Herbal Viagra actually contains the real thing

IF IT looks too good to be true, it probably is. Several "herbal remedies" for erectile dysfunction sold online actually contain the active ingredient from Viagra. Michael Lamb at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, and colleagues purchased 10...

Read More..

The self: The one and only you

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

Read More..

Virtual body double gets ill so you don't have to

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

Read More..

Live hologram reveals moving people trapped in a fire

Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/. -->Firefighters can see through smoke thanks to thermal imaging helmetsbut now, for the first time, they can also make out moving people trapped behind flames. Created by Pietro Ferraro and colleagues from the...

Read More..

Giant laser creates an artificial star to clear the sky

Flora Graham, editor, newscientist.com(Image: ESO)It looks like a Stormtrooper's snapshot of the Death Star's superlaser in action, but this is actually a photo of a new laser that's just completed testing at the VeryLarge Telescope in Chile. The laser shoots 90 kilometres into the atmosphere, where itinteracts with the 10-kilometre-thick layer of sodium atoms left around ourplanet by meteoroid...

Read More..

The great illusion of the self

(Image: Darren Hopes)As you wake up each morning, hazy and disoriented, you gradually become aware of the rustling of the sheets, sense their texture and squint at the light. One aspect of your self has reassembled: the first-person observer of reality, inhabiting a human body. As wakefulness grows, so does your sense of having a past, a personality and motivations. Your self is complete, as both...

Read More..

Ancient continent hides beneath Indian Ocean

The sands of Mauritius are hiding a secret: deep beneath them lurks an ancient continent. Trond Torsvik and colleagues at the University of Oslo, Norway, analysed grains of zircon found on the island's beaches, measuring the balance...

Read More..

Amazon to open market in second-hand MP3s and e-books

A new market for second-hand digital downloads could let us hold virtual yard sales of our ever-growing piles of intangible possessions WHY buy second-hand? For physical goods, the appeal is in the price – you don't mind the creases in a book or rust spots on a car if it's a bargain. Although digital objects...

Read More..

Feedback: The AppleWorld beyond infinity

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

Read More..

Lone firefighter finds environmental harm's sharp edge

Jacob Aron, reporter(Image: G. M. B. Akash, Decaying Earth, 2011)The consequences of environmental degradation are global, but this award-winning photograph shows how they are also urgently personal and unpredictable. The Buriganga river in Bangladesh is one of the most polluted in the world, due to the waste that is dumped by nearby textile factories. When this mound of rubbish near the river was...

Read More..

E-cigarettes may soon be sold as life-saving medicine

* Required fields * First name * Last name * Country * Email address * Password Password must contain only letters and numbers, and be at least 8 characters * Confirm password...

Read More..

Doctors would tax sugary drinks to combat obesity

If you want to stem rising obesity levels, sugary drinks should be taxed like cigarettes. So urges the UK Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which is calling for pilots of taxes that hike prices by 20 per cent. The idea is to lower consumption by making sugary drinks dearer, a strategy known to cut sales of cigarettes and...

Read More..

One-Minute Physics: Are unknowns part of the universe?

Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/. -->What's part of the universe? You may think of it as incorporating everything that exists - both on Earth and in space - but could it also include the unknown?In this One-Minute Physics episode, film-maker Henry...

Read More..

False memories prime immune system for future attacks

IN A police line-up, a falsely remembered face is a big problem. But for the body's police force – the immune system – false memories could be a crucial weapon. When a new bacterium or virus invades the body, the immune system mounts...

Read More..

False memories prime immune system for future attacks

IN A police line-up, a falsely remembered face is a big problem. But for the body's police force – the immune system – false memories could be a crucial weapon. When a new bacterium or virus invades the body, the immune system mounts...

Read More..

Victory for gene patent firm in Australian court

Your genes are the same, whether in a test tube or inside your body. But the very act of removing them makes them a patentable invention, according to Australia's Federal Court. Today, it handed down the country's first decision on gene patenting. By isolating...

Read More..

Sweat mutation may have helped us colonise Asia

How did our species become the dominant one on Earth? Pinpointing the genetic changes that made this possible is one of the great challenges of evolutionary biology. Now, a team has developed a method that could allow us to reconstruct a detailed, step-by-step genetic history of our species spanning tens of thousands...

Read More..

Asteroid to give Earth a record close shave on Friday

Earth is about to dodge a bullet. An asteroid will buzz the planet on 15 February, coming closer than many communications satellites. At 45 metres wide, the space rock is the biggest object in recorded history to swoop this close to Earth. Were it to collide...

Read More..

Today on New Scientist: 12 February 2013

Exploring oscillation proves a moving experience From the animating pigs' hearts to diving into an acoustic pod, an exhibition exploring the world of oscillation is full of surprisesGene therapy cures diabetic dogs Diabetic beagles haven't needed an insulin injection for four years following treatment with two genes that work together to regulate glucoseWithering heights: Why animals are shrinking...

Read More..

Help name Pluto's two newest moons

Jacob Aron, reporterThis artist's concept shows the Pluto system from the surface of one of the candidate moons: Pluto is the large disc at centre, right; Charon, the system's only confirmed moon, is the smaller disc to the right of Pluto; the other candidate moon is the bright dot on Pluto's far left (Image: NASA)Ever wanted to make your mark on the solar system? Now you can, by helping to choose...

Read More..