Is there life through the looking-glass? The riddle of life's single-handedness

Jun 15, 2016 06:55 am UTC| Science

Try shaking a colleagues left hand with your right hand. It just doesnt work, does it? Your right palm and her or his left palm cannot mesh comfortably because hands are chiral objects, having non-superimposable mirror...

How citizen scientists discovered a giant cluster of galaxies

Jun 14, 2016 09:47 am UTC| Science

It used to be that you had to have years of training before you could participate in cutting-edge science. But that has changed, with the power of the internet enabling thousands of ordinary people to contribute to one...

'Antibiotic stewardship' to keep superbugs at bay just isn't happening

Jun 07, 2016 08:14 am UTC| Science Health

Panic has spread with the discovery of a bacterium, Escherichia coli, in the United States that is resistant to the last bastions of antibiotics. This superbug, which causes many common infections such as urinary tract...

If we know so much about disease, where are all the cures?

Jun 02, 2016 09:48 am UTC| Insights & Views Health Science

We know so much about the genes that cause disease, so why are we not approaching an age of Star-Trek-like medicine in which a doctor can wave a handheld device over a patient, claim to have sequenced the genes of the...

Accurate science or accessible science in the media – why not both?

Jun 02, 2016 08:21 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

Every day, millions of people take to search engines with common concerns, such as How can I lose weight? or How can I be productive? In return, they find articles that offer simple advice and quick solutions, supposedly...

To understand the brain, it helps to make a computer model of one

Jun 02, 2016 07:48 am UTC| Science

One of the greatest challenges of engineering, science and medicine is to understand the brain, which is the most complex organ and system known to humans. A lot is already understood about how individual neurons and...

Maths anxiety is creating a shortage of young scientists ... here's a solution

Jun 01, 2016 11:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

Does the thought of doing long division, or solving a bit of algebra give you the shivers? Youre likely to have maths anxiety. In our recent research, my colleagues and I found that in 80% of countries, girls have more...