Is the Royal Institution worth saving?
There is a groundswell of support for the campaign to save the London's venerable science institution. But, asks Adam Smith, beyond the emotion is there good evidence that it's worth…
Science & Technology
Where am I? What is this place?
You're reading the first post on the all-new RA Blog. Editor Caspar Melville explains what you'll be finding here
Masters of the universe
At the heart of galaxies lie supermassive black holes, which, according to a new theory, might hold the key to life itself. Marcus Chown and Caleb Scharf look beyond the…
Bad Moon rising
Earth’s satellite may have begun life as its parent planet’s stalker, says Marcus Chown
Circle in a spiral
Saturn’s rings stumped the most famous astronomer of them all, but not Marcus Chown
How Darwin took on Intelligent Design
The argument from design is often thought of as the most modern of objections to evolution. But Charles Darwin anticipated right from the start, says James Randerson
A sense of scale
Caspar Henderson marvels at airborne beasts great, small and microscopic
Big ask
Science, many argue, can answer the ‘how’ questions but can’t tell us anything about the ‘why’. Nonsense, says Michael Brooks
Hurricane Sandy and the allure of Armageddon
The storm that battered America's East Coast showed that forecasts of extreme weather need to be taken seriously. But the media's love of apocalyptic prophecy makes trusting the warnings difficult,…
Book review: Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre
In his new book, the Bad Science author Ben Goldacre takes on the faulty practices of the pharmaceutical industry. Is it a battle he can win? asks Martin Robbins