ORDER #1: SOUNDING OFF AT THE MOVIES
Ever had your evening at the cinema ruined by a deafening soundtrack? Now Dolby Laboratories, the American company that developed super-loud sound for movie theaters, is turning to industrial methods of measuring noise in a bid to stop audiences from walking out and prevent sound engineers from damaging their hearing. Page 12
ORDER #2: WET, WET, DRY . . .
Floating doorsteps could have saved millions of homes in central Europe from being flooded during the past fortnight. The new sandbag alternative has been patented by an independent inventor based in Herefordshire. Page 8
ORDER #3: AIR BAGS FOR CHOPPERS
Two simple flotation devices could help to save the lives of oil workers by preventing helicopters that go down in the North Sea from capsizing. Page 5
ORDER #4: MOON-BASED VOLCANOES TURN UP THE HEAT
The hottest volcanoes in the Solar System lie on Io, Jupiter's innermost large moon, scientists announced last week. And the Galileo spacecraft's latest images could help researchers to explain why one of Io's most active volcanoes, Prometheus, appears to have shuffled about 80 kilometres across the moon's surface in the past two decades. Page 6-7
ORDER #5: EAT YOUR CHARCOAL, SON
A species of African monkey has added charcoal to its diet, apparently to help it overcome the chemical defences of the plants it eats. The monkeys can now tolerate a wider range of plants and, as a result, their population has soared. Page 7
ORDER #6: DUCKS FLOCK TO ROBO-SHEEP DOG TRAIL
Researchers are gearing up for the first attempt ever to herd a flock of ducks - with a robot. They have chosen ducks because they react very much like sheep, but move more slowly. Page 12
ORDER #7: REQUIEM FOR THE SOUL
Scientists have developed a computer code that can write music in the style of famous musicians. It has already written "Mozart's 42nd" symphony and is now composing the posthumous works of other artists. Pages 22-27
ORDER #8: AND NOW THE TV FORECAST. . .
Future generations of digital televisions will suffer from a whole new set of weather related problems, say scientists. Pages 28-30
ORDER #9: EARLY BIRDS MAKE THE MOST OF GLOBAL WARMING
Some birds have been laying their eggs earlier each year since 1971, and orthinologists say global warming is the most likely cause. Page 15
ORDER #10: BAD SPORT
Gamekeepers on half of Scotland's grouse moors may be breaking the law by killing rare birds of prey or preventing them from breeding, says a new study from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Page 15
ORDER #11 THE PEOPLE'S FOSSILS
Chinese palaeontologists have stumbled upon the link between birds and dinosaurs and, at the same time, uncovered one of the most important palaeontological sites in the world. Pages 32-35
ORDER #12: CALCULATED GAMBLING
Last month, the investment banking branch of NatWest Bank lost L77 million in trades that went wrong. New Scientist explores the peculiar world of derivatives traders and the complex equations that rule everything they do. Pages 36-40
- ENDS -
For fax copies of full stories or to arrange an interview, please contact Barbara Thurlow at [email protected] or on 202 452 1178. In Europe please contact Lucy Banwell, IPC Press Office Tel: (0171) 261 6415 or e-mail: [email protected] New Scientist is the recipient of over 23 major awards, including the 1996 UTNE Reader's Alternative Press Award in the "Emerging Issues" category. New Scientist Planet Science provides Internet users with news, features, reviews and comment drawn weekly from the pages of New Scientist magazine, as well as extra material exclusive to the web site. The site can be found at http://www.newscientist.com
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