state? It may pine...

Recalculating! By not driving the optimal route, you're causing traffic jams

Mar 15, 2016 16:18 pm UTC| Science

If you use a car to get around, every time you get behind the wheel youre confronted with a choice: how will you navigate to your destination? Whether its a trip you take every day, such as from home to work, or to...