Science

Chocolate 'has health benefits'.  I knew it! Eating dark chocolate could help control diabetes and blood pressure, Italian experts say.  Researchers found eating 100g of dark chocolate each day for 15 days lowered blood pressure in the 15 person-study.  The University of L'Aquila team also found

Going back to the double slit experiment post, suppose you run the experiment with a light source letting only one photon through the system at a time.  If the light is a particle, there are no other particles in the system for it to interact with.  You still get the

The double slit experiment is the classic example of light behaving like a wave.  You have a light source at one end of the table.  The light source is pointed at a narrow slit in a piece of plastic. Only the light going through that slit enters the rest of

If a tree falls in the forest and there's no-one there to observe it, is it real?  George Berkeley (March 12 1685 to January 14 1753) said "Esse est percipi" ("to be is to be perceived") which fits nicely with quantum mechanics, where observing

Underground search for 'God particle' One hundred metres below Geneva's western suburbs is a dimly lit tunnel that runs in a perfect circle for 27km (17 miles).  The tunnel belongs to Cern, the European Centre for Nuclear Research. Though currently empty, over the next two years

Russian call for Mars volunteers. Russian scientists are selecting volunteers to be locked in a capsule for 500 days to test plans for a trip to Mars. The mock mission is designed to simulate the tough conditions of a space trip to the Red Planet. A team of six men

Device to probe limits of physics. UK physicists have completed the first crucial element of an experimental device designed to probe the forces that shape our Universe. The Atlas experiment will explore the fundamental properties of matter and look for "new physics" beyond the limits of our current

Awesome power of Iceland volcano A spectacular volcanic eruption under an Iceland glacier has forced airlines to divert flights to avoid flying through gas emissions from the blast. The volcano first erupted on Monday, sending thick black smoke and ash heading towards continental Europe. Since then, Grimsvotn volcano has produced

Russian man kept 'bomb' plutonium.  This is worrying. A former Russian nuclear scientist has reportedly handed over to police eight containers of weapons-grade plutonium he had stored at home for eight years. The 400g (14oz) of plutonium-238 - a highly radioactive compound that could be used in a

How stress can make you lose your keys. Evidence of how stress disrupts rational decision-making and short-term memory is reported today in research that could lead to drugs to treat mental illness.  The work sheds light on why it is harder to remember where you left your keys when in