Earth Front-line climate action should inspire us all People whose livelihoods are affected by climate change have already started to act, and the rest of the world doesn’t have long to decide what to do Opinion
Physics Billiard table chaos wins $1 million maths prize Yakov Sinai gets up very early Cutting a hole in the pool table is unlikely to win you many fans down at your local bar, but doing the mathematical equivalent has just led to a million dollar prize. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo announced today that it has awarded Yakov Sinai … 51¶¯Âþ
Life Biology doesn't justify gender divide for toys There is concern at the increasing segregation of toys and books for boys and girls. Is there any scientific justification, asks the author of Delusions of Gender Opinion
Space Sun traces giant figures-of-eight in the sky (Image: Maciej Zapiór and Lukasz Fajfrowski/ analemma.pl ) THIS isn't a photo of a laser show. If you stood on a balcony and watched the sky over WrocÅ‚aw, Poland, where this took place, you wouldn't spot these strange figure-of-eight patterns. To see them, you need a pinhole camera, rigged to make a year-long time-lapse photo … Regulars
Life Denisovans: The lost humans who shared our world The others (Image: Simon Pemberton) They lived on the planet with us for most of our history, yet until six years ago we didn't know they existed. Meet the species rewriting human evolution THERE was very little to go on – just the tiniest fragment of a finger bone. What's more, it was clear that … Features
Mind Why do we love to organise knowledge into trees? This medieval "Tree of Life" works as a mnemonic memory aid (Image: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University) From studying the bible to visualising computer storage, Manuel Lima's sumptuous The Book of Trees explores the tree diagram's appeal for showing information IN THE early 1990s, 14 computer scientists at the University of Maryland … CultureLab
Game developers use entertainment to boost cancer therapy Merging the worlds of cancer care and software development is more than just fun and games Careers
Feedback: The forgotten dolls of science Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more Forgotten dolls of science COLLEAGUES were recently racking their brains to remember the names of women whose contribution to science has been forgotten – as has happened to Marthe Gautier (see " Who really decoded Down's syndrome? "). Conversation turned … Regulars