Surprising Science

Scientists have discovered, and caught on film, the deepest undersea erupting volcano at nearly 4,000 feet beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean surrounding Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

Iraqi militants have used cheap computer software to intercept live video feeds from US drones in a security breach which could give them enough information to evade air strikes.

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured festive-looking images of the cosmos (resembling a starry Christmas wreath) just in time for the holidays.

Scientists have completed research to sequence the genomes of skin and small-cell lung cancers – and it shows that many mutations could be prevented.

Planetary scientist Francis Nimmo says evidence from recent NASA expeditions suggests that conditions necessary for life may exist on the icy satellites of Saturn and Jupiter.

Surgeons in Brazil are attempting to remove up to 50 sewing needles from a 2-year-old boy who suffered abuse at the hands of his stepfather and two unidentified women.

The Carter Center, the home base of ex- president Jimmy Carter, is best known for its peace summits and election observers. But the Atlanta based organization has used its ability […]

If you want to speculate about an alternate-universe world without intelligent primates (and who doesn’t?), then your thoughts must turn to the octopus. Because the octopus has a large and […]

The sense of touch is more pertinent for women because their hands are smaller, a new study by the McMaster University in Ontario, Canada suggests.

The soot emitted when fossil fuels are burned, known as “black carbon”, could have a bigger impact on climate in some parts of the world than greenhouse gases, new research reveals.

Astronomers claim to have accurately measured the distance from Earth to a black hole for the first time and have found it is much closer than initially presumed.

Paper could be used to power your laptop according to scientists who have developed a high tech battery from the standard writing surface by coating it in special materials.

A federal panel of health experts recommends reducing mammogram frequency for both medical and financial reasons.

While the NASA space shuttle program ages, Richard Branson’s Virgin group may be set to offer public space flights by 2011.

By next spring, Mercedes will introduce 200 zero-emission cars that are equivalent to 2.0 liter gasoline cars but without internal combustion engines.

A key assumption in many social sciences is that people have preferences, and that these are both knowable and stable. That’s the point of surveys on every subject from whipped […]

In recent years, the ancient debate over how male and female brains differ has generated competing parenting theories, academic scandals, and heated media debate. In her Big Think interview, Chicago […]

Do-It-Yourself retail stores will soon be stocking solar panels so climate change-conscious customers can pop sustainability into their trolleys and wheel it home.

A simple genetic “flick switch” can transform female ovary cells into male testicular ones according to scientists who have been experimenting on mice.

People who have suffered from major depression are significantly better than other people at seeing a metaphorical forest, while the non-depressed are more alert to the trees, according to this […]

A breakthrough has been made in wireless brain-to-computer connection speech synthesizer technology, which could allow victims of paralysis the ability to speak again.

A new report from the University of California, San Diego, suggests that the average American household consumed a staggering 3.6 zettabytes of information in 2008.

The US Air Force has confirmed for the first time that it is flying a stealth unmanned drone known as the “Beast of Kandahar” in Southern Afghanistan.

The Senate Democrats have tentatively agreed to drop full-blown government-run insurance from the health care reforms in favour of Federally supervised private insurance arrangements.

A British company has developed the world’s first bionic fingers for use by patients with missing fingers – and a former concert pianist is among the first to test them out!

The trading of heroine and cocaine in Africa is transforming parts of the region into “a major crime hub” according to the Un drugs agency UNODC.

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken the deepest near-infrared image of the universe in history, featuring galaxies that formed 600m years after the Big Bang, according to NASA.

Psychologists often joke that their insights into human nature come from experiments with American university students, on duty for required credit or beer money. “So we see that human beings–or […]

The cuts in greenhouse gas emissions being proposed in Copenhagen today are “completely inadequate” to stop climate change, scientists have warned.

There is a legal vacuum when it comes to robot interaction with humans so ethicist and scientists weigh in as robotics technology speeds up.