Most recent columns

• What toys can tell us - Premium content

  Sometimes all you need to do scientific research is string, sealing wax and a bit of imagination, says Philip Ball.

  5 October 2009

• When does punishment work? - Premium content

  The outcome of games designed to tell us how we behave may depend on who 'we' are. Economists and evolutionary biologists should take note, says Philip Ball.

  28 September 2009

• Artificial babies are so last century - Premium content

  The best way to understand the recent fuss about 'artificial sperm' and the 'end of men' is to consider old versions of the same debate, says Philip Ball.

  31 July 2009

• How much reason do you want? - Premium content

  The 'war' between science and religion is stuck in a rut. Can we change the record now, asks Philip Ball?

  14 May 2009

• A circular argument? - Premium content

  A proposal for spotting extraterrestrials resurrects an old idea linking light and life, says Philip Ball.

  24 April 2009

• Physics by numbers - Premium content

  A suggestion that the discovery of physical laws can be automated raises questions about what it means to do science, says Philip Ball.

  2 April 2009

• There's more to life than sequences - Premium content

  The shape of DNA can play a crucial role in genetics, says Philip Ball.

  12 March 2009

• Who should bear the carbon cost of exports? - Premium content

  China has become the world's biggest carbon emitter partly because of its exports. So whose responsibility is that, asks Philip Ball?

  6 March 2009

• What does it all mean? - Premium content

  Science depends on clear terms and definitions — but the world doesn't always oblige, says Philip Ball.

  2 March 2009

• Friends dis-united? - Premium content

  Models of behaviour are often simplistic but can guard against false assumptions.

  23 January 2009