Brain-eating tribe helps mad cow research

A gene mutation found in the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea could lead to developments in treatment for mad cow disease

To save a mockingbird...

Efforts to protect the endangered bird boosted by genetic study

Why we can talk, but chimps can’t answer

Two gene changes causes cascade of effects resulting in speech

How did the mountain bird get its 'singing wings?'

Solution found to mystery stumping scientists since Darwin's time

Lure of deep proves irresistible to science

Life in the deep has a special lustre for scientists because it is all but unexplored and the discoveries keep on coming

‘Drilling volcano will not make it erupt’

A team is preparing to drill a 4km hole into Campi Flegrei near Naples, which has been dormant for 4,000 years

Google spyware will help vigilantes save rainforests

Environmentalists are to monitor satellite images and check if countries are keeping to their pledges to reduce deforestation

A rutting nuisance...

Stags are being put off rituals by army of nature lovers

World-first stem cell therapy for eye disease

Trials for treatment of Stargardt's disease to begin in spring if world's first embryonic stem cell therapy is approved

Privacy fears as DNA testing firm goes bust

DNA profiles belonging to thousands of people who paid for gene tests are to be transferred to a venture capital group

The Get Out of Jail Free gene

The sentence of one killer in Italy has been reduced as he possesses a ‘violent gene’. Can DNA be used as a defence?

Race and genetics in court

Scientific research seems to show that some racial groups possess the low-activity MAO-A ‘warrior gene’. Is it admissible in court?

Beauty really is skin deep, say scientists

Scientists have found that the evenness and radiance of a woman’s skin is the key factor people use in judging beauty

Tissue grown to reverse genital damage

Scientists have replaced the erectile tissue of rabbits restoring sexual function and allowing them to father offspring

Older and wiser: making age count

Understanding and predicting longevity are vital if we are to manage the implications of greater life expectancy

Eureka: Life, the Universe and everything

In issue two of Eureka, Bill Bryson tries to get his head around the LHC and we delve into robot surgery and longevity

Scientists grow substitute skin from cells

French scientists have successfully coaxed master cells from human embryos to form immature skin cells to use for grafts

World-first stem cell therapy for eye disease

Trials for treatment of Stargardt's disease to begin in spring if world's first embryonic stem cell therapy is approved

Men’s heavy drinking ‘is good for heart’

Research on 41,000 people in Spain showed that alcohol — in any quantity — was linked to a lower risk of heart disease

Risk of bed shortage for swine flu children

As winter unfolds, the combination of swine flu and respiratory infections could lead to a paediatric bed crisis

Large Hadron Collider back in action

Engineers at the CERN particle physics laboratory to fire up 'big bang machine' more than a year after it was shut down

Chunk of baguette stalls Large Hadron Collider

Already delayed for a year, the £4bn collider encountered an unexpected additional problem in the form of a piece of bread

LHC: Black holes and bunkum

Nature sabotaging the LHC? Black holes devouring the planet? The CERN project has provoked some fearful reactions

LHC: a force to be reckoned with

Protons travelling at almost the speed of light are a dangerous proposition. Stopping them safely is no easy job

Johnson accused as three more scientists quit

Home Secretary accused of 'political expediency' in his use of scientific advice as fallout grows from sacking of adviser

Advisers have a right to speak plainly

Ministers must think twice before commissioning opinions they have no intention of heeding and then shooting the messenger

Cloning pioneer convicted over stem cell lies

Hwang Woo-suk, the scientist who led the world in pioneering human cloning, found guilty of faking stem cell research

Half of us back teaching of creationism

Poll finds most Britons want evolution taught in schools, but just one in five think other theories should be excluded

Nasa finds enough water for man on Moon to have bath

Nasa's lunar probe makes the discovery after being deliberately crashed into moon and making a new crater on the surface

Astronomers discover cosmic nurseries for stars

Findings in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society give a unique insight into the birth of our own galaxy

Book a room in space - the tariff: £2.7 million

Tourists are said to be queuing up to enjoy a three-night stay in a hotel a Spanish company plans to build high above Earth

The ultimate question about the big bang

A science experiment is under way again that may teach us how the Universe began or blow up the planet!