Each week SPL produces news and feature stories covering the latest developments in science, medicine and technology. The stories comprise an easy-to-read article written by a professional science writer together with a selection of relevant pictures. To receive news and updates on the most recent feature stories, please email us features@sciencephoto.com T-Rex Makeover Old and worn dinosaur exhibits come to Phil Fraley and his team at Phil Fraley Productions for a complete makeover. Piece by piece, each fossil bone is taken apart, cleaned, repaired and re-assembled onto a nice new metal support frame. In most cases, the specimens were originally assembled over a hundred years ago in out-dated postures that require modernising. Pterosaurs They were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight, and they ruled the skies for 160 million years. From the Jurassic to the Cretaceous, they were the only large flying creatures on the planet. In fact, one of them was the largest creature ever to have flown on Earth. They were the pterosaurs, strange tailless reptiles with long beaks and wingspans of up to 12 metres. Also known as pterodactyls and pteranodons, their fossilised remains have fascinated scientists and the public alike for centuries, featuring in books and films like The Lost World and Jurassic Park. Beyond Endurance: Training With The Danish Special Forces It is minus 25 degrees C, but with the chill in the frigid north wind, it is probably nearer minus 35 degrees C, twice as cold as the inside of a domestic freezer. The sun has already made its very brief appearance for the day, and has disappeared behind a mountain. This is a warm day in northeast Greenland in winter, and it’s time for a swim. After a week’s intensive survival training, seven young men are about to be tested ‘beyond the limits of their endurance’ in the Danish Special Forces SIRIUS patrol’s survival week. They will be deprived of food, shelter, sleeping bags, warm clothing, and pushed to the limit. Survival week simulates all of the worst things that can happen to anyone in this hostile wilderness, barring a polar bear attack, and that adds up to a lot of very bad things. The seven will get to know hunger, thirst, extreme cold, exhaustion and disorientation, probably for the first time in their lives, but the idea is that the experience will both psychologically strengthen them and prepare them for a very unusual job. The chosen five who make it will join an elite squad of the Royal Danish Navy, comprising 12 men and 90 Greenlandic sled dogs, who patrol a wilderness area 10,000 square kilometres in size for 26 months at a stretch, with only a one week break for rest and recovery. Memetic Fauna You can't see them, but they are all around you. As you cross the road, a car comes too close, and you feel a brief flash of fear. That tune in your head: it's familiar. You've heard it before, but when? Then, as you pass an advertising hoarding, you catch a glimpse of a face, instantly recognisable over several continents. What you are experiencing are 'memes' - units of cultural information that are transmitted throughout the world you live in. Fear of a car? That came to you when you were young, passed to you from your father when you rashly ran into the road. The tune in your head? That came from a YouTube video you watched a week ago. And the familiar face on the hoarding? That was a set of memes devised by advertisers so that you associate someone who is attractive and successful with their product. Tomb Of Queen Nefertari In her life, she was heralded as the most beautiful woman in the world. Queen Nefertari was the first wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. When she died, Nefertari was buried in the most beautifully ornate tomb in the whole of ancient Egypt. 3,000 years later, the tomb was rediscovered by archaeologists, who were stunned by the interior paintings. Sadly, the tomb is now closed to the general public, but French photographer, Patrick Landmann, was offered a very rare opportunity to capture the tomb on film.