If Earth were like a human body, large animals might be its arteries, moving nutrients from where they’re abundant to where they’re needed. Currently the planet has large regions where life is limited…
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Cells use a tiny machine called the mitotic spindle to share genetic material equally between cells when they divide. But when this process goes wrong it can lead to cancer. For many years we’ve been interested…
Each summer, for several years in a row, a tabloid would send me a picture of a shark fin photographed off Cornwall and ask if it was a Great White. “No,” I would patiently explain, “it is a harmless basking…
Recent revelations about the frequency with which children experience cyber-bullying have caused alarm among parents, advertisers that feature on social media sites and even the Prime Minister. Social…
Stephen Fry’s viral open letter calling for “an absolute ban” on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi over Russia’s controversial new anti-homosexuality laws was a clarion call for activists. But it should…
How low can you go? That is the question that easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou has posed to grocery shoppers with the announcement of plans for “easyFoodstore”, a budget grocery shop in Croydon, south…
The precise locations and date of the imminent badger cull are secret, but the aim is clear: to see if marksmen can shoot and kill badgers humanely and efficiently. If so, a wider cull will follow. For…
It has been 10 years since the first evidence emerged of what was until then a completely hidden HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men in Bangkok, Thailand. The term includes all men who engage…
In 1859, from August 28 to September 2, we were given an important lesson about how vulnerable we are to the Sun’s power. The Carrington Event, named for the amateur astronomer who recorded it, Richard…
Researchers in Uppsala, Sweden accidentally left a reaction running over the weekend and ended up resolving a century-old chemistry problem. Their work has led to the development of a new material, dubbed…
Small numbers can imply big things. Global sea level rose by a little less than 0.2 metres during the 20th century – mainly in response to the 0.8 °C of warming humans have caused through greenhouse gas…
The discovery that dromedary camels may be a key source of the virus behind Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) looks to unravel one of the biggest mysteries surrounding outbreaks of the deadly…
As the political parties start gearing up for the 2015 general election it looks as if the Conservatives have got in early with the big-name signings to drive their campaign. The news last week that Barack…
Given the power of symbols and parades to generate violence in so-called post-conflict Northern Ireland, it is with some anxiety that the region waits on another round of contentious parades this weekend…
Autism reveals itself in different ways in women than in men, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. And this has the potential to great advance our understanding of the condition…
The censuring of an academic in the US for sending out an offensive tweet has led many university tweeters to pause for thought. Geoffrey Miller, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University…
Longer and healthier lives mean more married couples in their 60s are spying the possibility of second chances. Office for National Statistics figures released yesterday suggest the trend for “silver separators…
The Gareth Bale transfer saga drags on, as Real Madrid consider buying Tottenham Hotspur’s star player for a world record transfer fee of around £100m. For those of us who have studied the process of bargaining…
The UK has some of the oldest – and leakiest – housing stock in the western world. The vast majority of it will still be standing in 2050, the year by which the government has set itself a target to cut…
The Ashes series is already plagued by controversy over technology’s role in cricket. The latest allegations of equipment tampering haven’t helped. Australian TV station Channel Nine has reported some…
Once again Britain and Spain have been at loggerheads this week over a 2.6 square mile rock which the former has occupied and the other complained about for 300 years. It would be over-egging things to…
The sharp-suited MBA graduate with grand world-domination plans is a sterotype familiar to us all. He or she will probably head into a high pressured, well paid role in consulting or financial services…
When it comes to feats of physiology, bears are among the superstars of the mammalian world. Their endurance is unmatched. During hibernation, bears regularly survive up to six full months without consuming…
Despite public campaigns to combat stigma around mental illness, people with mental health problems still face ongoing discrimination. And while some sections of the media focus on mental illness in cases…
The recent elections in Zimbabwe were always likely to be problematic. Despite the hope of former South African president Thabo Mbeki in 2007 that his mediation efforts would lead to an vote that was “conducted…