Scientists and engineers can experience life in the heart of the newsroom by applying for a British Science Association 2012 Media Fellowship.

A former Vice-President and Honorary Treasurer of IOM3 has had a special edition of a journal dedicated to him on his retirement.

The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers are accepting applications for their 2012 Venture Prize. The Royal Society are also accepting nominations for a range of awards.

Laws on the sale of scrap metal in the UK are likely to be changed in order to combat metal theft. Sellers could be made to provide dealers with proof of identity and there may even be a ban on cash payments.

Two physicists have been knighted for their work in developing graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon that is stronger than steel.

The deadline for nominations for the Institute of Physics Awards 2012 is 13 January.

The ability of small businesses to borrow money is a key to economic growth, particularly in manufacturing and engineering. Government plans are in place to increase lending to businesses, but it is being questioned whether greater credit availability is actually allowing companies to borrow more.

Winners of the IOM3 2011 Special and Publication Awards were presented with their medals and prizes at an Awards Lunch at the Institute's London office

Delegates at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London, UK, debated whether we should be concerned about the future global supply of strategic materials. 

Cambridge University has released a diagram that illustrates the consumption of raw materials by people in the UK, using the number of people that could be sculpted from a material to demonstrate how much we all use each year.