ByRachelCourtlandAPLANET-sizedversionofanelectrictoastercouldexplainwhysomeexoplanetsgetsolarge.ArelatedphenomenoncouldberesponsibleforkeepingincheckthegustingwindsthatformthestripesofJupiter.Morethan
ByDavidShigainHoustonNASA’sSpiritrovershouldbeabletowrigglefreeofitssandytraponMarsafterall
ByLindaGeddesRAREsnippetsofgeneticmateriallockedinsidefragmentsofboneandteethcanhelpidentifypeoplewhodieatwarorsea
ByColinBarras(Image:AquamarinePower)(Image:AquamarinePower)(Image:
Gallery:GreenergadgetdesignsAugmented-realityshopping
THISisthemoment
ByKateRaviliousCOULDtheselinesetchedinto60
ByMichaelMarshallZoologgerisourweeklycolumnhighlightingextraordinaryanimals–andoccasionallyotherorganisms–fromaroundtheworld.Species:BirguslatroHabitat:CoastalforestsofislandsintheIndianandPacif
ITWORKSforcrops.Nowacommonorganicpesticidecouldcurehundredsofmillionsofpeopleofintestinalworms
EVENifweknewprecisedetailsofEarth’score
ByAndyCoghlanGrowingcellsinstarandflower-shapedmouldsmaysoundfrivolous.Butthisdifferenceisenoughtodictatewhetherhumancellsbecomefatorbone.It’sthefirsttimegeometryalonehasbeenshowntoshapeacell’sfate
ByJamesO'Donoghue(Image:JeffWilson/PLoS)Eitherway
ByAndyCoghlanIftheshipissinking
ByWendyZukerman(Image:SeanStankowski)Inhumansasinotheranimals
BELEAGUEREDclimatescientistPhilJoneswasquestionedbyaBritishparliamentarycommitteethisweek
ByEwenCallawayAchemicalproducedduringsexandlinkedtoaddictionhasbeenvisualisedinascannerasitwashesacrossrats’brains.Thefeatmeansthatfunctionalmagneticresonanceimaging(fMRI)
YOURcellphoneneedneveragainrunoutofjuicewhileyou’reonthego.SosaysNokiaofFinland
ByPhilMcKenna(Image:IntelligentInformationLaboratory)Eventhemostconscientiouslycraftednewsstorycanleaveoutinformationthatmighthavechangedyouropinion.Somemayevendosodeliberately.Aprototypewebservice
ByPaulMarksGallery:BuildyourownspacestationNASAisplanningtoinvestigatemakinginflatablespace-stationmodulestomakeroomier
ByAriaPearsonMind-readingispowerfulstuff
ByAndyCoghlanBedbugs
EMAILoverloadneednotbesounmanageable
ByMacGregorCampbellHowdofliesrightthemselvessoswiftlyafterbeingbattedawaymid-flight?Experimentsonfruitfliessuggesttheirstabilisationsystemsaresimilartothegyroscopesofearlyaeroplanes.Fliesareknownto
ByFredPearceBeleagueredclimatescientistPhilJonesfromtheClimaticResearchUnitoftheUniversityofEastAngliainNorwich
ByEwenCallawayWHYcan’tteacherskeepasecret?Becausetheirpupilsgivethemaway.Itturnsoutthatwhenpeoplemakedecisions
ByJacobAronEARLYlifehadgoodluck.Theoddsofalivingorganismspontaneouslyforminginaseaofmoleculesseemimpossiblylow
PUTthesqueezeonaceramicmugandyou’llcrushittopowder.Butultra-tinyceramicscaffoldshavenowbeenmadethatbouncebackunderpressure.Suchmaterialscanbesolightthattheyapproachthedensityofair.Brittlematerialslike
(Image:QilaiShen/Panos)CHINAishavingaclean-up.Theworld’slargestconsumerofcoalhasannouncedradicalrestrictionsontheimportinganduseofthestuff
YOU’VEbeenbuyingcontraband.Thecommercialplantationsandfoodcompaniesthatfilloursupermarketsaretheworstoffenderswhenitcomestoillegallycuttingdownrainforest.Commercialagricultureisresponsibleformorethan7
ByBobHolmes(Image:SuziEszterhas/MindenPictures)THERE’Ssomethingprimalinamother’sresponsetoacryinginfant.Soprimal
ByAndyCoghlan(Image:TaneSinclair-Taylor)ItlookslikePixargotithalfright.Clownfishreallydomakeepicjourneysofhundredsofkilometres
ByJacobAronAnewkindoflaserthatpowersupbyfreezinglightinitstrackscouldleadtocomputersthatrunonphotonsinsteadofelectrons.Researchersalreadyhavewaystoslowlightdownandevenstopitcompletelyforaslongasaminut
WHENitcomestocomets
ByPaulMarks(Image:UniversityofWashington)Adevicethatharvestselectricityfromtinychangesinairtemperaturecouldpowerthesensorsofthefuture.ChenZhaoandcolleaguesattheUniversityofWashingtoninSeattlefilleda
ANEWkindoflaserthatpowersupbyfreezinglightinitstrackscouldleadtocomputersthatrunonphotons
DREADgoingforasmeartest?Asimpleurinetestcanpickupthehumanpapillomavirus(HPV)thatcancausecervicalcancer.Althoughit’snotasaccurateassamplingviralDNAfromthecervixitself
LET’Shopeitwasworththewait.AwomaninJapanhasreceivedthefirstmedicaltreatmentbasedoninducedpluripotentstemcells
ByPaulMarks(Image:TheAsahiShimbunviaGettyImages)ITLOOKSlikeawrist-sizediPhonewithanold-fashionedwinder.ButApplereckonsitsfirstsmartwatch
ITATEwholesharksandhadfeetlikepaddles.Spinosaurus
BOOSTEDbrainactivitymayexplainwhysomepeoplewhohavethebrainplaquesassociatedwithAlzheimer’sdiseaseshownosymptoms.WilliamJagustattheUniversityofCalifornia
ByClareWilsonSHOULDthe“languagegene”berenamedthe“learninggene”?TheFOXP2geneisthoughttohaveplayedaroleintheevolutionofthehumanbrainandthedevelopmentoflanguage.Itwasdiscoveredinthe1990sinaBritishfamil
ByAvivaRutkin(Image:Stringer/Russia/Reuters/Corbis)TROUBLEbelowmaynotmeantroubleabove.WhileRussia’srelationshipwiththerestoftheworldhasbeenrockysinceitannexedCrimeafromUkraineinthespring
THEactoffrackingisprobablynotcontaminatingUSdrinkingwater–therealproblemisleakywellsdrilledtobringthegasthesurface.Orsonewresearchsuggests.Frackingusespressurisedfluidtocrackshalerocks
ByAvivaRutkin(Image:MarmadukeStJohn/Alamy)DEEPintheheartofTexas
ByFredPearceISITtoogoodtobetrue?Thisweekeconomistslaidoutanaudaciousargumentfortransformingtheworld’seconomytoalow-carbonone.Itisworthdoingregardlessofclimatechange
ByMichaelMarshall(Image:AlexWild/Corbis)Species:MyrmeciapyriformisandDelenacanceridesHabitat:thedryforestsofeasternAustralia
ByHalHodson(Image:TsinghuaUniversity(China)/IllinoisInstituteofTechnology(USA))GETreadytoconnectwithaglance.Researchershavebuiltawearable
ByHalHodson(Image:Precisionhawk.com)INMAY
ByAndyCoghlan(Image:HenkBadenhorst/Getty)Theremaynotbealet-upafterall.Thehumanpopulationisunlikelytostopgrowingthiscenturyasexpected
(Image:UniversityofWashington)HarvestenergyfromthinairAdevicethatharvestselectricityfromtinychangesinairtemperaturecouldpowerthesensorsofthefuture.ChenZhaoandcolleaguesattheUniversityofWashingtoninS
MarkSchiefelbein/AP/REX/ShutterstockByAliceKleinandMichaelLePageAWOMANinChinahasgivenbirthtotwogeneticallyeditedgirls