Not Exactly Rocket Science

The back catalogue

This is a chronological list of all the articles I've written for this blog - no personal chatter, just the good stuff.

July 2009

• #523- 20/07/09 - Photographing the glow of the human body
• #522- 18/07/09 - Spiders construct homes for endangered pygmy lizards
• #521- 17/07/09 - Tiger moths jam the sonar of bats
• #520- 16/07/09 - Jockey postures make things easier for horses and speed up races
• #519- 16/07/09 - The copied gene that gave dachshunds and corgis their short legs
• #518- 15/07/09 - Why information is its own reward - same neurons signal thirst for water, knowledge
• #517- 14/07/09 - Will vs. Grace - are people honest because they resist temptation or because they don't feel it?
• #516- 13/07/09 - Cats manipulate their owners with a cry embedded in a purr
• #515- 11/07/09 - Bilingual children learn language rules more efficiently than monolinguals
• #514- 09/07/09 - How the turtle got its shell through skeletal shifts and muscular origami
• #513- 09/07/09 - Ebola found in pigs (thankfully, it's the one harmless type)
• #512- 08/07/09 - Rapamycin - the Easter Island drug that extends lifespan of old mice
• #511- 07/07/09 - The bigger the ego, the harder the fall - how self-awareness buffers against social rejection
• #510- 06/07/09 - On cheerleaders and watchdogs - the role of science journalism
• #509- 05/07/09 - Bees kill hornets with carbon dioxide emissions and local warming
• #508- 04/07/09 - By eating fruit, birds protect Serengeti forests from beetles
• #507- 04/07/09 - Does science journalism falter or flourish under embargo?
• #506- 02/07/09 - Ferreting out swine flu - virus causes slightly more severe disease than seasonal flu
• #505- 02/07/09 - Climate change and the mystery of the shrinking sheep
• #504- 01/07/09 - Spider mimics ant to eat spiders and avoid being eaten by spiders
• #503- 01/07/09 - WCSJ: Flat Earth News with Nick Davies - a discussion on the breaking of journalism

June 2009

• #502- 30/06/09 - World Conference of Science Journalists - New media new journalism
• #501- 30/06/09 - Monkeynomics - monopolies, markets and exchange rates in wild monkeys
• #500- 29/06/09 - From Spanish to swine - how H1N1 kicked off a 91-year pandemic era
• #499- 29/06/09 - Frigid echidna sex - competition drives males to mate with hibernating females
• #498- 28/06/09 - Does having more competitors lower the motivation to compete?
• #497- 25/06/09 - Why do female seed beetles prefer the sperm of inferior males?
• #496- 24/06/09 - 35,000-year-old German flutes display excellent kraftwerk
• #495- 23/06/09 - Hidden beliefs in science stereotypes predict size of gender gap across 34 countries
• #494- 22/06/09 - Brain treats tools as temporary body parts
• #493- 19/06/09 - Pregnant pauses and rapid-fire - how do different cultures take turns to talk?
• #492- 16/06/09 - The tentacled snake turns a fish's defence into a death march
• #491- 15/06/09 - How research saved the Large Blue butterfly
• #490- 15/06/09 - Flowers change colour and back again to advertise their opening hours
• #489- 11/06/09 - Origins of the swine flu pandemic
• #488- 10/06/09 - Sleeping on it - how REM sleep boosts creative problem-solving
• #487- 09/06/09 - Anna's hummingbird outflies falcons and fighter pilots
• #486- 05/06/09 - Skinks set their sex in three ways - genes, temperature and egg size
• #485- 04/06/09 - Scientists tickle apes to reveal evolutionary origins of human laughter
• #484- 03/06/09 - Spiders gather in groups to impersonate ants
• #483- 01/06/09 - Glowing squid use bacterial flashlights that double as an extra pair of "eyes"
• #482- 01/06/09 - Gender gap in maths driven by social factors, not biological differences
• #481- 01/06/09 - Chimps use Swiss army toolkit to rob beehives

May 2009

• #480- 29/05/09 - Scientists "humanise" Foxp2 gene in mice to probe origins of human language
• #479- 28/05/09 - The bacterial zoo living on your skin
• #479- 28/05/09 - The bacterial zoo living on your skin
• #478- 27/05/09 - The peril of positive thinking - why positive messages hurt people with low self-esteem
• #477- 26/05/09 - The infofuse - encoding messages using colourful fire
• #476- 21/05/09 - From day to night - a lesson in eye evolution with the owl monkey
• #475- 20/05/09 - DNA sculpture and origami - a meeting of art and nanotechnology
• #474- 20/05/09 - Darwinius changes everything
• #473- 19/05/09 - City mockingbirds can tell the difference between individual people
• #472- 18/05/09 - Venomous Komodo dragons kill prey with wound-and-poison tactics
• #471- 14/05/09 - Bumpy petals help bees get a grip on flowers
• #470- 13/05/09 - Prehistoric carving is oldest known figurative art
• #469- 12/05/09 - Giant insect splits cavefish into distinct populations
• #468- 11/05/09 - Thinking about money soothes sting of social rejection and physical pain
• #467- 8/05/09 - Reign of termite queens rests on a single gene
• #466- 7/05/09 - Electrical stimulation produces feelings of free will
• #465- 6/05/09 - The signals of life - ants use chemical messages to avoid getting trashed
• #464- 5/05/09 - Baby names suggest that cultural trends are abandoned more readily the quicker they catch on
• #463- 4/05/09 - Dolphins stay alert after five straight days of round-the-clock vigilance
• #462- 1/05/09 - Unintentional genetic engineering - grafted plants trade genes

April 2009

• #461- 30/04/09 - Dinosaur proteins, cells and blood vessels recovered from Bracyhlophosaurus
• #460- 30/04/09 - Alex the parrot and Snowball the cockatoo show that birds can dance
• #459- 29/04/09 - Retrocyclins: a defence against HIV, reawakened after 7 million years
• #458- 28/04/09 - Traumatic insemination - male spider pierces female's underside with needle-sharp penis
• #457- 28/04/09 - Autism linked to common gene variants that affect the connections between neurons
• #456- 27/04/09 - Sparrows solve problems more quickly in larger groups
• #455- 26/04/09 - Making new heart cells
• #454- 24/04/09 - Singaporean spiders spit venomous glue, work together, eat each other
• #453- 23/04/09 - How wearing a cast affects sense of touch and brain activity
• #452- 22/04/09 - Puijila, the walking seal - a beautiful transitional fossil
• #451- 21/04/09 - A 6 kilometre trek on the back of a snail
• #450- 21/04/09 - Nocturnal mammals see in dark by turning displaced DNA into lenses
• #449- 17/04/09 - Blood Falls - bacteria thrive for millions of years beneath a rusty Antarctic glacier
• #448- 16/04/09 - Simple writing exercise helps break vicious cycle that holds back black students
• #447- 15/04/09 - Are red autumn leaves a warning sign to insects?
• #446- 14/04/09 - How inbreeding killed off a line of kings
• #445- 14/04/09 - Bilingual infants have better mental control
• #444- 13/04/09 - Tiny built-in cracks stop teeth from shattering
• #443- 10/04/09 - Flies get the buzz on sexy mates from each other
• #442- 8/04/09 - On science blogging and mainstream science writing...
• #441- 8/04/09 - Male chimps trade meat for sex
• #440- 7/04/09 - Do testosterone and oestrogen affect our attitudes to fairness, trust, risk and altruism?
• #439- 6/04/09 - Our moral thermostat - why being good can give people license to misbehave
• #438- 2/04/09 - Enter Adam, the Robot Scientist
• #437- 1/04/09 - The rebellion of the ant slaves

March 2009

• #436- 31/03/09 - Ballet postures have become more extreme over time
• #435- 30/03/09 - Deformed skull of prehistoric child suggests that early humans cared for disabled children
• #434- 30/03/09 - Autistic children are less sensitive to the movements of living things
• #433- 29/03/09 - Playing shoot-em-up video games can improve some aspects of vision
• #432- 27/03/09 - Termite queen avoids inbreeding by leaving a legacy of clones
• #431- 26/03/09 - What makes 250,000,000 fish gather in the same place?
• #430- 25/03/09 - How Kenny Rogers and Frank Sinatra could help stroke patients
• #429- 24/03/09 - Genetic neoteny - how delayed genes separate human brains from chimps
• #428- 23/03/09 - Extra genomes helped plants to survive extinction event that killed dinosaurs
• #427- 20/03/09 - Self-medicating caterpillars use toxic plants to kill parasites
• #426- 19/03/09 - To predict what will make you happy, ask a stranger rather than guessing yourself
• #425- 18/03/09 - Tianyulong - a fuzzy dinosaur that makes the origin of feathers fuzzier
• #424- 17/03/09 - What the stomach contents of sperm whales tell us about giant squid and octopuses
• #423- 16/03/09 - Power lines disrupt the magnetic alignment of cows and deer
• #422- 16/03/09 - Violent films and games delay people from helping others
• #421- 13/03/09 - Female antbirds jam their partners' songs when other females approach
• #420- 12/03/09 - Erasing a memory reveals the neurons that encode it
• #419- 11/03/09 - Photo-recognition software catches tigers by their stripes
• #418- 10/03/09 - Newly discovered fish crosses Peter Pan with Dracula
• #417- 10/03/09 - Different neuron networks control fear of different threats
• #416- 09/03/09 - Alcohol tastes and smells better to those who get their first sips in the womb
• #415- 09/03/09 - Chimpanzee collects ammo for "premeditated" tourist-stoning
• #414- 05/03/09 - The death and resurrection of IRGM - the "Jesus gene"
• #413- 04/03/09 - Human-induced evolution reverses for shrunken fish once fishing stops
• #412- 03/03/09 - Congolese chimps modify fishing-sticks to make them even more effective tools
• #411- 02/03/09 - Globalisation increases cooperation at an international scale
• #410- 01/03/09 - Horrific beetle sex - why the most successful males have the spikiest penises

February 2009

• #409- 27/02/09 - A bad taste in your mouth - moral outrage has origins in physical disgust
• #408- 26/02/09 - Voters use child-like judgments when judging political candidates
• #407- 25/02/09 - Fishing expedition reveals unexpected link between Alzheimer's and prion diseases
• #406- 25/02/09 - The suicide plasterers - aphids that repair their homes with their own bodily fluids
• #405- 24/02/09 - Male and female mako sharks separated by invisible line in the sea
• #404- 23/02/09 - Red tides kill seabirds with 'soapy' foam
• #403- 22/02/09 - Child abuse permanently modifies stress genes in brains of suicide victims
• #402- 20/02/09 - Attendance at religious services, but not religious devotion, predicts support for suicide attacks
• #401- 19/02/09 - Aphids hide from parasitic wasps among the corpses of their peers
• #400- 17/02/09 - Babies' gestures partly explain link between wealth and vocabulary
• #399- 16/02/09 - Beta-blocker drug erases the emotion of fearful memories
• #398- 15/02/09 - Light-detecting backpacks record the complete migration routes of songbirds
• #397- 12/02/09 - How the common cold evolves - full genomes of all known human rhinoviruses
• #396- 12/02/09 - Wasps use genes stolen from ancient viruses to make biological weapons
• #395- 11/02/09 - A burst of DNA duplication in the ancestor of humans, chimps and gorillas
• #394- 09/02/09 - How diversity creates itself - cascades of new species among flies and parasitic wasps
• #393- 07/02/09 - Cuttlefish tailor their defences to different predators
• #392- 06/02/09 - Butterflies scrounge off ants by mimicking the music of queens
• #391- 05/02/09 - Colouring your mind - red improves attention to detail, blue boosts creativity
• #390- 04/02/09 - Titanoboa - thirteen metres, one tonne, largest snake ever
• #389- 03/02/09 - Fossil foetus shows that early whales gave birth on land
• #388- 03/02/09 - Ask an IVF baby: does smoking while pregnant lead to antisocial behaviour?
• #387- 02/02/09 - Losing Nemo - acid oceans prevent baby clownfish from finding home
• #386- 01/02/09 - Single gene allows glowing bacteria to switch from fish to squid

January 2009

• #385- 30/01/09 - Teaching scientific knowledge doesn't improve scientific reasoning
• #384- 29/01/09 - The swarm-maker molecule - how serotonin transforms solitary locusts into social ones
• #383- 28/01/09 - Are emperor penguins marching to extinction?
• #382- 27/01/09 - Old wounds show that Triceratops used its horns for combat
• #381- 26/01/09 - Low-calorie diets improve memory in old age
• #380- 25/01/09 - How dolphins prepare the perfect cuttlefish meal
• #379- 23/01/09 - MRSA in pigs and pig farmers
• #378- 23/01/09 - They don't all look the same - could better facial discrimination lead to less racial discrimination?
• #377- 22/01/09 - Bacteria and languages reveal how people spread through the Pacific
• #376- 21/01/09 - Pre-emptive blood flow raises big questions about fMRI
• #375- 21/01/09 - Carnivorous dung beetle shuns dung and decapitates millipedes
• #374- 20/01/09 - Three groups of fish are actually the males, females and larvae of one family
• #373- 19/01/09 - Saucy study reveals a gene that affects aggression after provocation
• #372- 15/01/09 - Capuchin monkeys are choosy about the best nutcrackers
• #371- 13/01/09 - Human hunters unwittingly shrink their prey species at incredible rates
• #370- 12/01/09 - Beipaiosaurus was covered in the simplest known feathers
• #369- 11/01/09 - Tetris to prevent Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder flashbacks
• #368- 09/01/09 - Mosquitoes harmonise their buzzing in love duets
• #367- 08/01/09 - People overestimate their reactions to racism
• #366- 08/01/09 - One codon, two amino acids - the genetic code has a Shift key
• #365- 08/01/09 - People overestimate their reactions to racism
• #364- 05/01/09 - The pink Galapagos iguana that Darwin never saw
• #363- 02/01/09 - Worrying slowdown of coral growth in the Great Barrier Reef
• #362- 01/01/09 - Life-shortening bacteria vs. dengue mosquitoes

December 2008

• #361- 30/12/08 - Not Exactly Rocket Science Review of 2008
• #360- 29/12/08 - Spookfish eye uses mirrors instead of a lens
• #359- 28/12/08 - Solar-powered green sea slug steals ability to photosynthesise from algae
• #358- 27/12/08 - Lacking control drives false conclusions, conspiracy theories and superstitions
• #357- 24/12/08 - How life became big in two giant steps
• #356- 23/12/08 - Why are there so few female chess grandmasters?
• #355- 22/12/08 - Blind man navigates obstacle course perfectly with no visual awareness
• #354- 18/12/08 - Dinosaur daddies took care of their young alone
• #353- 18/12/08 - Predatory slime mould freezes prey in large groups
• #352- 16/12/08 - Climate change squeezes jumbo squid out of oxygen
• #351- 15/12/08 - Sponging dolphins keep it in the family
• #350- 12/12/08 - Zoo elephants die much earlier than wild ones
• #349- 11/12/08 - Elephants crave companionship in unfamiliar stomping grounds
• #348- 10/12/08 - Sea anemones keep on stinging swallowed fish to digest them
• #347- 09/11/08 - Dogs frown on unfair rewards
• #346- 08/12/08 - Social status shapes racial identity
• #345- 04/12/08 - Why punishment is worth it in the end
• #344- 02/12/08 - The Quantum Leap effect - creating a body-swapping illusion
• #343- 01/12/08 - Gut bacteria - fat or thin, family or friends, shared or unique

November 2008

• #342- 27/11/08 - Pain in the eye of the beholder
• #341- 26/11/08 - Heroes in a half-shell show how turtles evolved
• #340- 26/11/08 - Clean thoughts can soften moral judgments
• #339- 25/11/08 - Fossilised embryos are the work of bacteria
• #338- 24/11/08 - Faulty connections responsible for inherited face-blindness
• #337- 12/11/08 - Parasites keep red tides at bay
• #336- 20/11/08 - The spread of disorder - can graffiti promote littering and theft?
• #335- 19/11/08 - Sequencing a mammoth genome
• #334- 16/11/08 - How to tell Wonderpus Joe from Wonderpus Bob
• #333- 14/11/08 - Green beards, flocs of yeast and the evolution of cooperation
• #332- 12/11/08 - Lizard claws shed light on the evolutionary origin of hair
• #331- 11/11/08 - Corn is everywhere in American fast food
• #330- 10/11/08 - Lymph node injections provide safer, faster and easier relief against hay fever
• #329- 06/11/08 - Plastic tubes and pipette tips leach chemicals that botch experiments
• #328- 06/11/08 - Same gene underlies two language disorders
• #327- 05/11/08 - Caterpillars vomit detergents to wreck ant waterproofing
• #326- 04/11/08 - Eland antelopes click their knees to prove their dominance
• #325- 04/11/08 - Clones produced from mice frozen for 16 years
• #324- 03/11/08 - Space Invader DNA jumped across mammalian genomes

October 2008

• #323- 29/10/08 - Common pesticide is good news for parasites, bad news for frogs
• #322- 27/10/08 - An ecosystem of one in the depths of a gold mine
• #321- 26/10/08 - Warm hands, warm heart - how physical and emotional warmth are linked

September 2008

• #320- 25/09/08 - Why do people overbid in auctions?
• #319- 24/09/08 - Caterpillars use wormholes and early warning hairs for defence
• #318- 23/09/08 - Aborigines improve biodiversity by starting fires
• #317- 19/09/08 - Genetically modified cotton protects surrounding crops from moth
• #316- 18/09/08 - Political attitudes linked to startle reflexes
• #315- 16/09/08 - Social exclusion literally feels cold
• #314- 15/09/08 - Fearless mice are neglectful mothers but social butterflies
• #313- 11/09/08 - Rise of dinosaurs down to luck not superiority
• #312- 10/09/08 - Giant bees do Mexican waves to ward off wasps
• #311- 09/09/08 - Our brains have a vast capacity for remembering detail
• #310- 08/09/08 - Tardigrades become first animals to survive vacuum of space
• #309 - 04/09/08 - Did a gene enhancer humanise our thumbs?
• #308 - 02/09/08 - Of voles and men: exploring the genetics of commitment
• #307 - 01/09/08 - European genes mirror European geography

August 2008

• #306 - 28/08/08 - Holy haemorrhage Batman! Wind turbines burst bat lungs
• #305 - 26/08/08 - Children learn to share by age 7-8
• #304 - 25/08/08 - Selfless monkeys find personal reward in helping others
• #303 - 24/08/08 - Google Earth shows that cow and deer herds align like compass needles
• #302 - 21/08/08 - Undecided voters aren't really undecided - the hidden side of decision-making
• #301 - 20/08/08 - Owls use poo and plumage to mark their territories
• #300 - 19/08/08 - Westerners focus on the eyes, East Asians on the nose
• #299 - 19/08/08 - Symmetrical bodies are sexier and more stereotypical
• #298 - 18/08/08 - Going strong at 100 - extreme lifespans don't mean extreme disability
• #297 - 17/08/08 - Flu survivors still immune after 90 years
• #296 - 14/08/08 - Using our powers for good - how web security software can help to transcribe old books
• #295 - 13/08/08 - Blind Olympic athletes show the universal nature of pride and shame
• #294 - 12/08/08 - Climate scientists recruit elephant seals to study Antarctica's waters
• #293 - 11/08/08 - The fiery taste of chillies is a defence against a fungus
• #292 - 10/08/08 - Athletes get more points by making referees see red
• #291 - 08/08/08 - Why cooperation is hard for people with borderline personality disorder
• #290 - 07/08/08 - The virophage - a virus that infects other viruses
• #289 - 06/08/08 - Duck-billed dinosaur defended itself by outgrowing predators
• #288 - 06/08/08 - Dogs catch yawns from humans
• #287 - 05/08/08 - Prehistoric great white shark had strongest bite in history
• #286 - 04/08/08 - Drug improves endurance without need for exercise
• #285 - 03/08/08 - Our brains react differently to artificial vs human intelligence
• #284 - 01/08/08 - Stem cells created from ALS patient and used to make neurons

July 2008

• #283 - 31/07/08 - Male fish deceive watching rivals about their top choice of females
• #282 - 28/07/08 - Tiny treeshrews chug alcoholic nectar without getting drunk
• #281 - 27/07/08 - Language evolution witnessed in lab experiments
• #280 - 25/07/08 - Parasites outweigh top predators and castrators do best of all
• #279 - 22/07/08 - Fishing bans protect coral reefs from devastating predatory starfish
• #278 - 21/07/08 - Social spiders do better when hunting with relatives
• #277 - 17/07/08 - Singing fish reveal shared origins of vertebrate vocals
• #276 - 16/07/08 - Obesity amplifies across generations; can folate-rich diets stop it?
• #275 - 15/07/08 - Infants remember more by 'chunking' groups
• #274 - 14/07/08 - Disease-ravaged devils have started living fast and dying young
• #273 - 11/07/08 - One in three species of reef-building corals face extinction
• #272 - 10/07/08 - Scientists heart journalists? Plus a quick guide to dealing with the media
• #271 - 9/07/08 - 'Missing link' flatfish has eye that's moved halfway across its head
• #270 - 7/07/08 - Bacterial smells have potential for trapping pregnant mosquitoes
• #269 - 4/07/08 - Is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome caused by a serotonin imbalance?
• #268 - 3/07/08 - The spider that crushes its prey with 140 metres of webbing
• #267 - 1/07/08 - Mayfly-like chameleon lives mostly as an egg

June 2008

• #266 – 30/06/08 - Gestures reveal universal word order, regardless of language
• #265 – 27/06/08 - Cuttlefish learn from watching potential prey even before they are born
• #264 – 26/06/08 - Death-trap or fortress - the two web designs of black widow spiders
• #263 – 25/06/08 - Crocodiles signal hatching time by calling from inside their eggs
• #262 – 24/06/08 - Lions killed by perfect storm of changing climate, virus and parasites
• #261 – 23/06/08 - Fish make rapid comeback in the world's largest no-fishing zone
• #260 – 20/06/08 - Brains of gay people resemble those of straight people of opposite sex
• #259 – 18/06/08 - Chimps call during sex to confuse fathers, recruit defenders and avoid competitors
• #258 – 17/06/08 - Chimps console each other to reduce stress after fights
• #257 – 16/06/08 - Jellyfish and human eyes assembled using similar genetic building blocks
• #256 – 15/06/08 - Fearful facial expressions enhance our perception
• #255 – 13/06/08 - Running dragon lizards do wheelies
• #254 – 12/06/08 - 2,000 year old "Phoenix" seed rises from the ashes
• #253 – 11/06/08 - Tree leaves keep the same temperature from tundra to tropics
• #252 – 5/06/08 - The wasp that walks cockroaches
• #251 – 3/06/08 - Parasitic wasp turns caterpillars into head-banging bodyguards
• #250 – 2/06/08 - History restricts and guides the evolution of innovations
• #249 – 1/06/08 - Who needs sex? - Rotifers import genes from fungi, bacteria and plants

May 2008

• #248 – 29/05/08 - Computer predicts brain activity associated with different objects
• #247 – 28/05/08 - Monkey see, monkey control prosthetic arm with thoughts
• #246 – 27/05/08 - 'Wolverine' frogs pop retractable claws from their toes
• #245 – 22/05/08 - Gut bacteria reflect diet and evolutionary past
• #244 – 21/05/08 - Snake proteins have gone through massive evolutionary redesign
• #243 – 20/05/08 - Carbon nanotubes could behave like asbestos
• #242 – 19/05/08 - Feeling powerless impairs higher mental abilities
• #241 – 15/05/08 - Size matters for mosquitoes but medium-sized males do better
• #240 – 13/05/08 - Portable brain activity-recorder shows that sloths aren't all that sleepy
• #239 – 12/05/08 - Orchid lures in pollinating wasps with promise of fresh meat
• #238 – 9/05/08 - Rats succumb to peer pressure too
• #237 – 8/05/08 - March of the locusts - individuals start moving to avoid cannibals
• #236 – 6/05/08 - Cuckoos mimic hawks to fool small birds
• #235 – 5/05/08 - Fungi transform depleted uranium into chemically stable minerals
• #234 – 4/05/08 - Making sense of obesity genes
• #233 – 4/05/08 - Fat cell number is set in childhood and stays constant in adulthood
• #232 – 1/05/08 - Sexy jumping spiders court females with ultraviolet patches

April 2008

• #231 – 29/04/08 - Single memory training task improves overall problem-solving intelligence
• #230 – 28/04/08 - Enormous bacterium uses thousands of genome copies to its advantage
• #229 – 25/04/08 - Vaccinia virus tricks its way into hosts by mimicking dead cells
• #228 – 24/04/08 - When learning maths, abstract symbols work better than real-world examples
• #227 – 23/04/08 - Beetles transform Canadian forest from carbon sink into carbon source
• #226 – 21/04/08 - 'Talking face' simulations in the brain help us work out what's being said
• #225 – 18/04/08 - Brain-enhancing drugs work by focusing brain activity... for better or worse
• #224 – 16/04/08 - New flu viruses emerge in tropical Asia before going on one-way world tour
• #223 – 14/04/08 - Testosterone-fuelled traders make higher profits
• #222 – 13/04/08 - Unconscious brain activity shapes our decisions
• #221 – 11/04/08 - Bacteria inspire drug that protects against radiation sickness
• #220 – 10/04/08 - When bacteria merge - two species are turning into one
• #219 – 7/04/08 - Automatic "evolution machine" creates more efficient enzymes on a microchip
• #218 – 7/04/08 - First lungless frog discovered in Borneo
• #217 – 3/04/08 - Super-bacteria eat antibiotics for breakfast
• #216 – 2/04/08 - Climate change knocked mammoths down, humans finished them off
• #215 – 1/04/08 - Did conflict between old and young women drive origin of menopause?

March 2008

• #214 – 31/03/08 - Boto dolphins woo females with chat-up vines
• #213 – 29/03/08 - The smell of danger - shocks help people discriminate between similar odours
• #212 – 27/03/08 - A squid's beak is a marvel of biological engineering
• #211 – 27/03/08 - City birds struggle to make themselves heard
• #210 – 26/03/08 - Chimpanzees take risks but bonobos play it safe
• #209 – 25/03/08 - Rising carbon dioxide levels weaken plant defences against hungry insects
• #208 – 24/03/08 - Bdelloid rotifers - the world's most radiation-resistant animals
• #207 – 21/03/08 - Mantis shrimps have a unique way of seeing
• #206 – 20/03/08 - Money can buy happiness... if you spend it on other people
• #205 – 19/03/08 - Winners don't punish: "Punishing slackers Part 2"
• #204 – 17/03/08 - Geckos use their tails to stop falls and manoeuvre in the air
• #203 – 16/03/08 - New drug shows great promise in treating schistosomiasis
• #202 – 14/03/08 - Stealthy alligators dive, rise and roll by moving their lungs
• #201 – 13/03/08 - Sand dollars avoid predators by cloning themselves
• #200 – 11/03/08 - How sharks, penguins and bacteria find food in the big, wide ocean
• #199 – 10/03/08 - Immune snakes outrun toxic newts in evolutionary arms races
• #198 – 6/03/08 - Punishing slackers and do-gooders
• #197 – 5/03/08 - The machine that identifies images from brain activity alone
• #196 – 4/03/08 - Moths remember what they learn as caterpillars

February 2008

• #195 – 29/02/08 - Snow-making bacteria are everywhere
• #194 – 29/02/08 - Communicating chimps and talking humans show activity in same part of the brain
• #193 – 27/02/08 - Japanese moths hit by male-killing virus
• #192 – 25/02/08 - Effects of invading island rats ripple across land and sea
• #191 – 20/02/08 – Tiny molecules drove the evolution of the vertebrates
• #190 – 17/02/08 – Testing, not studying, makes for strong long-term memories
• #189 – 15/02/08 – Earliest bat shows flight developed before echolocation
• #188 – 13/02/08 – Third cousin couples have the most children and grandchildren
• #187 – 02/02/08 – New languages evolve in rapid bursts

January 2008

• #186 – 30/01/08 – Malawi cichlids – how aggressive males create diversity
• #185 – 29/01/08 – Colour-changing chameleons evolved to stand out, not blend in
• #184 – 26/01/08 – Averaging photos creates infallible face recognition tool
• #183 – 24/01/08 – Blind cavefish not so blind
• #182 – 21/01/08 – Editing Ebola – how to tame one of the world’s deadliest viruses
• #181 – 20/01/08 – Sex runs hot and cold – why does temperature control the gender of Jacky dragons?
• #180 – 19/01/08 – Canny breeding creates vitamin A-rich maize without genetic modification
• #179 – 17/01/08 – Meet the genetically modified super-carrot, now fortified with calcium
• #178 – 14/01/08 – Dinosaurs grew fast, had teen pregnancies and died young
• #177 – 11/01/08 – An interview with David Attenborough
• #176 – 10/01/08 – Loss of big mammals breaks alliance between ants and trees
• #175 – 07/01/08 – Cross-breeding restores sight to blind cavefish
• #174 – 05/01/08 – Newborn babies have a preference for the way living things move
• #173 – 03/01/08 – Evolutionary arms race turns ants into babysitters for Alcon blue butterflies
• #172 – 01/01/08 – Assassin bugs deceive spiders with coat of many corpses

December 2007

• #171 – 27/12/07 – Not Exactly Rocket Science’s Review of 2007
• #170 – 24/12/07 – Whales evolved from small aquatic hoofed ancestors
• #169 – 22/12/07 – Cuttlefish tailor their defences to their predators
• #168 – 19/12/07 – Short lives, short size – why are pygmies small?
• #167 – 15/12/07 – Prehistoric meat-eating fungus snared microscopic worms
• #166 – 13/12/07 – Time doesn’t actually slow down in a crisis
• #165 – 11/12/07 – Mud time capsules show evolutionary arms race between host and parasite
• #164 -08/12/07 – Sickle cell mice cured by stem cells reprogrammed from their own tails
• #163 – 07/12/07 – Subliminal flag shifts political views and voting choices
• #162 – 06/12/07 – Songbirds need so-called “human language gene” to learn new tunes
• #161 – 04/12/07 – Chimps trump university students at memory task

November 2007

• #160 – 30/11/07 – The social life of our extinct relatives
• #159 – 29/11/07 – MRSA gets piggyback from livestock to human
• #158 – 27/11/07 – Solving the San Francisco plankton mystery
• #157 – 23/11/07 – Human skin cells reprogrammed into stem cells
• #156 – 21/11/07 – Brain of the beholder – the neuroscience of beauty in sculpture
• #155 – 18/11/07 – Envious capuchin monkeys react badly to raw deals
• #154 – 15/11/07 – Cooperating bacteria are vulnerable to slackers
• #153 – 12/11/07 – Delay not deviance: brains of children with ADHD mature later than others
• #152 – 11/11/07 – Drought drives toads to mate with other species
• #151 – 10/11/07 – How soil imprisons ancient carbon
• #150 – 07/11/07 -Fake cleaner fish dons multiple disguises
• #149 – 05/11/07 -Metabolic gene and breastfeeding unite to boost a child’s IQ
• #148 – 04/11/07 – Ants spread collective immunity through contact
• #147 – 03/11/07 – Broken chains and faulty mirrors cause problems for autistic children

October 2007

• #146 – 31/10/07 – ‘Brainbow’ paints individual neurons with different colours
• #145 – 24/10/07 – The neuroscience of optimism – how the brain creates a rosy outlook
• #144 – 22/10/07 – Clock gene and moonlight help corals to co-ordinate a mass annual orgy
• #143 – 20/10/07 – How India became the fastest continent
• #142 – 18/10/07 – Elephants smell the difference between human ethnic groups
• #141 – 14/10/07 – Bdelloid rotifers – 80 million years without sex
• #140 – 10/10/07 – The evolution of the past tense – how verbs change over time
• #139 – 09/10/07 – Ants herd aphids with tranquilisers in their footsteps
• #138 – 08/10/07 – Buzzing bees scare elephants away
• #137 – 06/10/07 – Ancient plants manipulate insects for hot, smelly sex
• #136 – 03/10/07 – Doctors repress their responses to their patients’ pain
• #135 – 01/10/07 – Genes affect our likelihood to punish unfair play
• #134 – 01/10/07 – Sabre-toothed cats had weak bites

September 2007

• #133 – 28/09/07 – Paper wasps – caring mothers evolved into selfless workers
• #132 – 26/09/07 – Tardigrades become first animals to be exposed to open space
• #131 – 24/09/07 – Space flight turns Salmonella into super-bug
• #130 – 23/09/07 – Flu viruses take the summer off to go travelling
• #129 – 21/09/07 – Predicting ethnic violence – why good neighbours need good fences
• #128 – 20/09/07 – Evidence that Velociraptor had feathers
• #127 – 19/09/07 – The fall and rise of lefties in Victorian England
• #126 – 17/09/07 – Mobs of honeybees suffocate hornets to death
• #125 – 14/09/07 – Trout with salmon parents could help to revive endangered fish species
• #124 – 12/09/07 – Did climate change kill off the Neanderthals? Not likely…
• #123 – 10/09/07 – Genetic study puts damper on gray whales’ comeback
• #122 – 08/09/07 – Is a virus responsible for the disappearing bees?
• #121 – 05/09/07 – Moray eels attack ‘Alien-style’ with second pair of jaws
• #120 – 04/09/07 – New plant species arise from conflicts between immune system genes
• #119 – 01/09/07 – Foul-tasting ant parasitises the colonies of other species

August 2007

• #118 – 30/08/07 – An entire bacterial genome discovered inside that of a fruit fly
• #117 – 29/08/07 – Fruit flies have a taste for fizzy drinks
• #116 – 27/08/07 - Virtual reality illusions produce out-of-body experiences in the lab
• #115 – 25/08/07 – Scientists watch free will give way to instinct as danger approaches
• #114 – 23/08/07 - Why are women better at food shopping than men?
• #113 – 21/08/07 – Grammar – a weapon against bacteria
• #112 – 19/08/07 – Ground squirrels use infrared signals to fool heat-seeking rattlesnakes
• #111 – 18/08/07 - Molecule’s constant efforts keep our memories intact
• #110 – 16/08/07 - Clever New Caledonian crows use one tool to acquire another
• #109 – 13/08/07 - Dinosaurs provide clues about the shrunken genomes of birds

July 2007

• #108 – 24/07/07 – Genetic diversity gives honeybees an edge
• #107 – 21/07/07 – Five-month-old babies prefer their own languages and shun foreign accents
• #106 – 18/07/07 – Megaflood in English Channel separated Britain from France
• #105 – 14/07/07 -Butterflies evolve resistance to male-killing bacteria in record time
• #104 – 10/07/07 - Aphids defend themselves with chemical bombs
• #103 – 08/07/07 – Argentavis, the largest flying bird, was a master glider
• #102 – 05/07/07 - Are women more talkative than men?
• #101 – 03/07/07 – Bleached corals recover in the wake of hurricanes

June 2007

• #100 – 28/06/07 - Icebergs are hotspots for life
• #99 – 25/06/07 – Altruistic chimpanzees clearly help each other out
• #98 – 24/06/07 – Restoring predator numbers by culling their prey
• #97 – 23/06/07 - Resistance to an extinct virus makes us more vulnerable to HIV
• #96 – 21/06/07 - Bone-crushing super-wolf went extinct during last Ice Age
• #95 – 20/06/07 - Moths mimic each others' sounds to fool hungry bats
• #94 – 18/06/07 - Inner ear size can predict a mammal's agility
• #93 – 16/06/07 – Human nitrogen emissions indirectly capture carbon by fertilising forests
• #92 – 13/06/07 – Of flowers and pollinators - a case study of punctuated evolution
• #91 – 11/06/07 – The effect of GM crops on local insect life
• #90 – 08/06/07 – Simple sponges provide clues to origin of nervous system
• #89 – 07/06/07 – Cultured chimps pass on new traditions between groups
• #88 – 05/06/07 – Monkeys (and their neurons) are calculating statisticians
• #87 – 03/06/07 – The evolution of animal personalities - they're a fact of life

May 2007

• #86 – 31/05/07 – Orang-utan study suggests that upright walking may have started in the trees
• #85 – 30/05/07 – Why music sounds right – the hidden tones in our own speech
• #84 – 28/05/07 – Army ants plug potholes with their own bodies
• #83 – 28/05/07 – Tracks provide evidence of swimming dinosaurs
• #82 – 26/05/07 – Babies can tell apart different languages with visual cues alone
• #81 – 25/05/07 – Bats create spatial memories without making new brain cells
• #80 – 24/05/07 – Experience tunes a part of the brain to the shapes of words
• #79 – 22/05/07 – Parasites can change the balance of entire communities
• #78 – 20/05/07 – The upside of herpes – when one infection protects against another
• #77 – 17/05/07 – A mismatch between nutrition before and after birth can lead to poor health
• #76 – 15/05/07 – Living optic fibres bypass the retina's incompetent design
• #75 – 12/05/07 – Drugs and stimulating environments reverse memory loss in brain-damaged mice
• #74 – 09/05/07 – Chimps show that actions spoke louder than words in language evolution
• #73 – 07/05/07 – Beetle and yeast team up against bees
• #72 – 05/05/07 – Sneaking medicines past the brain's defences
• #71 – 03/05/07 – In conflicts over beliefs and values, symbolic gestures matter more than reason or money
•  #70 – 01/05/07 – When the heat is on, male dragons become females

April 2007

• #69 – 29/04/07 – Drugs that work against each other could fight resistant bacteria
• #68 – 27/04/07 – Climate change responsible for decline of Costa Rican amphibians and reptiles
• #67 – 26/04/07 – Chimps have more adaptive genetic changes than humans
• #66 – 23/04/07 – Attack of the killer mice - introduced rodents eat seabird chicks alive
• #65 – 20/04/07 – Chimerism, or How a marmoset's sperm is really his brother's
• #64 – 18/04/07 – Death of dinosaurs did not lead to rise of modern mammals
• #63 – 16/04/07 – Carbon offset schemes worsen global warming if trees are planted in the wrong places
• #62 – 14/04/07 – Opinion: Discovery of ‘fat gene’ highlights stigma against obese people
• #61 – 11/04/07 – Corals survive acid oceans by switching to soft-bodied mode
• #60 – 09/04/07 – Shark-hunting harms animals at bottom of the food chain
• #59 – 06/04/07 – Loss of traditional knowledge in the Amazon leads to poorer child health
• #58 – 04/04/07 – Platelet lifespans are set in a two-protein tug-of-war

March 2007

• #57 – 31/03/07 – Rats check their own knowledge before taking a test
• #56 – 29/03/07 – Human cone cell lets mice see in new colours
• #55 – 27/03/07 – The secret of drug-resistant bubonic plague
• #54 – 25/03/07- Eavesdropping songbirds get predator intel from overheard calls
• #53 – 21/03/07 – Genetically-modified mosquitoes fight malaria by outcompeting normal ones
• #52 – 18/03/07 – Swimming, walking salamander robot reconstructs invasion of land
• #51 – 16/03/07 – Impulsive minds are primed for drug addiction
• #50 - 13/03/07 – The chimpanzee Stone Age
• #49 – 08/03/07 – Bird-brained jays can plan for the future
• #48 – 05/03/07 – Viruses evolve to be more infectious in well-connected populations
• #47 – 01/03/07 – Chimpanzees make spears to hunt bushbabies

February 2007

• #46 – 25/02/07 – 9/11 memories reveal how flashbulb memories are made in the brain
• #45 – 20/02/07 – The snake that eats toads to steal their poison
• #44 – 18/02/07 – Review – Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, by Atul Gawande
• #43 – 13/02/07 – The brain's addiction centre
• #42 – 10/02/07 – The heavy cost of having children
• #41 – 04/02/07 - How biofuels could cut carbon emissions, produce energy and restore dead land
• #40 – 01/02/07 – Worms track us down with a chemical trail

January 2007

• #39 – 28/01/07 – Microraptor - the dinosaur that flew like a biplane
• #38 – 24/01/07 – Maternal hormone shuts down baby's brain cells during birth
• #37 – 21/01/07 – Human gut bacteria linked to obesity
• #36 – 14/01/07 – Toxoplasma - the brain parasite that influences human culture
• #35 – 02/01/07 – Learn to smell underwater with the star-nosed mole 

December 2006

• #34 – 25/12/06 – Virgin birth by Komodo dragons
• #33 – 22/12/06 – Bats: internal compasses and record-breaking tongues
• #32 – 18/12/06 – How to turn cotton into a food crop
• #31 – 12/12/06 – Non-coding DNA drove brain evolution by making nerve cells stickier
• #30 – 07/12/06 – Taking the new out of neurons
• #29 – 05/12/06 – Robo-starfish learns about itself and adapts to injuries
• #28 – 02/12/06 – Camouflaged communication - the secret signals of squid

November 2006

• #27 – 27/11/06 – Elephants recognise themselves in mirror
• #26 – 23/11/06 – Natural selection does a handbrake turn for leggy lizard
• #25 – 19/11/06 – Carbon nanotechnology in an 17th century Damascus sword
• #24 – 16/11/06 – Asymmetrical brains help fish (and us) to multi-task
• #23 – 12/11/06 – Climate change: one degree away from the point of no return
• #22 – 07/11/06 – The right side of fair play
• #21 – 04/11/06 – Too few genes to survive - the bacterium with the world's smallest genome

October 2006

• #20 – 30/10/06 – Mind your words - how stereotypes affect female performance at maths
• #19 – 26/10/06 – Magnifection - mass-producing drugs in record time
• #18 – 23/10/06 – The point of sleep, or, Do fruit flies dream of six-legged sheep?
• #17 – 17/10/06 – Farmed salmon decimate wild populations by exposing them to parasites
• #16 – 12/10/06 – Hope for corals – swapping algae improves tolerance to global warming
• #15 – 09/10/06 – Tarantula climbs wall by spinning silk from its feet
• #14 – 04/10/06 – The Lady Macbeth effect – how physical cleanliness affects moral cleanliness

September 2006

• #13 – 29/09/06 – Neutralising anthrax by gumming up a molecular lock
• #12 – 22/09/06 – Round peg, square hole - why our bird flu drugs are a fluke
• #11 – 16/09/06 – RNA gene separates human brains from chimpanzees
• #10 – 13/09/06 – How many types of dinosaurs were there?
• #9 – 11/09/06 – A woman in a vegetative state shows awareness of her surroundings
• #8 – 08/09/06 – Stem cells only grow up properly in the right environment
• #7 – 03/09/06 – Hatena - when two cells are better than one

August 2006

• #6 – 31/08/06 – Aphids get superpowers through sex
• #5 – 28/08/06 – The mantis shrimp: the world’s fastest punch
• #4 – 23/08/06 – How Big Brother keeps us honest
• #3 – 21/08/06 – Dogs and devils - the rise of the contagious cancers
• #2 – 16/08/06 – The fox and the island: an Aleutian fable
• #1 – 13/08/06 – The mimic octopus: a master of disguise