Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Western science owes much to Islam's golden age — a debt that is often forgotten. To help redress the balance, Fuat Sezgin has reconstructed a host of scientific treasures using ancient Arabic texts. Alison Abbott reports.
Cane toads are infamous for wreaking havoc on Australian ecosystems. But, as Peter Aldhous discovers, we're only now about to learn whether their fearsome reputation is deserved.
Many religious leaders find themselves at odds with science, but the head of Tibetan Buddhism is a notable exception. Jonathan Knight meets a neurologist whose audience with the Dalai Lama helped to explain why.
Embryonic stem-cell research is putting fresh strain on the already fractious relationship between science and religion. TonyReichhardt explores how faith is shaping the ever-changing landscape of bioethics.
Bad news travels fastest. Or so the scientists fighting disease hope. Since 1994, ProMED-mail has been reporting outbreaks as soon as they happen. Erika Check meets the team behind the 24-hour service.
Resources are shifting from small labs led by one researcher to large teams with expensive equipment. But has the rise of big biology gone too far? Erika Check investigates.
The global spread of nuclear weapons is once again a major headache for world leaders. Geoff Brumfiel reports on efforts to put the genie back in the bottle.
Benoit Mandelbrot is one of the twentieth century's best known mathematicians. So why, in the twilight of an extraordinary academic career, is he still angry with many of his colleagues? Jim Giles investigates.
Companies are already swapping money for the right to emit more pollution, and cashing in on projects designed to suck up greenhouse gases. As this market booms, will it actually help to cut down on emissions? Michael Hopkin reports.
A strange Australian mole has eluded scientific study for more than a century. Now biologists are teaming up with Aboriginal trackers to unearth the secrets of the itjaritjari. Carina Dennis checks on their progress.
Vast tracts of Indonesia's peat swamps have been drained in a misguided attempt to turn them into rice plantations. Now the landscape burns every year, belching smoke and hastening global warming. Peter Aldhous investigates.
Recent studies are pointing the way for new uses of an ancient treatment — leeches. Helen Pilcher wades in to find out how these creatures could help the arthritic.
Earthquake researchers in the United States have long shunned the word ‘prediction’. But, thanks to improved data and a change in public perception, cracks are beginning to appear in their resolve. David Cyranoski tracks the debate.
Antibiotics are failing and drug companies have all but stopped developing new ones. Will conquered diseases come back to haunt us? Martin Leeb examines one plan to avert the crisis.
