news 2010

New research has uncovered a forgotten chapter in the history of the Bible, offering a rare glimpse of Byzantine Jewish life and culture. The study by Cambridge University researchers suggests that, contrary to long-accepted views, Jews continued to use a Greek version of the Bible in synagogues for centuries longer than previously thought.

PASADENA, Calif. Newly released for the holidays, images of Saturn's second largest moon Rhea obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft show dramatic views of fractures cutting through craters on the moon's surface, revealing a history of tectonic rumbling. The images are among the highest-resolution views ever obtained of Rhea.

A once fertile landmass now submerged beneath the Persian Gulf may have been home to some of the earliest human populations outside Africa, according to an article in the December issue of Current Anthropology. Jeffrey Rose, an archaeologist and researcher with the University of Birmingham in the U.K., says that this 'Persian Gulf Oasis' may have been host to humans for over 100,000 years before it was swallowed up by the Indian Ocean around 8,000 years ago.

Plants don't think - but animals do. The difference between the thoughts of humans and the thoughts of other animals - and whether we will ever be able to find out exactly what they are - will be the topic of a public lecture given this evening by a Cambridge philosopher. While scientists spend their time in laboratories, philosophers spend their time thinking.

When German archaeologists discovered bones in the tomb of Queen Eadgyth in Magdeburg Cathedral, they looked to Bristol to provide the crucial scientific evidence that the remains were indeed those of the English royal. Dr Alistair Pike in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology tells Hannah Johnson how tiny samples of tooth enamel proved the identity of a Saxon queen.

By Solmaz Barazesh Research/Penn State Five centuries after his death, Christopher Columbus remains a mysterious and controversial figure. Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece all claim the celebrated navigator and explorer as one of their own, yet there are few accurate records pertaining to Columbus' personal life and identity.

How to See the Best Meteor Showers of the Year: Tools, Tips and 'Save the Dates' Originally posted April 21, 2010, most recent update Nov. There are several major meteor showers to enjoy every year at various times, with some more active than others. For example, April's Lyrids are expected to produce about 15 meteors an hour at their peak for observers viewing in good conditions.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. According to a popular hypothesis, grasses such as maize, sugar cane, millet and sorghum got their evolutionary start as a result of a steep drop in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels during the Oligocene epoch, more than 23 million years ago. A new study overturns that hypothesis, presenting the first geological evidence that the ancestors of these and other C4 grasses emerged millions of years earlier than previously established.

Extremism is an aspect of humanity common to all of us, and is not necessarily a negative trait, a University of Cambridge researcher will argue at a presentation of his work tomorrow. Shahzad Shafqat (pictured) worked as a psychologist in his native Pakistan and spent five years with the Pakistan Air Force, before coming to Cambridge to study for an MPhil and PhD on the Psychology of Extremism at the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology.

PASADENA, Calif. NASA's EPOXI mission spacecraft successfully flew past comet Hartley 2 at 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT) Thursday, Nov. Scientists say initial images from the flyby provide new information about the comet's volume and material spewing from its surface. "Early observations of the comet show that, for the first time, we may be able to connect activity to individual features on the nucleus," said EPOXI Principal Investigator Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland, College Park.

Researchers may have pinpointed a reason many smokers struggle to quit. According to new research published in the journal Addiction, smokers with a history of anxiety disorders are less likely to quit smoking. The study, conducted by the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI), offered free coaching and medications to smokers in Madison and Milwaukee.

Arts 23 Oct 10 Austen's 'The History of England', a spoof history written by a teenage Jane Austen. Image by kind permission of the British Library and Jane Austen's Fiction Manuscripts Digital Edition. The polished prose of Emma and Persuasion was the product of an interventionist editor, an Oxford University academic has found.

October 22, 2010 — Researchers from the University of Miami (UM) and the University of Connecticut (UConn) have published a 2010 report on the American Jewish population, as part of a new North American Jewish Data Bank Report series. The new report called Jewish Population in the United States-2010 shows a greater number of Jews in the U.S. than in Israel.

Is it morally appropriate to sacrifice the life of an innocent person to save the lives of several others? David Pizarro, Cornell assistant professor of psychology, put a fresh spin on this classic question from philosophy.

WASHINGTON - During a period of universal warming 11 billion years ago, quasars - the brilliant core of active galaxies - produced fierce radiation blasts that stunted the growth of some dwarf galaxies for approximately 500 million years. This important conclusion comes from a team of astronomers that used the new capabilities of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to probe the invisible, remote universe.

01 October 2010 Study shows real partners are no match for ideal mate Our ideal image of the perfect partner differs greatly from our real-life partner, according to new research from the University of Sheffield and the University of Montpellier in France. The research found that our actual partners are of a different height, weight and body mass index than those we would ideally choose.

The parasite responsible for human malaria originated in gorillas, a study involving an Edinburgh scientist has shown. An international team of researchers studying infection in wild apes and chimpanzees across central Africa has identified the origin of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which causes most cases of human malaria.

It may look peaceful today, but Newnham College, Cambridge was once the site of a sprawling Roman settlement. The discovery was made last week during an archaeological excavation of the college's gardens, which also unearthed evidence of a 16th or 17th century farmhouse that could date back to the reign of Henry VIII.

University Park, Pa. People who leave strict religious groups are more likely to say their health is worse than members who remain in the group, according to a Penn State researcher. The percentage of people who left a strict religious group and reported they were in excellent health was about half that of people who stayed in the group, said Christopher Scheitle, senior research assistant in sociology.

University of Sussex ecologist Mike Hutching's study of rare orchids has provided a powerful source of data for studying climate change, according to new research. Professor Hutchings' collection from the Castle Hill National Nature Reserve was used in research published today (Wednesday 22 September 2010) in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Ecology.