Topic: University of Bristol

British team abandons drilling in Antarctic lake

Technical problem, fuel shortage force suspension of scientific project to find life in Earth's remotest environment. US, Russia set to begin their Antarctic drilling projects.

Cheese: Not as newfangled as we thought

Researchers have linked ancient milk residue (thousands of years-old) to early forms of cheese-making. The scientists say this research provides new insights into the human diet and food production technologies. 

Got milk? Research finds evidence of dairy farming 7,000 years ago in Sahara.

Rock art and pottery shards indicated that the Sahara's inhabitants may have produced milk, cheese, butter and yogurt some 7,000 years ago. 

Did Neanderthals create Europe's first cave paintings?

New evidence that a series of cave paintings in Spain are thousands of years older than previously thought suggests that Neanderthals, not Homo sapiens, created the artwork. 

Crystals found in magma chambers may help scientists predict volcanic eruptions

To learn more about volcanic activity in an effort to help predict it, researchers investigated the magma from within volcanoes. Crystals often grow within magma chambers, large crevices of searing hot fluid rock beneath volcanoes.

Color-changing artificial muscles make the wearer disappear

Artificial muscles can make the wearer disappear, according to new research. Scientists have mimicked the processes used by zebrafish to create these visual effects. 

Grammys 2012: Would a computer have picked Adele? (+video)

Grammys 2012: Adele won six awards at Sunday's Grammys. But Adel should have lost to Bruno Mars, according to a computer algorithm that predicts which songs will be hits and which will be flops.

NASA satellites reveal colossal ice melt, greenhouse gasses blamed

Until now, satellite measurements from only selected places were used to extrapolate the overall ice loss outside Greenland and Antarctica.

Paleontologists recreate mating call of 165-million-year-old bug (+video)

By analyzing the fossilized wings of a Jurassic katydid unearthed in China, paleontologists have reconstructed its sound, which is not unlike that of today's crickets.  

Will WikiLeaks' Julian Assange, now arrested, take the 'nuclear' option?

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange has threatened to release 'key parts' of secret US documents if anything happened to him or WikiLeaks.

British debates: Cameron and Brown take aim at Nick Clegg tonight

Tonight's British debates, setting up the British election, will focus on foreign affairs. But Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Tory leader David Cameron are expected to take aim at surging rival Nick Clegg, leader of the upstart Liberal Democrats.

Man bytes dog: microchipping bid brings UK outcry

A UK proposal for mandatory microchipping of dogs has renewed charges of an overactive nanny state. But postal workers and people whose neighbors have aggressive ' dogs like the idea.

New findings: dinosaurs were birds of a colored feather

Two findings this week boost the link between birds and dinosaurs. They include the discovery of a bird-like dinosaur and a fossil analysis that suggests some dinosaurs sported colored feathers.

Discoveries
Jewelry: so easy a cave man can do it

New finds suggest that Neanderthals made symbolic body decorations, just as their modern-human counterparts did.

How astronomers fill in uncharted areas of the universe

Thanks to new tools, scientists are quickly mapping the stars.

Global News Blog
Are the credits already rolling for Britain's embattled Gordon Brown?

With members of his own party calling for him to step down, Labour's leader faces a key test with today's elections. Is Alan Johnson, a former postman, poised to become the next prime minister?

New study: Less sea rise expected from possible Antarctic melt

Spider web is 140 million years old

Scientist says he has found world's oldest spider web.

In Britain, Labour pushes ambitious overhaul of welfare system

Gordon Brown's beleaguered party unveiled proposals last week to send recipients back to work, including nearly 2 million whose disability claims are not believed to be genuine.

Can we engineer a cooler earth?

As CO2 mitigation efforts lag, some explore sun-blocking, cloud-forming technologies, and more.

Self-healing wings