Science

It distinguishes between toxic and healthy forms of a protein that collects in clumps in dementia patients - causing confusion and memory loss

Monkeys unwind at the end of a stressful day with spa therapy - just like humans, say scientists. Snow monkeys use hot springs to reduce stress - as well as keep them warm, according to new research. The macaques are a popular tourist attraction in Nagano in northern Japan as they soak in the steaming baths. It was assumed they were simply trying to warm up during the chilly winter months when snow blankets the region. But experts who observed...

An incredible graffiti tribute to Stephen Hawking has been painted across a bridge in Cambridge. Kyle Warwick, 25, of Cambridge, created the large memorial piece which has been adored by members of the public. The artwork took him around five hours to complete and says he was also accompanied by graffiti artists Tim Shuker-Yates. Tattoo artist, Kyle said: "I grew up in Cambridge, and he came into my school a few times as a kid. "I was about ten years...

Finding dispel myth cigarettes are a slimming aid

Giant dinosaurs bigger than a double decker bus roamed the Isle of Skye 170 million years ago, say scientists. Dozens of footprints belonging to early sauropods - the largest animals ever to walk the planet - have been unearthed in a lagoon on the remote Scottish hideaway. Others were made by the older theropod cousins of T Rex as herds splashed about in the muddy shallows off the north east coast. They were identified by their claws. The discovery adds...

Antarctica is shrinking because the sea floor is being eroded - by warm water. Global warming is causing vast swathes of the land underneath the frozen continent to be carried away - leading to structural instability in the great ice sheet. Now entire cliffs of ice that have stood for millions of years are breaking off and falling into the ocean, because the land they were built on has been subject to rapid erosion. Research by the UK Centre for...

Astronomers have captured an image of the most distant star ever seen - nine BILLION light years away. The star, named Icarus, is so far away that the light the boffins saw was twice as old as planet Earth. Experts at UC Berkely in California discovered the star thanks to a rare cosmic alignment, which provided a window of opportunity to view the star. The sighting was made possible due to a phenomenon called 'gravitational lensing', which allows far away...

Scientists have developed a skin-like material that can change colour - like a chameleon. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) discovered the novel product through a number of tests on an experimental material. Skin protects the body in a number of ways, including by rapidly stiffening in order to prevent injury. The new discovery revealed an elastic material that can tense like skin, with the added ability to change colour. In skin, a number of...

The famed theoretical physicist passed away peacefully at his home in Cambridge after a long battle with motor neurone disease