science wire

It is seen by many as an unofficial British national anthem - but an Oxford University academic believes she has discovered that Rule Britannia was heavily influenced by Greek literature.

The University of Plymouth has become one of the first organisations in the country to receive a gold-standard international accreditation at the first attempt for its postal services.

Yellow poplar tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), a basal angiosperm included in the study led by Claude dePamphilis.

PA120/11 Viking experts at The University of Nottingham are reaching out across the Irish Sea to spread the latest research on the history and culture of the Norsemen.

Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Middle Eastern Geodatabase for Antiquities (MEGA) &md

The world barely remembers the terrible famine in the Soviet Russia - or the American charity that relieved it.

As the University community mourns the untimely death of professor Manning Marable on Friday, April 1, his long awaited biography of Malcolm X is being published this week by Viking Press. On Saturday, April 2, The New York Times published a front-page story on Marable and his new book, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention .

Researchers from the Universities of York and Manchester have successfully extracted protein from the bones of a 600,000 year old mammoth, paving the way for the identification of ancient fossils.

Early-onset eating disorders affect about 3 in every 100,000 children under the age of 13, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry. Experts from the UCL Institute of Child Health, who carried out the research, are calling for 'urgent action' to improve both the detection of eating disorders in young children and availability of services.

A former high-profile lawyer who rose rapidly in politics but was dumped as leader by his own party? Yes, Robert Menzies did bounce back, writes Norman Abjorensen.

Sacramento, Calif. The first non-Iraqi archaeological investigation of the Tigris-Euphrates delta in 20 years was a preliminary foray by three women who began to explore the links between wetland resources and the emergence and growth of cities last year. "Foreign investigations in Iraq stopped in the 1990s," said Carrie Hritz, assistant professor of anthropology, Penn State.

Chinese food contains a hidden recipe for living, a new analysis reveals. Writing in a book published this week, Cambridge academic Professor Roel Sterckx argues that the culinary arts supplied some of the key concepts and metaphors in Chinese philosophy and political thought over 2,000 years ago.

The last volume of the expedition newspaper, South Polar Times, written by the men waiting for news of Captain Scott's return from the South Pole in the Antarctic winter of 1912, has just been published in a limited edition by the Scott Polar Research Institute.

Children across Britain are being asked to donate their milk teeth to create "Palaces", a spectacular glittering sculpture made from crystal resin and decorated with retired pearly whites.

On March 29, 1807, German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers spotted Vesta as a pinprick of light in the sky. Two hundred and four years later, as NASA's Dawn spacecraft prepares to begin orbiting this intriguing world, scientists now know how special this world is, even if there has been some debate on how to classify it.

A major research partnership which aims to deepen understanding of some of the most serious problems affecting modern Germany, by viewing them through the lens of the latest historical research, is being launched.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—An updated, permanent exhibit on whale evolution, opening April 9 at the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History, presents the story of how these massive mammals evolved from typical land dwellers to creatures that spend their whole lives in the sea.

There are rumblings that today's national census might be the last. The Office of National Statistics 'Beyond 2011 Project' is looking at different options for producing more frequent population data that are better suited to the needs of public and commercial users.

As the 2011 national census approaches, a historical survey of occupations being undertaken by Cambridge University academics has revealed some of the oddest job titles in the land.

New study looks at cancer coverage in Canadian print media now vs. 20 years ago If it bleeds, it leads, or so the old journalistic adage goes. Not necessarily, say researchers from McGill University and the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research of the Jewish General Hospital. In a first-of-its kind study that analyzes how cancer is portrayed in Canadian newspapers today versus 20 years ago, positivity and hope seem to be winning out.

Scholars from all over the world are gathering at the University of Cambridge today for a workshop entitled Studia Stemmatologica.

Cow-lending, sewing and aerobics classes are just some of the ways Indian religious organisations across all the major faiths are diversifying their 'business model' to maintain the loyalty of their followers and attract new devotees.

Giving Global Times their History After the previous Congresses in Leipzig (2005) and Dresden (2008), the third European Congress on World and Global History will be held in London on April 14-17, 2011.

Teeth whitening and anti-wrinkle treatments were as sought after in Renaissance times as they are today, a historian claims.

Art | University 18 Mar 11 Oxford University has staked its claim as the place to be for early career researchers by offering what is believed to be the largest number of post-doctoral research fellowships in the history of the humanities division.

Japan can emerge from this disaster strengthened and more vigorous, writes Tessa Morris-Suzuki. The word 'crisis' is one of the most overused terms in the media lexicon.

The right to free expression has been at the core of U.S. democracy since its inception.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. Researchers have constructed a 226-year history of fire in southern Illinois by looking at the fire scars in tree stumps. Their study, the most in-depth fire history reported for the upper Midwest, reveals that changes in the frequency of fires dating back to the time of early European settlement permanently altered the ecology of the region.

As the electronic clock purrs away the milliseconds to the opening of the 2012 London Olympic Games, a new book by a Cambridge University researcher looks at the controversies surrounding the trainin