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Without more money for their research, antidoping scientists will continue to be beaten into second place by pharmaceutically assisted athletes. Alison Abbott reports from the front line of sport's drugs war.
Tiny airborne particles affect the Earth's climate, in part by influencing the formation of clouds. But modelling the effects of these aerosols is proving to be one of the thorniest problems in climatology, says Mark Schrope.
Stunning fossils from Liaoning province have created a boom for Chinese palaeontologists and local farmers alike. Rex Dalton reports from the wild frontier where researchers do battle with the black market.
Progress in neuroscience might be faster if researchers shared their results in a network of databases. But the technical challenges are huge, and reaching a consensus on what to archive won't be easy, says Marina Chicurel.
There has been no new treatment for tuberculosis for three decades. But there is now the potential for a radical resurgence of drug development, says Declan Butler, if the political and industrial climate stays fair.
Geneticists are set to be the winners in a chemical lottery, as a mammoth range of randomly mutated mice promises them off-the-shelf tools for defining gene function. Alison Abbott investigates.
Physicists are setting traps to catch antihydrogen, the simplest element in the mirror world of antimatter. Their results could challenge our picture of fundamental particles and forces, says Alexander Hellemans.
The functioning of terrestrial ecosystems seems to depend heavily on soil biodiversity. But what controls this diversity, and how will it fare in the global greenhouse? Jon Copley digs for some answers.
Where is it best to hunt for genes that underlie cancer and heart disease? Isolated populations such as Iceland's, or ethnic melting pots like the United States? And what are the technological challenges, asks Alison Abbott.
Evolutionary trees constructed by studying biological molecules often don't resemble those drawn up from morphology. Can the two ever be reconciled, asks Trisha Gura
If individual molecules can be made to process information, they could be the answer to the computer industry's prayers. Philip Ball examines the field of molecular logic, which is at last recording some significant achievements.
A company in Massachusetts is seeking permission to market salmon genetically modified to grow faster than normal. Tony Reichhardt explores the potential ecological risks, should the fish escape from salmon farms.
It is the world's biggest medical research charity and it exerts a huge influence over UK science policy. But is the Wellcome Trust becoming a victim of its own success, asks Natasha Loder.
Hubert Markl, president of Germany's Max Planck Society, wants to make the organization work as a coherent whole. As the society prepared for its annual meeting in Munich, he explained his vision to Alison Abbott.
The science of the incredibly small is shedding its sci-fi image. An anticipated influx of US government funds is nurturing a new wave of interdisciplinary nanoscale research, says Colin Macilwain.
The team that created Dolly the sheep captured the headlines, but several groups now have patents on cloning. Peter Aldhous considers how this tangled web of proprietary claims will affect the future of the technology.
