news 2010

New research has uncovered a forgotten chapter in the history of the Bible, offering a rare glimpse of Byzantine Jewish life and culture. The study by Cambridge University researchers suggests that, contrary to long-accepted views, Jews continued to use a Greek version of the Bible in synagogues for centuries longer than previously thought.

A once fertile landmass now submerged beneath the Persian Gulf may have been home to some of the earliest human populations outside Africa, according to an article in the December issue of Current Anthropology. Jeffrey Rose, an archaeologist and researcher with the University of Birmingham in the U.K., says that this 'Persian Gulf Oasis' may have been host to humans for over 100,000 years before it was swallowed up by the Indian Ocean around 8,000 years ago.

Plants don't think - but animals do. The difference between the thoughts of humans and the thoughts of other animals - and whether we will ever be able to find out exactly what they are - will be the topic of a public lecture given this evening by a Cambridge philosopher. While scientists spend their time in laboratories, philosophers spend their time thinking.

When German archaeologists discovered bones in the tomb of Queen Eadgyth in Magdeburg Cathedral, they looked to Bristol to provide the crucial scientific evidence that the remains were indeed those of the English royal. Dr Alistair Pike in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology tells Hannah Johnson how tiny samples of tooth enamel proved the identity of a Saxon queen.

Extremism is an aspect of humanity common to all of us, and is not necessarily a negative trait, a University of Cambridge researcher will argue at a presentation of his work tomorrow. Shahzad Shafqat (pictured) worked as a psychologist in his native Pakistan and spent five years with the Pakistan Air Force, before coming to Cambridge to study for an MPhil and PhD on the Psychology of Extremism at the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology.

Arts 23 Oct 10 Austen's 'The History of England', a spoof history written by a teenage Jane Austen. Image by kind permission of the British Library and Jane Austen's Fiction Manuscripts Digital Edition. The polished prose of Emma and Persuasion was the product of an interventionist editor, an Oxford University academic has found.

01 October 2010 Study shows real partners are no match for ideal mate Our ideal image of the perfect partner differs greatly from our real-life partner, according to new research from the University of Sheffield and the University of Montpellier in France. The research found that our actual partners are of a different height, weight and body mass index than those we would ideally choose.

The parasite responsible for human malaria originated in gorillas, a study involving an Edinburgh scientist has shown. An international team of researchers studying infection in wild apes and chimpanzees across central Africa has identified the origin of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which causes most cases of human malaria.

It may look peaceful today, but Newnham College, Cambridge was once the site of a sprawling Roman settlement. The discovery was made last week during an archaeological excavation of the college's gardens, which also unearthed evidence of a 16th or 17th century farmhouse that could date back to the reign of Henry VIII.

University of Sussex ecologist Mike Hutching's study of rare orchids has provided a powerful source of data for studying climate change, according to new research. Professor Hutchings' collection from the Castle Hill National Nature Reserve was used in research published today (Wednesday 22 September 2010) in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Ecology.

Science | Space Pete Wilton | 17 Sep 10 The Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter [ LRO ] is currently mapping the lunar surface. On board this 'robotic scout' is the Diviner , an instrument built and run by a team including Oxford University scientists. In this week's Science two papers co-authored by Neil Bowles and Ian Thomas from Oxford University's Department of Physics report the latest findings from the instrument.

Palaeontologists are forever claiming that their latest fossil discovery will 'rewrite evolutionary history'. Is this just boasting or is our 'knowledge' of evolution so feeble that it changes every time we find a new fossil? A team of researchers at the University of Bristol decided to find out, with investigations of dinosaur and human evolution.

History is set to be rewritten after an archaeology team led by the University of Birmingham and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Austria discovered a major ceremonial monument less than one kilometre away from the iconic Stonehenge. The incredible find has been hailed by Professor Vince Gaffney, from the University's IBM Visual and Spatial Technology Centre | , as one of the most significant yet for those researching the UK's most important prehistoric structure.

A UCL archaeologist is part of a team who have unearthed the earliest evidence of human occupation in Britain. Simon Parfitt was part of a team of archaeologists, palaeontologists and earth scientists from the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, UCL, and Queen Mary, University of London, who unearthed the new evidence at an archaeological dig in East Anglia.

A science historian at The University of Manchester has cracked "The Plato Code” – the long disputed secret messages hidden in the great philosopher's writings. Plato was the Einstein of Greece's Golden Age and his work founded Western culture and science. Dr Jay Kennedy's findings are set to revolutionise the history of the origins of Western thought.

It is less than one hundredth of a millimetre in diameter and has a delicately sculptured silica shell – meet Clipeoparvus anatolicus, a microscopic alga of a diatom genus previously unknown to scientists. Discovered by academics from the University of Plymouth in a crater lake in Turkey, the diatom was also found preserved in sediments dating back more than 1,500 years.

New insights into volcanic activity on the ocean floor New research explains why some parts of the world saw massive volcanic activity while others did not New research reveals that when two parts of the Earth's crust break apart, this does not always cause massive volcanic eruptions. The study, published today , explains why some parts of the world saw massive volcanic eruptions millions of years ago and others did not.

Bones excavated in Magdeburg Cathedral in 2008 are those of Saxon Princess Eadgyth who died in AD 946, experts at the University of Bristol confirmed today. The crucial scientific evidence came from the teeth preserved in the upper jaw. The bones are the oldest surviving remains of an English royal burial.

Bones excavated in Magdeburg Cathedral in 2008 are those of Saxon Princess Eadgyth who died in AD 946, experts at the University of Bristol confirmed today. The crucial scientific evidence came from the teeth preserved in the upper jaw. The bones are the oldest surviving remains of an English royal burial.

Sculptures, paintings, installations and audiovisual work by this year's graduating MA students from the UCL Slade School of Fine Art are now on display on UCL's main campus. The final year students on the MA/MFA Fine Art programmes will be showcasing their work at the Slade School in UCL's main quad from 10'16 June.