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| | | Leading Edge brings you the latest news from the world of science. Geoff Watts celebrates discoveries as soon as they're being talked about - on the internet, in coffee rooms and bars; often before they're published in journals. And he gets to grips with not just the science, but with the controversies and conversation that surround it.
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|  | | | | "If what interests you are new and exciting ideas, it's science you should be turning to. And whether it's the Human Genome Project or the origins of the Universe, Leading Edge is the place to hear about them."
Geoff Watts | | |
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This week on Leading Edge - galloping horses, brutal beetles, a virtual space station and the maths of bungee jumping.
Running away
Today, 80% of racehorses are descended from one 18th century champion. Eclipse ran and won 16 times, but what made him so fast?
Geoff Watts visits the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition to find out from veterinary scientist Alan Wilson.
Virtual reality cave
In a virtual reality room in Toronto, scientists have mocked up the International Space Station to investigate how the brain judges which way is 'up'.
The findings will not only help astronauts find their feet in space, but could also make elderly people sturdier on theirs.
Pest wars
The foreign spruce bark beetle has been damaging British forests for the past 20 years.
Dr Hugh Evans tells us why they imported a species of Belgian beetle to gang up on the bark beetle.
Maths and bungee
Mathematical engineers at the University of Nottingham have modelled what happens during a bungee jump.
But maths was the last thing on reporter Gareth Mitchell's mind when he took the plunge to see if theory matched reality.
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RELATED LINKS
Nottingham University - Bungee maths
Royal Society - Animal locomotion
Royal Society - Beetle vs beetle
York University, Toronto - Centre for Vision Research
BBC Science & Nature
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