Every day, all over the planet a nd beyond it, scientists try and make sense of the world in which they live. In this special feature Naturebrings you a composite picture of just one of these days -- 06 21 2006, the summer solstice.

It's football's biggest festival. For the next month, the hopes of millions of fans will be focused on Germany, where 32 nations are battling for the most glittering prize in sport. As the soccer showpiece kicks off, Naturelooks at the science of balls, boots, goals, gambling, and whether it's really ok to have sex before a big game.

It is now more than 15 years since work began sequencing the 2.85 billion nucleotides of the human genome. While the draft sequence was published in Naturein 2001, researchers at the Human Genome Project continued to fill the gaps and subject individual chromosomes to ever more detailed analyses.Natureis proud to present here the complete and comprehensive DNA sequence of the human genome as a freely available resource. Produced with support from our sponsors.Naturecarries sole responsibility for all editorial content.

Pain is an important physiological process by which we are alerted to danger. But neuropathic pain is long-lasting, has no obvious cause and can be particularly debilitating. The processes underlying neuropathic pain are poorly understood but this NatureCollection of recent articles illuminates some biological systems involved.

Thirty years of oncogene research have provided fascinating Insights into the molecular basis of cancer. Many hurdles remain in the race to beat cancer, but as the articles in this Insight show, a growing understanding of the complex signalling pathways that underlie tumour formation and progression is driving the development of a new generation of anticancer drugs targeted at specific molecular events.

We can now see many galaxies as they were within the first billion years after the Big Bang, and we have moved to a model of cosmology in which a mysterious 'dark energy' is the main component of the Universe. Bold new theories and a range of ground- and space-based instruments promise to provide further Insights into the formation and evolution of our Universe. To highlight recent advances, Nature has commissioned a diverse group of people to write about their subjects and how they are developing our understanding of the Universe.

Milestones in Cancer is a collaborative project involving three journals - Nature,Nature MedicineandNature Reviews Cancer- and celebrates more than 100 years of discoveries in the field of cancer.

Ion channels are essential for cellular existence, and mutations and other disruptions have serious, sometimes life-threatening consequences. Until recently, the way these channels operated was something of a mystery. But now high-resolution structural studies are revealing the secrets of these membrane proteins. Although treatments for diseases caused by faulty channels are a long way off, according to this NatureInsight, we are heading in the right direction.

From 13-17 03 2006, thousands of physicists are meeting in Baltimore to discuss everything from superconductors to plastics. Here we collect all our stories and diary reports from the conference.

While Hollywood celebrates the best in movie making from 2005, Naturedelves into the world of film - with news of high tech stunt bags and reviews of science in the movies.

Since 1869, Nature has published some of the world's most important physics and astrophysics research, including the discovery of the neutron, the first laser, the discovery of superfluidity, the explanation of quasars, the invention of holography, and much more...

In 1918, a highly virulent form of the influenza virus killed at least 20 million people worldwide. Understanding the origin of the virus that caused this pandemic has been a long-standing goal because of the risk that a similar virus could arise and devastate human populations today. Produced with support from Retroscreen Virology Ltd.