Star spotting has just got cool. Not the kind that has you gawping at D-listers as you hang out in hotel lobbies, but the kind that has you spending a night under the skies, quaffing pear cider and shootin' the breeze with mates. It all started in North America, and now, star parties are becoming popular over here.

It's a chance for star enthusiasts to drool over each other's equipment, hold races as to who can spot the most in the shortest amount of time, and get a little bit drunk. It's the last day of the Isle Of Wight star party tonight ("Come and enjoy some of the darkest skies in the South") and the Spring Star Party is being held in Norfolk April 3rd to the 6th ("One of the Word's Top 10 Star Parties").

[via The Daily Telegraph]

A new Japanese remote control has been developed that registers eye movement as a control for an iPod. Using sensors on a glasses-based headset, the KomeKami / Temple Switch can use clear winks and blinks to control the iPod.

One wink with one eye will go backwards, a wink with the other is forwards, and a strong blink is pause/play; apparently the system is even bright enough to disregard accidental winks and blinks plus you can talk, walk, run or eat without disrupting it. Sure, you'd have to be pretty lazy to want this as an ordinary consumer (unless you really were going to train your cat to use it, which would be cool); however, the implications for making consumer technology more accessible to paraplegics and other people of limited mobility are huge.

[via Ubergizmo]

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Apparently, my D in Textiles at GCSE was not due to no revision and my coursework that looked like the brief was 'make a coat that a tramp would think twice about wearing'. It was due to my poor working memory.

Working memory is like your current memory, which allows you to remember the beginning of a paragraph whilst you're getting to the end of it. It's got a finite capacity, which shrinks if irrelevant information is stored. Some psychologists regard it as 'the new IQ' since it's believed to be a better measure of a child's potential.

Apparently, last night the UK experienced an earthquake. A proper one. It measured 5.2 on the earthquake measuring scale, although since I have no idea what the range is, it's difficult to attribute any meaning to that fact. However, I was fast asleep at 1am this morning, so disappointingly, slept right through it. According to The Guardian, emergency services had a 'wave of calls' but most bizarrely "The Guardian received calls from startled readers in Bedfordshire, Yorkshire, Manchester, Blackpool, London and Leicester". Who calls a national newspaper to find out what's going on? Have The Guardian suddenly been made the fourth emergency service? Mentalists.

Anyway, apparently it was felt all over the UK, so tell me. Did you feel anything? Let me know in the comments the details of the nonsexual earthmoving - I want to know what I missed.

New cameras have been unveiled in the UK, to try to enforce car-sharing lanes on roads. The new cameras send an infra-red beam through the windscreen, which apparently measure the amount of blood and water in the car, and therefore, how many people are in there. The idea is that it should identify people that use the car sharing lanes in cities like Birmingham and Leeds, when they're the only person in the car, as well as the really sneaky ones who pose mannequins in their passenger seats (people do this?).

Questions that immediately spring to mind include 'what if the passengers aren't viewable from the windscreen', 'what if you've got a really, really big person' and 'is this a wind-up'. Still, it sounds fancy.

[via Daily Mail]

Actually, it's even worse than the future being controlled by evil, Machiavellian robots. According to a leading US inventor, humans will actually merge with robots, as the technology gets implanted in our brains to make us more intelligent. It could take the form of microscopic nanobots, which will enter our brain through capillaries and interact directly with our neurons, making us better at remembering things and overall, smarter.

I imagine I feel right now how my grandparents felt when someone told them that a small box would make people appear in the corner of the living room, who would act out plays and read news headlines to them. I need a lie down.

[via BBC News]

Been in a relationship longer than a couple of years? First flush of romance worn off? Well, duh. For some reason, scientists have wasted time and money worked hard to identify the specific hormones which downgrade your libido from "passionate lust" to "let's just cuddle".

The team from the University of Pisa, Italy, discovered that hormones called neutrophins are responsible for the slowly diminishing sense of lust, with those in the first flush of romance showing much higher levels.

Dr. Petra Boynton of the British Psychological Society hastened to add that this did not mean the first flush is the best bit.

I feel as hesitant making the grand pronouncement that mobiles are categorically safe as I do saying they're definitely unsafe. The fact is that the studies and evidence on both sides have been a bit patchy at best. But today the results of the first research into the effects of handset radiation on different parts of the brain have been released and the news is promising.

A Japanese study from the Tokyo Women's Medical University found no increased risk of the three main types of brain cancer among regular mobile users. Now, bearing in mind the usual proviso (this time provided by Dr Lesley Walker of Cancer Research UK) that we don't know enough about long-term effects, that's good news, right?

Scientific fact, that is, and it's not because some people find them sexy. A researcher at the University of Verona, Italy spectacularly wasted funding carried out a survey of 66 women under the age of 50 asking them about their shoe-wearing habit and sex lives.

Stilettos can apparently "directly work the pleasure muscles linked to orgasm" by working out your pelvic muscles and keeping everything relaxed yet nicely toned down below. Dr. Maria Cerruto, who conducted the survey, commented that, worn during daily activity "moderately high heeled shoes... may reduce the need for the pelvic floor exercises necessary to keep that part of a woman's anatomy toned and elastic." Damn! I knew I was leaving something out at the gym...

Oh, but it does come with a warning: ‘‘There’s a limit. Anything over 11.5cm, you can’t walk properly; it’s no longer elegant.". I thought this was about exercise, not elegance? Stupid me.

[via Courier Mail]

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Ah, robots. Definitely one of the most requested reports from CES and boy did we deliver. For some reason, though, robots can still carry a whiff of boy-toy prejudice about them. If you can't quite shamelessly embrace bot fun, then it's time to buy them for your kids / godchildren / nephews and nieces and pretend that they're not for you. Hell, it might even get you through half term without bloodshed.

Here are some ways to entertain yourself them with little light bulbs that blink:

1. LEGO Mindstorms NXT

King of the educational robots, this is a brick with all sorts of adaptable bits, pieces and sensors that can be made into practically anything. Thanks to previous incarnations as teacher and tech support I happen to know that controlling objects is part of the Design & Technology curriculum and that these are actually enormous fun. If your child seems a little young for the software included, try an accessible version for younger learners like 2Control.

There can be only one science story this week, and it's got to be the imminent crashing of a US satellite. Apparently, they're unable to predict exactly where, or when, but say "Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the threat ... we are looking at potential options to mitigate any damage this satellite may cause". I'm not sure who is in charge of the UK Department for Satellite Damage Limitation, but I'm hoping they're at the top of their game, particularly since the US is unwilling to tell people exactly what kind of debris we might be dealing with, hazardous or not.

It's suspected to land in late February, but what with that pesky rotation of the earth, it's difficult to say where. It's not the first time this has happened. In 1979, a 78 ton NASA station fell over Australia, and a San Francisco newspaper offered $10,000 for anyone who could bring in a piece of the debris. The prize was collected by an Australian man, who found a piece in his guttering and flew to the US to present it to the newspaper.

[via The Guardian]

You can file this one under 'Future technology I'm not terribly keen on ever becoming reality' (long name - big drawer). Scientists over at the University of Washington, generally known as the wackiest of all the universities by those in the know me, have developed a contact lens that will beam a display directly onto the eye, negating all that plasma/LCD/OLED/slate and chisel debate.

As you can see from the picture, the lucky rabbit early adopter is having a whale of a time, experiencing his first truly immersive gaming experience of Halo 3. He's slightly saddened by the fact that they still haven't found a way to power these contact lenses without sticking a power lead into his eyes, however. [Note: I'm pretty sure they didn't actually do that. In fact, I'm almost certain.]

[va Tech.co.uk]

In the market for a spare rat heart? Not to worry, the scientists at the University of Minnesota have managed to grow a new one, using the shell of an old one as the mould. They hollowed out an old rat heart (presumably because that's the kind of thing they do for fun) and then took heart cells from another rat and 'seeded' them in the hollow one. Within four days, the cells had formed enough for scientists to be able to see the pumping action of the new heart, which is pretty incredible, if you think about it.

We're just 97 steps from being able to grow the Tin Man a heart, people.

[via BBC]

It is apparently, supposed to be snow this week here in the UK. And good Samaritans that we are, we think it's only right to warn you against supping on a glass of lovely, Yuletide mulled wine (that's if you haven't given up booze for January already).

It turns out, rather than warming your cold body, drinking warm alcohol can actually cause you to be colder. Where as a normal warm drink sends heat to your internal organs from your skin, alcohol actually reverses this process, diverting heat to the skin. And even worse, it reduces the ability to shiver (the body's way of creating heat) as well as making you sweat, making you by this time, absolutely bloody freezing.

A word to the wise: drink your mulled wine where there's central heating.

[via NYTimes]

A new study has found that both alcohol consumption and obesity make you more likely to suffer from bad breath. Whilst the alcohol/breath link has been generally accepted for years, at least on an anecdotal level, the obesity link is a new one.

The scientist suggested that it was because the diet that contributes to weight often tallies with that which can cause a dry mouth - the primary cause of bad breath. He also has some excellent advise regarding the issues, saying: “You should tell people in your family if they have bad breath. It is curable in almost all instances, and it can be a sign of disease. As for work colleagues, they might be happy for the advice, but they might not.” Quite right, prof.

[via Science Daily]

Now, here's a project that I reckon has value beyond being amusingly disgusting. Not only is it very eco-friendly, if it's extended it might mean I can enjoy a debate-free steak.

To explain: Thiruneer Malai district near Chennai in India is using a bio-gas plant to channel the methane from treated human waste for power, and using this to run the streetlights. There are plans to investigate the use of animal waste as well, which might just mean that the whole vegetarian / vegan cow's-methane -causing-climate-change thing will come to and end. Of course, some Indians might not be too thrilled with me suggesting that we use a system they've developed to kill cows... Eek. Anyway, steering away from getting myself into that creek without a paddle, you can watch a video that explains the special - and apparently, thankfully, not smelly - recycling process here.

[via Gizmodo]

Proving that occasionally scientific studies which have actual relevance and use to everyday life are performed, scientists from Sweden have found that there's an area in the brain used to filter relevant from irrelevant information. Presumably, what's deemed as relevant and irrelevant changes from person to person - I suspect I've got some kind of mis-wiring which has led my brain to always filter the answers to "Hi, what's your name?" question into irrelevant information. It's the same mis-wiring that leads directions to places to be immediately filtered into the same section. Very tiresome.

Subjects with superior filters had more activity recorded in their basal ganglia when they were asked to target an image on a computer, when they were warned there would also be distracting and irrelevant pictures simultaneously displayed.

Girl Science: Noun [gul sahy-uhns]. The language used in cosmetic commercials by pseudo-scientists to convince you to buy their face cream. "The complex amino gecko extract rebonds split ends" and "the cream DNA reverses the 372 ways that your hands look older" would be such examples.

However, if it's on the BBC, it can't possibly be girl science. According to them, scientists have found a way to reverse the ageing of mouse skin, through the blocking of a specific protein. Mouse skin is apparently very similar to human skin, which is no doubt fabulous, if unexpected news, to all those who take more than a passing interest in the cosmetic surgery adverts at the back of glossies. Sadly, plans at the moment only run to using the research for medicinal purposes, but it seems we're one step closer to eternal youth.

[via BBC News]

Not a study, this week, but instead, an actual scientific factoid. This one will have you the most popular person on the pub quiz team, guaranteed.

Did you know that there is 'one weight to rule them all'? It's called the Le Grand K, and is a lump of platinum about the size of a plum, kept in a vault in Paris. It's used as the official measurement of a kilogram. There are also a number of copies, which are supposed to act as a reference point for the countries who have been given them.

Once a year, these copies are brought back to Paris, to be weighed against the original, to make sure that we're all using the same kilogram. Except. Disaster has struck. Recent measurements have shown the Le Grand K is actually losing weight (except it can't, cos it's The Daddy) potentially because it's handled less often than the copies. It's the equivalent loss of one grain of sugar in a kilogram bag, but counts for a lot if you're the business of weighing things. Scientists are trying to come up with a new, sparklier and more exact method. Got any ideas?

[via BBC]

If you're listening to rap right now, get ready to have it switched off. According to a new study into drug references in modern music, rap fares the worst, with 77% of the songs referencing drug use. Thinking of switching completely from rap to country? Not only will you shock your friends, you actually won't be much better, as 37% of those songs talk up drugs. R&B and hip-hop are comparatively safe, at 20% and rock only mentions drugs 14%.

But it gets worse. Rather than taking the Grange Hill, Just Say No point of view regarding drugs, the majority of these songs, regardless of genre, portrayed more positives than negative consequences of drug taking.

There's only one thing for it. We're all going to have to switch to Beethoven.

[via Science Daily]