Recently by Daniel Smith

Bored at work? Counting down the hours to the weekend?

Then Weird Science can help (as long as the boss doesn't spot ya!).

Weird Science Friday Links give you a nudge towards stuff you'll hopefully find more diverting than the stack of papers in front of you!

Google's Ngram viewer - very addictive!

Risking your life to get to a teahouse in China.

The idea swap.

Inexplicable objects of the week.

One in six people in the UK today will live to be 100, study says.

Space Shuttle Discovery at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the early morning hours of December 21, 2010, with the beginning of the total lunar eclipse clearly in view.

Click on the image to embiggen.

Here is what the Earth looks like during a solar eclipse - the shadow of the Moon can be seen darkening part of Earth.

This shadow moves across the Earth at nearly 2,000 kilometers per hour. Only observers near the center of the dark circle see a total solar eclipse - others see a partial eclipse where only part of the Sun appears blocked by the Moon.

Click on the image to embiggen.

Regularly drinking green tea could protect the brain against Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, scientists said today.

The ancient Chinese remedy could also play a vital role in protecting the body against cancer, a Newcastle University study, published today in academic journal Phytomedicine, suggested.

Led by Ed Okello, the research team wanted to know if the protective properties of green tea - previously shown to be present in the undigested, freshly-brewed form of the drink - are still active once the tea has been digested.

A dazzling new image of a star nursery known as the Lagoon Nebula has been captured by a super-sensitive British-built telescope.

The Vista (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) telescope in Chile is operated by the European Southern Observatory.

Its ability to detect infrared light allowed astronomers to see fine details of the nebula which are normally obscured by dust.

The Lagoon Nebula is a hot star-forming region more than 4,000 light years away in the constellation Sagittarius.

Vista involves a consortium of institutions led by Queen Mary, University of London.
The telescope's camera was partly built at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.

Professor Ian Robson, head of the STFC's UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh, said: "The Lagoon Nebula has always been one of the 'picture book' images of astronomy, but seen in the optical rather than the infrared light of Vista, and these new images are breaking new grounds and further demonstrating how the hard work of this project is paying off in spades."

Vista is engaged in a huge survey to map central regions of our galaxy, the Milky Way, in greater detail than ever before.

It's easy to forget just how massive Africa is...

Click on the image to embiggen.

Keepers at a safari park are celebrating the birth of a second baby white rhino in just over a month.

The unnamed female rhino was born at Knowsley Safari Park in Merseyside, on December 30

The birth follows that of the rhino's half-brother Troy who was born at the end of November.

Keepers said the new baby and her 16-year-old mother Winnie are both doing well but will remain indoors for the moment because of the cold.

A new study into how plants adjust to having less sunlight in winter could lead to a better understanding of the impact of shift work and jet lag on people, according to scientists.

Researchers looking at the daily rhythms in plants have discovered a complex process that allows the plants' genes to respond to the times of dawn and dusk each day, and the length of daylight in between.

This system enables the plant to reset its internal clock every day in response to seasonal changes in daylight, helping it to control the timing of crucial activities, such as flowering and making frost-resistant buds.

A prehistoric flightless bird fought medieval-style bouts with wings designed as bone-crunching flails, research has shown.

Like mace-wielding knights, Xenicibis rivals swung at each other with thick, curved wing bones not seen in any other bird.

"No animal has ever evolved anything quite like this," said lead scientist Dr Nicholas Longrich, from Yale University in Connecticut, US.

"We don't know of any other species that uses its body like a flail. It's the most specialised weaponry of any bird I've ever seen."

It may be no accident that grandma's such a sweet old lady, according to a new study.

Scientists have discovered that "emotional intelligence" only peaks when people enter their 60s.

As a result, older generations are more sensitive and empathic than younger members of society. They are also better at seeing the positive side of stressful situations.

The US scientists believe it makes sense that humans developed an enhanced "caring" side near the end of their lives.