Science in culture articles within Nature

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Philological analysis of labels and instructions, together with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of residues on vessels recovered from a 26th Dynasty embalming workshop at Saqqara, Egypt provide insights into ancient Egyptian embalming practices.

    • Maxime Rageot
    • , Ramadan B. Hussein
    •  & Philipp W. Stockhammer
  • Books & Arts |

    Julius von Bismarck is the first artist in residence at the particle-physics laboratory CERN, near Geneva in Switzerland. As he prepares to give the final lecture of his residency, he talks about whipping mountains, hacking photographs and digging into the history of invention.

    • Jascha Hoffman
  • Books & Arts |

    The US television series Alphas features an unusual breed of superhero: ordinary people with extreme abilities. In the run-up to the second season, head writer Bruce Miller explains how he sifts through the latest scientific findings to craft an array of superpowers.

    • Marc Weidenbaum
  • Books & Arts |

    Philip Ball finds little contemporary relevance in a play from the cold-war era that probes scientific responsibility.

    • Philip Ball
  • Books & Arts |

    Bill Viola creates immersive video installations that focus on extreme emotions and primal human experiences such as birth and death. On the eve of the Sacred Geometry and Secular Science exhibition at the Loyola University Museum of Art in Chicago, Illinois, the artist talks about meditative video gaming, Renaissance “punks” and the power of mystery.

    • Jascha Hoffman
  • Books & Arts |

    Astronomer and author David Brin celebrates the legacy of a literary titan whose life-long pursuit of new horizons changed the face of science fiction.

    • David Brin
  • Column |

    A passion for science is admirable, but can have unwanted outcomes, argues Mariano A. Loza-Coll.

    • Mariano A. Loza-Coll
  • Books & Arts |

    Daniel Cressey reflects on a play that uses astronomy and medicine to probe what it means to see.

    • Daniel Cressey
  • Books & Arts |

    Next month in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, artist Richard Pell opens the Center for PostNatural History — a museum of bioengineered organisms. He talks about the joys and pitfalls involved in collecting genetically modified maize, mosquitoes and zebrafish.

    • Jascha Hoffman
  • Books & Arts |

    This year's crop of research-related films moves away from 'mad genius' mode, finds Jascha Hoffman.

    • Jascha Hoffman
  • Books & Arts |

    Colin Martin celebrates a London exhibition revealing the research legacy of Robert Scott's final journey.

    • Colin Martin
  • Books & Arts |

    George Ellis appreciates a Stephen Hawking biography that highlights the epochs of an illustrious career — and the personality behind them.

    • George Ellis
  • News Q&A |

    Peter Norvig, director of research at Google, discusses the future of Internet search tools, social networking and science.

    • Eric Hand
  • Books & Arts |

    Richard Berendzen is director of NASA's Space Grant Consortium in Washington DC, and advised on the science-fiction film Another Earth, winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize for science at this year's Sundance Film Festival. On the film's North American release, he talks to Nature about parallel worlds and the future of human space exploration.

    • Jascha Hoffman
  • Books & Arts |

    Isabella Rossellini, star of films including Blue Velvet (1986) and Big Night (1996), has made a series of short films on the mating rituals of insects and sea creatures. As her latest humorous biopic debuts in the United States, Rossellini explains why she is fascinated by animals.

    • Isabella Rossellini
  • Books & Arts |

    Today's wariness of reproductive technologies stems from myths, legends and Hollywood, finds Chris Mason.

    • Chris Mason
  • Muse |

    Philip Ball asks whether scientists are addicted to using imagery at the cost of misleading the public and themselves.

    • Philip Ball
  • Books & Arts |

    A Chilean film juxtaposes astronomy with the search for those killed under Augusto Pinochet, finds Alison Abbott.

    • Alison Abbott
  • World View |

    Tim Radford takes aim at the popular myth that researchers are hopeless at explaining their work to a general audience.

    • Tim Radford
  • Books & Arts |

    Relationships and behaviour are highlighted in this year's clutch of science films at the agenda-setting festival, notes Jascha Hoffman.

    • Jascha Hoffman
  • Books & Arts |

    Nicola Jones witnesses a meeting of dance and ecology.

    • Nicola Jones
  • World View |

    Scientists must reach across the divide and speak up for campus colleagues in arts and humanities departments, says Gregory Petsko.

    • Gregory Petsko
  • Books & Arts |

    Sculptor Conrad Shawcross captures the fundamentals of physics and music, finds Martin Kemp.

    • Martin Kemp
  • News Feature |

    A global survey of the scientifically literate public reveals significant differences on key issues in science.

    • David Cyranoski
  • Column |

    A survey of the cognitive benefits of music makes a valid case for its educational importance. But that's not the best reason to teach all children music, says Philip Ball.

    • Philip Ball
  • Column |

    Efforts by the US National Academy of Sciences to popularize science through movies will sanitize it as well, says Daniel Sarewitz.

    • Daniel Sarewitz
  • Regions |

    Denmark aims to attract international talent through new initiatives and university reforms. Marta Paterlini outlines the strategy.

    • Marta Paterlini
  • Muse |

    The finding that religion scarcely influences moral intuition undermines the idea that a godless society will be immoral, says Philip Ball. Whether it 'explains' religion is another matter.

    • Philip Ball