Science

The landing site for Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain more than 2,000 years ago has been identified for the first time - in Kent. His ships arrived at Pegwell Bay on the Isle of Thanet at the north east point of the county, a spot never previously suspected because it was separated from the mainland. But the location matches Caesar's own personal account with three clues about the landscape being consistent with the amazing discovery. These were its visibility from...

Amputees can learn to control a robotic arm or leg... with the power of thought, say scientists. Electrodes implanted in the brain create new connections between neurons - even years after losing the limb, according to new research. The discovery offers hope to thousands of soldiers, accident victims or diabetes patients who have had limbs amputated. It would enable them to hold a cup of tea, or go for a walk unaided. In the first experiments of their kind, rhesus...

New species can develop in as little as two generations and the findings would have left Charles Darwin excited , researchers revealed. Scientists say the arrival 36 years ago of a strange bird to a remote island in the Galapagos provides direct genetic evidence of their claims. The newcomer, which belonged to one species, mated with a member of another species on the small island of Daphne Major in the Pacific Ocean. This produced a new species, known as the...

X-Rays have revealed the source of the destructive power behind parrotfish teeth. Researchers have found an Interwoven crystal structure is the key to their coral-crunching ability. The hardy gnashers of the parrotfish allow it to chomp on coral all day long, ultimately chewing and grinding it up through digestion into fine sand. A single parrotfish can produce hundreds of pounds of sand each year. Now, a study has revealed a chain mail-like woven microstructure that gives parrotfish teeth their remarkable...

A planet the same size of Earth and with a similar surface temperature may be "the closest known comfortable abode for possible life," according to new research. The newly discovered world, named Ross 128b, was found orbiting a red dwarf 11 light-years away from Earth - but it's getting nearer. Astronomers working with the European Southern Observatory's High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) at the La Silla Observatory in Chile has found that the red dwarf star Ross 128...

Fossils of the oldest mammals related to mankind have been discovered for the first time on the 'Jurassic Coast' of Dorset. The two teeth are from small, rat-like creatures that lived 145 million years ago in the shadow of the dinosaurs. And one of the fossils has been named after the landlord of a pub near to where they were discovered by an undergraduate student. They are the earliest undisputed fossils of mammals belonging to the line that led to...

Alien life may be thriving in a warm, underground ocean on Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, according to new research. Scientists say tidal forces could have kept the subterranean sea liquid for billions of years - enough time for organisms to have developed. The mysterious world has a very fragmented and porous rocky interior, ideal conditions for flowing water with the friction creating 10 gigawatts of heat. This amount of energy would light and heat more than 7 million homes -...

Sea slugs are the pirates of the underwater world when it comes to feeding time - targeting prey that have just eaten to "supersize" their own meal. Scientists who identified the behaviour have named it kleptopredation. Researchers from the University of Portsmouth are the first to have observed the brutal feeding strategy in the natural world. Senior lecturer Dr Trevor Willis led the research into the behaviour of nudibranchs, a family of sea slugs, off the coast of Sicily. He...

Scientists will close an Antarctic research centre next year over fears the ice beneath it will CRACK. The British Antarctic Survey's (BAS) Halley VI Research Station is situated on a floating 150m thick ice shelf which has split twice in the last 12 months. The crack is caused by a movement of a chasm in the Brunt Ice Shelf, which had previously been dormant for around 35 years, but is now extending eastwards. The British Antarctic Survey's (BAS) Halley VI...