LATEST HEADLINES
Best of the Ig Nobel prizes 2009
00:31 02 October 2009 | 7 comments
The physics of tottering moms-to-be, how to survive a pub fight, and a bra that doubles as a gas mask get the recognition they so richly deserve
Sports jocks are oh-so predictable
20:09 01 October 2009 | 5 comments
According to game theory, professional baseball pitchers and American football players do not keep their opponents guessing enough
Asteroid-hunting telescope in the repair shop
18:33 01 October 2009
A mirror on the first of the Pan-STARRS scopes meant to spot dangerous asteroids and comets is being taken down today to fix image quality problems
Today on New Scientist: 1 October 2009
18:00 01 October 2009
Today's stories on newscientist.com, at a glance, including: the human ancestor who walked tall, why sedatives might not help people recover from trauma, and some airborne giants
Sedatives may slow recovery from trauma
THIS WEEK: 17:00 01 October 2009 | 4 comments
Giving sleeping pills to soldiers and earthquake victims is common practice, yet it could be doing more harm than good
Cosmic rays reveal erupting volcano's guts
IN BRIEF: 16:38 01 October 2009 | 1 comment
Subatomic particles reveal how much magma was blasted out of a volcano in Japan
Our ancestor Ardi walked tall
GALLERY: 15:34 01 October 2009
The bones of a 4.4-million-year-old relative suggest that she walked upright. See more family snaps in our Gallery
Free-flying cyborg insects steered from a distance
13:48 01 October 2009 | 26 comments
A live beetle with electrodes wired up to its nervous system can made to take off and be steered like a remote-controlled aircraft
Asian quake could trigger California's big one
IN BRIEF: 16:49 01 October 2009 | 8 comments
Powerful earthquakes 700 and 8000 kilometres away are known to have weakened the San Andreas fault
Monsters of the skies: giant beasts that ruled the air
GALLERY: 10:31 01 October 2009
A huge eagle that once haunted New Zealand's forests was a fierce predator that may have hunted humans – see our gallery of other ancient airborne behemoths
ROBOTS
Laws for lethal robots
Campaigners say treaties are needed to govern autonomous military machines
FEEDBACK
No more cellphone fear
Three different ways to survive cellphone radiation, a foot spa that detoxes as well as delights, an iron that can shrink molecules, and more
SHORT SHARP SCIENCE BLOG
Did Samoa quake trigger Indonesia disaster?
15:24 01 October 2009 - updated 16:28 01 October 2009
The magnitude-8.0 earthquake that struck the Samoan islands on Tuesday happened just 15 hours before the magnitude 7.6 earthquake off Padang, Sumatra's largest city - but it might be a coincidence
HIV outpaces provision of anti-AIDS drugs
15:16 01 October 2009 - updated 15:24 01 October 2009
New figures show many more people have been getting infected with HIV - but more are getting treatment too
SPECIAL FEATURE
The population delusion
There are 7 billion of us and counting, but the raw numbers hide a multitude of complexities
SPACE FLIGHT
How far could you go?
An astronaut could reach the edge of the cosmos and return – as long as they know when to slam on the brakes
