Understanding water, dying stars, and genetically modified mosquitoes
Chemistry, Biology, Physics: Three scientists talk through big recent developments in their fields.
Science & Technology
Chinese medicine should not be available on the NHS
Thousands of studies have shown acupuncture to be little more than a placebo, and herbal remedies have been barely tested. There is no case for public funding, argues David Colquhoun
British Medical Journal comes out in support of Assisted Dying legislation
Support from leading voice in academic medicine is significant in campaign for reform
The dark side of our universe
It is sobering to think that our telescopes can observe only a tiny fraction of the cosmos, writes Marcus Chown
How Turkey’s Twitter ban backfired
How do you police the internet? It’s a question that most governments are confronting in one way or another, from America’s mass surveillance programme, to Britain’s sentences for Twitter trolls,…
In pursuit of happiness
A policy revolution is under way to improve our well-being. Are its motives genuine? Niki Seth-Smith reports
How Cosmos moved us all to tears
Neil deGrasse Tyson's remake of Carl Sagan's classic series is worthy of the hype – it even introduced my six-year-old to the vastness of the universe, says Dale DeBakcsy
What on earth is mindfulness?
Cheap and easy to deliver, a new mental health treatment is all the rage. But should we be asking tougher questions about its effectiveness?
Growing up in the Sagan household
Chris Stedman, Assistant Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and author of the book Faitheist, has a lovely interview on his blog with Nick Sagan, son of Carl and his second…
How farming gave us the iPhone
We live in an age of relentless innovation – and it's all because our ancestors started planting crops, says Marcus Chown