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The Food Standards Agency is calling for volunteers to help test claims that the artificial sweetener aspartame, used in more than 4,000 products, causes illnessesThe Food Standards Agency is launching an investigation into the artificial sweetener aspartame amid claims that some people experience side-effects after consuming the substance.Scientists funded by the agency will test whether certain people develop a range of illnesses after eating food prepared with the sweetener.Aspartame is around 200 times sweeter than sugar and is used in more than 4,000 products, including diet drinks, cereal bars, yogurt and chewing gum. Previous reviews by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the European Food Safety Authority have concluded that aspartame is safe, but some people complain they develop headaches, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhoea and fatigue after eating food containing the chemical.Researchers led by Professor Stephen Atkin, head of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at the Hull Y

[NEWS] The organs of the inner ear have a direct effect on brain blood flow, independent of blood pressure and CO2 levels in the blood. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience used a series of human centrifuge experiments to investigate the effects of stimulation of the otoliths and semi-circular canals on cerebrovascular response. Dr. Jorge Serrador, from Harvard Medical School, worked with a team of researchers, including NASA scientists, to carry out the te…

The Food Standards Agency is calling for volunteers to help test claims that the artificial sweetener aspartame, used in more than 4,000 products, causes illnessesThe Food Standards Agency is launching an investigation into the artificial sweetener aspartame amid claims that some people experience side-effects after consuming the substance.Scientists funded by the agency will test whether certain people develop a range of illnesses after eating food prepared with the sweetener.Aspartame is around 200 times sweeter than sugar and is used in more than 4,000 products, including diet drinks, cereal bars, yogurt and chewing gum. Previous reviews by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the European Food Safety Authority have concluded that aspartame is safe, but some people complain they develop headaches, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhoea and fatigue after eating food containing the chemical.Researchers led by Professor Stephen Atkin, head of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at the Hull Y

Clouds come in countless shapes, from fluffy cotton candy to wispy lines that streak across the sky, but they are all formed from one simple ingredient--water vapor. In an experiment conducted September 19, scientists created the first artificial, high-atmosphere noctilucent cloud . But rather than water , the cloud formed from dust particles spewed out of a rocket. [More]

Today's stories on newscientist.com, at a glance - including how alcohol could save you from an even sorer head, music for the gods and why on earth you should be interested in naked mole rats

Scientists at a research institute in Austria are trying to figure out how life might evolve under different biochemistry conditions and with exotic solvents than what would exist on a world similar to Earth - think sulphuric acid instead of water.

Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have uncovered what happens to biomimetic nanoparticles when they enter human cells. They found that the important proteins that make up the outer layer of these nanoparticles are degraded by an enzyme called cathepsin L. Scientists now have to take this phenomenon into account and overcome this process to ensure the exciting field of nanomedicine can progress. The research is published today (22 September) in ACS Nano.

To hunt for the 'ninjas' of the cosmos -- dim objects that lurk in the vast dark spaces between planets and stars -- scientists are building by far the most sensitive set of wide-angle infrared goggles ever, a space telescope called the Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE).

By merging more than a decade of atmospheric data from European satellites, scientists have compiled a homogeneous long-term ozone record that allows them to monitor total ozone trends on a global scale -- and the findings look promising.

In a believed world-first, New Zealand scientists have scanned the entire cow genome for DNA methylation.