Category Archives: Archaeology
Giant feather dinosaur discovered
Three almost complete skeletons of a huge feathered dinosaur have been unearthed in north-eastern China. The new species has been named as ‘Yutyrannus huali’ meaning “beautiful feathered tyrant” and it is thought that it is a distant relative of the infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex. The fossils include part of the Yutyrannus tail, and crucially, its skull. [...]
Also posted in Evolution, Life sciences, News Leave a comment
Özti the Iceman
Although he may look a little like Gollum of ‘Lord of the Rings’ fame, Özti the Iceman is actually the frozen remains of a human who lived 5,300 years ago. Discovered in the Italian Alps in 1991, he has recently had his full genome sequenced, as reported in Nature Communications. Having been mummified in a [...]
Also posted in News, Uncategorized Leave a comment
BlueSciFilm: We are Sitting in the Mollusc Store
Snails, clams, squids and octopoda… Dr. Richard Preece took BlueSci film editor Nick Crumpton behind the scenes in the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge to see the 100,000 specimens of bivalves, gastropods and cephalopods kept behind the museum’s closed doors. For the past year researchers in the museum have been taking stock of the collection, [...]
Also posted in Life sciences, Videos Leave a comment
History: Science’s Royal Beginnings
Nicola Stead takes a look back at the origins of the Royal Society and its founding members The current global economic turmoil, and its resulting austerity measures, are increasingly putting pressure on scientists to improve the social impact and application of their research. Whilst this can turn into a bureaucratic exercise for modern scientists, it [...]
Also posted in Life sciences, Mathematics, Physical sciences, Technology Leave a comment
Review: Ten Top Tips for Televisual Triumph
Why do journalists often get their facts wrong when they report on science stories? Vivienne Parry, BBC presenter, opened her presentation by discussing some of the accusations that scientists often aim at the media. Mistakes, she argued, are rarely due to poor journalism, but are more often because of poor communication on the part of [...]
Also posted in Earth & environment, Life sciences, Mathematics, Physical sciences, Reviews, Science and Policy, Technology Leave a comment
Away from the Bench: Skeletons and Flame Tornadoes
Aaron Barker explains how certain types of CHaOS can be fun and informative Cambridge hands-on science (or, to give it its rather fitting acronym, CHaOS) is a student- and alumni-run organisation which aims to bring fun, interesting and interactive science demonstrations to children all over the UK. It sets out to enlighten those who might [...]
Also posted in Earth & environment, Life sciences, Mathematics, Physical sciences, Science and Policy, Technology Leave a comment
History: Science in Print
Helen Gaffney explores the rise of popular science magazines The streets of eighteenth century London bristled with endeavour. Home to many of Europe’s self-styled ‘enlightened’ thinkers, it was here that the world’s first ‘magazine’ hit the printing presses. The Gentleman’s Magazine, founded in 1731, offered the discerning public informative articles on a wide range of [...]
[POPULAR Science] – Vivienne Parry (31st October 2011)
This event is a collaboration between BlueSci and CSAR CSAR membership is free to members of the University of Cambridge and permits free entry to this event. Organising membership in advance is strongly recommended to save time. Find out more here. In a provocative presentation, writer and broadcaster Vivienne Parry considers science’s often troubled [...]
Canadian amber found to hold clues to the evolution of feathers
Researchers in Canada have discovered feathers preserved in amber from 70 million years ago. The specimens were discovered in samples from the Late Cretaceous that had been collected from the Grassy Lake region of Alberta. Previous feather specimens have often been found as carbonized compression fossils which lack structural details, but the amber preserves microscopic [...]
Also posted in News Leave a comment
Smallest fossils change understanding about sturdiest dinosaurs