Children with rare genetic conditions may be more quickly diagnosed as a result of a computer programme which scans the shape of their faces. Professor Hammond has created software which compares a 3D picture of the child's face with other faces, to see which abnormal face it fits most closely.

Researchers are getting to grips with our reading difficulties by tracking exactly what our eyes do while we read. They are finding out about the way our eyes move when we read normally. This will help them pinpoint what's going wrong in cases of, for example, ambiguous meaning.

Climate change and other catastrophes may affect the islands of life on the ocean floor, according to Dr Jon Copley of the University of Southampton. Dr Copley and his team have studied the sex-lives of the shrimp at one of the cold seeps in the Gulf of Mexico. They have discovered that their reproduction follows the seasonal cycles of the sunlit world above.

Psychologists have discovered that boys with autism make more eye contact with other people than had previously been thought. The research suggests that the boys' social difficulties may result from some more general impairment.

Basic flaws in animal experiments "results in bias which overstates how effective stroke drugs really are," said Dr Malcolm Macleod, stroke physician at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, at the BA festival of Science.

First there was the internet. Now there is the Grid, the world's largest network of computers. The Grid connects computers across the world to create a giant supercomputer. This can be accessed from anywhere on the planet at any time.

The development of new techniques to study song learning in birds could provide scientists with an insight to how and why humans develop speech disorders such as stuttering, the BA Festival of Science heard on Friday.

The 2005 London bombings showed that, in an emergency, the authorities should communicate with people more and treat them as part of a group, said Dr John Drury of the University of Sussex at the BA Festival of Science in York.

A new chewing gum which is easy to remove from pavements may shortly see off the revolting hazard of old gobs of gum stuck underfoot, the BA Festival of Science heard in York.

It should soon be possible to store the digital photograph of everyone on the planet on a hard disk the size of a single compact disc, the BA Festival of Science was told on Thursday.

Quantum mechanics and supercomputing are allowing scientists to reveal new insights into the peculiar properties of water and how it contributes to life on Earth as we know it.

Having brothers and sisters affects physical development later in life.

The first light in the Universe was produced by warm dark matter, said scientists at the BA Festival of Science.

Lord Browne, President of the BA, called today for the international community to create an International Climate Agency. He was delivering his Presidential Address to the Festival of Science in York, the city in which the BA was founded in 1831.

A high-level government advisory committee has recommended that the UK should raise its game in human and robotic space exploration.

Engineers have developed computer models to simulate and test the performance of sports equipment for elite athletes.

Leading UK academics hope groundbreaking technology will improve our Olympic medal tally.

Advances in voice synthesis technology could provide terrorists with a wealth of new, more cunning weapons

Archaeological evidence of horse milking in Kazakhstan proves that domestic horses were being used as early as 3500-3100 BC

Abrupt climate change was not responsible for Neanderthal demise

The use of natural hemp has given an unexpectedly eco-friendly boost to industry

Healthcare, transport, new energy sources and sub-atomic technology: just a selection of the many posters at Perspectives.

Buckyballs may be unsafe for cosmetic use

Impossible to read a book without opening the cover? Research led by Professor Tim Wess, head of the Institute of Vision at Cardiff University, suggests that it is only a matter of time.

New evidence suggests that our earliest ancestors could walk but not run

Have Year 11 and 12 students come up with a novel cure for MRSA?

By modelling the macaques' behaviour, Dr Joanna Bryson of the University of Bath and her colleagues have been able to correct theories about how macaques interact.

Examination of Egyptian mummies has shown that animals such as cats and crocodiles were given a far more careful and expensive trip to the afterlife than previously thought.

Culture, not chemicals, accounts for addiction to chocolate, said Professor Peter Rogers of Bristol University at the BA Festival of Science on Tuesday. The idea that chocolate is "nice but naughty" implies that chocolate is a treat or a reward, a food that should be eaten with restraint.

Foetuses that produce high levels of testosterone have more autistic traits during development, said Professor Baron-Cohen from the University of Cambridge at the BA Festival of Science on Tuesday. In future, it may be possible to select foetuses based on testosterone levels. This would raise the question of whether it is right to select children on the basis of extreme 'maleness' characteristics.

A new technique which enables us to identify faces more accurately could make security systems more reliable.

A British team is developing techniques to track terrorists. By combining surveillance data, such as location, communication and economic transactions information, it is putting together what are known as "Scent trails".

Fancy a million dollars? If you are a neuroscientist, astrophysicist or nanoscientist, now is your big chance. All you have to do is win the Kavli prize, announced today at the Festival by Fred Kavli, a Norwegian-US high-tech entrepreneur who is also using his wealth to set up new research institutes and science professorships around the world.

Psychological factors can make people more likely to suffer physical illness, but cognitive behavioural therapy can help sufferers manage their condition.

Fields of grass taller than lampposts could become a new winter countryside sight as the UK tries to meet its renewable energy needs. Miscanthus grass and willow could lead the way as biomass crops for heat, electricity and transport fuels, said Dr Angela Karp from the Rothamsted Research Centre at the BA Science Festival today.

Online social networks tend to be far larger than their real-life counterparts, but online users say they have about the same number of close friends as the real-life average person. Dr Reader and his colleagues wondered whether online networks are somehow reducing the investment necessary to make new friends by lowering the perceived risk.

Lord Robert Winston has accused "blinkered" regulations of holding up his research aimed at creating transgenic organs for transplantation. He also called for more public consultation about ways of increasing the supply of organs for transplantation.