BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Psychedelic fish 'is new species'

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Psychedelic fish 'is new species': "A brightly-coloured fish which bounces along the seabed has been hailed as a new species by scientists - who have dubbed it 'psychedelica'."

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | 'Oldest English words' identified

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | 'Oldest English words' identified: "Some of the oldest words in English have been identified, scientists say.

Reading University researchers claim 'I', 'we', 'two' and 'three' are among the most ancient, dating back tens of thousands of years.

Their computer model analyses the rate of change of words in English and the languages that share a common heritage.

The team says it can predict which words are likely to become extinct - citing 'squeeze', 'guts', 'stick' and 'bad' as probable first casualties."

BBC NEWS | Health | 'Brain training' claims dismissed

BBC NEWS | Health | 'Brain training' claims dismissed: "People who spend money on brain trainers to keep their mind sharp may well get the same benefit from simply doing a crossword, experts conclude.

Consumer group Which? asked three experts to check claims made about several devices, including the Nintendo DS, on memory and staving off dementia.

They found the evidence behind such claims was non-existent or 'weak'.

But there is evidence that exercise, a healthy diet and an active social life help keep an agile mind, Which? said."

BBC NEWS | UK | 'Most unfortunate names' revealed

BBC NEWS | UK | 'Most unfortunate names' revealed: "What do you call some of the most unlucky people in Britain?

Justin Case, Barb Dwyer and Stan Still.

It sounds like a bad joke, but a study has revealed that there really are unfortunate people with those names in the UK.

Joining them on the list are Terry Bull, Paige Turner, Mary Christmas and Anna Sasin.

And just imagine having to introduce yourself to a crowd as Doug Hole or Hazel Nutt."

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Audio slideshow: The road to Hooverville

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Audio slideshow: The road to Hooverville: "The Wall Street Crash of October 1929 was a trigger that quickly plunged the United States from economic prosperity to the depths of the Great Depression.

Millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes, and many were forced to live in shanty towns, nicknamed Hoovervilles after the country's president Herbert Hoover.

Through this collection of archive photographs, Professor David Reynolds, presenter of Radio 4's landmark series America, Empire of Liberty looks at what happened when the United States went from boom to bust."

BBC NEWS | Health | Gene could allow lab-grown teeth

BBC NEWS | Health | Gene could allow lab-grown teeth: "Scientists believe they have found a way to grow teeth in the laboratory, a discovery that could put an end to fillings and dentures."

57 discutabele comicplaatjes | Flabber

57 discutabele comicplaatjes | Flabber

The pictures are disturbingly priceless!

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Baboon book makes award shortlist

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Baboon book makes award shortlist: "Bent's colleague Philip Stone revealed some of the titles which failed to make the grade - including Excrement in the Late Middle Ages and All Dogs Have ADHD.

The 2008 shortlist is as follows:

• Baboon Metaphysics by Dorothy L Cheney and Robert M Seyfarth

• Curbside Consultation of the Colon by Brooks D Cash

• The Large Sieve and its Applications by Emmanuel Kowalski

• Strip and Knit with Style by Mark Hordyszynski

• Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring by Lietai Yang

• The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais by Professor Philip M Parker

Last year's winner was If You Want Closure In Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs by 'celebrity bodyguard' Big Boom.

'So effective is the title that you don't even need to read the book itself,' noted the Bookseller's deputy editor, Joel Rickett.

The self-help tome took 33 per cent of the public vote. I Was Tortured By The Pygmy Love Queen came a close second, on 20 per cent.

Third place was taken by Cheese Problems Solved - which was described by its publishers as providing 'responses to 200 or so of the most commonly asked questions about cheese'."

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Baboon book makes award shortlist

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Baboon book makes award shortlist: "Bent's colleague Philip Stone revealed some of the titles which failed to make the grade - including Excrement in the Late Middle Ages and All Dogs Have ADHD.

The 2008 shortlist is as follows:

• Baboon Metaphysics by Dorothy L Cheney and Robert M Seyfarth

• Curbside Consultation of the Colon by Brooks D Cash

• The Large Sieve and its Applications by Emmanuel Kowalski

• Strip and Knit with Style by Mark Hordyszynski

• Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring by Lietai Yang

• The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais by Professor Philip M Parker

Last year's winner was If You Want Closure In Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs by 'celebrity bodyguard' Big Boom.

'So effective is the title that you don't even need to read the book itself,' noted the Bookseller's deputy editor, Joel Rickett.

The self-help tome took 33 per cent of the public vote. I Was Tortured By The Pygmy Love Queen came a close second, on 20 per cent.

Third place was taken by Cheese Problems Solved - which was described by its publishers as providing 'responses to 200 or so of the most commonly asked questions about cheese'."

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Google dismisses 'Atlantis find'

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Google dismisses 'Atlantis find': "The Lost City of Atlantis is still lost - despite hopes that Google Earth had located the fabled city on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean."

darwin2009: Products: Zazzle.com Gallery

darwin2009: Products: Zazzle.com Gallery: "darwin2009" Great Darwin T-shirts!

BBC NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | The mystery of Ireland's worst driver

BBC NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | The mystery of Ireland's worst driver: "It was discovered that the man every member of the Irish police's rank and file had been looking for - a Mr Prawo Jazdy - wasn't exactly the sort of prized villain whose apprehension leads to an officer winning an award.

In fact he wasn't even human.

'Prawo Jazdy is actually the Polish for driving licence and not the first and surname on the licence,' read a letter from June 2007 from an officer working within the Garda's traffic division."

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Complex clues in a kiss

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Complex clues in a kiss: "When you share a kiss with your lover on Valentine's Day, you may be revealing a lot more than you realise.

Locking lips not only stimulates our senses, it also gives us subtle clues about our suitability as mates, US scientists have found.

A man's saliva has a 'cocktail of chemicals' hinting at his fertility and evolutionary fitness, they said at a conference in Chicago.

That may be why the first kiss is often the last - 'the kiss of death'."

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Ice oceans 'are not poles apart'

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Ice oceans 'are not poles apart': "At least 235 marine species are living in both polar regions, despite being 12,000km apart, a census has found.

Scientists were surprised to find the same species of 'swimming snails' at both poles, raising questions about how they evolved and became so dispersed."

BBC NEWS | Health | Heart pill to banish bad memories

BBC NEWS | Health | Heart pill to banish bad memories: "Scientists believe a common heart medicine may be able to banish fearful memories from the mind.

The Dutch investigators believe beta-blocker drugs could help people suffering from the emotional after effects of traumatic experiences.

They believe the drug alters how memories are recalled after carrying out the study of 60 people, Nature Neuroscience reports.

But British experts questioned the ethics of tampering with the mind.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said he was concerned about the 'fundamentally pharmacological' approach to people with problems such as phobias and anxiety.

He said the procedure might also alter good memories and warned against an "accelerated Alzheimer's" approach. "

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Audio slideshow: From the Afghan archives

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Audio slideshow: From the Afghan archives: "Explore Afghanistan through the eyes of the Western photographers and artists who visited the country in the 19th and early 20th Centuries.

Dozens of rare images are on display at the Royal Geographical Society in central London - recording the panoramic views, striking architecture and distinctive ethnic groups living in the country at that time."

Court Rules Autism Not Caused by Childhood Vaccines - washingtonpost.com

Court Rules Autism Not Caused by Childhood Vaccines - washingtonpost.com

Chalk one up for sanity.

Google Insight: Google Proves Humanity Is Sick and Sad, Yet Absolutely Hilarious

Google Insight: Google Proves Humanity Is Sick and Sad, Yet Absolutely Hilarious: "Go to the US version of Google, and type what is in bold to find the following:"

BBC NEWS | Europe | EU warns of 'pretty blonde spies'

BBC NEWS | Europe | EU warns of 'pretty blonde spies': "The European Commission says it is being targeted increasingly by spies, who may include a 'pretty trainee with long legs and blonde hair'."

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | South of Scotland | New suits prove a snip at £35,000

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | South of Scotland | New suits prove a snip at £35,000: "A Scottish clothing company has put together the 'most expensive cloth in the world' costing about £3,000-a-yard.

Peebles-based Holland and Sherry has taken five years to gather the yarn and another 18 months to develop the cloth.

The material - which comes from the wool of vicuna llamas - will be used to make 18 suits costing £35,000 each."

BBC NEWS | Health | Can our natural rhythm heal us?

BBC NEWS | Health | Can our natural rhythm heal us?: "Could a natural rhythm - which some experts believe we all possess - be a cure for a variety of health problems?

Some certainly think so.

Musician Simon Lee, from Kent, is called on to teach drumming to patients with problems ranging from addiction to autism, and learning difficulties to mental health issues."

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Audio slideshow: Fleeing the flames

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Audio slideshow: Fleeing the flames: "The bushfires raging across large areas of south-eastern Australia have destroyed entire towns and devastated local communities. Many people perished in their cars as they tried to drive to safety.

Here - accompanied by some graphic images and the sound of the strong winds that have been fanning the flames - eyewitnesses describe how they escaped, but how others were not so lucky."

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | 'Arctic unicorns' in icy display

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | 'Arctic unicorns' in icy display: "Remarkable footage of elusive narwhal has been captured.

A BBC team used aerial cameras to film the creatures during their epic summer migration, as they navigated through cracks in the melting Arctic sea ice."

Student in legal threat over excrement blunder - Telegraph

Student in legal threat over excrement blunder - Telegraph: "'Returning to Leeds from fieldwork, I was surprised to find my desk space occupied by another student and to see that photographs of my daughter, my girlfriend and my favourite lizards had been removed from the wall.

'My personal effects had been carefully stowed in boxes, but there was no sign of my 35kg bag of lizard ****.'"

BBC NEWS | Technology | Parking ticket leads to a virus

BBC NEWS | Technology | Parking ticket leads to a virus: "Hackers have discovered a new way of duping users onto fraudulent websites: fake parking tickets.

Cars in the US had traffic violation tickets placed on the windscreen, which then directed users to a website.

The website claimed to have photos of the alleged parking violation, but then tricks users into downloading a virus.

Anti-virus firm McAfee says the Vundo Trojan then gets users to install a fake anti-virus scanner.

Vehicles in Grand Forks, North Dakota were the targets for this new type of fraud."

David Hasselhoff's New Music Video: Don't Hassel The Hoff

David Hasselhoff's New Music Video: Don't Hassel The Hoff

I don't know what to say...

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Telescope sees smallest exoplanet

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Telescope sees smallest exoplanet: "The smallest planet yet found outside the Solar System has been detected by a French space telescope.

The rocky world is less than twice the size of Earth.

Only a handful of planets have so far been found with a mass comparable to Earth, Venus, Mars or Mercury.

The discovery was made by Corot, an orbiting observatory with a 27cm-diameter telescope to search for planets orbiting other stars.

About 330 of these 'exoplanets' have been discovered so far. But most of them have been gas giants similar to Jupiter or Neptune.

'For the first time, we have unambiguously detected a planet that is 'rocky' in the same sense as our own Earth,' said Malcolm Fridlund, Corot project scientist from the European Space Agency (Esa).

'We now have to understand this object further to put it into context, and continue our search for smaller, more Earth-like objects with Corot,' he added.

The new find, Corot-Exo-7b, orbits its Sun-like star once every 20 hours.

Because the planet is so close to its parent star, its temperature is between 1,000 and 1,500C - far too hot to support life."

BBC NEWS | Health | Donor kidney removed via vagina

BBC NEWS | Health | Donor kidney removed via vagina: "US surgeons say they have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor's vagina.

Removing the kidney through 'a natural orifice' speeds up recovery and gives a better cosmetic result - avoiding a six inch abdominal scar - they say."
...
"Surgeons have also removed gallbladders and appendixes through the mouth.

Diseased gallbladders, kidneys and appendixes have been removed through the vagina before.

But this is believed to be the first time that doctors have managed to harvest a healthy donor kidney for transplantation in this way.

Dr Robert Montgomery, chief of the transplant division at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Maryland, who led the team that performed the operation, said: "Surgeons have been troubled by the need to make a relatively large incision in the patient's abdomen after completing the nephrectomy to extract the donor kidney.

"That incision is thought to significantly add to the patient's pain, hospitalisation and convalescence. Removing the kidney through a natural opening should hasten the patient's recovery and provide a better cosmetic result.""

BBC NEWS | Health | Summer babies 'tall and strong'

BBC NEWS | Health | Summer babies 'tall and strong': "Children who are born in late summer or early autumn are often taller and stronger than peers born in spring and winter, a large study suggests.

The results from the Children of the 90s project - which involved 7,000 youngsters - says the reason may lie in their mothers' exposure to the sun.

The body makes Vitamin D, crucial for bone-building, from sunlight.

The Bristol University study suggests that this process may even occur in babies while still in the womb.

By the age of 10, those children born in the summer and autumn months were on average half a centimetre taller and had nearly 13 cm sq of extra bone area than those born in the winter months."

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Australia holds 'pigeon smuggler'

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Australia holds 'pigeon smuggler': "A man has been caught with two pigeons stuffed in his trousers after he got off a flight from Dubai to Melbourne.

Australian customs officials say the live birds were wrapped in padded envelopes and held to the man's legs by a pair of tights under his trousers."

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Audio slideshow: America's early skyscrapers

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Audio slideshow: America's early skyscrapers: "At the turn of the 20th Century, New York's Woolworth Building and Chicago's Monadnock Building set a trend that transformed the skylines of US cities.

New construction methods - and the egos of America's top businessmen - meant that buildings could be higher than ever before.

Here, with the help of archive photographs, Professor David Reynolds looks at the birth of the skyscraper."

Insulin protects brain from Alzheimer's - US study | Deals | Regulatory News | Reuters

Insulin protects brain from Alzheimer's - US study | Deals | Regulatory News | Reuters: "Insulin appears to shield the brain from toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Monday, supporting a theory that Alzheimer's may be a third form of diabetes."

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | New Zealand inmates foil own escape

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | New Zealand inmates foil own escape: "Advertisement

CCTV has captured the moment when two handcuffed prisoners' attempt to escape custody came to a crashing end as they ran into a lamppost."