Home | Science

Science

Mechanical trouble imperils Kepler

Just over four years after it was launched into orbit, NASA's Kepler space telescope has broken down. On 12 May, after tilting in an unexpected direction, it entered a protective safe mode and stopped collecting data. Efforts to get the spacecraft going again failed when a wheel critical for pointing the telescope refused to spin.

Full story

Molecules in the brain trigger ageing

The researchers examined the health and mental abilities of the mice six months after the initial experiment. Animals injected with the NF-κB inhibitor performed better than controls on tasks designed to test their cognition and movement. They also showed less age-related decline in muscle strength, skin thickness, bone mass and tail-tendon integrity....

Full story

Engine of humanity: ‘The New Digital Age’

Can the internet really save the world? That may be an exaggeration of the claims made in The New Digital Age, but not by much. Written by Google chairman Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, head of the search company’s in-house think-tank, it lays out a mainly optimistic case for why the world’s tyrants should tremble in the face of universal internet access....

Full story

Scientists confident 'God particle' found

Scientists are confident that they have discovered the long sought after Higgs boson, known as the “God particle”, which holds the physical fabric of the universe together....

Full story

* * *

Pluto has five moons, three of which already have names. They are: Charon, Hydra and Nix. Pluto itself was demoted from full planet status following a vote at an IAU meeting in Prague in 2006....

Full story

Apple patent application hints at iWatch

A patent application published today points to a flexible touch-screen device that can wrap around your wrist.Some reports have suggested that the watch would use a curved glass display and communicate with a smartphone to display e-mail, instant messages, and other data....

Full story

* * *

The maker of iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Macintosh computers said it is working with law enforcement officials to hunt down the hackers, who appeared tied to a series of recent cyber attacks on US technology firms. ...

Full story

Scientists create 'sixth sense'

A brain implant which could allow humans to detect invisible infrared light has been developed by scientists in America. ...

Full story

Scientists turn eyes toward Europa

US astronomers looking for life in the solar system believe that Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, is much more promising than desert-covered Mars, which is currently the focus of the US government's attention....

Full story

Why Darwin was right about IT security

There's a great cartoon out to be found out there on the interweb which shows the state of the IT security industry in 2002 as a bunch of folk with nets chasing after a relatively small fish, and then in 2012 as a couple of giant fish chasing those same net-holding folk. ...

Full story