Space Planet Bling: solar system's giants host megadiamonds It's raining diamonds Diamond rain, seas and even "diamondbergs" could be floating inside Jupiter and Saturn, according to new analysis of how carbon behaves at high temperatures and pressures. Neptune and Uranus may already play host to diamonds, so the latest results could mean all of the solar system's gas giants are littered with bling. … 51¶¯Âþ
Health Menthol cigarettes: Stub out these seductive smokes Menthol cigarettes make it easier to start smoking and harder to quit. It’s time to stub them out for good Opinion
Technology Free broadband via gaps in spectrum gets biggest trial The first mass trials of white-space wireless technology in Europe are giving the much-hyped idea a chance of breaking out into the real world 51¶¯Âþ
Earth Labyrinthine M. C. Escher stairs line vast Indian well (Image: Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London) ESCHER might have gawped. But this labyrinthine nest of stairs is no impossible construction. Between AD 600 and 1850, more than 3000 step wells were dug, by hand, in the Indian provinces of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Many of them had intricate staircase designs, peppered with shrines and balconies on … Regulars
Life Hidden depths: Brain science is drowning in uncertainty The edifice of research being built with brain scans is flawed. It’s time to rethink the approach to build a more complete understanding of the mind Features
Life Locating art in the brain of the beholder (Image: Juan Manuel Castro Prieto/Agence VU/Camerapress) New books by Anjan Chatterjee and Arthur Shimamura tackle neuroaesthetics, the search for links between brain activity and preferences for art WHO is your favourite artist? You may, like me, find the question difficult to answer. My preferences vary, and I like different artists for different reasons: Paul Klee, … CultureLab
Enigma Number 1771 Squares either way Whether you write dates in the order day.month.year or month.day.year (in each case with two digits for each element), 04.04.01 represents 4 April 2001, and it is a square date because 40401 is the square of 201. In addition to 4 April 2001, there is one other date in this century that … Regulars
Feedback: Drink up your oxygen Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more Drink up your oxygen ON A trip to a science conference in Bulgaria, Jasmine Parkinson came across a bottled drink in a service station. It was raspberry flavoured mineral water by Adelholzener. Large letters on the bottle claimed that it … Regulars