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Table of contents

Leaders

Space

Odd space circles show we are far from running out of cosmic puzzles

INEXPLICABLY regular rings of radio waves have been found in space. The discovery of "Odd Radio Circles" (see "Circles in space made of radio waves are like nothing we've ever seen" ) has all those ingredients of mystery, intrigue and wonder that make a classic cosmic yarn, speculation of alien involvement included. But there is …

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Technology

Water-filled windows could keep your home cool and save energy

Windows filled with water can keep houses cool Buildings with windows filled with water rather than gas could save energy in most of the world, according to researchers backing the new technology. Matyas Gutai at Loughborough University, UK, believes the traditional approach to windows has gone as far as it can to aid increasingly ambitious …

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Environment

Money-laundering drug cartels are driving deforestation in Guatemala

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Physics

Soap bubbles can split light into otherworldly branching streams

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Environment

Satellites reveal a 49 per cent increase in tree felling in Europe

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Humans

Horror movie fans are better at coping with the coronavirus pandemic

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Life

Canadian sparrows are ditching traditional songs for a new tune

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Health

A sugary diet changes gut bacteria and worsens brain function in rats

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Space

Circles in space made of radio waves are like nothing we've ever seen

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Humans

Blackbeard crashed his pirate ship on purpose because it leaked

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Health

Grief over covid-19 deaths may be unusually severe and long-lasting

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Humans

Mysterious Stone Age flint artefacts may be crude sculptures of humans

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Health

Why hasn't the UK seen a second wave of the coronavirus?

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Health

Risk of airborne coronavirus spread being underplayed, say researchers

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Health

How to stop the coronavirus: What we've learned six months in

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Analysis

Humans

How many house plants do you need to clean the air in a small flat?

There are lots of claims that house plants filter the air, but it turns out you need an awful lot of them to beat just opening the window, finds James Wong

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Aperture

Life

Hundreds of thousands of slime moulds can merge together to find food

These strange, mushroom-like structures are the reproductive phase of a type of slime mould, complex amoebae that feed on bacteria on forest floors

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Features

Life

Butterflies are showing us how wildlife will cope with climate change

As warm-weather species flutter further toward the poles, we will end up with far fewer kinds of butterfly. Here's what that means for biodiversity across the animal kingdom

Features

Humans

Terrie Moffitt interview: Can a young person's genes really set them up for a life of crime?

Features

Physics

What does gravity weigh? The surprise answer that reshapes reality

Features

Environment

Why coronavirus is the time for climate change action - and optimism

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Culture

Humans

What happens when a researcher tries to resurrect a loved one?

In the film Archive, George Almore attempts to put his late wife's memories into a machine. The project is far from a roaring success, finds Jon O'Brien

Culture

Space

Is there another planet in the universe just like Earth?

Culture

Humans

Snowpiercer review: Step aboard a post-apocalyptic train mystery

Culture

Humans

Don't miss: Charlize Theron tries to avoid CCTV in The Old Guard

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More

Puzzle #67: What relationship do the digits in this prime number have?

Can you solve this week’s puzzle My Prime? Plus the answer to puzzle #66 set by Will Taylor

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Tom Gauld on singing the scientist blues

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Twisteddoodles on having your research referenced

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There’s a font that you can’t criticise Goldman Sachs in

Feedback is our weekly column of bizarre stories, implausible advertising claims, confusing instructions and more

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Letters

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The last word