Space Fast-spinning Earth settles mystery of moon's make-up brightcove.createExperiences(); Video: How Earth could have spawned the moon Birds of a feather, composition-wise For the first time, two new models of the giant collision that spawned the moon can explain why our satellite seems to be made of the same stuff as Earth. Both rely on the very young Earth spinning much faster than … 51¶¯Âþ
Life Gay 'cures' don't work but banning them helps nobody Therapies that claim to make gay people straight are hateful and dangerous, but banning them won't win over their supporters Opinion
Life Alien hunting: how to find DNA on Mars Curiosity doesn't go deep enough for its soil samples to contain life No one has looked for life on Mars for more than 30 years, ever since NASA's Viking missions sent back inconclusive results. Genomics maverick Craig Venter wants to change that. Cracker of the human genome and builder of synthetic life , Venter announced … 51¶¯Âþ
The heart-shaped devil seed See more: To see the image this article refers to, keep checking Picture of the Day on our news blog Short Sharp Science Regulars
Space The universe: the full story The grand sweep of cosmic history is about to be revealed in the crackle of giant radio waves Features
Humans Thinking up a world ruled by neuroscience See more: An illustrated version of this article will be published within the next two weeks on our CultureLab books and arts blog CultureLab
Enigma Number 1721 Odds and evens To the right is a long multiplication sum in which odd digits have been replaced by O and even digits by E. What are the two three-figure numbers being multiplied? WIN £15 will be awarded to the sender of the first correct answer opened on Wednesday 28 November. The Editor's decision is … Regulars
Feedback: Costly non-existent conferences Costly non-existent conferences ORGANISERS of "scamferences" don't just want to make money from innocent academics who book rooms at non-existent hotels (9 June) . Guy Cox writes that sometimes the aim seems to be a bit more sinister: "I signed up for one in Florida, which promised that my air fare and hotel would be … Regulars