Less than a week after Los Alamos National Laboratory's Roadrunner supercomputer began operating at world-record petaflop/s data-processing speeds, Los Alamos researchers are already using the computer to mimic extremely complex neurological processes.

Archaeologists working on a site in the Bristol Docks have discovered what is thought to be the first ever substantial use of Portland cement in the construction of a major building. The building was designed in 1839 by the great Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, to house the machinery to fabricate the world’s first screw-propelled iron ship, the ss Great Britain.

The Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, in collaboration with an international research team, has carried out further tests to examine the evidence for the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, reputedly Christ’s burial cloth.

Science Alive! at The Mall Galleries, Broadmead on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 March

UK Politics and International Studies research has been shown to world leading according to a new report by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Political Studies Association (PSA) and the British International Studies Association.

Rare is the scientific paper today written by a single author. With research being conducted by teams of scientists, most studies now boast a half-dozen or so authors. According to a new study led by a scientist at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, credit for those papers is far from evenly distributed, and the order in which the authors’ names are listed makes a big difference.

The U.S. Senate last night approved the FY2008 Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Bill (S.1710), including a provision that directs the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to strengthen its Public Access Policy by requiring rather than requesting participation by researchers. The bill will now be reconciled with the House Appropriations Bill, which contains a similar provision, in another step toward support for public access to publicly funded research becoming United States law.

American Chemical Society President Catherine T. Hunt, Ph.D., applauded the Senate’s passage on Tuesday of the Fiscal Year 2008 Commerce Justice State (FY08 CJS) Appropriations bill and urged Congressional leaders to maintain their momentum in bringing a final bill to President Bush's desk.

To strengthen the essential role that science and technology play in maintaining national and economic security, the United States should ensure the open exchange of unclassified research despite the small risk that it could be misused for harm by terrorists or rogue nations, says a new report by the National Research Council.

Two papers setting out recommendations for the reporting of epidemiological research are published in this week's PLoS Medicine, along with several other journals. The recommendations are the result of a 3 year international collaboration known as the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) Initiative.

Software under development at Ohio State University is helping scientists operate big-budget research instruments -- such as high-powered microscopes and telescopes -- over the Internet, more safely and efficiently than was possible before.

The Research Councils are generating considerable economic benefits for the UK, a new report published today by Research Councils UK has revealed. It also outlines a range of plans to further boost this impact on the UK’s economy and society.