Studies fitting chickens with prosthetic “dinosaur tails”, looking at the plausibility of fathering 888 children, and discovering the most painful bee sting points on the body are all among the latest winners of “Ig Nobel” awards.

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A Waterford woman has become the first female to take the top job at the University of Oxford in England.

Small disc-shaped pieces of tracing paper could soon be used to identify, within as little as 30 minutes, whether somebody has contracted ebola.

There is some truth to the effectiveness of old wives’ tales when it comes to serious medical issues, according to findings by a team from Detroit Medical Centre.

An experiment that proved people who think they are drunk also think they are attractive, and another that showed lost dung beetles can use the Milky Way to find their way home, were among the winners at this year’s Ig Nobel awards ceremony.

South Korean rapper PSY was welcomed to Harvard University by dozens of screaming and shouting students and fans as the Gangnam Style star participated in a conversation inside an ornate church dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in the First World War.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reaped a gain of nearly $2.3bn last year when he exercised 60 million stock options just before the online social networking leader’s initial public offering (IPO).

Americans Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley have won the Nobel economics prize for research that helps explain the market processes when doctors are assigned to hospitals, students to schools and human organs for transplant to recipients.

Ireland will seek to move Europe beyond austerity and place renewed emphasis on boosting economic growth when it assumes the presidency of the EU, Enda Kenny has said.

Lady Gaga will launch her Born This Way foundation next month.

PEOPLE with breathing difficulties may benefit from riding in a roller coaster – or at least that is what one of the winners of this year’s silliest science awards has suggested.

AN AUSTRALIAN restaurateur left holding a hefty unpaid bill when five young diners bolted used the popular social network website Facebook to track them down — and they got their just desserts.

JK Rowling has stressed the crucial importance of imagination during a speech at Harvard University’s spring commencement, saying: “We do not need magic to transform our world.”

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has raised the prospect of Irish troops serving many years in war-torn Chad.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has told an audience in the United States that it would be an "act of lunacy" for Ireland to reject the Lisbon Treaty.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will join an elite band of international statesmen today with a historical address to a Joint Session of the US Congress.

The Minister for Gaeltacht Affairs Eamon O Cuiv will promote the Irish language during a two-day trip to Boston in the US beginning today.

Rapidly rising internet star Facebook has sold a 1.6% stake to Microsoft for $240m (€168.2m), spurning a competing offer from online search giant Google.

Ben Stiller and Scarlett Johansson have been announced as the recipients of this year's Hasty Pudding awards, handed out by students at Harvard University.

The sound sets teeth on edge, makes skin crawl and sends a shiver down the spine. Just thinking about it gives some people the heebie-jeebies according to a US magazine.

THE Government is assembling a team of international nuclear-industry experts to assist in its legal battle to have Sellafield closed.

Pop star Hilary Duff has hit back at cruel students who taunted her plans to take online classes at Harvard University.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble was today accused of trying to undermine efforts to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Award winning poet Seamus Heaney wrote Beacons at Bealtaine especially to mark the historic Day of Welcomes in Dublin.

THE Ellesse Women’s Irish Open Championship entered its second day at Castleknock yesterday with Karen Nugent capturing the admiration of all during a rain interrupted day.

A new British Ambassador to Ireland has been appointed to replace Ivor Roberts who has served in the post for more than three years, it was announced today.

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has reiterated the Irish government’s "unstinting support" for the US military attacks on Afghanistan.