大象传媒

Bear facts
Until now it鈥檚 been thought that the polar bear is a relatively new species. At a mere 70,000 years old it's never had to adapt and survive through a period of global warming. Now though, an Icelandic researcher has reported finding a polar bear jaw bone far older than any previously discovered.

Teeth the size of bananas
More jaw bones, along with teeth 鈥渓ike steak knives鈥� and a skull the length of the average man. This is how Bristol University palaeontologist Steve Brusatte describes Carcharodontosaurus iguidensi, a new species of carnivorous dinosaur which he pieced together from fossils unearthed and then forgotten about a decade ago.

Carbon capture
After the Bali conference on climate change, Geoff Watts talks to one researcher about how best to lower Britain鈥檚 carbon footprint, by taking CO2 and burying it in and around the UK.

Silicon minds
In the time it takes you to say 鈥渂rain cell鈥�, your brain cells have made 10 quadrillion connections. Molly Bentley reports on a project called Neurogrid, replicating the brain in silicon to study these connections, one neuron at a time.

The promise of technology
Organisations that store information about us on a computer have a reassuring term they like to use to describe their accumulated records: a 鈥榮ecure database鈥�.
Several recent events have exposed that phrase for what it is: an oxymoron. Ian Brown from the Oxford Internet Institute believes it鈥檚 time for a rethink.

Work that gene
Recent findings from research carried out at the University of Maryland suggest that regular exercise may have a protective effect against some types of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.