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Science

Discoveries, research and the latest from the world of science.

27,568 stories · Page 1312 of 1313

Science stories

Leader: Preserve Pluto

'Then felt I like some watcher of the skies, when a new planet swims into his ken.' Or in this case, swims back out again. The news that astronomers are thinking of declassifying Pluto, the solar system's remotest, tiniest planet, is unprecedented.

17 Jan

Mir mortals

Picture yourself on top of a 46-foot pole in pitch blackness. The pole is swaying to and fro, and feels as if it could snap at any moment. All that's supporting it is a flimsy aluminium construction that, although you don't want to think about it, is falling through space at the rate of 18,000 miles per hour. Worried? Well, don't move, because you might snag your spacesuit and instantly die or, worse, slowly slip off into limitless darkness.

By Andrew Anthony17 Jan

Star that went up in smoke

Astronomers have obtained the best pictures yet of one of the most spectacular objects in the universe - the Ring Nebula. The glowing smoke-ring of blue, green and red gas is about a light year wide and situated 2,000 light years from Earth in the constellation of Lyra.

11 Jan

Neat solution to the fat problem

Scientists in the United States have finally worked out why some people can pig out on sticky puddings and stay thin while others have to loosen their belts on a diet of lettuce and water crackers.

By Tim Radford, Science Editor8 Jan

Scientists find way of ending cancer cell 'immortality'

Scientists in London have pinpointed the human genetic machinery that could kill cancer cells.

By Tim Radford, Science Editor6 Jan

Blood money

In 1984, the Hagahai people who live in the highland forests of Papua New Guinea contacted the outside world for the first time. Tribe members walked out of the bush for three days, requesting medical help.

21 Jan

Taming Frankenstein plc

The last government was behind it. So is the present one. It was endorsed earlier this year by the European parliament. It got the nod from a Commons committee on Tuesday. Tonight it goes before the European Council of Ministers, who are almost certain to vote it through. British industrial chiefs have repeatedly said they want it, and they speak for something like 400 British bioscience companies, 10,000 jobs and pounds 700 million of investor's money. Patients' groups have said, that, on balance, they want it and they speak for people with muscular dystrophy, cancer, haemophilia, Alzheimer's disease and so on. Government spokesmen have repeatedly pointed out that it involves no real change in British law anyway: why the fuss?

27 Nov

How to own a gene

Last year an American company, Myriad Genetics of Utah, applied in Europe to patent a gene known as BRCA1 that it identified in 1994.

David Rowan27 Nov

Money in genes

BREAKFAST time on Tuesday was rather more eventful than usual in the north London neighbourhood of Lord Simon of Highbury. At 7.15am, a dozen or so protesters broke the calm of the Competitiveness Minister's Islington townhouse to suspend from the roof a bright yellow banner reading 'No patents on life', and to stick a few 'Patent pending' signs on trees in his garden. The BioPirates, as the protesters styled themselves, departed once the police arrived, but not before clarifying their purpose: this had been nothing less, they declared, than their very last chance to stall 'the race to commodify life'.

27 Nov

The price of life

Earlier this year StarGene, a San Francisco-based biotechnology company, hit on a novel marketing idea. Using the latest DNA cloning techniques it would duplicate samples of DNA taken from the hair of deceased celebrities, enclose them in transparent plastic and attach them to 'appropriate' trinkets. There would be Marilyn Monroe 'earrings' Abraham Lincoln 'pens' and Elvis Presley 'belt buckles'.

21 Oct

Can you patent genes?

The idea of patenting living things may seem bizarre or even distasteful. However, the decision of the European Parliament last week to approve a Commission Directive that would enable drug companies to patent genetic discoveries is a step towards the patenting of human body parts - although an amendment to the directive will at least have the effect of preventing the patenting of whole human beings.

24 Jul

Don't blame the genes

The left has an impressive ability to lie to itself. When faced with facts that conflict with ideology, the easy way out is to deny the facts. This was long the case in economics; but although there are no doubt a few who still regard the New Economic Plan as a betrayal, in general realism has prevailed. There are not many Guardian readers left who believe that Japan's problems arise because it did not follow the path pursued by Albania.

7 Jun

The DNA we've been dealt

On the back wall of his cramped office at the clinical center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD Dr Lameh Fananapazir has a huge map of the United States. Stuck all across it are hundreds of pins with tiny white pennants atop them bearing the family names of his patients. It's not your typical patient roster, but then Dr Fananapazir, one of the country's leading cardiologists, has an expansive practice.

Charles Siebert4 Nov

Shroud dating leaves 'forgery' debate raging

The Holy Shroud of Turin - revered by Catholics for centuries - is a piece of linen woven between AD1260 and 1390. Therefore the image it bears cannot be the imprint of the bloodstained body of the crucified Jesus Christ.

Tim Radford, Science Correspondent14 Oct

NASA officials relieved by picture-perfect launch

29 September 1988: On this day the space shuttle Discovery was successfully launched, the first after the explosion of the Challenger in 1986. This is how the Guardian reported the event.

Alex Brummer30 Sept

Where do we go from here?

Comment: Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Vitaly Sevastyanov on the Challenger explosion and the risk of weapons in space.

10 Feb

We partake of your grief - Gorbachev

The Soviet Union shares in America's grief at the death of the space shuttle crew, Mr Mikhail Gorbachev told President Reagan in a personal telegram yesterday.

Martin Walker30 Jan

America mourns its space heroes

The United States yesterday went into official mourning for the loss of the space shuttle Challenger and its crew of seven as the grim search for debris stretched over a 7,200 square-mile area of the Atlantic.

Alex Brummer30 Jan

Challenger and what comes after

Space tragedies either unfold behind the impenetrable net of Soviet security or in the full, exhaustive glare of America's free media. The death of Challenger yesterday - and the death of its seven passengers - was all the more horrific for the instant spread of agonised faces and weeping relatives brought to you, coast to coast, by television.

29 Jan

Challenger disaster casts doubt on need for manned flights

January 28 2005: On this day the Challenger space shuttle exploded, killing all passengers. This is how the Guardian reported the events.

Harold Jackson29 Jan

Spiking the cultural roots

Tourists fortunate enough to be permitted to visit the Flong settlements of San Serriffe during the summer solstice will be rewarded by the colourful spectacle of the Gallee sect stamping and shrieking in unison in the Dance of the Pied Slugs

Tim Radford31 Mar