Elephant ivory could be bankrolling terrorist groups
The ivory trade may be helping to fund terrorist groups like al-Shabaab. Now an $80 million initiative will scale up the fight against elephant poaching
Take virtual 3D tours of tourist sites with Wikipedia
Flickr images and Wikipedia entries are used to create an annotated model that would-be tourists can fly through before they visit
Fall of USSR locked up world's largest store of carbon
When the Soviet Union collapsed, great tracts of farmland were abandoned. The area has now become the biggest ever human-made carbon sink
The doctor treating the US gun epidemic
For over 30 years emergency room doctor Garen Wintemute has studied gun violence in the US. He explains how a lack of funding has made the problem intractable
Earth's love handles keep the satellites from falling
Satellites don't come crashing down – despite our interfering moon's best efforts – because the Earth's bulges help keep them stable
Lack of folic acid echoes through the generations
A study in mice suggests that folic acid deficiency triggers developmental defects, not just in their offspring but also in the following generations
Neural stem cells pulled from rat's brain using magnet
A safe way of extracting stem cells from the brain using magnetic nanoparticles could one day be used to treat people with Parkinson's or multiple sclerosis
Dark matter tops physicists' wish list, post-Higgs
A survey of particle theorists reveals mixed feelings about the Higgs boson, and renewed optimism that we are well on the way to a dark matter breakthrough
Top science stamps from the world's biggest collection
Stamps that have been to the moon or been rescued from the fiery wreckage of the Hindenburg feature in the world's largest collection
Real Rock Band: Play piano like a pro with light keys
A colourful keyboard projection system helps novices learn to play the piano without reading music
Texan creationism showdown may 'contaminate' textbook
If creationists in Texas get their way, students in the US could soon receive biology textbooks that falsely cast doubt on the scientific validity of evolution
Hairy black hole could show gaps in Einstein's theory
A black hole sprouting hair sounds like the stuff of nightmares, but this bizarre metaphor could open a window beyond the traditional picture of the universe
US federal shutdown puts key science functions on hold
Roughly 800,000 "non-essential" government workers, including many key scientific and medical providers, are at home without pay
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