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Malcolm Gladwell's miscellany of myths

BOOKS & ARTS:  11:00 07 November 2009  | 14 comments

Superstar writer Malcolm Gladwell teases out complexities behind the obvious and fun in the mundane in his collection of essays, What the Dog Saw

The music of Life on Earth Audio Speaker

BOOKS & ARTS:  10:00 07 November 2009  | 1 comment

Edward Williams's music for Life on Earth is as atmospheric and innovative as the classic 1979 David Attenborough TV series it was composed for

'Space elevator' wins $900,000 NASA prize

23:37 06 November 2009  | 52 comments

A laser-powered robot climbed 900 metres up a cable suspended from a helicopter, winning a prize that had gone unclaimed since 2005

Innovation: Can technology persuade us to save energy?

18:17 06 November 2009  | 16 comments

Gadgets and systems designed to steer us towards greener behaviour are under development, and they work – if we'll let them

Today on New Scientist: 6 November 2009

18:00 06 November 2009

Today's stories on newscientist.com, at a glance, including: how to end the epidemic of short-sightedness, the future of computer graphics, and why human microbes are total NIMBYs

Triple shadows and fake reflections: Future graphics

GALLERY:  16:20 06 November 2009

See computer graphics research to be presented at the ACM Siggraph Asia conference next month – including an art installation that casts three distinct shadows

Was life founded on cyanide from space crashes?

15:55 06 November 2009  | 11 comments

Comet and asteroid strikes may have seeded Earth with cyanide that prepared the planet for life

Generation specs: Stopping the short-sight epidemic

FEATURE:  14:05 06 November 2009  | 33 comments

Myopia is on the rise all around the world, but there might be a simple way to spare many kids the need for spectacles

Nanoparticle DNA damage study: what you should know

13:54 06 November 2009  | 13 comments

A study has found some nanoparticles can harm cells without being in contact with them: should you be worried?

Picking up mates at the white shark café

13:00 06 November 2009  | 4 comments

Great whites roam the oceans to hunt but always touch base at their favourite dangerous dive

How your brain sees virtual you

12:34 06 November 2009  | 26 comments

The way the brain regards the virtual "you" may help explain why some people spend large chunks of their life online playing immersive games

FAVOURITE COMMENT

Murderer with 'aggression genes' gets sentence cut

"Isn't there a thing called 'equality before the law'? Judgment should be according to what he did, not what he may have a higher probability to do." bartleby

CULTURELAB

Welcome to the CultureLab!

Announcing our new blog, a space where editors, authors, artists and readers can come together to talk about anything and everything that's perched on that fantastic intersection where books, arts and science collide.

SHORT SHARP SCIENCE BLOG

Today on New Scientist: 6 November 2009

18:00 06 November 2009 - updated 18:03 06 November 2009

Today's stories on newscientist.com, at a glance, including: how to end the epidemic of short-sightedness, the future of computer graphics, and why human microbes are total NIMBYs

Achtung baby! German babies say 'wäh', French say 'ouain'

12:50 06 November 2009 - updated 13:46 06 November 2009

A new study suggests that fetuses start grappling with the specifics of their mother tongue even when cocooned inside the womb, says Celeste Biever

TIMELINE

The secret history of swine flu

16 August 1957: a nurse at Montefiore Hospital gets the first Asian flu vaccine shot in New York (Image: Associated Press)

Six months ago, swine flu emerged as a massive threat to global health. It seemed to come out of nowhere, but our timeline explains how the origins of the H1N1 pandemic go back more than a century

PARANORMAL

Where do ghosts come from?

There's something scarily magnetic about Muncaster Castle (Image: Lee Stamper)

Some places spook even those who scoff at the supernatural. Our reporter braved a night in a haunted castle to find out why

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VIDEO

Game controller tracks motion and emotion

Sony looks set to be the first major console maker to bring hands-free, full-body game control to the public

INTERVIEW

Terry Pratchett: Fighting to keep the fantasy alive

Tinkering with science (Image: Russell Sach/Scopefeatures.com)

The prolific author discusses science, his battle with Alzheimer's, and the odds of escaping from a crab bucket

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Whale of a time

The world's largest fish, a whale shark, lives it up off the north coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. Read more

SPECIAL REPORT

Swine flu: The pandemic of 2009

Keep up to date with the latest on the H1N1 flu pandemic with our special report

OPINION
David Nutt was chairman of the UK government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs until he was dismissed last week by the UK home secretary (Image: Lucy Goodchild / Imperial College London)

David Nutt: Governments should get real on drugs

David Nutt was sacked from his role as chairman of the UK's official advisory body on drugs for his outspoken views. He explains why governments should not ignore scientific evidence

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