JUNE 2004

This section features key science stories from The Daily Telegraph's online news service at www.telegraph.co.uk. Click on the links for the full story.

Multiple embryo births 'put babies at risk'
Fertility doctors who transfer two embryos during each round of IVF treatment are unnecessarily putting mothers and babies at risk, according to a new study.

30 Jun 2004

Hypnotism 'doubles chance of IVF baby'
Hypnotising women during IVF treatment doubles their chances of becoming pregnant, a fertility doctor has said.

30 Jun 2004

Baby on way after frozen ovary graft
A woman made infertile by cancer treatment six years ago has conceived a baby girl after a pioneering transplant operation using her own frozen ovarian tissue.

30 Jun 2004

Strange beasties of ancient Scotland
A village in Aberdeenshire is providing an exquisitely preserved slice of life in a tropical paradise lost, reports Roger Highfield.

30 Jun 2004

Hangover is spiked by cactus extract
Forget about the hair of the dog. The skin of a prickly pear cactus has been shown to reduce the suffering caused by a hangover.

29 Jun 2004

Atkins diet 'could cut chances of pregnancy'
The controversial high protein, high fat Atkins diet could reduce a woman's chances of becoming pregnant, new research suggests.

29 Jun 2004

Science lessons that fail to ignite
Science risks losing the interest of pupils because explosions and experiments have been replaced by "rote" learning, the Royal Society says.

28 Jun 2004

HRT scare study was flawed, say scientists
The American study that triggered a worldwide scare over the risks of HRTwas fundamentally flawed and not applicable to most women going through the menopause, according to a group of leading researchers.

28 Jun 2004

German medicine 'is still haunted by Nazis'
Germany's reluctance to confront its Nazi past is holding back advances in human reproduction, it has been claimed.

28 Jun 2004

Fear of world chocolate shortage
The price of chocolate bars could soar if diseases that have devastated South America's cocoa crops are allowed to spread to other parts of the world, a scientist has warned.

26 Jun 2004

Four portions of oily fish a week is the limit
Nobody should regularly eat more than four portions of oily fish each week, the Foods Standards Agency says.

25 Jun 2004

British shun sun cream
Britain is turning its back on sun cream, despite the increasing rates of potentially deadly skin cancer, according to a report.

25 Jun 2004

Smoking blamed for tooth loss in adults
Smoking and a poor lifestyle are as likely to cause tooth loss in adulthood as eating sweets as a child, says new research.

24 Jun 2004

Muscle boy shows way for super athletes
A muscle-bound four-year-old son of a woman athlete has provided the first evidence that a natural genetic mutation can boost strength.

24 Jun 2004

Mother Nature's decaff coffee
Scientists have found a naturally decaffeinated version of the most popular coffee bean.

24 Jun 2004

Labelling blamed for IVF baby mix-up
Blunders, overworked staff and poor management at one of Britain's leading fertility clinics led to mixed race twins being born to a white couple.

23 Jun 2004

Test may help hyperactive children
German scientists have developed a test that can reveal the significant number of hyperactive children who will not respond to treatment with the well-known drug Ritalin.

23 Jun 2004

Prize pump for the world's poor
Thomas Smith, a research student from the University of Cambridge, has been named the L’Oréal–Royal Institution Science Graduate of the Year 2004, for his efforts to develop a cheap and efficient pump with no moving parts.

23 Jun 2004

What did Brown's millions improve?
The Chancellor made big promises but so far has not delivered nearly enough to solve research problems, says Science Editor Roger Highfield.

23 Jun 2004

How a Cupid gene could stop men straying
Boosting levels of a protein in the brain can make men bond with their partners and become less likely to roam, according to a study of voles that sheds light on the biology of romance.

23 Jun 2004

Extra checks for women at higher breast cancer risk
One hundred thousand healthy women at increased risk of breast cancer because of family history will be offered monitoring, screening and genetic testing.

23 Jun 2004

How familial risk will be categorised
Population risk: All women have a one-in-10 risk of breast cancer before the age of 80.

23 Jun 2004

I had a double mastectomy to save my life
It was the most difficult decision of her life and took a year to resolve.

23 Jun 2004

A $30 million ticket to the edge of space
A privately funded voyage to 62 miles above the Californian desert could revolutionise future flights from Earth.

22 Jun 2004

DNA left at crime scene will reveal skin colour
Scientists have found a way to tell the eye and skin colour of a suspect from the DNA left at the scene of a crime.

22 Jun 2004

Meet the family who built Stonehenge
Skeletons unearthed by roadworks may well be those of Welshmen who brought the stones to Salisbury Plain, writes David Derbyshire.

21 Jun 2004

A miracle of civil engineering
The creation of Stonehenge has been likened to the building of a great medieval cathedral.

21 Jun 2004

Robots to lead stem cell research
A £16.5 million robotic laboratory is to be built for turning human embryo cells into treatments, notably for diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

21 Jun 2004

Stroke turns builder into an artist who cannot rest
When an unemployed builder began recovering from a stroke, he developed a compulsion to write poetry, draw, paint and make sculptures.

21 Jun 2004

Up tiddlee up up
Those magnificent men in their flying machines are back this time for a race into space. Mike Hodgkinson reports from Mojave Airport on the eve of the launch.

20 Jun 2004

Privateers heading for final frontier
A rocket propelled by a combination of rubber and laughing gas is being readied for the first attempt to put a commercial astronaut into space.

19 Jun 2004

Food firms add more salt to children's meals
Salt levels in some children's foods have risen in the past year despite protests from the industry that it is making junk food healthier.

19 Jun 2004

Prostate cancer vaccine on trial
An experimental vaccine, which has extended the survival of patients with advanced prostate cancer, is to be used in a trial on up to 660 men.

18 Jun 2004

Nasa comet chaser finds 'footprints' 2bn miles away
Giant "footprints" measuring about a mile from heel to toe have been found on a comet.

18 Jun 2004

Test to show how long women can delay having a baby
A test that shows how fast a woman's biological clock is ticking and how long she has left to start a family has been developed by British researchers.

17 Jun 2004

Scientists await green light to clone human embryos
British researchers have made the first application in Europe to clone human embryos to develop a new diabetes treatment.

17 Jun 2004

Why are they so popular?
Random copying explains why some cars, dogs and pop singers are fashionable – and why Apple could become a popular name. Roger Highfield reports.

16 Jun 2004

Mathematical junk
David Derbyshire says no product or activity is too trivial for the crazy formulae for column inches.

16 Jun 2004

How to bend it like ZZ with science, a hole in the wall and a good night's sleep
The awesome Zinedine Zidane free kick that marked the beginning of the end for England in their opening match of Euro 2004 has been studied by scientists.

15 Jun 2004

Bryson's scientific journey wins award
Bill Bryson, the American travel writer and humourist, has become the unlikely winner of an award for science writing.

15 Jun 2004

Of mites and men: facts about nearly everything
A Short History of Nearly Everything is an amiable mix of historical anecdotes, adept summarisation, gleeful recounts of the eccentricities of great scientists and gee-whiz facts.

15 Jun 2004

Meteorite crashes in for breakfast
Sunday breakfast in a family home in suburban Auckland, New Zealand, was delayed when a meteorite crashed through the living-room ceiling.

14 Jun 2004

Learning new language helps reduce brain decay
Learning a foreign language can help protect the brain against the ravages of ageing, according to a new study.

14 Jun 2004

Scientists are serious about having a laugh
Scientists have developed what they claim is the mathematical formula for the perfect joke.

13 Jun 2004

Rico, the collie that can understand 200 words
Scientists have proved what dog owners have known for centuries: their pets really can understand what they say.

11 Jun 2004

Boy whose brain keeps telling him he's still hungry
The last question Josh Bowler asks before going to bed is: "What's for breakfast?" The first he asks when he wakes up is: "What's for tea?"

10 Jun 2004

Warning of 'epidemic' . . . what the MPs said in their report
Dr Sheila McKenzie, a consultant at the Royal London Hospital, offered a powerful insight into the crisis posed to the nation's health.

10 Jun 2004

How an obese girl's death became a political issue
The revelation that a severely obese three-year-old girl died from heart failure made headlines around the world but it did not reveal that the girl had a rare genetic disease that led to dangerous weight gain.

10 Jun 2004

MPs 'got it wrong on obese child'
A committee of MPs has been accused of inappropriately using the death of an overweight three-year-old girl to draw attention to a report on childhood obesity.

10 Jun 2004

Britain captivated by Venus's heavenly body
Under sweltering blue skies, most of Britain has had a perfect view of one of the rarest events of the astronomical calendar - the transit of Venus.

09 Jun 2004

Health alert after cow killed by mystery virus
An investigation into the implications for human health of a mysterious neurological disease which killed a Cumbrian cow, and may be linked to another 21 cattle deaths, has been launched by the Health Protection Agency.

09 Jun 2004

Rising stars of science
Young researchers set their sights on the top prize, writes Roger Highfield.

09 Jun 2004

A farm full of clones
The Roslin Institute, home of Dolly the sheep, is turning its attention to humans. Roger Highfield reports.

09 Jun 2004

Rich outlive poor by eight years despite Labour's promises
There is little evidence that the Government's efforts to reduce health inequalities between rich and poor are having much impact, according to a senior advisor.

08 Jun 2004

Once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon carries health warning
One of the rarest events in the astronomical calendar will be visible across Britain when Venus passes in front of the Sun.

07 Jun 2004

Space traveller swoops on the mystery planet
Thousands of years after our ancestors first noticed Saturn moving slowly across the night skies, mankind is about to get its first detailed look at the most beautiful and mysterious of all the planets.

04 Jun 2004

Space is the final frontier for cheap flights
Plans to launch a new era of space exploration with the first privately-funded manned space flight have been announced.

03 Jun 2004

Alert over bacteria in dried baby foods
Dried baby foods and infant formula contain disturbing levels of potentially harmful bacteria - including one linked to childhood meningitis - a survey has found.

03 Jun 2004

Could red wine help us keep fit and thin at 120?
The day when people can eat their favourite foods, stay thin and live to be 120 without getting diabetes or cancer may be nearer than many realise, according to a study published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

03 Jun 2004

Smoking turns saliva into 'cancer cocktail'
Smoking converts healthy saliva into a deadly chemical cocktail that increases the risk of mouth cancer, according to new research.

02 Jun 2004

Old wrinkle face reveals how the continents parted
A wrinkly faced, meat-eating dinosaur discovered in Africa has given scientists new clues about the creation of the world's continents.

02 Jun 2004

Love really is blind...
Neuroscience can at last explain why we can't see faults in our partners or children. Raj Persaud reports.

02 Jun 2004

Fat children 'suffer more from air pollution'
Obese children are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of air pollution than their slimmer classmates, according to a study.

01 Jun 2004