Science

You have to hand it to the Japanese, they love coming up with weird and wonderful gadgets. Researchers have created a new hand held gun which can jam the words of people speaking up to 100 foot away. The gun has a dual purpose according to the mad scientists behind …

It was hard to miss the news months ago that the CERN lab near Geneva claimed they had broken the speed of light. Einstein's theory of special relativity was apparently defunked. Well until the news hit that it may have been a ‘connection' problem. A source close to the experiment …

Scientists have achieved an incredible feat of nanoengineering, creating a single atom transistor. The Physicists at the University of New South Wales could have build the foundation for scalable quantum computing. This transistor is composed of a single phosphorous 31 isotope which has been placed on a base of silicon …

It appears that the possibility of an ‘Invisibility Cloak' is no longer limited to the Klingons in Star Trek movies. Researchers at the University of Texas in Austin have managed to cloak an 18 centimeter (7.2 inch) cylindrical tube. It may be some time before we can mask a giant …

The Earth is due to be bombarded by one of the strongest solar radiation storms in recent years, which could damage power grids and satellites. This ‘coronal mass ejection', which is a violent release of magnetic fields and plasma from the Sun, is heading towards the Earth at the speed …

Russia launched a scientific probe, meant to visit a Martian Moon, but it never made it out of the Earth's orbit. It has crashed into the Pacific Ocean, around 700 miles west of Chile at the weekend, according to Russian Military spokesman. This probe, called the Phobos Grunt was circling …

Astronomers, working with NASA's Rossi X Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope have recorded a black hole ejecting a highly energetic knot of gas, likened to a ‘bullet', into space. Gregory Sivakoff, astronomer said in a press release “Like a referee at a …

Does every conflict situation need to end with the death of a human? Having considered the human/news cost of its traditional ways of shocking and awing small, oil-rich countries around the world, the American government has at least made an effort to control people without killing them. But have the …

Step into water that's around 12 degrees and you'll feel, quite rightly, that it feels a lot like a plunge pool. Drop the temperature below 8 degrees and you're going to be really uncomfortable. Get close to zero and you're looking at a swift death. For life to flourish, it …

The science of persuading people to buy a product, is both established and well understood. How you beat off an opponent that can afford as much of that marketing stuff as you can, is something else. Now, it seems, Amazon has science on its side. KitGuru prepares to generate some …

In the world of technology, it is sometimes easy to overlook the big picture. This year has been monumental for finding new alien planets. Scientists are excited that in 2012, we may find the first true alien planet which is capable of sustaining intelligent life. NASA's Kepler telescope has been …

Hong Kong health authorities have announced a cull of the chicken population – destroying 17,000 birds in a wholesale market because a chicken tested positive for the H5N1 avian flu virus. This is the first time a case has been recorded since 2008. York Chow, who is the secretary for …

Last week the NASA Rossi X Ray Timing Explorer may have found the smallest known black hole. Using the RTXE, which can detect X rays coming from cosmic sources, a group of astronomers have been able to identify an X ray pattern, known as a ‘hearbeat'. This indicates that a …

Google have earned a patent for driverless car technology which means a computer system can completely take over control of a vehicle from the human driver. The technology appears to be an enhanced version of cruise control, a firm favourite for many luxury cars owners. The new Google system uses …

According to a report published in Nature on Wednesday there is a gigantic black hole absorbing a gas cloud in the Milky Way galaxy. The black hole is called  ‘Sagittarius A' and it is located right in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, it has a mass around four …

Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire has new plans to create a business for commercial space travel. It should take around five years to develop. The US government are cutting back on space flight, so Allen has sensed a gap in the market for investment. Yesterday he showcased designs for …

Billions have been spent researching the little fellow, but it seems that scientists (mad, bad and downright boffin-like) may be ready to start discussing the physical characteristics of the Higgs Boson particle. KitGuru picks up a white coat, clipboard and pen to see what's what down in old Geneva town. …

The concept of Morality has been around for as long as there have been intelligent humans on the planet. Looking back at the Latin origins of the word, you can see that it's roots are in ‘moralitas', which means manners, character and the exhibiting of proper behaviour. Who are we …

NASA's planet hunting spacecraft Kepler has discovered a new alien world in its host star's habitable zone. This find could mean the planet is capable of holding water. This latest find is the 2,326 find from Kepler, in the first 16 months of it being active. These findings, if confirmed …

NASA launched the new ROVER ‘Curiosity' successfully, as it heads on the long journey to the Red Planet. The journey will take eight and a half months, traveling  a staggering 354 million miles. The robot craft is part of a huge $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission and Pete Theisinger …

NASA's Curiosity space rover, at a value of £1.6 billion is set to launch on Saturday, on a long journey to Mars. It will reach the red planet by August of 2012, if all goes well. The Nuclear powered rover craft will enter the thin atmosphere at 3,200 mph, descending …

According to the LA Times scientists have created the lightest material on earth, called ultralight metallic microlattice, is it 99.9% air. To get this into perspective, Styrofoam is 100 times heavier. This ultralight metallic microlattice is mainly made up from air, thanks to the microlattice cellular architecture. Thomas Shandler of …

The US Army has been testing a new weapon capable of traveling and five times the speed of sound. They launched the new Advanced Hypersonic Weapon from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai at 1.30 am. The weapon's glide vehicle reached the destination of Kwajalein Atoll, around 2,300 miles …

When you hear Clarkson and Co discussing the latest 4×4, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Top Gear team is about to blow another £100,000 of the TV licence payer's money on a trip to the Arctic or the Himalayas. Not so with the coolest new 4×4 in …

Whether you're a student, parent, teacher or otherwise involved in education, a lot of us spend a lot of time focused on schools, colleges and universities. In most cases, here in the UK, we talk about the ‘cost of education'. The University of Texas at Austin has a different approach. …

If you listen to the prophets (and mainstream news industry), some have been claiming that the earth will be destroyed next year. Some have even associated this with a massive Sun's flare due in 2012. Everyone can rest easy, because NASA have said that this huge flare will not destroy …

Is a trip to the Bahamas no longer exciting enough? Then perhaps a more exotic destination such as the Moon might be more appealing? It may sound far fetched but it already being planned. Only the rich and wealthy need apply. They released new guidelines this summer which are set …

The Russian Space Agency are facing worldwide embarrassment as they have already ran into problems only minutes after launching their space probe which was sent to collect rock and dust samples from a Martian moon. The probe was sent on a 33 month mission and according to reports is already …

A 1,312 foot diameter asteroid is said to be on a close path to Earth and will pass closer than the moon at 23.28 GMT Tuesday. It will pass Earth as a distance of around 201,000 miles from our planet. Scott Fisher, a program director with the National Science Foundation …

A trip to Mars is the dream of many astronauts and Moscow have finally allowed 6 volunteers to leave isolation after spending around one and a half years locked away in isolation at a Russian research center. This was to test the effects of a flight to Mars. The high …