Henrietta Lacks and the fight for genetic justice
The cells of Henrietta Lacks were harvested without her consent and have proved vital to medical research. Now her family is suing.
Science & Technology
Deep fakes: the new front in the disinformation wars
New programs are being developed to identify and combat the rise of synthetic video, but this growing threat cannot be confronted with technology alone.
How do we warn future generations about our toxic waste?
With nuclear energy increasingly in favour again, saving our planet may depend on communicating with people 10,000 years from now.
Explosions of brilliant light
What will the most expensive telescope ever built tell us about the origins of the universe?
Revelations in the genomes
Two decades ago it cost $1 billion to sequence a single genome. With the price now slashed, are we closer to understanding our genes?
The tiny bears asleep on the moon
Tardigrades, micro-organisms that can survive extreme conditions, could hold the key to prolonging the shelf-life of protein-based therapeutics.
Will plasma jets one day power deep space travel?
Faster speed of travel is required for humans to explore deep space. Rockets propelled by plasma might be the answer.
Tree-planting cools the climate, but the strategy has limits
Farmers in the UK are being paid to plant trees. But away from the hype, concerns about the impact of afforestation are growing.
The cult of pi
Pi has fascinated mathematicians for millennia. Today, finding a record number of digits of pi has become something of a sport.
How to build an animal
DNA provides the blueprint for our bodies, but how are we actually constructed? And what happens when it all goes wrong?