Graduate student Gyu-boong Jo optimizes the laser beam position on the mirror of the optical setup that produced an ultracold gas of lithium atoms. (Credit: Photo by Patrick Gillooly)
Photo: Human urine mixed with wood ash was the ultimate eco-friendly fertiliser, according to researchers
Photo: Cheaper solar: Nanosolar’s thin-film panels.
OIL FROM THE SUN Researchers propose creating a biological solar panel, which will contain diatoms instead of photovoltaic cells. Diatoms, microalgae that are found in all aquatic and moist environments, first appeared more than 180 million years ago. © KATIV, COURTESY OF ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
No one is sure why Homo sapiens is the only primate to have lost its body hair
Psychologists have suggested that handwriting changes when someone is lying because the brain has to work harder to invent facts Photo: GETTY 
From The Independent:
In recent years Adderall and Ritalin, another stimulant, have been adopted as cognitive enhancers.
Of course.
And yet something like that has happened in the field of global warming in which a major scientist has announced that the world, in contrast to his previous belief, is actually cooling.
This was the analogy made by columnist Lorne Gunter in the Calgary Herald:
Photo: Dolphin. Scientists are calling for urgent research to understand the impact of renewable energy developments on marine life. (Credit: Dr Matthew Witt, University of Exeter.)
From Live Science:WASHINGTON — Dan Brown's latest book, "The Lost Symbol," is woven with a maze of secretive plots, conspiracies, symbols and codes. "Symbol" is another thriller by Brown that draws inspiration from a mixture of science and mysticism.
One of the main characters is a researcher at the Smithsonian Institution's vast support center, a location that is off-limits to the public. The real science in "Symbol" takes a turn toward fiction when Brown suggests that noetics — a metaphysical discipline that attempts to examine the connection between human and supernatural intelligence — will revolutionize human knowledge. The "research" is based on the work of institutions that were formed in the late 1970s, during the height of New Age mysticism.
Safer: The new-style Army helmet will allow troops to fire more accurately in the prone position than the older version
Credit: Technology Review
SEE SPOT SPIN: An impression of what the dwarf planet Haumea's dark,
The International Space Station's robotic arm reaches out to capture the Japanese HTV cargo ship in an artist's rendering. The tricky cosmic catch, slated to happen on September 17, 2009, might affect the orbiting outpost's ultimate lifespan by offering a cheaper way of delivering supplies to space, experts say. Due to budget concerns, the space station is currently slated to be deorbited in 2015. Picture courtesy Canadian Space Agency 
Mars is red now (left), but it may have looked charcoal (right) in the past
From Slate: