Mars – the kind of place to raise your kids?ESA /MPS/OSIRIS/MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA As a kind of living embodiment of the dangers of techno-optimism, Elon Musk recently declared he means to create a self-sustaining settlement of 1 million people on Mars in...
Kathy (Nell Barlow, left) and Ruth (Matilda Bailes) in Never Let Me GoHugo Glendinning/Bristol Old Vic Written by Suzanne HeathcoteBased on the novel by Kazuo IshiguroDirected by Christopher Haydon Bristol Old Vic until Saturday 23 November, then Chichester Festival Theatre from 26 to...
Spreading crushed basalt rock dust on fieldsUNDO Projects that spread rock dust on farms are removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than competing technologies – but CO2 removal efforts remain far short of what is needed to avoid dangerous...
Checking on patients at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Scottsdale, ArizonaJesse Rieser/New York The Future Loves YouAriel Zeleznikow-Johnston (Penguin, 28 November) Much of medicine today focuses on extending life by no more than several months. Drugs for cancer and Alzheimer’s disease...
Creatine supplements are commonly available in powder formShutterstock/RHJPhtotos Creatine is one of the most widely studied performance-enhancing substances in the world. Once dismissed as just a bodybuilding supplement, its public popularity has grown hand-in-hand with interest from scientists. The supplement...
The minke whale is a smaller species of baleen whaleKerstin Meyer/Getty Images Brainwave testing of two young baleen whales has revealed they can hear higher frequency sounds than previously thought, forcing researchers to rethink how the ocean’s largest animals respond...
Some chimpanzees use sticks to fish for termitesManoj Shah/Getty Images Wild chimpanzees appear to learn skills from each other and then – much as humans do – improve on those techniques from one generation to the next. In particular, young...
3D laser scan of the specimen, Uncus dzaugisiMary L. Droser A worm-like creature preserved in ancient rock has just been identified as the oldest known relative of insects, spiders and crustaceans. The ecdysozoans are a group of invertebrate animals with...
Millions of US residents may be drinking water containing the potentially harmful compoundYiu Yu Hoi/Getty Images A common disinfectant in drinking water breaks down into a chemical compound that we know almost nothing about, including whether it has any potential...
By its very nature, science fiction encompasses a vast and sprawling world of stories, from the galaxy-spanning novels of Iain M. Banks and Ursula K. Le Guin to the dystopias of Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishiguro. Asking our team of...
