Surprising Science

Hoping to make offshore wind farms more profitable, Norwegian experts are building the world’s largest and most powerful turbine, but with a twist – it floats!

Church leaders are urging people to give up their iPods for Lent instead of more traditional vices such as chocolate and alcohol, encouraging people to help save the planet.

Toads anticipate the timing and impact of their landings in the same way that humans do, according to a new paper called “Do toads have a jump on how far they hop…”

Scientists, poets and thermal imaging technology got together over Valentine’s weekend to investigate whether love poems can ignite “instant fires” in your blushing cheeks.

An inventor is claiming to have come up with a modern day Noah’s Ark – a durable container housing up to four people which could theoretically survive an apocalypse.

The White House has formally invited the Congress to attend a televised legislative debate over healthcare reform scheduled for February 25th in the nation’s capital.

I watched President Bill Clinton speak to the press while standing outside of his house last night, just one day after doctors inserted stents in the arteries around his heart. […]

Today marks the first day of our series on the future of mobility, with interviews with Beyond the Edge founder Richard Schaden; former mayor of Bogota Enrique Penalosa; and Terreform […]

Despite chubby infants having the oh-so-cute factor, many plump babies grow up to be obese teens and adults, putting them at risk of serious health problems.

Molecules cooled to less than a millionth degree Kelvin above absolute zero can still react chemically with one another despite the temperature causing near-negligible collision motion.

The Hubble space telescope has caught Saturn’s twin auroras on camera during a rare equinox which reveals both polls of the planet lit up in a spectacular display.

A major development in radiocarbon dating has been made by scientists at Queen’s University who have produced a new archaeological tool dubbed “the time machine”.

CNN examines the “frenetic pace” of former US president Bill Clinton’s life 24-hours after the Secretary of State’s husband underwent minor heart surgery.

Vincent Pieribone is an Associate Professor at Yale University. He’s also a passionate scientist working on new ways to help paraplegics move their arms and legs by bypassing the damage […]

Oversized one-million-year-old gastropod fossils have been discovered by French scientists who think the specimens cast doubt on the existence of the “Lilliput effect”.

A low IQ is among the top heart-related health risks, scientists have warned, suggesting that public health campaigns need to target those with low intelligence in order to work.

Dieters in Hong Kong are being warned by government health officials about the dangers of swallowing parasitic worms, which can grow to up to 15 inches, in the hope of shedding fat.

Few things have become as underappreciated in recent years as sleep. Yet for anybody who sees this activity as more of a luxury than a necessity in our ever-plugged-in world, […]

A staggering 95% of user-generated content for the second half of last year was “malicious,” according to a report from security film Websense.

Beer drinkers are toasting a new study which suggests that beer is good for your bones as it is rich in silicon and may help prevent osteoporosis.

There now seems “little doubt” that Saturn’s moon Enceladus holds a “large body of liquid water” beneath its icy surface after a probe returned yet more evidence.

Congo has become the “world capital of rape, torture and mutilation” during the brutal war that has killed over 5.4m people and is still raging, writes The New York Times.

The capuchin monkeys that Dr. Laurie Santos and her research team work with are “clever—sometimes more clever than we are.” Not only do they sometimes get the better of humans, […]

While “Avatar” remains science-fiction, the fundamental components behind the film’s escapades continue to progress and already have practical uses in medicine.

After being plagued with technical problems, the partical collider meant to discover the origins of the universe will not run at full power for at least another three years.

NASA’s space shuttle will be retired after the International Space Station is completed next year leaving manned space missions mostly in Russia’s hands.

“This too, shall pass.” Folk tales say this was engraved on a ring given to King Solomon, who had demanded a gift that would make him sad when he was […]

A new study of creatures that dwell on the seabed, known as macrobenthos, of the Straits of Magellan and Drake is helping scientists understand the biodiversity and ecology of the region.

Ten American missionaries arrested in Haiti for trying to remove 33 children from the country in the aftermath of last month’s earthquake were charged yesterday with child kidnapping.

NASA scientists have taken extraordinary photographs of former planet Pluto thanks to the technology of the Hubble Space Telescope, which has captured the spectacular gold-colored sphere.