New Scientist - Breaking news

Date Posted Article 2 hours ago World's most expensive book up for grabs If you like pictures of snowy owls and have £4 to £6 million spare, this book might be for you 2 hours ago Cane toads aren't quite the bad guys we thought It's invaded Australia, but the cane toad has not triggered the ecological catastrophe that some predicted 2 hours ago Caution urged over vitamin B dementia therapy Claims that large doses of B vitamins could protect against dementia are not quite as dramatic as the headlines suggest, says Jessica Hamzelou 5 hours ago Dinosaur with a mysterious fin found A two-legged dinosaur that had a fin on its back has been discovered – but nobody knows what it was for 5 hours ago How Google Instant knows what you want Google's new ability to provide full search results as you type is just the first step towards the company's plans to know your desires before you do 5 hours ago Turing formula poses plain origin for intricate skins A mathematical-biological mixing dreamed up by code breaker Alan Turing can predict what happens when species with simple skin patterns interbreed 5 hours ago New formula shows who's really top of the tweeters The most influential Twitter feeds don't necessarily have the most followers. That's the insight given by a new technique for ranking twitterers 5 hours ago Ghostwriting probe into HRT articles Scientific papers "ghostwritten" for drug maker Wyeth may have led to hormone replacement therapy being recommended to healthy menopausal women 8 hours ago Thank the ur-worm for Shakespeare's brain The hallmark of the human brain – its enormous cortex – can be traced back 600 million years to the ancestor of a primitive worm 23 hours ago The shark soup massacre and how to stop it In their book Man and Shark, photographers Paul Hilton and Alex Hofford reveal the extent of the bloody trade in shark fins, says Clint Witchalls 23 hours ago Robot car passenger: On the road to China, no driver Driverless cars are safer and they are the future, says Alberto Broggi, leader of an autonomous-vehicle expedition from Italy to China 23 hours ago Exotic matter could show up in the LHC this year The Large Hadron Collider could glimpse sparticles, diquarks and leptoquarks sooner than thought possible if new-found decay pathways are correct 23 hours ago Brain imaging monitors effect of movie magic Mining your brain's fundamental response to cinematic action could make movies more moving 23 hours ago Today on New Scientist: 8 September 2010 All today's stories on newscientist.com at a glance, including: BP's report on the gulf spill, how to map the internet, and the shark soup massacre 23 hours ago Be philosophical: Take part in a thought experiment A Yale University experimental philosopher needs your help – take his online test if you want to find out how your mind works 23 hours ago Laws of physics may change across the universe A controversial observation suggests that a constant of physics actually varies in space – it could explain why our corner of the cosmos is just right for life Yesterday Money can buy you happiness – up to a point The more money people earn the higher their overall life satisfaction, but your day-to-day emotional wellbeing improves only up to a $75,000 salary Yesterday Acoustic trick gives 'dumbphones' touchscreen feel Don't be embarrassed by your "ancient" push-button cellphone – turn it into a pseudo-touchscreen device Yesterday Zoologger: Shrimp plays chicken with its sex change The peppermint shrimp changes from male to hermaphrodite – if nobody else will Yesterday Escher-like internet map could speed online traffic A new map of the internet, produced using the hyperbolic geometry employed by Escher, could help establish quicker routing options for online traffic Yesterday Meet William the Concherer, the dolphin that can fish A "conching" dolphin captured on film suggests the marine mammal uses the massive shell to trap and stun fish Yesterday Grave soil whispers time of death tip-off Crime scene investigators should take a closer look at the soil around a buried corpse to more accurately estimate when the person died Yesterday The eight failures that caused the Gulf oil spill A long-awaited BP report lists eight reasons for the accident that caused its catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill Yesterday Cosmic spiral created by whirling stars A ghostly vortex in the constellation Pegasus is caused by a dying star that is circling an unseen companion Yesterday Bees and climate change cleared in pollination mystery Even without climate change, even without the decline of bees, pollination is in a downward spiral. And nobody knows why Yesterday Junkie food: Tastes your brain can't resist Is that cupcake an innocent indulgence? Or your next hit? We're finding that a sweet tooth makes you just as much an addict as snorting cocaine Yesterday First Irish genome sequenced Analysis of the genome of an Irishman reveals that his compatriots are genetically distinct from their European neighbours Yesterday Bird flu jumps to pigs H5N1's jump to pigs brings the virus a step closer to a human pandemic Yesterday Green machine: Squeezing solar juice from jellyfish From jellyfish to algae, the creatures of the sea are being recruited for solar power cells Sep 7, 2010 Robotic butlers, oily wrecks and avatars This month's New Scientist TV includes the training of a robot servant, high-tech deep sea salvage and body language for virtual stand-ins