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The high-energy physics community has grand plans to probe deeper into the structure of matter and space-time. The proposal for a multinational linear collider merits strong support.
Don Catlin's lab has struck a major blow against drug abuse in athletics, by developing a test for a shadowy 'designer steroid'. Jonathan Knight visits the scientists who are striving to keep sport clean.
Growing numbers of amateurs are getting serious about astronomy. The professionals applaud their enthusiasm and success in collecting data and building telescopes — as long as they don't start competing with them for funding. Geoff Brumfiel joins the graveyard shift.
For years, a unicellular creature called Giardia has occupied a special place in biology because it was thought to lack mitochondria. But it does have them — though tiny, they pack a surprising anaerobic punch.
The versatility of the branched macromolecules known as dendrimers is being exploited in various ways — explosively so, in the context of their application as potential drug-delivery systems.
Hepatitis C virus causes severe liver disease. Initial trials of a newly developed agent that prevents the virus reproducing itself look promising. But what are the future prospects for this treatment?
How do things break? The fracture of materials is part of our everyday experience, and yet the process is not well understood. A study of crack propagation at microscopic scales shows the devil in the details.
Embryos have two distinct ends, which become apparent early on. Quite how this initial polarity is sustained in plant embryos has been unclear. Step forward the agent provocateur of plant development — auxin.
The electrical properties of silver chalcogenides are unusually affected by magnetic fields. A simulation suggests how this might arise from tiny imperfections and could facilitate the design of new materials.
Europe is pushing to get more women scientists into industry and academia, but can the commission legislate for gender equality? Sally Goodman investigates.
