science wire

Tomorrow we launch a series of 12 articles by Cambridge researchers who tell us about the unfamiliar places where they've spent the night in the course of their work.

21 Dec 2011 One of Yorkshire's most outstanding historical sites has been given protection by Heritage Minister John Penrose.

20 Dec 2011 The University of Manchester has been awarded the Inspire Mark by the London 2012 Inspire programme for an event organised to engage with local schools and educate children about various aspects of the 2012 Games.

Kellie Jones talks about her new book, EyeMinded: Living and Writing Contemporary Art . It's been a busy year for Kellie Jones.

The sectarian wars raging around the globe attest to the rigidity of many religious outlooks today. But in the second century BCE, residents on the Greek island of Delos saw nothing wrong with using others' gods in their prayers.

As the warm temperatures of spring start a little earlier each year due to climate change, bees and plants are keeping pace, according to a new study published online Dec. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. An analysis of bee collection data over the past 130 years shows that spring arrives about 10 days earlier than in the 1880s, and bees and flowering plants have kept pace by arriving earlier in lock-step.

Smoking is not going away. Worldwide, says Stanford historian Robert Proctor, the tobacco industry continues to create toxic products that cause not just lung cancer but also cataracts, ankle fractures, early onset menopause, spontaneous abortion and erectile dysfunction, among other maladies.

One of the most important later Bronze Age sites ever discovered in Britain is being excavated near Peterborough, providing a richly detailed, "3D" view of life around the year 1,000 BC. This is a 3-D vision of of life during the Bronze Age that we only see very rarely anywhere in the world, let alone in this country." —David Gibson The world will get its first glimpse of one of the most significant later Bronze Age sites ever recorded in Britain today, yielding a rare and extraordinarily detailed view of life 3,000 years ago.

Norman languages spoken in the Channel Islands for a thousand years are now severely endangered. Cambridge linguist Mari Jones has been analysing the languages and tracing why they have declined.

For many, Charles Dickens and his classic story A Christmas Carol epitomise the festive period, but a leading professor at The University of Warwick wants people to have greater expectations when it comes to Dickens.

Being told that a work of art is authentic or fake alters the brain's response to the visual content of artwork, Oxford University academics have found. Fourteen participants were placed in a brain scanner and shown images of works by 'Rembrandt' - some were genuine, others were convincing imitations painted by different artists.

The world is sailing into some killer storms and its leaders have done almost nothing to protect its boat.

A Cardiff researcher will be sharing her expertise in zooarchaeology with students in the Philippines to help enhance the quality of higher education in the country.

Jason Karlawish is a physician, professor and researcher, and now, he can also be called a novelist.

The University of Edinburgh's School of Divinity has appointed its first Muslim professor. Professor Mona Siddiqui, a regular on BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day, is the new Professor of Islamic and Inter-religious studies at the University.

A blue plaque commemorating the life and work of one of Nottinghamshire's most eminent scientists is to be unveiled at the Beeston home he built.

Chemistry is probably the last thing that springs to mind when the models strut down the catwalk dressed in the most fantastic creations.

Two University of Bristol archaeologists are part of EUROTAST, a new European-funded network which will bring together an unprecedented range of young researchers to examine one of the most traumatic chapters in world history: the transatlantic slave trade.

Europe is in crisis and its future is said to depend on Germany. The most comprehensive study of Germany's early modern history ever undertaken, published this week, questions just how much we know about its past - and how much we understand it as a result.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/30/2011) —"Chased By the Light: Jim Brandenburg's 90-Day Photo Journey" comes back to the University of Minnesota's Bell Museum of Natural History for a new showing that opens Dec.

Digital church records offer window into past The University of Sheffield's Humanities Research Institute (HRI) has completed a project with the University of York to digitise records of the Chur

One of the largest collections of old Bibles in the UK is currently being showcased at Glasgow's Mitchell Library in an exhibition to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the production of the King James Bible in 1611.

Professor Nancy Langston has been named the King Carl XVI Gustaf Professor of Environmental Sciences for the 2012-13 academic year in Sweden.

Oxford University Museum of Natural History has been presented with casts of the skull and hand of Australopithecus sediba, a 1.9 million year old hominid species.

ew statistics produced this month by an academic from The University of Manchester show that the Strictly Orthodox - or Charedi - community accounted for 20 per cent of all Anglo-Jewry in 2010.

One of the oldest rivalries in rugby is to be renewed in a unique match in London. Two of the founding members of the Scottish Rugby Union, the Universities of Edinburgh and St Andrews, will meet in London for the first time.

First it was the Dambusters raid, now Cambridge University's Hugh Hunt has helped to recreate 'The Great Escape' from Germany's infamous Stalag Luft III.

Eminent thinker and commentator Revd John Polkinghorne, Fellow of the Royal Society, will be giving a public talk - titled A Destiny Beyond Death - tomorrow lunchtime at St Edmund's College, Cambridge.

The Ashmolean Museum has opened six new galleries to house the collections of Ancient Egypt and Nubia (present day Sudan).

Academics from the Universities of Warwick and Oxford have shed new light on the history of interactions between the classical world, Africa and the Middle East.

Academics from the Universities of Oxford and Warwick have shed new light on the history of interactions between the classical world, Africa and the Middle East.

Ice Age ancestors were handy artists Researchers at the University of Sheffield have been exploring how our Ice Age ancestors used intricate hand stencils to decorate their cave dwellings over 20,000 years ago.

"Journey of the Universe," a documentary exploring the human connection to Earth and the cosmos, which was produced by Yale historian of religions Mary Evelyn Tucker , will premiere on PBS stations nationwide beginning Dec.

A century ago, 80 per cent of the world's Christians lived in Europe and North America; today, nearly 70 per cent live in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, making Christianity a predominantly non-Western religion.

The University of Sydney has received US$1.5 million from the John Templeton Foundation to explore the nature of time and streamline worldwide academic research on the subject.

"Journey of the Universe," a documentary exploring the human connection to Earth and the cosmos, which was produced by Yale historian of religions Mary Evelyn Tucker , will premiere on PBS stations nationwide beginning Dec.

A free public lecture looking at the recent rise of the Danish contemporary art scene will take place at Churchill College on November 24, given by top art critic Lisbeth Bonde.

Ethically-minded people should consider a career in banking rather than joining the third sector, an Oxford University ethicist has suggested.

King's College London is set to open a Russia Institute in 2013, which will aim to become the leading international centre for the study of contemporary Russia.

The Glasgow University Union (GUU) is hosting a debate on Scottish independence on Saturday to mark the 30 th anniversary of the World debating championships.

From Band Aid to X-Factor: a history of the charity single The charity single season gets under way in earnest this week with the release of the BBC charity Children In Need's song Teardrop, followed by TV talent show The X-Factor's Christmas single, Wishing On A Star.