Claiming to be a country is an easy task. But to make others accept your claim is a lot harder. Aspiring states need favours from great powers, or sometimes even celebrities, to establish their legitimacy…
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Geologists are using drones to help extract more resources from the North Sea, using the latest visual technologies to identify oil-bearing rocks. Using an eight-rotor, camera-equipped “octocopter” drone…
Of the many tricks used by the world’s greatest military strategists, one usually works well – taking the enemy by surprise. It is an approach that goes back to the horse that brought down Troy. But surprise…
There is no evidence for a link between moderate coffee consumption and dehydration, according to a study in PLOS ONE. The global population consumes 1.6 billion cups of coffee a day and it’s a common…
HIV is a cunning virus. It integrates itself into the genes of a host cell and after treatment with anti-retroviral therapy (ART) is able to evade detection by hiding out in hidden reservoirs. ART can…
More than nine in ten cancer-related deaths occur because of metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from a primary tumour to other parts of the body. While primary tumours can often be treated with radiation…
Literature has mirrored the shifting economic climate over the past century, according to a study published today by researchers in Bristol and London. When times are tough financially, it seems, books…
Support among the British public for a sharp reduction in immigration has risen by close to 10% over the past two years to reach an all-time high, according to the latest results from a long-running survey…
One hectare of land in a tropical forest can hold 650 tree species – more than in all of Canada and the continental US. This has left biologists baffled for decades. Now, with advances in data analysis…
The hippopotamus is among the world’s largest creatures on land, only elephants and some species of rhino are larger. Hippos are very aggressive – legendarily bad tempered and entirely unafraid of humans…
Daily jabs of insulin are a painful reality for many with diabetes. That may change if researchers who have successfully tested oral insulin in rats are able to replicate those results in humans. Nearly…
Everything around you is made of elements that scientists have studied in quite some detail over the last 200 years. But all that understanding breaks down when these elements are subjected to high pressure…
Following the explosion of do-it-yourself music in the 1990s, aspiring DJs and producers have been spoiled rotten. Home studios are increasingly commonplace now that there is such a wealth of affordable…
Raising livestock accounts for the largest single land-use on Earth. Cattle, sheep and goats, pigs and poultry occupy around 30% of the planet’s land area not covered in ice, generate 40% of the world’s…
One in three professional parents with children under 16 has moved their family to a new area solely because of the quality of its schools – and nearly a fifth have moved to be in a specific school’s catchment…
There has been much debate about how cats went from hunting in the wild to a much-loved pet. That is because we know little about their domestication. Now researchers have found the earliest case of cat…
The female sex hormone oestrogen can be produced and released from the brain as well as the ovaries, according to a study. The research, recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience, shows that the…
James Bond might have been been more shaken than stirred if his intake of alcoholic drinks is anything to go by. Along with his love of women, Bond also had a keen taste for martinis. And researchers have…
Those who experience a terrorist attack firsthand are prone to suffer from acute stress. That much is obvious. But does living that experience repeatedly through the media’s coverage of the event cause…
A few centuries ago, there were just a few widely used materials: wood, brick, iron, copper, gold and silver. Today’s material diversity is astounding. A chip in your smartphone, for instance, contains…
Bankers aim to maximise profits. Scientists aim to understand reality. But Mike Peacey of the University of Bristol suggests, based on a new model he has just published in Nature, that both professionals…
People who are obese and have normal blood pressure, cholesterol and blood-sugar readings will still be unhealthy and die sooner compared with people who have a normal body weight, according to researchers…
The older we get, the higher our risk of cancer. With age, we accumulate exposure to environments and chemicals that increase the risk of acquiring cancer-causing mutations. But the danger doesn’t increase…
Couples’ unconscious feelings can be used to better predict their future happiness than what they actually say, according to a study of newlyweds. The study, published in Science, followed 135 couples…
A new study has found a link between the amount of sodium in certain medications and the risk of cardiovascular problems, including hypertension and stroke – and says normal use of some medicines can expose…