http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science_and_environment/#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa The latest stories from the Science & Environment section of the BBC News web site. en-gb Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:51:33 GMT Copyright: (C) British Broadcasting Corporation, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/help/rss/4498287.stm for terms and conditions of reuse. http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/nol/shared/img/bbc_news_120x60.gif http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science_and_environment/#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa 120 60 15 Astronomers peering near a known large galaxy are shocked to find that it is in fact much larger - five times wider than our Milky Way. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20981994#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20981994 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 05:27:17 GMT Manchester scientists develop a tiny molecular machine they hope one day could synthesize new drug molecules or new types of plastic. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20987065#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20987065 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:40:55 GMT An artificial version of the Schmallenberg virus has been made by scientists in Scotland as part of research to find out more about the livestock disease. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20980094#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20980094 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:02:43 GMT Scientists identify the chemical "fingerprint" in lungs that could lead to a quick breath test to diagnose infections like tuberculosis, a study suggests. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20975948#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20975948 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 01:41:05 GMT Figures from the South African government indicate that poaching for rhinoceros has increased markedly in the last year. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20971182#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20971182 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 21:20:17 GMT Scientists have asked the government to reconsider a plan to remove higher funding for A-level science courses. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20987762#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20987762 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:08:12 GMT Children growing up under China's one-child policy are less trusting, risk averse and pessimistic, a study in the journal Science concludes. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20976432#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20976432 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:03:51 GMT An increase in small-scale mining means developing nations face growing health and environmental risks from mercury exposure, a UN report warns. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20972620#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20972620 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:29:47 GMT California's SpaceX company says it expects to start launching humans into orbit in its Dragon capsule in 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20964826#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20964826 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:04:37 GMT Zambia bans the hunting of lions and leopards because of the rapid decline in its numbers of big cats, saying there is more value in game-viewing tourism than blood sport. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20969868#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20969868 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:16:46 GMT Egypt's antiquities ministry says Italian archaeologists have unearthed tombs in Luxor that are more than 3,000 years old. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20978824#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20978824 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:58:35 GMT A remote Quebec fishing village asks Canada's government to help free a dozen killer whales trapped in a vast stretch of sea ice. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20966867#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20966867 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:52:16 GMT A 300 metre-wide asteroid, known as Apophis after the Egyptian demon of destruction and darkness, will not hit Earth in 2036, revised calculations reveal. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20986464#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20986464 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:12:07 GMT A dozen killer whales trapped under sea ice with only a single breathing hole reach safety in Canada's Hudson Bay, local villagers have reported. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20975536#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20975536 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 20:26:39 GMT Vast improvements to Hawaii's Gemini telescope permit researchers to take a striking image of a well known feature in the Orion Nebula referred to as the "bullets". http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20968240#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20968240 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 10:25:50 GMT A 300 metre-wide asteroid, known as Apophis after the Egyptian demon of destruction and darkness, makes a close approach to the Earth. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20961003#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20961003 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:25:31 GMT Experiments show wet objects are easier to handle with water-wrinkled fingers than with dry ones, hinting at a deeper evolutionary driver behind prune-like skin. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20951232#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20951232 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 02:20:54 GMT Researchers have used misshapen red blood cells to plug-up blood vessels and carry toxins to tumour cells in mice. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20959968#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20959968 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:25:31 GMT Researchers on the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or Nustar, release the collaboration's first results in a pair of striking images. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20943806#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20943806 Tue, 08 Jan 2013 10:18:41 GMT Astronomers more than double the number of known comets around far-flung stars, suggesting there may be as many comets as there are other planets in the galaxy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20954899#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20954899 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 03:45:53 GMT Embryonic bamboo sharks developing in egg cases "freeze" and stop breathing to evade predators, scientists say. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/20945543 http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/20945543 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:50:23 GMT The world's mostly southerly herd of reindeer is to be culled in an attempt to save the environment of the tiny island of South Georgia. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20962250#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20962250 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 19:15:57 GMT Britain's biggest supermarkets defend their practices after a report suggested that up to half of the world's food is thrown away. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20968076#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20968076 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:16:20 GMT The UK Met Office revises one of its forecasts for how much the world may warm in the next few years. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20947224#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20947224 Tue, 08 Jan 2013 15:17:16 GMT 'Prehistoric-looking' shoebill chicks demonstrate aggressive sibling behaviour for the first time on film. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/20938650 http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/20938650 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 07:58:20 GMT Toxic pollutants released by oil sands mining operations are accumulating in freshwater ecosystems, a study by Canadian researchers suggests. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20933000#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20933000 Tue, 08 Jan 2013 09:29:02 GMT Around a dozen killer whales have managed to escape after being trapped under thick ice off the coast of Canada http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20982313#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20982313 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 07:10:14 GMT A gamekeeper convicted of poisoning two buzzards had enough illegally-held poison to destroy all the birds of prey in Lincolnshire, the RSPB says. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-20978207#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-20978207 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:56:44 GMT For excitement it may not have matched the Samuel L Jackson film, Snakes On A Plane, but passengers on a Qantas flight watched with fascination as one snake fought out its own drama. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20975601#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20975601 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 06:53:42 GMT An international team of astronomers claim to have found the largest known structure in the universe. http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9784000/9784538.stm#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9784000/9784538.stm Sat, 12 Jan 2013 10:04:55 GMT A python hunt in the Florida everglades starts today. Hundreds of people are going to go on the prowl for Burmese pythons which have multiplied in recent years and become predators who are disturbing the ecosystem of the area. http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9784000/9784518.stm#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9784000/9784518.stm Sat, 12 Jan 2013 09:23:59 GMT A new strain of norovirus may be the reason for the sharp rise in cases of the vomiting bug this winter. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20982721#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20982721 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 09:19:58 GMT A biotech firm has developed the first injectable form of malaria, reducing the time it could take to develop a vaccine for the disease. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20968046#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20968046 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 02:42:12 GMT A giant squid measuring 3m (9ft) has been filmed in its natural habitat for the first time by a team of scientists and broadcasters working off the coast of Japan. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20966905#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20966905 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 21:57:28 GMT A "superpod" of up to 500 dolphins has been filmed by a group of tourists off the Pembrokeshire Coast. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20964647#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20964647 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 18:55:01 GMT Kenya's Wildlife Service is hunting poachers who killed a family of 11 elephants. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20961065#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20961065 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:12:00 GMT The world's biggest oil companies are pouring billions into drilling in the Arctic but energy economist Fatih Birol believes significant production growth won't be seen in the next 20 years. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/9783185.stm#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/9783185.stm Wed, 09 Jan 2013 09:35:02 GMT Sky-high view of US festival voted best satellite image of 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20975586#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20975586 Fri, 11 Jan 2013 09:27:01 GMT Whatever happened to Pluto? http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/20945051 http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/0/20945051 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:52:41 GMT Are high temperatures in Australia a sign of climate change? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20958060#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20958060 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 18:04:34 GMT Can protesters stop a controversial road being built? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20962794#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20962794 Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:30:58 GMT Encouraging scientific truth in mystery thriller novels http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20918398#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20918398 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 02:17:12 GMT Can the human body cope with 50C? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20956421#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20956421 Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:42:17 GMT Public to help scour pictures of Mars for interesting features http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20933303#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20933303 Tue, 08 Jan 2013 04:59:23 GMT