LATEST
The Royal Institution's festive feasts for the mind
GALLERY: 14:00 22 December 2009
From Michael Faraday to David Attenborough, many eminent figures have given Christmas lectures at the UK's Royal Institution – see the hall of fame
Innovation: The sinister powers of crowdsourcing
12:42 22 December 2009 | 23 comments
Governments are turning to web users to help identify criminals and protestors – could they enlist people's help without revealing their true goals?
Richard Wrangham: Cooking is what made us human
INTERVIEW: 11:19 21 December 2009 | 28 comments
Cooking food allowed our ancestors to evolve our big brains, the zoologist argues, and created the gender roles still observed by most people
Let's face it, science is boring
FEATURE: 08:00 21 December 2009 | 31 comments
Mouse urine, puréed goldfish brains and human computers. Sound interesting? Well, it's not. Honest
Beware humans bearing gifts
ESSAY: 10:00 20 December 2009 | 26 comments
Giving and receiving presents is a simple pleasure, isn't it? No, it's a social and economic battlefield, says philosopher Robert Rowland Smith
Sceptical climate researcher won't divulge key program
17:33 18 December 2009 | 79 comments
A physicist whose work is often highlighted by climate-change sceptics is refusing to provide the software he used to other climate researchers
Bill Bryson: Everything that happens is amazing
INTERVIEW: 18:00 16 December 2009 | 14 comments
The award-winning writer on why his fascination with our place in the universe led him to revisit his least favourite subject at school
Battle for climate data approaches tipping point
THIS WEEK: 18:00 16 December 2009 | 114 comments
Behind the "climategate" headlines, there are real struggles over access to climate records
Martin Rees: Getting to the right desks in government
INTERVIEW: 10:17 16 December 2009 | 8 comments
As the Royal Society enters its 350th year, its president says its mission is to speak up for science to public and politicians alike
Smart CCTV learns to spot suspicious types
FEATURE: 16:47 15 December 2009 | 27 comments
Video-analysis software can follow people from camera to camera in busy public places and identify those who are behaving suspiciously
THE BIG IDEA
How our brains build social worlds
What does a meeting of minds really mean? To understand how people interact, we need to think of their brains as a single system, say Andreas Roepstorff, Chris Frith and Uta Frith
ENVIRONMENT
Low-carbon future: We can afford to go green
An exclusive study for New Scientist shows that westerners can radically cut carbon emissions and keep their lifestyles
