| Japanese stem cell researcher wins Balzan prize By COLLEEN BARRY 2010-09-06T15:39:33ZMILAN (AP) -- A Japanese researcher who found a way to give adults cells certain characteristics of embryonic stem cells, a process scientists say could eventually lead to cures for spinal cord injuries and other ailments, has been awarded the Balzan Prize for biology.... hosted.ap.org |
Podcast: What the brain can and can't do Professor Barry Smith, director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London explores what happens inside our heads when we recognise a friend or reach for a cup of coffee.Professor Smith has just made a series of programmes for the BBC World Service called The Mysteries of the Brain, which starts today. So that's what the brain can do. We also look at what it can't do ... We dial up Professor Russell Stannard, emeritus professor of physics at the Open University. He thinks humans are fast approaching the end of what it is possible for us to know and understand. Caspar Llewellyn-Smith asks him about some of the themes in his new book, The End of Discovery. Check out our shiny new science front page and meet our crack team of science bloggers:The Lay Scientist by Martin RobbinsLife and Physics by Jon ButterworthPunctuated Equilibrium by GrrlScientistPolitical Science by Evan Harris Follow the podcast on our Science Weekly Twitter feed and receive updates on all breaking science news stories from Guardian Science. Email scienceweeklypodcast@gmail.com. Join our Facebook group. Listen back through our archive.Subscribe free via iTunes to ensure every episode gets delivered. (Here is the non-iTunes URL feed).Caspar Llewellyn SmithAlok JhaAndy Duckworth guardian.co.uk |
Video | British IVF pioneer wins Nobel prize for medicine Physiologist Robert Edwards, the British scientist who pioneered in-vitro fertilisation, which has helped in the conception and birth of 4 million people around the world, is honoured in Stockholm guardian.co.uk |
Swiss celebrate digging world's longest tunnel By FRANK JORDANS 2010-10-16T01:18:59ZSEDRUN, Switzerland (AP) -- Workers hugged, cheered and set off fireworks as the huge drill broke through the last stretch of rock deep in the Swiss Alps. There was delight at the end of the tunnel - the world's longest - when it was completed Friday.... hosted.ap.org |
Ground coffee helps robot get a grip A floppy robotic hand that stiffens when air is sucked out, much like a vacuum-packed brick of coffee, may form the basis of a new type of robotic gripping mechanism, US researchers say. abc.net.au |