The start of the Universe may have been more like water freezing into ice than the popular conception of a Big Bang, say theoretical physicists from the University of Melbourne and RMIT University. They have a new hypothesis (conjecture?) which suggests that the secret to understanding the early universe is in the cracks and crevices common to all crystals, including ice.

Lead researcher on the project James Quach said their current ideas are the latest in a long quest by humans to understand the origins and nature of the Universe.

British women no longer feel inferior next to sassy siren Spaniards or chic French women. They are taller - in heels, anyway. Brits sport a towering 3.3 inch heel on average.

 3,792 women across five European countries (France, Germany, Spain, Denmark and the UK) were questioned in a survey by footcare company COMPEED.  Spanish women were second at an average 3.2 inches, the Danish were at 3, Germans at 2.7 and French women at 2.4 inches. 25% of British women said that they often wear heels over 4 inches and 3% are adding on 6 inches of height. 

The forests of the coastal regions from California to British Columbia are known for unique and ancient animals and plants, like redwoods, tailed frogs, mountain beavers and even folk tales of the legendary Bigfoot (also known as Sasquatch).

Now it has something else.  Citizen scientists from the Western Cave Conservancy and arachnologists from the California Academy of Sciences have reported a newly discovered spider. named Trogloraptor ("cave robber") for its cave home and spectacular, elongate claws.  The only thing missing is evidence of it feasting on Orc flesh.

Too hot to grill outside?  Too cold?  Stuck in a New York City Restaurant?  

Here is how you pan fry a steak.  Put a bunch of salt and pepper on it, some butter too.  Heat an oven to 450 degrees.  Iron skillet too, as hot as you can get it on a stove. Once both are hot, throw the steak in there and disabled the smoke alarm. Cook it for two minutes or so, then flip it over, take it off the stove and stick the whole thing in the oven for maybe 6 minutes.  

Result; a delicious pan-friend steak as good as anything as you will get in a restaurant; and up to a 40% increased risk of prostate cancer, according to a new study in Carcinogenesis which, you can tell by the name, is a pretty scary magazine.

The latest literature suggests that brain activity patterns change at an early stage in Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, there is reason to believe that, instead of being the consequence of structural damage, they might be the cause.

In the 'we must do something even if it does not work' department, it isn't always permanent; vapor recovery mandates for new gas stations in Pennsylvania are quietly dying. The Department of Environmental Protection today announced it will not enforce a requirement for new gas stations to install costly vapor recovery systems.

It's still the law, current regulations require facilities in southeast and southwest Pennsylvania to maintain vapor recovery systems, which are attached to gas pump nozzles to siphon off fumes while pumping gasoline, but they are not going to endorse it. A notice regarding the issue was submitted for publication in this week's Pennsylvania Bulletin.