LATEST NEWS
Dino 'graveyard' reveals first Asian triceratops
13:32 06 January 2009
The first big discovery has already emerged from China's huge new fossil site – horned dinosaurs that were previously only known in North America
Nanobot lets DNA legs do the walking
FEATURE: 10:48 06 January 2009 | 1 comment
A two-legged molecular machine that is designed to walk unaided along a single strand of DNA could soon carry cargo and may one day deliver drugs inside cells
Love skews your sense of smell
10:26 06 January 2009
Women who are deeply in love are less able to smell men who might be rivals for their affections
Why bad weather is good for fisherman
FEATURE: 10:09 06 January 2009
You might think fish are unaffected by winds and storms, but in fact what ends up on our dinner plates today depends on what the weather was like a few years ago
Sniff of sickness makes mums prime babies for life
IN BRIEF: 09:59 06 January 2009 | 1 comment
The odour of disease causes pregnant mice to boost their babies' immunity – it is the first proof that environmental cues detected by a pregnant mother can alter traits in her young
Sharpest infrared image of Milky Way's core unveiled
23:48 05 January 2009 | 13 comments
The sharpest infrared picture yet taken of the roiling furnace at the galaxy's centre reveals a new population of massive stars
Darwin missed 'earliest' Galapagos species
19:58 05 January 2009 | 4 comments
A bizarre-looking yet ignored species of land iguana might be one of the earliest examples of species diversification in the Galapagos
Comment: Why kids are natural-born scientists
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: 16:30 05 January 2009 | 56 comments
TV presenter Richard Hammond asks why so many children get turned off science at school – and what we can do to rekindle their excitement
Invention: Exoskeleton power steering
13:18 05 January 2009 | 9 comments
Borrowing a trick used to steer cars without effort could make robotic exoskeletons more reliable and easier to use, a patent application claims
Space experiment has a sting in the tail for newts
IN BRIEF: 11:46 05 January 2009 | 14 comments
Newts aren't normally fazed by having their tails chopped off – they just grow a new one – but microgravity plays havoc with the process
IN THE NEWS
Nanodiamonds from space wiped out early Americans
Unexplained extinctions, sudden climate change and mysterious craters all point towards a fiery cataclysm from out of the blue
EARTH
The man who collects volcanoes
If it's ultra-fresh gas and lava you want, there's nothing for it but to climb into the mouth of a volcano, says geologist Ken Sims
QUIZ
End of year quiz
As we bid good riddance to 2008, here's the traditional New Scientist quiz
COMMENTS
Best comments of 2008
Our pick of the year's comment threads, including gags about the LHC and talking robots; deep thoughts about God, music and the brain; and even a bit of unexpected romance...
SHORT SHARP SCIENCE BLOG
Migration controls are the new apartheid
11:45 06 January 2009 - updated 12:46 06 January 2009
I like heretical ideas. Especially ones that make more sense the longer you think about them. So here is my New Year offering: let's open the world's borders to migrants...
Space elevators needed for space solar power?
19:49 05 January 2009 - updated 20:05 05 January 2009
Could space elevators one day be used to save the planet?
Artificial butterfly flaps like a pro
16:12 05 January 2009 - updated 17:19 05 January 2009
Flying insects continue to inspire roboticists. Early in 2008, US researchers added an artificial control system to the brain of moths, effectively creating remote controlled cyborg insects. Meanwhile, others are busy creating winged robots that flap around like real insects.A...
