Books & Arts |
Featured
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Comment |
Scientific method: Defend the integrity of physics
Attempts to exempt speculative theories of the Universe from experimental verification undermine science, argue George Ellis and Joe Silk.
- George Ellis
- & Joe Silk
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Books & Arts |
History of science: Pursuing the primordial
Ted Nield ponders a history of how European science came to grasp Earth's age.
- Ted Nield
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Comment |
Does evolutionary theory need a rethink?
Researchers are divided over what processes should be considered fundamental.
- Kevin Laland
- , Tobias Uller
- & Joan E. Strassmann
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Books & Arts |
Science fiction: Verne and beyond
Danièle Chatelain and George Slusser explore how French science fiction grapples with Cartesian duality.
- Danièle Chatelain
- & George Slusser
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Books & Arts |
Fiction: Transgressive treats
Paul L. McEuen relishes Margaret Atwood's acerbic tales of sex, hallucinations and death by stromatolite.
- Paul L. McEuen
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Books & Arts |
Forgotten prophet of the Internet
Philip Ball ponders the tale of a librarian who dreamed of networking information.
- Philip Ball
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News |
Cosmic light could close quantum-weirdness loophole
Distant quasars would decide whether quantum entanglement is an illusion.
- Zeeya Merali
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Books & Arts |
Psychology: The appetite for right
John Whitfield explores two studies that take us from infant ethics to moral choices faced by adults in society.
- John Whitfield
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Books & Arts |
Molecular genetics: A revolutionary meeting of minds
Jan Witkowski relishes the interwoven stories of Nobel laureates Jacques Monod and Albert Camus.
- Jan Witkowski
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News |
Musicians' appearances matter more than their sound
Our judgements of quality depend more on how a musician moves than what they sound like.
- Philip Ball
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Books & Arts |
Philosophy: Deepities, cranes and skyhooks
Melvin Konner sorts through a philosopher's box of tools for the musing mind.
- Melvin Konner
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Spring Books |
Cognitive science: Mind as mirror
Philip Ball gets under the skin of a treatise on the brain as an analogy machine.
- Philip Ball
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Books & Arts |
Thanatology: Beyond the grave
Death's multifarious faces in two London exhibitions exhilarate Ewen Callaway.
- Ewen Callaway
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Books & Arts |
Philosophy: Creative resilience
Michael Shermer sifts through a study of the science of randomness and our responses to it.
- Michael Shermer
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Books & Arts |
Philosophy: What we don't know
Michael Shermer enjoys a reminder that cutting-edge research is a step into the unknown.
- Michael Shermer
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Books & Arts |
Q&A: Descartes' decipherer
Erik-Jan Bos, a philosopher at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, unearthed research gold with an Internet search. In putting together a critical edition of René Descartes' correspondence, due out in 2014, he discovered a stolen, never-before-published letter from the seventeenth-century French philosopher and mathematician. In the run-up to Descartes' 416th birthday on 31 March, Bos discusses the hazards of chasing him down.
- Stephen Ornes
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Comment |
Flu transmission work is urgent
Yoshihiro Kawaoka explains that research on transmissible avian flu viruses needs to continue if pandemics are to be prevented.
- Yoshihiro Kawaoka
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Books & Arts |
Philosophy: Life emergent
Evan Thompson weighs up a treatise that explores the dynamics of matter and consciousness.
- Evan Thompson
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Editorial |
The press under pressure
With the Leveson inquiry scrutinizing journalistic practice in the United Kingdom, scientists should take the opportunity to fight back against agenda-driven reporting.
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Books & Arts |
Philosophy: Meditation in mind
Daniel Stoljar contemplates two contrasting takes on science and Buddhism.
- Daniel Stoljar
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Books & Arts |
History: Scaling up
Andrew Robinson applauds a chronicle of metrication that balances physics with philosophy.
- Andrew Robinson
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News Feature |
Animal research: Battle scars
Nearly one-quarter of biologists say they have been affected by animal activists. A Nature poll looks at the impact.
- Daniel Cressey
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News Feature |
Animal Research: The radical
Researcher by day and activist by night, Joseph Harris was leading an untenable double life that eventually landed him in prison.
- Shanta Barley
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Books & Arts |
Ethics: The good life
Pascal Boyer assesses what science has to say about morals.
- Pascal Boyer
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Editorial |
Closing the Climategate
The official inquiry might have exonerated scientists, but attitude changes are needed for science to ensure it holds the public's trust.
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Books & Arts |
History: Franklin, centre stage
Josie Glausiusz enjoys a play capturing the zeal and backstabbing in the race to discover DNA's structure.
- Josie Glausiusz
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Books & Arts |
Society: The rise of the 'technium'
Kevin Kelly argues compellingly that technology is taking on a life of its own, finds Zaheer Baber.
- Zaheer Baber
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News Feature |
Climate: The hottest year
The release of climate-science e-mails last November ripped apart Phil Jones's life. He's now trying to patch it back together.
- David Adam
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News Feature |
Research integrity: Sabotage!
Postdoc Vipul Bhrigu destroyed the experiments of a colleague in order to get ahead. It took a hidden camera to expose a surreptitious and malicious side of science.
- Brendan Maher
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Correspondence |
Commodities for export still threaten rainforests in Brazil
- Luiz Antonio Martinelli
- & Paulo Moutinho
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News & Views |
50 & 100 years ago
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News |
Retraction recommended for enzyme-chip paper
Reactome array study should not have been published, says ethics committee.
- Alison Abbott
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Books & Arts |
Q&A: Tod Machover on personal music
The inventor and composer, whose group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab developed the technology behind Guitar Hero, has electronically customized instruments for musicians from Prince to Yo-Yo Ma. As Machover prepares for the world premiere of his robotic opera Death and the Powers in Monaco in September, he explains how his interactive performance techniques might lead to personalized therapies.
- Jascha Hoffman
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News |
Medics performed 'interrogation research'
Human-rights advocacy group alleges major ethics breaches.
- Meredith Wadman