It’s that time of the year again. You probably think I mean Christmas, but as a virologist the sight of glitter, fairy lights and moulting pine trees immediately makes me think of the flu season. And…

I finally received a Foldscope beta test kit. “Foldscope is an origami-based print-and-fold optical microscope that can be assembled from a flat sheet of paper,” according to the website. The…

A new paper has found that inhibiting or blocking stem cells ability to make a specific decision, leads to better cell growth and could lead to defined ways to differentiate stem cells. Th authors…

Here is a flower we all (in the northern hemisphere at least) associate with Christmastime, Euphorbia pulcherrima, commonly known as the Poinsettia (or Weihnachtsstern = Christmas Star in Germany…

Despite a malfunction that ended its primary mission in May 2013, the Kepler spacecraft is still alive and working and its data has found a new "super-Earth". NASA's Kepler spacecraft detected…

Freedom of speech is an Enlightenment ideal - unless it is someone we disagree with politically, then it is common to say they are being an ideologue, when it comes to politics, or on the take, when…

In the former mining area Herrerias in Andalusia, the deep waters of Pit Lake Guadiana show extremely high concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2).  Levels are so high that if it were…

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a strong oxidizer. You may know it as a wound disinfectant or as a bleaching agent for hair and teeth but it is also created naturally in our bodies, as part of our…

What rising sea level? Peter, CC BY-SA By Mark Maslin,University College London There are many complex reasons why people decide not to accept the science of climate change. The doubters range from…

An overdose of self-esteem won't build character. Shutterstock By Kristján Kristjánsson, University of Birmingham In the last few months the UK’s two main political parties have entered into an…