New Scientist reports What can evolution tell us about domestic violence? Two researchers in the US suggest such violence has ancient origins and that establishing evolution’s role could help to better identify those at risk. Others argue that the research makes simplistic assumptions, and warn that some people will interpret the research as an excuse [...]
Archive for September, 2011
Sep
25
Resurrected wallaby protein kill superbugs
New Scientist reports IF MODERN medicine cannot provide an answer to multidrug-resistant microbes, perhaps ancient animals can. Biologists have resurrected a mammalian antimicrobial compound that was last seen on Earth 59 million years ago when mammals were recovering from the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. Even now it is potent enough to destroy [...]
Sep
22
Ancient Arabian structures found from a couch
New Scientist reports Google continues to allow us to virtually go where no archaeologist has gone before. The latest finds, in the Arabian peninsula, are of spectacular stone structures that rival the Nazca lines of southern Peru in their intricacy. The ruins are known to local Bedouin groups as “the works of the old men”, [...]
Sep
14
Electrify roads, not cars
THE cars of the future could be powered by electrified roadways. Such technology would allow electric cars to forgo their heavy batteries, which not only add to a vehicle’s weight, increasing the energy needed to move it, but also force it to sit idle while recharging. New Scientist reports that the idea has been around [...]
Sep
14
Coconuts and sunshine will power Pacific Islands
Coconuts and sunshine will soon provide all the electricity demands of the South Pacific islands of Tokelau. Foua Toloa, Tokelau’s leader, announced this week that by the middle of next year solar energy will supply 93 per cent of Tokelau’s electricity – the rest will come from coconut oil. Motor vehicles and some cooking devices [...]