Darwin comes out fighting
In the US, intelligent design (ID), the creationist alternative to natural selection, became a significant political force but suffered a setback in a courtroom in small-town Dover, Pennsylvania, in November. The school board's decision to read students a statement promoting ID was challenged by parents. Judge John Jones backed them, dismissing ID as "creationism, and not a scientific theory."
Climate reaches tipping point
Scientists in Southampton, England, uncovered first evidence that the offshoot of the Gulf stream which gives the north western fringe of Europe its balmy climate is slowing down; sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is now 80% of what it was when Nasa first took pictures from satellites in 1978; the permafrost beneath Siberian peatlands appears to have reached a "tipping point" which could release billions of tonnes of methane; and it seems 2005 might just pip 1998 as the hottest year on record.
Singing mice -- and wearing red helps you win
Tim Holy and Zhongsheng Guo at Washington University School of Medicine in Missouri discovered that mice construct complex songs and sing them when they come across sex pheromones. British scientists found that, all else being equal, putting on a red shirt means you are more likely to win a football game.
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