Science Glance
Ancient DNA shows that bowhead whales bucked the trend to survive the last Ice Age, say scientists. The demise of cold-adapted land mammals such as mammoths has been linked to rising temperatures around 11,000 years ago.
But researchers were surprised to find a contrasting population boom for whales living off the coast of Britain. Their study is also the first to discover that the ocean giants lived in the southern North Sea.
Ice Age bowhead whales' survival surprises scientists
Smart bracelet protects civil rights and aid workers
A hi-tech bracelet could soon be helping civil rights and aid workers at risk of being kidnapped or killed. When triggered, the personal alarm uses phone and sat-nav technology to warn that its wearer is in danger.
Warnings are sent in the form of messages to Facebook and Twitter to rally support and ensure people do not disappear without trace.
The first bracelets are being given out this week and funding is being sought to make many more.
Strong hints of dark matter detected by space station, physicists say
Physicists announced on Wednesday that they have discovered the most convincing evidence yet of the existence of dark matter – the particles that are thought to make up a quarter of the universe but whose presence has never been confirmed.
Members of an international team gathered at Nasa in Washington and Cern in Switzerland to report their findings, which come from a $2bn particle detector mounted to the International Space Station.
Peru billboard turns air into drinking water
Just outside Lima, Peru, a billboard provides drinking water to whomever needs it - mainly, its neighbours. The panel produces clean water from the humidity in the air, through filters.
Researchers at the University of Engineering and Technology (UTEC) in Lima and advertising agency Mayo Peru DraftFCB joined forces to launch it.
UTEC says it wanted to put "imagination into action" and show that it is possible to solve people's problems through engineering and technology.
World's lightest material created
Chinese scientists say they have developed the world's lightest material, lighter than air, which could play an important role in tackling pollution.
The material dubbed graphene aerogel or carbon aerogel, developed at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, weighs just 0.16 milligrams per cubic centimeter, a sixth that of air, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
The material, derived from a gel with the liquid component replaced by a gas, is easy to manufacture and has strong oil-absorption properties, its developer says.
Telescope that eyes Big Bang’s afterglow shows universe is 80 million years older than thought
New results from looking at the split-second after the Big Bang indicate the universe is 80 million years older than previously thought and provide ancient evidence supporting core concepts about the cosmos — how it began, what it’s made of and where it’s going.
The findings released Thursday bolster a key theory called inflation, which says the universe burst from subatomic size to its now-observable expanse in a fraction of a second. The new observations from the European Space Agency’s $900 million Planck space probe appear to reinforce some predictions made decades ago solely on the basis of mathematical concepts.
Voyager craft 'exits' solar system
The Voyager-1 probe has left the Solar System, according to some scientists. If confirmed, it would be the first man-made object to do so. Launched in September 1977, the probe was sent initially to study the outer planets, but then just kept on going.
Researchers who have studied its data indicate it has now entered a realm of space beyond the influence of our Sun. But the US space agency (Nasa) says there is still some doubt about this.
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