Gair Rhydd

Excitement and fear over artificial life breakthrough

Priya Raj explores artificial life. Is it an exciting discovery or are we dangerously playing God?

The first microbe to live entirely by genetic code synthesized by humans has started proliferating at a lab in the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI).

Venter and his colleagues used a synthetic genome to build and operate a new synthetic strain of Mycoplasma mycoides bacteria,, according to an online report published on May 20 by Science.

News in brief

Creation of synthetic life

Scientists at the Craig Venter Institute in America have taken a small step in the design of synthetic life using entirely synthetic DNA to replicate the Genome of a common bacterium. This synthetic copy was then inserted into a blanked host cell and left to grow.

World Environment Day

Raising awareness for the world in which we live

World Environment Day is approaching. Events will take place across the world on June 5 to promote environmental awareness and to pressure political bodies to take action on important issues.

2010 has been declared the International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations. Biodiversity is not only important for preserving individual species and habitats, but is also essential for maintaining the ecosystem services we rely on, such as food, clean water and fuel.

Exposed identity on Facebook

Thought your personal information was truely safe through privacy settings? Think again...

A new snooping technique using your social networking history may allow some websites to discover your identity, New Scientist has reported.

The group of Austrian researchers who developed the method created a website which indirectly finds out which social networking groups you have visited.

News in brief

Third runway scrapped

Plans for the creation of a third runway at Heathrow have been cancelled by the new coalition government, who have said they will also refuse any new runways at Gatwick and Stansted.

Why to go meat free

Science & Environment explores the health and environmental reasons why people go vegetarian without meat

Events will be taking place up and down the country this week with the aim of promoting vegetarian food and the benefits of a meat-free diet.

Cardiff will be playing its part by offering food, live music and an information stall at Mackintosh Hall for the Cardiff Vegetarian Festival on Saturday.

News in brief

Mt. Fuji set to blow

Takayuki Kaneko, a geologist from the University of Tokyo, has warned that an eruption of Mount Fuji, Japan’s iconic volcano could be imminent.

Success is in the melons

With exams upon us and stress levels at their highest, Science has some tips to help you relax

Here, we bring you a couple of tips on how to use exercise, and melons, to get through exam stress.

1. Exercise in the smart way.

An unprecedented disaster

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has triggered a massive environmental disaster and a big headache for BP

On April 20, an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers. The explosion has since caused thousands of tons of oil to pour into the Gulf of Mexico, damaging the sensitive shorelines of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.

With the first news of the incident, people thought that there was a chance this oil spill could be tamed. However, two weeks on, and this uncontrollable surge of oil has moved to a more serious level, carrying with it disastrous ecological and economical consequences.

News in brief

Brain train failing

A recent study of over 11,500 individuals tested the claim that brain training exercises can improve people’s mental skills.