LATEST HEADLINES
Spy-in-the-cab could improve teenage driving
FEATURE: 12:00 08 November 2009 | 12 comments
Novice drivers are responsible for a disproportionate number of accidents – now an in-car warning system has cut incidents of reckless driving by half
Evidence recovered from dirty DNA samples
IN BRIEF: 11:00 08 November 2009 | 4 comments
Contaminated DNA that would normally be written off can now provide evidence, thanks to amplification enzymes that tolerate pollution
Why did our species survive the Neanderthals?
BOOKS & ARTS: 10:00 08 November 2009 | 31 comments
According to Clive Finlayson in The Humans Who Went Extinct, we were just lucky
Malcolm Gladwell's miscellany of myths
BOOKS & ARTS: 11:00 07 November 2009 | 19 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
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 | 66 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 | 21 comments
Gadgets and systems designed to steer us towards greener behaviour are under development, and they work – if we'll let them
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 | 14 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 | 43 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 | 15 comments
A study has found some nanoparticles can harm cells without being in contact with them: should you be worried?
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
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?
Some places spook even those who scoff at the supernatural. Our reporter braved a night in a haunted castle to find out why
