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Newton's constant, G, which governs the strength of the gravitational attraction between two masses, is difficult to measure accurately. A new set of experiments aims to end 200 years of uncertainty.
Did the Universe really start in a hot Big Bang? New measurements of the temperature of the Universe when it was young provide exciting confirmation that it was indeed hotter in the past.
In social situations, opportunities arise for some individuals to take advantage of others. This happens in wild populations of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum.
In one model of the brain, a central processing region is sandwiched between separate input and output areas. But studies of humans, and now monkeys, hint that this model may be too simplistic.
A way to control magnetism in semiconductors using an external electric field has been shown for the first time. This long-awaited result could lead to new types of information-storage devices.
Why, since around 1960, have winters in northern Europe tended to become milder and wetter? The meteorological conditions responsible came under discussion at a meeting last month.
Materials that conduct ions are useful in devices involving electrochemical reactions, such as fuel cells and batteries. Low ionic conductivity was a problem for these materials until researchers built nanoscale versions.
Trials in mice of a possible vaccine for Alzheimer's disease show that it reduces the behavioural defects and the brain damage seen in the disease. As promising as these results are, a human vaccine remains a long way off.
New evidence suggests that RNA splicing, the removal of non-coding parts of a messenger RNA, is catalysed by an RNA component of the splicing machinery. This component binds a crucial metal ion.
The sequencing of an entire plant genome is now complete. The information it contains provides an unparalleled resource for understanding the evolution of flowering plants and the genetics of crop plants.
Some neat transgenic experiments show how the evolution of the vertebrate head stemmed, at least in part, from elaboration of controls on pre-existing genetic machinery.
A complete description of the structure of simple liquids is missing from our understanding of matter. But new observations show that liquids contain many configurations with five-fold symmetry.
Some of the simplest questions are the hardest to answer. Why flags flap is a long-standing puzzle that becomes easier to solve in a two-dimensional world.
