World’s most advanced CT scanner to see through solids

Researchers at The University of Nottingham, UK, have created the most advanced 3D X-ray micro Computed Tomography (CT) scanner in the world, which will help scientists from a wide variety of departments across the University literally see through solid materials, including soil..



The Nanotom will produce high-resolution 3D and slice images of solids with a pixel resolution of up to half micron or 500 nanometres

PM's apology to codebreaker Alan Turing: we were inhumane

Enigma genius chemically castrated for being gay; • Admission comes 55 years after Turing took his life

Alan Turing, mathematician who helped crack German codes during the second world war. Photograph: Public Domain
Gordon Brown issued an unequivocal apology last night on behalf of the government to Alan Turing, the second world war codebreaker who took his own life 55 years ago after being sentenced to chemical castration for being gay.
Describing Turing's treatment as "horrifying" and "utterly unfair", Brown said the country owed the brilliant mathematician a huge debt. He was proud, he said, to offer an official apology. "We're sorry, you deserved so much better," Brown writes in a statement posted on the No 10 website.
Turing is most famous for his work in helping create the "bombe" that cracked messages enciphered with the German Enigma machines. He was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 after admitting a sexual relationship with a man.
He was given experimental chemical castration as a "treatment". His criminal record meant he was unable to continue his work for the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) because his security privileges were withdrawn. Two years later he killed himself, aged 41.

Giant baby born in Indonesia


A baby made his way into the world this week in Indonesia at 19.2 pounds (8.7 kg) -- about three times the weight of an average newborn.

The giant baby lies next to a more typically-sized newborn.

. Talks Oliver Sacks: What hallucination reveals about our minds





Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks brings our attention to Charles Bonnett syndrome -- when visually impaired people experience lucid hallucinations. He describes the experiences of his patients in heartwarming detail and walks us through the biology of this under-reported phenomenon.

Oliver Sacks website

Scientists find path to fountain of youth

The fountain of youth may exist after all, as a study showed Thursday that scientists have discovered means to extend the lifespan of mice and primates.
The key to eternal -- or at least prolonged -- youth lies in genetic manipulation that mimics the health benefits of reducing calorie intake, suggesting that aging and age-related diseases can be treated.
Scientists from the Institute of Healthy Ageing at University College London (UCL) extended the lifespan of mice by up to a fifth and reduced the number of age-related diseases affecting the animals after they genetically manipulated them to block production of the S6 Kinase 1 (S6K1) protein.....